I don't know, probably, that's good, that's, no, no, it's really good, I've had it for years. I get enough, gentlemen, I don't even have it. It's been both ways, it wakes me up in the night because it's too low, and then if I eat the wrong things, it's skyrocketing. Yeah, yeah, okay.

and I have to sit next to her, though, that's got to be Tom.

Good evening.

Debbie, could you please give the invocation this evening?

Today's passage comes from Psalm 133.

How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony.

For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil that was poured over Aaron's head and ran down his beard and onto the border of his robe.

Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls from the mountain of Zion, and there the Lord has pronounced his blessing, even life everlasting.

Our Heavenly Father, we just thank you for today. We thank you for our community. We thank you for every elected official that is here this evening.

and we thank you for our mayor and Lord we just ask that a spirit of unity fall upon our city council. May each member show genuine care for one another and build lasting relationships even when they disagree. May they engage in honest conversation and praise in public and correct in private and then discover others strengths and passions and share the credit where credit is due and speak vision and possibility for our community. Lord, we just thank you for this evening. We ask that your blessings fall upon the city council. We thank you for unity, that you are the God of unity. You are the God of diversity and you You are the God of peace and love and so we just ask that our community, our city council will operate in love because that is the greatest thing of all. We just thank you in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Debbie. Debbie, we will now officially call this meeting to order. Madam Clerk, could you please take the role? Madam Miller. Here. Alder Persons Clem. Here. Monroe. Here. Simmons is absent.

Parker. Here. Stacey is absent. Shadle. Here. Sanders. Here. And Sellers. Here. If you could please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Alderman Sanders. 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 approval of the agenda and which will also include executive session on C1. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. We have a motion made by Alderman Monroe, seconded by Alderman Shadle. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes. Item number two is approval from the minutes from the regular meeting on April 21st, 2024. Is there a motion to approve? So moved.

Second. Motion made by Alderman Parker, seconded by Alderman Shadle. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes. Public comments on agenda items would be Rhonda Scott. You have three minutes. Good evening. Tonight I'm here to address the council. I read over the annual budget report that was in the consent agenda. And I am asking you respectfully if you could remove that from I'm going to talk about the consent agenda and ask some questions. This is some of the things that I noticed. First, the good things, the city revenue that the city spends on the general fund is only about $26 million, and I just wanted the public to know that, that we have a very tiny budget. And so what we do spend has to be very thoughtful and very productive, and we need to be setting our priorities. So what I noticed was that very little of our budget comes from property taxes.

only like $3 million. $16 million comes from state taxes, local taxes and about $2.8 million.

Some of the things that we're spending on the general fund are for police, fire, street, community development, all good things, all appropriate functions of government.

One of the things I called into question, which I wish you would too, is that we are spending $654,000 on the airport.

Freeport. It only serves about 1% of our community. We're spending a lot of our money. It's our fourth largest expense in the general fund. Another problem with the budget now is there is no line item for the Greater Freeport Partnership Fund. You have to dig and find out what they're getting paid. So their money is coming from five TIF funds for the amount of $234,000, from the hotel motel tax for $280,000, for $144,000, and from a grant from the state of Illinois for $144,000, that's over $600,000. Once again, I've said this before, we get no return on what we spend on them, and that should be something that you ask about, why that isn't a budget line item on the budget, the public cannot see what we are spending, and you have to dig around to figure out how the money is secretly being pulled out to pay them.

There's two more things on the budget I wish you would question. The EV chargers, you have budgeted $500,000 for EV chargers. When I came to the meeting, you were talking about spending $90,000 on a survey. Now you're going about to approve $500,000. And for safe streets, another bogus study that was done to look at traffic accidents and figure out how you could get a grant to fix stop signs and intersections, you are budgeting $450,000.

We have $1,000 on that. I want you to be aware of that. I hope you will ask questions of that before you simply and blindly just vote to accept the consent agenda. These are items that the public is paying for. We expect you to do your due diligence and respect what we want. And so I'm letting you know and I will hope that you would pull this from the consent agenda. There's also a very minor thing, but the minutes from the community development Development Commission and the Zone Commission are six months late. That deserves an answer to.

And the next one is Akia Sanders.

How are you doing? My name is Akia Sanders. I wanted to talk about number seven. Coming from a person that is frequently judged or ridiculed for whatever thing I do, the fact that we have to appoint somebody that's riding around drunk strangling women and have a domestic. Now that he is fighting, we don't know if he's going to go to prison. We don't know what decisions he's going to make. It's troubling that a couple of you, well, more than a couple of you actually voted for it. That just shows that your whole oath of for the people is of question. I don't know what kind of person would elect a drunk riding around strangling females. This could be your mother, brother, daughter, sister, anybody else. I think that really needs to be looked at, and anybody that is for that, you guys really need to be looked at as well. Thank you.

Madam Clerk, could you please reflect on the time that 6.08, Alderman Simmons arrived, and I couldn't see the clock when Alderman Stacy arrived. I hope you caught that. 6.04.

Thank you. So we'll move on to item number four, which is the consent agenda. The consent agenda is considered to be routine in nature and acted as one motion unless a member of council would like to have something removed for further discussion. I would. Alderman Stacy. Yes. I would like to pull out a couple things to have further.

Um, discussion on, uh, the city street improvement budget, the airport, the chargers, the safe street study, the minutes being six and seven months behind, and the GFP budget report.

Attorney Zio Alderman Stacy do you know which items so on the agenda the consent agenda has you know certain items listed on it do you know your items what they fall under no I don't and the pages weren't numbered so I can't even give you page numbers okay do you know if it's in the finance department report or are they cash investment reports or In the upper right corner there is a corresponding label so like in the corner of every page of the consent agenda it will say like 4A1A those are the planning commission minutes I don't have that information the finance department report is like 4A2 Attorney Zito so hyperlinked to the agenda is the consent agenda that has all the pages that clerk Anderson is referencing that has has all the the page numbering up in the upper right-hand corner so it's a hyperlink to your agenda okay yeah I understand that um someone knows what these things are I don't well well we discussed every line having to do with the budget this is nothing that's new um and quite honestly poor Tommy would not be prepared Michelle is not here tonight that would not be fair to ask him these questions

Can you, can you call Michelle tomorrow to talk about your concerns?

