City Council on this Monday, March the 17th, 2025, here at 6 o'clock in the Galesburg City Council Chambers. My name is Steve Cheesman. I'm serving tonight as Deputy Mayor in place of Mayor Schwartzman, who is ill. I wish him the very best and a speedy recovery. We'll call the roll. Clerk Benowitz. Thank you, Your Honor. Council Member Hicks? Here. Dennis? Here. Miller? Here. White? Here. Achera? Here. Carrington? Cheeseman? Here. And Mayor Schwartzman. Six are present, Your Honor. Okay, if you will all stand and let us join together in the Pledge of Allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And if you also will remain standing, I will do a small invocation for us tonight. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you here for the opportunity to meet together to do the business of the city of Galesburg. Thank you for the freedoms you offer us and the blessings that you give us. Help us to do the business in a way that reflects compassion and ethics and care and help everyone to get the things done that need to get done here in the right way. and advance our city. I ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Okay, our first item here tonight is to take a look at the minutes from our March 3rd, 2025 meeting. If I can get a motion to approve those. Mr. Miller and a second by Mr. Dennis. Any questions? All those in favor of approving the minutes of the March 3rd, 2025 meeting. Please vote. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Echera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Okay, the next item, we have minutes from our November 4th, 2024 executive session to approve. Can I get a motion for those? So moved. Mr. Miller, a second? Second. Okay, Mrs. Echera, a second? And if there are any questions on those at all, okay, then let's go ahead and call the roll for those. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Echera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you, Mrs. Benowitz. The next item on our agenda is public comment. Public comment is... to allow our citizens to speak to our community. You have three minutes. Please come to the podium and state your name and please give us your comments. Good evening. My name is Reverend Andrew Jowers. I reside in Ward 6. And just say to Deputy Mayor Cheeseman, I'm sure you're well versed in what you're doing tonight. It's a great honor to be able to see you sit in that seat. to the rest of the council, to those in the audience, those watching from home. My topic tonight is good governance. And I think I heard some of that in the prayer that was given by Councilperson Cheeseman. I just did this on Google. It says AI overview. Refers to the way public institutions conduct public affairs and manage resources aiming for a system that is free from abuse and corruption while upholding the rule of law and respecting human rights. And they listed some key characteristics of good governance. One, participation. Two, rule of law. Three, transparency. Four, responsiveness. Five, consensus orientation. Six, equity. Seven, effectiveness and efficiency. And the last one, eight, accountability. And so I just want to comment on good governance tonight. Last council meeting, I think that was March 3rd, there was a lot of appreciation shown to those that had worked on the Cook Park initiative. And I see that good governance caused five of the council members to say, thank you, appreciate the work that you did. So I considered that very good in terms of good governance. Back in 2020, there was a water shut off for folks that were delinquents in their payments. And the previous council voted to, that was during the pandemic. And there was going to be shutoffs, and the previous council voted to keep that water on. And so that's good governance. And then the Hawthorne Pool Indoor Municipal Pool was about to be closed and shut down. The previous council, again, showed good governance, and they approved money for the renovation of that pool. That's good governance. And I also point to H.T. Custer. That was also an initiative of the Southside Task Force. And Kevin Wallace was one of the chairpersons for that. And he showed great initiative in starting that project. And so I just want to say thank you to Kevin Wallace and Jacqueline Esther Smith for their contribution to some very positive things that represents good governance. And so I encourage this present council to really distinguish themselves as well to show some good governance. And thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Jowers. Anyone else? Hello. I'm Mark Weichert. I'm here to, as a request, to kind of go over the medical issues, or health issues, rather, of having a solar sheep farm PLACED NEAR A RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT NORTH AND WEST OF GALESBURG. PULL YOUR MIC DOWN A LITTLE BIT. THANK YOU. IS THAT BETTER? YES. I'M NOT USED TO ANY OF THIS. THANK YOU. AT ANY RATE, I WOULD LIKE TO COMMENT ON THE PROS AND CONS OR THE actually mostly cons, regarding living near sheep farms for people. I have this handout that I've prepared, would like to have distributed to the council members, with your permission. And I'd like to comment on the conditions and possible consequences of having such a group of livestock near a residential area. There are several risks to this. If you look at the topography of the area and follow the waterways out there, it's unfortunate, but the pond, Behind the end of the cul-de-sac house, Tom Legg and Becky Legg live there. That pond is the primary target for most of the runoff from that area where the