Good morning, everyone.

Good morning.

We're in the middle of a heat wave, so we should have a great meeting this morning.

Um call the meeting to order and take the role, please.

Okay.

Mayor Darcy.

Here.

Councilman Cardinals.

Ms.

Bottomly.

Here.

Mr.

Doris, let me know he would be absent.

Ms.

Groomberg.

Here.

Ms.

Howard, let me know she would be absent.

Mr.

Martin also is not here.

He let me know he'd be absent.

Mr.

O'Hara?

Here.

Mr.

Parker also let me know he would be absent.

Mr.

Pryor also let me know he was likely to be absent.

Mr.

Randich is also absent.

He's in Florida.

He let me know he was not going to be here.

Mr.

Rico.

Here.

Dr.

Rouse.

Yay.

Ms.

Veros.

Ms.

Walker.

Here.

Mr.

Stunich.

Here.

Chairman Rolf.

Here.

Here.

So we still have quorum.

Yay.

Oh, which I want to.

Yep.

Okay.

Great.

We also are joined today by Leslie Roth and Priog Bagda.

You hear us?

All right, great.

There are consultants again for the comprehensive plan.

Thanks for joining us.

So let's get right to it.

We need to approve the minutes of the last meeting.

Is there a motion to do so?

So moved.

Motion made.

Is there a second?

Second.

Any discussion, comments?

Hearing none, all in favor.

Aye.

Opposed.

Yep.

We have motion carries.

Well, we usually do roll for these.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Okay, we got Councilman Cardinus.

Thanks.

Ms.

Bottomley.

Aye.

Mr.

Doris is absent.

Ms.

Gruenberg.

Hi.

Mr.

O'Hara.

Yes.

Mr.

Rico.

Yes.

Dr.

Rouse?

Yes.

Ms.

Viveros.

Aye.

Ms.

Walker.

Aye.

Mr.

Stewitch.

Aye.

Carol.

Aye.

Next on the agenda is citizens to be heard on agenda items.

Section is for anyone wanting to speak regarding agenda items and are allowed a maximum of four minutes.

Don't see anyone present today.

So we will move on to old business, which we have nothing listed.

And then that brings us to new business.

And the first agenda item would be status update of the topic area workshops.

I do want to draw your attention to a handout.

So this is uh just a really brief summary of the topic area workshops that were conducted here in these this very um city hall council chambers in December and January of 2026.

Um the topic areas are noted on this handout.

Um and the attendance as well as what was explored and then the format.

Um we had in total over an estimated 230 um attendees, which we were quite pleased with.

Some workshops had um you know 40 to 50 people at, and others had 15.

So it did vary by night.

As you know, we had some very cold nights here, um, even continuing to the present.

Um so that may it may not have affected attendance, although I I mean for those of you who are here for the infrastructure workshop.

Um we had him on soon that night, and we had a really high number of attendees.

So um, yeah, that was that was quite quite the night leaving here.

Um of the 230 people who came to workshops.

Um, there was one person who came to every single one of them.

Um he offered a lot of good um input.

We're happy for his attendance, and then we did have um several people who came to at least one.

Um, and then looking around the room here.

I mean, a lot of you came to at least one, if not two or three.

Um, Jim came to every single one of them.

Thank you, Chair.

At this time, you know, we've given the information collected from the workshops to our consultant team.

Which for those who attended the workshops, we collected information mostly through an online platform called Mentimeter, which allowed us to really gather information about each of these subtopic areas within the overall topic area.

Allow people to contribute information anonymously and enabled us to kind of keep a um keep information gathering, input gathering moving in that in during those workshops.

It was a way for us not to get bogged down with potentially one person dominating a conversation.

So we really did want to hear from everyone who was at these workshops.

So I don't know.

Does anyone have anything they will want to contribute?

Um whether it's feedback or lessons learned about the workshops at this time before I'm gonna bring up the superintendents in a second.

Well, I thought the uh attendance numbers were pretty good.

A couple were a little light, but you know, three or four of them were 40 plus.

Yeah, which I thought was pretty good.

Um I thought the comments that were posted on the screen, if you read them while you're attending, you could see some pretty thoughtful ideas and concepts for us to take into consideration.

And I think the idea around doing these, you know, you always have a question of what time is the best time of the day.

Uh there is no good time, you just have to set it and do it because people can come when they can and they're not gonna come whatever time it might be if they're not interested.

But I thought generally those that attended uh were very engaged in the topic that they attended.

And I thought, you know, what was what was the highest number of attendees?

Yeah, arts and culture.

Which I found quite interesting.

Uh but it's also important because that was a very important part of the uh response that we had on surveys about how important our history and our heritage is and how we need to retain that going forward.

Uh so I probably said enough.

Anyone else that attended one have any comments?

I think I'll comment on the arts and culture as well.

I think uh the conversations obviously shows a lot of people's pride in their neighborhoods, right?

And in our legacy neighborhoods, and I think like you said, there's been a big topic of uh our comprehensive plan has been there, so just to see the attendance being one of our larger attended ones was an the conversation was a lot of good conversation around the types of festivals or events people were looking for, activities uh surrounding their neighborhoods or any being included as part of this whole plan.

So that was a good uh a lot of good feedback that day.

I was glad to learn what a pickory is at the last meeting.

So thanks.

Would you like to share with the class?

It's it's just pig farm.

It was in the apparently it's in the zoning code, so it was those words to take out one of them was Piggery.

An official insult.