Not if we're going to vote on them tonight.

Madam Clerk.

And this is only approval to receive and place on file a report.

You're not approving a budget.

You're not approving any dollar expenditures.

It's, it's a report from the finance department from March.

So it's all past history that we're just placing a report on file.

You're not approving these expenditures. The approval would have been in the budget that Mayor Miller discussed.

So this consent is just a report that we will evaluate before we actually consider it.

That's what you're supposed to do.

No, it's already been done if it's March.

Yes, you kind of.

Oh, okay.

So like A is approval to receive in place on file. B is a proclamation. C is an approval of finance bills.

So, C and D are approvals But some of this falls up in C and D And so, how can we continue to approve stuff that we don't?

Well, I mean, so, at the end of the day, I mean, I guess we need to know which items you want pulled for further discussion And I'm not sure that it's vital that it has to be on this consent agenda anyway It could be on the next one if you wanted to ask the finance director in depth on those questions since we don't even know what you're asking Well, can we just postpone this agenda for tonight?

That item Consent agenda, no. We need to pass the approvals Well, these reports don't have to be passed tonight. These are reports that are being questioned A-2, 3, and 4, I've seen so far.

Right.

Right.

That's what I'm, yeah.

So if you want to just remove the approval to receive and place on file A-2, 3, that's acceptable if you want to look further into it.

Darren, do you have a comment on that?

The item she's referencing is 4A2.

They're all in the finance department.

It's the budget report.

Yeah.

That's what I'm looking at.

It just shows the budget line item and what the expenditure is for the fiscal year in total.

So, Alderman Stacy, would you just like to pull item A2 until you can have a chance to speak with the finance director? I'm not sure what.

Sure.

Okay, so our ordinance says that any council member can have some discussion there without a vote necessarily, so I don't think we necessarily need that there because it'll just show back up.

up on the next meeting's agenda to approve this report.

So I can just read the consent agenda with that item, correct.

Okay.

Okay, so then the consent agenda is to receive and place on file the minutes from the boards and commissions for planning commission dated July 11th, October 10th, November 14th, December 12th, 2024, January 9th, February 13th, March 13th, 2025, The Zoning Board of Appeals, October 3rd, November 7th, December 5th, 2024, January 2nd, February 6th, and March 6th, 2025 And the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, March 5th and 25th for 2025 Also is the Cash and Investment Report and the Building Permit Report for March 2025 The Greater Freeport Partnerships Monthly Report, dated April 2025 Proclamation for FHN Day, May 5th, 2025 I have questions about that one.

Approval of the finance bills payable in the total of $392,484.27 and the approval of payroll for pay period ending April 19, 2025 in the total of $663,136.32.

sense. Number five, I have questions pertaining to, now, if that falls under the budget report, then okay.

It does not. So there is someone here from the partnership that maybe could answer your question, if that's what you're asking. I have questions. So is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?

So moved. Second. The motion made by Alderman Parker, seconded by Alderman Shadle. Discussion? Okay. Um, and Tommy, I'm sorry, you may not know this, but I'm trying to figure out why is there no line item for GFP? Um. Okay, so is that under the heading of Finance Department Report? Budget Report. Budget Report. Right. So I took that off.

So that's not on there, so if you'd like to have those questions at any time in the next several weeks, you have that ability to call and ask that, so it's not even on there I just thought you just said It's not even on there, we took it off Okay Alderman Stacy, the item that you, when we came down and she read Greater Freeport Partnership Monthly Report, you said you had questions on that so that's on the report that has enough on their monthly report to the city not necessarily the question that you just asked them was about wise or no whatever that topic is under the finance report which was taken off there now if you have a question about their monthly report to the city that's what number five is there okay okay all right so there's no further discussion madam clerk please take the roll Sanders what are we voting on the consent agenda minus A2, which is the Finance Department report for March.

Everything else we're voting on?

Yes.

Sellers?

Aye.

Clem?

Aye.

Monroe?

Aye.

Simmons?

Aye.

Parker?

Aye.

Stacy?

No.

And Shadle?

Aye.

The consent agenda is approved 7 to 1.

Since there's a lot of reading, I have to cheat on my classes.

Okay, so on behalf of the city of Freeport, I'd like to read the following proclamation, whereas the greater Freeport partnership works on behalf of Freeport and Stevenson County as the tourism partner to promote as the tourism partner to promote and grow our region, and whereas the travel industry is essential to the success of every industry and will continue to be a critical part of Freeport's economy, development, and workforce, and whereas travel is an economic powerhouse for every state and destination across the country with an economic output of $2.9 trillion supporting one out of every 11 American jobs, and whereas travel spending supports vibrant and safe communities in Freeport and across the United States by generating $4.3 billion in Illinois tax revenue in 2024 to support essential services such as education, emergency response, public safety and more. And whereas travel enables success for all industries including manufacturing, agriculture, defense, healthcare and more by driving sales growth, innovation, education and operations that power our economy.

County, our nation, and Freeport. And whereas Freeport and Stevenson County generated $53 million in tourism spending with local retailers, restaurants, transportation expenses, and lodging. And whereas small businesses account for more than 60% of leisure and hospitality employment. And whereas hospitality and tourism rank 10th among employment sectors in Illinois. And whereas travel is an essential industry, and we must continue to communicate that growing travel leads to economic growth, benefits businesses, fosters mutual understanding, and connects the nation.

Now, therefore, I, Jodi Miller, Mayor of the City of Freeport, declare May 4th through the 10th, 2025, as National Travel and Tourism Week in the City of Freeport, and urge our residents to join in recognizing the essential role this industry plays in our economy.

Thank you.

Want to say a few words?

She said plenty in that proclamation.

I'll let it stand with that.

Thank you.

