City Council - Regular Meeting

recording in progress. recording in progress.

Recording in progress. recording in progress.

recording in progress.

like to welcome everybody to the February 17th, 2026 council member or council meeting. If you're able to stand, please remove your hats for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance 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.

Once again, welcome to those in attendance and those that are watching online. Uh, as you've probably noticed, uh, this is not our usual city attorney next to me, uh, Todd Fleming. Uh this is his associate Patrick Carrian. So he will be uh on the hot seat tonight. That being said, roll call, please. Welcome everybody to the February 17th, 2026 council member or council meeting. If you're able to stand, please remove your hats for the pledge of allegiance. here. Here

thank you. Moving on to 1.4, approval of the minutes. Everybody should have received the minutes in their packet. Um, can I get a motion for approval? Second. We have a motion. We have a second. Do we have any discussion on 1.4? All in favor?

Opposed? Motion carries. We do not have a public hearing tonight. Uh, nor do we have any city presentations. So, we will move in to our first session of 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 5 ILCS1201 mandates no action shall be taken on matters not listed on this agenda, but council may direct staff to address the topic or refer the matter to a committee. Please provide the city clerk with your name. Speak into the microphone. Limit your presentation to five minutes and avoid repetitious comments. Thank you. Would anybody like to make public comments at this time?

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Doug Gaines, Ward 5. Have an update on the Scott's decision in Boss versus Illinois State Board of Elections. If you recall, Congressman Michael Boss and two other candidates sued Dillinary State Board of Elections arguing the practice of counting mail-in ballots up to 14 days after elections violates federal law by effectively extending election day. The seventh circuit court of appeals and by extension the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois had dismissed the case on grounds of plaintiffs lacked standing. Last month, the US Supreme Court reversed and remanded, ruling that candidates like Boston have standing to challenge vote counting rules in their elections. Makes sense. This ruling explicitly indicates the Illinois's federal courts aired in the standing question and must now proceed to hear and decide the case on its merits. So, this is good news for we the people and candidates. So, what does it mean for uh right here in our county? The local officials are responsible for administering elections must prioritize strict adherence to federal election day mandates to avoid lawsuits from candidates. This is a wakeup call. Any perceived irregularities are threats to the very foundation of our representative government. So, speaking of threats, over the past two and a half years, I've been informing our community on vulnerabilities of electronic voting machines or EVMs and why we must prioritize election integrity as a matter of national security. Tonight, I'll draw from a detailed analysis by election machine expert Tory Mars to explain why these issues demand our attention and why handcounted paper ballots are the solution. First, let's discuss the risks of our current systems. EVMS rely on commercial hardware soft often sourced from foreign manufacturers with firmware updates that create persistent access points for potential interference. Data routes through international networks

like Okami, exposing our votes to foreign jurisdictions. Moreover, these machines use cryptographic methods mixing shuffling and trap doors that make true vote uh true verification impossible. You can't mathematically improve integrity of the results even after audits. This isn't just a technical glitz. It's a structural flaw that turns election into a black box. This brings me to the office of uh the role of the office of director of national intelligence or ODNI established after 911 under the intelligence reform terrorism prevention act of 2004. ODNI coordinates our intelligence community to protect against threats. When ODNI shows up during a seizure of election equipment, it isn't just for show. It signals that local election issues have escalated to national security concerns. Under US 50 USC 3371D, ODNI identifies vulnerabilities and critical infrastructure, including voting systems to prevent foreign exploitation. In addition, executive order 13848 requires the director of national intelligence to assess foreign interference, focusing not just on proven attacks, but exposure pathways. ODNI's involvement means we're dealing with risks that undermine our sovereignty, foreign access that pi persist quietly across election cycles. When safeguards fail, domestic problems become intelligence exposures, forcing ODNI to step in for damage control. And that's why ODNI matters. It's confirmation that our systems are compromised and that federal intervention is required. This isn't a partisan issue. It's about enforcement. In St. Clair County and Oallon, we inherent these national flaws in the ESNS machines used in our elections. Now is the time to send a strong message ahead of the prim the primary election in March. The solution is simple and

