City Council - Regular Meeting

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES, AUGUST 25, 2026. MAY, JUNE, AND JULY 2026 FINANCIAL REPORTS. Approvals. Payroll total for 8-28-2026 in the amount of $1,199,033.16. The accounts payable total for September 8th council meeting in the amount of $3,950,995.30. City Council Minutes, August 17th, 2026. City Council Executive Session Minutes, August 3rd, 2026 for personnel and August 17th, 2026 for litigation. Resolution 2026-95-R, authorizing intervention in proceedings before the Kane and DuPage County Boards of Review and Illinois Property Tax Appeal Boards. Resolution 2026-96-R, authorization to purchase a new Falcon asphalt patch trailer from Midwest Paving Equipment, Inc. of Glen Ellen, Illinois, for an amount not to exceed $45,774. Resolution 2026-94-R, authorization to execute a contract with Electric Conduit Company to perform directional boring at 702 Branson Drive. Resolution 2026-97-R, Authorization Execution of Contract for the Demolition, Backfilling, Grading and Seeding of the Building Site 330-338 Webster Street with Fox Excavating, Inc. of Batavia, Illinois. Ordinance 2026-39, Certificate of Appropriateness for Building Demolition at 14 to 18 North Batavia Avenue. Ordinance 2026-40, Conditional Use Permit for Massage Establishment at 8 North River Street. Ordinance 2026-41, Sale of Surplus Property. Your Honor, I move we accept the consent agenda as read.

Second. Motion and second for the acceptance of the consent agenda as read. Any discussion? Clerk, call the roll.

Barron. Aye. Lehman. Aye. Lohman. Aye. Pieper.

Aye.

Anderson.

Aye.

White.

Aye.

Barraza. Aye. Thank you. Lancey.

Aye.

Beck. Aye. Millay. Aye. Malone.

Aye.

Wolfe. Aye. Solfa. Aye. 13 yes, no, no, 1 absent.

Motion is approved. all right moving then to item number eight the chamber of commerce report all right good evening everyone thank you mayor thank you for letting me give a chamber update today

I'D LIKE TO BEGIN BY WELCOMING OUR NEWEST CHAMBER MEMBERS, FAIRLESS LIVING YOGA AND WELLNESS, GOOD ENERGY WOMEN'S HEALTH, SENIOR SOURCE SENIOR LIVING ADVISORS, COUNTRY FINANCIAL WITH TYLER KLEIN, STAY PAST PROFESSIONAL, TOUCHING HEARTS AT HOME, HARMONY BLOOM ESTATES AT KELLER WILLIAMS INSPIRE, MAINE AND MINI, AFLAC, West Suburbs, Gerber Collision and Glass, and Net Cash Pro. So quite a lot of members joining the chamber. We look forward to helping all these businesses build connections and increase their visibility and discover new ways to contribute to our community. August was another active month for the chamber. Along with our regular events, we celebrated six ribbon cuttings and coordinated the Batavia Women in Business Multi-Chamber Progressive Luncheon on August 13th. On that event, we partnered with 20 other chambers and welcomed approximately 180 attendees. Many participants have told us that this event that we coordinate is their favorite networking event of the year. I also join Michael Kassa, the President of the King County Economic Development Corporation, and Bill Pelico, the Director of the Illinois Accelerator Research Center at Fermilab, in welcoming Morgan Evans, the Senior Government Affairs Associate from Governor Pritzker's office. We introduced Megan to Fermilab's proposed electronic beam technology hub, and provided a tour of the of the piece of equipment. This initiative has tremendous potential to connect Batavia's groundbreaking research with private industry, creating opportunities for commercialization, business growth, job creation, environmental solutions, and new investment in our region. So we are happy to be a part of that. Another important activity in August was our annual board of directors retreat. Our board took a thoughtful look at where the chamber is today and where we wanna go in the next three years. We established goals in five key areas, membership, business support and advocacy, programs and education, visibility, community leadership and partnerships. We currently have 549 members, putting us just one away from our goal that we set years ago. But 10 years ago, we were probably just at about 300 members. So a tremendous growth, which we're really happy about. But we know it's not just focusing on a single number. We want to strengthen member engagement and retention and ensure that our businesses understand and take advantage of the resources available to them. We'll continue expanding our advocacy and our business support efforts so that the experiences and concerns of local businesses are heard. We also want to continue to provide relevant educational programming that responds to the issues employers are facing today, including workforce challenges, leadership development, technology and the rapidly changing business environment. Increasingly, the visibility of our members remains a major priority. Through ribbon cuttings, events, digital promotion, our community guide, and programs such as Chamber Bucks, we want to help residents discover and support the businesses that serve Batavia. Finally, we will continue to strengthen our relationships with our local civic partners, Waubonsee Community College, Fermilab, neighboring chambers, and other regional organizations. So we're looking forward to a good plan, a good plan for the chamber. September is shaping up to be just as busy. Earlier this evening, we celebrated a ribbon cutting for Valley Shelter Workshop, VSW's Life Learner University at Fox Valley Christian Church. Tomorrow morning, we will host a Coffee and Commerce at the Callahan Community Center. At noon, we will celebrate a ribbon cutting for the lucky one, Speech, Language, and Learning. On September 15th, we'll host a multi-chamber webinar titled, 10 Social Media Facts Every Small Business Organization Needs to Know. That's at no charge. Anyone can sign up for that. On September 16th, we have our networking at Sturdy Shelter for our new member showcase. This event gives our newest members an opportunity to introduce themselves and their businesses to the chamber community. So please join us. On September 17th, we have a strong foundation series where we will present a practical human resources workshop for small businesses. The program will help employers build an efficient, compliant, and employee-centered human resources function, even when the entire department consists of just one very busy person. Everybody could gain some knowledge from that. Later that same day, we all celebrated ribbon-cutting for Soul Shine Counseling. Then on September 22nd, we will partner with our chambers throughout the county to present the 2026 State of the Kane County Address at Eagle Brook Country Club. We're taking reservations for that now. So if you would like to register, please go to our website. Kane County Chair Corinne Perog will discuss county priorities and issues affecting our businesses and residents. And she'll have her department head speak as well. On September 24th, we'll host Chamber Membership 101 to help members learn how to make the most out of their chamber membership. And then on September 28th, we will host our Chamber Cheers, a big event that we do each year, a signature event at Sturdy Shelter Brewing. During the celebration, we will present Ellen Huxtable with our Donna Dalla Sassy Award winner. Many of you know Ellen Huxtable. She's been active in the community for a long time. She's been a chamber member for many years. She has volunteered as an ambassador. She facilitates the not-for-profit forum that we host monthly. She facilitates our new senior services business forum. And she consistently gives her time and energy to help all others in the community. So we're so happy to celebrate Ellen as our Donna Dalla Sassi Award winner. We'll also present the Georgene Couth O'Dwyer Ambassador of the Year Award, and we'll recognize longtime members of the chamber with member milestone awards. So it'll be a big night. Come join us. It will be, like I said, a sturdy shelter. And registration, please do that ahead of time on our website. So obviously a lot going on in the chamber. Does anybody have any questions for me before I introduce my guest?

