Hello, folks. It is 6 o'clock, and we are in the City Council Chambers at Galesburg, Illinois. I ask the clerk to call the roll, please. Councilmembers Mangieri, Hunnigan, Reynolds, White, Achera, Saul, Cheeseman, Mayor Schwartzman. Seven are present, Your Honor. Thank you. We'll have a Pledge of Allegiance followed by an invocation by Deacon Michael Crummer. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The Lord be with you. We pray Lord God this evening that you continue to protect our great community of Galesburg from this severe stretch of weather. Let our prayer this evening be, Lord, as we come together this evening to conduct our affairs, we ask for your presence and for your guidance. as we continue to fulfill our oaths of office. We are about to make decisions, some perhaps difficult, that impact the lives of all those we serve. Help us to see this commitment not as a burden, but as an honor to serve our community. Let that show in our demeanor during interactions with fellow council members, honorable mayor, and with our citizens by showing professionalism, patience, and open ears, compassionate hearts, and soft tongues. May our words continue to heal and not hurt. May our sharing be done with kindness and respect and without prejudice. Let us be good listeners, but not just hearers, but doers as well. Help us to show our appreciation for the special abilities and energies our colleagues bring to our oath to serve our citizens of Galesburg. For we depend on each other to fulfill that oath through our tasks. May we renew our commitment to communicate openly and honestly with one another. and to build and preserve trust relationships so that together we can be instruments for good for our great community of Galesburg. And grant that we may realize that it is in the little things of life that create difficulties, that in the big things we are as one. Amen. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thank you. We're going to begin with a approval consideration of the minutes for the March 2nd, 2026 meeting. Need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Saul. Thank you, Mr. Reynolds. Any discussion of the minutes? Seeing none, I call for a vote on the minutes. March 2nd, 2026. Hunnigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We've reached public comment. If you came here for public comment, please step forward. You have three minutes to address the dais. Please state your name when you begin. Good evening. My name is Lon Dunn. It's so nice to see so many familiar faces here. Just so you know, I'm now serving in a new role. I'm the community outreach coordinator for this outside solar project. So I'll be in this role for the next 90 days. I want to thank the mayor, the council, the city manager, and the staff, along with KCAP and the county for your support to make this outside solar project happen. As you know, this is a project that's very near and dear to my heart, and this effort is going to bring some meaningful savings to residents of the Southside and some definitely needed relief. Most importantly, it can be used for both renters and homeowners. They don't have to worry about panels on their homes or maintenance, repair, or damage. But I would like to use this moment to invite all of you to join me next Tuesday at the library from 10 to 2, and then again from 4 till 8. We will be having an information session open to the community to come out, learn more about the project, learn more about the savings, and see exactly the positive impact this is going to have on our community. Thank you. Thank you. May I ask a question? Absolutely. Is that the 17th, correct? The 24th. 24th, okay, thank you. I'm sorry. Thank you. So 24. Thank you. Anyone else here for public comment? Please state your name and you can begin. Marion Spurgeon. Okay. Okay. I'm going to talk about flock. I know I'm just kind of bringing it up. because it's a topic now. Most people are so used to license plate readers that we didn't notice when a new system popped up in Galesburg two years ago. Flock Safety, a company that makes license plate readers or ALPRs, operates more like a data brokerage company than a simple ALPR, collecting massive amounts of information about vehicles, movement patterns, associations, and more. Not just on people who run the red light, not just on people who broke the law, but everyone. By default, this information is shared broadly across some 7,000 agencies and organizations and is searchable through AI with natural language. In August, our Secretary of State's audit found that this broad sharing is in violation of state law. In response to that audit, Evanston tried to take down their cameras and Flock put them back up again. It does not sure up my confidence that they have consent base to data sharing practices or that they're operating only to serve the municipality that is contracting them. If that weren't bad enough, the devices and network are extremely insecure and easy to hack as demonstrated by a recent independent audit allowing anyone in the world to access the feeds. And these vulnerabilities have not been addressed to date as far as I