City Council - Regular Meeting

I'm ready. Okay, okay, here we go. I'd like to call this meeting of Princess City Council to order. Cler called role. Mayor Mabberry here. Council member Newman here. Gomez here. McClli [clears throat] here. Would you please stand and 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, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay, we're going to go ahead now and go to public comment. We have public comment at the beginning of the meeting as well as at the end. You're allowed to speak actually both times. If you'd like to speak uh to the council, feel free to come up to the microphone, just state your name. We'd like to ask you limit it to three minutes if possible. That's being said. Is there anyone here for public comment tonight? Kind of a light crowd tonight. Okay, we'll go ahead now for the approval of minutes, please. I move that we approve the minutes from our regular council meeting on November 17th, 2025. Second. Motion and second. Is there any questions or comments about those minutes? Seeing none, cler call the role. Council member Newman. Hi. Gomez. Hi. McCall. Hi. Silky. Hi. and mayor.

I thank you. Now we're on to the invoices with city clerk Janet Henning.

In the department of accounts and finances, we have $94,232.82. The Department of Streets and Public Improvements $849,376.15. Department of Public Safety, $220,38641. and the Department of Public Property and Utilities $522,723.91 with a grand total of 1,686,71929. Mayor, all council members present have confirmed the review of all invoices and now submitted for disposition.

I move that we approve the invoices as presented. Second. We have a motion and second concerning those invoices. Is there any questions or comments from the council concerning them? Seeing that none clerk call role. Council member Newman. I Gomez. Hi. McCall. Hi. Silky. Hi. And may I. Thank you. Now on to our ordinances, please. Next on the agenda is ordinance 0-25-016 amending the city of Princeton land development code to allow by special use the locating of outdoor and indoor sports and recreation and outdoor and indoor spectator sports in an agricultural azoned district. This is the first reading.

I move that we advance ordinance 0-25-016 to the second reading. Second. We have a motion and a second on those ordinance that ordinance and if we could then Michael Jaring's going to talk about that. Is that right tree? Michael if you would.

Um so we have some representatives here from the high school today um who are going to kind of speak to why this ordinance is in front of you. Um basically it is in response to a project that the high school is proposing and the ground that it's on right now is an agricultural zone. Um, so in order to at least find a path to make this work, um, we're presenting this ordinance, which would keep the zoning the same on the land, but allow for a different use via a special use. I know that's kind of a tongue twister, but really it would allow for a review by the plan commission and then further city council of the special use, which would be um a fieldhouse 50,000 to 80,000t is what we understand. And um so so this wouldn't passing this ordinance wouldn't immediately allow that. It would still go to a special use which requires a public hearing. Um so we thought that this was a fair way to go about it.

So we would go back to planning and zoning my well so once the ordinance would be passed they could apply for a special use permit um for the indoor sports complex and then they would present a site plan and uh request the special use letters would go out. a posting in the paper would be would be um required and then um yeah we would have the planning commission meeting and then after planning commission approved it would come to council finally. So there is still some some layers to this but this is a path forward. Council would any comments question? Um what's the size of the uh the land that we're talking about? 15 acres 15 acres.

Michael, is that currently outside the city limits or inside? inside the same things. Yeah. And and just specifically for that land, it would just be resoneed totally without having to Well, it could be resoneed to residential because it's surrounded by residential. Uh but then again, residential also doesn't allow these uses. So, we just figured keep it the same zone, modify the zoning code, um but still give it that special use hook where there would still be another process um that would allow the public to to provide any input. So, there has to be a transaction to sell the property to the school or Yeah, maybe I don't know if you guys want to speak on the property. You already own it.

Um, we're in the process of purchasing it from Bonucci Farm. Um, we're in a purchase agreement with them. If it is not reszoned, um, there is a plan that they will purchase the land back if the variance is not approved. Right. So, it's basically contingent upon approval of correct not necessarily the reasoning, but the special permit. Correct. [clears throat] Know that you guys got to go through. Correct. And that was all kind of prevented to them when we went to speak with them about the land. Well, that works out well. So, it's that undue pressure on the plan commission to pass it. You know, you would be up that money. Anyone else want to make any comments? Obviously, once it goes to the commission, you guys would have to approve it.

