City Council - Regular Meeting

You look [clears throat] at side effects on me. Yeah, sure. That's me. I see. Good evening, Pastor Cover. Could you please give the invocation? I didn't have time to ask. So, I had a board meeting at 3. I think Well, good evening, Madame Mayor, council, everyone. Would you please pray with me?

Well, Father, we give you thanks, uh, Lord of heaven and earth. I give you praise tonight as the one who's given us life and health uh and gifted us for service. Uh Lord, even as I consider the people around this room, uh Lord, we see how you've gifted each one of them uh for the roles that you've given them uh here in the city. Uh and Lord, we confess tonight that apart from your help, apart from your strength, uh we have nothing. And so it's for your help and strength that I ask tonight uh for this council, for this city. Uh Lord, we thank you for the way that you've uh directed uh over this past year and into this new year in 2026, the plans that have been made uh the things that have been laid out. Lord, we pray for your uh blessing and success uh in those plans. Lord, I know that we have uh differences of all sorts. Uh but do pray that in the midst of our disagreements and differences, you would help us to move forward in unity, not unonymity perhaps, but but unity uh with a mutual love for this city and for these people. And Lord, we do pray for this meeting tonight that you would uh bless the proceedings uh help us to please you with the way that we speak to one another and the decisions that are made. And Lord, we ask all these things for your glory in Jesus name. Amen.

In Jesus name. Now we'll officially call this meeting to order. Madam clerk, could you please take the role? Mayor Miller here. Alder persons Clem here. Johnson here. Simmons is absent. Parker here. Stacy here. Shadel [clears throat] and Sanders are both absent. Sellers here. We do have a quorum. Mayor, thank you. If you could please stand for the pledge of allegiance led by Alderman Clem. [clears throat and cough] Pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Madam clerk, could you please note that um Alderman Simmons has arrived. Thank you. Thank you. Item number one is the approval of the agenda. However, we are going to remove item number three uh which are the recognitions. We'll do that in February. Is there a motion to approve? Some move. Second. A motion made by [clears throat] Alderman Sers, seconded by Alderman Clem. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Opposed. That motion passes. Item number two is approval of the minutes from the council meeting on January 5th, 2026. Is there a motion to approve? I make a motion to approve. So move. Second.

Motion made by Alderman Johnson, seconded by Alderman Sers. All those in favor signify by saying I opposed. That motion passes. Public comment was there. Brian, is there check?

We'll move on to item number five, which is the consent agenda. The consent agenda is considered to be routine in nature and acted as one motion unless there's [clears throat] a member of the council would like to have something removed for further discussion. Seeing none, the consent agenda consists of approval to receive and place on file the [clears throat] minutes from um the building commission November 13th, 2024. Planning commission July 10th, 2025. Finance committee the whole November 10th and 17th, 2025. The board of fire and police commissioners November 25th, 2025. Art and Culture Commission, December 4th, 2025. the building permit report December 25, the cash and investment report and the finance department report both November 2025, adoption of resolution 20268, the resolution requesting temporary closure of streets for the annual Memorial Day parade and the approval of the finance bill's total payment of 3,810,4756 and the approval of pay payroll for pay period ending July 10th, 2026. six [clears throat] in a total of $773,7264. I know there's uh it's a just a typo. It said 2025, but it's actually 2026. So, with that, is there a motion to approve?

So, move. Second. [sighs] We have a motion made by Alderman Clem, seconded by Alderman Sers. Madam Clerk, could you please take the role? Madame Mayor, I'd just like to note that the Memorial Day parade is May 25th, 2026. And who was the second on that? Uh, Sellers was the second. For roll call vote, Clem I. Johnson, I. Simmons, hi. Parker, I

Stacy. I even though I think there's a mistake. It says committee of the whole November 10th and 17th. No, the committee of the whole was the 10th. That's finance committee of the whole alder person forgive me. Uh and sellers. Is your vote? Uh the motion passes 6 to zero. [clears throat] Item number six is the adoption of resolution 20263. Could you please read this

resolution approving a service sales agreement with revise for city website updates, annual hosting and maintenance services.

Thank you, Director Bridge. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, before I [clears throat] uh read what I have here, I just wanted to thank those responsible for getting me to the top of the agenda. I understand resolutions usually aren't this early, but family life has been uh shaken up recently, so I appreciate that. For close to 10 years, the city has been utilizing a website that was made with limited userfriendly tools. The old site has simply become so outdated that continuing with it may cause more technical difficulties, of which the city experienced several in 2024. The city communications director and information technology director have researched the most cost-effective and most long-term solutions for all who utilize city of freeport.org, or such as residents and city staff. Several website design companies that specialize in local government provided quotes for their scope of work, allowing the city to bring forward the following, which is the fact that Revise um uh has written out this agreement for just under $15,000. Revise is a company that has helped launch 3600 websites, mainly focusing on local government. They've worked with nearby municipalities such as Stevenson County, Highland Park, Maywood, and Cherry Valley. Revise is prepared to do a full redesign of the website while keeping all necessary information that goes into keeping our residents best informed. The funds for this update will come from the IT budget [cough and laughter] upon approval by council for 2026.

