Good evening, Pastor Kupferstrom, could you please give me a vocation?
Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council, everyone, could you please pray with me?
Well, Father, we give you thanks, Lord of Heaven and Earth, give you praise tonight
is the one who's given us life and health and gifted us for service. Lord, even as I
consider the people around this room, Lord, we see how you've gifted each one of them for the roles
that you've given them here in the city. And Lord, we confess tonight that apart from your help, apart
from your strength, we have nothing. And so, it's for your help and strength that I ask tonight for
for this Council, for this City. Lord, we thank You for the way that You've directed
over this past year and into this new year in 2026, the plans that have been made, the
things that have been laid out. Lord, we pray for Your blessing and success in those plans.
Lord, I know that we have differences of all sorts, but do pray that in the midst of our
Disagreements and Differences, you would help us to move forward in unity, not
unanimity perhaps, but unity with a mutual love for this city and for
these people. And Lord, we do pray for this meeting tonight that you would bless the
proceedings, help us to please you with the way that we speak to one another and
the decisions that are made. And Lord, we ask all these things for your glory. In
in Jesus name. Amen. Now we'll officially call this meeting to order. Madam Clerk, could
you please take the roll? Mayor Miller? Here. Alderpersons, Klemm? Here. Johnson? Here. Simmons
is absent. Parker? Here. Stacy? Here. Shadle and Sanders are both absent. Sellers? Here.
We do have a quorum, Mayor. Thank you. If you could please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance
Led by Alderman Klemm.
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.
Madam Clerk, could you please note that Alderman Simmons has arrived?
Thank you.
Thank you. Item number one is the approval of the agenda. However, we are going to remove item number three, which are the recognitions. We'll do that in February. Is there a motion to approve?
So moved. Second. A motion made by Alderman Sellers, seconded by Alderman Klemm. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes. Item number two is approval of the minutes from the council meeting on January 5th, 2026. Is there a motion to approve?
I make a motion to approve. So moved. Second.
Motion made by Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Sellers. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye.
Opposed? That motion passes. Public comment. Was there, Bryan is there? Bryan, could you check? No.
We'll move on to item number five, which is the Consent Agenda. The Consent Agenda is considered to be routine in nature and acted as one motion unless there's a member of the council who would like to have something removed for further discussion.
Huffines.
Seeing none, the consent agenda consists of approval to receive and place on file the
minutes from the Building Commission, November 13, 2024, Planning Commission, July 10, 2025,
Finance Committee of the Whole, November 10 and 17, 2025, the Board of Fire and Police
Commissioners, November 25, 2025, Art and Culture Commission, December 4, 2025, the
Settlers, and the
financial department.
The financial department is
requesting the cash and investment report and the
finance department report both November
2025, adoption of resolution
2026-08, the resolution requesting temporary closure
of streets for the annual memorial day parade and the
approval of the finance bill's total payment of
Huff, $773,726.64. I know there's just a typo. It said 2025, but it's actually 2026.
So with that, is there a motion to approve?
So moved.
Second.
We have a motion made by Alderman Klemm, seconded by Alderman Sellers. Madam Clerk, could you
please take the roll?
Madam Mayor, I'd just like to note that the Memorial Day Parade is May 25th, 2026. And
Who was the second on that?
Sellers was the second.
For roll call vote, Klemm?
Aye.
Johnson?
Aye.
Simmons?
Aye.
Parker?
Aye.
Stacy?
Aye, even though I think there's a mistake.
It says Committee of the Whole November 10th and 17th?
No.
The Committee of the Whole was the 10th.
That's Finance Committee of the Whole, Alderperson.
Forgive me.
And Sellers.
Aye.
That is your vote.
The motion passes 6-0.
Item number 6 is the adoption of resolution 2026.03. Could you please read this?
Resolution Approving a Service Sales Agreement with Revise for City Website Updates, Annual Hosting, and Maintenance Services
Thank you. Director Bridge.
Good evening Mayor and Council.
Before I read what I have here, I just wanted to thank those responsible for getting me to the top of the agenda.
I understand resolutions usually aren't this early, but family life has been shaken up recently, so I appreciate that.
For close to 10 years, the City has been utilizing a website that was made with limited user-friendly tools.
The old site has simply become so outdated that continuing with it may cause more technical difficulties, of which the City experienced several in 2024.
The City Communications Director and Information Technology Director have researched the most cost-effective and most long-term solutions for all who utilize cityoffreeport.org,
Several website design companies that specialize in local government provided quotes for their scope of work, allowing the city to bring forward the following, which is the fact that Revise has written out this agreement for just under $15,000.
Revise is a company that has helped launch 3,600 websites, mainly focusing on local government.
They have worked with nearby municipalities such as Stevenson County, Highland Park, Maywood,
and Cherry Valley.
REVISE is prepared to do a full redesign of the website while keeping all necessary information
that goes into keeping our residents best informed.
