Committee of the whole meeting for the Elgin City Council for August 13th, 2025 to order.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Zalfaro.

Present.

Dixon.

Good.

Here.

Martinez?

Here.

Ortiz.

Here.

Powell.

Stefan?

Here.

Thorne?

Here.

Mayor Captain.

Here.

Uh Mr.

Dixon has uh asked to uh permission to uh call in uh remote if it's to the uh pleasure of the council do we need a motion me and more uh I'll move to allow council person Dixon to appear remotely.

Second second move the second or court please call the role council members alfarro yes Dixon good yes Martinez yes Ortiz Yes Stefan Yes Thorne Yes Mayor Captain Yes the motion is approved uh 70 approval of the minutes of the previous meeting of July 23rd, 2025.

Move for approval, second move to second for approval.

Any corrections or additions hearing none, clerk please call the roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes, Dixon.

Yes.

Good, yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, motion's approved 8-0.

Uh public comment this evening.

See, we have a guest, and uh back is uh Mr.

Kevin Morrison from uh the uh county board, our county board representative for uh Cook County portion of Elgin.

Uh items on the agenda, Mr.

Manager.

Thank you, Mayor.

Council members.

Item A is on both agendas, and this is an honorary street name designation for Alice Court for U.S.

Army Corporal Eraverto Ortiz.

This is an initiative from Councilmember Martinez.

The city received an honorary street name application to designate Alice Court in honor of U.S.

Army Corporal Evereto Artinez.

Excuse me, Ortiz, excuse me.

Alice Court is a one-block cul-de-sac in the Valley Creek subdivision.

Councilmember Martinez endorsed the application, and every property owner abutting the street supports the designation.

The application review group, which consists of Mayor Captain, Councilmember Martinez, the City Clerk, Community Development Director Mark Millot, and Public Works Director Mike Pubins.

All recommend approval.

Corporal Ortiz was killed in the Korean War in September 1950.

His remains were recovered in early 1951, but could not be positively identified until 2018.

Corporal Ortiz was laid to rest in the Bluff City Cemetery with full military honors in October 2024 after 73 years of missing in action status.

He was awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Service Star, and the Army Gold Conduct Medal, among many others for his bravery and service.

Move for approval.

Second.

It's on both agendas, so anybody have uh any questions this time?

Okay.

Item B is the parking lot and alley 2025 maintenance program.

This is a design and construction engineering services agreement with Thomas Engineering.

Uh Thomas is providing the design and construction engineering for the for this year's program as we stated, and this includes improvements to the city-owned parking lots, alleys throughout Elgin.

Engineering services include project design, uh engineering services, bid advertising, construction award assistance, construction engineering services that include but aren't limited to full-time field inspection of the construction activities, contract administration, construction documentation, general coordination, and control of the day-to-day activities.

This um initiative contemplates the parking lots at 169 Dexter Avenue, the North Employee Parking Lot for the Center, and both the concrete and batuminous parking areas at Elgin Fire Station number three.

That's located in 2455 Royal Boulevard.

The Spring Street Alley behind and north of 40 to Page Court and the Highland Avenue Alley between 109 and 113 Highland Avenue near Grove Avenue are also included within this project.

Move approval.

Second.

It's been moved to second for approval.

Any discussion.

Ortiz.

I should have asked this question sooner.

So if you don't know C Manager, that's okay.

And in my neighborhood over in Swan, some of the alleys are permanent papers and it's like more sustainable.

Is the city going away from that?

Or is that just like a pilot thing over there in Swan when they did that a couple years ago?

Well, maybe like 10 years ago now.

From recollection, it was part of the pilot program that was we were also doing rain gardens in those areas.

At that time, uh the Swan area was experiencing a higher incidence of overland floodings during storms.

A lot of the combined sewer separation work seems to have alleviated some of those concerns, so I believe that's what the difference is in that in this instance.

All right, that's it.

Thanks.

Anything else?

Court, please call a rule.

Councilmember Zalfaro.

Abstain.

Dixon.

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motions approved 7-0 with one abstention.

Item C is a green infrastructure grant opportunity agreement, commonly referred to as Gigo, and this is for the City Hall Sustainable Parking Lot Design and Reconstruction Project.

While planning for the proposed city hall parking lot reconstruction, staff recognized an opportunity to apply sustainable construction practices aimed at reducing stormwater runoff and pollution discharge into the Fox River.

The city applied for and ultimately received construction funding through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's Green Infrastructure Grant Opportunities Program.

This provides funds to construct green infrastructure best management practices that prevent, eliminate, or reduce stormwater runoff into Illinois rivers, streams, and lakes.

Accepting this grant will provide 75% of the funds necessary to construct sustainable features in the parking lot, including rain gardens, permeable pavers, native plantings, and an oil and grid separator.

City Council may recall that a previous proposal contemplated a sustainable initiative that required the loss of 30 of the 336 parking spaces.

This initiative only requires removing 14 spaces.

If approved, design efforts will begin in January and February of 2026 with construction expected to begin in May and be completed in August 2026.

Move for approval.

Second.

It's been moved to second for approval.

Any discussion.

Mr.

Thorne.

Yes, I'd just like to compliment the staff again on getting this grant.

Our uh staff seems to be on the lookout more than any other community.

And obviously, it helps our bottom line and it helps us move forward.

And in this instance, with this study, it uh helps with more parking places.

So kudos.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Yep.

Anything else?

Clerk, please call a rule.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne.

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motions approved seven zero eight zero.

Item D is a companion piece to a bid that we have on the regular agenda, bid one, and this involves a purchase agreement for carbon with Carbon Day EV charging to add additional electric vehicle charging stations in the cities.

In the city.

As the city's continued expansion of EV charging network continues, the proposed agreement with Carbon Day EV charging will per provide for the purchase of four networked level two charging stations.

These units are planned to be installed at the Highlands of Elgin and Bose Creek Country Club Golf Courses.

And this purchase is being made through a joint purchasing cooperative that enables the city to secure favorable pricing more comp in a much more competitive manner than would typically be achieved through individual contractor bids.

This purchase is being partially offset by approximately $30,000 and funds remaining from a grant the city received from the U.S.

Department of Eng uh Energy in the originally awarded amount of 162,000 dollars.

Previous purchases under the grant program allowed the city to obtain two fully electric vehicles and the necessary fleet charging infrastructure to keep them on the streets.

Move approval.

Second move to second for approval.

Any discussion.

Hearing none, please call the rule.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motions approved 80.

Item E is a golf cart lease with Nadler golf car sales.

It's an extension agreement for golf carts at the Bose Creek Country Club.

Um, the existing call golf cart lease with Bose Creek Country Club is set to expire at the end of the 2026 season.

As part of the proactive planning process, staff has evaluated options to replace the fleet in advance of the lease expiration to ensure continuity of operations and to address the aging condition of the current carts.

Bose Creek offers electric cars to their customers to reduce the operations reliance on fossil fuels.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move the second for approval.

Any discussion.

I just wanted to note in the budget impact for the community that although it says the amount available is 25,300, and we're asking for 93,240.

That's an annual thing.

For now to finish off the year.

If we got clarification on the lease agreement, is dated on the 29th of May.

Would that be continue to be backtracked or would it be moved forward to August?

So and if I'm wrong, counts corporation council Beck and correct me.

So on the committee of the whole, we may not be presenting a absolutely finalized version of the agreement.

And in this instance, it's essentially going to take that form.

Wanted to provide the city council and the public with a general understanding of what the agreement is.

But when it comes time, the formal approval items like the proposed start date, things like that will reflect the actual execution.

Corporation council's affirming for me because all right, thank you.

Mr.

Thorne.

Yes, I'd just like to uh again compliment uh the golf staff on working with Nadler.

I thought I'd let Rick know that's how it's pronounced.

Thank you, sir.

I am I'm familiar with that company uh just through even uh my family dealt with them as far back as the 60s.

Uh excellent firm out of Aurora, and I think this is a great uh opportunity for the golf courses to grow anything else.

Can we make them faster?

No, no, they go too slow.

Clerk, please call a roll.

Council members alfaro, yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good, yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, the motion is approved 8-0.

Uh item F, Mayor City Council Member staff is asking to be removed from the agenda at this time while we finalize some remaining provisions in the proposed agreement.

Moving on to item G.

Thank you, sir.

This is an agreement with Andy Frain services for school crossing guards.

City seeking to continue contracting with Andy Frain services to provide crossing guards for the 11 and elementary schools for 11 elementary schools within Elgin.

It's not within all districts.

Continuing this agreement provides a safe environment with trained personnel at school crossings.

The police department personnel previously were responsible for conducting before 2023.

This agreement alleviates the burden of hiring, outfitting, training, and staffing school crossing guards because Andy Frain services will be supplying seven crossing guards, one supervisor, all supplies, and three substitutes is part of this agreement.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move and second for approval.

Any discussion.

Mr.

Thorne.

Thank you.

I just thought I'd let everyone know for the record when I was in sixth grade.

I was a crossing guard.

It was free.

That's the same.

Oh, that's different.

That's all you were worth.

I did that too.

So what about 10 cents an hour back then?

Anything else you could enroll that.

Or stay on the code.

Please call the rule loop.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motion's approved 8-0.

Item H is amendment 4 to the existing engineering services agreement with Donna Hugh and Associates.

This is for electrical engineering services for both the Leo Nelson Riverside and Airlight Water Treatment Plans.