What did you say? What you just listed, how do three people get that?

We do have a very busy calendar. Yes, well, I have a dynamic staff, I'll tell you for sure. That's for sure. So now I'm pleased to introduce my guest from Batavia Rotary Club. You guys may recognize him, Dave Brown, a lifer in Batavia, a longtime resident, and a longtime member of the Batavia Rotary Club, and he's got a lot to tell you.

Thank you, Margaret. You know, it's no wonder when you listen to everything that the Chamber's got going on and you look at what Main Street does around town, it's no wonder this town has turned around the way it has with the help and the cooperation of the City Council. So it's just amazing. But on that note, I'm here tonight to tell you a little bit about what Rotary does and what we have coming up. So thank you, Mayor, City Council, city administrators, staff for having me here tonight. Our club is observing our, we were chartered back in 1948. Rotary was working with the city and our local business community. In fact, we were right there in the very start with the longstanding local traditions like the community fireworks and the annual city toy drive. Christmas toy drive. Our core mission is very straightforward. It is service above self. And we all stand by that, everybody at the Rotary. Just this last year, our members delivered 585 man hours of hands-on community service and provided $53,641 in direct financial support to local organizations. That funding went right back into our community. supporting local organizations like Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry, Mercy Housing, Tri-City Health Partnership, and funding multiple scholarships for students every year. So you might ask, where do you get this $53,000 at? And that's what you have all those brochures laying on your desk in front of you for. It is our annual Rotary Charity Raffle. It used to be known as the Corvette Raffle, but we no longer do the Corvette Raffle due to the fact that Corvettes got way too expensive, way too hard to even tell when they were going to be able to deliver them. So we were very fortunate in getting teamed up with Gerald out of Aurora, Gerald Auto Group. Last year was the first year we didn't do the Corvette, we did a Ford. This year it's a Hyundai. So this is our 38th annual charity raffle. Over its history, this single event has returned more than $1.1 million to local causes. Wrap your head around that, $1.1 million. is what the rotary has done over the years. Tickets are $100 each, and we cap sales at just 1,200 tickets to keep the odds great. The grand prize is $50,000 in cash, or it can be used towards that brand-new vehicle from Gerald Hyundai. Alongside with that is a $1,000 early bird drawing on September 22nd and a $2,000 early bird drawing on October 21st. Now, you might say, geez, I hope I don't win that early bird drawing because then I don't get a chance at the $50,000 or the brand-new Hyundai. Wrong. Your name goes back in for that final drawing. So you'll have a chance again of winning one of $3,000 winners that evening or the $50,000 or the $50,000 towards the brand-new Hyundai. You all have cards that I've left on your seat, and let me just remind you that every single ticket fuels the local grant and scholarship program. Now, $100 is a lot of money for a ticket. I get it. But I would challenge you, as I have done sitting here in the past, to lean over to my fellow aldermen and say, I'll tell you what, I'll split one with you. Maybe grab two of them, maybe grab three of them, and split it that way. Anything you can do helps out. The QR codes are on the cards in front of you. We quit doing paper tickets a couple years ago. Got to keep up with the times. So now everything is done either by hitting the QR code or going by BataviaRotaryCharities.com. Second thing we have to announce tonight is our upcoming trivia night to end polio now. Rotary International has been at the forefront of eradicating polio globally since 1983. And right here in Batavia, our local trivia event raises an average of $20,000 every year for this cause. And every dollar that Batavia raises, the Bill Gates Fund matches $2 for every dollar. So it really adds up to be an awful lot. The evening is at Enticing Cuisine, and the details are on the flyers distributed tonight in front of you, or you can go on BataviaRotaryClub.org to sign up and find out more about it. So again, City Council could get four or five of you together and have a team for the event, and staff could even get together and have four or five of them and challenge City Council to see who can win this thing this year. So it could be a very fun night. If you'd like to learn more about what Batavia Rotary does, you can either go to the website or we invite you to come out to Apple Villa. We meet every Tuesday at 7.30. for breakfast or coffee should you decide to have either one. The meeting starts at eight o'clock and it's no longer past, it does not go a minute past nine o'clock. So you're in and out of there. We have multiple guests over the years, over the months, and they're always very good, informative organizations that we invite in. And that's about it. Does anybody have any questions for me?

