City Council - Regular Meeting

Number one

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Call the December 15, 2025 meeting to order. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. Liberty. You ready?

Okay. Excuse us while we work through the uh technical difficulties here. I want to welcome everybody that's here tonight in person and those that are uh watching online this evening. Uh welcome. Uh let's see. We've called me to order pledge. Okay. I'm going to recognize we have Mr. Hersy, our treasurer with us tonight. And thank you Mr. Mouser. If you would do roll call, please. Rosenberg present here. Bl here. Stole here. Carne here. Tony here. Roach here. Nukem I believe he's absent. Hudson here. Blackburn here. Bor here. Campbell

here. Parchman here. Santa Claus. So, thank you. No, that's the projector. Okay. That's vacuum. Okay. 1.4. We have approval of the minutes from December 1st, 2025. Can I get a motion for approval? So moved. Okay. A second. We have a motion. We have a second. Do we have any comments or questions on 1.4? Seeing none, all in favor?

Opposed? Motion carries. Uh we do not have a public hearing tonight. But we do have a proclamation tonight for the uh for Beth Ortega and her team in the for the illuminated Christmas parade. So Beth, if you and your team would come forward, please. Yes, we can't close anymore. Jeff went to go turn him turn. Yeah, I thought it was the speakers of the vacuum.

Okay, if you guys would line up here in front of the deis, please. This is always such a a great event for Oallon and on the heels of all the conversations about uh being able to have city festivals and events where you can bring the community together. Uh this was definitely one of those events that couldn't have happened uh at a better time. And everybody we talked to the the turnout was amazing. Three, four deep down the route. Uh it was just a real special event uh at a real special time. So uh thank you to all of you. So tonight for the illuminated holiday parade recognition whereas the ofallen Illuminated holiday parade is a cherished annual tradition that marks the beginning of the holiday season in our community. And whereas this festive event brings residents and visitors together with illuminated floats, bands, organizations and performers strengthening the community spirit and supporting downtown vibrancy. And whereas the parade is made possible through the dedicated direction and stewardship of Beth Ororttega Group whose leadership ensures this beloved tradition continues to shine year after year. And whereas the city of Ofalon extends its sincere gratitude to the many volunteers, sponsors, and community partners whose generosity of time and enthusiasm help bring the parade to life and create a joyful and memorable celebration for all. And whereas the illuminated holiday parade fosters unity, pride, and shared holiday traditions that enrich the spirit of Ofallen. Now therefore, I, Mayor Eric Van Hook, on behalf of the city of Ofall, Illinois, hereby proclaim a heartfelt appreciation to all who contributed to this year's parade and encourage our community to celebrate the holiday season with gratitude and

goodwill. Let me give that to you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Thank you to my team and thank you to the police for helping us out and especially to all of our sponsors that we couldn't do this without. So, thank you guys.

Yeah, and we had a little bit of a curveball thrown at us because out of nowhere they predicted horrible weather for Saturday or I'm sorry. So, we had to move the parade. Um, and it it turned out to be a great decision. Uh it allowed great turnout and again just what an amazing evening. Thank you all. We good? Okay. We're going to move on to 4.1 public comments. This portion of the city council meeting is reserved for any member of the public wishing to address the council. The Illinois Open Meetings Act, Illinois uh 5 ILCS 1201, mandates no action shall be taken on matters not listed on this agenda, but council may direct staff to address the topic or refer it the matter to a committee. Please provide the clerk with your name, speak into the microphone, limit your presentation to five minutes, and avoid repetitious comments. Thank you. Do we have anybody? And we also will have a second opportunity later in the meeting uh for public comments. But if anybody would like to come forward, please do

Jerry Alward two or seven or whatever. Um I'd like to cordially invite all of you to a performance of the Nobell Ringers from 9 to 10 to noon at Sam's next Saturday. And if you stick around, you might even see a couple of of our councilmen and maybe even the mayor ringing the bells for the Salvation Army. Bring money. And I want to wish you all a merry Christmas. Thank you. Would anybody else like to make any public comments?