The funds for this update will come from the IT budget on approval by Council for 2026.
Thank you, Director.
Is there a motion to approve?
So moved.
I'm sorry, to adopt.
So moved.
Second.
We have a motion made by Alderman, Klemm, seconded by Alderman, Sellers. Discussion on this resolution.
Madam Clerk, please take the roll.
Klemm. Aye. Johnson. Aye. Simmons. Aye. Parker. Aye. Stacy. No. And Sellers. Aye. The resolution passes five to one. Thank you. Thank you, Director.
Item number seven is the second reading of Ordinance 20-2601. Could you please read this?
Ordinance amending various subsections of Chapter 220, Rules of Council, and the City of Freeport Code of Ordinances, Section 220.11A4, Operation of the Committee of the Whole, Section 2-2011E5, Operation of the Finance Committee of the Whole, and Section 2-2011F5, the City Manager Recruitment Committee.
Thank you. Manager Boyer?
Thank Your Honor. This is the second reading. The first reading was January 5th. At that time, we went over the various changes.
There were no questions at that time and
staff requests moving forward with the ordinance
amending these areas.
Discussion?
Madam Clerk, if you could please take the roll.
Klemm?
Aye.
Johnson?
Aye.
Simmons?
I'm sorry no thank you Parker hi Stacy no Shadle oh goodness Sellers aye Madam
Mayor we're gonna need you to chime in and the ordinance passes six to five one
two three four five to two item number eight is the first reading of ordinance
I think so just just double check it again because we got two people gone and there's
eight aldermen and you tallied seven votes yeah that's cuz I'm in it okay thank you five
to two equals seven thank you no worries ma'am clerk can you read that next ordinance please
Ordinance, Amending, Codified
Ordinance Amending Codified Ordinances, Chapter 1044, Water Rates and Revenues, Section 1044.01, Established Rates to Add Incentive Pay for Lead and Copper Samples to be Taken for Lead Service Line Replacement Grant Application.
Thank you. Manager Boyer.
Thank you, Your Honor. We discussed this at the Committee of the Whole on January 12th. Essentially,
we're having issues with getting compliance from homes that have lead services for our sampling
process. The root of the issue is that we started our sampling program with over 60
samples that are required and we have removed so many lead services that we only have about 63
Active Services Now. So, staff had proposed moving, bringing forward a $40 incentive reduction
on the Individuals Water Bill to help us gain compliance and get cooperation from the property
residents of those properties. And staff requests moving this to second reading in February.
Is there a motion to move this forward? So move.
Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Sellers,
by Alderman Johnson discussion on the ordinance. Darren? Yeah I just wanted to give everybody an
update. We did some tabulations between the meetings and we are literally at about 150
services left and we will be complete with the lead service line replacement. So I know there's
people that have been asking me and it took us some time to to get it down but right now there's
There's 150 left and by any luck we will be done sometime this summer.
Awesome.
Thank you.
Could I make a motion to suspend the rules?
Second.
We have a motion to suspend the rules made by Alderman Klemm, seconded by Alderman Sellers.
Suspension of the rules is non-debatable and must pass by two-thirds majority.
Madam Clerk, could you please take the vote on the suspension only?
Klemm.
Aye.
Johnson.
Aye.
Simmons? No. Parker? Aye. Stacy? No. Sellers? Aye. One, two, three, four. Attorney Zito, we need six, right? So the mayor wouldn't even matter. So that motion fails.
Okay, the suspension fails. However, there's still the discussion on the ordinance itself. It'll just be moved to the next regularly scheduled meeting. Alderman Sellers?
Yes, just wanted to know how long do we have to have this given to the EPA on what we're doing, our testing? Are we looked into about testing and stuff? Is that why we have to do this?
Sure. So as I mentioned before, we have about 63 active services. We need 60 of them to
respond to our lead and copper sampling. So we're just asking for a $40 incentive to reduce
off of the individual water bills. And we hope to have these done before the next sampling
regime. This is basically just going to get us done through the next, I guess, sampling
period till July.
So we are at this monitoring level of 60 until we reach full lead free compliance.
And then, um, once we do another tier sample, I believe at the end of the year,
then we will, then we can apply for reduced monitoring to get back to a more
reasonable level, but we have to complete.
And then we have to do some various sampling to do that.
So what Mr. City Manager Boyer indicated is we're really struggling and we get
commitments from people and then we don't get follow through, which automatically
is giving us violations.
And so this would really help the operations and the environmental staff
that is working hard to keep us into compliance, very touchy situation.
Rob actually commend him on his day off.
He went to EPA and fought on behalf of the city on some violations that
We receive that our paperwork issues that we're having, because we have so
many, uh, little, so few lead services right now that we are having a really
hard time staying compliant.
That's why, uh, um, we're asking for this to make sure that we, we give our
operators and our environmental people a chance to get this done.
Hopefully we'll go to what they call, I believe tier five.