And then United Way. Thank you. So on behalf of the city, this is United Way of Northwest Illinois' 75th Anniversary Day. So whereas the United Way of Northwest Illinois was established in 1950 as the Freeport Community Chest, uniting citizens and civic organizations under the principle that working together we can accomplish so much more for our community.

and whereas for 75 years the United Way of Northwest Illinois has been a leader in providing human and financial resources to address health and human service needs improving the quality of life in Joe Davis, Stevenson, and Carroll counties and whereas the partnership between the community at large and the United Way of Northwest Illinois includes an emphasis on long-standing community solutions in youth opportunities, financial security, healthy communities, and community resiliency through charitable giving and volunteering engagement, and whereas the United Way of Northwest Illinois has demonstrated a commitment to community impact by mobilizing the caring power of communities to create lasting and measurable change, and whereas the residents of Freeport benefit greatly, assistance and services from the United Way and many other United Way of Northwest Illinois partner agencies, and whereas this celebration will provide the opportunity for residents to reflect on the United Way of Northwest Illinois' accomplishments over the past 75 years and join United Way in continuing to build our success and move into our next 75 years. Now, therefore, I, Jodi Miller, Mayor of the City of Freeport, hereby declare May 5, 2025 as the United Way of Northwest Illinois' 75th Anniversary Day in the City of Freeport and encourage all residents to recognize and celebrate the significant contributions of the United Way of Northwest Illinois in our community over the past 75 years.

Thank you, Mayor Miller, council members, for all being here. I've always said there's one board and one thing I will never do, and it's sit on a city council or a school board. So thank you all for your time and your efforts in making sure that the city is run smoothly and for the benefit of our community. On behalf of United Way of Northwest Illinois, I'm Connie Kraft, United Way of Northwest Illinois Executive Director.

I want to express our heartfelt gratitude for this evening's proclamation recognizing our 75th anniversary.

It's an honor to be acknowledged by the City of Freeport as we celebrate this milestone.

For 75 years, United Way has stood alongside this community bringing people together, responding to urgent needs, and investing in the future of Northwest Illinois.

From our earliest days to today, our mission has always been to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of our community.

This proclamation is more than a recognition of our history.

It's a tribute to every partner, volunteer, donor, and neighbor who believed that united is the way.

It reflects the strength of collaboration between organizations like ours and the leaders who serve our community, you.

Thank you for your continued support and for helping us mark this special moment.

Together, we look forward to building an even stronger future for the next 75 years, which I hope to see all of you here for.

So, thank you all.

Thank you.

Well, that's not going to happen, but Juliet, if you can join me and whoever else you'd like to have come up for World Migratory Bird Day.

So, whereas, migratory birds are some of the most beautiful and easily observed wildlife that share our communities.

and whereas these migrant species also play an important economic role in our community controlling insect pests and generating millions in recreational dollars statewide and whereas migratory birds and their habitats are declining throughout the Americas facing a growing number of threats on their migration routes in both their summer and winter homes and whereas public awareness and concern are crucial components of migratory bird conservation and whereas citizens and enthusiastic about birds, informed about the threats that they face, and empowered to help address these threats can directly contribute to maintaining healthy bird populations. And whereas since 1993 World Migratory Bird Day has become a primary vehicle for focusing public attention on the nearly 350 species that travel between nesting habitats in our communities and throughout North America and their wintering grounds in South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and southern United States. And whereas while World Migratory Bird Day officially is held each year on the second Saturday of May, its observance is not limited to a single day and planners are encouraged to schedule activities on the dates best suited to the presence of both migrants and celebrants. And whereas since World Migratory Bird Day is not only a day to foster appreciation for wild birds and to celebrate and support migratory bird conservation, but is also a call to action.

So now, therefore, I, Jodi Miller, Mayor of the City of Freeport, do hereby declare May 10th, 2025 as World Migratory Bird Day in the City of Freeport, and I urge all of our citizens' support efforts to protect these migratory birds and their habitats in our community.

Do you want to say a few things? That would be great.

You don't have to.

Thank you, Mayor.

The Northwest Illinois Bird and Nature Alliance, in partnership with the Freeport Park District and University of Illinois Extension, will host the fifth annual World Migratory Bird Day event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 10th at Oakdale Nature Preserve. The theme for this year's event is Shared Spaces, Creating Bird-Friendly Cities and Communities, which is a global theme determined by the Organization Environment for the Americas. This year focuses on the many ways that we can help birds where we live.

More than half of the world's population currently lives in cities, a figure projected to double in the next 25 years As communities expand, migratory birds face growing challenges, native habitats shrink, noise and light pollution escalate, and domestic pets disturb and prey on a variety of species We can all take steps to protect migratory birds that visit our communities, whether they are nesting, overwintering, or stopping to rest and refuel along their incredible journeys This is a rain or shine event with the use of the Oakdale Pavilion and the various trails, including the accessible trail. The entire event is free and open to the public. Northern Illinois Raptor Rehab and Education will bring live birds of prey for two hours for a meet and greet. Bird and Nature Alliance members will lead hourly hikes at 10, 11, and 12 to bird watch around the trails. There will be an obstacle course and stations with educational games and crafts. Volunteers and extension will have matching games and crafts plus a bird scavenger hunt. Local artist Jamie Elliott will have a bird scavenger hunt.

have bird watercolor and other crafts. There will be free giveaways to all participants while supplies last.

As part of the latest resolution passed by the City Council in November 2024, a World Migratory Bird Day event is required as Migratory Bird Day event is required as part of maintaining the state recognition of birds at Illinois that Freeport has maintained since 2021. We continue to thank the city for their support in the celebration and conservation of birds. Thank you. Thank you, Julia. And with that, we move on to item number six, which is the explanation of a removal of Joshua Atkinson from the Planning Commission. Is there a motion to place on the floor for discussion? I make a motion. You don't need a motion. I don't need a motion.

Do you need a motion? No. To Robert's Rules, I think a motion would be in order here just to get it on the floor for discussion. State the Robert's Rule that that falls under. Well, I think that's any like any of our any two alter persons may place anything on the agenda for a conversation. We don't need a motion to have a conversation about motion is to put it on the floor just just to have it right just to bring it on the floor for discussion. We've never done that in four years. Generally, discussions are on the cow.

