WEBVTT

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Good evening. Debbie, could you please give the invocation this evening?

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Let us pray. Our verse comes from Matthew 5, 16.

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let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven.

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Father God, we just thank you. We thank you for who you are. We thank you that your glory shines throughout

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our country, throughout the world. And Lord, thank you that in our buildings, our municipal buildings say

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in God we trust. And Lord, with that comes a responsibility from every elected official

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that they walk in light and be a source of light to others by doing good and glorifying the Father in heaven.

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Father God, we just asked that our city council members would realize and walk in the authority

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that you have given them, that they are an example to others. Their behavior reflects the tone of our city.

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So, Lord, we just ask in your name that Holy Spirit would fill each person that is here, and Lord, that they would walk in love, brotherly love to each other, that you would give them wisdom, discernment, and knowledge, and Lord, that they would have a desire to work together to make good laws and ordinances.

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We thank you for our police, our fire department, every department head. Lord, we ask that you give them wisdom and knowledge and discernment. Lord, we thank you for how you are prospering Freeport. And Lord, we give you all the glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Debbie. Now we'll officially call this meeting to order. Madam Clerk, would you please take the roll? Mayor Miller? Here. Alder Persons-Klemm? Here. Johnson? Here. Simmons? Here.

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Parker, here, Stacy, here, Shadle, here, Sanders, here, and Sellers, here. Thank you. Before we get started, I would like to address what occurred at our last meeting. There were outbursts from the public, refusal to comply with established rules during public comment, and a general lack of respect shown for these public proceedings. You do not need to agree with the actions of this council. You have the right to make a statement to that effect at the beginning by signing in prior to the

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start of a meeting on agenda items and at the end of each meeting. You have the right to vote in our

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elections. You have the right to call your alder person and let them know your concerns so that they

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can bring them before this council according to the established procedures. You do not, however, have the

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right to interrupt the business of this council to do any of these things simply because you do not like

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the rules. These rules of procedure are designed to allow this council to do its work in an orderly and

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efficient manner. If they are not followed, the members of this council are less able to give proper

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consideration of the proper consideration of the concerns and the business of this council at large,

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which I will remind everyone is the reason for these meetings. I would also like to add that these

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procedures are not designed to silence anyone's voice. Quite the opposite. They are designed to allow

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everyone's voice to be heard, not just the voices that scream the loudest and seek to intimidate

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everyone who disagrees into silence. If you have a statement to make or an opinion to offer, you are free to offer it in a manner provided by procedure. To this end, I am providing fair notice at the beginning of these proceedings that anyone choosing not to abide by the rules by refusing to yield the floor or otherwise causing a disturbance of these public meetings will be removed from the building. And with that, if you could please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Alderman Sellers.

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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.

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We have one person signed in, Shante Bradford. I hope I didn't just butcher your name. Yes, if you would like to stand to the podium, you have three minutes.

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Good evening to all. Good evening. Madam Mayor, and to all of you in your respective places, I just had three questions really quickly, and then I'm done. I would like to know how I can reside at an address that doesn't exist. I've lived in Freeport now a little bit over a decade. I had asked for handicapped parking.

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and I was told I had to go to Public Works, went to Public Works, they said my address didn't exist

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so I had to go back and provide utility bills and a lease that shows my address is 218 West Broadway

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Street which apparently was a house prior to them reconstructing and making it a two-apartment

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building. Ma'am can I ask a question you you signed in that you wanted to speak about the streetlights

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were you getting to that? This is part of it. Okay. So in asking that question about the handicapped park and I was dismissed, I went back to talk about streetlights. 218 West Broadway, I'm not sure if you guys know where that is, sits right behind Faith Center Church. It is a speedway trap. People fly through there like it's an Autobahn. I've had two vehicles totaled sitting in front of my house and my cameras couldn't catch it because there's only one streetlight.

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on the whole 200 block of Broadway Street. So who am I to address with that issue?

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Ma'am, so public comment is an opportunity for the public to give their comments. It's not a question and

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answer session, though. However, if you state your question, someone will be taking notes and the

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appropriate person from the city will get in contact with you or can talk to you after the meeting.

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Okay, well, that's my comment. I'm asking for help, been asking for help for over a decade.

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so my comment is who do I address to get help because clearly you can see I'm disabled and need the parking okay so like the attorney said Darren do you want to yeah I'll be glad to help you yep thank you and that concludes the public comment portion next is the approval of the agenda I'm I apologize I I skipped to the public comment portion of it I

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I didn't realize I was out of order on that. So I apologize. So item number four is approval of the agenda. Is there such a motion? So moved. Motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Clem. All those in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? That motion passes. Item number five is approval of the minutes from the Committee of the Whole Meeting on May 11th, 2026. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Johnson.

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All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? And that motion passes. Since we did item number six already we'll move on to item number seven which is the quarterly report by the Arts and Culture Commission Commissioner Jessica Monica. Great good evening. Thank you for allowing me to provide a brief review of the first sculpture walk for downtown Freeport I won't take up too much of your time tonight. Hopefully you've all

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had a chance to walk along Chicago Avenue and take in on your own the seven sculptures that we were able to install downtown in September of 2025. If you have not, I encourage you to do that. So this event represents a partnership between the Freeport Art Museum, which I represent, the City of Freeport, and the fairly new Arts and Culture

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Commission for the city. So it is the Freeport Art Museum's role to solicit and manage the artists' entries, and we maintain a database of artists that we reach out to. And then we also advertise on professional art call sites to reach out to artists who might be interested in participating. And then from there, the Arts and Culture Commission is the group that selects the works from those submissions

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to be included in the sculpture walk. So you each have a packet in front of you that shows the same slides, the PowerPoint that is available up.

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that is available up top, so I don't know as far as advancing. Ah, thank you. Yeah, that's great. So, like I said, in September of 2025 was the first time that we've been able to do this. There are seven sculptures that were placed along Chicago Avenue from beginning at Douglas Street and then ending at Spring Street on the concrete pads that were included as part of the streetscape project.