sheep are proposed to live. That's very dangerous for that pond and very dangerous for ultimate goal of that water that comes into that pond, which tunnels under the road and into Lake Story. Both of these areas are likely to become dead water because of the effluent of the sheep. There are several infections that I'd like to mention that are a bit scary, they're a bit dramatic. One is, Brucellosis, this bacteria is not considered to be amongst what we call normal flora, normal bacteria that live in the soil and in animals' feces and just outside places. And when it's introduced to an area, it is an aggressive and very pathogenic, that means disease-causing species of bacteria. It gives people a tremendous amount of gastrointestinal reaction and often... Mr. Weicker, you need to wrap up your comments. You're past the three minutes. If there's anything else you want to do in 10 seconds, please do so. Okay. Other infectors that are carried by sheep, Campylobacter, Dermatophytosis, and ORF, which is a viral illness. Last but not least, of course, they are known to... occasionally harbor anthrax, which is an airborne infection that would be very dangerous on the wind toward the residential area. Okay. Well, thank you very much for your comments. Okay. Thank you. I'm the boss. No. No. No, that's fine. Hi, I'm Penny Weikert. Mark and I live on Canterbury Place, Canterbury Court rather. We lived in our house for 30 years. And I want to talk to you tonight about something different. The topic is, of course, the sheep and the solar panels. But I want to talk to you tonight about the Star of Galesburg instead. That was like story. And it has been the water park and people swim, people fish. They want to put a pathway, I understand, all around the way of the lake so people can come down. We had people fishing. I already mentioned that, sorry. And I'm just looking here at my notes, sorry. The campgrounds, which are always full, 4th of July especially, you can't even get anybody in there. It's so full. And unfortunately, it's very windy out there. It was very windy out there today. And the smell of sheep, if you don't know what sheep smell like, it's not pleasant. And if the wind happens to be blowing in that direction, all the things that Galesburg is famous for, like the fireworks and the campgrounds and the hot air balloons, people aren't going to come to that. And I'll give you an example. If you've ever driven between Galesburg and Peoria, you know what that area smells like, that hog confinement farm. It's going to smell worse than that. So you need to think clearly. about what you're doing to all the people that live in that neighborhood. I mean, are we gonna be able to open our windows? Are we gonna be able to mow our lawns? So there's those things that need to be thought about and it's very unsafe. I just wanna finish up by saying that we all feel the same way out there and I know that you're gonna be hearing this from a lot of people and I was trying to make it in a different aspect for you other than just saying we don't want it and it's unsafe and it smells bad. I wanted you to think about Lake Story because that's a really important part of Galesburg. And we do, I think we really need houses out there instead of solar panels and sheep. I think you're gonna see you're gonna get more taxes from houses than you are from solar panels and sheep. So that's something for consideration. Thank you. Any other speakers? Good afternoon. Greg Chalkley, Winchester Circle. I come before you to speak at the potential fiasco of sheep and solar panels at Castleberry and South Lake Story Road. I will be clear, we are not against the utilization of solar panels because many of our neighbors have them on their houses currently. An overwhelming majority, though, of the 69 residences are vehemently opposed to an out-of-state, apparently fledgling solar company's attempt to throw up solar panels over an expanse of 30 acres within city limits, covering already residentially zoned and subdivided ground that is a part of an approved city comprehensive plan for residential development. And oh yeah, let's throw in 60 sheep as a maintenance crew and include a planned 100 more lambs what's our city get and our residents get nothing out of it other than the loss of prime development land and an additional revenue stream of property taxes that will all be gone forever we have been in constant contact with you all we appreciate that and the feedback and we offered ideas and solutions we are highly disappointed appointed we did not make the agenda tonight we need your help This council is the only governance on this unique issue. You hold the power in your hands to come up with an ordinance to address this first time ask that has been put forth to you. The county and our state have stringent guidelines in place and we have nothing. We ask, we strongly recommend, and yes, we demand that you address the issue before us. You are us. And you have been bestowed the duty of representation. Anybody here want 160 sheep in their backyard? I don't think so. Don't be known as the city that could have done something. Be known as the city and the council that protected their residents and made forward-thinking decisions that helped us all. Move toward a stringent ordinance to protect us. Move to a moratorium on all projects until an ordinance is in place. Move to let the county or state ordinance take over. see how badly this company really wants this project it's my understanding that we've known about it for six months and there's no current application