City Council - Regular Meeting

for February 17th. Please stand and join us in the pledge of 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. That was really the roll. Belzac here. Gustoson here. Kenny here. Leansky here. Shower here. Stampinado here. Sullivan here. Seven present.

We have a quorum. Takes us to questions, encountments, and announcements of a general nature. This is on our agenda for anyone who has anything to for of uh say to the city council that is not on our agenda tonight. Some issue that maybe you feel you'd like to address us on. If not, we move on. Approval of the minutes. Uh we have two sets of minutes tonight. The first set of minutes, the Darian Park district board of commissioners and the city of Darian committee of the whole meeting which took place on January 12th, 2026. Motion to approve. Alderman Stampinado, second by Alderman Belzac. Any questions or comments regarding those announcements? Those minutes, excuse me. None.

Stampinado. I Belac. Gustoson. I Kenny. Hi. Leansky. Hi. Shower. Sullivan. I. Six eyes and one abstension. Those minutes have been approved. The next set of minutes are the February 2nd, 2026 city council meeting. I need a motion to approve. Alderman Gustoson, second by Alderman Kenny. Again, any questions or comments? The role. Gustoson. Hi. Kenny. Hi. Leansky. Hi. Shower. Hi. Stampinado. Hi. Belac. Abstain. Sullivan. I six eyes and one abstain.

The minutes have been approved. Takes us to receiving any of communications. Do any of the alderman have communications they'd like to share with the council? I've been having a constant communication with uh Mr. Sirwick. I'm I'm messing the name up on Walden regarding lights going into his backyard um from the neighbors across the park. Um, we've talked to to Ryan regarding ordinances and stuff and it's it's a really a hard thing to to go through. Um, you got any anything you would like to share with that? I'll double check. I heard some rumblings about it, but I wasn't sure to what

sur I think is the gentleman's name. And I'm not sure what the exact issue is, but if it's is is it glare or is it's glare and and it at one point it sometimes it's you he thought he had he when he first approached me about it to have the city do something I encouraged him to go talk to to neighbor to you know you know see if they can come up to some kind of agreement and then for a while it was good and then there was like a timer I guess but then now it's now it's all through the night if they get a motion sensor or something um the lights shine into the children's room and they can't sleep. So that's

what we could do is uh conduct a phototric uh a phototric study and with that phototric study obviously it's done at night and uh we we need the resident's permission uh basically to enter his yard to determine whether or not there's it's above the phototric level. Okay, I'll check with Ryan, see what the status on that is. get back some.

Yeah, I've had uh numerous numerous conversations with residents and Dan regarding the 70 uh 5th Street uh property development and that's on the agenda for the planning zoning meeting tomorrow night.

Okay. Yeah. just some of the issues that that uh uh Alderman Gustoson is worried about is is the fence for example, correct me if I'm wrong also Alderman the fence that the residents do not want the fence there um you know again that's support that staff is going to support just so the city council recalls we had had a similar issue with the dentist uh on 75th Street and the prior resident um again that was it's a matter of policing it is in the ordinance so again we'll let us We'll let it run its process through the uh commission and the committee as well as city council. And I think some of the other issues were just the micro issues uh spotlights uh shining in the back

spotlight shining in the back. Yeah. And again, that's something

location of the dumpster to put the dumpster a little bit closer to the to the building. having making sure that there's no uh work being done outside of the building out into the parking lot and those kind of general things. But the overall development, you know, they're extreme and I've explained to this to them multiple times, they're extremely fortunate to have the type of development going in there because it's 9 to5 8, excuse me, 8 to 5, no weekends. They have and it's it's all in an enclosed building. They only have six to seven employees working there. They have one dock door in the back that faces the homes, but they only have five or six deliveries per month that come out of that place. So, it's a really a very low volume type of of business that's there. So, if you want something to live next to something, this is the thing to live next to. And I'm I'm I'm within uh 200 ft from the development also. So, I'm real close to it.

And Gustin, just uh your point was regulating the hours 8 to 5. That's something that we can't we can't do. That's what they do now. And I went over to they have a facility over in Willoughbrook. I went over there and talked to a couple of the people that work there and yeah, they verified that it's only only 8 to 5. Yeah. It's all I'm saying is we can't condition that. I mean, things change. I understand. And things could change, right?

For those in the audience who might be wondering where this is at, if you're going down 75th Street, there's Darian Town Center 2 has the Jimmy John's and the Massage Envy. Then there's a lot and then there's Haroldson's the auto body shop. That's the lot that's in between the two of those that we're talking about. And he was a former business resident. Um excuse me. He lives he's a resident of Darian as well and he had a a former business on 83rd Street, but he outgrew it and there was no space in Darien at the time. So he's looking forward to coming back in.

Yeah. He personally will not be there. He's just had some major back surgery done and I know how that is. I've had two major back surgeries and he won't be there but his general contractor and his um wife are both going to be there at the meeting and it's for tomorrow night. Residents that are interested at uh correct it's across the way here at the police department. Uh I believe it's 7:00. Correct there. That's correct. 7 o'clock. Anything else? Anyone else? Thank you.

