City Council - Regular Meeting

Oldenettle here. Pollock here. Ruben Delis Scott here. Speed here. Williams. Mayor Ezard here. City attorney Salterman here. You have a qu.

Thank you. Um the first item tonight under the mayor's report is discuss authorizing the filing of a complaint for demolition of the structure located at 342 West State Street. And that basically after talking with city attorney Sultterman, it's giving us clearance if we're to choose to demo that. Correct. It It's coming back. I mean, we're going to have to go through the demolition waving or proposals or bids, however. But it's getting us to the point where if we get the, you know, are we going to do this right now? the city's going to be on the hook, chances are, but there is a pending investigation. I'm not I can't predict the future, but if you're really predicting it, if I'm trying to predict it, I think we should just move forward because we can always if we can recoup the money later, then that's just extra money later. There's too many factors around it that concern me and it's safety first. we wouldn't have asked the county to be removed from the building and for safety concerns and you know it hamstrings the county and we've heard from them but it also hamstrings the other you know folks that are we just finished that leg of the downtown there's a lot of things to that are we going to just sit on it or we going to restart it again and try to finish it out I don't know you know I can't predict the investigation but I know that there is investigating and I'm I'm very comfortable with what Chief Thompson and his staff have told me about that investigation. So, there is something going and that's where I'll leave.

Please, there's What's your time? What's your timeline? Well, our timeline was it's fairly quick because of folks wanting to get back in. Gotcha. Yeah. Um, in fact, it was on the agenda at one time we amended it because we didn't know. We've never done this really. So, we didn't know that that was the next step. So, this is the next step. It's just

in in what way? I think just the anticipated expense. I mean, I think it's even bigger than the the property that that was adjoining the courthouse that we ended up having to remediate. Okay. So, I I I think we just all kind of wanted the council to buy in first before we moved immediately to the demolition complaint. And the the property owner, I mean, obviously, we're having conversations with the property owner and No, they're MIA. They they just they vanished the day after the fire.

Do they own any other buildings in town? None none in Morgan County, none in any of the adjoining counties. I think they own others in the state, but they use multiple entities to try to shift ownership from one to another. And there's some other issues going on with the investigation that I think touches on what we're doing. But I mean, in order to protect everybody who's involved, we have to move forward with demolition. I think I mean, one way or another, we have to at least get the authority to demolish and then it'll come back. the council for ultimately approving the demolishing building.

So, what's your do you have an estimate on what you think it's going to cost? Have you Yeah. Yeah. I think it'll be a half million dollars personally, but somewhere around there. And we Well, I guess I mean obviously I agree that it's a safety issue and the needs to come down, but half a million dollars is a lot of money. And um I know we have a you know planning for rainy day fund, but more for something catastrophic that would impact the whole town. So where where does this money come from or rainy day fund?

Is there is the investigation to if there's insurance that would cover this that I'm not I can't answer. Yeah.

Any other questions? Yeah. I mean, I know it's a big This is why it's on for discussion because it's it's important that you take a couple weeks to think it over. I mean, I But if you think it over a little bit, please, if there's any alternative things that you think we need to be doing if if we're not going to go do this. I mean, please help me with, you know, how we can do it without it. Does that make sense? I mean, it's easy to say we don't want to spend a half million dollars and no one does because it takes away significant project of our future and this year, but we got to let those folks back to work.

It Sounds like we have to. There's no alternative.

Yeah. I mean, it in a roundabout way, we're I'm I'm safe to say just me being an ignorant mayor like sometimes I portray, which I'm not, but there's others on the list, if you know what I'm saying, this is we're not new to all this what the gentleman's doing. We need to get this building. I if we can. And I think we we really need to worry about where the money's coming from later. I'm sorry. It's just we've had it what's been two months and the clock's ticking and we've done our due diligence and the police have too. Um, and I think they'll keep doing it and I I think there's a bigger picture, but I think we need to move forward. That's if you wanted my opinion. And just for clarification, my questions weren't

in opposition of it. It was just to learn more about what you are aware of. And so that it's tricky how I say things because I can't just completely spill the investigation. And it's new to me. I'll be quite honest. This is new conversation to me because we've really never dealt with this on this level. Um, and I don't know what I should or can't be or what I should be doing, but I think you guys understand the issue. So, just a simple question. Will you um We wouldn't be tearing it down in um as long as they're working their investigation, right? I If they need it, if they need it, we wouldn't be tearing it down.

