WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.160 Oh thank you Jesus. I'm going to start out with Proverbs 21, 1, and 2. The Kings are 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:20.660 the government. Heart is in the hand of the Lord. Like the rivers of water, he, God, turns 00:00:20.660 --> 00:00:28.600 it wherever he wishes. Father God, we lift up this council meeting to you tonight. We 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:31.520 We ask you to guide this meeting by Holy Spirit. 00:00:31.520 --> 00:00:36.799 Father, every word spoken tonight, let it be for the good of our city. 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:41.960 Let the goal of this council meeting be for the good of the city of Freeport always. 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:45.920 Let humility and your divine order prevail here tonight. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:50.760 Father, we want our city to be pleasing in your sight. 00:00:50.760 --> 00:00:55.880 Let everything that's hidden be exposed so you can correct it. 00:00:55.880 --> 00:00:57.880 In Jesus Christ's name, Amen. 00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:27.879 Thank you. So now we'll officially call this meeting to order. Madam Clerk, would you please take the roll. Mayor Miller? Here. Alderpersons, Klemm? Here. Johnson? Here. Simmons is absent. Parker? Here. Stacy? Here. Shadle? Here. Sanders? Here. Sellers? Here. We have a quorum. And if you could please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Alderman Shadle. 00:01:27.879 --> 00:01:46.599 Item number four is the approval of the agenda. Is there such a motion? So moved. Second. 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:52.679 We have a motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers. All those in favor signify 00:01:52.680 --> 00:02:04.680 signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes. Item five is approval from the Minutes from the Committee of the Whole meeting on March 9th, 2026. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:17.680 Motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Johnson. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes. Next we have a couple of proclamations. 00:02:22.680 --> 00:02:25.680 and others. 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:28.680 Thank you. 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:31.680 Bless you. 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:39.680 But you want to turn so the camera can see you. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:40.680 Okay. 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:41.680 All right. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:44.680 This is National Week of the Young Child. 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:50.680 So, whereas Birth to Five Illinois and other local organizations in conjunction with the 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:55.240 and the National Association for the Education of Young Children are celebrating the week 00:02:55.240 --> 00:03:00.400 of the young child and whereas the week of the young child was established in recognition 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:05.540 that early childhood years, prenatal through age 8, laid the foundation for children's 00:03:05.540 --> 00:03:12.000 success in school and later in life and whereas its purpose is to focus public attention on 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:16.280 the needs of young children and their families and caregivers and to recognize the early 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:46.280 and others, as well as the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs, and whereas children's cognitive, physical, social, emotional, language, and literacy development are built on the foundation of children's positive interactions with adults, peers, and their environment, and whereas the week of the young child is a time to recognize that children's opportunities are our responsibilities, and to recommit ourselves to ensuring that every child experiences the type 00:03:46.280 --> 00:04:01.280 and many others in the early learning environment that will promote their development and growth, and whereas participation in high quality early childhood education prepares children to succeed in school, earn higher wages, and live healthier lives. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:16.279 Therefore, I, Jodi Miller, Mayor of Freeport, hereby declare April 11th through the 18th, 2026 as National Week of the Young Child in Freeport and encourage all of our citizens to work to make a good investment in early childhood within Freeport. 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:26.279 Thank you. 00:04:26.280 --> 00:04:39.560 Good evening, everyone. Hi. I'm back to visit you all again this year. I have some exciting 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:43.980 news for you. Birth of Five Illinois is going to be doing a couple of community things I 00:04:43.980 --> 00:04:50.540 want you to be aware of. In June, we are going to be hosting a community meeting. This will 00:04:50.540 --> 00:05:07.140 It'll be on Zoom. It'll be in the evening. It's primarily for parents, teachers, and caregivers. And it will talk about the new parent resource if they need something in particular for their child. 