City Council - Regular Meeting

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We'll call a regular meeting of the Elgin City Council for the Committee of the Whole for August 26, 2026 to order. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Members Alfaro? Here. Dixon?

Present. Good. Here.

Martinez? Here. Ortiz?

Here.

Powell? Here. Stethen? Here. Thorne?

Here.

Mayor Captain?

Here. Approval of the minutes of the meeting of August 5th, the special meeting. So moved. Second. Second. It's been moved and seconded for approval. Any discussion?

Hearing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Okay, I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to mention, I know I didn't attend this meeting, but I did send my notes, and I believe staff had passed out notes. my proposed initiatives. So can we make a note of that under the 2027 proposed initiatives that my initiatives were shared with the council? Yes. Okay. Perfect. Thank you. Okay.

Anything else? Okay. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council members Alfaro? Abstain. Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez? Here. Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell? Yes. Stephan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor-Captain?

Yes. The motion is approved 8-0 with one abstention. Approval of the minutes of the meeting of August 12th.

So moved.

Moved and seconded for approval. Any corrections or additions? Hearing none, clerk please call the roll.

Councilmember Zalparo? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Good. Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell? Yes. Steffen? Yes. Thorne?

Okay.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motion's approved 8-0 with one abstention. Brings us to the portion where we allow public comment. We have a few people signed up this evening. First one is Matthew Way.

Hello, good evening, mayor, captain, council members. My name is Matthew Way. I am an Elgin resident, a homeowner, and a taxpayer. I'm also a local performing artist known professionally as DJ Way. My musical background includes two degrees from the Juilliard School in classical double bass performance, international touring experience, professional orchestral appointments, in more than two decades as a DJ, a path that I began while training at Juilliard. I'm here tonight to raise a concern prompted by Nightmare on Chicago Street, but one that I believe speaks more broadly to how Elgin defines, supports, and showcases its own creative community. Let me start by saying that Nightmare is an incredible event, which I have attended every year since 2022. It brings thousands of visitors to Elgin, showcases our downtown, supports businesses and creates a unique experience that has become part of our community's identity. The Cultural Arts and Special Events Department has done an admirable job engaging actors, specialty performers, designers, set designers, visual artists, to help create this unique nightmare experience. Those creative pathways are visible. What is less clear is whether musicians and DJs and other artists that perform on musical instruments have a similar visible pathway into municipal events. Nightmare is not only something people see, it is something people hear. The actors, sets, costumes, specialty performances, and visual artists create the world guests walk through. Music creates the soundscape of that world, the atmosphere, the energy, the identity that guests hear and feel while they're in attendance. Nightmare attracts visitors from well beyond Elgin. For many guests, it's one of their most visible and oftentimes their only experiences to engage our city and its downtown. We have an opportunity here to showcase what Elgin looks like through our visual artists and performers, but also what Elgin sounds like through our musicians. When visitors leave a municipal sponsored event, do we want them to remember the full breadth of Elgin's creative community? Not only for what Elgin looks like, but what Elgin sounds like. My request is simple, but in five questions. And I respectfully ask council members to inquire with the Cultural Arts and Events Department about whether these opportunities for Elgin-based musicians are being provided with the same intentionality that appears to exist for actors, visual artists, and other creative contributors. To that end, I respectfully ask council members to help clarify the following, and I have five points that I would like to share. One, does the municipality have a policy, vision, or strategic goal regarding support of Elgin-based artists and performers, including musicians? 2. Does the municipality view major events as an opportunity to showcase Elgin's artists to outside visitors? And if so, what role should municipal sponsored events play in developing Elgin's creative economy and cultural identity? 3. How does the municipality define local when discussing artists, performers, vendors, and creative talent? 4. When balancing national, regional, and Elgin-based talent, what principles guide those decisions, and what process exists for Elgin-based musicians to be considered? And five, how is success measured in the cultural arts and special events department, particularly as it relates to local artist participation, community representation, and creative economic development? I thank you all for your time and your consideration, but most importantly, your curiosity. And I certainly hope you'll take these requests seriously. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Jesse Cain?

Mayor, one quick follow-up. Thank you, Matthew, for coming forward. I, too, have asked similar questions of our staff regarding, because I've been, I think, to just about every nightmare on Chicago Street since it started. I'm a big supporter of it, a big fan, and I, too, have inquired about how local artists uh... musical artists and dj's can participate uh... in the event don't necessarily agree with the feedback that i got from staff so i would ask our city manager i think you laid it out really well i think that's something we need to weigh in on as a council our policy not only for the musical artist but this spans uh... I THINK AROUND SPECIAL EVENTS, PERIOD, WE GET A LOT OF FEEDBACK FROM LOCAL VENDORS THAT FEEL LIKE THEY'RE LEFT OUT OF THE PROCESS FOR PARTICIPATING IN SPECIAL EVENTS. BEING ABLE TO GIVE THEM A LEVEL OF PREFERENCE, BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S TOO MUCH TO ASK THAT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE SOME LOCAL DJs OR SOME LOCAL MUSICIANS FEATURED DURING NIGHTMARE ON CHICAGO STREET. SO I JUST WANT TO BRING THAT BACK TO STAFF TO, I'D LIKE TO Maybe we'll put that on a future agenda for discussion at a CAL meeting so that we can talk about it in more detail. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Wade. Thank you, Councilman Powell. Jesse Kane.

All righty. Well, thank you, Mayor and council members. I'm Jesse Kane, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience. I'm here today to share information about SBA's Federal Disaster Loan Program and how your residents may be eligible for this financial assistance. Now, at the request of the governor, SBA issued a disaster declaration for the severe storms occurring on July 2nd through the 4th. Kane County is the primary county, but survivors in all five of the contiguous counties may also be eligible for this financial assistance. So we offer physical damage loans and economic injury disaster loans. So all of our loans have a fixed low interest rate with no payments and no interest accruement for the first 12 months from your initial disbursement. So we offer loans to businesses and nonprofits. Our business loans go up to $2 million for physical damages to your equipment, your machinery, even your real estate or your property itself. That's at a interest rate of 4% and nonprofit organizations is at 3.625. Homeowners can get up to $500,000 to cover damage to their primary residence. And then homeowners and renters can get up to $100,000 to repair or replace any personal property that can be furniture, that can be clothes, keepsakes, even vehicles as well. Anything that was damaged as a result of the disaster. Those loans, that interest rate is at 2.875. And then we also have our working capital loan, which we call them EIDL, Economic Injury Disaster Loan. That also goes up to $2 million for nonprofits, small businesses. And that is to cover the operating expenses. that you would have met had the disaster not occurred. And again, that interest rate is 4% for businesses, 3.625 for nonprofits. Now, I'm here today hoping that you guys can assist me in sharing this information with your residents and constituents. I have plenty of physical flyers. fact sheets, press releases. I can also send them digitally as soft copies. I'm looking at getting on newsletters, putting it on the website, social media. Even if you have well-attended events that could reach these residents, I'd love to be there. And then lastly, we have a DLOC, a Disaster Loan Outreach Center, open at the Elgin Township Building on South McLean Boulevard. That will be closing September 1st, so next Tuesday. Right now it's open 8 a.m. to... 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and even on Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. But people can also apply online. So once that DLOC closes, people can apply online at sba.gov slash disaster, and they can call our 800 number at 1-800-659-2955.