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so together these created an outdoor exhibition of art that adds distinction to our downtown and helps create more walkability and if you can go to the next one there another thing that we were able to do which was really important for interactive being able to interact with the sculptures as at each stop.

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there is a QR code that people can use to access a free audio tour that describes each piece and this description is provided by the artists themselves. So and if the viewers wish they can download an app the AutoCast app on their phone and if they do that it not only plays the tour but it automatically senses where they're they're at in the tour and will automatically play.

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Another thing that I noticed about the Autocast app that I really like, especially when we're talking about how art adds to economic development and walkability, is that on that app, it also highlights area businesses downtown, ones that are open at the time that the person is walking and interacting with the artwork.

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So that's a really great feature of the Autocast app.

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As far as the seven sculptures that were selected for the 2025-2026 year, like I said, there were seven.

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We had two artists represented from Freeport, and then we had one artist from New York, one from Dubuque, Iowa,

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Ottawa, one from St. Joseph, Missouri, one from Lutherville, Maryland, and one from Fitchburg, Wisconsin, just north of here. All in all, we had 31 submissions by 22 artists, and seven, like I said, were selected by the commissioners. You can go to the next one if you don't mind.

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And so all of these are the, you know, sculptures that are downtown. The idea here is to change out the artwork each year. And that is important for a couple of very important reasons. First, it keeps the exhibition dynamic. You see different artworks every year and keeps people engaged and interested.

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and it also allows us to explore a much broader range of interesting and beautiful artwork but the second reason is a little bit more practical it is a lot more affordable to do a sculpture walk this way because we are essentially renting the artwork from the artist instead of trying to purchase artwork from the artist so that's the key reason

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that informed the way that we went about this work. So the 2025 to 2026 Sculpture Walk was made possible by a grant that I wrote to the Illinois Arts Council Agency. It's a state agency and they have a specific program called the Catalyst Program. And the idea behind that is to launch, help get started projects like these.

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and so they awarded us money to get it started. It also was supported greatly by funds from Cornerstone Credit Union. They paid for the Autocast app and then two supporters from our Paint the Port event that the museum puts on every year in August and so all of that those monies were put together to put on this year's sculpture walk.

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And then the last slide there, if you want to go to that, just real briefly, the importance of sculpture walks downtown, I will say that the biggest thing is that beyond the beauty, they encourage more walkability. And the way that they do it is they encourage people to slow down. And we know that when people slow down while they're walking through downtown,

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they will spend more money they'll spend more time means spending more money downtown and we also know from research from the Americans for the Arts who gathered information on this people communities that include sculpture walks in their downtown contribute people that visit contribute 15 more to the to those businesses than communities that don't have sculpture walks so it

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It all adds to all of the other work that we're doing to improve economic development in our community.

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If anybody has questions, I'm here.

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Otherwise, thank you for your time tonight.

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Thank you, Jessica.

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Any questions?

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Thank you.

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Item number eight is discussion regarding ordinance amending ambulance rates.

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Chief Cordy.

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Thank you, Mayor.

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As we all know, the fire department is one of the essential functions of the city, and the ambulance service is a large portion of what we do.

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In reviewing some of our data this year, we realized that we were leaving money on the table for some of the fees that we were charging.

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the last time the ambulance rates were reviewed were in 2022. In that ordinance there is a clause that says that we can increase those rates either by the CPI or 5%, whichever is less. That hasn't been done since that ordinance was passed.

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So we started looking into what our options were and what some of the things in the area are 88% or 88.5% of our clientele or our patients that we transport are either Medicare or Medicaid patients, which is fine.

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we that's part of the demographic of the city 5.7 percent is insurance pays 3.8 is self-pay and 1.1 percent is government pay so like VA insurance we got a hold of a survey from the area basically Winnebago and Stevenson County that shows some of the current rates

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Our current rate for residents is $1,200, whether it's a basic call or an advanced life support call. $1,700 for non-residents.

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As we look at the spreadsheet, we found out that we're in the bottom third of the 22 departments that were surveyed.

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And we also participate in what's called the GEMT program, which is Government Emergency Medical Transport.

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I think it was Chief Liggett that got us involved in that.

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Basically what they do is they evaluate different departments on different criteria and then they set a rate that they will assist to pay the difference for Medicare and Medicaid patients.

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Our current rate that we received back this year was $1,317 for an ALS Type 1 and $1,322 for an ALS Type 2.

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The difference between a type 1 and a type 2 is the severity of the call, the amount of treatment

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and the amount of things that need to be taken care of for the patient.

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At this point, with a rate of $1,200, we're leaving $117 on the table, basically, at a minimum

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for every one of the Medicare Medicaid patients that we haul, which is about 3,500. We run about 4,550 calls a year for the ambulance. About 550 of those are refusals that we don't charge for.

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That brings us down to 4,000 calls and then, like I say, about 3,500 are Medicare, Medicaid. That leaves quite a bit of money.

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That leaves quite a bit of money on the table that is available to us that we're not taking advantage of.

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As we go through the spreadsheet, you see what the average is, $1,874 for a basic call and $1,971 for a non-resident basic call.

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up to $2,306.

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So, like I say, we're significantly under that.

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Also, we can charge for mileage when we transport a patient.

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Sorry, that's not real easy to see up there.

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Right now, we're charging $14 a mile.

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The average is $19.

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We charge $450 for an ALS intercept, which is just a little bit over the average.

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Our lift assists are actually $145 charged at a half hour, so it's $72.50, and we don't charge for refusals.

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What we would like to increase to would be $2,000 for resident calls across the board and $2,500 for non-residents across the board.

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Increasing the mileage to $20, keeping the ALS Intercept the same, and then changing the lift assist to a straight $150, and no time limit on those.

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I know there's going to be a lot of questions on here.

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One of the things with the ALS intercept, that technically isn't changing other than the fact that we are letting our billing company actually do the billing for that. Previously, the lift assists and the ALS intercepts were billed by our department, and we got kind of behind on some of those.