It's kind of a different scenario So do we have a motion? I believe Alderman Stacy, did you make that motion?

Yes, since I have to if we're going to discuss it And the second?

I second it. Has my voice changed?

And seconded by Alderman Sanders Madam Mayor Alderman Shadle This has been discussed several times already. I would make a motion to table this indefinitely second. Hmm. So we have a motion on the floor made by Alderman Shadle seconded by Alderman Parker to table indefinitely discussion discussion on the motion to table. I put this on the agenda. And so I don't know what right do any other order person have just to take it off. Yeah.

Yeah, me too. I'd like to know that myself. Go ahead. So they're not taking it off. So the agenda is on the agenda. So they didn't take it off the agenda there. So at this, when the agenda item was called now, they've made a motion to table it indefinitely. Why? You gotta ask them that. I can't answer that. Okay, wait, you don't have the floor. If you want to speak, then. Oh, okay. Everybody else does, but I wonder why I can't have the floor. Larry, would you, would you Would you like to have the floor to discuss Alderman Sanders? Let's just take the vote. All right. Yeah, we're just going to vote. Okay, so the motion on the floor is to table indefinitely. If there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk, please take the roll. Sanders? No. Sellers? Aye. Clem? Aye. Monroe? No. Simmons? No. Parker? Aye. Stacy? No. Shadle? Aye. We have a tie at four to four. Madam Miller? No.

She can't do it. Well, like Alderman Shadle said, this has been discussed. I'm sorry, you're out of order. Please, please refrain from speaking. You're out of order. Well, that's a conflict of interest if that happens. Alderman Sanders, consider that your warning. Yeah, well. Consider that your warning. If you choose to continue to be disruptive and go outside of the order of decorum, then I will ask the Chief of Police to escort you out. Okay. So please don't do that again. Okay. I will gladly call on you if you have the floor. Are you threatening me, Mayor?

No, I will gladly call on you when you have the floor, okay?

Sorry, I just want to know So, the question is up to me on Okay, so to finish that, I would have to agree with Alderman Shadle, his motion of this has been discussed multiple times, and so with that, I agree with that motion And the motion passes, five to four Alderman Stacy It has not been discussed multiple times.

It was on the agenda for the first time the last Monday of April.

And how convenient that you weren't here to answer the question then, and even more convenient to table it forever.

Well, let me just clarify what you just said. It was on the agenda for April 14th. It was on the agenda for April 21st. So this would make it the third time. And if you think I'm conveniently avoiding, I was in the hospital. So thank you for your concern. So we'll move on to item number seven, which is an explanation of an appointment of Dustin Wilkinson to the Planning Commission. And is there a motion to place this on the floor for discussion?

So it can just be tabled again? Is there a motion to place this on the floor for discussion? A motion to place it on the floor. I second. We have a motion made by Alderman Stacy, seconded by Alderman Simmons. Madam Mayor. Alderman Shadle. This having been discussed before, I would make a motion to table indefinitely. Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Parker, to table indefinitely.

so discussion on the table indefinitely motion Alderman yeah Alderman Sellers I mean the explanations do you think that you can go and just have something in in the conference room privately and talk about it if if if there's something that I just want to know is it I mean an explanation we've heard it but I'm saying if you need more explanations I'm saying can you have it in the the conference rooms I'm just I'm just asking would that be better to have that with the mayor or or whatever to we did not have conversation because the mayor was not here to render the conversation. And my phone is on 24 seven. You were in the hospital. Yeah, but we talked about it before. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, we talked about it. Right. That's what she was not present to answer the questions. And there was no resolution.

in addition to all of the conversations we've been having.

So we do need resolutions.

Alderman Stacy, did you have a piece on that?

Yes.

You know, to the constituents, the people of this fine city, I hope you see what is happening right before you in your faces.

We know how to avoid and how to table things that we don't want to deal with. And it doesn't make it right. It doesn't make it fair. But it is what it is. So I work for the people. So I've tried to get answers for you.

and you see with your own eyes what I'm dealing with, who's for it, who's against it, who battles with me, every opportunity they get.

If there's no further discussion on tabling indefinitely, Madam Clerk, please, Alderman Sanders.

Yeah, what are you considering to table again?

But, no, what I want to do is get at the ruts of this motion to reconsider and We're not on that item.

Oh, you're not on that item?

No, you can only speak on it being tabled.

Oh, okay.

So we might as well take the vote.

All right.

Madam Clerk, please take the roll on tabling indefinitely.

Sanders.

No.

Sellers.

Aye. Clem? Aye. Monroe? No. Simmons? No. Parker? Aye. Stacy? No. Shadle? Aye. We're tied at four to four. Mayor, what say you? And again, this appointment was approved on April 7th, discussed on the 14th, and on the 21st. Third time, this would make it number four, so I would have to agree. My vote is aye. Good job.

The motion passes for tabling five to four.

And please know that public comment outbursts will not be tolerated either.

Item number eight is a motion to reconsider the motion to resent advice and consent of the council to the appointment of Dustin Wilkinson to the Planning Commission.

Is there a motion to place this on this motion, right?

on this motion, right? Motion to reconsider. Is there a motion to reconsider? Attorney Zito.

And just for a reminder, a motion to reconsider has to be made by someone on the prevailing side from the last vote, okay? That's never happened before. On a motion to reconsider, it's happened every single time. So a motion to reconsider has to be made by a party that was on the prevailing side. In this particular case, the prevailing side was the no vote. So someone who was on that prevailing side that voted no has to make the motion to reconsider. So on the original at the last council meeting, the motion to rescind was made and it was seconded. So a motion to rescind the advice and consent. And those that voted yes were Monroe, Stacey, and Sanders. Those that voted no were Clemm, Parker, Shadle, and Sellers. Therefore, the motion failed. So the prevailing side was the fail. It did not get approved. So on a motion to reconsider now, the motion to reconsider has to be made by a party that was on the prevailing side. So the motion has to be made by either Clemm, Parker, Shadle, or Sellers.