Thank you, Mr. Kane. Please share anything you have with the clerk. Of course. And she can distribute it to the council and make arrangements so we can talk to the manager about doing something on the city's website or Facebook page as well.

Thank you.

Thank you.

David Farber.

David, I'm sorry. Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, Mayor.

Members of council. Thank you for allowing me to speak this evening. Um, I am a resident of Hiawatha drive. And, um, when I recently learned of the, uh, news of the proposals of developing the park or the open space behind my house and all of my neighbor's homes, it really sparked a lot of concern. Uh, mainly because one of the main reasons that I purchased my home, one of the selling points was that I had east west windows and out my primary windows west. I could watch the sunset. I could watch the open field, see the nature, birds chirping, things of that nature. And it just felt really private. And so when I heard of the proposals and I attended the August 11th proposed plans, I really did not like most of the designs that were offered. I felt that there's several things that this could affect that would affect my quality of life, living where I live as well as my neighbors, such as loss of privacy, ruined views, increased litter in the area. and potentially a decrease, excuse me, of property value. With respect to loss of privacy, I undoubtedly feel that there would be increased foot traffic that goes between our yards. This already happens now, so I could only imagine with a park there, there would be an additional foot traffic, potential trespassing on our yards, cutting through vehicle traffic. Obviously, there would be people that would want to attend the park and would need to park somewhere. There didn't seem to be any plans as far as where these people would park. So that's a concern. ruined views. So looking out my window west, you know, as I mentioned, it's very open and private and I, you know, looking at structures or other buildings of any sort or pathways or people walking feet from my backyard would just sort of feel like an invasion of privacy and loss of that nice view that I've enjoyed for the last 14 years in my house. litter i frequent lord's park which is the park that we currently have right down the street and i feel that uh i see what people do they leave their garbage overflowing and sometimes litter on the park grounds and i could see that that could potentially be left in that field which would then potentially blow into our backyards increasing the litter that we see in the neighborhood Decreased property value, I feel that, as I mentioned, one of the selling points of my home was that private space, that it's open and natural. You can see wildlife at any given time. I like to look at hawks fly by. It's really cool. Having this built up would undoubtedly, if I go to sell my house or my neighbors go to sell their house, it could potentially decrease the value of the home, being that you would lose that view and that privacy that we all enjoy. Better allocation of funds of this money. I feel like that we could do a lot to improve Lords Park the park that we already have dredging the lagoons repairing some of the walk pathways that are behind the zoo on the on the east side of the building and Potentially increasing more trees planting. We've lost a lot of trees with all the storms We've had you know, I'm not opposed to trees being in the field behind my house. I Um, or even just repairing the infrastructure to the underground piping. I do know that that needs to be done. We get a lot of flooding back there. I just feel like there should be, I just ask, and I know that I can speak for most of my neighbors that we just asked the council and parks and recreation take into consideration that the wonderful nature aspect of what we moved to our homes for and that anything that is done is kept as natural as possible. and avoiding structures and things that would be an eyesore to look at. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Elijah Stein.

Good evening. My name is Elijah Stein, and I'm just going to let you know right now, just to set the tone, I'm pretty furious right now. As of today, August 26, 2026, there are a minimum of eight flock-like AVIL PR cameras reported within the boundaries of the city of Elgin, all of which I have personally witnessed. So I'm not just saying that off the cuff. I've seen them, at least what I believe to be them. There's one on East Chicago Street, two to four on Summit Street, one on the corner of State and National Street, one to three cameras staring into Black Hawk apartment complex, and one outside the Gale Borden Public Library. And those are just the ones that I've seen with my own eyes. Now, as far as all these cameras go, there have been zero documents, records, or notices that I could find on any City of Elgin website announcing their installation. The only things I could find referencing them was the town hall meeting's agenda for March 11, 2026, referencing DACRA's electronic citation services being paired with GeneTec's camera database. And one of those, the GeneTec, is one of the ALPR cameras that's currently around the City of Elgin. So that's nice, indefinite surveillance for the protection of automated ticketing services on our tax dollar. But the cameras themselves, completely unmentioned. Oh, and by the way, for those curious, that contract cost us 429,000 tax dollars. That's worth 172,000 cans of soup, and you just signed it away. And I saw the footage. You had asked whether or not ICE or the FBI would gain access to any of the data, and despite not knowing any of that as a certainty, you signed that in an 8-0 landslide. But oh no, the inclusivity diversity ordinance was so divisive that we needed a four or five split down the middle for that one. That was just too racy. Kids at home, the word of the day is political theater. And do not give me the age-old argument of we need these absolutely 100% certain to keep these streets safe. That's what the police are for, number one. But number two, tech YouTuber Ben Jordan, a researcher whose ALPR research was cited by the U.S. Congress in an open letter to the FTC to investigate Flock as a national security threat, he was able to hack into these devices in less than 30 seconds. 30 seconds. 30 seconds is longer than it takes to order at a McDonald's drive-through, and he got there with a few button presses. So if flock safety, a 7.5 plus billion dollar company, can be hacked into so easily, then on what ground should we trust a half billion dollar company like Gene Tech on our streets? And the same story goes for the rest of them out there. But I think the biggest red flag out of all of this, and the thing that I just can't overlook whatsoever, was the one stationed right outside of the Galebourne Public Library. So you have a handful of these 24-7 security cameras, and out of all of the places that you could put them, one of the first ones to go up was a major polling location for the next general election and municipal election, which some may or may not have a stake in re-election campaign for. That's where to put it. THAT JUST DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE. AND FOR THOSE WONDERING, I DID LOOK AT THE CAMERAS AND I DID SEE ONE OF THEM SAID PROPERTY OF THE CITY OF ELGIN RIGHT OUTSIDE THE GILL BORDEN PUBLIC LIBRARY. JUST THOUGHT I'D THROW THAT OUT THERE.

MR. MANAGER, WOULD YOU LIKE TO COMMENT?

