Good evening. Evelyn, could you please give the invocation this evening?
They Heavenly Father, we bless your holy and matchless name during this City Council meeting.
Father, every part of this agenda we give to you to make known what is beneficial for
the City of Freeport now and in the future.
Let no one place anything before this council that you have not approved of for all the
people of the city.
Philippians 2.3 says, be free from pride-filled opinions, for they will only harm your cherished
unity.
Don't allow self-promotion to hide in your hearts, but in authentic humility, put others
and
other members of the board.
Father, we lose wisdom in your governmental authority to every Councilmember to hear what is needed.
Let every member understand that you have the final say when you are invited to be a part of these meetings.
And we close the door to every negative negotiation, every negative thought. We ask it all in your son Jesus Christ's name. Amen.
Thank you Evelyn. Now we'll officially call this meeting to order. Madam Kirk, would you please take the roll?
Mayor Miller? Here.
Alderpersons, Klemm? Here.
Monroe is absent. Simmons? Here.
Parker? Here.
Stacy? Here.
Shadle? Here.
Sanders? Here.
and Sellers.
And it has come to my attention that Alderman Sanders is
passing his chair tonight to Alderman Stacey.
So if you could please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, led
by Alderman Stacey.
I pledge 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.
Go ahead Alderman Stacy.
Okay, so next we have the approval for agenda,
but before that happens, we wanna make note of the dot
under number eight, we'll be moving up to number seven.
do we have a motion for approval just to clarify that you're moving the dot
actually up to right after number seven okay just to clarify do we have an
Approval for the Agenda. So moved. Second. Do we need a vote? Do we need a vote? No, all those in favor is fine. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Nay by the same. I'm so sorry I missed the motion in the second. Shadle first, Sellers second. Thank you.
Okay. Approval of minutes from the Committee of the Whole meeting held on November 12th, 2024.
So moved.
Second.
We have motion by Shadle, second by Parker. All in favor?
Aye.
Opposed?
Motion passes.
Okay, we have two public comments, first being Joshua Atkinson.
Thank you Chair, Mayor Miller, City Council, my name is Joshua Atkinson, I just keep this
I wanted to talk about item number 8, the grant money going to 1010 South Adams.
I've been talking to a number of people over the past couple weeks, and it seems like that the property owners on this one, they own a total of 8 properties in Freeport.
Some are houses, some are vacant lots, but they also listed on their application that they were landlords.
and
Mr.
Dixie.
So, then the question got raised of whether or not they were part of the landlord registry.
That's been taking up a lot of conversation over the past couple of weeks here.
And it has been said that they are not registered.
So, they've had these properties.
They have not registered to be landlords in town, which opens them up to owing the city fine dollars if we were to be
because they listed on their application that that was their business.
That's who they are.
So, you know, that's just one more thing that kind of raises a red flag with this particular grant placement.
Thank you.
Okay, and the second one we have is Rhonda Scott.
Good evening. I'd like to address the grant issue for 1010 Adams as well.
We have received about a half a million dollars in grants, giving the City Council an opportunity,
a big opportunity to decide how the best use of this money could overcome the city's many
challenges with blighted income, low income neighborhoods.
We have a problem with this one specific property because there's a question about whether this
individual is actually low income.
Now it is a requirement that community development rehab grants go to help low income, elderly,
and disabled people correct unsafe and unsanitary conditions in blighted neighborhoods with
their homes.
But before income is even determined, there has to be a project or a purpose for those
funds.
So you don't just throw it out there with applications and let people apply and you
and I.
The project would likely be we're going to improve the corridor on Adams Street and we're
going to fix up all the houses that are a major eyesore on there so that when you're
driving into Freeport, you don't have the impression, gee, I wouldn't want to live
here.
So we need a purpose and the Community Development Block Grant has been established since 1974
to eliminate conditions of blight and correct unsafe and unsanitary conditions to benefit
the low to middle income community.
The project for these funds is determined by the Freeport Community Development, the
City Council, and public input.
Adams Street is the current project.
I mean, I don't know what you've identified as the current project, but that's what we're
going for.
And then there are the best practice guidelines put out by the HUD Grant Assistance Program
so that when we get a grant we can figure out how do you use the funds.
They're suggesting that you prioritize the greatest needs to ensure community challenges
are met.
Then you have grant oversight and transparency to prevent fraud.
Reducing administrative costs is to ensure that the money is used efficiently and makes
Hicks, the greatest improvement to benefit the low income community.
Somehow a house in very good condition was offered an application which doesn't help
the city achieve its goal.
Apparently no one took the time to identify which houses were contributing to blight and
let the process be based on income alone, which is only one step in the process and
it is not the first step.
My point here is that if we are ever going to expect to make improvements in this community,
we have to prioritize the homes that actually need repairs and be transparent and submit
photos to City Council before asking us to approve funding.
Thank you.
Okay, next we will have discussion regarding potential redevelopment agreement for 521
West Cottonwood Street, presented by Joel Fredenberg, Fredenberg, thank you.
Joel, do you mind if I just give a little intro?
You mind if I just give a little introduction here? Yeah, appreciate that Joel. The Region 1 Planning Council works with the City of Freeport on the Northern Illinois Land Bank and so it's been a while since we've done a land bank property in Freeport. It's a really exciting program and so instead of coming next week with a resolution for an agreement, I really wanted to bring Joel from Region 1. He's an excellent partner
for the City of Freeport, does a lot of good things
with the City of Freeport.
And the idea here is to give you an introduction
into what the Land Bank does,
how they work with the City of Freeport,
and a couple of upcoming projects.
So with that being said, thank you Joel for coming
and look forward to your presentation.
Yeah, like Wayne said,
I'm just gonna kinda give you a brief update.
For some of you, it's probably been a little while
since you've heard about the Land Bank or R1.
and so we're just gonna briefly touch on who we are
and what we do and then get to what's going on
with the land bank in Freeport currently.
Here's the service area of R1 in the land bank.
The areas in blue is the land bank jurisdiction
so you can see here Freeport and Stevenson County
are within the jurisdiction,
recently added in Lake County as well.
Kind of gives you an overview of what R1 as Land Bank Authority does.
The goal is to combat community deterioration by returning property to productive use and
getting, you know, non-tax paying blighted properties back on the tax rolls.
And a lot of times trying to save properties from demolition before, you know, that becomes
and John. So that's the necessary outcome. About us specifically as the land bank, we
serve just under 1.5 million people. In the about five years that we've been around, we've
done about 1.2 million in sales, 41 homes sold, and that generates about $150,000 in
new tax revenue. Go through a couple of successful projects that we've had over the last
few years in Velvedere and Rockford and then kind of get to what's going on here with
you guys right now.
This was a blighted house in Velvedere.
As soon as Velvedere joined the land bank, you know, the other people had this on their
list.
They said, please, you know, somebody needs to do something with this house.
It's such an eyesore.
And so it was the first thing we acquired in Velvedere, sold it for $41,000 and a couple
and a couple years later it was completely rehabbed and sold for $174,000.
This is a recent one in Rockford where right by East High School, really good neighborhood
and sometimes the owners just disappear, they die with no heirs, you never really know what
happens but you see those two years of delinquent taxes and that's when you know it's time
and others.
And we were able to acquire this one. It was in okay condition,
but only a couple of people really could see a vision for it.
And so sold by the land bank for 23,000.
Eventually, after being rehabbed in under a year, sold for 140,000.
This is the kind of the most recent success that we had in
probably over three years by now Wayne since this took place. Yes. 850-70 Shawnee was sold I believe
in 2021 by the land bank for 15,750 and looks like it was recently listed again for rent at 875 a
month and you can see there in the pictures a little bit of the transformation that took place
and the rest of the city.
