Hello folks, it's six o'clock. Welcome to City Council Chambers in Galesburg, Illinois. We are about to begin the City Council meeting October 6th, 2025. Ms. Benowitz, can you please call the roll, please? Council Member Hunnigan? Here. Miller? White? Present. Achera? Here. Saul? Yes. Cheeseman? Here. Mayor Schwartzman? Here. Six are present right now, Your Honor. Okay, we're going to have a Pledge of Allegiance followed by a moment of silence. First order of business tonight is to approve the minutes from the September 16th, 2025 meeting. We need a motion and a second. So moved. Thank you, Mr. White and Mr. Saul. Any questions about those minutes? Seeing none, I ask for a vote on the minutes, September 16th, 2025. Hunnigan, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Five vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Ms. Benowitz, we have a swearing in to occur. Please proceed. Raise your right hand for me and then repeat after me. I, state your name. I, Angelica Mayer-Jay. Do solemnly swear. Do solemnly swear. That I will support the Constitution of the United States. That I will support the Constitution of the United States. And the Constitution of the State of Illinois. And the Constitution of the State of Illinois. And the ordinances of the City of Galesburg. And the ordinances of the City of Galesburg. And that I will faithfully discharge. The duties of the office of city council member and township trustee according to the best of my ability. Congratulations. Okay, we're going to have a second roll call. Please proceed, Ms. Benowitz. Council Member Mangieri. Here. Hunnigan. Here. Miller. White. Present. Achera. Here. Saul. Yes, ma'am. Cheeseman. Here. Mayor Schwartzman. Here. Seven are present, Your Honor. Fantastic. Welcome to the Council. Mr. Hanson, we have a presentation. Yes, thank you, Your Honor. Tonight we have before us a presentation and update on the Galesburg Promise Program, so I'll turn it over to our friends and colleagues at Carl Sandburg and allow them to proceed. Well, good evening, everyone. Thank you for the opportunity. This is our Eric and I's second time presenting before this body. We were last before you in November 2023. And we wanted to come back to provide an update on the state of Galesburg Promise that we've been operating at Sandburg now for over 10 years. So I'm Autumn Scott. I serve as our VP of student development at Carl Sandburg College. And I'm Eric Johnson. I'm the vice president of advancement. All right. And we will jump in. So our first slide just kind of gives you an idea of where we're headed tonight. And so do I advance from here? That's a great question. Do I advance slides from here? If you want to just mention it. Okay. Great. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. So this just kind of gives you an idea of where we're headed tonight. We'll give you a quick program overview for those of you that may not be familiar with the program. We'll spend the majority of our time talking about impact, and then we'll tell you a few success stories that we're excited to talk about. So on the next slide, you'll see a very quick overview. overview, compressed timeline for the Galesburg Promise. The Galesburg Promise program was founded by the city council in partnership with Carl Sandburg College in 2013. And so the program really got off the ground in 2014, 2015, enrolling its first students in that academic year. So most of the students that were pursuing degrees were pursuing a two year program. So our first graduates emerged from the program in 2016. And we fast forward to today where we have over 1100 students that have been awarded the promise over the length of the program. Again, as a reminder, just a quick overview of how a student participates in the program. Students who have attended a Galesburg school or have attended school in Galesburg for any length of time are eligible to apply. So that does include students that have moved from out of the district into Galesburg at some point in their K-12 experience. They are eligible to apply in their senior year of high school, so when they're graduating and then they intend to go on to Sandburg after that year. And then they have an additional year following that that they can apply as well. So that helps us catch students who may have taken a little bit of a gap between their high school and their college experience. Those students then, once they apply, remain eligible in the program by keeping their GPA in good standing, keeping their completion rate in good standing, but they are eligible to complete any program that they wish at Sandburg. It's not restricted to transfer or CTE programs. They can choose any program that they like. So, If you go to the next slide, it gives you a little bit of an idea of how the promise is funded. So the promise is actually funded by a portion of the city of Galesburg's hotel motel occupancy tax rate. So currently that total rate is 10.8% for individuals who come to the city of Galesburg and stay in the hotels and motels that we have in the city. And of that 10, point eight percent you know total rate what's collected of that three point eight percent is allocated to the promise and on the same slide you'll see annual expenditure so you'll notice that there is a peak in twenty nineteen twenty twenty that is really when we got you know great momentum going with the program and then I think we all remember what happened in twenty twenty so you can see that we've started to slowly climb back I want to note on the academic year 24-25, you'll notice a reduced expenditure. And when we dig into the data, we think that is because the Pell formula, Pell Grant formula, which is a federal grant that is awarded to low-income students, that formula changed for academic year 24-25. And more of our students became eligible for Pell Grant than were eligible previously. Now, Galesburg Promise, the way it works in a student's financial aid package is that it's considered a last pay grant. So what that means is that if a student has other forms of financial aid that go onto their account, let's say they've gotten some scholarships or let's say that they do have the Pell Grant or the MAP Grant, which is a state of Illinois grant, those grants go on first so that Galesburg Promise dollars are applied last, only if a student still has a balance to be paid for their tuition. So we think that is what accounts for that dip in the most recent year. If you go to the next slide, I wanna just spend a minute talking about the impact of the program. So over the life of the program, 425 students who have received the promise have graduated. And the 38% graduation rate that you see there is on track with the national average for community college graduates. It's actually up a percent from the last time we presented to you in 2023. And I want to help make sense of the next number that you see there, which is $16,768. So SAI stands for Student Aid Index. So when a student fills out the FAFSA, which is the Federal Financial Aid Application Form, they get a number back that says this is what we think, you know, as the federal government, we think our formula says that your family can afford to put toward education every year. So often when students have a higher SAI or student aid index, that means that they get less financial aid. So you'll notice that the 16,768 number is what a student, the average Galesburg Promise student would be expected to put toward their tuition costs each year. However, this is really our middle income families that this program is impacting. So $16,000 a year to put toward education is a steep expense when you take into account families with multiple children, housing costs, potentially more than one student in college. So this often is a number that does create a gap for students between what they're expected to pay and what the reality is that they can actually pay. And that's where Galesburg Promise comes in and helps fill that gap. A couple of other numbers to put in front of you before I turn it over to my colleague. We've had over 1,100 students, as I mentioned, awarded the Promise over the life of the program. And we've awarded $2.7 million in total funds dispersed to student accounts. So those are dollars that have actually gone toward funding students' education who... often stay right here in Galesburg. And I'm going to turn it over to Eric so he can tell you a little bit more about that. Thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening, and thank you, Autumn. Some of the things that I'm gonna cover this evening relate to our graduate survey that we do with graduates there in the springtime. We started there three years ago doing a graduate survey that was an opt-in opportunity for students to provide