Thank you, Madam Mayor. Tonight we'll be praying out of Psalm 122.

The joy of going to the house of the Lord, a song of a sense of David. I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Freeport. Freeport is built as a city that is compact together, where the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to the testimony of Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

For thrones are set there for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Freeport. May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls. Prosperity within your palaces. For the sake of my brethren and my companions, I will say peace be within you, Freeport. Because of the house of the Lord our God, we will seek your good. Amen. Amen. Amen. Now we'll call this meeting to order. Madam Clerk, please take the roll. Mayor Miller. Here.

Alder Persons, Clemm, Here, Johnson, Here, Simmons is absent, Parker, Here, Stacy, Here, Shadle, Here, Sanders will be marked absent for now, Sellers, Here, We have a quorum, Madam Mayor.

If I could please get a motion to allow Alderman Sanders to attend remotely.

Make a motion.

Second.

The motion made by Alderman Stacy, seconded by Alderman Sellers, Madam Clerk, could you please take the roll?

Clem? Aye. Johnson? Aye. Parker? Aye. Stacy? Aye. Shadle? Aye. And Sellers? Aye. The motion passes, 6-0. Did you want to see if he's on? Oh, I'm sorry. Alderperson Sanders, can you hear us? Yes. And he will be marked present at 6-02.

If you could please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Alderman Clemm 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 Item number one is the approval of the agenda, however, item number 19 isn't quite ready yet, so that will be removed Alderman Stacy Yes, I would like to see item number 7, 8, and 9 removed.

We have an ordinance on this matter.

It says that the zoning administration must be a member of the city.

Andrea Winters is not an employee.

I'm sorry, an employee of the city.

and we have these ordinances for a reason and it's not fair that every time you want to do something that's different than what the ordinances say you hurry up and you do something like this amend the rules suspend the rules change it to what you want it to be to fit what you want so you can get what you're asking for in eight and nine and that's just not fair.

We have ordinances for a reason, and this ordinance says that the zone administrator must be a city employee. Again, Andrea Winters is not a city employee, and I am asking that 7, 8, and 9 be removed at this time.

We have a motion. Is there a second?

State, Cecilia.

That motion fails for a lack of a second so back to the original statement item number 19 being removed because it's not ready with that is there a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. Second. Motion made by Alderman Shadle seconded by Alderman Parker. Madam Clerk, would you please take the roll? Clem? Aye. Johnson? Aye. Parker? Aye. Stacy? No. Shadle? Aye. Sanders?

No And Sellers Aye Pardon me, I wrote one down on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, the motion passes 5 to 2 Item number 2 is approval of the minutes from the regular meeting on August 3rd, 2026. Is there a motion to approve?

I so move Second The motion made by Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Shadle. Madam Clerk, please take the roll Clem Aye Johnson Aye Parker Aye Stacey No Shadle Aye. Sanders? We'll check back in a minute. Sellers? Aye. Alderperson Sanders, can you hear me? Kurt, have we lost him? I think he's there. Could you tell him he's in the remote? Oh, there he said something. Could you repeat that, please? We are voting on approval of the minutes for August 3rd. What say you? No.

And that motion passes five to two Okay, item number three is promotions from the fire department, Chief Cordy Over here, I don't have the other microphone tonight, so William Backus, having been duly appointed to the position of district chief in and for the city of Freeport in the county of Stevenson in the state of Illinois for the term from the 15th day of August, 2026, until his successor shall have been duly appointed and qualified, is hereby fully authorized and empowered to assume and perform all the duties of his said office according to the law and ordinances of said city, and all persons are required to respect him in the discharge of his said duties by the order of the Board of Police and Fire Commission.

Congratulations.

Congratulations. Will was hired in 2007, became a paramedic and a lieutenant in 2018. He's a member of the countywide HAZMAT team, company fire officer, advanced fire officer, instructor two. He lives in Freeport with his wife, Tiffany, and children, Anthony, Evelyn, and Emerson.

Lieutenant Chad Schubert, Lieutenant Chad Schubert, having been duly appointed to the position of lieutenant in and for the city of Freeport and the county of Stevenson in the state of Illinois for the term from the 15th day of August, 2026, until his successor, shall have been dutily appointed and qualified, is hereby fully authorized and empowered to assume and perform all the duties of his set office according to the law and ordinances of said city and all persons are required to respect him in the discharge of his set duties by the order of the Board of Police and Fire Commission. Chad was hired in 2009 to the Freeport Fire Department. He actually has a little

a little bit of a legacy here with his father, an uncle, and a second cousin, all having been retired from the department. He was a department mechanic for many years, a paramedic, currently is a fire and arson investigator, a member of the Thames team, which is the tactical medics, technical rescue team, past vice president of the Firefighters Union, and in 2025 received the MS Life Safety Award.

Savings Award for a call at the Lindo Theater. He's a company fire officer, an instructor, hazmat operations, and lives in rural Lanark with his wife, Amy, daughters, Madison.

Jamie, Daughters, Madison, Kaylin, and Lauren.

Okay, we will move on to item number four, which is public comment. Madam Clerk, you have one to read.

This was received from Shane Orlow, alder person, city staff, and collaborators. My comment is directed towards agenda item number 24.

I want to encourage you to vote yes for the improvements on Meadowbrook Lane.

As a resident of the ward and of Meadowbrook, we have seen many improvement projects across the city, most notably were the improvements right around us in Oak Hill and Hillcrest area, and now with the Demeter Street improvements.

Our street is a mostly quiet neighborhood with many dedicated community members and civil servants.

We spend our lives giving back to the community, and it is great news to see that we will possibly have improvements to our own living conditions.

Most of you have driven the roads across this town like I have. Meadowbrook is a street living in a different time period. With Demeter going through repair and driving past it each day, I can't help but notice their half gravel road looks like the rainbow road in Mario Kart compared to the paved road of Meadowbrook that is like a course from the original Nintendo dirt bike video game from the 80s. It's bad. Comparisons aside, we need this work done on multiple levels.

Now, knowing the work that needs to get done to just get on city-provided water, I cannot imagine the work that needs to be done for us to be on city sewer as well. However, it needs to be done. We need to move our road out of the 80s and into the 2020s. Getting sewer and road improvements to this area will vastly increase the living conditions and, most importantly, the morale of those of us that dedicate our time to our community and our city.

Please vote yes to the improvements on Meadowbrook, and once approved, let's make sure that we get it right This means a lot to the families in this area Thank you, Shane Orlo, a very hopeful six-word resident And our last one is Shante Bradford on item number 12 Good evening, everyone Good evening First of all, giving the glory unto our item 5 I came just to say thank you specifically to Public Works the last time I stood before you guys I was bringing a concern about the 200 block of Broadway Street where they were just flying up and down the street but since then I did get my handicap parking and I also stop signs were placed at the corner four stop signs at Oath and Broadway so I came to say thank you for your diligence and your hard work and your integrity because the order had actually been in the office since 2022 but nobody put the sign up but to God be the glory we got the sign so everybody who was involved in that I came to give gratitude and say thank you. You don't always come to fuss mayor. So thank you to my cousin Wendy Pearson who had a hand in that with the city manager. Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's all I want to say was thank you.

You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Okay, then we move on to item number five, which is the consent agenda. The consent agenda consists of the items being 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. The consent agenda is approving to receive and place on file the minutes from the firefighter pension board, the police pension board, both dated May 6th, 2026, the Art and Culture Commission June 4th, the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners June 23rd and 30th, and the public hearing for the CDBG sanitary sewer lining August 5th, all 2026. Also for July 2026 is the building report, the building permit reports, the fire department reports, as well as the greater food for partnerships report. Also for the 2026 actuarial reports, for both the Fire Pension and Police Pension Fund Review, the adoption of Resolution 2026-107, which is the temporary closure for the streets for the high school's homecoming parade, the finance bills payable in the total of $4,461,186.40 and for payroll ending August 8, 2026 in the total of $721,113.

$0.51. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers. Madam Clerk, would you please take the roll? Clem. Aye. Johnson. Aye. Parker. Aye. Stacey. No. Shadle. Aye. Sanders. No. And Sellers. Aye. The motion passes 5 to 2.

and item number six Amanda for the 2026 summer reading good evening thank you madam mayor Kurt just told me that we don't have the projector tonight so you guys won't get to see all the fun pictures of summer but that's okay I can still talk about it this year our summer reading theme at the library was unearth a story so there was a lot of dinosaurs a lot of underground geology that kind of stuff going on so for the reading portion of of the summer reading we had 487 kids that are birth through starting sixth grade join our summer reading program and of those 487, 251 actually completed the program and reached their reading goals, which is a percentage of 51.54%, which is a really great finishing percentage to have. I am super happy with anything over 50%, so that was really good. And our summer program participation was 8,063 people, kids, Kids, Adults, Teens, which is down ever so slightly from last year's 8,232. But also, I feel like 8,000 is a really great number to have in the library over about nine weeks. And that breaks down into three different types of programs. So there's programs we do in the library, which are in-house. That was 4,626 people. Our outreach programs, where we go to different locations to do programming, was 1,313 people.

and Passive Programming which is programs that are in the library but we aren't necessarily actively doing them like our scavenger hunts and we have like a sticker wall where they can just add stickers. Those programs were 2,124 kids over the summer and actually in one month we did over a thousand scavenger hunts which was kind of like my goal my like unwritten goal and they love scavenger hunting like all you have to do is give them a sheet and say they get a sucker and they will scavenger hunt all day long. And our programs remain fairly steady over the years from where we were last year to where we are this year in attendance. This year it rained the morning of the kickoff party and then it was like one of those really humid afternoons where you don't know if it's going to rain or not. So we had it inside but it did not damper anybody's spirits. We had 3,130 kids that day. They were all over the library. We had stuff in the meeting room. We had stuff in the youth services department. We had hatching dinosaur eggs in our little program room and they got like freezer pops.

