City Council - Regular Meeting

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call the Committee of the Whole meeting for the Elgin City Council for August 12th, 2026 to order. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Zalparo? Here. Dixon?

Present. Good. Here.

Martinez? Here. Ortiz? Here. Powell? Here. Steffen?

Here.

Thorne? We're captain.

Here, approval of the minutes of the previous meeting of July 15th, 2026, the special committee of the whole meeting. So moved.

Second.

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

Council members Alvaro. Yes. Dixon. Yes.

Good.

Yes. Martinez. Yes. Ortiz.

Yes.

Powell. Yes. Stephan.

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes. Motions approved 8-0. Approval of the minutes of the meeting of July 22nd, 2026. Move for approval.

Second.

Second. Moved and seconded for approval. Please call the roll if there are no corrections. Hearing none.

Go ahead. Council Member Zafaro? Yes. Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez? Yes. Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell? Yes. Stephan?

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motion's approved 8-0. Public comments this evening.

We have a number of people that have signed up, and I question whether all of you are wishing to speak.

because that may not be necessary. I don't know what your plan is, but I will call your name. And if you're here as a part of a group, there may be just one representative. So it would be your choice. First person to sign up is Bob Johanson. Bob Johnson, I'm sorry.

Good evening, council. I'm here tonight to talk about the Inclusivity and Diversity Ordinance. On June 11th, 62 calendar days ago, 42 business days ago, we were told it would take an additional 45 days to review this ordinance. By the next meeting on the 26th, it will have been 77 calendar days or 53 business days. Since June 11th, there have been two abductions And multiple sightings, one as recently as yesterday, of ice in Elgin. This has two more families in distress in a city that doesn't have an ordinance in place to assist them. Looking at this five-part ordinance, I found with limited research, programs in cities throughout the nation that can be used as templates for exactly how this ordinance can work in Elgin. Immigration enforcement, incorporating the SAVE Act and our resolution on ICE using city property, the only component that needs to be added to that is no data sharing with ICE. This is done in New York City, Chicago, LA, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland, and more. Municipal IDs. This is done in New York, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Detroit, Austin, Texas, El Paso, and Milwaukee, and more. Economic development, this is done in New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Dayton, Ohio. Language access, this is done in Chicago, Minneapolis, Charlotte, Los Angeles, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, as well as others. Legal defense fund, this is done in Atlanta, Baltimore, San Antonio, Austin, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, LA, and Richmond, California. I bring up Richmond, California because this is a town with a population of 116,000, similar to Elgin, and with a 43% Hispanic demographic, again, similar to Elgin. They have a legal defense fund. I make the recommendation for $116,000 to fund the legal defense fund, similar to the money that was spent for the puzzle that was bought by the artist out in Idaho. This research took less than an hour and gives us specific places to template from to create a solid ordinance. This ordinance will help people on day one. It helps on day one by letting people who live here and fair know that if this happens to them, There is some kind of help available for them from the city. It tells our immigrant community that their contribution matters and that they are valued. This ordinance is long overdue and it's been discussed since December 8th of 25. It has been needed since before that, which is why the conversation started. The continuation of the red tape is just harmful and unnecessary. My question is do we help our neighbors? I hope the answer is yes. Please vote for the ordinance and let's get this done.

Thank you.

Sandra and Andrew Fendonzi. Is that Fendonzi up?

Hi, I'm Sandra Fidanzia, and I'm from the Fox Valley Young Marines. I am the executive officer for the Young Marines. We are a youth organization that's a nonprofit for age 8 to 18. We model after the Marine Corps, but we are not a sponsor or a feeder for the Marine Corps League. And our program is based off of leadership, teamwork, and self-discipline. Why we're here today is we want to start partnering more with the community. This is our 10th year anniversary, and we are involved heavily. We were involved with SISI, the... Safe and Healthy Elgin Coalition, the Lions Club, American Legion, Writers Club, different clubs, but we're always told that we're the best kept secret. We don't want to be a secret anymore. We do community service, hundreds of community service hours. We do Red Ribbon Week. Our main thing is strengthening the lives of American youth and keeping our kids healthy and drug free. So I have had five kids in the program. Our unit has been around for 10 years. This is my son. He went through the program for nine years. He started at 10 and just graduated out with the highest rank that he could be. He is going off to college on a full scholarship. And that is one of the things that the young Marines helped him do. We have a young Marine who's an electrician. a teacher they're all across the board of only about 10 percent of our kids actually do want to go into the military but they go on with excellent uh friendship lifelong friendships and leadership throughout their careers and these are some of our young marines here this is um andrew fidanzi and he's going to just talk a little bit about the programming to him and then we're just going to do quickly for the kids

Hi, I'm Andrew Fadanji. I'm a former Young Marine of nine years. To me, the Young Marines meant more than just wearing a uniform. It meant showing up on time, showing that I can be a team member, leading, and showing that I can be disciplined. As an adult, I've carried over the values I've learned by being respectful, being by example, and giving back. Throughout the years, I've given confidence and known to learn myself, and I think that's going to carry over with me to my college years and things that I plan to do. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Yum Marine Gunnery Sergeant Liam Bishop. Yum Marines is very important to me because I believe it's a great way to meet other people across the country. It's a great way to be able to develop your leadership styles with other kids that you meet and kind of just meshing and being able to grow your knowledge and your discipline and your teamwork that the Yum Marines gives you.

With the experience I've had in this program, I've learned a lot of life skills, whether they be mental, emotional, or physical ones. And these skills have helped me a lot throughout my schooling and have made me become a better person for today. And I recommend that every kid should try it at least once, even if it's short term. And it really leads you on a path to success for anything you do in life.

Hello, my name is Young Marine Sergeant Rickman. This program has changed my life. Two and a half years ago, I wouldn't have had the courage to stand up here. It has improved my confidence dramatically and my ability to lead and work as a team. I wouldn't be the person I am today if it wasn't for the Fox Valley Young Marines.

Good evening. This program has given me so many opportunities, not just to become a better leader, but to become a better person and friend. Along with that, I have made so many friendships throughout this program across the entire country that I would have never dreamt of having.

Good evening. I'm Young Marine Sergeant Tribble, and this program has really helped me improve my confidence and my discipline, and I don't think I'd ever be here if it wasn't for the Young Marines.

Good evening, I'm Young Marine Sergeant Tribble C, and I believe the Young Marines is an amazing program that can help all kids that especially struggle with communications.

Hi, my name's Young Marine C. E, no, private E. And I like how they do the activities and play football and do all the work, like take out the trash, whatever.

Yeah.

Good evening. My name is Young Marine Lance Corporal Tribble J. And I love how the Young Marines help me out with like speaking up for myself and like help me with discipline. Yeah.

Good evening, everybody. Major Cory Tribble, in case everyone didn't catch on. Those are my youngins there, the four. Apologies on the time. I did sign up, so hopefully this will cross me off the list and we can jump ahead. But I am an advocate for the Young Marines program as an adult volunteer. Obviously, my young ones from the youngest age up to my 17-year-old, very much involved. For me, it's not about growing them up into being Marines, right? It's about being good human beings overall, right? Really, everyone that sits up on this panel, this is the future, right? So they're here to replace you one day. So as an advocate for the Young Marines program, I will say to the maximum extent possible, please let's provide the necessary support so that they can thrive. Thank you.

I'll just say one thing. I've been involved with them for a number of years at a number of their events and they are an outstanding group and they have my full support and my endorsement for everything that they do. They turn out great young people. Thank you. Max Metz.

Good evening, Mayor Captain, members of City Council. My name is Max Metz, Jr., and I live on 25 North Edison Avenue between Chicago Street and Larkin Avenue. Tonight I'm here on behalf of my neighbors, many of whom are in attendance today. Over the past several weeks, I personally visited every household on our block. I am grateful to say that every single household, all 25, signed the letter we submitted via email to the Council. I will also submit it to the clerk today because every household has been affected by the same reoccurring problem. Some families have lived on our street for more than 20 years. Others have been here for only a few months. Despite those different experiences, the stories were remarkably consistent and devastating. residents described repeated street flooding not only from major storms but also routine rain events more importantly nearly every household spoke about the connection between water filling the street and water backing up through basement floor drains showers and toilets for my own family this has happened five to seven times each year during the recent fourth of july storm it resulted in nearly a foot of water throughout my basement resulting in twenty five thousand dollars of damages Like many homeowners, I've explored what it would cost to protect my home. Estimates for a backflow valve or ejector pump system range between $9,000 and $16,000. If every one of our 25 households on our block had to make that investment, our neighborhood would collectively spend between a quarter million and a half a million dollars simply to compensate for inadequate public infrastructure. We already invest in our community through property taxes and creating a strong community. We believe private homeowners should not have to bear that burden individually when there's an opportunity to address the obvious recurring underlying infrastructure issue. Professionally, I work in environmental public lands policy with Congress and federal agencies. I know there are funding opportunities, including programs such as FEMA BRIC, EPA Clean Water State Revolving Fund, and other infrastructure grants that can help communities invest in resilient water infrastructure. While funding is important, the first requires making this project a priority. Our neighborhood is not asking for special treatment. We're asking for a problem that our neighbors have documented for more than 20 years, finally receive the attention it deserves. When every household has the same issue over 20 years and nothing has yet to be done, it shows where we fall on the priority list. We respectfully ask that the city conduct an engineering assessment, outlined in our letter, evaluate long-term stormwater improvements, and coordinate those improvements with upcoming water main and lead service line projects, if possible. Doing so would reduce future disruptions, make efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and provide a lasting solution. Thank you for your time, your service to our community, and your consideration. We look forward to working with you to finally resolve this issue. Thank you. Thank you.

For your group, there will be an item on tonight's agenda shortly. There's going to be some improvements made on Highland Avenue on the storm sewers. That should help your problem a little bit. We'll find out. Yolanda De La Rusa?