Thank you, director. Is there a motion to approve? I'm sorry. To adopt. So move. Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Clam, seconded by Alderman Sers. Discussion on this resolution. Madam clerk, please take the role. Clum, I. Johnson, I. Simmons, I. Parker, I. Stacy, no. And Sers, I. The resolution passes 5 to one. Thank you. Thank you, director. Item number seven is the second uh reading of ordinance 202601. Could you please read this?

Ordinance amending various subsections of chapter 220 rules of council and the city of Freeport C code of ordinances section 220.11 A4 operation of the committee of the whole section 2201E5 operation of the finance committee of the whole and section 2201 F5 the city manager recruitment committee. Thank you manager boy. Uh thank you your honor. This is the second reading. The first reading was January 5th. Um at that time, uh we went over the various changes. There were no questions at that time and um staff request moving forward with the ordinance um amending these areas. Discussion.

Madam clerk, if you could please take the role. Clem. I. Johnson. I. Simmons. No. I'm sorry. No. Thank you. Parker, hi. Stacy, no. Shadel, oh goodness. Sellers, I uh Madame Mayor, we're going to need you to chime in. And the ordinance passes six to five one two three four five to two. Item number eight is the first reading of ordinance 20262. Could you please read this? I'm sorry. Was that wrong? I I think so. Just did just double check it again cuz we got two people gone and there's eight aldermen and you tallied seven votes.

Yeah, that's cuz I'm in it cuz it's cuz you're Okay, thank you. 5 to2 equals seven. Just Thank you very much. No worries. [clears throat] Madam clerk, can you read that next ordinance, please? Ordinance amending codified ordinances chapter 1044, water rates and revenues section 1044.01 01 establish rates to add incentive pay for lead and copper samples to be taken for lead service line replacement grant application. Thank you, Manager Boyer.

Uh thank you, your honor. Uh we discussed this at the committee of the whole on January 12th. Um essentially, we're having issues with getting compliance from homes uh that have lead services for our sampling process. The root of the issue is that uh we started our sampling program with over 60 um samples that are required and we have removed so many lead services that we only have about 63 active services now. Uh so uh staff had proposed moving uh bringing forward a $40 incentive a reduction on the individual's water bill to help us gain compliance and get cooperation from the uh property uh residents of those properties. and uh staff requests uh moving this uh to second reading in February.

Is there a motion to move this forward? So move second. We have a motion made by Alderman Ser, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Discussion on the ordinance. Uh Darren. Yeah, I just wanted to give everybody an update. Uh we did some tabulations between the meetings and we are uh literally at about 150 services left and we will be complete with the lead service line replacement. So, I know there's people that have been asking me and it took us some time to to get it down, but right now there's 150 left and by any luck, we will be done uh sometime uh uh this summer. Awesome. Thank you. Can I make a motion to suspend the rules? Second.

We have a motion to suspend the rules made by Alderman Clem, seconded by Alderman Sers. Suspension of the rules is non-debatable and must pass by two-thirds majority. Madame clerk, could you please take the vote on the suspension only? Clem. Hi. Johnson. Hi. Simmons. No. Parker. Hi. Stacy.

No. Sellers. Hi. One, two, three, four. Uh, attorney Zitto. We need six, right? So the mayor wouldn't even matter. So that motion fails. Okay. The suspension fails. However, there's still the discussion uh on the ordinance itself. It'll just be moved to the next regularly scheduled meeting. Alderman Sers. Yes. Just wanted to know how long um do we have to have this um given to uh the EPA on what we're doing, our testing. Don't we aren't we looked into about testing and stuff? Is that why we have to do this?

Sure. So, so as I mentioned before, we have about 63 active services. We need 60 of them to respond to our lead and copper sampling. So, we're just asking for a $40 incentive to reduce off of the individual water bills. And we hope to have these done before the next sampling regime. This is basically just going to get us done um through the next uh I guess sampling period till July. Yeah. So we are at this monitoring level of 60 until we reach full lead free compliance

and then um once we do another tier sample I believe at the end of the year then we will then we can apply for reduced monitoring to get back to a more reasonable level

but we have to complete and then we have to do some various sampling to do that. So um what Mr. uh city manager Ber indicated is we're really struggling and we get commitments from people and then we don't get follow through which automatically is giving us violations and so this would really help the operations and the environmental staff that is working hard to keep us into compliance very touchy situation. Uh Rob actually um commend him on his day off. Uh he went to EPA and fought on behalf of the city on some violations that we received that are it's paperwork issues that we're having because we have so many uh little so few lead services right now that we are having a really hard time staying compliant. That's why uh um we're asking for this to make sure that we we give our operators and our environmental people a chance to get this done. Hopefully, we'll go to what they call, I believe, tier five.

Um, so we'll have one through four pretty much completed. We'll go to tier five, which is copper services. That probably won't be until 2027. And then we'll get back on a more consistent, smaller scale that we can use more services in town because we have lots of copper services. Right now, we're really down to, like he said, about 63 active lead services. It's very difficult. And these are the people, a lot of these people that are left are people that haven't been responding to calls, emails, texts, you know, us showing up trying to get in to do the services. So, it it creates a another level of complexity to the projects, online sellers.

Yes. Because um we were it's a lot of work that goes into um doing the testing and they have to do it at a certain spot at a certain time ever for so many days. Correct. And then they have to then they then our people go there and get the water and tested and make sure everything's okay. Correct. Yeah. And then there's another step to it after that if if we would get a parts per billion uh confirmation because people can do sampling uh incorrectly. We may get a false positive which requires us to go back and do even more sampling.