So that was a great day. Our story time outside at Debate Square over the summer continues to be popular with between 30 and 50 kids each week. Slime is still one of our most popular programs. It actually is our most popular program. Our three summer slime days this year combined for 337 kids.

The biggest one was 153, which was our June, which was actually the day after the kickoff party. So it's like everybody comes Monday, everybody comes Tuesday. It was a really great week. We made color changing slime that day. They had a great time. Make It Monday continues to be one of our regular programs that we do each week. And they continue to come to make a variety of craft projects. We did puzzle making with like dinosaur and bird like model puzzles. And also like the littles could just paint puzzles if because that was much easier for them. We did woodland creature ornaments and just all kinds of things that they can make and take home with them. Every year we have a 4th of July crafternoon and this year we went all in because it was America's 250th birthday and we had like special hats they could make to celebrate, sand art, we even had cookies because you need cookies for a good party and we We had 75 kids come to craft with us that afternoon, and they had a blast. And if there were any pictures that I wished you could see, it was the ones of worm races, because worm races were so much fun. I had no idea what to expect. I was like, maybe I'll get 20 or 30 kids, and that would be great. I ended up with 63. And so worm races.

And so worm races are just what they sound like. We made like a bullseye on a piece of a poster board and then they had to race. We started them in the middle and they had to race to the outer circle. We learned a lot about how worms like to move and they don't like to be in dirt if they're going to move quickly. And if you spray them, they will move a lot faster and it kind of sped up the races. So they had a really great time and the top four worms ended up racing against each other to determine the ultimate champion.

and the top pride well the family with the top worm got a giant bag of gummy worms so the kids were very excited and after the races we all had like the dirt dessert you know the pudding with the Oreos and the gummy worms which they also loved and we also did our Candyland program our life-size Candyland we first did it in January of 2025 but we get a different but a different group of people every summer so we brought it out again this summer, and we had 162 kids play over the course of the two days, so that was really great.

We also had two special presenters this summer. The first one was Dave from T-Rex Explorers, and he is a paleontologist, and he's gone out digging in North Dakota numerous times. He talked about what he does, what he's found, all his adventures as a paleontologist, and at the end he brought out fossils that the kids all got to touch and they loved like learning all about dinosaurs from him.

Our second performer was Jason Colum. He's a juggler and the kids loved him. He does like a juggling comedy show. We had 117 people that day in the meeting room, which the capacity is like 123. So we were like really close. And the kids were so loud the entire show. Emily said she could hear them in her office, just like for the whole hour. They just love like his brand of comedy. It is very kid friendly. And yeah, they had a great time and they even got to practice balancing peacock feathers at the end of the show. One of our regular outreaches is to Mac Camp, which is sponsored by Hope Wins over at the church here on Stevenson and Cherry. And I go there each week to work with the kids. We do different projects, different crafts. It's approximately 50 kids.

each week and always at the end of summer we like to make slime because slime is fun. So Emily actually went with me the last week to help me make slime with them and they had a blast. It was a really fun afternoon. We also continued our outreach with the Stevenson County Fair this year and we both kind of had little tweaks to what we did so that increased our attendance a lot. So instead of in the past I've I've always done like stories and a craft but I was like we don't really get that many people we should just make it like a make and take craft like do your craft and then you can go so you don't slow down like your day at the fair and now the fair started last year they piloted offering field trips to local day camps and then this year they asked if I would like to be a stop on their like itinerary during their field trip and of course I said yes so we had a bunch of new kids coming through which was great and most of them I know because they're from like Mac camp or Boys and Girls Club or somewhere else in the community. And over the three days, we had 101 kids stop by my little station and I'm only there for like an hour every day. So that was amazing. And we also hosted Glow Bingo on a Friday night in the nice new little house they built right by the community tent, which was very nice air conditioned. It was great. We were full for a while. We had to bring in more tables and stuff.

and at our end of summer party we had 283 kids it was a beautiful day it was like perfect end of summer party weather once again we had the dunk tank so I got dunked for a while we dunked other staff members for a while they love the dunk tank they love watching us go in they love just knocking us in they love all of it we also had a bouncy house and an obstacle course that they could play on and of course if they finish their reading for the summer they get a coupon for free ice cream from the ice cream truck so the party is just a great time and I've already been thinking about what we're going to add to it for next year and next year I'm sure you're wondering what our theme could possibly be it is actually mysteries await at your library which does not give me as many options for decorating as dinosaurs did because that was one of my favorite slides too was all our dinosaur decorations that we had at the library this year.

but we are still really excited for mysteries we are already planning some really fun stuff so um yeah thank you for your support hey item number seven is the first reading of ordinance 2026-49 could you please read this ordinance amending section 899-08 of the codified ordinances of the city of Freeport regarding the zone administrator of the enterprise zone thank you manager Boyer uh thank your honor um as mentioned uh Section 899.08 governs the appointments and duties of the City-County Enterprise Zone Administrator. Current language limits eligibility to a city or county officer or employee. And this ordinance was last updated in 1985. I don't believe they contemplated the partnership or the Greater Freeport Partnership being vital in our economic development process at that time.

So the proposed ordinance that I have before you allows the Enterprise Zone Committee by a majority of vote to appoint an outside individual who is not affiliated with the city or county. This provides flexibility to select a qualified administrator while preserving the current term, removal authority duties, reporting requirements, oversight provisions, and so on.

The remaining provisions of section 899.08 are not changed and staff recommends suspension of the rules and allowing this change to move forward. Thank you. Is there a motion to move this forward? So moved. We have a second? Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Parker to move this ordinance forward. Discussion on the ordinance? Alderman Parker?

and the rules. Is there a second? Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Parker, seconded by Alderman Shadle for suspension of the rules. Suspension of the rules must pass by a two-thirds majority and is non-debatable. Madam Clerk, could you please take the roll on the suspension only? We'll come back to a discussion. This is just about suspension. Clem? Aye. Johnson? Aye. Parker? Aye. Stacey? No. Shadle? Aye. Sanders?

Sellers? No. And Sellers? Aye. One, two, three, four. I have five positive. Mayor? Aye. Motion passes. Six to two. Okay. So now before you is the final for ordinance 2026-49. Alderman Stacy? Yes. City Manager Boyer. What makes one qualified? According to the ordinance, anyone, a majority of vote by the Enterprise Zone Committee. And how many members are in the Enterprise Zone? Eight? Andrea, do you know that? Is there eight members of the... You have the floor. I just wanted to get better understanding. Okay. As I stated at the beginning of this meeting, the ordinance say that it would be a city employee. I can't help it that it hasn't been updated since.

85, is that what you said? However, it was just one that you missed because all the other ones that you want to change got updated, but oops, we missed this one. And who would have thought that Cecelia would have found the language that said you must be a city employee. And so if what you just answered to me as far as what makes one qualified true, why do you need to even have number seven, if that's so?

We're just clarifying in the ordinance so that I can, you know, Andrea Winters can stand in as the, or continue her role as the enterprise zone coordinator So in, in, sure So in spite of what the ordinance say, you're going to do what you want to do It doesn't necessarily appoint Andrea What it does is gives that zoning board the ability to appoint someone other than a city employee or a county employee because the old record shows city or county. Why are you giving your views? We know how you feel and what you want. So why are you giving your views toward the vote? Because you said it was only a city employee and that's not accurate. It says city employee. Or a county employee. City or county employee. She's not a city nor a county employee. Correct. Okay, I rest my case.

Okay. That's why this ordinance is before you. Alderman Sellers. Yes, I'm just Alderman, Sellers? Yes, I'd just like to know, is this the first time that Ms. Winters has put through for the zoning? This is not the first time she's asked for the zoning to be done. Right. Right. I'm saying this has been going on since, who's been doing it all the other times? I guess that's my question. You mean prior to? Yes.

Prime. I believe it was the chairman. It was it was the chairman, wasn't it? No, we're not asking.

Yeah, if you want to come to the microphone. Since the partnership has been formed, the partnership has operated the Enterprise Zone. And prior to that, do you know who it was? Prior to that, I think it was Ron Kane, who was the Stevenson County Assessor. Before that, I don't know. Thank you.

for a while it was the community and development development director when Shelly Griswold sat in that seat she she did it at one time okay all right Stacy it's on the ordinance right now the question you're asking the person name is on the ordinance so what name is on the ordinance it's not a name the person that was the administrator of the zoning It's on the ordinance.

