and Tom.
Good evening. Linda, could you please give the invocation?
Let us bow our heads. Dear God, I praise you and I thank you for your love, mercy and grace
and that you see all you hear all and know all your word says and thus the Lord builds the house the builders labor in vain unless the Lord watches over the city the guards stand watch in vain therefore we come to you tonight to seek your face and ask you to build and guard our city pour out your spirit of knowledge and revelation over those who are seated here may all things done tonight be connected in a state of justice fulfillment and delight free from defects
and
I release Luke 2436, peace, shalom to you all, in Jesus name, amen.
Amen.
and before I officially call this meeting to order, I want to remind this council that
we have been elected to serve the residents of Freeport, not to push personal agendas
or create unnecessary distractions.
Our job is to focus on policy, infrastructure, economic development, and public safety.
That is the purpose of these meetings.
City Council's role is to set the vision and the direction for Freeport.
It is the City Manager's role to implement that vision by directing our staff and allocating
and
Hire to do their jobs. The antagonistic tone and the constant personal attacks
towards staff and leadership are unacceptable. We need to remain
professional, keep our discussions on topic, and conduct city
business efficiently. Personal grievances, unfounded accusations, combative behavior,
and disorder have no place in these chambers. I would encourage all of us to
lead by example, work together, and to stay committed to the task at hand which
Miller, Mayor Miller, Alderpersons, Klemm, Monroe, Simmons, Parker, Stacy, Shadle, Sanders,
and Sellers.
and if you could please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, slide by Alderman Parker.
Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
and
Mr.
Dixie, and I'm going to turn it over to the
Chair.
Item number one is the approval of the agenda. However, we will
not be having item number 23, which is executive. And then also
just so you're aware, we're slightly out of order tonight.
Normally, it's our rules that we go second reading of ordinances,
first three ordinances and resolutions.
with that is there a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. Second. A motion made by Alderman Monroe,
seconded by Alderman Sellers. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion
passes. Item number two is the approval of the minutes from the regular meeting on February 18th,
2025. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. A motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman
Parker. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes. Public
comment. We have two. Bill Schramm, you have three minutes.
I'll give you a little bit of background. Some of you I know, some of you I don't know.
I'm a resident of Freeport. My parents moved here when I was 10 years old and I've lived
and I have lived here most of my life except for a couple years. I spent with the United
States Government called the U.S. Army. But I am here tonight to say I am pleased to see
the City of Freeport is taking steps to secure our community's water future with the purchase
of the property for well 12. The City's commitment providing safe, clean drinking water is evident
in the speed and efficiency with which they are getting the job done.
From the lead service line remediation efforts to the construction of the new water treatment
plant on Burchard Hill, the City has demonstrated a clear dedication to protecting public health
and modernizing our water infrastructure. The progress made in such a short time is
and I fully support these efforts to ensure a reliable and substantial water supply for
our community. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Next, Wendy Slayton. You have three minutes.
Hello. My name is Wendy Slayton. I am a current resident of Freeport, Illinois and I am very
Very happy to be here. I love Freeport and everything that it's done. I'm currently
on a community block grant and I am very, very anxious for it to go further. But right
now we're talking about the MSA. The MSA is definitely a good idea for all of us for
the residents of Freeport. It improves the quality of life for the current residents
by ensuring homes are safe, sanitary, and structurally sound. It also attracts and retains
responsible homeowners the investment demonstrates and the commitment to the
well-being of our neighborhoods making Freeport a more desirable place to live
number three strengthening our community homeownership fosters a sense of pride
and stability leading to greater civic engagement and more cohesive community
number four increasing community value rehabilitation of our homes increases
the property values in the area thus improving the overall value of the
and
Mr.
D.
is considered to be routine in nature and acted as one motion, unless there's a member of the council that would like to have something removed for further discussion.
Seeing none, we've got the consent agenda consisting of approving to receive and place on file the board and commission minutes from the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners dated January 28th, 2025,
the Greater Freeport Partnerships Annual Report for 2024, the Police Department Report January 25, Greater Freeport Partnerships Monthly Report for February 2025,
and
James,
Greg,
and the approval of payroll for pay period ending February 22nd, 2025, in the total of $709,166.14. Is there a motion to approve?
Shadel, Seconded by Alderman Klemm. Discussion? Madam Clerk, please take the roll.
Parker? Aye. Stacy? Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? Aye. Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Monroe? Aye.
Simmons? Aye. The motion passes 8 to 0. Item number 5 is a presentation. Could you
please read this for the record? Presentation regarding resolution to
For the Illinois Housing Development Authority or IDA, Home Repair and Accessibility Program for up to $1.2 million.
Thank you. Tara Walters, thank you.
Thank you. Good evening Mayor Miller, City Council Members, as well as City staff.
My name is Tara Wal- Can't you hear me?
Yeah, thank you.
How about now? Better?
Yep.
is Tara Walters. I'm a Community Development Administrator with MSA
Professional Services. I'm here with my colleague Christina Tranel who is a
Community Development Specialist. We are here to provide the City Council with
information regarding Ida's Home Repair and Accessibility Grant Program that is
open now. So some program basics. Applications are due
and John. Applications are due March 14th of this year at 3 p.m., so I understand that
is 10 to 11 days away, which I'll call it a trap from here on out throughout the presentation
for shortness sake. The program is designed to assist low and very low income homeowners,
which is defined at less than or greater, sorry, less than or equal to 80% of the area
Johnson, John, John, David, and the rest of the city.
In addition to providing high and medium-median income, the
program will provide funds for vital health and safety repairs
and accessibility improvements. The program aims to preserve
existing affordable housing stock, to provide investment and
underserved communities, improve the health and well-being of
occupants, and to help low-income and disabled or
and Ida's Home Repair and Accessibility Grant Program.
This current round is offering 16 million
in funding available.
The funding comes from the Illinois
Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
And applicants, so the city of Freeport,
if they were to apply, they can request a minimum of 400,000.
The program guidelines do not specify a maximum ceiling,
but we'll talk about that in our presentation.
And the program is a two-year program term.
So if awarded, the city would have two years to spend the funds.
For definition purposes, I'd just like to outline what the eligible project costs are,
because we'll talk about them in more detail.
First being hard construction costs, your typical construction expenses, tangible brick
and mortar type costs.
There's also soft construction costs, which examples include title searches, recording
Fies, Termite or Insect Inspections. There's also project delivery, which includes activities
in taking applications from participants in the program and homeowners, some income verification,
cost estimates and work write-ups once inspectors get involved, as well as the inspections themselves
and permit fees. And there's also administrative costs that are grant eligible, and this includes
and others, general management, oversight, project management, coordination, grant reporting,
overhead costs.
Through the program, there are three project types, full rehab, accessibility, and roof
only.
I've lumped full rehab and accessibility together because the same criteria follow for both
programs.
Under full rehab and accessibility, homeowners may receive up to $50,000 from the HREP program
Knotts, and Ryan.
So those are the 5,000 people who are
funding the Lin-N creef funds to cover hard and soft
construction.
They also can get project delivery costs per home, not
exceeding 15% of the construction costs.
So if you're at the 50,000, 15% of that would be 7,500.
If costs do not meet 50,000, it would be 15% of whatever those
and John.
We also have a loan which is forgiven at one-sixtieth per month over the loan period.
There's also a roof-only option.
So if homeowners just need a roof, everything else is up to code and public health and safety
standards are met within the home and on the exterior.
These homeowners can receive up to $25,000 for the roof, again, project delivery is at
15 percent, and the assistance for roof-only option is given as a form of a three-year
Forgivable Loan.
So the maximum grant request for the city
for the roof only option would be $28,750 per home.
So what makes a property within the city eligible
to participate with these funds?
The property must be the sole residence
of all homeowners on the deed.
The property must be current on the mortgage.
The property value must not exceed the property value limit
which is established by IDA and for Stevenson County,
it's 209,000.
The property must be held in fee simple title,
meaning no contract for deed
and no ownership held in trust.
The title must also be clear of mechanics liens
and tax liens.
A property is ineligible if taxes have been sold
to a tax buyer and properties with open foreclosure
or for Closure cases are also ineligible.
