Meeting for the Elgin City Council for April 22nd, 2026 to order.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Zalfaro.

Present.

Dixon?

Present.

Good.

Here.

Martinez here.

Ortiz?

Here.

Powell?

Here.

Stefan?

Here.

Thorne.

Mayor Campton.

Here.

Uh Councilmember Thorne has asked to be allowed to attend the meeting via Zoom.

So we'd have a motion.

Approved.

Second.

Move and second.

Clerk please call the roll.

Councilmember Zalparo.

Yes.

Dixon.

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motion's approved done.

8-0.

Um we have one person.

Uh well, excuse me.

Approval of the minutes of the previous meeting of April 8th, 2026.

So moved.

Second.

Move the second for approval.

Any correction or additions.

Hearing none, clerk please call a roll.

Council members of our own yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motion is approved aid zero.

Okay, Mayor.

Can I abstain from that?

I want to change our vote to abstention.

Abstention?

Yes.

7-0 with one abstention.

Uh we have one person signed up for public comment this evening.

Elijah Stein.

Good evening.

My name is Elijah Stein.

And today I was wanted to talk about something that's not getting talked about enough that I think we should be talking about because it affects all of us, including in Elgin.

And you can let out the collective sigh when I say it.

The Iran war in a potential draft.

It's not exactly something that I want to talk about either.

I fully understand.

It affects our kids.

It affects our kids' kids.

It affects the wealth and the economy of our country.

And that's not something that we can just hand wave away.

So as far as it goes, I don't know if anybody knows just how much it's taxed everybody because it's not something that's really getting talked about.

But if you want to do something at home so that you can see it for yourself, there's a little website that you can go to called Iran WarCost.com so you can see all of the estimations of just how much the budget is going to the war effort.

And if you go there, you can see that the amount per taxpayer, that's not that's not any other amount.

That's per every single person in this room and watching.

585 dollars.

Do you know what you could do with that money?

You could go take your kids to Dick Sporting Goods, get them all the sports tools that they need so that they can go and play the big game.

You can get a filling for all those different teeth that you have been putting off so that you can finally stop having that pain in your jaw.

You can go take care of different things that you want to in your lawn so that it looks prettier for your neighbors.

But instead, we send all of that money over to another country so that we could bomb 150 innocent kids for the absolutely necessary result of look.

I'm saying that because you were the ones who promised that.

You promised that to not just me, you promised that to my parents.

You promised that to my grandparents who had already fought.

You promised that to everybody.

That wasn't just something that I'm saying, that was your promise.

And I'm not going to have any of my family go to a draft so that they can fight in a war so that one person can get as many resources as they can from foreign country also that they can hoard it for their own wealth.

I will protect and stand by my fellow Americans, not by some warmongers who decide that they're more important than we are.

And I think that's important to talk about, and we should all start doing that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

This evening we have one item on both agendas.

Item A is an ordinance amending chapter 5.18 of the Elgin municipal code pertaining to leases for designated city facilities and performance contracts.

Uh this evening I'm going to ask procurement manager Nick Etmanon to come to the podium to introduce this initiative of the council.

Uh Department of Cultural Arts and Special Events Director Amanda Harris is also here to answer questions.

As you note this being on both agendas, time is for discussion now, and the vote will occur at 7 p.m.

Nick, thanks for being with us this evening.

How are you?

Thank you.

Good morning, Mayor and members of City Council.

Uh this ordinance amends chapter 5.18 of the municipal code regarding performing artists' contracting procedures.

The purpose is to modernize the city's performing artist procurement process to reflect current practices, industry standards, and allow for all venues where the Department of Cultural Arts and Special Events host performing artists.

Chapter 5.18 of the municipal code currently restricts contracting authority to the designated venues such as the Hemans Cultural Center, Wing Park Ban Show, and the Lord's Park Pavilion.

Since the original code is written, the city's programming has expanded significantly with events hosted throughout the city, such as Nightmare on Chicago Street and La Fiesta.

But the code has not kept up to pace.

This ordinance removes venue specific restrictions and extends the existing contracting practices to all locations hosting events produced by the Department of Cultural Arts and Special Events, allowing staff the ability to finalize agreements and issue deposits in a timely manner.

This improves the city's ability to secure talent, maintain flexibility across venues, and deliver high quality arts and cultural programming.

All current internal controls will remain in place, including legal and financial review.

Thank you.

And thank you, Nick, for sharing that information.

So if I heard you correctly, like the limits that the city managers allow to do without city council approval prior will still be in effect, right?

In that one.

That is correct.

So anything over that, it will still go to city council.

In regards to the So, like if we had a bigger contract that was over, I think it's 25,000, if I'm remembering correctly, if we had some kind of like orders or something like that, it would have to come to council first.

Not in this um, it doesn't pertain to this as the chapter allows the industry requires the contracts due to confidentiality and deposits being made that the um DCAS to uh produce the final agreements and take them to the CMO for signature.

So it wouldn't so that um limit that we do currently give to city manager is revoked in this one.

Am I understanding that correctly uh Councilmember Alfaro?

That's the uh this chapter, chapter 518 was actually amended back in 1997 to allow the city manager to uh enter into contracts that exceeded 25,000 dollars expressly for these performance contracts and what were termed as leases of these uh lease agreements with third parties for events.

So uh that's currently how things have been approved with respect to these uh agreements.

There have been um numerous contracts over the years, performance contracts that have been entered into that have exceeded 25,000 dollars per certain to this chapter, and that would continue.

So there's no change in that.

Okay, so yes, it that it is revoked in this one because it's been a prior previously approved in the past.

Okay.

I just want to say, like I've mentioned in the past, like I hope uh the office does take some feedback and trying to be um inclusive to additional Latino demographics beyond Mexicans as well as the Asian culture, and so I just wanted to also add that as this is something that I will be approving, but just something to continue um thinking about.

Thank you.

Okay, anything else.

Okay, moving on.

This is uh on both agendas, so there's no need for motion.

It's correct, Mayor.

Um item B are amendments to the 2025 budget consistent with the Illinois municipal budget law.

City's annual budgets are prepared using revenue estimates and expendor and expenditure recommendations, but the inherently speculative nature of budgeting makes it impossible to predict with complete accuracy the funding levels necessary for the coming fiscal year.

The Illinois municipal budget law requires the approval of year-end adjustments that reflect the actual financial and programmatic changes approved by the city council during the budget year.

By amending the city budget in a retroactive fashion, the adjusted budget can reflect the actual funding requirements needed by the city.

The amendments are required if the actual revenue or expenditure exceeds what was budgeted for the fiscal year.

Under budget items that are not normally amended, the most significant amendments have been previously reported to the city council.

Move approval.

Move to the second for approval.

Any discussion.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I had a question on page 15 for the culture, arts and special events budget.

It was increased because of the short film festival in the summer theater.

I was curious what was the increase.

Is there a paragraph that that's specifically referenced?

That's what I thought.

Thank you.

So it's on page four of your memo tab.

Yes, I we got it.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Um they get in um uh cultural arts gets in donations for different things, and then they're they're held in an escrow, and then their um revenue is increased and the expenditure is increased so that they can go ahead and spend those funds.

So the increase was the lack of donations then.

No, because oftentimes the city will receive funding that we didn't know we were gonna get.

Okay, and so we didn't budget for it.

Like for a grant is a good example of that because we don't know during the budget process whether we're gonna be awarded the grant.

So then when we get the grant, we increase grant revenue and we increase an expenditive an appropriate expenditure line so that the department can go ahead and spend the money.

Oh, so we got more funding, and that's why it's exactly okay.

We got more funding, and that's it wasn't because like something uh there was some type of emergency.