know. Ironically, Flock was not required to have any sort of independent audit or safety check before rolling out en masse across the country. There's more regulation over vetting an independent barber, bartender, or plumber than a venture-backed for-profit tech company that processes the data of over 100,000 cameras all over the U.S. to police our behavior. And I don't think most people know this. Flock advocates often state well if this helps us solve just one murder or just one child abduction case isn't it worth it? A counterargument is that AI can make mistakes. People have been held at gunpoint, spent months in jail, and experienced significant harm from being falsely accused of crimes based on AI mistakes. If not adding Galesburg to a database where they could turn up in a search anywhere in a country for a crime they didn't commit saves one person from having that experience, isn't that worth it? I am not against the use of technology in policing. However, I do think that we need to have a wider discussion between the community and the city about flock and how we use surveillance technology. Illinois is currently working on more better legislation to protect our privacy in this age of surveillance, but the ACLU is encouraging us to also put in place some sensible local laws around how surveillance video can and cannot be used and shared. Regardless of what Flock says, I think that we should consider a system that is known to be insecure and a company that has issued many verifiably false statements is a legal liability and we should strongly consider ending our contract with them. And I also want to say thank you to Dwight White for working on this longer than I've known. It was an issue. Thank you. Thank you all. Anyone else have a public comment, please step forward. Pardon? The next person. Hi, Hannah Lyon. I am just here to talk about a little safety traffic concern in my neighborhood. I live on Chambers Street, and I've noticed that the crossing across Seminary at Grove, a lot of people cross the street there. It's very dangerous with all the cars coming very quickly. Off the bridge, I've talked to a couple other neighbors. I'm often walking neighborhood with dog and children, and it's really hard to cross, despite cars should be yielding to pedestrians at the crosswalk, but it really doesn't happen, especially there. And cars, I think, as you guys know, go like 35 to 40 on the bridge. Often, I know there is the... that tells people how fast they're going. So I would recommend that the city considers putting a striped crosswalk there, maybe a pedestrian crossing sign so the cars remember, oh yeah, I do need to yield to these people who are trying to cross the street. When it's the busy rush hour times of day, it can be really difficult to cross the street there. And like I said, I've talked to a couple other neighbors and we're all concerned about it. So thank you. Thank you. Anyone else for public comment? Thank you for those who spoke. We have reached Consent Agenda 2026-06. All matters listed under the Consent Agenda are considered routine by the City Council and be enacted by one motion. There are two items on today's Consent Agenda. 266002, Appointment Memo, Golf Advisory Commission. 268005, Approval and Warrants Drawn in Payment of Sane. We need a motion and a second. Thank you. Thank you. I heard Mr. Saul, Mr. Reynolds. And any questions about anything on the consent agenda? Seeing none, I'll ask for a vote on the consent agenda 2026-06. Hunnigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We have four items under passages of ordinances and resolutions. The first is on final reading 261003, amendment to chapter 94 regarding emergency demolitions. Need a motion and a second? So moved. Thank you. Second. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Manager, please tell us more. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommends approval of an ordinance amending Chapter 94, Section 94.48 regarding the emergency demolition ordinance. The current ordinance adopted in December of 23 requires demolition when damage exceeds 75% of a structure's value, which can delay action when a building poses an immediate threat to public safety. Determining a precise damage estimate or percentage is not always feasible during emergency conditions. The proposed amendment replaces the percentage-based threshold with the public safety standard allowing the city to act when a damaged structure presents an imminent and substantial danger and repair would not be prudent. The revised language strengthens the city's legal authority by tying action directly to the emergency conditions and provides flexibility to order demolition, removal, or other necessary remedies based on the circumstances. There is no anticipated budget impact associated with the amendment. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Any questions of this item? Mr. Honigan. Yes. Is there a list of buildings that fit that criteria right now that would fit under this? ordinance? Actually, no. This is typically only used in the instance where either structural damage occurs and anticipated a fire, a roof collapse, or something of the nature that then poses additional dangers to the surrounding area. We wouldn't proactively use this on structures that are that are just bacon or just standing or whatever. So this is something that will be used maybe in the future and not now in regard to structures. Yeah, passage tonight does not kick off activity tomorrow. It is for future use. We have used it under the other as well on a handful of fire situations. The large commercial building downtown last winter was an example of that. But it's not used often. Okay. And demolition isn't always the course of action. As example, the fire up on Prairie and the corner of Prairie and Main, we just stabilized the building in the short term and then ultimately the building came down. But this ordinance allows us the flexibility to do that. Okay. Thank you. I'll call for a vote on 26-1003. Hunnigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Next item is under first reading 261004, approve class A1 liquor license. Mr. Henson. Thank you, Your Honor. I'll read the action item, and then if council would consider moving this to second reading, that would be appreciated. Staff is recommending approval of an ordinance amending section 113.043A of chapter 113 of the Galesburg Municipal Code to increase the allowable number of of class A1 liquor licenses. The amendment is requested in connection with the proposed new restaurant Eviania, or as I know it, Gina and Chris's place, planned to open in early April at 41 South Seminary Street by Gina and Chris. The establishment will feature a menu that blends classic American steakhouse offerings with Mediterranean cuisine, including influences from Greece, Italy, and surrounding regions. A class A1 liquor license would permit the sale of all types of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premise, with the option for off-premise sales as allowed under the license classification. Approval of the ordinance would allow the city to issue the license necessary for the business to operate as proposed. Happy to answer any questions. Mr. White. I'll make a motion to move. There's a second reading. We have a motion by Mr. White, and I heard Mr. Saul second that motion. Okay, we're going to vote on that first. No discussion. So please vote yes if you want to move this to second reading. Vote no if you want it to remain as first reading. Hunnigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. A cherry, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Okay. It is now moved to second reading. Any discussion before the vote? Ms. Cheeseman. The only thing I would say, I'm normally reluctant to move to second reading. reading, but this is a no-brainer. These are excellent restaurateurs that are going to do a great job and want to get this going, and I see no negatives at all in moving this to the second reading and certainly be voting for this. This is an excellent new addition to downtown. Thank you. Anyone else? Mr. Hunnigan. I'm in total agreement with Mr. Cheeseman. Okay, make the note of that. Mr. White. Will you pronounce the name of the restaurant again for me, please? Please come up to the front. All right. My name is Chris Delejonis. I'm happy to be here. So Gina and I are opening a new restaurant, 41 South Seminary. We're excited to have everyone. So the pronunciation is Eviania. That's the Greek way. So I'm not going to make you guys, but for the English, easy American, Evania. So the G is silent. And that just means Gina in Greek. That was my grandmother's name and a little homage to our chef, owner, operator, Gina. So, Evania. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Seeing no further discussion, I ask for a vote on 261004. Hunnigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Next item is 261005, land exchange near Lake Story in support of the shared use path. Turn it over to Mr. Hanson. Do you want a motion and second first on this? Oh, yep. Sorry. You're correct. Sorry about that, Mayor. Staff is recommending adoption of an ordinance authorizing the sale of a portion of city-owned land adjacent to 1721 South Lake Story Road as part of a land swap agreement to support the development of the South Lake Story Road shared use path. To facilitate construction of the path, the property owner conveyed approximately one quarter of an acre... of right-of-way to the city. In exchange, the city will transfer an equivalent quarter-acre portion of city-owned land adjacent to the owner's property. The proposed ordinance authorizes the conveyance of this land to complete the equal exchange between the parties. This agreement allows the city to obtain the necessary right-of-way for the shared use path while maintaining an equitable transaction with the property owner. As the exchange involves equal acreage, there is no impact to the city's budget. I believe there was also a map included in the packet, but I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Mayor, I would like to move this to second reading, please. We have a motion to move this to second reading. Do we have a second? Mr. Cheeseman, are you here? So we now will vote on that. Again, if