Questions for Mr. Brown? I just want to kind of second what he has just said. The Batavia Rotary has been a, I would describe it as a strong community foundation in this town, almost from the moment they started. And they were, many years ago, they were a much smaller organization than they are now. But their heart was always in the right place. And I remember when the started up the toy drive at Christmas time for getting kids toys. The fire department and the rotary were the two that kind of fired the thing up and got it rolling. So, and then there's been other things that I, as I remember it too, in the early days of the fireworks program, the rotary got into that and pushed it on and got everybody to buy a ticket or whatever to make money to help pay for the fireworks. So this group has got a seasoned record of, commitment to our town, which is probably as good as any we've ever had in the entire history of Batavia. So I'm just very pleased that they're here tonight sharing that they're continuing to grow bigger and better and do nice things for this town. And it's just one of the many secret sources of, it's not a secret, but one of the special sources that helps Batavia to continue to grow and be a nice town for everybody to call home or to visit or just be here because we send the right message with the Batavia Rotary. Thank you, Mayor. Anybody else?

Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Moving then we get, are you done with the chamber? Okay, going then to the regular agenda. Item 9.1 is the appointment of Luke Maloney to the Historic Preservation Commission for a three-year term. And I had the honor and opportunity last week to interview Mr. Maloney and I was really impressed with him. He's really got his thought processes rolling and knows what we should be doing to historically preserve a lot of stuff in town, and so I would strongly recommend that you will go ahead and approve his appointment to the Historic Preservation Commission for a three-year period. Somebody want to make a motion?

Yeah, I would move that we appoint Luke Maloney to the Historic Preservation Commission.

Second.

Motion and second. Any further discussion? Kirk, call the roll.

They find out we're neighbors. Hi.

Wolf?

Aye.

Solfa?

Aye.

Barron?

Aye.

Lehman?

Aye.

Lohman? Aye. Pieper? Aye. Anderson? Aye. White?

Aye.

Barraza? Aye. Thank you. Lancy?

Aye.

Beck? Aye. Millay? Aye. 13 yes, no, no, one absent.

Motion's approved. Okay, moving then to item 9.2, proclamation for Childhood cancer awareness fund and do we have somebody in the audience that wants to?

Candy I'm key is that Thank You Marin City Council I'm very excited to receive this on behalf of Northwestern medicine living well cancer resources I'm the operations administrator and we EVERY MONTH IS A TOUGH MONTH, BUT WHEN YOU SEE THE KIDS THAT COME IN THAT GO TO THE PROTON CENTER WHO STAY AT RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE AND THEN THEY'RE THERE, WE OFFER NOT ONLY THEM ART SERVICES, BUT ALSO WE'RE THERE FOR THEIR PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS AS WELL. SO IT WARMS MY HEART, AND THIS IS TRULY MY PASSION, MY DREAM, SO I THANK YOU FOR THE PROCLAMATION AND FOR THE HONOR OF RECEIVING IT.

NEW SPEAKER I'M GOING TO READ THE PROCLAMATION. All right. A proclamation. Whereas cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States, affecting thousands of children and families each year, and whereas September is recognized nationally as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and symbolized by the golden ribbon to honor children and families affected by cancer, remember those who have died and recognize advances in treatment and survivorship, AND WHEREAS A CHILDHOOD CANCER DIAGNOSIS AFFECTS NOT ONLY THE CHILD BUT ALSO THEIR FAMILY, CAREGIVERS, AND COMMUNITY, CREATING EMOTIONAL, PHYSICAL, AND FINANCIAL CHALLENGES. AND WHEREAS NORTHWESTERN MEDICINE LIVINGWELL CANCER RESOURCES WAS FOUNDED IN 2005 BY FOUR TRI-CITY RESIDENTS PERSONALLY AFFECTED BY CANCER WHO SHARED A VISION THAT NO ONE SHOULD FACE CANCER ALONE. AND WHEREAS LIVINGWELL'S STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS PROVIDE FREE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES that encourage, empower, support, and bring hope to individuals with cancer, their families, and caregivers. And whereas observing Childhood Cancer Awareness Month reaffirms our community's commitment to supporting effective families and advancing the search for more effective treatments and cures, now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Jeffrey D. Schilke, Mayor of the City of Batavia, hereby proclaim September 2026 It's Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in Batavia, Illinois, and encourage all residents to raise awareness, show support, and honor the children and families affected by a pediatric cancer, signed Jeffrey D. Schilke, Mayor. Your Honor, I'd make a motion to approve the proclamation as read. Second.

Motion and second for the approval of the proclamation for the Cancer Awareness Month. Anybody have anything further they want to say?

I think this is something that there's a lot of partisan things in the world, but I think this is at least one thing that most people can agree is that cancer sucks, and we should probably find a cure as soon as we can. And it affects everybody.

Said very well.

No further discussion, Nick, or call the roll?

Yes, sir. Salfa? Aye. Barron? Aye. Lehman? Aye. Aye. Lohman? Aye. Pieper? Aye. Anderson?

Aye.

White?

Aye.

Barraza? Aye. Hinkley? Aye. Lancy?

Aye.

Beck? Aye. Malay? Aye. Malone?

Aye.

Wolfe? Aye. 13 yes, no, no, one absent.

This is approved. Okay, moving to nine points.

Should we present it there? Do you want to present the product next to her?

just to come up here. Thank you for all you do.

Prevention Month.

Stephanie Dewinsky, Suicide Prevention Services of America. Welcome and thank you for coming by.

