On the agenda: Kewanee Minutes — Flock Camera (Sep 14)

The September 14th, 2026, Council Meeting was called to order at 7:00pm in the Council Chambers.
Councilmembers Colomer, Cernovich, Baker, and Komnick were present, along with Mayor Moore who ran
the meeting. City Attorney Zac Lessard, City Clerk Jules Smith, and City Manager Kasey Mitchell were also
present.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited, followed by a moment of silence for our troops.
The Consent Agenda was presented with the following items:
A. Minutes from the Council Meetings on August 24th, 2026.
B. Payroll for the pay period ending August 22nd in the amount of $272,000.65 and the pay period ending
September 5th in the amount of $276,282.22.
C. Staff Reports
A motion to approve the consent agenda was made by Councilman Baker and seconded by Councilman
Komnick. Motion passed 5-0.
Bills for the September 14th Council Meeting were presented in the amount of $394,845.31. A motion to
approve was made by Councilman Cernovich and seconded by Councilman Colomer. Discussion: Mayor
Moore asked if Engie was showing to be cost savings at this point or if it is too early to tell. Chris Berry,
Director of Public Works, said as our power provider, they have the lowest price on electricity compared
to other providers. He said we have saved by going with them. Motion passed 5-0.
Public Comments: None.
New Business:
A. Proclamation: Good’s Furniture 2026 Retailer of the Year
Mayor Moore read the proclamation and recognized Good’s Furniture on their award. No one was
present from Good’s for photos with the Mayor, so he set the proclamation aside for them.
B. Cookie’s Beer Garden Street Closure
A motion to approve was made by Councilman Colomer and seconded by Councilman Komnick.
Discussion: Council asked if this was going to be in the same location as last year- Kasey let them
know yes, just a larger area of street closure. Council then asked why this was in “New Business” and
not the consent agenda- Kasey explained the process of this: If something is brought up on multiple
occasions and it has no new information, it goes on the consent agenda. If there is any new
information that could need approval, such as a street closure for the first time, even with it being a
recurring event, it goes into the “New Business” category. Motion passed 5-0.
C. Bill 26-71: Ordinance amending Chapter 155.086(D) of the City Code which establishes an exception
allowing the Plan Commission and City Council to grant the re-establishment of a nonconforming use
that may be considered discontinued or abandoned.
A motion to approve was made by Councilman Baker and seconded by Councilman Komnick.
Discussion: Council asked about clarity and difference between the six month and twelve month
policies, and why the language of this matters/what it means. Keith Edwards, Director of Building
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and Zoning, explained that six months is for structures that were not purpose built for their use, and
twelve months is for structures that were built for their use. It was ultimately decided that the
wording in the ordinance code should be amended to help with clarity and precision, and Kasey
stated no extra vote was necessary, as it could be viewed as an error in script rather than changing
the meaning of the code itself. Motion passed 5-0.
D. Bill 26-72: Ordinance granting a Special Use Permit to Martha Gomez for the property located at 117 S
Chestnut St.
A motion to approve was made by Councilman Colomer and seconded by Councilman Komnick.
Discussion: Councilman Cernovich wanted to add a stipulation about receiving a certificate of
occupancy before moving in. Keith came up to explain there is a certificate of occupancy option, and
according to the IRC, you must have certain facilities within the structure in order for it to be a
dwelling. Kasey asked for a motion to amend from the Council. Mayor Moore asked for a timeframe
for the remodel to occur- Council made sure to mention they cannot move in if they do not have
permission from the city- no harm, no foul on the Council’s/City’s side of things. Mayor Moore does
not want a special use permit sitting open without movement towards remodel- Kasey and Keith
stated we can take special use back and take them to court, if scenario is not ideal, and they are not
doing what they are supposed to do. A motion to amend to include “Owner must obtain a Certificate
of Occupancy from the Director of Building & Zoning prior to occupying the home.” was made by
Councilman Colomer and seconded by Councilman Komnick. Motion to amend passed 5-0. Motion to
approve as amended passed 5-0.
E. Bill 26-73: Resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute an Administrative Service Agreement
with the Howard E. Nyhart Company, INC, for actuarial services for the City of Kewanee Police and
Firefighters’ Pension Funds.
A motion to approve was made by Councilman Baker and seconded by Councilman Komnick.
Discussion: Mayor Moore wanted clarification on the time and materials for pension calculations- is
there a cap on these? Kasey said the option for a cap is available, and there are some guidelines in
place for this. Council asked if there is an obligation or requirement by the city- Kasey said we have
always had an outside actuarial company help us out. Council asked why we were switching to a new
company- Kasey clarified we are sticking with the same company; we are just setting up a new
agreement with the new rates. Motion passed 5-0.
F. Bill 26-74: Ordinance renewing an existing Franchise and Granting for a period of 20 years to Ameren
Illinois, a corporation, its successors and assigns, the franchise, right, permission and authority to
construct, reconstruct, excavate for, place, remove, extend, maintain, and operate a gas utility system
in the City of Kewanee, county of Henry and State of Illinois.
A motion to approve was made by Councilman Komnick and seconded by Councilman Baker.
