Welcome. It's 6 o'clock. We are at the Council Chambers in Galesburg, October 21st, 2024. I ask the clerk to call the roll, please. Council Member Hicks? Here. Dennis? Here. Miller? Here. White? Present. Achera? Here. Davis? Here. Cheeseman? Here. Mayor Schwartzman? Here. Eight are present, Your Honor. Thank you. We'll now have the Pledge of Allegiance. One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Hello, everyone. I'm here to read two proclamations, and then Mr. Miller will read the third. Is Mr. Lindstrom in the house? Could he please come down, please? Stand by my side, if you would. So proclamation one reads, whereas the city of Galesburg is proud to pay tribute to Lindstrom's TV and appliance on the occasion of its 100th anniversary celebration in 2024. And whereas Lindstrom's is one of Galesburg's oldest continuous businesses. And whereas during the decades, Lindstrom's has always been a family owned business and continued to have the commitment to bring Galesburg and the surrounding area top name brand appliances at affordable prices. And whereas from the sale to delivery to installation and service, their goal has always been to meet and exceed the needs of their customers. And whereas Lindstrom's TV and Appliance continues to contribute to the ongoing economic development of galesburg into the diversity of businesses in our downtown now therefore i peter schwartzman mayor of the city of galesburg illinois do hereby congratulate lindstrom's tv and appliance on the occasion of its hundredth anniversary and recognize its hundred years of faithful service to the citizens of galesburg and present this proclamation as an expression of sincere appreciation from the city of galesburg for their continued commitment to this community Dated on this date, 21st day of October 2024, my signature in the city seal. Let's give him a major round of applause. Thank you. On behalf of the employees at Lindstrom's, we very much appreciate the proclamation. We've worked pretty hard for 100 years. And there's a reason for it. We've hired good people. And they're knowledgeable people. They're innovative. They're hardworking. And I might note that two of your council members had family who worked for Lindstrom's. Wayne's brother and Cheesy's son. And we appreciate what they did for us. Galesburg has been good to Lindstrom's, and downtown Galesburg has been good to Lindstrom's. We really appreciate your support. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. Springer, will you come forward? Adam, please. I knew you brought a guest, and he's the man deserving the honor. Please come and stand by me. So the second proclamation reads as follows. Whereas manufacturing has historically represented the single largest economic sector in Illinois, employing 9.5% of the workforce and contributing more than $580 billion in total annual economic output. And whereas more than 14,000 manufacturing companies call Illinois home. Repeat that, 14,000 manufacturing companies call Illinois home. and employ more than 650,000 family members, friends, and neighbors. And whereas the growing manufacturing sector offers a wide range or array of different careers catering to a diverse range of skills and interests, and whereas manufacturing in Illinois has added more than 16,000 new jobs since 2010, and whereas manufacturing continues to be an industry on whose behalf municipal staff economic development professionals, K-12 educators, workforce agencies, and community college professionals regularly collaborate. And whereas, Manufacturing Month is a time for students, parents, educators, and all citizens to celebrate the contributions manufacturers make to our communities. Now, therefore, I, Peter Schwartzman, Mayor of the City of Galesburg, Illinois, do hereby proclaim October 2024 Manufacturing Month and encourage local efforts to enhance the public knowledge, of and perception of manufacturing in Galesburg's region. Signed on this date, 21st day of October, with the city seal. And we're very thankful to have the head of GVAC with us today. So let's give him a hand. Thank you, Mayor and members of the council. I appreciate it. I just want to share some good news, JVC related. are seeing as high in enrollment as we've ever seen. We're up 100 students this year. We were at 350 last year, we're projected to be at 450 this year. We were at 500 applications and requests last year, we received 750 applications and requests this year. So as you can imagine, it's creating some good problems and good challenges for us to have. So we're thriving and we appreciate your support and city council support. I would like to invite you, we have our manufacturing showcase coming up on the 31st of this month in our center. We have confirmed 38 manufacturing employers or post-secondary institutions that will be joining us for that, and we anticipate having somewhere between 1,700 and 2,000 students through our building that day. So I'm going to be tired at the end of that day, but it's an exciting day for us. So I just, on behalf of JAVC and my staff and our students, I appreciate your continued support for career technical education and for JAVC in Galesburg. We will start at 8.30, and we'll wrap up by 2 that