So thank you all for inviting me here to speak again. A lot of times when I talk about my job, people's first thought is typically, isn't your job depressing? And I always say, no. We get to restore hope. We get to help people regardless of their financial background, their religious background, their cultural background. We help people regardless of their ability to pay. We help people no matter how they've been impacted by suicide. We help people. We've been helping people in our community for over 43 years, non-officially as a nonprofit. And officially as a nonprofit, we've been helping people for 28 years. We are the 988 Center for Cain, Kendall, DeKalb, and McHenry and Will Counties picking up over 7,000 calls each year locally through volunteers, through staff, helping people who are in emotional crisis, helping people who feel like this is their last day, for helping people who have had a loved one die by suicide. We help people in the local school districts, ages five and up, through counseling services, through crisis assessments. A lot of times I hear people say, well, kids don't have thoughts of suicide, but between the ages of 12 and 35 even, suicide is the second leading cause of death. And it's something that a lot of times when I go into schools, I hear, my kid can't be saying that. That's not something that my family experiences, but suicide is something that can touch any life. And I know this because suicide has touched my life in many ways. So our organization is founded on a grief survivor, Stephanie Weber, Executive Director of And all of our staff have both lived experience and professional experience as master's level clinicians helping people in the community. We provide support groups for loved ones who have had somebody die by suicide. We have support groups for people who have attempted suicide and for caregivers of those people who have attempted suicide. And we help people regardless, again, of their ability to pay and regardless of sometimes even transportation, seeing people in the schools. So. What I wanna say in closing is that there's so many ways to help people who are having thoughts of suicide or who have had a loved one pass by suicide, but one of the greatest ways is to be able to talk about it like it's any other kind of health issue and it's not something that we only whisper or something we only talk about in September. So I encourage all of you to get to know our organization since we're right on Route 31 in Stone Manor. Anyone is welcome to come visit us and learn more about us. And another way you can get involved is we have on the second Saturday in September, so this upcoming Saturday, September 12th, we have our Here for Life Walk, which is held annually in Pottawatomie Park in St. Charles. The walk begins at 9 a.m., but you can come as early as 8 a.m. to have refreshments and hear some music, decorate pinwheels, and give us your loved one's name who's maybe passed away by suicide to be read during our memorial bubble release. So thank you again for inviting me out to speak.

Thank you. I'm told by my notes here that Alderman Wolfe is going to read the proclamation.

Proclamation, whereas September is recognized as National Suicide Prevention Month to increase awareness of mental health resources and suicide prevention services, and whereas this observance encourages open conversation about mental health, reduces stigma, and connects individuals with support and care, and whereas According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 48,824 people in the United States died by suicide in 2024, making it the nation's 10th leading cause of death. And whereas suicide affects families, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and the wider community, and whereas the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline connects people experiencing suicidal thoughts, emotional distress, or other mental health challenges, with trained counselors 24 hours a day by phone, text, or online chat. And whereas Suicide Prevention Services of America located in Batavia provides crisis support, counseling, education, prevention training, support groups, and community awareness events, And whereas the organization's annual Here for Life Walkathon will be held Saturday, September 20th, or September 12th, 2026 at Pottawatomie Park in St. Charles. And whereas residents are encouraged to support those who may be struggling and recognize mental health issues or wellness as part of essential part of their overall health. Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Jeffrey D. Schelke, Mayor of the City of Batavia, proclaim September 2026 as National Suicide Prevention Month in the City of Batavia and encourage residents to promote awareness, reduce stigma, support those affected by suicide and mental health challenges.

I make a motion to approve it.

I make a motion to approve the proclamation as read.

Second. Second, clerk call the roll.

Wolf? Solfa? Aye. Barron? Aye. Lehman? Aye. Lohman? Aye. Pieper? Aye. Fehrenbach is absent. Anderson?

Aye.

White?

Aye.

Verraza? Aye. Thank you. Lancy?

Aye.

Beck? Aye. Malay?

Aye.

Malone?

Aye.

13 yes, no, no, one absent.

Motion's approved. Now if you come up, I will present you with your proclamation. So thank you very much. Okay, next in order is a proclamation for Emergency Preparedness Month. And I am told that what says on my sheet here that Beth Trendo, ESDA, is... She gets to come up, so do the rest of them.

They're hiding back there. I got a text. Do we have to come up? That's how it works. Okay, I got it. I'll put it on my phone, too. Thank you. Either way. I am sure. All right.

So I'm going to start with what our mission is with the Batavia ESDA. So Batavia Emergency Services and Disaster Agency provides trained volunteer manpower to assist the city in four phases of emergency management, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. To this date, the ESDA has sworn in 17 people. We have one that will... Next week, which will bring us up to 18. Batavia-ESDA has eight response vehicles, which include two light towers and a rehab command van. Functions and activity. So these guys all started in April of 2026, and since then they've participated in... hours of training and team building. In the beginning of this, this was the first time we've done this. So they were very patient in the process and they all stayed. So here they are. Emergency response supports the city across all phases of emergency incidents, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. Members operate on a foundation of a well-trained emergency response team. Batavia Ezder will help people in our community during before, during, and after emergencies and disasters. Community preparedness encourages residents to be prepared often by promoting classes in the area like CPR and first aid that the fire department hosts every month. And emergency and disaster preparedness for adults, children, and houses of worship and businesses. We had a class this last week. 30 people came, which is good because we had 30 seats for the class. So we had 30 people come and do a preparedness class. That means we have 30 more people that are going to help us be more resilient if a disaster was to happen here. The things we can help with is planned events. We could be requested for various events around the city for various functions during planned events, such as the 4th of July, Windmill City Fest, Batavia High School Homecoming Parade, Batfest, National Night Out, and the Farmer's Market, which we've done all of those. We are going to be doing the parade here pretty soon. And then we also can go out on calls if the police or fire need help with traffic control, road closures, power lines down. hazardous material perimeter safety. We do not respond to hazardous materials. We're not trained to do that, but we are trained to protect the perimeter so that people don't get into where the hazardous materials are. Lighting for major accidents, lighting for fires, weather spotting, and weather monitoring. And we've got a lot of practice in weather spotting and weather monitoring this winter, summer. So some of our disaster services, and these are all of these things, just about all of these things, they have been already trained in. So they have all taken a class in damage assessment. So right after a disaster, a couple days after, you want to send teams out to find out and assess the damage that's out there, and then it gets reported back to our GIS, and then it goes to the county in the state if it's needed to. Resource management and logistics, severe weather spotting, scene lighting, road closures. We are doing a shelter class this winter. Multi-agency resource centers, volunteer management, donation management, points of distribution. That would mean like if we had, and I hate to say these words, we had a boil order and we needed to get water and to hand out to people cases of water. would be a point of distribution is a place that all that would be set up and we could go and help manage that and hand out the water. So family assistance centers, EOC, that's our emergency operations center support, command post support, and emergency communications. So what I want to say about this group of people is these are really good people. I am really happy to have them as part of this team. They genuinely care about this community, and they genuinely want to be trained to help the people that live here in emergencies and disasters. So they are a really good group of people. We had a meet and greet with some of the administration recently, and the night before, had them all come in and clean out the garage so we have a clean floor, the vehicles washed. I went upstairs in the loft to get something, and we had a river, not a river, a lake up there. Now that's an exaggeration, but it felt like that in that instance. and trying to figure out where all that water came from. And these guys just came up, and they didn't even think about it, lifting boxes up off the floor that were wet and helping cleaning up, sweeping it down below so we could get rid of it. And nobody complained about it, and then we just went on with the rest of our jobs.

