Let's commence our City Council meeting April 21st, 2025. Ms. Benowitz, please call the roll. Council Member Hicks? Yes. Dennis? Yes. Miller? Yes. White? Yes. Acerra? Yes. Carrington? Yes. Cheeseman? Yes. Mayor Schwartzman? Yes. Seven are present, Your Honor. Thank you. And we will have Pledge of Allegiance. I'm going to ask Mr. Dennis to lead us off. I'm here to read the proclamations. Anyone here from the Tree Commission? Anyone here who's planted a tree in Galesburg? Anybody here who's planted probably 500 trees in Galesburg? Please step forward. Thank you. Thank you. It's an honor to be next to these two gentlemen. Ask them to speak in a moment. So this proclamation reads as follows. Whereas in 1872, J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees. Whereas in 2025 is the 153rd anniversary of this holiday, called Arbor Day, and was first observed with the planting of more than a million trees in Nebraska. And Arbor Day is now observed throughout the nation and the world. And whereas trees reduce the number, excuse me, reduce the erosion of topsoil by wind and water, cutting heat and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce oxygen, provide recreational opportunities, and provide habitat for wildlife. And whereas trees are a renewable resource, giving us paper, wood for our homes, fuel for our fires, and countless other wood products. And whereas trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, and beautify our community. And whereas the City of Galesburg has been recognized as a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation and desires to continue its tree planting practices. Whereas trees, wherever they are planted, encourage the preservation and replenishment of trees to benefit present and future generations. Now, therefore, I, Peter Schwartzman, Mayor of the City of Galesburg, Illinois, proclaim Friday, April 25th, 2025 as Arbor Day, in the city of Galesburg and urge all citizens to plant trees to promote the wellbeing of this and future generations. Trees, wherever they are planted, are a source of joy and spiritual renewal. Dated on this day, hold your applause for a moment, on this day, 21st day of April, 2025. Sign with me and with the seal. And I present this to two men who have done a remarkable job of planting quite a few trees, as they may describe. but I present this to you. Thank you for your service. Thank you. I'd just like to thank Mayor Schwartzman and the City Council for the commitment to Project 350 and the funding, and also for Tom's work in leading this really outstanding project. So thanks again. Thank you. Anything you want to say? Can't pass that up. I also want to thank Donnie Miles and the staff at the department for all the assistance they give, as well as the tree commissioners and all the people that get their hands dirty on Saturday mornings in Galesburg. Some of them sitting up here. One big guy over here that's a get-out-of-his-way type guy. And thank you, Mr. Schwartzman, for your initiative. Okay, great. Great job. Now we can applaud. Okay, next item on the list is the approval of the minutes from the April 7th, 2025 meeting. We need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Dennis. You have a second? Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman. Any questions about the minutes? Seeing none, I call for vote on the minutes from the April 7th, 2025 meeting. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you very much. We have reached public comment, so if you came here for public comment, you just need to step forward and state your name, and then you have three minutes to address the council. Please proceed. Yeah, I'm not very good at public comment. I'm not a very good public speaker, I don't think, but... So the skate park... Your name, please, first. Oh, sorry. Noah Selkirk. The skate park, it's a place that me and my friends... It basically raised me. I even helped, last time, rebuild it. The city bought the cheap stuff, which is okay. It got us by. But it has now fallen into such disrepair that... The structure itself is good, but the stuff that the city bought is the wrong stuff. And basically, we just need to fix it because I no longer skate, but all the younger kids, I've met some really good kids in this community, and they love it just as much as me and my friends did. And when you think of most of the kids... A lot of kids play baseball, basketball, all that. There's amazing facilities for all them to go to. I think the skateboarding community deserves the exact same thing. And if we go downtown and skateboard, you know, we get kicked out, and I understand that. It does tear stuff up. I will admit that. I just think that it's fair. I mean, we just spent all this money down here on this library. I think it's fair to spend $20,000 to fix the skate park properly with the proper materials, and it'll last 15, 20 years. So that's all I got to say. Appreciate you guys for having me. Thank you. Thank you. Please step forward and state your name, and you have three minutes. Hi, my name is Sue Hewlett. I'm a member of the pickleball focus group. And on behalf of the pickleball community, we'd like to thank the city and the city council for proceeding with the project for building six to eight pickleball courts out at Rotary Park. We think this is great for the growing pickleball community locally. and we think it will bring lots of visitors to Galesburg to go to tournaments that we will become famous for very quickly. I'm just kidding, Rick Spector. I also would like specifically to thank many of the people that have participated in preparing for the project at Rotary. In particular, I might mention Kathy Gibson, who's the new recreation supervisor. And she's facilitated opening Bateman, not Bateman. Hawthorne gym for three pickleball courts. And that's a nice facility and they're staffing that. We'd also like to thank Don Miles for his work in proceeding with soliciting bids for design plans and proceeding with that. And to thank him and the city again for, what's the word I want? Keeping a nice surface more or less at the Bateman courts. So just a big thank you. Thank you. Anyone else here for public comment, please step forward. Take your time. Good to see you. My name is David Selkirk. I'm Ward 5, Chairman of the City Golf Commission. And about all I've got to talk about for bunkers this week is on May 4th, which is a Sunday, the American Legion baseball team is having their golf outing to raise funds for their season and what have you. There are five spots left, which are four-man teams. And I just talked to Kyle Spencer earlier today, just met him, and his number is 309-371-5605. He'd like to get these five spots filled, or you could probably call the Bunker Links and they'd take care of you too. So it's well worthwhile. It's $300 for four people. That's $75, which is about ordinary for any