So um it is it's It is a chore for the homeowners to be involved. And as we have completed these and knocked them out throughout town, u the people that are very favorable to helping us do this project uh have kind of gone away. And again, we're getting to the point of getting trouble to people even answer a call, answer a letter, schedule an appointment. And so it's really becoming difficult and it's a big hassle for our staff to chase chase this around. Alman Clem. Yeah. Is it is [clears throat] there a certain segment of the community? I mean, is it like Reynolds? Is it like old people? Is it like

No, right now. So, we had we originally started with TW 2,300 and we're down to a various 150 kind of spotted all over town that's kind of left from all the different packages we did. So, they're I couldn't even pick a street that has, you know, you know, more than a couple here and there. Just, you know, some of them have sold, so we had to wait for one owner to the next. I've been tracking down um selling companies, leasing companies. Some of these are uh owned by the government housing. It's it's a lot more work than you can imagine. Thank you. I appreciate it. Honorman Johnson. And if we're out of compliance, there's a cost to that, right?

As far as a cost to the city, it's it's basically if we have a violation, then it goes onto our record for 11 years. The problem is um we're at the we're at a place where the the actual reg requirements and regulation um has created a a very pinch point for us specifically because we've been doing so many. We're also in a situation where we've already received $10 million approximately of forgivable loans uh to get this done and I think it would really um look bad on the community if we were uh in violation of the regulation that is um flawed. Basically,

one of the other costs, direct costs of a violation is in this there's a they call it a monitoring violation. So, that requires us to mail every customer in town a mailer saying that we got this violation, which, you know, is like writing a $3,000 check for postage to say that we're in violation of really nothing. And so, that's the we're trying to be responsible with the taxpayers's money and not get into that position. uh one of our current one of our uh monitoring violations that we've got already that Rob went to fight, we really refused to send the mailer because it was a uh air by the lab company that that got submitted. So, we actually submitted all the paperwork, but it was a lab error and it was going to be like writing, you know, a check for postage for $3,000, which we think is absolutely ridiculous when we passed all the tests. It's just like a monitoring thing. So again, it is a hassle for the people that are involved in doing these tests. This is a modest fee to get this help. It's just a short period of time. It's not a permanent uh situation that we're looking for. U we've got to get to the point where we're down to none and then be compliant for another 6 months and then we can reduce the sampling and hopefully go back to every 3 years. Uh prior to the lead and uh lead and copper rule, we only had to do compliance every three years. Now because of the new factors we have to do every six months. So it is a lot more work and a lot more cost than sampling.

Stacy. Yes. Um yes. How often do you have to take these samples? like is it monthly and by the uh suspension failing is that going to affect you you all in any way? The answer to the suspension is no. We can wait till the next meeting. Uh that's not a problem. And uh I'm sorry, what was your first question? How often do you have to take Right now until the rule changes and we get to tier five, we have to do it every six months. So we just did it in December and I believe the next ones are due in June. Thank you.

Okay, we'll move on to the next item. Number nine is the first reading of ordinance 202603. Could you please read this [clears throat] ordinance amending chapter 810 concerning the licensing of vacation rentals to add penalties for multiple violations of federal, state, or local regulations uh referred to as good neighbor policy. Thank you, Director Heimerdinger. [clears throat]

Thank you, Madame Mayor. The city of Frequit continues to support vacation rentals as lawful and beneficial use. However, recent activity has demonstrated the need for additional safeguards. The proposed good neighbor policy is intended to preserve neighborhood peace, protect quality of life, and ensure accountability when properties are used for short short-term rental purposes. This policy is not based on neighbor complaints or subjective concerns. Instead, it relies on documented calls for service related to verified violations and relies on communication and coordination with the police and fire department to ensure consistent and unbiased application. This amendment aligns with the city's strategic plans um related to neighborhood housing um and safe inclusive community and requires no additional funding. I'm going to briefly read the policy because it's quite short. Um, and it states, "Any vacation rental which receives two or more or more calls for service related to a violation of a state, federal, or local ordinance regulation rule or law within a s signal uh license should be subject to 30-day suspension of the vacation rental license during which time no rental should be allowed. In the event that there are three or more calls for service related to violation of state, federal or local ordinance regulation rule law within a signal license year, the license shall uh issued under this chapter shall be subject to immediate uh reparation and the owner of the property should not be eligible for a vacation rental license for the following year. This provision is enacted for the purpose of preserving community peace and harmony, limiting disruptions to community neighborhoods, and requires persons uh designing to utilize their properties for profit to be responsible

for in ensuring their neighbors who may not be similarly utilizing their homes are not negatively impacted by the disturbances of any kind. As such, the provisions here shall uh apply uh whether or not the commission of a crime or violation of an ordinance is uh judicationally determined and applies expressively to the occurrence of a call for service. Any call for service based exclusively upon an occurrence of domestic violence shall not be counted uh for the purpose of this section. The staff recommends moving this ordinance forward to a second reading and amendment and amending chapter 810 to include section 810.09 uh good neighbor policy.

