The Waterloo City Council saved its best action item for last Monday night at City Hall, voting to assist local food pantries struggling to keep their shelves stocked.

As reported last week, the threat of an abrupt end to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits Nov. 1 amid the federal government shutdown sparked concerns for food-insecure households and local food pantries that are already being leaned on more heavily of late. 

Some hope arose for SNAP recipients on Friday, as two federal judges ruled the Trump Administration must continue to fund the program using contingency funds during the ongoing shutdown.

Still, the Waterloo City Council wished to provide a boost to local pantries in the midst of this uncertainty.

Using revenue from Waterloo’s video gambling fund, aldermen approved direct monetary support to four pantries to purchase food items.

Waterloo is donating $3,500 each to the House of Neighborly Service and Hope Christian Church food pantries, plus $1,500 each to the Concord Presbyterian and Waterloo Senior Center food pantries. 

These donations are timely, as the Waterloo Senior Center posted Tuesday morning on Facebook that it was out of meat in its pantry freezer.

Likewise, House of Neighborly Service Development Director Courtney Hunter said during Monday’s council meeting that her organization’s pantry has recently seen an increase in need.

“More people are coming in more often, and we expect that trend to continue,” Hunter said.

In other action from this meeting, the council approved an agreement with Viking Industrial Painting in the amount of $163,300 – plus an additional $15,000 for contingency purposes – for painting and repair services on the former water tower located at City Hall.

This total comes in well under what was originally budgeted for the project, Mayor Stan Darter said, adding it will be a paint job that lasts 15-20 years. The last time this tower was painted was 25 years ago, Darter said.

The use of this old water tower for cellular service more than pays for the cost of its repainting, Darter pointed out. 

This tower has been leased by the city to Verizon or other companies for wireless communications since 1997.

In April, cell tower company AIO Operating 2 LLC purchased a 40-year easement from the city in the amount of $348,000 to lease this tower to Verizon.

Also at the meeting, the council approved an ordinance establishing access control for the proposed Rogers Street north and Country Club Lane realignment and Rose Lane extension improvement slated to be constructed in the near future. This action was taken to modify city code to be in line with county ordinance for that stretch of future roadway.

As for the status of the proposed Rogers Street extension north to Rose Lane, Waterloo Director of Public Works JR Landeck said the county should have right-of-way plans finalized by mid-November, after which the process of acquiring land may take place.

The council also approved an emergency interconnection agreement between the City of Waterloo and Illinois American Water Company, its former provider prior to the city’s new water plant going online in December.

This was an agreement that had been in the works for several months, aldermen said, and is simply a safeguard for Waterloo in case an emergency arose that required an outside water source.

The next meeting of the Waterloo City Council is set for 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, at City Hall. To view an agenda prior to this meeting, visit waterloo.il.us. Meetings are now also livestreamed on the City of Waterloo’s Facebook page.