Hello folks, welcome to our city council meeting, November 17th, 2025. I'll ask Ms. Aguilera for the roll call, please. Council members Manjeri, Honegan. Here. Miller. Here. White. Present. Echera. Here. Saul. Yes. Cheeseman. Here. Mayor Schwartzman. Here. Senator present. Thank you. We'll have the Pledge of Allegiance. And then we'll have an invocation by Deacon Michael Crummer. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The Lord be with you. Let us pray. Lord God, during this season of Thanksgiving, we give you thanks for the many benefits and blessings you have bestowed upon our Galesburg area community this past year. And as we gather this evening, we ask for blessings and guidance for council members to work together this evening and always for the common good. Grant them insight into community needs and strength and wisdom for fair, just, and wise decisions, free from self-interest, pettiness, or prejudice. And we ask that all who are present this evening that they may approach this meeting with humility, openness, honesty, and respect for differing viewpoints and beliefs so as to have dialogue and not rhetoric during our discussions. And Lord, as we begin to look toward the end of another year and the beginning of a new one, help all in our community to be less polarized and consensuous and more kind and civil. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. And may Almighty God bless this council, city staff, and all the citizens of Galesburg. In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thank you. All right, welcome everyone. Thank you for that invocation. We are going to consider the minutes from the November 3rd, 2025 meeting. We need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Saul and Mr. Chair of Seconds. Any questions about the minutes? Seeing none, I'm going to call for a vote on those minutes, November 3rd, 2025. Yes. Miller? Yes. White? Yes. Acharya? Yes. Saul? Yes. Cheeseman? Yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We've come to public comment. If you're here for public comment, please step forward. Please state your name, and you have three minutes to deliver your thoughts to us. Allen Chapel as we celebrated yesterday 172 years 1853 or even earlier but we just thank God we're still yet alive in the midst of all of this that's going on we do know that time is winding up on us all and it's later than we think so thank you again and again and I want to shout out to the veteran you all know this guy his name is Dwight White Amen. We had to kind of push him on out when the fish ran out. God bless you. We love you. And thank you again. Thank you. Anyone else here for public comment tonight? Please step forward. Good evening. My name is Deborah Moreno, Debbie, and I'm the editor-in-chief of Galesburg Community News. I'm here on behalf of the founding board and our reporting team. When the Register Mail lost its local staff a few years ago, many of us felt the void. There were fewer reports on city government, our schools, small businesses, and community life. Galesburg is really fortunate to have multiple media outlets, including WGIL, Tri-States Public Radio, and The Berg. Our goal at Galesburg Community News is to add another layer to that ecosystem with more reporting, deeper community coverage, and additional attention to the day-to-day issues. We focus on four core principles of community life, local government, education, sports and arts and events. These are the areas residents consistently tell us matter most. Since our launch in mid-August, more than 71,000 people have engaged with our stories online through Facebook. Thousands have visited our website and our newsletter audience continues to grow each week. Galesburg is responding to more reporting. We are a 501 nonprofit governed by a local board, which established and built Galesburg Community News for long-term community service. As part of that work, we rely on strong relationships with city departments to ensure accurate and timely reporting. I'd like to thank the city staff. especially the gillsburg police department for assisting us in accessing daily police reports that cooperation allowed us to restore a reliable record page that residents read very diligently and regularly. We are currently financially supported by local grants. Moving forward, we will welcome advertisers and sponsors. Now, right now is a significant time because we are currently participating in News Match, a national campaign that matches donations to nonprofit newsrooms. So now through December 31st, all donations will be doubled. Thanks to early donors, we've already begun unlocking and matching funds that will help us expand our reporting capacity. So tonight, I'm just asking you for your help in spreading the word about Galesburg Community News and our mission to provide strong, independent, and locally grounded reporting. And we encourage you in residence to read our website, subscribe to our newsletter, and support Galesburg Community News during News Match. Our website is really easy to remember. It's just galesburgcommunitynews.org. And so please feel free to reach out to me or any of our reporters. Thanks for your time and for your service to the community. Thank you. Please step forward, state your name. Bruce Cook. I apologize in advance as my comments become a rant, but I take issue with a term I've heard a lot lately, white privilege. I don't even know what that means, but even though my life is far from privileged, I'm told this applies to me because I'm white. That can't be right. I thought we were trying to end racism. I've tried to understand it. Several people on numerous occasions have tried to explain it to me, but it doesn't make any sense. This is a concept that I just can't wrap my head around, like