All right. That takes us to the mayor's report. I have two proclamations tonight. And the first one I'm going to read is on Arbor Day. Um, so I'll proceed with that. Whereas trees can reduce the erosion of our precious top soil by wind and water, lowering our heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce oxygen, and provide habitat for wildlife. Whereas trees are renewable resource, giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires, and countless other wood products. Whereas trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, and beautify our community. And whereas trees wherever they are planted are source of joy and spiritual renewal. And whereas the city of Darian and Arbor Day volunteer group continue to produce continuous Arbor Day celebrations in the city of Darian which have beautified our parks and parkways remembering our loved ones and educate our school children promoting canopy cover. And whereas the celebration for our brigade is to be held April 24th, 2026 in the Durian parks and at the Hinsdale South High School commemorating the lives of Darian residents and contributors. Now therefore I Joseph Marquet as mayor of the city of Darian do hereby proclaim that April 24 2026 is Arbor Day in the city of Darian. Is there anyone here to receive this proclamation tonight? This may sound a bit early uh I know it's April but there is a reason why we do this tonight Mr. Dick.

Yes there this is all part of that grant process. So we're making sure that we follow the protocols that were assigned to us. So there's another presentation I will be presenting uh next city council meeting in regards to the um tree inventory management. Uh so that'll be coming up as a PowerPoint uh presentation next city council be about 5 10 minutes. Okay. Educational only. It's uh my honor to be able to read our proclamation honoring our 2026 resolution. It's a resol

resolution. Thank you Joan. uh 2026 citizen of the year. Um we're very fortunate in Darian to have outstanding individuals who give of themsel without looking for any kind of reward and those are usually the people that we find receiving this kind of recognition. So tonight uh we're very happy to be able to read a resolution honoring uh Deborah Ular as our 2026 citizen of the year. This is quite lengthy, so bear with me. Whereas Deborah and her husband George raised their family in Durian, they had three children, Rachel, Abigail, and Eric. They all attended District 61 schools. Where Deborah worked for district 61 as a teachers aid, she was instrumental in coordinating the annual art fair, a district highlight event that was interrupted by CO. And whereas the family has participated in the durian parture programs and were heavily involved in the durian youth club whereas durian durian is not just where Deborah lives is where she has poured her heart her time and her values into the fabric of the community. The extent of Deborah's activities go beyond the city making her not only a shining star in Darian but surrounding communities as well. Deborah is not only noted for the remarkable longevity of her volunteer service, but for her selfless, generous, and immediate response to any personal organization in need. She always focuses on improving the well-being and quality of life for others. Volunteering is not something Deborah seeks for recognition for. It is simply part of who she is. And whereas Deborah's volunteer service includes 10 plus years with the Girl Scouts as a chaperon and adult volunteer for all activities and 25 years with meals on wheels delivering meals to the

elderly and homebound residents. Very often serving as the only vital point of human connection with the recipient. Deborah often brought her young children with her while delivering meals on wheels. In doing so, she modeled the importance of service and instilled these values in the next generation. And whereas since 2023, Deborah has been an active transportation provider for cars, community assisted rides for seniors. She has served as dosent and greeter for more than 5 years with the Chicago Architectural Society open house event. Deborah has assisted the American Cancer Society by providing transportation for seniors to and from medical appointments. As an employee at Mercy Hospital, she was a volunteer for more than 15 years by delivering food baskets to seniors during the Christmas season. And in conjunction with Syracuse University, she represented the university at local high schools on college nights. And whereas Deborah is is and continues to be an active member of the durian women's club. Dear Deborah was an organizer and manager of the clothing resale event for 10 years. The signature community service for many years. Deborah's responsibilities included securing a location, coordinating vendors, scheduling volunteers, and managing finances. her husband George and son Eric regularly assisted with labor intensive setup and tear down of clothing racks. Unfortunately, CO ended this tremendous service to the community. Deborah also headed up the club's environmental committee promoting local environmental initiatives. She personally collects and delivers recycle recyclable materials to local recycling centers. And whereas outside of Darien, Deborah volunteers at the little store at Burgess Square. She's assisted with

shopping and store operations. She's a regular at Darian Fest, checking IDs and selling tickets in collaboration with the Dear Man Lions Club. In the last two years, Deborah participated in Darian's trunk or Treat citywide event, decorating vehicles and distributing candy. We can thank her for volunteering for the ID do highway cleanup group keeping roadways clean. This list showcases not only the remarkable diversity of Deborah's volunteer service but also the extraordinary depth and longevity of her commitment. Whereas not fully captured in the list of volunteer roles is Deborah's wet readiness to step in whenever it needed to help. Deborah's volunteer work is deeply personal, giving her time to truly be seen as a excuse me, giving her time to many as she may be the only outside contact. Making people feel comfortable seen as a rare gift. This unwavering compassion combined with decades of dedicated service has made profound and lasting difference in the well-being, dignity, and daily lives of countless individuals. Whereas through countless acts of kindness, both acknowledged and silent, Deborah has helped create a culture of care, generosity, and connection, her spirit of service has strengthened the community and helped make Darian not just a nice place to live, but a place where people truly look out for one another. And whereas when Deborah finds time, she enjoys Darian Park District Zumba classes, company of her book club friends, and just walking the area. And whereas Deborah and George also enjoy traveling in northern Wisconsin. And whereas Deborah's service is profoundly personal, she gives her time face to face one person at a time, offering presence, kindness, and dignity to those she serves. She willingly rearranges her

