Bringing us to this night, we're grateful for the ability to meet through the storm and the cleanup today. We're grateful for the good work of the crews and the safety there. And Lord, we are grateful for You who we owe our lives and our health and our safety to. you. Lord tonight, pray that you bless this meeting. Lord, many are the plans of man, but it's by your blessing that they are actually accomplished. Lord, I thank you for the servants here tonight sitting around these tables, these desks, and Lord, I thank you for their gifts and their willingness to serve. And we thank you that despite the differences Among Us. We serve one place, one city. We pray that you'd help us to do that or that we would keep love of neighbor alive among us, a willingness to turn the other cheek, a willingness to serve in the midst of differences for a common goal. And Father, pray that you'd give your blessings tonight on the deliberations here. Lord, we thank you for swearing in tonight. We thank Thank you for the fire department and the police force for our first responders. We pray that you'd continue to give them success and safety. Help them to bless our people, our city with their service and may we be a blessing to them. And so we ask your blessing tonight. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you. The meeting will be called to order at 6.01. Mayor Miller is absent tonight. Alderpersons, Klemm? Johnson, Simmons, Parker, Stacy, Shadle, Sanders is absent, Sellers, and in the mayor's absence could I have a motion to appoint a chairperson pro tem? I would make the motion to approve Alderman Shadle as mayor pro tem. Second. All in favor say aye aye anyone opposed chair the meeting is yours thank you and could you join us in the Pledge of Allegiance led by Parker thank you that That leads us to item one is the approval of the agenda. So move. Second. Motion by Klemm, second by Sellers. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? That passes. And item two is approval of the minutes from the council meeting on February 17th of 2026. So move. Second. Motion by Klemm, second by Sellers to approve. All in favor? Aye. Aye. And opposed? That motion passes. Item three is Fire Department Promotions, prevented by Chief Cordy. Chief. Fire Department Host, on behalf of the City of Freeport Police and Fire Commission, we We want to honor you tonight for the work well done for the City of Freeport and the Fire Department. The City of Freeport Board of Fire and Police Commission, to all whom these present chair, Travis Holtz, have been duly appointed to the position of Lieutenant in and for the City of Freeport in the County of Stevenson and the State of Illinois for the term from from the 16th day of March, 2026 until his successor shall have been duly appointed and qualified. He is hereby fully authorized and empowered to assume and perform all the duties of his said office according to law and the ordinances of said city and all persons are required to respect him in the discharge of his said duties by order of the Board of Fire and Police Commission. Be safe. Travis was hired August 24th 2012. He's an advanced certified firefighter, paramedic, instructor to fire apparatus engineer, company fire officer, and hazardous materials technician. He's also trained in rope operations and vehicle machinery. He's got an associate's degree in fire science at Rock Valley College. He received a life-saving award for the fire 202 and a half West Main Street. He previously ran the department's fire explorer program and adopt a hydrant programs. He's been member of the foreign fire board for four years. He's a lifelong Freeport resident, graduated from Freeport High School. He's married to Desi and this is their son Trey. Public comments on agenda items, none's listed. Go to the consent agenda, all items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine in nature and will be enacted in one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a council member so requests in which event the item will be removed from the consent agenda and considered as the first item after approval of the consent agenda. and it consists of approval to receive and place on file minutes of the committee board and commission meetings of Art and Culture Commission, January 8th, 2026, Liquor Commission, December 11th, 2025 and February 12th, 2026, Fire Department Report, February 2026, Building Permit Report, February 2026, CDBG Housing Rehab Grant Invoices, February 26, 2026, March 12, 2026 Approval of the Finance Bills Payable, packet 8081, 8083, 8085, and 8086 and unnamed or unnumbered packet invoices to be approved for payment Register February 26th of 2026 through March 12th of 2026 Totalling $1,387,372.98 Approval of payroll for pay period ending March 7th, 2026 In the amount of $569,813.98 with fringe benefit payments in the amount of one hundred and forty thousand four hundred and twenty four dollars and twenty eight cents for a total of seven hundred and ten thousand two hundred and thirty eight dollars and twenty six cents do I have a motion to approve motion by Parker second by Johnson Alderman Stacy what are the What are the unnumbered packets? What do they consist of? Unnumbered packets? Would you be able to answer that, Director Rickman? So, unnumbered means we haven't run them yet. So the invoices that are in your packet, there's a report of the largest packet, the million dollar one. There's a list of every invoice that's going to be paid there and with your approval tonight I'll be able to run those tomorrow. And what if it exceeds what was approved? The amounts are set, they're in your packet. The amount of the invoices are set, they're in the packet. There's a listing of every single invoice that I would like to pay and with the consent agenda being passed tonight. Then I will run them tomorrow. Chair. Oh, and Stacy, are you following? No, I don't, but I will. There's invoices that she just hasn't numbered. There's invoices that she just hasn't numbered into a packet. There's invoices that she needs to pay. They're just not in a numbered packet. I'm assuming they'd be smaller than the larger ones that have a packet assigned to them. The reason they don't have a number yet is the computer has not generated a number because they haven't been paid. So once I enter, tell the computer, okay, pay these invoices, it'll give me a packet number. Oh, gotcha. That makes sense. Chairman Shadle. Okay. And those amounts and those packet numbers match what all of you sign, and here that goes to the finance department as well, this all lines up with that. Okay. Okay. Okay. Madam Clerk, can you call the roll on that? Parker, Stacey, Shadle, Sellers, Klemm, Johnson, and Simmons. The motion passes 7-0. Thank you. That moves to item six is appointments, appointment of Shelly Grigoroff to fill a vacant seat on and the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, effective through April 30th of 2027. The appointment of Scott Arnold to the Police Pension Fund Board, effective through April 30th of 2028. Appointment of Scott Arnold to the Firefighters Pension Board Fund Board, effective through April 30th, 2029. Reappointment of Robert Bush to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, effective through April 30th of 2029. And with approval, we'd do this in one motion. Yes, unless somebody wants somebody separate. And is it by voice, Attorney Zito? By roll call? Okay. Motion to approve. Second. Motion by Klemm, second by Sellers. Is any discussion? If you could take the roll. Parker? Aye. Stacy? Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Johnson? Aye. Simmons? Aye. And that motion passes seven to zero. Thank you and that leads us to the second reading of ordinance 2026-12 if you could. Ordinance adopting zoning map. By Director Heimerdinger please. Thank you. The Illinois compiled statues requires a map to be We show this in our first reading, where we have five amendments that went through Zoning Board of Appeals and also Planning Commission, and then were approved by council. And then we have two inaccuracies that were identified this year. We staff recommends the adoption of the 2025 official zoning map. So move. Second? And is there any discussion? Madam Clerk, could you take the roll? I missed the second time, sorry. This is actually second reading up, so there'd actually be a motion to second. You're right, thank you. Parker? Aye. Stacy? Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? You're just going to abstain for that one? Okay Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Johnson? Aye. And Simmons? Aye. And the ordinance passes 7-0. With one abstention. I'm sorry? With one abstention, 7-0 with one exemption. Thank you. Us at 6-13. Thank you. All right. Item Room Number 8 is the first reading of Ordinance 2026-13. Ordinance amending Chapter 1448, Erosion Control Permits. Manager Boyer. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Last meeting on March 9th, staff was available. We went over the amendments to Chapter 1448, MS4 Stormwater Erosion Control Permits. As mentioned during that time, the proposed amendments establish clear permit classifications based on project size and type of land use disturbance. The ordinance strengthens erosion and sediment control plans and requires requirements to ensure appropriate best management practices are designed and implemented. The amendments also clarify inspections, reporting, and documentation standards for regulated sites. In addition, the ordinance expands enforcement authority, including the issuance of stop Park orders when necessary. These changes ensure continued compliance with the IEPA and MS4 stormwater obligations while improving regulatory clarity and staff recommends moving this forward to a second reading. So move. Second. Have a motion by Sellers, second by Johnson, Ohm. Discussion chair. Discussion now. Discussion. I just wanted to mention that, uh, uh, we had a comments from, uh, Ms. Johnson and, uh, we took those into advisement and, and changes were made to the alternating MS4 ordinances that are on tonight based on her comments. So those changes were made on that then? Yes. Thank you. Any other discussion? Item nine, first reading of ordinance 2026-14, Madam Clerk. One second. Ordinance Amending Part 6, General Offenses, Chapter 660, Additional Hazardous Materials, Section 660.02, Definitions, 660.05, Prohibition, and Adding Sections, 660.09, Injunctive Relief and Administrative Hearing, 660.10, Access to Premises, 660.11, Notification of Discharge, 660.12, Notice of Violation, 660.13, Suspension of Activities, and 660.14, Abatement Costs. Do I have a motion? So we would do... Staff will go first. Oh, I'm sorry. It's okay. Manager Boyer. Thank you, Alderman Shadle. The proposed amendments revise specific provisions within Chapter 660, Declare five regulatory So I'll move. Second. in the code and remove outdated or conflicting provisions. The amendments also strengthen enforcement authority where necessary and ensure alignment with current state regulations and city practices. Overall, the revisions improve clarity for residents, contractors, and staff supporting the effective implementation of the ordinance by our compliance officer and staff recommends moving forward to second reading. So move. Second. Motion by seller, second by Parker. Is there any discussion? Thank you. We'll go to item 10, which is the first reading of Ordinance 2026-15. Ordinance amending Part 10, Streets, Utilities, and Public Services, Title 4, Utilities, Chapter 1046, Sewers Generally, Section 1046.59, Discharge of Storms, Surface, or Groundwater into Sanitary Sewers, and amending Part 10, Streets, Utilities, and Public Services, Title IV, Utilities, Chapter 1050, Storm Sewers, Section 1050.08, Illicit Discharge. Thank you, Alderman Shadle. The proposed changes to Section 1046.59 clarify prohibited connections to the sanitary sewer and strengthens the City's authority to require corrective action. The amendments in Section 1050.08 update the definition of illicit discharge and reinforce the City's authority to investigate and enforce violations. These revisions are necessary to maintain compliance with the updated MS-4 permit and protect the city's wastewater and stormwater systems. Staff recommends moving this to second reading. I need a motion and a second. So moved. Motion by Sellers. Second. Seconded by Johnson. Is there any discussion? Is this the one pertaining to going into the houses, if necessary? I believe it is. No, it's 660. Is it not? No. 10? That was 660. You're right. That's what it's talking about. I believe that was number nine. Yeah, it was. That was number nine. That was, the one was item nine. It was one before that. No, so that's not this one. This one concerns hazardous dumping into storms or on the street or things like that. on the street or things like that, similar to the situation that we had over in your ward. Right. But this would also pertain to the human feces in backyards, number 10 or number nine. Number nine is more appropriate to that hazardous waste. Okay. Alderman Sanders. Alderman Sanders. Yeah. Are we also talking about dumping into the storms, storm waters by residential or commercial or manufacturers? We are making reference to those types of facilities. Am I right about that? What about the city doing discharges when it comes to rain back up, storm water back up, and it also compacts the sewer system as well when we have this kind of flooding going on within the city and we have to dump the water from manhole to storm sewer. What are the, what is the compliance there? Are we in violation when that happens? Because we can't say to residents, you can't do it, but yet the city has no other choice but to do it. I just wanted to know what kind of standards do we have for that? Well, as it's related to this ordinance, obviously this is basically updating our stormwater codes to align with best practices from the EPA because we are a MS4 community at this time and have been since I think 2020. As far as illicit discharge, illicit discharges are prohibited. Yeah, when you say illicit discharge. Not Permitted Discharges. I'll break it down more clearly so everybody can understand when you say illicit because illicit has a variance to it. Who can and who can't. And still let's be more specific when we say that because we're talking about something that is contaminating our water source into the river. I just want to know how we're handling that. What is our protocol for handling those kinds of situations? I can engage you afterwards on that, but we just spent $60 million on a Phase 1 wastewater plan upgrade to deal with that. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Anything else? I don't Call them in, Stacy? I don't like the idea of talking with Alderman Sanders off the record after the meeting when the public is wanting to hear answers and process now. Now I want to know the understanding of elicited and who has the right and who don't have the right and in what situations do, are you granted the right and where are we, what manholes are we poisoning and what side of town are they being directed to, City Manager Boyer? This isn't related to this, but this isn't related to this stormwater. We're basically bringing stormwater regulations in line with state requirements. I'm not sure what other person states he's referring to specifically. So again, this isn't an open forum to discuss everything under the sun or just on this agenda item. Okay. I'm not asking him to discuss everything under the sun. And I will be respected. Okay. First reading of Ordinance 2026-17. Madam Clerk. I have 16 next in sequential order. Is that okay? Oh, did I get ahead of one? You might have. Item 11. First reading of Ordinance 2026-16. Ordinance amending Part 10, Streets, Utilities, and Public Services Code, Title 4, Utilities, Chapter 1040, Utilities Generally, Section 1040-07A and Section 1040-07B, Connection Required Aligning with New Julie Laws. Thank you. Manager Boyer? Thank you, Your Honor. So Julie is our, essentially the services does the locates for any kind of excavation in town. Many people are familiar with it. You would call Julie if you wanted to fix a water service line or maybe put a deck in. And the city has to respond rapidly to Julie requests that come in for contractors' work that go on throughout the city. So the 2026 amendments to the Illinois Underground Utility Facilities Damage Prevention Act require that all newly installed or replaced water and sewer service lines be electronically traceable and locatable. What that means is from here on out we need to put locator tape or locator wire in when we do excavations and install new sewer or water service lines or sewer services. This is now the laws of January 26 and all communities must comply. In the past, certain private service laterals were not required to include tracer wire or other locating technology which creates difficulties during excavation and utility marking. Huffines must continue to be coordinated through Julie. The updated law expands the responsibility of the private service owner to ensure that underground infrastructure is properly installed, locatable, and maintained in the right of way and on private property for all new installations or repairs. The proposed ordinance amends and updates the city code to reflect the state requirements. The changes will require tracer wire, as mentioned before, or approved locating technology for for applicable water and sewer service lines and make compliance a condition of permanent issuance and final inspection. So aligning local regulations with state law improves excavation safety, reduces the risk of utility damage and service disruptions, and provides clear standards for contractors, developers, and property owners operating within the city. And staff recommends moving this on to second reading. Thank you. I have a motion to approve. So move. Moving on. Motion by Johnson, second by Sellers, and discussion, Alderman Sanders. Yeah, did I hear you right about even with repairs, they should sit down tracer wires, some form of tracer wire even during a repair. In certain circumstances. These are the new laws. Okay. Nothing else. We'll move to item 12. First reading of ordinance 202617. Ordinance approving a special use permit to allow adult use cannabis dispensing facility at 2725 Illinois Route 26, Unit A. And presented by Director