So why when we dealt with the bike ramp and we voted no and won, they turned around, put it back on the agenda, and we didn't go through all this hullabaloo?

Because that time it wasn't on the immediately following city council meeting.

Oh, okay, well, it'll be back.

And I explained that to you on the phone over the weekend.

No, you did not say what you're saying now.

I said a motion to rescind can be put back on at the second meeting in May, is what I told you, but if you wanted on this meeting, it had to be a motion to reconsider Attorney Zito, you did not, you gave me that piece of information, but the important part that you left would be one of the no's would have to say, yes, I guess I'm just supposed to know that By now, maybe I should have I see how you are, attorney I guess I didn't tell you because you guys all went through the Roberts Rules training here and I went over that motions to reconsider have to be made by someone on the prevailing side Okay, so it's not going to happen, so moving on Next Alderman Monroe Yes, may I ask you a question? What was the final vote total in that?

On the motion to rescind motion it it failed three to four okay thank you yeah okay and we will move on to item number nine which is the second reading of ordinance 2025 25 could you please read this ordinance approving special use permit application at 1601 1645 southwest avenue submitted by family dollar to examine the special use of a b3 commercial and wholesale business district's own property to allow restaurants taverns package liquor stores and any other establishment selling alcoholic beverages for consumption on or off the premises according to 1252.01b11.

Thank you. Elizabeth?

We're here for the second reading of this ordinance. The first reading was done April 21st.

Staff received a special use permit application from Family Dollar LLC for a packaged liquor store selling alcoholic beverages at 1601-1645 Southwest Avenue.

that's the current family dollar. The petitioner is applying for a package liquor. On April 3, 2025, the zoning Board of Appeals recommended approval of the vote by seven yays, zero nays, zero abstentions. And on April 10, the Planning Commission recommended approval of this ordinance by a vote of eight yays, zero nays, and zero abstentions. And staff recommends approval of the special use permit at 1601-1645.

45, Southwest Avenue, Family Dollar. Thank you. Discussion on the Family Dollar. Alderman Sanders. Yes, can I ask you, you did a survey report, am I correct, to determine the parameters, whether or not this liquor silk to happen at this location?

have we done a survey to determine whether they're inbounds or out of bounds of the parameter statues of the zoning board or the zoning of this location to make sure that it is definitely in the proper location of the zone to do a liquor sale.

It is proper. It is in the correct zoning. The special use that we're here for, that makes it the correct zoning. So we had the public hearing where everyone was able to come and say whether they wanted it there or not. No objections? No objections. Okay. If there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk. Oh, I'm sorry. All of them and Stacy.

Do individual businesses all have to have their own license and their own permit?

For liquor sales? Yes, every liquor sales. So liquor licenses are handled by the clerk's office, and they all require a license.

So when you list everything like restaurants, taverns, we're just talking about a convenience store, am I correct?

This is for the package, yeah, so this is for the package liquor store, so that would be, they're just, basically, they're adding two coolers for beer, one for beer, one for wine, so this is allowing for the zoning to give them permission to sell that liquor. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

You know, this is one that's a very challenging conversation, mainly because nobody really wants to talk about all of the issues that surround alcohol in various wards and parts of the city.

In the western part of the city, we have several stores that shut down certain doors, certain parts of their business, so they don't have theft.

They don't have smash and grabs, they don't have those types of things. I've actually been in Sullivan's one night when somebody stole alcohol out of there and it presents a big issue for the city of Freeport and for the businesses in general and if you don't have the staffing to truly watch it and protect it you really create an issue where that business if they don't if they have one maybe two people working at a time that that threat of theft and robbery, those types of things can occur and it puts not just the store employees at risk, it puts the general public at risk as well. We have plenty of locations on the west side of Freeport, especially along the Galena Corridor that sell alcohol, beer, wine, liquor, you know, all of it from restaurants to convenience stores to liquor stores to stores in general. This is one that probably, in my opinion, is just a grab to try to get more money out of businesses locally. It doesn't really bring anything to the city of Freeport. It's something that we should not vote yes on. We should look at this as it stands. And, you know, Family Dollar does sell a lot of great things. Do we really need to have alcohol in a Family Dollar store?

their hours are no different than the other businesses in that area and quite honestly you know why should we and we've already got enough crime on the west side of town that's been very rapidly moving in we had a shots incident today you know this this is becoming a big problem in Freeport it's not just liquor it's drugs it's domestic violence, all those things, and alcohol plays a major role, and I'm sure the chief of police would be willing to say alcohol is a major contributing factor to domestic violence in this community. The mayor seems to support it, but that's a whole other issue. What I would say, I don't need more alcohol in my neighborhood. We've got enough. We've got enough places to buy it, and we should end it at that. Elizabeth? Yes, I just want to clarify. This is for Family Dollar.

Dollar, this is on West Avenue, so this is across the street from Cubs. Cubs, yep, sorry, I was thinking the other one, Dollar General, I get confused. Yep, just wanted to clarify that, that the location is Family Dollar. Thank you. Alderman Parker. I just wanted to say that why should Family Dollar have to lose sales because Cub Food across the street sells it. Give their customers or in their buy-in the opportunity, otherwise saying, oh, I'm going to run across the street. I think they deserve it as much as any place.

