City Council - Regular Meeting

to order the regular meeting of the Elmer City Council on Monday, March 2nd, 2026. I'd ask that you please rise and 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 under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Americ call the role. Toudo here. Baker here. Nuda here. Virgil here. Nardini here. Must here.

Herby here. Brennan here. Bellinger here. Vereis here. Shenko here. Hill here. Bram here. Jensen here. 14 present, zero absent. 14 present, zero absent. We have a quorum. Thank you. Um we're going to start off tonight with a presentation um on the bike friendly community award. And I think uh you're going to join me at the podium.

Perfect. So, we've got the Walker Roller. We've changed the name. No, Walk and Roller City working.

Walk Roller City working. Oh, same one. All right. I I'd like to have you guys come up and stand up here with us because you guys have done all the hard work. Um, and by way of introduction, uh, I think it was probably a couple years ago, I met with some of the aldermen right up here. Uh, and we we're talking about making Elmherst a walker and bicyclist and whatever kind of I'll say manpowered um wheels you might have friendly community. I think Alderman Douter, Alderman Brennan, Alderman Dunnan, I asked them to meet with me as we were approached by a group that wanted to take on this work. And this was one of those efforts where um we formed a group. There were a lot of volunteers uh and it was so productive that they asked if they could add a couple more and we did that and we've uh achieved a special special designation which we're going to talk about tonight. Um and Mike Lisero has chaired it from the beginning. Uh and so I'm going to ask turn over to Mike and if you want to talk a little bit about what we're doing today and uh introduce any of the people you want to introduce. I hope it's all of them on the on the group.

I can. Uh so good evening. Um as mayor said u the walk and rollers group was created as a result of the bike and ped plan that the city uh approved several years ago. So our group was constituted with the charge of helping to promote and advocate for safer walking and biking in town. And as part of that um the group decided that we should pursue a prestigious award which is the uh award given by the American League of Cyclists uh to get a community designated as bike friendly community. Once upon a time back in 2013, we had that designation and that designation lasts for four years, but we lost it because we didn't renew it. So, we took it upon ourselves to go through the application process to try to get that. And we're happy tonight to have representatives from the league here uh to make a presentation because uh the city was found to be successful and we got reestablished at our bronze level uh capacity. Uh here tonight are members of the rock and rollers. Uh all but one member are here. We have Arts Sluinsky, Chris Wall, uh Kim McCarthy, Alex Smith, uh Lisa Tilson, Victoria Lekowski, co-chair Armalene Moretti, Alex Smith was instrumental in spearheading the effort of getting this whole process done and without the help of the city and staff and the police department and the fire department to get this application process done took us about 8 to nine months from start to finish. uh but we were successful in getting that. So, we're really pleased. Uh we really appreciate uh city staff's effort and helping us compile this information. Also, had some help from district 205 as well. So, we have a representative from

the league who'd like to make the presentation, I think, to the mayor. Yeah, absolutely. May I say a few words, please?

Well, thanks so much for the introduction. I'm Kevin Deckingga. I am director of membership and development with the League of American Bicyclists. We're the National Bike Advocacy Organization in Washington DC. Um it's my honor to be here with you all today to present Elmherst with a welldeserved bronze bicycle friendly America community designation. Uh Elmherst has shown steady improvement in their programming and accommodations for bicycling since their first application way back in 2011. And I hope this award uh sparks the next wave of momentum to keep improving and making life better for the people who call Elmhurst home. I and I want to make sure that I thank both uh Mayor Scott Leven and especially uh Alex Smith for spearheading this this work. Um there's so many highlights from the application that stood out to us at the league. I mean, first of all is this this mayorapp appointed uh committee, the walk walk and rollers for doing all of this great work, for playing an active role in promoting bicycle friendly initiatives, for providing input on infrastructure planning and supporting public outreach and education. Um also the very bold vision that Elmharst has set in front of itself with the bicycle and pedestrian pro plan. um providing that they're working methodically and thoughtfully in this guide work to build a transportation system rich in active travel and recreation opportunities for uh for for all adults and kids. And just a few highlights, expanded on street bike networks and pedestrian street upgrades, refuge islands, curb bumpouts, the complete streets policy, bike parking ordinance, building bike boulevards, a traffic garden. I mean, there's so much to be

proud of. Um, thank you so much for all of your great work. Since 2002, the League of American Bicyclists, uh, our Bicycle Friendly America program has accepted over 2300 applications to this program from over 900 communities, and there's over 440 bicycle friendly communities now in all 50 states. Elmherst designation is a testament to this community and their dedication to seeing real change on the ground. So, thank you so much and congratulations on this welldeserved award. Great.

Thank you. Thank you. I'm here. All right. Once again, uh thank you to all the people on the Walker Roller Group that uh put in all this hard work. This is a a remarkable achievement, and I'm glad we got to step one bronze level. Uh we're going to move on to uh item three, which is the receipt of written communications from the public. Is there anyone that has a written communication that he or she would like to deliver to the council? If so, please raise your hand.