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So the idea is we're just going to turn that over to the billing company and let them handle it.

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They said that to do the ALS intercepts through them, we had to have a signed agreement from the departments that we do those with, which we have written up part of your packet, has been approved by the attorneys and willing to move forward with.

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The lift assists, like I said, we're looking to go to 150 across the board. Most of them take more than half an hour. So it's just kind of a more of a straightforward type of approach with that. Also, there was a law that was passed in Illinois this year that allows departments to charge for lift assists if they weren't already doing it.

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those are for facilities only and for other ambulance services we do not charge and we have no intention of charging the citizens or the customers themselves it's only the facilities that have staff on on site that then they call us in to do their lift assist for them so that that's the only change in that in the refusals we

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We don't charge for refusals. There are some departments on here that do. Basically, our intentions are if we don't transport you, we will treat you at the scene, we will respond to your scene, but if either your injury and illness don't warrant transport, you decide on your own that you don't want to be transported, there is no charge, there is no bill for those.

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Like I said, I'm sure there's going to be quite a few questions, so anybody has any?

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Chief, did you say that some departments do have lift assist charges, but we do not?

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No, we have lift assist charges. We've had those since 22, I think, either 19 or 22.

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You're proposing a sub-enetimum?

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It's the refusals. It was the refusals that we do not charge for that a lot of other departments do.

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Okay, and so this new change in the ordinance won't, does not affect the refusals, even though some departments do

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Correct, correct

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And what do some departments charge for refusal?

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Anywhere from $100 to $495 every time you go.

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And we have a lot of citizens that we respond to multiple, multiple times throughout the year.

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There's one that I know of that we looked at.

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It's been 43 times already just this year that we've responded.

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And we don't charge for those.

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And you also said that the lift assist charges are for facilities like assisted living.

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Yes, yes.

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Yes, we've got a list. Liberty Village, Oakley Court, Parkview, Pearl Point, Heritage Woods, Wind Prairie, Serenity Estates, the Citadel at St. Joseph's. We included the hospital in there because we've gone there a few times to help move patients inside the hospital, and then Star Ambulance, which we've done lift assists in moving patients with before.

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And we currently do charge or do not?

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We do.

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And are you proposing an increase in that amount as well?

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Yeah, well, the ordinance right now states $145 charged in half-hour increments.

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Okay, so what I'm proposing is $150, just a one-time fee no matter how long it takes.

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Gotcha.

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Alderman Johnson.

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This is just some things that I looked up.

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The UCPI, according to the ordinance, it says the adopted ordinance provides for an annual increase based upon the UCPI not exceeding 5%. And for the four years that we didn't increase, in 23, the UCPI was 3.4%. In 24, it was 2.9%. In 25, 2.7%. And this year, 3.8%.

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So totaling all those up would be an increase of, if you do it every year, would be an increase of $152.80, which would make it $1,352.80 for resident rate and $1,852.08 for non-resident rate.

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And I guess what I'm saying is I'd like to see us follow what the ordinance says that says we can raise it up to 5% rather than raise it up to the amount that's listed on the papers.

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And does that ordinance then reflect that that can automatically happen each year or does that always have to come back to council?

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That's supposed to be an annual adjustment so that doesn't need to come back before council if you're just going to do the CPI.

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And do you know why the adjustments didn't just happen?

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I do not. I think they were just overlooked.

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Gotcha. Anything else?

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I think the other ones are fine. You know, oops.

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Yeah, you, sure.

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Yeah, the other, I understand all the other ones with gas and everything and with having the lifts and then there was a one for a recipient.

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and the person, a provider goes and helps in a situation where they need more attention and the money that's charged for that, I think that's fine too.

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But just that other thing is I'm concerned about.

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Did you need anything from us at the moment, Chief?

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No, this was just informational with the intent to bring it back for first reading next week.

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So the only other comment that I've got is the fact that, you know, everything is getting more expensive, especially when you put emergency on it. You know, the department keeps 46% of the revenue from this, and that will eventually start to deteriorate as far as the replacement of vehicles, replacement of buildings.

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I think it was Chief Jim Gale that implemented this back in the late 80s, early 90s with the intent of being a capital improvement fund for the fire department and from that point on every building that we've purchased, every vehicle that we've purchased, all the major repairs and things have all come out of that fund rather than coming out of the general fund so it's a good tool for us.

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Okay. Item number nine is discussion regarding second list of street lighting locations, aldermen's Stacy and Simmons.

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Yes. We are seeking to start on the second list. There was a second list. I had asked that it be connected to my memo. It never made it.

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Chief Shenberger, before he retired, he did a

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He did a second list of high crime areas with low lighting I had asked for this it was sent to city manager Boyer per his request I continue to seek copy and I had hoped that it would have been here tonight city manager

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so that we can talk about moving forward with the second list.

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Manager Boyer, would you like to shed light on that, please?

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Sure. At this time, I'm not aware of this list that Alderman Stacy is talking about. I do know that in the last two weeks, we've reopened the franchise agreement with ComEd.

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One item on the request is to upgrade not only 5th Ward lighting but lighting in all wards with a schedule of light replacements and this is because over a course of time LEDs lose approximately 5% of their lumens each year and the ComEd lights that are installed not only in 5th Ward but in many of the wards those are

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installed and maintained by ComEd, and so we need to make sure that we're using the right tools to accomplish the goal, which is making sure that those lights are properly maintained, which in many cases are dim due to their age and the fact that they haven't been replaced since they were originally installed.

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So we are working with the ComEd to address those issues, not just fifth ward, but in all wards. And we did do a first kind of go around in 2024 with Chief, and he identified areas that some additional lighting would be beneficial. Those areas really included areas of high traffic and access where permanently mounted cameras are located.

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So, at this time, we are working on this, but it's a little more comprehensive, and it's doing our best to use outside funding to accomplish this. So, yes, that's what I've got. Thank you, Mayor.

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Chief Foster, do you have anything you want to say about high crime, low light, or the list that was referred to?