Correct. Uh and then if there's any objection to it, you guys also can deny it, which if they were going to purchase it, that means they wouldn't have to purchase with no problems. We'll purchase lineback. Correct. How many residential lots of border do you know? That would be within like the 200 foot uh mailing. I would guess anywhere from like a dozen to 15. Okay. [clears throat] Maybe more. A few more access to access to the property either or city street is right there or do we have to

uh it's it does have 70 ft of parking on do road. Uh so that would be the ingress and egress. Okay. Is this just for school use or public use too? What what is the plan?

Yes. So currently um I'm just reading from notes that Mr. Rinsky sent with us. Um, the proposed facility is not intended to serve as a competition venue, but rather just provide additional practice space. And we intend to make the indoor facility accessible to the public, too, offering a walking track, court space, and other amenities free of charge when not in use by the school or youth teams in the area. And they'll also have we'll also have a a portion of the new property that will be expanded to [clears throat] make available parking as well and help support families during student drop off and pickup and provide improved parking for JFL soccer and softball events over at Little Side area. Yeah. Will it be open to all sports within your within school?

Correct. And we'll also open it up to youth teams. I know currently at Prince High School, we have other youth teams that come in and practice and we'll be able to open that up as well. I know tonight with the weather was a concern. We're trying to fit five teams into two small gyms and trying to get everyone out before the weather's bad. This would provide that additional space and not have to allow for 6 a.m. practice in the morning and not being sure if we're going to put kids on the road or not. Trying to keep everybody safe and get them home as close to before dark as possible. Is this being public uh financed publicly or property taxes or or what do we know? Um, at this time we haven't completely made that decision how we're going to finance that.

Okay. Questions, any more questions, comments, concerns? I think it's a great project. I was making my thoughts about how strong schools make strong communities, and I think it's important that we support our high school and grade school. Whatever we can do to help them. Well, I have to start somewhere, and this is the first step. Let's see where it goes. Good point. first step. Okay, with that all said, no additional questions or comments. Um, we have a motion and a second. Cler call RO. Council member Newman. I, Bill Man. Hi. McCall. Hi. Hi. And I thank you, Michael, on that. We appreciate that. Let's see.

Stay up for if you folks want to leave, uh, feel free to. We're not, uh, speak out. It's up to you. So, it got passed to the second reading December 15th. Okay. All right. Thank you so much. Thanks. Okay. Next on the agenda is ordinance 0-2.5-017 amending the city code of ordinances to establish regulations for groundmounted solar arrays in residential districts. This is the first reading. I move that we advance ordinance 0-25-017 to the second reading.

Second motion to second. And before we call the role on that, let's go ahead and Michael give us an update on that please. Uh yeah, this was again this is a response of it. We had a couple residents request um for ground mounted solar on their properties. Um and in reviewing the code for solar, it was a little vague and and really it could just follow the accessory use code that we have which does allow for accessory use structures in the front yard. You know, you'll see a garage that protrudes, you know, past the front of the house. And we really thought that the ground mounted solar wouldn't be be a great addition in the front yard of a lot of our properties. Um, so you'll see that in the ordinance. Uh, and I will just say that this is pretty much a duplicate of a neighboring town, um, Kiwani. Uh, so on plan commission, we have Ian Cardardosi who, uh, owns and operates a solar business, and he said he's found Kiwani is very reasonable, um, from the the private side of things. Uh, and so, and so we kind of grabbed that ordinance, modified it a little bit to fit our needs. Uh, one thing I want to point out is this does not require fences around it, which we thought would uh enhance the aesthetics of these installations. Um, because most of the time you'd get a 4ft chain ch fence around it, which just, you know, we didn't think would look that great. So instead, um Ian suggested that we do these like fabric coverings that fit really tight to the uh bottom of the panels that would enclose all the wires and conduits and things like that to make it more safe uh and not as accessible for say a child to grab those wires or things like that. So um it's for aesthetics and as well as placement size things like that.