00:05:07.820 --> 00:05:15.900 Therefore, United Way is hosting this website, which they will walk through and they will explain to the parents and the caregivers. 00:05:15.900 --> 00:05:21.820 and so we will have more understanding about the availability of services throughout our 00:05:21.820 --> 00:05:26.260 three county regions, Stevenson, Joe Davis and Carroll. 00:05:26.260 --> 00:05:34.380 Also in July, we will be hosting a grandparent parent cafe online. 00:05:34.380 --> 00:05:36.580 These are for grandparents raising grandchildren. 00:05:36.580 --> 00:05:39.500 Again, that will be on Zoom. 00:05:39.500 --> 00:05:44.080 Follow us on Facebook for all the details about these things. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:48.359 We would love to get the word out because we do have supports for families. 00:05:48.359 --> 00:05:49.359 The supports are there. 00:05:49.359 --> 00:05:52.000 We just need to make them aware of it. 00:05:52.000 --> 00:06:06.639 Thank you. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:11.839 So the Proclamation for National Travel and Tourism Week, whereas the Greater Freeport 00:06:11.840 --> 00:06:16.600 Fremont Partnership works on behalf of Freeport and Stevenson County as the tourism partner 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:22.960 to promote and grow our region, and economic development and tourism promote economic well-being 00:06:22.960 --> 00:06:28.240 and quality of life for their communities by creating, retaining, and expanding jobs 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:34.260 that facilitate growth, enhance wealth, and provide a stable tax base. 00:06:34.260 --> 00:06:40.540 And whereas, economic development and tourism fuel industry and will continue to be an essential 00:06:40.540 --> 00:07:10.540 Fowler, John Fowler, John Fowler, John Fowler, 00:07:10.540 --> 00:07:15.860 Generating State State and local tax revenue to support essential services 00:07:15.860 --> 00:07:20.379 such as education, emergency response, public safety and more. 00:07:20.379 --> 00:07:23.960 So now, therefore, I, Jodi Miller, mayor of the city of Freeport, hereby declare 00:07:23.960 --> 00:07:29.640 May 3rd through the 9th, 2026 as National Travel and Tourism Week in the city of 00:07:29.640 --> 00:07:34.620 Freeport and urge our residents to join in recognizing the essential role this 00:07:34.620 --> 00:07:36.620 industry plays in our economy. 00:07:40.540 --> 00:08:10.300 Okay. Yes, I'm going to wait. Okay. Madam Clerk, would you please note that at 6.05 Alderman Simmons is entered. And then item number seven is public comment. I don't think anybody's signed in. 00:08:10.300 --> 00:08:39.419 Weiser, no. So then we will move on to the Greater Freeport Partnerships Quarterly Report. 00:08:39.419 --> 00:08:43.099 All right. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you for your attention. 00:08:46.500 --> 00:08:51.620 As Nicole passes around our quarterly report, you'll see as in every other 00:08:51.620 --> 00:08:56.699 previous quarterly report we've provided, it is outlined in our strategic focus 00:08:56.699 --> 00:09:01.259 areas that are outlined on the screen above. However, our agenda for this 00:09:01.259 --> 00:09:05.299 evening is going to be slightly altered, and we're going to hit on some economic 00:09:05.299 --> 00:09:14.539 and others, and then we're going to highlight some of the initiatives that are covered in 00:09:14.539 --> 00:09:17.740 our quarterly report. 00:09:17.740 --> 00:09:24.740 Currently, inflation is at 3.3% as measured by the consumer price index. 00:09:24.740 --> 00:09:28.179 I'm going to go back a slide here, we're not quite ready for that. 00:09:28.179 --> 00:09:33.779 So inflation is high, and while consumer sentiment has plunged 11% to the lowest point World 00:09:33.779 --> 00:09:39.779 War II. When there is uncertainty in the market, coupled with inflation and an 00:09:39.779 --> 00:09:44.220 increased cost of everyday goods, consumers will naturally spend less. There 00:09:44.220 --> 00:09:49.259 will be hesitancy from business and consumers in making larger purchases or 00:09:49.259 --> 00:09:55.559 they might delay investment. As a whole, this sentiment, this was echoed by our 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:58.799 businesses when we did our business retention visits this quarter. It's 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:01.799 always interesting to see if 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:03.899 St. Louis, and the 00:10:03.939 --> 00:10:05.639 state of New York. 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:07.679 We're going to be talking about 00:10:07.699 --> 00:10:09.539 unemployment in the next quarter. 00:10:09.579 --> 00:10:12.479 It's always interesting to see if those national trends are 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:13.939 reflecting here at home. 00:10:13.979 --> 00:10:15.719 And indeed they were. 00:10:15.740 --> 00:10:19.079 Moving on to job data, and this is not the first time you've 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:21.519 heard me talk about jobs and unemployment here in 00:10:21.559 --> 00:10:23.359 Stevenson County and Freeport. 00:10:23.379 --> 00:10:27.000 From January 20, 20, five, unemployment, excuse me, January 00:10:27.019 --> 00:10:30.559 20, 26, unemployment in both Stevenson County and Freeport 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:34.279 we have had unemployed looking for work. 