The property must be able to record the item mortgage
on the property and it also must be owner occupied
and single family residence.
What are some ineligible property types?
No reverse mortgages, no investment properties,
again, no ownership in a trust or contract for deed situation,
no properties that are primarily used for business,
Meaning that 50% or more of the floor space
within the residence is used for business.
And then also the IDA mortgage,
so this five-year or three-year forgivable loan
must be the first or the second position lien
on the property.
In certain circumstances, we can get written approval
depending on those circumstances from IDA
to allow the IDA mortgage to be the third lien.
And lastly, ineligible properties involving
and many others.
The grantee must be avoided at all costs.
For example, the grantee being the City of Freeport may not enroll an employee's house
in their HRAP program.
So what does this forgivable loan look like to the homeowner?
The homeowner does not have to pay back the loan at any period unless they sell the house
or the ownership is transferred.
So the loan balance will be due out at the net proceeds upon sale or transfer of the
property if such an event occurs within that five-year or three-year time frame.
The cash out, a cashing out will not be permitted during the loan period unless the unforgiven
loan balance is paid in full.
And then loans will be secured by a mortgage recorded against the property.
So all homeowners will be required to sign a forgivable five-year or three-year promissory
Renote based on the project type and construction costs with IDA.
In terms of application scoring criteria, so what is IDA looking for?
This is a competitive grant program.
There is 16 million available statewide.
So we have to convince the Illinois Housing Development Authority that the City of Freeport
deserves this money and can use it wisely.
and they will score it based on organization
and team capacity.
So that would include the City of Freeport's
previous management and team experience
with housing rehabilitation type programs.
The points will be awarded for this criteria
that clearly show a team is in place
to effectively administer and oversee the program.
If the staff or city does not have the capacity
to effectively administer the program,
they can contract with a third party contractor
who does have said experience.
and
the City of Washington. It is also scored on the City's work
plan and budget and cost control. Just ensuring that your program
is cost effective and you have a reasonable budget. Again, the
reasonable budget comes into play. The city would only have
two years to spend these funds. So feasibly, how much can we get
done in two years? So points would be awarded under this
criteria for applicants that demonstrate a systematic
and others. Third criteria is program need, impact, and demand. So the application needs
to provide evidence supporting the need and the demand for the program, including data
analysis, letters of support, and evidence of community input. And then lastly, readiness
to proceed. If IDA were to turn around and say, yep, here's your money, how quickly
can you you know mobilize and hit the ground running and administer your
program. If the city decides to apply some recommendations on how that
application package would be in discussions with you know Director
Duckman I would recommend that you request the full rehab project type
and
Dupont.
We are working on a new type of
type instead of giving it out based on accessibility and roof
only.
This allows for the most flexibility when you are
actually administering the program.
If we apply for 17 full rehab projects and we get into the
weeds and figure out this homeowner actually needs more
accessibility type activity or work done to their house, we
can always transfer it to an accessibility project type.
and
2-year loan for the city.
We will try to make sure that they can get a loan for the
city.
We will try to find out after inspections.
They only need a roof.
We can always transfer the project to a 3-year forgiveable
loan with a roof only.
And my recommendation for how many homes, I believe the city
would be able to feasibly get done in two years would be 17
homes.
What that looks like budget-wise or a budget
request would be the construction.
and
the rest of the district.
The next item is the
$1,000,000 per home for a full rehab project type. That would
allow for project delivery, 15% of construction at 127,500.
Additionally, administration, grant administration would be
another 48,875.
The number of grants received is $45,875, which is 5% of your construction and project
delivery requests, totaling a total grant request at $1,026,375.
So what does this look like if the City were awarded and how, you know, the steps it takes
to get to construction?
So IDA, the applications are due in March. IDA intends to review applications until June
or July. Once awards are announced, the programs will get, you know, their grant agreement
and be able to start doing the work and expending funds in August of 2025. So that gives us
till July of 2027. So what does the participant selection process look like? Who is going
to get these funds or benefit from these funds from the city.
So the grant is awarded to the city.
The city can then contract with the third party vendor
to administer the program.
That's when the third party administrator would work
with the city to develop a participant selection plan.
Once you develop your participant selection plan,
there are things within that plan that are already
and
the City of Washington.
The city of Washington is not only recommended but required by
IDA, but we can play around with the details in terms of media,
outreach, application intake, things like that.
Once we develop our participant selection plan, it's sent to IDA
for review to ensure that it complies with regulations.
We then, once they approve that, we can market the program to
Any homeowner that contacts the city wants seeing, you know, the social media posts or letter in the mail. However, the city decides to market the program. They would be put on a list on a first come first serve basis in order of correspondence. Then the administrator would take that list and have everyone on that list fill out a pre-application form, which is very basic information. You know, what they believe they make for income, how many people in the household, you know, are you current on your mortgage, things like that.
and others like that. Once the pre-application forms are in, we then can begin scheduling interviews, and that's when eligibility will really become important or will determine homeowner eligibility.
So IDA has a process in which to schedule interviews to make it fair. They would involve three calls or emails within 48 hours in the order that you have in your intended participant list.
and others. If no response within that 48 hours, you would send a certified letter in the mail after 10 days and still no response. You would then remove that participant from the interested participant list and they essentially forfeit their ability to use program funds. And we would also send a letter informing them that they've been removed from the list. If you are able to get a hold of somebody, you then schedule an interview.
and Ida, and the last time we do a review is when we determine income. And income is calculated based on Ida's income calculator as well as a level of home inspection. So the home inspection is important because when I would be there, you know, in taking everybody's income information, figuring out which documents we need in order to process this, the income calculations after I would finish them would be sent to Ida to review. So we would get the final
and I will say from IDA, but the home inspection, we only have $50,000 and priority has to go
to code violations and public health and safety type work.
So the home inspection would be important simply because if a home needs a lot more
than $50,000 to bring it up to code, it's just not a feasible project for these funds.
and more.
Once the income calculations are approved by IDA, the city would then take them and rank
them, determining participant eligibility and then moving forward with program administration.
A note at the bottom, once the city does submit their participant selection plan, it can be
amended.
So say this is our plan, we're doing this, and something isn't working any longer, something
that's not going to jeopardize the fairness of the participant selection, but maybe something
and the process that needs to change, we can always amend it with IDA approval.
A little more information on the income calculator, so how does IDA calculate income?
It's calculated for all household members over the age of 18.
Income includes earned income, so the full amount before any payroll deductions of wages
and
more.
The income calculator also takes into consideration
the cost of living expenses and salaries, overtime pay,
commissions, fees, tips and bonuses and other compensation
for personal services.
It also includes assets, which is derived income,
such as checking and savings account balances, certificates
of deposit, stocks, value of home, et cetera,
as well as unearned income, so benefits, including pensions,
Bates, and a number of dependents, child care deductions, disability, elderly, and disabled.
The application due March 14th asks the applicant to describe your procedures and mechanisms
for intake and selection, including how your organization will prioritize eligible participants
in your program.
If the City moves forward with the application, I would recommend to stay in line with IDA's
recommendations by prioritizing households or homeowners that have a household income
of less than or equal to 50% of the area median income.
This would not only ease the administrative burden and some of the administrative costs
and the City of Wisconsin.
So, we have a lot of opportunities to process the
number of applications when it's open citywide.
It would also prioritize the most in-need homeowners and
households. So, what is 50% area median income?
So, Stevenson County, one person household is $28,500.
Two person household, $32,600. And so on and so forth.
Household is $53,750 and again people in the household are only people over 18. So
then if we have so say we're doing 17 homes we're going to write the
application and request 17 homes however if one of the homes is less than
50,000 we could always you know add to it and this process allows for that to
happen so if more than 17 participants are eligible in this less than 50%
and
the City of Santa Barbara.
The city would hold a lottery to determine the recipient of those
funds. If less than 17 participants are eligible, we
would then bump up the income threshold to less than or equal
to 80%, which is, you know, viable or recommended by IDA.
And that way, if houses are done, we use less than $50,000, so
Lewis, the lottery system would ensure that the eligible participants are fairly considered.
Any questions?
Yes.
Darren?
Hi Tara, how are you?
Good, how are you?
Good presentation.