The city does not have any flock cameras in its system. There may be flock cameras on private property in the city, but we have no ability to control that. I can absolutely assure you not one camera owned by the city of Elgin is contracted with flock.

I never said just flock. I said flock and ALP are like cameras.

Okay, anything else? Thank you very much.

Mm-hm.

ANDREW MINERS.

GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL MEMBERS, MR. MAYOR. MY NAME IS ANDREW MINERS. I'VE BEEN A RESIDENT OF HIAWATHA DRIVE SINCE 1975, AND I'M HERE TO SAY A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE COMING HIAWATHA PARK. On July 27th, I received a mailer where I was invited to be a part, to participate in a survey. They're asking what would I like to see as we develop this space into a new park. and I participated and it was amazing that you know not just two weeks later we get to attend an on-site meeting where we are shown renderings and mock-ups and a plan for this park. We were able to see the mushroom and UFO themed playground equipment and whose backyard it would be closest to. We were able to see the route that the walking path would take and along whose backyard property lines it would follow, offering great views into those backyards and those rear windows. What we didn't see was a plan or a solution for increased litter. There was no plan for noise. Importantly, there was no plan for the increased parking that would of course come with this. So what I suggest is that we pause with this plan. And we rethink what we want to do with this barge and wonderful green space that's been waiting for something special to happen to it. We plant trees. We native grasses, plants, flowers. a restored wetlands, a wonderful piece of prairie in the middle of Elgin, something we can all enjoy. And these leftover funds from this grant, we give those to Lords Park. We do some amazing things that Lords Park needs. We can restore and enhance and upgrade those existing walking paths. we can dredge and restore the lagoons back to their past glory. I think that Lords Park has been waiting for this, and I think we can do two beautiful things here. I thank you for your time.

Thank you. Mr. Manager, would you like to make a comment? Yes. Mr. Miners, Mr. Faber, normally, so the Oslad Park application process, there's a tight deadline for that. Yeah, yeah. And the city pursues those because it would pay for almost half of the cost of the improvements. And so you're correct in terms of the timeline. We saw that that funding was available. And what we do is we hire a consultant that would then go back to the residents to talk about what the final designs would be after that additional work. however normally because that was approved unanimously by the council both the resolution and the um and the contracting with upland design it would have appeared on this agenda but you may have noticed and some of the council members that it isn't on the agenda now this is coming at the same time that the city is going through its budgeting process and we were having discussions last week about whether it might be smart to pause in this instance while we're looking at demands for other areas So I don't want to suggest that this will never be revisited, but at this point it appears that the city will in fact be pausing. I haven't told the council yet, but I figured instead of you waiting, you can hear the news now as we look to prioritize with a tight revenue season. So you can leave with that this afternoon, and I don't expect it will be coming back for final approval this year.

Excellent. Thank you. And I would hope that in the very, very early stages of any planning that, you know, me and my neighbors and the residents that surround that space are invited to be a part of it much earlier than when the renderings and plans are completed.

I understand. And again, I just wanted to make that it was preliminary engagement to find out what the level of interest is. Once the final designs would have been identified by Upland, there would have been additional discussion with the neighbors before we proceeded with the issue.

Was the funding secured in the spring? There is no, we, this was asking, was there the grant received in April?

This was getting permission from the city council to file for the grant because under this grant, the city has to make a commitment to the agency that it will spend the money. So there is, and that's what we were asking for. So we're going to pause on that. Nothing is going on the side at this instance.

Excellent.

Okay. Okay. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay. Mr. Manager.

Thank you, Mayor. The first item is a agreement for temporary overnight shelter services with One Collective, NFP, and the Business Nonprofit Development Center at first. That's also known as First United Methodist Church. For the past three winters, the city's been funding an overnight shelter that's been operated by One Collective at First United Method Church. First, United Methodist Church. Last season, the shelter averaged about 47 guests per night, serving 223 individuals, ultimately during the season. This agreement continues that service for the 2026-27 winter season, with the shelter operating nightly from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., December 15th through March 15th. Emergency openings of the shelter when the temperatures fall below 15 degrees can occur between December 1st and 14th and from March 16th to the 31st. This service also incorporates client information in the Kane County Continuum of Care's coordinated system. And this ensures that Elgin's needs are accurately represented throughout the county, and it helps improve the city's access to regional funding and housing resources. The city will continue to be working with community partners in evaluating potential solutions, including a year-round low barrier non-congregate shelter as the months progress.

It's been moved and seconded for approval. Any discussion? Ms. Powell.

Yes, thank you. A couple of questions for staff regarding the operation of the shelter. Can you explain generally what happens to someone, like if it's dangerously cold, who can't prove that they have Elgin residency? What's the path at that point for that person?

They will be provided shelter if the occupancy has not been exceeded.

Even if they can't provide the residency?

In the first instance, we know that.

Good. And then the data sharing, the HMIS and data sharing consent, if they refuse that, are they still eligible to receive emergency shelter?

Again, it's going to happen without having definitive answer. It's a case-by-case basis. We're not going to turn anybody out. But if my understanding would believe there's somebody who isn't participating with that, they're going to be told that perhaps after the third instance of refusing information, we're not going to be able to provide you with these services.

And I understand why that information is important, because it does help get them in the system and get them resources. So I definitely support gathering that information, and we've seen the data on how it's been helpful. The EPD bans, like if someone's banned for a reason, trying to understand how those decisions are made and how does someone kind of get off of that banned list.

So that's not related to this initiative and you understand that, correct?

No, like in terms of like how they're banned from the shelter.

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were talking about the criminal chronic, the chronic violators with the criminal trespass in the city. No, no, no. So no, okay. Um, there is, I don't know precisely, I have to get back to you, what it takes to get back off that. But there certainly are instances where people are not welcomed back for not following the rules of conduct in the shelter.

No, and again, understand that. I was just wondering what is the process for, I guess, redemption, so to speak, if there's a process for that. Yeah. The $10,000 software expenditure, what does that purchase? Do we know?

You're on the agreement. So my guess is that that has to do with the software that they're using to get it into the Kane County Continuum of Care, but I don't know precisely. I don't know where you're referring to in the agreement.

I was just making separate questions. But we can talk about that offline. I meant to send these in advance, so my apologies. So yeah, I was just curious what that expenditure purchase covered. And do we have an idea of how many people were turned away last winter?

I'm sure there is. Yeah.

If staff could provide that information later. I'd just be curious to know how many people were turned away last year and why.

So that would be a combination of both turned away because they don't have eligible residency and those that were, for lack of a better term, prohibited from SHELP because of misconduct. Exactly. You can find that information.

Thank you. But otherwise, very supportive of this measure, obviously. I will definitely be supportive of it, as I have been in previous years. I just had some questions about the operation. And thanks to One Collective and our local church partners and Soup Kettle for helping to make this possible every year. Mr. Dixon.