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Doug, board five. Uh first up I'd like to have some comments about the tax le come up. So we the people of found would like to thank alderman Roach for having the courage to speak against the proposed tax increase at the last council meeting. Likewise we appreciate all the council members who voted no. Um this city is essentially proposing effective 5% property tax increase. Based on my research, that's the biggest jump in years, even though the total taxable property value is basically flat. The public servants pushing to spend more dollars and almost every fund across the budget, including three and a half more percent for the library, are completely out of touch. Many of citizens are still struggling with outrageous grocery and utility bills that are easily 30 to 50% higher due to inflation caused by a failing Federal Reserve currency. This isn't serving the public interest, ignoring our pain. We've heard for years that rising property values would keep the rates down. That didn't happen this time. Instead, the rate appears to be going up because of such values are trending down. Yet, the city still wants to spend more, squeezing our budgets because the city won't control its own. I mean, all one has to do is listen to the exceptional analysis V lays out at every council meeting to see elements of fraud, waste, and abuse. You all may be independently wealthy and not feeling the pinch, but I'm a retired on fixed income and my property taxes consume nearly 25% of my annual pension income. I'm sure many others are in the same boat. Retired folks and working citizens alike have had to tighten our belts and make tough choices on how we spend our money. It's not too much to ask the city to do the same, especially when it comes especially when incomes in Oallen have only grown about 15% over the last decade. While home values have risen unevenly, leaving many underwater on

rising cost. Researching the age profile of Alen's population over the last 10 years shows it has remained relatively stable with a slight shift toward older population. The proportion of residents under 18 is about 28% while working age group 18 to 64 has seen a modest decline from 58 to 56 and 65 plus a marginal increase from 14 to 16%. So perhaps the council might consider stronger focus on economic growth to offset the needs of rising senior population rather than hiking taxes that hit income households hardest. I respectfully ask the council to hold the levy flat in dollars, not play games with rates and small insignificant abatements. This levy is an effective increase in taxes period. Working families and seniors found are tapped out. Increasing taxes indicates public servants are toned down to the plight of the people they serve. Please vote no on an increase and show us that you're listening by committing to a full budget review for efficiency before next year. Thank you for your time, your consideration. I wish all of you, love, and light in the coming holiday season and God bless.

Thank you for your comments. Do I have anyone else that would like to make public comments? uh your warrant tonight. This information is for those at home here and wherever to let know where the money for the city is being spent. We got a little over 1,168,59412. Out of that, some money was spent at Amazon for $7,995 98 for a television at the uh found station. U we don't need have I need a big screen here. I have no idea. Maybe I'll get some explanation in in that report. Uh Bob Meyer, I believe you're paying him his number fourth payment for $182,000 964. You got thirst equipment again doing the nice workout at the waste management excuse me at the waste treatment plant the hallway the sludge and whatever that's 12333 $33140 you also had some more lights from u I mentioned last time you put some lights around and evidently you bought some more lights for 9,5

$9,411 in change. Where? I don't know where it went. I had seen. And of course, you got mage my way. This monthly bill for November, $13,7826. Then you had some stuff you bought from Midwest Supply for $9,342 and change. You had um trying to figure out what the place incorporated is for 26,000 and whatever for some sort of platform access chain report and advanced market report. What is that all about? And you had root remove a tree for $5,355. Are you This is on city property or this is on somebody else's property because I can sure like to have cover my trees removed. Um, you had some supplies that you bought for u uh for 17,3 400 each and there for some I forgot to get anyway. um for marker flags and some copper ball valves and then some other utility bought $14,000 for some cameras to watch out also. And I also noticed you bought a tree for out of the park $8,000 a second. Hopefully that's not like just a one-year investment. That's a continuing investment. So then you would average income it down for what it cost you to use them.