Um, so we'll have one through four pretty much clear.
We will go to tier five, which is copper services that probably won't be
until 2027. And then we'll get back on a more consistent, smaller scale that we can use more services in town because we have lots of copper services. Right now, we're really down to, like he said, about 63 active lead services. It's very difficult. And these are the people, a lot of these people that are left are people that haven't been responding to calls, emails, text, you know, us showing up trying to get in to do the services. So it creates another level of complexity to
Sellers. Yes, because it's a lot of work that goes into doing the testing and they have to do it at a certain spot at a certain time ever for so many days, correct? And then they have to then they then our people go there and get the water and test it and make sure everything's okay, correct?
Yeah. And then there's another step to it. After that, if, if we would get a parts per billion, uh, confirmation, because people can do sampling, uh, incorrectly, we may get a false positive, which requires us to go back and do even more sampling.
So, um, it is, it's, it is a chore for the homeowners to be involved.
and as we have completed these and knocked them out throughout town,
the people that are very favorable to helping us do this project
have kind of gone away.
And again, we're getting to the point of getting trouble to people,
even answer a call, answer a letter, schedule an appointment.
And so it's really becoming difficult.
And it's a big hassle for our staff to chase chase this around.
Alderman Klemm. Yeah.
Is it is there a certain segment of the community?
I mean, is it like rentals? Is it like old people? Is it like, you know?
Right now, so we had, we originally started with 2300 and we're down to a various 150, kind of spotted all over town that's kind of left from all the different packages we did.
So there, I couldn't even pick a street that has, you know, you know, more than a couple here and there, just, you know, some of them have sold.
So we had to wait for one owner to the next. I've been tracking down selling companies,
leasing companies. Some of these are owned by the government housing. It's a lot more work than
you can imagine. Thank you. I appreciate it. Alderman Johnson. And if we're out of compliance,
there's a cost to that, right? As far as a cost to the city, it's basically if we have a violation,
We're trying to fix... One of the other costs, direct costs of a violation is in this there's a, they call it a monitoring violation. So that requires us to mail every customer in town a mailer saying that we got this violation, which, you know, is like writing a $3,000 check for postage to say that we're in violation of really nothing. And so that's the, we're trying to be responsible with the taxpayer's money and not get into that position.
One of our one of our monitoring violations that we've got already that Rob went to fight, we really refused to send the mailer because it was a error by the lab company that that got submitted. So we actually submitted all the paperwork, but it was a lab error and it was going to be like writing a check for postage for $3,000 that we think is absolutely ridiculous when we passed all the tests. It's just like a monitoring thing. So again, it is a hassle for the people that are involved.
We've got to get to the point where we're down to none, and then be compliant for another six months, and then we can reduce the sampling, and hopefully go back to every three years. Prior to the lead and copper rule, we only had to do compliance every three years. Now, because of the new factors, we have to do every six months. So it is a lot more work.
Prior to the lead and copper rule, we only had to do compliance every three years. Now
because of the new factors, we have to do every six months. So it is a lot more work and a lot more
cost in sampling. Alderman Stacy? Yes. How often do you have to take these samples? Like is it monthly
County, and by the suspension failing, is that going to affect you all in any way?
The answer to the suspension is no, we can wait until the next meeting.
That's not a problem.
And I'm sorry, what was your first question?
How often do you have to take...
Right now until the rule changes and we get to Tier 5.
Ordinance Amending Chapter 810 Concerning the Licensing of Vacation Rentals to Add Penalties for Multiple Violations of Federal, State, or Local Regulations
Thank you. Director Heimerdinger?
Thank you, Madam Mayor. The City of Freeport continues to support vacation rentals as lawful
and beneficial use. However, recent activity has demonstrated the need for additional safeguards.
The proposed Good Neighbor Policy is intended to preserve neighborhood peace, protect quality
of life, and ensure accountability when properties are used for short-term rental purposes.
This policy is not based on neighbor complaints or subjective concerns, instead it relies on
documented calls for service related to verified violations and relies on communication and
coordination with the police and fire department to ensure consistent and unbiased application.
This amendment aligns with the City's strategic plans related to neighborhood housing and
safe inclusive community and requires no additional funding.
I'm going to briefly read the policy because it's quite short and it states any vacation
rental which receives two or more or more calls for service related to a violation of
a state federal or local ordinance regulation rule or law within a signal licensee or should
be subject to 30-day suspension of the vacation rental license during which time no rental
should be allowed.
In the event that there are three or more calls for service related to a violation of state, federal, or local ordinance, regulation, rule, or law within a signal license year, the license shell issued under this chapter shall be subject to immediate reparation and the owner of the property should not be eligible for a vacation rental license for the following year.
This provision is enacted for the purpose of preserving community peace and harmony, limiting
disruptions to community neighborhoods, and requires persons designing to utilize their
properties for profit to be responsible for ensuring their neighbors, who may not be similarly
utilizing their homes, are not negatively impacted by the disturbances of any kind.