GOOD EVENING, MY NAME IS YOLANDA DELA ROSA. I LIVE ON 33 NORTH EDISON, AND ON JULY 4TH, THE STORM WHICH FLOODED OUR HOMES ALSO LEFT ME WITHOUT MY WATER HEATER, LEAVING US WITHOUT WARM WATER FOR ONE WEEK. WE HAD TO TAKE OUR DOGS THROUGH THE WATER JUST TO GET THEM OUT. And this is something that we're not able to afford on a daily basis. We would like you to fix the sewer back up for our block.

Thank you. Dan Muller. Hello.

Hello. I'm here today to talk about something that's been affecting other communities and thankfully not ours yet. Data centers. We don't really have much space for it, but I think we should go ahead and get ahead of the problem here and put a moratorium on any that might propose building in our area. ComEd has come out saying that due to all the data centers have been going up, we can expect blackouts in 2027. which is coming up pretty soon in like six months, and it's going to affect all of us. Not to scare them longer, it's probably going to be a good idea to look into solar panels or a backup generator, but they're saying we can expect a 60 gigawatt deficiency due to these data centers that are going up, which is a huge number. Like a nuclear power plant can only put out one gigawatt, and there's no way we're going to get 60 built. So we definitely don't want any more coming into our community. And beyond that, I have another unfortunate thing to talk about that is already in our community, automated license plate readers. They're pretty scary. If you've ever read 1984 or seen Chinese Social Credit, it's pretty much that, if not worse. We have a couple of these up in our community already. There's one just over the bridge, a Motorola one, and we have a couple Phlox. And these don't just follow license plates. They track people. They take a picture. Yeah, they're creepy. They follow exactly where you go. They make a loop of everything you do. And all of this is without a warrant. Just innocent people going about their day. They're breaking the Fourth Amendment. These things should be illegal. And unfortunately, they have been found to be in breach of Illinois laws, the Illinois Trust Act. They were found that Flock Cameras specifically was cooperating with ICE and CBP to track down people who might not even be immigrants. They're hunting down people and dragging them out of their houses. And all of this is for allegedly public safety. But as a matter of fact, research shows that there's only like a 0.3% lead for police. So it's like a pathetic accuracy rate on these. They're only like, they have like an 80% error rate, which is huge. Like over in Colorado, a family was dragged out of their car and put face down on hot asphalt with guns to their faces. And they're completely innocent. They had nothing to do with anything. It was just an error. that they got drug out. So I propose we go ahead and remove all of these cameras from our community and put a moratorium on any data centers. Let's just get ahead of this stuff.

Thank you. Sir, please, please. You haven't been called on. You haven't signed up.

JUST, SIR, THE CITY, WHILE IT DOES HAVE AUTOMATIC LICENSE PLATE READERS, WE'VE ALWAYS REJECTED CONTRACTS WITH FLOCK CAMERAS. THERE ARE NO FLOCK CAMERAS THAT ARE OPERATED BY THE CITY OF ELGIN.

IT'S NOT. PAUL FUHRMAN. FUHRMAN.

Good evening, Council. First time I've been here. I'm a lifelong Elgin resident, and I've lived on Edison Avenue for almost 30 years. I want you guys to be aware of how bad our street is getting over these 30 years and nothing's being done. When I first moved there, we didn't have the flooding that's going into Max's driveway right there. It's cooling. Now we're getting flooding, literally flooding. My basement as well. Everything is coming up to driveways. all the way back. So we've got a serious problem on Edison Street that needs to be addressed. I don't know what it's going to take, money, tax dollars. You're getting my tax dollars. You're getting everybody else's tax dollars. We need to do something. So I don't know what the answer is. It's getting bad. It hasn't been like this in the last 30 years, but now with these rains and you guys send out a crew and they're sucking out the system so we know where they're the clog or something. I just don't know why we can't fix it. That's all I got to say. We need to fix it. Thank you.

Thank you. Tracy Howell. Tracy Howell.

All of you are very familiar with me and I can, assuming you're thinking she's in a mood and you're darn right. I have to say that the city council was shameful last meeting. You need to do your homework. You know who I'm talking to. It was very obvious who read the briefs and who didn't. You know exactly who you are because you do it every time. You've done it every time. You're wasting taxpayer money with this back and forth bullshit. With these ridiculous antics, you have an issue. You need to be able to articulate that issue and don't waste a businessman's time. You need to come up with your own solution and don't let somebody else write it for you. I suggest you see the Committee of the Whole from the last meeting. It would be very telling as to what's going on. Sorry for my emotions. I said I'm sorry. I personally, I personally and many others are sick of watching this city council act like Keystone cops. You need to start. Stop lying. There was a lie said here. You said it to these people's faces why you were voting, why you had stated what you stated. Then you went out there and lied to their face. I heard it. They heard it. They knew it. I knew it. You knew it. If you're going to say something on video, make sure when you say it in front of a group that it's the same thing and it's not a bold-faced lie. And as far as diversity and inclusivity, you better get your act together with that too. That needs to be taken care of. You're wasting everyone's time here. You're wasting money. You're wasting taxpayer dollars. But we can spend a heck of a lot of money on puzzles, can't we? Wasting money, wasting money. And if you're afraid to do what's right, you don't belong here. People are dying. It sickens me.

Thank you. Okay, Mr. Manager.

Thank you, Mayor. The first item this evening is, we're getting to the tail end of the capital improvement projects, and this is the Bluff City Cemetery phase four roadway improvements, a construction engineering services agreement with Fair Graham and Associates. The bid for this item. is number one on the regular council agenda fairgram will be providing construction engineering services for the bluff city cemetery phase four roadway improvements this also includes improvements to paths in addition to new roadway and sidewalk in bluff city cemeteries fairgram services include field inspection and construction activities contract administration construction documentation general coordination and control of the day-to-day construction activities work will be completed before the snow falls this year

Move for approval.

Second. Moved and second for approval. Any discussion?

Mr. Stephan. I just had a question. I was trying to find on the map and in the memo it mentioned, as the manager just said, there's new roadways and sidewalks. Is there a way to describe where those are and what they'll be?

Because I don't see it on the diagram.

I see the area that's being set aside for phase four in the far eastern side of the cemetery, but I don't.

see that those are noted there unless i'm missing i'm going to the map right now so is the memo describes as a new area that is being that it's going to be open for the plots and without me having look ike my eyes are good enough to look at the legend in the top right corner councilmember i think that'll provide the indication is the one those areas are looking at the blue at the top and that looks like it has the highest numbers that's probably the best indication Of that.

Alright, maybe I'll follow up with Mike. Then I'll just try to see if I can find out. Yeah, it's up at the very top.

It goes in reverse chronological order and I can't see from the copy what the year is on that with a legend. So my guess is it's the areas that are outlined there with with that blue.

Got it. Anything else? Crook, please call the roll.

Council Member Zafaro? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Hood? Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Steffen? Yes. Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motion's approved 8-0.

All right, items B and C are companion pieces and these both relate to the various West Side Streets resurfacing project. The first item is a resolution for improvement under the Illinois Highway Code. This resolution, often called an MFT construction resolution, identifies the city's plans for allocating motor fuel tax funds for the construction related to the improvements within the resolution. In this instance, staff are presenting the project limits and scope of work for the various West Side Streets 2026 resurfacing project. This item appears as bid number four on the regular agenda, and the next item we'll go through is an engineering services agreement for the oversight of this work.

Move for approval.

Second.

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

Councilmember Zafaro? Yes. Dixon?

Yes.

Good. Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Stephan?

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motions approved, 8-0. As indicated, item C is the Construction Engineering Services Agreement for the various Westside's 2026 resurfacing project with Hampton, Lanzini, and Renwick. I'll add in this instance the Westside streets include portions of Todd Farm Drive, Todd Farm Court, Countryside Drive, Mosley Street, Oak Street, South Lyle Avenue, Erie Street, Maple Street, Second Street, Lawrence Avenue, the south continuation of Hoxie Avenue, Sex Hour Avenue, and Triggs Avenue, and then finally, Hiney Avenue, those are all the streets that are contemplated in the resurfacing project.

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

customers are yes yes yes martinez yes parties yes yes yes yes yes motions approved uh... it's uh... and he is an engineering services agreement with h r green incorporated for the highland avenue basin phase three point one one combined sewer separation project While most of the discussion on the council in the most recent years has combined our lead service line removals, many of you know that the combined sewer separation project is a decades long initiative that is getting closer to completion, but we're still at least a decade out. So the city has a combined sewer system serving approximately 3,000 acres within the central part of the city. There are ten combined sewer outfalls that discharge combined sewer overflow into the Fox River from these systems. The city's combined sewer overflow long term control plan identifies the city's intention to separate all of these storm water flows from the combined source to reduce overflow volumes and to improve the quality of the Fox River. The DuPage Street combined sewer separation was recently completed, and the Highland Avenue basin was identified as the next priority project that the city should begin considering. Work will begin in 2027. The work itself will not be taking place on Highland Avenue, but instead will add storm sewers, to streets within the basin that will direct storm water to the Fox River through an existing storm water outfall, rather than conveying it into the combined sewer system. This agreement provides design and bidding services for the combined sewer separation project. On the third page of that particular memo, it shows all of the cross streets coming off of Highland that will be impacted with the separation, and that does include Edison Avenue.

Move for approval.

Second.

Moved and seconded for approval. Any discussion? Mr. Stafford. I had a question I forgot to ask Mike, but I'll ask it and see if I can get it answered.

We're basically doing all the streets north of Chicago Street to Larkin Avenue, starting on the west with Melrose all the way to the east on Monroe, but we're skipping Dubois. Was that in a prior project, or is that going to be in a future project, or is there any reason that's?

So this is a utilities initiative by water director and utilities director Nora Burcham. I do not know the specific reason why Dubois is not identified on that map, other than knowing the nature of that street living in that area, it may not have a combined sewer that's impacted.

Okay. That's what I would have to assume. Yeah.

Okay. Ms. O'Farrill.