their feedback as far as where they'd be going next, what they'd be doing, their contact information. We had had some limited data in years past, and so it was something that we really wanted to do to become more in tune with what those students would be doing post-Sandburg and how we can assist them, especially as it relates into my division. We have our alumni engagement office, and so that's really important for us. I want to highlight some of the first, if you want to go ahead and switch to the next one. Thank you. You can see here that the ADN and LPN program, 31% of Promise graduates this past year will be going into these programs, 49% with the Associates in Arts and Science, but also, too, here you see Rad Tech, Medical Assisting, Welding, fields that employers are hungry for, have expressed to us the interest and the need for SAMBA graduates. You can see that this was from 59 Promise students that responded to this graduate survey. And that was about two-thirds of the Promise graduates there this past year. You know, we hear from these, these are big fields. And as we go to the next slide, it shows the career goals for these students and certainly healthcare and the trades are areas that we see a lot of for students that they're wanting to pursue going forward but also too you see some areas here such as music producer, mechanical engineer, video game developer, geologist, computer engineer, psychologist. Some great fields that were expressed in those but too a lot of these areas that as far as healthcare and trades then the when we might be at our most vulnerable times and be in a hospital or a clinic, or we may have be broken down, or we may have an instance where we've lost a loved one and we have somebody from a Mortside program at Sandburg that is helping make our experience so much better. A lot of these students that are graduating from Sandburg, we see that on average 75% of those students are staying here in this area. We can go ahead and go to the next slide if you don't mind. This is a, kind of a collage of colleges that students have transferred to this fall. And to give you kind of a highlight here of the institutions that were the most of those 59 students, ISU had seven students, Monmouth, Knox, Knox with three, Monmouth with two, Western Illinois University with seven students. But I also too wanted to note that 10 of those students that filled out the survey be the highest number plan to continue on and go into our associate's degree in nursing program, which we think is reputable there in itself that after they finished up with their degree, that they wanted to continue on and pursue, you know, even higher degree in nursing. So that was something that we really got to see. But again, I tried to, I included the colleges up here that were noted and you can see quite a range of institutions from around the Midwest and the country. We'll go ahead and go to the next one. You know, something that we've found in comparison to the average, 47% of community college graduates across the country have said that they are interested in engaging. At Sandburg, we were at 60%. And that number is up. And we think that a big part of that is something, as we came out of the pandemic, to increase our touch points. And we see a lot of that in collaboration with our colleagues in student development, but also the work we've tried to do to get students involved with people that may be donors of a scholarship or may have come before them in an organization. And some things we've tried to do is be more transparent, more visible, especially myself and my colleagues, as well as Autumn's colleagues in student development, creating opportunities for them to engage with recent grads or people that have come in front of them in those organizations. And I wanted to read, I don't like to go verbatim in presentations, but I did want to share some of the guidance that we'll have here in the next slide. And these are some things that really hit home with me. And that was to take advantage of the full Sandburg experience. College offers tremendous help and support for students and your time here becomes even more rewarding when you get involved in campus activities. And we've seen that be the case. And one student that graduated said, don't ever doubt yourself. Things are hard, but a Sandburg degree is worth it. Get involved and seize the opportunities. Your time at Sandburg will pass quickly, so make the most of it. It does pass quickly. And that's one thing for most times, if two, maybe sometimes three years or, or more, but two on a lot of the averages. We have to move quickly to get involved, to get to know those students, see what their needs are, and do our very best to help them go on and exceed their goals. The last one there that I wanted to share was never give up. College isn't easy, but you have so many mentors and resources here at Sandburg to guide you along your way. And going back to the last slide, we see a lot of alums that really, we have tried to get more involved with some of the recruitment efforts. You know, we have our take charge days throughout the year. We're asking people to be a part of review committees. You know, when it's selecting whether it be from scholarship programs, alumni awards, programs like that. But also coming back, speaking. and sharing their experiences they had at Sandburg, but also is that they're having there in their early career. Because we feel like being able to share that story that, hey, I was there maybe where you are, maybe not exactly where you are, but I succeeded and you can too. And that's really big to build their confidence because we're not just investing in them financially, we're investing to help build their confidence to help them grow and succeed and exceed all of their goals. And so this guidance that the graduates share, you know, They can say that, hey, we navigated some challenges ourselves. You are going to get there. And many times Alderman Cheeseman would say when we do the presentation as far as the Gale Scholar Program is that you are going to make it, we are going to be there, and we are going to help you navigate those challenges. As far as a couple things that I wanted to add. Some of our grads can offer real-world experience, and we've asked Promise grads to help do that, but we've also helped them, asked them to come and be and assure those students that you are gonna make it. And I wanted to share some full-circle success, and if we can go ahead two slides, and these are gonna be something that we should be very excited about, but the Pacesetter Award through the Illinois Community Colleges Trustees Association. The Pacesetter Award is the top recognition to recent grads and it goes to, it offers the highest honor that you can have. And the last three award recipients from 2015, 16 and 17 have all been Galesburg Promise recipients. And to note, Craig Dickerson, class of 17, he says, I wouldn't be where I am or who I am today without the experiences I had during my time at Sandburg. And he credited that multiple times to us when we met with him down in Bloomington this past year. But I wanted to highlight these three because of the past three honorees. And you know, Angel Peterson is a trustee for Sandburg now, a teacher here in the district. And then Stephanie Say as a resident physician at Mayo Clinic, quite high honors. That concludes my portion of the presentation. And thank you. Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. Happy to answer any questions. Anyone on the council have any questions? I have a couple of questions. Oh, I'm sorry. No, go ahead. So the funding piece you provide us, a couple of things. One, I'm a little confused, but maybe that's not unusual. The program has been in existence 10 years. I'm looking at the average funding through... this list probably around a little over $200,000 a year, but at 10 years you should, your total funding should be at like 2.3 million, not 2.8 million. So does that mean that there's additional funding coming from other sources? The 2.7 that I cited in here was reported as funds dispersed. So funds, what we may be looking at is funds awarded versus funds dispersed. Like I mentioned, it's a last pay. So I'm happy to clarify that with our data team. Okay. And related to this, this has come up before. Your funding, the main funding stream at least, is through the hotel and motel tax. Correct. And of course, the expenditures this year, it appears, are lower than they have been in the past. So what happens to excess funding? Is there a rainy day fund set up? Is it Is it paid back to the city? I mean, what is your plan through that? Because I think in the past, when we asked this question, your answer was, well, we disperse funds that we have. We have