So they'd be secured inside these this product that you're going to be talking correct. Yeah. What's the reason you ground mounted over rooftop mount? Is it cheaper to do? Is that why they're asking or tell you why? Yeah. I've never seen anything in the city ground for residential. That's why I was asking. I've seen one. Maybe. Just seems like it would be a little ugly to me. So, yeah. Yeah. So, this keeps it in the backyard. Um, you know, has a has a height restriction. Um, and then again, yeah, it doesn't require a fence. Well, is the ordinance going to include how big of a footprint they can use in the back?

Yeah. So, that would go off the accessory structure um code, which we also have a ground coverage code. So, this would um include that. So, I think in a lot of districts it's like 30% of your of your square footage of your lot you can cover. So, if you have a big house, a big garage, you know, then this would would require that. It' be smaller array. You know, I I understand everyone's right to have something like this if they own the property, but I'm I'm more concerned with this ordinance with the neighboring properties. It looks like you've got a 5ft setback and maximum 12T. Correct.

12T that reaches the height of a low pitch ranch style house. It's really about the same height as that. And at 5 foot, it doesn't it doesn't specify a degree of angle. I don't know what kind of angle those are at, but if they're a severe enough angle, that could be a glare for neighboring uh property. And at 5 foot, I mean, you hope what they say, uh big fences make good neighbors.

Sure. But if you have one of those that shows up at a property that's say the neighbor has a patio, you pretty much shut the light off from their patio at 12 foot. Um 12T that offs from ground to top mount. Would you anticipate those sit up on top of a frame or could they be angled at a 45 degree from ground to 12T?

Uh it's a good question. Um, I would think most of them sit up about 2 or 3 ft off the ground and then given the angle they probably angle up to about I would say maximum that 12 ft height. Um, again I can't say that. Do you know how tall ours are out at Peggy Lane? I don't know if they're that tall. And they're probably minimum 12. Yeah. Depending on the location and where the sun comes from. Yeah. Yes. You have to go Mhm. It's it's dependent. It's defended actually on the sun, but is there anything that specifies if you face a neighbor's property, is it the back side or the front side?

They would always So, you could have a property that actually has the panels facing towards you or away from you that you're looking at the back of the structure. Correct. And so, he's proposing a screening that goes around it that kind of camouflages. Not a screening. No, not panels, the back side. It would it would be more of like a fabric covering that's made for this um application that would allow all those wires and and loose ends and things that you might see on the underside, they would be enclosed uh in this fabric covering. So would that just be on the framing underneath basically or

side? So, Michael, during planning and zoning commission meeting on this, they they discussion this was it brought up about the concern that Don has about this reflection on the neighbor and things like that or and and

no, I don't think those things were uh discussed. I think a lot of the the fencing was discussed pretty heavily. Um, you know, the location, the setback, things like that were discussed. Uh the height was, you know, I think everyone kind of accepted 12 feet because a lot of times, I mean, maybe you have bushes around it that are four feet, four feet high or so, you know, you might have to start that panel at 5 ft and then keeping at that maximum of 12, I think, is I think they found to be fair. Otherwise, without this language, you know, it goes off the accessory structure, which says 15 ft. Um so there you know without any additional ordinance uh pertaining to ground mount solar it's just going to going to follow um the accessory code like I said so that would be again 5 ft off the line 15 ft in height um not sure there would be

are you saying with current what's out there currently this would be allowed and you would actually bring it back we don't have anything that would is there a big what current ordinance is this under accessory structures but I mean solar is actually in that or are we just generalizing that it's in that? There are there is a very there's like three or four lines of like our actual solar [clears throat] uh most of it pertains to the rooftop and the solar interconnection agreement with the electric department. So, this is going to really nail it down to much more specifics. It would give us something to go off of when these requests were made. But I'm to Dan's point, I mean, I'm I'm a neighbor with an 8ft fence. I could still see 4T of a solar panel. Mhm. That's not something I'd want to see over the top. That's ugly.