to even finish it you have every legal right to move to protect your residence if you're told anything to the contrary i stand on it is absolutely incorrect opening the door and allowing this out-of-state commercial revenue producing industrial entity to enter without any guardrails is simply unacceptable. You know that. And we need your help. The decision lies solely on this council's shoulders and we need you to step up to protect us. Mr. Chair, I have a couple handouts for the council if I can give them to Clerk. Thank you all for this time. And I want to thank all these neighbors and the folks from out there around that neighborhood that are sitting in this audience today. Thank you, Mr. Chokley. Appreciate it. Others for public comment. Okay. Okay. Good evening, Deputy Mayor and other council members. I'm Darla Creechie. I think you're pretty familiar with who I am. I'm a board member of Ages Community, organizer of the Walk of the Dead Haunted Trail. And with me tonight are fellow board members and some volunteers of ours for our haunted trail. Halloween might not be your thing, but it is in the United States a multi-billion dollar industry. with over 70% of the US population participates in Halloween events in some way. Well, our market share might not quite be that big, but we're very proud of our economic input to the city for the people that come through our haunted trails and the tourism that it does bring to our community. And also that our reputation, because in the last two years, In fact, the three of the last five years, we have been voted a top 10 Halloween attraction in the haunted Illinois. So that's in the state of Illinois, we are a top 10. So 2004 was our eighth year in cooperation with the city. We had excellent weather. So we were able to operate all eight nights, Fridays and Saturdays in October. We had about 977 people go through our haunted trails. which averages about 120 a night. And so I am here tonight to present the city's cut of the revenue, and it equates to a check of $5,780. Thank you. In addition, we've purchased over $500 worth of Fishing Derby prizes for the Fishing Derby coming up in May. Cumulative totals for our eight years of operation, we have brought to the city and produced a check to you, totaling $46,441. And $246,000. or $2,500 in fishing derby prizes. So we are looking forward to our ninth year and all upcoming years of walk of the dead haunted trails. And by the way, we also cut trails for the city out there by the nature center. And this money goes towards my nature programs. So win-win for me. So I'm gonna present this to Don as the head of the rec department. Thank you very much. Anyone else for public comment? My name is Kurt Kramer, and I'm with the Knox County Humane Society. Later this evening in your agenda, you'll be voting on a three-year contract that we have with the City of Galesburg. The only thing that I'm asking is that you approve the contract for the next three years. Thank you. Thank you. Any other public comment? Good evening. Good evening. Okay. I'm here today to thank the city for the new Cook Park. If you can state your name, I know who you are. Oh, I'm sorry. But state your name for the record if you would, Gayla. My name is Gayla Pacheco. I live in Galesburg, Illinois, my hometown. I love it. I am here tonight to thank the city for the new Cook Park. There are so many to thank, beginning with the mayor, the city manager, the city council, and not one, but three parks and recreation manager directors, beginning with Tony Alignia-Steele, Elizabeth Pankey-Varner and staff who worked diligently with the grant and everything else in between. Also to Don Miles and staff who worked with the second grant and who are continuing to still work with the park. With these grants, it made a limitation so that the city would only have a fraction of the cost to build a park like this in our city. It took four years, but it will be well worth it. Again, thank you to all. This project would not have been completed without leaders such as we have now and with our city. I also want to thank Representative Dan Swanson and Senator Halpin. They were also very helpful. Leaders have many who work together as a team. Without working as a team, we don't have anything. I had a number of folks who helped on our committee for the Cook Park. It took many people, not just one person or the city. It took many other folks who helped to have this dream come true of a park on all ends of our city. So I'd like to give a big shout out to Stephanie Jackson Grimes and Karen Ford Kelly. Thank you, thank you, thank you. project was a wonderful collaboration of all. And I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Pacheco. Anyone else for public comment? Hi, I'm Glenn Bussey and I also live at Castleberry Estates. I didn't intend to come forward, but I heard the good Reverend talk about good governance. Remind me when I was teaching that the level of government that people can really attune to is local government. We can't do much with Springfield. We seem cannot do much with Washington DC, but it's local government where many of us know each other and we work for the good of whatever it is. I can't believe that very many people in the city of Galesburg would appreciate having solar farms with sheep put in their backyards. And so as a result of that, I don't think people here want to fight the city. I think we're here to say, can we work together? There has to be some kind of a solution to this issue. Maybe my wife always tells me I'm too much of an optimist, because I'm also a Cub fan. But I'm also in a situation where, in a collaboration situation, that we can work that together. And that's what we're looking forward to. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Bossie. Any others for public comment? Okay, with that being said, and again, I appreciate all of those comments tonight. I think it's just an example of how much people care about our city, involved in our city and wanna make our city a better place. So thank you to all of you with that. Our next item is our consent agenda number 2025-06. All matters listed under the consent agenda are considered routine by the city council and will be enacted by one motion. There are five of those on there. So if I could get a motion to... Okay, Mr. Dennis and a second. Second. Mrs. Echera. Any discussion on any of those items? Okay, we'll call for a vote. Clerk Benowitz. on consent agenda 2025-06. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. And now we move to passage of ordinances and resolutions. The first item and the only item underneath that category is 25-1001. authorizing the submittal of Section 5311 and downstate public transit operating assistance grant applications. Mr. Hanson? Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of authorization submission of an application for this Section 5311 and downstate public transit operating assistance program grant to fund public transportation from July 1, 2025 through July 30, 2026. The city anticipates receiving roughly $351,507 from the federal Section 5311 program, which funds up to 50% of the operating deficit of the transit and 80% of the administrative expenses and one $1,977,040 from the state's DOAP program, which reimburses up to 65% of total operating expenses. Ongoing program that's obviously vital to us having and maintaining a transit program. Staff is recommending approval. Happy to answer any questions. And this is under the first reading. Someone want to... I believe that we're looking at trying to suspend this first reading due to time constraints and vote on that tonight? Yes, if council is willing, that would be great. Okay, okay. Okay, suspend the rules. Mr. Hicks, a second with that? A second. Okay, Mr. Dennis. And we need to vote. Any discussion on that? We vote on that suspension of that. And if that passes, then we'll vote on voting on it this first time. Okay? So we're voting right now to suspend the rules and hear it on a first reading and vote on it on a first reading. Okay? Call the roll, and there we go. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Echera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Seven vote yes, Your Honor. Six vote yes, Your Honor. Okay. So now we can go ahead and make a motion to vote on it with this first reading. Okay. Mr. Miller, and a second with Mr. White. Any discussion at all? We can just vote to approve it, Your Honor. Vote to approve it, then. Okay. And let's go ahead and call for a vote on that. Hicks. Yes. Dennis. Yes. Miller. Yes. White. Yes. A cherry. Yes. Cheeseman. Yes. Six vote. Yes. Your honor. And if I may say to the folks that are in the audience, what I'm going to do here in a few minutes underneath our, our city manager report is, is ask Mr. Hansen and Mr. Alcorn to explain some things and they have been working diligently finding out information about the solar farm and the sheep and all that. So you can certainly leave as you want, but they are going to explain some things that they've been working on and they have been doing a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes. So they'll take a look at that and give you more information, okay? Okay, we'll go on now to our bids, petitions and communications. Here we have number 25-3006. It's a bid on a cracked ceiling machine for the street division. Mr. Hanson? Your Honor, you'll need a motion and a second first. I'll be happy to read. I'll do that one time, I think. Yes, go right ahead. Okay, thank you. That's my one time tonight. Okay, Mr. Miller, a second? Okay, Mr. Dennis? Okay. Now we can go ahead with that. Happy to do so. Thanks, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of a bid from the Sherwin Industries Incorporated for $67,228 to purchase a 2025 Craftco SuperShot crack sealing machine due to the limitations and costs associated with running such equipment. Purchasing the machine will allow the Street Division to perform more preventative pavement maintenance and extending roadway lifespans. One bid was received for this request and sufficient funds are budgeted. Staff is recommending approval. Any discussion or questions for Mr. Hanson? Okay, then we'll call for a vote. I just have a quick statement. It was so funny that you did what you did. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I had a gentleman call me today about this, and he misread the word ceiling. He thought it was said Sally. I can't help but to laugh about it. So he asked me, why are we buying a crack-selling machine? I checked with Acting Chief Legate does not suggest we buy a crack-selling machine. Anything goes anymore, but I don't think we've gone that far yet, okay? Any other discussion? Okay, we'll call for a vote then. Clerk Benowitz on this particular... Bid. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Okay, it's now time for the City Manager's Report. Mr. Hanson? Thank you, Your Honor. As you said, I'll kind of speak to this, and I appreciate the comments tonight, and obviously... As I think the council knows, we had a very lengthy discussion with a number of residents here a week or so ago, and obviously have done some follow-up since. To get council updated, one, I had the opportunity to speak with Representative Swanson today. We had a lengthy discussion on this and concerns shared about the situation with the state and some of the way the language is read relative to the sheep. That's actually a state somewhat initiative. Not that we're not going to work to address the concerns from the neighbors, but part of the challenge here is that the state offers additional bonus or extra points relative to the permit application if they use that type of maintenance plan. not taking into account that some of these things occur within municipal limits uh... and certainly expressed those uh... comments to to the representative and encourage them if if and when the opportunity arise that the state ought to revisit that at some point uh... but regardless you know uh... this is a this is a local project and something that will have to address it was put together by legal counsel and certainly you're you're welcome to to ask uh... mister alcorn as well uh... you know the staff has been working on a number of issues one uh... we actually are in process of drafting a very specific ordinance, not only for solar, but also for wind as well, to much more highly regulate these things within our city. Provided those samples to Mr. Gugliotta and to legal a week or so ago. And that is in motion. That process, as you know, runs from uh... planning to planning commission public hearing than the council for ultimate adoption and and certainly you can be expecting that as a group uh... soon relative to this project uh... you know we've got it we've got a couple things here that we think uh... are going to help us revisit this with that with the developer one uh... we discovered as part of our conversation with the neighbors uh... and i discover but certainly highlighted uh... their substantial drainage easements that the city has uh... that are roughly one-fourth of the project size that the council is under no obligation to waive. That sits right in the middle of the project. It's certainly something that we'll use to have discussions with them, and I think will allow us to revisit much of this project because, as stated, the council has asked, well, what can we do? legally, what you can do is not approve the drainage easements, which drastically alters this project. Two, we can also address screening requirements with that. So as the site plan has to be redeveloped, that pretty much opens everything back up in terms of our conversations, regardless of the ordinances in place. So I believe legal counsel believes that we have sufficient opportunity to re-engage on this project and express the concerns that have been brought up by the neighborhood and potentially alter or drastically alter what's being proposed and do it in such a way that doesn't put the city in any kind of legal jeopardy. And so that's the pathway that we intend, both in terms of moving forward with ordinances that we know will protect the city long-term, but also allow the city to address some concerns with this particular project. You know, I do want, you know, council has asked the question. I'm happy to try and answer questions. The one thing that has to be understood is that we have existing solar projects of this size, not with the sheep, and I fully get that concern, but there are existing solar projects in the community already large-scale solar projects that are absolutely adjacent to residential development this is not the first one uh... and it is it is something that uh... if if you go up uh... just just north of the high school uh... abutting all the properties along dayton uh... there's a massive solar project there that sits behind the baseball field all abutting directly next to residential property so uh... you know the city has to be cognizant because as as the memo shared with you We are not in a place to treat one particular development different than another. I know council is well aware of that. None of those things are said to suggest that the city is not concerned with what was shared tonight and that the staff is taking all available options to protect the city, to protect the residents' interest, and obviously bring this to a better conclusion than what was initially proposed. Happy to answer any questions about that. I got a couple more minor things, but does anybody have any specific questions about that either from me or from Mr. Alcorn? Any questions from counsel for Mr. Hanson? I'd like to say this. We've worked awfully hard with these residents and I've told them from the very beginning, this is part of my award, how impressed, how much I admire their passion, their concern, their certain unity, their teamwork that they've showed here about an issue that they feel like affects them in a very negative way. It's a complicated, complex thing. And I wished it was a lot easier, but it's not. And I know to the point that Mr. Hansen made that I know that many of the emails that we all received about having that on the agenda tonight, it's just not possible to do that with all the things that you have to go through. I wish government could go faster than it does. Also, I think that... Our administration, I can't say enough good things about Mr. Alcorn, Mr. Hanson, and Mr. Gugliotta, as they have worked enormous amounts of hours here behind the scenes trying to come up with ways, as I say, to deal with this in a favorable outcome for these folks, but also keep in mind the integrity of all the other things that are going on, that they're