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:40.679 Also consistent are the top occupations looking for employees are clustered into healthcare, 00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:48.519 logistics and manufacturing. 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:54.019 Just also highlight that when you look at some of the jobs, excuse me, I moved back 00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:56.339 a slide here. 00:10:56.339 --> 00:11:03.459 We had over 1,200 unique job postings in March 2026 by 318 employers. 00:11:03.459 --> 00:11:10.139 Of those jobs that were posted, the median hourly wage was just over $32 per hour, which 00:11:10.139 --> 00:11:16.959 approximately equates to a 66, almost $67,000 annual salary. 00:11:16.959 --> 00:11:25.039 To put some context to these numbers, median household income for Stevenson County in early 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:34.159 Early 2025, this is from the census, is at $64,043. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:41.939 Per capita income, so that's per person, is at $35,305. 00:11:41.939 --> 00:11:48.199 So what you would see here, the median, many of these jobs that we have that are available 00:11:48.199 --> 00:11:52.519 are paying above median household income wage. 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:57.459 The key to remember workforce development 00:11:57.459 --> 00:11:59.659 is a form of business retention. 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:03.039 Without workforce, existing businesses 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:06.059 were not able to grow or expand. 00:12:06.059 --> 00:12:08.480 We must do something different 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:10.159 if we want a different result. 00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:12.679 If not corrected, existing employers will hesitate 00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:15.039 to make future investments and expand 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:18.599 because they cannot meet their future workforce needs here 00:12:18.599 --> 00:12:21.159 or they will choose to go elsewhere. 00:12:21.159 --> 00:12:24.720 What we're finding is this not a temporary hiring cycle. 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:26.359 This is not a blip on the radar. 00:12:26.359 --> 00:12:28.919 This is a structural workforce imbalance. 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:30.519 So what are we gonna do about it? 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:38.039 This is not just an employer problem, housing problem, 00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:39.579 a marketing problem, 00:12:39.579 --> 00:12:42.519 but a regional workforce alignment issue. 00:12:42.519 --> 00:12:45.759 All parties hold part of the solution. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:48.399 We know that workforce talent retention 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:51.079 and recruitment is complex works. 00:12:51.079 --> 00:12:54.099 Besides jobs, people have housing needs, 00:12:54.099 --> 00:12:57.299 childcare needs, transportation, quality of life. 00:12:57.299 --> 00:13:01.839 All these problems and solutions are mutually reinforcing 00:13:01.839 --> 00:13:05.279 and need to be worked on concurrently. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:08.159 That's why you will find a diverse array of activities 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:09.559 in our quarterly report. 00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:17.559 Ultimately, we want the job here, but we should really want the paycheck to come to a driveway in our community. 00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:27.559 There is more return on investment. The paycheck helps pay property taxes, generate sales tax revenue for purchases made in our community. 00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:37.559 Otherwise, without having more opportunity for workers to live here, it will undercut retention and weaken our tax base. 00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:44.919 So we have a shared regional goal to stabilize and grow the prime workforce ages in that 00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:47.539 cohort of 25 to 44. 00:13:47.539 --> 00:13:51.619 So just these are some key targets that were identified. 00:13:51.619 --> 00:13:56.899 Reducing the industrial turnover, increasing that population cohort, increasing workforce 00:13:56.899 --> 00:14:02.459 training programs and apprenticeships, working with our educational partners to do so, increasing 00:14:02.459 --> 00:14:07.299 housing units, working with our government partners to do so, and reducing that commuter 00:14:07.299 --> 00:14:17.299 We want those people who are commuting into Freeport and Stevenson County to also live here. 00:14:17.299 --> 00:14:28.299 So last week we were able to convene players in this field, employers, government partners, educational partners, to really talk about this work. 00:14:28.299 --> 00:14:31.659 We outlined these four target areas. 00:14:31.659 --> 00:14:33.500 It's hard to see on this screen, 00:14:33.500 --> 00:14:36.699 but the first one and the last one are bolded, 00:14:36.699 --> 00:14:39.179 and those were what we focused on. 