Thanks.
I would like a couple of clarifications just for city questions.
Can any of the money be spent in the flood zone or a floodway?
In a floodway?
A floodway or a flood zone.
Freeport has quite a few homes that are in the floodway, so I think I know the answer.
I just wanted to ask that out loud.
Sure.
I do not have that answer on hand right now, but I will definitely research it and provide
it to the city.
Okay.
Another question I had is this for only owner-occupied properties, not landlords, correct?
Correct.
And I think you stated this, but let's pretend that a house has a value of only $10,000 and
$50,000 won't bring it up to code.
They will not end up qualifying for the program, correct?
Correct.
Thank you.
With recommendation from a certified housing inspector.
Yep.
Thank you.
Any other questions? Alderman, Stacy?
Why did we, if this was something we wanted to consider, why didn't we start on the 21st?
Why are we starting 11 days behind?
Sure. The program information, it opened up on February 5th. I got the information out
to the city. We didn't talk about it seriously until probably last week or the
week before when we were talking about housing rehab efforts within the city
and that's when Wayne and I said yep this is something we need to take to
council. It's an opportunity that's out there. We need to be ready to go for it
if the council so chooses. So I also want to add there too that that would be six
Weeks, Ida Gives,
Six weeks IDA gives the community to make a decision to apply, they call it a notice of applications or notice of funding opportunity and that came out on February 5th and so Taryn and I had several conversations about grant capacity, the Community Development Block Grant, where we were at with that current efforts and ultimately we were talking about bringing it to the last council meeting in February
I want to thank you, Tara. You did an excellent job with this presentation. We felt that we should, it would be better to come better prepared March 3rd. We worked, you know, I know typically this council has a lot of questions. So we really wanted to make sure working on this presentation. We didn't want to be hasty and not have answers. So give you a lot of credit, Tara, for coming out and really putting a lot of effort into this presentation. So that's the reason why we were going to do it.
and the last meeting, but we felt we needed to gather more information to present it today.
Alderman Stacy, did you have a follow-up?
So it's going to cost us $6,500 to go after this money, but there's no guarantee that
we will even get a penny.
Correct.
That's typical of any grant.
Alderman Monroe.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
I've got several questions here I'd like to get through.
Sure.
I would recommend it be MSA because we've worked with the city on existing housing rehab programs. So in terms of an experienced grant administrator, it would behoove the city to work with somebody else.
Awesome.
It is not the city is able to work with whomever. I would just recommend it be with MSA.
that sounds great so the way I understood your presentation that this
could apply to new home builds such as maybe you know maybe tiny homes or
manufactured homes that are put on empty lots in our community is that correct?
That is correct there is a new home property value threshold as well the
existing home was 209,000 and there is a new home number I believe it's it's more
and
John.
Okay.
But I can pull that.
And.
Not on this computer.
That's fair enough.
If you want to pull that up.
This next one should be pretty easy.
Who's authorized to do the home inspections?
Does the person go out and get their own home inspector?
Does the city?
How do we do that?
So when you do contract with a third party grant administrator such as MSA, we would
sub-consult with a lead certified housing inspector.
Okay, thank you.
Any other questions?
Yes, does this have anything to do with why the city wanted to purchase that property that
was brought to the council last meeting, City Manager Boyer?
Not specifically.
Not specifically, I don't understand that answer.
Well if it can be used for something like this, I don't, you know, infill housing, that'd
Dixie.
That's a good question.
I think it would be great use for it, but that wasn't specifically what we were getting
it for.
It was either infill housing or some commercial property development.
Okay.
I also noticed that Brittany had already signed, the team leader had already signed.
That's typical practice for the professional services agreements we send to clients.
That means it's been reviewed at the MSA level and we're ready to move forward once
and the City makes a decision and executes the contract.
What's going to be in play to keep from having another incident like 1010 South Adams?
She would have no idea what you're talking about there.
Yes, she does. She was here.
Well, I can answer that. There's different guidelines for IDA, which I thought you did an excellent job talking about how IDA
Ida has its own calculator right there, and you can go look at how they actually calculate what income is, and that's it. Ida sends a spreadsheet, there's the link, they fill in the spreadsheet based on the data that's given to them, and if they fall within the parameters of area, median, income, they qualify for the grant, and that's what Ida looks at, Ida reviews it, and you gotta remember, Ida's talking about the state of Illinois and helping out people, which is really what this grant is about.
Fowler.
There's no, you know, MSA and TARA approached me about this grant opportunity and it's really
to bring help to people that are in need.
They live in their homes, they're low income, and you know, no government program is perfect,
but they've been doing this for a long time and they have a standardized form and it's
really just meant to get people in the most need, the help that they can.
time, the need is going to extend past what is available. You know, we're going to request
up to a million dollars. We may not get up to a million dollars. You might only get $400,000.
But should we stop? Should we quit? I mean, somebody is going to need these funds. We just
had a community member up here, Wendy Slayton. She's telling you that the community is telling
you we need help. Should we stop because you know what, we don't have enough money and
just say we're not going to do 17 homes or 10 homes because we can't bring aid to everybody?
I think it's worth trying.
I think it's something you should look into yourself
and think that it's probably worth trying
to help our community.
Director Duckman, you were the first person
pertaining to that other grant that said
you would never go after another grant
because you don't want the responsibility.
You didn't want the responsibility of the last one.
that's why it fell in others hands.
I don't, I deny it saying it that.
Of course you would.
Let's not throw unfounded accusations.
But now it's like the people and if we can only help
this many compared to that many.
Well, I mean, it's pretty clear what the IDA guidelines are
and I'm trying to bring an opportunity
to help the community and if honestly,
and I'm being very respectful here and saying if this council thinks that IDA has unfair
practices maybe it's just not the right grant for our community if that's what you're saying.
I mean if you feel that way I'm being very honest but I'm telling you that I believe
in my role is to bring as much aid as I can to the community and I think this is a good
program and I think it could help.
I think we can bring some aid to our community.
I'm not down speaking IDA at all.
But now all we have is 11 days. If it was so important, why you didn't come?
It's just the application is 11 days. This whole process, the grant award will probably
come at some point. IDA will make its decision. Right now what we're talking about is $6,500
to retain MSA to write the grant application. And IDA will review it and they'll make a
And make the clear that any of those programs will be run through December from the beginning of October, and October 3rd will come after that.
So that sets up the process, and then the city will take a determination on whether the city can move forward, and then there will be plenty of time for marketing this program, processing applications, determining income.
All this is being talked about today is to write the grant.
Let me just...
It's writing the grant application.
Program, and I think I agree with you, Wayne, so many people out there that is really looking
for help to get their roofs done, their windows done, doors done, whatever they can get done
to their homes. But I also think that, you know, we got to look at if there's grants
out there that we can go after and help, that's what we're supposed to be doing. I guess that's
what his department is supposed to be doing. So I do think that is something that we need
to go after and help people in our community because it goes all over the city of Freeport,
correct?
Correct.
So anybody, that other grant just went for a certain area.
This can go anywhere, so anybody can get help.
So I think it's a good idea, I really do.
Alderman Klemm?
I just have one question, and it was the fact of reaching out to people after the grants
were selected and so on and so forth.
Are there extra grants selected in case somebody falls out from not being able to be, well it was listed more so as sending them out a letter or three phone calls or three emails or something like that because we all know some people in these positions might be hard to get a hold of also.
Does that just go by the wayside then or is there another person that takes that place?
We would have a list, our intended participant list, that would likely have a lot more folks than we need to reach out to, so once, you know, once we don't get, we go through the appropriate processes and don't get a response for somebody, we just move on down to the next one.
Thank you.
Any other discussion?
Thank you for your presentation.
We move on to item number 6, which is the adoption of resolution 2025-30. Madam Clerk, could you please read this for the record?
Resolution to approve an agreement with MFMSA Professional Services to provide IDA Home Repair and Accessibility Program grant writing services.
Director Duckman.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
So what this resolution would
So what this resolution is discussing
is moving forward with MSA.
We just saw their presentation, and it
would be in the amount of $6,500 for them
to write a grant application for the IDA Home
Repair and Accessibility Program.
And staff recommends moving forward with the resolution.