Now shake the dust off of some of the items that still I'm concerned about and we still haven't seen the light fix over there by the ice cream. I don't expect we get done but hopefully sometime this spring maybe springtime you know only it's only been over a year. Or Steve painting the stripes on the road and having fun. I know it's kind of hard to do it now, but spring's coming up. That's a possibility. Also, the other projects, Deer Creek, I hope that gets started springtime. I hope the sidewalk on Seven Tales Road gets taken care of soon. And of course, of all, the infamous Vincent's Crossing on Tri Scott Road. Hopefully, don't have to have it named after a memorial for somebody getting killed there. Statistically it's going to happen. I don't know when, but statistically it's going to happen. And um last last time we mentioned about I asked about the city fest and where the money was going to go. He said we're going to have a meeting with them, but I didn't say anything there because it should have been open to the public posted for this meeting. So I suppose they've already had the meeting considered what you're going to do with the money. So hopefully no. And here we are now in December. So we got September, October, November, December. How much money has the pool made you? Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Does anybody else have any public comments they would like to make in our first session? Okay, seeing none, we will move on to five, the clerk's report.

Mayor, the clerk's office. Wish everybody a merry Christmas and we have the report. Thank you. Thank you. Uh moving on to six, mayor's report. We just have two things. City uh offices will be closed on December 25th, 2025 in the observance of Christmas Day. And city hall will be closed on January 1st, 2026 in observance of New Year's Day. That's all I have. So we'll move on to seven resolutions. And Mr. divorce, if you could handle 7.1, please. Yes. I'd like to make a motion for the mayor and city council to approve a resolution adopting the urban for forestry management program. Second.

We have a motion and we have a second. Do we have any comments, questions, or concerns that you'd like to express about 7.1? Seeing none, roll call, please. My yes. Yes. Stolen? Yes. Carney, yes. Yes. Rook, yes. Hudson, yes. Blackber, yes. Mor, yes. Camel, yes. Parksman, yes. Ford, yes. Rosenberg, Affirmative, thank you. Motion carries. It's all we have for resolutions. We'll move on to ordinances. First reading. Uh, Mr. Parchman, can you do 8.1, please? Yes, Mr. Mayor. I'd like to make a motion to consider on first reading an ordinance amending Title 3, Chapter 30, City Council meeting times.

Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Do we have any comments or questions about 8.1? Mr. Roach,

as I brought up in the committee meeting, I I I would encourage us not to change it as many people in our city. They do work up to, you know, later time or work in St. Louis and then have to come here. I know we've mentioned before that there's Zoom, but we have seen I've seen even myself where there's multiple times where it's not working properly. I can't even communicate as a council member, let alone a citizen being able to get on. So, it's not reliable to say that, oh, we have Zoom, and that should be uh that should be suffice. If you looked at the surrounding communities, moving to 6:00 p.m. would put us the earliest of any of the surrounding communities. Most are 7. Some then are 6:30. So, um, this is not one where I think we should be the trends setter in trying to make it earlier with less access to the public to get here. Um, so I would just ask the council members when you think about this, are you voting for six because it's convenient for you or are you voting because you're making it more convenient for our constituents to get here? So, I'll be voting no because I do not think it makes it more convenient for our constituents to be here.

Mrs. lots.

Um I've thought a lot about this because it's been 7:00 for a very long time. We heard last time that the reason it's 7:00 is because many years ago the committee meetings happened on the same night as the council meetings. And so in order to start the committee meetings at 5:30 then that pushed the council meeting to 7. Um when I thought about whether we should do this now, what I look to is recent history where we had uh very important topics most like most importantly the ParkPlace development those had two public sessions that were held um starting at 6 or involved 6:00. Um the uh when we have resident meetings about traffic calming measures on Pierce, those frequently started at 5:30 or 6. our planning commission meetings which depending on the project sometimes have a good attendance those start at 6. So when I think about the impact on the residents from what I've seen when there's an issue that residents care about they've let us know based on their attendance at things recently that 6:00 um generally works for them. So I will be voting to uh uh in favor of moving the council meeting to 6 p.m.