Heimerdinger, please. Thank you so much. Staff received a special use permit application on February 10th, 2026 from Botavi Wellness LLC to allow an adult use cannabis dispensary organization at 2725 Illinois Route 26, Unit A here in Freeport, Illinois. The property is within the B3 Commercial and Wholesale Business District, Section 1252.05B4 of the City Freeport Zoning Code states that adult use cannabis dispensing organizations require a special use permit. In 2019, the City Council passed an ordinance to allow adult use cannabis facilities in the City of Freeport. The special use permit is to examine the property and determine if the physical characteristics of the site are appropriate for the proposed use. The petitioner would like to open an adult use cannabis dispensary organization, which would be the first dispensary in Freeport and the only dispensary in Stevenson County. The state of Illinois has expressively predicted local authority, including home law authority, as to the licensing and operations of cannabis businesses. The state has, however, allowed local municipalities to regulate the siting of these businesses. The City of Freeport in 2019 exercised this authority and enacted Chapter 1274, adult use cannabis, in their codified ordinances. Specifically, the City of Freeport requires 1,500 feet between a dispensary and any school, Nursery or a licensed daycare facility and 300 feet from any residential district. In addition, In addition to the distance requirement, the City of Freeport only permits adult-use cannabis dispensary organizations by use in two zoning districts, B3 Commercial and Wholesale Business, and Riverfront redevelopment zoning districts. After applying these restrictions, only a few locations in Freeport meet the established requirements, and the proposed location is one of them. The property where the permit is requested is the Formal Rosati's Pizza and is the only vacant unit on the parcer and the only vacant unit in the shopping center. Adequate parking exists in this location to accommodate expected occupancy. Traffic to the main corridors is not expected to be significantly impacted, Pacted, as even at peak, traffic flow to this type of business is small compared to the traffic already handled at this location for the big box retailers, which is Walmart and Menards, who currently operate there. The shopping center in which this dispensary would be located is situated along South Route 26 corridor. As such, visitors to the City of Freeport will be traveling through the major commercial corridors, potentially increasing businesses all along the main routes, and particularly around Route 26 West Street corridor for visitors entering the north along the heavily traveled Route 20 tourist corridor. The petitioner will have to comply and adhere to the City of Freeport's ordinances regarding zoning, which in the packet that was attached to today's agenda, there's an Appendix B that outlines that, and as a condition of the licensing, the petitioner will also have to comply with all state and regulations concerning adult use dispensary organizations, some way of which can be found on Appendix B, within that packet, and then on March 5th in 2026, the Zoning Board of Appeals recommended the approval by a vote of five yeas, one nay, and zero abstentions. On March 12th, the Planning Commission recommended approval for a vote of six yeas and zero nays. I will bring your attention to some of the appendix items. The first one, Appendix A, which is not on the screen yet, but this outlines the petitioner's ability to comply with Chapter 1274, which was adopted by the City of Freeport in 2019, which outlines how a cannabis dispensing organization should sit within the City of Freeport and outlines its compliance within those restrictions. And then we go to Appendix B, which is a summary of security features for these types of businesses. They have very stringent rules by the state. As you can see there on the very first one, the colored floor plan up above, you can see that they enter that green, um, that's a check-in room. Uh, you have to be 21 to enter this facility. If you are, if you enter and you're not 21, they will immediately escort you out and you will be asked to leave. Um, the first thing that you do is you come into that locked vestibule, uh, the check-in space and that's where you would process your ID to verify your for the type that you want. There's no actual product. It's just kind of showing you what you could have. From there, you would then speak to the staff and ask them to show them what you are actually looking for and what the product you want. And then they would be able to go and get that from the vault. Now in this floor plan, you can see a bunch of cones in the corners that outline security. So every square inch of this place is monitored. And in fact, the Illinois State Police has access to the camera system at all times without a warrant or permission. So people, everything is monitored. The vault that you see is the pink on the right side of your screen right after the yellow. And that is where all the product is kept. They have to do inventory every single day. If inventory is off, they have to immediately shut down and they have 24 hours to figure and so forth. So, we're going to go through the slides and see what we can do to help you figure out what happened. And they have to be in constant communication with the state. So this is a very secure location. You can see the sales, there is no true product on the sales floor. It's just demo product. And then as you move through, the next page just shows you the floor plan without the security features highlighted. and then as we go through the, to the elevations, the elevations show that the biggest change of the building is just that the sign will be updated to the name. But from other than that, there's, there's nothing else. So it blends nicely into the facility and the atmosphere down there already. They're not changing too much of the location. And with that, staff recommends moving on to a second reading. Thank you. We have a motion to move this on. So move. Second. Motion by Sellers, second by Parker. Any discussion? All of them. Stacy? Yes. I would like to know, has there been a meeting on this matter with the community? if so when was it? Yes there was a Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing on March 5th that the community was always able to come in and voice their concerns or support. And when was this and at what time? This was at the Zoning Board of Appeals that was March 5th at 5.30 here at City Hall in Council Chambers. March 5th? March 5th, yes. Alton Sanders? Go ahead, go ahead. At 5.30, you said? At 5.30, yes. Alderman Clem. Alderman Clem. Alderman Stacy Dunn. Alderman Sellers and Alderman Johnson and I were here for the presentation that the gentleman out here gave us, very excellent presentation, very excellent facility, the way it's laid out, all the safety features involved in it and everything else. But I will tell you right now, I'm not supportive of it for one reason, because of if you stop to figure one of the things he brought up in his presentation was the fact that they're We're going to have between 200 and 500 customers a day. You add 200 and 500 customers a day to a place that already has over 1,000 over here and has 1,000 here and you've got all the other five stores up here and you've got one road coming into it and it splits off and either goes to Walmart or it goes to Menard so you've got all this traffic coming into there. I think you've got the major traffic jam of the century. It's just my opinion, okay, but keep in mind, I go there almost daily, okay, and sometimes multiple times per day on account of the car wash, okay, and I see the traffic there. I see the condition of the road, I see the width of the thing. If you could take all the traffic and move it to the center line, you know, which is down farther, you'd have something to talk about. But everybody is so inclined to come in with the one with the lights on it. I just see a major traffic problem. I have, I'm not in opposition to the product or to what's being done. It'll provide some people in Freeport, we'll be able to buy stuff at Freeport rather than go to Rockford or go to a neighboring place. I've also been in Rockford many times by the dispensaries there. and he brought up at that period of time, during COVID and during the other thing, there was a much different, was a much different, not clientele, but in bigger mass of people and there's less places and all that kind of stuff. Understand all that 100%. But I... and all that, 100%. But I think you have the traffic problem and such. Yeah, I can speak a little bit to that. So, it is vacant right now. Anything that would move into that location would bring traffic. Any location, if it was a restaurant, a very successful restaurant, you can see any restaurant here in Freeport that's very successful is is usually jam-packed. It would bring about the same amount of customers there. And so in that way, anything that would move into that could bring about the traffic jam. And I agree with you that, yes, it is busy. That entire area is very busy. Nobody wants to go. I go at 6 