Yeah, we did a we had a just an activity where we asked people to identify what they would consider to be the most outdated terms in our zoning code as just something fun to figure it was one of the winners that agree.

That's just high demand of variance.

We added like a question in our session.

Um, and so we just wanting to find out like where people receive their information.

So people really want newsletters back, and or like a community board where they can come in and know specifically where in the community or different places in the community where they can see all the putting events and notices for meetings and such, and so though that was good feedback that we got that I don't think was recorded in Mentimeter, but okay, yeah.

All right, and so the information or comments collected in each of these using our phone and Mentimeter.

Um how will those be captured and when might we see kind of a broad brush to them?

I wouldn't expect to see each comment, but is there some general topic areas that will be highlighted from each of these sessions?

Yes, so internally we have a draft prepared that will will do that for you.

Um and we can get that out to the committee.

Yes.

Great.

Great.

Anyone else have any comments or thoughts?

I would like to um so yes, moving on from then this, but we did have a superintendent's round table as we termed it, which was on January 9th, and that was hosted at Juliet Township High School's administration building out on Caterpillar Road or Drive Drive.

Um Dr.

Rowles, I don't know if you want to give some comments.

She was the host, the co-host of that.

Um, and then the uh Mayor Darcy also attended that round table, and I I really thought that was great.

Well, we had a great turnout.

It was there was a lot of folks came, and and we included um folks from the private schools as well.

So Kathy Diocese was there with some of their um principals from their school sites, because we all share the same concerns um in the area, and so I thought it was a great conversation.

Everybody was really engaged.

Um I tried to get them, I thought there was plenty of talking.

They loved when Mayor Darcy said if you had a blank check, and they're like, uh sign me up, you know.

But um, but I I thought it went really, really well as far as feedback.

Um, and they appreciated being invited and asked and want to continue to be part of the conversation.

So that was I thought it was really really powerful.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I thought it was really healthy that everybody was in the room, and a lot of the common concerns they have with uh the challenges of education now, the cost of education now, and and how can we all work together?

Um I thought being part of running a city was difficult, but I think it's equally the same in the school system.

You know, when we talk about the challenges of shrinking uh class sizes, um it doesn't shrink the cost to run in the school, it just uh makes it a little bit more expensive per student.

You know, just just hearing the conversation that it's about $18,500 a student, so each classroom 450,000 dollars.

I mean, I look at things in that respect, and uh there's there's a lot of challenges with uh special needs now, which is uh dictating even more investment in the children.

So it was it was really interesting, but I think any time you can get a collective group of minds that are in the same business together, it really didn't it interacted well, and I learned a lot from it, and uh I was grateful that we all got together, and I think we should do that more often because we can all help each other along the way.

Well, and they really felt honored that you were you took the time to be there, Mayor.

It really meant a lot to them that you were there the entire time to be able to hear the and and interact with them with that feedback.

So they superintendents love to get together and share because we all have common um common concerns, so I'd be happy to help reconvene that group at any point along the way if we need more more information.

I thought it was well, Nora, you were there.

Yep.

It was uh from the housing perspective, it's really good to hear how you know when PUDs and other developments are proposed, why school districts may object to those kinds of products, um, and it can be instrumental to help address those concerns and pave the way to more and different types of housing.

So thanks for letting us do it.

Um and I just had breakfast with uh our contact with the Kathy Diocese uh okay Monday, and she was again very thankful that they were included, um, and they they just they love being able to be part of the conversation as a whole as opposed to being looked at as separate.

It was all good.

Good.

Is there a regular frequency that the superintendents meet?

In in different pockets we do, like those those of us who all send our students to the town to Joliet Township High School District, we get together once a month and share and network together as a as an entire county, we get together once a quarter with the ROE superintendent.

Um but as far as bringing together those that like we had that was the first time we brought together everybody who touched Joliette in that way.

So um it might be worth us doing that in a more frequent way because we do all have a lot of commonality as far as what we're struggling with.

Sure.

So well, one topic you might consider because in the past the Will County Center for Economic Development has done meetings with the superintendents and all the county uh school district superintendents and their board members if they wanted to attend on economic development and tax abatement and things to make sure they understand, you know.

We do one thing today, what does it mean five and ten years out?

Because sometimes it's not always readily known.

So it could be a topic for your group and uh absolutely Doug isn't here, but Doug has done that, and I'm sure he would be happy to I'm sure he would, yeah, that's a good idea.

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Appreciate that.

All right, anything else on the topic area workshops or superintendent workshop.

All right.

Moving on is community workshop number two.

Um before I kind of bounce some just to Leslie and I, um, I just want to draw your attention to I I do have a handout.

Um this was provided by our consultant um subconsultant Muse, so it's the Juliet Comprehensive Plan workshop number two.

So this is just an overview of what you can expect at the upcoming workshop.

Um couple things moving and down.

So we will do a virtual training.

So, well, first of all, we we would really would love for you to help us physically at the workshop in addition to um the our communication strategy to getting people to the workshop.

So um I will be sending out, or Ira Francisco will be sending out a calendar invite for our consultant will be the for the virtual training that will occur on Tuesday, February 24th from one to two p.m.

Uh, we will also be reaching out to you to schedule your your time that you would self-select to um help at the workshop with, so um that will be something that'll be forthcoming really soon.

Um Leslie, I don't know, do you want to walk through the workshop format with the group or Matt can go through the handout too?

But you always say such nice things.

Sure, happy to okay.

So um sorry I can't be with you all today.

Um happy to be a part of the meeting and walk you through um our memo.