Alderman Sellers?

Is it against the law or is it not legal to come in and change this ordinance so that these different entities can get their, I guess one is Lena and the other one is Smart, AutoSmart, to be able to expand their boundaries.

It's not.

Attorney Zito, is that legal?

So while the ordinance does currently read, the ordinance from 1985 does currently say that the zoning administrator for the Enterprise Zone is to be a city or county employee.

Ordinances can be amended upon the will of the council.

That's what's currently pending before you as to whether or not the council wants to change who is allowed to be the zoning administrator.

So it is permissible to change the ordinance.

Attorney said you've spoken three times already.

I've spoken twice.

It's still, if the will of the council, then that's fine.

I can or I can't.

So, per our ordinance, every person gets to speak two times.

If someone wants to speak a third time or more than two, then there needs to be a motion by someone on the council to allow that member to speak for more than two times.

Motion, second, approval.

I make a motion to allow Cecilia to speak again Is there a second? Yes, there was Oh, okay, so we have a motion made by Alderman Clemm, seconded by Alderman Johnson to amend the rules for a third time of speaking Madam Clerk, would you please take the roll? Clemm? Aye Johnson? Aye Parker? No Stacey? Aye Shadle? No Sanders? Aye and Sellers. Aye. The motion passes five to two. Alderman. Okay. What I want to say is this was put on the first meeting of August and it was removed by Mayor Yuall's request. It was removed off the agenda and that was just so you could come back and add number seven to cover your butts for what you're doing. Well, I don't know if covering my butt is the right term. Yes, because or else it would have been out of order. No, it's just putting it in, it's just right. We're just trying to do the right thing. You're doing the right thing to cover what you want. Okay. And I'm sorry, Attorney Zito, that you feel like you can say that about me. You need to remain neutral. You're here for all of us.

Hilleman, Clemm?

Yes.

I think we have a big discrepancy in opinions here, but I'd just like to bring up that I was notified by email of this a number of months ago and passed it on to Rob, that somebody wasn't going to stop in this thing and was going to carry it forward, that it had to be somebody from the city.

knowing that at that time, Rob started in that we needed to do something, but I would say to you, this position, the person that's carried this position has been the head of the head of the partnership since it was formed in 1985. It wasn't as though it happened yesterday. Okay. So person has been in that position for a long period of time.

The other thing that comes up that I would have to say is the fact that if you have something against this, I would say to you, don't bring it up at 6 o'clock on the night of the meeting, I'd bring it up when you have all your paperwork on Friday that told you that this was going to happen. I don't know, you know, I had no question on it, it was a matter to resolve the issue to the best that could be done at the moment.

For the record, I brought it up the third Monday in June Okay Okay Okay, let's sign back and forth Not tonight Yes, Alderman Sellers I know this would be my third time Yes So I need to No, it was just to give it as a blanket three times I also want to say that I do think that we went in because we did hear your voice and we did look at the ordinance to see that it needed to be in order and properly done. So that's why they went in to make it right so it would be right on the books so that it's been going this way for since 1980, whatever. So to make it right in our books and in our paperwork, that's why they went in with the attorney and Rob and whoever to make sure that the paperwork is right and it's up to what the ordinance needs to say. So that's why I think that it's not like they went in just to get something done because these two places need to have their boundaries expanded. So that's why they went in so that they can have that done.

but it wasn't like it's something that they went in to do you know to get something you know under the table it's they wanted to do it right and make sure that our paperwork was right and said the right thing so that's what I just wanted to say it wasn't like it was done something behind the back it was done to make it right on our paperwork so that it can be done correctly because that's how it has been done so to make it right there's no further discussion madam clerk please take the roll.

Clem? Aye. Johnson? Aye. Parker? Aye. Stacey? No. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? No. And Sellers? Aye. The motion passes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 to 2. Item number 8 is the second reading of ordinance 2026-44. Could you please read this? Ordinance amending the boundaries of the joint Northwest Illinois certified enterprise zone for expansion of auto smart Inc. Thank you. Andrea? Good evening. Because we don't have the projector tonight, I'm going to ask you to reference the memo that's attached that will give you kind of geography and where I'm talking about. So two weeks ago, I was up here talking about this, the first reading of this ordinance. Again, we're amending the boundary of the enterprise zone to include a parcel that is adjacent to where ArtoSmart is currently located, which is the former visitor.

Center. With the sale of that building and that property, there was an adjacent parcel that was with the sale. For whatever reason, when the enterprise zone boundary was created, that parcel was not included. The used classic car dealer would like to expand their showroom space. They want to build another building on that adjacent parcel. They need enterprise zone incentives to help lower the cost of that investment to make this project feasible.

That's why we're here tonight to amend the boundary.

Thank you.

Discussion on the ordinance?

Madam Clerk, please take the roll.

Clem?

Aye.

Johnson?

Aye.

Parker?

Aye.

Stacy?

Aye. Shadle. Aye. Sanders. Aye. And Sellers. Aye. The motion passes seven to zero. And item number nine is the second reading of ordinance 202645. Could you please read this? Ordinance amending the boundaries of the joint Northwest Illinois certified enterprise zone for expansion within the village of Lena. Thank you. Andrea. So similar request, we're amending the boundary of the enterprise zone to incorporate residentially zoned parcels that are within the village of Lena. This is about 112.23 acres that would be added into the zone. If this addition is approved, we would be at a total of about 13.8 square miles. We have plenty of capacity within the zone for future expansions. We can go up to 20 square miles. So that is the request from this evening. This request came from the village of Lena. Thank you. Any discussion on this ordinance?

Madam Clerk, please take the roll.

Clemm.

Aye.

Johnson.

Aye.

Parker.

Aye.

Stacey.

Aye.

Shadle.

Aye.

Sanders.

Aye.

And Sellers.

Aye.

The ordinance passes, 8 to 0.

7.

7 to 0.

Hold on, Johnson, do you have a question?

Yeah, Madam Mayor, I just wondered, can we suspend the rules for 7, 8, and 9?

They're.

Or for 7?

They're both secondary.

That was the final.

Can we.

for seven it was yeah that's the final that was seven was the first reading no we we suspended the rules okay so we're good all three of those we're all good okay thank you item number 10 is the first reading of ordinance 2026 50 could you please read this ordinance adapting and approving a public works policy for productive and efficient communication with citizens in the city of Freeport thank you Darren good evening uh this is to memorialize the discussion we had at the cow meeting regarding two meetings ago about the interactions with public works personnel. We've had several discussions internally with different council members over this over the last few weeks. So we put together an ordinance to memorialize. This is not to not allow any resident to have their hearsay or file a complaint.

we just want to do that properly and that's not with the staff on the streets that's with city manager Boyer and myself and the mayor we're the people that if somebody really has a problem they should be coming to and with the interactions and the changes in the world today this is just a safety measure for our employees and give them a way out of conversations and it was even discussed today that this should not only extend to public works staff but it really should extend to all employees of the city of Freeport, including City Hall, our fire department, our police department.

I will say that the phrase be kind is not part of our daily life anymore, and it should be.

And I want to make sure that our employees at Public Works know that the staff has their backs.

And again, there will be a process put in place with this.

This isn't just give somebody the ability to hang up on somebody. As this happens, there's a process in the background. It'll have a report. It will go into a file. We're also looking into potentially doing some call monitoring at Public Works Dispatch. So we have records of this because it's always a he said, she said type of event.

Um, 90% of these issues, uh, management's been able to step in, calm them down and move things forward. Um, and sometimes we have to agree to disagree. Uh, public works is tasked with spending taxpayers money on taxpayers property, not on, on private property. And we have to evaluate that as each situation arises. Um, we also recognize They're having bad days, so we try to have it with a grain of salt. Nobody's ever elated or excited to have sewer in their basement, so we're not expecting to come to their house with bonbons and, you know, a ticker tape parade of happiness, but we also recognize that we want everybody to work together and be kind to our staff members.

We have a hard enough time attracting talent to the city of Freeport, we have a very good group of people that we want to keep, and this is just step one in me honoring my work to the public works staff that will back them up, and we'll trust that our employees are making the right decisions.

Thank you. Is there a motion to move this ordinance forward?

So moved.

Second.

We have a motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers. Discussion on the ordinance? Alderman Stacy?

Do we want to consider suspending the rules?

I give the floor to Alderman, Stacy Excuse me, I'm sorry It's alright Pardon me, I didn't hear it, I'm sorry Very sorry Director Darien, you know, I have no real problem with what you've asked to put forth However, just two weeks ago, you and I had a conversation with a young man who was being accused of hanging up twice on the dispatcher and he was really convinced that he was mixed up with somebody else and that it didn't happen and this and that and since then you and I had a conversation about one of my constituents that was harshly spoken to and when she realized she knew who he was then she changed her tone so our expectation of who's answering the phone need to be just as great as what we expect of the people in how they should be treated. They too have got to respect

I would just say, and I agree wholly with that, that it's got to be a two-way street. Everybody has bad days. That's why I was proposing in next year's budget, looking into some software or material to be able to, I don't know if record those calls, but it record the bad ones at least, so it's not, doesn't become a he said, she said opportunity, right?

because remember with email and phone calls, everybody can read into something other than what you meant.