Thank you. I also will be supporting this measure. Thank you to One Collective for stepping up year after year and providing a wonderful service. And if you don't already know this, they provide great service all year round and not just during the winter months, so thank you. And a special thank you to as well as to FUMC for opening up their doors to the community. I had a couple of questions. I see that last year we Provided support to 223 unique individuals, but only 97 individuals have been entered into the homeless management information system. And so I'm wondering why that discrepancy is there, or if that even is a discrepancy. And also, for the continuum of care by the county, how many have been entered into that system out of the 223? I don't think I saw that number on here.

So we have representatives for one collective in the audience. Would you be able to address those questions, Alex? Thank you. I'm sorry. I overlooked you in the audience. Sorry. You can talk about the software.

Yeah, thank you. Lost track of all the questions, but I'm Alex. I oversee the shelter, so I can answer.

Council Member Powell asked the $10,000 cost for the software. It's my understanding that you use that software to keep track of the clients that are coming in and out of the shelter?

Yeah, so it's our own client management system. So we can issue ID cards, keep notes, track individuals. issues, I guess, or infractions. So that's what we use and pay for.

Mr. Dixon's question.

Okay, thank you. And the memo was saying that 223 unique individuals were at the shelter last year, and 97 of them were placed into the management system. So can you explain why that difference exists?

I AM NOT 100% SURE. THE NAMES OF THE INDIVIDUALS AND NECESSARY IDENTIFYING INFORMATION WAS PROVIDED TO THE CITY TO ENTER INTO HMIS, BUT I CAN'T TELL YOU WHY ONLY 97 ARE IN THERE.

COULD IT BE, ALEX, THAT THESE WERE PEOPLE THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY IN THE SYSTEM, SO YOU ADDED 97 NEW ONES OUT OF THE 233 UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS? THAT IS POSSIBLE, YES.

CAN WE GET CLARIFICATION ON THAT FROM CITY STAFF?

I'll talk to Alex. Okay.

All right. Thank you. And next, the continuum of care. Is that on staff to put individual into the system, or does you or your team take care of that?

IT'S A MIX OF THE CITY HOMELESSNESS RESPONSE COORDINATOR AND MY TEAM TO INPUT THAT.

TO INPUT THAT. AND WE DON'T HAVE THE NUMBERS ON THAT BY CHANCE, DO WE? NO, WE DO NOT. OKAY, ALL RIGHT. AND WHEN IT COMES TO UNDOCUMENTED MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY, WHAT IF ANY WAY ARE THEY HANDLED DIFFERENTLY OR IS IT NOT? THEY'RE JUST SEEMLESSLY GOING TO THE SAME PROCESS AS EVERYONE ELSE. HOW DOES THAT WORK?

Yeah, we allow them at least one night of stay, depending on the day of the week. If it's on the weekend, maybe a couple more nights. The goal is to get them plugged into a caseworker partner organization, get them to engage. If they're willing to engage and seek identification, obtaining it, we continue to let them in. Part of the process, we know that there's a number of individuals on the street who do not have an ID. we coordinate with other agencies who might have frequent contact with them as one of the ways in which we can verify their residency, I guess. Yeah, so you know we don't want to turn people away, but we also don't want to have an influx of individuals from outside of Elgin taking resources from those that are here.

I need it.

Alex was I on the mark responding to Councilmember Powell and describing what you do when somebody may not be a resident and it's cold out and then what you how you try. I don't know how you ameliorate instances though where people have been banned from the shelter from his behavior. PERHAPS YOU COULD PROVIDE SOME OF THAT INFORMATION FOR COUNCILMEMBER POWELL AND THE COUNCIL.

YEAH, SO MAJORITY OF INDIVIDUALS WHO RECEIVE A PERMANENT BAN OR TRESPASS FROM EPD IS DUE TO VIOLENT OR AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR. AND SO, YOU KNOW, THOSE INDIVIDUALS POSE A SAFETY RISK AND ARE THE ONES THAT WE WILL NOT ALLOW IN. But due to the weather, like I said, we don't want anyone to freeze or suffer unnecessarily. There is an appeal process for individuals. And then I work with EPD to go over the permanent ban list who has received one of those citations from the police to determine if we can reverse it or if the notice should stay.

No, thank you. That's helpful.

I appreciate it. Mr. Dixon, is that it?

Yeah, that's it for me. Thank you, Alex. Mr. Goode. Thank you, Mayor. Just while you're up here, I'm wondering if you could kind of walk us through a day in the life. To my knowledge, it's all hands on deck. It's not just your organization. It's police. It's fire, caseworkers. Walk us through what's a day in the life and then shifts that are available for volunteers this season and just roll it out for the public if you don't mind.

Yeah. So for staff, they arrive at 7.30 p.m. Any volunteers as well. Doors open at 8 o'clock. Guests arrive in. They check in. We review, you know, if any have marks on their profile, remind them, hey, you know, THIS IS GOING ON, PLEASE STOP. AND THEN PEOPLE COME IN, THEY GO TO A COT, WE DO A SMOKE BREAK AT 9 O'CLOCK, WE USUALLY PLAY MOVIES, AND THEN THROUGHOUT THE WEEK We have different case workers from different organizations come, such as AID, Ecker Center. The hope is to have collaborative diversion come as well, provide services and case management. So we try to connect people as we get to know them, what their needs are, connect them to the right organization. And then everyone goes to sleep, wake up in the morning. Again, try to remind people, hey, these are the services around. You should go here or there to connect with whichever caseworker or organization. Does that kind of answer your question?

Absolutely, yeah. I was just trying to paint a picture of what happens. We're trying to apply policy to nightly routines that are not always clean cut. You probably have different volunteer numbers on certain nights, which makes it easier for you to focus here or there. Yeah, just while you're up here figured, you know, lay out the day to day, you know, I know you benefit from volunteers. So is there a way that folks can look at the available schedule slots and sign up? I know we're still a little early in the season, but where would you guide the public?

Yeah, so we'll have a sign-up form for individuals who want to volunteer. There's three shifts. One is kind of at the very beginning when people are checking in the busiest time, which is about 7.30 to 10.30. There's an overnight shift, which not many people enjoy doing, but thankfully it's pretty quiet. And then a morning shift to help with cleanup, usually 6.00, 6.30 to 7.30 as people are leaving and kind of getting ready for the next night. So that will be coming out.

soon uh... but we are a little italy book well i just appreciate all the effort but i don't absolutely else on mister stephanie alex thank you for providing these answers a lot of questions that i had been asked but when i had this is your third year have i think every year that you've done this your organization we've had what i'll call the shoulder seasons first two weeks of december last two weeks of march where we're kind of on standby had those ever had to be activated we opened up the shelter due to cold weather, those shoulder seasons? Yes.