And we have a lot of
property restrictions on the exterior and that is the same
shot of the stairs on the inside there below.
And this is all achieved because we have these strong deed
restrictions on these properties where if you are going to be the
buyer of a land bank property, you know that at this time it
was a year, typically we bring that down to nine months.
You have nine months to get everything up to code and it
So the buyers know what they're getting into and they know they have to get moving and do a good job.
So that brings me to the buyer that has come forward for this 521 West Cottonwood property.
This is the reference point that we have for him is he purchased this one on 418 Tay Street in Rockford that,
but as you can see, it was in very rough shape, nobody wanted to touch this and he saw a vision
for it and Wayne and I actually toured this yesterday, and this is what it looks like
now.
This is seven months on, so he's still got another two months of his deed restriction
and he is just one final building inspection away from being good to go.
I'm the one who put the abandonment sticker on this house, you know, well over a year ago.
I had to put it on the boarded up window to the side because it was so overgrown in the front.
Again, you know, I'm just an admin guy. I can't see the vision for these houses.
and Wayne. It's crazy to me to see what some of these people can do with these houses.
And so that brings me to, like I said, Leo Holmes, Ivan, is the applicant for 521 West
Cottonwood Street in Freeport. And so I'll kind of give you a brief overview of what the
situation that we're doing here with this house is. City of Freeport was initially preparing
for a Demolition, but Wayne and my colleague Eric kind of took a look at the house and
decided, you know, I think there's something that can be saved here.
We tested the market's interest in it by taking applications through our land bank sales portal
that, you know, like we saw earlier, we've successfully sold 41 properties through the
land bank through that sales portal over the last couple years.
And one thing that we heard from the city was that you really wanted a tight restriction
and that's what we already have as a default is that nine month deed restriction that gives
you the clawback option that the land bank can come back and take that property if they're
not doing it properly.
We had an open house on 11-8 and Ivan from Leal Homes who has done that 418 Tay Street
Rehab showed up, drove all the way from Lake Zurich and said he really wanted, you know,
He saw a vision for this property, wants to do it and he submitted a bid for $8,000 and
the plan is for a free port to then quit claiming this property to the Land Bank and we will
sell it to Ivan and Leal Homes and then it will be the Land Bank's responsibility to
continually follow up with them and make sure that progress is being made and keep harping
on about that nine month deed restriction.
We also just received a deed through a successful abandonment case to 52 North Bailey here in
Freeport and Wayne and I just went through this earlier, it was the first time I had
seen it, I wasn't the one who stickered this one.
And this is one that will, like I said, just got the deed, we'll do an inspection and
see what it needs.
It definitely needs a roof and so we are going to put out an RFP to see if we can get somebody
Doeruff and use grant funds of our own to to do that. So that's kind of an update
of where we're at with specifically 521 West Cottonwood and kind of give you an
overview of what the land bank does as a whole and what we're wanting to do in
Freeport here. Yeah, any questions?
Yes, I'm sorry, Joy. No, that's all right. I just want to say, I love it. Thank you.
Any other questions? Is there a limit on how much, how many properties you can do in an
area per year? I mean, is it just finding the properties? It's a matter of finding
and others.
So, finding the properties, evidence needs to be two years of delinquent taxes pretty
much.
There's a more complicated route involving water bills, but it's typically two years
of delinquent taxes.
It's got to be the first thing.
And then it does truly have to be abandoned.
Usually if somebody comes forward and claims the property, the case pretty much dies there.
It's when there truly are no errors, no interest in the property.
And also, the people, the people that are living in, in these types of homes, the lapidated
run down and everything of that nature, are they eligible for this particular program
to rehab their homes and, and restabilize?
Nice, no, so the land bank specifically deals with abandoned, only abandoned homes and the
purpose of that why is
And the purpose of that, why is that? Why abandoned homes are homes that are vacant? Why is that? That a home that a person lives in is just as shady and shoddy as an abandoned home? You know, why can't that home be eligible for rehab?
So, specifically, our funding is through Strong Communities Program and we use that, you know,
we are a land bank.
What we can do as a land bank is acquire vacant, abandoned houses and use some of our money
to rehab them and sell them again.
By the State of Illinois statute, that's what a land bank can do.
Okay.
Alderman Simmons.
Alderman, Simmons
So how are potential buyers made aware of these properties so that they can make bids, like
how was this person from Lake Zurich made aware of this property?
Yeah so he was initially made aware of the property in Tay Street either through our
mailing list or you know through word of mouth, you know I'm not sure how he found out about
We didn't know about it initially, but, you know, he did the property on Tay Street in Rockford, met us, formed a relationship with us, and, you know, when he was interested in this, we all thought, you know, this seems like a good partnership, you know, we've seen him do a good job, he was really the only one that expressed a strong interest in this property, but he was made aware initially through the Tay Street property, whether that was through our mailing list or word of mouth,
and made aware of the Cottonwood one by virtue
of having done the previous property in Rockford.
Alderman Sellers.
Yes, so there's no website or anything that.
Yeah, yeah.
Okay, so are they listed on a website or anything or not?
Yeah, so all the sales are done online
through an online sales portal.
you know sometimes we have live auctions and you know it updates in real time but
this one specifically we were the goal of the West Cottonwood property
specifically was to make sure we could find the right buyer price wasn't really
you know something that we were concerned about at all it was more about
getting that person who we know could take this property and and fix it up and
Alderman, Sellers, I mean, Sanders Yeah, also these fundings, the grant fundings
for these rehabs, who receives those grants to disperse throughout the communities of
of these properties and do they, are they owned by the bank or do the bank purchase
these vacant properties and using grant funds to make rehabs to these properties?
Yeah, so the land bank has strong communities funds and then when we acquire through abandonment
process a property, we're able to use strong communities funds at our discretion to, you
and others.
So, you know, like I said, do an RFP to put a roof on Bailey, or, you know, we had a property
on Church Street in Rockford recently that had a broken window, so we replaced the window
before we put it on the market.
Yes, Director DePauw.
And Alderperson, Sanders, thank you, and Alderperson, Sanders, I want to state that when a property
stops paying taxes, like he has 52 North Bailey up here, they stop paying taxes, they have
two years of delinquent taxes.
If a property does not pay taxes for three years, then the county trustee will petition
for a tax deed in the fourth year.
So essentially if a house, if we don't use a land bank, a house will go four years abandoned
by utilizing the land bank.
They use their own attorneys to petition to our courts to take ownership of it before
it actually even goes to a tax deed.
And then they took ownership through a court process, and that's through our partnership
and I have been working with them as collaborative government partners.
They went through and paid for the funding to get ownership of this through the courts.
I can't remember how many actual appearances they had, but this process to get 52 Bailey
was timely.
It took quite a bit.
I meet with Region 1 at least once a month, if not weekly, and we go over properties that
could potentially be land bank properties and going back to the, you know, with Cottonwood,
That's a property that the city owned that had actually been abandoned for four years
and that the city had purchased from the county trustee off of a tax deed.
So in this situation, going back to Cottonwood, what the city is saying is, you know, we have
it, we can demolish it, would probably cost the city between 15 and $20,000 or we can,
in all my meetings, I'm always going over my demolition list with the land bank and
If there's a property that they think could be salvaged, they said, Hey, let's show it
to some of our developers.
Let's have an open house.
Maybe we can find somebody.
And that's kind of how this worked with 521 Cottonwood.
And really the option is, do we move forward with moving into the land bank?
We can potentially save it, utilize their resources, or do we demolish it and turn it
into a vacant lot?