There are a couple posted. All right. And there. All right. There are a couple posted. Um we move on to public forum. Clerk Tamer, who is anyone signed up for a public forum? Yes, Mayor Corey Christmas. All right. Uh so you'll use the back microphone. uh you I'll ask you when you start to state your name. Address is optional. It helps us get back to you if we need to. You have three minutes to address on any topic you want. I do want to point out and I haven't always that uh it's an opportunity for the speaker to address the council. Um we generally do not respond. Uh it doesn't mean we're not listening to what you say, but our format is an opportunity for you to talk to us. So if you'll proceed, state your name and you're off.

I'm Corey Christmas. Um, I'm the owner of the address that's directly adjacent to the new island construction proposed project. Um, so I'm here to one do a restatement of the formal objection that I made for the variance uh back in January and then I followed it up with a formal protest letter for the map amendment um given the hardships that I think the that property is going to impose upon me as well as other folks that are adjacent to that property. For example, one, um, I just made a pretty large capital investment in my backyard, and now I'm being told that there's going to be five town homes with recessed balconies that are going to be looking into my backyard. Uh, which obviously I don't care to have that. I didn't buy this property thinking that I was going to have to have this imposition upon me. Um, secondly, uh, you know, I think I think the variance in the squeezing of five town homes into a.3 acre lot is candidly going to look pretty janky. Um, I know the the variance request was supposed to be like 15 to 20 ft and now it's being requested that it moves down to like 3 to 5. Uh, candidly, I think that looks horrible. I think it's going to be a negative aesthetic on the uh on the neighborhood. Um, not to mention it's also the proposed property at 240 Northwest Avenue is also on a tilt. It's like slanted to try and fit the five, which all the more reason means that the property should not be a 5-unit property. It may be better served to be a three-unit property. I also think that there should be a reorientation of the of the property itself so that myself uh and the surrounding pl uh the surrounding uh properties don't have to worry about people on looking into their into their properties into their backyard. Obviously, as a homeowner here in Elmhmerst, we expect there's going to be a level of privacy and comfort um when we moved here and I expect that privacy and comfort to be maintained by the city council uh in reviewing a solution like this for a new project. Um, in the event you guys have already made a decision that this map amendment

is going through, then I expect um some level of of grace upon the surrounding properties to do some things around light pollution, noise pollution, as well as uh being able to put privacy screens up. Um, again, spent a lot of money on my backyard. I don't want people looking into it. So, if you're going to approve this map amendment, my expectation is that you put into the record a binding contingency that he has to put up uh 15oot pines to block access into uh into my property. Uh as well as all the things that I stated in my in my most recent letter a couple of nights ago, um for the record, so like I don't want I don't need light pollution. I expect that the lights, whatever they may be on this property, are low light. they don't impose upon me at night uh or my family or the surrounding properties. Um I also, you know, I don't know what it's going to look like from a trash pickup perspective, but I would imagine if you guys are going to squeeze five properties into that, most likely is going to be a couple of one-yard dumpsters, which is again is going to be a noise pollution issue. Um and again, just completely disrupting sort of the the sanctity of that house that I purchased a couple years ago. So, um, that's the that's the concessions that I'm making and hopefully you guys will look it upon yourselves to consider this, uh, map amendment, um, something that you guys can deny, at least for right now until we figure out what's the best opportunity for the city.

Thank you, Mr. Christmas. Thank you, Mike Lisero. Yeah, that's me again. Uh, good evening, Mr. Mayor. Uh, manager, state your name for the record, please. I know who you are, but

Michael Los Cisro 659, Cedar Elmhurst. uh here on behalf of the walk and rollers again uh to express our gratitude to the public affairs and safety committee, Chairman Brennan and the other members of the committee for their hard work and diligence in coming up with a report on uh a local ordinance that they're going to suggest tonight. I think it's on the agenda uh to uh make it safer to bike in Elmherst. Uh we think it's a good first step in going forward. a lot of chaos out there with e- scooters, ebikes, and e-otos. Uh we appreciated our involvement with the committee in coming up with a proposal. We hope the the council considers it and uh enacts a local ordinance to protect our kids and make it safer, more safe again in Elmherst to bike and walk. And maybe now we're bronze level, but maybe someday we'll be golden. Thank you.

Thank you. That's all that signed up, right? Those are the two individuals who signed up to make public comment. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to do so but did not have an opportunity to sign in? If so, please raise your hand. Seeing none, we will close public forum at this time. Move on to item five, announcements. Are there any announcements from the dismanel? So, I just want to let folks know that we'll have a W 5 town hall meeting coming up on uh uh Thursday, March 26th. It will be here in this room at uh 7 p.m. Thanks. Thank you. Anyone else? All right, Clerk Tamer.

