City Council - Regular Meeting

Oh my goodness. Yeah, my pave looks pretty bad after the tornado stuff. Oh, I got it. Yeah, I was down there. Um, yesterday I didn't see a whole lot, but we also didn't go through like Bernad or any of that area. Did Cuba get hit? I don't know. I think it was south of Cuba, was it? Yeah, I know. I know they got hit. I just said I didn't see it over there.

They're still trying to figure out exactly how many tornadoes did touch down or anything. They're still working on that. Yeah. He has a lot heard sat on my pool like that. Huh? I sat on my front por. So kid goes, I think we want to go to the basement. So gather up the animals. I get my stuff. I go to the basement. He's like, I got to get one more thing. And he never came back. Yep. So I called him. I'm like, "What are you doing?" He's like, "Go turn out here watching the clouds." I was like, "That's a smart thing to do." I'm just hung up on it. It's a Midwest dad. Yeah. What are you going to do?

The guy I work with lives in Eureka. He says there the news says there's a tornado in quarant. I haven't seen it yet. Which porch though? You got to be on your back porch. I was on the front porch. Oh, that's why you didn't see on the back. You'll see it coming in. gonna watch the rest of the house roll over the top of me. Me and the animals were safe. We were all in the basement for 15 minutes. Next time I'm going to pin his name on his shirt and then just put a hot dog in your pocket.

That's right. Just search dogs will find you. We got We got some phones up there. Or they can shove some of those in their pockets.

So the longest 2 minutes. I know. Got a lot to get through.

I have hit the balloon. You forgot my yellow paper. Can I bring it? I'll get it swinging by. Can I just drop it off at your house? Yeah. Okay. Absolutely. All right. I was like there just have the same story. Just got to have them before May 1st. That's it.

Okay. And I can email them. So I'll be hunting down everybody else who I need. on the 30th probably. Hi, Bill. He's there. And it's six.

Call the meeting to order. We'll start with pledge of allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you and welcome. I need a roll call, please. Gillis here. Bogs here. Smith here. Fleming. Rose here. Cruz here. Thank you. At this time, I would take a motion to open the public hearing on the 2026 27 proposed annual city budget. So move.

Second. A motion from Joey. A second from Alex. That's a roll call, please. Gillis, yes. Bogs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes. Cruising. Cruising. Sorry.

Thank you. Um, I put together our city budgets, uh, worked with our county clerk, got all our revenues, worked with our staff, got our got our expenses and our wish list together, and I'm happy to report that I am presenting to you a budget that has a $168,000 buffer to it. um added um there there's room in this budget for um carports for the public works. We need one for the bucket truck and one for the snow plows just to keep them out of the rain, sun, weather. Um we have I I added money to completely fund summer unplugged. Um the demolition costs that we will be hearing as we go through the evening um are included in this. Um a replacement of two public works trucks. um some weapons for the PD, a live scan ID network for the PD that is also going to be partially funded by a grant and some new radar units as well as left us room to make improvements to our parks and and such. So, it's I think it's a pretty good budget. I don't know. We'll see. We never really know until we get into it and find out what we have. Any questions on the budget? Make a motion approve the second that.

All right. Hold that thought. Okay. If there's no questions, we can close the public hearing. Make a motion we close the public hearing. Second. I have a motion from Alex, a second from Dave Rose to close the public hearing. That's a roll call, please. Who is the second? Sorry, Rose. Rose. Okay. Gillis. Yes. Bogs? Yes. Smith? Yes, Rose. Yes, Cruzen. Yes.

All right. So, this gets us into our meeting. Uh, first item we have on the meeting is the minutes. Everybody's had a chance to look at them. At this time, I will take questions, comments, concerns. Motion to approve last uh meeting's minutes. Second. Thank you, Alex. Second from Dave Rose. All in favor say I.

Opposed. Thank you. Uh I do not have any correspondence this evening. Um Herb's unable to join us, but he did send the minutes from the cemetery board manager meeting. Um they're going to refresh the rules sign. They're looking at the remembrance wall. Um he can fill us in more on that. Um that is going to be partially funded by a fundraiser as well. Um there's um the fence will be begin installation late May or early but that is what Herb provided us and he is available during the day if anybody has any questions.