Just a question for staff. Can you explain a little bit of where the separation, where is the water all going? Because hearing from the public that they're getting, like it's backlogged and like it's not going down when it's heavy rain. So just can you help explain the difference of how that would help?

I can't say for certain that this will help without particularly knowing what the conditions are within that basement, in the basements of those homes. I live in this area and I've been experiencing flooding on my property that I have never in the 25 years that I've been here. The sense though is if there are surcharges that are occurring in the basements with the additional capacity that will come from diverting the storm water into dedicated lines, it may have an impact on reducing that. i'm looking at sue webb and we know that with the combined source separation that occurred in swan it did seem to have positive impact though we weren't able to promise that the hope is that is what will occur in this instance but if there are other issues the city will continue with its engineering resources to try to identify the source of those problems thank you and thanks to the residents for the petition and the communication uh...

Obviously, we were already working on this. I'd like to say that we got your information and moved really quickly and got this on the agenda, but I'd be lying because obviously a lot of work has already taken place. So very timely that this is on our agenda right now. one of the questions could because obviously we are seeing historic rainfall i i don't think of you know with a lot of the climate change that we're going to see anything different moving forward uh... and i know that we also received some feedback uh... from a resident on gifford avenue is there any indication when that area is going to be looked at as well uh... in terms of like what are the next Areas like in the sequence of our stormwater management and sewer separation program, like who's next? Who's up next?

Who's next is Highland and then no different land end DuPage. The city will make an assessment at the completion of that project, which one seems to have the next priority. I haven't been provided with information on the Gifford Street area, so we don't have the, we're typically doing just one at a time because of the cost and the resources with that. So while work begins progressing on the Highland Basin separation, Nora and her team will begin doing assessments no differently when we were finishing up DuPage to identify which the next basin for retrofit should be as part of the project.

Thank you, Manager Kozol. Just out of curiosity, I know years ago, I think when I first was elected on council, there was a stormwater management fee or plan that was proposed that I don't think really went anywhere. Is that something that we should be reconsidering, considering what we're seeing with all of the flooding that will help with these types of projects?

The stormwater management fee is essentially, it's a measure so that all property owners within the city pay a proportionate share of the impacts that they have on their impervious surfaces. It does generate revenue, but it doesn't create a specific plan. It's a way for raising additional revenue to address what those issues are.

Because we do have an actual stormwater management plan.

That is correct. Yes. But the fee, yeah, it's a revenue-raising measure to provide. It could conceivably provide revenue for anything from Tyler Creek watershed amelioration to other impacts that affect overland stormwater flooding within the city.

Okay. All right. Thank you. Mr. Dixon.

Thank you. Thank you to the neighborhood for coming out. I had a chance to speak with Mr. Metz a couple of times via email and again over the phone today. And also with Mr. Pubence. And so we'll be going out to the neighborhood next week, Tuesday, to take a look at what's been happening there. And I also asked for Mr. Pubence to send out the study that you're referring to, Councilwoman Powell, to the entire council. and that is actually more in reference to the wing park area uh... versus the entire city the study that was done around that time twenty eleven twenty thirteen so that's a that's a separate study right that's what i'm saying is around the wing park is not that that's not the uh... study miss paul was referring to i was referring to the stormwater the city's overall stormwater management plan okay periodically Oh, okay, gotcha. Well, it's still good for you to have because the flooding is happening in multiple neighborhoods.

Thank you.

I could tell you, I've said this a number of times, I was hired at the Water Reclamation District in 1974. And the mandate came down from the federal government at that time was to separate the combined sewers and eliminate combined sewers. We've been working on that for over 50 years. And the reason it doesn't happen is because of the cost. and the disruption to the neighborhoods, because you've got to tear up streets. There's a lot of work that goes beyond just putting the new pipes in. But to answer the question, Ms. Alfaro's question, the separation allows the sanitary sewer from your house to have its own line and to go to a separate sanitary line. Now it goes into a combined sewer. They were put in back at the turn of the last century. many of them, to handle water. One of the biggest ones out there is the Highland Avenue Interceptor. It's huge, and it provides the storm water. It took storm water and sewage, and at that time, it dumped it all directly into the Fox River. So now we're separating those things. The only time those overflow now are in high rainfalls, and they can discharge raw sewage into the river. Chicago's been operating like that for the same length of time. It's a huge project. It's a nationwide project. Many of the big cities are all struggling with this same thing, and it's cost, and it's a matter of getting them done. But we've had a plan to do them, and my understanding is when we started looking at this plan, the stormwater plan, we looked at the ones that were the worst, where the most complaints were. uh... started out there were some on the far southeast side uh... the swan neighborhood uh... got relief and that's helped them fix their problem but it's going a piece at a time and it'll take uh... you know it'll take that time before these uh... uh... lines get separated but that will prevent there are uh... uh... there was an incentive at one time to put off uh... put shut offs in the basements of that to protect you from having that stormwater and high uh... flows back up into your houses and that was not well used i can tell you that that's why i've kind of got discontinued and uh... dropped uh... to miss paul's point if we start looking at the rain falls we're going to have sewer systems are designed and meant uh... when they were built And I went through the Swan neighborhood a number of years ago, and those houses, many of them were built in the 30s. Many of the homes in your neighborhood were built in the 30s. They were built with one-car garages. They were not built with patios in back. They were not built with, many of them were not built with driveways. So they were designed to handle that flow at that time. Well, that doesn't work anymore, obviously. So there are a number of reasons why these things fail and why they're not failing. Now we're facing something that's even worse. This is totally out of our control. I've been doing this for over 50 years, and those are issues that we're going to have to look at as a society and as a community. When you have rainfalls like we have, and three and four inches in an hour, there's no sewer system here that's designed to handle that. they were never designed so it has to be there change or we're going to have to look at this for a long long time and now the sewer systems are are were built and working to what we have but we can't handle the rainfall we're seeing that in chicago first time ever first time ever the deep tunnel filled in the city of chicago it's been there fifteen years billions of gallons of wastewater and combined sewer went back that gravel pit went right to the top Never seen it. So there are going to be days when that's going to be a problem as well. So we're going to have this as a society. So it's a good time to talk about this kind of stuff. Thank you for bringing it to us. We can't fix it. We don't have the fact. How do you, you know, I'm not going to get in this discussion. Quiet and let me finish. you fix you you could start working we're all trying to work on getting this uh... climate change taken care of we've got people all over we're trying to solve this problem it's a multi-faceted problem thank you for that thank you for that because you know nothing about it thank you sour yeah thank you loud doesn't get you carried doesn't carry very far Okay, call the roll, please.

Council Members Alfaro? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Good. Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Stephan?

Yes. Mayor Captain? Yes. Motions approved, 8-0. Next two items are initiatives from the police department. The first is an agreement with Andy Frane Services for school crossing guards. The city is seeking to continue contracting with anti-frain services to provide crossing guards for seven elementary school locations. The agreement with anti-frain services alleviates the burden of hiring, outfitting, training, and staffing school crossing guards. This year, the contract is reduced because instead of hiring 11 crossing guards, there will be eight, and this is a result of the closures of the Lowry Elementary and Washington Elementary schools.

Move for approval. Second. Second. Moved and second for approval. Any discussion? Mr. Powell.

Yes, thank you. A question for staff. Have we had any issues staffing or recruiting crossing guards

Since we've used Andy frame, not really. Um, there is a caveat in there that I believe that they have to have a couple of backups so that if they have like a sick call in that that gets covered and if they don't show up, then we usually will, we'll cover it with a parking control officer or something like that. So it always gets handled. It's just been a lot easier when Andy frame has handled it the last three years.

Great. Uh, that's good to know. Um, and then the other question I had had to do with, um, traffic and crash data do we routinely kind of look at our crash data history um at these areas to see whether it's going up it's going down to see how it's helping yeah so they continuously look at all the factors to see because we we don't service every elementary school just the ones that hit the criteria which

the vehicle traffic, the speed, the amount of cars, crash data is part of that, as well as the age of the students, sight line issues, is there a traffic control device, how many lanes, those are all factors on whether or not the school qualifies for a crossing car.

So it could

potentially change from year to year based on that evaluation a school that doesn't have a crossing guard right now if the data changes significantly could potentially end up with a a crossing guard in the following yeah usually those discussions happen every summer because there's either a request from U-46 they want one somewhere or we notice something in a pattern of either traffic has increased or crashes that we look at it with them and see where it needs to go That was because one of the with the closing obviously we saw To reduce but then Illinois Park is getting open back up for students this year So we looked at that and that doesn't that didn't hit the metrics to qualify for a crossing guard there So we look at that every summer Great, I'm sure parents with students going back to school Appreciate that so thanks so much

I JUST HAVE A QUICK QUESTION ON FINANCES. SO THE REQUEST IS 130,379. BUT ON PAGE ONE OF THE THIRD AMENDMENT TO SERVICE AGREEMENT, IT SAYS, AND I QUOTE, THE RENEWAL TERM EFFECTIVE AUGUST 1ST OF 2026 THROUGH JULY 31ST OF 2027 SHALL BE 170,459. SO I JUST WANT TO CLARIFY THE AMOUNT THAT WE WILL BE ASKED TO APPROVE.

I don't have that one in front of me. I don't know if that's the old number from when we had 11 crossing guards and now we're going down to eight. So maybe that number is wrong. It should be the 130 that's in the memo. Okay. So that's the number that you're requesting for approval is 130, 300.

Okay.

council member what happens on the committee of the whole just for explanation a draft agreement will come into place and maybe there were some preliminary numbers that happened what happens if the council approves this this goes back to get trued up with the corporation council's office and the police department so the agreements will typically be remember it's a good question that you have but the final review of the agreements comes before it's placed on the council agenda so that's where there will be some instances where these discrepancies might occur The idea is to get it in motion, get the approval, so we don't waste any time with that certainty. But thank you for asking.

Yeah, I just wanted to double-check because it looked like it was written more recently, since August 1st to July 31st. I've seen others where it totally makes sense, like it was a draft. So I just wanted to double-check. Thank you. No question.