life to honor the commitment she makes, always giving more than is asked, and doing so with genuine joy. Through her selflessness, consistency, and quiet leadership, Deborah has made a lasting difference in countless lives and has strengthened the very fabric of the daring community. And whereas the heart of a volunteer is not measured in size, but by the depth of commitment to make a difference in the lives of others. Whereas Deborah Ular's tireless commitment, efforts, and positive influence makes her an exemplary choice for this prestigious recognition. and whereas Deborah is and will continue to be one of the many shining stars in Darian, making Darian a nice place to live. Now therefore, be it resolved by the city council of the city of Darian, DuPage County, Illinois, the WL be hereby designated the 2026 citizen of the year for the city of Darian in recognition of her many years of dedicated service to the city of Durian and its residents. We do a motion. Yes.

Motion to approve. Mary Sullivan, second by Alderman Belzac. And the role Sullivan. I Belzac. Hi. Gustiffson. Hi. Stampinado. Hi. Kenny. Hi. Shower. Hi. Leansky. Hi. Mayor Marcase. Hi. Clerk Regiona. I treasure Corin. Hi. Attorney Murphy. Hi. Administrator Vanna. Hi. 12 eyes.

You've been approved. Another resolution resolution. Member, I'm going to give you a couple things tonight which you're going to immediately give back to me. We save we save this for um your party right now.

I'm the unofficial photographer of the city of Terry and a very high rate. This is the proclamation that I just read. You'll get this the night of your banquet. That was a long proclamation. Oh, believe me. Well, you've done a lot. You You and Mr. Gond provided a lot of speaking time for me and he gives me his agendas. This is your plaque. Okay. One, two, three. One, two, three. I'm going to do one this way. Awesome. Now let other people. Can I see it? You can see it.

This will be per give it to you permanently. One more. Look over here. Sorry. Okay. Want to say a few words?

Yeah. Thank you. Very few words to say. Um I have to say that this recog recognition was a complete surprise and pretty incredible and I get real emotional. So many thanks to the mayor, city council, older persons and the selection committee for this honor. particularly Bonnie Cusera who keeps trying to convince me that I actually deserve this recognition and who is leading me step by step through the process. Much appreciation also goes to my longtime friend Jane Ross who submitted the nomination. Maybe I shouldn't be grateful for that. Without her time and considerable writing skills, I wouldn't be here. And finally, I want to congratulate all the other club members who are here. Marian, not too many others um for their own very welldeserved recognition. Hoping to see all of you at the banquet on March 6th where we can continue the celebration. It may not be as entertaining as the amazing Dancing with the Stars ago,

but we'll do our best. We're too kind. You look completely different. It was a fun night. We had a lot of fun. Thank you. Looking forward TO

several years ago, we added another component to our uh citizen of the year banquet. U durian has wonderful organizations. The women's club, the Lions Club, the Rotary, the Garden Club, the list goes on. And what we decided to do is each one of those organizations usually honors someone as their woman of the year, lion of the year, Rotarian of the year. So what we decided to do is to add that component to our celebration. So on the night of the banquet when we're honoring Doug, we're going to be honoring James Burke who is the uh nominee from the Darian Business Alliance. Dave Jakur from the Durian Garden Club. I don't believe is Dave here tonight. Mike Falco from the Durian Lions Club. Uh Pastor Eli V Boy from the Darian Rotary Club. Uh Marian Keka and she's here. Marian, want to stand?

Mike Garinger from the Darian Youth Club. These are all people who were selected by their organizations. Uh as people who during the course of the year made outstanding contributions to their um to their organization. You know, you go out in the hallway there and you look at those pictures and there's 50some people on the wall out there. A lot of them are founding fathers and mothers of the city of Jerian. Uh I have the privilege of chairing the committee that Bonnie runs back in 1989, 90 and 91. And I oftentimes look at the list and I see that that was um Ed Colby, Mike, Mickey Panka, and Ira Bruss and I think about the contributions that they made to the city of Darian. Deb, you're part of that now.

This is really quite an honor. And I don't know how many communities actually look for someone to recognize. But Darian take appreciates the efforts made by its volunteer groups and it especially u appreciates people like yourself who give of themsel. You know um a lot of people who when the committee goes to the house to tell you you won you were their selection a lot of them say can I say no and we always say no you can't say no. Um, I also want to thank George because you do what you do because you have a partner in life who works and encourages you at the same time. Um, in a marriage, it takes two people to be successful. And I I know that George uh in order for you to do everything. And all I know, Deb, is I have a lot of styrofoam in the garage right now. I told Kathy, "Bring it to Deb Utler's house." But many thanks uh to you, George, uh for your support, to your your wife. Many thanks to the women's club for the support and acknowledgement of of Marian as well as Deb as a citizen of the year. We appreciate that. So again, congratulations. Thank you so much.