That's okay. Okay. Um today, early voting began at city hall. Uh more information is on the city website. Um, but council chambers will serve as an early voting location Monday, March 2nd through Monday, March 16th. Early voting hours are weekdays 8 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and weekends from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Um, one other announcement from the youth commission. We have um Tony Hoffman coming to York High School in partnership with the um D205 Foundation and D2205 PTA council. And thank you to Alderman Shenko as being instrumental for the council. Um but we're welcoming Tony Hoffman Elmhers. Tony will talk about turning his struggles in adolescence um to a lifetime of hope. He'll focus on addiction, mental health, and prevention appropriate for grades six and over. And it'll be at York's auditorium on this Thursday at 7 p.m.

Are the Youth Commission uh youth awards still open? Nominations? The awards are still open, the nominations uh until April 1st. So if anyone has anybody in mind that has done exemplary youth service, please go on the city website under youth commission. You'll find the form to submit. Very good. Thank you, Clerk Tamer. And if I may ask you under item six now to please read the consent agenda.

Yes. Well, here it is. Okay. 6.1 minutes of the regular meeting of the Elmer City Council on February 17, 2026. 6.2 2 Executive session minutes of the city council of owners on February 17th, 2026. 6.3 accounts payable March 2nd, 2026 10,246,46840. 6.4 Referral Review of Municipal Code sections 2.06D and 2.09G. 6.5 Report case number 25 PO8 Island Construction Map amendment and variations. 6.6 6 report North York TIFF to four distribution 6.7 report 2026 Elmer's French Market 6.8 report Dan Gibbons Turkey Trout Foundation second annual twilight trot 6.9 report street light controller upgrades 6.10 10 report 2026 water main improvements construction engineering services 6.11 report 2026 water main improvements construction bid 6.12 report 2026 street resurfacing program resident engineering services 6.13 report 2026 street resurfacing program construction bid 6.14 an ordinance amending 16.11 entitled service charges of chapter 16 entitled garbage and rubbish of the municipal code of the Ordinances of the city of Elmerst, Illinois. 6.15 an ordinance amending section 44.74 entitled yield rightaway streets of article 5 entitled driving overtaking and passing of chapter 44 entitled motor vehicles and traffic of the Elmer's municipal code 6.15 an ordinance amending section 44.92 entitled stop intersections enumerator of article 6 entitled special stops of chapter 44 entitled motor vehicles and traffic of

the Elmer's municipal code 6.17 an ordinance amending section 44.31 1 entitled speed limits on certain streets 20 mph and section 44.32 entitled speed limits on certain streets 25 mph of article 4 entitled speed restrictions of chapter 44 entitled motor vehicles and traffic of the Elmherst municipal code 6.18 an ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of a non-exclusive license agreement by between the Elmerst running club Inc. in the city of Elmherst, DuPage, and Cook counties, Illinois. 6.19, an ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of a non-exclusive exclusive license agreement buying between the Spring Road Business Association, the city of Elmer, Dupage, and Cook Counties, Illinois 6.20, an ordinance waving bid and authorizing the execution of a contract between Aries Charter Transportation, Inc. and the city of Elmerst for services related to the 2026 Elmerst, excuse me, Explore Elmersty Program 6.21, 21 a resolution approving and authorizing the execution of a professional services agreement with engineering resource associates inc for plan review services 6.22 a resolution approving and authorizing the execution of a professional phase 1 design engineering services agreement by between GFT Infrastructure Inc. and the city of Elmer's for the York Street resurfacing between Jackson Street and South Street local agency functional overlay roadway and prairie path crossing Improvement Project 6.23 23, a resolution approving and authorizing the execution of a professional construction engineering services agreement between the city of Elmherst, Illinois and Jalt Hamilton Associates, Inc. for the Northwest Elmer Streets reconstruction project. 6.24, a resolution authorizing the execution of change order number one for the Northwest Elmherst Roadway Reconstruction Project. And 6.25, 25, a resolution authorizing the issuance of a notice of award in contract for the northwest Elmherst roadway reconstruction project of the city of Elmerst, Illinois.

All righty. Thank you. Is there any item on the consent agenda that any alderman would like to remove either for further discussion or to vote against? Sorry. Alman Herby. Uh, thank you, Mayor. 6.5. 6.5. All right. Seeing no others, may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda minus 6.5. Alman Virgil with a motion. Alman Bellinger with a second. Clerk Tamar, please call the role. Toudo. Hi Baker. Hi Nudara. Hi Virgil. Hi Nardini. Hi Bastito. I Brennan. I Bellinger. I Shenko. I

Hill. I Bram. I Jensen. I. 14 I's zero nays. 14 I's zero nazs. The consent agenda minus 6.5 passes. Clammer please read the report for 6.5. It is therefore, yeah, it is therefore the recommendation of the Finance, Council Affairs, and Administrative Services Committee that the city council approve the distribution maybe we're out of order here. Um, that is 6.5, right? We have I'm sorry for those we had an adjustment on the agenda. So, um, 6.5 is the island. Yeah. Sorry, guys. Freaking me out. You are pulling the report. What What are we pulling? Correct. Yes.