I was going to actually ask him a question about the signs. I think there's some signs on the west side when he enters or they're they're all really faded and then they're doing a refresh on them. Oh those are the ones that got it. He's on it. So, even better. Awesome. All right, we have no old business. Brings us to new business. And the first order of new business is discussion possible action of ordinance 2026-09, the city budget. I can make motion that you read ordinance number 2026-09 by title only. Second. I have a motion by Joey, a second by Alex to read 2026-9 by title only. That is a roll call, please. Gillis,

yes. Bogs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes. Cruzen, yes. All right. So, this is ordinance number 2026-09, an ordinance adopting the amended annual budget of the city of Farmington for the fiscal year beginning May 1, 2026 and ending April 30th, 2027. That is your first reading of ordinance 202609. Yes. And I know yours say wrong dates, but mine don't. Okay. Want to make sure we're not passing the wrong way.

Like to make a motion that we wave the second reading of ordinance number 2026 national. It's a mo motion by Joey, a second by Dave Rose to wave the second reading of 20269. That's a roll call, please. Gillis, yes. Bogs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes. Cruzen, yes. I can make a motion that we adopt ordinance number 2026-09. Second. That is a motion by Joey, a second by Dave Rose to adopt ordinance 2026-9. That is a roll call, please. Gillis, yes. Bogs, yes. Smith,

yes. Rose. Yes. Cruising. Yes. Just really want to say Fleming, don't you? I do. Someone in the middle not being here. All right. Um, next item I have discussion possible action is the funding for summer unplugged, which is the date camp that will be replacing summer recreation. I have Shelby here. This is Shelby's baby. So,

I don't know. you want to talk about what you've got going. So, so first off in this I I need $40,000 to fund Summer Unplugged. It's in our budget. Um what I'm hoping and what Shelby is telling me that she's already have 32 campers.

32 campers. Pretty good split between half day and full day. um we have made sure that we can make accommodations for some students who have special needs. So they'll be able to participate with everybody else and um we got pretty much activities and stuff lined up for full and half day kids and I don't know what else you really know. What are the hours going to be? It's

going to be 7:30 to 4:30. The director will start at 7 just to get everything set up and then the assistant director will be there till 5 just to provide a buffer and then we'll run the director and two counselors in the morning and so far it's just the assistant director and one other counselor in the afternoon with one additional counselor on call. Um if we get larger than 60 um we have a waiting list established and at an additional 20 we can open it up and hire another counselor if needed. We do have 14 current applicants for the counselor position. So, so I'm asking to fully fund this, but it will be be deferred um based on um attendance or those that have registered thus far and sponsorships. Uh revenue to date, she is projecting to take in 267. So this will actually hopefully come in under what we spent on half day wreck last year. Is that a correct statement?

Correct. And then we also have a fundraiser pretty much the day before the camp starts. Um the nursing home has already purchased the table at the trivia night. So um we're sending out sponsor letters this week and um it's open to the public. We posted on Facebook about it. um had some interest uh from just parents that were going to purchase tables and everything as well. We've shared it with the surrounding communities as their students, anybody that goes to Farmington Central is really our target audience, but we've provided care for students as far as Nashville, Avon, Abington. So,

and there is going to be an opportunity for sponsorships. We want to make sure that we can be as inclusive as we possibly can for those that maybe felt they can't afford this. But we are going to um Shelby is sending out a solicitation for for sponsorships for those children that are needing.

We already have two sponsors signed up. Farmington Village nursing home and then they have another sister program I think called ALS and they've committed to sponsoring a week and then all sorts of different activities and then we've introduced the scholarship program which would allow based on financial needed tuition for those that really need it. We encourage those that want to attend and feel they can't afford it to reach out. Have a couple questions. Um, are the counselors background checked in any way?

We do have the checker and the software. So, we planned on running them. We have not offered anybody a position yet. So, that's something that would be done. Okay. Um, question. Um, what are you going to um do with kids who aren't enrolled in the program? Since the park is open, you can't stop other kids from coming up. Will they be allowed to be like involved or will they be like, you can't come on this? How is that going to work? pretty much anything that like crafting supplies and everything. Um, snacks, kids will get a wristband every day and that way we're just reliable and responsible for those kids that have signed up for the program and we can easily identify those.

Okay. So, it's like Yeah. It's not going to be a problem for like other kids to come up and play with the kids that are enrolled. It's just they won't be able to do like the activities that have a cost type of thing. Yeah. And we're not going to be responsible right directly for the children. I mean, I would hope that my counselors that we hire would respond to emergency for a child that's not in our program, but yeah. No, that's good. A lot of parents just had already like foreseeing that because, you know, we can't really stop the kids from like riding their bikes up there and wanting to, you know, play with their friends and things like that.