As such, the provisions here shall apply whether or not the commission of a crime or violation
of an ordinance is adjudicationally determined and applies expressively to the occurrence
of a call for service.
Any call for service based exclusively upon occurrence of domestic violence shall not
be counted for the purpose of this section.
The staff recommends moving this ordinance forward to a second reading and amending Chapter
Manager, 810, to include Section 810.09, Good Neighbor Policy.
Thank you.
Is there a motion to move this forward?
So moved.
Second.
We have a motion made by Alderman Klemm, seconded by Alderman Sellers.
Discussion on this ordinance?
Alderman Johnson?
I'm just wondering why I see that any call for service based exclusively on domestic violence,
why that would not be determined as a service call, because to me that's pretty dangerous
Yes, it's mostly for the policy and wanting to protect the victim of said call.
So if there is a, we don't want backlash from, you know, that victim that they can no longer
when they need help in domestic violence situations. You could note that those are pretty close to
medical calls would be the same. Medical calls are also not in violation of this policy.
So that is pretty linked to a medical call if somebody's in danger, their life is in danger,
they're getting domestic abuse. We don't want to deteriorate from the impact of that and we
and we don't want individuals feeling like they can't call.
Okay, then we'll move on to Item Number 10, which is the first reading of Ordinance 2026-04.
Could you please read this?
Ordinance amending Chapter 1252 of the Zoning Code to allow offices of contractors as a
permitted use in B1, B2, and B3 business districts.
Thank you.
Director Heimerdinger.
Thank you, Madam Mayor.
Currently, contractor's offices and shops are only permitted by right and B3, commercial
and wholesale business districts.
This restriction excludes their use in less intensive districts such as B1 restricted
and general retail or B2 limited service business districts, unless specifically stated.
With advancements in technology, many contractor offices now operate primarily as a business
Office with digital tools or client meetings, sample displays, rather than on-site fabrication
or storage.
To reflect modern business practices and to help attract and retain businesses, the proposed
amendment would allow contractor offices used primarily for business purposes and sample
displays to be permitted in B1 districts, in addition to allowing them to continue being
Alloud in B3.
This approach reduces red tape and provides ready-to-use spaces for businesses.
The amendment aligns with the strategic plan for promoting a responsive and effective and
efficient government that updates ordinances to match current business practices.
Staff recommends approving the amendment to the ordinance pertaining to contractor offices
and Shops and this did come from Planning Commission and it was voted in favor of coming to Council
on January 15th.
Thank you.
Is there a motion to move this forward?
So moved.
Okay.
We have a motion made by Alderman Sellers, seconded by Alderman Klemm.
Discussion on the ordinance?
Alderman Klemm.
Klemm. Director Heimerdinger, can you give me an example of this? Yes. Business X moving into Y because obviously this has got something in mind to do it. Yeah, so this doesn't, this is not solely, you know, anybody that we are thinking about right now moving in, but we're trying to make it easier for contractors who want to have a presence. Let's say there's a downtown shop, right? That's B1.
and all they have you know nowadays when you go to talk with a contractor talk
with a designer they don't have a big showroom they don't manufacture anything
on site they might have a computer show you some samples they might have some
paint chips and they may have some small countertop samples right now as it's
currently written they could not do that in any B1 and a lot of B1 properties are
examples, fitted online and they're just being shown that it's not fabrication on-site.
So really between this one and the next one coming up as far as the upstairs or property,
it's basically going to create a different attitude or a different opportunity for people
to move into downtown or another place.
Yes.
It's supposed to help to create more ability for different types of businesses to find homes here in Freeport and to be able to find a place that works for them and to remove, you know, unnecessary red tape for them to come in and start their business.
Thank you.
Alderman, Stacy?
How many buildings do we have downtown that would support something like this?
How many?
Any of them that deemed B1 on the zoning map, they could easily support this.
I mean, do you know how many properties there is?
Of B1 on the zoning map?
I do not.
B1 on the zoning map, I do not, off the top of my head.
If there's no other discussion, move on to item number 11, which is the first reading
of Ordinance 2026-05.
Madam Clerk, could you please read this?
Ordinance amending Chapter 1252 of the Zoning Code to Allow Residential Units as a Permitted
Use Above the Ground Floor of Buildings in the Central Business District.
Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Mayor. Currently, residential units are not permitted by right in any business district and can only be allowed through a special use permit under restrictive conditions.
To address Freeport's housing shortage and promote full occupancy of buildings in the central business district, the proposed amendment to Chapter 1252.01 of the B1 Restricted Retail Business District would
Allow for a permit residential use including dwelling units and lodging rooms on upper floors in the Central Business District when the ground floor is occupied or could be occupied by a permitted business.
This also streamlines residential development outside of the Central Business District by
removing outdated frontage and block composition requirements while maintaining a special use
permit for anything outside of the Central Business District.