day. So that is on Halloween. Please do not wear costumes, as a matter of fact. Appreciate that. Thank you. Appreciate it. That's great. Mr. Miller, come on down. Would all the people for Respect Life come and join me, please? Whereas the city of Galesburg is a community that values the dignity and worth of every individual from the moment of conception to natural death. And whereas respect for life is a fundamental principle that unites people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and walks of life as it calls upon each of us to recognize the inherent value of every person. And whereas October has traditionally been recognized as Respect Life Month, a time to focus on promoting the protection, care, dignity of all human life, including the unborn, the elderly, the disabled, and the vulnerable in our society. And whereas during this month, we reflect on the importance of supporting families, strengthening our community through compassion, and fostering a culture of life that respects the most vulnerable among us. And whereas the city of Galesburg is committed to providing service and resources to ensure that all individuals, especially those facing difficult circumstances, are treated with respect, compassion, and care. And whereas we honor the many organizations, churches, and individuals in our community who work for the tireless to uphold the dignity of life through charitable acts, counseling, and support for those in need. Now, therefore, the City Council representing the City of Galesburg, Illinois, do hereby proclaim the month of October as Respect Life Month in the City of Galesburg and encourage all residents to join in this observation by promoting respect for all human life. engaging in acts of kindness and service, and advocating for the dignity of every person. With the seal of Galesburg, dated this 21st day of October 24th. I don't have a whole lot to say other than I appreciate the support of you, Evan, and the other council members who are in attendance. And I look forward to working with the groups in the future in order to be able to respect all life here in Knox County and in Galesburg. And thank you to the members of Right to Life who came here to join us today for this proclamation. Thank you, Evan. Thank you again, Mr. Miller. We move to the approval of the minutes from the October 7th, 2024 meeting. We had a first and a second over here. Mr. Dennis and Mr. Miller, any questions about the minutes? Seeing none, I call for a vote on the minutes from the October 7th, 2024 meeting. Bix, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Davis, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Seven vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We've now reached the public comment period. If you came here for public comment, please step forward. Please state your name, and then you'll have three minutes to give your remarks. Please step forward now if you wish. Good evening City Council. My name is Nicole Roman and I am a sophomore at Knox College and I'm here on behalf of Students for Sustainability, a student-run environmental organization on our campus. Representing them, I am here with a request for implementation of a pedestrian crosswalk and a stop when pedestrian is present sign on the corner of Berrien and Academy Street to the entrance of the Knox College's farm. For context, The Knox Farm was created in 2014 as an interactive educational space for our community and since 2019, it truly has transformed. Though only an acre of land, it is filled with so much life from its abundance of space to grow local produce used in our on-campus dining services to the community who enters it. The Knox Farm is a space that receives frequent visits from many individuals. The community is composed of members of our campus who volunteer to maintain the space with some working there throughout the year. Students who pursue research projects for their fields of study, entire classrooms coming into space to learn and programs that takes place during the summer that involve Galesburg's youth. It is a location of deep significance and importance for our community and should be a space that allows everyone to feel welcomed. However, Currently, the lack of a pedestrian crossing point causes questions of inequity of accessibility, preventing students, faculty, staff, and members of our community who hold different physical constraints, a limitation to their ability to feel included into that space. Ultimately, though we acknowledge that incorporation of our requests will require components such as time, labor, and financial resources, We believe that the gravity of importance of this location is worth it for our community. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I really look forward to working with you in the future. Anyone else? Please step forward. State your name. Good evening. My name is Larry Findall. I live at 255 West Hopkins Street. Moon Towers. I face the south side of the new library. Mr. White has tried to help me and I've taken his information and the library staff doesn't seem to want to do anything because they feel that squatters, people that sleep there at night, have all of their stuff piled into the corner of the library. Sometimes they're undressed. at least from what I can see, their tops are off. I don't know where they go to the bathroom. I have no idea how they get cleaned. I do know that children walk by the area, and I do know that citizens walk by that area. Now, Mr. Schwartzman, you may have put in thousands of dollars for that new library, and Mr. Dennis, you may have put in more. And I hope you enjoy the fact that the library staff there and the head of it does not care because they are not breaking a law. They can squat there all they want. Now, I find this very sad that the city of Galesburg has built a brand new library and to allow that happen. And I would like to ask our sheriff, do you know what the percentage is of the homeless people we have in Galesburg compared to say 10 years ago or even a year ago? Mr. Findahl, typically we don't respond to people who speak at the time, but we will get you an answer as soon as we can. I've heard through different people that we have a very large increase of homeless in Galesburg, and thank you very much. Thank you. Anyone else here for public comment? Please step forward. State your name. Good evening, Darla Krejci, Ward 5. I am taking a page out of Mr. Selkirk, who comes here and talks about the golf course, and I came in before that. I'm here to tell you about Galesburg's Nature Center that I'm involved with. For those of you that don't know, we do second Saturday programs every second Saturday of the month, followed by Little Sprouts, which is more for smaller children. We also do a Nature at Night program. And they just started... a nature preschool. All these things happen at the nature center but I guess what I'm also here to talk about is the thing that finances that and that would be the walk of the dead haunted trails we've had 3 weekend so far beautiful weather has been very fortunate and it looks like this upcoming weekend is also going to be a very nice weekend for coming out and come into the woods and get scared. Over the this is our eighth year doing this we split proceeds with the city so far we're on track that the city's cut will be about $4,000 with another weekend yet to go so this is your personal invitation please come out or invite other people to come out I saw the tickets and I happily give any of you a free pass of the. Mayor Schwartzman's already come through and paid, so I owe you one. Invite your friends, and like I said, this does finance all the fine nature programs that we do offer through this city. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else for public comment? All right, thank you for coming. Continue the meeting. Our next item is the consent agenda. All matters listed under the consent agenda are considered routine by the City Council and will be enacted by one motion. Consent agenda this evening is 2024-18, and we need a motion to move it forward. So moved. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Second. Thank you, Ms. Davis. Any questions about the three items on the consent agenda this evening? Yes. Mr. White? I was just noticing that It's a raise in fees on the tennis courts. And if I'm correct, it says $10 per person per hour. Is that what it's changed to? Well, Mr. White, we'll get you an answer. I'm looking up the page real quick, please. Is this part of the subject or part of the consent agenda? It's on the consent agenda. It was $9 per person per hour, and we just went to $10 per person per hour. Oh, it was only $9 and then moved to $10? Yes. That's my misreading. I thought it went to $20. I thank you very much for that clarification. Yeah, my recollection is, since I play, it went from 6 to 7 to 8 to 9, now 10. And the main reason being we have increases in minimum wage for the people that work at that facility. So it's a way to balance that budget. Any further? Any further comments? Seeing none, I call for vote on consent agenda 2024-18. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Aceri, yes. Davis, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Seven vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We now move to passages of ordinances and resolutions. We have five items, two of which are asking for a vote this evening. The first is 24-10-20. This is an ordinance for FY 2025 revenue adjustments. It's on first reading. I'll turn it over to the city manager. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of the ordinance adjusting rates and fees collected by the city. The recommended changes listed on the attached schedule include... increases to various licenses, recreation fees, water fees, and refuse fees. All recommended increases are usual and customary with no unusual out of the ordinary increases requested. As you said, we just talked about a minute ago, most of these activity-based fees are attributed to the increased cost associated with minimum wage. The only new fee that was actually added this year that was highlighted in your packet was a a fee for no show for an expense if you order an inspection we send staff out and they don't show it's kind of the same as medical offices or other places are doing that if you have an appointment and you don't keep it there's a there would there would be a fee but in a perfect world that would never happen people would show up and we glad to give them their inspection but this is just to provide an incentive for them to do so Other than that, if approved by Council, obviously on second reading, these would go into effect January 1st with the new calendar year budget. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Any questions about this item? So this will come to us at the next Council meeting. The next item is 24-1021. This is also an ordinance. This is amending Chapter 93 regarding lift assistance fees. I turn it over to Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of an ordinance which would institute a fee for non-emergency mobility-related service calls after 10 calls per individual per calendar year. The Galesburg Fire Department responds to many calls, including non-emergency calls for services that do not require medical attention. This is a beneficial non-emergency service for individuals who have... challenges but is not ideal, substitute for regularly required mobility assistance through home health care or other related services. Staff determined that continuing to provide assistance for these non-mobility, non-emergency services up to 10 calls per year without a fee would be a sufficient number to accommodate the vast majority of the lift assist calls. During the calendar year, the first 10 calls made by an individual for lift would continue at no charge. After that point, they would result in a $100 fee for non-emergency related services. Little context to this, we run nearly 400 of these calls a year. Currently, this would not impact many individuals. And then the goal in this is that we wouldn't collect one penny for this fee. The goal is to try and encourage them not to call Because in so much as we go on these calls, if there's another call, it affects response times. We have limited staffing. We're making nearly 400 of these calls a year. There's a real cost to that. And obviously, to the extent whenever there's an emergency, I can reassure you, and I know the chief will, they will respond. And we'll respond and take good care. But for things that are not emergency, the fire department is not and shouldn't be the primary source for these items. And that's why we're requesting this ordinance. be happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Seeing no other comments on this item, this will come in front of us again in our next meeting. The third item also on first reading is 241022, another ordinance amending Chapter 94 regarding the time allowed for abatement of tall grass and weed violations. I turn it over to Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending an amendment back to this ordinance related to the abatement of tall grass and weeds from 10 days back to 5. In 2022, the time period was actually moved from 5 to 10, and notices were sent when grass has grown to a height of 12 inches or more, and then we must wait another 10 days before we can actually then bring the contractor on resulting in excessively tall grass and weeds, it is recommended to revise the time period back to the shorter time frame so that we can address the matters quicker. All of you expressed to staff concerns from throughout the city and your neighborhood, especially in the months from March to around the first of July when it's a heavy rain period. You know, before we can even cite them, the grass has to get over a foot tall, then we have to post. then we have to wait and um... you know the whole process from start to finish to finally getting it cleaned up is a good thirty days minimum and as you know uh... that results in phone calls and complaints and so staff is making this recommendation that's shortened down the time frame so that we can address these problems quicker be happy to answer any additional questions thank you Mr. Hanson I'm not seeing anything so we'll move on the next two items are things that are Requested action on two resolutions. The first is 24-2026. This is an estimation of property tax levy. We need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Anyone else? We need a second. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll turn it over to Mr. Hanson. Thank you. Staff is recommending approval of a resolution specifies that we do not tend to exceed our current levy by 105% over the 2023 property tax levy extension. Prior to the first and second reading of the property tax levy, a resolution is passed by the council stating their intent to exceed or not exceed the 5% increase threshold for a truth and taxation public hearing. The resolution indicates the intention not to exceed 105% of the previous year's levy. It does not require a truth in taxation public hearing when we move the levy forward as part of the budget. It also does not mean that we're raising it 5% either. It just means that we'll be below 5%. Happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Anybody? Nope. So we'll ask for a vote. I call for a vote on 24-2026, and I ask the clerk to call the roll. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Davis, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Seven vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. The second is a resolution 24-20-27, purchase of properties from the Knox County Trustee for demolition. Need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Miller and Mr. White. Mr. Hanson, please edify us. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of a resolution authorizing the purchase of 17 properties from the Knox County Trustee for demolition, specifically 213 Pine, 286 Fulton, 61 North Elm, 946 South Pearl, 325 South Chambers, 526 West South Street, 494 Clark, 246 North Kellogg, 751 Michigan Avenue, 84 Division Street, 793 South Seminary Street, 404 West Brooks Street, 362 West 4th, 874 South Seminary, 1041 Lancaster Street, 1049 McClure Street, and 917 West 3rd. The buildings on these properties are in dilapidated and unsafe condition and the Knox County trustee has agreed to convey the properties to the city of Galesburg for $823 each. Acquisition of these properties from the trustee would allow the city to expedite the demolition process and once demolished make the properties available for purchase during the annual sale of surplus properties to return these parcels to productive use. It is the intent to bid out the demolition of the properties in 2025. And all of the demolition cost would be eligible for reimbursement through the strong communities grant that the city was awarded in 2023. A final note this process making these available is far less expensive than going through the court system, which is why we're making this recommendation. Many of these properties are are. uh... have been issues for quite some time many of them are places that you have been contacted uh... about and we would work to expedite to get them down as quickly as possible happy to answer any questions as jansen uh... neighbors who like answers the i'd have to walk past was probably yesterday and uh... both neighbors on either side are very interested in acquiring the property once once it is demolished What is the timetable? I know it's hard to say, but is it a year or is it more than a year out? And would these properties be put on the city auction for either of those two neighbors to bid them, outbid each other for it? Yeah, so as Eric mentioned, we're going to try and get reimbursed through IDA, so that's going to take some time to get those approvals before we can move forward with the demolition and bid that out. So we anticipate bidding it out. early next year. Once we do that, there's usually a 90 to 120 day time frame to actually get some of those down. I don't anticipate us being able to offer them in the spring auction of 25, but probably in the spring auction that we do in 26. Thank you. That's very good to know. Anyone else with comments about this item? Seeing none, I call for vote on 24-20-27. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Aceri, yes. Davis, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Seven vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We do not have anything under bids, petitions, and communications, so we have reached the city manager's report. Mr. Hansen. Thank you, Your Honor. Just a couple of comments. One related to the speaker regarding the crosswalk on Academy. obviously it's in the report what the recommendation is that is based on the fact that Knox College actually owns all the property on both sides of the street for that entire block. So before we move forward with any action, staff is intending to speak with college administration about what the overall plan is and or other things that may need to come into play before we make any definitive decisions in part because there is no access point on the other side of Academy Street. So that would require a complete rework of that intersection, which is a major undertaking. It's not that we're actually opposed to the request, but I think there's more due diligence that's involved there than maybe understood relative to what's going on in that particular two block area, again, which is all controlled by the college. So we will get back with staff and certainly with the students so that they know that we're not ignoring them. But there's more work that needs to be done there. The other thing I want to remind Council of, as we stated, staff is working to put out the CIP plan. And my intent is to use this time or some time on the agenda at the November 4th meeting to go through that. There's nothing that's changed substantially from our work session on September 30th. You'll have that document hopefully this week, and then I'll walk through some of those things just to update you and ensure what we have budgeted for all the various capital requests that have come either from you or from staff that are included in the 2025 spending plan. Be happy to answer any additional questions. The key question is, when is Halloween walking? Let's see, treat feast is Saturday, correct? And then Halloween hours are regular on 31st, right? Because Halloween's Thursday, right? I have thankfully reached the point in life where neither I nor my children care about Halloween. So I should probably pay closer attention. But I believe it's, is it? Five to eight. Five to eight. Thank you. Thank you very much. We move on to miscellaneous business. We have three items to consider. The first is 244069. This is supplemental engineering agreement for Lake Story multi-use path. We need a motion and a second. Thank you, Ms. Davis. And Ms. Cicera. Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of the Supplemental Engineering Agreement with Hutchinson Engineering in the amount of $36,961 for the right-of-way negotiation for the Lake Story Path project. At the October 17, 2022 meeting, City Council approved an agreement with them in the amount of $259,619 to perform Phase II design and engineering work. for the path, which included developing plans and specifications for the project and acquisition of the right-of-way for the project. However, the cost of the preparation of purchase and documents and negotiating the purchase of right-of-way was not included in the original agreement. There are sufficient funds in the city gas tax fund for the supplemental cost, and this will allow us to continue forward to bring that project to fruition. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Any questions? The million-dollar question is, when do we expect to see construction at that location? Hopefully, it'll be this spring, 2025. We have to get the right-of-way purchase, then we can go on a state letting. Right now, we're hoping for January, and then we'll start construction in spring. Fantastic. Thank you for that. So you've heard from Mr. Hanson. We have no questions, so I'll call vote on 244069. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Cherry, yes. Davis, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Seven vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Next item is 244070, Addendum to Cash Rent Lease Agreement at Cities Business Park. We need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Dennis. Second. And Ms. Davis. Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of a one-year extension of the existing lease agreement that covers approximately 170.5 acres east of Knox Road 650 east in the Galesburg Business Park, the cash rent. Current cash rent is $321 per acre for a potential total annual rent of $54,730.50 and the same terms and conditions apply on this one-year extension. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Any questions? Seeing none, I call for a vote on 24-40-70. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Davis, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Seven vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Last item under miscellaneous business is 244071, settlement and release for sidewalk repair at 151 East Main Street. Need a motion and a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Dennis and Mr. Miller. Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of the settlement agreement and release, which provides for the repair of the city sidewalk in exchange for the release of the insurance proceeds currently held by the City of Galesburg. The privately owned property at 151 East Main was damaged by fire in February 2024, necessitating the demolition of the entire structure, which was carried out by private contractors. During this process, the city sidewalk was damaged and there was a dispute regarding which portion of the damage was caused by which contractor. Insurance proceeds in the amount of $66,303 were paid to the City to protect the City's interest and cover the estimated cost of repairing and replacing the sidewalk in its entirety. The agreement stipulates that USA Recycling and Excavating LLC will fully repair and replace the sidewalk and the City of Galesburg will release the $66,303 in insurance proceeds to USA Recycling and Excavating LLC. Once the work is complete, obviously bringing this to you tonight to get this moving forward. We're trying to get the sidewalk repaired before winter season, and I appreciate Mr Alcorn's work in helping us bring this to resolution, but encouraging support and approval so we can move forward. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr Hanson. Any comments, thoughts on this? Seeing none, I call for vote on 244071. Ask the clerk to call the roll. Yes. Dennis. Yes. Miller. Yes. White. Yes. A cherry. Yes. Davis. Yes. Cheeseman. Yes. Seven vote. Yes. Your honor. Thank you. I now need a motion to sit as the town board. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Second. Mr. Chair, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? We are sitting as the town board. First item on town business is the bills 249021. Need a motion on the bills? Thank you, Mr. Miller. Ms. Echera, thank you. Any questions about the bills? Seeing none, I call for a vote on the bills, 24-9-21. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Echera, yes. Davis, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Seven vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Second item under town business is the tax levy, 24-9-022. We need a motion for the tax levy. Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman and Ms. Davis. Any discussion of the tax levy? Seeing none, I call for vote on the tax levy, 249022. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Davis, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Seven vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We need a motion now to resume as a city council. Thank you, Mr. Miller, Mr. Dennis. All those in favor, say aye. Anyone opposed, say nay. We are sitting as a city council. We've reached closing comments. Who's leaning off? World Series starts Friday. Mr. Chair. Thank you. I just wanted to tell everybody, if you haven't heard about it yet, that Hope Cemetery, our historic cemetery, which was created before our town was even founded, is having a really cool fundraising, 5K, Knox students, thinking about you, 5K run. as well as a 1K walk. Super cool T-shirts, which is the only reason to enter any kind of run. So you got to check that out. And there's going to be food trucks, Jalisco, smoking willies. Should be a lot of fun. And I won't be running, but I'm going to be helping out with that. So if you're interested in registering, go to WGIL's community events page, or you can go to the Hope Cemetery, Friends of Hope Cemetery on Facebook. Thanks very much. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ms. Davis? Good evening. I want to repeat and remind people about the couple of items that were mentioned earlier this evening. The trick-or-treat hours on Halloween on October 31st are 5 to 8 p.m. So... If you're expecting people to show up, be sure to turn your lights on and all of that. And if you're planning to go out, please be safe and careful out on the streets and sidewalks. And then the Walk of the Dead is every weekend in October. So go check it out on South Lake Story Road. And I am saying that for myself, too, because I haven't made it over there yet. It's been really fun to check it out in prior years, and I'm looking forward to getting over there this coming weekend. I also want to address the proclamation that was made earlier. I cannot stand and support those who claim a phrase such as respect life but do not actually have respect for life. For one, this... this month, this proclamation in this group is attached to a directive from the Catholic Church. So that is religious related. It's inappropriate for a governmental entity to be associating itself with that claim. That is a historical fact. And if you Google it, the first 10 items will all say the Catholic Church. Two, the political affiliation, again, it is affiliated with one specific group of people it is not actually about people across the board and third the root of the concept is anti-abortion rhetoric and the american psychological association states that more than 50 years of international psychological research shows that having an abortion is not linked to mental health problems, but restricting access to safe legal abortions does cause harm. Research shows people who are denied abortions have worse physical and mental health and worse economic outcomes than those who seek and receive them. Not to mention the vast array of violence committed by groups like this against women and against the LGBTQ plus community. I refuse to stand with these people and their violence. Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman. I've said all along that the best thing about our town is its people. And we're talking about some of the best of the best. To be in business that long and to do the things that they've done, and I've been associated with them, they just reflect goodness. And I can't say enough good things about them. So, again, congratulations to you. I want to also, again, reinforce Manufacturing Month. I believe it's certainly a big part of our future. And everything that we can do to promote that. through vocational education, trying to bring those kinds of jobs here and on and on and on is important. And we've got a really good vocational program here and encourage all of you to go out there and see that you see by the sheer numbers, how much it's gotten better and how important it is. Thirdly, again, I know that this pathway at Lake Story that so many people are, it's going to add a lot and a lot of people are looking forward to it. So again, can't wait for all of that to happen. Again, another positive thing about our town And finally, I rarely say anything negative and this isn't negative. I think it's just, it's an opinion that I think many of us hold that as we take a look at these demolitions and we see them each month and now we're gonna do some stuff with the grass and so on and so forth. I think the number one thing, I get three communications that are clearly the most common. One, streets and sidewalks. Number two, Safety. And thirdly, and not in any of this order, but probably property is the number one. Property upkeep is the biggest. And I think that this council and our city manager and our staff are really showing how important we feel it is to take care of property. It's sad that we have to do this. It's disappointing, but doggone it, it's disgusting as well. And I know we're going to continue to move forward and make our city as attractive as we possibly can. Thank you. Mr. Hicks. Normally I keep my comments short, but to all my fellow Catholics out there, I apologize for my colleagues' comments. I'm embarrassed by them. I'm embarrassed by the fact that she left, and I will remember them. Trust me, I will remember them. And on a lighter note, I'd like to call attention to the wonderful Illini football