The majority of the electrical equipment at the Leo Nelson Riverside Water Treatment Plant was installed during the plant's original construction and has exceeded its expected service life.

The electrical infrastructure is overdue for replacement.

And a number of emergencies in recent years have uh sped the process for that replacement.

The electrical equipment at airlight water treatment plant is similarly due for an evaluation with the intention of developing a replacement plan to determine the feasibility of installing a generator at that plant.

An amendment to the service engineering services agreement with Donnahu and Associates will facilitate the eventual replacement of the remaining electrical equipment at Leo Nelson Riverside and the airlight water treatment plants.

Move approval.

Second second.

Move the second floor approval.

Any discussion.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um on page 143 and a financial analysis.

I just want to let the community know there was a typo.

So the original agreement and the four amendments is a total of two million dollars and 100,000 dollars.

Uh it says three amendments, so it should say four.

So in the entire package is um total is two million one hundred thousand.

Anything else?

Court, please call a rule.

Council members alfaro?

Yes.

Dixon.

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez.

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne.

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, the motion is approved 80.

Item I is change order number one for bid 24-019.

This is the lead service line replacement program contract D.

This was awarded in 2024 to IHC construction companies, and it was for IHC to perform emergency replacement for up to 60 lead water service lines.

IHC completed its work in May of this year, and the change order reflects the balance of the final quantities of the contract.

Essentially, they spent 44,000 more in materials than was expected.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move and second for approval.

Any discussion?

No.

Hearing none, please call a rule.

Council members Alfaro.

Yes.

Dixon.

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne.

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, motions approved date zero.

Item J is an agreement with EJ Equipment Incorporated for a sewer inspection camera transporter and the software that the city uses for sewer inspections.

Has been using televising equipment to inspect its city owned sewer mains for years now.

These mains range in size from six to eighty-four inches.

The current camera configuration that was purchased in 2018 does not have adequate abilities to televise larger diameter pipes, those that are 18 inches and above, where there is sand or other debris in the bottom of the pipe.

This purchase will enable the sewer department to televise mains where the water level is below eight inches and in lines where there may be still some debris after hydro jetting.

And for those who don't have the benefit of the agenda packet, you can see that this is looks like an off-road device that will be going through those large diameter pipes to get through the muck that exists on the bottom of the sewer lines.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move and second floor approval.

Any discussion?

Mr.

I just want to follow up on the manager's comment and say in this instance, the pictures are worth a thousand thousand words because just looking at the difference between the current one and the proposed one kind of explains exactly why we had to do this.

So thanks.

Okay.

Councilmember Zalfaro.

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, motions approved eight zero.

Announcements from the council.

Ms.

Alfaro.

I just want to give a shout out to everyone in the community who did back to school events to support the community.

Specifically, I had an opportunity to attend to uh step it up at the first Baptist Church.

They were giving out over a thousand pairs of shoes, brand new shoes to children, and they didn't ask anyone what kind of income they were in, if they were low income or not, and that was a great opportunity because people go through different things.

Health care is expensive and other things, so that that was amazing that they did that.

As well as Prestigious barbershop, they did free haircuts at their barbershop and gave over a hundred children free haircuts so they were ready for school.

So shout out to them and as well as all the other community partners who did uh events to support our community as they're going back to school.

Anything else?

Mr.

Ortiz.

Uh a little bit about what Ms.

Alfaro was talking about.

All the kids started school on Monday.

Well, U46.

I don't know if uh our far west side has started yet or not over in Burlington.

So make sure everybody drives safe.

We just approved more uh our crossing guard agreement again, so we have a crossing guards that keep our kids safe and crossing the streets.

And it hurts me to say it, but I told my daughter I'll say because I'm a gift elementary kid, but uh go cardinals, I guess is their mascot.

So hopefully my alum over at Gifford don't kick me out of the group.

Mr.

Stefan.

Uh two things.

First of all, I wanted to take a moment to thank our staff and manager.

Uh last Wednesday night was our off week.

We meet twice a month, and uh instead of being off, we had a retreat, which I was more than happy to do.

I think it's important for us to have those kind of less formal discussions and presentations, and most of our key department heads and key people on staff were there, so I appreciate people coming out and spending their evenings.

I know people could have been with family or other events, but uh I appreciate that we got that done.

I think it was important.

The second thing I wanted to announce is this Saturday is the Koanis' sixty-sixth sixty-sixth annual barbecue.

We hold this out at Russo, where the old Walmart was, uh crossed Royal Boulevard from the Home Depot on Randall Road.

It's from four to seven.

Tickets are fifteen dollars each.

We have Dukes.

This is the second year we're gonna have Dukes as our provider, food provider, and I think most people know who they are out of East Dundee.

And uh the Quantus Club this year, we're gonna have three options, so we need to know if you want to purchase a ticket, uh, rib tips, a barbecue pork sandwich, or a barbecue chicken sandwich, along with the other sides for the meal.

So um see a Kowanis member to get your tickets.

It's this Saturday, four to seven.

Thanks.

Okay.

Mr.

Thorne.

Thank you, Mayor.

This Sunday is the annual historic Elgin National Road Race reenactment and car show out at the Avanterra parking lot on at 1950 Larkin Avenue, just uh west of uh Jewel.

And uh that's put on by the Fox Valley Model Tea Club.

Uh money that generates from that goes into their kitty, and we are noted for donating about $1,500 to the food bank every year.

So that is uh a neat bit of Elgin history.

There'll be a program inside in their community room done by the historical society people, and there'll be a lot of vintage cars out there.

There'll be games for kids, coloring contests, uh, a lot of activities.

It'll be this Sunday from 11 to 3, and at 3 30, all the cars line up and drive what we call the parade lap.

And so they will all go in a line and drive the route of the old original Elgin Road race, last run in 1933, and that is Larkin Avenue out to Coombs Road, Coombs Road north to Highland, Highland back to McLean, McLean back to Aventera.

Hope you'll join us.

Avanter is where the blue moon used to be.

That's correct.

So you get you got to make that clear.

Sorry, I I should have included that.

Okay, announcements from staff.

None there, thank you.

Okay, entertain a motion to adjourn.

So I had I had an announcement.

Oh, I'm sorry, Ms.

Paul.

Um, I just want to remind folks that the Elgin Historic House Tour is coming up September 6th and 7th.

Uh tickets are currently on sale online.

There are seven homes on Elgin's West Side.

Uh that will be on the tour this year.

Anyone who's participated knows it is a do not miss event.

And if you haven't participated, uh definitely encourage you uh to come and bring friends along.

Uh both days it runs from 9 a.m.

to 4 p.m.

This is the 43rd year of the annual house tour.

So definitely want to encourage folks to participate.

It really showcases our beautiful historic homes here in Elgin.

The website is historic Elgin House Tour.com.

You can buy tickets right on the website.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Okay.

We have a motion to adjourn.

Motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Second.

Move and second to adjourn.

Court, please call a roll.

Uh councilmember Zalfaro.

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Ales.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorn?

Yes.

Mayor Campbell.

Yes, we are adjourned.

We'll reconvene at regular council meeting at 7 p.m.

For August 13th, 2025 to order.

Would you join me in the Pledge of Allegiance, please?

I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

Will the clerk please call a roll?

Councilmember Zalfaro?

President Dixon.

Good.

Here.

Martinez.

Here.

Ortiz?

Here.

Powell?

Here.

Stefan?

Here.

Thorne?

Here.

Mayor Captain.

Here.

Mr.

Dixon has asked to be allowed to participate electronically.

We need a motion.

Move for approval.

Second.

Moved and seconded.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motion's approved.

Uh eight zero.

Approval of the minutes of the previous meeting of July twenty-third, twenty twenty-five.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move and second for approval.

Any corrections or additions?

Hearing none, clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

The motion's approved eight zero.

Uh oh, what the heck?

Can we have a couple of proclamations this afternoon or this evening?

Jennifer Ford.

Why did that just happen?

There we go.

Yep.

There we go.

All right.

Whereas women in the United States have continually worked to gain full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, as citizens of the United States.

And whereas women in every state, many religious or cultural groups have worked towards securing women's rights to vote.

And whereas Congress has designated August 26th, the date the 19th Amendment was certified as Women's Equality Day.

And whereas recognizing women's equality day is a day of celebration throughout the country emphasizes the importance of women's work for democracy.

Now therefore, I David Captain, mayor of the city of Elgin, Illinois, to hereby proclaim August 26th, 2025, as uh and ask all citizens, as a woman's equity day, excuse me, as a women's equality day in Elgin, and ask all citizens to join in the National Day of Celebrating the independent and importance of the women's suffrage movement and the work to secure and expand equal rights today.

Congratulations, ladies.

If you were an adult woman in Illinois, and that includes Elgin, in 1972, I heard two stories.

So yes, we appreciate the right to vote, and we appreciate your acknowledgement.

Thank you.

Okay, we have some representatives from the master swim team.

Oh, yeah.

Always too.

Whereas the Elgin's Masters Swim Team has won their first ever Illinois State Championship, a historic milestone for the team and the Elgin swimming community.

And whereas competing against top clubs from around the state, team members ages 22 to 79 showcase the inclusive and lifelong spirit of the sport.

And whereas the achievement reflects years of dedication by athletes, coaches, and supports many of whom are Elgin residents, balancing careers, families, and community service.