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Yes. Thank you. I was not made aware or given of any first list, second list, or any list thereof with the potential of locations or addresses. I was not given a single thing or given a phone call. But I will say this. I think what we're all looking for is some type of heterogeneous result, and that means data, that means intervention, that means some type of outcome or variability of it.

00:33:04.900 --> 00:33:13.560
Street lighting is one of the earliest forms of situational crime prevention, and it dates back as antiquity.

00:33:14.260 --> 00:33:33.400
People understand darkness equals fear. However, with our social climate and the way things have changed, the investment really has to be all-encompassing, and that investment is that crime all over big cities and small towns occurs at all times of the day,

00:33:33.400 --> 00:34:03.280
with the sunlight and with the moon. So, such as substance abuse, gun violence, narcotic transactions, and we've had them over the weekend in broad daily of domestic violence and of gun violence. So, really, I think what everyone is thinking is a theory of change that is encompassing of changing behavior and a changing behavior for anything potential such as stopping offenders, changing the behavior,

00:34:03.280 --> 00:34:34.650
are stopping the cycle of domestic violence, social impact issues. And again, it's really, as I said, again, it's not just one encompassing. And there's really no police department that just says one equals another. Because that's why I said earlier, it's really a heterogeneous result for it. And lighting really is an antiquity in regards to having some type of result for that. Thank you. Alderman Stacy. For the record.

00:34:34.950 --> 00:34:58.770
City Manager, Boyer, I had no hands on with creating either list. And it's not fair for you to insinuate that it was just for Fifth Ward. It was not just for Fifth Ward. There's crime all over.

00:34:58.770 --> 00:35:12.930
So for you to say or make a statement about all of Freeport or all of the wards, it was not something that was just done for Fifth Ward.

00:35:14.690 --> 00:35:24.800
And Director Stigel, you were a very big part of this in 2024.

00:35:25.380 --> 00:35:28.440
With ComEd, is there anything you would like to say?

00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:43.960
The only thing in, I believe it was 2026 is when we finally replaced 63 lights at a cost of $374 per each, so it was about $24,000

00:35:43.960 --> 00:35:45.740
2025

00:35:45.740 --> 00:35:52.960
2025 is when we first started talking about it, but I pulled the memo from 2026 when we did the replacements

00:35:52.960 --> 00:36:22.420
Excuse me. 2025, you're correct. And there is an additional cost for the electric, and there is an upkeep cost that goes to the monthly charge for the ComEd bills. And so currently, I don't believe we have anything listed in the budget for light replacements. But with the direction of council, obviously, those things can be done.

00:36:22.420 --> 00:36:52.400
I would echo City Manager Boyer's idea of the franchise agreement because that's the best scenario for us to get that done through the lowest cost and I would agree back it's been several mayors ago when the LEDs were picked most towns around here signed the same agreement that Freeport did and they're finding out that many of the LEDs while they were used to

00:36:52.420 --> 00:37:12.340
to reduce electric usage have also become very poorly lit on the streets and basically the street lights are there to illuminate stop signs and small parts of intersections with a very narrow path of light rather than a flood type approach like an incandescent used to be.

00:37:12.340 --> 00:37:34.300
So I will say we replaced the 14-watt LEDs, I believe, with a 149-watt LED on the streets that we did in 25, and I believe that that's probably some type of citywide resolution that needs to be done to increase lighting throughout.

00:37:34.300 --> 00:37:47.760
But with the franchise, having a unique opportunity of having the franchise agreement expiring and opening, that would be our opportunity to try to negotiate something that would be more powerful than just a small project.

00:37:54.860 --> 00:37:55.540
Alderman Simmons?

00:37:56.580 --> 00:37:58.080
Okay, so a few things.

00:37:58.920 --> 00:38:03.700
When will that program that you were speaking of begin, Andrew Boyer?

00:38:03.780 --> 00:38:05.580
If you said it and I missed it, I'm sorry.

00:38:06.380 --> 00:38:10.140
And to address what the chief said, I agree with you.

00:38:10.140 --> 00:38:40.080
crime occurs at all times, no matter of the lighting. However, if we do have areas, high traffic areas, that need additional lighting, I believe that is what all the persons, Stacy, and my support, we are asking for. If neither of you have knowledge of Chief Shenberger's list, I do believe we're asking you to recommend some areas that would benefit from additional lighting. We do understand that lighting does not cure crime. However, as the young lady that came up here

00:38:40.080 --> 00:39:10.060
Spoke mentioned her car's been hit twice. We would have gotten a suspect had the street been lit enough for her ring camera to catch the assailant. So in areas where there's high traffic and high accidents, it is more than beneficial to add lighting in those areas. As far as the social programs, I totally agree. I would love to see more of those. Hopefully, we'll have your support in starting additional social programs to catch kids before they turn to crime.

00:39:10.080 --> 00:39:17.160
to prevent the crime in that way. So I do agree with you on that, but I think what we're asking is a

00:39:17.160 --> 00:39:25.900
different reason than we want lights to prevent crime. Some areas, the safety would be much greater

00:39:25.900 --> 00:39:33.580
if there was additional lighting. And then as far as the cost, I understand that adding lights may be

00:39:33.580 --> 00:39:53.960
Costly, but we had no problem sinking millions of dollars into adding waterway to benefit one business. So costs should not be the issue. It is just how do we budget for it and how do we implement it? And that is why this discussion is on the floor at this time so that we can

00:39:53.960 --> 00:39:58.580
on the floor at this time so that we can gauge everyone's temperature, see where you are with this,

00:39:58.580 --> 00:40:03.420
and hopefully when we do bring you back, once the chief recommends some areas that would benefit for

00:40:03.420 --> 00:40:15.080
additional lighting, that we would have everyone's support in it. And just a quick point of order on a

00:40:15.080 --> 00:40:19.060
couple of items there. So there have been some requests that have been made by other people on

00:40:19.060 --> 00:40:24.460
this topic directly to the department heads there. So I just want to remind everyone that per our council

00:40:24.460 --> 00:40:35.860
rules there. Any requests for city staff to do something, do homework, find anything, should be directed to the city manager first, and then he can dole out the homework, according to our ordinance. Okay.

