Tuscola City Council appoints Mike Morris to board

By Kendra Hennis
The meeting of the Tuscola City Council was called to order at 7:30 p.m. on February 10, 2020. The first order of business by Mayor Dan Kleiss was the appointment of Mike Morris to serve the vacancy as the Ward IV Alderman for a term until May 2021. 

Mayor Kleiss then announced to the board that he began working with the Liquor Commission earlier in the week. They discussed several issues relating to local liquor licenses, including some recommended updates to ordinance language and license classifications. He and the board will be researching these issues and preparing draft ordinances to enact these changes, which will then be brought before the board to review. 

The board then discussed the annual tourism report composed by Anna Nelson and the City of Tuscola Tourism Board. In their report, the Tourism Board discussed their activities from the 2019 calendar year, such as; Sparks in the Park, the Tuscola Library Free Outdoor Movies, their partnership with Visit Champaign County, Christmastown, and so much more. The Tourism Board noted that, “the overall goal this year was to continue to grow and expand the tourism marketing and provide family friendly community events.”

The final order of business was the scheduling of Committee Meetings for the Budget Process. The board scheduled meetings for the Planning and Development, Public Works, Public Safety, and Finance and Administration Committees in March. City Administrator Drew Hoel hopes that following these meetings, there will be a staff draft of the budget available to be adopted in late April or early May. The budget will continue to be discussed at future meetings. 

The Council also:

– Approved the minutes from the January 27 meeting

– Approved the payment of bills in the amount of $84,307.95.

– Approved to lease the Community Building with alcohol for Pheasants Forever Annual Banquet to be held on March 21, 2020.

– Approved the Tuscola Kiwanis Document Shredding Event at Ervin Park on April 18, 2020.

– Approved appointing Shane Gould, Jeremiah Jones, Jud Wienke, Brooke Ray, Madison Clark (EMS only), Olivia Kingman, Tyler Seip, and Kyle Stenger to the Tuscola Fire Department. 

– Adjourned until the February 24 meeting at 7:30 p.m.