Thank you. Is there a motion to move this forward? Second. Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Clem, seconded by Alderman Sers. Discussion on this ordinance. Alderman Johnson. I'm just wondering why I see that any call for service based uh exclusively on domestic violence, why that would not be determined as a service call because to me that's pretty dangerous if somebody's there's domestic violence going on there.

Yes. Um it's mostly for the the policy and wanting to protect the victim of said call. So, if there is a we don't want backlash from um you know that victim that uh they can no longer find an Airbnb or find a short-term rental in Freeport because they called uh for help and it was linked to domestic violence. It's to protect the victim of the domestic violence incident. But the the service um calls for service are against the I mean it's for the person that has the property that they can't run it out again, right? So it's not really against the person that's the victim.

Well, we don't want to deteriorate deteriorate people from calling when they need help in domestic violence situations. Um those are uh you could uh note that those are pretty close to uh medical calls would be the same, right? We don't, you know, medical calls are also not in violation of this policy. So, we that is pretty linked to a medical call. If somebody's in danger, their life is in danger, they're getting um you know, domestic uh abuse. We don't want to deteriorate deterior from the uh impact of that and we don't want uh individuals feeling like they can't call. Okay. Okay. Then we'll move on to item number 10, which is the first reading of ordinance 202604. Could you please read this

ordinance amending chapter 1252 of the zoning code to allow offices of contractors as a permitted use in B1, B2, and B3 business districts. Thank you, Director Heimerdinger.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Currently contractors offices and shops are only permitted by right in B3 commercial and wholesale business districts. This restriction uh excludes their use in less intensive uh districts such as B1 restricted and general retail or B2 limited service business districts unless specifically stated. With advancements in technology, many contractor offices now operate primarily as a business office with digital tools or client meetings, sample displays rather than on-site fabrication or storage to reflect uh modern business practices and to help attract and retain businesses. The proposed amendment would allow contractor offices used primarily for business purposes and uh sample displays to uh be permitted in B1 districts in addition to allowing them to cons uh continue being allowed in B3. Uh this approach reduces red tape and provides ready to use uh spaces for businesses. Uh the amendment aligns with the strategic uh plan for promoting a responsive and effective and efficient government that updates ordinances to match current business practices. Um amending uh staff recommends approving the amendment uh to the ordinance pertaining to contractor offices and shops. Uh, and this did come from planning commission and it was uh, voted in favor of um, coming to council on January 15th.

Thank you. Is there a motion to move this forward? So move. We have a second. Okay. We have a motion made by Alderman Sers, seconded by Alderman Clem. Discussion on the ordinance. Alderman Clem. Director Amber Jinger, can you give me an example of this? Yes. Like business X moving into Y because obviously this is got something in mind to do it.

Yeah. So, um this doesn't uh this is not solely, you know, anybody that we are thinking about right now moving in, but we're trying to make it easier for contractors who want to have a presence. Let's say there's a downtown shop, right? That's B1. Um, and all they have, you know, nowadays when you go to talk with a contractor, talk with a designer, they don't have a big showroom. They don't manufacture anything on site. They might have a computer show you some samples. They might have some paint chips and they may have some uh small countertop samples.

Right now, as it's currently written, they could not do that in any B1. And a lot of B1 properties are downtown and and elsewhere um within Freeport. they would have to go through uh you know zoning to change it to B3 and it basically it creates a lot of red type for a organization where they're basically operating just like a business or just like any kind of practice down um on downtown right now they operate just just like a business would operate and because of how advanced technology has gotten that most samples are ordered online and they're just being shown there's not fabric location on site. Follow up if I could.

Sure. Uh, so really between this one and the the the next one coming up as far as the upstairs or property. Yeah. It's basically going to create a different attitude or a different opportunity for people to move into downtown or any other place. Yeah, that's correct. It's it's supposed to help to create uh more uh ability for different types of businesses to find homes here in Freeport and to be able to to find a place that works for them and to remove uh you know unnecessary red tape for them to come in and and and start their business.

Thank you Stacey. How many buildings do we have downtown that would support something like this? How many uh any of them that uh deemed B1 on the zoning map? Uh they could easily uh support this. I mean, you do you know how many properties there is

of B1 on the zoning map? I do not off the top of my head. If there's no other discussion, move on to item number 11, which is the first reading of ordinance 20265. Madam clerk, could you please read this ordinance amending chapter 1252 of the zoning code to allow residential units as a permitted use above the ground floor of buildings in the central business district. Thank you, Director Heimerdinger.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. Currently, residential units are not permitted by right in any business district and can only be allowed through a special use permit under restrictive conditions to address Freeport's housing shortage and promote full occupancy of buildings in the central business district. The proposed amendment to chapter 1252.01 01 of the B1 restricted retail business district would um allow for permit permanent residential use including dwelling units and lodging rooms on upper floors in the central business district when the ground floor is uh occupied or could be occupied by a permitted business. This also streamlines residential development outside of the central business district by removing outdated frontage and block uh composition requirements while maintaining a special use permit um for anything outside of the central business district. These changes encourage housing in unutilized buildings, foster vibrant mixeduse downtown areas, and align with the city's strategic goal related to the response of government and neighborhood and housing. Staff recommends council approving the amendment to the ordinance pertaining to residential use and business districts as uh it was voted in favor um by the planning commission on January 15th. And you can also see on the screen there, we've just outlined it the central business district. So you kind of get a sense of where uh residential can exist above the first floor.