Anything else? Clerk, please call the roll.

If I could just address that, I did notice that as well. Mr. Mayor. Councilman Alfaro, if you'll look into the agreement, they have the estimated cost at $130,000. I think that's in paragraph four. It's amending the exhibit, and it has the estimated amount. And I think the other provision is a not to exceed amount. You know, I did notice that, and the amount that's being approved is $130,000. We got this agreement as proposed, so, you know, as the manager indicated, this will be trued up before it goes to them. Thank you.

Court, please call the roll.

Council Members Alfaro? Yes. Dixon?

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez? Yes. Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell? Yes. Steffen?

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motions approved, 8-0. Item F is an agreement with Industrial Organizational Solutions for the Police Sergeant Promotional Testing. Police department hires consultants to administer the testing process for police officers aspiring to become a sergeant. This process occurs every three years or when the previously established list is exhausted with new hires. The testing consists of four components that are weighed by a predetermined point or percentage basis. These include seniority based points, department points. written exam points, and an assessment center exercise. The total point value for this process is used to establish the three-year eligibility list. Staff is recommending that Industrial Organizational Solutions be hired to administer this current round of police sergeant promotional testing. Move for approval.

Second.

Move and second for approval. Any discussion? Mr. Ortiz.

Commander Holmes, next one up. Good afternoon, Commander. Good evening. Or evening, yeah, it's about 7. How many, do we have any sergeants that are looking for retirement soon? Or that are going to have new ones coming, moving up the ranks?

Yeah, so obviously we kind of assess that every year in terms of when we test. And we kind of talk to some of the sergeants as they look on. to move on in their career, and there are a couple that are looking at moving on towards the end of the year. We have three remaining on our list currently, so obviously we need to plan accordingly.

Yes. Okay. All right. That's it. I just want to see if you guys have more retirements coming up and more of the beat officers are going to get promoted up in the ranks. That's it. Thank you.

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

Council Members Alfaro? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Good? Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Steffen? Yes. Meerkat?

Yes. Motions approved, 8-0. Item G is an authorization to remit arbitrage rebate payments for a rebate payment for the 2022 general obligation corporate purpose bonds issued to finance utility and recreation fund projects. The city issued general obligation corporate purchase bonds series 2022 and the amount of about $14.7 million to finance utility infrastructure and park improvements, state above. The IRS limits the amount of interest that the city can earn on tax exempt bonds to prevent governments from making unfair profits by borrowing at low rates and investing at higher rates. In this instance, the combination of a strong investment market since the inception of the 22 bond fund and delays in completing funded projects have resulted in the city being required to make an arbitrage payment in the amount of $386,000 and some change to rebate a portion of its investment earnings that exceed the arbitrage yield rate. Investment earnings in the amount of the required arbitrage payment have been retained by the city to fulfill the repayment obligations. Just for some context, the city has earned about $1.1 million in interest on these bonds. But that amount just short of $400,000 exceeds the IRS limits. In this instance, there are two major capital projects that contributed to the delays. And one was the Riverside Water Treatment Plant switch gear improvement. That's about a $6 million project. in which electric equipment delivery was delayed because of supply chain delays. Another instance, the $3.4 million used to fund Jack Cook Park. The delays in creating that park, which was originally designed to be a regional park like Winger-Lords Park, was reconfigured because of the determination with revised FEMA flood zone maps. The project was subject to strict requirements that involved extensive soil borings and compliance with the floodplain design, so anybody who's out there now knows that it's more passive design. So it's the inability to complete those two projects as planned that contributed to the city holding onto money a little bit longer than expected. And this is, I think, when I was talking to Chief Financial Officer, Deb Meraki, the first instance at least in 35 years that the city has had to make this repayment.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move and second for approval. Any discussion? Mr. Ortiz.

If I remember, Ms. Meraki, when you explained it to us at the strategic plan, this is not a fine. This is we had extra money in the bank account that we're not allowed to have.

THAT'S CORRECT.

WE EARNED ABOUT $1.1 MILLION IN INTEREST, BUT ONLY ABOUT $700,000 WAS AT THE LEVEL WE WERE ELIGIBLE TO EARN. SO WE GOT TO KEEP THAT AND INVEST THAT INTO THE PROJECTS, BUT THAT EXTRA SURPLUS WE HAVE TO GIVE BACK TO THE IRS.

OKAY, I JUST WANT TO... City Manager said it eloquently with, but it's for layman's that we're not getting fined, just we have to give it back because we didn't use it in time.

Precisely. Okay, all right, thank you.

Anything else? Clerk, please call the roll.

constable yes dixon yes good yes martinez yes forties yes yes yes your captain yes motions approved eight zero items h and i are parks and recreation department initiatives relating to and proposed improvements for hiawatha park the first item h is a design and grant application services agreement with upland design limited Hiawatha Park is located at the end of Hiawatha Court on the east side of Elgin. Park was originally dedicated in 1973 and now requires significant updates to address community needs. Elgin, the city is partnering with Upland Design to apply for a 2027 open space land acquisition and development grant, commonly referred to as OSLAD grant, to potentially secure about $600,000 in matching fund to add recreational amenities, enhance community access, and accessibility to and within the park. City staff will be working with Upland Design to develop a vision for the overall park design that incorporates ADA elements, educational play features as part of this OSLAD grant application. Staff are seeking a city council resolution authorizing submission of the OSLAD grant application as the agenda item next to this. following this, excuse me.

Move for approval.

Second. Moved and seconded for approval. Any discussion? Ms. O'Farrell.

Thank you. I just have a question for staff. I appreciate that they shared information on community engagement, but do we have any more or any additional information, like how many people actually filled out the survey? I know the meeting was yesterday, so I'm not sure if you have an idea of how many people attended that in-person meeting. I just wanted to see how we're doing with community engagement.

So other than the information that's in the memo saying that 1,200 postcards went out, I have not been able to get specific information on the meeting that was held yesterday evening. And I don't have, I'm sorry, specific information or how to measure what the response of that 1,200 postcards was.

Or the online survey?

Or the online survey, yeah.

Okay. Is that something we could get? Can you share?

Yes. Okay. Thank you. Yes. What will happen is in the event that we're awarded the grant and once the Parks and Recreation Department makes a recommendation on a design, that memo will include information on the feedback that staff received from the people participating and how that information was used to inform the decision. So that would typically come at that venture.

Yeah, I'm just trying to get an idea of how we're doing with public engagement, if there's something that we as council members or others can help to further that engagement.

Understand. Okay.

Thank you.

Anything else? Court, please call the roll.

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

Yes.

Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Stephan? Yes. Mayor Captain?

Yes. The motion is approved 8-0. Item I is a resolution authorizing the filing of an application of an open space lands acquisition development OSLAG grant for the renovation of Hiawatha Park.

Move for approval.

Second. Moved and seconded for approval. Any discussion? Clerk, please call the roll.

Council members, Alvaro? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Good? Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell? Yes. Steffen?

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motion's approved, 8-0. Announcements from the council. Mr. Dixon?

Thank you. I would like to provide an update on behalf of myself and Councilwoman Alfaro for the Inclusivity and Diversity Ordinance. So, thank you Bob and Tracy for your passion in coming up and asking about it. To the greater public, to those interested in this topic, The last presentation that we had as a city on this was a few meetings ago in which that was deemed part one of the presentation and part two would be forthcoming. Well, shortly after that presentation, the lead staff, city staff person that was leading that project left the city. And that workload of that project has now been, again, trying to figure it out amongst staff. So we've been having conversations in the background about how we're going to move this thing forward now that the city staff has done down one man, or woman in this case. So it's definitely not that, city staff is dragging their feet. It was something that was out of our control. And so we're working on it and we hope to bring it forward sooner rather than later. Okay.

Ms. Powell.

Yes, I just wanted to make an announcement. I'm wearing my Cultural Arts Commission member hat. Anyone who's interested in Shakespeare, there is a performance, Shakespeare in the Park, this weekend on Sunday, August 16th at 3 p.m. at Lord's Park Picnic Shelter East. And then there will be another one on Saturday, August 22nd at 7 p.m. at Wing Park Band Show. So this has been put on for the last few years by an organization called Godly Creatures. A lot of local talent and regional talent is involved with this. uh... great time that you know come out and we were just talking about our parks uh... enjoy our parks and uh... enjoy uh... an awesome performance and this is uh... an event co-sponsored by the cultural arts commission so and i think it's free it's free and open to the public so even better to come out and enjoy mister step yeah i should uh... since this is the last opportunity before the event

re-remind everybody of the event, and that is the 50th anniversary of the LaSalle Expedition reenactment. That was 16 high school students, almost all from Elgin and Larkin High, several teachers from U46, thirty three hundred miles eight months from montreal all the way down to the gulf of uh... mexico where the mississippi's spills out south of new orleans uh... half of the crew is back for their elgin high class reunion saturday august twenty second so from noon to four that day there will be a whole series of activities at lords park centered on the Elgin Public Museum there. Things will be inside, things will be outside. And at this point, all of the surviving reenactors who are here or across the country are coming back and participating in this event. So hopeful that people can come and participate from noon to four, Lourdes Park. Thank you.

ANY OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS? MS. MARTINEZ.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. I WOULD JUST LIKE TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SAY THANK YOU TO CHRISTIE SCHMIDT AND TEAM FOR ORGANIZING THIS NATIONAL NIGHT OUT WITH ULGEN POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE PERSONNEL AND THE 30 NEIGHBORHOODS THAT CAME TOGETHER TO HELP US HAVE A SUCCESSFUL NATIONAL NIGHT OUT AGAIN. 30 neighborhoods participated, 10 dignitaries. It's a good opportunity to get together and to speak and see what is needed in the community, how things are going. And I really appreciate that. As a community, we work together to do this. It was very successful. Thank you.

One more. Ms. Powell.

Yes.