So, Jane, everyone has a copy of the character area workshop too memo.

Okay, yeah, they have that one too.

Yeah.

Fantastic.

Okay.

So we'll I'm just gonna um kind of orient you to the workshop based on that memo, kind of talk through what some of the exercises are going to be, the intent of the workshop and the outcomes.

That's two maps.

So this um, so if you want to just you know, take a peek at the memo just starting from the top with the introduction.

Um, there's a few things that we really want to accomplish at this workshop.

You know, we've gone through vision, goals, and objectives with you all, uh, the working groups we collected, some really, really great information, and now we want to focus on uh really beginning to develop um some conceptual ideas about certain areas of the city.

If you remember the existing conditions, we introduced this idea of a character area that there are many areas of the city that have similar characteristics.

And so when we think about land use, when we think about experience, when we think about how to resolve, accomplish the goals of the plan, and resolve some of the challenges that have bubbled to the top in conversations that we had with working groups.

We thought that we would start with these areas that are replicable around the city or have similar elements or characteristics.

So this workshop will level set by helping participants understand where we are in the process by sharing those goals and objectives.

Um then we will introduce those character areas.

And there's four of them that we're going to be talking about through the course of this workshop.

Um participants will have an opportunity to help us identify areas of improvement.

We'll talk about how to implement those goals and objectives.

We also want to talk about community priorities.

So this is building on conversations that already started for each one of the topics groups after those working group conversations over the last couple months.

Um lastly, we want to help participants understand how this is all going together, right?

How each one of these parts that they're seeing create a comprehensive, a citywide comprehensive plan.

Um we're doing this through it's an interactive exercise, and we're using little flags.

So if you want to um if you're following along on the worksheet, we are under character area feedback exercise.

So I'll describe how that exercise is going to work.

Because this is really what's going to take up uh the bulk of the time at the workshop.

Participants will come in, they will be welcome similar to the last workshop.

There will be swag, there will be food, um, they will be oriented to each to the stations at the workshop.

Um we will have facilitators, both uh English and Spanish available.

Um as the participants walk in, they will first see the goals and objectives.

So this is really making sure that everyone understands where we are in the process, and then they will move to the stations for each of the four character areas.

These will be giant boards, they're dead size sheets 48 by 36 for each one of the four character areas.

Those four character areas are uh Juliet Mall area, Ridgeworth Corridor, like the Eastide Industrial Area, and the South Chicago Street McDonald's corridor, and there are maps at the back of this worksheet.

Those four character areas are Joliet Mall area, Ridge Road Corridor, Legsey East Industrial Area, and the South Chicago Street and McDonald's Street Corridor, and there are maps in the back of this worksheet up so you can see the focus area, not the boundary of each one of these areas.

We needed to do more than just kind of bubble the areas on the map because we want people to understand how the context of each one of these maps fits into the city as a whole.

For each one of these areas, we're going to ask participants a series of questions, and each board will have that question big and bold right at the top.

It is a vision and aspiration question, like what would you like to see in this area?

Do you think that this area can have more fill in the blank housing, business, walkability, improve mobility, you know, etc.

And that will be sort of an overarching prompting question.

Then participants will be asked to take little flags with pictures and words on them that are program elements.

Things like parks, things like business, things like different types of housing, and they will be asked to put those program elements on the map where they would like to see it.

So in your memo on the on page two, there's an example of what that looked like after participants get the flags on the map.

To be able to create functional recommendations and a conceptual design for each one of these areas, each one of these character areas, we need to understand where programs should be.

And so we are crowdsourcing that program, and then we will compare it against all the analysis that we've done, the goals that we've all agreed on, and we will come up with conceptual plans for these for each one of these four areas.

If there are longer conversations, if we're missing program elements that participants really want to see, if there are long four comments that participants want us to capture, there is an opportunity for all of that to happen during the workshop.

We are will also help people stick these pins into the maps and have conversations around, you know, why do you want to see this?

What does this mean to you?

Again, reinforcing sort of the values and goals of the project and where we actually want to go.

So if you're following along now, I'm on page two, potential outcomes of the workshop.

This is a really fun exercise we've tried with other communities because it really generates robust conversation around what happens when you take a goal and you decide how to implement it, and that's that program element.

So people can really begin to connect, you know, the words and the vision and the ideas to concrete place and how it can affect them as a resident of Joliet.

So there's qualitative input, there's spatial input, and that will translate into the next phase of the project, which are our draft plan and key recommendations.

This will turn into strategies for how each one of these characters, character areas fits into the city, and it will allow us to dig a little bit deeper and help illustrate what some of those recommendations look like in different parts of the city.

What this exercise does not do is hopefully it should not threaten residents with anything in their properties being taken away with A-Lay changing and not and them not be able to operate their business.

This should create opportunities.

We're not saying a specific address that anything is going to happen to it.

What we're saying is that this is a really interesting area of the city that is that is repeated or has similar elements, other areas of the city.

And to create a set of functional recommendations for our comprehensive plan, we need to be able to develop those ideas.

Um, and the comprehensive plan is only going for 18 to 24 months.

So we don't have time to you know get into the details of designing every parcel of land in the entire city.

But what we can do is get examples that are reportable, you know, and illustrating some of those ideas will help you all, will help leadership, will help residents understand what it means when we put put pen to paper, essentially.

After this workshop, we will document all of the information that we've collected, and we will start drawing pictures, we will start making land use recommendations, you will see a draft plan outline where you see how these different pieces and parts of the process fit together, and you will see how opportunities for future investment in the city align with community priorities.