Is there a motion to adopt?
So moved.
Second.
We have a motion made by Alderman Parker,
Seconded by Alderman Sellers. Discussion on the resolution.
Madam Clerk, please take the roll.
Excuse me, Parker?
Aye.
Stacy?
No.
Shadle?
Aye.
Sanders?
No.
Sellers?
Aye.
Klemm?
Aye.
Monroe?
Aye.
Simmons?
Aye.
The motion passes six to two.
Item number seven is service awards. Manager Boyer.
Thank you, Your Honor. I'm going to turn this over to Darren for Brandon Wells and then Chief Shenberger for Emily.
Yeah, thank you. I'll do Brandon Wells. He's not here tonight. He had a family event that he couldn't make it, but Brandon Wells has been with the Public Works Department for 15 years.
Brandon has worked for the city in the maintenance department.
His first position was maintenance electrician and serves as the maintenance foreman today.
Brandon and his team are responsible for maintaining the water plants, wells, wastewater treatment plant, all of our lift stations,
and ensuring the facilities are functioning and properly running 24-7.
Brandon and his highly skilled have a wide variety of specialized maintenance skills, including but not limited to electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and building repairs.
Brandon is highly motivated, enjoys tough challenges that we seem to have plenty of.
He manages routine preventative maintenance and performs significant repairs to equipment and to the facility.
He humbly goes about his day and daily task, and Brandon has no task that's beneath him within the city.
He's also a great teacher of his craft and enjoys passing his skills on to others.
Brandon performs his task at a high level, consistently, and provides high value to the city utility.
You might ask how he provides that. Many of the repairs that Brandon does saves the city thousands of dollars in cost of outside people to come in and do that.
He oversees most of the repairs at all the facilities and provides significant savings regularly. We appreciate his 15 years of faithful service and wish him the best.
Thank you. Chief?
Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to recognize Emily Danikis for her five years of service with the City of Freeport.
Emily actually started off as a member of our Police Explorer Program, and then she transitioned as a member of our Freeport Police Department Auxiliary Unit when she became old enough.
About five years ago, Emily was hired as a telecommunicator in the Dispatch Center, and during her time with the City of Freeport, she's established herself as a dependable and valued employee.
Emily also serves in other capacities, that being a trainer, so she trains new telecommunicators who are going through that training process, and again, she could not be here tonight because of a prior commitment, but I just want to express my sincere thanks to her
for her commitment to the Dispatch Center and the City of Report.
Thank you.
Item number eight is an appointment.
Could you please read this?
Appointment of Roger Scholz to the Library Board for a three-year term effective through
May 31, 2028.
Is there a motion to approve?
So moved.
Second.
A motion made by Alderman Klemm, seconded by Alderman Monroe.
Any discussion?
Madam Clerk.
Why did you choose this gentleman?
I'm sorry, can you repeat that?
Why did you choose this gentleman?
He's willing to serve.
He's been on the board previously,
back, I think, 20 years ago.
He seems to be a good fit.
Talked about it with
Director Huffines, and
she agrees.
And for the record, he's also a
local Arthur.
That was my question.
If there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk, please take the roll.
Parker?
Aye.
Stacy?
Aye.
Shadle?
Aye.
Sanders?
Aye.
Sellers?
Aye.
Klemm?
Aye.
Monroe?
Aye.
Simmons?
Aye.
And the motion is approved, 8-0.
And item number 9 is the second reading of Ordinance 2025-12.
Could you please read this?
Ordinance amending Chapters 1248 and 1252 of the Zoning Code of the City of Freeport
Concerning Storage Facilities in Business and Agricultural
Districts.
Director Duckman.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
So in this second reading, I'll just give a recap
of what we talked about in the last meeting.
So essentially, what is going on here
is storage facilities were, currently, they're
allowed in the B3 district, the Agricultural District.
And they're also allowed by a special use
permit in the B2 zoning districts.
So what this is proposing is to only allow storage facilities like a CubeSmart, for example,
in the manufacturing districts.
And just a little recap, what drove this, we brought this to our planning commission
on February 13th, which was recommended by approval of 6-0.
What has spurred this is we've had several expansions in the past year, several self-storage
We've seen a large increase in our retail areas, and we anticipate that it could potentially
grow and continue to grow and take over areas where we really could use some more variety
in our retail, especially considering that these self-storage facilities take up large
geographic areas.
So with that being said, staff is recommending approval in line with our planning commission
of this ordinance. Thank you. Any further discussion? Madam Clerk, please take the roll.
Parker? Aye. Stacy? Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? Aye. Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Monroe? Aye. And Simmons? Aye.
The ordinance passes 8-0. And item number 10 is the second reading of ordinance 2025-11. Could
Could you please read this?
Ordinance approving hangar leases for A1, Dennis Miller, H1,
Alexander Glocker, J, Matt Van Bergen, L1, Ron Jansen, L2,
Heritage Aviation, L3, Rob Tekempe,
Doing Business as Tangle 34, L5, Paul Oda, L7, Pam Manis, M1,
John Eink, M3, Greg Manuel, M4, Ken and Paula Irwin, M8,
David Hayes, and N10 John Staben.
Manager Boyer.
Thank you, Your Honor.
Just following up, this is cleaning up the leases situation
at the airport.
We have the new lease format, which was approved by council.
And these individuals were reviewed last council meeting
and staff requests moving forward with these leases.
Are there any discussion on these particular leases?
Alderman Stacey.
Yes.
Hanger L3, Rob, Tecumple, and then it says Tango 34 LLC,
different hanger.
So this is two hangers.
When we sent the leases out, his came back
in a different hanger, so it's not two hangers.
He just was previously not an L3.
He's moved to a different hangar, which is L3.
Okay.
Any other discussion?
Madam Clerk, please take the roll.
Parker?
Aye.
Stacy?
Aye.
Shadle?
Aye.
Sanders?
Aye.
Sellers?
Aye.
Klemm?
Aye.
Monroe?
Aye.
And Simmons?
Aye.
The ordinance passes eight to zero.
Item number 11 is the first reading of ordinance 2025-13.
Could you please read this?
This is the next batch of hangers that have come back in. This is an ordinance approving those.
E-1, Propwash, K-8, The Champ Club, New Lease, so they've not previously been in K-8 before,
L-6, KCS, LLC, KCS is also in L-8, M-6, David Sly, N-1, Howard Norman, N-9, Tim Mickle.
Manager Boyer.
Thank you, Your Honor. Again, we have been getting these in as rapidly as possible.
This is the second batch that's come through. Staff request a suspension of the rules and approval of these leases.
Is there a motion to move this forward?
Tomo? Second.
Motion made by Alderman Klemm, seconded by Alderman Monroe. Alderman Monroe. Thank you, Madam Mayor.
This is questions for a City Manager. How many of these are still outstanding after this batch goes through?
and Andrew. Madam Clerk. I mailed out 50
Madam Clerk? I mailed out 50. So I haven't done a count, but this isn't half. No. No. Thank you.
Alderman, oh go ahead. Why do some hangers have
the holder's name and
some have
the listed business. Why if they have a business aren't isn't the business listed?
Alderperson, Stacy, my guess is that these are private airplane, you know, pleasure aircraft
where the other ones are listed under a business.
Dovie, did you have something to add?
Yeah.
If they provide a business name, it's listed.
If they don't provide a business name, then they're leased under the individual's name.
Any further discussion?
As per requested, is there a motion to suspend the rules?
Second.
Seconded by Alderman Monroe, seconded by Alderman Sellers.
A suspension of the rules is non-debatable and was passed by two-thirds majority.
Madam Clerk, would you please take the roll on the suspension only?
Parker?
Aye.
Stacy?
Aye.
Shadle?
Aye.
Sanders?
Aye.
Sellers?
Aye.
Klemm?
Parker, Stacey, Shadel, Sanders, Sellers, Klemm, Monroe, Simmons.
This ordinance has passed 8-0.
Item number 12 is the first reading of ordinance 20-25-14.
Could you please read this?
Adopting the Official Zoning Map of the City of Freeport.