Yeah. And and then you hate to think of this, but if you've got a neighbor that puts one of those there, you don't want to look at it, so you plant some tall heads on your feet, you know? I mean, ate them all. Yeah, that happened, too. I don't know. I see the 12 foot and I see the 5 foot setback being a little problematic um from the neighboring homeowner. I I I think a rewrite could be is totally open. I think planning commission would be open to feedback from council. Is there a big demand? I've had two requests in the past six months. So, no, that's not a lot. Um,

no, not at all. I would probably get a right and I think take into consideration uh the neighbors and some of them could be that uh are working get up really early in the morning and then the reflections and lights or anything else can interfere with them. I don't know. Well, I think I think if you've got, you know, close to an acre size lot, it would be more admissible than somebody that is at the point of covering 80 to 90% coverage of their lot. Yeah. I mean, you wouldn't be able to do that anyway by the current code. No. No. Under current code, can we deny that? I don't believe I would have any latitude to deny something like this per the code.

Yeah. How about How about a suggestion here to the council? We appreciate the planning and zoning what they do. They come to us with recommendations. Why don't we do a little homework on our part and go over to Kiwani and go to some of these neighboring communities and go look at this and see how this looks and get a better feel for it. I'm the kind of guy I I got to go look at something like that and say, "Okay, is this permissible or is this Oh, boy. That 12 foot right there, 5 ft from the line. I don't want to live next to that." So, you want to I think we just go ahead and put this on hold. I know we have a motion, but what do [clears throat] you think, Jerry? Put on hold for a couple weeks. We can table it for a meeting or two. Yeah, I think get it right. plan commission that meets next Tuesday. I could I would happily put it as another agenda item and have open discussion between the council and the commission.

I would I would also suggest that those two pe one or two people that are interested to get some footage get some pictures of their own from some of these other installations to show us this is an okay thing to do. Sure. I'll definitely keep track. No, but I think let's put a little onus on them to say tell us why this is a good deal. Yeah. maybe touch base with if anyone needs his contact. I'm sure he walk you through it. Okay. So, we have a motion second. Teresa, how do we get out of that one? How we back out of that one? I make another motion. I move that we table ordinance 0-25-01 seven. U further notice. Second.

Second. Any further questions or comments? Otherwise, it's clear to call the rule. Council member Newman. Hi. Gomez. Hi. McCall. Hi, and Celeleski. Hi, Andy. Hi. Thank you, council, for that input. Appreciate that. All right. Next on the agenda, we have ordinance O-25-018, levying of taxes for corporate purposes for the fiscal year commencing on the first day of May, 2026, and ending on the 30th day of April, 2027 for the city of Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois. This is the first reading. I move that we advance ordinance 0-25-018 to the second reading.

Second motion second. Any questions or comments? We'll go to Teresa.

Yes. Uh in your packet, you have the breakdown of the levy. I believe I gave you a summary of this in in one of the updates. Uh the basics of it are we're keeping the rate the same as last year's. Uh this allows us with the police and fire pensions to fund those at the 100% of what the actuarial is suggesting. So we're not uh cutting back on any of that and we don't want to we want to keep that going as much as we can. Um the big note is that the library because we we actually levy for for their portion and the taxes. So their bond that they have been making a payment has spent about 150,000 each year. We made that final payment December 1st or not quite but it's due December what is today.

December 1st is our final payment on that bond. Uh so that will be retired which means we do not need to levy for that anymore. It kind of gives a little bit of a cushion. So the library picked up uh some extra expenditures in some of their categories but then did leave a little bit uh less that needed to be levied. So it kind of balanced out. I appreciate that they did that. Um, uh, any questions on it? Could the library ever split off on their own and do their own levies? They could. However, would we like that or however? Okay.