If they need it for the investigation, no. But I think I think the building part of the investigation's over. Okay. It it's just what's going on.

Yeah. And to clarify, all we're doing tonight is just authorizing us to go to court and get permission to tear it down. And at that point, then we explore any options that are out there before coming to the council saying now we need money. So, I mean, I think we're just trying to go parallel. You know, the investigation is continuing, but now we we've given the owners and everybody else all the right, all the they're entitled to. They've done nothing. So, let's go ahead to the next step. And then that's at least 30 to 60 days. So, let's get that started is I think what we're thinking.

I think we have to move forward. I mean, we have to, but people have to get back to work. We can't just leave it sit there and hope that we track these individuals down someday. Um it's unfortunate situation, but I I agree that we we should at least move forward with getting it into court. Very good. Okay. Committee reports tonight, planning and public works. Alderman Scott,

we've got three items. The first is discuss waving bids and accepting proposal for the phase one archaeological reconnaissance survey for the rise grant property. This is a necessary step in the requirement for the grant that we received for that property and uh believe Adam Fox with Bentons is going to be heading that up with UFI. Any questions on that one? Next is discuss waving bids and accepting proposal for a tree spade for the community development department and parks and lakes department. This is it's in the budget. This is kind of being split between two different departments and kind of be shared throughout the city. Any questions on that one? The third is discuss amending the Jacksonville zoning ordinance by adding an ordinance regulating the location, construction, operation, and decommissioning of battery energy storage systems within the city limits. That should have been in everybody's email. Do you have any questions on that currently? All right then. All right. Thank you. Public protection alderman speed. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have one item tonight. Discussing discuss waving bids and accepting proposals for patrol trailers for the Jacksonville Police Department. And Chief Thomasson is here.

Good evening. This will be uh from our capital improvement um that was already submitted and approved uh when the budget was approved. It is a proposal from GTSI for the buildout of our virtual patroller camera which if you guys have been by the burned out building we've been talking about we already have the one sitting next to it. We're going to have a second one that's going to be identical to this one. Um the quote for us uh is the $76,860 is what it would be. Any questions? Thank you very much.

Thank you. Any public comment at this time? Public comment. Seeing no public comment, we will adjourn. And if I could, I would ask everyone please stand for the pledge of allegiance. And I would ask the clerk to please call roll.

Heap here. Henry here. Lockchman. Oldenettle here. Pollock here. Ruben Dellis. Scott here. Speed here. Williams. Mayor Ezard here. City attorney Sultterman here. You have a quum. Thank you. Is there a reading of the minutes this evening? Make a motion to approve as circulated. Alderman Scott, second by Alderman Large Old Nettle. All those in favor of approving the minutes, please respond by saying I. I. Opposed uh petitions or communications?

No petitions, but I do have a communication. Uh this is from Connor Meek and the Vignette Bazaar team. uh to whom it may concern to the council. I am organizing and hosting an art fair at the Soap Company coffee house on the evening of the 3rd of October, 2026. I am seeking approval from the city of Jacksonville to halt traffic and block off both sections of the parking lot south of the soap company and west of South Sandy Street. I'm also requesting permission for open alcohol containers within the confines of the event area, including the Sandy Street sidewalk and the aforementioned parking lots. This area will allow for artists, tents, performers, food, and drink vendors to all fit comfortably in a space that will attract and keep people downtown for the duration of their night out. Our 2025 bazaar that was held in the same place had a fantastic turnout of several hundred people. I am confident that this number will only grow as we continue to host and attract more local talent and patrons. We're excited to see how much we can accomplish this year with the name and hands that we've gained since last. Our neighbors were happy to join us in celebrating the arts last year and to my knowledge there were no public or commercial complaints pertaining to the event. I cannot imagine that fact being different this year. Outside of fun opportunities for local artists and the attracting of people to downtown, this event will be a celebration of our community. We will once again have community involvement this year in a group art project that has yet to be revealed. But regardless of the form, the arts have such a grand ability to bring all types of people together. If allowed, I would be overjoyed to bring ours together a second time with this this year's event

if the council allows you. Would would you like for me and Chief Thompson or someone that the chief would like to sit in talk to Connor about this again? Uh we did last year and it worked well. I think he wants to do a little expanding. So, we might have to tweak some things in regards to how it was run last year, but we can go to Connor and talk with him if that helps things along. Or you can just say, did they have open alcohol last year? Yeah, they had I I don't know. I don't I don't know because I was there. So,