woke. Perhaps I don't understand white privilege because I don't truly understand racism. I know what it is, the causes, the end results, and the pain in the middle, but I don't understand it. I do understand hate. I thrived on it for years, and I could give you a list of reasons to hate someone. But to hate someone because their skin color or ethnic background is different, that's something I've never understood. Seems petty to me. Except for the radicals at both ends of the spectrum who want only chaos, most people want to see an end to racism and to live their lives in peace. It will never happen. Do you know why? Because you won't stop creating labels. Now, I use the term you in the general sense, not to single anyone out, but if the shoe fits, Well, you know the rest. You create a label when recognizing an individual for their accomplishments, like the first African American this, the first Asian American that, and other all-inclusive labels to put everyone of a specific group in the same box, like white privilege. Every time you create a new label, you drive a stake into the heart of racial unity. You're only highlighting the conflict. One day, it will all come crashing down. I may not understand racism, but I do finally understand why it still exists. You're all keeping it alive with your labels. I may be white and share similarities with other whites, but I am an individual and I refuse to accept your label. And that's my privilege. I will not let someone's label define who I am or rewrite my history. I've never fit in anyone's box before and will not be put in a box now. I recently had an epiphany. It doesn't matter that I don't understand these concepts. God has clouded my mind concerning this subject to prevent me from understanding, and whatever purpose he has for the remaining days of my life apparently doesn't require me to understand. So I will stop trying and let it go without guilt. If someone wants to hate me because of a label they put on me without knowing me, then that's all on them. It has nothing to do with me. Now, some might say that people like me are part of the problem because I'm not actively working to solve it. I can't solve something I don't understand. I act when necessary, but I am not an activist. I'm just a voice crying out in the wilderness, a messenger that no one listens to. So I will return to my retirement to watch events unfold and wait for the next time I am compelled to speak. Thank you. Anyone else here for a public comment? Seeing none, we'll move on. Thanks to those who spoke. We have a consent agenda 2025-22. All matters listed under the consent agenda are considered routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion. There are eight items, I believe, on tonight's consent agenda. I am required to read them. 25, 30, 46. is a purchase insulation of dump body, snowplow, and salt spreader. 25-3047 is the demolition of 224 through 240 South Seminary Street. 254070 is the lease with Jefferson Lines for use of station at 225 South Seminary Street. 254071 is a rescue mission service contract with Galesburg Public Transportation. 20-4072, Safe Harbor Service Contract with Galesburg Public Transportation. 20-4073, Salvation Army Service Contract with Galesburg Public Transportation. 25-4074, Thrive Community Service Contract with Galesburg Public Transportation. And lastly, 25-8021, approval and warrants drawn in payment of same. Do we have a motion for the consent agenda? Thank you, Mr. White. Second. Thank you, Mr. Saul. Any questions about the consent agenda? Any items? Seeing none, I call for a vote on the consent agenda. Hunnigan, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Echera abstains. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Five, yes. One, abstention. Thank you. We move to the passages of ordinances and resolutions. We have three, two of which will follow, and both are on final reading. The first of those is 25-1018, 2025 property tax levy. We need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Saul and Ms. Cicera. Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending the City Council approve the 2025 property tax levy ordinance, which establishes a levy request of $10,871,732, representing a decrease in the tax rate and an increase of 4% in the total dollars. collected compared to the 2024 tax levy extension. The 4% change in the dollars collected stems from the increase in estimated assessed value of properties within the city. The city's proposed tax rate is approximately $2.35, which is a 3.7 cent decrease from the prior year's tax rate. This represents the lowest city tax rate since 2008, with the rates for the last three years coming in at 238 in 2024 and 244 for the 2023 levy and 244 for the 22 levy. The levy is used to support critical city operations, including the general fund, the park and recreation fund, IMRF obligations, with the largest share going to police and fire pensions, as well as 18.6% going to the public library. The levy will be collected in 2026 with the majority of funds received in June and September. Happy to answer any additional questions. Okay. Any questions about this item? Mr. White. Just for the public, can you explain to the public how there's an increase and a decrease? I know you've spoken to it before, but just for the record so people don't understand it again. Sure. We base that off of the overall assessed value of the city. There is continued growth in the overall value of properties within the city. That growth actually far outpaces the request, which is why... We can get additional dollars but not have an increase in the rate. I think I spoke this morning just as an example on GIL. The city's tax rate peaked in I think 2017 or 2018. If that rate were still in effect today, that exact same