Meeting Events

Meeting: _jfyajnc7wa.committee_of_the_whole_1_12_2026

Meeting date: 2026-01-12

Meeting type: committee_of_the_whole

This is a deterministic derived artifact, not official meeting minutes. Related records may be grouped for review while complete machine provenance remains in the JSON artifact.

Decisions and Votes

• Approval of the agenda (Item number four) — Passed

  • Summary: Motion made by Alderman Klemm to approve the agenda.
  • Evidence: “Item number four is the approval of the agenda. Is there such a motion? So moved. Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Klemm, seconded by Alderman Sellers.”
  • Evidence: “All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes.”
  • Source timestamp: 03:17

• Approval of minutes from Committee of the Whole (November 10th and December 8th, 2025) — Passed

  • Summary: Motion made by Alderman Shadle to approve the minutes.
  • Evidence: “Item number five is approval of the minutes from the Committee of the Whole held on November 10th and December 8th, 2025. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers.”
  • Evidence: “All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes.”
  • Source timestamp: 03:28

• Moving ordinance amendment for lead service line incentives to Manager Boyer

  • Summary: A motion was made by Alderman Sellers and seconded by Alderman Shadle to move the discussion regarding the incentive pay for lead copper samples to Manager Boyer.
  • Attribution: Alderman Sellers
  • Evidence: “So’ve done work all over town now in one specific area or another, but it’s just address by address at this point. So yeah. If there’s no further discussion, I’ll need a motion and a second to move this forward. So move. Second. A motion made by Alderman Sellers, seconded by Alderman Shadle to move this to Manager Boyer.”
  • Source timestamp: 22:30

• Motion to move lead service line incentive discussion — Passed

  • Summary: The motion made by Alderman Sellers, seconded by Alderman Shadle, passed.
  • Attribution: Committee Of The Whole
  • Evidence: “All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? That motion passes.”
  • Source timestamp: 22:57

• Adjournment of meeting

  • Summary: A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting.
  • Attribution: Alderman Seller
  • Evidence: “Then I will entertain a motion to adjourn. So move. Second. Motion made by Alderman Seller, seconded by Alderman Shadle.”
  • Source timestamp: 24:45

• Motion to adjourn meeting — Passed

  • Summary: The motion to adjourn passed.
  • Attribution: Committee Of The Whole
  • Evidence: “All those in favor? Aye. Have a good evening.”
  • Source timestamp: 24:45

Procedural Actions

• Call to order and invocation

  • Summary: The meeting was called to order following an invocation.
  • Evidence: “Good evening. Evelyn, could you please give the invocation? … Amen. And we’ll officially call this meeting to order.”
  • Source timestamp: 02:29

• Roll Call

  • Summary: The Mayor was present for the roll call.
  • Evidence: “Madam Clerk, could you please take the roll? Mayor Miller? Here.”
  • Source timestamp: 02:37

• Pledge of Allegiance

  • Summary: The pledge was taken to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.
  • Evidence: “If you could please stand for the pledge led by Alderman Simmons. It is 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.”
  • Source timestamp: 02:37

• Public comments (Item six)

  • Summary: No individuals were signed in for public comments.
  • Evidence: “Item six is public comments. There’s no one signed in. So we’ll move on to item number seven, which is the Greater Freeport Partnerships Porter Leap Report.”
  • Source timestamp: 03:39

Projects

• South Street resurfacing funding and timeline
  • Summary: The committee will receive at least $5 million in outside funding from IDOT District 2 to resurface South Street, with work planned to start in 2026. The bid letting goes out this June.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “So, we’re planning to receive approximately $5 million from District 2 for the mill and Overlay of South Street. The bid letting goes out this June and things should be moving forward shortly after that… So, essentially, this conversation tonight is just that we’ll be receiving at least $5 million in outside funding to resurface South Street this and we’ll be starting in 2026.”
  • Source timestamp: 18:57

Presentations and Reports

• Greater Freeport Partnership Quarterly Report (Porter Leap)

  • Summary: The presentation provided details on small business support efforts from the fourth quarter and highlighted new staff hires.
  • Attribution: Kurt
  • Evidence: “Tonight’s presentation will provide a more detailed information around some small business support efforts that occurred in the fourth quarter. … Leslie Mastriani and Mercedes Joiner have joined the Partnerships team, filling vacant positions that were within the staff.”