you wish this to move to second reading, vote yes. If you wish to remain as first reading, vote no. Cronigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. A cherry, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We now are considering it for second reading. Any discussion of this motion? Yes. Sorry, Mayor. This is one of those projects that I know folks have been waiting on for a long, long, long time. And if we can expedite this with some house cleaning sort of measures to get this thing moving for... for our citizens and it's going to be beautiful when it's all done. Let's go for it now. Thank you. Anyone else? Oh, we need a motion for this. Mr. Hunnigan, you make that motion? I'll make the motion, sure. And we need a second. Okay, thank you, Mr. Cheeseman. Mr. Hunnigan, you have something to add? Yes, this is close to that curve on Lake Story. How is that progressing right now. We're forcing people to slow down in this area. Has there been any progress? I believe we're just waiting on the county to take action so that the city can take action. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, I call for a vote on 26-1005. Hunnigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Last item in this portion of the meeting is 262008. This is a resolution authorizing execution of a service agreement with the lowest responsible bidder for energy aggregation. Need a motion and a second? Thank you, Mr. Chair. And Mr. White, thank you. Mr. Hanson? Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommends approval of a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a new municipal aggregation agreement for the supply of electricity to eligible residential and small commercial customers. In 2024, the City joined the Central Illinois Municipal Aggregation Group through its energy broker, the Stone River Group LLC, allowing participating municipalities to collectively negotiate a fixed electricity supply rate. The current aggregation agreement expires in June of 2026, and the state law requires a new agreement to be executed at least 60 days prior to the expiration to allow time for required opt-out notifications to be distributed to eligible residents and businesses. Because electricity prices fluctuate daily, all participating municipalities must sign the agreement on the same day when the supplier is selected to secure the lowest possible bid. While the final rate is not yet known, the program saved Galesburg residents approximately $18,998 in 2025. Compared to the default AMRIN rate and participants retain the option to opt out if desired, there is no budget impact for the aggregation program. Happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you. I have a question. Obviously, it's not only the rate but also the duration of the contract. Is the duration also something that we lock into and all municipalities agree to? Yeah, so depending on how the bids, they will typically bid two or three different time frame options to determine the best possible or what they believe to be the best recommendation. Obviously, there's a lot of volatility in the world right now, so I would expect a short-duration contract, but it's kind of to be determined of what happened. I mean, literally, the energy market is fluctuating pretty significantly day in and day out, depending on just like oil or anything else. depending on what happens on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth will probably determine the duration and then as I also mentioned to council they're also working on implementing a renewable energy credit as part of this program as well at a ten and twenty percent level so I think by and large that the program has worked it's certainly more challenging here the last couple years coming out of the pandemic with energy prices. But even this last year, it still ended up being about a 5% savings over the rate. And do you happen to know, typically these contracts are one year or three year. Do you know if they're even considering a six-month contract? I do know they are considering a shorter duration. I don't know the exact number of months. I would... I would be shocked if it goes three years. I would, I'm guessing a year, maybe. They're also looking at if they do a year doing like a 14th or 15 month to get us out of bidding this time of year, because that is presenting some challenges as well, right before the summer rates hit. Very well. Thank you for that. Anyone else? Seeing none, I call for vote. 26, 2008. Hunnigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We move to bids, petitions, and communications. We have two items to consider this evening. First is 26, 2008. Trailer, attenuator, and arrow board for water division. Curious to know what those things are, but let's have a motion and a second to discuss. I heard Mr. White and Mr. Chara. Mr. Hanson? Sure. Well, for reference, the large arrow boards are the signs that point you to get over in the lanes. And the attenuators are the big things on the back of trucks so that if they smash into the truck, it's actually there to protect workers. So if you're out on the... highway and you see the state