Wow. Um without a special use. Everywhere outside of that area will still require a special use permit to have residential above a business. Is there a motion to move this ordinance forward? So move. A second. A [clears throat] motion made by Alderman Sers, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Um I have a a question. Yes. In order for second, third floor possibilities. Does the first floor have to be occupied first? The first floor doesn't have to be occupied. It has to be uh able to be occupied, which means that it can't be a condemned building. You can't have a condemned first floor. It just means that they there could be a business in there. It is an estate where business can move in.

Okay. Thank you, Alman Clem. Uh I guess it was about a year ago Greater Freeport Partnership put on a a program about second floors about these things and was talked about uh funding and what was required and all that kind of stuff. And I know one of the things uh problems in a lot of these buildings and I just wanted to say that is it still in there is it's got to be approved by everybody because one of the big things I think is fire department entrance and yes access and ability to get out in case of anything. you know, that has handicapped a number of the buildings. But, you know,

does does that once it if you got somebody that's a say there's a prospect to go in the building, what happens at that point? Does everybody look at the plans and go over it and they have to prove what they're going to

it's still held to a building permit standards, which means that they will need a building permit and they'll also have uh the fire um inspection. So, there will be two ways out still. Um, we're not we won't jeopardize the safety of these buildings by any means. It's just removing the $200 special use permit application and then the two months of going through that process um in order to hopefully engage more people to come get their building permits, work with our building inspector and our fire marshal to make sure that the building is safe and ready for uh residential use. but to avoid the unnecessary um hold up and and time and and extra cost associated.

Miss Stacy, would the occupants already living there on the other floors have any say so on a business coming in to the ground floor?

Yes. uh the businesses that always goes to the building owner who always decides you know who's coming into their to their the property owner decides who's coming into their business. So I don't know of any system where a residential um individual would decide if they let the the ground floor happen unless they or the property owner. So the property owner decides the business coming in and then they work with the city to make sure that it's a proper business that can be in that district. Yes. So there still would have to be two ways in and two ways out. Yes. Without having to cut through a business.

Oh yes. There has to be Yes. The safety is still still um top of the line. That is that is the building code. We're not changing building code. We're not modifying the building code. The building code will stay the same. We're just removing um the ordinance that we have set in place by the city of uh needing a special use. Anything else? And we'll move on to item number 12, which is the adoption of resolution 202604. Could you please read this resolution approving 2026 motor fuel tax materials? Thank you, manager.

Uh thank you, your honor. Every year uh before we start the construction season, we need to pass a resolution authorizing the use of MFT uh funds for our construction season. Uh this year we're planning to install about 12,500 tons of hot mix. There's a there's a slight difference here in the memo. The memo calls out 13,000. Um and then we're also looking at 150,000 for crack sealing operation. So staff a asked that council move forward with the uh resolution approving the 2026 MFT U funds. Is there a motion to adopt? So move second. A motion made [clears throat] by Alderman Seller, seconded by Alderman Clem. Discussion on the resolution.

Alderman Stacy. The total cost of this resolution would be what? About a million dollars. And I know we have done something like this every year. Yes. How much of that product did we have left over? I don't think we had any left over last year. I don't know. Darren maybe has a better idea.

Yeah. So, we use this not only for roads, but use it for hot patch. That's the larger amount, the 900,000. And I want to say that we had uh just about 800 tons left. Now, we didn't take those tons and we didn't have to pay for them. So, we only we only pay for the tons we take. So, we kind of estimate what we're going to need for the year. We have to estimate the maximum and then we can take 20% less or 20% more based on whether that's that's the I do spec for it. So, uh we only pay for what we actually have delivered to the job sites. Um, when we do a project, we might have a couple tons left here and there after a job's over with, and then we use that in our recycling machine to do uh, road patching so there's no waste anymore.

Okay. And thank you for visiting Liberty. Mhm. Madam clerk, please take the role. Clem, I. Johnson, I. Simmons, I. Parker, I. Stacy, I. and sellers. I the resolution is adopted six to zero. Item number 13 is the adoption of resolution 20265. Could you please read this resolution approving the purchase of chlorine analyzers for wells 8 and 9 from Hawk Company. Thank you, manager warrior.

Uh thank you, your honor. Um so we we have equipment at each of the uh water um treatment plants. They're called chlorine analyzers. they um look at or they they take a sample every so many seconds and then they run a quick sample and then it goes to our SCADA. Our SCADA is the supervisory data acquisition system that communicates to the operators and also to our long-term records as to what is actually um what the dosage is and what the residuals are in a system. Um Hawk has decided to um stop supporting the current models that we have at well 8 and 9 and staff needs to move forward rapidly and ratify this agreement. Staff, this is a a bit of an emergency from the standpoint of it is a regula a regulated uh outcome and we are out of supplies. So we needed to move forward but staff requests uh council ratify this agreement uh for $26,64.

Thank you. Is there a motion to adopt? So move. Second. Motion made by Alderman Clen, seconded by Alderman Sellers. Discussion on the resolution. Alman Stacy, how long was we with the company that no longer support our wills? I'm sorry. Could you say that again? How long were we with the company that no longer support?