00:40:36.740 --> 00:40:43.300
That's fine. He's just telling you what the procedure is.

00:40:43.300 --> 00:40:48.860
If I had to direct it for staff, I would make a motion during the set. So, thank you.

00:40:48.860 --> 00:41:16.780
Darren? Yeah, I just wanted to clarify something I said. So replacing Cobra heads last year were $374 a piece. If we're looking at additional lighting that's not on an existing ComEd facility, which would be one of their poles, we're probably looking at more like $14,000 to add a new pole, new light fixture to a streetway.

00:41:16.780 --> 00:41:28.780
So, I just wanted everybody to understand adding fixtures that are not already there are much more costly than replacing existing light packages that already are in place.

00:41:29.780 --> 00:41:46.560
I just want to say that at the time when we were going over the budget and creating a budget for this year, I did openly ask and request that money be set aside.

00:41:46.780 --> 00:42:16.780
for lighting alone. And City Manager Boyer, you referred to me that we would talk about that and we would get that done, but we have not talked about it and we have not got it done. So I brought it tonight in hopes to talk about it and get it done. And I don't know what happened to the list that you

00:42:16.780 --> 00:42:31.560
Shenberger. However, I have access and I can get that list and make it happen. But I know it was emailed

00:42:31.560 --> 00:42:36.020
directly to you per your request.

00:42:41.720 --> 00:42:42.200
Manager Boyer?

00:42:42.720 --> 00:42:44.640
We just have to agree to disagree.

00:42:50.840 --> 00:42:51.720
And that's okay.

00:42:53.990 --> 00:43:03.230
So do we need to go back to a point of procedure? Alderman Stacy wants to have a

00:43:03.230 --> 00:43:18.470
discussion on adding street lighting to the budget. However, just one older person can't do that. So what's the right procedure to make that discussion happen?

00:43:18.870 --> 00:43:34.550
Well, I think ultimately right now this is the opportunity for the council to discuss whether or not they are in favor of kind of having staff walk down a path of looking into this, which would entail everything from, you know,

00:43:34.570 --> 00:44:04.550
what are possible solutions and then what are the costs of those solutions and then how do we find money for those solutions there if the council as a whole is in favor of walking down that path doing that homework in support of the proposals from Alderman Stacy and Simmons there then you know they can articulate that here if they're not in favor of of all that then they can also state that position as well so that staff has some direction as to what the council is supportive of as a whole or not in support of.

00:44:04.570 --> 00:44:25.410
Right. So, Manager Boyer has proposed that the franchise agreement might be the right procedural to start. And he's opening that and he's starting that. So, I don't know if that's what the wish of the council is or if it's to just, you know, Manager Boyer.

00:44:25.410 --> 00:44:50.910
Thank you, Madam Mayor. So the franchise agreement talks about a lot of different items that the city and ComEd work together on. Some of that's tree removal. Some of that is what the buildings, the city buildings that the city does not have to pay ComEd for electricity. So we've recently reopened the franchise agreement. I think it was about two weeks ago.

00:44:50.910 --> 00:45:20.890
One of the items in there among others was to review the streetlights throughout the city and the ones that are starting to get old and age and dim we would get those replaced as part of our franchise agreement so my recommendation is we seek to stay the course for the time being until the outcome of that franchise agreement is complete and which time if we are unable to get what it is or we're looking for in terms of the franchise agreement is complete.

00:45:20.910 --> 00:45:29.230
of improved street lighting. Then we maybe look at our existing budget. However, if we were to jump ahead

00:45:29.230 --> 00:45:36.810
of the process and start putting in street lights, we would be bearing the cost of those right now and

00:45:36.810 --> 00:45:43.470
we may be able to get those taken care of. It's unclear at this time, but I think it's best if we

00:45:43.470 --> 00:45:49.730
follow through with the franchise agreement process and do our best to negotiate that. And then at that

00:45:49.730 --> 00:45:57.570
time. If we don't get our desired result, then we look at budgeting and installing lights at the city's

00:45:57.570 --> 00:46:20.260
expense. Alderman, Alderman Sanders, did you have something on your phone? Did you get your question answered, Alderman Sanders? No, I have not, but did you have it? You got it fresh in your head? Go ahead, Alderman Clem. Yeah, you got what you got to say. A couple things. Darren, I wanted to ask you

00:46:20.260 --> 00:46:50.240
something about what you brought up because as we discuss this as we all know there's numerous areas all over town okay what is really as we look at the lights okay what is the intent you mentioned traffic you mentioned stop signs you mentioned etc you don't like that okay because I'll just pick up one area that's absolutely terrible and we all

00:46:50.240 --> 00:46:55.080
all kind of laugh at it, but it is what it is, and that's Kiwanda's Drive, you know.

00:46:55.460 --> 00:47:00.420
Somebody did a beautiful job in putting in Kiwanda's Drive, they only forgot to put in the street lights.

00:47:01.120 --> 00:47:05.040
There's one street light on the whole thing by an intersection, okay.

00:47:05.220 --> 00:47:11.300
So that's why I'm asking, you know, what is the real intent of street lighting?

00:47:11.300 --> 00:47:15.760
You know, we've discussed it on La Cresta years ago.

00:47:15.760 --> 00:47:37.400
We discussed it. There's a set of condos that are out behind a manual that don't have enough, and it's gone through two city managers and whatever, and no, we won't put them in. And, you know, I understand it, but, you know, I guess the question is, what is the real intent of street lighting, and what's the, what should it go by?

00:47:37.400 --> 00:47:53.640
But I think if you would review most of town, you'll see that most of the lighting reflects areas around intersections or traffic signals to highlight them. And that's that's part for the course of most communities.