Yeah. And since we're on the citizen of the year celebration and also honoring the other amazing residents of Darien who served in our volunteer communities, just a reminder that the dinner dance honoring all these amazing individuals will be Friday, March 6th at Alpine Banquetss. Um cocktails start at 6:00 p.m. Dinner is at 7. It is $52 a person and it has a full seven course family style meal with three hours of open bar music and dancing and lots of celebrating. Please make your reservations by contacting Diane at city hall 630-3538102. Um it's really important that you specify um your name and who else might be attending with you and if there's individuals you want to be seated with. Cash and checks um payable to the city of Darian can be used to secure your reservation. You can drop them off um during business hours or put them in the dropbox in the vestibule that is open. But please um be sure to secure your reservation by Thursday, February 26. And we look forward to an amazing evening at Alpine Bakewith celebrating um our citizens of Darian.

Thank you, Marian. You're welcome. Well, we're going to continue now the rest of our meeting. If you guys would like to leave, you're welcome to come. We'll give you a few minutes.

Goodness. Mrs. Mars is Marques. She always attends past citizen of the year.

Okay, we'll continue with our city course report. Joanne, no report this evening. Mayor, uh, city administrator's report. Brian's going to cover the general fund summary and the general fund revenue. Brian?

Yes. Thank you, mayor. We've done this a couple times in the past. We happen to have a light agenda, so we thought it would be a good idea to at least get a little jump on things tonight. focus on the general fund summary which is um you know for me always one of the more important pages. It lists all the revenues, expenses and importantly the ending fund balance for each year and then we can get get into the review of the specific and individual general fund revenue line items. Um so the top page I handed out again this is the same format as we've had um for a long long time. We look at the actual numbers in 25, what was budgeted this year, and where we think we'll end up. Obviously, every budget we've ever had, we don't end up exactly where we say we're we're going to do. Something costs a little more, a little less. We might have a little better sales tax than we thought we would have or estimated. Um, so again, the important column to me is if you go third from the left, that is the uh fiscal year 26 estimated actual. That's where uh the staff has looked at all our expenses and all our revenues and made our best guess estimate of where we'll end up at the end of this fiscal year just prior to May 1st. And uh you'll see the the revenue did exceed the budget uh expenses um were lower than we budgeted. And again you'll see as we go through the budget uh the expense expenses in the different departments sometimes the expenditures are lower because we have to carry a project over also. I mean we do a good job of of you know keeping the expenses low going to bid and getting things but there are projects that just we think will get done in fiscal year and they won't and they're carried over and again you'll see u more of those. So at the bottom of that column, the ending fund balance is estimated to be about 6.5 million and what I always shoot for

in this fund is about 3 months ending balance of about 4.4 4.5 million. So when when that balance is larger than that number, we have the ability then to work that into the next year's budget and with the goal of transferring uh money to the capital projects and that's the primary primary primary source of funding for our larger capital projects is excess uh ex surplus from this uh general fund summary. So going into the budget uh that we'll be proposing and talking about starting tomorrow after revenues and expenses um we are sticking about those 4.5 million and that number carries out through the three years uh as part of the forecast. Um again that's uh for me this is one of the more important sheets. It certainly is not all the detail, but it gives the big picture of where we should end up. And as everybody knows, we have a one-year budget and then we go out two years for estimates. I've always thought that that was a reasonable amount of time. There's no right or wrong. You can go out 5 years, 10 years, but the longer you go out for estimates, the less reliable it is. And I think the the three years have worked well for us for a number of years that uh since that was instituted. Uh, I'd be happy to answer any questions on the general fund summary overview if you have any or if any Mike comments or anybody else wants to uh add anything. Uh, Mike will probably say this, but it just caught my attention. Mike, you you will see the transfer to the capital projects fund in this upcoming budget year is 2.65 million. And that's a good number. And again, once the audit is done this year, if there is excess over the uh operating revenue of 4.5 million, we would also make a mid-year transfer.

But as you do see going out to years uh 28 and 29, that transfer to the capital projects fund is significantly less. Um, but that that is nothing to be alarmed about cuz when we get to the capital projects fund, you'll see even with those reduced transfers, we estimate to carry balances in the capital projects fund uh in year 28 of about 18 million and in year 29 of about 15 million. So, uh, you know, we've been working at that and that's a goal to keep those balances in there sufficient for projects at least through three years. And with a fund balance at the end of three years at 15 million, that is a pretty good number if should we end up exactly there to fund another three years of capital projects and and again, it always hasn't been it wasn't always hasn't looked that nice in the third year of the general fund. But Mike, I'm sorry.

I've trained you well. You've done my sermon of the mount for me as well as I always called it at the beginning. Yes. I think you've done a good summary. I think you and your staff have put in a lot of effort into this. So, I compliment you on all of that.