Thank you, Director Duckman.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
So the State of Illinois requires communities to publish annually their zoning maps and also
to publish any or discuss if there was any zoning map amendments and in the year of 2024,
I have it up here, I can turn off the lights if necessary, but essentially there were zero
and
Mr.
Miller.
We have a new
map amendment in the year of 2024.
With this being stated and with the zoning map in front of you,
staff is recommending moving this ordinance forward for a second
reading.
Is there a motion to move this forward?
So moved. Second.
the Ordinance. Seeing none, we'll move on to item number 13, which is the first reading
of Ordinance 2025-16. Could you please read this? Ordinance approving the acquisition
of real property interests, including land and easements, along Fairgrounds Road for
well number 12. Thank you, Manager Boyer. Thank you, Your Honor. As discussed, February
10th in closed session, city staff is recommending moving forward with the purchase of a property
Approximately 7 acres south of Crate Park. We'll have the map up here. As you know, the
City of Freeport's water system has been systematically upgraded since we were first made aware of
Forever Chemicals in our main water plant, Source Water, at Brick Street. Since then,
We have gone offline on the Brook Street plant, have been developing new source water and filtration
capacity that has recently come to a conclusion on the Berchard plant at Berchard Hill.
We have one more well and treatment plant that is necessary to ensure that we have redundant
capacity in place and so staff has been working for the last year trying to find a location
for that.
We located the best, not only quality of water, but a good location for the city at this location
on Forrest Road. We then reached out and worked up a option agreement with the
property owners and we are ready to move forward to ensure that we receive grant
funding that's available and whether it's five million dollars in
forgivable loans, another seven million dollars in emerging contaminants funding
money, we're interested in moving it along rapidly from the standpoint of
making sure that those funds we actually receive given the change in
administration. So staff is asking for a suspension of the rules related to this
Project. Is there a motion to move this forward? So moved. Second. Is there a motion made by Alderman Klemm, seconded by Alderman Sellers? Darren? I just want to emphasize the importance of this moving forward. We are planning on going out to bed at the end of the month with well house number 12 and it's imperative that we have the property in place in order to get the forgiveness and the emergent contaminants money. Again,
and Rob Brown, and it's $12.2 million around the line, and this plan, property, not this
exact property, but property was planned in the 2025 budget for this purchase.
Why it's taken so long is City Manager and I have been working on real estate in that
corridor for probably over six months and had to move from property to property because
and others, we had significant issues trying to gain enough property to build the structure
and the well that we need in a quality area.
This area's been tested, we feel that we'll have significant good water quality like we
did at well 11, it's 6,500 feet away and also has the yellow creek as the aquifer foundation
to the well that we'll be drilling there.
So if anybody doesn't know, this is on the curves out on Fairgrounds Road and Park.
City Manager.
And one last thing, just the city provided $9,500 in the first option agreement with
the landowners and that is non-refundable.
So I would like to move forward as not part of the purchase price.
Alderman Monroe.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
Even though Director Steekle didn't really sell me on the Yellow Creek, Yummy Water,
I will make a motion to suspend the rules and move this forward.
Second.
We have a motion made by Alderman Monroe, seconded by Alderman Sellers for suspension
of the rules.
Again, that's non-debatable and must pass by two-thirds majority.
Madam Clerk, would you please take the roll on the suspension only?
Parker?
Aye.
Stacy?
Aye.
Shadle?
Aye.
Klemm, Monroe, and Simmons. The suspension of the rules passes 8 to 0. So now before
you is the final passage for this ordinance Alderman Stacey. Yes I would
like to know how much is this gonna cost us?
Manager, Boyer? Approximately $22,000 an acre. $22,000 an acre? Correct. Yes. And that includes the earnest money as well. And how many acres are we looking at? So we originally asked for 10, but we were able to get the work done that we needed for 7, so we renegotiated with the owner
and 7 was all we needed.
Any other discussion?
Yes, one more?
Let me see if anybody else has, because you used your 2.
If no one objects.
OK, Alderman Stacey.
Without having this property, Darren, I'm sorry, Director,
and without knowing how many acres,
how did we budget for something like this?
So anybody can easily research
what commercial type properties go for
in Stevenson County and in the city.
And so we took a stab at what it might cost
or what the max value we were willing to pay for properties.
There was two other properties that City Manager
and I negotiated on, one of them was a half a million dollars an acre, and another one
was $50,000 an acre. So we deemed them unaffordable and way beyond our budget. $20,000 would be
high for farm ground, but not for commercial ground. And this opportunity gives us a lot
of legs for the future growth of Freeport. And the attributes, as I discussed in executive
We have a lot of obsession to this property, way into the price, so it's one of the areas of Freeport that doesn't flood, right, so we want to get just like well house 11, we need to place this in somewhere that's not low ground, the attributes to the yellow creek, one of the reasons that we like that is the water source is permanent and it filters through the ground layers, and we are drilling down to 1300 feet is the expectation for this well, similar to well 11.
the future expansion to Freeport is significantly beneficial to this property.
I will also remind everyone this well in particular will feed 70% of the people in Freeport because
it feeds the Low Zone which is our largest population of zone.
It's our business district, the down south, the east side.
We will be pumping
and the Eastside, so we will be pumping that water across Walnut Avenue and to the East part of town.
Did you say 70?
About 70 percent, yeah, because it's most of our commercial businesses and most of our downtown area and to the East.
And that's where we need the extra capacity at.
If there's no further discussion, please take the roll.
Parker? Aye. Stacy? Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? Aye. Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Monroe? Aye. And Simmons? Aye. The ordinance passes 8 to 0. Item number 14 is the adoption of Resolution 2025-26. Could you please read this?
Resolution approving a Memorandum of Understanding or MLU with Mississippi Centers for Supervision of Police Social Worker while obtaining Masters of Social Work degree.
Thank you, Chief Shenberger.
Thank you.
In October of 2024, the police social worker at that time resigned his position with the
Freeport Police Department to pursue a position with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
Human Resources advertised for the open position of police social worker.
After the initial posting, the police department received interest from one applicant that
was prepared to offer employment to the applicant.
However, the applicant declined to accept the position with another agency.
The open position was posted a second time and HR received interest from one applicant.
The applicant is local and obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Psychology and Criminal
Law and Justice from University of Illinois Chicago in 2023.
She also had over two years of employment in the social services field and is a member
of the United States Army National Guard.
The applicant anticipates receiving her Masters of Social Work in July 2026.
The Police Social Worker position was offered to this applicant and she started her role
on February 10th, 2025.
The Freeport Police Department reached out to Mississippi Centers to have a licensed clinical
social worker supervise the new police social worker on a weekly basis until she obtains
her Masters of Social Work in July of 2026.
In 2022, the Freeport Police Department hired a police social worker under similar circumstances
who also required supervision from an LCSW until she received her certification.
The police social worker will also work closely with the Stevenson County Sheriff's Office
social worker.
The supervision of a police social worker until she obtains her masters of social work
is not uncommon.
According to the National Association of Social Workers and Association of Social Work Boards,
working under an LCSW supervisor is important to the profession to have assurance that all
All social workers are equipped with the necessary skills to deliver competent and ethical social
work services.
Professional supervision is defined as the relationship between a supervisor and a supervisee
in which the responsibility and accountability for the development of competence, demeanor,
and ethical practice take place.
The supervisor is responsible for providing direction to the supervisee who applies social
Work Theory, Standardized Knowledge, Skills, Competency, and Applicable Ethical Content
in the Practice Setting.
The supervisor and the supervisee both share responsibility for carrying out their role
in this collaborative process.
This MOU with the Mississippi Centers includes one two-hour session per week at no cost.
Any time spent by the Mississippi over two hours a week could be subject to a charge
of $40 an hour, however, it's not anticipated that this will be necessary.
Thank you.
Is there a motion to adopt?
So moved.
Second.
A motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Klemm.
Questions on the resolution?
Madam Clerk, please take the roll.
Parker?
Aye.
Stacy?
Aye.
Shadle?
Aye.
Sanders?
Aye.
Sellers?
Aye.
Since you're returning, Alderperson, Monroe, do you want to vote or not? Okay, thank you. That is 8 to 0 and the resolution is adopted.
Item number 15 is the adoption of resolution 2025-27. Could you please read this?