This is just the first act that we'll be having conversations around program elements for the city and also how goals aligned with strategy and implementation.

We are not to prioritization yet.

We haven't put dollars to any of this yet.

This is just an idea of what it looks like.

This is a part of the process to show what it looks like when you take the word and you put it in the actual landscape of the city of Juliet.

What are the deliverables for this project that's really important to future land use map?

Going through this exercise will help us understand crowdsource what community's priorities are.

So when we start making land use recommendations, changes to you all, we'll have a defensible strategy to be able to do that.

And we'll have some fruitful conversation around if it's if it is an appropriate response or not.

Those priorities will then be translated into recommendations in the draft plan, and the how we do it will be in the implementation plan.

So that's that's what we're thinking.

Okay, feedback, comments.

Yeah, Stephen.

Chain, last time uh last month we talked about the possibility of adding to that area.

And I saw they were talking about six boards on the one sheet, but they said there'll be four boards.

Um I know we talked a little bit briefly about that USTL area.

Uh, but since that point in my discussions with people, the low-hanging fruit seems to be the former St.

Joe's area.

Um Julia had two hospitals, we're down to one.

That one is, I won't say it's on life support, but it is not the preferred hospital in the area.

And I've we know that health care is twenty to twenty-two percent of the GDP in this country.

To me, the turnaround at St.

Joe's Hospital are making that a medical campus, and maybe it's not just St.

Joe's, maybe it's some of the other hospitals that have clinics here.

Have we thought about that whole area?

Yeah, it's another one.

Yeah, so we we did think about that as a as another area.

Um, and that's something that we can continue to look at through this process.

But this these are the four areas that we are we have we are have already moved forward with at this time.

So we have mailers that are ready to hit people's mailboxes, which I can talk about in a little bit.

Um so yeah, I mean, there's there are other other sub-areas of the city that um can rise kind of to uh a level of um priority, and that would definitely be one of them, but that was not one of the character areas that was chosen at this time of the four.

So it's character that that's right.

I think I maybe I'm is character housing or is it academic development, or what what when we say character, what are we what are we talking about?

Uh Leslie, you're you're more eloquent with this.

Um would you like to sure?

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

It it's all the above.

It's a way to capture um all those different topic areas in a place.

So we wrestled with the terminology of what we wanted to call each one of the areas that we would be investigating further, that we would be studying further.

We kicked around sub-area, we talked around focus area, we talked, you know, we talked about that, and we decided on character area because it captures the one, the spirit of place, two, the experience of the place.

And three, there's a lot of both quality and quantitative aspects that go into what we mean when we say character area.

We're defining a general focus area that we want to look at more closely.

Um, the boundaries around each one of these areas are fuzzy.

We're not saying on one side of the street it is a part of the study, and on the other side of the street it is not.

What we're saying is that there are defining characteristics of each one of these places that we want to uncover and that we want to think about if we want if we're thinking about change and improvement, we need to first identify what those characteristics are, um, and then we need to decide how what we want that to look like in the future.

And so this exercise begins to get to what are those program elements that will help support the kind of places that we want to see in Juliet, and it also will help inform uh regulatory changes like land use.

So if we need to change the land use to facilitate the kind of place that we want to be in, the kind of experience that we want to have, that's a part of this process also.

So when we say character, it's a broad term that incorporates the analysis that we've done, quantitative and qualitative uh aspects of the process.

Um Damon, I think what you're you were also referring to is the well, thank you, Leslie, is under the this handout, it talks about the different kind of areas of the upcoming workshop.

And so one of the areas is goals talks about the different goals.

So I think the the six, the number six you were referring to refers to the goal area board.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that's correct.

Yeah, these were no, they're a little different.

Yeah, the one the other handout with the maps, the pretty images are really diving into um Lamar Johnson Clark explaining the character areas.

So this was just more of a high-level overview of the different yeah.

Well, I I probably said, and I'm not trying to dig down into details, but on one side it said six boards, and the other side it said four boards.

That's that's all.

Yeah, so there are four characters four character areas and six total boards because this medal also includes those goals and objective boards.

So that those are the other two.

Okay, yeah.

Anyone else have comments about what Leslie presented about the character areas and then the workshop format.

I have a couple questions.

Yes.

How I want to make sure I'm framing this correctly, um, and I don't entirely remember this off the top of my head.

Um, as we look at like the comprehensive project approach, um, is there another um comp plan workshop for the public to attend or is this it?

There's there's one more.

Okay.

Yep.

And then that last one, just I again, I'm just trying to frame this.

That last one is going to be the hey, here's the comp plan, here's the draft, we're collecting feedback.

And the goal of this one is to really dive into these character areas to help collect direct feedback from residents in regards to um what they would like to see on some characteristic areas, right?

Yes, and then to show the implementation of the goals and objectives in in specific areas, and then as those in those specific areas is um Leslie noted are replicable to other areas of the city.

Okay, yeah.

So I as we look at the like different stations that we're intending to have, especially with the like we've been listening board and area, um, I just want to make sure that area is kind of set up to capture maybe any additional feedback that maybe doesn't directly fit into the character areas but still provides residents like, hey, I missed the first workshop.

I want to say whatever else that doesn't directly apply to these areas.

Okay.

Um that's correct.

Perfect.

We want we want to take people along along with us for the ride.

And so we thought it would be a good idea in an effort to remain transparent with this process, to share even if you weren't able to attend, you know, a working group or you weren't able to attend the first workshop that uh we want to take you along with us and bring you up to speed on what conversations happen happening.