Uh uh the the other thing that I think it's important to highlight the numbers that you've put together do reflect no increase in the real estate taxes for the coming for all three years. So even these numbers are reflecting no real estate tax increase. The other thing that we've talked about individually a little bit is there are other sources of revenue if we need to generate other sources of revenue outside of the real estate tax area. So we're pretty comfortable with that and hope the residents also recognize that and appreciate that. I know when you get your tax bill it's oh my god what has Darian done to me? If you look at the share of taxes from the city of Darian and compare them to everybody else's, ours have been flats. We haven't raised them since 2009. And we don't get any credit for that. A lot of the other taxing districts have raised them. And when you see your tax bill, I think it's important to notice that. And uh sort of give kudos to what the staff here and the elected officials have been able to accomplish over a lot of years. And so I think that's important to recognize. Uh there's a couple little minor things. Can I add I just so I don't get lost in your comments. Um this particular year and and the council's aware that the tax levy and budget uh time frames aren't really in sync. You have to levy taxes much uh earlier than the budget. So, as part of this budget for this year, the council did levy additional money, but like last year, once we get into the budget discussions, I anticipate there would be that tax abatement ordinance, and that's why that would bring that levy down to the 25. And in this budget, and I believe the one previous, we did show the actual uh increase in years two and three to meet the police pension fund. and we had a uh discussion at admin finance committee and considering the sufficient balances in the capital projects fund. We thought it would make sense to just show that three-year

property tax freeze all in our three-year projection more.

Yeah. And and I think it is important what you bring out. I mean our contribution to the police pension fund in the coming year is approximately $3.1 million. Yet, the total real estate taxes we're projecting to collect are about $2.5 million. Uh, which means that we've got to take part of our other taxes, whether it's sales tax or other revenue that we're generating, and use those for our contribution. And that contribution is anticipated to go up because it does have to be 90% funded uh by 2040. Uh so that number will continue increasing but we've been pretty fortunate I think like you say from good management uh we've been able to stay on track and not have to raise any taxes or really anything else uh right now

and Mike I think we've we've spent at least a couple of years and that's one of the reasons continued to uh levy for what we thought might be the the full pension because there was a lot of concern about what that number is going to be should there be changes in the state law and you know the mayor and I talked and you know I I didn't want to budget in fear of that going up either. It just um you know it it doesn't hoard money, but it it obviously, as you could see, not worrying about that at this point changes the picture to where you could have a three-year um uh budget that shows no property tax increase for the city. So, um I did a budget this year and we did without worrying about that as we talked about in the past.

Yeah, we can't project what Springfield's going to do to us, unfortunately. Okay. I think what we should do.

Yeah. If there's uh you know the the format of the revenue page falls along the same lines in terms of the first year as the actual from last fiscal year and we go through what we uh you know do what we're projecting to end this year and then for the next three years. And you know it's no secret we take a very conservative approach approach to our revenue. We don't know what our sales tax is going to be every month. We we do pretty good at estimating, but certainly do not want to estimate high and find out we've had some short months. That's I think one of the reasons we are in the strong financial position we are that uh we are able to transfer money every year when the audit is completed and finished. So that's been very helpful. Um and again, you know, I won't reiterate all the numbers. One of the things that we did are recommending and we've done that in the past I think in 20145 is what we call a building permit fee holiday. So it it does it shows in the narrative. It doesn't necessarily show in the numbers. Uh we've done that before where we will um have a no fee for certain permits uh issued by the building department. Simple things like fences, roofs, and other things that um we don't have outside costs on. It might be uh it might be simply a permit going out for a fence that's $50. And we did that before. I I don't recall if it was for two or three years. And we figure that impact is fairly minimal, but certainly a nice gesture. I think we've done estimates that in in previous years we might not have collected maybe 20,000 that we would have collected otherwise. Um, you know, at some point we did it as a as a way to kind of encourage residents to to do some things and not worry about the permit fee, albe it relatively small. Uh, but we could talk more about that as we get into the community development budget uh hopefully tomorrow.

U the, uh, Treasurer Korn has commented in the past about the local use tax and sales tax, how those uh, the the formula for those have changed. And while you see sales tax going up very very nicely and and and in a in a at a high percentage, we'll see the local use tax is dropping the way the state has now done the formula. So when I'm looking at those and when the council does, you kind of add those two together and compare them to the previous years to get a an idea. And we're still coming out a bit ahead. Um but not the picture. It's not really 71 to 8 million because of that change. If you look over um where we budgeted and where we'll end up or estimate we'll end up this fiscal year. One of the things we have noted that is been reducing um

cable TV

is the cable TV. Yeah. As more people get away from uh the traditional cable uh not necessarily phone or internet because the tax is on really the the cable portion of that. We are seeing those revenues drop and you'll see those numbers drop accordingly. Um we do not have it but there are some communities uh that are now taxing streaming services. So if you have cable and you're getting away from cable and have very basic or actually none but you're streaming. The state allows municipalities to add um I believe it's up to 5% tax. We we haven't have haven't not looked at that. We haven't calculated that would what that would mean, but I think things like that that we're aware of, it's good to have uh available in our hip pocket should some of these projections we have here um you know come out off and they're not they're not meeting the projections probably the you know during CO that was probably the best example you know we had a budget already we had three-year projects and then COVID hit so we actually had to take a year where we we used to do capital projects and we had to really call an audible that year. So, u I don't anticipate that. Uh everything's very solid, but in case that were to happen, uh we've talked to the admin finance committee about maybe alternatives. Uh just so they're out there, but again, we have not planned for any of those. Uh the council's aware we did talk about a um a rent um a tax on our storage facilities. There's a storage unit tax that's available to municipalities. Not every town has it. Some in our neighborhood have it. and it would generate maybe 150,000 a year between our two facilities. And uh we've met on that a couple of times. And where we're at today is the admin finance committee uh concluded and along with the staff and mayor that uh we are looking to work with Shgard Storage and they have come up with a plan where we