Resolution approving an agreement with Fehr Graham to provide civil engineering services related to IDOT surface transportation program, urban portion, which is STU,
FAU, STU, STU Funded Street Improvements Program.
Manager Boyer?
Thank you, Your Honor.
So February 10th, we discussed the various FAU applicable routes.
These are federal routes that we can use federal funding for.
They are very particular about how work is done, and we're trying to make a point of
using these funds for mill and overlay projects.
So those projects were identified as Lincoln Boulevard from Locust to West, Stevenson Street
from Locust to Sunset, Adams Avenue from Exchange to Float, and Walnut Avenue from Empire to
South.
So that is the list of projects we're hoping to do.
However, because we have to do an environmental study, we'd like to move forward with design
on this, even though construction won't begin until 2026.
So staff requests Council move forward with this agreement with Fehr Graham to move forward.
The total cost of the agreement is $218,150 and that will prepare us for utilization of
these funds in the 2026 construction season.
Is there a motion to adopt?
So moved.
Second.
A motion made by Alderman Klemm, seconded by Alderman Shadle.
Discussion on the resolution?
Madam.
I have a question.
Alderman Stacy.
Alderman, Stacy Okay, this is a grant that will pay $2.5 million.
It is not per se in a grant.
This is funds that are dispersed through IDOT, but they have to be dispersed in a specific
and Stacey. We have a very high level of parameters. Unfortunately, we were hoping to deploy these
funds this year, but because of the environmental study that needs to be done, I think it's
an eight or nine month process. These will end up being deployed in 26, but we still
need to get the work done now so we can deploy these funds in 26.
Alderman, Stacy
Okay, so we currently have two contracts with Fehr Graham.
Water Works Director and Master Service contract.
Why wouldn't one of those cover this cost to go after this money?
and others. Those are different projects. So the Public Works Director, I believe that's
what you're referring to, that is dealing with the day-to-day management and working
with the superintendents and the employees day-to-day. This is actually designed and
preparation for the STU funds to be deployed next year. It's just a completely different
thing. I don't know if Darren wants to-
with the second contract that we have with Fehr Graham.
So we do multiple contracts with the city every year.
The Public Works Director is exactly what Rob said.
That's me running the day-to-day of Public Works
with the Superintendent, so that's a standalone contract.
The Master Service Agreement is small contracts,
things that we help the Fire Department with
or the Police Department or specific things,
and others, building issues, other grants that we go after, smaller projects.
Whenever we get into big projects, we do stand-alone contracts for them.
It defines the scope of the project better than the Master Service Agreement.
We could add this money on to the Master Service Agreement, but when it comes to IDOT or EPA
or anything that's federally funded, has money in it, they like to see stand-alone contracts
for just that project alone.
So to be honest with you, this is a more transparent way
of bringing it to the council and to the floor
so everybody can see the contracts
rather than just the day-to-day stuff that are,
I don't wanna say they're meaningless,
but they're much smaller items
like helping the Fire Chief get a grant for windows
or helping the police station with their canopy
that fell down, things like that.
That's what the master service contract is for.
Okay, so this is not gonna happen until 2026.
The construction won't, the design process needs to start now if we want to get the project
constructed.
And we budgeted for this?
We have engineering budgets for it and all the expense won't come this year.
Some of it will come this year and some of it will come in 26.
I would say this project was not budgeted for like it is shown today because we didn't
know that we were going to be able to get this money when we did budgets, right?
So that's what I said in the memo, this is a chance to get $2.5 million, but we have
to support the engineering ourselves.
So I already have the negotiations done with IDOT, we will get this funding, maybe even
a little bit more, because it's a cost estimate, it's not perfect, right, it's 10,000 feet
at the moment, but if we don't move forward with the engineering now, this will not be
Reconstructed in 26 because the
Holt, Tom, George, C.D., and now the board of trustees.
The board of trustees is the only thing in our community that
is going to be constructed in 26 because the ESR alone is a
nine-month process.
≫ Thank you for being truthful. ≫ Alderman Klemm?
≫ What is the environmental issue?
≫ It is being pushed down from the federal government.
We went to a seminar about it but anything that has a dollar of
federal money tied to it anymore is going to end up having an ESR
and other agencies, that, and archeological studies are the new buzzwords, and unfortunately,
they're very expensive to do.
We're working on some drainage issues over in the Sioux Basin, and we were just notified
that we have to do an archeological study to look for arrowheads and Indian findings
because it came up on some reports.
So it's a hot buzz item within the engineering world.
and again the seminar that we went to said any project that has one dollar of federal
funds in it is going to retire those two options to be done moving forward.
Thank you.
Any other discussion on this resolution?
Seeing none Madam Clerk please take the roll.
Parker?
Aye.
Stacy?
Aye.
Shadle?
Aye.
Sanders?
Aye.
Sellers?
Aye.
Klemm?
Aye.
Monroe?
Item number 16 is the adoption of Resolution 2025-28. Could you please read this?
Resolution ratifying emergency demolition of the structure located at 402 to 404 East Shawnee Street by Elber and Sun Earthworks.
Director Duckman.
Thank you, Madam Mayor. So we're bringing this back up to Council for approval.
It is the emergency demolition of 402-404-E Shawnee.
This property was declared a chronic nuisance on May 16th of 2024.
The city posted a notice for the Statutory Fast Track Demolition on September 3rd of 2024.
And then due to the immediate health and safety concerns, I solicited bids for the demolition of this property on December 11th, 2024 from three contractors.
In the memorandum, I posted the solicited bids, as well as the return bids.
The bids are listed below and are provided to you.
And they were, Elburn Sun Earthworks provided a bid in the amount of $19,700.
Northern Illinois Service Company provided a bid for $29,837.
And Fisher Excavating did not respond to the request for bid.
The city moved forward with the demolition from Alvern Sun Earthworks, which was met the statutory requirement of 120 days from the posting or the statutory fast-track demolition and staff recommends approval of this resolution.
Is there a motion to approve this resolution? Second. A motion made by Alderman Parker, seconded by Alderman Shadle. Discussion on the resolution? Alderman Stacey?
What was the real emergency? What was the emergency?
Oh, gosh. I mean, I think I talked about that for an hour a couple weeks ago, but I think the biggest emergency here when we talk about public safety is
our fire department had two arson calls on this property.
Confirmed arson calls from our fire marshal.
It's a very serious matter when we're talking about the safety of our community. We also know that the property did not have insurance.
So, when you have a fire hazard that had two incidents of arson on it, and then since I've been in this position, I've been called several times on that property from the community saying, hey, somebody's been in the property, somebody's breaking in, so the true nature of the emergency for several reasons, but I believe the biggest threat to the community was the arson, the arson threat documented more than once,
and
other members of the community.
Any other discussion? Alderman, Monroe.
Thank you, Madam Mayor. Director Duckman, you know, thank you for
the timeline. It was nice to see that actually written down. Why
didn't you come to Council sooner? Because when we're talking, you
know, I don't remember exactly how many years and months, but you
and many other times.
But here we are May, August, September, October, December, and you never once thought of coming
to council like you do with every other demo.
Why didn't that occur?
And two, when did the city actually take ownership of the property?
A couple questions there.
Well, first answer is, this is now the second, I guess I'd say the third time I've talked
We talked about this demolition, right? We talked about it at Cal. We talked about the emergency, right?
Just please answer the two questions I asked. That's all I'm asking.
Okay, well, that's my first answer. So this is the third time we've talked about this demolition. So that's my answer to your first question.
After the fact.
Yes. Now, we're going to talk about the second question being, remind me of the second question so I can answer it.
So the first one, why didn't you come to the council before you demoed the house with
basically a structured agreement, everything in place, like we have every other demo we've done
in the city. Why didn't you do that? Because clearly there was an opportunity through November
and December to do that. No, I would say there wasn't. I would say it was done as an emergency
demolition, which is what I talk about in the memo, which is what I talked about, I believe it
and Sitka, Butterfield,
Second Question
Yeah.
When did we take possession of the property?
The city does not own this property and a fast-track demolition the city does
and others.