I mean, it's really kind of our options with the property.
and to your point Wayne a lot of times with the tax sale properties end up in
this death loop of claiming sale and error and so nothing ever actually
happens with them land bank through abandonment is able to kind of interrupt
that process and and get the public the property back whereas you know claiming
sale and error just allows the tax buyer to continually accrue interest on it can
Can you tell me if you have contractors that give the land bank their services for little
to nothing at cost?
Do we have contractors that give their services to the land bank?
Yes.
No.
We put out RFPs or RFQs and then people apply to do work.
Like bids?
Yeah.
Do you have anything to add to that?
You know what I mean? They have to pay prevailing wage for their any services. No, my point was
Like let's say for the average person to put in that wood floor would cost thirty thousand dollars
I just didn't know if you had contractors that would say
For this type of house. We'll do it for twenty
No, so when it comes to
to using the Strong Communities funds, like Wayne is saying, we would have to, you know,
take a bid where someone was going to use a prevailing wage. Once somebody buys the house
from us, there is still usually a lot of work to be done. How they get there, as long as
it passes, you know, codes and inspections and stuff like that at the end, is up to them.
And a lot of times, those are general contractors who are doing a lot of the work themselves.
Okay, yes. So the way they're making their money, Cecelia, is they're buying these properties cheap and then they're investing, they're taking a risk on the property to be able to sell it for the $140,000, that's where they make their money.
Yes, Alderman Shadle.
Director Duckman, are you looking for a motion to get this for a vote from the council?
I'm making uh I'm making the council aware that at the next council meeting either December the next one in December January I'm letting everyone know that there's going to be an agreement for 521 West Cottonwood so we know what this is and hopefully moving forward I can bring more agreements that are similar so if I say I have an agreement for this address in the City of Freeport with the Region 1 Land Bank you are under hopefully there'll be less questions because you understand the process and I wanted you to be aware that this is coming soon
Soon.
Very, very good.
Thank you for that.
Thank you.
Alderman Sanders.
Yeah.
Is this in-house?
All of this restoration that's taking place?
So it could be restoration with components that are not directly in the City of Freeport?
Sure.
So this person that's interested in 521 Cottonwood is from Lake Zurich and they're going to get
and Jeff, and Ryan, and the City of Freeport, and they can use their license or license
through a contract with my department.
There is no requirement that they have to hire a contractor in the city of Freeport.
I just wanted to see if there was a level playing field here where other contractors
here in the city of Freeport can have the opportunity to bid on or to sign up or apply
for these types of venture programs.
and others.
I just wanted to see how we are administrating the whole thing, you know, with everyone.
That's all I'm asking.
Sure.
No, just to be clear, we're utilizing their resources to put this back into the hands
of a responsible contractor and then there will be a resolution to you stating what this
contractor is going to do, what their deed restriction says, they'll have a timeline
to fix the property and that's their expertise and that's what they would be doing.
We are giving the property to the land bank so that they can send us a proposal for you
to vote on at the next meeting.
Okay.
Alderman Simmons.
So, what's the website and what are the requirements for one to be able to be in?
Yeah, so, did you say what is the website, is that your first question?
R1 Planning.org. So when you go to the home page right at the top, there's a link to
properties. There's no fee or anything like that to sign up. You just make an account
on our website, sign up, and then you can apply. There's no sort of transaction ahead
of time. It's just a cashier's check for the full amount when you close. You know,
and we're not nickel and diming people in the process.
And you said r1planning.org?
Yeah, letter R, number one.
Any other questions?
Thank you.
Next we will have a presentation regarding
CDBG-HG Grant by Tara Walters, Region 1 Planning Consultant for CDBG-HR Grant.
My name is Tara Walters. I work for MSA Professional Services. I am a Community Development Administrator with my company
and I am the current Grant Administrator for the City of Freeport's CDBG Housing Rehabilitation
Grant.
So what I'm going to do in this presentation is simply walk through the Housing Rehab Program
that's administered by DCO, which is the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
at the state level, as well as some of the national objectives of what the program is
meant to do and how the state administers it.
So first, this is a very overarching process of what the Housing Rehabilitation Program
is and how it goes. Essentially, a city or an applicant, a unit of local government within
the state of Illinois can apply. The City of Freeport's application was submitted
in 2021. Once those applications are reviewed, the state awards the most competitive grant
Applications. The City of Freeports was awarded in 2022. The City then has two years to complete
the project. So the original award, this project had a sunset date or a grant sunset date of
November 30th, 2024. We did apply for a six month extension. So our new sunset date on
these funds is May 31st of 2025. Once a grant is awarded, the City then has to go through
We're an environmental review process.
A tier one is the first step.
Within the application, the city assigned a project area.
And I don't have the project area
from the application pulled in this presentation,
but it was the area of South Adams, South Hyde,
East Center, Wyandotte, and East Pleasant,
kind of that general area.
They decide upon this area based on the amount
of low-income persons, the amount of blight,
the place in the city that is a priority.
and they also once they decide on an area part of the application is going out and
surveying homeowners in this area for income as well as housing needs so as
part your application was scored on you know the amount of low-income persons in
this area as well as the needs for housing rehabilitation the environmental
review at the tier one level is completed for that entire area so at this
point we're not selecting individual houses we're just kind of blanketing I'm
I'm so sorry. I talk with my hands. We're just kind of blanketing that entire project area. Once your tier one is approved by DCO, you can then start the individual rehabilitation application. So this is when you're accepting applications from individual homeowners within that project area. Once those are scored, we then have to do the environmental review tier two level, which is for each individual house that scored the highest. And so in terms of who was kind
of taking over during this process at the application level. That was the City of Freeport. You
guys compiled and submitted your own application. You were awarded Environmental Tier 1 MSA
got involved because we were working with Wayne a little bit on a different CDBG grant.
So we assisted with that Tier 1 environmental review. The baton was passed to R1 who helped
the city with the individual home application process and the scoring and started the Tier
and
then that was when the baton was passed back to myself and my colleagues at MSA to finish off the Tier 2. Once we get Tier 2 approval from DCEO, they say everything looks good, we can then bid the project and start construction on the individual rehabilitation.
So some of the program objectives, this is an excerpt from the, from the 2023 CDBG guidebook from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
CDBG funds are a federal pass-through essentially, so they're granted by HUD, so in order for the state to administer these CDBG funds, they have to meet one of the three HUD national objectives.
The three objectives are one, benefiting low to moderate income persons, two, aiding in the prevention or elimination of slums and blight, or three, meeting other community development needs that pose a serious and immediate threat to the health and welfare of the community, also known as urgent need.
The CDBG program, the CDBG housing rehabilitation program specifically, as well as their other program called public infrastructure, is falling under the benefiting low to moderate income persons.
Though the housing rehabilitation does help with the prevention and elimination of blight,
the state's program is meeting the HUD objective of low to moderate income persons.
Some of the other excerpts from the HUD national objectives. An LMI housing activity is carried
out for the purpose of providing or improving permanent single-family owner-occupied residential
structures that will be occupied by LMI households upon completion. And I'll skip down to the
For each assisted unit, the family size and income ranges 30%, 50%, and 80%, which is the level of income compared to the state's or the area's median household income of an occupant household and the amount of CDBG funds spent.
And then second, data on racial, ethnic, and gender characteristics of persons who are applicants for participants in or beneficiaries of the CDBG activities.
and lastly the CDBG program under the state of Illinois for a household to be eligible. This is again in the 2023 CDBG guidebook. The grant team was certified that the program recipients meet the HUD eligibility requirements which is low to moderate income and to do that they must submit their IRS form 1040 and when using this IRS 1040 we determine an applicant's annual income. They must use the
and the most current version.