And whereas high point winners included Adam Brown and Elgin residents, Eileen Vogel and Ben Culver, and whereas Corinne, uh Coach Corinne Grodenhouse Grodenhouse, that Grotenhouse has who has led the team for over 40 years, played a vital role in guiding the team to its first state title.

And now, therefore, a David Captain, mayor of the city of Elgin, Illinois, to hereby congratulate and commend the Elgin Masters Swim team on the outstanding accomplishment for bring and for bringing pride to the city of Elgin.

Congratulations to all of us for your few words.

This is something that I have been dreaming about for since I started the team, and I cannot believe that we're actually here.

And the fact that a lot of my swimmers are here to share with all of you, and I do thank you for this award.

This means so much.

I cannot tell you.

And I hope that our Elgin team will continue to bring home our state championships.

So they are a good group of people.

So thank you all.

Thank you.

Okay, that brings us to the portion where we allow public comment this evening.

We have a number of people that have signed up.

We have two persons signed up for uh items not on the agenda.

Denise Haben.

Good evening.

My name is Denise Haven.

I'm a resident of Elgin and a proud member of the HRC designated illegitimate and invalid Dr.

King Celebration Committee.

We're back.

You see us in the audience.

Okay.

I'm here this evening with three questions for your consideration.

Excuse me.

Question one.

Why doesn't the City of Elgin, including the HRC, like black people?

I'm not being impertinent or disrespectful.

I really want to know, and perhaps the public wants to know.

Currently, the HRC has no African American representation, despite African Americans who reside in Elgin applying for current openings.

And I'll begin with a quote from a member of the HRC who has written in the email with a subject line.

This email includes a statement, the Human Relations Commission will not revisit this matter or include any MLK planning on our agendas for the foreseeable future.

And in an email written to me by the same individual, please make it clear to the group that we will not emphasize underlined and in bold type, add this to any future agenda until a proper enforceable ordinance is in place.

Pretty much saying we're not welcome at a public meeting, which I believe violates the open meetings act.

But you know, I'm digressing.

I really have to wonder if this is intentional or part of a pattern.

But guess what?

We probably will attend, because we won't go away.

Um and this leads to my second question.

In this time of uncertainty and insanity on the national level, which includes the National Guard being sent to LA and Washington, DC, the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion parameters, and the theft of benefits for those among us who may be experiencing financial burdens, excuse me, and hunger.

Why would the city of Elgin and its Human Relations Commission not embrace the values and teachings of the Reverend Dr.

Martin Moot?

Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Now, more than ever, Dr.

King is important to the souls of our nation and the souls of the residents of Elgin.

This is not a good look for the city, and is certainly not a good look for the Human Relations Commission, who has at least one mandate or message about improving relations and promoting positive interactions between all our residents.

Again, all means all.

Is this intentional?

January comes quickly, and according to whomever, we can't plan.

And finally, my third question is what is the disposition of the $39,000 that was uncovered through my FOIA in the city over a year ago.

This has been asked several times in different venues, and to date, no answer has been made public.

I believe the finances of all of Elgin's commissions, committees, and subcommittees should be reviewed in a similar fashion to my Freedom of Information Act request action request.

I believe our residents and the people who serve on these public bodies are entitled to the transparency that Elgin proudly promotes.

Again, where's that money going to?

Thank you for listening.

I trust that action will be taken.

The time is now.

And please note we'll be back, and we're watching very closely.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Carol Bailey.

Good evening, everyone.

My name is Carol Bailey.

I'm a resident of Algin.

And I wrote everything down on my phone.

I've been accused of having unpopular opinions.

That's a long story.

So we'll do it for the short story.

I only have three minutes.

Y'all just pledged allegiance and said that this was a land of the free and the home and brave, right?

People aren't safe and equal in America.

Here's an example.

Did you know that recently ICE agents were seen enjoying the air conditioning in the lobby here while waiting to hijack people at this courthouse?

People are afraid to go to the food banks.

People fear they will be snatched up when they drop off or pick up their school children.

Legal citizens are afraid.

You know what they're guilty of?

They're brown.

They're not white.

Which, anyhow, so back to my subject.

The rapid response team is collecting food to help our friends and neighbors stay safe and feed their families.

were seen enjoying the air conditioning in the lobby here while waiting to hijack people at this courthouse people are afraid to go to the food banks people fear they will be snatched up when they drop off or pick up their school children legal citizens don't afraid you know what they're guilty of they're brown they're not white um which anyhow so back to my subject the rapid response team is collecting food to help our friends and neighbors stay safe and feed their families the Elgin rapid response on Facebook has more details on the food drive and you can also contact Ishmael Cordova I wasn't looking to change y'all's opinions I was just wanting to give you some information and thank you for your time thank you okay we have uh uh two people have signed up to speak to a petition uh if you'd like to speak now we can do that your petition is coming up first on the on the uh regular um business so it's up to you I'll leave it up to you Courtney Holmes uh my name is Courtney and I live in the Artspace Loffs I was here to speak about the text amendment to establish zoning regulations for mobile food vendors this summer the temporary food truck park outside our bedroom windows brought constant disruption smells set up noise generators running for over nine hours crowds just feet from where we live if this amendment passes it will clear the way for a full-time food truck park to return under a vague conditional use process that offers little real protection for residents we all understand and welcome seasonal events they bring energy and life to the city and we can plan around them but what's being proposed is not seasonal it's permanent and it means an event space operating almost daily through all fair weather months directly besides people's homes uh it's a permanent loss of peace and quality of life for those who live here once this change is approved it will be much harder to reverse rushing it forward without more thorough evaluation of the impacts puts the burden entirely on the residents to live with the consequences I urge you to slow this process fully study the real impacts and ensure our neighborhoods are protected before any permanent changes are made thank you for your time thank you Greg Berna hello my name is Greg Berna I'm an architect that's working in Elgin work for Elgin I provide code review and stamp drawings for most of the city buildings I was a Hillcrest uh patrolman other year back in the day so uh just a little representation there I speak with um I speak against the food vending uh truck uh amendment and the conditional use it's just not needed there is a temporary use for the CF and you can use the temporary for temporary use for the CF's um zoning district and the C C1 and C C2 districts already have designated areas in downtown along the riverfront as planned by the master plan and has worked very well and uh it's one of the reasons why food trucks have grown is Elgin's been doing it for 20 years or more with the uh riverfront and why do we need two systems of mobile food trucks permanent and temporary this proposal would turn a temporary vehicle based use into a permanent one even though food trucks don't meet building codes ADA and setback requirements and rely on off street off-site utilities and parking and the outreach for this amendment was limited to the downtown and the newsletter for downtown for 40 restaurants and according to the DNA downtown neighborhood association they only got four responses back yet the impact is across the whole city this isn't a temporary or um pilot program because it's across the whole city as far as the parks and the and the churches are in every neighborhood across the city no study was done to see if the permanent locations are needed or viable with the actual food truck operators and input from them and their sales performance the city of Elgin already provides permanent power for temporary vendors at the riverfront for special uses and this permanent would permanent week weekday locations risk pulling customers from the restaurants which still need support from all of us private lot owners downtown would also require cost upgrades to their substandard parking lots most of them were built before 1973 and are considered substandard site lighting surface and grading and storm water requirements are needed.

This is typically required when you have a change of use, and I think it's one of the reasons why 215 DuPage Street pulled out their application is because of the costs.

If these issues are not addressed by the change of use process that is typically done by others by almost all other or all other change uses, does this show how the vehicles create loopholes?

It shows how they creates loopholes by following not following the codes because it's a vehicle.

The amendment removed existing and required parking in CC1, undermines decades of downtown planning and ignores the limits of combination of parking and shared lots.

All other mentioned in the application do not use all other cities in the application.

Do not use conditional use to make a food truck permanent.

And all the others also had far fewer than 60 days that Elgin has already permitted for use of the temporary food trucks.

The City of Elgin can simply extend current temporary permits in CF for events like the Wing Park Golf Season.

And the new golf and the clubhouse is designed and has already has a commercial kitchen, a catering kitchen, and accommodate the facility all year long and has been sized for the occupancy load.

The temporary food trucks can always be used, but if it's temporary, it doesn't have to meet 88.

Now is not the time for this change.

Several million dollars worth of projects are about to open downtown, new residential lofts, street level commercial units, and performing art theater, all of which need to attract customers for future and current permanent brick and mortar investments.

Please do not accept or move on with this without further investigation and further work.

Is this good for all of Elgin in the long term?

Or is it just for a few round?

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

That brings us to bids.

First item is bid number 25-039, various electrical vehicle charging station installations.

May I move reward the bid to Calumber Electric and the amount of 74,000 for electrical and site upgrades to the Highlands of Alge and Bois Creek Country Club?

Golf facilities.

Second.

Move the second floor approval.

Any discussion.

Hearing none, Clerk, please call the room.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, motions approved 90.

Uh bid number two is bid number 25-040, DuPage Street Combined Sewer Separation Project.

Mr.

Mayor, I recommend that we award this bid to Pertano Construction Company of Addison in the amount of $6,161,733.

Second.

It's been moved and second for approval.

Any discussion.

Hearing none, Cork, please call a roll.

Council Members Alfaro?

Yes.

Dixon.

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stephen?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, motions approved 90.

Brings us to other business.

The first item is consideration of petition 22-25.

