The Janesville City Council met on Monday, February 9, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers. The primary agenda item was a second reading and public hearing on a proposed ordinance (File Ordinance 2026-926) that would require voter approval for any development project or development agreement exceeding $450 million in costs, or any transfer, conveyance, or encumbrance of the GM/JATCO site. The meeting also included a consent agenda, a city manager update, and extensive public testimony.
General public comments (before public hearing):
Public hearing on Ordinance 2026-926:
I'm gonna call to order the Jamesville City Council meeting for Monday, February 9th, 2026. If you could stand with me for the Pledge of Allegiance, please. In case of emergency, use the stairs and not the elevator to exit, walk to the north side of the police department and wait for further instructions. And due to our uh capacity tonight, I'll have the clerk read the occupancy load um for us, please. Good evening. The Janesville Fire Department, following the international fire code and international building code has advised that standing is not permitted inside council chambers for safety reasons. Everyone must be seated. There are eighty-four chairs. So if you do not have a thirty-six-inch aisle on each side, um please do that. The hallway outside the council chambers can accommodate up to 15 standing individuals. And in room four sixteen next door here, there are 42 chairs. If you wish to speak during public comment on items on the agenda, not requiring a public hearing and on matters which can be affected by council action. Please make sure that you have signed up with one of these sheets. If you could uh provide roll calls, president verdict here, vice president squire here, council member Cass, Councilmember Erdman, here council member millard here, Councilmember Nino, Councilmember Williams here. All are present, we do have a quorum. All right, thank you. Item three recognition. There are none. Uh item four public comments on items on the agenda not requiring a public hearing and on matters which can be affected by council action. So, like the clerk had just talked about, we do have a public hearing tonight, which is uh item 7A, reference the GM Jacko site or the petition or any development on that site. So if that's what you wish to talk about, please save that for the um uh public hearing. If there's any other items that you wish to speak about, this is the time to do so. Clerk, do you have anybody signed up? Ty, are you speaking on items on the speaking on both? Okay, well, you have four minutes for both. Yeah, I got four. You want me to do the other four right now, too? Yes, please. Both four? Yes. Okay. My first one. You'll be starting your camera. The first four, then okay. I'll hold off on my second four. You get four minutes per person. Okay, GM got torn down. Uh that's that's industrial sabotage. That was American steel building that uh the railroad hooked up uh with the American uh bridge. So American steel, like US seal, U.S. Britt. And it wasn't one bridge has been retired out since 1907. And that bridge that come over, that's because we have JP Cullen, uh, Ryan Central, all sorts of really good people. That's who we should be talking to about a lot of things, by the way. Um, and and Mike Payne. We shouldn't kick him out of the conversation either. That's retarded. Um, and so basically um when they built that, uh Joseph Craig, um the hydroelectric plant, and then Wisconsin Power and Light, he died as the director of Wisconsin Power and Light. That's the Wisconsin River, he damned all that. He he uh he he has different uh um like the and transfer and all the things that the power uh and service commission uh he did for the employees, and basically we should look back at at Janesville, Jamesville truck and railroad, because that's what it was the Samson truck and tractor, that union was uh uh Janesville truck and railroad, and and how they built them railroads is off the water power, and it's as easy as you can see.