trucks with the gigantic according looking things on the back of the truck that's what it is so um... and and obviously uh... you know we've we've had some some uh... uh... uh... safety issues and to deal with and obviously between some of our major routes that we work on henderson carl sandberg main street those kind of things uh... this is this is a good piece of equipment to have to keep our people safe so Staff is recommending approval of a bid from Armisco Incorporated of Pennsylvania in the amount of $34,000 for the purchase of a new trailer attenuator and aero board for use by the Water Division. This equipment has been identified as essential to meet current safety regulations and enhance protections for city crews working in roadway environments. The attenuator functions as a protective barrier designed to absorb the impact of a high-speed rear-end collision. Where the trailer-mounted aero board provides directional guidance to motorists to slow down and change lanes safely. Two bids were received through a publicly advertised process with the low bidder submitted for a new Scorpion 2 trailer attenuator. and Wanco Aero Board and will provide on-site warranty repairs, which offers a logistical advantage over the competing bid. Staff determined this option to be the best and most cost-effective with anticipated delivery in May of this year. Funding is available in the Water Fund, Fund 61. Happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you, Mr. Henson. Any questions on this item? Mr. White? I heard you say the Water Department, but will we use this on any other thing for street work or anything like that, possibly? Yes, I mean, we share in between funds and obviously account accordingly financially. But this is, you know, we do a lot of work on hydrants and or water main breaks that are literally right in the middle of the road. And this will definitely provide them more protection, which is part of the reason why it's starting in this fund. I wouldn't, please don't be shocked if this is not the last time purchase these because if obviously if we can use them effectively we probably can use more thank you anyone else see no comments I will ask for a vote on 26 3008 Hunnigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. A cherry, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We now reached 26-3009. This is city phones and equipment replacement. We need a motion and a second. So moved. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Saul, thank you. Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommends approval of the purchase of phones and related equipment from Synergy Telecom of Indianapolis, Indiana in the amount of $29,785.85 to support the city's replacement of the existing voice over IP phone system. The current system and associated phones have reached the end of life and are no longer supported. To reduce cost, ICT staff developed and programmed a new VoIP system internally rather than purchasing a fully packaged system. After evaluating several phone models and providing demonstrations for city departments, staff identified equipment that met operational needs while remaining cost effective. A bid request was issued for 201 phones across 13 models along with the related accessories. such as mounts and SD cards. Four bids were received and reviewed to confirm all specifications were met. Synergy Telecom submitted the lowest responsive bid funding for the purchases available in the computer replacement fund. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Any questions on this item? Mr. Hennigan. What department will, will this be for the entire city or for a certain department? The entire city. So it's our integrated phone system that allows us to talk across all of the buildings. And I can state, I don't know the exact amount, but having our I-team actually developed the software system so that all we had to do was buy the phones saved the city a substantial amount of money. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Seeing no other comments, I'll ask for a vote on 26-3009. Hunnigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. City Manager's Report. Anything to add, Mr. Hanson? I'll just make it quick. Obviously, despite the sunny and balmy weathers last Friday last night was a little challenging so to our staff who are still out working myriad of problems associated with the snow thank you to them we had people out literally all night and all day today and looks like they will be out again tomorrow but then melting snow by the weekend so public safety public works communications dispatch you know the vast majority of our team, and I think just did a phenomenal job given the circumstances, especially when you start with 60 degrees and rain and thunderstorms followed immediately by six inches of snow. I think they did a great job, and the roads are in good shape. We'll get through tomorrow and, according to my sources, be able to play golf by the weekend. So let's hope that holds out. Happy to answer any other questions. Any other questions for the city manager this evening? Seeing none, we'll move on. Miscellaneous business, we