And they're willing to do in the future to be trained to be able to help in a disaster.

I have it on my notes here that Alderwoman Barron will read the proclamations.

Thank you, Your Honor. Proclamation. Whereas emergencies, disasters can occur unexpectedly, posing significant threats to life, property, and the environment, and preparedness is a shared responsibility among individuals, families, businesses, community organization, first responders, volunteers, and government. And whereas the roots of emergency preparedness in Batavia date to the civil defense era of the 1950s, when local volunteers help prepare the community through warning systems, public education, civil defense activities, and other preparedness efforts. And whereas, following the passage of the Illinois Emergency Services and Disaster Agency Act of 1975, the City of Batavia formally established its Emergency Services and Disaster Agency, ESDA, on January 13th, 1976, Transitioning from a former civil defense structure to an all-hazards emergency management organization focused on mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. And whereas in 2026 Batavia marks 50 years of ESDA service to the community, And today, Batavia, as does 17 sworn volunteer members, train throughout the year to support the city during emergencies and disasters, participating in more than 100 hours of training and team building since April 2026. And whereas Batavia ESDA supports the community through severe weather spotting and monitoring, emergency communications, traffic control and road closures, scene lighting, damage assessment, shelter operations, resource and logistics management, emergency operations center and command post support, and other critical emergency services. And whereas Batavia ESDA also works to strengthen community preparedness by encouraging residents, businesses, house of worship, and community organizations to learn emergency and disaster preparedness and life-saving skills such as CPR and first aid. And whereas Emergency Preparedness Month provides an opportunity for all residents to understand the emergencies that could affect them, make and practice an emergency plan, assemble necessary supplies, know how to receive emergency information, and be prepared to help their families, neighbors, and community. Now, therefore, I be resolved that I, Jeffrey D. Schelke, Mayor of the City of Batavia, hereby proclaim September 2026 as Emergency Preparedness Month in Batavia, Illinois. Batavia and encourage all residents to take steps to prepare themselves, their families, homes and businesses for emergencies and disasters by making a plan, building emergency supply kit, staying informed and learning about available resources. I further recognize the members of the Batavia ESDA are first responders, city staff, community partners, and volunteers who year-round commitment to preparedness help make Batavia a safer and more resilient community. I move we accept the proclamation as read.

Second.

Motion and second. Any discussion? Kirk, call the roll.

Barron?

Aye.

Lehman? Aye. Lohman? Aye. Keeper? Aye. Anderson?

Aye.

White? Aye.

Barraza? Aye. Thank you. Nancy? Aye. Beck? Aye. Malay? Aye. Malone?

Aye. Wolf? Aye.

Solfa? Aye. 13 yes, no no, 1 absent.

So can I have all of you kind of come up here and stand in front of my desk and we'll hold it up over my head or something? Just leave a hole so I can show off. All right, now we're gonna have a special moment, a presentation of a hometown history video, and Dan Hofer from the Batavia Historical Society is here to narrate it or introduce it or tell us about it, so.

Calling up my lovely assistant here to. Get that ready. Hello, I'm Dan Hofler. I'm president of the Historical Society here in Batavia. And, you know, we've been around town for quite a while, and we do a lot of projects. And we just finished one over the past year and a half, and that's the historic signs, so people can take a walking tour of the places and the people and the events that have taken place in our history here. We've just finished a video and it will be made available to the city to community organizations to the library to the schools and it's called hometown history and It came about because there's a gentleman in town by the name of Steven Perot who owns a production company and he came to myself and Kate Garrett and we had a conversation and And we said, this is a great idea. The cost was absolutely perfect. We could afford it. And so for the past six months, we've been putting together through the resources of the Historical Society and the Depot Museum, a hometown history video. Tomorrow is the world premiere. And we invite you to join us at the library. Six o'clock, the video will start about 6.15, 6.20. You then will have an opportunity to have questions and answers as presented by Steve. And it's about 25, 26 minutes long. And here is a short clip to preview it.

I'm Stephen Perreault, and you're watching Hometown History, a program about the history of America that's around you, right in your backyard, in your hometown. Today, I'm in Batavia, Illinois, standing on an empty lot, once the site of today's museum visit.

But before the building that once stood here became a museum, it had to be moved nine blocks across town. That was in the 1970s, when this town decided it was time to establish a museum to commemorate its history.