The second year, we opened, I want to say it was either five or seven days out of all of that, and they were primarily in December. Last year, we were open 10 days. So it's not unusual. It happens.

Correct. Okay. Yep. Got it.

Okay. Thank you, Alex. We have a motion. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Zolfaro? Abstain. Dixon?

Yes.

Good. Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Steffen?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. The motion is approved 8-0 with one abstention.

Congratulations.

Looking forward to it.

Item B is the Design Engineering Services Agreement for the Nestler Road Pedestrian Crossing Improvement Project. The city identified the need to improve pedestrian crossing safety and accessibility along Nestler Road, specifically at the intersection of Nestler Road and Gansett Parkway. The proposed project will advance the design of what is referred to as a rectangular rapid flashing beacon, or rrfb pedestrian crossing this includes an overhead beacon system and associated accessibility improvements that are intended to provide a more visible and defined crossing at this location as part of this engineering effort our engineers hlr will be collecting updated traffic data to complete a traffic signal warrant analysis to confirm the appropriate traffic control treatment needed at this intersection. The RRFB is serving as the initial design approach. However, if the warrant analysis shows otherwise, the city might look to putting a traffic signal or other alternatives before the final design is completed and presented to the council for approval.

Move for approval.

Second. It's been moved and seconded for approval. Any discussion? Mr. Ortiz.

MR. MANN, YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS. IS THERE ANY PLANS OF WIDENING NESTLER TO 20 WITH THE MORE DEVELOPMENT WE'RE DOING? AND THEN THERE'S ONLY LIKE ONE FARM LEFT RIGHT THERE ON THE INTERSECTION. I'M ASSUMING THAT FARM MIGHT SELL EVENTUALLY TO PUT MORE RESIDENTIAL OR COMMERCIAL IN THERE. HAVE WE EVER BEEN LOOKING AT EXPANDING THAT ROAD TO MAKE IT A FOUR LANE HIGHWAY?

Or roadway, I'm not immediately aware of it for Nestler, not 20 US 20. You're obviously aware of that, but not Nestler. I'm not immediately aware of anything that would be widening Nestler in the short term horizon. The focus has been on 20. Thank you for asking.

Anything else Mr Dixon?

Yeah, I want to thank staff for bringing this forward. I actually have received a number of calls as I live on the far west side of town about this area. And there's an elementary school over there, too, as well. And so kids were crossing the street without any city protections, I'm going to say. So this is much needed in that area. I come through there pretty much every day. So I'm happy to see that this item is moving forward.

Okay.

Please call the roll.

Council Member Zalparo? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Good. Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Stephan?

Yes.

Thorne? Yes. Mayor-Captain?

Yes. Motions approved 9-0. Item C is a purchase agreement with W.S. Darley & Company for firefighting protective clothing. Fire Department is seeking to contract with W.S. Darley to purchase firefighting protective clothing, commonly referred to as turnout gear. This is the protective... clothing that firefighters wear into structure fires. The National Fire Protection Association sets the standard for protective clothing, including the protective materials used and the life stand of the gear. The fire department purchases gear on an annual basis using a rotating program based on both the age of the gear And the necessity for having a second set of gear due to frequent contamination from either biohazards or the products of combustion. Fire department established a gear committee to research various manufacturers and materials. And who completed a wear test on different sample sets of gear before making this recommendation. The manufacturers tested included Innotex and Morning Pride. Based on the recommendations of the gear committee, Innotex was the recommended vendor because it is the only manufacturer that the city reviewed that met all specifications without any exceptions. Second.

It's been moved and seconded for approval. Any discussion? Hearing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Council Members Alfaro? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Good.

Yes.

Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Steffen? Yes. Thorne? Yes. Mayor Captain?

Yes. The motion is approved 9-0. Announcements from the Council. Mr. Ortiz?

That's one who, uh... WISH ALL OF OUR U-46 STUDENTS A FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL TOMORROW. AND FOR US ADULTS THAT DRIVE AROUND, EVEN SOME OF THE TEENAGERS THAT DRIVE AROUND, PAY ATTENTION TO ALL THE KIDS THAT ARE CROSSING THE STREETS STARTING TOMORROW AND THEN FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS. AND ALSO TO SOUTH ULGEN FOOTBALL TEAM FOR GOING DOWN TO FLORIDA AND putting our school district on the map. The school is in South Elgin, but many of those students, Ms. Palanos, are Elgin kids. So congratulations to them and hope that our students have a good school year starting tomorrow.

Okay. A couple down at the end. Mr. Stephan?

Yeah, I wanted to announce as a member of the Kiwanis Club of Elgin, we're going to have what we try to do several times a year, which is a breakfast at Applebee's out by Marcus Theater or Old Republic. It's Saturday, September 12th, 8 to 10 p.m. I'm sorry, 8 to 10 a.m. That'd be a long breakfast. 8 to 10 a.m. Tickets are $10 a piece. All you can eat pancakes. All you can drink coffee, some orange juice, and some bacon. If you want to skip making a breakfast on a Saturday, come out and get served by us and our volunteers. See me or any Kwanian if you want to get tickets.

Mr. Thorne. Thank you, Mayor. I want to announce that this coming Sunday is a historic Elgin National Road Race reenactment event that is held annually, put on by the Fox Valley Model T Car Club. It's out at 1950 Larkin Avenue, site of the old Blue Moon. The mayor remembers that. Sherman Westcourt, to some of you others, it is now called the Pearl The event is from 11 to 3 and there'll be plenty of vintage cars on display free to spectators. There'll be foods, there'll be activities for kids, there'll be history programs put on, there'll be a raffle and at 3.30 all the old cars line up. and uh... the police are good enough to stop traffic for us and we pull out and we drive the route of the original elgin national road race which started one year before the indy five hundred making it in nineteen eleven dubbed elgin as the racing capital of the world it is uh... an eight-and-a-half mile route west on larkin out to coombs coombs road north to highland highland