AM on Saturdays, not noon on Saturdays, because, yes, there's a lot of traffic. the lot and the road there. That's a private lot and a private road. The city can make suggestions to help kind of move traffic in a way that keeps it less chaotic. But above all, it is private. So at any point, anything could move into that facility, and you could have the same traffic issues. this might bring about, if this moves in, if anything else moves in, maybe it brings up a good point of maybe there's a second entrance that needs to be talked about that goes into that facility, but it is a private lane and a private parking lot. And so with that, it's their responsibility to make sure that they have the traffic flow. Also keep in mind, these individuals are not staying long. They come in, they get their product and they leave. They're not sitting too long. So it's not going to hold up traffic. They're coming in to get the merchandise that they want and then they are exiting. Thank you. Alderman Sanders? Yeah, you know, I sit here and I listen to that. And for the life of me, I'm looking at this and I've been studying this to the point where we're saying that the state allows this to happen without the authority of the city of Freeport, county of Freeport, nor home rule has no jurisdiction in these matters. So what are we saying that we're forfeiting our legal rights to prohibit them from starting up a business? Are we complaining that what the state is permitting that the city wants to put a hold on this issue because we have not received the proper regulation, the security, all of and all these provisions that need to be put in place before such an event even be considered. But what I'm asking is, who is preempting this according to the discussion log that I'm reading? It sounds like it's the state of Illinois or is codified that's permitting such an event to take place in the city of Freeport saying, if I understand this right, saying that Freeport has no jurisdiction, or does our homeroom has any jurisdiction? Did I read that right? Did I follow that right? I must have misunderstood that somewhere along the line. Okay, could someone completely inform those that might have misinterpreted what it really means? So if you could, please. Yes, I can Doerr. What the state has made a rule is that cannabis is legal in the state of Illinois. They are able to set up businesses. What the city has jurisdiction over is where does that business go within the city? and so the city in 2019 set up chapter 1274 which outlines where the counselor at the time thought was reasonable restrictions on where it could go and so in that way they did 1500 feet from any daycare, nursery, childcare facilities and then an additional 300 feet from any residential district. And that was the statues that were in place that the city could impose. So what the state did was say cannabis is legal, businesses can operate to sell cannabis, cities have the jurisdiction to indicate in what locations and put restrictions on it. And so those are the restrictions I did hear you say restrictions. Yes. The city has the rights to make restrictions. On where it's located. Just on that particular- 1,500 feet and- That's, you're saying that the city, and who are the petitioners that should be here before us, making that statement, making that claim of opening up a business and how they're going to help safeguard the citizens of the city of Freeport. Even if they're 21 years of age, I don't care, those ages can be obfuscated and people can become props for younger adults when it does that. and who is regulating those securities? The state. The state regulates. Oh, so they're going to come in here and do the regulations and set up all safeguards and... Yes. And if, in my presentation, the Illinois State Police has access to the cameras within the facility 24-7 without permission or without warrants, so they are looking into that. Yeah. We're hearing more clarity to the people of Freeport. If I can misconstrue what you just talked about, those kind of variables that did not come out initially in this discussion, how this is going to be handled, those are the things the citizens of the Freeport needs to be able to hear, that there are safeguards all over this thing, and that we should not be as citizens intimidated by All kinds of things that could cause harm onto the children and to the city of Freeport. And so I think we need to be, as council members, to be more vigilant in studying that as well as what the state is imposing upon the city of Freeport. It's not one of those things that we're just going to be happy and just go along with it without challenging it. you know because we have to do that in order for us to maintain the respect that we need to maintain here in the city of Freeport because other agencies coming in here running over Freeport without consulting the council of Freeport I think that's a sole disrespect if I don't hear them standing up both at that podium talking to us directly not only directly to council but Alderman, Sellers, I would just like to say that I am in agreement with it. I did come to the meeting that they did, excuse me, do the presentation. The young people, the young people, the young people, the young people, the young people, the young people, the young people, the young people, the young people, Youngman did an excellent presentation. He answered all the questions. I know that my job is to listen to the information that the young man gave and he gave and there were other just a very few citizens that came in. No one got up. No one said anything. I do understand about the parking incident, but I do think that the time and the money that that they're going to put into this establishment, they kind of know what they're doing. This is not their first one. After listening to all the things that the young man said. And then my other thing is because of our, my job is to listen to what we already said we could have in Freeport, and that was in 2019. My job is to make sure that where they want to put it, maybe it might not be where I like, but if it meets the criteria of what we said, where they need to be at in places, I have to agree with it because it does meet those standards. If it was something that, I don't know, but it's not. It's where we said they have to be in order to have it. David. So, I wish that that night when we were there that maybe that question came up about the traffic coming in and out. I can't remember because I can't remember because there was a lot going on, but about the safety and the security that's there, it will be a lot of money put into that place to take care of all those concerns. So that's why I would have to say yes, because they did meet the qualifications that we did ask them to meet. Stacey. Okay. I believe that we the council have say so in allowing this to happen. Am I wrong in thinking that? You have the right to approve a special use for the cannabis. So if we voted down, then it don't come. Am I correct? If you chose to do that? Yes. Okay. So we do have right under this home rule or whatever you're saying, Mr. Sanders, because if it's voted down, then it won't happen. And if we didn't have a choice in the matter, it wouldn't be on the floor. And I don't care how much money they make, how much money is brought to the city, what's that got to do with us? Just because it's brought to the city, how do we benefit? What do we get out the deal? Mr. Stecco? Yeah. Um, I've just been involved in this in a handful of communities that have, have approved these dispensaries. So just some items that I wanted to give you. So, um, the permits are regulated by the state. The company would have to file a very large bond, millions of dollars with the state of Illinois to be approved for a facility like this in Freeport. There are two licenses, I believe, available for Stevenson County. So choosing no here would probably allow it to go to another town in our, in our region. Um, that, that is a choice, but that may be good, uh, may happen. Um, this is state controlled substance. So there are many rules that were presented at the commission meetings. Like for instance, they have to have a security guard on site 24 seven of of operation or while they're operating or they can't be open. Um, it's a scan in only with a license, uh, with the scan bar on it. Not just anybody can walk in the facility. They only limit amount of people that are in the facility. Um, there is a safety, uh, tax to this, uh, uh, cannabis purchase that goes directly to the police department to, uh, help increase standards for the police department and not standards, but funding for the police department. There's also a city tax that comes from the cannabis that is much larger than our other percentages of taxes and I believe it was presented at the planning commission that there is really three pockets in Freeport that would be available for this. It's either north of town, south of town, or somewhere in the downtown. Those are the only three available based on our zoning right now that that are available for this type of facility. So, those are just facts. You can do with them what you will. All their instruments. So, I'm not against the dispensary coming to