So any time that we're looking at a house at the application stage, before the construction
stage, we're always getting these updated forms to ensure that they are still eligible
under state and federal requirements.
Further, that was more national objectives, so I'm switching over to the state program
objectives.
This was a presentation given each year, the DCEO has a CDBG administration workshop.
I've just pulled these from the presentations at said workshop, so the eligibility requirements for housing rehab recipients are they must be a single-family residential unit, they must be owner occupied and prove that they live there, and they must have homeowners insurance.
Secondly, the income must be verified again via the IRS tax form 1040, and they must be 18 or older.
and this must be re-verified prior to any type of construction.
DCO goes on to state that the prioritization of housing applicants must be given to very low income elderly or handicapped households and then 51% of the points in the entire project area must be given to these two criteria.
I didn't have the income limits but you can go to HUD anytime we're looking at
where a person falls and whether they're low to moderate income we go to the HUD
income limits which are updated annually and they're they're updated
and
the
House is next in line. I essentially talk to the homeowner. I ask for their IRS form. I also ask for supplementary
documentation such as you know their
Social Security benefit, you know statement things like that to verify against their taxes and
Make sure that their income falls below those income thresholds
The 30% 50% 80% is a percentage of the median household income for the county
and Joe.
So, anything under 80 percent is considered low and then 50 percent moderately low and
then 30 percent is very low.
Is there anything else you want to add, Wayne?
No, I appreciate it.
I think that there certainly may be some questions now.
I know I definitely appreciate you chiming in or I know Joel is also here.
He did the scoring for Region 1.
There were some particular questions, I think, I know Alderperson Stacey brought ahead about
1010 South Adams and their application, so I think any questions, you know, just be available
for any questions we have on the overall process, I just want to say I've worked on this grant
now for the three years I've worked here, and I know that the city would not have been
able to get this far and offer any funds if it wasn't for your hard work, if it wasn't
for Joel's hard work with Region 1.
This grant provided the city, I think it's $64,000 in consultant fees to help administer
this grant with the extreme amount of documentation you have to provide.
I'm sitting right here on, I think I measured this to be six inches of paperwork, this is
for the grant application, and it's immense, and it's really a juggernaut to take on.
So there's going to be questions, and I would just appreciate you staying to answer any
questions with the grant administration process.
May we have the lights on? Are there any questions? Alderman Sellers. So you're
saying that the 1010 South Adams did meet all the requirements to have done
what they need be done? Correct. To be eligible for the grant funds if they did
Thank you. Ms. Walters, do you consider yourself an expert on this type of grant?
I've gone to seven years worth of DCEO trainings. I can't say I'm always
surprised. Every single year things change, but I know exactly where all of
the resources are. I'm talking with the state, not the state representatives, but
but you know, members of DCEO on a daily basis and ask them many, many questions any time
I'm stumped and they always assist in every way they can.
How long have you been doing this?
Seven years.
Correct.
Alderman Parker.
We're certainly happy you're taking the time, you obviously know more about it than anybody
I have a question. Is there a rule that you have to stay in this renovated property for
a certain length of time after the work is done?
There is not a rule per DCO and HUD requirements. However, in order to be eligible for the project,
the idea behind having homeowner insurance, if we get wind that they're going to sell,
DCO recommends that you contact them to figure out a process. They do not like to see it.
However, they cannot stop a homeowner from selling after the grant has completely commenced.
But there's no penalties.
No.
Can you tell me, I'm sorry, is there anyone else?
Can you tell me when was the first application given and what was the cutoff date?
So what we're talking about here is when I looked at the grant application it's from
2021 and really what they discuss in the narrative of the grant was written by the former director
here.
They talk about how they originally had 68 applications and 60 of those applications
were eligible.
So they're actually called income surveys, and there's a one-page document with address,
and they basically state their income, and it talks about the income limits that Ms.
Walters has discussed.
So at that time, it was 2021, and in the grant application, that was when those originally
were submitted.
Nobody here was working on that project at that time, so I'm not sure what deadline they
they gave, but what I do know is they stay in, they state in the budget, they state in
the narrative of the grant application that there were 60 people that were originally
considered.
And do we still have those applications?
Yes, I'm looking at them right now.
So it's in the text of the grant application and it's also in the grant.
and I'm looking at the 60 right here that were attached.
Okay. I had asked for that information and what I received was the 30 that came out, I believe, through Tier 2.
Sure, so I know I talked with Attorney Zito. I know you're at his office and had an opportunity to look at these originals. So if there's a communication gap there, I could certainly have these redacted and send you the original applications, we have them in our possession. But I will also say that from the 60 applicants, and Joel's here to answer any questions. When we went through that process that we saw where they were scoring,
we kept a log so to make sure that everyone was included and that we were
transparent I know you were provided the log that Joel did for all 60 of these
people and I talked with Joel today oh did you not send her the log an email on
Friday they had the log there no the application did not submit a because it
Smith, Jack, Jack, and a few others, and they were almost 60 and they had to submit 60.
And they asked for a grant application and they said, okay, 60 people are being considered.
That's what they say in the grant application.
And then Region 1 was retained to review those eight people.
They were only submitting 60.
They said, okay, 60 people were being considered.
Gillespie, John, McCann, David, Derrick, Todd, Kamala, Taylor, Brandon, Paul, Scott,
Ariella, Mark, Anthony, Jerry, Mark, Jodi, Shawn, Amy, Kana, Jodi, Al, Craig, Jesse,
Cedric, Joseph, Roy, Rami, Chris, Chris, Vinnie, Chris, we're going to go into detail
next and then just go on to the questions.
We did have one question from one of the speakers over at the Center from the Congressional
Board of Education.
He talks about what he thinks that being a board member or a resident is going to cost
Borg, Doration, Duration, Duration.
And we actually ended up meeting twice.
Several people had additional follow-ups to the door.
He said several people actually hung up on them, weren't interested, but it's all documented under the work that Region 1 did to ensure how we went from 60 people from 2021,
then we went to 30 people that actually submitted all the required documentation, and then those 30 people were graded.
you need it correct and Joel can probably chime in if you'd like any questions on
it he did the actual all the work with working with those 60 applicants do you
want to step up and answer a few questions
yeah I'm not sure how many people are actually on the call log but everybody
that's on there that that made it you know far enough to be requesting that
and others.
I called them all, like Wayne said, at least twice.
And as you referenced, you know, sometimes I was trying to explain, you know, just one
more thing or something like that, and that was the end of the road for them because it
was felt to them like it was too much and, you know, I'd get hung up on or something
like that.
Okay, so why was there a second application hand-delivered to prior applicants to fill
out again?
That's required.
That's a requirement for us to move forward.
We cannot move forward without that information.
So how do we know that all 61 that quali-
B1, the qualified even received that second application.
Through our log, through our communication log, through the communication log.
That's why we keep a communication log so that if somebody says, I didn't receive it,
well, we called you on this date, called you on this date, sent a letter to your address.
I believe we sent letters as well.
So we sent you a letter on this date in our log, called you on this date, called you on
this date.
That's why you have a log.
That's why professionals keep logs when they're doing work like this.
Information at your office. We, I asked for this, we talked about this and talked about this and
talked about this. Right and so all right at my office we didn't have this information yet so this
past Friday I was like so we got a response from. But he said it's in that book that you had.
We have this book here. I'm sure there and I'm sure as I've stated before you and I've met several
I have no problem getting you these original, from 2021, these surveys, these income surveys.
We can certainly provide those to you redacted with all the information that you would need.
They're pretty simple. I guess the best way to look at these original 60 is a simple one-page document
where they're told to state where their income falls between how much money they make,
and then that's used in the application to move them on to the next step.