back to mcclain boulevard mcclain to larkin and back to the event hopefully you'll stop out and see all the old cars this martinez thank you may have torn out since for more current use uh... the annual mexico in it but i saw on towards started uh... this tradition for bringing free showcases of traditional mexican music and dance to the united states over a decade ago Following the creation of the initiative of 2014 by the North American Institute of Mexican Advancement, as some of you will remember, this was first brought to Elgin in form of IFEST. Unfortunately, IFEST never worked the five times that we tried it. It was always rained out. MEXICO EN EL CORAZON 2026 INTERNATIONAL TOUR, AFTER SUCCESSFUL FIRST LEG ACROSS THE WEST COAST, THE TOUR CONTINUES THROUGH THE MIDWEST, SOUTH, EAST COAST, AND CANADA, BRINGING THE BEAUTY OF MEXICAN CULTURE TO THOUSANDS OF FAMILIES ACROSS NORTH AMERICA. On Wednesday, September 2nd, Elgin will welcome an extraordinary production traveling abroad to tour buses from Guadalajara, Jalisco with more than 60 artists and production staff presenting the unforgettable evening at the magnificent Hammons Auditorium. Experience the Ballet Folklorico Guadalajara, Mariachi Estelar, Mexico en el Corazon, a traditional Norteño ensemble, outstanding vocalists, and the spectacular original dance production, El Juego de la Pelota, inspired by one of the oldest traditions. So on Wednesday, September 2nd, this free event will take place at the Hammonds Auditorium, doors open at 6 p.m., where bracelets will be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis. NOW, MY SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT, EVERYBODY IS WELCOME. MY SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT IS THE HISPANIC HERITAGE PROJECT. FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT ARE NOT AWARE, PHIL BROXTON WENT AHEAD AND HE PRODUCED THIS FILM. HE ALSO WAS THE PRODUCER OF 231 IN ALGIN. And that one went national. He has done a very good job. What we asked him to do was to bring our stories. And they interviewed about like 50 residents in Elgin, and they condensed it to an hour. And it was very interesting. I think it was emotional for some people who've been here, because we're talking about maybe four generations of Mexicans here in Elgin. And this was shown, the premiere was shown at ECC. And it's coming back on September 3rd at Gale Borden Library. For anybody who missed it and would like to see it, I recommend it highly. Thank you.

Okay, anything else? Ms. Powell.

Yes, two announcements about events coming up here in Elgin. During Labor Day weekend on Saturday, September 5th in Festival Park is Love on the Lawn Day, which is a festival and music event that's been taking place here in Elgin for the past few years, very popular. This year the featured artist is none other than R&B singer Maya. So if you're interested in coming out to Love on the Lawn, you can check that out online and get tickets at lotifest.com. And many of you are aware that due to inclement weather, Bariqua Fest, HAD TO BE CANCELED EARLIER THIS YEAR. BUT THERE'S A SPECIAL COLLABORATION THANKS TO THE EVENT ORGANIZERS OF LOVE ON THE LAWN AND BARIQUA FEST AND WORKING WITH THE CITY OF ELGEN SPECIAL EVENTS TEAM. BARIQUA FEST WILL ACTUALLY TAKE PLACE IN FESTIVAL PARK ON THAT SAME DAY THAT MORNING. SO BARIQUA FEST WILL BE FROM 11 until 2, that will be Barico Fest Entertainment. The Barico Fest Kids Zone will be from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. And then Love on the Lawn is from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. So lots of really cool stuff happening downtown on that Saturday of Labor Day weekend. And just wanted to throw that out there. And thanks to all of those event organizers in the city of Elgin for... getting together and finding a way to make Bariqua Fest happen this year despite the bad weather. The second announcement I have is about the 44th Annual Historic Elgin House Tour. That's coming up the weekend of September 12th and 13th. on both days from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. If you haven't gone through the historic house tour, I highly recommend it. It is such a cool thing to see. I tell people all the time, you ride past these amazing historic homes in our community, And if you've ever been curious or nosy, in my case, as to what some of those houses look like on the inside, this is your opportunity to take a tour of those houses on the inside and get a... a history of who built it who lived there it is super cool and myself and several of the folks here on this dais participate as docents during during that weekend of the house tour if you're interested in getting tickets you can visit historicelginhousetour.com and get tickets to the event And again, highly recommended is very popular event and really showcases our wonderful historic homes in our community. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. O'Farrell.

Thank you, Mayor. I just have two announcements. One is August is Black Business Month, and we're celebrating supporting black businesses. So if you have a chance, please go out and support a black-owned business here in Elgin. There's an initiative to support black-owned businesses on Saturday, so Shop Black Saturday. So if you have a chance, support our black-owned businesses here in Elgin. And in addition, I just wanted to wish everyone a happy early Labor Day. Thank you to the labor movement and the unions who got us that day and for all our labor rights. So just thank you and safely have a good Labor Day.

Okay. Mr. Dixon.

Thank you. I want to give a shout out to School District U46. In about the past week, week and a half, I was able to view Kimball Middle School, new addition, and also South Elgin's Kenyon Woods, who a lot of kids from Elgin attend. their new addition and I just want to say you know kudos to you 46 because they they're really beautiful spectacular buildings and I'm a graduate of Abbott so I'm a little bit jealous but I'm happy for our current students to have such nice facilities and so And I also want to give a shout out to a couple of my colleagues, Councilwoman Alfaro and Councilwoman Martinez, who both received recognition from the Latinas to the Fourth Power last week. And so congratulations to you two for your work and your efforts.

Okay, anything else? Mr. Manager, anything from staff?

None, Mayor, thank you.

Entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Second. Moved and seconded to adjourn. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Zalfano? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Good. Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Stephan? Yes. Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes, we are adjourned. We'll reconvene at the regular council meeting at about five minutes past seven.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

for the Elgin City Council for August 26th, 2026 to order. Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, use disorders and drug-related deaths, while emphasizing that overdose is preventable and lives can be saved through education, compassion and timely access to health services. Whereas drug overdose continues to impact communities globally and locally, destroying families and taking lives across all demographics. And whereas raising public awareness, reducing the stigma of drug-related death and supporting access to evidence-based harm reduction, treatment and recovery support services are essential to reversing the crisis. And whereas our Elgin community stands united with organizations, healthcare providers and families to advocate for change and remember every life lost to overdose. Now, therefore, I, David Captain, Mayor of the City of Elgin, Illinois, to hereby proclaim August 31st, 2026, as International Overdose Awareness Day in the City of Elgin. I encourage all residents to join in recognizing this day and supporting efforts to prevent overdoses and assist those in recovery. This is Joanne Stingley, and I can't say that there's not a better person in the city of Elgin to accept this proclamation. She's been working on this for more than about six or eight months and doing a lot for the community and the city of Elgin. So, Joanne, you want to say a few words?

I always want to say something. First of all, I'd just like to have some community partners join us, these individuals that work in our community and directly work with these individuals. And I have the health department and footprints, but now it's called Elevere. And, of course, my staff, our staff, the staff. And, oh, Echo Center just got here. I didn't see you guys. Sorry. So we would just like to say thank you and thank you for allowing us to do the work that we do. And just want to say thank you to all the community partners because we cannot do it alone, but together we can. So just want to show appreciation for them for joining us tonight. Any of you would like anything to say? Oh, no. Okay, go ahead.