I was there. Uh I didn't drink any alcohol, but I thought they got it from the bar around the corner. Look, if they

if they got a special event or the bar did I I mean I think that's going to be something that chief and I what you can do and what you can't do. Uh claims. Yes, claims are in the hands of Alderman. Who would make a motion to pay claims this evening? Alderman Henry, second by Alderman Speed. All those in favor of plain claims, please respond by saying I. I. I.

Opposed. Under the mayor's report tonight is item number one, the reappointment of Dan Kred to the Jacksonville Airport Authority term to expire March 3rd, 2031. And is there a motion for Mr. Kindred Poll by Alderman Large Old Hold Nettle. All those in favor of approving Mr. Kindred to the Jacksonville Airport, please respond by saying I. I.

Opposed. Item number two is the appointment of Marcy Jones to the Jacksonville Area Museum Board. Term to expire January 1st, 2029. Is there a motion for Marcy Jones? Alderman large. Second by Alderman Scott. All those in favor of approving or appointing Marcy to the museum board, please respond by saying I. I

opposed. And item number three is a resolution authorizing the filing of a complaint for demolition of the structure located at 342 West State Street. And we just spoke about that. Is there a motion, Alderman Heap? Second by Alderman Speed. Be it resolved by the city of Jacksonville that the city or its design are authorized to file a complaint for demolition of the structure located at 342 West State Street in Jacksonville. Discussion. I would ask the clerk to please call roll. He

Scott, yes. Speed, yes. Motion carries. City clerk's report this evening. In your packets, you should have received the community development department report, the city clerk's cash receipts report, city clerk's general fund budget report, and revenue analysis report. All for month ending February 28th, 2026. If you have any questions, please come see me.

Very good. Thank you. Any public comment at this time? Yeah. Todd, you know Todd Dillard? All right. Uh, hey, so I walked in late. I apologize for walking in uh at that time, but um I'm the director of the Morgan County Probation Department. For anybody, well, all of you probably don't know me, but but uh I just want to I know I kind of walked in on the tail end of it. Our building is the building right next to the the burnout building. And you know, I just wanted to say I know it's a lot of money and and I can appreciate the situation you're in. We do service about 450 adult offenders, adult clients, uh another 50 or so juveniles, and we run multiple groups out of our office. Um uh and um of course now we're displaced and I know that that's not necessarily your guys's concern and stuff, but I just wanted to say I I appreciate you know the action you're taking and um um it is I mean I think we do provide a a good service to the community and being displaced is way more it's it's way more difficult than I had ever thought you know it was going to be. I thought it would be as simple as just moving right back across the street and reconnecting our phone lines and reconnecting our our internet and it's just so anyway I know that you you know that you got to you know it's a it's a heavy task to decide to spend that kind of money and stuff but I appreciate all the effort that you're taking and you know I thank you for your consideration. So

thank you Todd appreciate that. Consent agenda items tonight. Finance, IT, and personnel. Alderman Pollock. We have two items tonight. The first is resolution authorizing payment from the capital improvement fund for certain improvement projects. And number two, resolution authorizing payments from the general fund for services rendered. Thank you. Planning and public works, Alderman Scott.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have two items. The first is a resolution approving the waiver of advertisement for bids and accepting proposal from the University of Illinois Urbana Champagne public service archaeology and architecture program for phase one archaeological reconnaissance survey for the rise grant property. Our second item is a resolution approving the waiver of advertisements for bids and accepting the proposal from Big John Manufacturing for the tree spade for the community develop department and the parks and lakes department. Thank you. Public protection alderman speed.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have one item resolution approving the waiver of advertisings for bids and accepting proposals from GTSI for patrolling trailers for the Jacksonville Police Department and utility. the public. Thank you. We have one item. It's resolution authorizing payments from the waterworks and sewage project fund for services rendered improvement projects and I so move. Thank you. Is there a second? Alderman speed. Uh you've heard all the items under the consent agenda. Is there any you wish to pull for further discussion this evening? Seeing none, I would ask the clerk to please call roll. Heap. Yes. Henry, yes. Oldenettle,