Actually, one more thing. I had the opportunity to attend a birthday celebration this weekend, a very important one, for Mr. Ernie Broadnax. And most people in this community know Ernie. He is a local historian, a local veteran, and just an all-around great guy. Ernie turned 91 years young. So if you see Ernie, if you know Ernie, wish him a happy birthday. It was just an awesome time to be able to enjoy and celebrate with people while they're still here.

miss martinez to add on to that ernie comes from a family of 14 siblings and just imagine way back then for 14 kids to have in your household and i assume probably with one bathroom so yeah it's incredible thank you

Okay, I have an announcement. We've had some inquiries about campaign signs in the city, and I've asked Mr. Beck to update us and give a little background on the laws and the city ordinances and municipal laws that govern the campaign signs. It's getting into election season here for the next few months, and it's a good time to talk about it. Mr. Beck.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So campaign signs are not specifically regulated in the elgin municipal code it's just a specific type of temporary sign that falls under the regulations for temporary signs so the city's regulations for political signs or temporary signs are in section 9.50.090 subsection h or subsection one, then H, then subsection three. And essentially, the city's ordinances have been revised in light of some Supreme Court President that basically some First Amendment law where it makes it municipalities and the government, any regulation that has to do with speech is going to be subject to strict scrutiny if you have to basically know what the content of the sign in question is before you regulate it. So the way that campaign signs or any temporary signs are regulated in the city is there's regulations for temporary sign but then city ordinance creates basically an ability for commercial property owners to have an additional sign during the period of six days before an election. So I think the presumption, the idea is mostly those will be campaign signs, but the ordinance actually doesn't specify what has to be on the sign. It does not describe the content. It could be any sign. It just provides for an additional sign on commercial properties or a sign per acre, quarter acre, in the six days prior to federal or local election. So again, I'll just kind of go through this subsection, 19.500901H3. Temporary graphics are, allowed in the zoning districts that are in 300 D, E, and F. And those are basically, those are the zoning districts that relate to basically your business uses. So area business use, CC1, CC2. also industrial districts and community facility districts. So it doesn't specifically say commercial properties, but any properties in that district are allowed one temporary sign per one quarter acre of land located on the properties for the 60 days prior to an election where there's a federal, state, or local office that represents a district, or there's an issue that affects the property. And then it goes into some regulations about the size of that. So that's how temporary signs are regulated under the municipal code and is intended to comply with all the Supreme Court precedents with respect to the First Amendment and political signage. It's not specific to political signs. It's specific to a period of time, so it's a time, place, and manner restriction rather than a content-based restriction. So we have a couple elections coming up. the federal election on November 3rd, 2026. So under this subsection, properties in these districts would be allowed signs as provided in that subsection, basically effective September 4th. And then we have at least a consolidated election on April 6th, 2027. So that period would end after the federal election. Then a new period would start again, a new 60-day period would start. on February 5th, 2027, when properties would be allowed this additional sign. So it's very confusing and could obviously, you know, enforcement may be challenging in some situations, but I think that the ordinance was written this way to comply with what was the then current precedent and continues to be precedent with regard to content-based speech. It doesn't refer to content. It basically allows commercial property owners an additional ability to put on a sign beyond what is normally allowed in the zoning ordinance during these time periods before an election. So I hope that wasn't too confusing if anybody, and for residential properties, properties in the residential district, there is a statute that basically prohibits cities from preventing political signs on residential property. So that's different, I mean that is, I don't want to really get into the Illinois statute, that does allow something to residential property owners, not allow to commercial property owners, but again, it's based on the difference of the property, not on the content of the material. I'd be happy to answer any questions now or individually if anybody wants to talk to me about that. Okay.

And there are, this will also, is available on the city's website currently, correct? Mr. Manager? Mr. Beck?

There's zoning ordinance and we can provide something perhaps with the city clerk's page if we need to consolidate that without using all of the subsections and everything if Mr. Beck was okay with that.

Okay, Ms. Alfaro.

I just have a quick question. So thank you for providing that information and clarifying. So just a question of clarification. So if there is a primary in February, that 60 days is reset, right? Then it's sometime in December?

If there is a primary, that would be on February 23rd, 2027. So that would be December 25th, actually, 2026. So that would be another.

Okay. Just wanted to double check. Thanks.

Okay. Be available for the council to take a look if they choose. Okay, anything else? Anything from staff? Ms. Powell, sorry.

I appreciate you putting that on the website. I would just add a caveat, just as someone who lives in a HOA, just letting people know that there are more, potentially more restrictive guidelines if you live in a HOA and for residents to refer to their HOA for, if they live in a HOA for specific requirements.

Yep. Some restrict them totally. No such.

They really can't. Yeah. They're not supposed to. They do.

Okay. Anything else? Thank you. Okay. Staff?

None, Mayor. Thank you.

Okay. Entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second. Moving second to adjourn. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council members Alfaro? Yes. Dixon?

Yes.

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

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. We're adjourned. We'll reconvene at the regular council meeting at 7.20.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Council, for August 12, 2026 to order, please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, The clerk please call the roll.

Council members Alfaro. Present. Dixon.

Present.

Good. Here. Martinez. Here. Ortiz.

Here.

Powell. Here. Stephan.

Here.

Thorne. Here. Mayor Captain.

Here. Approval of the minutes of the previous meeting of July 22nd, 2026. So moved. Second. Moved and seconded for approval. Any corrections or additions? Hearing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Zalparo? Yes. Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

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

Yes, motion's approved 7-0. Communications, we have a couple people have signed up.

Sue Webb.

Well, to start with, thank you. My name is Sue Webb. I live at 322 Adams Street. I am president of the Swan Area Southwest Area Neighborhood. I have three things to address a council in tonight. The first one is to thank you for placing the paving of a few of our streets on the agenda this morning. They really, well this evening, they really do need them and we appreciate you noticing that. We also appreciate some lead lines that also went into our area. We appreciate that. The second thing is on September 21st, SWAN will be approximately 30 years old. So we've been around for a while. So we are having that as our anniversary meeting. And everyone thinks that SWAN was started because of Lowry. We don't know if that may be the whole story. So there may be some interesting things that pop up. We have some nice speakers that will be speaking. And we'd like to invite everyone to join us if they'd like. The third thing is we want to thank you for Walnut Avenue being repurposed. repaved and for that being done after all the years. So when that is accomplished, we'd like to be invited to the ribbon cutting of the new road. We can meet at Starbucks now and maybe carry coffee all the way down. So we want to thank you for that. And those are the three things that I wish to address this evening. Thank you again.

Thank you. Dan Muller.

Hi, it's Dan again. I live on Douglas. Just a reminder, I was talking about flock and data centers. Someone said that there's no flocks in this city. And you can actually look up online. It's called dflock.me. There's a map of where these are located. And I know of at least three that are on public streets here, Summit, Cogden, and Cardinal. And I've detected, if not seen, some of these myself. There's a whole bunch at the community college also. So even if it's not the city, if someone's putting these up, and unfortunately, they're not just like a privacy hazard. They're also a personal life hazard. They put these up on posts that don't conform to IDOT and MUDCT standards, which means that most signage, if you hit it with your car, it'll just bend over flat. You're fine. Your car's a little scratched up. But these posts, they're actually more likely to come into your car and kill you. It's outright dangerous, and it's in the city's interest to remove these from our public streets because it'll put us at civil liability here. I don't want to pay taxes, increased taxes, because somebody was killed by one of these signs out and about. And unfortunately, we do have other ALRPs, Gentech and Motorola, that even though they're not as publicly talked about as Flock, they suffer from the same problems, the same causes that could allow Flock to be abused. Like all the same problems of stalkings by police with Flock, this can happen with Motorola and Gentech as well. All the problems with... BREAKING THE LAW WITH THE TRUST ACT AND OTHER ILLINOIS STATUTES, THEY CAN SUFFER THE SAME PROBLEM. SO I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY IT WOULD BE HUGE TRUST OF FAITH FOR THE CITY COUNCIL TO REMOVE THESE CAMERAS AND We're surrounded all around by other cities, like South Elgin, Batavia, other cities have these as well. As soon as you exit the borders of Elgin, you get hit by a camera, and then it's immediately breaking the Fourth Amendment there. So if you guys could remove our ALRPs that suffer these same problems, and then I just talked to the other cities like if you posted something publicly asking them also to remove these cameras would be a huge deal. I know you guys get a lot of hate sometimes and that would be like, you know, I come in here and give you a big thumbs up if you're able to protect our civil rights. It would be a big deal for me. Thank you.

The manager might have a little clarification for you.

I just want to confirm. There are no flock cameras on any city-owned property. We don't have the ability to regulate the place. If a private entity, such as a shopping center, chooses to use those, we don't have the ability to prohibit those entities from doing so. I'm not sure about ECC, but again, it's another governmental entity that we don't have the ability to regulate. But I just want to make it clear, the city from the start has rejected the use of flock cameras for the concerns that you're articulating.

Okay, can I still talk or am I done? I'm done, okay.

Sir, what was that website again?

Was it flock.me? It's dflock.me. Okay.

All right.

Thank you.

Mike Lugo.

Council, I just want to echo some comments that were made earlier regarding the quality of the discourse from last meeting. Let's start off with a couple facts first. I remember looking this up a few months ago, but the city of Elgin has about 115,000 people in it. Viewership on YouTube caps out around 1,400, and you can see from the crowd here that we don't get huge turnouts on these city meetings, so to have a meeting drag on for forty five minutes longer than necessary because what seemed like a uh... poorly thought out amendment was proposed is beyond frustrating uh... the discourse that then followed that amendment where the amendment proposed was then retracted and then a different amendment was put forward uh... and for those at home or in the audience who aren't aware basically evil intentions had uh... plans on developing a building uh... one of the uh... stipulations in that ordinance proposed by Mr. Malott I think was that uh... thanks to Councilman Steffen's reading Every year evil intentions would have to meet with city staff to discuss parking and nowhere in that ordinance. Did it promise any parking to evil intentions? So the original proposal was to sunset or terminate evil intentions, ability to park on public land that was retracted. Another one was put forward, which seemed toothless. listening at home where it basically sounded as though it would substitute mandatory annual meetings with one meeting after three years. And that third year meeting would suggest evil intentions, find their own parking, but would not mandate it. It just didn't sound well thought out. And again, it was frustrating to watch at home to see conversation go on and back and forth and a potential business bringing revenue into Elgin on the precipice of failure and wasn't something that look like it needed to take place i'll add to that to say that of the five four decisions that i've seen in the three four years that i've been watching the city council meetings there's not one that i can think of where the five vote majority thorn ortiz martinez uh... captain and good There hasn't been an outpouring of support in favor of the stance that you five take. It's generally on the other side. That's the delta ban. That's the inclusivity ordinance. That's the evil intentions parking. So I would just encourage you five to consider that. Consider the voice of the city, the people who come here before suggesting proposals or before voting against the minority for. Thank you. Thank you.