That's why I was trying to figure out if there was some type of emergency that we could plan for the future.

Okay, so we just got more funding.

Okay, okay.

Thank you for clearing that.

Sure.

Anything else?

Please call the rule.

Councilmember Zalfaro.

Yes, Dixon.

Yes, good, yes, Martinez.

Yes.

Ortiz, yes, Powell, yes, Stefan?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, motions approved date zero.

Item C is in a contract with my end incorporated for the Mad Bomber Fireworks production for the 2026, Fourth of July Fireworks Festival, or display, excuse me, in the 2026 La Fiesta del Day Elgin fireworks display.

Elgin hosts these two signature community events each year for which fireworks are provided.

The Fourth of July event features a parade, concert, and family activities at Festival Park and La Fiesta delgent, held in September, also at Festival Park, celebrates Mexican Independence Day with music, culture, community engagement, and fireworks.

Both of these events draw thousands to the downtown to celebrate.

Staff is recommending awarding the purchase of a service agreement service agreement for the Fourth of July fireworks and La Fiesta de Algin to Meand Incorporated, commonly known as Mad Bomber Fireworks Production.

Move for approval.

Second second.

Move and second for approval.

Any discussion.

So far.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, I had a question.

So I when in reading of the contract, like if we cancel as a 40%, we still have to pay.

So uh I'm assuming there's a plan B for rain.

So what is that plan B?

Good evening.

So we have worked with Mad Bomber Fireworks for many, many years.

Plan B is typically a six-month reschedule.

Uh some of that comes down to when the timeline when the call is made within the timeline.

If they have already set up, if the fireworks are already there, there comes a point when the fire marshal says these have to be disposed of through proper channels, um, in which case they would have to be repurchased.

So there could be an additional cost.

Um, if uh the call is made in enough time that they are not set, we could reuse those, and there may not be an additional cost outside of some potential labor.

So we would tie it to like uh movies in the park or something.

It depends.

We would look for something that would be similar in size.

That's actually how into summer bash got started a few years ago.

We had the Fourth of July celebration canceled due to weather.

Um, and we had bans to book, and uh that was the only date available, and so we made the end of summer batch happen stupidly very very fast uh and made use of those those things without much additional cost.

Um looking at our calendar, there's not a whole lot that would be applicable.

Um, so that would be a conversation we would have with Mad Bombers if appropriate.

Okay.

Okay.

And then I do appreciate that you were looking into drones.

I I understand the stopping and not doing it, so a little bummed that we won't have drones, but I totally get it.

So thank you.

Mr.

Steph.

I I just wanted to echo uh Councilman Alfaro's sentiments about drones.

I was eager to see us kind of working our way towards that, and I understand the need to kind of step back temporarily, but I I would urge us to continue to look at that.

We have members of our community that have problems with loud explosions, PTSD and other things, and animals as well, including my dogs, who always don't like the whole weekend.

So I'm just happy that that's happening.

So thanks.

Yeah, drones were something we were looking forward to.

We know the community really loves them.

Last year's show was was lovely.

Um, and in communication with this company as well as a few others.

Uh we were working to try to make that happen for the fourth of July.

It's just not feasible this year.

So it's something we'll definitely keep working forward to toward uh in 2027.

Okay.

Anything else?

Clerk, please call a roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, motion is approved 8-0.

Item D is a cooperative purchasing agreement with Omni partners to repair and resurface various basketball and tennis courts in the city.

Uh late in 2022, Parks and Recreation Department conducted a comprehensive evaluation of its tennis and basketball courts.

This assessment revealed widespread maintenance need, including crack repairs and the reapplication of surface color coatings.

While many courts were found require only routine maintenance, seven were identified as being in advanced stages of deterioration and in need of more extensive rehabilitation.

The tennis courts and basketball courts at Heritage, Copper Springs, and Clifford Owasco Parks exhibited larger cracks requiring more extensive repairs, though not to the extent of needing full reconstruction.

The base structure of all courts remain sound with level playing surfaces intact.

This maintenance work is recommended to prevent more costly full reconstruction in the future and is scheduled for completion by the end of November of this year.

Move for approval.

Move and second for approval.

Any discussion?

Sorry, Mayor.

Yeah, thank you.

I I'm glad the manager clarified the memo because it did say 2025.

And I think I I was assuming that was a typo, and I'm appreciate that was clarified.

Thank you.

Okay.

Anything else?

Hey, Clerk, please call a roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motion's approved 8-0.

Item E is the replacement of pedestrian bridge decking at both Walton Island and the downtown bike path bridges.

Staff have identified four pedestrian bridges, including those at Walton Island and along the downtown bike path system with decking that is significantly deteriorated to age and environmental exposure.

This decking was last replaced about 12 years ago, and the bridges are critical connectors within the city's trail network and experience consistent daily use.

Contact engineered solutions is the original manufacture of the bridges.

And serves as the sole source for the specialized repair and maintenance components required to preserve their structural integrity.

This proposed purchase includes replacement of approximately 372 Douglas fur-treated wood planks along with all required fastening hardware and hold-down systems.

Move for approval.

Second.

Then move and second for approval.

Any discussion.

Hearing none, Clerk, please call a roll.

Councilmember's Alfaro.

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motions approved 8-0.

Item F office renovations and technology improvements for the police department's cold case unit.

Police department formed the cold case unit in 2024.

And as many of you know, this unit identifies and researches cold cases in the pursuit of justice and closure for victims and their families.

These cases often require significant time and resources along with organizational and administrative support to ensure the case review and investigative goals and objectives are met.

The unit has recently expanded, adding another cold case detective and sergeant to the unit, and the need for a cohesive workspace where all members of the unit can occupy where the unit can uh now exist.

The department is seeking to renovate existing office space to house the unit that will improve the efficiency and better position the unit for current and future service demands.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move and second for approval.

Any discussion.

Ms.

Alfaro.

I just have a question for city staff out of curiosity.

And this is something from with the discussion with council member Dixon, who had asked, and I thought it was a really good question.

So I'm actually curious.

Is there podcasts also going to be in that space?

Because I didn't see that in the in the paperwork for the reconstruction, but just curious that they're planning to do the podcast there as well.

I can't say with certainty, but it's not my understanding that they were creating a recording studio in this location.

This is for the actual work.

Well, yeah, that's what I saw from the construction.

So I was just curious where they're doing the podcast.

I don't know.

I don't know specifically.

Okay.

So anything else?

Clerk, please call a rule.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, motions approved 8-0.

Announcements from the council.

Mr.

Steph, I'm going to try to do this from memory, but um, the Nina neighborhood group has uh biannual fundraiser for their butterfly garden.

And this year, it will be Thursday, April 30th at Kubo.

Cost is now I think 100.

It's space is limited, it's uh unlimited food from uh Kubo, and also an opportunity to participate in an auction.

Uh you can get tickets at the Nina website or see anybody who's involved with the butterfly garden or Nina.

Okay.

Anything else?

Ms.

O'Farrow.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

I just wanted to share at the last meeting, Councilmember Dixon and I has shared an update on the inclusivity and diversity organs.

We now that have that on the agenda on the 7 o'clock moving forward.

So under miscellaneous, we will now be providing that update.

So I just wanted to um be transparent with the community since we gave the update during this time last time.

Okay.

Anything else?

No, so from staff.

Thank you, Mayor.

Yeah, this evening we're gonna have fire chief.

Excuse me.

This evening I've asked fire chief Rob Sogan to uh address the council in the public with additional information that he provided last summer around this time about the city's updates to the emergency siren warning system, uh work that has been performed to date, the changes or the revisions that are looking to be implemented, and what will we expect to see in the future.

So thank you for taking the time to come out this evening, Chief Sagan.