Thank you. Does anybody else have any comments?

Ross, Mr. Rosenberg. Although it is um more convenient for me, I've also been approached by other residents who say that they're more likely to attend if it is a s at six o'clock and then they can sit through the entire meeting because they've got kids that they want to put down to sleep for the night. And this will in in their according to them allow them to do both. come to the meeting and and participate and then get home in time to put kids to bed or bathe them or whatever they got to do. So there are not only residents who may, as Todd said, have a more difficult time, there are residents who will have an easier time.

Okay. Thank you for your comments. Does anybody else have any comments on 8.1? Okay. And it is important to remember regardless of how the vote turns out tonight that uh we set our calendar a year in advance. So whatever's decided uh it will be evaluated before we do the following year's uh 2027 calendar uh events to make sure that it is accomplishing what we thought it would accomplish. So Mr. Mouser, roll call, please. Ros, yes. Stole, yes. Yes. Yes. Roach, no. Hudson, yes. Blackburn, yes. Horse, yes. Campbell, yes. Parchman, yes.

Yes. Rosenberg, affirmative, yes. All good. Thank you. Motion carries. Uh, with that, we'll move on to 8.2. Mrs. Lots, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move to that we consider on first reading an ordinance amending ordinance 623 zoning of the city of Ofallen Illinois development known as SAB Enterprises LLC located at 5634 Old Collinsville Road. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Do we have any questions or comments on 8.2? Seeing none. Roll call, please. Yes. Cy, yes. Phony, yes. Roach, yes. Hudson, yes. Blackburn,

yes. Bors, yes. Campbell, yes. Parchment, yes. Ford, yes. Rosenberg, affirmative. Vard, yes. Black, yes. Thank you. Motion carries. Uh, we have no other ordinances for first reading, so we will move on to nine ordinances for second reading. Uh, 9.1, Mr. Parchman, could you read that, please? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like to make a motion uh to approve on second reading an ordinance providing for an annual levy for the city of Allen County of St. Clair, Illinois for the fiscal year commencing on the first day of May, 2025 and ending on the 30th day of April 2026. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Do we have any comments or questions on 9.1?

Mr. Roach,

I reiterate what I said at last meeting. I don't think it's the right time to increase it. Either way you cut it, we are asking for more dollars regardless of the rate. Let's not get confused about the rate. The city is asking for more dollars this year than they have in the past. If you take out the abatement, it's over $400,000 more that we're asking from our residents to pay in property taxes. And I think there's other ways. We have uh increase in sales tax revenue. We have other things to make up for some of these things. And um property taxes as as one of the the residents mentioned is for those on fixed incomes. They they have to pay them if they want to continue to live in their house. Um you know, and so you know, we're asking we're taxing more of our our residents. You've heard from the the schools recently that they're planning on taxing more from our residents. Um and and I get they have their own budgets. they do their own things. But I think we need to be considerate of that if we need to in this situation. Is it absolutely necessary that we need to do that or is there ways that we can show by example uh what fiscal responsibility looks like in this time particularly given some of the circumstances that our residents are going through. So again, we we are asking for a tax increase. No way to no way around that and I just don't think it's the right time to do that.

Thank you. Does anybody else have any questions or comments on 9.1?

