Mayor hopes monthly lunches will provide more information about city issues

QUINCY — Quincy Mayor Mike Troup informed aldermen Tuesday night of his plans to hold a monthly meeting for people to learn more about issues the city is facing.

The first meeting of “Lunch With Mayor Troup” is set for noon on Oct. 20 in City Council chambers at City Hall. 

“But bring your own lunch. We’re not going to provide it,” Troup said with a smile.

Troup said he plans to have someone from one of the city’s departments make a presentation. He’ll also entertain questions from the public.

“I’ll try to do (this meeting) monthly going forward,” he said. “We will pick different spots throughout the city to actually hold those sessions. I hope the aldermen who are available can make it as well.”

Goal of lunches is ‘just better communications overall’

Former Quincy Mayor Kyle Moore introduced a plan in 2013 to have lunch with the public once a month during the summer months. He said the agenda of the lunches would be “whatever is on the mind of the people who attend.”

Troup wants to provide more information to those who share lunch with him.

“People who call the (mayor’s) office are really calling because they have a concern over something,” he said. “Depending on the project and what we’re trying to focus that monthly discussion on, it will be helpful to to be out there sometimes. If you’re just out in the public, people will stop and talk to you. That’s part of the feedback we want, and I want to get the aldermen out there. We need to move around to various wards.

“The goal is just better communications overall.”

Mayor wants to reduce number of committees, commissions, boards

Troup also told alderman he wants to examine the number of committees, commissions and boards the city has. He believes the list tops more than 300.

Asked how many he would like to cut, Troup replied, “I don’t know. It’s got to be smaller, right?

“We have some committees that literally have not met in three years or more. It’s even hard to figure out what’s the committee supposed to do. There are some duplicates. … With the kinds of people we have to have on some of those boards, maybe we can have one board handle two or three of those committees. It’s going to take some cleaning up, but I think it would be more efficient know who’s on each committee.”

Troup also said he wants to establish an executive committee, though he didn’t offer any ideas as to who he wants on that committee.

“I don’t want to make a unilateral decision there,” he said. “I want to get input from the aldermen, and I don’t want to burden a handful of people. We have 14 who we can share the load with.”

During Tuesday night’s 23-minute meeting, aldermen also:

• Approved the purchase of the Transit and Paratransit Training Company (TAPTCO) training series for the city’s bus drivers for $8,015.
• Learned the city has received $2.7 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding. Troup said City Treasurer Linda Moore is the lead person to evaluate what projects could be paid for with the money. He believes plans to spend that money would be determined by the end of 2021. “I want to be careful that we don’t spend the kind of money that adds to the tax burden after those funds dry up,” Troup said.
• Approved an invoice from Klingner and Associates for $10,227 to assist with construction phase engineering for phase two of the city’s water supply improvement project. The project calls for the rebuilding of six of the city’s eight filters at the treatment plant. The filters will be replaced with products that can treat more water.
• Learned the city will be using census information to potentially redraw the city’s ward map. “We’re supposed to have the wards balanced out (with the population) within five percent of each other,” Troup said. 
• Approved an invoice from Republic Services of Quincy for $35,016 for the removal and dumping of 266 tons of grease and grit from the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
• Approved the authorization of demolition expenditures for 1233 N. 11th and 610 S. Seventh. The city received a bid from Miller Construction for $30,900.
• Adopted an ordinance amending the traffic code to allow for stop signs to be installed at 17th and Cedar.
• Approved an invoice from Shannon Chemical of Malvern, Pa., for $9,166 to buy (and have delivered) 4,000 pounds of phosphate to be used at the city’s water treatment plant.
• Adopted an ordinance amending the 2021-22 fiscal year budget. The cost of replacing a forestry truck bed, asphalt material for the pothole truck and the purchase of a diagnostic computer for Central Garage led to an increase to the General Fund of $38,500.