Granite City’s June 16 City Council Meeting featured the presentation of a plaque to United Church of Christ Minister Karla Frost. City Council Members Jason Smith, Keith Burton Scott Moss, and City Counsel Tonya Genovese were absent. Madelyn Foster served as legal advisor in the absence of the City Counsel.
After Mayor Parkinson called the meeting to order public correspondence was presented. City Clerk Jenna DeYoung shared some upcoming community events that had been sent into the Mayor’s office; 1. Two 4th of July Road Closures (2200 Cleveland for decoratingt and 29th Street for 4th of July celebration), 2. TWIGS back to school BBQ on August 8 (Benton and Cleveland noon to 6:30 p.m.) and 3. The Granite City Cross Country invitational on September 5, 2026 (29th and State to Benton). All requests were granted.
Public Comment again was positioned before city business this week. Cindy Hunter and Heather Groetecke both spoke in opposition to the construction of data centers. Hunter spoke to the ongoing decrease in population in Granite City and potential downstream impacts to the tax base. She claimed that a data center would further drive people away from the city. Groetcke led with a prayer and gave a timeline regarding both the proposed sale of county sewage and conversations Mayor Parkinson has had with developers in his public service career. She alleged that these conversations with data center developers were connected to Madison County’s seeming willingness to consider the sale of county sewage services. She requested additional time to convey the amount of local residents signing on to petitions in opposition both to the sale of the county’s sewage services and the construction of data centers in 62040. She asked that the city focus their attention on development that served everyone in the community. Daniel Kleuskens then spoke to some transparency concerns regarding rental agreements between the city and potential businesses located in Granite City; asking that the city provide these agreements to the public for all city-owned property…