I'll just to offer a slightly different perspective and I'm not sharing anything that isn't in the agenda and that the finance director Sandy hasn't shared with us, but I think it's important for the public to recognize what the um property tax levy is actually for. It makes up what like 1% of our overall operating budget. and we are asking for money to fund um contractually obligated pensions. So, Social Security, IMRF, and the police pension. Um the only way you change those is if you get rid of people or renegotiate a collective bargaining agreement and contribute less. And then the fire and EMS, which in my opinion has been underfunded the last several years. And so, and we've heard multiple times from Chief White that there are additional costs associated with the growing uh fire department, which we are very fortunate to have. The cost associated with um equipment and things of that nature. And so, I don't think that we're asking for anything unreasonable. We're not ballooning the levy like the schools do. We're asking for what we need. And there's not I I don't feel like there's a reasonable deduction that we can make to ask for less money. The council when we did the strategic plan, approved the strategic plan, instructed staff to look for alternate revenue sources specifically for fire, which is almost exclusively funded through property tax revenue. Um, but unfortunately, we're not in a place right now. I'm not going to ask for less money on a hypothetical that they're going to be able to come up with a solution for us. So, this conversation we can definitely have next year. Um, but again, I think we're trying. We can control what we can and I think we're asking for a reasonable amount. Nobody wants to pay more money. I understand that, but I don't think we're asking for something unreasonable or being irresponsible. So, I just felt like it needed to be a different perspective should be shared.

Thank you for your comments. Does anybody else have any comments that they would like to make on 9.1? Seeing none, roll call, please. Carney, yes. Yes. Ro, no. Hudson, no. Blackburn, yes. Boris, yes. Campbell, yes. Park, yes. Ford, no. Rosenberg, affirmative. Lart, yes. Ros, yes. Stolen, yes.

Thank you. Motion carries. We have no other ordinances for second reading. So, we will move on to the second portion of uh public comments. I'm not going to reread the instructions that we read the first time, but they still do apply. If anybody else would like to come up to talk, make a public comments, please.

Good evening again. In the season, I have a Christmas themed home for y'all with an election twist. So, I hope you enjoy it. out of hope. In the glow of a balance twinkling lights so bright, where Christmas cheer warms the winter night, the voting machines were rigged by algorithms with the seat, so deep state players would choose who fills the seats. I've walked a path through shadows deep and long since that faithful vote 2020 strong. In St. Clair County, where I served with pride as an election judge, with truth as my guide, tabulators faltered, ballots side and doubts about results arose like the tide. After the election results brought a lot of chatter, I looked at the cast vote records and said, "Something's the matter." Then the 2022 general election results, the numbers didn't align. Cast vote records short by thousands. A troubling sign. Over 17,000 ballots lost in the fray. Three separate sources, three different numbers, official reports in disarray. his file met with walls of stone, denials, and excuses leaving me alone. But I was not deterred. I knew what I had. I did my own research and found the truth. And it was bad. Whistleblower affidavit, sworn depositions, and other evidence, too. People under the illusion that elections reflect their voice. But no, it was foreign adversaries picking the winners, not the people's choice. Shadows from China, Venezuela's hand as investigators and election machine insiders revealed across the land. Those machines and ram 2 to 3% of the votes swapped unseen. Serbian hacks and the intel community a rigged regime. Sadly, 72 nations have fallen to this scheme.

And finally, director of national intelligence Gabbert confirmed the ploy. But oh dear, no but but oh dear council, in this u tide hour we hold the gift of democratic power. Handcounted ballots here as a fresh fallen snow. Transparent, trustworthy, letting our true voices show and grow. No hidden cidden codes, no vulnerability systemwide. Just papers, pens with nothing to hide. accurate, secure in the people's plain sight, restoring our faith under Christmas's light. Imagine a miracle wrapped in red and green. A resolution passed, a fresh start, pristine for our children, our community, our sacred right to elections free, equal, our voice burning bright. No more discrepancies, no more doubts to hold the sting. Just unity's carol we the people will sing. So grant this plea in the spirit of the season pass the resolution for hope for reason. May God bless Oon our home so dear with a Christmas miracle the people's intention made crystal clear. Again merry Christmas to all. God bless.