I'm Jennifer with Ecker Center for Behavioral Health, and it's an honor to accept this, and we're very grateful for you to have this proclamation. Ecker Center, of course, serves the community with behavioral health needs, and it also affects me personally as I lost my daughter 10 years ago to an overdose, and that's what got me into this industry. And so this means a lot to me and to Ecker Center, of course, and we are having an event on August 31st from 6 to 7.15, and everyone is welcome to attend as well. Thank you.

Additionally, I did bring some information. I don't know where I can leave it at, but it's gas station drugs, a quick reference, and you have to know that Kratom is the highest drug being treated right now, correct? So this is your gas station drugs. And also we will be doing something in our lobby at EPD on the 31st as well related to Narcan and giving out free Narcan because we do have that at the station and information. Just so you know that our domestic violence awareness walk is coming up October 10th. And if you have not joined us, I expect to see your face in that place. Okay? Just saying. Thank you very much. And thank you so much, Mayor. And can I leave these somewhere?

The DV wall?

Yes. Take all of it? Thank you. Thank you.

that's okay

It's not your fault. You can't give an elder man new technology.

Okay.

Not a problem. I took the pictures, but it was like all of Dave's head. Oh, gosh.

Okay, that brings us to the portion where we recognize persons present. First person to sign up is Elijah Stein.

Good evening. My name is Elijah Stein, and I wanted to discuss further on the topic that was at the Committee of the Whole meeting agenda, which was the temporary overnight shelter services. First of all, I do want to say that as far as the end result for what is a longstanding problem, I will say that this is a good step in the right direction. It is something that needs to occur. And for the moment, as it stands, there definitely needs to be something before the colder winter months get taken into place so that we can have services for those who need it where they don't have any homes available. But I do want to say on the point that I would like to start seeing more permanent solutions towards this problem. And I'm not saying that naively as opposed to some who would say, well, just get some houses for them because that's all that it takes. I understand that it's a longstanding problem that needs a longstanding solution, but we are... How many years into constantly finding different temporary solutions to this problem? And this is not the first time that we have had to solve another problem like this. Just last year, we had to tear down 10 city that was over by the railways because of the fire that broke out. And we put the people who were... in those 10 cities into the Holiday Inn for, I believe it was a year, and that was our temporary solution for that problem, but I still haven't seen any sort of permanent solutions yet as to what it is that we're going to do, and I haven't, Maybe it's just me, maybe I haven't heard anything yet, but I haven't heard any sort of solutions as to what it is we're going to do to solve that problem. So, I mean, it's one of those things where we can keep kicking the can down to the next day. but these are real people who are having their lives affected by this we can call it homeless we can call it the homeless but it's not just homeless these are real people with real families with real lives who want to better themselves and who want to make a difference on these streets and i really do feel that we can start focusing now when we're able to on these problems because it's it needs to happen. It's not just going to happen one day where we decide, now we're going to focus on it, and I feel like maybe I'm going crazy, but I feel like with all of the capital that we're getting in the city, all the things that we keep saying that we're getting from like business ventures and all the taxes that we're getting from the people of Elgin, all the things that we're focusing on. I do believe that one of the things that can be on that permanent agenda is making sure that our citizens get a proper home instead of having to live out in the streets after the night's over. Thank you.

Dan Muller.

Hey, I'm Dan. I live on Douglas. Last week or earlier in the month when I was here, I spoke about data centers and that we should consider enacting a moratorium. Good news, South Elgin is working on one of those right now, and I think we should join them in solidarity and show that we're on the right side of history against that. I'd also spoken out against automated license plate readers and my concerns with how bad they are. And I think that gentleman's concerns and mine might have been misunderstood a little bit, that it was just against flock because of your response that the city doesn't have a contract with them. But in fact, it's with the entire technology. We can see the Motorola one there on Kimball. and there's Gene Tech ones elsewhere. And they're subject to all of the same problems that your privacy, their security problems, and the civil right violations that they're doing. They all do the same thing. It's not just flock. It's just that companies like Motorola and Gene Tech are intentionally being less transparent. So bop, bop, bop, we're talking about flock because it's in the public mind. We can hear about it because they're not hiding in secrecy. Now I'm going to give you an example of why we're so worried about this. If you've ever seen the movie Minority Report, I'm not going to apologize for spoilers here because it came out 20 years ago, but the premise is that there's a dystopian city in the future where the police have these people that can predict the future and they go around arresting people before they've even done anything just because these people say that they're going to do something maybe someday. And unfortunately, this is no longer sci-fi. This is happening now. Motorola is claiming that they can predict the future. They're saying, we know where this person's gonna go. They're saying that these are just as accurate as someone who can predict the future, but they're not. They have errors, and this is a huge violation of my privacy. The Supreme Court has decided that you have a right to privacy in public. They said that you can't just track people willy-nilly via their phone. You need a warrant to do that. And these cameras don't do that. They can do whatever they want. They can track me anywhere I go. It's crazy. I've lived in Elgin for a while, and I like it here. I voted for a lot of you, and I regret to say I'm seriously considering leaving because of these cameras. It's absurd. We are... being subjected to mass surveillance now, and it's only going to get worse from here. Even if it's not you guys doing the horrible things, these cameras, like Motorola, has given data to the Federals. They've given data about people that might be immigrants, again, violating the Illinois Trust Act. These things are bad news, and we need to get them out of here, and they cost a lot of money. It's a win-win. You'll make me really happy, a lot of people really happy to get rid of them, and it'll cost less money. All right, thank you. Have a good night.

Thank you.

Paul E. Horn.

He's right there.