Alderman Sanders Well, the thing that bothers me is the protocol for security protocol for security and protection from theft of any nature, whether it's cub food, whether it's family dollar, protocol protection, security, and all of these things are in place to make sure that they're minimizing any possibility of children or mid-adults or anybody like that creating theft.

because without all the mechanisms in place have we done an examination to make that happen to make sure that either those safeguards are put in place then I don't think we should allow some store or business or whatever that can't govern their own store when it comes to liquor because liquor is a whole different category and then you heighten the risk RISK OF PROBLEMS COMING INTO YOUR AREA AND THE STORE ITSELF. SO I JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHAT ARE THE PROTOCOLS THAT HAS BEEN PUT IN PLACE THAT WE CAN MAKE A GOOD ASSESSMENT ON WHETHER OR NOT THIS IS GOOD FOR THIS COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY IN MY DISTRICT. THIS THING IS IN MY DISTRICT. SO I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ALL THE RIF-RAFF AND ALL OF THE NOISE ABOUT WHY DIDN'T WE LOOK INTO IT, WHY DIDN'T WE TALK ABOUT IT MORE, WHY DIDN'T WE DISCUSS discuss it. I wasn't with you guys when you made the voting decision, but I'd sure like to have been there at the time that this was happening. Maybe I could have given a little more input, a little bit more insight about the danger that alcohol brings to any community or any location in the city with the potential of anyone being able to create risk and danger when it comes to buying liquor from a

small convenience store. So that's one of the things that I like to talk about in the future and as an ongoing thing because if we hear these reports of any kind of problems from these types of venues, then we need to make sure that they have all of their I's crossed and their T's, their I's are dotted and their T's are crossed.

But that's what I think we should be doing in order to assure the confidence of the city of Freeport that these measures have been put in place. That's what I have to say on that.

Honorable Ms. Stacy.

This store has had to take measures with locking down their cold and cough medicine, their cough syrup, their NyQuil, because it was being stolen, and people with alcohol issues were going in buying it.

And so I think it would be a negative to because they can't lock this down. It's just going to be in an open cooler. And I just think it would be a downfall, a negative more than a positive.

Chief. Alderman Parker. I know it's my second time, but I don't know how we feel we can go in and tell a private business how to run their business. That is their business. It's their responsibility. We give them the permit to sell it. How they handle it is their business, not ours. So thank you. If there's no further discussion, Alderman Sellers.

I kind of agree with Alderman Parker I just can't see how we would stop a big business like Family Dollar and we got gas stations around them we have Cubs we have you know all these different places that sell alcohol but then we stop with Family Dollar I just I'm to me I just can't see saying no to Family Dollar this be my second time actually both you and Alderman says they've already spoken twice, so if you want to have a side, Alderman Simmons.

So I get what y'all are saying, but Cub Foods is a grocery store, Mobile is a convenience store, Family Dollar is more of like a clothing store, so that's like you going to Marshalls and buying liquor. It just don't make sense. Like, it doesn't make sense to do that.

When did I speak twice?

Well, I have you and Sanders down both us twice I only spoke once about I know I only spoke once If there's no further discussion Unless you want to If you want me to pick a vote on the unanimous to allow further discussion, that's your call Yeah Okay, so on behalf of Alderman Sanders Could we please take the vote on allowing additional discussion past the twice spoken. Sanders? Yes. Sellers? Yes. Clem? No. Monroe? Yes. Simmons? No. Parker? No. Stacy? Irrevolent. Irrevolent. Could you state either aye, nay, or abstain? Abstain. Shadle? No.

The motion fails Okay, so unless there's someone that has not spoken twice, we'll take the roll I'm sorry, I'm still counting votes When you're ready Sanders What are we voting for?

Ordinance 2025-25 for allowing the special use permit for family dollar Yeah, but you don't have to be condescending about that comment just me. Okay, would you like to cast your vote? No. Sellers? Aye. Clem? Aye. Monroe? No. Simmons? No. Parker? Aye. Stacy? No. Shadle? Aye. And we are tied four to four. Madam Mayor? Aye. And the ordinance passes five to four. Drunk says aye. We'll move on to reports from department heads. Finance? None tonight. Thank you.

Community Development? None, Your Honor. Thank you. Thank you. Public Works? Just one thing. The 2025 Streets Program is out to bid. The 2025 Water Main Project's out to bid, and we will have bid openings before the next full council meeting with results for the council. Thank you. You said 2025 Water Main. What Water Main is that? It's the Water Main Streets for this year, so it'd be Black Hawk is the number one project, Willow, and Carol's out to bid as well. I can't think of the fourth one, I'm sorry.

Okay. Oh, Harvey, excuse me, Harvey. Harvey? Yes. Chief Miller? Nothing this evening. Thank you. Chief Schemberger? I have no report. Thank you. Library? Nothing tonight. I don't believe Community, or Communications is here. IT? Thank you. So City Manager. Nothing else tonight. Thank you. I just wanted to remind the Council and the viewing audience of an upcoming event for community building. It is a Memorial Peace March that is set for June 7th at 11 a.m. It's a Saturday, the first Saturday of June. The location is at the Madonna on Walnut, and it will be the kickoff event for the 40 Days of Peace and Community Building, and every two weeks after that event on June 7th, the events are the entire weekend from the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Fridays would be to beautify the block, and the Saturdays would be the resource block party, and then Sunday would be the church on the street.

so if you would like to follow that on High Hope Freeport that's where you can get all your information but if you could please mark your calendars for June 7th for the Memorial Peace March starting at 11 a.m. Where's that at again? At the Madonna on Walnut. Thank you. And so we'll move on to council announcements. Alderman Sanders. I am perturbed right now but nevertheless I do have Many, many things I would like to say, but we just don't have enough time, and I don't want nobody to be upset with the things that I possibly would bring out here in this council tonight, but anyway, I do have things I'd like to discuss, and I just want to make sure that certain people are put on notice, and I want our council to know that they're going to be put Council to know that they're going to be put on notice as well with the ethical things that we do or the things that we do or not doing here in this city. But anyway, ethics has a lot to do with a lot of things that we're doing in our council. So I just want the people to be very cognizant about all of these things that are going forward and the things that are and how we're how this council sets a pattern on

on how we do things, and I think we need an overhaul in taking out the, never mind, I just want to move on, thank you. Alderman Sellers? Nothing. Alderman Clemm? Yes, I'd just like to pass on to go along with the National Travel and Tourism Week that we had. I'd like to thank Jeff Johnson and the Andresses and all the groups involved in bowling. The last few weeks we have had hundreds of bowlers here in town, and have spent thousands of dollars at hotels, motels, and food places around, and big hats off for them. It was the Illinois State Tournament, which they've held for quite a few years, and it does bring a lot of money into Freeport. I will have a neighborhood watch meeting later on this month. Thank you. Alderman Monroe? Nothing tonight, Mayor. Alderman Simmons? Nothing, thanks. Alderman Parker? Nothing tonight.