00:47:53.640 --> 00:48:23.380
you know in today's age the lights have changed a lot with the there's something called the dark sky lighting where they don't want any light protruding up in the air you know to save the planet and there there's a lot of been a lot of changes especially with LEDs and power savings right and consumption to the grid and right wrong or indifferent I will tell you that

00:48:23.640 --> 00:48:53.620
from 20 years ago to now there's just probably as many as many if not a few more lights in town than there used to be the difference between was the incandescence lit up a flood pattern or a long distance so when they were measured out between blocks a light was lighting up 100 or 150 feet where today it's only lighting up about 25 feet at max and that's designed by Commonwealth Edison that way to keep the directional lights down to more signals.

00:48:53.640 --> 00:49:18.340
the lights, right, wrong or indifferent, that's what they are for. I know if you talk to most residents, including myself, you feel more secure when there's a light by your facility or it's not completely dark. That's just human nature, right? Going back to the chief's point of, you know, we all have, you know, lights at our house that we turn on when people come. It makes you feel safe. You can see where you're going.

00:49:18.340 --> 00:49:48.940
we'll put up as many lights as the council directs us to do it's very costly though especially the poll additions and we've had several requests for additional lights so I'm very confident in that number there's even some of our I'm going to call it our newest areas that didn't have lights either that that there's several people out there that would like lights added as well so that's where I just had got that cost last year for additional poll lights.

00:49:49.740 --> 00:49:52.000
I think some of the changes

00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:58.680
I think some of the changes that we made in 2025 with the brighter lights at the areas have helped.

00:49:58.680 --> 00:50:16.420
They're a little bit different. You can get different flood patterns to lights. And I think that's primarily the problem that I do think that the program that we did in 25 was very successful and people seem to be much happier with the brighter light with the wider flood pattern.

00:50:16.420 --> 00:50:26.580
So I do think that that's probably the package or the product that Freeport can afford the most at this time without major renovations to our lighting system.

00:50:27.080 --> 00:50:37.220
And even with what City Manager Boyer mentioned, the franchise agreement, if we were to do a blanket agreement that every light in town got changed, that's a very large project.

00:50:37.760 --> 00:50:46.280
I don't know if Clark Anderson remembers how many lights there are in town because we do an annual lighting survey of it, but it's a lot.

00:50:46.420 --> 00:50:59.370
Thank you. Anyone else? Alderman Johnson? I just wondered if there's any relationship like to the

00:50:59.370 --> 00:51:04.210
handicap areas, you know, like where you've got the ramps and stuff, if there's a relation between

00:51:04.210 --> 00:51:10.010
lighting and those areas, is there any relation with that at all or no? I mean, yes, because they're

00:51:10.010 --> 00:51:15.070
trying to identify the stop signs and traffic intersections where, you know, they don't want

00:51:15.070 --> 00:51:16.830
for people to miss those signs from stop bars.

00:51:16.990 --> 00:51:18.530
So that's mostly around your intersections.

00:51:18.890 --> 00:51:24.230
But again, it's the change in lighting from incandescent to LED.

00:51:24.670 --> 00:51:30.750
They can't reduce the lumen to reduce the energy without narrowing the scope of the light.

00:51:30.910 --> 00:51:32.830
So much of that doesn't get lit anymore.

00:51:35.670 --> 00:51:42.750
My personal opinion is this isn't really relegated to one spot or another in town as you drive around at night,

00:51:42.750 --> 00:51:45.050
which I do quite often with my dogs.

00:51:45.070 --> 00:51:55.550
just for, you know, fun time. It's very dim and very, you know, all over quadrants of Freeport. Way different with the change from incandescence.

00:51:58.870 --> 00:51:59.050
Thank you.

00:51:59.050 --> 00:52:15.290
I think I can also add, I don't remember the numbers, but I believe our energy bills, Michelle's not here tonight, really reflect that too. I think our power usage is about 30%, 30 or 35% of what it used to be too back when we had incandescence.

00:52:15.290 --> 00:52:23.880
Okay, there's no further discussion? Alderman Sanders?

00:52:24.760 --> 00:52:41.160
Yeah, I listened to the comments and things, and the one thing that we have not focused on is trying to come up with a resolution of all of the requests and suggestions that are made tonight.

00:52:41.160 --> 00:52:48.300
And I hear reflections are coming out to find out what counsel's opinion is

00:52:48.300 --> 00:52:54.820
And how does counsel proceed to make the decision on the request that is being put before us

00:52:54.820 --> 00:53:04.380
Counsel is not colluding or collaborating with each other in order to come up with a scenario, a resolution

00:53:04.380 --> 00:53:09.380
For what is being asked of us to proceed with

00:53:09.380 --> 00:53:39.260
We're out of order as far as I am concerned in the processing of how we go about to move forward on any suggestion or request, even if we bring what it is out on the floor as individuals, as collective, we're not focusing on together to make the statement together, whether we're voting or

00:53:39.380 --> 00:53:50.540
whether we're discussing it or not, where does it conform to anything that we're discussing here?

00:53:50.640 --> 00:54:01.340
Because once we stop talking about it tonight, we have not made a clear statement on anything on how we're going to move forward.

00:54:01.340 --> 00:54:19.180
So what we need to do is, before we start bringing up things to do, council needs to be able to get their hands dirty in the process of all of the requests that are being made to us to make decisions.

00:54:19.680 --> 00:54:29.600
Council has to make the decision for staff to move forward. If they're not getting this kind of information, they're throwing their hands up as well.

00:54:29.600 --> 00:54:58.880
Staff is throwing their hands up as well because if council is not saying anything on how we to move forward then we're stagnated. We're stagnated because we're going to be here talking on assumptions on how we're going to get things done. Well, that's not what we're here to do. And so I just like to make sure that council is in collaboration with each other.

00:54:59.600 --> 00:55:20.980
as opposed to individually discussing any project or program, and that's not what I see that's reflecting tonight and any night that when we have problems within the city and we need to talk about it and discuss these things, that's not what we're doing.

00:55:20.980 --> 00:55:35.140
We're acting as individual councilmen, but we're not coming up with resolution as councilmen together to solve any problems and issues that are going forward before council and for the public.

