Surrounding South Rowell Road and Bernhard Road A4-25.

The public hearing was closed at on that date.

Before the council proceeded to the agenda item 179-26, the city council adjourned adjourned the meeting to be reconvened tonight, March 16, 2026, at 5 30 in the city council chambers.

The council will now resume its business at the point where the meeting was adjourned.

Thank you.

Councilwoman Quillman knows the time.

Yeah, take room.

Is it okay with the mayor?

Yeah.

Yeah, we just get to meet.

Okay, I just like to say I'm sorry I wasn't here on Monday.

I had uh vacation planned for months, and I kept trying to get home here, and the weather was terrible.

We ran into tornadoes and rain and snow.

And by the time I got home on Monday night, it was 11 o'clock.

I have never missed a good meeting.

I could count them.

I've left hand, if not even five times in my 20 years, have I missed a meeting.

Especially I don't intend to miss a hard vote as well.

So I just wanted you all to know that.

And since I've been home these last two days, I have watched 90% of the video that was on from the other night.

It was on YouTube, and I sat there for two days and watched everything and I took notes.

So I just wanted you to know I was not avoiding anything, but Mother Nature was not cooperating.

So and the airports were booked.

I even thought about that, but then my husband had to drive home alone, but that wasn't gonna happen.

And then they said the airport, well, you got to get here three hours beforehand, but then there was a ground stop at O'Hare.

So I'm like, well then okay, I there's there's no way I'm gonna make it.

So apologize, but Mother Nature was not cooperating.

So thank you, everybody, and um let's get this going.

Welcome back, Jan.

Thank you, Mayor.

So you clerk.

We weren't in a hurry to get out of here.

State law required we end it because we were entering an election day, and state law doesn't allow for public meetings on election day.

Did I say that correctly, Tom?

Well enough.

Okay.

Convey the message.

Thank you, Larry.

I think the clerk needs to take the roll.

Thank you.

We'll begin with roll call, Mayor Darcy.

Here.

Councilman Cardinals.

CouncilmancLement?

Here.

Councilman Hug?

Here.

Councilwoman of Barra?

Here.

Councilman Moreno?

Here.

Councilman Mudron?

Here.

Councilwoman Quillman?

Here.

Councilman Verdon.

Here.

Okay.

Is there a motion to reconvene the March 16th, 2026 combined city council meeting?

So moved.

Second.

Councilman of Barrow?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudron?

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman?

Aye.

Councilman Reardon.

Aye.

Councilman McCartaness?

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy?

Aye.

Motion carried.

Okay.

Is there a motion to approve council memo number 178-26?

Public hearing for a resolution to approve an annexation agreement for the annexation of approximately 795 acres surrounding South Rao Road and Bernhard Road A-4-25.

It is recommended said resolution be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Any comments or questions?

Um I have a question.

And I I did already uh talk about some of my concerns with the city manager.

Question for Hillwood.

I have really nothing to do in my opinion, from my perspective, on how I vote.

But I wanted to get something clear.

People kept coming up to me saying that at the plan commission meeting I wasn't at, they were saying that even if Hillwood wasn't bankrupt or if Hillwood didn't fill it, it could never be torn down.

What does that mean?

It could be demolished if you want.

Okay.

Excuse me.

So it's not a permanent structure that if it's no longer used can't be torn down.

No.

So there was a misunderstanding.

Correct.

Thank you.

The only other thing I'm not going to get belaming this point, you know, there's an 800-pound grill.

Not for you guys.

800 pound grill in the room about a member of our uh our um development staff.

And um so actually, I can ask a bunch of questions, but you know what I'm talking about.

We have a development staff member whose family owned the property.

I will explain to people as I looked into this because this came out from a gentleman on Monday, and I did some research on it.

I called our city manager about it and discussed it.

And uh, you know, it it it has nothing to do with the design of Hillwood.

It has nothing to do with Hillwood being in Joliette because if it wasn't that 795 acres, it could be other we have a lot of land out there, but it has a lot to do with our ethics, you know, ordinance or integrity within the city and any any discipline if it were required following an investigation would be met it out by law.