Tracy Howell.

Mayor Captain, if you didn't see this climate change result coming, then you are the one who doesn't know what you're talking about. You know nothing of my history, my education, or my experience. I suggest you bite your tongue when finding out somebody who you don't know anything about. If I want to talk loud, I will talk loud. If I want to talk softly,

I don't have to justify myself.

The residents of Elgin want solutions. They don't want excuses. What happened in 1974 is not helping them. And it's an excuse and it's not serving you well. They want the solutions and they want to know how to get there. Maybe it's not going to happen right away, but you need to get the solution in line, in order, timelines, things like that. Because this has been coming a long time, a long time. People have been talking about this for years. I lived in Chicago and I was part of the neighborhood group in the Edgewater area. I actually was the president. And we had many meetings about the deep tunnel and the August, there was a flood that happened over a four minute period of time. And it flooded everyone's basements and people were upset. And the city worked on getting the deep tunnel done. It takes a lot of money. It takes a lot of time. But they got the results. They figured out the plan. People want a plan. They don't want to hear everybody's back story because it's too late for that now. We need results because this is only getting worse. You are going to see this crumble. And because that's what happens when a plan is not made and you just put a blind eye. Thank you.

Thank you. Brings us to bids. First item is bid number 26-023.

Mayor, I move the reward the bid to Chicagoland Paving Contractors of Lake Zurich, Illinois in the amount of $259,000 for Bluff City Cemetery phase, what was that, six? Roadway improvements and construction.

So moved. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Zafaro? Yes. Dixon? Good. Yes. Martinez. Yes. Ortiz.

Yes.

Powell. Yes. Stephan.

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes. The motion is approved 8-0. Item 2 is bid number 26-024, Nightmare on Chicago Street, Sound and Equipment Rental.

Mayor, I move that we award this contract to Soundworks Production in the amount of $206,410. Second. Second.

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

Council members Alfaro? Yes. Dixon?

Yes.

Good. Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell? Yes. Stephan? Yes. Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motions approved, 8-0. Item 3 is bid number 26-026, Elgin Sports Complex Soccer Fields 7 and 8 Renovations.

Mayor, I move we award the bid to V3 Construction Group, LTD, in the amount of $899,600 for the purchase of equipment and materials, complete existing site removals, and install the new park elements.

Second.

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

Council members O'Farrell? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Good.

Yes.

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

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motions approved 8-0. Item 4 is bid number 26-028, Various West Side Streets, 2026 Resurfacing Project.

Yes, Mayor. I move that we award this contract to Schroeder Asphalt Services in the amount of $2,196,227. Second. Move to second for approval.

Any discussion? Hearing none, clerk, please call the roll. customers are yes dixon yes yes martinez yes parties yes yes yes yes yes motions approved eight zero brings us to other business the first item is consideration of a petition zero nine dash two six for ten fifty six logan avenue conditional use for a plan development to divide the existing property for the construction of a second single-family home mr muller

Thank you Mr. Mayor. The subject property is located at the southwest corner of Congdon and Longden Avenues in Neenah. Here is Congdon and this is Logan. The applicant requests zoning approval of a proposal to create a second residential lot from the back of the corner residential property at 1056 Logan Avenue. The nearly 12,200 square foot property is a typical corner lot in the neighborhood. It's improved within approximately 2300 square foot, one and a half story home and a detached one car garage, both facing on Logan. Again, the applicant would divide the property into two lots. The east lot with the existing home and detached garage would have about 6700 square feet of lot area. No changes are proposed to the existing home and the backyard behind the existing home would become the new West lot with about 5500 square feet of lot area. Access to the new West lot would come from cognitive. The new lot line between the two lots is proposed such that the lot for the existing home would continue to meet all zoning requirements of the RC two residents. conservation zoning district. However, this delineation meant that the new west lot was about 500 square feet less than the 6,000 square foot minimum lot area requirement necessitating this zoning approval. The delineation could have been made such that each lot had the required 6,000 square feet of lot area, but then the rear yard setback of the existing home would have been too short by several feet. Lots with less than 6,000 square feet of lot area are not uncommon in this part of Elgin. In the immediate vicinity, in just the surrounding blocks on the south side of Congdon, between Augusta Avenue on the west and Cedar Avenue on the east, five other existing lots have less than 6,000 square feet of lot area. The new fiber cement-sided home on the proposed new lot would be about 700 square feet in floor area with one bedroom and one bath and have a one-car attached garage. The applicant is available should you have any questions. Staff in the Planning and Zoning Commission recommend approval. Subject to conditions outlined within your packet. Move for approval of subject to conditions.

Second.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded for approval of subject to conditions. Any discussion? Ms. O'Farrell.

Thank you, Mayor. I think it's a great idea to utilize the space. So bravo to the tenant and the owner of the property to be able to come up with an agreement. I just had a question. There are some trees on content. I'm assuming they're going to get cut down. What are we doing with those trees?

Maybe the applicant is going to try to position that driveway between those two trees. But in the event that they have to come down, if you've seen those trees, they've been severely V cut over the years because there's power lines going through there. Uh, and just in the last couple of years, two in that same stretch have already had to come out. So they've already been significantly compromised. We've talked to the applicant, and she's contemplating additional landscaping on her property, so we'll get some back if they do have to come out.

Perfect. Awesome. Thank you.

My pleasure.

Mr. Ortiz.

This is within the historic district of Neenah, correct? No, it's not. It's not.

It's in the neighborhood, but there's no historic district.

Okay. Then no question. Thank you.

Okay.

Anything else? Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Zafaro? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Good. Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Steffen? Yes. Mayor Hampton?

Yes. The motion is approved 8-0. Congratulations. and to his consideration of petition ten dash two six nine sixty eight dundee avenue conditional use to establish a packer lichels liquor sale establishment as part of an existing tobacco store mister thank you mayor uh... the subject properties located in the southwest corner of cooper and dundee along the little segment ending morton avenue here is cooper

This is Dundee, and this is the end of Morton Avenue. This is Velasquez Mufflers, Wendy's, Price Right Liquors, Liberty Liquors. This is G&J's, and this is Los Comales Elgin. I hope I pronounced that correctly. The applicant requests zoning approval to expand the nearly 1,300 square foot existing Friday tobacco store at 968A Dundee Avenue into the adjacent 1,100 square foot tenant space at 968B Dundee and sell packaged beer, wine, and liquor from that space. 968B Dundee was previously occupied by another tobacco store, but it is currently vacant. The two tenant spaces are part of an 8600 square foot multi-tenant building, which includes a restaurant, car accessory store, jewelry store, and a staffing agency. One other 1300 square foot tenant space is also vacant. The applicant is not proposing any interior or exterior changes to the building. The two tenant spaces are already connected and do not require any changes for the expanded operation. Council Member Ortiz had reached out to staff and inquired about the names and addresses of area packaged liquor stores. Liberty Liquors is located one block to the east at 601 Cooper Avenue, and Price Right Liquors is located two blocks to the east and north of 1055 North Liberty. The map on the left shows establishments within one mile of the subject property that sell packaged liquor. But please remember, these are not just liquor stores, but also include grocery stores, pharmacies, gas station, convenience stores, etc. Establishments that sell packaged liquor typically hold a Class B, B1, B2, B4, or B5 liquor licenses. The map on the right shows all 55 Class B liquor licenses in the city, again, including those such as grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas station convenience stores. A quick shout out of thanks to the city clerk's office for this list and to GIS for helping create these maps. If this conditional use is granted, the applicant must also apply for and obtain a liquor license. The municipal code establishes that no class B licenses shall be considered until the applicant first obtains the conditional use. The applicant is available should you have any questions. Staff and the Planning and Zoning Commission recommend approval of subject conditions outlined within your packet.

MOVED FOR APPROVAL OF SUBJECT CONDITIONS.

SECOND.

IT'S BEEN MOVED AND SECONDED FOR APPROVAL OF SUBJECT CONDITIONS. ANY DISCUSSION? MR. ORTIZ.

THANK YOU, MR. MILLER. I'D LIKE TO TALK TO YOU. NO THANKS. THE REASON I INQUIRED ABOUT THAT IS DURING NATIONAL NIGHT OUT, THAT NEIGHBORHOOD WAS ONE OF THE ONES THAT WAS ASSIGNED TO ME. SO I WENT THERE WITH, WHO DID I GO THERE WITH? I WENT THERE WITH MARCY. AND THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS TELLING ME ABOUT THIS PROJECT, THAT THERE WAS AN ABUNDANCE OF LIQUOR STORES THERE, WHICH I DIDN'T THINK WAS THAT MANY. THAT'S WHY I ASKED YOU IF YOU COULD GIVE ME THE MAP OF EXACTLY HOW MANY WERE IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD. SO THAT'S A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON WHY I ASKED, BECAUSE THE NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENTS OVER THERE DURING NATION I-DOT WAS TELLING ME ABOUT IT. BUT THAT'S IT. I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU WHY I DID IT. HAPPY TO PROVIDE IT FOR YOU, SIR.

OKAY. ANYTHING ELSE? MR. DIXON.