So this is more of a preliminary, it's called a Community Development Block Grant Income
Survey.
So these are the 60 people that were, this was all included in part of the original application
that moves them on to the next step, which was shown on that first slide when we go over
the steps, what they have to do.
But it was more than just the income survey.
I don't know what you're asking for at this point.
and
John.
I have a question about the tier 1
applicants. You just said they just, it was basically an income
survey that they filled out. That's what I have here. Yes.
And I believe Tara Walters can confirm that the state of
Illinois does their block grant, community development block
grant as LMI, low to moderate income. That's their factor.
just just just that income survey so as part if i may as part of the application the income
surveys are sent out to everyone within that project area the more income surveys that you
have to submit with your application the higher you score so that process is essentially used
to get the grant it doesn't promise any of those people that filled out that income survey it's
it's just proving to the state that we have a need in this area.
It didn't ask for any income information,
it asked them to self-certify on that application.
Once you're awarded, you can then go back to those 60,
you know, 60, 68 folks and they do another application
and that's when they're submitting their income information
and certifying their application
and it's moving the steps forward.
So what's the first application?
Similar to the second application I would have to pull it up it's very similar
it's very similar I mean we like I said we can I'll make copies of these and
send them to clerk Anderson and she you can look at them if you'd like the
second application asks for those prioritization bullet points disabled
and
age, things of that sort.
So that would help R1 score each application individually versus just income.
And I think what you're looking for, I mean, I would also, you know, I don't know what
you're going to find in here.
I mean, we can look at it again.
I'm not, we're certainly willing to look at it.
But this documentation here from 2021, that's what the state looked at to say, okay, we
will give you $550,000.
So they looked at these grant income surveys as part of the grant application and said
okay City of Freeport you now have $550,000 but in order for you to use it you now have
to follow up with these individual 60 property owners and get more detailed information.
So these surveys really are here for the state of Illinois to say okay we'll give you the
$550,000 you've proven through these stated incomes which is what they are people saying
I make X amount of dollars but then in order for them to actually be awarded the individuals
to get the actual funds then they have to follow up and that's what Joel did was he
contacted these 60 people and said okay now you have to show us proof of income, show
us your tax returns, show us your pay stubs from you know your social security statements
and half the people did not want to follow through with that.
So that's what we're talking about here.
Okay, Director Duckman, I have tried for the last five weeks to see what you're telling
me is right in front of you.
And so I would like to see them and I trust that we will be setting up a meeting, setting
and John.
So I'm going to ask the question because I don't know what this will do for you.
This grant's been awarded.
So it's been awarded on those already.
I'm just asking the question of, and I will, we can go through another meeting and show
it to you.
I don't know what the, my question would be is what are you hoping to gain by looking at those?
Maybe you can ask a question of MSA on what that would affect.
I still don't understand how we went from 61 approved applicants to 30.
There's a, there's a log that the 30, all 60 people were contacted.
And we provided a, there's a log, there's an actual, every property owner says on this date
I'm not saying he's being untruthful, so please don't put those words in my mouth.
What I'm asking is, I remember when a second application had to be presented, and Third
Warrant, Alderwoman, me, Fifth Ward Alderwoman, and some of the community people wanted to
help with this, offered to help with this, and was denied the opportunity to go door
to door and give them this second application that we were being told they had to fill out.
And so, I am in nowhere calling you a liar. I am just saying, how do we know all sixty
of those applicants received this second or Tier 2 process.
So do you understand what the log did, right?
So we hired them to have a communication dialogue with these 60 people.
You understand that part, right?
Do you understand that we hired Region 1 to contact these 60 people?
I know that's what you say you did.
and so they were directed to log all communications with 60 applicants.
So if we take him for his professional word and he documented in a log that he did this,
then I'm telling you the work was done per the log.
Okay, I just, I want to see the log, I want to see the list of the 61, I want to, I just
want to see it.
Alderman, I mean, I'm sorry, Attorney Zito.
So the log was emailed to you on Friday because that's what I got it on Thursday or there
because my ride was I got the response to you and I had a phone call I had to look at the
response from the state there and I was going to send you a summary as a part of that summary
that I sent you on Friday there and it included the log of the MSA log of all the times they
called people so that should be in your email but it included the log of the 68 or the 31
Let me just state really quickly, in this grant, my predecessors said they received 68, and
essentially eight of them did not qualify of the 68.
That's their words, that's their testimony in the grant application.
So what they're saying is, they received 68, eight of them came back, and they're saying
they made too much money.
So they got an income survey, and the person said, I made $100,000.
and then they said, well, that doesn't count.
So they submitted 60, but they're stating they received 68.
So the other eight, that's not part of the grant application.
I don't have those eight, it's not part of the grant application.
I'm not asking for the eight, I just ask for the 60.
OK, yeah.
Director?
Yeah, so just a side note, we do the CDBG grant process as well,
but we do it on infrastructure, not housing.
The 68 applications that were done just defined the target area of the grant.
That's all that did is said.
We got 68 applicants.
is said, we got 68 applications from this street to this street.
Here's our target area now that where the money can be spent.
That's tier one, right?
So that's the Adams corridor that was selected.
That's all that did.
The second tier is where you drive down into the homes
to see who is truly qualified.
The first survey is done on an honesty basis
that you're gonna tell me that this is your real income
and you sign that.
Sometimes when you go to the second tier,
and many others, but that's not the case, or people didn't file correctly, and they won't produce the second piece of information which automatically excludes them.
So again, Tier 1, the first 68 applications, just defined the Adams corridor that had the need for the 550,000.
That's why we were awarded for that. The second tier drives down to each individual house on who is really qualified, which if I'm hearing correctly, had nothing to do with this, is our 30 people.
Right? And so those are the final 30 that actually responded, gave us, if there was five pieces, all five pieces that were needed to qualify, that's where the basis comes in Tier 2.
So I just wanted to explain to that, the 68 applications, every quarter that's picked for Community Development Block Grants has to have, let's say you have 100 houses, you got to have 70% of them low to moderate income or it doesn't qualify, the money can't be spent in that area.
and
I'm going to talk about the income requirements.
If we tried to, I'm just picking an area for clarity, if we tried
to move this grant out to Marvin Lane, none of those, it would
never move forward because those incomes would never qualify.
So if you had a hundred houses, you got to have 70% of them that
would qualify for this money to be able to be used anywhere in
there. And then if I live there and made too much money, then
I understand that. Right. So, Miss Walters, did you go from neighborhood to
neighborhood and look at all 31 of these houses, you personally? No, I did not. Who
did? The original grant application was done by my predecessor and what I was
told was that they went through the neighborhoods and handed these out.
that's what I was told I don't know if that's true or not I don't so that's
the original 2021 but I'm saying after the 30 was chosen yes who went back to
those 30 houses to see which ones were in the worst shape that doesn't matter
that was never considered and then and I can have miss Walters explain that again
do you understand that condition of house per the state of Illinois does not
I understand that, but when you have low income, whether you have 50 points, let's talk about
the point system, but then someone with 40 points get chosen to receive these funds before
Someone with 50 points.
That would have, the point system would have prioritized income, disability, and age.
I understand that.
So my question again is why wouldn't the higher point, why would a 45 be done before a 55?
or 35. Yes, Attorney Zito. I think the question I think you're talking I think
what you're asking is that ultimately once we got the 30 scored and everyone
had points right then there's still additional hoops that have to be jumped
through there as far as environmental and this and adding you know some
submitting additional documentation there so I think ultimately we had enough
We had enough money, roughly, let's just say, that we knew that we could do about 10 houses. Out of the 30 that we scored, that we could do about 10, there was enough money to do about 10.