game. I had an opportunity to go down there with Eric and his family and friends. It took me back to the days when I was there and we were on our marching through the Big Ten and went through the season undefeated and made our way to the Rose Bowl and ran into UCLA, which we lost 45-9 a long time ago. But it was a great day. It's so wonderful that Illinois football is back. Mr. Dennis appears to... Okay. Okay. Sorry, he's not here. Okay. Mr. Miller. Well, I don't have much to add tonight. I've been in the field farming, and so it's consumed all of my time. But again, I just want to remind all the public that we work hard. We drive slow pieces of equipment. We don't like to be on the road either. It's dangerous for everybody. Give the farmers a little room and thank you. Thank you, Mr. Miller. And Mr. White. I wasn't going to say anything about this, but I will remember what was told to me because I left also. I left because I'm a cancer survivor. When I have to go, I have to go. But the same thing was said to me. That was disrespectful for me leaving. I'm a Vietnam veteran. I've had three catches from Agent Orange. But that doesn't matter. It didn't matter and that was crazy to me. And I'm angry and it hurt my feelings to the core. It hurt my feelings to the core because you related my moves for something that I can't do anything else about. I think there are several people out here that know that I wear a pin. Normally you see me with the pen, am I wrong? With the feast pen? Who doesn't see me with the feast pen? I wear a feast pen. I might not agree with everything, but I respect people's other opinion. There's a lady that walked out because she didn't respect her opinion. I don't have to agree with her lifestyle, but I respect her opinion. And when we stop respecting each other's opinion, we're living in a sorry state of a world. We're living in a sorry state. We're not going to all think alike. We're not going to all believe in the same thing. But we have to learn how to respect each other's opinion. People of color say, from the womb to the tomb, that's what we say. When we talk about that, we wouldn't have racism if we respected everybody's life. We wouldn't have the problems that we have if we respected everybody's life. Please live up to that. Please. As a Christian, as a person that follows Christ, your first thing is to love and not to judge. You watch people bear their fruit. And you know whether they're a follower of Christ or not. When people hate each other and then tell you they're a Christian, they're just lying to themselves. Scripture speaks that out, please. Respect other people's opinion. Respect other people in the way that they live their life, whether you agree with it or not. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you, Mr. White. I guess I get to close. I'm thankful for Mr. Lindstrom and his family. I've heard so many wonderful things about him and the work that he's done and his family over so many years and the foundation of our downtown. It's one of the first businesses people see and very proud. There's a lot of history physically on display in his business, and I think that speaks a lot. We also had the head of the GAVC came and received the proclamation. That's wonderful news to hear that they're having trouble keeping staff for all of those children who want to be laborers in our community. I think it's profound. We've seen increases. And I think, I don't know if it's a chicken and egg problem, but which came first? We're getting all this good economic news. And then we're getting all these young people who want to do work. So I think it's a great problem to have, as he explicitly said as well. So I'm very excited about that. And I think, you know, the extent that we can provide good paying jobs to students who graduate from our high school with skills, that's a win-win for everybody involved. I also, you know, I've heard complaints recently about the roads. You know, there's a lot of... construction going on, and my own path is impeded at the moment. But that's what happens when you invest a lot of money in roads. This council invested an additional $2.5 million in roads this year, and we're seeing that work as we speak, and I'm very thankful. So be respectful of the workers. Those are real jobs. Those are real people with families. I would agree with my councilman to the right. You know, the farm community also is very important to us and we want to respect them. It's getting darker and darker earlier and earlier. Be careful for the children and their parents who are walking during Halloween. Be respectful of those who are walking and even biking. And again, bikers need to follow the rules and live up to the laws. as well, but be thoughtful and respectful of pedestrians and walkers. And thank you to the students who came tonight. They had one eloquent speaker, that's all they needed. I think the message was sent. And they stayed for the entire meeting, which is not often the case. So that means a lot. With that, I have so many notes here. I'm just gonna leave it at that. And I'll call for an adjournment. So moved. So moved. We have two. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Thank you. Be safe, everyone.