sovereign. Return to paper ballots handcounted in public view. They're observable, auditable without pri proprietary software or foreign dependencies and restore trust. So council members, once again, I ask you to lead by example and I urge you to let the county election authority know that the city of Ofall will not accept the well-known inherent flaws and risks posed by EVMS. Vote on and adopt the resolution supporting handcounted paper ballots. This protects our voice, strengthens and unites our community, and upholds our democracy. Let's secure our elections together. I'm happy to consult, provide more resources, or help in any way possible. Thank you for your time, consideration, and God bless. Thank you for your comments. Does anybody else have any public comments at this time? Seeing none, we will move on to the clerk's report. Mr. Mouser, please.

Okay, mayor. I just have one item here. It's a request from the found underwater search and recovery team to conduct Kentucky roadblock at the intersection of state Lincoln on Friday, November 27th and from 8 to 12 and Saturday November 28th from 8 to 12 pending proof of insurance. We need a motion and a second. So moved. Second. Okay, we have a motion and a second. Do we have any discussion? on 5.1. Seeing none, roll call, please. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Roach, yes. Duke,

yes. Hudson, yes. Fors, yes. Campbell, yes. Ford, yes. Rosenberg, Affirmative.

Okay, motion carries. Thank you. Okay, moving on to the mayor's report. I don't really have anything. I do want to let everybody know that we will be going into executive session tonight and when we come out of executive session, we will be voting on resolution 7.3. Uh, I also want to take just a moment to recognize uh one of our firefighters. Um, Craig Schmidt's been with the department over 40 years and he was recently uh a runner up in the Sarah Honda hometown hero and even though he didn't get it uh this city and our fire district uh have been blessed to have his service for 40 years and he still uh continues to serve with a lot of pride. And then on the OPD side, uh once again, they took um they were up for the Special Olympics. They raised $136,000 last year. Um and I know uh Council Member Ford has been really active and helps with that as well. So, um Chief, was that number one? Two. Okay. Yeah. So, it's it's an incredible uh effort. And tonight, actually, they're doing a dine and donate appeal. Although if you leave and you're hungry, I'm sure they'd appreciate you stopping by. And that's all I have. We will move on to resolutions. And uh Mr. Milert 7.1, please.

Yep. Thank you, mayor. Like to make a motion to approve a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an intergovernmental agreement between city filing and Osage ambulances. Second. We have a motion. We have a second. Do we have any discussion on 7.1? Seeing none, roll call, please. Glass, yes. Stole, yes. Yes. Roach, yes. Newton, yes. Hudson, yes. Fors, yes. Campbell, yes. Ford, yes. Rosenberg, Affirmative, yes. Thank you. Motion carries. Uh, moving on to 7.2. Uh, Mr. Campbell, please.

Thank you. I'd like to make a motion. We accept a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract with Fireworks Authority, Inc. for an amount not to exceed $40,000. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Uh just so everybody's aware, this will be for the uh part of the 250th celebration. Um do we have any comments or questions on 7.2? Seeing none, roll call, please. Yes. Yes. Roach. Yes. Na. Yes. Hudson. Yes. Fors. Yes. Campbell. Yes. Ford. Yes. Rosenberg. Yes.

L. Yes. Thank you. Motion carries. As I mentioned earlier, 7.3. We are going to hold that till after executive session. Uh so we will move on to uh ordinances first reading. Mrs. Lots, please. 8.1. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move that we consider on first reading an ordinance amending ordinance 623 zoning of the city of Oalalen Illinois development known as Scott's Power Equipment located at 1708 New Car Drive. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Do we have any questions or comments on 8.1? Seeing none, roll call, please. Yes. Roach. Yes. Yes. Hudson, yes. Yes.

Yes. Ford, yes. Rosenberg. Affirmative. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Motion carries. Uh moving on to 8.2. Uh Mrs. Lots, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move that we consider on first reading an ordinance amending ordinance 623, zoning of the city of Ofallen, Illinois, development known as Green Mount Motorsports, located at 1560 North Green Mount Road. Second. We have a motion and we have a second. Do we have any discussion or comments on 8.2? Seeing none, roll call, please. Roach, yes. Newman, yes. Hudson, yes. Yes. Campbell, yes. Ford, yes. Rosenberg. Affirmative.