To me, Batavia is the perfect starting point for our hometown history coverage because this is my hometown. Behind me is the Batavia Depot Museum, the building that was moved a half mile intact to be established here by the Fox River. It's a small town museum that, like so many museums in cities and towns across America, presents an overview of what has been important to the success of this community. The industries, technologies, values, and people that were instrumental in helping this town to thrive and evolve.

Here in Batavia, those industries are wagons, windmills, limestone, and rail. The last is maybe most important, because without the transportation brought by rail, none of the other industries could grow. In fact, Chicago is just 50 miles away, and railroads around Chicago in the mid-19th century were essential to the growth of America overall, and Batavia, Illinois tells part of that story.

That's a short preview. We invite you to join us tomorrow evening at the library starting at 6 o'clock. We promise to have you out of there by 7.30. I also invite you to join the Historical Society as well. That's important to us as we need to continue to grow. I wish we had Margaret as a member because she sure knows how to get members. Maybe we should call it the Batavia History Chamber. Of commerce. Well, I don't know. Join us. We've got a lot of great programs going on during the year. One of our next things that Kate's doing with the museum is an underground museum history tour, and I know she's speaking at Sidecar Supper Club next Monday about this very topic. It's one that... is very important to Batavia as we talk about freedoms in this nation and the liberties that we enjoy. We've got a great staff at the museum. Our director Kate is wonderful. Our curator is just absolutely fabulous. She won a state award last year for her efforts as curating. We're also completing a huge digitation and collections project so that our materials that are in storage and on file will be made available for generations of Batavians to come and for people to see our history. So we invite you to join us tomorrow at the library, 6 p.m. Thank you. Thank you, Laura.

Okay, moving on the agenda to item 10. It's item 10.1 is the administrator's report.

Laura.

Thank you very much, Your Honor. I'd like to report that staff has worked with the communications department to put out additional information about the data center and what the next steps and remaining input opportunities that exist there. as well as the opportunity for the public to ask questions and have those answered. And if they're unique questions that aren't already a part of our frequently asked questions, we will add that information so that others can learn from those questions as well. We had a great farmer's market this past weekend. I want to thank all of the city council members who participated in coming to the City of Batavia tent to interact with and engage with the visitors to the farmer's market and hand out sweet treats of Von Lahr's apple cider donuts. Those went very fast and they were liked by patrons of the farmer's market and bees alike. Got a little protein with your donut. To my knowledge, no one was stung, so that's a good thing. But we also had a special presentation from Congressman Raja Krishnamurti, who was there to celebrate the fact that his office was able to secure a $1.2 million grant for community project funding in this next federal budget that the city can put towards extending the bike path. east side of the wastewater treatment plant on the West Bank. It's not all of the funding that we need, but it certainly will assist us in getting to where we need in order to restore that important connection. Also today launched the new, the Parkway Tree Program. And this year we have, it's one of the other processes that we're putting online. So we're utilizing our LAMA application in order to take orders for that. Parkway Tree Program. And then also another thing that we have put online is the Downtown Enhancement Grant that went live over this past weekend in the city's permanent application portal. This is part of community and economic development's efforts to get more applications and documents available electronically to the community rather than through paper applications. We've already met with several business owners that have expressed an interest in this year's application cycle. We also received notification from IPBC, this is our shared risk pool medical insurance carrier, that the city has received $37,500 for our participation in the 2025-2026 wellness initiative. It's a Tier D. There are several elements that the city needs to satisfy in order to gain access to THESE FUNDS AND IT IS VOLUNTARY FOR ALL OF THE ENTITIES BUT ALLOWS FOR AN ENTITY TO RECEIVE AN INCENTIVE BY COMPLETING WELL-BEING ACTIVITIES AND ENSURING MAJORITY PARTICIPATION. OUR TIER D places Batavia in the top 11% of all of the IPBC entities for our wellness incentive program. So I really want to give a shout out to Wendy and her team because she does an excellent job of creating the programs and then consistently coming up with creative new ways to do things so that it encourages employee participation. In public works, we're near the finish line on lead service replacements. We have about 100 left to do out of over a thousand that needed to be completed. And we wanted to let people know this year, we're just about out of the high traffic areas of IDOT roadways and Wilson Street. The only, we may have some short-term lane closures and that's just due to a restoration that's needed. And then finally, well, not finally, second to last, I wanted to share that Officer Ed Handel retired on Wednesday, September 2nd, and he is one of our people who does not like a lot of public praise put on him. But I think it's really important that we celebrate his 28-year life. CAREER. HE SERVED OUR COMMUNITY IN MANY ROLES, INCLUDING LONG TIME ILEAS MOBILE FIELD FORCE MEMBER, FIELD TRAINING OFFICER, JUVENILE DETECTIVE, GENERAL CASE DETECTIVE, SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER, AND OFFICER IN CHARGE. HE ALSO DEDICATED YEARS OF SERVICE TO HIS FELLOW OFFICERS AS UNION BOARD PRESIDENT. He served as a Batavia police officer for 28 years, and he earned dozens of letters of commendation and recognition for his exemplary work. He's also a two-time recipient of the Department Lifesaving Award, both in 2017 and 2020. So we just really want to congratulate him on his 28 years of dedicated service to our community and on his well-earned retirement. The last thing that I wanted to share was about the Text a Physician program. And I've got something that I wanted to bring up on the screen, if that works.

There we go. Okay. See if I can make this a little bit larger.