golf outings that you would attend. And as you know, we have lots of them out there, and they do raise a lot of money for golf. the organizations are putting them on and we're just glad to have them and so thank you very much see you next anyone else please step forward My name is Nate Theory. I am representing the AFSCME local level 73 on this matter. As a member of AFSCME, we've been engaged in midterm bargaining since September of 24. The union has met with the city about six times to negotiate salary upgrades. And right now we're kind of at a stalemate. Over the time, the union has gave comparables to other cities. Their salaries attempting to distribute discriminate why these titles deserve the same pay as our, you know, municipalities and stuff around the state. They are not outside of the realm of, you know, population that we serve today. The city has maintained that the cost of salary upgrades is too costly. On tonight's agenda, you're voting on a assistant city manager position that's never existed in the city of Galesburg before to this meeting potentially. That position would start at over 103K per year, while the city maintains they don't have funding to increase almost 60 other positions that are already on the books. That one position would almost cover that. So at this point, the city has given us a letter saying that they do not wish to, they have no interest in furthering the discussion on spending city resources or time on these issues to negotiate over upgrades. We asked the city council to table this item and come back to it at a different date after you guys get some more information on it. Thank you. Thank you. Someone else here for public comment this evening? Mindy Knapp, I'm not a Galesburg citizen. I was in the past, I live in Avon. My daughter is employed up here. I've been trying to get employment. I approached the mayor at the, I forget the church, for a free meal since I've been up here looking for work and spending a lot of time at the public library and at your resources, general assistance, and everything that you offer in this town to help people. I bring my outfit, I'm a reenactor. I approached the mayor with my mother Bickerdike, a person that's kind of been forgotten in this town. And everything she's done, we need her more today than we did before. I'm not mother Dick Bickerdike, but I have ideas. I have attended Carl's Timber College for 12 years. Got a lot of education. I have a lot to help. I've been helping since I'm at the library. Noel knows me. I help these people when I'm helping myself. I'm very passionate about this. We have a lot of issues. You want people to come to this town. We're going through government problems. This town was established with education on the prairie. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, what is our education professors doing to help this community? We need help with people that know education. I have ideas and I got resources with the homeless. If you want to help the homeless, you have to be friends with them. They know things, they're not ignorant people. They are people that worked in our community and function and this life things has happened to them to where they are. An issue I want to address, a lot of issues that people will meet with me afterwards, I would love that I got answers, okay? I work with them and they have answers. Defecating on our streets because they have no, this is just one of the problems, but this is the major one, because it affects our community, affects our home, affects our children. Okay, they are not allowed to go to the bathrooms anywhere in town because they are homeless. They spend money in our businesses with what money, however they obtain it or through food stamps, but they're still, because they are homeless, categorized. They're not allowed to use the restrooms. So where are they going to the bathroom, ladies and gentlemen? Defecation on our streets, in our buildings. Recently, I've talked to the mayor. I addressed to him issues that I know privately and personally of the city, of the police station here. at night where they come in and sleep at night. These are people that I know that are homeless, that are over 40 years old, that you know when you go to the bathroom at night and you get up and you have to go. I'm sorry, it's three minutes. Yes. Now, let me just say, I'm happy to meet with you after some of the cultures maybe, but please bring this attention and we'll continue the conversation afterwards. Okay, 14 minutes. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else here, please step forward. No, you had your shot. Come back next meeting or meet me afterwards. Okay, that's fair. That's a fair question. Anyone else here with a public comment? Yes. My name is Holly McDormand and I live in Ward 6. I've had the privilege the last couple of years to see another side of our population and our community online in a Facebook group called We Are Galesburg. And we have talked about wonderful things, the past, the present, things that bring us together. And we have a wide, diverse, and wonderful community. I do know of a lot of people in this community that are afraid to come out. We do know that we are under a lot of, you know, there's been a lot of events, you know, nationwide and everything. So I think it would be imperative for council members to at least give some sort of indication that you would be a good contact for anybody under your word, and that you would listen without prejudice, and that you are there for everyone. I want nothing but goodness for the community, and I've seen it and I've heard it, and it's been an honor to hear from people that I didn't know before. and hear the stories from Gettysburg that were before me and before my time. And so I just wanted to kind of mention that. I think that would be something wonderful to hear for our community. We have a lot of people here that are afraid or scared for what's going on in the world. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you, officer. Anything else from anyone? Please step forward and say your name. I don't know who wants to go first. Go ahead, Mr. Yellow. Hi, I'm Robert Kane. I got in two different wards. I have property and the guy that addressed about this assistant city manager, We went through a heck of a lot of stuff with the last one, stuff like that. I really hope you guys do think about that a little bit more. I want to thank the tree commission and the 350 program because I am going to get one in front of my place. I've had three taken out, and we're going to put one in for sure. Maybe we'll talk a little harder and get a couple more. But I appreciate everything going on. And on the homeless end, I talked to a lot of them. There's a lot of organizations out there that they don't want to use. We can't do anything about that. I think it's come a long ways, though. I really do. I think it's a long way. And I haven't been up in front of the mic for a couple meetings, so I figured I had to come show my face again. I thank you all. That's it for me. Thank you. There's another gentleman, I believe. Please step forward. Jason Grover, and kind of had an idea similar to West Main's overpass with the flashing light that would let you know if there's a red light at the other end. I'd seen one thought about doing something similar to that to the 4th Street Bridge going west when you go over the tracks and then if there's a train. didn't have the choice to turn around and trying to find another or go back up and over, but like put the light system at the intersection of like 3rd and South Seminary Street. So if someone sees the red light, they know there's a train that crossing at Academy so they can turn instead of trying to find a way to turn around or just to avoid going over and sitting there and waiting. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. We'll have a look at that. Anyone else? I saw somebody's coming forward. We need a drum roll for this gentleman. We got some, we also have some special guests. We got some, you can't see them on camera, but we got some special guests. Hello there, everybody. Anthony Law, Ward 1. I am very proud to have a group of students from Carlsonburg College, most of them international, although we do have some local students. And over the past... I guess since August, we have been keeping track of everything that goes on in the city. For those of you who didn't know, I even had a brief moment where I was even considering running simply because I was challenged to have all the expectations. But the one thing I want to say to everybody in the room, thank you for your representation, for your leadership. You, for a lot of our students, both at Sandburg and at Knox, represent the United States of America. These students, they've come from far away, and this is what they've called home for the time that they're here as students. So thank you for doing that, because it's been a great representation. I mean, we take it from this end to that end and back again. And I love that. And some of the freedoms that you share by your commitment to doing what you believe in are lessons. The wonderful thing about college, and especially when you go to another country, is that most of the lessons you're going to learn happen outside the classroom. So everybody in here has the potential to be a teacher. So when you think about the trips home, when they go home and their parents ask them, tell me about America, they're talking about Galesburg. So with all the freedoms we have, we also have a lot of responsibility. Remember that you represent more than yourselves, that you represent more than your wards or your parties. Remember that you represent the United States of America. And I'm proud to say you've been a fine representation. We don't always agree. We don't always see the eye to eye. But that is the beauty of America. And for these students, you guys have been wonderful teachers. I want to say that. So continue that. We're in the other room. We're watching this firsthand. So I just want to say. And we are also guests of, thank you very much, Dean Cheeseman. And he's got his... Yale Scholar students here as well. So thank you very much for that opportunity. And remember, whatever you do, there's always somebody watching. So always do your best. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for coming, folks. Anyone else here for public comment? We had a very rich variety of comments. Thank you for all who came. Okay, we'll continue the meeting. The next agenda item falls under the Consent Agenda 2025-08. All matters listed on the Consent Agenda are considered routine by the City Council and be enacted by one motion. We have two items here. We need a motion. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Second. Thanks, Mrs. Chair. Any questions about those two items? Seeing none, I ask the Clerk to call a vote on Consent Agenda 2025-08. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We move to the passages of ordinances and resolutions. We have two items to consider. One is on final reading, and the second is on first reading. The one on final reading at this time is 251003. This is an ordinance, sale of surplus city-owned real estate. And we need a motion and a second, and then Mr. Hanson will tell us more. Thank you, Mr. Dennis and Mr. White. Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff recommends approval of an ordinance to sell 13 city-owned vacant lots through a bid process to reduce the city maintenance cost and return the properties to the tax rolls. Bidders can submit a bid with or without a development plan. The minimum bid is set at $100, and proceeds will fund future property redevelopment efforts. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Any questions about this item? Seeing none, I ask the clerk to call a roll on 251003, sale of surplus city-owned real estate. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. The second item, actually there's three items, I've said two. The second item is 251004, This is a Knox College bond issuance. It's on first reading. I ask Mr. Hanson to explicate. Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to move this to a final reading, if I could, please. We have a motion on the floor. Mr. Cheeseman has made that motion. Is there a second to that motion? I heard Mr. Dennis. Now that we have a motion and a second, suspend the rules, and that goes to vote. So please vote yes to suspend the rules, vote no to not. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes. Your Honor? Okay, so we now are seeing this on final reading. We need a motion to move it at this time. Mr. Cheeseman, thank you for a first. Who has a second? Mr. Dennis? Okay, Mr. Hanson, please tell us what we're doing. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of a bond ordinance authorizing the issuance of up to $26 million in bonds to assist Knox College in refinancing existing debt and undertaking various capital projects. Issuance of the debt for a private not-for-profit institution of higher learning is a valid exercise of the city's home rule authority. The city has zero liability or obligation associated with repayment of the bonds, nor any control over the use of their proceeds. Knox will pay the fees, any and all fees incurred by the city's bond council and financial advisor or per the agreement between the parties. The city undertook this back, I believe in 2021. Many home rural cities are asked to do this. This is a pretty common practice. The basic question that I know council always gets is, are we sure that there's no liability to the city? And yes, we're confident there's no liability to the city. Staff is recommending approval in support of their efforts to reinvest in their campus. Happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you, Mr. Hicks. So, Eric, are they trying to make Knox College as nice as Monmouth College? Probably a close second. Okay. I'm wearing a red coat, but that's an opportunity. I should have worn my purple coat tonight. Anyone else? Mr. Cheeseman? Glad to be a part of this. Knox brings a tremendous amount to our community, and And this will also mean jobs for our community and just a betterment for our community as well as for helping Knox. This is good in all ways. So glad to be a part of supporting this. Thank you. Okay. Not seeing. Oh, Mr. Miller, please. I hope with this bond issue that we see some spectacular things. I've been in contact with the city manager. I travel South Street at night. late quite a bit. I asked Knox College work on lighting. It's poor and I think it's your responsibility to protect your students. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Anyone else? Mr. White. As 70 some years of Galesburg, Illinois, I bet you I've been through Knox College more than anybody in this building. even students. I lived there as a young man, and I'm just glad that Knox is moving forward as the community center, Carver Center. Knox students used to come over there and help us. They've always been a great asset to Galesburg. And I'm just glad that I'm part of a group that's helping them move forward and continue to grow. Thank you. Okay, I'll ask for a vote. This is, again, on final reading, 251004. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. And thank you for the Knox representatives that are here for their service on this project. our next item there is a third ordinance it's on first reading twenty five one zero zero five the sale of disc golf baskets mister hanson can you please clarify what that is sure cannot one right uh... so staff is recommending approval of a special ordinance authorizing the city to solicit bids for the sale of eighteen disc golf baskets which were recently removed from qantas park when the course was updated with new baskets Two separate bids will be requested. Baskets from the first nine holes will be sold as a group, while the remaining baskets will be sold on an individual basis. The revenue received from the sale of this property will be deposited into the Park and Recreation Fund to offset future purposes. This was a recommendation. We've got a pretty dedicated group of disc golf players. They felt this was a way to actually generate some revenue rather than just being rid of them. The individual ones are likely to be purchased by individuals that want to use them for practice purposes in their yard or whatever. The others could be used to start a small course somewhere. Either way, it's really more of a community service project in support of their endeavor to grow the disc golf program and we're obviously supportive. Happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you. Thanks. I just wanted to say I've also spoken with the leader of the disc golf group, and I think this is a great idea. I think there's a certain sentimental value as well, and it's a great idea. They're just so grateful, and we're getting such great traction with the new disc golf course and with the improvement to the Kiwanis Park area golf course. So good job, everyone. Thank you. Mr. White? Can I make a motion to move this to second reading? So Mr. White has made such a motion. Do we have a second to that motion? Second. Mr. Miller seconds that motion. And now we go to vote. So vote yes to suspend the rules and bring this to the final reading. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Excellent. We'll have a shorter meeting next time. Our next item that has... Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not ahead of my game. So we suspended the rules. We need a motion to pass this. So moved. Second. Yes. You heard those, Ms. Benowitz? Okay. So we're now voting. Final reading on this item. Please vote yes to pass it. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. And next item is the City Manager's Report, and I'll turn it over to Mr. Hansen. Thanks, Your Honor. Just a couple things to cover this evening, I think mostly for public information. One, we'll be sending out some information. It is that time of year. If you remember last year, we bid out power for aggregation, and we did that once again this year. If you're paying attention at all to the markets, they're rather volatile at the moment, with commodity prices being pretty high. So the rate certainly wasn't where we wanted it to be. The good news from the city's standpoint is our existing agreement actually runs through July. Ameren will be bidding their base power in May. So our intent, we'll send out notification to all the residents here in the next week or so. Nothing is required at this time. And then if and when we see if the AMRIN rate goes above the current aggregation rate, we'll let the residents know, hey, this is a better deal. Probably want to stay involved in this program. If for some reason, you know, because of the volatility, the AMRIN rate is lower, we'll likewise notify residents to stay with AMRIN. Either way, we want our customers to get the best possible rate, as I've stated before. The city gets zero financing or any value related to the aggregation program. It's strictly a benefit to the residents. And we'll continue to work to get the best rates possible. They're also working on a program that allows for additional solar credits to actually directly offset Ameren costs, which they hope to have up and running later this year. But nonetheless, wanted to give everybody an update. Our rate, although it went up, where I was previously at and negotiated, their rate actually jumped 40% relative to ours. So it's the world we live in right now with the commodities market. But in the end, we'll distribute information to help the public make the best decision to get the best possible rate that's available for them, whether it's within the aggregation program or not. And if they have any questions, there'll be ample information on our website. We'll also be putting out via social media. The other thing I discussed this morning with Aaron, Mr. Gavin on the GIL. So if you want to give that a listen, if you want to know more, obviously we sent out some information related to PFAS in our water and just want to reassure the public that, you know, we're taking the steps necessary to get into compliance. Aaron and his team have made a tremendous amount of progress already, drastically reducing the, PFAS contaminants. Of the six types of PFAS, five of them we have zero and one we're just slightly out of compliance. They give us five years. Our goal is to be in compliance much sooner than that. We're drilling some new test wells this summer away from the river where the contamination is. And if all goes well, we'll certainly