unmet need and we will fund to the point that we have funds. But when I see this and you explain why you think it's shortfall, can you go into a little bit more detail? Most likely, knock on wood, our hotels are still serving patrons, and we should see the taxes accrue from that. Sure. The college does not accrue the funds. Ms. Scott, can I ask you to speak into the microphone, please? Oh, yeah, I'm so sorry. Otherwise, no one can hear you. Thank you. The college does not accrue the funds, so they're not paid up front to the college. We only invoice for what was actually dispersed onto accounts. That's helpful to know. Very helpful to know, actually. And any questions from the council? Mr. Honig? I just have a comment. And the comment I would like to make is, where would this community be if it were not for Carl Sandburg College? And I want to point out that this is investing in the future. And if you don't believe that Sandburg is an investment, go to the hospital and see who's taking care of you. talk to a police officer or firefighter in this town. Talk to people who are working in City Hall here. All have connections to Carl Sandburg College. So when we put money in a program like this, we are saying that we want our community to grow, we want our community to stabilize, but more importantly, we want our high school graduates to come back and be a part of this community. I can't say enough great things about Carl Sandburg College. I've taught at Knox, but I've also taught at Carl Sandburg College. And when Knox graduates lead Galesburg, it's usually forever. They don't come back. But when you graduate someone through Sandburg, there's a much more of a likelihood that they will continue to be a part of our community. So I can't say enough great things. about this program. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I did just want to follow up on your questions, Mayor. You were saying that you, I guess, just clarify, I was under the understanding that the tax funds went to the Community Foundation and that the Community Foundation disbursed the funds to you from there. Is that how it works or not? Yes, that's correct. The Guelph Community Foundation carries the funds. Okay. So if, in fact, the taxes are collected, they go to the community foundation, but because of the, for instance, in this case, the Pell Grant has changed the amount that they're dispersing, so not as much is required, then that balance is sitting in the community foundation. Is that right? To my understanding, we look into it to be able to give you a better answer, though. Okay. I'd rather talk with them and see where they're sitting at. Yeah. Be happy to reach out. Okay, thank you. Mr. Cheeseman. Just want to book in with the questions and Mr. Hennigan. Just want to book in with what Mr. Hennigan said and now what I'd like to say and within the questions that I work with Sandburg College with the Gale Scholars Program and our kids are prepared well there. They have a great experience. Sandburg goes out of the way to be of help to our students. And as I'm also out there, I see other students and what they're doing. We have a tremendous, tremendous thing in Carl Sandburg College. It makes a difference in our town. It makes a difference in our nation, in our world, and you continue to grow and add more things to it. So I know that as a citizen, I sure appreciate that and appreciate all of your work. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chief. Mr. Blake. I too appreciate Sandburg. I've taken classes out there. and got a wealth of knowledge. It's one of my favorite places to be. But I do have one little situation where I helped a child out last year that didn't realize that their scholarship that they had been awarded was paid out of first. And so they assumed they had money for books. And when they went to check and do that, they didn't. So they had to find another way to be able to pay for their books. Is there any way that you can help or Galesburg Promise can work better with students that really don't understand that, you know, their scholarship is taken out first and then Galesburg Promise takes over because they were assuming it was the opposite way around. And I know one young lady got strapped with books and she was struggling and worrying. So is there any way you guys can help to do something about that or help them with that information? Yes. Yeah. Thank you for that point. That's something that we've been working on over the last year is to help students understand what the Galesburg Promise benefit covers. And then we do have a number of programs that can help cover the gap of what Galesburg Promise does not cover. So Galesburg Promise only covers tuition. It doesn't cover fees, books, any supplies. So we do have a number of other scholarships that can go toward books. And if we have students that are in need, we also have a number of grants that students can apply for through the foundation as well. So we're happy to guide students toward those resources. And, you know, please, you know, let them know that that's something that we're certainly working on. Thank you. And one thing you could share, because you have the best contact with that individual, and to share what all passed along here. Each semester, at the beginning of the term, we'll offer a course supplies and textbook grant. And we will work with student development, as well as colleagues campus-wide, and promote that. And typically, our average award ranges anywhere from $150 to $180. I know that's not always going to buy every book, but it does help some. If students are in the nursing program, the dental hygiene program, we also offer a nursing and dental hygiene success grant through our foundation up to $500. If students are looking to go into automotive tech program, we purchase, they have to fill out a tools of the trade application. We will purchase their tools as well as a tool cabinet for those students to help with that. It's about a $3,500 value that we do. And so the other thing, too, is... October 1, all of our foundation scholarships opened up. And we award over 300 scholarships and over $300,000 a year. And so encouraging them to do that, they can reach out to foundation at sandburg.edu. We'll always answer and always assist the very best we can with those questions. Councilmember White, we also have a Life Happens grant. And the Life Happens grant is for costs that are not reoccurring, more of an emergency. a situation where we will award up to $750. So many times there might be situations like maybe it's power-related, maybe it's automotive, and maybe there's other circumstances in someone's life that may take away from them being able to make those purchase of a course supplies or the textbooks that they need. And the very best thing they can do is reach out. The worst thing they can do is not apply. We have a committee that goes through those, and we always look at every situation. And then we also work with Autumn and her team to look at resources that are available. And so that's something that we always try to do, but please have them reach out. We'll open up our course supplies and textbook grants there again at the beginning of the winter term there. Typically we'll do it in December because what we try to do is we'll have that program available so they can get their textbooks before the semester starts up. Mr. Chair. Thank you. I do want to echo the comments of my colleagues regarding the value of Carl Sandburg College. Both my parents went to Carl Sandburg College, policeman, nurse. Both of my children did. One in high school was able to take his math courses there. So I think there's a tremendous value in having a resource like Carl Sandburg College here. And many people know that I'm very interested in elements of workforce development and making sure that we have a really strong tie to the needs of you know, the businesses here in town. And I know you do that. But I don't think that this presentation really focused on that. I know I've talked with the president of your college before about, for instance, the fact that we have a factory coming to town that's going to be making food products. It's my understanding that you are working, or maybe at least I thought you were, on maybe some newer programs that might serve the needs of some of those businesses. If that is true, could you speak to that at all? Well, I don't want to speak out of turn for the deans and program coordinators that are working on those programs, but if that's a presentation that interests the body, we're happy to come back with that at another time. Yeah, I think that'd be great. I think we'd all love to hear about that because this is an opportunity for those who do listen to these meetings, perhaps parents or