Thank you. Appreciate the presentation, Mr. Millat. I won't be supporting this item tonight. This is a concern that I've been raising for a number of years now about the number of liquor stores located so closely with each other in certain sectors of our community. One that comes to mind is McLean and Big Timber. There's a A NUMBER OF LIQUOR STORES OVER THERE ALSO OFF OF VILLA STREET HEADED TOWARDS HEADED EAST TOWARDS ELGIN HIGH. THERE'S ALSO A NUMBER OF LIQUOR STORES OVER THERE. AND THEN IN THIS AREA THERE IS NOT ONLY JUST LIQUOR STORES BUT I THINK PROBABLY ALL OF THE RESTAURANTS THERE SURE SERVE ALCOHOL TOO AS WELL FROM HOPS TO AUSTRALIA NOT AUSTRALIA BUT Where's the other? Los Comeyes. Comeyes. Yes. Comeyes and a few other, G&Js. And so, again, we have what I think is too many liquor stores located in a concentrated area on our east side of town, located too closely to low-income neighborhoods. that's why i won't be supporting this so i support the business you know whatever you you want to do but just i don't feel like we have a plan as it relates to the number of liquor stores that we're allowing in our community and we want a free market and we want businesses to be able to do well but at the same time we just have too many hot spots east side to west side and so i don't i'm not i don't feel comfortable continuing to support these items so

OKAY. ANYTHING ELSE? MS. MARTINEZ.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. YEAH. I FIRST HAVE A QUESTION, JUST IN ORDER. A number 10 with your findings of facts, it says recommendations of facts of findings of facts, petition 10 26, July 6th, 2026. I was at that meeting and I didn't see Jay Jay Cox.

Sorry. Where, uh, can you tell me again where you're that's number 10 on our conditions in the ordinance.

Yeah, the recommendations of findings of facts. It should be number, yeah. It should be the last page of that.

I'm sorry, Council Member, our recommendations are one through four. I'm not seeing a...

It's towards the end. It's before your picture starts.

Okay.

It's 10.

Oh, I'm sorry. Now I see. Signed by the wrong... We'll get that corrected. Okay, that's fine. Apologies.

And I normally have said yes to... uh... liquor licenses and specially because if you look at the east side it's very condensed but on this one uh... i agree it's a no uh... because you know you do have uh... armando's you have uh... liberty liquor store. There's another one just the next block. You have hoppies. But I know for a fact that Comales does not sell liquor because I eat there, so I know that there's other ones that were mentioned that do not. But on this one here, I do agree that there's too many and they're within walking distance from this location precisely. So on this one, I will not be able to support it either. Thank you.

mister stephan but i'm sorry so far thank you so i am a little conflicted on this one to uh... and so i'd wider because i think applicants here reasons that said you have a question for the applicant wasn't thank you uh... do you mind coming up so uh... because that people go home to hear you from the mic so my question to you is uh... say live not that far from that area and so there is a lot of liquor stores but uh... were you able to do like a market analysis to see like, you know, there's competition, but there's not too much competition. So you should be able to generate revenue.

Honestly, no, I haven't checked that one because at the end of the day, it's, It's up to God, whatever is a blessing for you. I don't look at my competition. I just go based off my customer service to you. If you like my attitude and my customer service, if you spend more money with me, that's all I care about. I don't look at my competition as far as this. But in this situation, the only reason I said I wanted to do a liquor license, because we did have the ban for Delta, for the THCA.

Mm-hmm.

And we did have a lot of other stuff coming around to it, like ice construction site, if you see the photo. So I was like, it makes sense for me just to put liquor store, because we do. Everybody, we don't have kids coming inside the store. It only makes sense for me just to keep my integrity of the store as far as smoke shop, just to put liquor, because there wouldn't be any kids coming in. We would have just seen them on the door and be like, hey, you got to go somewhere else. Unlike the other stores, God bless them all. competition is competition. They still have grocery stores. They still have gas stations. They're more intent to get kids walking in there. I don't. So kids might, you never know, you know, kids walk in, they look at a cooler, it gives them the thought of, oh, there's liquor. Let's just take one. For me, personally, I don't have kids coming in. Inside that plaza, there is no There's no grocery store, there's a jewelry, there's a restaurant. It makes sense for me just to pour liquor. As far as going forward, if I get the approval or not, we're just trying to look for something that compensate the other ones that we lost. Because you do lose 40% of the THC. That goes as far as edibles, smoking-wise, vapes, all those are gone. So I lost 40% of my inventory. If you're walking in as a... I used to have the nursing home walking in, all elderly people buying THC. When they buy it, now they don't show up. When they used to buy in, they want to get everything as far as to go home. Now I don't see a lot of the customers. So the business did go down. To stay afloat, the only idea that I thought about is just bringing in liquor. It makes sense for that business. If it doesn't happen, We're going to end up just re-innovating new business over there in case just not to lose the business. That's it.

Yeah, because I had read the planning and zoning. You had mentioned that since it's 21 and over, you wanted to keep everything 21 and over, so that makes sense.

It makes sense. I don't know if you have another photo of inside. I did bring a picture of how would it look like as far as like AI. It's open space. When you walk in, it has A and B, and it's open. So it will be sectioned as far as like beer and wine, and then it will be – yeah, there you go. So there's an opening in the middle. It's covered right now with showcases because I'm only utilizing one side A. So it doesn't make sense for me if I wanted to bring new ideas or new business. It wouldn't make sense to put a restaurant in there. It wouldn't make sense to put anything that's going to attract kids because chances are I'm high, I'm a high risk as far as inspection, kids. You don't want to see a smoke shop where kids walking in. That doesn't make sense. So I'm trying to keep as much as possible professional.

No, I appreciate that. So thank you.

So if it doesn't go forward, we're just going to end up renovating something else as far as just to subsidize the losses that we've got.

Thank you. I think it's on the council to come up with a policy for the liquor component. of like how we want to regulate that. And that's why I'm leaning towards yes on the zoning because I think that's on us to come up with that so we're transparent to the community. As you read the information and you were talking to Mark, this is all free game, right? And so like I don't know.

I understand because I've seen the, I don't mean to cut you off, I've seen the complaints as far as the neighborhood. It does make sense for them, and I'm 100% with them. I understand that. There is liquor, liquor, liquor. I understand that. But at the end of the day, we are business owners, and we are into competition. So if I provide excellent service for you, and I provide the cheapest price, and I provide excellent services, and you tend to buy from me, that means it's free game. It's competition at the end of the day. You know, it's business, and at the same time, we're trying to be professionals with it.

Yeah. I do think that us as a council need to come up with some kind of policy or guidelines. I don't know what the right terminology is at or even an ordinance. Um, cause I've not served on the liquor commission to come up with something that's more transparent to the community. Um, cause it seems some of us are a little conflicted with too many liquor stores near each other. So there, so there'll be some transparency to the community as business owners are trying to come in. They're fully aware of what is permitted or not permitted. Thank you.

Okay. Uh, Ms. Powell.

Thank you. Councilwoman Alfaro stated exactly what I was going to say in terms of we need a policy because this has come up before about And we've had complaints from not only folks in the neighborhood, but other liquor store owners that have come to us complaining that we are citing too many approving too many liquor stores in a certain area. And all it does is hurt. all of the liquor stores in terms of your business and your sales. Because the pie is only so big. The pie is not going to get any bigger. It's kind of like the casino pie. Everybody's slice is just going to get that much smaller. And we want you to be successful. And I understand what you went through with the loss of being able to sell the THC products. That was very unfortunate. So I am going to vote in favor of this with the caveat that we do, as a council, really need to look at this. We're not seeing multiple liquor stores pop up in the area of Highland Woods and Providence and some of our more upper income neighborhoods. We are seeing a plethora of liquor stores popping up in some of our lower income neighborhoods. And that's a concern. And it should be a concern. And I respect you as a business owner. And I get that. But I feel like it would be disingenuous for me to vote against your proposal when you've met all the criteria without us having something in place you know, so that these don't even come forward unless they meet, um, our new, what I hope we can put together as a new criteria for, um, you know, approving liquor stores in this community. Um, so I'm not on the liquor, I'm not on the liquor commission now. Um, used to be a long time ago, but obviously all of this stuff ultimately comes back to us. I would just ask to, you know, please be a good neighbor, um, work, work with the neighborhood, um, um i don't doubt that you will be but um well that you won't be a good neighbor um but i i do have a concern about the the number of these that are are popping up in in our lower income neighborhoods so that said i will approve this at this point but i think it's something we really do need to look at thank you mr good

Thank you, Mayor. So I am on liquor commission just for update to applicant and the public. I think what we're seeing here is feedback from the community. Just to set the table, we're looking at zoning right now. If this passes this evening, then it goes to liquor commission for the liquor license. Liquor commission is kind of a loose term because we also regulate gaming machines. In an effort to work with the community and work with business owners in the community, largely this has become You know, you apply. I'm speaking for the liquor commission at this point. You get your liquor license for the most part. So I just wanted to separate those two things right now. And we want to be mindful of that process as, you know, we work with business owners that you don't enter into one of them if there's something coming down the line that would block you and cause you to waste time and money. So in the agenda, the packet we got, there was, I think it was a 6-1 vote from planning and zoning. There were some of the neighbors that came out and made statements. You know, I think everything my colleagues are saying up here we need to look at formalizing and be as intentional as possible about this, but you did go through the process, you passed planning and zoning, so for this specific portion this evening, I'll be in support. I would go a step further, not with all the information in front of me tonight, but I would want us to be intentional about establishing these policies and procedures and intentions kind of from a clean start. And I don't want to influence anybody up here who's on liquor commission, but I don't want us to, I guess, switch course while you're in the process already. So those are my thoughts on it. Going back to the planning and zoning portion of it, I think some of the issues were parking and just some of the general infrastructure around the building. It passed through. So ultimately, if this does go forth, I just was just curious as to what you envision your products being like. You already established 21 and over. You sound like you're going to differentiate by price and service.