Okay, as some people may have heard, the city is considering a text of physician program that would provide coverage for all of the residents of the city of Batavia for a $9 per month fee that would be billed through the utility billing. and people would have an opportunity if they did not want this to opt out. In order to make a more informed decision about the program, the company is allowing all residents to sign up for free for right now, because what they want is feedback about whether people find it useful or not. And so you can use this program, the number is right here or the QR code, and it allows for you to contact a physician, an Illinois licensed physician, and for run of the mill medical conditions, things that don't require you to see a doctor or go to an emergency room. They are able to communicate with you via text message. You text the number and they will return text to you in approximately two minutes and talk to you about your symptoms. And if you need medication, they are able to give you a prescription and they will even help you find the lowest cost for that prescription in our area. Am I leaving anything out, Wendy? No. So we encourage people to sign up for this and use it while it's free. And then also to provide feedback either to myself or to Wendy or to your elected officials on what your thoughts are on this program. The intent of it is to assist members of our community, especially those who are uninsured or underinsured, to have greater ability to have a low-cost option for physician care. Thank you. And if anybody has any questions, Alderperson Barron?

Thank you, Laura. Has the city considered maybe having an open house for residents to come and express concern, learn a little bit more directly as opposed to anything that's out in the Wild West? I think with something like this that affects all residents, I think that would be a great outreach. And I think that that would be an important thing. to offer and maybe not just one, but maybe two as we're going for this. So that also provides us an opportunity to get a little bit of feedback as council people from residents out there on what their thoughts are. Sure. We would be happy to do that. Wendy?

I was going to say, We are on September 19th going to be at the farmer's market. The HR team as well as the community engagement associates from TAP just talk to the community. But we can definitely talk about a different venue, whether it's here, do something in addition to that within the weeks leading up to when it comes back before the council on the 29th.

I mean, I think if other older people think that that would be beneficial, I think at least having it in here in this type of atmosphere and maybe even at the library during the day for the older people that may need to do that. I just think with this type of thing, that's the type of outreach that we really need to be doing.

That's good. To add to Jen's comment, thank you for that, Jen. I think the homestead would also be a great place to have this type of survey. And I was going to ask you, is the city going to post this on our socials and blast it out and include it in our newsletter?

I would have to speak with them. We could definitely post it probably on our site. Go from there.

Get the word out more.

Thanks.

Alderperson Lehman. Thank you. Oh, I'm sorry.

Yeah, no, I just wasn't here for the initial discussion on this, and I didn't have a chance to really go back. Was there numbers discussed as far as, I didn't, like, do we have a large under or non-insured population here in Batavia? And if so, what is that number? To me, it should be an opt-in program, but that is a whole other discussion. Sure.

The reason why, it's sort of a financial model. As you can imagine, they have to hire. If only the 100 sickest people in our community sign up, it doesn't pay for Illinois-based MDs. TO BE WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO TEXT MESSAGE THEM. THEY SAID THAT THEY'RE TYPICALLY IN CITIES THAT DO THIS, THEY GET ABOUT A 70% THAT STAY IN AND ABOUT 30% WHO OPT OUT AND THAT STILL WORKS FOR THEM. ALGONQUIN HAS BEEN SIGNED UP WITH TAP SINCE OCTOBER OF LAST YEAR AND RIGHT NOW THE CITIES OF AURORA, GENEVA AND ST. CHARLES ARE ALL ALSO CONSIDERING TAP FOR THEIR COMMUNITIES.

WE HAVE AROUND 100 UNDERINSURED OR NONINSURED?

NO. I'M SURE THAT WE HAVE MANY, MANY MORE. AND WHAT HAS BEEN A TREND IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR IS TO RAISE THE DEDUCTIBLES. SO THIS WOULD OFFER AN OPPORTUNITY INSTEAD OF HAVING TO GO TO A $200 DEDUCTIBLE doctor appointment, you would be able to text the physician, you're paying $9 per month. You could have this be your first sort of, your first measure. And also it is- I already have it.

And like a lot of people already have this. So that's where I'm, I gotta dig into it more.

Oh, so you might be thinking of telehealth. you or the insurance company still gets charged the $200 for that appointment. This, you wouldn't have the $200 appointment. And it was started by a physician who recognized the need working in the emergency room and seeing people who had they had an opportunity to contact a physician when their illness was minor. they would never have ended up in the emergency room. And then they have to hand them the $2,000 bill in the emergency room for the treatments.

Our health care system is a totally different ballgame.

And this is separate and apart from insurance. So it's simply a matter of being able to save you time and save a lot of people money that they otherwise spend.

I just get concerned with our community. We had some people up in arms about a couple bucks on garbage stickers, so I just think that.

So the interesting thing about this, I like to compare it to brush pickup.

But I know it's an opt-out, but you still need to opt out of it. It's still an action item.

I like to compare it to brush pickup. Whether you use brush pickup or not, you pay for it if you live in the city of Batavia, and you don't have an option to opt out. This you do.

Yeah, brush pickup, I don't think, equates to this, but yeah.

And then also garbage pickup. You know, we heard from a lot of people who say, I never put anything out at the curb, or I put one bag out per month, and still we made them get a toter, and there's no opt-out at that program, just to have the service available for the community-wide. garbage companies not this is this is i think a little different than that oh it is coming from but they have to be able to pay for the um it's you know it's it's not just telemarketing on the other side of it or web md it's a physician that you're talking to so they have to have the ability to pay for it yeah you gotta take it from other people Yes. I'm assuming we're going to talk about this at a future committee meeting again? September 29th.

Okay, thank you. And so is the free while your city decides, is that up until our September 29th meeting, or if we decide? Beyond if we need it.

If we need it. It's up there until the implementation date. Okay.

Okay, thank you. And then, well, never mind, we're going to talk about it at a committee meeting, so I'll hold my thoughts.

The only thing I would say is if anybody's listening at home or is in the audience and you do use it, please do reach out to the other people. To be fully transparent, I'm absolutely on the fence. I think a firm push could push me one way or the other. So I really do want to hear from people one way or the other. So please reach out to me, at least to me. I hope the other older people are the same way. So I want to reiterate that. I'll second that.