Well, I appreciate the opportunity, and I and I want to expand a little bit beyond that scope here because there's some things I want to reiterate from last year that we talked about.

Um, and it's very clear to me just with some of the conversations I've had with some of the citizens over the last two weeks on the phone, some emails I've received, and obviously some comments that we've seen, that there is some need for some re-education as to what the system is all about, how the system works, and that's what I'm gonna provide to you tonight.

So, very briefly, I want to start out with what are the purpose of the sirens.

I was I saw a few comments that were use the sirens for their intended purpose, which is for tornado warnings.

That technically is not their intended uh purpose.

The intended purpose of these was from many, many, many years ago, decades ago, for civil defense.

It wasn't until the 70s that we started to see widespread use of these systems for weather advisories.

So though they have been used traditionally for the purposes of identifying tornado warnings, we also have, and I'm gonna explain that in just a few minutes, that we also have expanded capabilities today that we didn't have just a few years ago.

So it's important for people to understand the sole purpose of this system is one, it's a misnomer to call it the tornado sirens.

That's a common name, but the tr technical name is it's the outdoor emergency warning siren system.

The design of the system is to impact our most vulnerable members of the community, and those are people who are outside to the time that severe weather is approaching the city.

So we when when those sirens go off, the whole intent here is for individuals to seek shelter and seek additional information.

Those sirens are not to tell you exactly what is happening, it's to tell you that a threat is coming your way.

Get inside, get into some level of protection, and seek additional information, whether it be from the news, your weather apps, your if you have a NOAA weather radio in your house.

So that's the intent of the system.

The second point I want to talk about is how the system works.

So in 2024, we upgraded our system.

We added a couple new sirens in different parts of the city, and we upgraded our software.

That was in 2024.

And what's important to understand is this is now our third storm season that we've had this system, and this is the first time that we're starting to hear complaints about its use.

And I'm gonna talk more about that in a second.

So in our 2024 upgrade, one of the key features was automation.

So prior to that, those sirens went off only at the touch of a human finger, which can also lead to all sorts of problems, can lead to delays, can lead to a missed activation, all of all of those types of situations.

By having a fully automated system, it takes the delay out, it takes the huge potential for human error out.

By having a fully automated system, it takes the delay out, it takes the huge potential for human error out.

And that's where we are with the system today.

So when we look at why there has been so many activations recently, it's because out of the last three storm seasons that we've had this system, this has been the most severe and most impactful storm season we've had in three years, and we're just in the beginning phases of it.

Also, the National Weather Service has shown over the last few years that we are encountering here in Illinois more severe weather.

You see a lot of it down south, but our severe weather potential has increased over the years, and we will see and should anticipate seeing more severe weather, which is part of the reason why we're taking the action that we're taking, which I'll explain explain also in a minute.

So the way our system works is and it's tied in essence, it's tied directly to the National Weather Service alerting system.

So when the National Weather Service, and this is important, I am not a weather expert.

We rely on the experts, which is the National Weather Service, to give us the information that they're saying we have an we have an impending severe weather event coming our way.

So when the National Weather Service, and if you think about when you watch the news and you watch the weather during a severe weather event, you'll see the various boxes that the National Weather Service puts on the screen saying this is a this is the geographic area for the severe thunderstorm or the geographic area for the tornado warning.

The way our system works today, which is pretty slick, is that when those boxes are put into place, if any portion of those of warning boxes bisects the city of Elgin, our siren system automatically activates.

So that takes away, like I said, the human component of potential delays.

The other thing the system upgrades allowed us to do is look at and notify for severe thunderstorm warnings.

And severe thunderstorms I'm going to discuss here, can be more as impactful or more impactful in some cases than some of our lower grade tornadoes.

So when we talk about some of the concerns that have been raised and some of the questions that I fielded over the last two weeks, and I'm sure some of the questions you may have fielded over the last few weeks, I have identified three main areas that are what I think are the issues that people are concerned about.

The first one is why we have multiple siren activations during a storm.

That is because when the system, when the National Weather Service identifies, and we're gonna let's talk about just severe thunderstorm warnings.

The tornado warnings are are a non-issue in my view.

I don't think anybody's complaining about the idea of the tornadoes sir of the sirens going off for tornado warnings.

So in 2024, because our system allowed for us to be able to look at severe thunderstorm warnings and activate for those, we have we have taken that, we have incorporated that into our alert system.

So as we have as those boxes are put into place by the National Weather Service, so again, just looking at a severe thunderstorm warning, and you have a storm that's coming in from the northwest from the southwest, going across the city, let's just anywhere in the west, and it's coming across the city.

We're gonna get a box that's gonna be maybe covering Pingree, you know, west of 47 and east of 47, all in one geographic box.

That will set off our sirens.

Then as that storm progresses across and now comes down to the city center area, and it's has maintained its severe level capabilities, they may issue a warning for the city center area that will activate our sirens.

And as it progresses eastbound and it gets past city center, and then we're covering the south, the eastern side of the city into the Cook County side.

If they issue another warning, the sirens go off.

We also had a situation that occurred last fall where we had a severe thunderstorm warning, sirens activated, and then just minutes later, they also put into place a severe tornado warning, which then activated the sirens a second time.

The purpose was not is as of today, the purpose is not to identify for the community what the siren is for.

What the purpose of the sirens is to notify the community that there is a threat coming your way.

Because these are warnings and these are not watches where the conditions could be right for something to happen.

These are warnings that the National Weather Service has said something is happening.

If we talk about from the tornado perspective, for the tornado warning sirens to go off, or to go off for tornado warnings, is you have rotation in the clouds, you have a funnel cloud that's starting to form, you have a tornado on the ground, all of those things will generate a tornado warning by the National Weather Service, and those would activate our sirens.

All of those things will generate a tornado warning by the National Weather Service, and those would activate our sirens.

So that's so that's why the sirens have gone off multiple times.

The other part of that is the size and the size of the city.

We're 38 square miles.

So what's happening in one corner of the city, what's happening in Highland Woods may be different than what's happening at Willard and Villa.

It can be sunny and cloud-free there, and Highland Woods could be dealing with severe weather.

Those are challenges that we face in how do we notify the public.

And I'll talk about some of those issues in a minute.

The second issue that I I've cultivated out of everything that I've heard is why do we activate for severe thunderstorms?

So let me give a little perspective here.

We only activate for severe for the top two-tier categories of severe thunderstorms.

That's considerable and destructive, terms that the National Weather Service has issued for their thunderstorms.

The classifications for a considerable thunderstorm is 70 mile an hour winds or greater, and or one and three-quarter inch hail.

The criteria for a destructive level of severe thunderstorm is 80 mile an hour or better winds and two and three-quarter inch hail.

All of which can be devastating.

So when we now compare that to an EF-0 tornado, which is a classification of tornado, it's the lowest classification.

It's also the one that is most common in the state of Illinois in the F-Zero.

They account for approximately one-third of all the tornadoes that occur in the state.

An EF zero tornado, and like I said earlier, nobody is complaining about our tornado sir, the sirens going off for tornado warnings.

An EF-0 tornado is 65 mile an hour winds, lower than what we put them off for when it comes to our considerable uh warnings for severe severe thunderstorms.

The other challenges with an EF-0 tornado is they're often very small in size.

They're small footprint and they're also small in the they may cause a fair amount of damage, but it's going to be a very small geographic area that you're gonna that you have torn AF zero tornado is going to impact.

Take a severe thunderstorm, which we've all lived through many, many, many of those, that can span the entire city, and it's going to be moving.

They may be moving at 50 miles an hour, which is which they'll move through fast, but the geographic footprint is far more impactful than that EF-0 tornado.