These changes encourage housing in unutilized buildings, foster vibrant mixed-use downtown
areas and align with the City's strategic goal related to the responsive government
and Neighborhood and Housing. Staff recommends Council approving the amendment to the ordinance
pertaining to residential use in business districts as it was voted in favor by the Planning Commission
on January 15th. And you can also see on the screen there we've just outlined it, the Central
Business District. So you're going to get a sense of where residential can exist above
of the first floor without a special use.
Everywhere outside of that area will still require
a special use permit to have residential above a business.
Is there a motion to move this ordinance forward?
So move.
A second.
A motion made by Alderman Sellers,
seconded by Alderman Johnson.
I have a question.
Yes.
In order for second, third floor possibilities,
does the first floor have to be occupied first?
The first floor doesn't have to be occupied.
It has to be able to be occupied,
which means that it can't be a condemned building.
You can't have a condemned first floor.
It just means that there could be a business in there.
It is in a state where a business can move in.
Thank you.
Alderman Klemm.
I guess it was about a year ago,
Greater Freeport Partnership put on a program
about second floors, about these things,
was talked about funding and what was required
and all that kind of stuff.
And I know one of the things, problems
in a lot of these buildings,
and I just wanted to say that as it's still in there
is it's gotta be approved by everybody
because one of the big things I think
is fire department entrance and access
and ability to get out in case of anything.
You know, that has handicapped a number of the buildings,
We have these buildings by any means. It's just removing the $200 special use permit application and then the two months of going through that process in order to hopefully engage more people to come get their building permits, work with our building inspector and our fire marshal to make sure that the building is safe and ready for residential use, but to avoid the unnecessary hold up and time and extra costs.
and Stacey. Would the occupants already living there on the other floors have any say so on
a business coming in? To the ground floor? Yes. The businesses, that always goes to the
building owner who always decides, you know, who's coming into their, to their, the property
and the property owner decides who's coming into their business. So I don't know of any system where a residential individual would decide if they let the ground floor happen unless they are the property owner.
So the property owner decides the business coming in and then they work with the city to make sure that it's a proper business that can be in that district.
Yes. So there still would have to be two ways in and two ways out. Yes. Without having to cut through a business. Oh, yes. There has to be. Yes. The safety is still still top of the line. That is that is a building code. We're not changing building code. We're not modifying the building code. The building code will stay the same. We're just removing the ordinance that we have set in place by the city of needing a special use.
Anything else?
We'll move on to item number 12, which is the adoption of resolution 2026-04.
Could you please read this?
Resolution approving 2026 motor fuel tax materials.
Thank you.
Manager Boyer?
Thank you, Your Honor.
Every year before we start the construction season, we need to pass a resolution authorizing
the use of MFT funds for our construction season.
This year we're planning to install about 12,500 tons of hot mix. There's a slight difference
here in the memo. The memo calls out 13,000. And then we're also looking at 150,000 for
a crack sealing operation. So, staff asked that Council move forward with the resolution
approving the 2026 MFT funds.
Is there a motion to adopt?
So moved.
Second.
Okay, motion made by Alderman Seller, seconded by Alderman Klemm. Discussion on the resolution?
Alderman, Stacy. The total cost of this resolution would be what? About a million dollars. And I know we have done something like this every year. Yes. How much of that product did we have left over? I don't think we had any left over last year. I don't know, Darren maybe has a better idea.
So we use this not only for roads, but use it for hot patch.
That's the larger amount than 900,000.
And I want to say that we had, uh, just about 800 tons left.
Now we didn't take those tons and we didn't have to pay for them.
So we only, we only pay for the tons we take.
So we kind of estimate what we're going to need for the year.
We have to estimate the maximum and then we can take 20% less or 20%
more based on whether that's, that's the IDOT spec for it.
so we only pay for what we actually have delivered to the job sites when we do a
project we might have a couple tons left here and there after jobs over with and
then we use that in our recycling machine to do road patching so there's no waste
anymore. Okay thank you for visiting Liberty. Madam Clerk please take the
Klemm, Johnson, Simmons, Parker, Stacey, and Sellers.
The resolution is adopted 6-0.
Item number 13 is the adoption of resolution 2026-05.
Could you please read this?
Resolution approving the purchase of chlorine analyzers for wells 8 and 9 from Hawk Company.
Thank you.
Manager Boyer?
Thank you, Your Honor. So we have equipment at each of the water treatment plants. They're
called chlorine analyzers. They look at or they take a sample every so many seconds and
then they run a quick sample and then it goes to our SCADA. Our SCADA is the Supervisory
Data Acquisition System that communicates to the operators and also to our long-term records
as to what is actually what the dosage is and what the residuals are in a system.
HAC has decided to stop supporting the current models that we have while eight and nine,
and staff needs to move forward rapidly and ratify this agreement.
Staff, this is a bit of an emergency from the standpoint of it is a regulated outcome
and we are out of supplies, so we need to move forward.