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:41.679 Reviewing, as I already talked about, 00:14:41.679 --> 00:14:43.619 we all hold a responsibility 00:14:43.619 --> 00:14:45.779 in driving towards a solution. 00:14:45.779 --> 00:14:47.960 So we talked about what are those responsibilities 00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:50.439 of employers, public partners, and the partnership 00:14:50.439 --> 00:14:53.039 in retaining and attracting this talent. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:55.419 Alongside that, we need to understand 00:14:55.419 --> 00:15:00.339 is the educational and training alignment component needed. 00:15:00.339 --> 00:15:05.419 So we're going to touch upon some of the aspects that the partnership is going to be working 00:15:05.419 --> 00:15:09.859 on in coordinating migration and employment data tracking. 00:15:09.859 --> 00:15:16.299 We're going to create a dashboard and get feedback from our HR representatives to understand 00:15:16.299 --> 00:15:23.899 their employee pool, excuse me, attrition, onboarding, and other barriers to retention 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:29.980 and Attraction. We will lead the talent and branding and communication. We will work with 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:36.859 area school districts to connect directly with seniors to market job opportunities to those 00:15:36.859 --> 00:15:43.980 individuals who are graduating within the month or next month. And we will continue to market 00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:50.539 career pathways to underclassmen and to upper elementary and middle schoolers to understand 00:15:50.539 --> 00:15:53.779 and what opportunities are here within the community. 00:15:56.359 --> 00:16:00.179 Also, we understand our best business attraction tool 00:16:00.179 --> 00:16:04.099 is growth and expansion of our existing businesses. 00:16:04.099 --> 00:16:06.139 Businesses will locate in a community 00:16:06.139 --> 00:16:09.500 where they see existing businesses grow. 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:12.220 However, as we've already discussed, 00:16:12.220 --> 00:16:14.460 there are more jobs than people to fill them. 00:16:14.460 --> 00:16:19.460 And at this time, attraction of a major employer 00:16:19.460 --> 00:16:27.019 Mayor will cannibalize our existing workforce and tightening our already shrinking pool of 00:16:27.019 --> 00:16:30.460 workers for our existing employers. 00:16:30.460 --> 00:16:39.539 However, long-term, we know economic development strategy necessitates greenfield site development. 00:16:39.539 --> 00:16:45.779 To do that, in an effort to promote that, we will continue to do environmental assessments 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:48.419 on key greenfield sites. 00:16:48.419 --> 00:16:53.859 We are doing this work through a site readiness grant that we procured from the state of Illinois. 00:16:53.859 --> 00:17:01.220 Also kudos to the city, your key investment of Well 12 now opens up new corridors for 00:17:01.220 --> 00:17:05.279 potential retail and industrial development. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:10.019 Early conversations with those landowners have already begun. 00:17:10.019 --> 00:17:15.980 Additionally, part of our role as economic development professionals is advocating for 00:17:15.980 --> 00:17:21.700 for our region to be included in any new program or zone that could be beneficial to our local 00:17:21.700 --> 00:17:24.700 businesses or SPUR investment. 00:17:24.700 --> 00:17:30.179 As such, Opportunity Zones will be coming up for renewal in June, and the partnership 00:17:30.179 --> 00:17:35.940 has secured several letters of support from local businesses and property owners to demonstrate 00:17:35.940 --> 00:17:42.579 the economic potential if the Opportunity Zone were expanded into other eligible census 00:17:42.579 --> 00:17:43.579 tracks. 00:17:43.579 --> 00:17:49.259 Ultimately, the Governor will decide which tracks are added into the Opportunity Zone, but we will 00:17:49.259 --> 00:17:56.460 make a compelling argument that all census tracks in the City of Freeport should be included where 00:17:56.460 --> 00:18:03.420 there are opportunities for investment. The map you see on the screen, the areas highlighted in green 00:18:04.139 --> 00:18:10.299 designate the different census tracks that meet the eligibility requirement from the federal 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:16.659 Co. Government to qualify to be in the Opportunity Zone or considered to be in the Opportunity 00:18:16.659 --> 00:18:22.259 Zone. I will now turn the presentation over to Nicole, who will talk about hotel and conference 00:18:22.259 --> 00:18:30.179 center development. Good evening. Doing something a little different 00:18:30.179 --> 00:18:35.500 and talking different types of data from a tourism perspective. You hear me talk a lot 00:18:35.500 --> 00:19:05.500 about and it's in your packet as well about our occupancy rates. And yes, this time of year in third quarter, or I'm sorry, in first quarter, they aren't as high, but we aren't in the tourism season. What we notice is on key times here in Freeport, which houses all of the hotels within Stevenson County, we are losing hotel rooms to other places because ours are full. In our top three key hotels, we only have 200 hotel 