This is why we have chosen with the abilities with the capabilities of our upgraded system to activate for these top-tier severe weather severe thunderstorm events.

An EF-Zero tornado at 65 miles an hour can tear a roof off a house.

70 plus mile an hour winds, straight-line winds can have similar damage.

And then you add on top of that, one and three-quarter or two and three-quarter inch hail, breaking windows, smashing through car windows.

We want our citizens to get into safe areas.

That's why we set the signs sirens off for the thunderstorms.

The third area, the third issue that I I was able to pull out of all this is a concern that we're creating a scenario of crying wolf.

And I vehemently dis this disagree with that.

We are not creating a scenario of crying wolf.

We are creating a scenario where we are providing notification of the community members for impending severe weather threat towards your area.

The National Weather Service are the ones who decide and say this is coming, we're gonna warn you, we're gonna move this from a watch to a warning.

And all we're doing is taking that and saying, in case you missed it, in case you're not watching the news, you don't have a NOAA weather radio on, you don't have your phone's not activated because you're not in the actual warning box yet.

It's coming your way, we're notifying you ahead of time.

It's what we call a proactive alert protocol.

That's what we're doing, is trying to be as proactive as we possibly can to alert the community to keep them safe, rather than a reactionary alert protocol after the fact, which is one of the big concerns, if you remember back in 1990, the EF5 tornado that hit Plainfield, Illinois.

Significant event killed 29 people.

The after-action analysis of that event was very, very critical about the notifications to the residents.

Some reports I read even talk about how the tornado warnings warnings didn't occur until after the tornado left the ground.

So what came out of that plain field incident was something called the plain field syndrome.

And very basically, and this is something that's talked about within the meteorological world, the the plain field syndrome is based on the idea that it's better to issue too many warnings and not have them materialize than to fail to miss one life-threatening warning that could result in a death.

That's the that's the concept that's come out of that disaster.

And that's this, and I didn't even know that was something when we did this three years ago, but that is what we're trying to avoid is how many times do you see videos online of people on their front porch in their driveway in their backyard out front, taking videos of the tornado that's coming their way?

They're not seeking, they're not taking the the necessary steps to protect themselves.

And what they're also missing is whether you're doing with a tornado or you're dealing with a severe thunderstorm, is all the debris that's kicking up.

70 miles an hour getting hit with some debris at 70 miles an hour is going to be potentially catastrophic for you.

That's why we want you inside.

All we want to do is notify the community to please get inside, get to a safe place, and get more information.

We have lots of ways to get that information.

One of the things that has come up is the emergency warning system, which is what happens when your phone activates.

You get them for amber alerts at times, and it has that very screeching sound.

Those only activate though when you are in that immediate area.

And how those activate, I don't even, I'm not even exactly sure if that's an automated system or if that's a manual system through the National Weather Service.

But I can tell you, I have not had the my phone activate very often over the years for a storm.

The other thing with the with the crying wolf syndrome concern is this.

Tornadoes, think about this.

How many times in your lifetime have you heard the sirens go off for a tornado warning?

And a tornado never materialized.

And some of the concerns I've heard is well, you guys set the sirens off and nothing happened.

We that's a good thing.

We should be happy about that.

Because here's what I can tell you if you've lived in Elgin your entire life, like the mayor has, and the number of tornado warning sirens that you've heard go off in the last hundred years, we've had one tornado.

One.

But we still set them off to notify the public to get out of the way of this of this weather.

So what we're doing, what we've already done is when we put the system in place in 24, we expanded outside of the city limits our notification area.

So if, for example, we were all the way out to 47 in a straight vertical north-south line.

So if that storm crossed 47, we were getting notified.

And we did that under the pretense of let's get early notification.

We have now shrunk that down in an effort to help reduce multiple siren activations.

We've shrunk that down to the city of Elgin limits.

Now, we still go pretty close to 47 in some areas, so we still can run the risk at 38 square miles of having a storm hit that far western area, and down in Festival Park, it's sunny and the the movie in the park can keep going on.

We still can run into those issues.

And as I said before, we can still run into the multiple activation issues because of the weather service moving those warning boxes across our 38 square miles, and by issuing going from tornado from thunderstorm warnings to tornado warnings.

All of those things factors can lead to multiple activations.

So we've shrunk it down to the city limits.

So no with confidence tonight that should our systems go off, it is because there is some area within the city of Elgin boundary that is under threat of severe weather.

The second thing that we've done, and this is a temporary move to help quell some of the concerns and and help us give us a little bit of breathing room to be able to evaluate some other ideas.

We have temporarily deactivated the automatic activation for severe thunderstorm warnings.

What we're doing is a hybrid type situation now.

Our system will text my entire command staff in the fire department that the National Weather Service has issued a warning of some sort for Elgin.

We will be able to activate those sirens from our phones or from calling the 911 center and having them activate.

So could we could there be a slight delay?

Yes, but because our system is activating like immediately and we'll get those notifications immediately, we can have these sirens off within a minute of the time we get that notification if we if we have if that's the direction we want to go.

The other thing is, and I anticipate what will happen, we will set those sirens off, but we'll do it one time.

And then you won't get the subsequent this subsequent sirens for severe thunderstorms.

But if we set those off at 7 o'clock and at 7 02, they do a tornado warning activation, they do a tornado warning box, the sirens are going to go off in rapid succession, and that's what they're designed for.

The third thing that we're doing is we're going to be developing a media campaign to better educate the community about this.

That's something that we're going to be working on over the next few weeks that we can get out in multiple formats so that we can, and it won't it won't be a one-time one-time deal.

We will try to do this on a much more consistent basis to help get this messaging out.

Many of the points I'm talking about today are things that we need to educate the public about because there's a misperception of what this system is.

And then one other thing that we're looking for, two other things that we're looking into, and please understand every action we take has a reaction to it.

So we need to assess what all of those reactions are so that we can limit the negative reactions and still maintain high quality awareness of our community.

So the first thing is we're looking at the concept of using two different siren tones.

One for severe thunderstorm and one for a tornado warning.

There are a lot of concerns about doing that that we're vetting right now.

The other issue is the possibility of zoning the city's siren system.

Could we zone it where if a storm is coming from the southwest going north northeast, and it comes across, I hate to keep picking on Highland Highland Woods, but it's a great example.

Okay, cut coming across Highland Woods, and it's not gonna hit any other part of the city, maybe only that zone of sirens go off.

But as we all know, storms can change on in a heartbeat.

We just saw in Lena, Illinois on Friday, just a few hours before our storm came through, they had a pretty significant tornado event that occurred within a thunderstorm.

It's what they called a rain wrapped tornado.

It can it this is where I get nervous of making changes that don't notify the entire community.

So I am very conscious and aware of the concerns of of some of our community members who have reached out to me and reached out online.

Their concerns are things that we are we are trying to address, but we're a community of 115,000 people, and we have a responsibility to protect the community the best we can.

And I think that that's what we're trying to do with these different things that we're evaluating, these different options we're evaluating.

But please know that whatever direction we end up going is what we believe to be the best for the entire community, and still maintaining that proactive alert protocol concept that we want to maintain.

So that's what I have, but I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

Okay.

Any questions for Chief Saga?

Ms.

Powell.

Thank you, Chief.

Um, as a um closet storm chaser here, very, very much in the closet.

Um I had some concerns as well about the the sirens and have heard from residents.

I like hearing about some of the tweaks that you guys have already made.

I think it will help along with the education efforts.

Um, I was gonna ask if there's a way, and I think you addressed this that as something that you guys are looking to, um, having a different tone or a different type of siren for thunderstorm warnings versus tornado warnings.

I I think that would be most effective for folks.

If I may if you can.

If I may, we we can do that.