Staff Request Council ratify this agreement for $26,064.
Thank you.
Is there a motion to adopt?
So moved.
Second.
A motion made by Alderman Klemm, seconded by Alderman Sellers.
Discussion on the resolution?
Alderman Stacey.
How long was we with the company that no longer support our wealth?
I'm sorry.
Could you say that again?
Perry, with the company that no longer support.
Port. It's one of the only ones out there that does this type of work. I believe these
have been in place at least 20 years. I don't know exactly. It was far before my time. But
this has been kind of an industry standard for a very long time. And not only us, but
essentially any water department that does not have the reagents and the repair tubes
Williams, and things to make them work will be in the same position we're in.
So the current model has been in use for many, many years and they're updating the model.
That's why the model year change, our maintenance guys knew this was going to happen.
We bought up a bunch of the parts and pieces that we've used and we've got by for a few
years here, knowing that we were going to have to change them out.
I didn't put this information through the memo process, but the new units, while
we buy them, they'll actually cost us less maintenance per month because the
reagents packets that have always been able to be used, which is a reoccurring
cost, the new models don't use those anymore.
So they've kind of built a better mousetrap.
Um, unfortunately the chlorine analyzers at our wells, they run 24 seven, uh, as
the wells run, cause we're constantly monitor that through the SCADA system.
And it allows the operators to balance out chlorine throughout the system.
So it's a very important piece of remote operations, not having to have a person at each one of our facilities 24 hours a day.
What was the location of the old or the current one that has has it now compared to where is HACC located compared to where the other one was located?
So Hock's a manufacturer and it's the main manufacturer for those. So are you talking about our wellhouses?
No, I'm talking about where is Hock located?
Oh, there's a branch facility in Chicago. So we strategically waited to order three of these at the same time to get a better cost on them than buying one individually.
and we like to have all the equipment the same at the well houses that way our
maintenance staff has they have less parts and pieces of materials that we
have to buy and have on hand because every different model you get you have
to have more and more equipment sitting on the shelf to repair it so I would
echo Rob's sediment that these well number nines those chlorine analyzers
were original when that was built they've never been changed out they've
have only been fixed and repaired.
Well number eight is the same way.
That's a piece of equipment that might be 25 years old
and our guys work on them monthly
to make sure that they're operational.
So this isn't something that you buy all the time.
Well 11 has the newer model in it
because that's what it was available when we built it
and well 12 will have the same models as well.
How old is the parts in well nine?
Well nine was built,
15 years ago, maybe 16 years ago, something like that. I think it was brought online about 15 years ago.
That was a new well, new facility with the chlorine analyzers and then we had an original one and we had to add another one when Sierra Tank got put online because it wasn't meeting the EPA's operational functionality.
So is it fair to say they only last like 15 years?
These right here wouldn't have to be replaced if the parts and pieces were still available for them because they're still operational.
It's the components that are inside of them, the wear parts, those are just not available anymore.
And like I said, we bought a bunch of them when we knew they were going to be discontinued.
But we've kind of rode that horse as long as we could.
OK. There's nothing else.
Please take the roll.
Klemm. Johnson.
Aye. Simmons.
Parker? Aye. Stacy? Aye. And Sellers? Aye. The resolution is adopted six to zero.
Item number 14 is the adoption of resolution 2026-06. Could you please read this? Resolution
approving memorandum of agreement with AFSCME regarding the creation of the position of
operations foreman. Thank you. Manager Boyer? Thank you, Your Honor. Late last year we moved
Ford, Operations Superintendent, Pat Ingram
and Stoker.
This would be a grade 19 in the AFSCME contract and the overall cost impact of this would be
about $5,000 per year, including fringe benefits.
So staff recommends moving forward with the resolution and the position of Operations
Foreman.
Is there a motion to adopt?
So moved.
Second.
A motion made by Alderman Seller, seconded by Alderman Klemm.
Any discussion on this resolution?
Alderman Stacey?
Yes.
How will the person, how will the person be chosen? You know, is there a process or will
they be handpicked like Pat Ingram was?
Pat Ingram applied for the position but I'm not here to discuss that. It would be based
Weston Seniority primarily, and also their knowledge.
So this is a union bargaining position, so anybody that's qualified within the union
will be able to apply for this position, because we'll have to open it up within the union.
And I wanted to point out, this is a creation of a new job title, but not an additional
and others, and all of that kind of organization.
Alderman Sellers?
Didn't we talk about this earlier and didn't we get rid of a position and made it like two positions so that's one of the, so those dollars are really split up into two positions doing this job, correct?
Correct. Well, City Manager Boyer talked about $5,000 in fringe benefits. This is actually a negative
effect to the utility as far as staffing cost because we're reducing some of our supervisory
management staff by condensing the utility operations and the street operations into one
operations superintendent. But obviously we can't expect that person to work 24 hours a day,
Reddit, even any of our leadership team, they answer the phone 24 hours a day, seven days
a week.