Zoning ordinance text amendments to establish zoning regulations for mobile food vendors.

Mr.

Mullott.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

The planning and zoning commission and staff are recommending approval of an amendment to the zoning ordinance to create a land use classification for food trucks and trailers.

And to add that use to the list of conditional uses in the CC 1, Center City, C C two, Center City, and the CF Community Facility Zoning Districts.

The collective term for food trucks and trailers is mobile food vendors, but does not include push carts or bicycle carts.

Currently, mobile food vendors can locate on certain private property if the owner of that property chooses to use one or more of their four annual temporary use permits.

Temporary uses are typically used to allow businesses' activities and events outside.

One temporary use may be valid for up to 30 days, but the aggregate days of all four temporary uses in a calendar year may not exceed 60 days.

Other examples of temporary uses that you may see around the community include customer appreciation events, carnivals, fundraisers, haunted houses, Christmas tree lots, and several years ago, COVID testing trailers.

The food trucks can add energy and vibrancy to underutilized parking lots and other places, especially in downtowns.

The diversity of cuisines allows customers to try foods that might not otherwise have been available, promoting cultural awareness and inclusivity.

And popular food trucks through significant social media presences will bring persons to Elgin that have never previously been, but will hopefully return.

At the same time, efforts to promote food trucks cannot be to the detriment of the city's bricks and mortar restaurants.

The conditional use process ensures public notice and an evaluation of each location, the layout, and the operational parameters of a mobile food vendor to minimize the likelihood of any negative effects.

The conditional use process also gives the city the ability to attach conditions to the approval of a mobile food vendor if need be.

The proposed allowances would only allow mobile food vendors to operate from private property, not within on-street parking spaces.

More so applications for conditional use could only be submitted by a business within 400 feet of the proposed location of the mobile food vendor, ensuring that a local business is responsible for the scheduling and operations of the mobile food vendor and provides bathroom facilities for customers and employees.

Applicants must include a litter collection plan and describe the way the food truck and or trailer will be powered.

Mobile food vendors can only provide tables, chairs, and other like amenities where set items have been reviewed and approved as part of the conditional use application.

The proposed amendment revines operators of mobile food trucks that they must be licensed, inspected, and maintained compliance with all other rules and regulations of the city.

And the proposed amendment allows one A-frame sign per mobile food vendor in compliance with the signed regulations and the zoning ordinance.

That generally allows a four-foot-high sign that keeps at least five foot of public sidewalk unobstructed at all times.

The downtown neighborhood association hosted a meeting at their offices at the end of June, to which downtown restaurants and bars were invited to hear about the proposal and ask questions in advance of the zoning public hearing, which was held on July 7th.

The DNA either directly emailed or delivered in-person invitations to more than 40 establishments.

DNA also announced the meeting in their business buzz newsletter.

Representatives of four establishments attended, and no one objected to the amendment.

DNA staff also shared the proposal with their economic development committee.

Staff did review the way in which several other communities allow food trucks and trailers and found that most simply approve food trucks and trailers without public consideration, either by annual permit or by license.

Your staff report has our findings for those cities of Chicago and St.

Charles and the villages of Bowlingbrook, Downers Grove, and Schaumburg.

Staff considered proposing a private property program that simply established a standard setback from restaurants, but found that because of the size of downtown Elgin and the density and coverage of existing restaurants, we could be precluding the opportunity to consider creative circumstances where and or when a food truck or trailer might be perfectly fine, and hence the value of the conditional use process.

I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have.

Staff and the planning and zoning commission recommend approval.

Move for approval subject to the conditions.

Second.

It's been moved and second to uh for approval subject to conditions.

Any questions for Mr.

Millot?

From the council.

Mr.

Good.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I've gotten some background, I think, on how this came to be, and so I just want to get your input on this.

Um was it something that was being crafted for specific projects, or is it something that had been in the hopper for a while that was more of a generalized policy approach?

A little, I was in complete honesty, a little bit of both.

Uh we had had several downtown business owners who had expressed a desire to see if there was a way whereby they could have food trucks on private property.

Uh and it finally came to the point where we felt comfortable enough with devising a zoning scheme that we felt would be protective of everyone's interest, and so we brought it forward.

Okay.

Um so at least what I know, and I don't have all the details that you do is that I had heard about a project proposed in the downtown in a particular location.

Um that location then shifted, and then the application was withdrawn.

And so now here we are considering a policy that was, I think, sparked largely by this effort, which I I agree with.

I I'm a fan of food trucks.

Um, however, I have spoken with some downtown residents and have since gone by and viewed what was currently set up and observed a few things.

Um but also the generator, um, you know, I live in downtown and I spoke to these folks and told them I am biased because I live downtown and oftentimes I'm told you know, just deal with it, you move downtown as it relates to loud sounds and um you know it's not as loud downtown as it used to be.

Um but in an instance where we invested in a project like ArtSpace and tried to create uh a certain product or environment, um, and then some of the concerns that were raised is not only the sound um but also potentially the uh evolution of that land behind them, which I know that's kind of outside the scope of this specific topic.

Um it just for me, I don't know if it would be I guess what I would like to see is maybe considerations given to the impact that these mobile vendors could potentially have, namely in the uh a gas generator.

Um and and I also want to clarify I think we were hearing permanent placement of these.

As I read this, it's 30 days with potential for 60 days.

So am I hearing permanent is being recommended because it's basically occupying two months?

Or am I misreading this?

So there's a there's a lot to unpack in there if I if I if I may.

Uh so yes, one of the uh inquiries that we had was related to the proposed food truck court at 215 to Page Court.

At the same time, the city was exploring the the uh establishment of a food truck at Wing Park, and there were two other businesses who from time to time, through in conjunction with conversations with the DNA, had reached out to us about the viability of having a food truck parked uh either on their own private property or adjacent private property.

Um as it relates to that particular application at 215 to page court, I would offer, if I may, that the conditional use process did exactly what we wanted it to do.

That um that that we had public notice, we had an opportunity for persons to come forward and express particular concerns, and then it presented an opportunity whereby staff and or the applicant perhaps working together could bring forth solutions.

And in the end, not necessarily of that particular process, but in the end, if those conditions couldn't ameliorate any concerns, then planning and zoning commission, I would suspect would recommend that city council ultimately deny it.

So, in my humble opinion, that process worked exactly as we want it to do, which is not the processes that we found in many of the of the other communities that allow food trucks.

Um as it relates to a uh time frame, there was some uh we have two different parameters under which a one current parameter under which a food truck could locate on private property, and that's through a temporary use permit.

So a business can have up to four temporary uses per year, 15 days each one, the aggregate not to exceed 60 days.

The conditional use process doesn't have those types of of hard and fast uh uh uh uh time frames associated with them.

But it enables again, not just from the physical nature of how a food truck or food truck court might be proposed, but operationally as well.

If, for example, uh what might have satisfied uh adjacent residences at 215 to page or or in any like circumstance would have said, well, uh no gas generators.

One of the requirements that an application has to provide for conditional use is how are you proposing to power those?

If it's on the edge of of an area with no residence, maybe generator fine.

Maybe in at the instance of 215 to page, electricity needed to be provided, and I happen to know that that's was where that application was headed.

Uh but it also but it affords those types of give and take to address unique circumstances to ensure that at the end of the day, we don't want to do anything that is is inherently going to create a negative adverse impact.

Well, I thank you for the clarification.

Um that was my general concern is that we're not just allowing the potential just set up of essentially a gas generator next to a residential building, and there's no uh ability to have any pushback on that.

Appreciate your appreciate that.

And so as as I understand it, the public hearing is that mechanism that would then be used.

Thousand percent.

We put us we put a sign on the property, we mail notice to uh all property owners and tenants within 300 feet of adjacent properties, and we stick a notice in the newspaper, not that many people read those anymore.

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Anything else?

Any other questions?

Ms.

Powell.

Thank you, Mayor Captain.

Um a couple questions about the conditional use process.

Typically, what is the application fee for a conditional use?

Sure.

There's two elements that uh that uh any applicant for a conditional use have to pay for.

One is the application fee, and the current rate is 890, 980 dollars.

My pod just will flip those.

Uh and then this the second element of the of their initial check is the composite of three different deposits.

One is for the court reporter, one is for the legal notice that is put in the paper, and the second is for the signs that are posted on the property.

At the end of the hearing, we tally up what we had to pay, make sure we got our signs back, and then we settle up with a particular applicant.

Okay.

I I like the process because as you stated earlier, it gives us more eyes and the ability to um work out particular circumstances in each of the individual instances where someone is applying for uh this special uh permit.

I'm a little concerned about the price because these are food trucks, small businesses.

It seems kind of high, and and I'm not sure if if that's going to make this process or what we're trying to achieve cost prohibitive for these small business owners.

I mean, I'm open to hearing from you know my colleagues, but you know, how does that compare?

Well, I guess it really doesn't compare to what we found in other communities where they're not going through the conditional use process.

I'm not sure if there were some other permit fee that they had to pay.

What did that look like?

Was it $900 plus you know all these other charges?

I you know, I think you know, and I I appreciate us going through these, you know, uh processes to make sure that we're taking into consideration, you know, the impact on you know, folks that live downtown, the impact on the brick and mortar businesses downtown, you know, is specifically our our restaurants.

Um but I also you know I I'm concerned about the the cost.

So I'm not sure if that's something that we could look at reducing or should look at reducing.