Um this is also not to say that if somebody wants to continue a conversation or they see something on one of the boards or that they want to talk about, like we're encouraging those types of conversations, you know.

What did we miss?

Did we get it right?

Did we get it wrong?

You know, etc.

So it's just it's an opportunity to keep the dialogue open and to remain transparent through the course of this project.

Cool.

And then I know um I feel like I now talk about this at every meeting.

Um, what level of online engagement are we going to be able to get?

Because let's say it's you know, February 26th, and we have a huge blizzard, and people aren't able to come and like I'm sorry.

I'm sorry for my example.

Um but you know, we will say that because I don't want that to happen.

Okay, I understand, but I also think that like or something else happens, or there's like another major community event, right?

I know we've done our best to make sure that we're scheduling around that, but how do we ensure that like if something happens or if I'm a resident that oh I work Thursday nights and I want to make my voice heard, is it going to be the similar format as last workshop where now I have to go to the okay?

No, I mean Leslie, you want to comment on I know and I know you were you're waiting for the city to respond to one, I think one of the proposals, but you can just in general, yeah.

Absolutely.

So we took your comments to heart last time about um the online interface that we had for the last workshop, and we have um created a proposal that actually captures more robust input that more that more closely mirrors uh the format content um and interactive capabilities of what's happening in the in-person workshop.

So we're calling it survey two, but because we've already done one survey, but it is a parallel online process that would happen during workshop two.

So if you're unable to make it, if there's God forbid a blizzard, if you know you want to participate, this is an online interface that allows you to answer similar questions in a similar way to those being presented in the workshop.

So it has a more interactive interface.

Um it does go through the four sub-area, there will be instructions, but it just it allows folks to um not just look at pictures, but to uh you know answer questions and provide their impact input in a more interactive way.

Um so that that then that input uh would be captured, it would be integrated into our public workshop summary.

So we wouldn't run it for as long as uh the initial survey, which I think we ran for six to seven weeks.

This would maybe just during the workshop, maybe a week after something like that, and then we would close that because we do want to really um capture the input and summarize it as a part of the workshop too.

Would it be available in more languages or is it just going to be available in English?

Similar to our past to the first survey, we would offer it in uh multiple languages.

And would we have access to go through the process as like a resident giving feedback?

So then we could have feedback in case the user experience isn't that great.

Oh you mean do it like a test.

Okay.

For the first workshop, how many attendees did we have?

Approximately 200 or for the community, the first community workshop was a little over 100.

So we said 100 to 120.

Okay, and so what do we um expect for the second one and what would be a good turnout for us to be able to gather great data?

Well, I mean, I'd be disappointed if we had less than 100.

Um If you know, set the bar pretty high for the first one.

So I mean, I I had wanted more people to come to that first workshop because we had really robust attendance on that previous summer with the ETOD open house, whatever we had, 125 people come, and then the IAD displays of a bridge community plan.

We had, I think, between 70 to 80 people come to that open house.

So I think we are we are planning for over 100, right?

Correct me if I'm wrong, Leslie.

Uh nobi, but the room will be set up in a way to accommodate more.

It's it is open house style as as um Leslie was noting, so there won't be like an opening presentation where everyone has to sit in that.

So I don't know if I fully answered your question, but um we're and I I you know before we close today, I'll I'll I'll review our communication and engagement strategy too.

So we would really really want to rely on all of you to get the word out to get people to that workshop.

If I could just add a couple things too, yeah.

Completely agree with Jane.

Um for a comprehensive planning process, just to you know give you a little bit of um sort of anecdotal uh summary from experience.

Comprehensive plan is a notoriously difficult for residents to understand.

It's a citywide plan.

Communication needs to be such that they eat that residents understand how it impacts them personally.

So the first workshop, having 100 people, I think was a great turnout because it's a relatively complex planning process.

The older men are involved, the mayor is involved, we have all the right people messaging this in a way that should resonate with residents.

For this workshop, we learned a bit from our previous experience with communication and outreach.

And Jane and her team have been amazing at supporting uh more robust outreach and identifying uh groups that should be included in the process so that um with a personal touch.

The working groups is a way to capture the attention of more residents, those residents have social networks that they talk to.

If they are interested in participating in the process, they will come.

So there's a brand for investment.

The other one is youth engagement.

We made a concerted effort to outreach to youth.

Um our engagement team has made contact with youth advocates to make sure that they could be a part of this process, the planning process, and then also specifically targeted mailers to folks that live in and around uh each one of these character areas so that they understand like this is an opportunity to completely change the phase of the city in a way that fits your vision of what that can be.

So in addition to all the other communication and outreach methods that we did last time, we do have an enhanced communication plan to make sure that we're doing everything we can to capture folks that uh after that workshop.

We also had feedback on like why didn't you know asking people why didn't you cover all of the barriers?

So try and create a communications plan that overcomes some of those obstacles.

Okay.

Yeah.

So yeah, I was gonna suggest that you touched on the uh the more uh targeted mailers.

I think when we think about the you know the first workshop, it was like you said it was widespread, like hey, come what do you want for Jill Zet?

So you don't really I was expecting a lower attendant when you see the ETLD, it was more like what do you want to see right here in the downtown area so people can't because I want to tell you uh when we look at our workshops is like what do you think about this specific topic so people came for that?

Um are we going to then send out like in the Maw area a specific mail or just about that area?

I say, hey, come with your opinion about this Maw area and not so it's not gonna have include everything else, right?