Alderman Stacy?

Nothing, thank you.

Alderman Shadle?

Nothing tonight, Yara.

Move on to public comment.

Xandra, you have three minutes.

Hello, my name is Xandra Bright.

I'm a business owner here in town.

I serve on many boards and many organizations.

I care about our city, and I care about the people of our city, especially our elderly population.

I started a petition about two weeks ago the petition is to mandate our city to reconsider decessive charges on our water bills it's getting to be outrageous speaking as a senior living predominantly on disability like countless others in this community unreasonable high water charges are at alarming burden we live in a city with a high high senior population, and these costs affect us all. Unfortunately, the issue extends beyond our unique situations as individuals. Excess charges are latched on to our water bills, which notably inflates what we initially expected to pay. This burden is distressing to those of us on fixed incomes who don't have the financial flexibility to deal with these unforeseen expenses. According to the American Water Works Association, water bills have increased by at least 30 percent in 30 major cities and are likely to rise further.

With inflation, we are paying for much more than just water. We are left wondering, are we not entitled to affordable, clean, and accessible water. We are not asking for free services. We are advocating for reasonable and fair charges. We called upon our city officials to examine the extra costs added to our water bills and to consider ways of reducing them for the betterment of us all. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any other public comments this evening?

Yes, ma'am. Hi, my name is Sue Cook, and I am on Winchester Drive. First, I want to thank Alderman Monroe for being our alderman for the four years. You're a fighter. Thank you very much. I really appreciate that. Now, as far as the tourism goes in Freeport, I think you're missing a huge chunk of what we have here. And I'm just going to point out one hidden gem, and that's the Douglas Spireball Observatory. They had an event the other night that was unbelievable, and I only caught it because I happened to drive by and see this little sign, and I was there late. They have a planetary, an unbelievable planetary telescope as well as a deep space telescope, a telescope that even they don't have in Chicago. This is a tourist draw. We have other tourist draws here. We have the Historical Society. We have Crate Park, and I'm just going to list a whole bunch of them, but I went into the hotel, a hotel that everybody likes to go to over by Culver's, and I asked, do you happen to have a flyer that shows the city of Freeport with all the spots in Freeport that would be kind of interesting to tourists that are coming in, that we can actually capitalize on?

Now, they have an event coming up May 17th. I'm going to announce that before my three minutes ends up.

The observatory has, in our ward, in 2nd Ward, has an event coming up May 17th. That deep space telescope is amazing.

You need to check that out. But we also need to get that out to Chicago. We need to get that out as a tourist draw. We need to get the Cato House up and running because that's a draw. Although he was an Assassin. He was also a contemporary of Oscar Wilde. And there's a lot of people that would come to see this building, not the inside of this building, but the outside of this building because it's a Carnegie building. We have Debate Square. We have the library. We have, like I mentioned, Crate Park before. We have Oakdale. We have things in the third ward that have not been capitalized on yet because true crime is It's huge. Mayor, look at me. Okay. True crime is huge, huge. And we had Al Capone coming in on the train off of Winneshek Street because the Capones lived down there. So this is something that we could capitalize on. No, it's a dark side of Freeport, but it's a side of Freeport, as was bootlegging, as was all kinds of things.

and we can capitalize on this you can't just say hey we're going to have a Teddy Baker day and this and that festivals that we love but maybe they might not know in Chicago and if you're going to put chargers over here by the Stewart building so they come through here you're going to need to give them something because downtown isn't it we need to start pointing at the architecture thank you thank you are there any other public comments yes I know my name so I want to say this is the I mean, there is no compassion. I don't know if one of you guys have ever thought about the victim that you guys are slapping in the face by allowing this man to get promoted and get good deeds done while he choked choked somebody. That's like almost murder to strangle somebody. But that's, you know, that's that. I want to say every time we every time Mayor Miller intertwines with any male figure, whatever it is, friendship, business or whatever, Freeport suffers from it in the ways that Mahoney, he still ain't paid his loan back.

Mike Mead, he took a long time to pay his due diligence to downtown.

I have no idea why we keep on intertwining with guys and giving them money, giving them opportunities.

The opportunities that you've given out, you should be trying to give it to the people.

You should be compassionate about who you actually represent and try to lend somebody that deserves helps some of these spots, somebody that is entitled to some of these spots. And to the people that congratulated him and voted that, yeah, he should be there, I pray to God that he has some kind of mercy on something because he does not let that go. God won't let that go. You guys are, you, there'll be no names up here. Yes, one, yes, two, yes, three, and yes, four. That really should be our names. Y'all don't represent the people at all, in my opinion. And Mayor Miller is my business who I go out to eat with.

Rob is my friend from 25 years, so to call him a leak because he is representing the city workers or whatever he is, you and Rob both said something about him being my friend. You never know who I got friends. Are there any other public comments? Josh Atkinson, Seventh Ward. Thank you, counsel, for reminding me why I just went through the past year. You guys just showed me. And why it must continue. Family dollar, I want to address that first.

Alderman Monroe, you brought up a good point that, you know, I hadn't even thought about with it, but what was really troubling is that the council didn't want to discuss it, you know, that that was the biggest thing, Mayor, you won the election, I'm happy for you, congratulations, but the biggest thing against you, the only thing really against you, was crime in this town, and this was a perfect opportunity to move forward and and I have a chance to have an opportunity to move forward in a different way and talk, actually have the conversation, not one of our eight alder people nor our mayor asked the police chief what he thought about Family Dollar serving liquor. That would have been the first go-to. But it's passed. So I guess we're just going to have to, you know, get beer at Family Dollar now. You guys work for us. You guys, the election is over. You do not work for Andrew Chesney anymore. You work for the people of the The people of Freeport wanted answers. As I told you last time, I do not care about being on the planning commission. The mayor made herself perfectly clear. She does not want my involvement. That is fine. But the replacement. And now the people of Freeport want an explanation. Why would you take that away? That doesn't even make sense. You should be ashamed of yourselves. You just got on your seat for another four years, and this is what we have to look forward to.

too. Any other public comments? My name is Cheryl Alton. Since Wayne is no longer here, I guess I'm going to put this to Rob. You guys served me no warnings for my one house. Automatically, I got an issue, got up here before this little, well, people call it the kangaroo court. You're supposed to send warnings before you do anything. Of course, Wayne's here no longer. When I talked to Ben, he wasn't going to do anything for a couple months.