Good evening, Paul Ahorne, 512 Ashland. Many of you know me, some don't. But anyway, I'm a character. I come here and had a problem with code enforcement. This has been an ongoing thing for the past four to five months. And I don't know if they can't read, if they can't see, or if they're just stupid. And I apologize for that, but I was in code for almost 20 years. And if I would have done the lack of job that they're doing, or my officer and his supervisor, I would have been ashamed to collect my paycheck. It's that bad. I had a complaint back in, well, there was still snow had just left. It was early spring, and about a neighbor, junk and debris, And there was piles of wood, branches. It encompassed two properties. There was like a five-foot strip from the garage of one property to the next. So some of the wood was there. The problem with it, I don't mind wood so much. It was unsightly. But there was a coyote that made its home in there. And I went out one night, and it stood in my driveway about 10 foot from me, 15 foot maybe. And one of us should have been afraid of the other one, and it wasn't, so I decided it was my turn. I got the heck out of there. And if you come around me, I'll crack with my cane, but there's kids in the neighborhood. And this brush and the debris they have is a perfect habitat for it. So that's what drives me. It's an ongoing thing. The inspector's been out there five times, and two weeks ago, he closed the case. I called up and asked the status, so he closed it. I said, well, that figures, because the violations were still there. I'd been out there previously on three, four occasions with the inspector and his supervisor. I showed him. I took pictures. I pointed out the violations. I know what violations are. I did it long enough. And nothing happened. And while I was there, I asked him, I said, did you see anything else around here? And what do you mean? Well, just standing in one place, I could see four houses where I pointed out violations. Trees were growing and the branches were against the garage or house roofs, destroying the shingles. Oh. One house, I gave them basement occupancy and I'm a little sensitive about that because in 95 when I started with the city, we had a fire over on Anne or Franklin and two children were lost in the basement. and picked one way out, and they didn't make it. And I didn't, I started at that point, but they still used Polaroids, and we had, the city has had a couple shots, probably still does somewhere. on the floor of the basement where these two children died. And I still wake up at night dreaming about that. It wasn't a pleasant sight. So that's kind of an important thing many people don't realize. And recently we had the one with the homeless in the tent city. I've asked, the last thing I said to the inspector when I talked to him, Mario was his name, his comment was, well, they sent me a picture. It was cleaned up. I said, you mean you were too damn lazy to go out and even check? And he just kind of shrugged. And so it's just incompetence at its best, or first, I guess I should say. But anyway, I'd appreciate it if you could help. do something. We're a better city than that, and we deserve better people doing the job, especially not just the inspector, but the supervisor. I don't understand that. That doesn't function in my mind. We never had that when I was here. We had a better crew, and if you could do anything to help, I'd certainly appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Paul.

Brings us to bids. The first item is bid number 26-032, parking deck repair project.

Mr. Mayor, I recommend that we award the bid to J. Gill and Company for the amount of $309,990. Second.

Moved and seconded for approval. Any discussion? Hearing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Council Members Alfaro? Yes. Dixon? Yes.

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Stephan? Yes. Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor-Captain?

Yes. Motions approved 9-0. Item 2 is bid number 26-033, parking lot and alley 2026 maintenance program.

Mayor, I move we award the bid to Chicagoland Paving Contractors Incorporated of Lake Zurich, Illinois and the Mounted Earth. 480,000 for 2026 maintenance program construction for parking lots and alleys. Second.

Second. Moved and second for approval. Any discussion? Hearing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Zafaro? Yes. Dixon?

Yes.

Good. Yes. Martinez. Yes. Ortiz.

Yes.

Powell. Yes. Stephan. Yes. Thorne. Yes. Mayor-Captain.

Yes. The motion is approved 9-0. Brings us to other business. The first item is consideration of petition 16-26 for 1450 Bowes Road. Conditional use to establish a facility for a manufacturer of corrugated boxes with an existing 113,000 square foot light industrial building. Mr. Mallott.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This property is located at the northeast corner of McLean Boulevard and Bowes Road. Here is McLean and this is Bowes. This is a multi-tenant commercial building home to Prairie Community Bank and Sunshine's Cupcakery, among others. These are the Pine Meadow Townhouses. This is Harding America's, their corporate headquarters. This is a single-family residential subdivision in South Elgin. And this is a kidney care center facility and a couple other multi-tenant commercial buildings also in South Elgin. The applicant requests zoning approval to establish a corrugated box manufacturing facility for Forest Packaging Corporation within the existing building at 1450 Bowes Road. The building was constructed in 1998 and last occupied by the snack food manufacturing company TH Foods Incorporated. The building is currently vacant. Forest Packaging is proposing to occupy the entire 113,000 square foot light industrial building. The company specializes in manufacturing corrugated products and displays. The facility would receive corrugated products as flat stock on pallets. Materials then used to assemble corrugated products like boxes through various processes including printing, cutting, folding, and gluing. The company would employ between 44 and hopefully up to 60 people. While major interior renovation would be required to accommodate the proposed use, no exterior changes to the building are proposed. Proposed site changes are limited to the construction of a new refuse collection area north of the building and a concrete pad for access. Forest Packaging is a 60-year-old family-owned business and a leader in custom corrugated packaging and displays. Forest Packaging is currently located in Elk Grove Village and would like to relocate to Elgin to be able to expand their operations. The applicant is available should you have any questions. Staff in the Planning and Zoning Commission recommend approval. Subject to conditions outlined within your packet.

Move for approval. Subject to conditions. Second. It's been moved and seconded for approval. Subject to conditions. Any questions or comments? Mr. Ortiz.

uh just one are they going to put no monument sign outside in front there is a monument sign i would suspect they would reface it okay and then nothing else on the building correct uh anything anything that we've talked to them about in terms of signage will comply with the sign regulations i'm not saying i'm against it i've seen the pictures that there's nothing on there but all right thank you anything else clerk please call the roll

Councilmember Zaffaro? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Good. Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Stephan? Yes. Thorne? Yes. Mayor Captain?

Yes. The motion is approved 9-0. Congratulations. Item 2 is an ordinance granting a conditional use to establish a packaged liquor sales establishment in the area business district at 968 Dundee Avenue.

Move for approval.

Second. Move and second for approval. Any discussion? Mr. Dixon.

Just as in the last meeting I voted against this, I'm going to be voting against this again. I just want to reiterate that I believe that the number of liquor stores that we have in certain areas of our city is a public health issue and one that I hope the Liquor Commission in conjunction with the City Council that we address here in the near future. Thank you.

Anything else? Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Zafaro? Yes. Dixon?

No.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez? No. Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell? No. Steffen?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motions approved 6-3. Consent agenda. Move for approval. Moved and seconded for approval. Any discussion? Hearing none, please call the roll.

Councilmembers Alfaro? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Good? Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Steffen? Yes. Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motions approved 9-0. Miscellaneous business?

Move for approval. Second.

Second. Moved and seconded for approval. Any discussion? Hearing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmembers Alfaro? Yes. Dixon? Yes.

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Steffen? Yes. Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. The motion's approved 9-0. Announcements, the next Committee of the Whole meeting will be Wednesday, September 9th, 2026 at 6 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. The next regular meeting of the Elgin City Council will be on September 9th, 2026 in the City Council Chambers. At this time, I'd entertain a motion to adjourn to executive session for the purpose of... discussing uh imminent litigation and affecting or on behalf of a public body before a court or administer or a tribunal exempt from section 120. second move in second to adjourn clerk please call the role council members alfaro yes dixon yes good yes martinez yes ortiz yes powell yes stefan yes thorns yes mayor captain yes we are adjourned have a good evening