Amongst those 10, people had, each 10 still had to submit more paperwork, more verification of this or that, more hoops to jump through.
Sometimes a person with a lower score submitted all their paperwork in first, so they went ahead and said, okay, well we'll process you, even though you had a lower point, we knew you were in the top 10, so there's money for you,
and
the rest of the board.
I think that's what you're asking about.
Why did some people with lower points get their houses, their projects started sooner?
Yes.
And I think that's the answer.
That is the answer.
Production, an Independent State Inspector has to go through the house and determine
the scope of work, which Ms. Walters is in charge of as part of her grant administration
is going to these property owners and saying, okay, we need to schedule your inspection
and then ultimately get your scope of work.
So that's a process that also has to be done.
Okay.
So, how would you know if someone, if you lived in the house 10 years or more, you got
Winslow.
I want those extra 10 points.
Five years, you get five points.
So let's say I've lived in my house nine years, but I want those extra five points.
So I say I've been there 10 years.
How can you prove or how do you know?
On their application, they are self-certifying that the information is true.
That's what we have to go off of.
I will also state that every bit of this process, and Joel's here to tell you about the grading
process, but we also, and it's also been provided to you, our state grant manager has provided
answers to these questions, but they're also available for you to contact.
So you know, if there's any distrust, which seems like there's quite a bit here, on how
our professionals did their work, our grant manager, who I spoke with, has said everything's
has been above board within the process, done correctly, and our grant manager is available
for you to speak to as well.
But I would say that there is a timeline on these funds and would like to truly start
moving forward with some more of these applications to get people the funding or else it's just
going to, it's just going to sunset and where nobody's going to get the money.
Alderman, Simmons. Can you, Kurt, one of you go back a couple slides when it you
listed it had three bullet points that determined the need for the grant. I think
it was the the one you just can you go back one or forward one no it was one
that mentioned in Blythe income so yes yeah okay so the purpose of this grant
yes moderate to low income is first but aiding in the prevention and elimination
and Stacey.
And I think that is what Alderperson Stacy is getting at when she's being told the condition
of the home doesn't matter.
Yes, it does.
It's one of the purposes of this grant. So if we go into people's houses and do inside
stuff first before these houses that are contributing a great amount of life to Adams Corridor,
that defeats the purpose. And I believe that is the point that she's trying to make when
she's being told that the conditions of the house doesn't matter and please don't add
misinformation. It's right there in writing that is part of this grant.
this slide is stating the three national objectives but the Illinois any state
program must meet just one of these and the one that's highlighted is the one
that CDBG housing rehabilitation is meeting by the administration of the grant. So I do
want to add here too this is national objective and I and you did a really good
job saying how this is what's called a pass-through federal government money
Coney passes through to the state. So what Ms. Walters is saying, and she can correct
me if I'm wrong, this is what the federal government says, if you are going to administer
this grant as a state, you have to fall into one of these. And our state says we're going
to do low to moderate income persons. The state of Illinois is saying that is how we
are going to administer these funds. So when I say it doesn't matter, it's because the
The state says we are involved in this factor. This is what the state is saying. This slide
is federal government. The state of Illinois falls under LMI, Low to Modern Income, not
these other two.
and
John.
And that's why our state says in the applications we need to
verify income. That's why, and if you go to another slide,
that's actually state level. It states that here's the
objectives from the Department of Commerce and Economic
Opportunity who administers this grant. That's why I'm
saying it doesn't matter. We need to stop this
are working with standards provided by the state, not necessarily, we're not working
directly with HUD.
Correct.
If I may add to that, for example, if we go back a slide, the state of Iowa uses the second
bullet as their national objective for one of their programs, which is treating slum
and blight in the downtown.
So the state gets to decide which objective they would like to base their program around,
as long as it meets one of them.
I have a question then. So, but we as a city have that discretion as well, correct?
Correct. And it would it would benefit us more so to hit two birds with that one
stone where we meet low income and reduction of blight versus just helping
people with low income who really their home is not a blight. It's like they
don't need any outside work but that's what we're trying to do. That's our goal. I
I would hope that's our goal in administration of this grant is to help reduce and help that area that we just had a whole new street put in, which is an entranceway into the city and making that look better.
I don't understand why that isn't the goal, just because it's not necessarily the specific requirement of the state, however it is mentioned.
So it's not like we'd be doing something against what's written. So I'm confused.
There's one thing I do also want to reiterate here.
Any work done on these houses is an independent state inspector who determines the scope of
work.
So when we're talking about it should have the front look like this, it should have a
new water heater, the state inspector determines that.
They come in, we schedule an inspection and the state inspector comes in and they determine
what work is done.
and
the
state
inspector
has to come in and determine it.
And if the
state inspector creates the scope of work, if it's not done by a state inspector, the
work isn't approved.
It isn't.
It won't happen.
So are you saying a state inspector drove by all 31 of these homes?
Nope.
That's not what I'm saying.
I'm saying once these homes are selected, once these homes are selected, the scope of
work that's approved comes from a state inspector.
that's what I'm saying and the state of Illinois that I've spoken with repeatedly
and when we talked about the scoring with region one we had several meetings they
said you have to focus on the need of the applicant and not the condition of
the home that was what was stated repeatedly and I invite you to please
call our grant manager from the state and they could reiterate what they told
me and what they told Joel was that when we were scoring these applicants you have
We have to focus on the applicant, not the condition of the home.
So we're following the guidelines of the state.
There is no other agenda than that.
And if I may add, the repairs are prioritized by code violations, lead remediation, or other
public health hazards within or outside the home, as well as energy efficiency and accessibility.
Prioritize, not required. They can do other repairs as well.
Yes, I believe that they've all answered all of our questions and they followed
the state guidelines, not our city guidelines. So I'd like to move this on to
the next item.
Miller.
Yes.
I think we need to get back to what the Council's responsibilities are here.
So the Council is responsible to approve or not approve when something comes before you.
Your responsibility is when Wayne comes to you and says, I want to apply for this CBD
grant.
You can say no, you don't like the grant.
You don't like the guidelines.
That's your responsibility.
Your responsibility is not in walking out every single detail of what our director does or these two that have been administering something.
The day-to-day is not that responsible. If we did that on every single item that we have to approve, we'd never get anything done.
You have to remember, you are the legislative body. You are not the day-to-day body.
So you either trust those that are put into these professional spots or you don't. If they're not doing their job then we should fire them.
Fire, but obviously they're doing their job.
and this was brought to us and I'm learning because it should have came with pictures and
it didn't.
Information has been withheld purposely.
We come here and as directors, as head of the city, we trust that you're bringing us the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
And in reality, that just don't happen.
So I am here on behalf of the people.
And I will inform my constituents in every way possible where we have been misled on something
but took a vote, yeah.
You told me the other week, you voted for this, and I did, but not having correct information
in front of me.
We get what you all want us to have, and that don't always totally involve the truth.
So if you want to move on, thank you for your time.
Thank you, Joel.
If you have a business card, I would love to have one.
Thank you.
thank you very much moving on to number eight Kurt this is when I need you
C.D.B.G., Adam Avenue Housing, Rehabilitation, Application, Discrepancies,
This presentation aims to make the public aware of the discrepancies that the City of Freeport
has allowed to occur within the CDBG Adams Avenue Housing Rehabilitation Program.
Such discrepancies should have disqualified the applicants.
But the city has decided to provide grant funding to them anyway.
$48,000.
This is a total disregard for the individuals living in the affected area who really need
and deserve assistance.
Welcome to 1010 South Adams.
This is a list of all of their property that they own. They are landlords. They write their
their own 1040s, that's their business, totaling 290,500, but their low income. Next slide please.