Um, I could go into further detail, but it does help control the level of the rate. If you go over, I think it's the 5% truth and taxation kicks in. We [clears throat] as a municipality having them under us, we kind of control that. Yes, I don't like to say that necessarily, but uh it just kind of keeps everything in check. I mean that except for taxing body, they could Yeah. So it does kind of You're the expert. We I believe [laughter]

I would like to avoid the taxation hearings. Not to say that we don't ever have to go that route. I mean, at some point costs are going to, you know, if things go up. The nice thing about it, I I do like to be able to tell people when they say, "Well, you know, Princon taxes are so high." Well, we haven't raised our tax rate. So, the EAV does go up, which means that you are uh receiving more in tax when you do the levy, but um our actual rate isn't changing. So, our EAV did go fill up about what [clears throat] I told you guys 9% I believe it was. So, healthy just good.

Okay. Very good. Any additional questions, concerns, comments, otherwise? Cler call the role. Council member Newman. Hi. Gomez. Hi. McCall. Hi. Silky. I may. Thank you. Next on the agenda, we have resolution R-25-030, a resolution approving and authorizing the execution of a professional service agreement. I move that we approve resolution R-25-030. Second. Motion second. Teresa, if you would, please.

Um, sorry, I got backed up. I got back up there. Last word, but in your packet, Michael will come up. And in your packet is the summary from Jacob Klein. Uh this is for uh helping put together our uh business development district and the classes cost associated with it. But Michael, if you want to

Yeah. So part of the BDD would be the legal administration of those funds. Uh Jacob Klein is a they run TIFF Illinois which is a a law firm that does these sorts of uh dealings with the IDO to make sure any expenditure and the revenue being generated is being distributed um in a lawful manner. Uh I will say that their expenditure is a reimburseable expenditure. So once it's established, once those funds come in, we can reimburse ourselves and then continue on their partnership for a much smaller fee than the startup fee. um which which keeps them um you know in our corner and helping us ensure that these funds are being distributed lawfully like I said whether that be grants um redevelopment agreements uh diminishing loans things of that nature

and Michael did you you did your research due diligence on these folks and they this was recommended to you uh Hometown Consulting recommends them strongly uh there's not a ton of firms uh I did mention you know we work with Miller Hall and Triggs, maybe they could do it. They said, he said, Cole said, you know, really this is their bread and butter. This is what they do. If we ask Miller Hall to pick it up, they'd probably be doing a lot more uh billable hours with uh the research and and things necessary. We met with them what, three, four months ago? Hometown. No, with Jake Mle. Jake. Yeah, we met with them. Yep. And yeah, I mean they I think it's the right place to go. Yeah, definitely.

Good. Any further comments, questions? [clears throat] Good with that. Michael, Michael and Michael, thank you for your comments. Now for call. Council member Newman. Hi. Gomez. Hi. Mal. Hi. Hi. And may I. Thank you. Now we're on to city manager report. I don't have anything, but I'll speak down under the ebikes. So,

okay. You're all right. Great. Okay. Thank you. Um, I'm going to make a quick mayor's report and uh I'll go down to the podium. I haven't done that for a while. [clears throat] And uh Okay, before we get started with our guests this evening, I want to just say to uh the council and to the people listening on on whatever radio station that we have with us and uh our audience, uh we got a lot of great compliments about the snow removal this past three, four days. Uh the street department did a great job. they were had their agame going. They've got some new employees out there. They were all working. Um, but as mayor, it was just so delightful. People came up to me and said, "Man, I just really appreciate how great this snow removal was." And then when they got caught up with the streets, they went downtown, the north end, the south end, worked to tidy up our business district. So those merchants had lost out on Saturday because of the excessive snow. They had Sunday to bring um clients and customers in for shopping. So, good job to our street department for this storm. We'll appreciate that. With that said, another positive note. Um, we've had Festival 56 come in the past and speak. And, um, I, you know, I'm the kind of guy that I don't sit down too often for more than an hour at a time and I I got to get antsy in my hands on this stuff, but I've enjoyed going the past couple years and the ladies have challenged me. They said, "Ray, you need to come sit down and enjoy uh, a theater experience." And I really have enjoyed that this past two years. And so, we're going to have you come up tonight and just tell us about how things are going to for the sick and what your plans are for next year. Okay. So, come on to the microphone if you don't mind, please.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. [clears throat]