It's a very hard conversation to have, especially when, I know Clark Anderson won't recognize this, sometimes you get one call of these after another all day long and it becomes very cumbersome in a day of people that are very upset.

Okay, if there's no further discussion.

I'd like to make a motion to suspend the rules.

Second We have a motion made by Alderman Clem, seconded by Alderman Parker for suspension of the rules Again, non-debatable and must pass by two-thirds majority Madam Clerk, would you please take the roll on the suspension Clem? Aye Johnson? Aye Parker? Aye Stacy? No Shadle? Aye Sanders? No Sellers? Aye And Mayor? Aye The motion to suspend passes six to two So then before you counsel is the final for this ordinance 2026 50 any further discussion I just have oh no I just wanted to what Darren had said that he was looking for some software or whatever so you'll get back with us if you find anything that will be compatible with what you're looking for Yeah, currently, I've been talking with IT Director Suttman on looking for something for next year, but we also need to get that cleared through the attorney that that's something that we can actually do as a city, and I haven't had that discussion with him yet, but we're looking for options to be able to just, you know, I don't want it to be a he said or she said, right?

I think that leads to difficulty in how people perceive the conversation and again I think it would be nice that if we were able to have one of those call traps for instances like that but regardless of whether that comes forward or not our staff members are going to be required to memorialize whatever issue there was, who it was with, what time, so on and so forth so we have a internal record of that documentation.

Okay, thank you.

So if we're recording, if I'm the dispatcher and we're recording, so after I answer the phone and after they say who they are and after I say, how may I help you, then what, when it goes to pot, then someone can hit record?

record? No, I think it would be something that would probably be just automatic. Okay, so you can't say the bad cause because you don't know. No, I'm just saying saving. Saving the bad cause. We wouldn't have to save every call, right? That would take up a lot of space and documentation. It would just be ones that were an issue. And again, we have not declared that with the attorney as if that's something we're going to do. So for right now, we have staff memorializing it with a process that we put together internally.

Okay, Madam Clerk, please take the roll Excuse me Clem Aye Johnson Aye Parker Aye Stacey Aye Shadle Aye Sanders Aye And Sellers Aye The ordinance passes 7-0 Item number 11 is the first reading of ordinance 226-51. Could you please read this?

ordinance granting a special use permit to allow restaurants, taverns, packaged liquor stores, and any other establishments selling alcoholic beverages for consumption on or off the premises at 116 South Adams Avenue, submitted by La Dona.

Thank you, Director Heimerdinger.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Staff received a special use application from La Dona for a restaurant selling alcoholic beverages at 116 South Adams Avenue, which is within the B-2-2 Limited Service Business District Section 1252.01B11 of the City of Freeport Zoning Code states that restaurants, taverns, package, liquor stores, and any other establishment selling alcoholic beverages for consumption on or off the premises require a special use permit.

The subject property is Lidonia, which is previously Lars' Chicken. The business has recently opened as a Mexican restaurant. They would like to offer alcohol beverages to their guests and attract new diners.

On August 6, 2026, the Zoning Board of Appeals recommended the approval by a vote of five yays.

On August 13, the Planning Commission recommended approval by a vote of four yays and zero nays.

This originally came from solely the request of individuals who were dining in and requesting alcoholic beverages, so they came to us to look for this special use permit so that they can provide their patrons with what they're being asked.

And so staff recommends the approval of the special use permit for the restaurant selling alcohol at 116 South Adams.

And because this is a very small business, I'd like to request suspension of the rules so that they don't have to wait on us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there a motion to move this forward?

So moved. Second.

A motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers to move this forward. Discussion? Alderman Stacy?

I'm still trying to picture where is this place located. Is it diagonally across from the Farm Bureau?

Oh, no. Nope. This is right by like pretty much like Main Street and Spring. It's like a little blue and white house.

The old Germania lot, the grass lot right there that looks like a house.

The old Leafs sea breeze. The old Leafs sea breeze. Across from the sunshine.

Across from Raleigh building. Across from the sunshine.

Yep. Unfortunately, the projector is down tonight or else it'd be on there, but it's in your memo. There's a map and a picture of the building as well.

The clerk was just saying that the suspension doesn't really make any difference just because they're not on the liquor agenda for approval yet. So they're going to be, hopefully, they'll be on the September agenda, which we can, I mean, if you want to continue to do a suspension, that's fine.

It just won't matter.

Yeah.

It's up to you.

To the council.

Attorney?

I don't think you can actually approve it tonight because if you look for suspension of the rules, then you'll be looking to move directly to a final approval on the issuance of the special use permit.

But if you don't have...

They haven't applied for their liquor license yet.

Right.

And you need the special...

You have to have the special use permit.

So usually, Dovie, you're saying that we typically have the application in hand before we approve the special use permit, is that what you're saying?

I think a majority of the time we have, but I don't think it, I don't think one's continuing upon the other.

Okay, just wanted to clarify. Thank you.

Alderman Stacy.

The image on the memo says 123 South Adams.

Adams. 116, South Adams? It says 123. Did it say 123? Where at? So the 116 is what's correct. Madam Clerk? Sometimes when a picture is taken, the camera picks up the location of the camera, not necessarily the location of what they're taking a picture of. Is that what's going on? Yes, that is correct. Yeah, that's it, because I'm like. Yeah, that's, they're taking, they're taking it from across the street, so it picks up whatever wherever the cameraman is at. Okay. Any further discussion? Okay. Then I guess we'll move on.

Well, she did. She did, but they don't have liquor license yet. It's up to the council if they want to suspend it. Yeah. No. Nope. Okay. Then we'll move on to item number 12, which is the first reading of ordinance 202652. Could you please read this? Ordinance of the city of Freeport amending the Master Downtown Parking Map to provide for additional ADA parking stalls on the west side of Van Buren along 102-112 North Van Buren as shown on a revised master parking map.

Thank you.

Manager Boyer.

Thank you, Your Honor.

We've been approached about adding a couple of disabled parking spots near the courthouse, Salvation Army, and the prosthetic center.

Center. The updated map, which is not up here, but it'll be along the west side of Van Buren next to the Salvation Army building. So staff recommends moving forward with this change for the additional ADA parking spaces. Thank you. Is there a motion to move this forward? I so move. Second. Motion made by Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Sellers. Discussion on the ordinance? Darren?

I just wanted to point out it's two stalls. It's one on the west side and then one on the north side of Exchange as well.

That's my mistake.

Yes, so that was the request.

Any further discussion?

Move on to item number 13, which is the adoption of Resolution 2026-92. Could you please read this?

Resolution to authorize an amendment to intergovernmental agreement for the operation of an enterprise zone for AutoSmart.

Thank you. Andrea?

So this is the accompanying resolution for the amendment to the intergovernmental agreement, which is really amending the legal description of the enterprise zone boundary to encompass the parcel for AutoSmart.

Okay. Is there a motion to adopt?

So moved.

Second.

Motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers. Discussion on the resolution? Madam Clerk, please take the roll.

Clemm.

Aye.

Johnson.

Aye.

Parker.

Parker, Aye. Stacy, No. Shadle, Aye. Sanders, No. Sellers, Aye. The resolution is adopted 5-2. Item number 14 is the adoption of Resolution 2026-93. Could you please read this? Resolution to authorize an amendment to intergovernmental agreement for the operation of an enterprise zone for the village of Lena. Thank you. Andrea? Similar request. This is accompanying the second reading of the ordinance.

evidence this is amending the legal description of the enterprise zone boundary to incorporate all the parcels within LENA that they've requested to have in the enterprise zone. Thank you. Is there a motion to adopt? So moved. Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers. Discussion on the resolution? Madam Clerk, please take the roll. Clem. Aye. Johnson. Aye. Parker. Aye. Stacy. No. Shadle. Aye. Sanders. Aye.

No Sellers Aye The resolution is adopted 5-2 And item number 15 is the adoption of resolution 2026-97. Could you please read this?

Resolution approving letter to the board of the Northwest Illinois Enterprise Zone requesting expansion of the boundaries of the Enterprise Zone to include 836 West Stevenson Street located within the city of Freeport Thank you. Director Heimerdinger Thank you, Madam Mayor. So a few weeks ago, we had a few properties that we wanted to add to Enterprise Zone.

Enterprise Zone within the city if we put city limits and so there was a proposal letter one of them that was not captured at that time because we it's just gone on the market and we hadn't had any kind of action on it was 836 West Stevenson which is like the Raleigh Mansion and a couple days after that resolution was adopted by council we had a lot more interest in that property, and we had a lot of people, since it was just on the market, a lot of people reaching out to ask us if there was any benefits or any kind of help that they could receive if they were to place a bid on the property and to start to do the necessary rehab to that structure.

And so we did explain to them that the enterprise zone is an advantage that helps with, you know, the tax freeze and also the building supplies sales tax exemption. And so a building like that, a mansion in that sense of almost 8,000 square feet, it definitely makes a big difference if you don't have all of the building sales tax to pay.