rate, the tax levy would be over $1.8 million higher than it is currently. So the impacts that council is having in conjunction with the EAV has brought, even though there's more dollars, they are less than what they would be had the city just kept the same rate from its peak in 2017. Thank you. Anything else? Seeing none, I'll call for a vote on 25-10-18. Hunnigan, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Acharya, yes. Saul, yes. Thank you. Next item is 25-1019. This is an ordinance 2025 Special Service Area 1 property tax levy. Also on final reading. We need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Saul. Thank you, Mr. Chair and Mr. Hanson. your honor staff recommends approval of the special service area tax levy ordinance for 2025 this levy established by special ordinance number 75-4 on january 20th of 1975 originally set a flat rate of one dollar per 100 of an equalized assessed value to fund maintenance services in the downtown area In 1995, the downtown council requested a replacement tax of $1.50 per hundred of EAV to cover operational expenses, which was approved and levied for a period of 10 years. In 2013, the council extended the $1.50 tax for another 10 years. And in 2023, a further extension was approved through the 2024 property tax levy payable 2025. The tax levy must be approved before being filed with the Knox County Clerk by the last Tuesday in December of this year. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Anyone have questions about this item? Call for a vote on 25-1019. Hunnigan, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Six vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. The next and last ordinance for tonight is 25-10-20. This is the sale of surplus firearms. This is on first reading. I'll turn it over to Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommend approval of a special ordinance authorizing the sale of surplus firearms from the police department. The department has accumulated various firearms over time, including those no longer in service and confiscated weapons for nonviolent crimes. These firearms, including pistols and rifles, will be sold through a licensed federal firearms dealer, ensuring all applicable laws and regulations are followed. A list of the firearms to be sold is included in the ordinance that's in your packet, and prices will be set by the FFL licensed dealer. Additionally, officers will have the opportunity to purchase their recently replaced Sig Sauer P320 handguns at an agreed price, with the city receiving a percentage of those sales. The sale is expected to generate approximately $40,000, which will help offset the recent purchase of the Glock 47 firearms that patrol officers currently use. The special ordinance requires two readings by the City Council with final approval prior to solicitation. This is on first reading. Happy to answer any questions, and I know that the Chief can as well. Thank you. We'll be reviewing this again on December 1st. Okay. Anyone? Okay, we'll move on. We don't have anything under bids, petitions, and communications. We move to the city manager's report. Anything to add, Mr. Hanson? I just want to wish all the council, as well as our great staff, a happy Thanksgiving next week. We're into the holiday season. The decorations are going up. They look great, as usual, I think. Candidly, I think we have one of the nicest downtowns during the holiday season when all the lights are up and our staff are a big part of that. So everyone have a safe and enjoyable holiday season and appreciate the council's continued support for those endeavors to improve our community. Thank you. And you have questions for Mr. Hanson? Okay. Move to miscellaneous business. We have four items to consider. 25, 40, 75. is a local landmark designation for 325 North Prairie Street. We need a motion and a second. We've got Mr. Miller and Mr. Saul. Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. The Landmark Commission recommends approval of the local landmark designation for 325 North Prairie Street, following a unanimous vote at the November 4th, 2025 public hearing. The home... Built in 1891 for James Edwin Webster, a local businessman, and his daughter, Inez Webster, is nominated for its historical significance. Inez's contributions, including her work during World War I, and with the Near East Relief Service, add to the home's value. The designation will preserve the property's character with any visible improvements requiring a certificate of appropriateness under the Historic Preservation Ordinance. There is no budget impact, and the designation will help preserve Galesburg's heritage while supporting property values and tourism. Happy to answer any questions. Any questions? Yes, Mr. Chair. I would just like to make a comment that I'm very grateful to the Landmark Commission for passing this on to the council. And just for public knowledge, we spent many, many years taking this home from a multifamily house. It was divided up, and it was in very, very poor shape. And so... You know, we spent all our own funds to get it back together into the condition it is today. And I just want to be clear that I'm going to get no financial benefit from this designation. It is just to preserve it and make sure that when I'm gone, that hopefully no one would take away that landmark designation and divide it up again. The other purpose behind my... putting in for this designation is, again, I just want the story of the owners and Inez in particular to be heard. And they were of such great service to the community and the world. Hopefully it will be an inspiration to others. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Chair. Anyone else? Please turn on your mic, Mr. Hunnigan. Sorry, what is the historical significance of this? of this home. The Webster family were a significant family in the development of Galesburg's business and community. They were part of the family that started the Universalist Church and Lombard College. They also had a furrier, retail establishment, banks, many apartment buildings. But their daughter in particular, many Websters had impact, but their daughter in particular went and she worked for the Galesburg family. free kindergarten helped place orphans in galesburg with homes and then she later went and served in the nearest relief taking care of armenian refugee children running orphanages there and in russia so that she did quite a bit thanks thanks for the question mr honey okay um i'll ask for a vote on 25 40 75 Hunnigan, yes. Miller, yes. White abstains. Echera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Five yes, one abstention. Thank you. Next item is 254076, Administrative Adjudication Hearing Officer Agreements. We need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Saul. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommend approval of two agreements for the administrative adjudication hearing officer, one with H. Wayne Statham as the primary officer and another with John Robertson of Barash and Everett LLC as the substitute officers. Officer, these agreements ensure continuous operation of the City's Administrative Adjudication Program, which was established in 2015 to handle local ordinance violations efficiently. The program processes approximately 1,500 cases annually, providing an expedited process for handling ordinance violations and addressing nuisance issues. Both Statham and Robertson are qualified attorneys with strong record of service to the City. They will each be compensated $200 per hour for their service effective January 2026. The agreements ensure the program's uninterrupted operation by having both a primary and substitute officer. The cost of these services is covered by the legal professional services account in the budget. Happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you, Mr. Hansen. Any questions from the Mr. Hansen? Mr. Hansen, what would be some of the problems or cases that would come before this board? Any of the property nuisance cases, impound cases, code violations as well, I think those are the most prevalent cases that come before. Obviously, this is one part of the process if the individual... would like to appeal, it actually then goes across the street to the circuit. But it allows for an expedited process. Both of them are serving currently. They're just flipping roles from backup to primary and vice versa, and both do a tremendous job. Part of the process of becoming an adjudicating judge is they have to go through a training and certification, which both of them have. Thank you, Mr. Hunnigan. Okay, I'll ask for a vote on 254076. Hunnigan, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Echera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Next item is 254077, Tourism Promotion Agreement and Lease with Galesburg Tourism and Visitors Bureau. We need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Second. Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman. Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommend approval of a two-year tourism agreement between the City of Galesburg Tourism and Visitors Bureau from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027. The City will allocate $190,000 annually from the hotel-motel tax revenues to support GTVB's tourism marketing program. The new agreement shortens the term to allow for a transition period while GTBB recruits a new director. A termination clause allows either party to end the agreement with 30 days notice. GTBB will also lease 2163 East Main Street as a welcome center with a leasee responsible for utilities, cleaning, and maintenance while the city will maintain the parking lot and grounds. Funding for the 2026 agreement is included in the proposed city budget. Happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you. Mr. Hennigan. How close are we to hiring a tourism director? And how long has this position been vacant? Let's see. Randy left late summer. I think it was August timeframe, July-August timeframe, if I remember. There is an active search. I'm not on that committee. but they have kept in touch with the city. Obviously, they're looking for the right candidate, but I think their target is to have someone identified by around the first of the year, if I'm not mistaken, if possible. Obviously, part of this agreement is they use our facility, that building out there, as the city's, so this kind of cleans up some of the lease issues there. The reason you're being required to do this, this particular agreement allows the tourism board to leverage state funds for tourism. So without this, the state does not allocate money. This $190,000 helps leverage last year, I think it was $84,000 in additional dollars from the state. And leaving it kind of fluid. with the new director coming on to determine how we want to go forward. But this two-year period seems like an appropriate time that things would be able to settle out before we come back to the council for another renewal sometime in 2027. Is that building in use right now? It is. We're fixing the heater. But it is. They actively have been using the building, I think, since the 90s, if I'm not mistaken. Okay. It seems every time I go there, the doors are locked, and I just wouldn't know why. Well, right now they're locked because of the HVAC. Oh, okay. But once that's repaired, they'll be back in it. I mean, they have limited office hours because they have limited staff, but when they're there, it's available. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I'll call for a vote on 254077. Finnegan, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Acharya, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Last item in this section is 254078, Springbook Maintenance Fees. I need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Miller. I got Barry White and Barry White, too. Okay. Mr. Hanson, very white three. Staff recommend waiving normal purchasing policies and approving the fiscal year 2026 maintenance fees for the Springbrook government-wide software used by the city. This software streamlines various organizational processes, reducing duplication and creating a more efficient database. The city currently uses a range of SpringBook modules, including accounts payable, utility billing, and more to manage operations across departments. Annual maintenance fees are required to receive support and software updates with the fee for fiscal year 2026 totaling $92,982.73 for all modules and services. The director of finance is authorized to sign the maintenance fee order form. The costs will be distributed between the funds that utilize the software. Springbrook is our central accounting software. It touches everything that we do in the city and is vital to our operation. So software is expensive. Obviously the 92,000 is not a small amount, but it is a critical piece of our operation and certainly support continuing our relationship with Springbrook. Thank you. Any questions about this item? Call vote on 25-40-78. Hunnigan, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Echera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Six vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. I'll ask for a motion to sit as the town board. So moved. We need a second. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed. We are now sitting as a town board. We have two, well actually three items tonight. Two are under first reading however. We have 259028. This is a ordinance, Township Budget and Appropriation Ordinance. Is someone here to discuss that or read it please? Thank you, step forward. Okay, this is for the levy. Yes, the town budget. Okay, for our town budget, we have reduced the funds that we have to two. So we're asking for the town fund. It does look like it's a little more but that's because we added line items from those other four funds So we're asking from the property tax You want the whole thing don't you? Okay You want to know what we have in it or what we are going to use We have 264 thousand coming from the property tax and We have 64,103 coming from the replacement taxes for the Town Fund. And then we have our dividends added in at 25,683. So we have a total of 1,138,531 for the Town Fund. In the General Assistance Fund, we have property taxes at 155,000. We have fees from other township at 25,500 and dividends on the investment at 11,233 for a total of 517,525.97. And we only have those two funds now. Do you want the levy also? We'll get to that next. Excuse me? We'll get to that now. Okay. So that was for the township budget appropriation ordinance. They'll come back to us. December 1st for a full vote 25 90 29 is another ordinance for the tax levy and you can discuss that at this point and we are asking for the five hundred and thirty one thousand that we have Kelly wasn't sure how long we've never raised we haven't raised it for a long time what we are doing in our budget this year is concentrating on using our surplus and our other our other money that we get in. So we're not going to have to raise it this time. We'll leave it the same. Unfortunately, next year we'll have to look into further options since we're using the surplus this year. Okay, thank you. Any questions from the council? Seeing none, we'll move on to the third item, which does require a vote this evening. 25, 90, 30. These are the bills. Need a motion and a second? So moved. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Second. Thank you, Mr. Saul. Any questions about the bills? I ask for a vote on the bills. 25, 90, 30. Please call the roll. Hunnigan, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Echera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheesemont, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We need a motion to sit as the City Council. So moved. Thank you, Mr. Saul. Second. Thank you, Mr. Miller. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? We are now sitting as a City Council. We have reached the closing comments. Do we have baseball season's over, but we still need a leadoff hitter. There is, what is it called, winter ball? So we'll do that. Heather, you're good, you start. Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. And I wanted to tell everyone about a little excursion I took to a great resource and wonderful place in our town called the Knox County Community Artisans. So this is out at Hawthorne Center. And these folks have a mission, learn the arts, use the arts, enjoy the arts. It's a 13,000 square foot building. It's a community maker space. They run the ARC woodworking shop, offer classes like intro to woodworking, operate a yours to create resale shop and provide donated art and craft supplies at a very low cost. They also provide an opportunity for individuals to do other sorts of art, not just woodworking. but it just was really neat it's Glenn Bussey and others his wife I believe Kathy is her name that have really made this their passion and if you're interested in learning more about these crafts woodworking you can join as a member and they have a vibrant group of folks that'll be there and help you learn the machine so I thought it was really neat I wish I had more time I would definitely Learn the woodworking, but check it out. If you want more information, go to Facebook and take a look. Thank you for that. Mr. Saul. I'd like to wish