• Small Business Support Efforts (Local Shopping Campaign)

  • Summary: The local shopping campaign was a multi-channel effort including radio, billboards, online, and social media promotion.
  • Evidence: “That was a multi-channel campaign, everything from radio, billboards, online, social media.”
  • Source timestamp: 06:30

• Small Business Support Efforts (Partnership Cash Program)

  • Summary: The Partnership Cash program allows spending at about 40 different merchants and keeps money local with no fees to purchasers or merchants.
  • Evidence: “And then we always promote our Partnership Cash program, which is like a gift card that can be spent at about 40 different merchants throughout the area instead of buying a Visa gift card, buy Partnership Cash and then we know that that money stays local and there are no fees to either the purchaser or the merchant.”
  • Source timestamp: 06:30

• Small Business Support Efforts (Cross-promotion postcard)

  • Summary: A county-wide cross-promotion postcard was created with interest from 23 different businesses and placed at all 23 distribution locations.
  • Evidence: “We also started something new this year with a county-wide cross-promotion postcard. We had 23 different businesses interested in creating a, I call it a postcard, but it it wasn’t sent out, it was actually placed at all 23 different distribution locations.”
  • Source timestamp: 06:54

• Partnership Cash program and local promotion efforts

  • Summary: The Partnership Cash program allows spending at about 40 different merchants locally with no fees to purchaser or merchant. A county-wide cross-promotion postcard was created, distributed at 23 locations, informing shoppers of local businesses. Holiday events included Mistletoe Walk on November 22nd in downtown Freeport, featuring six living windows and utilizing the Karcher Block Pocket Park for Santa activities. Lena held a hometown Christmas and lighted parade on December 5th with almost 40 floats. An additional event was Holly Day Hustle, which featured about a dozen participating businesses highlighting specific items.
  • Attribution: Don
  • Evidence: “And then we always promote our Partnership Cash program, which is like a gift card that can be spent at about 40 different merchants throughout the area instead of buying a Visa gift card, buy Partnership Cash and then we know that that money stays local and there are no fees to either the purchaser or the merchant. We also started something new this year with a county-wide cross-promotion postcard. We had 23 different businesses interested in creating a, I call it a postcard, but it it wasn’t sent out, it was actually placed at all 23 different distribution locations. So that if you happen to go to one place you picked up the card and maybe as you were looking at it you learned about new things, new places in the area that you could shop and frequent. In addition to those there were also holiday events, Mistletoe Walk was held in downtown Freeport on November 22nd. New features for Mistletoe Walk this year included six living windows which were really Welles, and a great addition that we hope it continues to grow, as well as starting to utilize the Karcher Block Pocket Park. That’s where Santa was, a s’more station, and you could fill out letters to Santa and place them in the box there as well. Lena had their hometown Christmas and lighted parade on December 5th. Weather didn’t cooperate with them quite as much this year, but they still had almost We had 40 floats and a great array of businesses that stayed open and then brought vendor booths downtown as well. Then an additional event this year was a last minute shopping opportunity with Holly Day Hustle. We had about a dozen participating businesses for that promotion and we highlighted different items that each store picked out.”
  • Source timestamp: 06:30

• Workforce development efforts and educational partnerships

  • Summary: The partnership works on workforce development in collaboration with the business and educational communities. Three events were held in the fourth quarter: Manufacturing Day (targeting manufacturing careers, allowing tours of facilities like McMeade, Kandie, Finish, and Priscilla不能), a Career and Job Fair by Highland Community College and Freeport High School (with over 637 attendees from 10 area high schools), and an Ag Expo at Highland (connecting students in the ag pathway with employers).
  • Attribution: Don
  • Evidence: “So always going back to the data and taking a look and tracking our numbers here. Again, this is information that’s reported from Illinois Department of Employment Securities, and this is September 2025… So retaining our workforce is critical. Which leads to other efforts that the partnership works in collaboration with both our business community as well as our educational community. So there were three different events all in the fourth quarter, Manufacturing Day, Highland Community College in conjunction with Freeport High School puts on a career and job fair, and then Highland does an Ag Expo.”
  • Source timestamp: 10:42