This house that we're calling 1010, once upon a time was 1012, and the little house in the
The back of the b-
The little house in the back of the big house, if you would, was 1010. But now you can clearly see that the big house is no longer 1012, but it resides as 1010. Why switch the addresses? If we're not doing something, I'm
Fair here. Next slide please. 10-10, 10-10. In 10-13 or 20 that address did not read 10-10, it read 10-12.
Moving on, the incomplete application, the housing rehabilitation specific document was
created by the Illinois Department of Commerce.
The corresponding document, the application, has the City of Freeport seal on it.
It shows that the application was incomplete.
Why did the city accept an incomplete application who authorized this uncompleted application?
Next slide, please.
We saw this with Ms. Walters.
Next slide, please.
What you see highlighted was their scoring of 1010 slash 1012 South Adams.
Next slide please.
This is the application. As you can see, the application home must be paid off based on
the fact that the existing debt on the property was left blank. Did anyone from the city bother
to ask if there was any equity in the house that could be used for any repairs?
remember that the city plays when the applicants next supply any income they
never supply any income information the application even asks for rental income
based on the applications 2020-2021 tax returns both the applicants and spouse
House Occupants are listed as rental properties. This applicant owns six rental properties
and I am hard pressed to believe they receive zero income for any of them.
them. Next. This is the final page of the application. What I would like to call this page, the applicants
are to date and signed to verify that all the information provided in this application was
was true and complete to the best of their knowledge.
As you can see, the applicants who did not date nor sign this document were still approved.
Howe, $48,000, brand new hot water heater, brand new furnace, brand new central air unit,
and others.
And it goes on and on and on.
Deck fixed.
This final page, how?
How do you approve?
How do you say someone is going to be the
How do you approve? How do you say someone qualifies and approve them for $48,000 when they didn't even sign or complete the application?
I rest my case. Next page please.
Citizen of Freeport, I want to provide you with information on how the Adams Street rehabilitation program is handled.
You and I know what I presented tonight will not make a difference.
The City is still going to give grant funding to this applicant.
It does not matter that the application was incomplete,
that critical information was withheld from it,
that the applicant has a healthy real estate portfolio or that misleading information was provided.
The thing, these things may not matter to our City Manager, they may not matter to our Mayor,
They may not matter to our Director or even some Council Members, but they matter to me.
Citizens, please understand the significance and gravity of this situation.
Those grant funds that the City has agreed to provide for the rehabilitation of this application home
are still your tax dollars.
They used to get these funds speak volume about the integrity of the applicants,
but even louder about the integrity of the ones who approved them.
Thank you.
and next we have discussion. I'm sorry, Attorney Zito. I just wanted to make a quick, quick
brief point here or comment here though. So, Alderman Stacy, just so you know, and I don't
Don't know maybe if you haven't seen my email from Friday, there was, I did as a part of
that email that I sent to you that had the log in it, Wayne did also was able to find
a copy of the signed application, so I did email that to you so that you have that.
That application was signed.
Attorney Zito, Director Duckman, I came in here November 26th and I asked for a copy
We are the 68 original applicants. What I get was the 31, not the 68. I know what I
asked for because I knew what I was looking for. And I get the point system. And what
I was given the application I was handed was not signed. I'm not making this up. This is
what you gave me November 26th before I came to your office November 27th and I voiced
my concern to you about this. It was not filled out properly. It's not even signed.
and so I did pose that question about the signed application to to Wayne and I
believe he then reached out to Joel and I think on Thursday Friday morning is when
we Joel was able to go and he found through his records the signed
application so that's why I provided it to you on Friday in my email. Or did we
go get a signature? Oh I know we didn't get a signature because I provided him a
screenshot that showed when the file was scanned and copied so I know it's not a
We didn't go out and get a signature that that grant applicant signed put it put
their signature to it and I also want to reiterate that assets are different than
income it's a very simple economics 101 accounting 101 and the state of Illinois
requires income verification I've asked the state of Illinois they said we do
Do not consider assets. I've asked the state. They said under no circumstances they put in their
and
Jodi.
I want to make it clear that in those circumstances they put in
their documentation that they require an IRS tax return.
They do not require assets. So I want to be very clear that the
state is not requiring us to go check everyone's bank account,
real estate portfolios, 401Ks, et cetera. It's not part of it.
So again, that's misinformation. There is a difference between
income and assets.
What's a landlord? I, too, can make my own 1040. Is there anything else? I'm moving on. Thank you.
If I could, please? Yes.
You can make your own 1040, but the IRS has nobody to play with.
It's not.
If I was a landlord and I documented on a 1040, there's a separate form for each piece of property.
Schaedle, you have to document everything that's in your portfolio is listed as income
plus and minus on a form on your 1040.
So it was reported if there was any income that was part of their income, the asset of
the building itself is irrelevant.
Alderman, Shadle, all of their properties were not even listed on their income tax.
Moving on to number nine, discussion regarding social media policy, Director Bridge.
Good evening, Council.
I aim to keep this brief.
and
the
City Council.
Since 2017, the City has managed social media pages for city postings, information and more.
The social media policy for all staff has been in place to set guidelines for personal use,
but has yet to set guidelines for page administrators.
and the City of Freeport believes that the use of social media platforms can effectively broaden the reach of government communication to its constituents.
The use of social media platforms has been a key part of the city's policy to improve transparency and strengthen the communication pipeline between the city and residents.
A revised policy has been created to aid page administrators in allowing comments and fostering a more dynamic environment for social discourse.
As the city's statement of purpose reads, the City of Freeport believes that the use of social media platforms can effectively broaden the reach of government communication to its constituents.
and
the City Council.
The use of social media by the city is to convey or obtain
information that is useful to or will further the goals of this
local government. The revised policy also outlines important
guidelines for page administrators to ensure discourse
remains informational and appropriate. Obviously, there
would be no financial repercussions to enforcing this
and staff recommends that when the time comes, obviously not tonight, that we move forward
with the policy.
So, let me introduce you to some important notes in the policy, regardless of if you
have it in front of you or not.
It's a pretty simple one.
It has, I believe, eight headings on it, but there are about three that are actually important
to look at.
I'll start with Section 3, which is titled Comment Policy.
So we all know that comments can most of the time be good for public discourse, but sometimes
they fall under some not so great things for a city government page to have under their
posts.
and I have listed nine things here of which are just to name a few promotes discrimination, we're getting rid of those comments.
Threatening any person or organization, we get rid of those comments. So on and so forth.
That's just one section. I'll move on to another section, which is section five, administrator usage.
I want to point out that again, the city already has a social media policy for employees in general
and the City of Michigan. In general, that applies to their personal use of social media. However, we don't have anything yet for the page administrators, aka myself and the administrator of the police and the fire and the library.
and others. These city employees are responsible for the posting of information, commenting,
and communicating with constituents and moderation of activity on all social media. Again, no
one else other than the administrators, no one else is allowed to moderate these activities.
I'll move on to Section 6, which I believe is the last one I want to point out, but may
and I have been working on this for a long time.
It's called Community Messaging Guidelines.
It talks about the types of community events that we're
allowed to share, types of community events that we're not
allowed to share.
City social media sites will not share community messages that
include political, public issue, or prohibited product
information.
And there's much more, but I believe that is the gist.
and we're here tonight obviously to discuss the issue personally from a communication standpoint.
I believe it improves the transparency, improves communication between city government and
its constituents and I believe it's a good thing.
Any questions?
Thank you.
So I will just end by saying this.
We have discussed at the city that if there's no, how do I say this, fight against it, we
will be moving it to first reading.
