Mike Rein
Dear MRN: I was watching the Quincy City Council meeting on Monday night when the discussion about the roundabout came up. Alderman (Jeff) Bergman (R-2) can’t make the motion to put the issue back on the agenda. It takes a member who voted in favor of it to bring it up. Can you check on…
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QUINCY — Mike Rein’s dalliance with the idea of running for mayor lasted about a week. Rein, an alderman in Quincy’s 5th Ward, recently pulled petitions to run for re-election as alderman, but he also pulled petitions to run for mayor. He had to choose between which office he wanted to run for by Oct. 28.…
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QUINCY — Two GOP mayoral candidates turned in petitions at the beginning of the filing period Monday morning at Quincy City Hall. Brink was first in line with 740 signatures on his petitions. Troup was third in line behind former City Clerk Janet Hutmacher, who was turning in the petitions for City Clerk Laura Oakman.…
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QUINCY — Despite a passionate plea from a retired city engineer to reconsider building a roundabout, the Finance Committee agreed Monday night to send to the full Quincy City Council a recommendation for the transfer of jurisdiction for the intersection of 48th and State. Aldermen voted on April 1 not to contribute $2.6 million to build…
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QUINCY — Two aldermen changed their minds on Monday night and were the swing votes in an 8-6 decision by the Quincy City Council to approve the low bid from Blick’s Construction for $143,413 to demolish a sludge pump station south of Clat Adams Bicentennial Park on the riverfront — using money from the city’s…
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QUINCY — The adoption of an ordinance calling for the end of the electrical aggregation program for the city of Quincy was tabled until May 5, and aldermen directed the city administration not to enter any more aggregation contracts when the current contract with Constellation expires on Jan. 1. The Quincy City Council voted Sept.…
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QUINCY — The Quincy City Council defeated by a 7-6 vote on Monday night a resolution that would have used money from the city’s water fund to pay for razing an inoperative sludge pump station south of Clat Adams Bicentennial Park and returned a $350,000 grant to the Quincy Riverfront Development Corporation. Aldermen approved a low…
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QUINCY — Aldermen voted during Monday’s Quincy City Council meeting to have an ordinance drafted to place a referendum on the April 2025 ballot that would pose the question of whether the city should continue electrical aggregation. Alderman Ben Uzelac (D-7) asked Corporation Counsel Bruce Alford near the end of Monday’s meeting how much time…
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QUINCY — A rewritten resolution that authorizes giving $25,000 from the city’s Economic Growth Fund to the Quincy Society of Fine Arts got the two extra votes it needed from the Quincy City Council on Monday night. After voting to permanently table the original resolution, aldermen voted 8-6 to approve a revamped resolution. Director of…
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QUINCY — Former Quincy Mayor Chuck Scholz explained some of the plans the Adams County Bicentennial Commission has for next year during Monday night’s Quincy City Council meeting at City Hall. Aldermen voted 13-1 to approve a disbursement of $30,000 from the city’s Economic Growth Fund to help support the commission’s efforts to mark the 200th anniversary of…
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QUINCY — Corporation Counsel Bruce Alford told the Finance Committee during its Monday meeting at the Quincy Public Library that Adams County wants the City of Quincy to take jurisdiction of the intersection of 48thand State after aldermen voted on April 1 not to contribute $2.6 million to build a roundabout at the intersection. “That’s going…
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QUINCY — The Quincy City Council approved a five-year contract for the Western Illinois Veterinary Clinic for $1,040,250 during Monday night’s meeting at the Quincy Regional Training Center after the issue had been tabled for one week. The WIVC will provide essential care, medical attention and the opportunity for adoption to lost, stray and abandoned animals. It…
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QUINCY — The Quincy City Council approved an ordinance approving a tax increment financing plan on Quincy’s south side, but not without a couple of tweaks, during Monday night’s meeting. Four weeks after the vote was tabled, aldermen voted 8-6 to create the city’s third designated TIF zone. TIF districts dedicate a portion of tax…
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QUINCY — The Quincy City Council voted 9-5 on Monday night not to enter into an agreement with Adams County to build a roundabout at the intersection of 48th and State. Moments after the conclusion of the meeting, Kent Snider knew what the Adams County Board’s next move would be when it meets April 9. “Hand…
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QUINCY — Director of Public Works Jeffrey Conte has two weeks to prepare different options to pay for $30 million worth of improvements to Quincy’s water system. The creation of an ordinance to increase water and sewer rates was on the agenda for Monday’s Quincy City Council meeting. The average monthly cost to the consumer…
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QUINCY — The Finance Committee voted on Monday night to send a proposal to the full Quincy City Council that calls for an increase in the amount of subsidy funding to the Quincy Public Library next year. Kathleen Helsabeck, executive director of the library, made a presentation during Monday’s meeting, which was attended by all…
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QUINCY – As the Quincy City Council voted 9-4 to approve spending up to $40,000 to study the possibility of establishing a new tax increment financing (TIF) district in the State and Eighth/Calftown/Dick Brothers Brewery area, aldermen didn’t really seem excited about expanding TIF in the city. Some of the discussion at Monday night’s meeting…
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QUINCY — Two flipped votes turned a potentially contentious debate over the city’s budget into much ado about nothing. Richie Reis and Patty Maples, Democratic aldermen in Quincy’s 6th Ward, were among seven aldermen at Monday night’s Quincy City Council meeting who voted not to approve a $50.29 million budget for the 2024 fiscal year. However, at a…
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QUINCY — The purchase of the City Hall Annex building by the Quincy Township inched closer to a conclusion Monday night. Quincy Mayor Mike Troup then proposed spending township money to help solve some of the city’s housing issues. Before the weekly Quincy City Council meeting, aldermen first handled business as the Quincy Township board.…
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QUINCY — A $7.5 million plan to build 34 two-story residential townhomes and a community building received assistance from the Quincy City Council on Monday night. HW Ventures, LLC, a corporation owned by Quincyans Justin Wollbrink and Jerry Holtschlag, asked for financial incentives from the city for this development at 203 S. Eighth and 218-224…
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QUINCY — Adam Yates, chief of the Quincy Police Department, says it will take a minimum of six weeks for license plate readers to be installed on city rights-of-way and at least two months to install them at Illinois Department of Transportation easements after the Quincy City Council unanimously approved the cameras at its Monday…
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QUINCY — Aldermen voted last week to make three changes to an ordinance to adopt the 2018 series of the International Code Council model code for the city’s building code. They voted to remove mandated sprinkler systems, mandated installation of sheetrock underneath the basement mandated installation of a self-closing door from the garage to the…
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QUINCY — After aldermen voted 7-7 on the issue of adding a monthly surcharge to utility rates during Monday’s meeting of the Quincy City Council, Mayor Mike Troup cast the deciding tie-breaking vote in favor of the surcharge. Troup also hinted he believes the increase in water and sewer bills could potentially be offset by…
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QUINCY — The debate about the demolition of the building at 649 State continued during Monday’s meeting of the Quincy City Council. Aldermen voted 10-1 at the July 5 meeting to accept a bid of $79,500 from Blick Construction Company to demolish the three-story brick building that was gutted in a fire on May 18. …
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