The discipline is completely in the city manager's hands.

Can you update us to what you're doing on that?

You know, as briefly as possible.

But you can't talk about specifics because it's a matter of personnel, but you can say it's being investigated, correct?

Well, I can't make public statements about personnel like these things I have to talk to council about um in closed session.

Uh that's the law.

Um, but if the questions are about site selection, I think that Hillwood could answer those.

Okay.

Thank you.

That's that's the comments I had there.

Thank you.

Um I just want to make a statement if you allow me to.

I could also do it after the vote, so it's up to you, Mayor.

I think we all might want to make comments after the vote.

Okay, let's do that.

Yeah, let's see.

Let's do that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Mayor Bath can Hillwood tell us how they came across site selection?

Sure.

Do you mind?

Just telling the council.

No, I'm happy to do it, Alderman.

Um, as you probably have after seeing all these hours of testimony, you can understand that a data center site really requires two things: power and land.

And as we began to look for data center sites in Chicago, we had actually been working with the NASCAR team for several years.

Um, and had talked to NASCAR about doing other things.

We actually brought up a logistics project uh to the planning commission and was immediately shot down.

Um but we did reach uh back to NASCAR when we realized that there was power across the NASCAR site.

The four 345 command lines that cross or adjacent to the Bernhardt site actually also cut through the NASCAR site.

So our first effort was to reach out to NASCAR and ask them if they would be willing or interested in doing a data center project there.

The power was there, the land was there.

Uh we had a relationship with the NASCAR team.

We've worked with them around the country.

Um they responded back to us that no, we don't have an interest.

Our goal is to come back and race at Chicago land, which obviously they're doing in 26.

And so we then did what other good developers would do.

We looked for another option, and we followed the power lines down to see where the power lines were going for another site, and we determined they were adjacent to and crossing the Bernhardt property.

So we reached out directly with no knowledge, no interaction with the city of Joliet to the Bernhardt family.

We met several times with the Bernhards.

Again, the City of Joliet was not aware of our discussions, not aware of the plans.

Um after several weeks, we were able to reach agreements with all the Bernhard family members, and then and only then did we reach out to the City of Joliet and have a conversation and let everyone know that we now had the properties under agreement.

And um, I think the conversation we had was that we were thinking about a technology related development there.

We wanted to make sure the city knew it was not a logistics project, and it would not generate trucks.

Um and that's the beginning of what's been almost a two-year journey.

So your first step was on your own as a developer as you've done with other projects is to locate land somewhere.

Correct.

If you could not locate land, then there was no reason to approach us.

That's exactly right.

Once you located land, then you started having conversations with staff.

Once we located land and we had that land under agreement by the sellers.

Okay.

We we wouldn't go to the city unless we had an agreement with the sellers to sell.

And nobody from the city pointed you in that direction.

No one at all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, it's been motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudron.

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman?

Aye.

Councilwoman Ruordan.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinals?

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hugg.

Aye.

Councilman Navarro.

No.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried is there a motion to approve Council Memo number 179-26.

Ordinances approving the annexation of approximately 795 acres surrounding South Rao Road and Bernhard Road classification to I-1 light industrial zoning and preliminary plan unit development and preliminary plat of technology center subdivision A-4-25 and PUD-8-25.

Is recommended that ordinance be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

It's been motion and second and to approve.

Councilman Mudron.

Aye.

Councilman McQuillman?

Aye.

Councilman Reardon?

Aye.

Councilman Cardinus?

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hugg.

Aye.

Councilman Barrow?

No.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Okay.

Next we have the city manager's report.

I have no comments this evening.

Okay.

Next, we will have public comments for non-agenda items.

So this section is for anyone wanting to speak regarding non-agenda items.

We do have some people that signed up.

I believe they may be if they're downstairs, hopefully they came up.

Serena Guzman.

Felix Ortiz.

Amina Brown, Griselda Chavez, Alicia Morales, Andrea Baumhart, and Kathy Garthis.

You can start.

Just a reminder, these are non-agenda items, they're not data center or anything else on the agenda.