I I just throw that out there for you know for some discussion.

I I appreciate that perspective.

The the amount of time that goes into the review and advancement of a conditional use application through the process on staff's part perspective as it relates to mobile food vendors is is uh is by and large no different than when we bring any of the other conditional use applications.

Now, not that being said, city council has the complete purview to set the fees for for any of the types of zoning applications, and if you know if this would be something that you wanted to somehow someway discount, you know, that's that's within your purview.

Um I think that was my only question.

I I like the information about what some of the other communities are doing in this area.

I know that you know, as as stated earlier, you know, the food trucks are becoming more popular, people seem to like them.

Um, and I think I think there's definitely a place for them in our community, especially when you know I'm downtown later at night, and some of our food establishments have have closed early, it would be great to have an option, you know, for a food truck that maybe is there later that you know doesn't necessarily compete directly with our brick and border businesses, but you know, kind of complement and and provide opportunities for food on the off hours.

So we have a we have a great example of that just outside the city limits of Plank Road Tap House is primarily serves beer, no food, you're welcome to bring it, but uh as a as a way to uh to add to the ambiance of that location, they have a regular rotation of food trucks out there and then Wednesday nights, but it's taking place while we're here.

So thank you.

Okay, Ms.

Alfaro.

Thank you, Mayor.

I have a number of questions.

Okay.

Um so starting off, um, it said 400 feet to a local business.

Are we defining business also to include nonprofits and churches?

If that was the business that had made the arrangement for the food truck, they could be a that could be an applicant.

So it's an entity makes sense.

Okay.

Just want a clarification on that.

Um in reviewing the application for a food truck.

Are we looking at the size of the trailer and the length at the site?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay.

Um are we also looking at how many food trucks are at that site?

Yes.

Um, what's the max array allowing at a site?

There is no set allowance.

Uh a lot of that will depend, but there are, for example, in the normal conditional use application uh standards, it considers the size and nature of the property.

So what you know, we've used 215 to page court as an example before.

That was a very unique piece of property.

It's triangular shaped.

Um and so we worked with the applicant.

First and foremost, we want to make sure that there is that there are safe movements for people around in there.

So it would be difficult for me to give you some type of a density calculation.

Um, but over our arching all of that, we want to make sure that there is a safe movement, getting food trucks in, and then setting uh setting aside safe places for people to move and and get to the trucks and and do all that.

So if I understand this correctly, a food truck could get a permit up to 60 days at its same site.

Can that food truck come again to a different site within Algin then?

If according to this, if the all uh currently, if uh again, let's use 215 to pay to work.

That owner of that property chose to use his four temporary uses for his food truck court.

If any one of those other food trucks wanted to reach out to any other property owner and say, hey, what do you think about me setting up?

And then if that property wanted to use their temporary uses to have a food truck, that would be allowable today.

Okay, so it's by site.

It's by site, yes, ma'am.

Okay.

Um and then the other question I had is that almost it.

Um in the planning and zoning notes, it um one of the planning and zoning um members had asked you if you had reached out to the chamber of the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce, and at that time you didn't have you reached out to them since then to talk about this?

Okay.

Um I think in the future for discussing economic development, it's gonna impact the city, like probably include not only the DNA but also the chamber into those discussions.

And then um lastly currently are the food trucks paying $980 then for their applications.

We don't have a conditional use process currently for for which they could pay that fee.

So what are food trucks paying right now maybe?

A temporary use permit fee, which I think is oh might be about $200 for the six for the full totality of the 60 days.

Can I get back to you on that?

Yeah, that's fine.

I was just trying to go back to council member Powell's question of like is the 980 too high.

When reading the information, I do appreciate that they were also adding like a litter um like procedure, what are they doing?

Yeah, um, which I love that that was also included in there.

Hopefully they're adding recycling into that for sustainability purposes.

Um but trying to figure out if the 980 is too high or not.

Um but is the Elgin health inspections gonna be checking out the food trucks if they're there for more than like five days?

Uh the health inspectors and the fire inspectors check them regardless of their duration.

Okay, so that's probably where the 980 is also tying in, I'm assuming because now it's a lot more staff time between reviewing the application, the health inspector, the fire departments all going out.

Those are those are regardless, but the the $980 is a long long time ago there was a study of the amount of staff time it takes to do the various different applications that we bring before you.

And in 2005 or 16, we evaluated those and uh assigned uh an every other year escalator to those of about 5%.

So it was based upon the the average amount of time that it takes staff to process a conditional use application.

I think I would be okay for now for $980 for 30 days, that's about $32.67 per day.

And if they were there for the full 60 days, it's sixteen dollars and thirty three cents.

Under a condition under a conditional use, an applicant could get approval for you know if it's a food truck they want to do nice weather, April through the end of October.

That would be that would be allowable under a conditional use application.

It's the temporary uses that have that 60-day parameter.

And let's see.

$230 for a temporary use permit.

$230.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay.

Mr.

Thorne?

Well, you've answered really my questions.

I really was uh coattailing off of councilwoman's Powell concerned of the price.

980 seems high right out of the uh initial presentation.

Uh I realize now that they can have it for a longer period of time.

Uh it just seems like some of these vendors, that's gonna be a tough nut to crack.

Uh I I can't help but believe I understand your reasoning for covering the cost to do the work to allow them to be there.

But I wondered if you had thought about the type of people that have the business and their budget.

It's not quite the same as someone with backing that has a nice brick and mortar quality business.

Um their budgets are constrained, and for us to have the variety, I would think that there's gonna be some.

I mean, it's just common sense.

There's gonna be some that said I'd love to be there, but I just can't afford it.

I mean, obviously that's that's gonna happen to some of the vendors.

Um I just I guess I'm I'm a little bit on uh Tisha's side there with the concern that that just seems like you know, basically you're looking at a thousand bucks.

It just seems high.

I I appreciate your perspective.

It's it's uh my charge is to bring you a proposal for a conditional use.

When we look at fees that go with conditional uses, from our processing perspective, there's no difference in the amount of time.

If city council's desires to change that, it would not be the first time.

Um just looking at temporary use permit fees uh uh many uh several years ago, city council um we had discussed proposed and city council approved uh no fees for temporary use permits for not-for-profits.

So there are examples where city council has relaxed particular fees, and if that's your desire, it's we'll we'll make it happen.

I know that you uh took into account some examples or some comparisons of other cities.

What were their charges?

I didn't look at their fees.

Okay.

But none of those processes had a conditional use process.

Those were all as of right.

It was a license fee or a permit fee that allowed them to arguably start the next day.

There was no public participation process, there was no extraordinary staff review that went into those processes, so they were a little different than what we're proposing.

Well, I I see both sides of it here.

Yeah.

Okay, thank you.

Okay.

Uh anything else?

Mr.

Steffi.

Yeah, just a couple follow-up questions.

A lot of my thoughts and my concerns and questions, I think, have been uh asked and addressed, but I just want to make sure because it sounds like some of the questioning are kind of conflating the conditional use and the temporary use, but I want to make sure I've got it clear.

So with a conditional use, they could be indefinite.

That they could they could be there year-round.

You you mentioned a summer season, but it could be a year-round it could be, yes, sir.

I just want to make sure I understand that.

Temporary use is a 60-day max four times a year, different combinations.

Okay.

Yeah.

The other thing I want to make sure I've got clear, because I think it you've been trying to make this point, and I want to make sure I'm understanding it.

So let's take the DuPage Court example that's now withdrawn, but clearly there's people here who have who live nearby right next door and have experienced some of the negative things with generators and smells and things like that.

So your the point I think you're trying to make is this conditional use allows us to not just give them the right to do that and say that's good, but actually have continued input, and if that petition had stayed, I'm assuming we would have had some input about generators and moving some things so they're not causing smoke and and odors in certain areas.

A thousand percent.

In fact, prior to the applicant's withdrawal, we had a letter from the applicant committing to providing a solid fence along that west that west lot line, which would separate the food truck court from the art space loss, uh, and the installation of uh of electrical outlets so that there would no longer need to be any any generators.

Okay, so taking that example, which is no longer an example because they've withdrawn their petition until something comes back, but that's an example of how those specific problems would have been addressed or confronted and something tried to solve.

Exactly.

Which is I also like like Councilman Dunsett.

And then the new building is across a little further away across the street, so it's very close.

All right.

So that's I just wanted to make sure I understood that process that the goal here is by by creating a conditional use is to continue to have input and some say in what happens, right?

You can be there as long as you got the as the lesson.

As we as we try to do with all of the applicants for conditional uses that we bring here.

Correct.

You know, our we we informally say are about how do we get to yes.

Right.

All right, those are my questions.

Thank you.

Okay, Ms.

O'Farah?

Yep.

Thank you, sir.

I'm just gonna add one more thing, just as a thought, because I hear concerns of the pricing.

Um is there a possibility maybe that we do like something like a $700 and then you have to pay the $280 um once you get approval, right?

So it would cut it down a little bit for small businesses.

So if they don't get the approval, then they're only out of 700 versus the whole 980.

Um, but in order for them to get the full approval once they get approval here, they have to finish paying off their 280 or splitting it in some sort um to help with that because I think 980 for the amount of time that some food trucks, because I could imagine if they're applying for conditional use, they're gonna be here for quite a while, right?

Um they're not paying that much per day.

Um but I see a business owner being concerned, applying and not getting it at all, and now you're out almost a thousand dollars, right?