00:19:05.500 --> 00:19:10.500 and the City of Freeport. Yes, there are potential for vacation rentals and other places for 00:19:10.500 --> 00:19:15.880 people to stay. But when you're looking for business travel, which is where we desperately 00:19:15.880 --> 00:19:24.220 need to bring in more people midweek and tournaments for sports or graduations, family reunions, 00:19:24.220 --> 00:19:28.980 all of those types of things throughout the summer, we are maxed out. Hotel and conference 00:19:28.980 --> 00:19:34.659 center development are a priority for the partnership, as is spelling the word conference 00:19:34.659 --> 00:19:36.740 Correctly, so apologies on that one. 00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:38.199 I was so worried about getting the graph 00:19:38.199 --> 00:19:41.380 to fit in there right, I misplaced that word. 00:19:41.380 --> 00:19:45.139 But as you'll see in this graph, trying to show 00:19:45.139 --> 00:19:49.980 that is through January of 2019, through June of 2025. 00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:54.119 Those deep dips are, of course, the times of year, 00:19:54.119 --> 00:19:56.259 like first quarter, when we don't have 00:19:56.259 --> 00:20:01.259 as many hotel occupancy, but those large spikes 00:20:01.259 --> 00:20:05.700 but those large spikes is where you see 00:20:05.700 --> 00:20:09.259 all of the occupancy in the tourism season, 00:20:09.259 --> 00:20:11.160 so May through October. 00:20:11.160 --> 00:20:14.019 What you're looking at though is those peaks, 00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:17.099 that is our leakage trend over time. 00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:20.079 Leakage means that people are coming to this area 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:23.319 for whatever it is that they are drawn to the area for, 00:20:23.319 --> 00:20:26.559 family reunions, games, that kind of thing 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:28.920 but they're staying outside of our area 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:31.420 because there are no hotel rooms. 00:20:31.420 --> 00:20:35.279 So on any given weekend between May and October, 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:40.039 we are losing money because people have to stay elsewhere. 00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:42.400 In addition to just needing a hotel, 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:44.680 we desperately could use a conference center 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:46.599 here in Stevenson County. 00:20:46.599 --> 00:20:48.599 There is no place, none of our hotels 00:20:48.599 --> 00:20:52.160 currently have a meeting space that can fit over 25 people. 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:53.480 It doesn't exist. 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:57.460 What we are also missing is this time of year, 00:20:57.460 --> 00:21:00.500 We don't have as much occupancy 00:21:00.500 --> 00:21:03.339 because we don't have anything for them to come here for. 00:21:03.339 --> 00:21:06.220 If we can attract a meeting, a conference, 00:21:06.220 --> 00:21:08.420 and this is the time of year in which that's done, 00:21:08.420 --> 00:21:10.240 I'm sure you've all been to some, 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:12.019 I'm going to one at the end of the month, 00:21:12.019 --> 00:21:13.900 we can attract those things here 00:21:13.900 --> 00:21:16.660 and therefore fill existing hotel rooms 00:21:16.660 --> 00:21:20.500 until we have something for them during this time of year. 00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:24.559 So not only will we see an increase in hotel stays, 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:25.859 but with the conference center, 00:21:25.859 --> 00:21:30.539 We are giving them more reasons to come here in the times of year when we need to see more 00:21:30.539 --> 00:21:32.319 occupancy. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:40.119 So we have a list of developers we are speaking to, to continue this work forward, as well 00:21:40.119 --> 00:21:44.559 as some sites identified that are best positioned near existing amenities. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:48.420 We don't want to put up a hotel where there's nothing else to do around it or no other place 00:21:48.420 --> 00:21:50.000 for them to spend money. 00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.680 They want to come to a hotel where you can buy gas nearby, there's a restaurant nearby, 00:21:54.680 --> 00:21:56.359 and you can see things to do. 00:21:56.359 --> 00:21:59.720 So those are the places that we are really looking for 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:01.839 to bring in the best investment 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:03.480 for Freeport and Stevenson County. 00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:09.920 Also, I asked Tim to stay after we had done a photo 00:22:09.940 --> 00:22:12.480 with the mayor just as we were getting started 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:15.839 that Lidditz, Pennsylvania, our pretzel sister city 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:18.240 that was talked about here several months ago 00:22:18.240 --> 00:22:21.119 and we are sharing a little bit of their fare. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:33.119 Lidditz, Pennsylvania is home to Tom Sturgis Pretzels, which is the oldest commercial pretzel bakery in the country and therefore makes it a really fantastic sister city for us. 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:49.119 Our community liaison, Tim Connors, is going to be taking the key to the city, to Lidditz, Pennsylvania, for this week and meet our fine folks in Lidditz because, well, now he's the former mayor, but at the time mayor of Lidditz. 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:53.920 Tom Snyder was here last September. So we're doing a little bit of an exchange program, if you will. 00:22:54.640 --> 00:23:00.559 And Tim will be spreading all of the good news of Freeport to Lititz, Pennsylvania. We do hope 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:06.799 future partnership with Lititz continues. Pretzel Fest didn't work out for 2026. They'd already 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:12.240 picked their date of May 2nd. We already had our date of April 25th. So we're going to try it again 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:42.240 Sturgis, Tom Sturgis, Tom Sturgis, Tom Sturgis 00:23:42.240 --> 00:24:00.240 We're also really happy to have a new small business startup, the Freeport Pretzel Company, that specializes in soft pretzels, another great small business that we want to continue to see thrive, that will be a part of our Pretzel Fest on April 25th. 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:10.240 Also, similar to how we made the Big Pretzel in the Art Plaza last year, we're doing another community engagement event on April 25th. I hope you can all make it. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:14.400 Crockett, it's called the Great Pretzel Bite. And you are going to all get another pretzel 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:21.539 like we give you today. And we are all going to stand in a line and take a bite of the 00:24:21.539 --> 00:24:28.360 pretzels together. So we last time we had 630 people attend. So we are hoping for just 00:24:28.360 --> 00:24:34.019 as many, if not more for great weather. And it's really about bringing positivity and 00:24:34.019 --> 00:24:41.420 and energy back into Freeport to show that when you have community minded people together, 00:24:41.420 --> 00:24:46.380 you can see all of the potential and goodwill right here in Freeport. 00:24:46.380 --> 00:24:51.059 Lastly, our community guide should be arriving any day. 00:24:51.059 --> 00:24:54.960 It is newly titled Simply Stevenson County. 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:58.220 This is both our tourism and business publication. 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:05.779 So we, tourism, one of the great things about our collaborative organization is when we talk 00:25:05.779 --> 00:25:09.859 about quality of life, there are a lot of people who live here who forget about the 00:25:09.859 --> 00:25:12.059 things that there are to do here. 00:25:12.059 --> 00:25:16.539 And then when you are visiting the area, sometimes you need to know where you can go get your 00:25:16.539 --> 00:25:23.059 car worked on or where you can look for other amenities because something happens in your 00:25:23.059 --> 00:25:24.059 life. 00:25:24.059 --> 00:25:28.460 Really having the tourism and the business publication together is beneficial to both 00:25:28.460 --> 00:25:35.579 audiences. This year's publication features two new highlight stories because it is both 100 years 00:25:35.579 --> 00:25:42.220 of historic Highway 20 and also 100 years of Freeport High School. So those are both featured 00:25:42.220 --> 00:25:47.340 in this year's guides, great commemorations that you'll continue to see promoted throughout the 00:25:47.340 --> 00:25:53.340 year. Then when it comes to the tourism campaign, it has the same name, simply Stevenson County, 00:25:53.339 --> 00:25:59.819 because we're going to continue to promote exactly what we are, which is a little bit slower pace, 00:25:59.819 --> 00:26:05.900 which is what you want when you're traveling, and outdoor recreation, retail and restaurants, 00:26:05.900 --> 00:26:12.859 events, and these are specifically marketed to people 25 to 45 in major metro areas that are more 00:26:12.859 --> 00:26:19.980 than 40, 50 miles away. So that's Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago suburbs, we get a lot of Bloomington, 00:26:19.980 --> 00:26:27.259 Peoria, things like that. And we've chosen social media channels that best target those key demographics 00:26:27.259 --> 00:26:32.059 of 25 to 45 because believe it or not there are enough social media channels out there now, 00:26:32.059 --> 00:26:37.900 different people check different ones. All right and that's all we have for you tonight so we'll 00:26:37.900 --> 00:26:42.220 Take any questions. Thank you, Council. 00:26:48.460 --> 00:26:54.220 Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we will move on to item number nine, which is public 00:26:54.220 --> 00:27:00.460 comment. Is there any public comments this evening? Seeing none, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. 00:27:00.460 --> 00:27:05.339 So move. Second. Motion made by Alderman Sellers, seconded by Alderman Shadle. All those in favor, 00:27:05.339 --> 00:27:06.339 signify by saying aye. 00:27:06.339 --> 00:27:06.839 Aye.