Okay. So brought to you tonight is a resolution to add that property to the enterprise letter as well and so that we can get that into the enterprise zone. We do have somebody who is under contract. There is a pending contract on this property and I would, you know, there's a strong possibility that there will be a redevelopment agreement coming through council in the near future with that price.

saw, and they are hoping to restore it and kind of, you know, bring it back to its former glory.

So we're excited about that.

So anything we can do to kind of help them is nice for the community to get a house rehabbed.

Is there a motion?

I'm sorry.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Is there a motion to adopt?

So moved.

Second.

Second.

The motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers.

Discussion on this resolution.

Alderman Stacy.

What is the address again?

836 West Stevenson.

In your memo, there's a picture of the home.

I don't see it.

It's the third page.

Oh, I didn't go down far enough.

Any other discussion?

Alderman Johnson?

I think this house has been in ill repair for quite a long time.

I'm talking years.

Yes.

Yes, it has.

And it's, yeah, it's also condemned at this point.

Yes.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay. Did she say it's condemned at this point? And so you're bringing it out of? Yes. Yep. The individuals who are under contract for the home, they do understand what is necessary of them to get it out of condemnation. And are they local? I can't answer that. I don't know. Okay. If there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk, please take the roll. Clem. Aye. Johnson.

Aye. Parker? Aye. Stacy? Shadle? Aye. Sanders? Aye. And Sellers? Aye. The resolution is adopted 7-0. And item number 16 is the adoption of Resolution 2026-99. Could you please read this? Resolution approving a license agreement with Stephen Hasselman and Colton Asche for mowing, hay production, and weed thistle control at Albertus Airport. Thank you, Manager Boyer.

Thank you, Your Honor. One of the major jobs out at the airport is mowing the large amount of grass. Staff identified working with a contractor for baling hay in the past. We've done that. However, we've been working on a license agreement so that we can move forward this year with a land license agreement to handle a multi-year mowing and maintenance and weed thistle spraying for those areas.

After a significant amount of time, contacts for a qualified candidate, Mr. Hasselman and Mr. Ashey from the local area have submitted a request for a proposal for the city of Freeport to hay, mow, and maintain the weed thistle spraying on the 105 acres out at the airport.

And so staff has reviewed all of the documentation, done some background checks. Everyone comes back highly recommended and passes all the background checks.

So this is a cost offset of approximately $18,500 when compared to what it would cost us to continue to mow, and staff recommends this is a 10-year license agreement, and staff recommends moving forward with this with Steve Hasselman.

Thank you. Is there a motion to adopt?

I still move.

We have a motion made by Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Shadle. Discussion on the resolution? Madam Clerk, please take the roll.

Clemm.

Aye.

Johnson.

Aye. Parker. Aye. Stacey. Aye. Shadle. Aye. Sanders. Aye. Sellers. Aye. And the resolution is adopted 7-0.

And item number 17 is adoption of resolution 2026-100. Could you please read this?

Resolution in support of the application to the state of Illinois for a community development block grant for sanitary sewer lining.

Thank you. Manager Boyer.

Thank you, Your Honor. As everyone's quite aware, we are, every time we get an opportunity to line sewer mains, we do so. We have approximately 130 miles of sanitary sewer lines that comprise our collection system. It can get very complex when we do road programs. Obviously, we want to make sure those sewers are aligned so that we don't have any issues after the road is paved or anything like that.

Staff is requesting authorization from city council to move forward with a community development block grant for sanitary sewer lining to be completed and selected by ward. All wards have concerns and sanitary sewer lining would improve infrastructure in these areas. The CDBG is requesting a contiguous project that is localized to one area for a bid project.

So the current grant cycle request is for a maximum of $1.5 million and requires no matching funds outside of our design that we need to do So the public works directors estimated the city would install between 35,000 and 37,000 linear feet of sewer main And the staff plans to fund the design from the sanitary sewer budget in 2027 if awarded So essentially what this is, we're going for outside money to line $35,000 to $37,000 linear feet of sewer main And we're going to pay for the design work and the application when we get into the 2027 budget cycle, which is coming soon But staff would like to move forward with this CDBG grant Is there a motion to adopt?

So moved Second Okay, motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers, discussion on the resolution. Alderman Stacy?

Yes, City Manager Boyer, can you tell us what is the total cost to the city, including the design and Okay, so the total cost would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000 and to the city with the remainder being paid for through the CDPG grant.

So we're giving up $150,000 not knowing if we're going to even get the grant?

No, we'll apply for the grant. If we get it, we'll be able to move into design. So if we don't get the grant, we won't do the design.

If we don't get the grant, just applying for it don't cost us anything.

I believe that, yeah, we're figuring $5,000 to $10,000 on the grant application.

$5,000 to $10,000 just to apply for it.

$5,000 to $10,000 to apply for a grant that we may not even get.

Alderman Clem?

Yes.

How successful are we at getting these grants?

Well, I think we've received $85 million in the last five years, so I'd say that's pretty successful.

Thank you.

Darren?

Yeah.

So specifically for this round of CDBG grants, there's what they call census track scoring.

and Freeport has three areas of town in a census tract that qualify greatly. One of them is 72% low to moderate income, one of them is 75%, and another one is 80%. And it doesn't match up with our ward map, so it's hard to give you the areas.

but studying the qualifications for this and the point scoring system, the investment of chasing a grant like this with no matching funds is a very good opportunity for the city of Freeport. We've actually received this one other time and they raised the amount this year to 1.5 million. It was not 1.5 million in the past. And just so everybody knows, you know, that's roughly five miles to seven miles.

miles to seven miles of sewer main that would be done based on prices in 27. And I'm going off prices that we got this year. So that's a lot of sewer main lining that does not affect utility rates at the end of the day. So again, we don't bring grants to the city of Freeport to chase grants that we don't feel that we have a significant chance in getting. We do the point scoring prior to looking at the applications to make sure that the investment of money is smart. If we feel like the scoring is going to be low or there's no chance to get it, we don't believe that's an opportunity that we should submit for. And this grant, you're asking $1.5 million with no matching funds? For construction, correct. Alderman Johnson?

So we'll plan to have the answer if we got this grant before we do our budget then.

Yeah. Well, we're going to, yes. Yes. I'm getting a high sign over here. Yes. Awesome. Alderman Stacy?

You said no matching funds for construction.

What is their matching funds to?

There's no matching funds at this grant to do construction.

So this is the $1.5 million is construction only.

That's why Rob had said the grant application and design you can't pay for, but they pay for up to $1.5 million in lining, right, for this.

And again, this can't be a grant that is taken all over the city.

we really have to focus in on those three low or moderate income census tracts, so some of our oldest infrastructure.

Okay. If there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk, please take the roll.

Clem. Aye. Johnson. Aye. Parker. Aye. Stacey. Aye. Shadle. Aye. Sanders. Aye. And Sellers. Aye. And that resolution is also adopted, 7 to 0.

Item number 18 is the adoption of resolution 2026-101. Could you please read this?

Resolution approving a proposed agreement with Fehr Graham to provide construction engineering services for the Meadowbrook gravity sewer improvements.

Thank you, Manager Boyer.

Thank you, Your Honor. Meadowbrook is on the capital plan for this year. It is time for us to move forward with design on the sewer portion.

Fehr Graham has submitted a plan for or an estimate for the design of the sewer and staff recommends moving forward with that agreement it'll include sewer from La Crusta to the end of the street so that that's where dead ends there on the south end. So staff recommends moving forward with the the agreement in the amount of $130,000. Thank you. Is there a motion to adopt? So moved. Second. A motion made by Alderman Shadle seconded by Alderman Sellers.

Discussion on the Resolution?

William and Stacy?

Does this area cover the school out there?

No.

Okay, I know this is the, what's pertaining to Mr. Orlo's letter that you read.

What is the streets again?

What is the area?

Meadowbrook from La Cresta to, it dead ends over by Oak Hill.

Meadowbrook to La Cresta.

So the sewer project is all of Meadowbrook, which is that, you know, three or four block area, and then there's Sunview. While we were in there, we looked as the alternate that we were recommending later in the agenda that we approved to fix the pavement in that area as well. It's not worth saving. And we don't want to go back in and ruin and truck over the stuff that we're putting down.

Yeah. Please take the roll.

Clem. Aye. Johnson. Aye. Parker. Aye. Stacy. Aye. Shadle. Aye. Sanders. Aye. Sellers. Aye. The resolution is adopted 7 to 0. Item number 20 is the adoption of resolution 2026-103. Could you please read this? Did we skip number 19? You removed 19. My apologies.

Resolution authorizing city support to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Open Space Land Acquisition Development or OSLAD grant Manager Boyer Thank you, Your Honor The Illinois Department of Natural Resources administers the Open Space Land Acquisition and Development Grant Program to support local outdoor recreation projects The city intends to submit an OSLAD application for a pocket park on West Stevenson. We also intended to do this last year, but we were turned down at the last opportunity. The OSLAD requires governing body resolution to authorize application submittal and acknowledge the program's conditions if funding is awarded. This year, we're resubmitting for this particular grant. The city is listed by IDNR as a disadvantaged community, which allows application for up to to $600,000 in OZLED funding without any local match, and the application deadline is August 31, 2026, so currently planned submission is August 28. Council action is needed on the 17th to meet the submittal timing, so there's no immediate general fund impact. The city may request up to $600,000 with no match, and the recommendation is to move forward with the application for the West Stevenson Street Pocket Park. Thank you. Is there a motion to adopt?