Yes. Yes. Stole. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Motion carries. Uh we do not have any ordinances for second reading. Uh at this time, we'll move into our second portion of public comments. I'm not going to reread the uh rules for public comments, but they still apply. Would anybody like to make any comments at this time? Okay, seeing none, we will close uh the additional comments and we will move on to staff and council member comments.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a short message tonight. Reminder that starting in March, we will be moving to the new board dots program called Diligent. Uh Missy McDonald will be at the finance and administration committee meeting next week to show the council and the public how that works. It's very similar to our current program. So hopefully there are no issues with it. Uh but she will run through it next week. And just a reminder through our streaming software once we go into executive session, we do have to end that feed. So once we come out of executive session, that will not be returned to the live programming, but we will be back in session for the vote. Thank you. Does anybody else have any comments they'd like to make at this time? I just I have a question. Sure.

Um I know that we don't control Highway 50 and I'm glad Jeff's here. Um I was out today and they had it down to one lane over the overpass um there between Venita and Hartman. Do we know if that um is going to be continuing for a while because that affects a lot of people's travel. You may not know that since it's obviously not a road that we're responsible for, but just thought I would ask. We can ask reach out and see. Okay. Okay. Yeah, it was down to one lane on both sides. Yeah, I noticed that.

Well, the the just to point the offramp then is also one down to one. So it was stacked up on I64 and and leaving Sam's Club is only one left turn lane also. So again, the city's not responsible for Highway 50. That's IDA, but I just thought I would ask just in case someone knew. So they will be continuing the roadway improvements on I 64 for at least the next calendar year. And so there will be numerous road restrictions and lane restrictions. Um many times they'll let us know. Sometimes if an issue pops up we don't know about it. Okay.

So what we can do is we can reach out to them and if it is something that is going to be ongoing we can put that out on social media so people have the opportunity to find alternate routes. Appreciate anyone else seeing none we will move into uh committee reports. We will start with community development. Mrs. Lots please. Thank you Mr. Mayor. The committee did meet last Monday, February 9th. The draft minutes are attached. Um, all business has been addressed this evening. There is no community development meeting committee scheduled for next week. So, uh, probably see in about a month. Thank you. Uh, moving on to public works, Mr. Rosenberg, please.

Public works has not met since the last city council meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for the 23rd, which is next week. Scheduled for 7:00, but with community development not meeting, it'll be earlier. I'm not exactly sure what time. Check the website and it'll be posted. Thank you. Public safety, Mr. Miller, please. Thank you, sir. Um, public safety committee met uh February 9th. Draft minutes are attached. We vote on everything we need to address this evening and our next meeting scheduled March 9th, 6:30. Check the website for changes. Thank you. Uh, parks and environment, Mr. Vorce, please.

Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, we um met and uh the draft minutes are attached. We had no items for council action. It was all information only. Um, our next scheduled meeting is March 9th. Please check the website for details. Thank you. And finally, uh, finance and administration, Mr. Campbell, please.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have not met since the last full city council. Uh we will meet again next Monday at 5:30. Keep an eye on the website for details of time change. Uh we have one other item which is uh uh approval for warrant 577 in the amount of $169,2924.

Second. We have a motion and we have a second. And do we have any discussion or comments on 16.1? Uh yes, Mr. Mayor. As an Amron employee, I will be abstaining um as um their Amaran payments on page one. And for that, um I'm abstaining. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? Roll call, please. Nukem, yes. Hudson, yes. Yes. Campbell, yes. Ford, yes. Rosenberg, Affirmative, My yes, yes. Stol, yes. Abstain. Roach, yes.

Thank you. Motion carries. That is all we have for our regular agenda items tonight. We are going to be moving into executive session. So, I need a motion to move into executive session. So, moved. Second. For the purpose purpose of discussing land for the purpose of discussing possible purchase of land. So move. Second. We have a motion. We have a second. Any comments? Roll call, please. Hudson, yes. Yes. Yes. Rosenberg. Affirmative. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.