A fast track demolition, that's why you post notice to the property owner saying, hey,
you've left this property vacant, you've left it abandoned, and you left it as a nuisance
to the property, to this community, and if you don't fix it or demolish it yourself,
the city's going to because it's a nuisance and a threat to the community.
And that's exactly what we told the property owner.
And we told it to multiple property owners, this is not the first one we've done.
I just want some clarification on is this to just pay Albert and Sons for the work
is done because the house is gone so we can't change that so this is to pay them
for demoing the property this is 100% correct this is to pay them for the
and Stacey.
Yes.
Alderman Stacey?
Was this a fast track demo or was it an emergency demo?
Both.
Because we've never heard emergency until now.
You've always just said fast track.
Correct.
And when I actually brought up in January an emergency board up of the hotel, which
also had a threat of a fire in January.
So whenever there's a threat of a fire to this community in a structure, I'm going to stand
behind a demolition as fast as I can or a board up as fast as I can.
As long as there is a threat of fire in this community, I'm going to stand behind the quickest
action I can possible to protect this community from a fire threat.
So I did it in January for the hotel.
I solicited bids from three contractors.
Hutter,
I'm sorry, did you?
I said I'm not talking about the hotel.
Well I mean you asked if I had ever done an emergency action in the past and the answer
to that question is yes.
No, that's not what I said.
Okay, I said, was this a fast track demo or was it an emergency demo and when was the
fires?
It's both.
So it's both emergency and fast track.
And when were the fires?
The last fires were in 2021. So if it was such a big hazardous to the community, we're in 24.
I gave, I gave the property owner the opportunity to fix it, and they did nothing.
Oh, they did a whole lot. Did they? Enlighten me. My question for you, I'd like. Back on topic,
Bates, and I will also state that, and I said it in the last time this came up for resolution,
and I will say it again, if any council member would like to go to City Manager Boyer and
do an investigation into how I work, I stand behind my work and I always will.
And if the way I operate is looked at as being deceitful, dishonest, inappropriate, et cetera,
I stand behind that.
And if there's some disciplinary action of determination, I stand behind that.
and if that's the decision of my manager, I respect that.
My manager, I respect that, I'm not going to fight that, but I've proposed and I've
laid out everything I've done as part of this 6-year process that was going on before me
and ultimately I stand behind my decisions and I do not believe the contractor should
be punished for a decision that I made for the demolition of a property.
Alderman Monroe.
Thank you Madam Mayor.
and
Michael.
I have a final question. You said you have done many fast track or
emergency demolitions. Can you give an example of one?
Many, many fast track demolitions, yes. This is the
one emergency demolition that I can speak of. I said I did
another emergency action of a board up of a hotel in January.
and I brought both of them to council after the fact okay so if there's no
more discussion I'm paying this bill madam clerk please take the role Parker
aye Stacey no Shadle aye Sanders no Sellers aye Klemm Monroe no Simmons we
We have a 4-4 tie, Mayor?
Aye.
Point of order, Chair.
The resolution is adopted, 5-4.
Alderman, Monroe.
Thank you.
I believe Mayor Miller should be disqualified from voting on this matter due to the significant
conflict of interest.
Specifically, Mayor Miller is related to the party that's set to receive the funds and
has a financial interest in their business.
This situation violates our ethical standards and contravenes several legal provisions.
Illinois Administrative Code 44-3, Admin Code 7000-.30 defines a conflict of interest
as a situation where a person in authority may benefit financially from a decision made
in that capacity, including indirect benefits to family members or associated businesses.
Also, the City of Freeport Employee Handbook, while it primarily is for City employees,
emphasizes the City's commitment to an ethical conduct stating that no employee should use
their position to promote a personal business interest and this reflects the City's stance
against conflicts of interest.
In light of these considerations, I respectfully request that the Chair disqualify themselves
from voting on this matter to uphold our organization's integrity and comply with applicable laws
of Federal, State, and Local Ordinances.
Well, that's a nice little rehearsed piece there.
I would have to say that conflict of interest, I'm not a city employee, I'm an elected official,
and I believe at the last one you actually abstained, but what would have been your reason?
I don't even think you said it.
So if I choose to vote, I believe that's my right.
I appeal the decision of the chair then.
What do we do, what do we do with an appeal, I don't know what that is.
Adam Clark?
Can we have the definition of a family member?
I think, I think the owner is your first cousin once removed.
Is that correct?
Well, and it's, it's a person that's been doing business with the city for many, many
years.
Prior to my...
That you have no interest in the business.
...direction.
Yeah.
So...
And you have no interest, financial interest in the business.
None, none.
it's your uncle and your cousin i i i believe i know who my relatives are it's not an uncle
yeah so it's completely out of order so i'm asking so yeah this is out of order so you we don't have
a parliamentary ruling by the by the chair here like as to whether or not you know who gets to
speak or or this or that that you could you know appeal the decision uh there's statue says that
make a motion to reconsider that vote.
I believe she's not saying the mayor does that when there is a
vote.
When there is a tie, the mayor gets to cast a vote on that.
She casts a vote.
I'm appealing that vote under the robberts rules as well as the
rules of this Chamber.
Would she so eloquently say we need to follow this evening?
I guess I'm not sure.
You're asking for a motion to
in a decision where a member has a personal interest that can lead to a violation of state
and local ordinances, potentially resulting in legal consequences for the individual and
the city.
Alderman Rowe, I guess my response would be to that is, just as with any elected official,
if someone feels they should abstain, they have the right to abstain, but you're not
obligated to abstain if you don't want to.
I'm not obligated, so my vote stands.
Alderman Klemm I'd just like to bring up the fact that this
project was posted to the community for bidding. Anybody could bid it. Elber bid it as a low
bid. We contracted with him to take it down and he took it down. There isn't a reason
in the world that we shouldn't pay him. Alderman Sanders
all of that, this whole commentary that you guys are demonstrating before the public here.
And yeah, I resent the fact that you questioned ethics at the very beginning of our council
meeting. I think it was very inappropriate for you to project that kind of comment or
Southerland.
And I'm going to talk about the fact that you're making it and then give an explanation
to why you're making it.
And where did you pull that out of your hat is what got me perturbed right now, because
it's like you pulled that out from somewhere, but no one was able to rebut you on the whole
circumstances.
and so and when I'm sitting here listening to you doing it again you're out of order and I have a
right to say that you're out of order and reject whatever your sentiments are about the vote the
voting cast casting that took just taking place yeah it should you should be repealed because if
there is a conflict of interest and and the council have an interest in wanting to investigate it then
and we should have that opportunity to do so.
And so while we're talking about it and you, I just don't get how it is that you can vote
for something that has a conflict of interest.
You as the mayor trying to break a conflict of interest.
I don't see how you can do that.
Okay, then the conversation is done.
We'll move on to item number 17,
which is the adoption of resolution 2025-29.
Could you please read this?
Resolution approving a customer work agreement
with ComEd to upgrade street lights.
Darren?
Yeah.
So at the last meeting,
I was tasked, I'm not going to go through the whole memo, but I was tasked to work on the list of high crime areas in the city of Freeport and get lights replaced.
I received a list from Cecelia and from Chief Shenberger.
I went through the list. We went block by block over the list with ComEd.
Hed, they actually came out and did a survey. I authorized an agreement for 63 light replacements
at a cost of $23,562. We authorized that last week. You guys decided at the last meeting
it was an emergency to move this forward. The estimated increase in light cost is $5
Miller, Mayor, Mayor,
Crock, Avenue, and the areas identified in the memo.
We research solar lights.
I had a couple calls today with some lighting options.
I have a breakout of those lights.
Ultimately, anywhere that we currently have ComEd lighting in our city, where there's
existing poles and existing arms to put the Cobra heads on, the existing lights are about
about 50% cheaper over a 20-year period than solar lights would be.
In my research today talking to a couple companies, solar lights are good installation practices
when there isn't existing ComEd or they're underground and you have to set new poles.
They admitted that they can't compete on the cost of that full term.
Until the Breakout Over...
So the breakout over a 20 year period, a ComEd 40 to 60 watt light which is our standard that we have all over Freeport costs the city about $2,400 in rental cost and upkeep cost and lighting cost as well.
So those lights have a $10 rental cost per month and about $5 in electricity per month to our what they call our tower account.