grandparents. You know, this would be wonderful. I think the community might be able to hear about things that could spark an interest, you know, parents or others could encourage their children to perhaps explore some of these things that would have a clear path to helping grow the community and have a good vocational outlook. Thank you. I want to echo some thoughts, too, and a few other things. Thank you for presenting and giving us an update. And, you know, there's no doubt what Carl Sandburg does for Galesburg and for Western Illinois is phenomenal and has been true for 60 years. As I know, and I guess this presentation that you've asked for, which I think would be wonderful, will outline some of the new programs. I mean, if you haven't been out to the new Science Tech Center, you've got to go out there and check it out. It's amazing. I know the Annex is opening up downtown, which is going to speak to the point, Mr. Chair, notes in terms of some of the hands-on type of learning that is really going to translate into future employment. and hopefully local employment, which is very important. All that being said, I was on the board when we started this program and I'm still here. And so it's been many years, it's been 10 years. So that's like a cornerstone of any program. You guys survived 10 years and we hope you survive another 50. With that being said, we want to, you know, some of my questions are hopefully not coming across as accusatory or anything. I really want to understand what the finances are so that we can help promote the program. If we need to modify how the funding is given or what it can be used for to address needs that you have, let's do that. Let's work in partnership for that because just as Galesburg goes, so does Carl Sandburg and vice versa. And as a professor at Knox, I believe we have some Knox students in here. I'm not sure where they're from, shaking heads. Many Knox students have actually gone through Carl Sandburg as well and have been very successful at Knox post Carl Sandburg. So it is a great way to highlight the educational values that we have and opportunities we have in our community. And that's where I was kind of coming from. And thank you again for your time. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Hey, Mayor. Okay. We've reached public comment. If anyone here wants to speak at the mic, come forward. You have three minutes. Please state your name. Mayor. Please step forward. Yes. Hello. My name is Dylan Sage, lifelong resident here. I might be jumping the gun a little bit. You guys might be talking about this later, but I wanted to talk about the property at 345-363 East South Street. I saw in an article today that there's plans to demolish the site, and basically I'm just wondering if it's necessary that we need to demolish the site so quickly. or if that property can be used for the GAVC classes, like the building trades, if they can go down there, or Winters right around the corner. Is it possible that that site can be used as, like, shelter, I guess, for the unhoused people in town? Like I said, I might be jumping the gun, but I just wanted to kind of ask whose decision it was to demolish the site, and is that the only option until, like, a real plan? for the site is put into place. So like in the meantime, is there something more productive we can do with that site? That's my question. Mr. Sage, generally we don't respond immediately to the requests of the folks, but we will get you an answer within a day or so. But we appreciate your bringing it to our attention. Anyone else here for public comment? Please step forward and state your name. Council, welcome. I'm Bruce Cook. I took three weeks composing these notes in a coherent form, and then three months trying to talk myself out of reading them, because quite frankly, standing here scares the hell out of me, and I've stood here too many times already this year as far as I'm concerned. But then I saw the video of the September 16th meeting, and I knew it was time to come. But first, pickleball, really? The world is on fire. Our country is more divided than ever. Our own president is waging war on American cities, and the big concern is where to play pickleball. Wake up. Wait till he starts issuing orders for widespread martial law. But I digress. We live in a society where it seems everyone is looking for something, anything, to be offended about. And anyone who speaks in disagreement is accused of hate speech. It makes one wonder whether a person is truly offended or just looking for an excuse to start an argument. And do they really believe what they say or did they just jump on someone else's bandwagon because they don't want to feel left out? We teach our children, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. Well, at least we used to. And when someone does say something nice, do they really mean it or are they just saying what they think others want to hear? All of this creates an environment where people don't speak out when they should because they don't want their words to be misrepresented and one finds it hard to believe anything anyone says. It is my experience that people hear only what they want to hear and ignore or get angry about the things they don't. So it doesn't matter what anyone says. Someone will be offended. Ask yourself why. Why do you believe what you believe? Because only by understanding why you believe something Can you truly know what it is that you believe? When I comment on a subject that is not my intention to offend, but I will not refrain from speaking because someone else might choose to be offended. That's right. Being offended is a choice. And I'm arrogant enough to believe I'm always right, so given enough time, I could offend every single person in this room, like I did with the pickleball people at the beginning of my conversation. My goal is not to convince others to agree with me or even like me. It is to stimulate thought. Things do not have to be done a certain way just because that's how it's always been done. I seek to promote discussion and debate based on reason and not emotion, free of recriminations. I could easily say that I believe a certain organization is an abomination without harboring any malice towards the individuals and supporters of that group. If you are wondering which organization I'm referring to, then you've missed the point entirely. Examine yourselves. If you cannot control your own hate, you will always be offended. Thank you. Thank you. Is anyone else here for public comment? Please step forward. Please state your name. Good evening. Mr. Mayor, City Council, our newest member. Glad to see you take that seat. My name is Reverend Andrew Jowers. I've been here a bunch of times. I've been absent for a while. I'm a full-time student again at Illinois Central College. I echo the sentiments of most of the council in terms of Carl Sandburg College. I have a four Saturday mentoring class that I do at Carl Sandburg and do a whole range of different types of basic instruction, engineering, graphic design, architecture, just multitude of different things for young children, primary age. So that college is performing a valuable service to Galesburg and our church pay a small fee to rent space there, but we're able to use the computer. So again, I'm a faculty, former faculty, adjunct faculty Sandburg as well. So I'm just glad to be a part of this community. I want to congratulate Galesburg. I see Mr. Saul, I see Ms. Manjeri, Mr. Hunnigan. This is a reset for this community. And I read the comments of the council folks. And so I encourage you all, we can do better. There's a lot of people in Galesburg that are hurting. homeless folk, families, children, young children. We need to catch it on the front side. And I put my recommendation in for a comprehensive community center for all ages. That's what we need. That will catch a lot of children that are currently being underserved. If you read my opinion in the registered mail, you see I talked about the why and their mission and the council's decision to give them almost a million dollars to do programming for our youth. You have to be a person that has experienced poverty and been close to it to be able to know how to get to the root of the issue. So I encourage you to have a conversation. You'll read it, and please feel free to give me a call. So I encourage the entire city of Galesburg, this is all of our problems, not just some of our problems. Because you don't live in McKnight or some of the other hollow tree or, you know, high V housing complexes that, no, it's not your problem, but it's all of our problems. We're going to interact somewhere, maybe at the supermarket. Some person maybe have some mental issues. So we need to get involved. So thank you. Thank you. Anyone else here for public comment? Seeing none, we will move on. Thanks to those who spoke. Consent agenda 2025-19. All matters are under the consent agenda are considered routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion. Let me read the five items in the consent agenda this evening. 