So it'll just be so there's so we have already prepared and um just note in case I forget to tell you this.

I will send you a link to a shared folder where you can see all the the mailers that are gonna go out, and then um you know JPEGs or uh other files that you can use to also um send out messaging for for for this upcoming workshop, and we'll have um pre-crafted blurbs for you as well.

So that'll be all in a shared folder.

Um we the mailers for each of the four sub areas are done at this point in time.

We're finalizing details with a printer to have them go out.

So we took um what this committee said at at your January meeting, and we have um we are sending this will be in the shared folder too, so you can get understanding of who's getting the mailer and who is not, but I'm just gonna use the mall area as an example.

So it will include not just who's in here, but it's gonna include um people who live this way.

I mean, depending on the geographic area was like a half mile to um a full mile out, depending on the geographic area.

So each one has it's not just what's in there, it's it's the surrounding neighborhoods are being specifically invited.

So it's uh they're receiving just the mall area topic, so to speak.

Yeah, they're receiving a postcard that that says just the mall.

Well, it but it doesn't matter.

It has everything else in it.

Um it says come work, you know, workshop will be looking at four character areas in the city, one of which is the Lewis Joliet mall area.

We want you to envision it as a um, I'm just saying this off the top of my head, a um vibrant, walkable um economic center.

X to use or something has in there, yeah.

I could see as getting a better turnout that way in a sense because that people will now say, well, this is something that's happening in my backyard, is my want to come work on it.

Yeah, so there'll be one for each of the four identified sub-areas, and again, not just within that, but living near their yeah.

Cool.

Yeah.

Go ahead.

Speaking of the wall area, is the mall owner attending or the other.

So we we've reached out to the mall um the management group.

Um, they are aware of the workshop, and we're still talking through that with them.

Yes.

I don't think there's any question, but the communication has to say this impacts you.

Because until something impacts me, I'm not going.

And I think that's that's the strong message that's always been the case.

If somebody has a program where you're going to watch a sporting event and you don't like that sport, you're not going.

If it is a sport you like, you will go.

Because you have to have something that grabs you and engages you.

We're all engaged here.

We're regularly engaged on many fronts.

Most people in the community have still have no idea the comprehensive plan is being worked on.

And that's unfortunate because we had a little discussion earlier about reading levels and how many books people read a year and things of that sort.

And even on social media, you have to read it.

And you have to feel it to say it does impact me.

And if that message isn't there, we'll have a lesser group than we would like to have.

I mean, I think it'd be great if a thousand people showed up because that's something that shows they're engaged in who we are and what we're doing as a city.

And I think we have to dare I say, take the gloves on that communication and say this impacts you.

This impacts us.

What are you willing?

Are you willing to give up two hours to do this?

I mean, so it it needs to be really hard-hitting uh to get people to attend because I've said on numerous occasions and in numerous meetings where I've presented this topic to various groups.

In three years, please don't come and tell me what you wish had been put in the plan.

You had your opportunity to provide the input.

So now you have to live with it, so to speak.

And uh and until you challenge people, they're just gonna go along their way and not pay attention until it impacts them.

They're not gonna be there.

So uh it sounds like the message that you're talking about in the example you used on the mall, it will highlight that.

Uh maybe make some of it bold italicizing underline.

Um I mean that's that's important.

Anything else that we should yes, just one last question about the mall owner.

Because I I think you know, we could talk as much as we want.

We can bring all the neighborhood in to talk about it.

But if the mall owner or the malls representatives are part of the conversation, is our talk moot?

Will it help influence?

Um the mall express any interest in redevelopment, like I just look at the past.

Jefferson Square Mall was pretty much dead 25 years ago.

No one looked at it.

I knew developers had said we won't waste our time on that kind of redevelopment.

We want green field sites.

And I think of that, I think of that intersection.

I I think of the traffic that goes through on a daily basis, is the owners talk to the city at all about future developments or potential future developments.

Well, um we we know that the Sears site was already in the papers, what is it, two or three years ago, Mayor?

I mean, so that we know that that has been of interest.

Um there are multiple landowners, I think, as you were alluding to.

Um, so there's the mall, then there's the different anchor tenants.

Um we've I mean, I'm Paulina Martinez, our economic development director who has couldn't not be here today.

She's been in discussion with the mall mall and then different owners.

I I can't speak to where you know their level of interest.

Um, but from you know, regulatory standpoint.

I mean, this whole area of zone B2.

Um it's really not the best fit for this at this time.

So I mean, we are interested in just exploring options for the future, even from a regulatory standpoint, just to help facilitate um development opportunities should they come.

Oh, and we've seen other developers come to some of the sessions, and they've been made aware of it through the same channels that everybody else has.

So I don't know if anyone from the Louis Juliet Mall area has come to any sessions because they might come and not identify themselves.

And I know that we had uh at the last couple of uh workshops that we had, uh, there were representatives from uh a couple of larger newer developments in the area because they want to know what's going to impact them as they have their future planning for what they've already started uh to see if that's gonna change what they need to do or how they need to approach it.

So uh yeah, I think Paulina could probably make a phone call to them just to make sure that they know it's coming and invite them, and that's yeah, she has.

I know she has.

Yeah.

The mall owner is not very communicative.

The mall owner has bought several distressed properties like this around the country.

We think his money comes from foreign investors, and they don't really care about the community they come into.

And I've talked to their real estate representative, and he's just out to try and lease as much of their space.

You know, Jane said there's some empty boxes that are not the mall property, the Sears property, the old weebolts, whatever it is, those are not their uh property.