Pat, with having the street department and the utility department, he regularly gets
called at midnight, one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock in the morning.
He's in plowing, helping get crews going at three and four in the morning.
So we need to make sure as a quality individual that he is or anybody in that position gets
time off to spend with their family that they can rest and recoup and be ready for next
and Mr. Ingram has, you know, been very, very easy going during this transition.
And he's been basically covering probably 90% of every weekend throughout this
pace. So this is a fair resolution.
In my opinion, it gives us a promotion through our ask me people to have
something for our younger staff to strive for, to get in.
And we'll give us the redundancy that we need that our leadership crews
can have some weekends off with their families okay so when this foreman this
operation foreman have time off a regular ESME employee will be filling in those
shoes yeah when when this person is not covering Pat will be covering the
opposite weekends. So it's so they can share weekends and responsibility.
Currently, don't quote me, but I believe the street department utility
department have like 33 employees. And so Pat can't be everywhere every day.
So he needs a second lieutenant, if you will, to help him organize staff and
make sure that our projects and our city functions are getting done. I will
credit Pat. He's been outstanding.
I will credit Pat, he's been outstanding, he's been trying to get everywhere, but we're physically burning him out and this position creates that second person that he can hand some of the leadership in the field duties off that he doesn't have to make it to every job site, every dig, every utility or street issue that we have and we really need that redundancy for him.
Alderman Sellers?
In a way it also would be like job on the job training training this next person to maybe take
Pat's place and then moving up. Exactly that was our thinking is instead of always trying to hire
from outside maybe we can make it a promotable thing for somebody to stretch goals to to maybe
be the next operations superintendent if they're you know really good obviously we all want to
I want to work for the City of Freeport for the rest of our lives, but we don't know how
long that is.
If there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk, please.
One moment.
Klemm.
Aye.
Johnson.
Aye.
Simmons.
Aye.
Parker.
Aye.
Stacy.
Aye.
And Sellers.
Aye.
The resolution is adopted 6-0.
15 is Adoption of Resolution 202607. Could you please read this resolution approving a redevelopment agreement with James Schwartz and tax lien properties regarding the property located at 1452 South High Street?
Thank you, Director Heimerdinger.
Thank you, Madam Mayor. The single family residence located at 1452 South High Avenue was previously owned by an out of state property owner and experienced prolonged neglect and deferred maintenance during that
In that ownership period, the property accumulated $15,492.57 in liens and was ultimately designated
as a chronic nuisance property.
The condition of the home negatively impacts the surrounding neighborhood and requires
ongoing code enforcement efforts.
Without intervention, the property will soon find its way to the demo list.
The home is part of an established streetscape on South High Avenue.
Rehabilitation preserves the rhythm and the character of the street, while demolition
could permanently disrupt it and reduce available housing stock.
Staff has negotiated a redevelopment agreement with Jim Schwartz of tax- gleaned properties
to rehabilitate the property and restore the home as a healthy single-family residence.
Under the proposed agreement, tax lien properties will pay all outstanding municipal liens totaling $15,492.57, which incurred under a previous owner, complete a full renovation in coordination with a building inspector to achieve code compliance and correct all conditions required to remove the property from chronic nuisance status.
During the approved renovation timeline, the City of Freeport will pause the daily chronic nuisance fine and waive the accrued chronic nuisance fee only upon successful completion and full compliance, as these fines are preliminary administrative in nature anyways.
Following rehabilitation, the home will be sold for owner occupancy and tax lien properties will
remain involved, as like Esco Company, ensuring that property taxes, mortgage, and utilities,
water, sewer, and trash are properly established and paid, but it will become an owner-occupied
property. This redevelopment agreement advances the City's neighborhood and housing goals by
By Stabilizing Distressed Property, Preserving Existing Housing, Reducing Nuisance Activity,
and Encouraging Responsible Home Ownership.
The project is funded through private investment, resolves outstanding liens, and reduces future
enforcement and administrative costs.
I will add that my team goes out there at least once a week.
As you can see in the attached exhibits, it is boarded up with a few broken windows and
the door.
We have prevented and had to remove several people who have gotten into this property
over the last few months.
So it is a property that continues to add costs to our team to make sure that it is
properly safe, that people aren't going in there and that everybody's staying out that
needs to stay out.
The staff recommends the adoption of this resolution and approving the redevelopment
agreement for 1452 South High.
Approval will eliminate a chronic nuisance property, preserve neighborhood character,
as there are no other demo houses on the street, so the rhythm is still there, and returns
the home to a productive use as a safe, owner-occupied, single-family residence.
and then in your packets tonight, you'll find the exhibit one is kind of, you know,
showcasing that there's no demos on that on the street and that it's a very
established streetscape. The second one shows the current property conditions,
as you can see. And then the last exhibit, page three showcases what the home could
look like in a year from now, which it looks beautiful, like a nice single
We're hoping that we all agree. We get all the liens out. The liens do include actual cost as well. So that means when the team had to go up and board it up and take care of the nuisance and make sure that people were removed from there, it's including those price. So we will be getting everything that this out of state, out of state property owner kind of did to the
to this company, to this house, and another company who is going to give some life to it has graciously going to pay those liens, so I hope we vote to approve the resolution.