Okay. That is the one. All right. So, please read the report. Let me go back. Okay. Therefore, the development planning and zoning committee recommends that the city council approve the amendments and variations requested for the properties commonly known as 241 Northwest Avenue, 245 North Northwest Avenue, 503 West 3rd Street, and 240 Northwest Avenue, Elmerst, Illinois. All right. Can I have a motion? The city Oh, I'm sorry. That's okay. The city attorney is hereby directed to prepare the necessary documents for city council approval. Signed, Alderman Chris Johnson, chair, alderman Jennifer Veris, vice chair and alderman Guido Nardini. Thank you. We have a motion to approve 6.5. Alderman Jensen with a motion. Alderman Vamus with a second. Alman Jensen.

Thank you, mayor. This is a report. Alman Jensen, if you'll pull the microphone down, please. Thank you. This is a um report on the map map amendment and variations for the island construction project at West and Third. Um we've looked at this over the course of I believe was that three meetings, four meetings. Um sorry, uh it's been it's been on our agenda for for a while. Um we looked at it every which way. We um concurred with the report from the zoning and planning commission. Uh the map amendment in that report was unanimous. The uh variations were 5 to one in support and uh we agreed with their assessment and we ask for your approval.

Thank you. Uh discussion alman.

Thank you mayor and uh thank you chair Jensen for for doing the work on this. Um, this is a project that involves 15 or 13 town homes on West Avenue and Third. Uh, it's on both sides of the street. Uh, East and West with West Avenue being the the the dividing point between those two what they're calling the West Lobe and the East Lobe. So, there's five on one side and I believe there's eight on the other. That makes 13 if I'm math is right. Um, I am for the town homes. Uh, the reason I got involved because some constituents reached out to me and, uh, I had to educate myself on what this matter was. And as I learned about this, um, I saw there were some issues and kept on going into the the deep dive. So, there's a map amendment. There's two map amendments. There's one for the west side which is a 01 designation if I remember correctly. If it if I misstate anything please stop me and correct me. Uh that's going to an R4 designation and on the east side with the eight properties uh that is a C2 commercial 2 district going to an R4. So a little a little bit getting busy there. the variances uh read through the transcripts. There were two sets of transcripts in ZPZ. They had two hearings. Um there was a um a a a dissenting vote vote uh vote on the variances. The map amendment passed unanimous. So I wanted to know why that person on

the on that committee voted no or uh dissented and it was due to mainly the large variances. So when you have a variance at 20% or lower, those are lower thresholds, easier to um to check the boxes on. And outside of the four corners of the document that ZPZ does, when it comes to council, those are uh pretty easy to understand and they don't have a lot of other implications beyond the four corners of the document. uh that's why we're on council is to look at these zoning cases and go beyond the four corners of the document. So I did that. I kept on going and as I kept on going I kept seeing more problems. So uh just to wrap this up in 10 seconds here is uh I will be voting no because of these issues. Uh without getting into detail, I don't think that's pertinent tonight for me personally. Um but if once you do get into these details you realize there are issues and uh a 75% variance and a 54% variance and a tolerable 4.3 on the very unusual density one due to the R4 district which is very unusual uh from my experience on council which is not that deep compared to others. Uh I'm I'm going to be saying no. So, at this point, I'll turn the turn my time back to the to the mayor.

All right. Any other discussion? Okay. Uh, please call the role on 6.5. Tuluto, I. Baker, I Virgil, I Nardini, I Herby, no. Brennan, I Bellinger. I Jenko. I Hill. I Bram. I Jensen I 13 I's one nay 13 I's one nay 6.5 passes move on to committee reports uh 7.1 we have a report uh on city ebike and mobility device regulation so I guess have clerk read it

therefore the public affairs and safety committee recommends the city council approve the local regulation of electric bicycles electric scooters and other personal mobility devices as outlined by the report and that the city attorney be directed to prepare the necessary documents to adopt these regulations by ordinance. Sign Alderman Michael Brennan, chair, Alderman Karen Shenko, vice chair, and Alderman Brian Ballinger. May I have a motion to approve 7.1? Alderman Brennan with the motion. Alderman Shenko with a second. Alderman Brennan.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, so you know, the report before us tonight uh took a little little getting to. Um there was a lot of discussion. I I think going into it, it was very clear from uh just the alderman seat. Uh I witness a lot of close disasters with ebikes and ecooters in my block. I don't have to go very far. Um, but as alderman, I also got calls from residents, you know, gravely concerned with, you know, sort of the trends that they were seeing in their neighborhoods as well. And I would like to believe that I'm I'm probably more of the norm and you all are hearing from the residents as well with with respect to this. So as we started digging into it, uh we we we did come to the conclusion that there are a lot of gaps down with the state legislation that's in place today. And so therefore, we we had a report at one time that was, you know, pretty comprehensive and and really had a lot of lot of teeth to it. Uh the good news is there's a a bill in front of our state legislators uh that that will significantly improve the the regulations for ebikes and e- scooters. So with that pending movement, we didn't want to have all local uh ordinance and have to unwind it potentially with some of this new state regulations that are coming down. So we scaled back the report uh quite a bit uh and and we really focus on immediate concerns for the city.