everybody a happy Thanksgiving also, and congratulations to Reverend for feeding all those people. Appreciate that, especially feeding Alderman Dwight White. That's about all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Salt. Ms. Cheeseman. Mayor, baseball season runs 365 days a year. Although I'm enjoying really watching the Bears play right now, it's fun to watch. Again, with Thanksgiving next week, I just want to mention a couple things here that I'm grateful for. And I know all of us are grateful for things every day. We don't just need a special holiday for that. And most of these are specific things centered around the city and helping our city. And there's certainly many, many more that we could talk about, but we're limited in our time here. First thing is that our shelter here has been running all year long and now runs 24-7. And we're also working on a number of other opportunities with our shelters and trying to solve or at least improve the situations for those people that are without housing. Food pantries, again, in the situation that we've been in here as of late, and this situation we've seen grow a lot with the need for our food pantries. We have a number of them. They do a great job. All of them could always use more volunteers, and many of these people give out of the goodness of their time and wanna help others out. I volunteer at the First Lutheran Food Pantry, and we do that three times a month. And in this last month, in the three times that we had served, We had 166 people come that served 500, excuse me, 166 families that served 567 people. And you know what the other ones are doing as well. And again, we could always use more volunteers at all of these things. Local businesses, that's the backbone to our retail economy. We have so many good ones here, and they give back to the community and provide so many services. A couple of milestones. Lindstrom's, we talked about, they had their 100-year anniversary. There's going to be a celebration coming up here in another couple weeks. And also Templeton Roofing is celebrating its 95th year in existence. These are just solid businesses like so many of them here. We've really, really done a lot here. This council, I give credit in our city and just the people in our city to really work to try to change the image that we have here of ourselves. This is a tremendous city with a proud heritage. And as I've said so many times, we have the most important part and the best part of our city is its citizens. And there's a lot being done here. I'm really impressed with how our council and our city and its workers and its administration are not just talking about things, but are getting things done. We have miles to go, but we've made enormous progress. And I know that we have many, many more things that we wanna get done. So I appreciate all those efforts and appreciate certainly the care that people provide for our city, the proud citizens here that care about our town. And keep the faith, keep working together, and we're gonna continue to make strides here and make this city and continue to make the city the place that we all want it to be a great place to live. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman. Mr. Hunnigan. Thank you. Housing revitalization is a significant need and priority for the city of Galesburg. The city is currently accepting applications for home repair, replacement roofing, and improving accessibility to older homes. Funds are made possible through a grant called Home Repair and Accessibility. On November 12th, I attended an informational meeting where I learned that the city has established a $600,000 grant to renovate and repair 12 homes in the next two years. The City of Galesburg partners with Western Illinois Regional Council, WIRC, on housing revitalization, targeting low to moderate income communities. Who is eligible to apply for this program? To be eligible for a grant up to $50,000, the home must be owner-occupied. Also, applicants cannot exceed a certain household income limit. They must be current on their property taxes and have no liens on the property. The income limit is defined by the household total income being less than 80% of the area's median income. I am told that since 2019, The residents of Galesburg have repaired 197 homes under several city-sponsored programs at a cost of $4 million. If you are interested in filling out an application for this program, I suggest that you contact Mr. Steve Gugliotta who is the director of our community development for an application, but you can also contact the WIRC. For those who are uncomfortable or unsure about filling out governmental forms, I am here to give you assistance during this process. You just have to call me. When it comes to fixing up old homes, I love before and after photos. That is before gentrification and after gentrification. I can think of no better way to improve our community than to upgrade and improve the housing within our community. I hope this trickle of 12 houses will grow into something much larger, a true downpour. And my other comment is that I enjoyed Mayor's celebratory. party at the Best Western on Saturday. And again, I want to congratulate Allen Chapel for their 172nd church anniversary. It was a church that was founded in 1858, about 20 years after Knox College. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hogan. Mr. Miller? I'm going to be short tonight. We've done a lot in the city of Galesburg bringing jobs. The council has worked hand in hand, working very hard at trying to solve a lot of issues. I know we got a couple issues with homeless, mental health. I've talked to the mayor. We've had a couple conversations about both issues. We need to come to some way of helping solve these issues. But I also wanted everybody, I hope everybody has safe travels during the Thanksgiving season. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Mr. White, your cleanup. I'm just waiting out here somewhere. My voice has been terrible. I am a veteran. I got to participate in a bunch of the veteran meals and special honor blankets that they gave out at Walmart. I received one a couple years ago. I got to spend time with Mr. Cook. We sat down and broke bread together and had some great conversations. And I respect his point of view on what he believes and how he processes information. We'll all move forward, Mr. Cook. We'll all move forward. But as a veteran, I just can't. I just can't stop looking and seeing people being picked up and hauled away by a guy with a mask on. It just kills me. It kills me to no end. They're dressed in military uniforms. And I got to reading and I found out that the police have no obligation to protect me from them. The Supreme Court in 1989, 2005 and 1981 said that the police have no obligation to protect you as a citizen. So if you have some man that jumps out of a car and grabs you, What are you supposed to do? How are you supposed to feel? It's just crazy to me. It breaks my heart. And they're acting like they're military or paramilitary. It's not here, but a friend of mine that's in her city. And if it ever comes here, what am I going to do? Or what are you going to do? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. White. Yes, well, the Veterans Day came and went. It was a wonderful day in Galesburg. A lot of celebratory events occurred. I was able to attend the Walmart event. Linda Hawwater has put together just a fantastic event for veterans there. There were 10 honorary veterans who were given a blanket that was built, you know, made in Galesburg. The DAR and the Quilts of Valor ladies made these amazing quilts. I hope you saw some of the photographs of them on Facebook. Beautiful, beautiful quilts. And it was such an honor to see these gentlemen and ladies receive such quilts. One such veteran, Cindy Unthank, was given, not only, well, received a special proclamation. She was really surprised. She didn't expect it. And that's for her service in the military and also her service in our community with the American Legion. And there were even Girl Scouts there attending and Brownies who made handmade cards, delivered them to the veterans who attended. It was a beautiful ceremony. And I wanna thank Ms. Hellwater for her continued support. You can see when you're there And Mr. Swanson, Representative Swanson was there as well. You can just see how touched these veterans were to be, and they're part of our community. And I felt very honored to be in attendance at that event. I also had some fish fry baked by the minister there, and it was really good. We can do that more than once a year, I think. I'll be willing, I was a paying member. So I'm willing to pay for some fish fry. So look forward to that. It was also a nice time to commune with some other folks. And I saw some of the veterans who came in for the food, and I think they were very, very thankful for that as well. And that was just two of events all over our county and neighboring counties for our veterans. And although we need to validate and respect our veterans on Veterans Day, We need to respect them as well, all other 365 days or other 364 days that exist. And just every time you speed one or talk to one, it's great to say, I thank you for your service, but it's another thing to sit down and talk to them about what stories they have to tell. Hopefully, none of us will have to fight in wars, thanks to them. Also, we had an event. just last week, the 2025 State Legislative Luncheon. We had about 100 or so people in attendance. Mr. Swanson, our representative, was there, as well as Mr. Senator Mike Halpin, and they answered a series of really pretty difficult questions, I'd say, for about an hour. The questions were raised kind of anonymously by the people in the audience, and I thought they did an excellent job of just giving you their their take on what's going on now and what our future holds. And lastly, I just concluded the celebratory event that Mr. Hunnigan referenced through a party for Galesburg. It was the first time I've done that. And I want to thank Best Western for serving as the location and the chef there did a marvelous job. I had never DJed an event and that was... a learning experience. I need to diversify, I think, my musical interests a little bit so I can serve all the public. But it was a good time. And I got to dance for the first time in a while, and that was good for me. But I really thank the people that came. I put together a 60-something... set of slides that I've just posted. It's not that exciting, it's just a bunch of slides. There's no music, there's no commentary. But I ask you to sit through it. It's 12 minutes and just sit there and look at the slides and let them sink in. There's just a lot of great things going on in our community. And that's just a snapshot of what's been going on the last few years. And I've already been receiving comments that you left this out, you left that out. And I apologize, I apologize. I don't have a whole staff of historian researchers working with me. I pulled together what I came up with and I'm adding to that. And I hope on social media, you guys can add to that as well. And hopefully a year from now, we can have another party and have more things to celebrate in our community. So with that, I wish everyone a wonderful holiday. We'll be back here on December 1st. Safe travels to anyone leaving town. And I'll ask for a motion to adjourn. Thank you, Mr. Saul. Thank you, Mr. White, Mr. Barry White. And for all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? We are adjourned.