The one concern though that has come out of our research into this is we have, especially during our storm season, our summer months, we have tens of thousands of people who come into our sports complex into our community events, and they don't know what they and they don't know the difference.

And now the siren goes off, or imagine 20,000 people downtown during nightmare on Chicago Street, we activate they don't know what they mean, and that's where our concern is.

I think we could get the messaging out to our community, but we have so many people that traverse our community for various things throughout the storm season.

That's one of our concerns, and that's where we're trying to weigh the options.

And and I'm glad you brought that up.

So as those of us who traverse the you know the greater Chicago area, are there other communities that are dealing with the same situation that we are based on the system that we're using that their sirens are now going off for thunderstorm warnings and tornado warnings, or are we kind of unique in that that instance?

I I can't talk authoritatively on that because I haven't researched every community, but what I can tell you is that the National Weather Service provide guidelines, but they don't they leave it up to the individual jurisdictions on what they want to use them for.

I in my research on this topic, um I saw multiple reports where one a community in the Northwest suburbs here uses their sirens for to indicate opposite the road parking based on snow conditions.

So a community can use their siren system for whatever things they want to use it for as long as they communicate that obviously to the community to the community.

I think utilizing our system the way we are for the considerable for the high-level severe thunderstorms is probably um there's probably fewer communities doing that today than than not.

Okay.

Or then that are, I'm sorry, that are.

So we are probably on the leading edge of doing that.

Okay, is my guess.

And I I appreciate the explanation in terms of breaking down, you know, the the wind speeds in a EF zero tornado versus a thunderstorm, a significant or or considerable thunderstorm, which can, as you pointed out, can be just as damaging, if not more damaging.

I think getting that information out to the public, uh it helps them to understand why activating the sirens in those instances is very important because we have had a whole lot of those lately, um micro bursts as well.

Um those are those are significant.

Um severe thunderstorms.

They come out of severe thunderstorms.

So no, I appreciate all of this.

I I see a whole lot of opportunity for our communication staff to to do some messaging and send something, you know, send things out to folks.

But I I do appreciate the things that you have tweaked.

I I personally would still like to see two different sirens.

I think that would be and obviously us um communicating that because I don't want people to become desensitized to the sirens, and that's what I am concerned with.

But my my counter to that one point though to the community is that's an individual decision.

We're setting these off to notify you to go get more information.

It's no different than the person who hears if we only did them for tornadoes, who hears the tornado warning go off and then goes outside to video the the tornado.

That's it's a decision that they make.

So if they want to, if they want to, if they want to desensitize themselves to the sirens that we're trying to utilize to communicate something, that's that's an individual decision that they're making.

I get it.

Thank you.

Okay, Mr.

Dixon.

Thank you.

Um Chief Sogan uh for the presentation.

Thank you for looking into this and and um even come up with some ideas of what we could do.

Um first and foremost, I I think that you people have been conditioned to hear one thing for so long.

And then when they're not educated of a change in something, and that change is implemented, then they are you know guessing and wondering what's happening.

So the major component of this is education.

And no matter what we do, yes, right.

Um from there, the option of having a a different sound for thunderstorm versus uh tornado, um, I think is uh is totally plausible given the situation.

Um I would steer clear away from having uh a decentralized system where parts of the city is having a warning while other parts are not, specifically for the reason that you stated, which is storms change directions all the time.

So I don't think that would be a good idea.

Um so I think that what this all just comes down to, you know, and we can say all the great things and nice words, it really just comes down to education and having a different siren.

No one that I heard was upset that they were being warned.

They just were upset that they didn't know what the warning was anymore.

So that's the crux of it to me.

Okay.

So I think we figure that out.

We're golden.

Sure.

So thank you for thank you again for your work.

Thank you for the feedback.

Yeah.

Okay.

Ms.

Martinez.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Chief Sagan.

You say you're not an expert meteorologist, but it kind of sounded like it.

But I would just like to say that um what hit home one time was that micro burst that we had.

were upset that they didn't know what the warning was anymore so that's the crux of it to me so I think we figure that out we're golden sure so thank you for thank you again for your work thank you for the feedback yep okay Miss Martinez thank you mayor thank you chief sagan you say you're not an expert meteorologist but it kind of sounded like it but I would just like to say that um what hit home one time was that micro burst yes that we had and we've had a few of them over the years yes those are the scary ones because they just happen out of nowhere and um so just for clarification there's a way that you can go ahead and set the alarm to go off or the siren to go off at any time because like I said those you don't know whether when they're coming or where a national emergency is like um it's hitting uh a lot of areas you know at at a time like it's raining thundering and um I I agree it's kind of I'd rather err uh and to be safe you know and uh but but it is confusing because I remember that happened to us where we were doing uh a siren over here at uh at the post office and um it was you're supposed to go ahead and seek cover but I don't know why somebody just said uh gotta go outside and everybody went outside and it was like a failure that's now luckily it was just uh a practice but if it wasn't that would have been uh terrible so um I agree I think that uh it should be like the whole city you know the whole city but um I guess um you can figure that out so thank you thank you okay anything else Mr Step yeah just Chief thank you uh I was one of the maybe all of us that wanted you to kind of give us this clarification and the big takeaway I will try to say it as many times I'm gonna say it and because I think it has to be said repeatedly is that when you hear a siren it's not a tornado it's a notice that there is severe weather and you need to get inside and find a way to find out more information yes that's what I want to enforce so thank you that's it anything else Thorn okay Mr.

Thorne thank you uh Chief I wondered if you could uh compose an email describing all of this and send it to Christy Schmidt and she could then send it to all the neighborhood watch captains who could then distribute it to their uh neighborhoods I think it would answer a lot of questions that people have sure and we're looking to do some we we want to hit every part of the community as much as we can so that's a great thought on how we could start to do that absolutely thank you okay anything else right all right thank you very much okay entertain a motion to adjourn so moved second moved and second to adjourn clerk please call a roll councilmember yes Dixon yes good yes Martinez yes Ortiz yes Powell yes Stefan yes Thorne yes mayor captain yes we are adjourned we'll reconvene at the regular council meeting at 7050 22nd 2026 to order please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance of the United States of America under God and Justice for South Well Clerk please call a roll council members alfaro present Dixon present good here Martinez here Ortiz here Powell here Stefan here Thorne here captain here Mr Thorne has asked for a permission to uh uh join the meeting remotely uh via zoom so moved second moved and seconded clerk freeze polar call a roll council members alfaro yes Dixon yes good yes martinez yes ortiz yes pool yes Stefan yes thorne yes

Good.

Here.

Martinez?

Here.

Ortiz?

Here.

Powell?

Here, Stefan?

Here.

Thorne.

Here.

Mayor Captain.

Here.

Mr.

Thorne has asked for a permission to uh join the meeting remotely via Zoom.

So moved.

Moved and seconded.

Clerk Freeze Paul Rule, call the roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes, Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne?

Yes.

Mayor Campton.

Yes, motions approved the nine zero.

Approval of the minutes of the previous meeting of April 8th.

So moved?

Second.

Move and second for approval.

Any corrections or additions.

Hearing none, Clerk, please call a roll.

Councilmember Zal Faro.

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good?

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne.

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, the motions approved eight zero with one abstention.

We have a number of uh communications this evening.

The first one is a proclamation for uh Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Ms.

Powell, please.

Good evening.

If I could have Mayor Brandon Johnson's siblings join me up here.

We have Joy Johnson and Pastor Andrea Johnson Williams.

Thank you for being here.

Let's come over this way.

Thank you.

Thank you for letting me read this, Mayor.

Whereas Brandon Johnson, a proud native of Elgin, has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to service, leadership, and community empowerment.