Um, it's one of the only ones out there that does this type of work. I believe these have been in place at least 20 years. I I don't know exactly. It was far before my time, but this has been kind of an industry standard for a very long time. And not only us, but essentially any water department that does not have uh the reagents and the repair uh the repair tubes and things to make them work uh will be in the same position we're in.

Yeah. So, the current model has been in use for many many years and they're updating the model. That's why the model year change. Our our maintenance guys knew this was going to happen. We bought up a bunch of the parts and pieces that we've used and we've got by for a few years here knowing that we were going to have to change them out. Um I didn't put uh this information through the memo process, but the new units while we buy them, they'll actually cost us less maintenance per month because the reagents packets that have always been able to be used, which is a reoccurring cost. The new models don't use those anymore. So, they've kind of built a better mouse trap. Um, unfortunately, the chlorine analyzers at our wells, they run 24/7 uh as the wells run because we're constantly monitor that through the SCADA system and it allows the operators to balance out chlorine throughout the system. So, it's a very important piece of remote operations, not having to have a person at each one of our facilities 24 hours a day. Makes sense. Stacy, what was the location of the old or the current one that has has it now compared to where is Hawk located compared to where the other one was located?

So, Hawk's a manufacturer and it's the main manufacturer for those. So, um I Are you talking about our wellhouses? No, I'm talking about where is Hawk located?

Oh, uh there's a branch facility in Chicago. Um, so we, um, we strategically waited to order three of these at the same time to get a better cost on them than buying one individually. And we like to have all the equipment the same at the warehouses. That way, our maintenance staffs has they have less parts and pieces of materials that we have to buy and have on hand because every different model you get, you have to have more and more equipment sitting on the shelf to repair it. So, um um I would echo Rob's uh sentiment that these uh well number nines, those chlorine analyzers were original when that was built. They've never been changed out. They've only been fixed and repaired. Well number eight is the same way. That's that's a piece of equipment that might be 25 years old and and our guys work on them monthly to make sure that they're operational. So, um this isn't something that you buy all the time. Well 11 has the newer model in it because that's what was available when we built it. And well 12 will have the same models as well.

How old is the parts in well 9? Well 9 was built 2012 uh 15 years ago. Uh maybe maybe 16 years ago something something like that. I think it was brought online about 15 years ago. Um that was a new well, new facility um with the chlorine analyzers and then we had an original one and we had to add another one when Sierra tank got put online because it wasn't meeting the EPA's operational uh functionality. So is it fair to say they only last like 15 years?

Um these right here wouldn't have to be replaced if the parts and pieces were still available for them because they're still operational. It's the components that are inside of them, the wear parts, um those are just not available anymore. And like I said, we bought a bunch of them when we knew they were going to be discontinued, but we we've kind of rode that horse as long as we could. Okay. If there's nothing else, clerk, please take the role. Clem. I. Johnson. I. Simmons. Hi. Parker. I. Stacy. I. And Sers. I. The resolution is adopted 6 to Z. Item number 14 is the adoption of resolution 2026. Could you please read this

resolution approving memorandum of agreement with ASME regarding the creation of the position of operations foreman? Thank you, manager.

Uh thank you, your honor. Uh late last year, uh we moved forward with an operation superintendent and that position was filled with Pat Ingram with the intention of always having a number uh two uh someone to help with uh the various uh weekend on calls and knowledge of not only the street department but also operations of the of the utility. So, uh, staff has brought forward this proposal requesting the creation of a new bargaining unit position entitled, uh, operations foreman, and that would cover both streets and utility. Um, this would be a grade 19 in the ASME contract, and, uh, the overall cost impact of this would be about $5,000 per year, uh, including fringe benefits. Uh, so staff recommends moving forward with the resolution aing the position of operations foreman.

Is there a motion to adopt? So move. Second. [clears throat] A motion made by Alderman Celler, seconded by Alderman Clem. Any discussion on this resolution? Alderman Stacy? Yes. How will the person how will the person be chosen? you know, is there a a process or will they be handpicked like Pat Ingram was?

Um, Patt Ingram applied for the position, but I'm not here to discuss that. Um, it would be based on seniority primarily and also um their knowledge. Darren.

Yeah. So, this is a union bargaining position. So, anybody that's qualified within the union will be able to apply for this position uh because we'll have to open it up within the the union. And I wanted to point out this is not a create this is a creation of a new job title, but not an additional employee to the utility. It's a change of duties within uh the responsibilities of our our current staff organization. Remember, we've been talking about reorganizing the staff a little bit to be more efficient, try to save costs where we can um and provide a different type of leadership organization, and this is the next step. There's a couple more steps in it, but this is the next step in filling that uh kind of some of the vacancies that we've had and reorganizing our staff to get more of a pyramid leadership um um organization. woman sellers.