So moved Second A motion made by Alderman Sellers, seconded by Alderman Shadle, discussion on the resolution Alderman Stacy And this application is going to cost how much?

I believe it's just a carryover from last year I think we've already filled out the application once Okay, I don't know what a carryover from last year is So we submitted last year and we're going to submit again this year We were one of the final selected last year but the park district got funded instead of the city project which was the pocket park excuse me and the city wasn't going to get two funded applications so the park district project got funded last year for $600,000 and so this is a resubmittal and what you're actually approving tonight is a resolution of support by the city council which is required as part of the grant application.

So are you saying we've already paid for this application?

You paid for it last year, yes. Right? So we're basically doing it for you, and we're asking for a resolution of support to try to get the funding. We've already done concepts. We've already done all the entire application package. We're ready to resubmit.

You know, this is kind of disappointing. I have tried for four years to get a park in third ward or fifth ward and nobody never moves forward with it. But we want to put a pocket park here and we want to put a downtown. We want to put a pocket park here.

now on Stevenson when are we going to support the kids of third and fifth ward it actually is in the third ward all the way out Stevenson it's downtown it's third right by Joe's pizza area that's correct so this is the the pocket part that I thought we already established last year so the area was given by what's her name? Mary Garvin. Mary Garvin, yes. Let's acknowledge her. She gave that that space.

And so the grant that we were going for went to the Park District for whatever reason and we didn't get it.

In last year's cycle, yes. And this is a new year cycle that we're trying to get the same money because we have a very high qualifying rate for the funds.

and for Freeport, this is another no match grant for construction. So we would, most OSLI grants are a 50-50. So for a $600,000 project, you would put, the city would put up $300,000 and then the grant would pay $300,000 in reimbursement. So a total $600,000 project. In this case, Freeport has no match due to our current demographics, and so this is another project that could be bought to the residents with little to no funding. In honor of Ms. Garvin and what she did for this city, I hope we get it.

If there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk, please take the roll. Clem? Aye. Johnson? Aye. Parker? Aye. Stacey? Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? Aye. And Sellers? Aye.

The resolution is adopted 7 to 0 Item number 21 is the adoption of resolution 2026-104 Could you please read this Resolution approving the exercise of an extension of the actuarial services agreement with Howard E. Neihart Company Thank you, Director Richter Thank you Thank you. Director Richter. Thank you, Your Honor. The City of Freeport issued a request for proposal in October of 2023 for actuary services. The purpose of the RFP was to obtain a firm to perform actuary services for the police and firefighter pension funds, prepare GASB 67 and 68 reports, as well as reports on other post-employment benefits.

Fits. These calculations are necessary for our annual audit. The RFP requested a cost for each of the first three years plus an option for two additional years.

Nihart was selected from a total of four submissions. They are a national firm that serves over 700 actuarial clients. They serve over 60 Illinois police and fire pension plans, and they meet all the required criteria, including staff Education, License, and Certifications. Nihart was also the lowest cost at $76,250 in total for all five years when the RFP was opened. Nihart has provided timely and satisfactory service over the past three years. The Finance Department would like to extend the term of the agreement for a fourth and fifth year on the terms and conditions set forth in the original agreement.

The strategic plan alignment is responsive, efficient government and the staff request to extend the term of the agreement with Nihart for two additional years at a cost of $32,400. Thank you. Is there a motion to adopt? So moved. Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Discussion on the resolution. Alderman Stacy.

what would make one say yes versus what would make one say no to this director Richter um I mean no if you did not think that the firm did a good job or didn't provide the what was requested of them they provided all the reports on time they did what was requested in the in the RFP if they did not do that. I would guess you'd say no. I'm saying that they did what they were asked to do.

And so would it be your recommendation that we accept another two years? It would be to our advantage to accept another two years? I can't do this work. This is actuary work. I'm not an actuary.

The city does not employ an actuary. We use firms to do that for us. And the reports that they prepare are required by our audit. And so I can't get a clean audit, I can't get a finished audit without having these reports done. So I need their expertise to put together these reports to then give to my auditors so we can do the audit.

They also provide reports that tell us how much money we need to be putting into the police and pension funds in order to meet our commitments in that area.

When we got the pension obligation bonds back, you know, five years ago, one of the requirements is that we meet our annual contributions, and our annual contributions are determined by these reports.

Thank you for explaining that.

If there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk, please take the roll.

Clem.

All right.

Johnson. Aye. Parker. Aye. Stacey. Aye. Shadle. Aye. Sanders. Aye. And Sellers. Aye. And that resolution is adopted, 7 to 0. Item 22 is the adoption of Resolution 2026-105. Could you please read this? Resolution authorizing application for a public transportation capital assistance grant with the Illinois Department of Transportation and the City of Freeport. Director Heimerdinger.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. The City of Freeport receives the Federal Transit Administration Section 5311 funding and is eligible to apply for and receive funding through the vehicle procurement program for the purchase of transportation vehicles to replace existing vehicles that have reached the applicable replacement criteria.

Currently, three minivans, six light-duty paratransit buses, and one medium-duty paratransit bus operated by Pretzel City Area Transit have accumulated an average of 142,674 miles per vehicle and meet the applicable vehicle replacement criteria. These vehicles range from model years of 2016 to 2019.

As these high mileage vehicles age, they require increased maintenance and repairs, which can reduce the number of vehicles available for service. Reduced vehicles availability can in turn negatively affect the level and reliability of the transit service provided to the public. The CVP program also provides an opportunity for the city to request additional vehicles to support expansions and the implementation of new vehicles.

Transit Services. Through 2016 through 2026, CVP, the City of Freeport is seeking to replace three minivans, six light-duty paratransit buses, and one medium-duty paratransit bus currently in service with PCAT. In addition, the City is requesting four new medium-duty vehicles to support the planned expansion of the fixed-route transit system transit service within the City of Freeport and to provide additional vehicle capacity to help alleviate the demands placed on the existing fleet due to continued high use.

The current estimate for units is $75,000 for each minivan, $126,000 for each light-duty paratransit vehicle, and $130,000 for each medium-duty paratransit.

The total estimate cost of the 2026 CVPU request is $1.7 million.

There is no local match requirement for this program. To give you a little bit more information, there is a little over $7 million available statewide, and so we are requesting 1.7 for our program.

Staff recommends approval of the resolution authorizing the city of Freeport to proceed with the submission of the 2026 CVP application to support the replacement of eligible vehicles within PCAT and the expansion of transit services within the city of Freeport. Thank you. Thank you. Is there a motion to adopt? So moved. Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers. Discussion on the resolution?

What is the cost for this application?

There's no cost.

We're just applying for this money and it costs nothing?

For us to do? No. Well, I mean, Sadie's wonderful time of preparing the application. So that's it. Just employee cost.

If there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk, please take the roll.

Clem? Aye.

Johnson? Aye.

Parker? Aye.

Stacy? Aye.

Shadle. Aye. Sanders. Aye. And Sellers. Aye. The resolution is adopted 7 to 0. Item 23 is the adoption of resolution 2026-106. Could you please read this? Resolution authorizing the auto renewal of the agreement with the Greater Freeport Partnership. Manager Boyer. Thank you, Your Honor. Let me get that turned on. In the agreement with the Greater Freeport Partnership, there's an auto renewal policy that starts, I think it's about 120 days.

so brought to you tonight whether it's council's desire to continue with that auto renewal policy or or do something different bearing in mind the current agreement with the city and greater free partnership was approved in 24 for a term beginning in January of 24 and ending in 26 December 26 their agreement as I mentioned will automatically renew for one additional year unless either party provides written intent to not extend the agreement at least 120 days before initial term expires. Accordingly, the city must provide notice no later than September 2nd if it does not intend to allow the agreement to renew automatically for fiscal year 27. The current agreement provides annual compensation of $400,000 subject to annual appropriation by the city council. The agreement identifies the funding sources, the revenues from various TIF funds, tax increment financing districts, the hotel motel tax, tourism promotion fund, and general fund.

It also authorizes $25,000 performance bonus based on agreed upon deliverables. No benchmarks were established in FY24 for the FY25 year. No bonus has been paid during this agreement. Since 2018, the city has invested a product.

Since 2018, the city has invested approximately $3.3 million in Greater Freeport Partnership.

The expiration of the Lamb Road TIF District will eliminate approximately $180,000 in annual revenue currently used to fund the Greater Freeport Partner Agreement.

Those revenues will instead be redistributed to the effective taxing bodies.

This reduction represents approximately 45% of the current $400,000 annual contract and significantly limits the city's ability to maintain and the existing funding level for FY27. Providing notice of non-renewal will not terminate the current agreement, which remains in effect through December 31st. Rather, it will preserve the City Council's ability to evaluate available funding and determine the appropriate scope and structure of future economic development services. At this time, there's no financial impact, and staff recommends the City Council not authorize the automatic renewal of the GFP agreement.