And whereas his formative years were shaped within Elgin's public schools, beginning at Garfield Elementary School and Ellis Middle School, culminating in his graduation from Elgin High School, where he developed the character, resilience, and vision that would guide his life's work.

And whereas he continued his educational journey at Elgin Community College and Aurora University, reflecting his steadfast commitment to personal growth and lifelong learning, and whereas his dedication to youth development was evident early on through his service as a youth leader at Community Center Christian Ministries, the ministry founded by his parents, Andrew Johnson and William Willa Jean Johnson, where he mentored young people through music and character development, and whereas his foundation of faith, service, and family was further rooted in the legacy of his grandfather, Reverend Leonard R.

Spate Senior of Spates Temple, Church of God in Christ, instilling values in him that continue to guide his public life, and whereas throughout his service as mayor of Chicago.

Just think about that.

He is mayor of the city of Chicago, one of the top four largest cities in our country, was born and raised right here in Elgin.

I just wanted to take a pause for everybody to take that in.

He has brought honor to his hometown, exemplifying principled leadership, and a deep commitment to equity, education, and opportunity for all, and serving as a source of pride and inspiration to the residents of Elgin.

And now, therefore, I Tish Powell, on behalf of Mayor David Captain of the City of Elgin, Illinois, do proudly recognize and honor Brandon Johnson for his outstanding achievements, his unwavering commitment to service, and for being a distinguished son and proud alumnus of Elgin High School, whose impact reaches far beyond the city's borders, and whose legacy leadership and example continue to inspire future generations.

Thank you.

Um Councilwoman Powell and Mayor Captain and to everyone in their respective places.

Me and my sister uh Joy, we do accept this with great gratitude and um with the committed work of working in the community.

It has been our life's work.

Um he's got a bigger responsibility than we do, but we um do certainly believe that there is no person that is too small to be able to receive basic human rights, and we will continue that work here in Elgin and across the United States.

So thank you.

Would Kat Herenya meet uh meet me at the podium, please?

That's for you.

Whereas the month of April was established as Lao New Year Celebration Month, our community's Asian population will continue celebrating this milestone throughout the month of April.

And whereas these celebrations are designed to combat polarization and stereotypes and to improve understanding and cooperation among people from different cultures.

And whereas Lao New Year Celebration Month allows all citizens to celebrate and support each other's culture and heritage in the Elgin community, and whereas Lao New Year Celebration Month provides occasions of hopes to build relationships with community members and encourage support for the Asian population in Elgin.

Now, therefore, I David Captain, mayor of the city of Elgin, Illinois, to hereby proclaim the month of April as Lao New Year Celebration Month in Elgin, and encourage all residents to continue participating in the celebration events at various public venues.

Thank you, Mayor Captain.

Hello, Sab ID.

Imagine a city that welcomes immigrants and refugees with open arms.

A place where families arriving with hope, resilience, and dreams are given to the opportunity to rebuild their lives.

That is the city of Elgin.

Good evening, Mayor Captain, members of the council, distinguished guests here and at home, because I know my aunt over there is doing Facebook Live.

And our beloved community.

Since the late 70s, Elgin has been a place of refuge and opportunity for Law families.

What began a journey for survival has grown into a vibrant, thriving community, one that continues to support and contribute to the cultural, social, and economic fabric of this city.

We are deeply grateful to Mayor Captain, the City Council, particularly Councilwoman Trish Powell, and Councilman Corey Dixon, and this and the Elgin Township for their continued support and recognition of our community.

We hope to strengthen that relationship.

Corey and I were just talking about that.

Lao New Year is a time for renewal, reflection, and unity.

It is a time to honor our traditions, celebrate our culture, and look forward to a future filled with hope and opportunity.

On behalf of Lao American Association of Illinois, thank you for standing and celebrating with us and continuing to make Elgin a place where all communities can thrive.

Thank you.

Sub IDB Mayan, happy new year.

Martinez to read the next proclamation.

Sure.

Whereas Sikhs have been living in the United States for more than 120 years during the early 20th century, thousands of Sikh Americans work on farms in lumber mills and mines, and on the Oregon Pacific Eastern Railroad.

And whereas Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world, today there are more than twenty-five million Sikhs worldwide, and an estimate five hundred thousand Sikh Americans and twenty-five thousand Sikhs in the state of Illinois.

And whereas Sikh Americans pursue diverse professions and make rich contributions to the social culture and economic vibration, vibracy, I'm sorry, of the United States, including service as members of the United States Armed Forces, and significant contributions to the great nation in agriculture, information technology, small businesses, and hotel industry, trucking, medicine, legal services, and technology.

And whereas Sikh Americans distinguish themselves by fostering respect among our people through faith and service.

And whereas the city of Algin is committed to educating citizens about the world's religions, the value of religious diversity, tolerance grounded in First Amendment principles, a culture of mutual understanding, and the diminish of violence.

And whereas today, the city of Algin seeks further and diversity, it's in its community and affords our residents the opportunity to better understand, recognize and appreciate the rich history and shared experiences of Sikh Americans.

And now, therefore, I, Rose Martinez Councilwoman, on behalf of David Captain, mayor of this great city of Algen, Illinois, do hereby proclaim the month of April as Sikh awareness and appreciation month in the city of Algen.

And witness therefore of, I have unto my set my hands this twenty-second day of April 2026.

David J.

Captain.

Thank you, Ms.

Martinez.

Our Sikh heritage and history in the United States is in these posters, and please read them later on when you get a chance.

Now, Guinea Jolly would speak a few words on our behalf.

Respected mayor, the councilman, my friends.

The Sikh word means student.

Think about it, student for life.

Isn't that the way to lead a purposeful life?

We all should be students.

We all should be constantly learning about each other, how we can become a better version of who we are, and how we can support others.

I, as an aspiring Sikh, constantly question my actions every day.

What am I doing?

What am I thinking?

What am I doing to help my community become a better community?

Forty-three years ago, we came to this land of opportunity.

The land called United States of America.

A beacon of hope for all immigrants.

This is the land we chose to raise our family to get educated.

33 years ago, with literally no money.

It can only happen in America.

If you dream big, you can reach it, right?

I decided to start my own businesses.

Phenomenal, right?

Twenty-three years ago, me and my family.

We were in Vietnam, adopting a little girl.

This little girl who's so special, she's changed our why.

She is the reason who we are now.

The special daughter of ours teaches me life lessons every day.

How to be happy always.

How never to complain?

How always to lend a helping hand.

So we as parents of special need daughters know the pains and the worries special need parents have.

Thus, our foundation.

We help special need kids get education, employment, job training, and we hold picnics where the communities come together and celebrate each other.

Martin Luther King said, we must learn to live together as brothers.

Or together, we perish as fools.

My friends, my brothers and sisters, we the sick communities extend our hands of friendship towards you.

I want to know your story.

I want to know your turmoils.

I want to learn about your triumphs.

And I'm positive.

Together we can make Elgin a city whose model for its diversity, inclusion, and progressiveness.

God bless America.

Thank you very much for listening.

Us.

I will just give you a little bit history about our ancestors.

We are the minority.

No, we are the minority of the minorities, yet very highly visible due to our identity given to us by our Guru Gobin Singh in 1699.

We are in the America more than probably 130 years.

I gave you two incidents.

In First World War, Pagas Singh Tind, who served in the US Army.

I have his posters here.

In 1956, the gentleman, the leave Seng Sun came in this country.

He studied, become a doctor of math.

He wanted to teach.

He could not teach because city ship was not allowed to the Asians at that time.

It happened in 1946.

He fought for being a congressman in 1956 and won three terms.

I just want to let you know we are not just around here now.