have one item, 264024, Facade Grant Agreement with Weinberg Arcade, LLC, 64 South Prairie Street. Need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman. And Mr. Chair, Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommends approval of a facade improvement grant to Weinberg Arcade LLC for exterior rehabilitation work. It's 64 South Prairie Street. The Facade Advisory Committee reviewed the application on March 3rd and unanimously recommended awarding a grant in the amount not to exceed $40,000 or 50% of the verified total project cost, whichever is less. The proposed project will focus on stabilizing and restoring portions of the south and east elevations of the building's fourth floor, including replacement of deteriorated masonry installation at a new flashing reinforcement of existing masonry, reconstruction of arched masonry in the corner elements and terracotta caps, an installation of a protective metal parapet cap. The total estimated project cost is $324,000, with remaining costs funded through the owner's private investment. Construction is anticipated to begin March 17th of 2026, with completion targeted for June 17th, 2026. And the project is expected to support approximately seven full-time positions. Funding is available through the Tax Increment Financing District 4 Fund 149. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Any questions on this? Seeing none, I call for a vote on 264024. Hunnigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you very much. I'm going to ask for a motion to sit as the town board. So moved. Thank you. Mr. Saul, Mr. Reynolds. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? We are now sitting as a town board. We have two items under town business. We have 269005, the annual town meeting agenda. We need a motion and a second. Mr. White? Second. Mr. Saul? Any questions about the town agenda? Seeing none, I call for a vote on that. 269005. Hunnigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. A cherry, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We've reached the bills, 26-9006. That's a good sign. Anybody have a motion for the bills? So moved. Thank you. Mr. Saul? Second. Mr. Reynolds, seconds. Any questions on the bills this week? Seeing none, I call for a vote, 26-9006. Hunnigan, yes. Reynolds, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We need a motion to resume as the City Council. So moved. Thank you, Mr. Saul and Mr. White. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Okay, we are now sitting as a City Council. We've reached closing comments. Who wants to lead off tonight? Mr. White, hit his button first. He gets first dibs. Well, as the end of the Women's Month comes, I've got a list of ladies that I think are very, very important. I want to start off by saying one of the most important and influential women that I know is a lady by the name of Jody White. I love you. The next most influential woman is the lady that saw that I was here on this planet, Norma E.M. Ford. I miss you, Mom. And my protector from Norma E.M. Ford was Golda Williams. She was my grandmother. But there's a couple other ladies that I ran across her name this week, and they were very important. A lady by the name of Alice Augusta Ball. She was born... In 1892, she died in 1916. I'm always giving you guys names and numbers to look these people up, but I'm gonna tell you what she has, leprosy. A lady by the name of Ann Lowe. She was born in 1898 and she died in 1991. She's a dressmaker. Ann Murray. I think I should have known this lady's name. She was born in 1813 and died in 1882. But it might help you out if you know her last name. Last name is Douglas. Ann Marie Douglas. There's a lady, and she's still alive. She's probably about 72 or 73. Her name is Pamela Hamphill, she really, she's my kind of person. She was involved in a situation and somebody said, well, we're gonna forget about it. She said, no, I'm responsible, I did what I did. And I'd like to take my punishment. Look this lady up. Last but not least, I hope I get this name right. Kato Vonches, B-O-N-T-J-E-S, Von Beeks. The lady was born in November the 14th, 1920. She died on August the 5th, 1943. She was 23 years old. She stood by what she thought was right. and she lost her life for standing up for what she thought was right. And she'd be fitting in this time, and I believe if she was alive today, she would do the same thing. She would leave her life on the line at age 23. Please look this lady up and see how she's relevant to the time and place that's going on today. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. White. Mr. Chair? Well, as most of you know, I won't limit my, how shall I say, education on women who are significant from Galesburg to just this month. You've all heard me talk about Inez Webster, who lived in our house, who was incredible in the work she did with the Armenian refugees. But I thought, also in the spirit, as Dwight has moved me, to look up a couple of significant women in our history, and I thought I'd give us a couple of profiles, one we've all heard of and one we've never heard of. So everybody's heard about Mary Ellen West. We know we have the Mary Ellen West Towers, but I'm not sure. even myself, how many of us know what actually she accomplished? So just doing a quick history on her. She was actually the first child born in Galesburg after it was founded in 1837. She was very involved with abolitionist reform and the community around Knox College. She became an educator as well as a reform leader. And in 1873, she was the Knox County Superintendent of Schools, which is a pretty big deal for a woman of that time. She later was involved in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, a very influential reform movement of the 19th century, and she ascended into the national ranks with that. She actually was very involved in writing and lectures around you know, different civic rights and women's rights and, of course, abolition and women's leadership. She traveled internationally to do reform work and died in Japan in 1892. So I thought that was just interesting to get a fuller breadth of understanding of what she accomplished as we've all probably heard of her. The other one that was kind of a sleeper I'd never heard of I thought I'd bring out was a woman by the name of Elizabeth A. Hurd. She was a pioneer for women entering the legal profession in Illinois. Born in 1840, died in 1913, attended Knox College when higher education for women was still rare. After completing her studies at Knox, she pursued legal training and in 1873 was admitted to the Illinois Bar, making her one of the earliest women... Lawyers in the state. This was quite an achievement, but she went on to be sort of a pioneer in the sense that she became an expert in corporate and railroad cases, which is fitting being from Galesburg. She wound up having a practice in Chicago and. Yeah, I mean, that's essentially it. She really helped pioneer women in the legal profession and was instrumental in an industry that's very big around here. So in just wrapping up, I want to, again, thank the staff for clearing the snow and keeping us safe. Our city workers do a tremendous job, and I'm excited about the progress on the bike path and the new restaurant downtown, of course. So moving forward. Thank you. Thank you. That was exactly three minutes. Awesome. A model to replicate for others. Mr. Saul. I'm surprised nobody mentioned Mother Bickerdike. Yeah. Anyway, I too want to thank the city staff for clearing the roads and taking care of us in Galesburg. I've been up since 2 o'clock this morning because I, too, am one of the people who get to plow that snow. I do it for the Galesburg Township. So I've been keeping an eye on the weather, so I really don't have much to talk about. So thank you, city staff. It was a job well done. Thank you, Mr. Soule. Mr. Cheeseman. We're here. His team and staff. We're tied for, what, 25th in the magazine's annual micropolitan rankings and all the great work that they've done. We have really, really made enormous progress economically here, and we should be proud of that. A lot of people involved in that, and certainly you and your staff are great, great people behind that. Judy's and her remodeling now and the publicity she brings to us and the great work that her publicist does, for a better term, Victor Dantas, that brings enormous amount of publicity to us. And she's added more to our community and going to add more yet to it. Ladies, again, we've talked about this, and I agree with so much of what's being said here, that there is just not enough that we can say about all the contributions. of women and other folks like this that have had a struggle to get to the starting line to even have a fair chance with all of those other people that they had to compete against. And many of them right here in Galesburg. Mother Bickerdike's picture was in one of my history books that I used as a textbook. And that's quite a thing when you have your picture in one of those textbooks. You know, I think about people in my life, women in my life. I had a great grandma born in 1876 that I knew all the way till I was in eighth grade. that back then her husband, my great-grandpa, left and left seven small children and she had to sell pies and ran out an upstairs room just to make ends meet. My grandma, Ina, who I admired as much as anyone, came here in a covered wagon in the early 1900s and took care of my brothers and I because my mom had to work back then and that was unusual in the 60s and the things she did. And they lived on a farm without any electricity or running water. And that's all the way into the 1940s and into the early 1950s. And the things that they overcame and never complained and made significant progress and contributions to so many people's lives, we need to take that into account in our own personal lives and throughout our collective lives. As the world struggles, and I think we all realize that our world struggles, I think that we can be proud here of what goes on in our city council in that we're doing everything we can to make our city better. We provide stability, we provide hope, optimism, we work together, we compromise and those things that I know I'm committed to to the very end here