Is there a motion to adopt?

So moved.

Second.

Motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers.

Discussion on the resolution?

Alderman Sellers?

I'd like to know, with the TIF not being able to support this, how would we, what would we do?

Is there an opportunity to go back to the table and sit down with GFP and go over a new agreement and figure out how we can financially support them in what they're doing?

Correct. So if this does not auto-renew, we'll be able to review it and we'll be able to discuss, you know, based on what's the funding is available, what we want to do moving forward.

Hold on with Stacy.

You know, the director before Ms. Andrea Winters brought nothing to our city, no businesses, no jobs.

For the last couple of years, we listened to report after report after report.

Still, what are they bringing to our city?

What jobs have been brought here?

what businesses have been brought here not taking credit for a new business that someone else brought here and I just don't feel that they have upheld their duties their responsibility to the people of Freeport what do we have to show for it any other discussion attorney Zito no go ahead Go ahead, attorney. Go ahead. Oh, okay. No, I was just saying, I would like to, I would like, because it doesn't go away into December, what? December 1st. December 1st. I would like for us to go back to the table and come up with either some type of agreement that we're not going to just get rid of GFP, but what can we do and what financially are we going to support them with, with losing the 100%.

$180,000 in the 10th. That's what I would like to see, you know, done to figure that out. Not give them up, but just figure out what are we going to do? Are we going to continue certain areas or are we going to just totally dismiss the whole agreement or come back with something else?

Okay, you just said Mayor Miller, December 31st, but don't something have to be decided before September 2nd?

This is about whether you want to auto-renew, like there's no discussion, it's just auto-renew.

Do you want that or not?

That's all this is.

If we don't do anything, then it's an automatic renewal regardless.

Mm-hmm.

If it's not settled before September 2nd?

Correct.

So that's why it's before you.

Do you want to auto renew?

That's basically the question.

The attorney's either.

So just before you guys vote.

So the question before you is whether or not you want to allow the agreement to automatically renew for one additional year.

OK, this resolution, because best practice is always to frame your resolutions in the positive, meaning that the resolution is written that you want the agreement to auto-renew, okay? If you want the agreement to auto-renew, you vote yes. If you don't want the agreement to auto-renew, you vote no on this resolution, okay? Because it's best practice to always frame the resolution in the positive, it's written so that you are voting, if you vote yes, you're voting to auto-renew. Therefore, if you don't want it to auto-renew, you vote no. Okay, so if there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk, please take the roll.

Clem? No. Oh. Johnson? No. Parker? No. Stacy? No. Shadle? No. Sanders? No. And Sellers? No. And the adoption of the resolution fails 7 to 0. 0 to 7 would be appropriately said. Item number 24 is an approval of bid. Could you please read?

Approval of bid, bid opening on July 28th, 2026 for Meadowbrook Lane Sanitary Sewer and Street Manager Boyer Thank Your Honor On Tuesday, July 28th, the city had a bid opening for the Meadowbrook Gravity Sewer Project There was one bid received from Fisher Excavating and that made it through the certified bid tabulation It is attached The base bid, including alternate one submitted by Fisher, is in the amount of $1,361,847.80.

Fair Graham and the staff recommend moving forward with the Gravity Sewer Project with Fisher excavating.

Thank you. Is there a motion to approve?

So moved.

Second.

Motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers.

Discussion on the bid?

Madam Clerk, please take the roll Clem Aye Johnson Aye Parker Stacey Aye Shadle Aye Sanders Aye And Sellers Aye The motion passes 6-0 Item number 25 is another approval of a bid, could you please read Bid opening on August 11, 2026 for 2026 sanitary sewer cleaning and lining Manager Boyer Thank you, Your Honor.

As we've been discussing tonight already, we've got about 130 miles of sanitary sewer.

We do our best to do the inspections, camera inspections for cracks and defects, inflow and infiltration, sags and the like.

Our EPA mandatory CIMOM, that's Sewer Capacity Management Plan, requires specifically the Freeport Address annual sewer rehabs for our collection system mainline piping.

for environmental concerns. Sewer lining is considered the best way to do that. On August 11, 2026, we had a bid opening for 8,413 linear feet of sanitary sewer lining.

Let's see here. Along with another 330 linear feet for culvert or stormwater infrastructure, structure. These areas are identified as areas during our street replacement, so this is related back to our street program and where we're working. City had four reputable bidders that specialize in sewer lining, submit competitive bids. The certified bid, after the certified bid was done, hair construction was a low responsive bidder at $460,106. So under the engineer's estimate of $361,343 of sewer and $98,670.

for the storm. So city staff plans to fund this work from the sewer and stormwater capital improvement budget and staff recommends moving forward with the bid from Hare Construction. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers. Discussion on the bid? Madam Clerk, please take the roll. Clem? Aye. Johnson? Aye. Parker? Aye. Stacey? Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? Aye.

Aye And Sellers Aye The motion is approved 7-0 And item 26 is another bid. Could you please read?

Bid opening was held on August 11, 2026 for Central Fire Station window replacement Manager Boyer Thank you, Your Honor. On August 11, the city held a bid opening for Central Fire Station window replacement project. We only received one bid. It was from NICAM Construction and the bid tab was certified. The bid was submitted by NICAM at $441,429 and we recommend, staff recommends awarding the central fire station window replacement contract to NICAM construction. Thank you. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second.

approve. So moved. Second. Motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers. Discussion? Madam Mayor? I just wanted to point out that we did have a second bidder, but they did not arrive in time for the bid opening, and so we couldn't open their bid. Alderman Clemm? Yeah, one thing I noticed, you had an addendum one, and you pulled it off for a couple windows. Yeah, I worked with Chief Cordy, and they weren't actually windows. They were just full transom replacements. And Chief Cordy and I met on site and agreed that the ones that are in place are good enough and they could be painted to match whatever the new transom colors were. And so we, I guess we valued engineered those and pulled those off.

Okay. Thank you. Any other? Yeah, I was just going to ask, what's the total of windows that's going to be replaced in the whole, how many? Chief? 48. 48, okay. Thank you. If there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk, please take the roll. Plum? Aye. Johnson? Aye. Parker? Aye. Stacy? Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? Aye. And Sellers? Aye. That bid is approved, 7-0. Finance? Nothing, Your Honor. Community development?

Nothing tonight. Thank you. Public Works? Just a couple project updates. Demeter Drive here in Freeport continues on. They should start coring out the roadway from Empire to La Cresta. We're putting water services in right now, and then Water Bain will continue down to Hickory Hill. I know the area is under a very large construction project, very dusty, very dirty.

give us, you know, another 60 days and it'll be looking a lot better. I appreciate everybody's patience. I just wanted to let everyone also know we ran into some storm sewer issues over there.

Piping that was shown in the city GIS maps was actually found to be completely crushed. We're dealing with that right now and looking for different ways to route it. Another important announcement is Carroll. South Carroll is under construction. I just received a note during the meeting that Civil will be out at 6 o'clock tomorrow doing string line with pouring curve by 7 o'clock. So please look for a public notice tonight from Mr. Bridge on exiting your cars before 6 a.m. so we can get that work moving. Another point of emphasis that I wanted to make, we have said several iWorks reports for Potholes. We very much appreciate those reports. That helps us cycle our daily duties and also our weekly events to try to patch these potholes. So using iWorks as the best resort to make sure these potholes are addressed. Some concerns that we've received recently are about parking lots. I'm going to use an example of the parking lot that services Dunkin' Donuts. Those parking lots are not City of Freeport property and therefore we cannot not patch those because that's using public taxpayer money in private property. So just keep that in mind as you send those responses in anytime you're in a private parking lot or another example would be the street by Taco Bell, Applebee's. Those are not city-owned proper streets and therefore the patching and the repairs are something that the city of Freeport cannot do. Thank you. Fire. Question. Sure. Alderman Stacy. Is there a fine for public

I mean, private, owning, not keeping up their parking lots?

Unfortunately, not really. I don't believe that we can find somebody for not upkeeping their property. I mean, we can recommend it. In the past, we've tried to help out with some cold patch if they get severe.

but when we start filling potholes that are not city of Freeport property we start taking liability on and again potholes are meant to fail again right cold patch does not stay in holes that's why we're trying not to use that product anymore and stay with hot patches so city manager Boyer has emphasized risk reward right on trying to help and we do try to help but we we don't try to put the city in a risk of being liable for fixing something that is not our property. Fire? Nothing, Your Honor. Police? Yes, thank you. I'd like to thank everyone that came to the BEAT meetings. They were very, very successful. I had 10 to 38 people that attended who saw the new metric style that we have for our police department that showed overall performance and management.

we also gave them a very new we also gave them a very new I'm sorry it's a pipe leak oh okay I wasn't sure if I had to get up or not I wasn't sure go ahead keep going if you get a valve wrench maybe like I was saying it actually gave them a new perspective of what community beat meetings how they should be we had very positive community engagement and I'd like to thank Bank, Alderman Parker, Johnson, Clemm, Sellers, Shadle, and City Manager, Rob Boyer, who attended with the constituents, attended with the community members because of what we're teaching them and how we should move forward. The second thing is we're also going to be listing out September's new beat meetings. We had a lot of questions as to what they want to see further, so that engagement was very positive. We also did yesterday the Brotherhood for Buckets and versus Brotherhood Buckets, Freeport Young Hoops versus the FPD. They got us, they ran for my money, that is for sure, these young kids. We played basketball against them at the Boys and Girls Club, but it was very positive.

