Meeting Events

Meeting: jv7bmo0wotc.finance_committee_of_the_whole_11_17_2025

Meeting date: 2025-11-17

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 — Passed

  • Summary: Motion to approve the agenda.
  • Attribution: Klemm, N/A
  • Evidence: “Got a motion by Klemm, second by Johnson. All in favor? Aye.”
  • Evidence: “All in favor? Aye. Opposed? That’s approved.”
  • Source timestamp: 00:42

• Adjournment of Meeting — Passed

  • Summary: Vote on the motion to adjourn was taken.
  • Evidence: “All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Thank you.”

Procedural Actions

• Call to Order and Roll Call

  • Summary: The meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM; quorum was established.
  • Attribution: Mayor Miller
  • Evidence: “Beings it’s 530 you call the meeting to order madam clerk if you could call the roll please mayor Miller here Alderpersons Klemm here Johnson here Simmons is absent Parker here Stacy is absent Shadle here Sanders and Sellers are are absent, but we do have a quorum. Is there a quorum?”
  • Source timestamp: 00:00

• Adjournment of Meeting

  • Summary: Motion to adjourn was made by Sellers and seconded by Johnson.
  • Evidence: “Seeing none, I would take a motion for adjournment. Motion by Sellers, second by Johnson.”
  • Source timestamp: 33:33

Projects

• Police Department Alley Improvement

  • Summary: The police department alley is included in the capital plan, with work planned for 2026.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “And then we’ve included the police department alley. This has been an item that’s needed to be addressed for a very long time. And right now, this would be the time to get that done in 26.”
  • Source timestamp: 03:12

• South and West Sidewalk Project with ADA ramps

  • Summary: This project is funded by a $2.4 million HSP grant but will not begin until 2027.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “Also, you’ll see the sidewalk project, South and West with ADA ramps. That one is funded through a HSP grant, $2.4 million that were outside funding, but we won’t be working on that till 27, but we wanted it reflected here in the capital plan.”
  • Source timestamp: 03:20

• Walnut Street Project (South to Empire)

  • Summary: This is anticipated to be a two-year project using IDOT STU funding.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “Walnut as well, Walnut from South to Empire, that’s approximately going to be a two-year project and we’re working with IDOT STU funding for that project.”
  • Source timestamp: 03:43

• Stephenson, Locust to Sunset Project

  • Summary: This two-year project is planned with $750,000 allocated for 2026 and 2027, utilizing STU IDOT money.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “Stephenson, Locust to Sunset, we’re planning two years there, $750,000 for 26 and 27. That is also using STU IDOT money.”
  • Source timestamp: 03:55

• Lincoln Street Project (Locust to West)

  • Summary: This project is estimated at $800,000 over two years.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “And we’re also looking at Lincoln Street, Locust to West, about $800,000 in two years”
  • Source timestamp: 04:10

• South Street Design Work

  • Summary: Design work for South Street is budgeted at $250,000, with potential funding of $4 to $7 million.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “We’ve got South Street programmed. We’ve added $250,000 here for our design work and that, but we have approximately anywhere between $4 and $7 million.”
  • Source timestamp: 04:26

• Walnut Street Project (Empire to Maine)

  • Summary: This realignment is scheduled for 2028 due to the road being too narrow for modern standards.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “Walnut, Empire to Maine, we’ve put that out there at year 28. That’s going to be a fairly expensive realignment and a lot of right-of-way work because the The road itself is narrow, too narrow for modern day standards, IDOT standards, so we’re going to be working on that in 28.”
  • Source timestamp: 04:58

• Galena Resurfacing Project

  • Summary: IDOT plans to resurface Galena from Clark to Park next year.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “It would be resurfacing Galena from Clark to Park, which is a pretty significant undertaking. Pateking. Again, they’ll be working on ramps next year and then paving surfaces potentially next year and then the following years.”
  • Source timestamp: 05:26

• Island Avenue Renovations

  • Summary: Renovations are budgeted for Island Avenue in 2026 because the building is fully depreciated and needs maintenance.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “Moving down here a little further for 26, we’ve got renovations budgeted for Island Davenue. If you haven’t been down there recently, the building itself is just fully depreciated and in need of just some maintenance and some cleanup down there.”
  • Source timestamp: 07:18

• Salt Shed Replacement

  • Summary: Two large pole construction salt sheds are failing, requiring attention due to rotted poles and structural issues.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “In addition, we’ve got the $800,000 in for the salt sheds. We’ve talked about this at various times, but just open it up tonight. We have two large salt sheds that are a pole construction, and both Both of them are failing, the poles are rotted off at the base, and at this point we have the rear wall of one of them is pushing away from the truss system.”
  • Source timestamp: 07:18