and I know that my colleagues are too and they're a pleasure to work with and I think you see the fruits of all of that going on. There's good things happening here and we're gonna continue to make those good things happening here by being a shining example of what I hope other places would look to And things would be better with them if they would do that. So thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman. Mr. Hunnigan, you're up. Today, March 16th, nearly represents my first full year as a councilman in Ward 2. I receive emails from my constituents on a regular, if not daily basis. Far too many of them tell us of the unpleasant story about life in the city of Galesburg. I'm going to read some of the emails that I receive on a daily basis. March 9th, a husband and wife, a couple I've known for years, are interested in the demolition of an abandoned home on Fulton Street. They ask, When will this house on Fulton Street, our street for 30 years, be demolished? March 11th, I receive an email about a burnt house on Elm Street. It said, myself and my neighbors are wondering when something is going to be done with this house. It is partially burnt and has been that way for a few years. This is March 12th, the next day. Another Ward 2 resident complains about the overflowing trash cans that are never emptied on Allens Avenue. She said waste is not being disposed of properly and remains sitting for days at a time. A week before these emails, a neighbor complained about the number of abandoned grocery carts stranded in Kiwanis Park off of Michigan Avenue. The residents said, on most days there are one or two, but on this day there were four abandoned shopping carts. Let us not forget the two horrendous, gigantic fires in Galesburg on February 8th and February 21st, one in Ward 2, the other in Ward 3. Beyond the fires, there are entire blocks of Galesburg of run-down housing without one single occupant, let alone an entire family. The long vacant Weston School property, located at 850 Mulberry Street, less than five blocks from my house, still sits abandoned. I want to make two statements. Number one, no child should be exposed to unsafe wiring, peeling paint, lack of light, heat or hot water, or homelessness. Unsafe housing does not improve grades at any level. Here's my second point. Good affordable housing attracts the right kind of people to the city of Galesburg. Affordable quality housing attracts teachers, cops, nurses, firefighters, skilled trade workers like truck drivers and welders, and other good and law-abiding people. As my first year on the City Council comes to an end, here's what my March emails tell me. My ward needs a helping hand like never before. Far too many of my residents feel powerless, completely left out of the political process on the local level. I urge organizations like Habitat for Humanity, the several service clubs of Galesburg, like the Rotary, the Kiwanis, and the Lions, the state of Illinois, and of course the city of Galesburg, did you hear me, City Council, to replace our substandard housing with decent affordable housing. Ward 2, my ward, is the gateway. and to our community off of I-74. Remember first impressions like safety, cleanliness, aesthetics are lasting impressions. Let us focus on an entire block, fixing up an entire block rather than fixing up one house at a time. Ward 2 does not need your thoughts and prayers. It needs immediate financial assistance from everyone. On a national level, on a state level, on a city level. Let's help keep the American dream attainable to everyone. Help. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Reynolds. I'm going to keep my comments brief. I want to thank everybody that showed up for my meet and greet for the third ward. And I want to congratulate Gina and Chris on their new restaurant that they're opening. Good luck. I'LL KEEP MY COMMENTS BRIEF AS WELL. I WANT TO CALL OUT MR. SPRINGER IN THE FRONT ROW. HIS WORK AND THE SITE SELECTION ANNOUNCEMENT OF PICKING US TOP 25 CITY, MICROCITY IN THE COUNTRY IS QUITE AN AMAZING FEAT. AND I THINK IT'S TESTAMENT TO YOUR WORK AND YOUR LEADERSHIP IN THAT OFFICE OVER THE LAST DECADE. So I really appreciate that. There are a lot of things brewing in Galesburg, including coffee, as we know. And so many of those things are not known broadly because it takes a lot of effort behind the scenes to get things rolling. But I promise you this year, 2026, there'll be a lot of announcements made in the near future that will bring smiles to the faces of our residents. And everyone's happy about... Chris and Gina's new restaurant. I think I saw more likes on Facebook than I've ever seen on any post. And I think that people voted with their clicks. And I think we're all excited to your efforts there. And I know you're working tirelessly. I don't know how you fit it in a 24-hour day, but you've been doing a lot of great work. And we're looking forward to its opening next month. With that, I'll call for adjournment of the meeting. I need a motion and a second. So moved. Thank you both. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? We are adjourned. Be safe, everyone.