We were very much welcomed. It's something different that we're doing, and I think it's very important that we're in within the community as we have been in the community as police department. And I like to I would also say that we concluded our Civilian Police Academy. We started with 16 and graduated 13. When we started this in 2023, this has been the largest. It's been requested again, so we're going to do it in September. Our Junior Police Academy, we just graduated 17, which has been one of the largest as well. So this is information that's been giving out to all sets of groups on how the police department works and how they are able to work with us together.

and finally my last public service announcement is that I need to everyone please make sure you lock your doors you know please lock your doors if you're going to the theater if you're going to eat these are crimes of opportunity that we have kind of been servicing lately where you have folks look try to see whose doors are open and and they do take items but we have been very successful in the last three incidents that our officers respond very quickly.

We obtained the offender, we obtained the proceeds and the items that have been stolen, but again, please lock your doors and wherever you go. Thank you.

Library?

Yes, I'm going to give you guys the circ stats for July, but I'd also like to thank everybody who did participate in summer reading. You made it incredibly successful. For about 30 seconds, Amanda was upset she didn't reach the same numbers as last year. I told her it's still an amazing number to get over 50% to finish.

So, our circ stats for the month of July were 10,819 items circulated. The meeting room was used 122 times. The study rooms were used 110 times. Our computers were used 946. And patrons saved $221,862.46 by using the library last month.

and we are creating a new discussion group uh sort of like a book club but not a book club if you feel like you can't read a book for a book club we're choosing a topic and you can read a book watch a documentary a movie listen to a podcast read some newspaper articles or magazine articles about it and then join the group to discuss so that way you can still participate in something but not have to read a whole book in four weeks. But IT? City Manager? Thank you, Your Honor. I just wanted to say thank you to the Boys and Girls Club, James Ryan and Yancey, all especially. Yeah, I got pretty winded yesterday, but I thought that, man, those guys are good. So thank you very much for doing that. We really appreciate your participation.

And then as you all know city council meetings are the first, second, and third Monday nights of every month and there happens to be five of them in August so we won't have two Mondays where we will meet and then happens to be the first Monday in September is Labor Day so we will meet on Tuesday, September 8th so have a nice couple of weeks where you don't have to be here on a Monday. With that, Alderman Klemm.

Nothing, Your Honor, but thanks to the Chief for the beat meetings. They're very informal for the people. I've had some feedback, asked for some feedback today and got some back, so a lot of good things going on there. Thank you.

Alderman Johnson?

And I just want to say also thanks to the Boys and Girls Club and William Brown and all of those that played in the basketball game. It was very exciting to watch.

It was very exciting to watch, it was fun to watch, and it was fun before that, they had young men that were competing in like a race and the three-point shootout, and it was just fun to watch all of them, and they were all enjoying it, so thank you, all of you.

Alderman Parker?

Nothing tonight.

Alderman Stacy?

Nothing tonight.

Alderman Shadle?

Nothing tonight, thank you.

Alderman Sellers?

Yes, I just want to say, yeah, it was a fun time at the Boys and Girls Club.

and I hope they do it again next year. And I'm sorry, Alderman Sanders, I didn't mean to bypass you. Did you have something you wanted to say? No. Thank you. Then we do have two that are signed up for public comment. Madam Clerk, you have someone that entered in? Yes, this was an email. My name is Gage Devers. Freeport is my home, even though I am currently living and working in Kuwait because I cannot stand before For you in person, I ask that my words be read in full and entered into the public record. I am asking this council to end Freeport's use of flock safety cameras. This is not an attack on our police officers and is not a claim that public safety does not matter. It is a warning that, in the name of safety, our city has crossed a line that should concern every resident, whether they have ever committed a crime or not. These cameras do not only photograph suspects, they record ordinary people going about their ordinary lives.

They can document when we leave home, where we worship, when we visit a doctor, whose house we visit, and whether we attend a political meeting or public demonstration.

Taken together, those records can reveal a person's movements, relationships, habits, and beliefs.

Freeport's own ALPR policy states that reasonable suspicion or probable cause is not required before using an ALPR.

That means a resident does not need to be suspected of any wrongdoing before the government searches a system containing records of where vehicles have traveled. That should frighten us, not because every officer will misuse the system, but because no government should build such a powerful tool based only on the hope that it will never be misused.

The records I received also raised serious questions about how this program was approved and implemented.

The city produced a flock order form listing a 25-month initial term, a 24-month renewal term, annual recurring charges of approximately $84,500, and a total contract value of $176,041.60.

The document bears the city manager's signature dated September 18, 2025. Yet the city later told me in writing that there is no signed agreement or contract between the city and flock. The city also said records identifying the number of deployed devices did not exist, while its own production included a flock system screen showing 16 devices. These are not minor clerical questions. Residents deserve to know who authorized this program, how it is being funded, how many cameras are operating, who can search the data, which outside agencies can access it, and whether anyone independently evaluated the privacy and cybersecurity risk before deployment. Freedom is not only the ability to travel. It is the ability to travel without the government quietly creating a searchable history of where we have been. Once surveillance infrastructure is built, it rarely becomes less intrusive.

It expands, connects to more databases, reaches more agencies, and becomes harder to remove I ask this council to stop further payments, expansion, renewal, and outside sharing of flock data Place this program on a public agenda Hold a public hearing Require a complete legal, privacy, cybersecurity, and financial review Then vote to terminate the program and remove the cameras Your time has expired Next we have Angela Spearman Hello, as she stated, my name is Angela Spearman I have been a long lifetime resident of Freeport, Illinois I do love our city, but I have some concerns about some things that happened a couple of weeks ago on July the 27th I was a victim of a crime My doors were locked Two young men came to my residence and beat up the car with bats. I called the police, made a report. I even got videos. I got videos of both incidents. Brandon still came in and tried to kick in the door while my son and grandson was inside the house.

later came back with Bass and beat in both of the cars. Again, I did make a report to the police.

And again, I have video. I called the police. I left a message for you and to see what would happen to these young men that did this. I got the runaround, passed the buck, had to go to the police station, and speak to the state's attorney, back and forth, back and forth, got tired of it, got a message from the state's attorney, stated that he's not going to take the case, so what are the consequences of happening, this happening, it's like you can do anything, do any crime and get away with it, again, I have footage of this happening, I was like, like the mayor said earlier, let's do the right thing, let's do the right thing and get some consequences of these young men, I don't feel safe in Freeport anymore like I lived here all my life and this hurts me and I just want justice justice. Thank you. Are there any other public comments? Good evening, Freeport. Those of you on the City Council as well. First of all, the first thing I'd like to speak on is is agenda item number nine. I'm directing my comments to Joy. My comment is simply this.

where you end those meetings. And the next portion of that is none of us can determine what somebody's intentions are, Ms. Sellers. The next thing I would like to talk about is Freeport Partnership. I was in the very first meeting of the individuals that started this. Freeport Partnership's name has changed at least five times. And I wonder why. I remember a number of them, One is All In, but five times this name has changed. Something's wrong with that picture. In regards to the ward map, the city of the ward map was changed in 2022, and it was changed based around the censors of 2020, and in the process of that, the reason it was changed and the amount of people that were lost in this town are these numbers.

Third Ward lost 559 residents. Second Ward lost 442 residents. Fifth Ward lost 417 registered voters and residents in this town. And so in the process based around the 2020 census, they had to do this in order for there to be a total of 3,425 equally accessed wards or ward maps.

So in answer to your question, that's the reason that it was changed from all the way down to MetLife. It used to stop before you got into the main downtown area, but based around the loss of residencies. And if you notice, Third Ward 552, which means that people were dying, being displaced, or being forced out. So there's your answers to some of the questions that they won't give you.

Any other public comments, Tommy?

Police Chief, you do a good job with that police department, and we want to keep you working there.

And John Parker, you're doing good.

And we want to know about the route from Police of Transit.

Yeah, thanks, Tommy.

So the route is still under review from IDOT.

IDOT came back to us, and they wanted to take a second look at the route, before giving their blessing again. So we are awaiting the review. They said that they'll be as quick as possible, but their legal team is reviewing it right now.

And Darren, ask a good job about that clean of what they?

So they're working on repairing the buildings, and we have the brownfields dirt sampling going to happen very shortly.

Don Parker, you, you're the best of all of them, then. Thank you, Tommy. Are there any other public comments this evening? I will entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. Motion made by Shadle, seconded by Sellers. Madam Clerk, could you please take the roll? Clem. Aye. Johnson. Aye. Parker. Aye.

Stay Aye. Parker. Aye. Stacey. Aye. Shadle. Aye. Sanders. Aye. And Sellers. Aye. Motion.