Well, that was a lie, but I guess, you know, there's a lot of lies coming out of this meeting tonight.

It's just dirty how people won't even stand up. Mayor, you're probably the biggest one of all. I mean, hope you enjoyed your meal out with Dustin. Was it pretty good?

Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about. Just sit there and shake your head no. There's witnesses. People saw you. Get real.

and you know you're not doing anything. You've been in here for how long? Population has gone down. Streets are crap. No jobs. No new jobs coming in. No future for Freeport. Maybe you not getting elected would have been the best thing for Freeport. Yes, sir. I'm Bill Wagner. Live in Freeport for about 60 years now. Madam Mayor, city administrator, council members, I know this is going to come up, it's been hashed over way too much, I'd like to share my thoughts on the old ordinance about certain city employees living in a certain parameter of the city, I say get rid of it, it's been enforced and it hasn't been enforced, I don't care if the police chief, the fire chief live outside the city, if they, as far as they want, if they don't mind driving, I don't mind them.

This is 2025.

We have technology today that we didn't use to have.

Your cell phone's right at the end of your fingertips.

These officers and other heads of departments can contact the people underneath them in a moment, just like them being there so I say quit beating a dead horse get rid of the ordinance and that's the end of my speech thank you any other public comments this evening I'd like to take one page Kerr I don't have much to say this time since Jodi actually missed my speech last time which is mostly for her I just want to say support overturning many of you on this council I support that. We see the games that you guys play. We see that you guys are mostly all sellouts and it's embarrassing. There's a lot of fraud going on, conflict of interest, Jodi, Rob, you as well. So I just really hope that you guys do what the people ask as you guys are here because you support, you represent the people and you do a very poor job at representing the people.

when you hear what they say back here and you go against entirely what they're asking for. Thank you.

Next. Thank you. James Monroe, second ward. So I'd like to thank everyone for allowing me to serve for the last four years. It has been a challenge. It has been fun. It has been disappointing. But I will tell you that there are things that have come to light that really, really bother me.

I found out in the last couple of weeks that this man, Rob Boyer, this mayor, Jodi Miller, had an opportunity to help a local business owner grow their business, invest three and a half million dollars in the city of Freeport, and they blocked it. No council approval, no council information, nothing. People want to know why business isn't coming to Freeport. It's because she and he are blocking it.

And if you don't know what I'm talking about, it happens to be Freeport Ford. And both of you know about it. You shake your head, I had a conversation with the owner, and I will tell you, and I can tell by Rob's face turning red, he knows exactly what I'm talking about. You're like my three-year-old, four-year-old kid. You give it up. You've been in handcuffs once, buddy. It's going to happen again. I've got the proof. I've got the receipts. The TIF district money.

everything else. We are looking into it. The fact that you asked a former employee of the city of Freeport to file a fraudulent complaint against a 43-year employee of the city of Freeport, that's coming to light. And why did you do it? To appoint your neighbor to the position who still doesn't have the licenses to operate in that position, who's also been given pay raises in that position.

So the day's coming I spent four years sitting in that seat My fighting for this city doesn't stop when I walk out of office I have contacted everybody I can at the state, at the federal, and any other organization that will listen And I have provided them with receipts that I talk about tonight And I'm going to ask something be done because what has happened to Freeport? The decrease in the population from over 50,000 people in the county when I was a kid to now being under 23,000 in the city of Freeport is unbelievable. And we've lost all these great businesses. They've gone to Rockford. They've gone to Rockton. They've gone everywhere but here. They've gone to China. And it's because we don't do our part.

and one or two alder people can't do it on their own because they're stonewalled by the mayor who hides behind Robert's rules and blocking out any conversation and he will lie to your face at any moment in time. Thank you.

Are there any other public comments this evening? Seeing none, we'll move on to the executive session. Madam Clerk, could you please read this for the record? Oh, okay.

Cecilia Stacy.

Fifth Ward, as I said at the last meeting in April, we start this city with prayer. We start these meetings with prayer. We can end them with prayer. So with that being said, Father God, in the name of Jesus, we come to you, thanking you for this day, for this is the day that you have made. Before we ask you for anything, we say thank you.

Now, God, your word said that we have not because we ask not.

So I'm asking you, Lord, to move on behalf of this city, oh God.

You know, Father God, you already know what's happening, the good, the bad, and the ugly, oh God.

So, Lord, I lose angels to the north, to the south, the east, and the west.

and I ask that you take control over this your city and make it be what you created to be, a free port, oh God.

Father God, look down upon the aldermen. Help us all to look in the mirror at ourselves, oh God, and see if we're doing the work that we've been appointed to do, the work that we've been called to do.

We can't do it without your help, oh God. I know that I know that I know prayer changes things.

So it is in your name that I pray.

It's in your name that I pray, giving you all glory, honor, for you are worthy to be praised. In Jesus' name, take control. Amen.

Madam Clerk, could you please read the executive session?

Pursuant to 5ILCS 122C1, the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee to determine its validity.

Thank you. Is there a motion to enter into executive session? I make a motion to enter into executive session. Second. Well, seeing that, motion fails. No, I seconded it. Oh, you did? Okay. Seconded by Alderman Simmons. Madam Clerk, could you please take the roll? Sanders. Aye. Sellers. Aye. Clem. Aye. Monroe. Aye. Simmons. Aye.

Parker, Aye, Stacy, Aye, and Shadle. Aye. The motion passes eight to zero. Okay. Thank you.