00:55:35.660 --> 00:55:50.520
Yeah, council needs to meet with each other so city manager knows our directive and he's going to try to fulfill all of the blanks and the questions that we have and things of this nature.

00:55:50.520 --> 00:56:09.360
But if we're not moving as a council to help him move down the road, then we're still clueless about a lot of things that are happening throughout the city if we have not collectively gotten together to even make discussion matters on these issues.

00:56:09.360 --> 00:56:39.560
So it's that we as council members need to be able to help and do our job to help move the resolution the agendas and the resolution that is created. We have not been as a council. Alderman Sanders, your time has expired. Oh, I didn't know I was on the time. Yep. Okay. All right. Anyone else? City manager.

00:56:39.560 --> 00:57:04.560
I just want to make one comment and try to address what you said, Alderman Sanders. So when it basically I look at it as you've got two options here moving forward. One kind of takes precedent over the other. The first one is a 50 year opportunity to renegotiate our franchise agreement with Comet and then inculcate those benefits into that agreement moving forward.

00:57:04.560 --> 00:57:32.660
And then kind of waiting for some of the resolution of that process before we throw money at a problem that we've kind of dealt with for a number of years. Now, that's basically how I see the process going. I hope you kind of see my point. And if not, if you can respect it, I would greatly appreciate it. But at the end of the day, I think we need to exercise outside resources as often as we can before we use inside resources.

00:57:32.660 --> 00:57:39.040
For example, we have received something on the order of like $80 million in the last five years.

00:57:39.600 --> 00:57:51.260
Had we not pursued the options of outside funding first, well, the rate payers and the taxpayers of Freeport would be paying that $80 million instead of outside funding that's come in.

00:57:51.840 --> 00:58:01.120
So in my mind, the first step is you try to spend other agency money or state money or grant money first, and then if you have a need and you still can't get it done,

00:58:01.120 --> 00:58:21.380
then you look at what we have for our local budget and do the best you can with that but my focus is always going to be try to bring the outside resources into the community before I start solving the problems with local funds because if we solve the problem we no longer have a need that we can justify to an outside funding agent to provide it.

00:58:21.380 --> 00:58:50.800
Well, adding to that, City Manager, is that you are one of our forerunners to gather the information so we can move forward as council to make a determination to help you facilitate those areas that we don't have no clue about

00:58:50.800 --> 00:59:12.860
And understand the process of all of that and what it would take to create an agenda for that so you'd be able to do your job adequately and move and then that way you have the confidence and counsel knowing that you get virtually everything that we needed to move forward with.

00:59:12.860 --> 00:59:15.320
Well, that's not what we're doing

00:59:15.320 --> 00:59:22.180
I know it's like you got your hands tied when we come to this point to talk about

00:59:22.180 --> 00:59:28.220
What it is necessarily and then what is necessary and then council

00:59:28.220 --> 00:59:36.140
We're sitting on our hand with no help moving forward to work with you on any issue

00:59:36.140 --> 00:59:41.500
And so that's my whole problem is that we as council collectively

00:59:41.500 --> 00:59:49.740
is not really gathering up enough information from you to make rational and in

00:59:49.740 --> 01:00:17.920
Rational and making decisions on whatever program, whatever problems that we're trying to solve, we can't stand as individuals, as councils, trying to help you solve resolutions as individuals, maybe collectively, if council got together and talked about the subject or the problems that we're having that you want to address,

01:00:18.000 --> 01:00:21.220
Then we will move forward with getting things done

01:00:21.220 --> 01:00:23.600
Because you have a clear understanding

01:00:23.600 --> 01:00:26.720
Council have a mission of clear understanding

01:00:26.720 --> 01:00:29.420
Of what you're trying to achieve

01:00:29.420 --> 01:00:32.180
And the same goes with

01:00:32.180 --> 01:00:35.180
Our public works director

01:00:35.180 --> 01:00:36.780
He's

01:00:36.780 --> 01:00:40.220
If anybody was really truly listening to him

01:00:40.220 --> 01:00:42.460
He's making appeals

01:00:42.460 --> 01:00:43.880
On things that

01:00:43.880 --> 01:00:45.380
He would like to do

01:00:45.380 --> 01:00:47.620
And he's addressing council

01:00:47.620 --> 01:00:50.920
But at the end of the day, at the end of the discussion

01:00:50.920 --> 01:00:55.540
We still haven't came together to give him his resolution

01:00:55.540 --> 01:00:59.120
There's no resolution coming from his appeal

01:00:59.120 --> 01:01:06.280
And council has to address whatever director departments are trying to address to a council

01:01:06.280 --> 01:01:11.400
We have to talk about it as a council, as a collective

01:01:11.400 --> 01:01:15.360
Not as an individual, because you never get anything done

01:01:15.360 --> 01:01:21.740
Individually because we're not coming together to discuss the whole thing

01:01:21.740 --> 01:01:23.720
And that's what my problem is

01:01:23.720 --> 01:01:30.600
I just have a different reflection and viewpoints on what we're really doing

01:01:30.600 --> 01:01:36.100
And how we're going to help to address these problems that you're trying to pursue

01:01:36.100 --> 01:01:44.500
And to help you get the necessary fundings that is necessary from council as a whole

01:01:44.500 --> 01:01:50.700
because we're not addressing it all together as collectively as a council.

01:01:51.300 --> 01:01:59.680
We're stagnated between all of us, and nobody wants to help solve the issues that you're talking about.

01:02:00.060 --> 01:02:00.860
Alderman Johnson.

01:02:01.460 --> 01:02:14.160
The way I'm understanding this is that we get the franchise agreement with ComEd, which will help us in doing our budgeting regarding the lighting situation to maybe help with that.

01:02:14.500 --> 01:02:25.820
and then we'll again identify possibly those sections or intersections or whatever that need the extra lighting so that we can put the plan in place.

01:02:26.360 --> 01:02:33.000
So that's kind of, in my understanding right, that's kind of our direction or the direction to go to bring resolve to the situation.

01:02:33.240 --> 01:02:33.640
Correct.