Thank you. Is there a motion to approve?
So move.
Second.
We have a motion made by Alderman Sellers, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Alderman Klemm?
Just a couple questions. I read over the thing and it's interesting. I mean, it's a good deal if everything works.
Was this developed from a program we talked earlier or just how did this come about?
Oh, yes. Great. This came about through a realtor here in the city of Freeport who was interested.
The out-of-state property owner wanted to sell to get rid of things.
and so a realtor reached out to me and there was a few people interested in this property because it can make quite a nice home for a family and they asked me what I thought and my team went out and we looked at it and we looked at what was going on inside if it was something that could be worth saving and we came to the conclusion that it could be saved that the mold and issues inside could be
and others. We were able to negotiate with people from going into this home and also those fines, that's real money. So we tried to negotiate it and we sat down with the potential buyer of this property and they decided that it would be
Are there a timeline on how long, you know, they have to take the property from A to B?
Yep. So in the redevelopment agreement, it lists one year on, and that's from the time
that we wrote it, so that'd be December 31st of 2026 is when it should be complete. In
discussions with the company, it seems like they'll hopefully get it done faster than
and that's their goal and and we'd love to see that too. Get a family in there as
soon as possible. Alderman Parker? Yes, I went down there today and walked kind of
walked the neighborhood, looked around and I think it's gonna be a big
improvement for that area so I'm very much in favor of it.
Madam Clerk, please take the roll.
Klemm.
Aye.
Johnson.
Aye.
Simmons.
Aye.
Parker.
Aye.
Stacy.
Aye.
And Sellers.
Aye.
The resolution is adopted, six to zero.
Reports from Department Heads, Finance.
Nothing this evening.
Thank you.
Community Development.
Nothing this evening.
Thank you.
Public Works.
Nothing.
Nothing Chief Miller? No report this evening. Nothing, thank you. Library? Nothing, thank you. IT? Well, that was quick. City Manager? I have two things, sorry.
I have two things, sorry. One, I just wanted to communicate to council. The next several
meetings will be critical. We have a very busy construction season, and I would like
to make sure that we get together on our scheduled time to meet with the Mayor. Also, Chief Miller,
I think this is your last meeting, is it not? God bless you. Thank you for your service.
Yeah, Chief, I just wanted to say thank you and tell you how much we've appreciated your
service for many, many years.
So we wish you nothing but the best and we hope that you'll stay in touch.
Thank you.
Alderman Klemm?
I'll diddle that remark that you did about the Chief.
I've learned a lot from the Chief in his time and we've worked through some stuff that I
I believe differently the way things were going and he explained it very well and is very
knowledgeable about it and you deserve your retirement.
Thank you very much for your service.
We really appreciate it.
Only other thing I have is next Tuesday is a neighborhood watch meeting.
I'll keep posted on that to everybody that's on my list simply because of weather.
Alderman, Alderman, Alderman, Alderman, Heim RB, John Sinem, Schulm, Don, Thomas, Hur,
Doctor, Melissa, Ernie, mica, and shane.
He gave me a really good tour of everything and made sure that I understood everything that was going on in the fire department, so I really appreciated that.
And just a reminder for the general public, primaries start soon, so if you're not registered to vote, get registered, get to know the candidates, and your voice matters, so get out and vote.
Alderman Simmons?
Alderman Parker?
Just repeat what they've said about the Chief.
Miller, Chief, I've been honored to know him. I've learned a lot from him about fire stuff and we're gonna miss you but enjoy your retirement.
Thank you.
Alderman Stacy?
Yes. I just want to say, Miller, I knew of you, but I didn't know you. And when I had my two days of training before seated at the table, you welcomed me with open arms.
Williams. And that meant a lot. Any concern, any question, any anything has always been an open door for me to call you and talk to you. And I appreciate you for being you. Even when the hard questions came up, and you didn't know how to bring it to me, and I brought it to you, you was glad. And we talked, and that was a beautiful thing.
I love you with the love of God and just go live and enjoy life.
Alderman Sellers?
Yes Chief, I just want to say thank you for your kind spirit, thank you for your dedication and enjoy your life and God bless you and live the good life.
Amen.
Public comments? Tommy?
Chief Moore, we're going to miss you and you did a good job and we're glad you did a good
job too.
So we're going to miss you and you did a good job with the Freeport Fire Department.
Any other public comments this evening?
I will entertain a motion for adjournment.
So moved.
Second.
made by Alderman Sellers, seconded by Alderman Parker.