The the first was pedestrian safety. Uh we we have a zone wi within Elmherst uh where we we have density and um a lot of people a lot of pedestrians walking on the sidewalks. Um I I think you know the the business districts in particular are find themselves in in this zone. With that we have walk your wheel zones. So, so even before ebikes and e- scooters, uh you you enter this zone and you will see a sign that says no skateboards, no bikes, etc., etc. So, what we're proposing here is that we expand that to include all the the ebikes and the ecooters as well and any personal, you know, device. So, so that's one pillar in the report and that will will service us well locally in those business districts. The second, you know, void that that we have in our current uh ordinance is that, you know, do we have the ability to to site or or to uh yeah, do a local citation. A and because of the way things were are set up today, uh if Elmherst police wrote a citation with respect to an accident or something of that nature, it would be a state citation be because we we didn't have anything in our current uh ordinance um locally to to where the adjudication, you know, could go through a local process. So, that's that's a pretty big deal. I mean, we we want to be a friendly community. We do want to write a citation where one one is

warranted. Uh but we don't want it to be so punitive and so cumbersome. So, we wanted to make sure that we we had the ability to for Elmherst Police to to to leverage uh existing uh regulations downstate for ebikes and e scooters, but but have the ability to ride a local citation, you know, versus a state. Um then the third pillar um is that I see this a lot. We we see, you know, non-highway vehicles, uh, non-highway motorcycles, you know, personal mobile devices with electric motors that that they go pretty fast and they h have they they have nothing on them that resemble street legal, you know, uh, capabilities. So, we want to prohibit those on our streets, right? you know, uh, w with this report and our local ordinance. Um, you know, this would include things like ATVs, uh, you know, golf carts that aren't properly equipped to to be on the road, uh, etc. Um, and, uh, so at the end of the day where the police would come across this type of vehicle, we want we need to make sure that the police is authorized to impound that vehicle. Because you think about it, they're out riding this thing illegally on the street. The police can't write a citation and they just say, "Hey, have a good night and work your way home." So, so the police in this particular use case, if they were to do a citation or somebody was riding one of these vehicles in in town, uh they they would actually impound uh the the apparatus and they'd have to go through some process. the resident would have to go

through some process to to recovery to recover uh the the vehicle or device. So, other provisions in the report that that are pertinent, a citation will cost $80. Um, you know, it'll pro prohibit uh adult uh pro prohibit an adult from knowingly permitting a minor child to illegally operate an ebike or e scooter uh personal mobility device, non-highway vehicle, motorcycle in violation on city streets, sidewalks, and paths. And the concept here is really to put some accountability on the the parents to make sure that they understand what they're purchasing for their kids and um you know and hopefully with with education. Some other things that we want to do from from a staff perspective. We want a simplified message to get out to our residents so so they understand what are the the constraints of these you know devices and uh you know hopefully align with those. So so lastly that we we talked about you know you know helmets and education. We think that's super important. We don't mandate helmets. Uh we don't mandate education. We don't mandate the registration o of these devices but we strongly s feel that it should uh uh be considered you know as a parent or a user of these devices. So at a high level, I just want to cover, you know, what what are some of the key uh aspects of the state law. Um because if you read it, it take

you some time, I think, to really, you know, get down to a really simple version. Alman Bren, is this the proposed or existing you're going to just This is This is existing.

Thank you. But even with the existing, so the the existing will will very good question by the way that this is existing. Um we can live with the existing for a period of time because we we have visibility of what's in the bill. The bill is going to clean up and make this a lot more simple for our community to interpret and understand it. So, so as of today, this is what we need to deal with as as uh uh residents of Elmherst. So, ebikes, there are three different classifications of ebikes. Uh class one, two, and three. So, for class one and two bikes, uh there's currently no age restriction to them. class three ebikes. And I'm not going to get into the details of what all these classes are. Uh but if you went out, it's it's pretty pretty clear that for example, class 3 is just a much faster uh you know, apparatus. So class 3 ebikes do have an age restriction. You have to be 16 to even own a class 3 bike. So passengers are are allowed but certain condition conditions apply you know such as an operator the operator age I I think it's 18 passenger age I think it has to be less than 16 and the bike has to be built for multiple riders as well. Um so so all ebikes must be ridden on the street not the sidewalks. That's that's really key. So I I'll get to that in my summation, but so for e scooters, uh e- scooters have an age restriction of 18.