I'll say that louder, we'll be moving it to first reading.
Thank you.
Oh, Erin, go ahead.
Yes, Attorney Zito.
I was just going to ask, Ryan, are you looking for a motion then to have this by the council
because we're at Cal, if you want to specifically move forward for first reading, is that what
you're looking for?
That would be great.
So moved.
Second.
Take a vote.
I missed the second.
Shadle.
I did.
Shadle first.
take a vote I miss the second shadow idea so do we take a vote
individually right this is just a vote to move it forward to the next regular City
Council meeting for first reading so voice vote is fine typically all in
favor of moving this to the next council meeting for first reading say aye aye
oppose thank you motion passed number 10 discussion regarding revised hanger lease
and hanger rental rates presented by City Manager Boyer thank you madam chair
Staff has reviewed all of the hanger leases, the lease amounts, and has put
forth for review the new lease format, as well as a suggestion to make a change to
ordinance 2021-05, increasing hanger J's rent from $575 to $800. Just a few
We've had a few high points. The new lease agreement was put together. We've been working on this for a number of months. We've gone back and forth with Angie, the fixed base operator, and she is, we've kind of worked out some details and everything is looking really good with that, as well as she has compiled the competitive or comparative leases at local or other airports in our region of a similar size. One of the outcomes was that we are looking pretty
to all of the other airports. We used Sterling, Dixon, and Rochelle as our
comparisons, all of a similar size of traffic. So with that, staff would like to
bring this to the next meeting, next council meeting for approval of the
ordinance change. That would be, I'm sorry, yep, we'll bring an ordinance to the next
Meeting with us changes to Jay Hanger.
So moved.
Second.
All in favor?
Aye.
Opposed?
Discussion regarding authorizing Northern Illinois
Gas Company, DBA NICOR Company, to construct, operate, and maintain a gas...
to operate and maintain a gas distributing system in and through the City of Freeport.
Francis, Agreement View, LOA, City Manager, Boyer.
Thank you, Chairperson.
So each year, or I'm sorry, every 50 years, the City enters into a franchise agreement
with our utilities.
Various utilities require different durations, but NICOR's case, that's our gas company,
it's a 50-year agreement.
So this hasn't been looked at for 50 years.
In the past, the City included all, as some of the requirements, the City required gas
service for all City installations, which was included in the new version.
However, staff pressed back on NICOR to include the library due to the fact that the library
is part of the city and also is one of our largest gas users due to the HVAC system that
is required to keep the air dry for preservation of the books.
So city staff has finished this negotiation with Attorney Zito and we are ready to move
We have a motion to move this forward to first reading at the next council meeting.
So moved.
Second.
We have a motion to move this forward at the December 3rd meeting.
All in favor?
Aye.
Excuse me.
I just want to clarify the moving it forward to which council meeting. It'd be the December 16th, 16th December 16th. I'm sorry, I just said the third month. Yeah, December 16th. All in favor. Opposed. Wait. Question.
No, just comment. So, City Manager is being a little, I guess, coy here. I just wanted to mention that this, this negotiation that he was able to strike with NYCORN is a $20,000 savings to the city annually in gas for the library.
All right. Thank you.
Opposed? Okay.
Discussion regarding investigation into the political fraudulent financial forensic audit.
from Alderman, Monroe, and Sanders. Due to the resource and the information that is not
going to be presented today, Alderman, Monroe, and myself, we had not been able to collaborate
to determine what it is the presentation will present today and what I'd like to do is suspend
this and carry it over to the next meeting and hopefully we have all of the contents
of everything that we need to bring forward to the next meeting so we want to suspend that
for now discussion regarding oh I'm sorry public comments do we have any public
Ha, a couple of comments.
Nope.
Yes.
Jodi Miller.
So the IV grocery store's not coming in.
Greetings.
Drying Dickerman.
Yes.
IV Store's not coming?
No IV, Tommy, I'm sorry.
What's Angela going to do now? Put something in there?
She's going to continue to be our fearless leader.
Hello. I just want to make comments about this black grant.
Please, your name?
Oh, I'm sorry. I am Lucinda, Cindy, however you want to see me.
and so on.
But, okay, just regarding the block grant that has been discussed the last couple of months
or so.
I applied for this grant.
I can remember this grant probably started back in 2019 per se.
I remember doing an inspection on my home with Ben, then with Amy Bacto that's no longer
here.
and then in probably 2021, I probably did an application again with Lorena.
And so from time to time, I would ask Lorena about this, you know, the status of the block
grant and all of that.
So she would say, you know, the state is this and the state is that, it takes long.
And I understand that.
But and when this grant came out, I remember getting the letter.
So it's probably one of the first ones that applied for this grant, okay.
and so in regards to this 1010 South Adams of all of these things that they have you know
agreed to putting in furnace what have you so when Ben came to my house it was things
that needed to be done and it's still things that need to be done okay I've been in my
home almost 17 years and well has been 17 years and I've worked for this city will be
maybe 24 years come February and I'm not, like Alderman Stacy said, you're gonna do
what you wanna do but as far as it's being just based on income, I don't think that's
legit but it is what it is and so I do need a $20,000 roof on my house but the city does
not pay me enough to provide that so that's all I have to say, thank you.
I have to make a rebuttal about the presentation you saw tonight. Alderman Simmons, you are
absolutely 100% correct. As long as we meet the state requirement, and it is a requirement
as I stated, that the applicants have to be low income, but you can add as a community,
Grant gives you the flexibility for you to set the priorities of what the greatest community
needs are and how we're going to ensure that the challenges are met.
We are not going to meet challenges by going in with perfectly good homes and buying them
new air conditioners, especially a landlord.
This is absolutely absurd and not what the grant intended.
So you were right, and this needs to be changed. We are a home rule city, I think, I don't
know if we dropped that, but as long as we meet the state requirement, you as a city,
you can decide that the project area will address blighted homes in that area, and you
can also decide that it will be safe and unsanitary conditions. You can even decide that you do
do not want them to fix air conditioners. You can decide this. This grant gives you
the flexibility for communities to decide their own needs. That's all I have to say.
Good evening again, Josh Atkinson. I just want to say that I think we need to step back
and take a lesson from this.
I honestly don't think anybody was doing anything wrong necessarily.
Mistakes may have happened.
But at the end of the day, it's the council that made that mistake.
We didn't set forth those parameters when it came to council however long ago.
Back in 2019, 2018, 2019, these conversations should have happened then.
We have the opportunity to get $550,000.
How do we use this to better our community?
That conversation didn't happen.
So the surveys went out.
We got $550,000.
And then Director Duckman had to figure out how to use it.
And with all faith, I believe he did the right thing and tried to figure out how to use it
and they put forth.
Now we're saying that, oh man, we wish we should have done this.
We wish we would have done this.
And we failed.
We failed.
You know, we need to take that lesson moving forward.
There was a gentleman, Joel, presented, you know, the first thing that came, the only thing
I saw about that great program, the land planning, is there was one slide that he presented that
it said that it could be a rental property.
You know, one was bought for $15,000.
and many others.
So, you know, one was bought for $15,000 and turned around and it was renting out for $875.
First question that comes to mind is can we as a community, when that comes forward next
week or whenever that's going to come back, can we put a stipulation in there that says
it can't be rented out, it has to be sold or lived in?
You know, those are the things that we need to look at when council, when city staff brings
this stuff to council to look at that stuff, read the stuff, discuss it and figure out
How do we use all these tools, all this grant money that Freeport's been getting to better the whole community as a whole?
Alright, thank you.
Okay, if there's nothing else, I make a, do we have a motion to adjourn?
So moved.
Second.
Sellers, and all in favor?
Aye.