they would install kind of a a battery facility that will generate electricity electrical power into the grid that recharges at night and um there will be a um a surplus. So, it will be a benefit to that and it'll make a little amount of money and we have a we have a review of that we'll bring back to the council. First couple years is probably 20,000. It's estimated that going up to 40 every year. So, what we're thinking of it's obviously very good uh environmental project to do and work on with one of our business partners. Uh we would forego that uh that tax and in lie of that we would get the revenue from this uh facility that they're looking to build with us. We don't have that agreement in writing yet, but we have talked about it with them as recently as last week, and they're really very as excited as we are to come up with an agreement like that that really is a win-win for for both parties. And Mayor Marquees has been attending some more uh seminars and and and discussions lately on and those types of facilities and um we'll see more of those I think over time.

Would something like that be available for the second storage facility also? Okay. Well, we don't know, Mike. This one of the storage facilities has been more active in meeting with us and they have actually done a study to where

they they they'll show how that would fit on their property. I have not yet talked to the other uh facility yet and have not even looked at um at that property because because in theory that could be any property. It doesn't have to be specific. I'm just saying that we're working with this owner because he's saying this in lie of that additional tax. So the other property owner essentially benefiting to that extent. So if we could get something similar from the other property owner again I'm not sure whether it fits but if it would fit it would be a way of generating that same source of revenue. So

yeah we could we could look at that and we have not yet but we certainly could. They a lot of the storage facilities are in a an association that gets involved kind of as a blanket uh association for all those and um I'm sure we could probably talk to them too about this. Um I'm on the environmental committee for Metropolitan Mars Caucus and one of the reports we just came came about a couple weeks ago was called the resource the resource advocacy program and basically uh the Illinois Power Association has estimated by the year 2030 Illinois will not will not produce enough electricity to meet the needs of the state. And so there are actions being taken. Uh, and it was interesting because Brian and I I had already gone to Brian and said, "I'd really like to do this project with with Shurgard, you know, in terms of the battery thing." And in the course of that meeting, uh, I MRA, who is the environmental guru, um, brought up that uh, one of the ways we're going to have to meet the resource adequacy, uh, need is to have programs like this where we're putting electricity back into the grid. And I mentioned to her that we're thinking of this endearing and she knew all about these programs. So obviously this is something that's not new. It's out there and communities are talking about doing it. It's just that we have an entity in general that's willing to work with us on it.

Yeah. And and I like that aspect of it because I know one of the other aspects they were looking at was having us do it on their property and that I do not like. I don't think we as a city should be getting involved in that business. I think it's a great idea to let them manage it, set it up, and we benefit, they benefit. It's a it's a win-win.

Yeah, that was the first discussion point that we would do that, and we've, you know, we've gotten away from that as you mentioned. Um, just the only other comment we have. Um, and I did speak with Alderman uh Legansky about this and uh Julie also was asking for kind of a profit and loss on the DBA activities and that is actually the last revenue um on the sheet on page two and I have in there now estimated about 60,000. I put that number in there before the council off uh you know you'll see tonight is authorizing the Memorial Day carnival that really did raise some funds for us last year. So, I'll adjust that that number and and again, we'll adjust all the numbers. We're we're we not all the numbers, but as new information comes in, we might make adjustments here or there if they're material. If there's something that went up a couple blocks, we we probably won't change it. Um, but when we get into the DBA uh discussions next week, we'll have a a good comparison so everybody could see um you know, the events we're having and the cost and the revenue for those. And I would be happy.

Right. Because the whole point of having DBA was agreeing in house. We thought at minimum it would break even or we would we Yeah, we did. When when when it was always the Yeah. When that came in house, we we looked at that. Now, there's certain events like the uh the concert series. That's not a break even. That's just something we're throwing for the community, but there are other things that make up revenue that hopefully will cover most of those events. and I would be happy to answer any questions on the revenue if you have them and if you don't have any tonight and call me or send me emails. Yes, sir. Hey Bri, so um on a couple um the um like the business licenses if you look at like actuals between 24 and 25 is that just like a timing issue you think where

Yep. 24 was just lower and we average about the same. We started a new computer system for business license that year and the timing was off on that a little bit because it it's been pretty consistent, right? And then with the cable TV going down, you know, pretty steadily over the last couple years, this, you know, storage thing might be a good way to, you know, offset what we're going to be seeing in a, you know, in terms of a decrease with that each year. I would think that's going to continue to go down. Well, whether it's 20 or 40, that would go into our our general fund and, you know, it would go in probably it's it's a small enough that we put under miscellaneous revenue and we would get that every year and it just be part of the pie,

right? And then like on line 30, is is that the same thing in terms of the uh engineering fees where super low in 24, but then really big in 25. Did something change or is that just a timing? No, we have we have a couple different engineering fees. One is engineering fees um in the revenue site that are reimbursible. So if we have a project going on and we have an expense with our engineer Christopher Burke and uh we get that reimburse. So that is just dependent on um I I guess developments or reviews things like that. And as we get to to Dan's budget and community development, right, you'll see we have a couple line items on expenses. And one is for the reimburseables and the other is for expenses that are are our expenses like storm water issues and that.