be making progress to that end. The reason you're getting a letter is because the law requires us to do so. But please know from a water quality standpoint, the city is actively working on that challenge. I equated it to similar, I know Galesburg had issues several years ago with lead lines. You all were the poster child for lead lines in the country. All of our lead lines have been replaced. Some communities haven't even started. And we want to take the same approach with PFAS in that we don't want to wait until compliance is required. We're trying to take steps to get the chemicals out of our water. And like I said, Mr. Gavin and his team are doing a good job at that. But those notices are going out. Just wanted to clarify, we'll also have information on our website and on our social media related to that. But we're definitely moving in the right direction. I think, you know, there were... There were wells that were multiple times higher than the limit before that have been taken out of service. And even from the last testing sample, we've already dropped the amount by half and are continuing to move in the right direction. So I haven't answered any questions about that as well, or please visit the website or our social media to learn more. That's all I have. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Any further, Mr. Cheeseman? I just wanted to tell Mr. Hanson thank you for being proactive in all that and also communicating that to the public. Lots of folks out there don't understand all of that. I have a hard time understanding that. his explanation there on both issues is really valuable to the public and I know it's appreciated greatly and our students here and they know that my number one theme is communication and that's great communication on behalf of the city. So thank you very much for that. Yes, I would reiterate that point. There's other letters that people are getting from the community. Some with the Galesburg city's name and logo on it. And it is kind of confusing, but you can always call the city to get explanation. I've been receiving calls this week and I call people back and try to explain the various things that are happening. Many moving parts, but I agree. I mean, in my time here, the last few years, communication from the city has been exceptional and these are complicated matters. So as Mr. Cheeson points out, don't feel embarrassed to be confused. by the legalese in the letters. It is very confusing for most people. So just call the city, inquire, and then once you find out and understand, then share that information with your neighbors. And that's probably the easiest way to get through this. But I agree that the city is making proactive, taking proactive measures in all these areas and trying to do the best for the citizens here. Thank you for your report. We'll move on to miscellaneous business. We have five items. to consider tonight. 254031 is PSB Auditorium AV System Upgrade. PSB stands for Public Safety Building. Yes. Okay. Just for everyone's edification, part of communication. So we need a motion and a second on this. So moved. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Cheeseman seconds. Any questions? Oh, I asked Mr. Hanson to tell us more. Thanks, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of the 52784-66 proposal from Tri-City Electric to upgrade the audio-visual system in the Public Safety Building Auditorium. This upgrade, the first phase of a multi-year initiative, will enhance teleconferencing, presentation, and emergency management capabilities. Two proposals were received, and while Midwest Computer Products submitted the lowest quote, the proposal lacked requested functionality. Therefore, staff is recommending the proposal submitted by Tri-City Electric. Sufficient funds are available. the 2025 budget with project completion expected by September 2025 another observation for council's purpose and the reason we're investing money this also serves as one of our you know for lack of better term a bunker in case of you know that a disaster or whatever it's below ground and has the ability to do some emergency management type of thing. So you'll see more of these things coming, but certainly this is one of the first phases to get that moving forward. Happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Any questions on this? Seeing none, I call for vote. 25-40-31. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Seven vote. Six vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Next item, 254032. This is design and engineering for pickleball courts. We need a motion and a second. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Cheeseman. Mr. Hanson. Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of the 26,450 proposal from Farnsworth Group for engineering, design, bidding, and construction administration services for new pickleball courts at Rotary Park. The current pickleball courts at Bateman Park are frequently utilized but the courts cracked due to substandard subgrade and the park facilities are limited. Rotary Park was chosen as a site for the new pickleball court since the park already has amenities such as restrooms and suitable parking to accommodate the anticipated number of pickleball players. Three firms submitted proposals for this work with Farnsworth Group submitting the low and best bid. Sufficient funds have been budgeted for this project. Obviously this is something we've been working on for close to a year. I've got a couple questions from council over the weekend. Yes, we do intend to bid alternates, the six and eight, and some of the amenities, depending on how those things come in for the budget. Relative to the park, the ideal location is actually on the far west side, adjacent to the fields, away from property. So if and when lights and those kind of things go in, they're as far away from residential properties as possible. Obviously, it's a good project. I think Sue was tired of seeing me, so she wore me down or something. But, no, it's a great group of dedicated folks who really want to see good things for our community, and this is yet another good project for our community and investment in our parks. And, obviously, staff is wholly supportive of moving this forward. Happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Anything else from the council on this? Seeing none, I call for a vote. 25, 40, 32. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Echera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Next item, 25, 40, 33. This is creating the position of Assistant City Manager and Director of Community Engagement, PIO. We need a motion and a second. Mr. Chair? I don't know if this is in order. I'd like to make a comment and then move to table this item. So just with regard to this, we've seen some comments and I've reflected on it. I just want to say that I think that this position is very much in line with the strategic plan and some of the needs that we outlined. We talked at length about the importance to do more to really communicate all the different service offerings of the city, not only to those that might be coming in for tourism or visitors, but also for those within our community. So I do see the need for this, but it seems as though there may be an opportunity to just slow this down a bit to make sure all the stakeholders have an understanding of the position. And from my perspective, you know, with my background in compensation management, I think it may be beneficial to just understand that this pay grade placement is warranted so if it's possible I would request that the city perhaps give us some market data on that to justify that placement. So those are my thoughts and that's why I'd like to request that we move to table this. Mr. Chair has asked that this be tabled. Do we have a second on that motion? Mr. Hicks seconds that motion. That's something we vote on at this time. Just to be clear we're tabling it so that would mean it comes back at the next meeting for that it could be taken off the table. It doesn't require it to be taken off the table at that time. Correct. If you table it, it comes back at the next meeting. You could also vote to refer it to another date in the future at another meeting if you wish. Tabling will bring it back at the next meeting. We'll just do a standard table tonight. Standard table has been in the motion. Mr. Hicks is second. Is there a comment on the table? If you allow it, Your Honor. I'll allow it, Mr. White. Now, I know that the new city council is coming in next meeting. They won't have any understanding on what this is doing. So is there a way that you give them an opportunity to get up to speed? We've got two new council members, and if we just throw this unfair, so is there a way we can adjust it that they can get up to speed before they're voted on? Eric and get an update on that prior to, I mean, they've got what, three weeks? Is it about three weeks? So I think Eric will do a fine job in getting them up to speed on everything. You know, however you want to do it, but it's just that I was just concerned that they would not have to have information. Mr. Hanson, just to clarify that, does that make sense? Yeah, absolutely. Because I know you're meeting with them and they're going through the process. They're not starting on that day, really. No, I've already met with both of them once. I think we're sending them additional information tomorrow to start getting them set up for their email, their computers, and all of that. So I have no concern about getting them up to speed. And obviously, to Mr. Chair's comments, I have no problem putting together the data relative to the market. I think that'll be pretty straightforward. Thank you. So the initial table has been, a motion has been made and seconded. So we're voting on that. Vote yes to table it. Vote no to consider it further. yes Dennis yes Miller yes white yes a cherry yes cheeseman yes six vote yes your honor thank you the next item 25 40 34 is the Cook Park playground installation do we have a motion in a second I heard mr. white and mr. Miller and I'll turn it over to mr. Hansen Yeah, thanks, Your Honor. Obviously a continuation of the Cook School Park. Staff is recommending approval of the 200,474.45 quote from Game Time for the installation of playground equipment and poured in place safety surfacing at Cook Park. The playground equipment was previously purchased through a grant from Game Time, and this quote covers the installation of both the equipment and the safety surfacing. The Oslo grant will cover 50% of the installation of the equipment and 37,780.35 of the safety surfacing. There are sufficient funds budgeted budgeted for the city's portion, a total portion for the project of 135, 813, and 10 cents. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Hanson. Any questions on this item? Seeing none, I call for vote. 25, 40, 34, Cook Park Playground Installation. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. A cherry, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Six vote yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Next item, 254035, last item in miscellaneous business, engineering agreement for the airport parking lot and rehabilitation project. Motion in a second? So moved. Thank you, Mr. Chair and Mr. Miller. Mr. Hanson? Thank you, Your Honor. Staff is recommending approval of an engineering agreement with Hanson Engineering for the airport entrance road and parking lot project, which is being funded through the state of Illinois' Rebuild Illinois Capital Funds. This project will involve resurfacing and expanding of the existing parking lot, as well as reconfiguration of the entrance road to address their current deteriorated condition and to accommodate parking during airport events, such as the Stearman fly-in. The total cost of the engineering agreement is $119,147, with the city's 10% share total $11,914.70 to be paid from the utility tax fund, with the remaining 90% being reimbursed by the state of Illinois through the grant funds. The project is scheduled for state letting this spring with construction planned for the summer. If you go out to the airport at all, you'll know that this is long overdue, and we're obviously excited to see this project move forward. Happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Any questions on this item? I ask the clerk to call the roll on 25-40-35. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you very much. I need a motion to sit as a town board. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Second. Mr. Cheeseman, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? We are sitting in the town board. We have two items under town business. The first are the bills, 259009. Motion for the bills, please. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Second. And thank you, Mr. Cheeseman. Any concerns about the bills? Questions about the bills? Seeing none, I call for a vote, 259009. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Aceri, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes. Your Honor. Thank you. The second item, 259010, is a resolution. Opposition to SB 2217 and 2504. Those are state policies. and Senate bills, and there's a resolution in your packet to that effect. I ask, I guess, the city clerk to expand on those at all. Do you want a motion first, Your Honor? Sorry, yes, we need a motion for that, if there is one. Okay, Mr. White makes a motion, and Mr. Cheeseman seconds. Ms. Benowitz? Yeah, so, Your Honor, this is Townships of Illinois, or TOI, is requesting that townships across Illinois adopt resolution opposing township consolidation. So these bills are currently before the Illinois General Assembly. This resolution of opposition stems from three specific proposed bills. So actually there's three. Senate Bill 2217, which would mandate the dissolution of townships with populations under 5,000, which doesn't affect us. Senate Bill 2504 would abolish township and multi-township assessor offices in counties with populations under 50,000. which would affect us. And House Bill 2515 would dissolve townships with populations under 500 also. And House Bill 2515 would also allow the county to levy property taxes in the dissolved townships boundaries and also terminate the positions of elected and appointed township officials. Okay, so this pertains to the two Senate bills at this point? Yes, Your Honor. Okay, so we had a motion and a second. Any discussion by the council? Seeing none, I call for vote on 259010. Hicks, yes. Dennis, yes. Miller, yes. White, yes. Achera, yes. Cheeseman, yes. Sixth vote, yes, Your Honor. Thank you. We need a motion to resume as a city council. So moved. Thank you, Mr. Chair and Mr. Miller. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? We are now sitting as a city council once again, and we've reached closing comments. I don't know if we should start with El Senor. Yes, sir. You got to put your mic on. You just like to throw the pressure on me, don't you? Well, since this is my last meeting, and I do want to thank Police Chief, fire chief, and all these great gentlemen over here that I've had the pleasure of working with for 16 years. Sir? And ladies. And ladies. I'm sorry. The next council person coming in, Wendell Hunnigan, is a very nice gentleman. I've met him three or four times over at his house a lot. I think he will do a decent job, probably a good job, Again, I've had a lot of time with Peter Swartzman. I think we're the two oldest on this council. But I think after 16 years, it's time for me to pull the plug and say thank you to everybody. And I do appreciate, from my heart, I really appreciate all of you. police department, fire department, everybody. Again, thank you very much. Mr. Miller. As you all know, I missed the last meeting. Farming took precedence, but back to something that we see out in the county, is a lot of trash thrown in the ditches, tires, couches, that type of stuff, leaves. A lot of it comes from inside our city. And we have to go clean it up because we want our ditches to look just as nice as you all want your yards. The city has trash and refuse pick up. we all pay for it. I would just ask all the people that's doing this to think before they throw this trash out. It's destroying creeks and things like that, our water flow out in the counties, whether it be Warren County, Knox County. I mean, we're all real close here anyhow, but I think it's something that we all need to work on and not only beautify Galesburg, which I'm all for 100%, proud to have been a part of a lot of good things that's happened in Galesburg, but also let's take care of our county. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Miller. Mr. White? Go to the city's website, go to the bottom of the page, click on get notified. Find the things that you want to know about. Anything that we have for city council meetings, all our commissions, any kind of grants that we have, emergency information, it's all there for your taking. It's free. All you have to do is get notified. Please get notified. I was really impressed that we had several people came and spoke to the city council today. That's being involved in your city. That's all I want you to do. Be involved. Please, know what's going on in your city. Be involved. You have a voice. We represent you, but you have to let us know what you want and what you have seen us doing. Give us the feedback. We tried our best to work with you because we are Galesburg and we just want our city to grow. I thank our city manager for His outstanding work, he came in here under pressure, and I still like him. He's a good guy. But please, get involved in your city. I'm looking at a buddy of mine who's going to be gone in a few more months, but we're going to get together and cook, and he knows who I'm talking about. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. White. Mr. Chair? I want to thank you, Wayne. It's been great working with you. I appreciate your help helping me transition into this wonderful role. And I do appreciate it. And I want to echo Ms. McDormand's comments regarding accessibility. I do get calls quite frequently from individuals in my ward and elsewhere regarding problems from streets or sidewalks to all kinds of things. homes that are needing to be addressed for one reason or another. And I enjoy that because I get to be helpful and I enjoy meeting the citizens of our community. Over Easter, I got to meet one very... in particular, a very helpful neighbor because my mother-in-law's dog slipped out the front door when we were eating. And that was quite a crisis because that is her baby. And one of our neighbors didn't know whose dog it was, but he took almost two hours out of his Easter to walk around with that dog and see if he could find to whom it belonged. And that was us. So thanks to Derek Barton for helping us out there. Also want to say a couple of things. Some of you may know that I'm on the WTVP public television board I know it's not directly in our community, but it is a wonderful channel that serves our community. Lots of great programming and we're having a volunteer day to clean up the tower property on Cole Street. That's gonna be on Saturday the 26th. Anybody interested in helping with that? We have so many helpers. You can contact me on my city email or phone and I'll put you in touch with folks. And then I also wanna say that individuals I know on both the Carl Sandburg and Knox College soccer teams, men's soccer teams are gonna be having a match on Sunday at 11 o'clock. So that'll be fun to see two of our colleges, our two college teams square off against each other. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Cheeseman. Wonderful comments by all and again, the public here tonight. Wayne, thank you. You've been a great servant for our city in so many different ways. Tomorrow, happy Earth Day. I think all of us are concerned about our planet in so many ways. And if we all just did our part, as you've said, Evan, and do what we're supposed to do, things would be better. I'm not Catholic, but I certainly think that noting the death of the Pope and the things that we can learn from his wisdom in all ways is something that hopefully we reflect upon. I wanna say hello again and thank you to some of our Gale Scholars that were able to be here tonight. We have done a little mini unit about learning about city government and being involved in it. The Gale Scholars is a program that's been in existence for about 30 years now. for first-generation potential college graduates with an income based, where we go through a very rigorous selection process and tremendous amounts of expectations are placed upon these students with lots of things that are challenges before them as they go through it and they shine and rise. to the top like I know they would and will. It's a pleasure to work with them, a pleasure to see them here tonight. As I say, a lot is asked of them and the result of what they get is they will get a full scholarship, tuition free scholarship at Sandburg College and a tuition free scholarship at Knox College. And they earn it and work hard for it and hopefully we do things to help them remain here and make them a viable part now and in our future city. And I thank them for coming, and it's an honor to be associated with them. I want to also say we're now, a number of us are completing our second year of serving the city council. We are not perfect, but we've got a lot of things done. And I look forward to listening and working with, and I think this is extremely important to say, working for all of you. Every one of you is important in our community. And I know that as Mrs. Achera just said a little while ago, I find it an absolute pleasure to talk with folks, whether it's on the phone or out in the public. And I think all of us, if we kept track of this, would see we spent a lot of time at it, but it's a pleasure to do these kinds of things and continue to try to do great things for our city. And this is a terrific city. And I think all of us should sell it in so many ways and all the ways that we possibly can. Just look at what's been done here tonight. And I've seen this now happen meeting after meeting after meeting. And I think it's going to continue as we all work together and we work together as citizens. So thank you for this honor and privilege of working for you and with you. And I look forward to this in the future and listening to all of your ideas. Thank you very much. every student that showed up today, Mr. Law's students, and the Yale scholars. Can we give them a hand? Mr. White, they are terrific. Mr. Hicks, we were clapping for you, by the way. Just three quick things. One, I'd like to thank the KCAP group that went out to Washington, D.C. and lobbied on our behalf for some very important projects. I mean, I have personal experience in doing this many, many years ago when I was associated with the Asheville, North Carolina. area. I went on a lobbying trip, and we successfully brought back $4.5 million for our regional airport there in North Carolina. And I'm hoping you guys have the same success, probably greater success, because with inflation, I'm sure that would have had to have been about $12 million for what we accomplished for the Asheville airport. But that was an important thing. As Mr. Springer said in his interview, many more trips hopefully in the future with different groups of people advocating for different things. So that is an important step because if you're not in front of the legislators, you're not going to get any help. And then one quick comment, Mr. Law. made a comment that made me think about something. My daughter, Madison, is going to be an international student here shortly. She's going to be getting her master's degree in international relations in Italy. And I'm going to have a conversation with her about how she sees the Italian government after Mr. Law had that comment. So I thought that was very, very interesting. And then finally, W.D., we started sitting next to each other. What has it been, about six years? I gave you a hard time the first time I met you and said I saw you in my opponent's driveway while I was campaigning, which I understand. She was your colleague, and we've grown from colleagues to friends. I mean, I consider you a very good friend, and I don't care how often you're not sitting next to me on Mondays. We will be in touch. We will have a drink together often and have some good conversation, and you will be greatly missed. Thank you, Mr. Hicks. Mr. Dennis, yeah, I've been with you 14 years of that 16. When I came on, I was a rookie and you were relatively new, but you and Mr. Allen definitely took me under your wings. You taught me a lot of things. You embraced me at the time and I really appreciate that. You've been part of a lot of successes in Galesburg. So you should feel good. It's time to retire as most... uh... athletes uh... we know do sixteen years is a long run so you don't thank you and you will be missed i'd i'd do appreciate your service to this country as well you serve this country prior so thank you for that uh... i i do want to thank the gail scholars if i were you stay through the whole meeting uh... there was seats i think for twelve but yet you showed up and that's uh... part of what mr cheeseman is talking about you know being involved the community part of this is showing up and uh... You are celebrities as far as I'm concerned. The community is investing in you, but you are showing up and you're doing the work and you're making us very proud. And I know some of you personally, and I'm very proud of the accomplishments and contributions you're making to our community. So thank you for being here tonight. As an environmental scientist who teaches at Knox College for the last 27 years, obviously tomorrow is a big day, Earth Day. I wish we celebrated Earth more than once a year. But, you know, if we only get one day, we get one day. And make it proud. Think about what you can do tomorrow to make this earth a better place. And I mean that really. And, you know, you might come up with solutions and ideas and maybe newfound traditions that you and your family can celebrate. Celebrate with your family. Celebrate with your neighbors. And make Earth Day a really special day tomorrow. And then Arbor Day, right? So we get two special days this week. We get Earth Day on Tuesday and we get Arbor Day on Friday. And once again, we had a resolution earlier today, tonight, two gentlemen. But as Mr. Simpkins pointed out, the number of people who have assisted in Project 350, we've actually exceeded that. We're Project 500 plus at this point. And that continues. And that's a testament to our community vitality. And the number of people... including city staff who have come on their own time to contribute to beautifying our neighborhoods. It's really powerful. It's a powerful statement. So if you've not yet planted a tree or dug a hole for such a tree, reach out to me or Mr. Simpkins or Mr. Syme here, and we'll make sure we'll give you a shovel. You can come with your bare hands. We'll give you a shovel, and you'll feel a deeper connection to... And that tree will grow over its lifetime. And every time you pass it by it or you see it or you come back to visit, you will feel that this is part of your home because it is. This is your home. So with that, it's a wonderful way to end the meeting. I ask for an adjournment. A motion and a second. Yes.