Okay.

City Council, I'm extremely disappointed today after the vote.

That's not gone.

This is this is the data center talk.

I would like to see committees that involve our Spanish speaking communities.

I'm so disappointed that there are two Hispanics up there that have failed your community.

There is one person up there with the backbone.

And it's it's really infuriating.

So I would like to see committees involving our Spanish community more.

That's all.

Okay, I have also Cassidy Brown or Porsche Gallegos.

Okay?

Andrea Baumhart.

Well, thank you for my four minutes that I get today.

On March 17th, just about 1201, election day was announced by the mayor.

But honestly, Mayor, that's not the first thought that crossed my mind.

It was St.

Patrick's Day.

Patron saint of Ireland and St.

Patrick drove the snakes out.

That was the first thing that crossed my mind.

Okay.

And today, March 19th is St.

Joseph's Day, patron saint of Italy.

Terror of demons.

If you are faithful, and then you you would know what I'm talking about.

So in honor of St.

Joseph's Day, I'm going to read a prayer in honor of St.

Joe.

Hale, guardian of the Redeemer, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In you, God trusted his only son.

In you, Mary placed her trust.

In you, Christ became a man.

Blessed Joseph, to us too.

Show yourself a father, and guide us in the path of life.

And defend us from every evil.

Amen.

Jesus have mercy.

The first shall be last.

And the last shall be first.

Matthew 2016.

I hope you enjoy your four minutes.

All I can ask is I need answers over now.

I'm supposed to be able to go and live anymore now.

It just hate to say it, but you just pretty much cut my throat right now and standing out.

So I really don't know where to go with anymore now.

My chances of trying to find a place to live are gone now.

But you guys really need to start thinking about the residents and start taking care of all your problems that you guys are creating now.

Hello.

My name is Griselda Chavez.

I'm a lifelong resident of Joliet.

And I thank you all for being here tonight.

But I'd like to first ask do you know if everyone here sitting in yellow is from Joliet?

They're not.

Okay.

And as a community, we are paying attention.

We're watching everything that happens, and when you all try to discredit us in our expertise, that's very insulting.

People have been spending time doing research since honestly, even before October, because we've known this to be a problem since before then, compared to the people who have been showing up for the past two weeks.

And we are very curious if they are here on their own pure intention, or have were they told to be here?

Okay.

As a community, we took your vote and we demand the following.

A three to six month moratorium on existing preliminary and final plan unit developments for data centers in Joliet.

This is an agenda item.

And this would allow for ample public agenda.

Okay, can't talk on agenda item.

Okay, I will change the subject.

Thank you.

The city of Joliet should really base their decisions on anything when they can wait until not misconstrue.

Wait until the Power Act, SB 4016, HB 5513, is passed.

This isn't on the judge.

Is passed in this is not on the agenda.

It's passed in legislative session and begins implementation.

We also demand that data centers should cover their own costs and bring their own power.

Public participation during each phase of development.

The bottom line.

Okay, this is not about it.

Bottom line, we've heard speak.

She lets her care.

Quiet, please, before we move on, Todd, would you like to remind them of the rules, please?

Good evening.

My name is Alicia Morales.

I am a lifelong resident of Joliet.

Um, I'm not gonna talk about something on the agenda.

That was made perfectly clear earlier.

But what I am gonna talk about, Mr.

Hudron and Mr.

Mayor and every council member is the process.

Okay.

Um I want to begin by addressing something that is deeply concerning and frankly unacceptable.

This meeting was scheduled at 5 30, scheduled for 5 30, and many people arrived at 4 expecting to participate in a public process.

Instead, we found the room already full, dominated by a single group of union members, some that don't even live in Joliet, okay, leaving little to no space for actual community residents who live and vote in the city of Joliet to be in the same room.

This raises a serious question.

Who is this process really for?

Okay?

At the previous meeting, public comment went past midnight and had to be continued because there are so many residents who wanted to speak.

That alone made it clear that there's an overwhelming public interest in this issue.

So knowing that, how is it acceptable that today's meeting was held in a space that can't even accommodate the community?