So maybe we cut it back a little bit to a smaller amount, and then they pay the rest to the 980 once they get their approval.

That is something just to throw out to my council fellow council members who are concerned with the pricing.

Right.

Yeah, I I see the only problem with that is that the cost to the city is the same.

And if they fail, uh we still have to go through the process to do that.

And uh you know, I think that's the they're taking a risk to be in business as part of it.

Um this type of process gives us the most control of just about anything.

And I think that we can look at um I hate to keep going back to DuPage court, but you can look at that as a as a thing.

If we find out that uh we anticipate maybe we could have three or four food vendors there, but we find out that two cause a problem, then we don't have to issue the permits anymore.

So there gives us some control back.

But there has to be um uh I know I I know there are the issues were created in Aurora when they did this uh because people uh became more permanent.

I call I guess you call them permanent part-time food vendors, and they started to interfere with uh uh other businesses, and they said, Well, wait a minute, we're paying all of this tax because we have a brick and mortar.

I'll talk to about Als is on the corner, we're paying all these taxes, and these guys aren't paying any of that.

They're not paying any property tax, somebody else is paying that.

And I think that's uh creates some other it creates some other issues.

But I think our our our it's always our uh if we when we look at our permits and our fees, uh we try to get our money back.

It's not like it's uh um we're not a profit making issues.

Yeah, it's not yeah, it's not part of our profit structure.

Mr.

Ortiz You might not know this, Mr.

Milloton and we find it's fine if you don't.

And saying this summer, how many food truck permits have we had?

So I don't know that.

I can I can look at it.

All right, you don't have to know.

I think uh but along the lines of what you were saying, Mayor, that in terms of giving us the greatest degree of control, it also gives us the greatest degree of flexibility to perhaps have some food trucks and add that vitality and enhancement to the while ensuring we we respect everyone's interest.

Um I was talking with council member Powell earlier, and we were talking about uh as she had expressed, you know, sometimes uh the the food the bricks and mortar food establishments close at nine.

Well, if you're visiting some of our downtown bars and want a bite to eat, but let's say you were gonna propose that food truck right across the street from a bricks and mortar restaurant on without any conditional use process without any city review, that bricks and mortar restaurant might not be real happy, but if in the course of the process they say, well, you you close at nine, the food truck won't be there till ten o'clock, you can still have you can still have the best of both worlds.

It allows us a lot of uh leeway in permitting and uh to make uh try to make a good situation for everybody.

Yes, sir.

Okay, Ms.

Paul.

Um I'll just point to our strategic outcome areas.

Um one of them is about creating vibrant destinations, and I think it may seem small with the food trucks, but um they they are very popular, people like them, and I think it is something that can help um create a vibrant destination in our downtown.

Um that said, I'd like to propose uh amending the motion to um reduce the uh conditional use fee only for food trucks by half.

Okay.

Is this a motion or yes?

Okay, I think there was a there was a there wasn't an initial motion.

There was so and who made the initial motion is the first one uh council member Ortiz made the original motion to approve subject to conditions.

Uh I received my motion.

Okay.

So is there a second?

Are you gonna lay it out?

Do I need to restate it?

Okay, so um I moved to approve um the uh the agenda item with the caveat of reducing the uh conditional use fee by half specifically for the conditions subject to the conditions, but again, only for the food trucks.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded.

Any discussion?

Mr.

Good.

Thank you, Mary.

Um, so I just one uh observation I want to make or throw out there is that um first of all for for food trucks, if they're savvy, they go to busy places and per square foot of operating expense, they make more than restaurants.

So I I just want to throw that out there first and foremost.

You can operate a food truck, you can go to a festival for a weekend, and you can make you know sizable money.

I understand expenses are going up for everything.

Um so I just want to throw that out there that we are talking about these different dynamics pushing up against each other.

Um, you know, you're describing a restaurant that maybe closes at nine and a food truck at ten, but that restaurant might be closing at nine because they don't get the foot traffic in downtown.

I worked at an establishment in downtown that had that exact problem of battling between operating hours and it wasn't driven by employee capacity, it was just is there enough money coming through the door?

Um so that's something that we're entertaining right now to create that dynamic and potentially uh you know match with what our strategic plan says.

I appreciate you calling that out.

Um so I just right now uh the the dollar amount that you're proposing, is that based on what you're seeing in other communities, or is that based on you just a halving of it?

Um because I as it was just laid out, you know, it's to cover staff expenses, but we don't know how many we're expected to see.

So I'm not saying I disagree with this motion.

I'm just trying to get my head around like what would that actually look like in practice over the scope of a year.

If if we're doing the solid of basically discounting half of our staff time, we have to absorb that elsewhere.

What does it look like?

So that those are just my comments.

I don't know where I'm at yet on this martinez.

Thank you, Mayor.

I think I would like to see first um how many food trucks are we talking about.

I think I would like to see that count first before I make a decision like this.

I think that's important to find that that out.

Thank you.

So far.

The average food truck makes 250,000 dollars to 500, 500,000 annually.

And if we give them a 490 dollar conditional use permit, they're here for 60 days.

That is eight dollars and seventeen cents they're paying per day.

It's not for six.

To council members good point, they're going to very popular areas, they're going to festivals, they're making a significant amount of money in certain places.

Sometimes you know, you don't hit the shot, people don't come out, it's raining that day, people are not out.

So things do happen.

I think for the amount of time that we're putting staff to review the application, we have to have the health inspector, we have to have the fire department.

I think I would prefer to see it start off at 9.80.

What do you miss Paul appreciate all the the comments from uh my colleagues?

I guess what what I'm thinking in terms of I'm not looking at um the instances where we have food trucks, you know, at our special events where we've got 10,000 people down there like Mitchell Autofest or something like that.

Obviously, that is a very different situation, and that's maybe where some of that data, I don't know if that was AI data that you were quoting, um, that in terms of what their income is, but I know people who own and manage food trucks here in Elgin, I can guarantee you they're not making 250,000 a year.

Um they're they're not making that kind of money.

So I mean, I'm just thinking in terms of you know the the food trucks that might want to come in and fill gaps, like I said, when you know some of our restaurants aren't open, or filling a gap with a different type of food that is not currently offered in our downtown area.

Um I'm not at all trying to um put something in place that's going to be a burden for our staff, but I also think you know we incentivize what we want to come to our community.

And if we're again pointing to our strategic plan and talking about vibrancy, I think this is one of the things that you know we consistently hear from people and have seen when we um I think it was the Grand Victoria had the big food truck festival a couple years ago that in conjunction with one of the rate uh really popular radio stations, it it would over like gangbusters, but again, that's a one-time deal.

I think them being there on a more consistent basis is a very different dynamic and it's a very different profit for for those businesses.

And and maybe you know, maybe we table this and and get some more information from staff.

I don't have a problem with that.

Um I think councilwoman uh martinez wanted to get some more information in terms of the numbers, but I also think the numbers that we are going to see are really going to be driven based on what we are charging as well.

So for those communities that don't have a charge, if we ask them how many food truck uh permits that they um that they saw in their community, it's gonna look very different if it's you know 50 bucks or no fee or you know something significantly lower than what we're proposing here.

So I I just throw that out there because that does drive you know what those numbers are going to look like.

But I'm I'm fine with if we want to wait and get some more information from staff and and reconsider this in two weeks.

Um I I think we could do one or two, we can do another thing here, and that is uh uh we're kind of separated this.

The the real issue here was whether to have them to begin with.

That's where the public has had a problem with they never waited in on the fees that go with that's a separate thing.

You can approve this and approve the conditional use, approve the concept, and then come back and talk about the fees.

I'm fine another time and get some information to do that.

If I may add Mr.

Mr.

Dixon, thank you.

Um I was going to touch on that on that last point, the last one of the the conversation.

So my my question is and I and I think it was just answered, but the the fee is is not embedded in the ordinance.

That fee can be changed um at any time by staff's uh discretion or direction that we give to staff, correct?

So it wouldn't have to come back for a vote essentially.

You wouldn't have to be correct.

You wouldn't have to come back and change the zoning and the conditional use.

And the fee would be a separate approved by the city council.

Councilman Dixon, uh the fees are set forth in a separate ordinance, so that ordinance would have to be amended.

Uh but the to change the fee, it wouldn't have to go through the zoning process.

Um the actual fee is not right in the text of the zoning ordinance, but there would have to be an amendment to the fee ordinance.

Okay, all right.

That's thank you for that clarification.

And so I so I would say I'm sorry, go ahead.

I was just going to say it, and and every year city council is presented with a fee ordinance uh as part of the budget process.

Correct.

All right.

So what what I how I see this is strategy.

Um we are trying to do something uh that we have not done, and we are trying to generate foot traffic, trying to generate generate uh more notoriety, specifically in our in our downtown.

Um and so uh the way that I would look at this is making it uh making this as easy as possible or as doable as possible for a business to get started and to try it out uh in a in our downtown.

So uh so I would be in favor more in favor of of lowering that fee um to that five hundred dollar mark that was mentioned um as a way to uh hopefully be able to market an affordable option for a startup or maybe even a more established food truck, uh and then over time as the demand increases, we can easily come back and you know and double that fee, or maybe triple it.

So I I think we we let the market demand what we do with that fee versus trying to establish a fee that is that we all seem to believe may not well maybe not all of us, but some of us may seem to believe may be a uh a hindrance to some of these food trucks.