Thank you for your comments. Does anybody else have any comments they would like to make in our final public comment section? I want to thank the three alderman who voted no on the tax levy. I appreciate their thoughts and what they tell they can see the forest for the trees and on a fixed income so it's going to be fun just as usual. And if you want to go ahead and look my just go right ahead. You'll find out what they are and take it from there. But I want to wish you all a merry Christmas and a hopeful new year and we'll go forth from there. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. Does anybody else have any public comments that they would like to make this evening? Seeing none, we're going to move on to 11th staff and council member comments. And we'll start with our city administrator, Grant Litkin.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a few tonight to um one just for everybody's um reminder that the city of Fallon does not administer or handle elections that comes under the St. Clair County Election Authority. Um there was questions about televisions at station. Those are two um audiovisisual improvements aton station that will be hung on the wall. Um a lot of users in the station requested this and they will also be used for kind of for some of our market and have some vendor listing on there. Um those should be installed in the next month or two especially before uh the next market season starts. Uh Maids my way is our vendor who does all our city facilities for janitorial services. Um they clean every facility. They usually do them. That's who we heard tonight with the vacuum cleaner, not feedback from the audio visual system. Um, in addition to cleaning our facilities internally, they also clean a lot of our parks facilities after usage as well. Um, we've been very happy with that contract that was publicly bid out and awarded to them. Uh, Roots did do a tree removal that was on city- owned property. That is who we've been using. and Mir Brothers. Um we discussed the urban forestry plan and the potential in the next budget for a urban forester. Part of that will be to help not spend um as much money for tree removal in the future. And finally, a wish for Deer Creek project to start. Um engineering was just approved with a bridge replacement and work in a creek area. Um it will take some time to get through engineering. That also includes sidewalks on both sides of Seven Hills Road. Um we have at least a good year of engineering work and um Jeffrey Jeff Jeff you probably two years the project would start if all is on time. So that Mr. Mayor just wish everybody a happy holidays just like everybody else tonight.

Thank you. Does anybody else have any comments that they would like to make tonight? Seeing none we will move on to 12. our committee reports. We'll start with community development. Mrs. Latz, please.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We did meet last week on December 8th, and those uh draft minutes are attached. We are not scheduled to meet again in 2025. So, our next community development meeting will be held on January 12th, and at that meeting is when we will discuss the uh planned use amendment for the Meyer development that went through um planning commission uh recently. But we will not meet again this year. That's it. Okay. Thank you. Uh 13. Public works. Mr. Rosenberg, please.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have not met since last city council meeting. Our next scheduled meeting is for 20 is on the 22nd of December. Scheduled at 7 p.m. Check the website in case time changes. Thank you. We'll move on to 14. Public safety. Mr. Blackburn. Mayor, the November meeting was canceled due to a lack of business. Our next meeting is January 12th at 6:30 p.m. Okay. Thank you. Uh we'll move on to 15. Uh parks and environment. Mr. Voris, please. Yes, we met on December 8th. The attached minutes are are there for uh review and our next scheduled meeting is January 12th. Uh check the website for details.

Okay. Thank you. And we're moving on to 16. We have finance and administration, Mr. Parchman, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We uh took care of all the business we had. We uh will not have a meeting next week uh due to no business. So, our next meeting is scheduled for January 26 at 5:30. Check the website for changes. We do have one item for approval, which is 16.1, the warrant approval. I'd like to um well, yeah, like to make a motion to approve warrant number 573 in the amount of 1,168,59412. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. And do we have any questions or comments on 16.1?

Yes, Mr. Mayor. As an Amron employee, I do consent to all items listed with the exception of one Amaran payment listed on page one. So, for this reason, I am abstaining from this vote. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions or comments on 16.1? Seeing none, roll call, please. Bony, abstain. Roach, yes. Hudson, yes. Blackburn, yes. Worse, yes. Campbell, yes. Parksman, yes. Ford, yes. Rosenberg, affirmative, yes. Yes. Stole, yes. Yes. Thank you. Motion carries.

And as it's been pointed out, we will not meet again this year. So, I want to wish everybody um on behalf of the leadership team and all of our city hall employees, I want to wish everybody a merry Christmas, a happy new year. If you are going to be on the road, safe travels and we'll see you at the next meetings. So that will conclude tonight's meeting. Need a uh motion to adjurnn. We have a motion. We have a second. All in favor? Any opposed? Meeting has adjourned.