County, the 149-watt ones will have a cost of $15 per month and an average estimated
electrical cost of $8 per month.
In the same scenario for solar lightings, if we buy 50 lights at a time, the cost of
the lighting poles would be $4,100.
If we don't buy 50 at a time and let's say we buy five at a time, the cost goes to $4,600.
Each pole will cost $1,500 to install and each pole will cost an average of $580 to
ship to Freeport during that purchase price.
So a 20-year comparison on a, and these were 80-watt lights is what the solar ones were,
a 20-year cost on that is $7,780.
The batteries that light solar lights are only good for 10 to 12 years max and they're
and others.
We have a replacement cost of $700.
The light itself is only good for 20 years and has a replacement cost today to $200 a
piece.
And the photo pail cell is currently $200 a piece to replace and they're estimated it
will last for about 30 years.
So upfront cost wise and the 10 and 20 year comparison, there really wasn't any comparison
now.
and the City of Freeport right now in 2025 will cost $374. The installation is included in that price and the maintenance costs that we pay will replace that light for life. So there will be no future cost other than that.
and the maintenance that we pay monthly.
Is there a motion to adopt this resolution?
I make a motion.
Second it.
We have a motion made by Alderman Stacy,
seconded by Alderman Sanders.
Discussion on the resolution, Alderman Sanders.
Yeah, Director Darin.
We're talking about the installation
of these lights and everything,
but are there going to be, are we able to get the effectiveness
and the brightness from these lights that are,
we're talking LED probably type lights
and the looms are going to be at the highest peak
of the looms that we can receive from these lightings
that we're purchasing of that price.
Yeah, so 149 watt light and the Cobra head style,
the widest looms or the strongest looms you can get
and others. 18,000 looms and that's what we've ordered with ComEd. They actually wanted to order, I think it was a 15,000 loom and I told them no to go to the brighter lights. I will tell you LED is brighter, right? So I don't want to get too bright. So you know, where we're burning earth house gas at night on Oak Street, but these should be plenty bright enough for the area. I walked down the area myself, there's a pole or excuse me, there's a light on this specific block of Oak we keep discussing. There's a light
about every third pole, if not every other pole. So it should be much, much brighter.
I would say anything more than that would be disruptive to the residents, you know,
properties themselves. We did address every light on Chief's list. It's a starting point.
I don't know that it's a finishing point, but it's a starting point. If, you know,
there are programs, I'm going to tell you, I have done more light research in the last
Binkley, and I have a whole lot of work to do. I think there's a whole lot of work in this next week and a half that I'd like to have done in my whole life. But there's programs out there to change every light in town. But it's going to be very expensive, and it will be an added cost to every user in this town per month for the rest of our life if we want to do that. This is a starting point. I don't have the exact number of lights we have, but I believe it's over 1500 lights.
Will we still be cutting back trees?
Yes, we are.
A matter of fact, Pat was out on a tour this week
with Rob and myself.
We went at different times.
So some of the trees, we're trying to get them clipped back.
Base, I will be honest with you, our number one
focus of trimming trees back is generally
started on the streets that we're addressing this year,
and I. We're trying to get the streets paved and the material and that's the first step
in the process is trimming them up. But in the crime areas, we're trying to go in there
and clip all the limbs back that we can as well. The forestry crew has been working on
that with the great weather we've been having.
I just want to say I appreciate you. I thank you for all your hard work. This, from the
Shadle, Sanders, Sellers, Klemm, Monroe, Simmons, The resolution is adopted.
Senate, 8-0.
Reports from Department heads, Finance?
Nothing, Your Honor.
Thank you.
Community Development?
Nothing, tonight, Madam Mayor.
Thank you.
Public Works?
I believe it's only 7.30.
Nothing, tonight.
Thank you.
Mayor?
Nothing this evening.
Police?
I have no report.
Library?
I will take up all of their time.
Thursday we are going to have our opening house for our exhibit titled Journey to
Freedom, the Underground Railroad exhibit. Journey to Freedom Illinois's
Underground Railroad is a new museum quality exhibit highlighting the
courageous stories of freedom seekers and the multiracial conductors who
assisted them on the Underground Railroad in Illinois. The exhibit is
located on the second floor of the Freeport Public Library and is open to
and the public. Experienced selected stories of freedom seekers, conductors, and communities
in Illinois that were part of the journey to freedom on the Illinois Underground Railroad.
This exhibit uses photos, videos, maps, personal stories, and illustrations created specifically
for this exhibit and visitors will learn about the people and communities who took part in
this hidden history. Highlighted stories include freedom seekers John and Eliza Little who
who traveled barefoot through Illinois to Canada
to gain their freedom or conductors like Henry
who worked for Abraham Lincoln and Mary Ann King Brown
who helped the enslaved to freedom
in the Springfield, Quincy and Galena areas.
This exhibit is open March 6th through April 5th
for all open hours of the library.
It is a collaboration between the Lincoln Douglas Society,
and the Greater Freeport Partnership, the Library, and Looking for Lincoln, which is a state organization.
Can you repeat those dates again?
March 6th through April 5th.
Thank you.
And then we have featured events that you can find on our calendar, in our newsletter,
but this open house is this Thursday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Thank you.
IT?
City Manager?
Manager. I think Your Honor just wanted to report another successful Refresh Freeport
event where we collected over 25 tons of garbage and over 50 mattresses. So that's work our
crews no longer have to contend with and we thank everybody for participating. And I have
nothing new this evening. Alderman Parker? Nothing tonight, Your Honor. Alderman Statham?
Nothing, thank you. Alderman Schaefer? I'd like to mention the Sixth Ward Neighborhood
Watches this Thursday night at 6 p.m. at Schwartz Park Boulevard.
Alderman Sanders?
Alderman Sellers?
Yes, I would just like everyone to remember to join the Citizens Utility Board Environmental
Study Group and State Representative John Cabello to learn about how to reduce your
utility bills and to tap into money-saving clean energy programs.
It is Thursday, March 6th, 530 to 730 at the Freeport Public Library and thank you.
Alderman Klemm?
Just a reminder of Neighborhood Watch later this month.
I'll get information out to all the constituents.
Thank you very much.
Alderman Monroe?
Nothing to nightmare.
Alderman Simmons?
No.
No, I don't.
Thank you.
That leaves us with public comment.
Are there any public comments this evening?
take your pick whichever one's come first I just want to thank director Darren can
you can you identify yourself please Micaiah Stacy sorry I just want to thank
director Darren
I just want to thank Director Darren for all the work you've put in getting us our lights.
I know it's been a back-and-forth problem on the council floor, but I feel like this entire time you've been set on making Freeport a better, safer place.
So I appreciate you. Thank you.
Next.
My name is Kia Sanders.
I just want to say like when you use the word emergency, that doesn't mean four years in gap.
Got to be raising a question. I mean, my head's too thick or maybe I'm crazy, but that doesn't mean emergency to me.
And then I want to know, like, pay somebody that is going to have to pay me.
As a, I don't know why you decided to, you know, not to tell them that there is a pending lawsuit against this city of Freeport.
At any given time, they're going to pay me for the stuff they stole or for knocking down my house.
Somebody is going to pay me. The fact that you show no compassion about a citizen having a problem, and you don't even question why he used the word emergency and waited four years.
And this is the only case that he does like this. And I just want to thank Alderman Stacy and Alderman Monroe for noticing and working for the people, not just me.
I believe if it wasn't me, somebody else going through what I'm going through, they would also fight the battle. Appreciate you.
any other public comments three minutes Linda Johnson I just want to invite the
public to the meet-and-greet that's going to be March 5th 6 to 8 at the Eagles
Club to meet and greet those writing candidates for district 145 Pat Ludwig
and Dennis Myers plus all the candidates that are running for office will be at
this meet-and-greet so we'd like people to come out and meet them any other
Dickerman, do you like that picture of the, I got for you?
I love Jersey Mike, so yeah, it was a good picture.
And Don Parker, I just wanted to tell you, you did a good job.
You did best of all of them in the three points.
Thank you, Don.
Are there any other public comments this evening?
Then that concludes our meeting.
I'll take a motion for adjournment.
Move.
All those in favor?
Aye.