So passengers are prohibited and all e scooters and personal mobile devices, you know, must be ridden in the street unless permitted under state law. And so so there there's this nomenclature of e scooters low low speed under 10 m an hour above 10 m an hour. It gets somewhat complicated. But at the end of the day, you know, to ride an e scooter, you're supposed to be the age of 18. So my plea to the parents, you know, for for the safety of our children, for the safety of our neighbors, uh please take all this into consideration uh before purchasing these devices. Uh even though a child can legally ride a class one or class 2 ebike, does that child understand the rules of the road if they're going to be in the streets? And I can attest that all the time I walk outside my door and and there are kids riding down the street like their hair's on fire and they go through a yield sign. They don't even look either way. It's just a matter of time. And we've had a few accidents in town. I feel that we've been very lucky. And I think as the uh the summer months, spring and summer months and fall months are are ahead of us, we're going to see more and more activity. So, so you know, this is certainly one of those things that goes a little dormant, uh, you know, in the winter time. So, you know, I I would challenge the parent, do do you feel that they're capable capable to to manage, you know, this ebike on the street? And if not, this is not a safe situation to put them

in. And so I I I do ask the parents to take a harder look at at uh at both e scooters and ebikes. So So anyone riding e e devices whether it's uh a bike or or scooter on the sidewalk, it's it's creating an unsafe environment, you know, for pedestrians and for the residents backing out from their homes. Uh these these uh vehicles go fast enough to where you you'll look once and they're not in your eyesight and you back up thinking the coast is clear and before you know it either they're hitting you right in the side of the car or or you're hitting them as they're, you know, barreling past your driveway. So when Springfield does revisit the bike and east scooter legislation, you know, I expect another referral uh to come through council so we can take a look at the the new revisions to the state law and determine if is there anything else that we would, you know, further recommend for our local ordinance. But the committee felt with everything that's in this report, everything that's in place in the current state statute that that we we can put that in place and uh that that's good enough for right now. Um and again we want to to work on the education as well as not only the education of you know safety around operating these devices but but also just you know understanding what's lawful and what's not. So, I'd like to to thank staff uh Chief

Mlan there he is back there. Uh they put a lot of time into this. Almhurst walk and rollers uh working group, you know, Mr. Lysero, you know, I think he's a permanent member on my committee. But anyways, that's here or there. Uh we have a seat for you. So, with that, I I'm asking for everybody's support and uh on this very important, you know, safety report and uh I'll turn it back to you, mayor. Thank you. Thank you, chair.

Alderman Duda. Yeah, this question is for Alderman Brennan. Is there any uh issue with reflectors on these ebikes that are going to be on the streets? Is it does the state have any regulations to have reflectors? Because to be honest with you, everybody's dressing in the dark colored clothes on these bikes and now they're on the street. It would be a good idea to have some type of reflectors so people can see them.

So, so there are level of requirements that you know for uh that uh I didn't get we didn't get to that level or I didn't get to that level uh in my overview of what's in the state uh statute. Uh that that said there are some restrictions or requirements. Um that that said I that is one area that you know when when we do have this next wave this bill that comes through I want to see where we land with that and make sure that that's appropriate. Uh because especially in these shoulder months where it gets dark pretty quickly. You may not you may not think you're going to be out in the dark, but you know, before you know it, you're like, "Oh, I should have left 15 minutes ago." And you it's dark. I mean, so uh summer months it's less of an issue, but you still I I understand the point. Uh but there are there are some requirements that that need to be upheld uh for scooters and and ebikes. Uh but um that's one area that we' pro probably should revisit. Alderman Nardini.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, really briefly, I got to sit in a little bit while at public affairs and safety last time as Chief McClean was going through sort of individual bullet points of the current state law. And the one thing I would want to sort of uh amplify that chair Brennan said is that if you are out of practice um biking, there is technology that exists now that's pretty different. And the notion that every kid should get a bike is a fine idea. I'm a 53-year-old man and it makes absolute sense, but there are some vehicles, there are some technologies that exist right now that unless you spend a little attention you think are more or less just like the bike that you had years ago and they're quiet and motorized and much much much fast faster. And uh reducing cars is a great thing, but anybody who's listening to this, the more that people can be cognizant of what exists that people can be riding on, uh better to find out about it through a discussion at city council than an accident that happens. There are things that go much much faster than what we grew up with.

Thank you. Additional discussion, Alderman Herby.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh thank you for that presentation uh Chair Brennan. Uh it sounds like from hearing that that quite a bit of detail there that public education seems to be would be my number one as a as a parent or just a person getting on one of these that if if we don't have that public education piece as a part of our policy procedures and best practice uh it seems like we might end up having more accidents. I don't know if that sounds right or wrong, but uh I know one piece is through the bike and rollers group is they have a a little pamphlet that you can take a test online and you and you can be surprised how difficult it is. It's almost as hard as the driver's test and you know that's just one piece of the education model there. So c could you speak real quick on what you feel like the number one or two public education pieces would really put a piece of cement down for this?