Good evening and thank you for allowing us the privilege to speak to you tonight. My name is Tracy McCransky and I'm on the board of directors for Festival 56. Festival 56 is a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization uh theater that brings located here in our community. Our mission is to bring highquality theatrical productions um to our local audience, foster artistic talent, and strengthen community engagement through performance education and outreach. For almost 25 years, we've produced stage plays, musicals, and free Shakespeare in the park. We believe our work plays a vital role in the cultural life and economic vitality of our town by attracting audiences, supporting restaurants, hotels, and shopping. And I'm Marin Drestler. I'm the executive director of Festival 56. And uh this past summer uh we collected a lot of very valuable information from surveys that we included in tourism bags that Victoria Yepson provided to us. So we really appreciate her efforts in getting these bags to us and we had a nice relationship uh working with her this summer. Uh they were filled as she filled them with lots of brochures and other tour tourism information and we gave them out to all of our guests. Not the uh company members, but we've noticed over the years that so many parents now come and friends come to see the shows and to see their family members acting and even the ones that work behind the scenes. Um, so they all took these bags and it had a survey in there and they filled them out and brought it back to us and um and they they told us where they were staying, which hotels, which Airbnbs, which as everybody knows has gotten a lot more popular, and uh which restaurants they

ate at, which are, you know, all the ones in town, and uh and which stores downtown they frequented um including Beats Me, the record store, Alpaca, shop, Little Blue Dress, Wild Honey, Eclectic Joy, Fresh Finds. Um, and they all enjoyed their shopping experiences and we've had some of the store owners say how, you know, that they enjoyed talking to the people as they came in. Uh, we had we had the friends and family come from across the country this year. Uh, Rhode Island, New York, Chicago, well, other places, Chicago, uh, Missouri, Texas, Michigan, California, and Florida. So, a great mix of people who came and we're very grateful for the money that tourism uh provided to us over the years as a grant that we've been able to receive for many years. Um we realize the amount has declined. Uh but we also understand that there are many organizations uh where who are very worthy and and so those funds are essential to them. So currently we're in a critical financial need. The maintenance on the building is unforgiving. Uh we took care of some muchneeded tuck pointing and we've taken care of some water issues around the foundation of the building. We need major roof repairs. We did have a roof replaced about 15 years ago. Um by getting a new roof, it would help alleviate some of our water issues. Um we're struggling with all the leaks right now um at the edges and where the pipes uh are coming through the roof and the vents. [clears throat] We patched it in some different areas. Um, but it really suffered through some heavy rainstorms this past summer. And we recently discovered a concrete issue in the floor that may need some expert evaluation. And we're investigating how to adjust our front entrance ramp uh so

that the patrons with the canes and the wheelchairs and walkers can get into the building more easily. Uh we did complete a full DNA or DNA ADA ADA study which resulted in an analysis to make some changes to the building. Um some of our long-term goals include changing the seating configuration to you know have better lines um sight lines and eliminate some steps uh and replacing them with ramps. Uh we also plan to add a utility area backstage um for a paint sink. uh where it's currently located is not real um great. It's kind of through the lobby and it's um just kind of a distraction. But um also um you know I Moren and I were involved at you know after uh you know in the early years of festival then we were away from it a little bit and then we're back in in there. But um we know that we did receive um greater tourism funds when we you know used to be on the board and involved many years ago. So they have declined. So um you know we're also facing a shortfall in grants due to federal fundings with the arts. Um we've experienced a 25% decrease in national grant funding this year and we expect continued major decreases going forward. uh community organizations, our local community organizations are still providing funds which we're very thankful for those grants.