Freeport. If I vote no, it will be because I'm against the placement. We need to be strategic of where we're going to allow. Like you said, it's the first dispensary in Stevenson County. Here we are right on the border of Wisconsin. It is going to drive traffic. And this is an area that already sees plenty of traffic. and McClenn did you have another? Not really, but I would echo what has been discussed. The presentation, the security of the site, all that kind of stuff, I don't have an issue with whatsoever. I mean, the design of it, the thing that threw the red flag up to me was 200 to 500 customers a day. Just knowing the area, just knowing what's going on, and the only thing I could say to and so forth, but two wrongs don't make a right. I mean, you and I both know Rosati's didn't have 200 to 500 customers a day. Okay. Thank you. Okay. So that's a considerable amount of difference. You know, the parking lot, you know, so to speak is debatable size on it. You know, one of the problems I would foresee that it happens I would like to also know that is this if they purchase that or are they renting those places? It's a lease. Okay. How did I have to? I think you were the first to I've spoken one time on this matter. Okay, I believe you're wrong. Alderman, Stacy. So there was a couple things said. You yourself stated that they are not going to be here long. I did not say that. Customers were not going to be there long. yes okay and um Darren you spoke about the city tax from the cannabis what percent of the city tax and and and where is that money going to go in account for our roads attorney zito so the amount of tax that goes directly to the city is a three percent tax that is a city ordinance that we were allowed to adopt back when the cannabis laws were first uh are when they first when the state first Thank you. Item 13, adoption of Resolution R-2026-31. Resolution accepting a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation Aviation Fuel Thank you Alderman Shadle. The city receives the aviation fuel tax grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation for the past four years. It does not require a match. Grant funds are to be used for local governments for airport related purposes. In the case of the city of Freeport, we've utilized the funds as reimbursement for expended airport management expenses. So the city of Freeport has received a notice for the grant for 2025 Ferts, and the city will submit invoices and proof of payment of airport management expenses in order to receive the grant funds. Upon review and approval of the invoices submitted to IDOT allocations will be distributed to the city and staff requests moving forward with resolution to accept the aviation fuel tax grant. Motion approved. Motion first. Motion first and motion do we have a second? Second. Motion by Klemm, second by Johnson. Any discussion? The aviation fuel grant. Who is presenting that to the city? Is that something that the city is regulated to do each year or at any point in time that we are obligated to to buy a few for what purpose or how has it been used throughout the city? Is it for city purposes or just the airport or how is that presented to the city of Freeport? I think IDOT is trying to support the aviation industry and they're doing it through this It's basically a fuel grant, so yeah. Thank you. Nothing further. Madam Clerk, can you take the roll? Parker? Aye. Stacy? No. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? No. Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Johnson? Aye. And Simmons? Aye. The resolution is adopted six to two. Thank you. Item 14, adoption of resolution R-2026-32. Madam Clerk. Resolution approving a Certificate of Authority to vote regarding Rock Salt Contract Joint Participation Agreement with the State of Illinois. Thank you Alderman Shadle. The City purchases rock salt each year for snow removal operations. The State of Illinois has made a procedural requirement for municipalities to be included in the Rock Salt Program. The City must submit its Rock Salt Contract Joint Participation Agreement by April 7th with City Council resolution approval. By passing this resolution, it essentially gives the City Manager me the authority to submit and sign the agreement for this year's participation. And just to give you a heads up, the state bid on salt is essentially the most efficient way to acquire salt. We're working very diligently to put in a new salt shed that can handle more volume and lower our overall cost of storage. and so staff is recommending moving forward with this joint participation agreement. We need a motion and a second to move this. So moved. Second. Motion by Sellers, second by Klemm. Discussion, Alderman Sanders. Yeah. Manager Boyer, do we have any other option other than using rock salt because of the consequences of the New Roads that it can affect putting down a new road and using rock salt really diminishes the new asphalt that is being put, that we're putting out now as new streets and whatever roads or whatever. Is there any other effective way of doing that without it diminishing too much of the highways and roads and things of that nature? Obviously there's other snow melt products out there that are much more costly and I think in the past we've mixed in sand with salt. I think that creates another problem which is it fills up all of our storm water catch basins with sand. So this is really not, although maybe not perfect, it is the best that we have not just here in Freeport but across the Midwest for maintaining safe right of ways during winter snow removal operations. I would like Director Steekle input on that matter and what's out there or what isn't out there that could help save the new asphalt on our streets. Some of the state trucks use liquid application, it's very expensive, it's really probably not in the affordable range, uh, for us. And we don't have equipment to spread it either, but it's a liquid applied. Um, and then they still sometimes have to spread salt on days like today that we have, you know, far too much snow than what can melt fast enough. Um, so unfortunately in Northern Illinois, um, there's not a lot of options that are cost effective for municipalities. This, uh, Rob actually brought us back to going to the state bid, uh, Forrest Rock salt, uh, for some years, we weren't involved in it. And the cost, uh, really got, uh, very heavy. Um, I'd also like to remind you that we did approve a new salt shed just recently that's, uh, being built for salt. So, um, really, uh, the effective use is not to overspread it. So on a day like today, we tried to spread as little salt as possible, just enough to get by, um, uh, because we have, you know, 60, 50, 60 degree Temps coming towards the end of this week. So we wanted to have safe travel, but we don't want to overspread it. So we were very light on salt over the next two days. And that's kind of been a practice, um, 10 years ago, seven years ago, we, we did the sand salt mix to try to stretch our sand salt, but what Rob said is exactly right, the sand never goes away. It gets swept into the storm sewers. Then it floats out to the rivers and, or we have to clean all the storms, um, if if it doesn't, and it really created a lot of extra work. Um, uh, Randy could speak to the Randy Kolbauer, our environmental compliance officer could speak to the salt, but we're already supposed to be rationing our salt back as we can or ratcheting it back as we can, because they're concerned about salt water going out to the, uh, storm basins, right. Um, as it melts down. So, um, you know, conservation is the best way to go. The enemy of roads is heavy trucks, salt and water damage, and we have the trifecta up here in Northern Illinois, right, with the seasonal change of frost and heave of ground. So Isn't it cheaper to clean out the sand than it is to keep trying to overlay, redo, refix all these roads? Um, yes and no, uh, yes, it costs money to, uh, take the sand out. And we used to do that and try to reuse the sand, you know, take it out and we would recycle it, take it back down to the plant, what we could, and try to filter it back in the next year without buying more, um, the issue is that sand is not a melt, melting product, so it doesn't work by itself, it just sits there, so if we don't put salt with it, it doesn't do anything. and, uh, I believe Rob's first year here in Freeport, we actually bought, uh, the higher content salt, uh, I think that some people call it blue salt. And we tried to use that and mix that into, to be more effective as well. But the cost of it just got out of control and really kills our budget. Uh, we have a, a very large expenditure on salt annually. Oh, and Sanders, uh, bringing that out like that, you just sparked it. We don't have a program for storm excavation when it comes to vacuuming for those concentrated areas that absorb more salt and sand. Do we have a program that will help us to eliminate more sand during the spring weather Great question, starting in 2026. Part of our EPA MS4 requirements is that about 20 to 25% of our storm basins and storm system have to be cleaned annually. We've always tried to clean them. We have gotten behind in the last several years. We've had a lot of employee turnover in public works. As you guys are quite well aware of, we've had a hard time keeping a full staff. We are up to to full staff now, uh, finally. And, uh, uh, again, we'll be planning on cleaning 20% of the catch basins and 20% of the piping annually. Uh, that's why we have our own vector trucks that, that we do that routine maintenance and we're getting people trained to do that. And as seasonal, uh, abilities allow spring and fall, we'll be cleaning those. Thank you. Parker. Aye. Stacy. Aye. Shadle. Aye. Sanders. Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Johnson? Aye. And Simmons? Aye. The resolution is adopted 8-0. Thank you. Adoption of resolution R-2026-33. Resolution approving an extension and renewal of purchase of service agreement with the Stevenson County Senior Center doing business as Senior Resource Center. Thank you. Director Heimerdinger? Thank you. The City of Freeport has contracted the Senior Resource Center operational services for the Pretzel City Transit program since 2018. The purchase of service contract between the city and SRC is affected from July 1st, 2024 through July 30th, 2026 with the option to extend and renew for one additional year beginning on July 1st, 2026 and ending on June 30th, 2027. We need to renew in order to have Senior Resource Center continue operational management. The City functions as the Rural Transit System Administrator for Stevenson County and has selected the Senior Resource Center to provide public transportation services as a non-for-profit pass-through provider via Pretzer City Area Transit. The Senior Resource Center has the employee space and experience necessary to continue to provide public transportation services needed for the City of Leapwood and Stevenson County. The City has provided the necessary vehicles via the Ordinance 2022-28. Staff recommends the approval of the extension of the purchase of service contract between the City of Leapwood and Senior Resource Center for the operation of Precious City Area Transit. Sett. Zett. We have a motion for this. So moved. Harker. Motion by Seller, second by Klemm. Discussion? Madam Clerk? Parker? Aye. Stacy? Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sanders is absent, Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Johnson? Aye. And Simmons? Aye. The resolution is adopted seven to zero. Thank you. Adoption of resolution R-2026-30. Resolution Accepting Special Warranty for 5311 Grant Application Regarding Pretzel City Transit Director Heimerdinger Thank you. As part of our annual transportation grant application to the State of Illinois under the 5311 Transportation Program and Downstate Operating Assistance Program, DOAP, the City of Freeport is required to have the Council approval for the following. Adopting the Transportation Services within the Freeport and Stevenson County. A resolution authorizing an application to be made to the Office of Intermodal Project Implementation, IDOT, for a financial assistance grant under Section 5311 for a physical year of 2026 for the purpose of offsetting a portion of the Public Transportation Program operating deficiencies of the City of Freeport. Deficits of the City of Report. A resolution accepting the special warranty for public transportation funding which affirms the transit employees will be treated fairly under the terms of the warranty and resolution accepting the City of Report is participating in said grant programs and will provide local and matching funds which are obtained through service contracts, grant funding, allocations from Senior Resource Center, and donations. The City of Report does not provide local matching funds to these operations. in the 1, 2, 3, 4 list above. It was approved by City Council on June 17, 2024, ordinance 2024-32. Items 2 and 3 are what we are going to be voting on in resolutions for this number 16 agenda item and number 17. They will now be required in conjunction with the ordinance in order to complete the application. A resolution to apply for a DOAP funding is not required but a resolution accepting funds after approval will be required and so that will bring number four will be eventually in the future will come to counsel for that. For this one we are really focusing on number three which is the special warranty for public transportation funding which affirms Thank you. We have a motion. So moved. Second. Motion by Klemm. Second. Second by Parker. Any discussion? Madam Clerk? Parker? Aye. Stacy? Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? Aye. Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Johnson? Aye. And Simmons? Aye. The resolution is adopted 8-0. Thank you. Adoption of Resolution R-2026-35. Resolution authorizing execution and amendment of Federal 5311 Grant Agreement for Fiscal year, 2027. Director Heimerdinger. Thank you. This is number 10, which is the this is number two of what I was just discussing. It has the same memo attached. And this is for resolution authorizing an application to be made to the office of Intermodal Project Implication IDOT for financial assistance grant under section 5311 for physical year of Piquette, Precious City Area Transit offered 49,846 trips covering 250,000 miles within Stevenson County. Of those trips, approximately 21,000 were for employment, 9,600 for medical visits, and 8,200 for shopping in the area. As you can see, this provides a countless amount of travel for those who need it, especially for employment. So you can see how how we would like to apply and continue providing public transportation to Stevens County and the City of Freeport and this resolution is passed yearly in order for us to provide information and to complete our application. Do we have a motion? So move. Second. Motion by Johnson. Second by Sellers. Discussion? Madam Clerk? Parker? Aye. Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? Aye. Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Johnson? Aye. And Simmons? Aye. The resolution is adopted 8-0. Thank you. Adoption of resolution R-2026-36. Resolution approving an agreement with Fehr Graham to provide bridge inspection services for the city bridges located on Hancock Avenue and on Van Buren Avenue. Thank you Alderman Shadle. The city owns two bridges, Hancock and Van Buren. They have to be inspected annually. And Fehr Graham is the city's bridge engineer, so we have a team with certified licensed personnel for especially inspection work. All inspections must be completed and finalized within reporting to the state of Illinois. So the bridge inspections were expected in 2026 and given current structure ratings to ensure travel safety and staff's recommendation. City Council move to move forward with the agreement with Fehr Graham for the bridge inspections for 2026. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Motion by Klemm, second by Johnson. Discussion? Yeah. Alderman Sanders? Yeah. Manager Boyer. Yes. Are we in compliance with the reports that are coming from Fehr and Graham, whether or not we're still meeting the standards for inspections of reporting? And if it's annually, how long have this been ineffective, if it's been annually, that we receive any reports on these inspections of other conditions of these bridges? Are we in compliance with that? We are in compliance. I'll just give you some background. The Hancock Bridge, I believe it used to be every 10 years. And recently that was reduced by IDOT requiring it every year due to the guardrail and the deck condition. And the Van Buren Bridge, I believe that's every two years. Okay. Thank you for that. So the Van Buren Bridge is basically the walk-ride bridge that used to be an old train trestle. So yeah, but all this infrastructure has to be inspected periodically, and this year both of them need it. So we're just asking to move forward with this agreement. Alderman Sanders? Do you guys have knowledge of a trussle or some form of apparatus behind this city sewer located over there? I know it's abandoned, but it's a railroad type trussle. and that's been removed and what's coming of it. You guys recall any of that? It's over by the Peckotonic River by in back of the treatment plant. You guys have any recollection of that? There's nothing that exists there currently. The only two bridges we have is Hancock and Bay. No, it's not a bridge, it's a railroad trussle. Are we? I believe we're talking about the viaduct and that's under construction. and it should be completed by May. Okay. Yep. No, it's not the Vita. That's not what we used to call the Tressel. It's not the Vita. Are you ready? Parker? Aye. Stacy? If it has to be done, it has to be done. Yes. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? Aye. Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Johnson? Aye. to zero. Thank you. Adoption of resolution R-202637. Resolution accepting a safety grant from the Illinois Public Risk Fund and authorizing the use of grant funds to purchase portable message boards from road safe traffic systems. Thank you. Manager Boyer. Thank you, Alderman Shadle. City staff received a source well procurement quote for two IDOT approved message Bridge Board. So those are the toe behind. so those are the tow behind boards we set up that say you know river level is this high or you know construction in this area till such and such a date. We had one at recently the motherboard some of the electronics burned out on it rendering it useless. So this quote is from the road safe traffic systems and includes a message board trailer controller chargers solar panel solar Miller Panel Generator Power to run the unit completely. The purchase of the two units is $32,750, delivered to Freeport. This is a source well quote, which means the company that's involved already has an established relationship with the state of Illinois and is considered a source well dealer, enabling us to move forward with their source well L. Quote. It was also $8,000 cheaper than the other quotes received for the same units. City staff also requires the City Council staff to accept the Illinois Public Risk Fund grant. So this is a grant we receive once a year from our insurance company to purchase safety-related equipment, and this qualifies as safety-related equipment with the funds to be used toward for the purchase of the city-owned construction message board. The IPRF grant award will be $16,244 and the remaining funds of $16,506 were budgeted in the street department budget this year, including water and sewer for the 2026 planned purchase. So staff will use IPRF grant funds for essentially one and pay for the other with budgeted funds and staff recommends moving forward with the purchase of this equipment. Thank you. Motion to approve. So moved. Motion by Klemm. Second. Second by Johnson. Any discussion? Aldermen so. I know you had mentioned that the other one that we used to have is broke or whatever. What does that cost? What does that cost to get something like that fixed? I think we've had it fixed several times and I think at this point the parts availability are not, the parts aren't available anymore to get it repaired. And Darren, if that sounds right. The current one that we have, Rob's correct, has been fixed several times and it's kind of obsolete. It's old. We've had it for a while. Um, I believe the motherboard and the electronics on it have burned up at least three times. I want to say we might've spent 5,000 on it the last time repairing it. So we did budget for two of them this year. Uh, this just allows us to only, you know, buy For the $16,000, how long does something like this last? I'm going to guess with good care, probably get 12 to 15 years out of them. I believe the one that we have now is close to 15 years, if I recall. this one the the last one that we had didn't have like the solar part of it those are fairly new so we decided to go with that you know save on the generators and stuff and and be more respectful but with the kind of construction that the city crews have been doing this is a safety mechanism them to to almost direct people from staying out of the areas that we're working in. Yeah is that also included with speed trafficking and strategic locations where, uh, hazard for hazardous kind of areas that, uh, that deemed, uh, necessary for public awareness like that. Yeah. So, uh, our other sign board, we were trying to use that for maybe some public events, or I believe Rob mentioned when the, when the flooding was going on over the East side, we had posted a board, you know, stay out in the flooding levels that were going on, um, that is the intent of these boards. Uh, there is a component to where, um, and we did not buy this and did not recommend it, these could be added for, you know, speed components on it to show how fast you're traveling, but that's another very expensive option that we just didn't think provided to the safety of it. Um, and the police department has their speed trailers. So these are really going to be for events and, or, um, really construction, primarily for construction or, or where we're working with city crews that we can post this as, you know, uh, uh, Dewey street, you know, we're coming, this road's going to be closed for, you know, 30 to 60 days, you know, please avoid this area type stuff. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thanks. I should mention too, that these boards are technically required whenever we work on any of the IDOT corridors doing our hot patching, our work, those are part of and the traffic control requirements. And so renting these are very expensive to bring in for a day. They're, they're, they're upwards of $3,000 a day to rent. Wow. That's crazy. What have we done in the past? Rented. I mean, we've, we've had one, uh, but it hasn't worked for the last, uh, I believe last summer is when it burned up. Uh, so we just did without last year. Rented one as we work on the I-DOT corridors. Parker? Aye. Stacy? Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? Aye. Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Johnson? Aye. And Simmons? Aye. That resolution is adopted eight to zero. Thank you. Adoption of resolution R-202638. Resolution authorizing the purchase of portable handheld police radios from Motorola Solutions. Thank you, Lieutenant Weichel. I'm Lieutenant Polish. That's alright. No, there was a last minute change. So, the Freeport Police Department is currently in the fifth year of a five-year plan to replace the portable handheld Motorola radios currently being utilized by all sworn police officers. Their main radios in circulation still function, however, they have reached end of life. Currently, Motorola is the only supplier of portable handheld police radios. The police department has received a quote to replace 10 Motorola handheld police radios and accessories at a total cost of $63,596.10. Funding for the 10 portable handheld Motorola radios and accessories is provided in fiscal year 2026, police department capital budget 331-302-7000, where $65,000 was budgeted for this purchase. Thank you. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. The radios, the Motorola's, they're not the only competitors on the market because they can be integrated with Motorola or replacement of Motorola at very cheap prices, am I correct? Not from the information I was given today by Lieutenant Weichel. He said Motorola was the only supplier. I understand being the only supplier, but they don't hold Monopoly on competitors' radios that could be standards also for replacement of Motorola's for a better option. Have we inspected that option as well? Manager Boyer? Alderman Sanders, these are Starcom radios, so they're not available on the open market. They're specific for law enforcement. is adopted 8-0 as well. Thank you. Adoption of resolution R-2026-39. approving a quote from J&R Supply for the purchase of sewer and storm system manhole replacement castings and materials. Thank you. Manager Boyer? Yes. Thank you. Alderman Shadle. This year we've got a lot of construction and we've got a lot of manholes that need to be repaired, fixed, whatever is part of our street program. So the city staff has received quotes from our sewer castings and lid material supplier for the knee-high representative. The utility staff requested a large order for most of the 2026 material in single purchase this year to achieve further cost savings. So the quote is for 109 castings and lids, and the total cost of the material and components is $43,648. There's an eight to 10-week lead time for the production. The final cost is Settlers, about 50% of what they normally cost on a project bid, so staff will use sewer and storm utility CIP funds to purchase these items and staff recommends moving forward with the material purchase. Thank you. Do we have a motion? So moved. Second. Motion by Klemm. Second by Sellers. Discussion? Yeah. Alderman Sanders. Yeah. There's one item probably, maybe not at all important, but what about the water boxes to the water mains when they are defective and need to be repaired and replaced. and need to be repaired and replaced, especially on the new main roads, the new highways, the new whatever that we are installing right now. Those have to have the, at the first initial installment of that road, they should have the adequate water boxes when they install that where they don't have to come back and make repairs to it tearing up the street on a second time around on the very same street to replace water boxes I just I was just curious are we adding that in that we including those items yes in the we're replacing that stuff as we go nothing further? Parker? Aye. Stacy? Aye. Shadle? Aye. Sanders? Aye. Sellers? Aye. Klemm? Aye. Johnson? Aye. And Simmons? Aye. The resolution is adopted eight to zero. Thank you. Moving on to item 22 is reports of department heads. Finance? Nothing this evening. Community development. Hi. I just wanted to remind everybody it snowed a lot today. I hope that you are safe, but keep in mind that we do want sidewalks shoveled so that kids can get to school and anybody who needs to walk on the sidewalk can get to work tomorrow morning. So please help your neighbors out and get those sidewalks shoveled so that everybody can get where they need to go safely. Thank you. And that's a 24-hour from the snowfall? Yeah, 12 hours, yeah. Works. Yeah, just a few things. I'd really like to thank our Public Works crews for starting around, actually, they