Well, I mean that's something that we we need to work through. I I think you're right. I I think we have a group that that is well position to to guide us and guide the city. Uh it really comes down to you know staff and resources and and figuring out how to to uh share the knowledge I guess and uh I think we have to work through that. I don't think there's a silver bullet. There are things that are available today. You mentioned one of them. Uh but I I know that the group's been, you know, trying trying to to to go through district 205 and and some other organizations. One of the reasons that that we felt is important for us to to move this along and not wait for the the legislation to to clear Springfield. it was because we we do want to get in front of this and and you know have a fighting chance of of getting some District 205 assistance with with getting some of these these concepts out there in their community. Um because that's that's really the target audience when you think about it. Um and it's not just the high school, it's it's all a district 205 and those ages. So, it's something that we need to work on. Uh we have certain things in place today that that could be pushed out, but but it's really getting people interested in the consumption of that collateral and and uh information.

Thank you. Anyone else? All right, I think we're ready to call the role on 7.1. Thank you, Chair Brennan. Thank you, Tuluto. I Baker. Hi Nudara. Hi Virgil. Hi Nerdini. I Herby. Hi Brennan. Hi Vimis. Hi Ellinger. Hi Shenko. I Bill. I Graham. I Jensen. Hi. 14 I's zero nays.

14 I's zero nazs. Report 7.1 passes. On to item eight. Reports and recommendations of appointed elected officials. Mayor 11. I have three um that we received. Uh I think it was probably about two or three years ago when um Alderman Chewy Garcia asked if uh he called me and said, "Do you have any pro projects that you would like to apply for?" And in consultation with staff, we highlighted uh the need for technology in our police department. uh and he put us in for a $750,000 police department technology grant which was approved but with the funding uh uncertainty in Washington we were not sure we were going to get it. It did come through. I was out of town last week and uh his chair of public safety asked uh Mike Brennan to attend with Chief Mlan and they brought back an oversized $750,000 check which I signed on the back. Um, so we appreciate Congressman Garcia's efforts on that and as we build the new police station. It's good to know that we will have a jump on getting the technology installed that will keep up with the new police station.

Mayor,

yes. Just real quick, I just want you to know, I don't know if you saw the picture, but I I did wear retire a tie out of respect for I I knew you would have shown up in a suit and I was watching. Thank you. Okay. Um item two is uh I think all of the alderman will have on the uh you're in front of you uh we're having a um progressive tour of uh some of our uh senior housing and I don't want you to if you're not a progressive politically this is more like a progressive dinner. We're going from place to place and uh we're probably going to do a couple of these. Um, I will of course going to be there. It's on April 25th from 9:00 to noon. And we're going to make a couple different stops so that if you're interested in seeing what kinds of facilities we have in Elmherst, so that the city council is aware, this is sponsored by um our senior citizens commission, including the um the housing committee. Um so, uh it's a good opportunity to see what's available in town. Uh lastly, St. Our St. Patrick's Day parade is this coming Saturday. Um, one of the highlights of social life in Elmherst. It kicks off at noon and I hope you'll all join us for that. City manager.

Thank you, mayor. Uh, two items. Next Monday after our regular committee meetings, we will have a committee of the whole in this room starting at 8:00 and that is for an overview of the zoning ordinance rewrite. So, the consultant that helped us will be here uh to explain to the entire council how we went about this and then it will be sent to the DPZ committee for review and then a report back to city council. And the other item I have is that vehicle stickers went on sale today. Uh forms were mailed uh to people's homes. I received mine over the weekend, so they're available online purchase. Uh you can send those forms back in via mail or you can come and see us here at city hall. Thank you.

Well, city manager, since you helped me write my comments, one thing you didn't put in was that um I see our city manager has announced his retirement. I don't know if you were aware of this. Um uh so uh it it has been made public uh that city manager Gowski is going to be retiring uh after a 15-year career with us, which we are all quite thankful for. uh he's not rushing out just yet, but we are going to be uh hiring a consultant to help guide us as we did back in 2011 or 20101 when city manager Gabowski came to us. So, we're thankful for the time we had with him. There'll be more on that in the future, but I did want to acknowledge that. Any other announcements from the DAS? All right, we'll move on to uh item nine, ordinances. Clerk Tammer, please read the ordinance. An ordinance providing for the issuance of approximately 11,210,000 general obligation bonds series 2026 of the city of Elmherst, DW page and Cook counties, Illinois for the purpose of financing certain capital improvements within said city, refunding certain outstanding general obligation bonds of said city and paying the expenses incident thereto, providing for the levy and collection of a direct annual tax sufficient to pay the principle of and interest on said bonds and authorizing the sale of said bonds to the purchaser thereof.

Yeah. Right. And manager. Yeah. I'm sorry, mayor and and city clerk, but that the number was updated after the bond sale today. And so on the online agenda, that issuance is approximately $10,995,000. Sorry about that, Clerk Tamer. Okay.