yes. Pollock, yes. Scott, yes. Speed, yes. Motion carries. Thank you. Committee reports tonight. Planning and public works. Alderman Scott. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have one item. It's the first reading of an ordinance amending the Jacksonville zoning ordinance by adding appendix one, an ordinance regulating the location, construction, operation, and decommissioning of battery energy storage systems within the city of Jacksonville. And I so move. Is there a second? Alderman Henry.

Be it ordained by the city council of the city of Jacksonville that the Jacksonville zoning ordinance be amended by adding appendix. It's either one or I. I'm not sure now that I look at it. uh adding an ordinance regulating battery energy storage systems uh both within the city of Jacksonville and within the extrur ext extr territorial jurisdiction of Jacksonville which is 1.5 miles outside. Discussion I would ask the clerk to please call roll. He yes yes. Pollock yes. Scott, yes. Speed,

yes. Motion carries.

Thank you. Any old business this evening? Old business. Any new business? New business. Um, well, just one quick tidbit. We just sent Ida our last invoice for a reimbursement for our last monies out of the $754,000 grant that we or monies that we received for demolition of certain derelic buildings in Jacksonville and things. So my hats off to Brian for his due diligence. Again, this is not Brian Nyberg hour every week or every other Monday, but that's a big deal. $754. I mean, and that's how the balance is on a project like what we're getting ready to do with the demo. It it it's funny how you get money and money goes out and you try to figure out when's it when's the wave going to hit next. So, with that, go Route Rockets. Any other new business? Uh oh. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Chief. and it wasn't on my notes. Um, we spoke about the foyer clerk. We're going to go through that process of trying to get a foyer clerk in the police department. The last meeting, we've never added a foyer clerk, but it was told to me last week in a meeting that one one of our officers, well, administrators spent 60 hours on video alone on one foyer request. And now the uh foyas are up into the 200s for the year. And they're not all like that, but there's certain things we have

to do. And it's not popular. I don't like hiring. We we're obviously when when you hit a $500,000 hit, is it the right timing? However, we don't have we our backs are against the wall and I know that Chief will oversee it. Chief, you got anything to add? I mean, I know that I am probably embellished too much on that, but I mean, it it's striking that it takes that much time, but I think till you hear it from the folks that are doing it, you really don't realize it.

The amount of foyas, as you mentioned, it's gone up every single year. Uh, it was 600 two years ago, 700 last year, and now we're on pace to hit over a thousand foyas. Um, and it's only going to go up. YouTubers are making a big deal of it. their YouTubing or their foyen body camera incar video and when he mentioned the one he's talking about that one case had 20 videos equaling 60 hours in that one case and we get three or four of those a day so it's not a quick turnaround on something very rarely are we getting anything now that does not require body camera incar video because it's a part of our job you don't answer a call without your body camera on so it's going to continue to increase increase I know that Springfield PD I know they're a a little bigger than us. So, it's a hard comparison. They've got 15 FOYA members. That that's all they do is FOYA 15. And we're at the process where we're trying to get our first um and Angela's getting hammered with a lot of them as well. Um but right now, bulk of them come to the Jacksonville Police Department. I would say out of the 210, I think we probably have about 160 to 170 out of those just for us. So, it's something that's 100% needed and it's did not fall in deaf ears. and I've talked about it multiple times. I've talked to Angela about it. It's just something that's going to have to be done. Um otherwise, we're paying administrators um their salaries to do nothing but redact and uh check on reports. Does anybody have any questions for me about that?

Thanks on that. It's reality. Any other new business? Is there a motion? Alderman Henry, second by Alderman Scott. We are adjourned.