The other thing I'll just add is that if a resident does not necessarily feel comfortable reaching out to an older person because they don't want to share that they reached out for care, once you complete, they'll send you a survey through that text piece of it. And if you respond, that data will be collected and TAP will be able to provide us that information by the September 29th meeting.

All of us can try it. you know, and see what we think about it. I mean, I just think of, okay, if I feel like I have a sinus infection, do I want to go sit in the emergency room or would I rather text somebody on my phone and have them give me a prescription?

Or especially for kids, too, you know, if, you know, you want to not have to make the appointment and take your child in and, you know, all of that, and you just want to go pick up a prescription for them, it could be very helpful.

The only other thing, sorry, I would just say, I know we're going to talk about the 729th. I just want to be clear that this is not a replacement for health insurance. I think a lot of people automatically say, well, I have health insurance, so why would I need something like this? This is a complement to what you have. And I will say, for example, we are providing it to our employees, which have very good health insurance. This is just in addition to not only is there a potential cost savings to that individual, a time savings to that individual, immediate care when you're on vacation, immediate care wherever. It's a complement to those general everyday types of issues that you may have that you would prefer not to sit in urgent care or trying to get into a doctor nowadays can sometimes be difficult.

Anybody else?

Thank you very much.

Okay, moving then to 10.2. Any of the aldermen have any other business you'd like to bring up?

All right, then going to 10.3, the mayor's report.

I'll keep this short. As you know, I serve as chairman of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning's Council of Mayors downtown, and we're in the old post office building that if you drive in On the Eisenhower, it's the thing you pass there, and it used to be kind of a dumping-looking building. Well, some folks have bought it, and it's phenomenally nice in there now. They've got a roof on the thing that's got a big park up there, and they've got golf areas, and they've got tennis, and they've got all kinds of neat stuff. But what I wanted to share with you is at CMAP, we try to keep an eye on what's happening in the region, what towns are really going and which towns are struggling. And I just want to share that Batavia is probably in the top 10 in the region now as far as a place that people wanting to move to and are saying nice things about. And we are probably one of the leaders in the suburbs as far as where people want to go. And so they're now analyzing what are those reasons? Because we need to share those reasons with others. And one of the big ones that pops right up is the quality of the school system. And that one obviously gets another shot in the arm with the success of our sports teams. And so I talked to a realtor today that was telling me at their office, they have had two different people walk in in the last three weeks wanted to buy a house in Batavia so they could get their kids into the high school sports program. So there's a lot of good reasons why stuff is coming about to us. And if you put together all the numbers that this number changes probably every day, but going back to 2022, when we opened up the attached townhomes out there on Kirk Road, just right in front of Fermilab, Those sold phenomenally fast, and I think that's 247 units out there by itself. But now we've had several other subdivisions, and the most recent one that's booming is the old Furnace Electric property on Van Nortrick at Wilson Street. And then we've had the new building built right across the street from the Catholic Church, which is kind of a an apartment complex in some reality, but there's places where you can get different things in the apartment and it's all kinds of goods. And I'm told that one's totally full. So we've got some really interesting housing things happening here. And if you add them all up, and this number will change every day, but between 2022 and the end of 2026, we will probably have added nearly a thousand new living units to the community of Batavia. And you should take some pride in that because there's a lot of cities that are having decreasing living units in them. They're sitting there empty or people don't want to move in or whatever have you. So we're doing something right in Batavia. And we give the credit to the city council for your watch over actions and your ideas about what we can and cannot do and the way we debate certain issues at the city council. And we always seem to come out kind of in the right direction. So let's keep the good work running. But I just wanted to let you know that others in the region are watching us with great interest because they want to see if they can borrow some of our ideas and put them out on the street for other towns to understand. One of the things they are doing at CMAP is they are trying to identify probably the top 100 scenes or businesses or buildings or whatever in the greater Chicago area that people find of interest and like and whatever have you. And so they've been flying airplanes over all the towns looking, they knew what they were going to see, but one of them that they've now put a temporary display up in the lobby up in Chicago of things that they think they're going to make into a permanent, big attraction showing all the good things that are happening in the suburban area. One of the things that got photographed and is hanging on the wall in Chicago right now is the peace bridge. And they think that's just a great idea and the way that with the sign on top of it and the story behind it, that that's just something that a lot of people are very interested in. And so, uh, we have a lot to be very, very proud of. So, uh, we don't seem to be shy for people coming in and wanting to see things and see nice things and know what's going on. And we haven't, we didn't start out that as I remember, I've been here a long time, as you know, that we were going to put this together as a program, but it really, really have the actions of this council really have made Batavia a place to shine and one that people want to come and see. And many of them, once they see it, they want to live here. So, IT'S A GOOD THING FOR OUR TOWN, AND I'M VERY PROUD THAT WE ARE IN THAT TYPE OF A SITUATION THAT'S BEEN CREATED. SO ENOUGH FROM ME. WE DO NEED A MOTION FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR PURPOSES OF DISCUSSING THE LITIGATION. I'LL MOVE. SECOND. I'LL CALL THE ROLL, I GUESS.

Barron? Aye. Lehman? Aye. Lohman? Aye. Pieper? Aye. Anderson? Aye. White?

Aye.

Barraza? Aye. Lanky? Aye. Lancy?

Aye.

Beck?

Aye.

Malay? Aye. Malone?

Aye.

Wolk?

No.

12 yes, one no, one absence.

All right, we're going to take about a three or four minute recess here and then we'll, because obviously this is an executive session so that we can't have any audience at the meeting. SO WE'LL GIVE YOU TIME TO LEAVE, AND WE'LL RESUME AT PROBABLY ABOUT...