So they really have just the main hallways and arteries of the mall.

Um, but every other city they've gone into, they have not been very user-friendly to the community.

They just kind of take what they can get with it.

Um so it is difficult.

Like the guy that owns the Sears property, which is I believe 16 or 17 acres, when he bought that, he was told he could repurpose that like they did at Fox Valley into a market rate apartments, and somewhere along the line, the then leadership of the city switched on them.

And now with the cost of construction and the cost of money, we've tried to revitalize that plan, but it's not penciling unless the rents are out of the market.

So we've been caught in this little bit of a trap with cost of money, cost of construction on that one.

But it's difficult because the mall owner doesn't really care about Julia.

And we've tried to break that shield to get to them, and we can only get to the real estate agents, and it's unfortunate.

Um it is going to be a little bit difficult to try and get we can probably get the mall manager to the meeting, uh, who probably doesn't have a whole lot of uh authority, but maybe he could get it back and filter it back to the owners.

I was out there yesterday just driving around the mall, 10 in the morning.

Mall does I worked there 40 some years ago.

Mall would open at 9 a.m.

Closed pretty much at nine at night.

Now it's open at seven, or open at eleven, closes at seven.

Not really ideal.

I drove over to another retail mall at 10 a.m.

in the morning, and to a buzz of activity.

It's just I look at that, it's just so much opportunity if done right.

That's why I think it I'm glad you're looking at it, Jane.

I think it has enormous opportunity with the right developer, and maybe that's maybe that's the hindrance right now is the current owners.

Yeah.

How do you push them?

It's kind of hard, yeah.

When we're trying to build another retail center at the same time, you know, you've got the cullin and property trying to attract retail tenants, you've got the mall trying to be revitalized, you've got the the uh what's development?

The boulevard the Costco development that you guys split with Plainfield, like there's just there's so many people trying to do retail development of a of a mall type development in such a small area.

It's almost, you know, we've almost put ourselves again, other administrations put us in a trick bag of like there's you almost have to pick one and say this is what we're gonna focus on.

Trying to develop effectively like three mall developments at once is probably hindering us too, you know.

Um because how do you get that much retail to come in as retail continues to shrink?

They just added to our challenges and hangouts there.

When you look at brick and mortar retail these days, also, and you take a look at the city's budget, there's a lot of money that comes into the general fund from people buying online, and now the laws have changed so that we're taxed based on the location in which we receive the goods.

And we we get I forget what the number is several million dollars a year in that that new taxation system.

So, you know, markets have shifted, um housing needs have shifted, retail needs have shifted, and we would do all we can to try and force the market, but the market has to come to it.

So it's it's kind of a conundrum a little bit trying to figure out what to do with uh and repurpose the mall property completely.

I I wish we would have had move forward with the uh thousand units of market rate apartment uh six years ago when he bought that.

And unfortunately he's come back to us and he wanted to put light industrial, you know, all the ideas are not conducive to what's gonna ever span out.

Someday that will come to fruition, and unfortunately, we've had leadership here that didn't agree that we should have market rate apartments, and I'm throwing that back at them because they blew a good deal when they when they blew that one off.

I mean, it's revitalized that whole Fox Valley area mall area because you brought 1,300 people in there that that were specific to that market.

Now that's where that thing flourishes, but they blew the deal, and that's all I'm gonna tell you.

And I saw Fox Valley, what they did.

Yeah, I'm just saying there's there's potential there.

There is would it be a good idea to do like a meeting with the landowners, building owners, uh business owners specific?

Um maybe during the day or when their managers are available for this conversation.

Yeah, I think that would be a way to get them.

I I don't see them taking time to come back for a community plan, especially if it's marketed as a community plan and they're not living in the community.

But if we do a specific for businesses, I think that would entice them a little bit more.

Yeah, I think to your point, this has to be a separate uh conversation.

I don't see them coming to a community meeting either.

I think that also to go back to really Leslie's original point, it helps drive home to business owners, to property owners in these character areas that this isn't taking of your land.

This isn't forcing you to do something, but this is the community idea and community envisionment of your space.

And I think that that helps nurture a continued relationship between the city and and landowners are something that's happened recently, and I think uh Paulina's not here, but we have we have received uh that we are a river's edge tax credit city, and and the really cool thing about that is that in a contiguous way, the mall area is now eligible for the River's Edge tax credit program.

I mean, the way that thing was knitted together is really cool, and I wish we had it on the screen.

We had a developer looking at one of our downtown properties that you know is it's a legacy property, and we want it repurposed, and the numbers wouldn't work for them, and the city couldn't throw money at them, but with the river's edge tax credit, maybe it'll make the deal happen.

And I think we're gonna start seeing more ability to revitalize some of the properties, and I I don't know the are I'm not articulate on what the River's Edge Tax Credit does for someone, but this particular development or developer in a repurpose of property was about a million six short on what their need was, and the river's edge tax credit turned into about a 2.3 million dollar bump for so the deal is doable now, and and we have now gotten confirmation that that we're we're River's Edge tax credit capable.

So I I think that as we look at this, and this is something that I want to understand how how can we use this tool to bring people in.

We met with some uh residential developers yesterday because we really want to see that east side of the Brig Street area in that area.

We've got a lot of blank canvas, and they said, Well, you can't force the market, but how do we help force the market?

What do we do we tiff it?

What do we do to try and say here's an incentive for you to come and bring we know we need affordable workforce housing in particular?