So, so we got a late start on this this year as well. Hopefully next year we, you know, this will be an ongoing fundraising thing and maybe next year we can do this for free and it just everybody shows up. So, but we have to but we have to have this registration because we have to know how many people to hire. No, I agree. I agree. And it's very very affordable. I mean, all day for all summer. Yeah. So, if we can net this thing out for what we spent on wreck last year, I think it's a win. Yeah. It's insane. Like, it's such a good deal. drop it down. I mean, I think on top of that, too, we have there's going to be lots of opportunity, I think, in the future for this. So,

yeah, I think it is very, very cool that you were doing. We're really trying to push for dropins, but we're going to reassess that probably the middle of next month just to see where we're at. That's a good idea, but that was something that was really sought after. That's a great idea, for sure. I have I do have a question, too. I'm sorry. Um, I've had people ask if they can just donate. They've heard about it and they just want to donate. Do you have a bank account or can they just bring it up to the city building or mail it to the city building? How would you like that? Um, they can mail it. They can bring it up. They can call me if they want to do it online. Um, through Jumbo, which is the registration software. We also have the fundraiser with the tables and everything. So, okay. Um, yeah.

I've had several people want to know how to just donate money to it. Yeah. So, and and we're going to run this through the community center which is also a 501c3 so that any donations are tax deductible as well. Okay, great. So, do you know roughly like the participants for last summer number-wise? Do you have I do not. I requested that from the previous program director. Oh, you do? They're in my email and three days a week were really busy. Two days a week were non-existent. And the hard part too was Sam was here today but not tomorrow. Elizabeth was here today, not tomorrow. So there wasn't like it was anybody anytime anywhere. So there wasn't a check in checkout. But I was 32 is so far signed up. I was curious how that

Abby correlated. Well, you know like like their end of the day party they had kids coming out of the woodwork, right? Um but yeah, you know that 30 to 40 was an average for for three days a week. It seemed that Tuesday and Thursday were the slow days.

Okay. And and when Shelby proposed this, Abby pretty much, I think, wanted to scale back wreck to three days a week because she's first she just got done with her first year of her job. Um, she found out that she needs to do some things in her life except wreck all day as well. So, unfortunately, we're not going to have Abby, but Shelby has lined up some really good certified people with the background to do this. having set up a pretty good program so it's easy to scale

and for and plus you know I think it's you know at first people were train they're like oh my god it's so expensive but you know it's only $30 a week $6 a day and for nine hours it's 67 cents an hour that you're paying for your child so if you do the math it's very reasonable especially compared to like you know the YMCA or riverlex day camps. This is very very reasonable. Um, so in club weather, they go to community center. Correct.

Yep. And we're building all the like crafts and games and stuff. If they can't be implemented inside, we'll have a backup activity so the counselors don't even have to really think. They're just ready to go and transition. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. So with that, A motion. Go ahead. I don't want to steal your thunder. Go ahead. Take it. Um I'll make a motion to um fund what? $40,000. $40,000 for the summer unplugged um day camp. I'll second that.

I have a motion from Leslie, a second from Alex for the funding for summer unplugged. That is a roll call, please. Gillis, yes. Bogs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes. Cruzen, yes.

All right. Thank you. Um, next item I have is an ordinance to fund the non residential tiffs for fiscal year 2027. What the recommendation out of the CEDC was is that we create 25 $1,000 grants so that we can spread this around a little bit more. Um, but these are for the people whose homes do not fall within the tiff district. How many did we have last year to be?

We did 25,000. Yeah, we we shut them off in about December because the money was all gone. Okay. But, you know, 10 10 firsttime grants and the way it was previously set up, that would have wiped out the entire program. So, this way we're going to be able to to hit 25 homeowners with a $1,000 grant. And this money does come directly from the general fund. Like to make a motion that you read ordinance 2026-10. Second that. A motion from Joey, a second from Alex to read ordinance 2026-10 by title only. That is a roll call, please. Gillis, yes. Bogs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes.

Cruzen, yes. Ordinance number 2026-10, City of Farmington, Illinois, approving and adopting fiscal year 27, residential non-tiff rehabilitation program. That is your first reading of 2026-10. Like to make a motion that you will wave the second reading of ordinance number 2026-1. Second that. Thank you. Um that is a motion from Joey and a second from Alex to wave the second reading of 2026-10. That's a roll call, please. Gillis, yes. Bogs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes. Cruzen,

yes. Make a motion that we adopt ordinance number 2026-10. Second. That is a motion from Joey, a second from Dave Rose to adopt ordinance 2026-10. That is a roll call, please. Gillis, yes. Bogs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes. Cruz, yes.