And as we look at our budget um going forward and we're just ending up this year, we're on the a calendar year. Um what our typical measure of how we figure out um our budget and where our income comes from is we count on grants for being about a third of our budget. uh fundraising a third and ticket sales a third. And I know that always surprises people because they think we make all our money on ticket sales, but we don't. That's only a third. Um we do have every year uh we have two major appeals for fund for funders and fundraising. We have a summer appeal and a winter appeal that we're just getting ready to launch. The winter appeal to ask our donor base to contribute. uh but we are observing a shortfall in this year 2025 and uh you know possibly is it due to donor fatigue? We don't know. Are there other organizations um like churches and youth centers who are asking for larger amounts of funding this year. U we we just you know we don't know what's what's going on. Um, we attempted this past summer to target everyone who walks through the door uh by placing a donation card like many churches have in their play bill uh so they have an opportunity to on the spot write out a check and uh and drop it in a box that's in our lobby. Uh and we we did receive funds funds that way, but it was not an overall success. So, we'll continue trying that because that on the spot can give it's a good [clears throat] reminder to people and sometimes you just need that reminder and our our website is all set up for uh for taking donations very easily. So, [clears throat] in closing, we'd like to say that um our ticket sales were up this year to about 4,000, but our donations and grants were down

considerably. So, at this time, you know, we'd like to reach out um to the city and to see about seeking some possible financial support to help us realize our upcoming season and strengthen our operations. Along with our general operations um to ensure the theater rem remains stable [clears throat] and available to serve the community, we have production costs uh marketing outreach to broaden our audience base and expenses to provide educational programs um such as camp 56 for the kids. But with the city's support, we could estimate an increase of about 10% in local audience attendance, resulting in more visitor spending at local businesses. Um, the educational component will reach more students across our local counties. Um, by sustaining the professional theater in our community, we can help anchor a creative corridor, enhance community pride, and retain talented individuals who otherwise might leave for metropolitan areas. and the audiences are, you know, basically here they're seeing the same actors that you're going to see in larger cities for half the price. Um, we're committed to transparency and accountability. Should funds be provided to us, we would give the city a detailed budget, quarterly progress updates, and an impact report at the end of the season. Uh, with your support, we can increase our impact and make theater accessible to more of our fellow citizens. And uh we just like to thank you for considering our request and we welcome the opportunity to meet with you to further discuss um in you know our plans and explore how the city and our theater can work together to strengthen our community's culture.

So thank you. Thank you. Great. Before you sit down, is there any questions uh from the council? Have you submitted any [clears throat] details on paper to either Victoria or Teresa on what kind of funds you're looking for? What do you think you need? Not at this not at this time we have it. This is our first step. Okay. But I would think that would be a good second step maybe to kind of that's the information we're looking for.

But I know our tourism dollars is what's funding things like this which is a great thing. those pillow tax. We and we've worked hard to get our Airbnb operators, man. There's been some from day one and done a tremendous job paying that in. So, I'm not here to beat up uh those nice folks that start from day one, but I think we're about 80% now compliance with our BNB folks. So, because if you're not staying in a hotel, you're staying in the B&B. And at our our 5% pillow tax, you know, obviously that's it should be changed. Yes, absolutely. Um can I ask that shows my what what were you last year? What were you um given for the uh tourism uh dollar-wise? It was about $3,400 is something that

3,400 and we've had up to 6 or $7,000. Very good. That that educates us. We need to get a sense of what's going on. Yeah. I would add that there's been more requests from more organizations. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Jerry, you know, maybe a a new criteria or something might be appropriate to kind of weed out those that are more important than others or something. Yeah, I 100% agree. Um, and those folks from Rhode Island, I I think I told the council one morning I was watering flowers and they were coming out of Knox [clears throat] Hotel as a whole group. I mean, about three generations coming and they've been there for like three days visiting Princ.