• Cold Storage Brick Street Extension

  • Summary: An extension to the Brick Street Storage Shed is necessary due to equipment consolidation from work at the wastewater treatment plant.
  • Evidence: “If you skip down to Cold Storage Brick Street, that’s an extension to the Brick Street Storage Shed that is necessary. We’ve consolidated, due to the work at the wastewater treatment plant, we’ve had to move equipment up to Brick Street. With that, we need an extension on that building so that we can keep our cold storage materials undercover.”
  • Source timestamp: 12:11

• Willow Tank Rehab

  • Summary: Budgeting about a million dollars for the willow tank rehab to upgrade man hatches and ensure safe personnel access for maintenance.
  • Evidence: “And then lastly here on the water side we have the willow tank rehab we’re budgeting about a million dollars for the willow tank it’s a ground ground level storage tank that runs off of booster pumps when it was originally purchased and installed there the appropriate man hatches and things that are required for maintenance were not put in at the time so the only hatch in it is at the very top and we need to upgrade that so that it’s safe for our We need our personnel to get inside and do the appropriate maintenance that it will require over the years.”
  • Source timestamp: 12:42

• Watermain extension to the airport for fire suppression

  • Summary: The capital plan includes $4 million for the Watermain extension to the airport, programmed for 2027.
  • Evidence: “Okay, so is this capital plan $4 million? Right now, yes, we put $4 million in the capital plan for the Watermain extension to the airport. And when do you plan on doing this? We have it programmed for 2027.”
  • Source timestamp: 14:39

• Wastewater infrastructure planning (Phase Two)

  • Summary: Planning is underway for phase two of wastewater infrastructure, including sewer lining and manhole rehab.
  • Evidence: “We’re coming to the end of phase one, which is the SEP system, the headworks, the UV disinfection, the new lab and offices at Hancock. As you’ll see there, we need to start planning for future and it’s going to be a sludge handling and nutrient removal. So those are some things that we’ll talk about a little later during the council meeting. I have some information to share on that. But just moving forward, we’re planning for phase two on the wastewater side. We’ve also got lining. We’re planning about $500,000 for sewer lining. We also have some manhole rehab there.”
  • Source timestamp: 15:21

• Upgrade and update of final clarifiers at the wastewater treatment plant

  • Summary: The final clarifiers at the wastewater treatment plant need upgrading and updating as they haven’t been updated in many years.
  • Evidence: “And then we’re looking as we move forward, we’re going to be needing to upgrade and update our final clarifiers at the wastewater treatment plant. So you have flocculation sedimentation, and those clarifiers perform that work as it ends the treatment process. And they haven’t been updated in many years. And we’re going to be moving forward with some upgrades to those in ensuing years.”
  • Source timestamp: 16:22

• Lift station upgrades (Park and Laurel)

  • Summary: Approximately two million dollars is programmed for the Park and Galena Lift Station, which requires replacement of new drivers, motors, and pumps at three locations next year.
  • Evidence: “So we’ve got approximately two million dollars programmed for the park in Galena Lift Station. There’s new drivers, motors, and pumps that need to be replaced at three of these next year. So we’re working on that now.”
  • Source timestamp: 16:54

• Lift station upgrades (Walnut)

  • Summary: There is a budgeted amount of 2.7 million for necessary upgrades and updates to the Walnut Lift Station.
  • Evidence: “Coming to the end here, again, Walnut Lift Station is in here, 2.7 million. So this would also be upgrades, necessary upgrades and updates to the Walnut Lift Station.”
  • Source timestamp: 17:11

• Blower boiler room piping at wastewater treatment plant

  • Summary: Funds have been accounted for upgrades to the blower boiler room piping due to issues with heat exchangers.
  • Evidence: “And then we have the blower boiler room piping at the wastewater treatment plant. I believe we’ve got issues there in terms of the heat exchangers, the things that keep the sludge digesters working properly. So we’ve accounted for some upgrades there.”
  • Source timestamp: 17:25

• Meadowbrook sewer expansion

  • Summary: A budget of $1.2 million is budgeted for the Meadowbrook sewer expansion, connecting from La Crusta and going north and south along Meadow Brook.
  • Evidence: “And then we have $1.2 million budgeted for the Meadowbrook sewer expansion. So that is from La Crusta and then connecting, going north and south along Meadow Brook and then potentially connecting into Oak Hill.”
  • Source timestamp: 17:40

• West Demeter sewer upgrade

  • Summary: A sewer upgrade is needed in West Demeter, which will involve installing a collection system.
  • Evidence: “And the same thing, we’ve got West Demeter does, that needs a sewer upgrade as well, so we’ll be installing collection system there.”
  • Source timestamp: 18:21