having to deal with an ordinance that was put in place before any of us got here. that we're now trying to scramble around to do things about that has literally bit us in the bottom here. And none of us were involved with any of those kinds of things. So it's a complex thing that we want good outcomes here for these folks and we're gonna continue to work to try to find this while keeping the integrity and the ethics and all those things that we have to do. And we're gonna keep working and thank you for all that you've done and thank you. folks for what you've done here. This is good governance and great involvement by our citizens here. So we're going to keep working at this and find a way here. Other things on your mind tonight, Mr. Hanson? Anybody have any questions for Mr. Alcorn while we're here or is everybody good? I appreciate that. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have on this. I appreciate the Deputy Mayor's comments and I think there's been a number of mentions of the concept of good governance. And I think one of the issues about good governance is fundamentally fairness. And fairness in this context requires setting the rules before the game, not moving the goalposts during the game. And that's fundamentally what we're dealing with here. is rules that were set well before we were here and trying to review our options and come up with methods to try to get around some issues like that, but at the same time being fair and not moving the goalposts in the middle of the game. But I'm happy to answer any questions you may have on that. Thank you, Mr. Alcorn. Well said. Anything else by counsel? Anything else, Mr. Hanson? One, hard to believe, but it's time for the annual Easter egg hunt. April 13th, save the date. It's a great event. It will either be unbelievably beautiful in about 70 degrees or it'll be snowing. There is no in between with any Easter egg hunt anywhere in America, I'm convinced. So regardless, either have your winter coat ready or your summer shorts ready and be prepared to enjoy. That's always a great event. It's one of the great programs that, you know, our park and rec staff do and looking forward to seeing that again. And then I missed this opportunity last year, so I'm not gonna miss it this year. This month marks year 26. for my good friend and colleague over to my right, Chief Hovind, as well as the gentleman in the booth, Orly Lucerno, that have been with the city last year. I should have mentioned at 25 because that's a major milestone, but I missed it. I saw it on a newsletter today and I'd be remiss. I continue to request that the chief not even discuss retirement. And that's because it's not allowed. But I can't tell you how fortunate we are to have those two individuals, especially in their years of service and expertise that they've given the city. They are remarkable colleagues and friends, and I really appreciate their service to the city. Happy to answer any other questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson, and thank you to those two gentlemen. Thank you very much. Appreciate your work. Okay, we move on to miscellaneous business agreements, approvals, etc. And we have four items in that. The first item is... number two five slash or dash four zero two one it's a knox college transit service contract can i get a motion for that okay mr miller a second okay this is a chair and mr hansen thank your honor the next couple items are just related to ongoing annual transit contracts uh... the first thing with knox college staff is recommending approval of a transit service contract with knox for three thousand dollars allowing students faculty and staff, unlimited rides on city transit from March 2025 to February 26 using their IDs, their college IDs. The contract will not alter existing routes or frequencies to the college and ridership data will be collected to determine future contract amounts. The contract amount is counted as local match towards our program that we approved earlier, resulting in a decreased city contribution to paratransit and bus subsidy budgets. These are great programs and obviously provide access to individuals and we receive funds sufficient to cover the cost from the college. So staff is obviously recommending approval. Any discussion, any questions for Mr. Hanson? Again, an excellent program here that allows our Knox students and staff to get around in our community and in the means that they normally or would have a more difficult time doing. So that adds to helping our community. We'll call for a vote then. Clark Benowitz? Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. A chair, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Our next item here under miscellaneous business is number 25-4022, the Veterans Assistant Transit Service Contract, similar to the Knox contract. Can I get a motion to approve that? Mr. White? And a second? Mr. Miller? and turn it over to Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of a service contract with the Knox County Veterans Assistance Commission to provide participants with curb-to-curb paratransit and unlimited fixed route rides through June 30, 2026. With services tracked and billed at current fare rates, this service contract will not change any routes or frequency, and the contract amount is counted as local match, resulting in decreased city contribution to paratransit and bus subsidy budgets while providing access to bus for those within the veterans community Great program, great contract, and obviously we're encouraging approval. Questions for Mr. Hanson or any thoughts? Again, anything that we can do for veterans is something needed and tremendous, and this is one of those as well. Okay, we'll call for a vote. Clerk Benowitz? Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Acharya, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Now we move to item 25-4023, approval of our animal shelter agreement with Prairieland Animal Welfare Center. Can I get a motion to approve that? Okay, Mr. Dennis, a second? Second. Mr. Miller? And turn it over to Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending renewal of the Animal Sheltering Service Agreement with Prairieland Animal Welfare Center for a three-year term with the first two years remaining or maintaining the current annual cost of $234,120. The agreement continues the PAWC's responsibility for animal sheltering and transport while the GPD retains enforcement of animal-related laws. The third-year costs will be negotiated prior to the second term's end. Sufficient funds are budgeted for this service. Little history, as you know, this has been kind of a transition over the last three or four year period. Appreciate Mr. Kramer's comments earlier this evening. Certainly, I think things are in a much better place and more productive place. And obviously, staff is recommending approval of this three-year extension. Any questions for Mr. Hansen or any comments, thoughts? I know that personally, and I know a number of us have, and numbers in the audience and here in our community have dealt with, the Prairieland Animal Welfare Center, and I'm just impressed. The care that folks do going beyond the call of duty to help out our animals and the folks out there, it's really, really a nice, nice thing, and we're fortunate to have them. Okay, no other questions or comments. We'll call for a vote on item 25-4023, the Animal Shelter Agreement with Prairieland Animal Welfare Center. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Okay, our last item here underneath miscellaneous business is number 25-4024 to approve a workers' compensation settlement. If I can get a motion on that item, please. Okay, this is Achera. And a second, Mr. Miller. Mr. Hanson, please. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of the work comp settlement agreement with Mr. Zach Parmenter stemming from a 2022 injury in exchange for release of claims. Mr. Parmenter will receive $24,870.77. There are sufficient funds available in the risk management fund to cover the settlement. It has been discussed with counsel. These come before you because we are self-insured. And the settlement, you got some additional information on this. Staff is obviously recommending approval. Okay, any questions for Mr. Hanson or any comments? Okay, I see none. Let's go ahead and vote on that. We'll call the vote. Clerk Benowitz? Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Echera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes. Schroeder? Okay, now we need a motion to set as a town board and we'll do that by voice vote. Mr. Miller? Second. And does the chair seconds it? All those in favor of that, please just voice vote. Aye. Okay. And we'll go ahead now and sit as a town board. And the first item we have there for approval are the bills. That's number 25-9006. And I don't think I need to do anything there, but have a vote on that. Okay. So if there's no questions or comments there. We'll call... Need a motion? Okay. That's right. We have to have two motions. So we have a motion here, Mr. Chair, and a second with Mr. Miller. Now we can have a vote on paying the bills. Thank you. So we'll call for a vote on those. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Echera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Okay. And our next item here under town business is... number two five dash nine zero zero seven to prove the annual town meeting agenda i could get a motion on that please mister miller a second james the chair seconds it any questions comments here on any of this let's call for a vote here on the annual town meeting agenda please Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Okay. And now I ask for a motion to resume as a city council by a voice vote. And if we can have a motion for that. Mr. Miller, a second. Yes, second. Mrs. Achera. All those in favor, voice vote. Aye. Okay. And we'll return to sitting as a city council. And it's time for closing comments. Anyone like to lead off with closing comments? Mr. Hicks, okay. So later on this year in June, I'm going out for a wedding to see the Cardinals and they're playing the White Sox. Just wondering if you'd like to do a bet before the game. Right now I'm feeling pretty good about the season. They're undefeated. So are the Cardinals. So, no, seriously, I'd like to thank my friends, Bill and Jess, who are in the audience that are here from the neighborhood. It's good to see you on a day other than Sunday, which we always see each other at church. And then Greg, I've in a later, earlier career, had to do a lot of these types of testimonies up in front of councils and county boards. And I want to compliment you on what an excellent job you did, how concise and to the point. And it was very, very refreshing to hear. the points that you made. And I wish I was as skilled as you back 20 years ago when I had to do it in front of the city of Atlanta. But other than that, yeah, exactly. But that's it, Mr. Deputy Mayor. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Hicks. Mr. Davis. I don't want to talk too long because as most of you know that I fell down Monday and cracked a rib and it's not fun sitting here. So I'll pass it on. Okay. I'm glad you're doing better. I know that hurts. Mr. Miller? I just want to say thank you to our city manager, our chief lieutenant, our chief legate. We've had some issues last weekend. They were very forthcoming with me, with people that was my constituents in my ward. So I want to thank both of you for the input and promptness of getting on top of it. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Mr. White. I echo what Mr. Hicks said. I thank you for everybody that came out to speak. That's one of my big things I like to see people do, come and speak to the city council because we do represent the city and we represent you. And, but I was kind of disappointed that some of it didn't stay to hear the city managers, what he's been doing. I had a lot of calls saying that we weren't getting anything done. We weren't doing anything. They were disappointed. And the city manager in the city has been working very, very hard to try and resolve this problem. And I just wish most of the people would stay to hear his explanation of what he's trying to do. So if you have opportunity, please. Let him know what he's trying to do and that he's working very hard at this. I always tell people, look at the packet. Go to the front page of our city website page, go to the bottom, click on get notified. You'll have all the information that goes on the city. We're transparent. We want you guys to be involved in our city, see what's going on. Go to the bottom of the page, get notified. And you can get anything, all the information that we get. And I want to leave you with this turmoil time that we're living in. There's a lot of people that here are Catholic and Christians and believers in Christ. I want everybody to look up Leviticus 23, 22. Leviticus 23, 22. Apply it to our lives. Thank you. Thank you. I think today's meeting was really a testament to citizen involvement. I think so many people here today have just made such a contribution to our community. I mean, I'm looking at Ms. Hodge, Ms. Pacheco, Ms. Creechie, who she's not here any longer, but so many people, Mr. Kramer, Mr. Chokley. There's so much to be said for... just stepping up and taking action where action is needed. And I will credit our staff for being very responsive. I myself first got involved with civic involvement when I was concerned about the trains. We had 100 trains going by my house every day. And what do you do? And I called the city and took seven years, but we finally got a quiet zone in place. So I will assure you that our administration is addressing these issues in a very timely fashion. I understand the grave concern for having livestock at your doorstep. That wouldn't be a good situation at all. But I think working together, we make this city a better place. So I'm very, very proud of Galesburg today. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And again, thank you, as I said here earlier, to a public comment. It was on a variety of things with passion and well thought out. And again, that's how, again, a city works and works well. And I know I've said many times the best thing about our city are the people. And again, I want to also echo these comments here that have been made about this. As I said, this solar situation is complex. And I wished it was a lot easier and it takes time. And again, I wanna say that I know this is a fact that both Mr. Hanson and Mr. Alcorn and Mr. Guglielmo and all the other staff and I know a number of us here and I know I've worked a lot here and taken phone calls and emails and tried to reply to those that we are doing everything we can to serve you and try to find a good outcome here for you. We're all in this together and it's something that all of us feeling our absolute obligation and duty to do. My other comment, within two weeks we have a municipal election and not only involves here the city council, but the school district. There are a number of fine candidates running for office, no matter the outcome and I think this is the important point. I look forward to working with the council and continuing the good work that we've been doing. We have made terrific progress and we've made that because we've all worked together. We've sought out common ground. We've given a little to get a little. We're not, by any means, people that are looking out on having it their own way and not listening to another way. I think that's absolutely something that we have done. We've achieved solutions for all of Galesburg and all of its citizens because of these things. I give tremendous credit to Mr. Hanson and his staff, his expertise, his experience, his instincts. and his leadership have been invaluable to this cause. I wish all of our candidates the best on April 1st. We now need to convene into a closed session. So if I could get somebody to read that, I sure would like that. Okay, thank you. Okay, we'd like to convene into executive session, into closed door executive session for the purpose of discussing a January 6th, 2025 executive session minutes, five ILCS. 120 slash 2C21 and B personnel 5ILCS 120 slash 2C1. Okay. And do we need a vote on that? Two votes. Okay. So we'll vote. Second. Oh, we'll get a, that you did do the, you did the motion and we got a second from Mr. Miller. Okay. Let's vote on that. And then we'll go into executive session. We'll call the roll there. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Cherry, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes. Okay. Thank you. We'll adjourn to executive session.