So that's why I stacked it with anything else, Mr.

Staff.

I I just wanted to at the risk of dragging this conversation further away from the basic question, which is do we think this is a good idea?

But every time that uh a fee is suggested, Diana is trying to take it and divide it by 60 days and come up with a daily amount, and that's the point I was trying to make earlier.

That's conflating the temporary use and the um this conditional use, which could be indefinite.

So there's really no time period.

So I just want to make sure that that's understood that the 60 days only applies to the temporary use, and the conditional use could be years or indefinite.

So I don't uh it it's not accurate to try to take a fee, whatever is being proposed and try to divide it by 60 days to come up with a what it's costing per day because that's not that's mixing two different things.

So that's that's the point I wanted to make.

Can I respond?

Ms.

Alfaro?

Thank you.

The reason why I was doing it is just to give an idea of how much food trucks are actually paying per day.

So the example was 60 days.

Now, if you take it in 180 days, they're paying two dollars and seventy-two cents for a 490 dollar permit.

So that's the amount of staff time that goes into it, the three different staff members at minimum that are touching this, the one that's reviewing the application, the health inspector, the fire department.

And so that's what I'm trying to say is that it might sound really high, but depending on the amount of time they have this permit, right?

And so that could be 60 days, it could be 90 days, 180, it could be six months.

Right.

It is very the amount keeps going down the amount they're paying per day to actually have that.

And to the mayor's point, they're not paying property taxes, etc.

And so this is where I think I would be more willing to try the 980 to see where it goes, because I'm assuming the majority of the food trucks that are gonna ask for a conditional license are gonna ask for a very small long specific time.

Otherwise, you could go for the per temporary permit, which is a much lower fee.

Yeah, anything else.

Let's try to wrap this up.

I think you know, we we're arguing about the fee, and I think that uh that we can come back to that.

Now, let's say we could just move forward on the uh conditional use.

You could uh you could come back to that in four months as part of the budget process because the fees will be presented to you as part of that budget process.

So there will be four months if the zoning text amendment is approved to see if we have any feedback to provide for you.

So if if I Ms.

Powell, so let me turn on my mic first.

Um let me amend my my motion again to the mayor's point.

Let's deal with the item that's currently on the agenda.

I move to approve the uh conditional use um agenda item for the mobile food vendor subject to the conditions question of clarification, Mayor.

Can we add to that motion just and that condition use will not go into effect until we have a permit fee?

Otherwise, someone can apply for a permit.

What when would it go into effect?

After two weeks when the ordinance would come back to you, and then that ordinance was approved.

And if we didn't have a there is already a fee established for conditional uses.

So by default, we would use the current conditional use fee, which is 980 dollars.

Right.

And I can tell you that we have nobody currently lined up to make those applications.

So if you wanted to wait the four months or so to revisit this when the fee ordinance comes through your budget process, that might be an appropriate time to do that.

So the motion stands the way it is.

I'm looking for a second.

Second.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to uh move forward on a conditional use for uh mobile food vendors uh subject to conditions.

Please call the roll council members alfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motion is approved 9-0.

Mayor Captain, I'd like to make a second motion to amend the fee for said mobile food vendors for conditional use and reduce it by half.

Second.

It's been moved and second to amend the fee.

To what?

I said reduce the fee by half.

Okay.

To half.

I did it.

Okay.

Anthony seconded it.

Good.

Call it.

Okay.

Then move the second to amend the fee to 490 dollars.

Any discussion?

Court, please call the roll.

Oh, Mr.

Thorne, I'm sorry.

I just questioning if uh your uh making the fee in half.

Does that cut the uh the uh part-time fee in half as well?

The short term the temporary uses?

Temporary use.

No, this is just for the content for the conditional use.

That probably should be said.

Do I do I need to restate the motion to I I thought I made it clear that it was just for this that we are the motion is to um reduce the conditional use fee associated with mobile food vendors by half okay clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Zalfaro?

No.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good, no.

Martinez?

No.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

The motion's approved six three.

I believe that's correct.

Okay.

All right.

Moving on.

Consideration of petition 18-25 conditional use to establish one mobile food vendor near the new clubhouse at the Wing Park Golf Course.

Mr.

Mullat.

Thank you, Mayor.

The Wing Park consists of more than 120 acres along the north side of Wing Street west of Route 31 or State Street.

Wing Street is here, and this is state.

This is the Fox Valley Flea Market and the Habitat for Humanity Restore.

And this is the Northwater Reclamation Facility for the Fox River Water Reclamation District.

The existing Wing Park Park Golf Course Clubhouse is here.

And here is a view of the existing clubhouse turning into the park from Wing Street.

The golf course, the oldest nine-hole municipal course in Illinois, becomes about 60 acres of the park.

The planning and zoning commission unanimously recommended approval of a petition from the City Parks and Recreation Department to have a mobile food vendor at the Wing Park Golf Course.

The mobile food vendor would provide additional food options and enhance the overall amenities offered at the Wing Park Golf Course.

Golf Operations Director Greg Layman is available should you have any questions?

Staff in the planning and zoning commission recommend approval subject to conditions outlined within your packet.

Move for approval subject to the conditions.

Second.

It's been moved to second for approval, subject to conditions.

Any discussion?

So in looking at the map, um, if I see it correctly, um hole one is real close to the food truck.

If I see it correctly, um hole one is real close to the food truck.

What kind of um generator was a food truck have?

Because many people that do golf.

I don't golf.

So that's my disclaimer here.

Uh prefer quiet versus noisy.

So I was just curious how close is the food truck to the first hole.

Yeah, we like things quiet.

Um there is a roadway that's pretty active uh that causes more noise than anything that we we do.

We're gonna do electric and we're gonna source it from the older clubhouse, the one from 1936.

Okay.

Um out of curiosity, do you know what that uh anticipated hours for the food truck in the restaurant will be?

I have it drafted uh it as part of the budget process.

Um and it it was it was gonna coincide with the the bricks and mortar building.

So that's uh it's kind of a I I want to have the vendor on board first, kind of work through that process, uh, but it it wouldn't be going um past the operation of the of the of the bar uh that is inside the building.

Thank you.

Uh manager's got a comment.

Want to make it clear this gentleman that Mark Mullot pulled from the audience happens to work for the city, he's golf director Mike Lehman.

Yeah, thank you.

That's Mike Lehman, not Greg.

Oh, I'm sorry.

That's good.

So if I make a mistake, it's Greg.

Mr.

Thorne.

Yes.

Would the food truck be only there or would it be able to go into the park for any other activities?

Uh the intention is actually just to keep it at that location.

So it's supporting the bricks and mortar building.

What you order from the food truck can be ordered inside the building as well.

So it is a little different than perhaps something that's done, you know, proposed at the food court.

So um, yeah, at this point in time, uh, we're we're hoping to keep it there and support that dynamic um environment for the neighborhood as well as golfers.

Great.

Okay, anything else?

Okay.

Mr.

Stefan.

Oh, yeah.

All right.

I thought I heard Corey.

Mike.

Go ahead.

I'll I'll go after you, I'll go after you.

Okay, thank thanks, Corey.

Um, one is the location of that food truck relative to the buildings.

There's been concerns raised that it's too close for fire safety.

Is that is that been reviewed by the fire department?

And yeah, as as part of any conditional use application or any uh any zoning petition that comes before you, we run it through our development application review team.

One of those members is the fire department, and all they asked is that it'd be 10 feet away.

Okay.

And that's that's a standard distance for these types of things.

Okay.

I I can't think of the second question, so I'll I'll let it go.

So Corey, go ahead.

Okay, Mr.

Dixon.

Yeah.

Yes, thank you.

Um, I I for this for this food truck.

I just wanted to say to Mike that I'm I'm really happy that it's open to the community there.

I think that's gonna uh provide um uh a very unique experience for that neighborhood and those surrounding neighborhoods and anyone in that in that area.

Um and also just want to commend Mike for just running uh great operations uh throughout the city at all of our courses and uh handling our food contract vendor.

So really excited about uh Plaguehouse uh coming in and uh and and I'm and I'm looking uh forward to what Wayne Park is going to actually look like because we're also gonna be going through some park uh renovations there uh with the I'm just gonna call it jungle gym for for lack of better words and and things that are gonna be changing just throughout that entire area.

Um and I also just want to mention that with that being uh a shorter uh nine holes versus the you know traditional eighteen holes.

What I learned uh from Mike just recently actually was um there's a huge market for people who don't want to pay 18 play 18 holes, um, who want to play that more nigh holes, play more played more nigh hole games and and also with the the simulator that's going in there, and so just uh just wanted to mention that great job to uh city staff and specifically uh to Mike there.

Okay, thank you so much, appreciate it.

Mr.

Stephens, you remember your I remember the question.

Thank you, Mayor.

Mike, um, it's been mentioned.

I think you mentioned it even, and I think other people have mentioned it that there's a kitchen being built in that new clubhouse.

You mentioned that people can order the food out of the food truck to take or have it delivered into the eating area inside.

Is there a reason why we're not just putting a restaurant or a food vendor inside in this kitchen?

Yeah, I think it's part of the environment.

We could we don't happily uh have a a grill set up or an answer system inside this proposed new building.

Uh that would be on the food truck.

Okay.

So we could modify that would be an option.

It would be an expensive option, but uh be one that could be considered.