Discussion: Council asked about specifications here- just gas, or gas and electric. Kasey explained the
City was getting therms/gas for free, but it ended up not being fair across the board for each
municipality, so Ameren changed the terms. Council had a few more questions and concerns about
why Ameren is doing things the way they are with their terms- Kasey explained to the best of her
knowledge on why Ameren is following these steps. Council decided they would like to table until
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they can get more information. Kasey said we have time to make that happen, and we would bring
this bill up at a later date. Councilmembers Komnick & Baker rescind original motions respectfully. A
motion to TABLE was made by Councilman Cernovich & seconded by Councilman Colomer. Motion to
TABLE passed 5-0.
G. Bill 26-75: Resolution awarding the contract for the Wastewater Treatment Plant Lab HVAC
replacement to Johnson Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc., and authorizing the City Manager to execute
the contract.
A motion to approve was made by Councilman Colomer and seconded by Councilman Cernovich.
Discussion: Council asked if this had been previously thought out in the budget. Chris said it was an
unexpected failure of the system. Council asked how the budget would be affected; Chris let them
know more of the budget was going to wastewater than they thought, so there is enough headroom
to cover this project. The budget will breakeven and work itself out by the end of the fiscal year.
Council asked if poor HVAC could have been the cause of any issues- Chris stated there was no proof
that was a factor, but of course, if it is running hotter than it should be, serviceability is lost. Council
asked if the roof would also need fixing from the issues, and Chris said they are waiting to hear from
the engineer, but new shingles and some other fixes could be necessary, as they could be past their
serviceable life. Motion passed 5-0.
H. Bill 26-76: Resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute and agreement to professional services
with Hutchinson Engineering Inc. for construction engineering services for the Elm St Reconstruction
Project.
A motion to approve was made by Councilman Baker and seconded by Councilman Komnick.
Discussion: Council asked about start date, which was 9/14/2026, and Chris said end date was
expected to be 10/23/2026. Motion passed 5-0.
I. Discussion Only: Flock Cameras
Mayor Moore read a personal statement on flock cameras, favoring them, then opened the floor to
discussion, Police Chief Stephen Kijanowski came up to touch on many points regarding flock
cameras, such as how the city uses them, how other communities use them, and some reasons why
other areas are getting rid of them. Council had some concerns regarding storage and access of flock
data. Kijanowski made sure to point out that he is the one who checks on flock searches and data, at
least once a week- and pointed out there are measures in place for this to be checked regularly.
Council asked about the hotlist- meaning someone could get into our system or search our systems.
A question about facial recognition and AI came up- Kijanowski said that is not an aspect for our
flock, nor does Illinois allow it. Council touched on privacy limitations with flock versus personal
cameras, and how these differ- overall, not the same and does not quite pertain to flock discussion
items. Council also points out they think flock can be very essential in certain cases, such as stalking,
harassment, abductions, etc, along with making sure there are guardrails in place that make sure
abuse of flock use does not happen. City Attorney, Zac Lessard, asked Kijanowski if he is seeing or
anticipating what the impact on effectiveness would be if the holes in coverage from those cameras
were no longer in operation. Kijanowski said many cameras are being removed in other areas, and
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people may start wondering if this system makes sense anymore since we are losing all of this dataso our department will start looking into this, as well, to see what makes sense on our end. Council
asked about mishaps in the flock user system- Kijanowski said they can happen and have on
occasion, but it is a rare occurrence. The public then came up for questions: Levi Schwigen being
first. He came up and asked when the Mayor used flock to catch a stalker- what the difference would
have been if it were a security camera versus a flock camera. Mayor Moore said there would not
have been anyone checking them had it been security and not flock- which would not have helped
his case at all. Levi asked if the information would not have still been the same, still comparing
camera types, and Mayor Moore said the generality of a security camera would have had a higher
chance of missing the license plate (meaning the technology of the flock cameras are much better
suited for that purpose). Kijanowski came in to mention the man hours and time put in would be
astronomical compared to what a flock camera can do for that purpose. Levi asked if there were
other steps someone being stalked could have taken, like reporting it to the police, instead of flock,
and Mayor Moore said they had reported it first, and that is why flock was being checked in the first
place. Zac Lessard said sometimes when someone is being stalked, they do not know who is doing
the stalking, so the flock can run a search on these specifics to find it quicker and more efficiently.
Jody Pickett came to ask which Councilmembers were for or against flock cameras- Council let him
know this discussion was for public comments, not someone looking for a vote. He then asked if
there were criminal case numbers for the flock cameras, based on the 4 th Amendment- Kijanowski
ultimately said yes, there are criminal case numbers when it is related to a criminal case. Zac Lessard
stepped in and described how the city’s use of flock cameras does not violate the 4 th Amendment.
This concluded the discussion.
Council Communications:
Cernovich: None.
Baker: None.
Komnick: He mentioned we quite a warm Hog Days Weekend, but he talked to a lot of people who said they
had a great time. He also reminded the community about the Hispanic Heritage Celebration coming up.
Colomer: He said Hog Days Weekend was great with some good bands.
Mayor Communications: He said it was a hot & grueling Hog Days Weekend, and it was a good time. He also
congratulated Good’s again on their award.
Announcements: None.
A motion to adjourn was made by Councilman Baker and seconded by Councilman Colomer. Motion passed
5-0 and meeting was adjourned at 8:22pm.

Prepared by: ___________________________________
Jules Smith, City Clerk
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