25-2027. This is a resolution. Main Street closure for Treat Street. 25-2028. This is also resolution SEED 2025 Private Activity Authority to the Quad Cities Regional Economic Development Authority. 25-2029, also resolution funding the IDOT Joint Funding Agreement. 25-4058, this is extension of five-year banking services contract with CBI Bank and Trust. And lastly, 25-8018, approval and warrants drawn in payment of same. I need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman. Any questions about the five items? Mr. White. I've noticed that there's two items on there, which is 25-2029 and 25-4060. Can you explain the two differences in those two items? I know they're separate, but they address the same thing. Yeah, I believe the first one has to do with our local share, and the second one is the actual agreement with IDOT moving forward with the engineering agreement as part of the IDOT grant. So the consent agenda is just the authorization of the local funds to proceed with 4060, if that simplifies it. Thank you for that clarification. Anyone else? Seeing none, I call for a vote on consent agenda 2025-19. Banjiri, yes. Hunnigan, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Six vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We have one item under passages of ordinances and resolutions. This is a resolution 252030, authorization to purchase 345 through 363 East South Street. Need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And Mr. Hall seconds. saw seconds i'll move it to mister henson for more clarification thank your honor staff recommends approval of a resolution to purchase three sixty three south street four hundred fifty thousand the property is located adjacent to the currently own city parking lot at two eighty south seminary street and other parcels on the same block the seller has requested a forty five day access period following council's approval to dismantle and remove a steel frame building for reuse This work must be completed by November 21st of this year, after which the city will proceed with demolition of any remaining structures to prepare the site for future development. Funding is available through the Tax and Commit Financing District 4 Fund 49. Staff will be happy to answer any council questions. Okay, any questions? Mr. White? Is it a time or is it appropriate to be able to explain future use of that area right now since the gentleman had asked about it? Um, sure. I mean, this is part of the longer plan and certainly I'll defer to my colleague because the city has been working at acquiring this particular block for, I think, the last 20 years, 20 plus years has been on their radar. The city owns a good chunk of that block already. um with the exception of just a couple of parcels that remain obviously it's adjacent to the depot a lot of traffic this property is also along the corridor of which we're trying to improve the south street underpass as well and straighten that particular road out and there's other development activity that is planned for that area that this parcel obviously could be used for. If you also remember, this was also an area that was planned for a transfer station for transit as part of our transit study. So there are a number of things that could come about, but none of them could happen without us controlling the property. And so that's the action before you tonight. Right, so a natural follow-up would be, By voting yes tonight, we're not saying, the council's not saying approving demolition at this time, but that is the potential plan at this stage. Yeah, I believe the owner would like to dismantle a good chunk of the structure, and then I believe we would then have to go out for demolition, correct, with council action? Yes, yeah, that is correct. So, I mean, if you actually look at the brick portion of the building in the back and on the east side, it's not in great shape. So the owner is taking only the steel portion. Once that steel portion is removed, it's going to be left open and exposed. So we will have to demolish it to keep it safe. And what is the address of that specific property? It's 345-363 East South Street. All those addresses are included? Yeah, those addresses are assigned to that one building, correct. Thank you. Any other further questions, Mr. Cheeseman? Also a follow-up related to that. I know that a number of folks have talked about the area that you enter into the underpass from Seminary Street and the buckling that's been there and so on and so forth. There's also plans potentially as we redo that underpass or making more of a straight shot that that would then be taken care of through that, correct? Correct. That actually would go away as part of straightening out South Street so you don't, you know, curve around back up the hill. The goal would be to actually put in a complete underpass similar to what's obviously not as wide because Main Street's five lanes wide, but a similar underpass such as on Main Street and allow you to go straight through on South Street and a full height underpass for trucks, emergency vehicles, everything that would go through there. But obviously that would change that intersection. Thanks, Mr. Hanson. Anyone else? Mr. Hunnigan. Is it my understanding that the city would like to not only acquire that property, but all the other properties in that immediate area? I know there's a furniture store and several other businesses that are now no longer in business. Is the goal to get all of them? Yes, there are three parcels remaining after this particular one if the council moves forward tonight. Okay. Okay, seeing no other questions, I ask for a vote on 25-2030. Manjeri, yes. Hunnigan, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixfoot, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We move to bids, petitions, and communications. We have two items. The first is 253041, Bunker Links Golf Cart Path Installation and Resurfacing. Do we have a motion? So moved. Thank you, Mr. White. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Hansen. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommends approval of a contract with Luava Incorporated for cart path improvements at Bunker Links Golf Course, focusing on this section near Hole 17. In the amount of $55,000, three areas were identified for repair and 25. 2025, excuse me, hole 117 and hole 16 to 17, LUAVA submitted the low base bid of $82,900, which exceeded the project budget. Staff evaluated itemized cost and determined that completing the hole 17 section, comprising of approximately 600 feet of new and resurfaced path, would provide the greatest benefit at this time. Work is expected to begin in October. take approximately ten days weather permitting uh... remaining sections will be reevaluated for future come completion funding is available in the park and recreation fund fund nineteen have any answer any additional questions uh... was dancing through uh... i'm gonna ask you to send it to staff it you know what percentage what number of holes uh... have golf cart access, I mean, on paved services. Do we have a sense of that? And it looks like we're doing two here. Yeah, I mean, we've been making progress throughout the course. Mr. Miles, can you... You're out there more than I am. We're making progress. I mean, percentage-wise, not every hole has a complete path all the way along. That'd be a goal in years to come, but... this would just finish off the drainage work we did this spring on 17 for sure. Because there are improvements done at that certain area, so we'd just finish that off. Okay, thank you. Anyone else? Mr. Cheeser. Just to follow up on Mr. Miles, I would say that we have them on three par threes. This would complete the fourth par three, so that leaves 14 other holes that just have very little And this helps by the wear and tear on golf carts, the wear and tear on the golf course, make the golf course playable when we have rain. And when we have rain and we have to close the golf course down because you can't have carts, that's a loss of enormous amounts of revenue because it could be sunny all day long, but you've had so much rain that that eliminates that. So these things are a great help, and they're very expensive, so you can't do them all at once. Thank you for that update. Any other questions about this item? Seeing none, I call for a vote on 253041. Mangieri, yes. Hunnigan, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Next item is 253042. Purchase of Class 7 dump truck cab chassis. We need a motion and a second. So moved. Thank you, Mr. Saul. Second. Thank you, Mr. White. Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommends approval of a bid from Truck Centers Incorporated for the purchase of a 2026 Freightliner 108SD Plus cab chassis, including trade-in for a total cost of $88,954. Although scheduled for replacement in 2026, the bid was issued early due to the high demand and extended lead times. Four bids were received. Truck centers submitted the low bid of $100,954, offering $12,000 for trade-in of a 2008 International Workstar with plow and spreader. The cab chassis will be delivered by the end of this year, after which a separate bid will cover installation of a dump body, plow, and salt spreader. The trade-in unit will be surrendered once the new vehicle is complete and in service. Funding for this is available in the Vehicle Replacement Fund, Fund 58. Obviously, this is a critical piece of equipment and one that's due for replacement, and staff is encouraging support. Happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you, Mr. Henson. Anyone have any follow-up? Seeing none, I call for a vote on 253042. Mangieri, yes. Hunnigan, yes. White, yes. Cherry, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Six-foot, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We move to City Manager's Report. Anything to add, Mr. Henson? Yes, Your Honor. I'm not sure how I get this honor in the city of Galesburg, but apparently it's my duty to designate trick-or-treat hours. So Friday, October 31st, 5 to 8 p.m., is the annual trick or treat hours for the city. So hopefully we get great weather and everyone stays safe and has a good time and provides plenty of business for our dental community in the long term, but always a great event. The other thing I just wanted to point out there, going back to the presentation, council can find the Galesburg Primus line item on page 80 of your budget. And there's a three or four year requested, adopted, actual, and it averages over the last four or five years north of 300,000. So the 2.7 number is actually, I think, pretty accurate relative to the funds. It's obviously there's a buildup or a lead up, but pretty consistently on the hotel motel tax, with the exception of during COVID, I would suspect if we went and ran a 10-year analysis that that number is pretty close to what's gone into that fund. But we're happy to follow up if Council has additional questions. And happy to answer any additional questions from Council if you have them. Anyone? On that note, I mean, they're going to look into it, but if this year in particular, we give the money to the Community Foundation, but the need is... It appears to be maybe $50,000 to $70,000 less than that fund. What is, do you know what the protocol is? Well, the agreement, I believe, just reads that the percentage goes to that fund. If council wants to have a different discussion or ask staff to have a follow-up discussion, we're happy to do so. I don't have a full... uh... picture beyond i know the agreement is uh... dedicated amount and we obviously know what the hotel motel tax brings in obviously the program does a lot of good and uh... were supportive but uh... relative to some of the earlier discussion i just wanted council to know that that's where that's at in the budget uh... and that the money comes in and and i believe miss ohern would would uh... also concur it comes in and and uh... the contract obligations we have that the money goes right back out relative to the agreements that we have. Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, we'll move on. We have five items under miscellaneous business. The first is 254059, generator maintenance agreement for water division. Need a motion and a second. So moved. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Second. Thank you, Mr. Saul. Mr. Hanson. your honor staff recommends approval of a three-year maintenance agreement with alto for power systems for 15 960 annually beginning october 2026 the water division operates four emergency standby generators three diesel units and one natural gas engine located at the well field water treatment plant in a quokka and a galesburg pumping station Routine maintenance by qualified caterpillar technicians is essential to ensure reliability during power outages. Althofer, the city's current provider, is familiar with all four units. The agreement includes two scheduled service visits per year per unit with a six-month warranty on all parts and labor. Funding is available in the Water Division Budget Fund 61. Happy to answer any additional questions. Anyone have questions of this item? Seeing none, I call for a vote on 254059. Mangieri, yes. Hunnigan, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Six vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Second item is 254060, IDOT Joint Funding Agreement. Meeting of motion in a second. So moved. Thank you, Mr. White. Mr. Cheeseman. Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of a joint funding agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation for preliminary engineering on East Main Street from Grand Avenue to Walnut Street. The project includes a protected shared use path, ADA compliant sidewalks, green space, buffers, curb and gutter, and upgraded pedestrian signals and crosswalks. Council previously approved an agreement with the Terra Engineering firm for this work on May 5th, 2025. The joint funding agreement allows the city to receive federal reimbursement through and up to $243,000 in the HSIP funds and $269,620 from the city's federal STU funds. The local share of the $94,406 will be funded through the motor fuel tax fund. Sufficient funds are budgeted in 2025 with additional funds to be included in the 2026 budget. Happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Anyone else? Mr. Hunnigan. On behalf of Ward 2, where this project is going to be taking place, we thank you. It has been needed for a long, long time. So you say it might be completed by what? Well, the key is this is this is the first phase engineering. It will take roughly a year, maybe a little longer, and then we're actively seeking funding. I think as soon as engineering is done and we can find the funding, we'll obviously move forward. But this is the key piece. We have to understand the design and the estimated cost for the project. But as I said, we've been and will continue to actively seek state and federal support for this project. We have a grant that has been submitted for it, have we not? We did submit this project as part of our request at the federal level last year. Thank you. Mr. Honegan, I agree with you and I think that all of us up here are folks that want to get things done and want to get things done now and unfortunately we can't do that as fast as we would like. But it's our goal to stay on top of these things and especially with our roads and in this case our sidewalks too. This is going to really make a difference there. And again, I remind our citizens, I'm with you on this, that we don't control certain areas of Main Street or Henderson Street or Grand Avenue where those places really, really need work badly. But I know our administration is working with and our state on those things. And we'll all be glad when that finally comes to fruition. But it is a priority to keep working our streets and sidewalks. And I know we'll stay on top of that for our community. Thank you both for that. Without further ado, I'll call for a vote on 254060. Mangieri, yes. Hunnigan, yes. White, yes. Aceri, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. The next item is 254061. This is the IDOT agreement for airport parking lot and entrance road. Need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman. Second. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Hansen. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommend approval of a grant agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation for improvements to the airport entrance road and parking lot. The project includes resurfacing the lot, expanding parking capacity, and constructing a reconfigured entrance. These improvements were identified by city staff and Hansen Engineering. No relation. As a strong fit for Rebuild Illinois funds, which target projects unlikely to receive federal support, Council approved the engineering agreement on April 23, 2025. The project was bid through the state's letting process, with Gunther Construction, a division of UCM Inc., submitting the low bid of $316,724.26. The state will cover 90% of the design and construction cost, and the city will fund the remaining 10%, or $43,500. Work is expected to begin this fall or early spring. The city's share will come from the utility tax fund, Fund 59. The state share will be reimbursed through the grants fund, Fund 13, which have been previously received. Happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Any additional questions? Mr. Huntingen. heard there's a rumor that they're going to demolish our airport passenger building. Is that what I heard? That is in next year's CY26 budget. It's been on the table for multiple years. But I think this year, I think the funds are in there for that particular request. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, seeing no one else, I'll ask for a vote on 254061. Manjiri, yes. Hunnigan, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Six vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Next item is 254062. First amendment to revolving loan with Jupiter Machine Tool Incorporated. Need a motion and a second? So moved. All right, Ms. Chair and Mr. White, Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommend approval of the First Amendment to extend the maturity date of the City's revolving loan agreement with Jupiter Machine Tool Incorporated to February 23rd, 2026. Originally approved in April of 2018, the loan included a balloon payment that was due June 1st, 2025. Midwest Bank, a co-lender, has extended its maturity date in the City. Jupiter Machine Tool and Midwest Bank have worked collaboratively on restructuring options Jupiter has remained current on all payments. The extension supports Jupiter's ongoing business restructuring while maintaining loan security. The loan balance due at extension's end will be $596,505.05. No negative impact on the city's budget as anticipated. Obviously, this is part of the process to try and help them. Earlier, I think, well, last year, we worked with them on the Pegasus restructuring in which the city was paid back in full. Obviously, working in conjunction with Midwest Bank to assist in this restructuring is supported by staff and council is encouraged to approve. I'm happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Anyone? See no questions, I'll ask for a vote on 254062. Mangieri, yes. Hunnigan, yes. White, yes. Cherry, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Last item in this section is 254063, Workers' Compensation Agreement. We need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. White. Second. We'll let Ms. Mangieri second, and I'll turn it over to Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommends approval of a settlement agreement resolving a workers' compensation claim for an injury sustained in September 2024. In exchange for a release of claims, Mr. Ingalls will receive $21,826.80. Funding is available in the Risk Management Fund. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Any questions about this item? Seeing none, I call for a vote on 254063. Manjari, yes. Hunnigan, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Need a motion to sit as the town board. So moved. Thank you. Need a second? Second. Thank you. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? We are now sitting as the town board. We have one item, the town business. The bills, 259023. Need a motion for the bills. Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman and Mr. Chera. Any questions about the bills? Seeing none, I call a vote on the bills, 25-9-0-2-3. Please call the roll. Van Jerry, yes. Hunnigan, yes. White, yes. Chera, yes. Saul, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Seven vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Okay, we got six. Ask for a motion to resume as a city council. I'll move. Thank you, Mr. White. Mr. Saul, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? We are now sitting as a city council. We have reached closing comments. We are in the middle of baseball playoffs. And so who's leading off this evening? I'll do so. Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman, the baseball guy. Except the White Sox aren't in, so I really don't care about anything else. And they may be a lot of years away. Welcome again to Mrs. Mangieri. She'll do a terrific job and we're glad to have you. I want to also thank Mr. Schwartzman, Mayor Schwartzman for again reminding folks that when you're giving public comment and we're not answering you that that's just the protocol and part of what happens in that kind of thing. It's not that we don't want to answer you or we're not interested in that. it is not the time it's your time to comment and then folks will get back to you or you can see us uh... as you need that information two other topics real quick to uh... to touch on the budget we had a budget work session the other day and again thank you to all of those folks mister hanson uh... missile her right on down the line to get a great job of presenting that our budget uh... you know as much as a budget can look like it's it's it's uh... A lot of stuff that's not understood was well explained. A lot of projects there. Keeping our tax rate or having our tax rate be at the same rate that it was in 2008 is terrific. So we as a city are not doing things at all to try to raise taxes on our citizens. Again, that doesn't mean that other groups... that are involved in the whole tax system aren't, but we're keeping ours the way we need to. And also, as we look at this agenda, and I've said this before, there's so much progress and growth that get acted upon and are presented through very diligent plans that... really will make our city better and add so much to all kinds of areas. So I think that that's worth noting, hoping that folks pay attention to. And I think we have good things going here and I look forward to it continuing and glad to just be a part of helping with that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman. Ms. Benjiri. I want to thank everybody for welcoming me. It's been a learning curve, but everyone's been very helpful and I'm very grateful for that. I was able to attend the budget meeting and that was for a first meeting as a person, I wasn't quite sworn in yet, but as a person who will be serving the city, That was incredibly informative. And it's not something that I'm super familiar with. And I feel like you guys did a really wonderful job of making sure that I, one, heard you because of my hearing impairment, but also that I comprehended everything. And so I appreciate that as well. So thank you for that. Mr. Hunnigan. Thank you. Want to talk about the Cook School Park Project. The Cook School Park Project is well on its way of being completed. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the many volunteers, especially former Fire Chief Tom Simpkins, who came out to help complete the project a week or so ago. Our job at that time on that Saturday was to construct a fence around the new playground equipment. And on the first day, there were so many volunteers, we almost had to turn some of them away. And it was good to see the Park District employees coming out to help complete this project. I believe that this is Galesburg at its best. We're incredibly fortunate to have volunteers who go above and beyond their mission. And your kindness, generosity, and skills have really made a difference. And again, I want to congratulate Gayla Pacheco for her vision, for her leadership on this particular project. My second comment, how much time do I have? Okay. The constituents of Mulberry Street and Ward 2 would like to thank the City of Galesburg And this includes members of our city council, the city manager, the police department, several members of the city staff, several compliance officers for closing as well as condemning a problem house on our street. Homelessness was only part of the problem. There have been several drug overdoses and assaults in this house. Disturbances of the peace on a regular basis for the past two years has been petty theft of items from the neighborhood, including electricity. My neighbors on Mulberry Street thank the city for their strong response. And as one of my neighbors said, ding dong. Ding dong, maybe not the Wicked Witch is dead, but the Wicked Witch is gone on Mulberry Street. So thank you. And again, welcome. Thanks, Mr. Hunnigan. Mr. White. First of all, I would like to thank Carl Sandburg for their presentation. There was very much information that I received, and I hope we'll get to use it. I just see a bunch of young faces out here. I'm just elated to see you. Stay involved in your community. Thank you for coming. Today, October 6th, is a special day for a lady that I know, met, heard speak a lot of times. She was born October 6th, 1917, and she died March 14th, 1977 at 60 years old. The lady's name was Fannie Lou Hamer. Fannie Lou Hamer was best known for her tireless work as a civil rights activist, particularly in her leadership for the fight for black voting rights in Mississippi and her powerful, unforgettable testimony at the 1964 Democratic National Convention about the violent suppression of voting rights and forced sterilization. Her iconic phrase, which I will tell you about later on, but part of her aspect is she was a voting right activist, She became the pivotal figure of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. All these students are here. That's part of them. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, she helped establish the MFDEP, a biracial organization that challenged the all-white segregated Mississippi delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention demanding fair representation of black voters. Her testimony in 1964, the Democratic National Convention, President Linda B. Johnson called it impromptu television press conference to divert media attention away from Ms. Hamer's testimony at the National Convention. She drew that much power. Her words was that powerful that our president Didn't want to hear her speak. Didn't want the nation to hear her speak. But you know what? It backfired. Because the national news media grabbed a hold to it and they played it so everybody got to see it. She was a very powerful lady. She wasn't highly educated, but she was steadfast. And be steadfast. I thank you, Mr. Cook. We are in a turmoil. We have rough situations going on in our country. As a veteran, I never would ever believe that there would be military men on our streets arresting our citizens without due process. Stand up because it's going to be you next. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. White. Mr. Chair. We have so many positive things happening in our town, and I really appreciated the presentation from Carl Sandburg College. I look forward to more information about what's happening. I do hope they come back and we continue to hear from them. A lot of things are popping again downtown. I live fairly close to downtown, so I appreciate it. We have a new pet store down there. I got to go to the grand opening of Dory and Dante's, or is it Dante and Dory's pet shop? That's going to be a nice place to walk my dog and get treats and enjoyed the Jersey, rather the Journey tribute band resurrection at the Orpheum. It's just amazing the kind of acts that we're getting and there's so much enthusiasm. I just feel like it's really helping create a good buzz downtown, both the arts and the businesses. We've got some really neat things to be proud of. We have a female high school soccer player, Eliana Juarez, who was just named to Western Big Six's conference team. I played club soccer at Knox College, and that brings me to another thing. I have a significant college reunion coming up at Knox College. Looking forward to seeing many of my old classmates this coming weekend. And for those of you in the community that may be interested, our local historical society is... going to be holding, it's Rex Charrington is holding a unique tour around Knox College and Lombard College, the unique relationship between the two, a bit of a rivalry, but also a synergy. And that's going to be Saturday afternoon. I posted that on Facebook, but I think it's also on the Historical Society site. So lots to look forward to. We just need to keep the momentum going. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Saul, your cleanup. Yeah. Being a CSC graduate myself, I appreciate that presentation this evening. It's very confusing for students when they're first starting their college career to try and find money to be able to go to college. So I appreciate that presentation this evening. Also, I appreciate our police chief, Mr. Legate for going and having coffee with a cop. I think it's very vital for people such as himself and the fire chief and to be able to communicate with children when they're not under pressure. I hate to see kids get scared of cops. And the same way with doctors. I think the school system should take the kids out to the hospitals and show them the doctors and the nurses and all that stuff just to make them aware they're not always there to give them a shot or when they're sick, they need to treat them like humans. get them to where they're not scared of them. And things like what Chief Legate did is a great thing to do. Just get out in the community and see the people and make them aware. We're not always here to bust you or, you know, give you a hard time. So that was a good thing that he did. We just took a tour of the scenic drive this weekend and there was a lot of people out. It was a wonderful time. The vendors I'm sure did well. I hope they do as well next weekend. I know it's all weather dependent and I can relate to that. We just got back from IML up in Chicago. What a great time communicating with other leaders of other communities. Excellent networking. So that was a very good time up in Chicago, well spent. Lastly, but not least, Mr. Hunnigan, patience is a virtue. It'll happen sooner or later and it needs to happen because those people walk along those streets are in danger. You never know. It's just crazy, but I hope it happens soon. Thank you, Mr. Saul. Appreciate your comments. My closing comments, I want to thank the NOC students who are here. I hope you come back. You're definitely part of our community and we want you to be involved, and there are many ways to be involved in Galesburg. I want to mention that this strategic, excuse me, KPCK, I'm just kidding, KCAP, we have our leader here in front, Mr. Springer, we met, the housing subcommittee met for I think the third time, and we have a very strong body of people involved in that. This is the number one priority. for KCAP, which is housing in Galesburg. And I thought we had an extremely constructive meeting. I'll be sending my thoughts of that meeting to the council before the week is out. But I thought we got off to a great start. I think there were a lot of really, really tangible suggestions made. Now we have to prioritize those and figure out which direction we're gonna move initially. But with the group and with the folks involved, which are a cross-section of the community, I think we're going to make some headway. And we should know more on that before the year is out. So I'm very, very thankful for that effort. I would say to speak to Mr. Hunnigan's mention of volunteerism. Volunteerism is alive and well in Galesburg. And I participated in two events this weekend. First was the planting of trees, Project 350, which is now Project 600. uh... splendid over twenty trees in the war five and uh... it was a wonderful day to do that and we had well over twenty volunteers uh... dissipating swung very quickly within about an hour we're able to plant twenty very substantial trees inward five in next weekend this coming weekend will be planning some more trees so if you're interested in that let me know uh... and we can we can give you a shovel and you can be part of that that project uh... yesterday There were over 80 volunteers that convened on Trinity Lutheran Church's basement. And we packed nutritional bags for children in Lesotho. And you may not know about Lesotho. It's a small country inside the country of South Africa. But there is an initiative called the Lesotho Nutritional Initiative. And we packed over 12,000 meals for children in Lesotho. And 25 of those volunteers were Knox baseball players. And they spent three hours of their Sunday volunteering to do that. So I'm very, very proud of Knox. I'm very proud of the other 70 volunteers that were there involved. It was really a wonderful opportunity for people to gather together and do something good for other people. And even people who are thousands and thousands of miles away. It was really, really powerful experience. And I know it's not, I think it's the second or third time that's been done in Galesburg, thanks to an initiative by a Knox student. And if people want to be involved in that next time it comes about, let me know, and we'll make sure you're on the email list. On a final note, just, yes, Carl Sandburg is an amazing college in our city, one of two amazing colleges in Galesburg, and we are very, very thankful that they are here and thriving. And we're extremely proud of our commitment over the last 10 years to contribute to that effort to ensure that local young people and even people who might be a little older can access education and transition into good paying jobs that are growing in our community for the first time in a long time. So we're very, very thankful to be a part of that. So on that very positive note, I'll ask for a motion to adjourn. I heard from both of you. All those in favor say aye. And we'll adjourn. And so you can get back and watch the Cubs first pitch in about 30 minutes.