Yeah. And we talked today too like on the drug forfeite receipts. I mean, it's tough that all the hard work our men do and women in the police department that we've seen $99 back because of the slowness of the process. I was told in terms of the court systems and yeah has to go back to the state before we actually get the money back. Yeah, there's a uh the chief chief like we know like how much we're actually owed to compared to what we're actually getting. Is that I'll let the chief address that. But there are also a few different there's state funds

using the state um forfeite funds. Uh those we had exhausted for a while and now we built those back up. But um very few times do we do any kind of state seizure. Um the work involved and the money you get out of it is just not worth it for the most most part. Uh federal forfeiteures um a lot of those are in rears. I think there's a 2015 case. There's quite a few from 2019 and then they get um more as you go further along. So the cases are being made. Uh the court system is running very slow to get those um monies that have been seized as was for forfeited

and chief looking out you are we do we know like how much we'll get over the next couple of years or that we should get there's no breakdown of that yet. Well, there never would be because um until it goes to a court or and somebody makes a decision that um there's a million dollars that was seized and Chicago's going to get 50%, the um uh DA is going to be 12%, area is going to get 6%. The next case, it's going to be totally different breakdown. It would be impossible to do that. But once we do know a case, what's the the time lag then to get that money? Is it once it's been um uh forfeited by the court? Yeah, it's within a month. Okay.

Julie did indicate that there's quite a bit out there potentially. Oh, yeah. That you said you don't know when you're going to get it. The other thing, Jerry, just so you know, we're restricted in the use of those funds, too. Uh correct. Yeah, I know that part. Yeah. Thank you. But

I mean, it was nice to see the year before 51 grand and $99. It's like a slap in the face. We spend a lot of money. So, um the federal forfeite funds are probably down to about $7,000. Um but we bought all the body warn cameras, all the tasers, all the um license plate recognition, the drones, cars. We bought a ton of stuff um from those funds. So, when you buy it from there, um saves the um having to budget for it. Um those type of things. And same thing with the other restricted funds as well, but it can only be used once for that initial. Correct. Because if it's replacement or maintenance, then you're back out of your pocket.

And that's why you're um this year's um budget went up significantly because four years ago we bought the body body worn cameras, the um license plate recognition and all those other things. So all those bills are now coming through into and being budgeted against the budget. Were we able to use forfeite money on the on the drone car that we bought in the in the fall? I can't recall. No, we used uh uh cannabis funds. Any other questions for Brian?

Yeah, I I had a couple I didn't realize we were going to be getting into specifics. Just two quick things. Brian, under grants projecting 105,000 for the current year. As of February 1st, we only had about 18,000 in there. We have something else big coming. Yeah, the um the grant with uh the tree planting should be in soon. Y and then the other thing was uh rents. We talked about that I think at our fin or just at our quick little meeting. You're still projecting that number at about 234. I thought Julie said that our rental income is going to be dropping since there was some consolidation. Yes.

S to this is uh you know the budget we had printed handed out. We had not made adjustments to that yet. But in our notes or my notes I have to make changes that will be one of them that we'll have to take a look at still. Yes. No, that's all I have. All right. Okay. We'll move on to department head information and questions. Any questions for either Chief Thomas or Mr. Bbeck? Anything you gentlemen want to add? Not at this time. Okay. The treasures report. We have warrant number 252620. Uh recording

talking too much tonight should get paid by the word. Uh requesting council's approval of warrant number 252620 in the amount of $613,840.95 from the listed funds. Payroll for the period ended February 5th in the amount of $357,531 for a total be approved of $971,371.95. Motion to approve what's second by Alman County. Any questions or comments on the role? Belzac. Hi. Kenny. Hi. Sullivan. Hi. Shower. Hi. Gustiffson. Hi. Leansky. Hi. Stampinado. Hi. Seven eyes.

The award has been approved. Monthly report. Mike. Uh revenue expenditure report for the 9 months ended January 31st reflects general fund year-to- date revenue of $16,225,47 expenses of 12,910,164. Current balance $7,415,229 water and water depreciation fund year-to- date revenue 5,885,438. Expenses of $6,571,354. Current balance $2,524,151. Motor fuel tax fund. Year-to- date revenue $75,271. Expenses $571,973. Current balance $733,254 and capital improvement fund. Year-to- date revenue $776,732. Expenses of $2,881,485. Current balance 21,365,177.

Again, any questions for treasurer CR?

Um, I should added this a couple minutes ago. Um, being here every day, I have an opportunity to see the work of the staff and to participate in that work. Um, Brian and I work real closely together and he starts this budget process. He's back like in November or October thinking about this already. And I don't know if everybody realizes this, but this is something that he really sees as a challenge. When we look when we looked at that pension being 3.1 million contribution, that was a challenge for him because he knew that uh we wanted to abate we didn't want to raise uh property taxes and um we had he does an outstanding job. I just wanted to say that I'm part of the discussions with him with Lisa and uh my input is there uh he does a wonderful job and you know I just want all of you to understand that and acknowledge that that the reason we have this budget that things that we are in financial condition the way we are is not just for the work we do but a lot of it is rest on his shoulders. So I really want to say thank you to him publicly for all the work he does on this budget. Thank you, mayor. And it is kind of a cliche, but it is definitely a teamwork. I mean, we the staff, everybody works very hard on that. We come to really productive, professional city council meetings. Everybody doesn't agree um and can have a really, really good discussion. That's important. You have to be able to have those discussions. And I think mayor, you said I start in November. Dan makes sure he starts about a month earlier than I do. So,

it's everything ready to But I appreciate your comments. Now, Brian, the new refrigerator is coming. Yeah, probably is. probably. All right. Thank you, mayor. Standing committee reports. Chairman have anything? Alman Bells. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The next municipal services committee meeting will be next Monday, uh, February the 23rd at 6 p.m. in council chambers. Thank you, Alman Kenny.