So, we appreciate the update. uh Tracy Marine and um I told my wife uh Lisa Stefani I said you know Marina Pel 56 at our meeting tonight and right away my wife wanted to make sure that she gave a contribution. So this is from Lisa and I would just say again I I know that I went to my first uh professional baseball game last year. Believe it or not, I have to pick up places like Confession. I had my first beer at the barrel society and I had my first I went to see the cubs and my and and I love that. In other words, yeah, I know Teresa's laughing at this true story. Wait, did you see my tattoo? No, that's but I was just I would just encourage the council. So, for two years now, I've been going I've gone to two uh events each year. I really enjoyed it and and I just appreciate all the volunteers that are there from the the ushers, the ticket takers, the people behind the bar that are serving you some refreshments. So, I know it's a lot of volunteers in the whole thing. So, I would just encourage the council, you got to get to one of these u and sit down and enjoy it and then all of a sudden you get the the feel of what's going on. So, again, I'm I'm the latest guy in the to the party. You know what I'm saying? As I I I took my Uber cab and I got lost. So, anyway, just want to say thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Appreciate it. Thank you all very much. And please don't ever hesitate. You could probably get in touch with us if you do have any questions. Sure. Okay. We'll go on now if it's good to uh Is there any old business and we're going to talk about ebikes, right? Um just real quickly uh so we can keep this kind of

moving with with keeping this on the agenda. Um you have two copies. Uh, one is shorter one is Downer's Grove. The second one is St. Charles. It's a little bit thicker. I believe what it was is they took the edit and they added it into their existing ordinance. So, it does look a little bit longer. Um, Tom does have one for Neighborville that I I will also send to you this week. Um, but this is just for you to kind of get a feel for what some of these are looking like. Uh, we did get a message back from the village of Brighton. I do not know where that's at. Brighton. Um and they all all they said is that they're actually following the state statute which is probably common for some of the municipalities our size uh falls back to uh state statutes probably easier way of clean cut. This is what we're going to do. Um Tom, we've talked a little bit about it. Uh the shorter one which is Downer's Grove is probably a little bit more concise. Uh but might work a little bit better for us. But, uh, I want you guys just to look them over, uh, get a sense for what these communities are looking at and see where we can go from there. Um, I'll keep talking with Tom on his thoughts with this, too. So,

Tom, do you feel that the state statute kind of covers it? We just haven't been enforcing it good enough, or do you feel on your side that we need a little extra language? Well, I think under the city ordinance, we can adjudicate it here. Um, Gotcha. It's a little more complicated through the state's attorney's office. I mean, we could certainly weigh both options, but the one that Downers Grove gave us that's on one page. Something that's concise, that's easy to enforce would make it a lot easier to do. Well, and you brought up a really good point there is we not very many communities have adjudication, right,

within their and that's that's one of the benefits we have. I happen to that's a really good point. So Tom, are we trying to solve a problem here? Yeah, we're seeing more and more of the traffic with these things. Kids riding them. Most of these ordinances don't allow anyone under the age of 18 to operate these vehicles. Um, and we can hold the parents responsible for that. We could address that under our ordinance. Okay. Does

that include like the scooters, the motorized little scooters? Yeah. Okay. So, we're going to review that. What do we think about the age 18 versus 16 or something like that? Is 18. Holy smokes. So, anybody 18 town is the legal run these correct. Wow. That's okay. Probably upset a few folks in town, but it's for their own good. Yeah. Okay. No, I understand. All right. Uh any additional comments about this from the council? Do a little investigative work and chew on this a little bit. Simple. We like simple, right? One page.

Yeah, we we have ordinances on the books that we don't enforce. And I don't mean to talk about ordinances for for on the police side of things, but we just have a lot of ordinances, but um it's just matter of enforcing them. So, keeping it simple, it just makes it so much easier, I think. So, okay. Any additional little business? [clears throat and cough] Teresa, thank you for that. Um, Tom, thank you for that, too. And I appreciate that. Any additional. Okay. And now we're on to any new business. No new business. Any additional public comment? None. Okay. You ready? Yes, we are.

Okay. I move that we adjourn our regular council meeting and reconvene for our next city council meeting on Monday, December 15th, 2025, 6 p.m. at city hall. Second. Motion. Second. Clear. Call the rules. Council member Newman. Hi, Gomez. Hi, Mal. Hi, Phili. Hi, Mayor M. Hi. Thank you for attending and feel free to stay and talk to your council members. on this. I'll get the lights off