This does not feel right.

When a decision of this magnitude is being considered, one that will impact our neighborhoods, our environment, our children, our future, our health, the public deserves a genuine opportunity to be present, to be heard, and to engage.

When we are what we are seeing here tonight does not reflect transparency, it reflects exclusion.

If the city truly intended to allow public participation, why was a larger venue not selected?

There are spaces available like Billy Leemacher Park that could have been accommodated for more residents and ensured that access was not limited to those who arrived here first.

Um this is not just about seating, it's about trust.

When community members are effectively shut out and bullied of the room, it sends the message that their voice matters less.

I'm asking the council directly, why was the venue chosen that could not reasonably accommodate the level of public interest that this issue clearly has?

And how can you move forward?

Well, you already did.

You move forward with the vote, showing the residents that we were denied an opportunity to even be present in the same room.

Transparency is not just a word, it is an action.

And tonight uh that sounds less it's it's this that standard has not been met.

When I worked at the township and we had a uh debate about a grant, eight million dollars for everybody, including migrants.

Every we held it at the bicentennial park so that everybody had an opportunity to come in.

We wanted to hear from the public.

You all could have followed suit.

You all could have done the same thing.

But we did we don't matter to you.

Mayor, I go to the same church as you do.

How did you allow this to happen?

Half of these union folks in this room don't live in Joliet.

And they bullied a lot of people downstairs, and they've been very disrespectful to a lot of us as well.

That's unacceptable.

We will remember when you all run for office.

Jan.

I'm sorry, but I'm really disappointed.

And every single one of you.

Juan.

Tutti familia jovenaki.

No sé que te pasa porque te vendes.

Muchas gracias.

Gracias.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak.

I'm Portia Gallegos, I'm a Joliet homeowner, registered voter, and a member of Joliet Residence for Responsible Growth.

Today I would like to talk about transparency and planning for large developments.

I would urge our council and our city staff, when a large development is planned for the city that could have a lot of community involvement to please have public meetings at places like Billy Lilemacher with the developers, city staff, because city staff explain things very well, and potentially with community groups and nonprofits who may have a different point of view about a development.

I would encourage our city council and our staff if a large bill is in Springfield that may have something to do with a large development to please wait to vote on the development until the bill passes or does not pass in Springfield.

I would encourage our city staff and our city council to negotiate very hard on community benefit agreements.

Dr.

Glenda McCollum Wright said here on Monday that for a project, for example, the size of the data center, you would expect between 200 and 600 million dollars.

I would hope that we would always have the maximum amount of money for community benefit agreements for large projects that are presented in Joliet.

Um with Madewa National Tallgrass Prairie so close by the city of Joliet, and that being a regional resource and one of the largest tall grass prairie restoration projects in the country.

I would hope that the council and city staff would make sure that we reach out to the staff at Miday One and find out if any large projects could have an impact on wildlife.

Along with that, any time a large project or a large economic development is proposed, we have a very diverse city, which is one of the reasons why I live here, and I would hope that our city council and our staff would make sure that there's extensive outreach in multiple languages to our city residents who speak Spanish especially.

I know that there will be, I also encourage you just in general because our ordinances, I went to the community meetings and the comprehensive plan meetings, and they were really good.

And some of our ordinances are really outdated.

Unbelievably, I encourage you as a forward-thinking city council to look at Aurora, who is one of our model cities, and to pass a good data center ordinance for potential future projects that has input from all of our residents and from community groups.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Hello, my name is Serena Megaski.

Let me put my items down.

I don't I don't even know what to say right now.

There's so many people upset right now.

We have educated people here.

I'm a well-educated person.

I've sat on boards here.

I give my heart and my soul to the city, and I talk to everybody.

I know we got union guys here, okay?

We got all kinds of people here.

I don't have a problem with the union guys, but you know what?

We gotta start looking at each other, helping each other out.

City of Chicago.

I talked to a lot of reporters in the last couple months.

They they think it's ridiculous what's going on in Joliet.

They think it's a mockery.

They're like, how do they get away with this?