You meet with these uh developers bringing in these warehouses with 2,000 jobs, that's well and good, but why do they have to drive in from 20 miles away?

So we we really are looking at how do we entice development?

How do we move the market?

You know, I guess, well, they're building the text, they're building here, they're building there, but we have opportunities, we have jobs, we need to fill the void.

It should have been filling the void when we were building all these warehouses.

So I I'm with you on that.

Um, and we need to find ways to incentivize people to come into our market and help us with private capital.

So River's Edge, I think, is a good tool.

Once we all understand that better, it's really gonna help us motivate change.

And that was a great tool that other cities have had it for 10 years, and it's really helped.

So will that river edge funding help any of these four areas that we've looked at?

Will that kind of help kind of it's everything it's everything but the Regard?

Yeah, okay.

It's really it's kind of cool how it laid out all the way to the mall property and and way east.

So there's a lot of opportunity for that to help us get investors.

Does it have anything to do with the proximity to the river?

Uh uh I'm not for sure.

I really understand the river's edge.

I I wish Paulina was here.

It's kind of like a roof system in the city.

It's it's a very yeah, sorry, it's very select program.

Um the city of Illinois has available, but you have to be um state enabling legislation has to allow you to be in the program, and then we had to go through a process to be certified.

So the certification's done at this point.

Um so we are fully in to your question.

Yes, I mean it's so it's only a few select cities in Illinois that have a river running through it.

Okay.

Um so that's the river's edge.

Um to qualify, you needed to prove that you had uh like uh I think it's either a hundred to a hundred and fifty acres of um environmentally challenged land alongside the river, which was the displains river.

So there were some steps that again tied back to the river um and had to do with the goals of the program, which is revitalization and redevelopment.

Is this a DCEO grant?

Yes.

So it's that's a DCEO program.

And so I don't know how we kind of verbalize and educate the public what when they're looking at these plans and they're at the workshop.

But I think um knowing that there's specified funding available that might kind of change or sway the conversations that's had with these properties.

It's it's not funding that's available, it's just it's just tax, it's tax credits.

Yeah, it's tax credits and tax abatements.

Yeah.

Tax credits for developers is uh still a great no, it's great.

I just didn't want to like people think like funding's available.

Yeah, yeah, for pri it's not for residents or anything.

Yeah, okay.

Okay.

Um I'll have I'll I'm pretty sure Paulina has like a two-pager that maybe we can provide the committee.

I mean, it's it's something that we probably have sent out anyways to other groups, so we'll try to get that to you and explain the program.

Okay.

Um other comments about our communication channels for the upcoming workshop.

Will there be videos?

Yes.

We'll be doing three of them.

Right, Jenny, listening.

She's filming us.

Um you'll also I will be sending an email out that three links you to our shared drive.

Um, I also let you know when we have those postcards available.

So we'll have that as well.

So if you go to a community meeting, um pass those out.

And speaking of meetings, again, we have two, I don't have them up here, but the you'll see them down the council chamber or excuse me, the the lobby.

There's those um big banners.

So you're you're welcome to check them out.

We have a traveling set as well as the ones that are here that are kept here.

So we have another set you can take to a meeting if you want to have them up, and if you have a table.

Um we're also able to set you up with a presentation.

Um Jim's done one before.

So we're we're able to help you with that if you want to um help us get the word out at a doing a mini presentation at a meeting.

All right, anything else with this topic?

Okay.

What?

On to the next item called staff reports.

Staff reports.

I don't have any updates at this time on well of one update with our ETOD zoning project.

So we have officially kicked that off.

Uh we have met with our consultant that um was procured through our regional transportation authority, and you'll be updated about more about that process um in the next month or two.

Um again, we're at the phase with the consultant where we're doing kind of he's working on data gathering and looking at path plans and stuff.

There will be a very small steering committee that will um with members from the previous steering committee that will be um brought on to act as a sounding board for that project.

Yeah, stay tuned.

We're excited about it.

And that's it for me for staff reports.

Any other comments from anyone that you haven't uh already served up?

Uh now's the time to state.

Anyone hearing none?

Um I will mention one thing.

I will be uh doing a presentation to the Joliet City Center Partnership Board on Thursday morning, and then there is another event coming up on I believe it's next third, not this Thursday, but the following yeah, the community expo event of Juliet West.

Yes, yes.

And so we will be participating in that.

Anybody that has an hour or two and wants to uh join me at that event, it'd be great.

Um actually I think it's a Tuesday.

It's either a Tuesday or a Thursday.

But I sent everyone an email about it though.

I left my phone in the car, so I can't check.

Um but any other organizations that any of you think of that we should communicate with as to what's going on with this planning effort?

Serve them up the Jane so that we can get them on the list and get one of you to perhaps do a presentation to them so that we keep them informed because that communication has to take so many different forms and dynamics to get people engaged.

Uh and these little little sessions sometimes help because I know one person at one of the sessions that I did a presentation at, then attended the next three uh evening workshops.

So uh every little bit helps, so to speak.

So if there's nothing else from anyone, any comments?

Hearing none, call for a motion to adjourn.

Go ahead, sir.

Or I wasn't sure if you were looking for a motion or you were calling for a motion.

Well, there was another section called public comment.

Since no one is here, I don't believe there is any public comment.

Uh and I would call for a motion to adjourn.

I'll make that motion.

Thank you.

Is there a second?

Second.

Second is made.

All in favor?

Opposed, same sign.

And Jane, you want to take the vote on that?

Or are we okay?

All in favor.

Okay, meeting adjourned.