Um I may have a motion to approve the ordinance. Alderman Tuda with a motion. and Alman Nuda with a second. Would you like to speak al I will invite um our representative uh by the name of Mark Garantina from Spear Financial to the um microphone. Um he is uh from the company that assists us in the bond sale and can give an overview and then I'll um wrap up after that. Thank you. We have to get the commercial Spear Financial but All right. I think I said that. Did you? You said the company. I know what you said.

Good evening. So, this morning we did hold an auction for the city's general obligation bond series 2026 and we received significant interest from the bond market. There were a total of 28 bids from nine different biders and the lowest bid came from JP Morgan Securities with a 2.37% interest rate with a final maturity in 2034. Interest rates on municipal bonds have been trending down over the past few months. So, it was a great time for the city to issue these bonds. And the affirmation of the city's AAA bond rating also helped with this low interest rate. A portion of this bond issue refinanced the city's 2015 bonds, resulting in debt service savings of approximately $497,000 over the life of the issue or 5.8% of refunded principal. The other portion generated 3.5 million for the design and engineering of the city's new police station. The bonds are scheduled to close on March 18th, which is when the city will receive these bond proceeds. Overall, we thought the process went very well, and we'd recommend the low bid by JP Morgan Securities be accepted. Be happy to answer any questions that the council may have.

For those, we have some new aldermen that haven't been here, but would you explain when you say we go out and you how it's what the process is um in terms of how we bid out our bonds? Sure. So, it can any uh any firm can bid on these bonds that's qualified to do so. And um we had we have an open auction. So while there's 28 bids from nine different biders, they can rebid. So if they know they're in second place, but they don't know how far ahead far how far ahead the first place person is. So that's what generates competition. And um whoever has the lowest true interest cost uh is awarded the bonds.

All right. And I just want to add before I open up that because of what we projected for our police station and what the rate that's come in, we're going to save $165,000 on that as well. Um, and before I turn it over for questions, do you want to make any comments, Cheroo, or do you want to wait?

Um, sure. I'll just make a couple comments. Um, thank you to um our finance staff, Director Coyle, um, the presentation um to s sec secure the AAA bond rating. Thank you to Spear Financial and thank you to the um committee. I don't know if um it was the prior committee that originally was looking at the police station financing and options for financing and we had to make a decision that we recommended and the city council agreed with to wait on issuing the 3.5 million um with the hopes um looking into the future that bond rates were going to be trending down. Um that was a on in hindsight now a very good decision to have done that um because of the savings that has been generated um on getting we were projecting this bond issue to come in around 3.2% and it came in at 2.37%. So, it is significantly better than we expected um even a couple months ago. And the total savings between um the two different numbers that you both spoke about in terms of the refinancing and then the savings on what we expected to have to pay for the police station issue is around $700,000 in net present value. So, very good.

Thank you, Chair Tudo. Other questions from either um Mr. Geratina or our chair of finance, Alman Irving.

Thank you, uh, mayor, and thank you, Chair Tudo, for, um, showing that that's a sad difference between those two points in time and that savings. Um, the other the question I have uh, at the moment is uh, to to expand upon and and kind of sh uh, shed some positive light on our bond rating. So, if we did not have the bond rating that we have today due to our fabulous city manager who got us maintains that rating, if we did drop an A, I think we're at AAA, is that correct, city manager? That's correct. AA.

So, if we went AAA and we went down to a double A, I got or one step down, what kind of incremental number could you ballpark us from the chair to point of those two points? What would that be? Yeah. So, one notch would be a double A+ and it probably roughly 5 to 10 basis points. So, you get probably a 2.45 instead of a 2.37 roughly. So, what kind of dollar amount would that be on this on this bond? Um, probably like 50 $50,000 I would say. Roughly 50. All right. Thank you.

Right. Other discussion or questions? All right. Before we vote on it, I'd like to say it feels like the Academy Awards and thank you too. But uh this is the kind of work that you know as we look at our budget and people talk about do we watch the dollars? We do. Um we've had the AAA bond rating for I at least as long as um Alderman Bram's been on the council. Um and it's not everyone does. Uh and uh we made good decisions in terms of what the finance committee through chair tuto led uh everyone to that we would wait and bid it out and it's all worked out. So um good work everyone. Um clerk tamer if you want to call the role. Cheludo. Hi Baker.

Hi Nutra. Hi Virgil. Hi Nardini. Hi Vasto. Hi Herby. Hi Brennan. Hi Brimis. I Bellinger. I Shenko I Bill. I Bram I Jensen. Hi. 14 I's zero nazs. 14 eyes zero nays. Uh thank you for your report. Uh and item 10 other business. Is there any other business to be brought before the council this evening? Seeing none, I'd ask for a motion to adjurnn. Alderman Ramis with a motion. Alderman Tuludo with a second. All in favor say I. I. Any oppose say nay. We are adjourned. Thank you.