It's mostly focused on the neighborhood. So we do work. you demand, we bring that in. So it's not like I'm going all crazy and just bringing in catalogs and designs. If this person likes Modelo, I'm just bringing in Modelo's. Whatever is just convenient for the customers, that's it. So as far as the smoke shop, when I first opened it, I did have a variety of everything. And then I ended up shrinking it to what consumers just want. There's no point of me having a $100,000 inventory if it's not just going to sit there. But when we ended up taking the hit on the Delta, and then you had the ice situation, and then I believe for the past one year there's been construction zone right in front of the store. Yeah, a lot. Exactly, right in front of the store. So it's like, is he really going to come in with his car parking in front of the store? And since there's too much traffic already with the construction, so a lot of the time they just go around it. So a lot of this construction is making it go around my business. I still have to pay the landlord. I still have to keep up with my business and all this, especially with the Delta situation. I took a hit with this one. So I'm not just going all crazy. It's all going to be strategically designed for the customers. And if you look at as far as the business, we did have the number one review as far as customer service and review. We're just here to protect you guys, make it safe, no loitering, no nothing. Just grab your stuff and just go on your way. That's it.

Cool. And I just wanted to set the stage for council, for you, for anybody watching that the conversation is very fresh and we very much intend to formalize some of this. Again, this has been, you know, we've had this conversation before. It is challenging because the free market, like you said, you know, like we want to be partners in that. but we also want to be mindful of our community. So just as the update, we're discussing this at liquor commission, we are intending to have a more intentional discussion about it, but for the sake of tonight, support your application. So that's all I have at the moment. Mr. Stephan has a chance.

I wanted to thank you, mayor. I wanted to pivot a little bit to the parking because I think it was the issue that kind of grabbed my attention. The restaurant at the corner, La Tecita de Plata, as I see it in the picture, used to be the Elgin Barbecue Pit. That was a popular place. I can tell from the photo that was included in the memo that the parking spaces in front of that are reserved for handicapped, leaving only like five, maybe six parking spaces. And if there's people not handicapped eating at the restaurant or the one at the other end, essentially all the parking's taken by customers. So the question I have going, Mark, good, you've got it up on the screen. The floor plan for the two spaces shows that rear exits and your overall picture of the neighborhood with the subject property outlined in red shows there's seven, that one right there, there's seven or eight parking spaces in the back. Are those, or could those be available to the customers to use and come in the back door? I see that there's open retail area all the way to the back.

Of course, that's going to depend upon the way in which the operator arranges this floor plan, whether anyone in this particular shopping center wants someone coming in through the back door or not, but they are available for the property.

Okay, so that is a possibility. All right, that was my question, thank you.

Ms. Martinez.

Thank you, Mayor. Just for clarity, Mr. Millant, what we are voting for right now is the conditional use. Yes, ma'am. So does that mean, like, if we say yes and another business comes and they want to sell liquor, they are able to? It's not saying that they're going to get it or they are or they're not. That's up to the Liquor Commission, right? Correct. I just wanted to make that clear for everybody. Second is when you're talking about the parking and back, I believe there's another business there that has that address of, is it Cooper? Yeah.

is the car accessory. Forgive me, I don't remember the... Yeah, something ramp. It's like a ramp. Right.

Yeah.

And whether or not the landlord has restricted parking spaces, you know, this business gets four, this business gets two, that's a private market response. The property is legal non-conforming as to parking spaces. If you... If this was to be built today with this size of building, with these prospective tenants, you'd need 37 parking spaces. It's got about 18, but it's also been there forever. the business that is coming in to the package liquor store going in has the same parking generation rate as what was there before. So in that regards, there's no impact on the zoning. You don't suddenly have a failure of the zoning ordinance. And that was done intentionally to say, we recognize there are gonna be these unique circumstances. We have to make some reasonable accommodations lest we look at vacant tenant spaces.

Yeah, the only reason why I bring that up is because I kind of remember that that building was kind of like made separate for the auto place that we're talking about. And I think what the owner of the property had asked me is if there's any way that they could just close that street. I think it's Morton that kind of like goes into like a triangle. And that kind of, uh, so I don't know if we can look into that because that would give those parking. I mean, those, um, businesses a little bit, maybe a parking space. I don't know. You know, I'm not, not into that, but it's really tiny.

Yeah. I suspect that that ship may have sailed considering the improvements that are being done to Dundee right now, but never hurts to ask.

Okay. So I asked, thank you.

Yes, ma'am. Okay. Mr. Ortiz.

I'll make it quick, Mayor. Thanks. During Liquor Commission today, we were talking about how Ms. Alfaro was talking, and I think Ms. Powell also, of the process in which some of these establishments are going through first paying their permit fees to planning and zoning, going through planning and zoning, and then coming to the council, and it ultimately ends up on the lap of liquor commission. And the applicant get yeses all the way down the line, and end up at liquor commission, and have the concerns that most of the setup here is too many liquor establishments within one area, and then say no at the very end. and you've already spent your money, your time, staff spent their time and their money, well, not their money, with taxpayers money for staff services. And so it was out of a discussion is for the workflow is if, an applicant wants to come in for conditional use or whatever, how the bottle shop did in downtown Elgin, come float the idea at a liquor commission first, get a feeling if liquor commission would approve it before they spend their time, their money and their energy going through the entire process and at the end getting told no. So this was discussed earlier today during liquor commission of how we could put policies together or workflows together. So, uh, It's been talked about, and then when Mr. Dixon was on the liquor commission with us, he brought it up also a couple of times. So the idea has been floated, so I agree that we should start looking at solidifying a process of liquor licenses and the workflow, especially if the council may not want to put in a particular area, the applicant should come to liquor commission first, float the idea before they go through the entire process, take maybe up to six months, and get told no at the end. So and I talked to Mr. Malat before the meeting and told him what was discussed with the commission and I don't want to put words in your mouth, Mr. Malat, but you said it could possibly be a good idea to go to the commission first before going through the entire process.

Well, especially if the sentiment of the city council is that these aren't automatics. From the zoning perspective, and again, this is what we're here for tonight, package liquor, accessory package liquor, is a conditional use in any zoning district in which you can make an application. And it's my understanding that it's been that way since I've been here for now almost 16 years. It was also explained to me when I asked, well, why was that? It was because of the public notification requirement that goes with applications for conditional uses. And it gathered a lot more information than what might otherwise have been made available to the Liquor Commission, especially from a neighborhood sentiment. public hearing, we have mailings, there's a court reporter, and all that information is forwarded on to the city council. But at the same time, if there is a mechanism whereby an applicant can get an understanding of saying, you know, this isn't a slam dunk, this is something that people have significant reservations about, then the applicant should be made aware of that. And I can tell you that at least for the past six months to a year, we have been expressing that sentiment to persons who come to us with these types of applications. But to hear it from the ultimate decision makers certainly would expedite that process.

All right, thank you. And then for your zoning, I'm going to approve it. Well, not me approve it, but I'm going to support it because the liquor license is a whole different issue. You have to go to Liquor Commission, advocate for it there as a petitioner, and then if they pass Liquor Commission, it comes right back to City Council again, so you're going to be seeing us again for the final approval of your liquor license. So the zoning is a whole different issue than your actual liquor license because you have at least two more meetings to go to, sir. So... Yeah, I'm going to support the ordinance, or not the ordinance, but this zoning, because this has nothing to do with the liquor license at this time. All right, thank you.

Thank you.

That's correct, and I'm going to support this. This is a zoning issue, and the amount of liquor licenses is the purview of the Liquor Commission, and there are different types, package liquors, bars and restaurants, just plain bars. we have all different kinds of liquor is a dozens and dozens of them and each one of them has a number with it and we have to issue a new liquor license and increase the number that we allow for many of those it's a whole separate process and mister of my lot is correct that uh... uh... this is not a guarantee that that'll happen but i will support the uh... because it does meet the requirements and it does meet up in conditional use all of support your petition tonight But be aware when you come back for a liquor commission meeting and a liquor license, it may be a different story. Okay. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Zafaro? Yes. Dixon? No. Good. Yes. Martinez? No. Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell? Yes. Stephan? Yes. Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motion's approved 6-2.

Thank you.

Brings us to item three is a resolution authorizing execution of an easement agreement with the Chicago title land trust company doing business and the land trust company as successor trustee under the trust agreement dated June 2nd, 1993. And no one has the trust at number nine, nine, nine, eight for the waterman water main purposes at 1400 Madeline lane.

Move for approval.

Second. Moved and seconded for approval, any discussion? Don't make me read that again. Any discussion? Clerk, please call the roll.

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

Yes.

Powell? Yes. Steffen?

Yes.

Mayor Campion?

Yes. Motion's approved, 8-0. Consent agenda? Moved for approval.

Second.

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

Council Member Zafaro? Yes. Dixon?

Yes.

Good. Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Stephan?

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motion's approved, 8-0. Miscellaneous business? Move for approval. Second. Moved and seconded for approval. Any discussion? Hearing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Council Members Alfaro? Yes. Dixon? Yes. Good? Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Steffen?

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. Motions approved, 8-0. Announcements. The next Committee of the Whole meeting will be Wednesday, August 26, 2026. at 6 p.m. in the city council chambers. The next regular meeting of the Elgin City Council will be Wednesday, August 26, 2026, at 7 p.m. in the council chambers. I'd entertain a motion to adjourn to executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel issues. So moved. Second. Moved and seconded to adjourn. Clerk, please call the vote.

Sorry, Mr. Mayor. Yes. It's not personnel issues. It's collective bargaining. I'm sorry, collective bargaining. Subsection C2.

Collective bargaining issues.

So moved. Second.

Moved and seconded. Clerk, please call the roll.

Council Member Zaffaro? Yes. Dixon?

Yes.

Good. Yes. Martinez? Yes. Ortiz? Yes. Powell? Yes. Stephan?

Yes.

Mayor Captain?

Yes. We are adjourned.