• Downtown stormwater upgrade

  • Summary: A downtown stormwater upgrade is planned, including repairing a large viaduct at Benton and Jackson made out of wood that is getting old.
  • Evidence: “And we’ve been, for years, we’ve been planning on a downtown stormwater upgrade that includes repairing of the, the, uh, large vi, I guess it’s a viaduct. It’s a big, a large storm, uh, way down at Benton and Jackson. It’s, uh, made out of wood and the wood is getting old and we’re, I would not want that structure to, um, uh, create a problem for drainage, uh, during a heavy storm. So that’s been on the plan for probably five years.”
  • Source timestamp: 20:07

• Street department equipment purchases (2026)

  • Summary: The street department plans to purchase two dump bodies for hook lift trucks and one new roller in 2026.
  • Evidence: “We’re currently in 26, we’re not planning to purchase any new 10 or 5 yards, at least out of the street department. We are going to be purchasing two dump bodies for the hook lift trucks. . . Also we’re planning to purchase a new roller. We need an additional roller for the street department and so that’s included here.”
  • Source timestamp: 21:22

Presentations and Reports

• Discussion of the capital improvement plan

  • Summary: Manager Boyer presented on major infrastructure projects, including Hancock Bridge Deck replacement and viaduct work.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “And we’ll move to discussion of the capital improvement plan by Manager Boyer and Director Richter. Miller. So many of these projects we’ve talked about and you have knowledge of, but I’m just going to hit the major ones. So as you all know, Hancock Bridge Deck is one of our major projects for next year. We need to get the guardrail and the bridge deck replaced.”
  • Source timestamp: 01:02

• Building Capital Improvements

  • Summary: The Police East Apartment Facility is a costly project being tracked with the goal of securing outside funding.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “Under buildings, police East Apartment Facility, continuing to keep that top of mind. That one is a fairly expensive challenge after some research. We came up with that it’s going to be pretty expensive. So we’re tracking that in the capital plan with the intention of getting things together and getting outside funding to help us with that.”
  • Source timestamp: 05:35

• Street Vehicles Purchase Plan

  • Summary: The department plans to purchase two dump bodies for the existing hook lift trucks to utilize them year-round in construction projects, in addition to planning for a new roller.
  • Attribution: Don.
  • Evidence: “We are going to be purchasing two dump bodies for the hook lift trucks. As everybody remembers, we ordered two hook lift trucks back in 2019, I believe, we then take delivery to like 2021. And those were only outfitted with salt boxes. So basically sit in the shed for most of We’re going to order dump bodies so we can use them in construction projects. Also we’re planning to purchase a new roller.”
  • Source timestamp: 21:22

• Utility Vehicles Budgeting for 2026

  • Summary: The budget includes a 10-yard dump truck for the Water and Sewer Department, a mulching head for the mini excavator, and two service trucks.
  • Evidence: “So we’ve broken out the utility vehicles this year. That’s kind of a change from previous years. So we’re budgeting for a 10-yard dump truck for the Water and Sewer Department for 26. Also a mulching head for our mini excavator that helps us keep right-of-ways clear from trees and bushes and things that grow up. Krohup, and then the crew cab truck, we’ve got two service trucks that are in the budget for the utility this year,”
  • Source timestamp: 25:31

• Police Vehicles Equipment Updates

  • Summary: The police department requires replacing four standard vehicles annually and is adding a golf cart, live video camera trailer, radar trailer, 20 additional Skydio X-Drone units, Mobile Command Trailer, and Portable Radios.
  • Evidence: “Obviously, the next one here is police vehicles, so we’ve itemized four police vehicles. That’s kind of a standard every year we need to replace four. Then we’ve added a golf cart for the police, because when they do events and things, this We’ve also added a live video camera trailer and radar trailer as well as 20 additional Skydio, X-Drone, Mobile Command Trailer, and Portable Radios,”
  • Source timestamp: 25:59

• Airport Terminal Update Funding Structure

  • Summary: The $1.8 million estimate for the terminal building update requires funding from the FAA (90%), the state (5%), and a city match of approximately $190,000 (5%).
  • Evidence: “Our estimates based on Crawford Murphy Tilly, who’s our airport engineers, they’re estimating it’s going to be about $1.8 million total. 90% Of this 1.8 will come from the FAA itself and then 5% will come from the state and then 5% would be a city match that’ll come out to around $190,000.”
  • Source timestamp: 29:21

• Fire Department Capital Plan Items

  • Summary: The fire department is budgeting for a VHF radio network, replacing hose nozzle appliances, new turnout gear due to forever chemicals concerns, an ambulance chair, and environmentally friendly firefighting foam.
  • Evidence: “We’ve got a budgeted VHF radio network, replacing hose nozzle appliances, firefighter turnout gear, that’s the more expensive item. Some of the turnout gear for the firemen contain forever chemicals. So we want to retire the turnout gear that has those chemicals and replace it with the new, new designs that don’t. And then the other items, you know, we’ve got an ambulance, a chair for your ambulance and some environmentally friendly firefighting foam.”
  • Source timestamp: 28:00