I don't know that it it really kind of goes with the the theme and the dynamic kind of look that we're you know trying to do here.

This is a very unique concept.

Um using a food truck is a little vogue.

I understand that.

Um our golf season is seasonal, uh, but we're trying uh to get the environment of this chip shots whiskey bar and create this new kind of thing uh where things can be cooked outside, but also um they can go into heaters and or you know uh in the environment into the cater kitchen where they're safe, you know, served safely to the people inside.

So just to follow up.

So when I read the memo on and and saw that there was a kitchen going in this clubhouse, it's more like for catering for like events or receptions or uh it's more to support uh the actually if you if we're gonna break down and take a look at the kitchen.

Uh one supports uh a large area supports the bar, right?

Uh a large area supports uh just supplies, and then a large area is about cleaning and uh and and helping with that transition from outside to inside.

Right, okay.

So it's it's not such a big space design like our other golf courses.

So at Bows Creek or Highlands, uh those were full scale uh for a la carte business as well as event.

Uh so um uh those are done designed very differently uh with large hood systems, uh a lot of grill action and uh prep areas and and full-scale type event.

And of course, that's why you can handle 200 people.

We don't we're not gonna do that at Wing Park.

The golf course itself doesn't model that as well as the others do.

You know, full golf course is 72 players, so we're not gonna have that kind of traffic.

Right.

Uh of course we have a great neighborhood, and obviously, because I live in it, so I mean so it's a really great neighborhood.

No, but um, but we love it, and uh there's a lot of neighbors that that stroll on through and go into that great park, and um uh I obviously it's it's for them too.

Uh we we've had people even in the audience today.

Someone said, I can't wait to go over there and have a drink and sit out there with my dog, and it's like, yeah, you know, it is truly a neighborhood golf course.

We don't want to ruin that environment.

Those golfers are gonna have still the same experience they've had since I grew up playing there, uh, and you uh so uh it's it's really gonna be a unique environment, and we want to keep that style and that that grace.

Thanks, thank you.

Mr.

Thorne.

Thanks.

Mike, if you don't mind just stepping outside of the the questions here, and just the fencing is up, the uh the stakes are in the little uh uh barriers are up.

Can you just quickly enlighten us to groundbreaking and expectations of the building?

Yeah, uh we uh went through a you know a nice elaborate process with coat with Mark's help, especially.

There's uh when you're handling all the details, dot and all the eyes and crossing all the T's, it's it's a very difficult process.

We didn't get rolling until now, but as you said, fence is up, silt fences up.

Uh first first construction meeting is tomorrow morning.

Uh so we're doing the the chamber, you know, outing at Bowes, and then I'm gonna hop on and do a construction meeting at 10:30 before we get the chamber golf outing out on the golf course.

So uh we're really excited.

This is just fantastic.

Um so you'll you might see some dirt getting moved next week, but uh you know, at this point in time they are uh using their GPS as establishing what needs to be moved.

Um you'll see laths going in the ground for corners of the building, and uh that that'll be a rock and roll in next week.

Do you by chance know when they dig the foundation where is all that extra dirt gonna go?

Yeah, we decided to save a little money, and we didn't um we're we're actually moving the dirt to hole number five on the right side, so we're actually keeping it on the property.

Um so there's uh if you if you're if any of you know parf uh it's a short part three and uh most people slice, and so we're creating some berms on the right side that might help them keep the ball in play.

Uh the mayor will love it.

Yeah, I I think uh I I understand he's a very good player, so I I don't know if that really will come into play for him, but uh but nonetheless uh we're we're keeping it on site.

Great, thanks.

Sustainable, yes.

Anything else?

Okay, please call a roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes, Dixon?

Yes, good, yes, Martinez.

I think uh I I understand he's a very good player so I I don't know if that really will come into play for him but uh but nonetheless uh we're we're keeping it on site great thanks sustainable yes anything else okay please call a roll council members of yes Dixon yes good yes Martinez yes Ortiz yes Powell yes Stefan yes Thorne yes mayor captain yes motions approved nine zero because it's item three is a resolution establishing an honorary street name of Corporal Ortiz Court for Alice Court move for approval second moved and second for approval any discussion hearing none court please call a roll council member Zalfaro yes Dixon yes good yes Martinez yes Ortiz yes Powell yes Stefan yes Thorne yes mayor can yes the motion is approved nine zero congratulations to the family we are here okay item four resolution authorizing execution of a change order number four with Ramball America's integrated solutions incorporated will Brian Gere Incorporated of North America for professional services in connection with environmental investigations relating to a former leaking underground storage tank at 1010 wing street elgin illinois move for approval second move the second for approval any discussion hearing none court please call the role council members of yes Dixon yes good yes Martinez yes or yes Powell yes Stefan yes Thorne yes mayor captain yes the motion is approved nine zero consent move for approval second move the second floor approval any corrections or additions Mr.

Ortiz and want to talk about item six on consent uh myself from uh Ms.

Powell or the point people this past year for the city manager review process and during that process we evaluate manager what he does and doesn't do mostly he does more than he doesn't uh we during that process we hired MGT consulting to do a salary study for our city manager compared it to 16 other municipalities that went compared compensation benefits and through that study uh we got back that our city manager was underpaid he was under the 50th percentile so with this contract amendment it'll put him a little bit above the 50th percentile which make it a competitive position so whenever Mr.

Cozo decides to hang his hat up and throw his shoes on a telephone line whoever comes in after him will get good candidates that would uh attract good candidates and uh keep it a competitive process uh miss poell is gonna elaborate more on the parameters and what the study actually presented and showed us and that put the city of elegant under that that 50th percentile yes and I had that document open and up until just a minute ago it disappeared um but essentially the the work was done by a consultant that the the city hired um MGT management consultants um they do a lot of uh public sector work um in Illinois but then also all over the country related to personnel management they do executive recruitments they do salary studies um I just wanted to point out so the uh there were about roughly about 16 uh communities that responded to the survey and of that 14 were used to come up with the parameters for uh evaluating um the uh the city manager's salary uh the other two were thrown out because uh they the structure of their their government didn't really match ours uh they probably had strong mayors thank you um so a lot of times I know that when we do comparisons and people think about comparing us to other communities strictly just on population um that is a factor but I just wanted to name the factors and the criteria that were taken into consideration um in coming up with um the uh the results that we received from the management the consulting company um equalized assessed value um for the communities was taken into consideration um per capita income population total budget expenditure uh total annual budget expenditures number of full-time employees uh state uh sales tax revenue property tax revenue and proximity to elgin so it was um a very thorough and um unique process that I I think we all really appreciated you know the the work and really seeing how we compare to different communities I know in the goodness 14 years that I've been on city council we have not um looked at uh the salary for the city manager and that's you that's that's very odd to go that long without doing some type of salary study I know that we are currently doing a salary study uh for the entire organization so it kind of makes sense to kind of do this right now it it's it's timely um so just

I know in the goodness, 14 years that I've been on city council, we have not looked at uh the salary for the city manager, and that's you that's that's very odd to go that long without doing some type of salary study.

I know that we are currently doing a salary study uh for the entire organization, so it kind of makes sense to kind of do this right now.

Um it it's it's timely.

Um so just want to thank the council um for uh working with us through this process.

Um I think it was it's important, it's important that we um fairly compensate our employees, all of our employees, um and it's also important for recruitment purposes, um, as uh councilman Ortiz said, you know, one day uh our city manager you know is probably gonna retire or gets tired of us and leaves or whatever the situation is, and you know, we need to have the position um compensated at a level that we're going to attract the talent that we are looking for.

Um and without getting too technical, we also need to make sure that we avoid compression in a salary compression within the organization.

So that's for all the HR folks out there to understand what that means.

Thank you.

Okay, anything else?

Okay, please call a roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes, Dixon?

Yes, good, yes, Martinez, yes, Ortiz, yes, Powell?

Yes, Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, motions approved 9-0.

Miscellaneous business.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move and second for approval.

Any discussion.

Ms.

Alfar.

Uh the committee of the whole, January or July 9th, 2025, were not included in the packet, but we didn't have changes to it.

Is that the reason why they weren't included in the packet?

I'm I'm sorry, Councilmember, I closed my agenda.

I'm opening it up.

I want to make sure that I understand the question.

So we're in the July 9th of uh approval minutes were not included.

I didn't see them.

I could unless I missed them.

I'm sure I'm well checking, but I didn't see them in here.

I know we didn't have changes to those minutes, if I remember correctly.

So I was wondering if that was the reason why they were on the list but they're in a different place.

Oh, but I think um Madam Clerk Dewis.

So I think we don't actually include the minutes from the committee of the whole because they were previous.

We don't include another copy in this item because they were previously approved when you received the copies during the earlier meeting.

This is the follow-up memorializing that approval from the previous meeting so we don't duplicate the attachments.

I'm sorry.

Correct, madam clerk?

Okay, thank you.

Okay.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes, Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, motions approved 9-0.

Announcements, the next committee of the whole meeting will be Wednesday, August 27th, 2025 at 6 p.m.

in the city council chambers.

The next regular meeting of the Elgin City Council will be Wednesday, August 27th, 2025 at 7 p.m.

in the city council chambers.

I'd entertain a motion to adjourn.

So move second move and second to adjourn.

Council members alfaro?

Yes.

Dixon.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, we are adjourned.

Have a good evening.