Um didn't we um talk about this earlier and didn't we getting rid of um a position and made made it like two positions? So that's the one of the so that those dollars are really spit split up into two positions doing this job. Correct. Or

correct. Well, city manager Ber talked about $5,000 in fringe benefits. This is actually a a negative effect to the utility as far as staffing cost because we're reducing some of our uh uh supervisory management staff by condensing the utility operations and the street uh operations into one uh operation superintendent and then but obviously we can't expect that person to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We've got to give them some regular scheduled time off. This gives us an ability that we have a promotionable supervisor within the department that's very knowledgeable in both aspects and that that person that we're giving time off to can be confident that he's not going to have to answer his phone every weekend and be in working all the time. We need to allow our management staff to have quality time away from work with their family that they don't have to answer the phone. Um, I give Mr. Ingram a lot of credit. even any of our leadership team, they answer the phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Pat with having the street department and the utility department, he regularly gets called at midnight, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 in the morning. He's in plowing, helping get crews going at 3 and 4 in the morning. So, we need to make sure as a a quality individual that he is or anybody in that position gets time off to spend with their family that they can uh rest and recoup and be ready for next week. And Mr. Ingram has, you know, been very uh um very easygoing during this transition and he's been basically covering uh probably 90% of every weekend uh throughout this pace. So, um this is a fair resolution in my opinion. It gives us a promotion through our ask me people to have something for our younger uh staff to strive for to get in and um will give us the redundancy that we need that that our leadership crews

can have some weekends off with their families. Okay. So, um, when this foreman, this operation foreman have time off, a regular SB employee will be filling in those shoes.

Yeah. When when this person's not covering, Pat will be covering the opposite weekend. So, um, it's so they can share weekends and responsibility. Uh currently, uh don't quote me, but I believe the street department, utility department have like 33 employees, and so Pat can't be everywhere every day. So, he needs a second lieutenant, if you will, to help him organize staff and make sure that our projects and our city functions are getting done. Um I will credit Pat. He's been outstanding. He's been trying to get everywhere, but but we're physically burning him out. And this position creates that second person that he can hand some of the the leadership in the field duties off that he doesn't have to make it to every job site, every dig, every um utility or street issue that we have and and we really need that redundancy for him. only sellers.

In a way, it also would be like um a job on the job training, training this next person to maybe take Pat's place and then moving up. Exactly. That was our thinking is instead of always trying to hire from outside, maybe we can make it a promotable thing for somebody to stretch goals to to maybe be the next operation superintendent if they're, you know, really good. Obviously, we all want to work for the city of Freeport for the rest of our lives, but we don't know how long that is. [laughter] Okay, if there's no further discussion, Madam Clerk, please [laughter] one one moment. Okay. Clem.

I Johnson, I. Simmons, hi. Parker, I Stacy, I. And Sers, I. The resolution is adopted six to zero. Item number 15 is adoption of resolution 202607. Could you please read this? Resolution approving a redevelopment agreement with James Schwarz and Taxle Lean Properties regarding the property located at 1452 South High Street. Thank you, Director Heimerdinger.

Thank you, Madame Mayor. The single family residence located at 1452 South High Avenue was previously owned by an out ofstate property owner and experienced prolonged neglect and deferred maintenance. During that ownership period, the property accumulated $15,49257 in leans and was ultimately uh designated as a chronic nuisance property. The condition of the home negatively impacts the surrounding neighborhood and requires ongoing code enforcement efforts. Uh without intervention, the property will soon find its way to the demo list. The home is part of an established streetscape on South High Avenue. Rehabilitation preserves the rhythm and the character of the street, while demolition uh could permanently disrupt it and reduce available housing stock. Staff has negotiated a redevelopment agreement with Jim Schwarz of Texas Taxle Lean Properties to rehabilitate the property and restore the home as a healthy single family residence. Under the proposed agreement, taxlean properties will pay all outstanding municipal law uh leans totaling $15,49257 which incurred under a previous owner. um complete a full uh renovation in coordination with a building inspector to achieve code compliance and correct all conditions required to uh remove the property from chronic nuisance status. During the approved renovation timeline, the city of Freeport will pause the daily chronic nuisance fine and wave the acred chronic nuisance fee only upon successful completion of and full compliance as these fines are preliminary administrative in nature. Anyways, following rehabilitation, the home will be sold for owner occupancy and tax lean properties will remain

involved as like a escrow company ensuring that property taxes, mortgage and utilities, water, sew and trash are properly established and paid, but it will uh it will become an owneroccupied uh property. This redevelopment agreement advances uh the city's neighborhood and housing goals by stabilizing distressed property, preserving existing housing, reducing nuisance activity, and in and encouraging responsible home ownership. The project is funded through private investment, resolves outstanding leans, and reduces future enforcement and administrative costs. I will add that uh my team goes out there at least once a week. Um as you can see in the attached exhibits, it is boarded up with the uh with a few broken windows and the door. Um we have prevented and had to remove several people who have gotten into this property over the last uh few months. So, it is a property that continues to add costs to our team to make sure that it is uh properly uh safe, that people aren't going in there and that, you know, every everybody staying out that needs to stay out. Um the staff recommends the adoption of this resolution um and approving the redevelopment agreement for 1452 South High. approval will eliminate our chronic nuisance property, preserve neighborhood character as there are no other demo houses on the street, so every the rhythm is still is still there and returns the home to a productive use as a safe owner occupied single family residence. And then in your packets tonight, you'll find the exhibit one is kind of, you know, showcasing that there's no demos on the on the street and that it's a a very established streetscape. Um the second one shows the current uh property conditions as you can see. And then the last uh ex exhibit

page three showcases what the home could look like in a year from now. Um which it looks beautiful like a nice single family home

and um and we're hoping that that we all um agree we we get all the leans out. The leans do include um actual cost as well. So that means when the team had to go up and board it up and take care of the uh nuisance and make sure that people were removed from there, it's including those price. So we um will be getting everything that this out of state um out of state property owner kind of did to this to this company to to this house and another company who is going to give some life to it has graciously going to pay those leans. So, I hope we uh vote to approve the resolution.