I said, I don't know.

But I want to be part of the change.

So guess what?

Serena Mariaski will be somewhere on that next ballot.

And it's not gonna be pretty because I'm a hybrid.

Yeah.

Okay.

I'm I'm a hybrid, and I'm ready.

And I've been Unity CDC, AIDS Ministry of Illinois, St.

Pants Neighborhood Association, St.

Collins Street Association, all the neighborhood association.

I was neighborhood council secretary around here, guys.

I'm nothing to play with.

And I'm a magoski.

Marie Fahi rest in peace.

That's my great grandmother, and my brother was the last historian.

I'm not.

I'm coming out of ashes.

And you know what?

A lot of these people, they don't know who I am, but they will soon.

Because Ray Fak Megaski Toath.

Serena, don't play.

I know Susie.

I know Larry very well, correct?

Larry Susie, you know me very well.

I'm very calm, very nice.

But right now.

God bless everybody on this on this council.

And Jan.

Hello, how are you doing?

Seth's 19-year death was the 17th on St.

Paddy's Day, okay?

The last historian of Joliet.

We're not going down without a fight with this one.

And like I said, I don't mind the union guys.

I don't have a problem with it.

We need to come together.

And it needs to come soon.

I'm 49 years old.

My daughter said she's scared to go to school at Joliet West because of some of the stuff that's going on with ice and all this other BS.

Alright.

And I know a lot of the cops.

And I know a lot of the firemen.

I know a lot of the people in Joliet.

I'm just disappointed tonight, okay?

I just wanted to come up here and tell everybody.

God bless.

God bless St.

Joel's today.

I am part Italian and I am Irish.

That's where I get the fire in my belly from.

Okay.

God bless everybody.

I don't want to hear the comments.

Everybody else got to talk, didn't they?

Everybody else got to talk.

Well, Serena Megaski gets to talk tonight.

You done?

Hey, everyone, we need to maintain decorum.

So please.

I'm being polite.

I haven't cussed.

I haven't said no.

Sure, please address the ma'am.

Please address the council.

That's the end.

I was not being disrespectful.

I didn't threaten anybody.

I was not rude.

I'm just telling you how I feel as a resident.

I'm very disappointed.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Hello, my name is Amina Brown.

I forgot to state.

I am a resident of South Plainfield.

I read I live about a quarter mile away from the uh Louis Joliet Mall.

Uh buona sera tutti qualita parliano, perché so Alcuni di Boy, Sono del Ludone.

Oh, you understood?

Okay.

So the votes approved.

All right.

You guys won.

But I just feel like we should discuss some things.

So EDS is a Ross Perot company.

This is an agenda I know.

No, I just want to say something.

They embezzled $650 million from their worker paychecks in 2007, and they continue this very often.

So to the union, I hope that you are concerned, especially the union presidents who supported this.

I hope you are very well aware that your paychecks are going away.

Thank you.

I hope you guys are happy.

Is there anyone else who would like to address the council on a then agenda item this evening?

Okay.

No, there's someone walking up.

Someone's walking up.

Okay.

We can't hear because people are going to be able to do that.

Um good evening, council.

I'm here to just talk about what's going on in America.

As you guys know, that the cost of living is going up every year, and I think everyone in this room can agree.

The cost of living is going up.

And my understanding is that uh once we switch to Lake Michigan water, we're gonna be our water bills are gonna go higher, just for anyone that lives here and anyone that's connected to City of Joliet water.

Um because of other situations, our electricity bills are gonna go higher too.

A lot of people here have families.

We want our younger generations to get a good education, to be able to follow their dreams, and I want to ask if you guys happen to get a lot of money, what are you guys gonna do about the utility pills?

How are you gonna help people with their daily needs?

I'm not saying you gotta give handouts, but I'm just bringing attention to a crisis that's coming to American homes, especially Illinois in homes, and especially Joliet homes.

I haven't heard any talk from the council about this issue about how are people gonna be able to pay their utility bills.

It's outside of my control, and now it actually is outside of a lot of our control about how those prices are gonna go.