Our ancestors have been around here more than 12 years.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you all.

Brings us to the portion.

We allow people to speak for three minutes for items on the agenda.

First person to sign up is Nicholas Sisler.

Are you okay?

Yeah.

Very good.

My name is Nicholas Sisler.

I am an Elgin resident, a 1978 graduate of Elgin High School, an almost graduate of Judson College, now Judson University.

I am a Marine Corps veteran, honorably discharged, January 1984.

Honorably discharged veteran of the Illinois Army National Guard, 1994.

Public action to deliver shelter.

And I'm sure going forward.

A year ago, I uh May 15th, 2025.

Zero income, no job, and almost retired.

I came back from Northeastern Alabama with family after a failed five-month business venture.

Okay.

Zeroed out, turn the page, we start with a clean slate.

After my orientation and intake with pads of elgin.

The intake was simple, efficient, and effective.

And for two weeks, I read the rules, morning and night.

They are quite lengthy, but not as lengthy as your minutes for this evening.

They are detailed, they're purposeful, and I didn't forget them.

They are part of my scrapbook.

Right here.

A wide variety of folks have been there.

And I am mobile, though I'm not running the Elgin Fox Trust this year.

There are handicapped, there are challenged individuals, people who are hurt, who have been there and arrived there from domestic violence and other conditions that I am only an observer.

My case managers provided me with clear-headed forward thinking, not shooting from the hip, not taking things for granted, not making the assumptions that I once did, which led to my unemployment.

The first couple of days I am certain I was asleep before I hit the pad, the mattress.

Exhaustion, stress, panic.

And I've seen it on others as well.

But as time went on, I'm almost complete.

And it does fly.

Public action to deliver shelter.

I am a volunteer and will continue to be so.

I support your unanimous consent on the grant funding application before you this evening.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Let me hurry up.

Good evening.

Thank you, Mayor and Council, and to everyone here.

My name is Crystal Thompson.

I am a proud member to be of this Elgin community.

Um, but more so I'm a proud board member of PADS of Elgin.

Um I am an advocate locally, regionally, and nationwide.

I'm on a lot of committees, a lot of organizations, but PADS is most important to me because eight years ago, after working in corporate America for 20 years, and I decided to take a change in job opportunity to work for the state of Illinois.

Several months after that, my health took a drastic decline.

So I'm one of those people who will say that it can happen to anyone and never thought that it would happen to me.

After being off work for several months and realizing I would not be able to work, and having over six months of savings that goes very quickly, I found myself losing my home, my job, my car, and everything.

But I tell people that I was blessed to be in a great city of Elgin who has PADS, who has a place that I was able to call and not to live on the street or not even live in the car because I lost my car.

So I entered PADS of Elgin December of 2018.

I was there through COVID.

One of my health crises is a lung disease.

So that was very scary to be in pads.

But I'm blessed that I was in PADS because I could not imagine surviving the critical health crisis that I was going through and not having a place permanently to be in every day and night.

So through PADS and their great services, I was able to apply for permanent disability and to get house.

That was five years ago.

That's how I started my new journey as being an advocate.

As I said, I'm on many organizations, a national two national organizations.

I go around nationwide speaking.

But every time I speak out, I always bring it back to Elgin, and I bring it back to PADS.

And the importance that we are there and that we remain there for people like myself, people that you see every day.

Trust and believe that you know people that are going through it, but you don't know it because it's something that we often keep to ourselves.

So I want to say thank you for the opportunity to allow me to speak briefly.

Thank you for considering us and providing possibly the funding that we that we desperately need.

And this is something that PATS we have to continue because as a great city of Elgin, I know that none of us want to see our brothers and sisters continue to suffer.

And by being a part of this communication, that is something that PATS will commit to continuing to do.

I thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Okay, that brings us to bids.

The first item is bid number 26-005 lead service line replacement, five-year contract.

Move toward the bid to strong uh pipe strong out of the city of Schaumburg, Illinois for the year five lead service line replacement program and amount of three million eighteen thousand and fifty-five dollars.

Second.

Moved and second and any discussion.

No hearing none, Clerk, please call a roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Yes.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne.

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, the motion is approved number zero.

Item two is bid number two six-zero zero six led service line replacement, a five-year contract.

Mayor, I'm make a motion that we award a contract to IH IHC construction companies LLC of Elgin, Illinois, uh, for the five-year led service line replacement in the amount of four million one hundred sixty-five thousand two hundred and seventy dollars.

Second been moved and second for approval.

Any discussion.

Ms.

Powell.

Um I I just wanted to raise my hand because we're about to spend uh probably close to what seven million, a little bit over seven million dollars on lead service line replacements.

Someone should say something.

So I'm going to say thank you to staff uh for their diligence and continuing this very important work in our community.

Um I'm I'm pleased that we are able to do this.

There are a lot of communities that um have not been as fortunate as us in terms of securing some of the grant funding that we've gotten um that we've received.

So I'm really thankful and appreciative for that because this work is is not cheap, but it's very necessary.

So we're spending a lot of money.

We we should say something about it.

So I just want to say thank you.

And it is totals about 14 million dollars annually.

That is so this is just a portion of the work that we've been doing now going on to this about eight years.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Long hill declined.

Anything else?

Clerk, please call a roll.

Councilmember Zervaro?

Yes, Dixon?

Yes.

Good, yes.

Martinez, yes, ortiz?

Yes.

Powell, yes, Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne.

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes, motions approved nine zero.

Item three is bid number two six-zero one four maintenance codings.

Mayor, I make the motion that we award the 2026 pavement marketing marking program bid to the maintenance coding company in the amount of four hundred sixty-one thousand three hundred and forty dollars.

Thank you.

And move and second in any discussion.

Hearing on Clerk, 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 90.

Item 4 is a public works interior lighting update, a job order contract.

Mayor, I'm sorry.

Um, you have an agenda that was subsequently amended to remove that item.

You will be seeing it at the next meeting.

I apologize for that.

Okay.

Brings us to other business.

Uh first item is uh uh for a uh a bond issue.

Uh there has to be an amendment uh made to this uh before voting on this other business.

We uh need to have a motion.

I'd entertain a motion that would state I would first entertain a motion to amend number uh S2-26 to reflect the bond issuance amount of 24,335,000 dollars.

Um there's a needs to be a vote on this.

This updates because the bonds are sold and we can't actually predict the day that they're sold what the costs are.

So it has to be updated on the day we make the vote.

I'll move that motion.

Second, it's been moved and seconded to amend uh uh item one to uh uh to the amount of twenty-four million three hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars.

Clerk please call a rule mayor captain.

Yeah, you know I think uh finance directoraki is gonna do a brief presentation summary of the bond sale.

I think we can allow that before we take the the vote on the motion to all right, Ms.

Naraki.

Good evening, Mayor and uh City Council.

Um, as I think you're all aware, the the city went to market today and um to sell general obligation bonds.

Our sale took place at uh 10 o'clock this morning.

Um you will recall during the budget process, the um adopted budget for the utility fund included 40.5 million dollars worth of initiatives that were to be raised through either um general obligation bond financing or loans from the IEPA for lead service line replacements.

Since that time, we know that we've been awarded $13.6 million in funding from the IEPA.

Those loans come in two forms.

Um a portion of the loan, two and a half million dollars is a principal forgiveness loan, which um in effect is a grant, we don't have to pay it back.

The other $11.1 million is in the form of a 30-year 0% interest loan.

That bring uh brought our required funding down to 26.9 million dollars.

Back on uh February 25th, the city council approved moving forward with the general um bond issue in up to that amount.

Just to remind everybody, the debt uh financing for utility fund bonds, the principal and the interest are funded through water rates.