Thank you. Is there a motion to approve? So, move. Second. We have a motion made by Alderman Sellers, seconded by Alderman Johnson. Uh, Alderman Clem, uh, just a couple questions. I read over the thing and it's interesting. I mean, it's a it's a a good deal if everything works. Did this was this developed from a program we talked earlier or how just how did this come about?

Oh yes, great. Um this came about through a realer here in uh city of Freeport who was interested. Um the outofstate property owner wanted to sell to, you know, get rid of things. Um, and so a realer uh reached out to me and there was a few people interested in this property because it can make quite a nice home for for a family. And uh they asked me what I thought and my team went out and we looked at it and we looked at what was going on inside if it was something that could be worth saving. And we came to the conclusion that it could be saved that the mold and issues inside uh could be remedied to to create a nice home. And so they um we started just talking about how we could make that happen in in you know how could we you know understanding the burden that was kind of placed on this property uh through no fault of the people who would buy it or purchase this home but also understanding that that that money did exist. That money is people's times. That's money that the that the city staff has uh used to protect people from going into this home. Um and also uh you know those fines uh you know those that's real money. So we tried to um we negotiated and and we sat down with the with the uh potential buyer of this property um and they uh decided that it would be advantageous for them and so it'd be advantageous for the city as well.

Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it. Sellers. Yes. Is there a timeline on how long a you know they have to take the property from A to B? Yep. So in the redevelopment agreement it lists uh one year um on and that's from the time that we wrote it. So that'd be uh December 31st of 2026 is when it should be complete. Um in discussions with the company, it seems like they'll hopefully get it done faster than that and that's their goal and and we'd love to see that too. get a family in there as soon as possible. Parker,

yes. I went down there today and walked kind of walked the neighborhood, looked around, and I think it's going to be a big improvement for that area. So, I'm very much in favor of it. [snorts] Madam clerk, please take the role. Plum, I. Johnson, I. Simmons, I. Parker, I. Stacy I and Sellers I. The resolution is adopted six to zero. [clears throat] Reports from department heads finance. Uh nothing this evening. Thank you. Community development. Nothing this evening. Thank you. Uh public works. Nothing. Chief Miller? No report this evening.

Police? Nothing. Thank you. Library. Nothing. Thank you. Uh, it Oh, that was quick. City manager. I have two things. Sorry. Uh, one, I just uh wanted to uh communicate to uh council the next several meetings will be critical. We have a very busy construction season and I would like to make sure that we get together on our uh scheduled time to meet with the mayor. Um, also uh Chief Miller, I think this is your last meeting, is it not? Oh, God bless you. Thank you for your service. [applause]

Yeah, Chief, I just wanted to say thank you and tell you how much we've appreciated your service um for many, many years. So, we wish you nothing but the best and we hope that you'll stay in touch. Thank you, Alderman Clem.

Uh [clears throat] I'll dit that remark uh that you did about the chief. Uh, I've learned a lot from the chief in his time in. We've worked through some some stuff that I believe differently the way things were going and he explained it very well and is very knowledgeable about about it and you deserve your retirement. Thank you very much for your service. Uh, we really appreciate it. Uh, only other thing I have is next Tuesday is a neighborhood watch meeting. Uh, I'll keep po posted on that to everybody that's on my uh list simply because of weather. Uh, through the weekend it's going to be really cold and I think

Tuesday or so it's supposed to be like six degrees, but uh providing it's halfway decent and everything, we'll still have it. Thank you. Uh, Alderman Johnson, I too would like to thank the [clears throat] chief. um when I first started, he gave me a really good tour of everything and made sure that I understood everything that was going on in the fire department. So, I really appreciated that. Um and just a reminder for the general public, primaries start soon. So, if you're not registered to vote, get registered, get to know the candidates, and your voice matters. So, get out and vote. Great. Simmons, I don't have anything. Thank you. Parker,

uh just repeat what they've said about the chief. I've been honored to know him. I've learned a lot from him about fire stuff and we're going to miss you. But enjoy your retirement. Thank you, Alderman Stacy.

Yes. I just want to say to Miller, I knew of you, but I didn't know you. And when I had my two days of training before seated at the table, you welcomed me with open arms. And that meant a lot. Any concern, any question, any anything has always been an open door for me to call you and talk to you. And I appreciate you for being you. Even when the hard questions came up and you didn't know how to bring it to me and I brought it to you, you was glad and we talked and that was a beautiful thing. I uh I love you with the love of God and just go live and enjoy life.

Thank you, Arman Sers. Yes, Chief. I just want to say thank you for your kind spirit. Thank you for your dedication and enjoy your life and God bless you and live the good life. Thank you. Public comments, Tommy. Chief Mo, we're going to miss you and you does a good job and we got I'm glad she he's do a good job, too. So, we're going to miss you and you do a good job with Freeport Fire Department. Thank you, Tommy. [laughter]

Any other public comments this evening? I will entertain a motion for adjournment. So move. Second. Have a motion made by Alman Sellers, seconded by Alderman