Metrics

• Capital Improvement Plan Funding Details

  • Summary: The plan includes funding for the municipal lot mill and overlay, which is needed after several years.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “We’ve got the municipal lot. That is included in this year’s capital plan. So that’s a mill and overlay of the municipal lot. It’s been needing it for quite a few years. So we’ll get that done early next year.”
  • Source timestamp: 02:59

• Water Service Capacity and Needs

  • Summary: The city has a total of 15 gallons per day of water, but currently lacks backup capacity.
  • Evidence: “We have a total of 15 gallons per day of water to the city, but there is no backup capacity there.”
  • Source timestamp: 11:32

Discussion

• Airport Water Main Extension for Fire Suppression

  • Summary: The challenge at the airport is supplying sufficient volume and flow of water for fire suppression in hangar buildings, which requires getting water from the utility out to the airport.
  • Evidence: “Well, one of the challenges out here is for anything to happen at the airport, We need to supply water to the airport in sufficient volume and flow for fire suppression. So one of the things we’re hoping to work on here moving forward in the ensuing years is getting water from the utility out to the airport so that we have sufficient volume and flow for fire suppression in the hangar buildings.”
  • Source timestamp: 13:29

• Lift station repair frequency and scope

  • Summary: The larger lift stations are estimated to need major overhauls every 20 years, as the current upgrades address issues since their construction in 1967.
  • Evidence: “Well, these are the bigger ones, Joy. So probably every 20 years. Yeah. Yep, go on. So the stations that we’re upgrading this year, Park and Laurel were built in 1967. And we’ve done some small mechanical work now and then. But this will be the first major overhaul of these since their inception.”
  • Source timestamp: 18:39

• Utility of New Dump Bodies vs. Existing Equipment

  • Summary: The discussion confirmed that the two new dump bodies will allow the existing trucks, which were previously limited to salt/leaf box use in winter and fall, to be utilized all year long for hauling rock and construction materials.
  • Evidence: “Yes, these are, these are dump bodies. So in the summer we can have dump trucks out of these trucks and it gets to the winter, they’ll take the dump box off, put the salt spreader box on. Yes. And we’ll use that.”
  • Source timestamp: 24:18

• Airport Terminal Update Funding Details

  • Summary: The $1.8 million budget for the terminal building update estimates 90% from the FAA, 5% from the state, and a 5% city match, totaling around $190,000.
  • Evidence: “So we’re budgeting $1.8 million for the terminal building update. So the building is there. The interior needs to be built out. Our estimates based on Crawford Murphy Tilly, who’s our airport engineers, they’re estimating it’s going to be about $1.8 million total. 90% Of this 1.8 will come from the FAA itself and then 5% will come from the state and then 5% would be a city match and that’ll come out to around $190,000.”
  • Source timestamp: 29:12

• Water Infrastructure Funding for Airport

  • Summary: The water budget item for 2027 is for researching grant opportunities through aviation mechanisms or other programs and does not represent specific money from Freeport’s budget.
  • Evidence: “So the number that’s put in for 2027, if you look at the note, we’re just researching grant opportunities for that water through the aviation mechanisms or other programs. That’s not specific money that’s coming right out of Freeport’s budget.”
  • Source timestamp: 31:04

• Police Department Construction Options and Estimates

  • Summary: Two main options for the police department are new construction ($300 to $600 per square foot) or retrofitting existing structure ($200 to $500 per square foot). The estimate is needing around 30,000 square feet.
  • Evidence: “So, I mean, the two main options are going to be construction, new construction, or it’s going to be retrofit existing structure. On new construction, it’s going to range anywhere from $300 to $600 per square foot. And on retrofit of existing structure, it’s probably going to knock about $100 per square foot off of that. So anywhere between $200 and $500 per square foot, depending upon the section of the PD and that. Att. So we’ve done some research. We’ve visited quite a few different newer police stations. We’re estimating we’ll need somewhere around 30,000 square feet for the new police department.”
  • Source timestamp: 31:57

• Police Department Preferred Approach

  • Summary: The most likely approach for the police department is retrofitting an existing structure, though this depends on funding.
  • Evidence: “I think we’re looking at the most feasible thing to do, and it’s probably gonna be retrofitting an existing structure. That’d probably be the most likely. However, it’s completely dependent upon funding and where that funding comes from.”
  • Source timestamp: 32:53

Follow-ups

• Tuck Pointing at City Hall
  • Summary: The tuck pointing for a portion of City Hall has been postponed to 2026.
  • Attribution: Manager Boyer
  • Evidence: “So we’ve kicked the tuck pointing to 26, and this won’t be the entire thing. This will be probably just a portion of City Hall.”
  • Source timestamp: 07:13