• State of Illinois small business infrastructure grant

  • Summary: The state of Illinois issued a small business infrastructure grant at the beginning of 2025. This was noted as unusual because such grants typically come to entities other than directly to small businesses, and an informational seminar was held for interested businesses.
  • Attribution: Don
  • Evidence: “Last but not least, a recent win that we were really happy to have played in a critical part is the beginning of 2025, the state of Illinois put out a small business infrastructure grant. This is a tad bit unusual in the fact that small business support grants don’t often, outside of COVID times, come directly to small businesses themselves. Often they will come to other entities, but typically not directly to a small business. And part of the reason for that is state grants can be somewhat cumbersome or complicated to apply for. But the state of Illinois, in receiving some feedback, put together a small grant program. We held an informational seminar for any business that was interested in applying.”
  • Source timestamp: 11:45

• Small business infrastructure grant program details and future support programs

  • Summary: The state of Illinois offered a small business infrastructure grant in early 2025; three local grants totaling nearly three quarters of a million dollars ($725,000) were awarded to three businesses. The speaker detailed ongoing support services like grant administration and mentioned upcoming resources such as the Basecamp program (starting January 20th for small businesses/entrepreneurs) and the CEO program with Freeport High School and the Foundation for Northwest Illinois (launching Fall 2026).
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “Last but not least, a recent win that we were really happy to have played in a critical part is the beginning of 2025, the state of Illinois put out a small business infrastructure grant. […] From those five businesses that applied, there were three local grants that were awarded. So in total, the grant award in sum from all three businesses is nearly three quarters of a million dollars. So $725,000 is coming back between these three businesses to help them grow. […] Our base camp is starting January 20th. Again, that program is designed for small businesses and entrepreneurs who are looking to just deepen their resources, get a little bit more education. It runs for 12 weeks, six classes, Tuesday evenings at the partnership office. […] We continue to work with Freeport High School and the Foundation for Northwest Illinois on the CEO program, which is under development, but will be set to launch in fall of 2026.”
  • Source timestamp: 14:23

• MOU between City of Freeport and IDOT for South Street mill and overlay

  • Summary: Manager Boyer presented on an MOU between the city and IDOT regarding the mill and overlay of South Street, noting that state staff previously stated it was a state unmarked route. The presentation detailed how Representative Cabello’s conversation with IDOT officials led to the possibility of receiving direct funding for the project.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “Item number eight is discussion regarding the MOU with the Illinois Department of Transportation for South Street. Manager Boyer Thank you, your honor. Go ahead and hit the lights I’m pleased tonight to discuss an MOU between the city of Freeport and IDOT related to mill and overlay of South Street. That’s one of our main corridors through town. […] Representative Cabello and Rick Barco had a conversation. I think Cabello oversees IDOT District 2 in some part or fashion with the state level. And they were discussing how difficult it was for them to deploy all of the millions of dollars that they have to deploy because it just can’t get enough staff. And Representative Cabello said to them, well, why don’t you just give the money straight to the communities? So that’s what’s happening on South Street.”
  • Source timestamp: 17:42

• Ordinance amending codified ordinance for lead service line testing incentives

  • Summary: Manager Boyer presented a proposal to amend the ordinance to offer an incentive of $40 reduction on a water bill for residents who participate in taking lead copper samples, noting that EPA requirements have increased sampling frequency and volume.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “Item number nine is discussion regarding ordinance amending codified ordinance to add incentive pay for lead copper samples to be taken for lead service line replacement grant application. Manager Boyer. Thank you, Your Honor… So what we’re going to bring before council and ensuing council meeting is a proposal to do like an incentive for people that have a lead service in their house to participate in our program and we’d like to credit them back $40 per sample.”
  • Source timestamp: 20:10

Metrics

• Workforce development data for Stephenson County (September 2025)
  • Summary: In September of 2025, there were 921 unemployed individuals in Stephenson County looking for work. The unemployment rates in Stephenson County and the City of Freeport were comparable to the state’s rate. There were over 1,300 unique job postings from 327 different employers. The median wage for these positions was a little over $35 an hour, equating to a salary of $73,000 a year.
  • Attribution: Don
  • Evidence: “So as you will see that there were within Stephenson County in September of 2025, you had 921 individuals who were unemployed and looking for work that held about steady in Walsh, and I would say that our unemployment rates within Stephenson County and the City of Freeport were pretty comparable to the state. Within the same month, there were over 1,300 unique job postings in September by 327 different employees. The median wage for those positions, again, median, was a little over $35 an hour, which equates to a salary of $73,000 a year.”
  • Source timestamp: 09:11