The property taxes are abated and do not show up on the tax roster.

Since the time that city council approved um going forward with the bonds, the city's been working with Spear Financial, our financial advisors, and Chapman and Cutler, our bond counsel, to prepare an official statement, which is basically a marketing tool to market um the city and our bonds to potential investors.

Um it's a very comprehensive document that includes all kinds of information about our financial position, development activity in the city, our tax space, demographics, uh a whole lot of um really good information about the city.

During that time, we also had to undergo another um rating review with standard and poor, and I'm happy to let you know that they did um rate these new bonds and reaffirmed our rate on our existing bonds at the double A plus.

So we are very excited about that.

In their report, which was attached to what I sent you earlier this afternoon, they attribute their high rating and positively call out that Elgin's stable operating budget, management's forward-looking and conservative budgeting strategies, and our strong reserves, which they as part of this um rating expect to continue.

They also call out the city's um debt burden and that it is relatively low in comparison to our peers in the state of Illinois, and partially attributing that to the fact that we restrict our gaming revenues for capital improvements that then don't require us to issue debt for that those type of projects.

Um negative side, they um point out that our pension obligations will continue to challenge the city.

So, like I said, we um the the bond sale opened at 10 o'clock this morning.

It's done through an open auction, which means that bidders can come in and bid and then change their bid as they see other bids coming in to try to win the bid.

We had uh nine investors that bid in the process, um, submitting 29 bids in the fight to uh um win the bid.

I think this speaks favorably on the city and our financial position that we had that kind of interest in our bonds.

The winning um company was JP Morgan Securities with an interest rate of 3.46.

The highest bidder was 3.55 percent, which is less than one-tenth of one percent between the top and the bottom bidder.

And what this suggests to us is that these bonds are well priced, and the people that were um investing read the market correctly.

Our timing was very good.

Our um Spear Financial pointed out that had our sale been scheduled for two weeks ago, they would have advised us to pull our sale and wait because of what was going on in the market with the war, we would not have gotten the interest rates two weeks ago that we got today.

So very thankful for for our timing there.

And um for comparison purposes, when we went to market last year in 2025, the rate was 4.11, which you know more than a half a percent higher than we're at this year, and we only had four bidders last year.

So we were very pleased with the sale and felt like we got good pricing on our bonds.

Um in terms of the results of the sale compared to our our budget and our what we were anticipating.

The budget assumed that we would issue bonds at 3.75 percent over a 20-year term.

We're actually these are actually at 3.46 over 15 years, so we're in a favorable position compared to our budget as well.

So overall, I think it was a very great sale for the city.

Okay, any questions for Deb?

Okay, we have a motion to amend.

Uh 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, the motion is amended.

Uh now we have to vote on the ordinance and ordinance providing for the issuance of approximately 24,335,000 of a general obligation uh purpose bonds series 2026 for this of the city of the purpose of financing water and sewer utility projects within the city and paying the expenses incident there too, providing for the levy and collection of a direct annual tax sufficient to pay the principal of and interest of those bonds and authorizing the sale of the bonds to the purchaser thereof move approval second move and second for approval.

Any discussion clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Zalfaro Pass Renault Dixon?

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

Yes, Mayor Captain, yes, the motion's approved.

Oh, then yes, yeah, sorry, I asked corporate council questions, sorry, yes, nine zero.

Item two is an ordinance amending chapter 5.18 of the Elger Municipal Code entitled Leases for Designated City Facilities and Performance Contracts for Hemans Auditorium.

Move for approval, second second move and second for approval.

Any discussion hearing none, Clerk, 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 90.

Item three is a resolution adopting the city of Elgin ADA transition plan.

Move for approval.

Move and second for approval.

Any discussion.

So far.

Thank you.

I had a question in our full packet on page 183.

There's a talk about a fee in lieu of a sidewalk construction.

So a sidewalk fee and loop program allows the city to collect a fee when properties are redeveloped rather than requiring property owners to construct sidewalks.

Are we doing that already?

I'm I'm scrolling to page 183 right now.

The city has pursues sidewalk gap programs in any infill developments that we have, and I know that there might be certain circumstances where a fee could be paid in lieu of that.

I can't give you a specific example at this time because most of the debates for lack of a better term that I recall regarding infill development have required those developers to include sidewalks to complete the gaps.

Okay, and then I just want to also thank uh staff.

I saw that uh Mike uh presented at the Human Rights Commission in reading their minutes, and so I appreciate that.

They also got um the commission's feedback on the ADA plan.

So thank you to staff.

Thank you.

Anything else?

Please call a roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes, Dixon?

Yes, good, yes, Martinez, yes, or tease, yes, Powell, yes, Stefan?

Yes, Thorne, yes, Mayor Captain.

Yes, motions approved nine zero.

Item four is a resolution authorizing a grant to public action to deliver shelter incorporated pads of elder.

Move for approval.

Second, it's been moved and second for approval.

Any discussion hearing none, Clerk, please call a roll.

Council Member Zalfaro, yes, Dixon?

Yes, good, yes, Martinez, abstain.

Ortiz, yes, Powell, yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne.

Abstain.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

The motion is approved seven zero with two abstentions.

Consent agenda.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move and second for approval.

Any discussion.

Hearing none, Clerk, please call a roll.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes.

Dixon?

Yes.

Good.

Yes.

Martinez?

Yes.

Ortiz?

Abstain.

Powell?

Yes.

Stefan?

Yes.

Thorne.

Yes.

Mayor Captain.

Yes.

Motion's approved.

80 with one abstention.

Miscellaneous business.

Move for approval.

Second.

Move the second for approval.

Any discussion.

Miss Alfaro.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um is an announcement on the inclusivity and diversity initiative update.

So councilmember Dixon and I will be providing that update.

So as Councilmember Dixon has shared at the last meeting.

There is a website where you could find the information at any time.

It's engage.gov.

And then once you go there, you'll just click on inclusivity and diversity initiative.

But this council meeting update, we just wanted to share a couple of things.

One uh staff has been working on creating a comprehensive like overview of looking at all the operations.

Um who has language access in their departments, who has um translators, who needs translators, putting that catalog together to get a better idea for the language access plan.

Um in regards to the legal defense fund, uh staff has been looking at different models across the country to see what might make sense here and looking to expand it to include the additional groups that we had discussed as a council.

Um the economic development piece, um, I actually had the opportunity to meet with uh Nick and Dev, Finance and Procurement, um, and got their feedback on that part, and so I have actually revised that portion, and so that portion's almost done.

There's just a couple of things that staff is looking at, but that one is um in pretty good shape, and then in addition to that, um the other thing is that for the municipal ID, the staff is looking into um what other cities are doing, they have benchmarked and found some really good models and they're looking into that work authorization still.

So that is the update for this meeting.

Okay, good.

Anything else?

All right, oh, we need to approve it.

Sorry.

Okay, yeah.

Councilmember Zalfaro?

Yes, Dixon.

Yes, good, yes, Martinez?

Yes, Ortiz?

Yes, Powell?

Yes, Stefan?

Yes, Thorne?

Yes, Mayor Captain.

Yes, motions approved 9-0.

Um announcements uh the next committee of the whole meeting will be Wednesday, May 13th, 2026 at 6 p.m.

in the council chambers.

The next regular meeting of the Elgin City Council will be Wednesday, May 13th, 2026 at 7 p.m.

in the council chambers.

I'd undertain a motion to adjourn to executive session.

So moved to personal discussions, please call a roll.

Councilmember Z Alfaro, yes, Dixon?

Yes, good, yes, Martinez, yes, ortiz, yes, Powell?

Yes, Stefan?

Yes, Thorne?

Yes, Mayor Captain.

Yes, we are adjourned.