All right. Thank you. Um, next item I have is um discussion possible action of ordinance 2026-11 for the fisc year 27 tiff residential grants. This also is a $25,000 program. Uh first grant $2500, second grant for $1,000. All right. I'd like to make a motion to read ordinance number 2026-11 by title only. Thank you, Alex. A second by Joey.

Yes. To read ordinance 2026-11 by title only. That's a roll call, please. Gillis, yes. Bogs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes. Cruzen, yes. All right. So, this is ordinance 2026-11. City of Farmington, Illinois. Approving and adopting fiscal year 2027 residential rehabilitation program for the Farmington tax increment financing district. That is your first reading of 2026-11. Like to make a motion that we wave the second reading for ordinance 2026-11. Second.

Thank you, Alex. A second by Dave Rose to wave the second reading. That is a roll call, please. Gillis. Yes. Bugs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes. Cruz, yes. Make a motion that we adopt ordinance 2026-11. Second. All right. That is a motion by Alex, a second by Dave Rose to adopt ordinance number 2026-11. That is a roll call, please. Gillis, yes. Hugs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes. Cruz, yes.

Thank you. Uh, and the last item I have on new business tonight is a discussion possible action of ordinance number 2026-12, an ordinance approving the fiscal year 27 facade grants. And this is a $50,000 program for the betterment of the downtown um facades in our downtown district. Right. I'd like to make a motion that we read ordinance number 2026-12 by title only. Second.

Thank you, Alex. That is a second by Dave Rose to read ordinance 2026-12 by title only. That is a roll call, please. Gillis, yes. Bugs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes. Cruisin, yes. Ordinance number 2026-12, city of Farmington, Illinois, approving and adopting the fisc year 27, commercial facade renovation program for Farmington tax increment financing district. That is your first reading of ordinance 2026-12. Like to make a motion that we wave the second reading of 2026-12. Second.

Thank you, Alex. A second by Dave Rose to adopt ordinance 2026-12. That is a roll call, please. Wave. Second reading. Sorry, that was to wave the second reading. Gillis, yes. Bogs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes. Cruz, yes. Like to make a motion to adopt ordinance 2026-12. Second. Thank you, Alex. Thank you. Second by Dave to adopt ordinance 2026-12. That is a roll call. Gillis, yes. Bugs, yes. Smith, yes. Rose, yes. Cruzen, yes. We did that 32 times.

That is the end of new business. Leads me to committee reports. Jenny, do you have anything to see? I do not. Thank you. Joe, you have anything public safety wise? Nothing to report, Mr. Mayor. Very good. Nate is missing. Um, Alex, street sidewalks and garbage. Uh, we have the large bulk item pickup coming up. So, first week of May. First week of May. On on your garbage day, please make sure you leave room so that they can pick up their garbage cans because I don't know how they're doing it. Anything else? I'm sorry. I kind of stole the thunder. No, that's that's really it. All right, Leslie. Parks and wreck. I had nothing further. Thank you, Dave. public grounds and buildings.

You report that we actually began the demo, as you've seen and heard as of today on that old junior high. There was one discovery um as we actually kind of worked our way through that I had hoped by the outside view, which we all had, that that was an actual huge brick sidewall turned out to be one brick on this wall right here. So, just kind of giving you a heads up. We left a little bit of room in the budget. Um, I'm going to have to actually We were hoping that that brick was going to be several wide, several deep, and we could just call that good enough. Well, now we have an open. There's the one brick and there's an actual some sort of a clay tile there that would be exposed once they get everything out, which will then require us to do some sort of a metal sheeting or something to that when we get to that point. It's a little ways down the road, but

it's something we didn't know until we kind of got into it when we were doing all the estimates. So, um it's just a matter of, you know, in my opinion. I'll bring a couple of things to the committee to to look over in in my opinion. It'll be similar to what they did at the old high school when they put that metal sheeting and they they had the same scenario that they had to cover things and it actually, in my opinion, looks really nice up there. what they did. So while that same scenario when they cut us loose here and we have to cover that outside wall there, there'll be some sort of a metal sheeting capped off just like on the other side on the community center side. So more to come on that. It's come down way better than I ever dreamed it would come down. Just amazing how much has dropped in one day. So but that is all I have.

Thank you. You're welcome. Jim, anything? Shelby, you got anything to add? JT Joey? Motion to sir. Second. Motion and a second. All in favor say I. Opposed. Thank you.