work Sunday night salting and they started this morning around three o'clock plowing streets and didn't finish up till this afternoon. Appreciate their dedication to getting it done. I want to let everybody know that we're not going to continue to haul snow out over the next few days. We're not going to do major plowbacks. It's going to be up in the fifties by Thursday. So a lot of this is going to melt away quickly. So we don't want to waste city fuel and manpower hauling snow away that's going to melt. I'd like to thank Randy Kolbauer who came to this meeting and the last meeting shows her interest in the department and helping us rewrite the ordinances for the MS4 and the erosion and the Julie stuff. She didn't have have to come, but she's been at the last two meetings. The 1719 Main Street demo, uh, obviously with the weather, it's slowed down a little bit. So as the snow melts away, we hope to see some action there next week. Um, you'll see probably fences coming in this week if, if they haven't got in there. And then just a reminder to all the Aldermen that at the next meeting, uh, we will have had three bid openings for street projects, uh, for this year. so be package A, B, and C that'll be on the next agenda to move forward so we can start the construction process earlier this year hopefully. Thank you. IT. Nothing tonight. Fire. Nothing this evening. And I don't think I forgot anybody. City manager. Thank you Alderman. I just wanted to also put a little highlight on what something Niren just mentioned. So over the last 24 hours Freeport and Stevenson County experienced a significant late season winter storm with the National Weather Service placing our area under a blizzard warning and reporting hazardous conditions that included accumulating snow, blowing and drifting snow, and wind gusts up to 40 to 45 miles per hour. Official snow fall reporting in Illinois Show's 24-hour total is topping over 9 inches in parts of the border storm area, and locally this was made more challenging by reduced visibility, bitter cold, and difficult travel conditions. In that environment, our public works team performed very well. At this time, it is my understanding that we completed snow removal operations without any property damage or employee injuries, which reflect a safe, disciplined, and highly professional response Spire, Cruz, and I just want to personally thank them very much for their hard work this last this last 24 hours. Thank you. Thank you. That takes us to council announcement. Alderman Klemm. Okay we have a neighborhood watch coming up next week on 423 at Schwartz Funeral Home and also I want to echo the good job that the Public Works done. I did see him out last night, probably about seven o'clock, putting salt down on all the main thoroughfares and stuff. So they really did do a good job and we're by this morning. So thank you guys. Hollerman Johnson. Yes, we have a neighborhood watch meeting this Thursday at 630 p.m. at 3002 Farmedale Lane. Thank you. Hollerman Simmons. I don't have anything. Well, I do want to say That the street crews did an awesome job. It was a lot of snow, and by the afternoon we were all able to get out and move around like it never happened. It was pretty awesome. Good job, guys. Thank you. Hallerman Parker? Just our Neighborhood Watch meeting is next Monday night, the fourth Monday of the month. Thank you. Hallerman Stacey? Yes, I would like to announce my Fifth Ward neighborhood watch tomorrow at the church on the corner of Carroll and Empire at six o'clock and also I believe Alderman Johnson, if you You can help me with this. That there's a public forum meeting this week. What are you talking about? Are you talking about for the tower? Yes. I believe that's April 2nd, isn't it? So the Zoning Board of Appeals for the JCWiFi tower will be on April 2nd. They are hosting a, JCWiFi is going to host a town hall here at City Hall. Shaw, that will be announced tomorrow, the day and time. What I would like to see happen is when we have a meeting of that nature coming up that the community have say so, that it's announced so that we know what is coming up. It's always publicly noticed on the website. Okay, I understand that, but I'm just asking that they be announced here at the council. If that's asking too much, then I'll take it from the rep and announce it myself. But I'm just trying to... There is a schedule of regular meetings on the website when you can go to any zoning board meeting. And when I post agendas on Friday, emails go to over 100 people. they go on the website and the board back here by OMA regulations. Do we have a time on that? On the town hall? Yeah. No. That will be announced tomorrow. It will be published on the website tomorrow. Okay. We're just finalizing some details today. Thank you. I have nothing. Alderman Sanders? One request and recommendation that I'd like to propose to council that we get behind senior citizens within our city and create a program that will allow us or them if they're a certain age can't get before they get out of their house because of massive snow like we have today. I don't know if they have a sign-up program where they can call in and say that they need to get out because in the case of emergencies, you have elderly stuck in the home. They can't get out on the sidewalks and things of that nature, even onto the vehicles. I was just wondering if there's a program that we can put together that will allow them to call in or because you have to be a certain age that you can't get out and physically get and I. I was out there in the snow like today was. You know, I saw older people out trying to mask that snow, trying to get as much as they can out. But you know how snow is, it can affect their health in trying to remove snow. So I was just wondering if we can make, we can adopt something, put something together to allow them to be able to call in and ask for a little help. That's all I have to say. Alderman Sellers. I have nothing. Thank you. It leads us to public comments, agenda or non-agenda. My name is Marcus Signer. I've been here my whole life. A lot of things have changed. I had a question. Something happened today and I have a real real concern on it. I was wondering on it. Um, I was wondering, you're a lieutenant and everything is, what's your schedule working at the police station? They can't answer questions. This is comments only. Okay. So I can't ask Stacy a question because I feel she was the only one who will actually answer the question. Well, this is not a forum for questions. This is a forum. Well, all I have to say is today I got threatened for my life. Uh, individual got a shovel while I was on a property, um, removing snow, called the police. Police came. Basically, the guy, police officer was a straight mean person to me. I had other witnesses there that said they seen this individual hit my truck with a shovel. I showed the officer the trail of my truck where I wasn't going towards him. I was going the opposite way so he can't try to say that was the excuse for hitting my vehicle. So, I had one of his officers there, basically went up to the guy, basically, hey, put in no trespassing on him. So then he can't even do the property that he has a contract on. When I was the victim today, there wasn't no arrest, there was nothing done. What they do with me, if someone was assaulting me, they wouldn't even be arrested that day. I have a problem with Freeport police, like they target me. When I call them, they won't help me. All they would do is say, we'll do a police report, we'll send it to Carl Larson. Carl Larson is friends with also Steve Stovall who said he was going to harm me and when he sees me on a four wheeler he was going to harm me. So Carl Larson I feel is really close to certain individuals. That's why we're not getting the right justice here. If I was to threaten somebody today, I would be arrested like this. There wouldn't be no can we send the paperwork to Carl Larson to see if there's enough evidence. Like, what is it gonna take? And then all that happens is if I call the police and say someone did something to me, the police will write it up like he wants to press charges on me for something I never did just for calling for help. That's crazy to me. That's crazy to me. And Carl Larson is number one in charge, and he's friends with Steve Stovall, who threatened me. Of course he ain't gonna like me. He still affiliates with them. And I come here to say, too. My worry right now is if Thurman gets in there, I'm definitely screwed. They will put me under the bus and put false stuff on me. Thurman is real, real close to Steve Stovall. So if they are colleagues together, you think I have a shot at real justice? No. It's a setup. And I learned in this city, we can all come to about safety and all this. How can we do safety when law enforcement is threatening us? They're the one who's supposed to serve and protect. We can't do nothing because it's up to Carl Larson, and Carl Larson will not do a damn thing about it if it has something with law enforcement. Sir, your time's up. Three minutes, thank you. Anyone else? I would take a motion for adjournment. So move. Second. Motion by Sellers, second by Johnson. All in favor?