Hey, Mr. Mayor. And I am going to go back to communications earlier today. Like I said, I I screwed up the name. Summan Solomon and I have let Diane Nuverini and he lives on um Emerson. The lights are shining shining in through from from Walden. Um that that's taken care of that police committee met this evening and we um passed the the minutes vote on the minutes for December 15th, 2015. They're over to the clerk's office. We meet again on uh Monday, March 16th, 6:00 across the street in the police training room pending agenda items. Mary,

thank you. Um just a reminder that the administrative finance committee of the whole which is the entire city council as we often um refer to it as the budget meetings for fiscal year 2027 will start tomorrow evening Wednesday February 17th in council chambers at 6:30 followed by a second meeting on Wednesday February 25th in council chambers at 6:30. Um if further uh discussion and uh conversation needs to happen, we will be doing that during the Monday, March 2nd uh city council meeting and if needed, which I do not anticipate it being needed, Wednesday, March 4th, um would would be the final meeting because then uh a final draft distributed to the council and made public on our website would be by Friday, March 27th with a public hearing hearing and the city council um approving um a budget on Monday, April 6th.

Thank you, Mayor. U the the Darian uh action committee will be meeting February 28th, I believe, downstairs here uh at 9:00 in the morning. Mike, the Darian Police Pension Fund will have their quarterly meeting for the December quarter, next Thursday, February 26th at 6:00 across the street at the police training room.

Thank you. All right. Uh, questions and comments, agenda related. Anybody in the audience have anything lying? I knew she was waiting to talk to us here. I just have an attab boy to give to John Carr through Dan, if you would. Um, he made room for us in the corridor there. He extended our pictures for our citizen of the year because we ran out of room. And somehow through his artistic carpentry skills, he made room for an extra 10 pictures.

So, um, we always think of municipal services as plowing and, you know, water leaks and so forth, but you have a talented carpenter there because he's made room for 10 more um, citizen of the years. So, thank you for that.

Thank you, Bobby. Thank takes us to old business. There being none, takes us to the consent agenda. There being none, we go to new business. Item A, consideration of motion to approve a resolution authorizing the city administrator to enter into a contract for the purchase of electricity from the lowest cost electricity provider for the purposes of commercial accounts through the Northern Illinois Municipal Electric Collaborative Process. Motion to approve. Alderman. So, Alder Woman Sullivan, seconded by Alderman Stompado. Any questions? Is this a decision then that the residents will need to make?

No, this is only for our um our pumping stations and our and our not our street lights, but our stop lights. There couple of we have. So, it's just for us and just for Yeah. And the bids go with a number of municipalities that also have the open bid dates the same as us. Yes. Okay. It is different from the electrical aggregation program. Okay. That's the residential. Yeah, that's what I was questioning. Anything else? The roll. Sullivan. Hi. Stampinado. Hi. Shower. I Leansky. I Kenny. I Gustoson. I Belzac. I. Seven eyes.

Has been approved. Item B, consideration a motion to approve a contract between the Windy City Amusement Incorporated and the city of Dearan provide amusement rides for a Memorial Day weekend carnival at Chestn Court Shopping Center for May 22nd to May 25th, 2026. Motion to approve. Alderman Shaw, second by Alderman Kenny, and again, any questions or comments? Mayor, I'm sorry, one comment. We don't have it in the packet, but we do have an email confirming that we can use the uh facility or the site for the carnival. It's just not in the packet. Anything else? There's none of the role. Shower. Hi. Kenny, I Legansky. Hi. Stampinado. Hi. Sullivan. Hi. Gustoson. Hi. Belzac. Hi.

Seven eyes.

Item B has been approved. Takes us to questions, comments, and announcements of a general nature. Did anybody have anything they'd like to share with with the council? I would simply like to reiterate what Mary said. My hope is that we had a wonderful turnout for our citizen of the year banquet. This is um one of the highlights of our year. Uh we have an individual who has given of herself to our community and it is I think our responsibility to honor her properly that night by our attendance at this at this banquet. And I you can't beat the cost. $52 uh for a seven course meal and 3 hours open bar with a great DJ. um four hours open bar

with a great DJ um dancing. It's going to be a fun night and Bonnie and I have promised to keep my comments down to a minimum. So I'll be hearing me talk a lot that night. Right, Bon? Right. Bravo. If he goes off script, he gets the she's got the hook. She going to pull me off. Municipal services will be there pulling them off. Okay. Anything else? But if none uh not the uh motion to adjourn Sullivan second by all shower all in favor I we are returned ladies and gentlemen. Great see you guys tomorrow. See you.