01:02:33.960 --> 01:02:34.280
Thank you.

01:02:35.420 --> 01:02:36.100
Clement, Clem.

01:02:36.680 --> 01:02:37.200
Yes.

01:02:37.200 --> 01:02:43.840
I just have a question just on the whole subject and if I could ask Aaron.

01:02:44.500 --> 01:02:58.180
Aaron, last year, I believe, in Rockford, the mayor at one point, I believe, was asking to remove a whole bunch of streetlights and stuff over there.

01:02:59.620 --> 01:03:03.880
It was a, it was a, and maybe it's been longer than a year ago.

01:03:04.960 --> 01:03:13.200
Just kind of curious if you knew how that came out, and it was, naturally, it was in the budging thing of how much they were

01:03:13.200 --> 01:03:31.200
spending on electricity, so on and so forth in some of these areas and it seems to me like they either did or were going to take a bunch out and maybe, you know, our contacts with ComEd would know that, you know, to find out more, but I was just curious how that turned out.

01:03:31.560 --> 01:03:42.740
Tom, well, I apologize. I'm unaware of that situation in Rockford, but I'll look into it to see if they actually ever removed any streetlights in Rockford.

01:03:43.200 --> 01:03:44.200
Thank you

01:03:44.200 --> 01:03:48.620
Okay

01:03:48.620 --> 01:03:52.400
Move on to item number 10, which is public comment

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Tommy

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Jodi Miller is doing a good job as a mayor

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And you're going to come and see my group on some?

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Well, we'll have to see about that

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And Stacy did a good job there

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And you too, Chief

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You do a good job of being a police station up to Freeport

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How you doing? I'm Kia

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A couple things, I don't know really how to connect the dots, but the art thing, I don't have any problem with art, but I'm just a little concerned about why the art is mainly on Chicago Street if it says Freeport

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I mean, I ain't got no problem with it even being downtown, but why is it only being on Chicago Street? It's for everybody to enjoy, everybody to spend money

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I mean you can spend money all over Freeport so I'm just thinking like if we got to do something like that and it got to get brought to us in front of us all the wards are up here art should be in every ward it brightens up everybody day don't it that was one thing and then I'm thinking like the the the the connection with these streets lights that nobody's actually I mean they're connecting with it but it's kind of I feel like it's getting brushed under the rug we had a lady that that died it was plenty of cameras on the street nobody could see

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nothing. It was a big party on the streets. She left three kids behind. We are losing, let me tell you, I'm going to keep it real, we're losing black people to violence in the areas that y'all know better than to just keep on talking about is everywhere. That's crap. Y'all know where this crime is happening at. Y'all know where it's high at and where it's low at. I feel like y'all just sweeping under the rug because I didn't remember this being in depth when Chicago, you can't even tell

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downtown if it's day or night down there with all the brightest lights in the world down there so I'm just trying to figure out why is it so deep to just put some lights y'all find money for everything I mean everything how come we couldn't put lights in the darkest places she said it's only one light on her block that should have been discussed it's streets right now I'm missing street signs and you know why you don't know is because half of y'all talk about it and don't go over

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there. You can walk your dog all day long, but I don't believe for two seconds as you being the

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representative of the street department that you missed every era in the fifth and third ward.

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It's a bunch of crap that you're up here talking that is just mom and pop brush under the rug stuff.

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These are real concerns. Get it done. Any other public comment? You might want to wait till you get to

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the microphone. It's okay. We'll wait.

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I am part of a community, which means that as a community we help each other. So here's one of the

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issues that I have and I want to address you sir. With this billing thing that you have going on it sounds

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like to me you need a specialist who does credentialing because for somebody who has over 30 years in the field

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it seems like you're billing on an outdated system. Maybe you don't know this because you're the fire

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Department. But there are two books that deal with medical billing. One is the CPT, which is a current procedural terminology book. The other one is the ICD, which is International Classification of Diseases. We're up to edition 11 right now. So if you don't have a credentialer who can negotiate with these insurance companies to get you the best dollar for whatever the procedure is, come see me. I got you.

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as a community member I would extend that to you and as she was saying talking about these lights now city manager would you rather spend the money on the lights or would you rather spend the money on wrongful death suits because let one of my grandkids get hit on this dark street I'm coming for the city understand that because we have an opportunity to do something about it that's why we're here that's why we're voicing these problems and then

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It's this nepotism that happens in Freeport, and let's not all sit here and act like it doesn't happen. That's why he's not getting paid and we're not getting the money. Because you're putting people in positions and they have no idea what they're doing. They're your best friend's niece. And you say, hey, I got you. I'm gonna get you a job. And they have no idea how to do the job. Ask me how I know I sat in Freeport Memorial Hospital three weeks ago with neuropathy pain.

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and I had to instruct the nurse on how to handle me because they she didn't know what she was doing.

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She couldn't get the IV started. I had to walk her through it. And then they felt inferior because here I am, this young black girl coming to tell them how to do their job.

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So, well, if you had paid attention in school, we wouldn't have this problem.

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and then to have a doctor walk out of the room on me because he felt well if you know how to treat yourself what you come here for if I had the equipment at home I wouldn't have to come here however.com to talk about Medicare and Medicaid I'm medically retired somebody who's been in the healthcare field for over 30 years I wish I could work

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years. I wish I could work. So those monies come from, you have people like myself who, well, I've survived seven

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strokes. So to be able to even stand here today is a blessing. And our Bible tells us as the one, the lady

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who prayed, in God we trust. It says, in all thy getting, get an understanding. So that's why I'm

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here tonight because I watched this atrocity of a council meeting last week. Ma'am, your time has

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expired. Thank you. Okay. You're good for doing that, Madam Mayor. Thank you. Any other public comments? I'm done. Please, please. I'm done. I'm walking to the door. I'm leaving. And if you want to continue to talk out of order, you could be removed as well. Are there any other public comments this evening?

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If not, I will entertain a motion to adjourn

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So moved

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Second

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All those in favor, signify by saying aye