And just so you know, some people are going to blame you.

I'm not saying that I'm going to blame you, but just know that that wave is coming.

People are gonna think people, as we've learned about a lot of topics, people may not do all their research about why things happen the way they do.

So people are gonna do simple math and say it's your fault.

I'm not here to say that it is, I'm just saying that that's how people are gonna see it, okay, in these coming years.

And so I'm saying that you guys can be part of the solution.

Whether you think you're part of the problem or not, you can be part of the solution in terms of the higher cost of living that everyone's facing, and so that's why a lot of people have been wanting to be able to speak with you is because we're very concerned about the rising cost of so many things, and for us, for some of us, we thought that you guys that you may have some influence or be able to have some decision making to be able to help us.

And again, I'm not asking for handouts, but you guys are sitting on a lot of money and will be sitting on a lot more money soon.

And please consider all of your residents, and help our the next generations to be able to follow their dreams, regardless of where their parent works, what jobs they do, for everyone to be able to have equal access to opportunities, and when you guys talk about how you can help us in these situations, include us, include all of us, regardless of who our employer is, regardless of our background, regardless of our language, because we're all Juliet.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

I'd like to speak.

I'm a lifelong resident of Joliet, and on my way up here, I've heard several comments throughout the whole time I was up here, heard several comments.

Um they said it was freedom of speech.

Okay.

Um I'm very concerned about just the state right now, Joliet.

Um, I know the um we are going to we are a community who struggle already, and as a resident myself of Joliet, I have neighbors, and probably possibly people in this room might have financial crisis and might lose their homes once the utility bills are growing up, going up because the TSA Act does not protect us.

Um there are children in the community who have um developmental delays, disabilities who any sound, you know, they're sensitive to sound, it causes health problems, just sound at that speed.

Um I just want to say too on the petition, there's 6,000 votes, so just keep that in mind.

Um, you stand here today, you you all are here today.

Us as Joliet residents will remember you if you did if the good things you do, the you know not so good things you do, um, and we will remember the businesses you own and going forward, we'll keep that in mind.

Um, the family businesses that you own, like your families own.

So I'm just I'm generally just very disappointed.

I know while I was waiting, hearing um other people talk, they're complaining about how long the time is, so I will take my time up here.

Um I'm just really just hurt.

I'm disappointed in all of you.

Um I know many people are, and honestly, I'm worried for the union workers because um a lot of corporations out there just sell lies to them and to us, and a lot of times those corporations they don't honor the promises that they make.

So I want to know going forward, how will you ensure that they honor the promises that they made?

How will you ensure to protect your residents, all the residents?

How will you make sure that they stay safe and that they don't risk becoming homeless?

We already have a big population who are experiencing homelessness, and the city, in my opinion, is not doing enough.

So what will you do when people are going to start losing their water, are going to start having difficulties paying their utility bills?

What will you do?

And so we vote you out.

And just very and I was up there.

That I you know, I feel unsafe being here.

One of three women of color.

I know there's other women of color out there.

Um, and so I came back to find my spot to be to feel that safety with the people I came here with, the two other women who are residents of Joliet, and a man was pushing me, and he's he's not even from here.

Um, and so just you talk about decorum, but you only told us to keep it quiet.

You never said anything to them.

They've been crushing their water bottles, they've been saying comments over there, trying to drown us out.

But us as residents, although not all of us are up here, we are downstairs.

We are watching online, and we will remember.

We will not forget, and I will just stay here.

I'm gonna take my time.

Um, and I just I'm very disappointed.

You I'm very disappointed in you, Caesar Cardenas.

I'm very disappointed in you.

Joe Clement, very disappointed in you.

Larry Hug, very disappointed in you.

I we appreciate you.

I know you're pro-UNES and anti-data centers.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

Madeline Gable.

Hello.

Um, my name is Madeline Gable.

I did not plan on speaking tonight.

Um, things went a little just felt a little inspired to speak, but I did kind of want to talk about something unrelated.

Um I want to talk about the council and the council's responsiveness um to communication, and kind of maybe try and brainstorm out loud the best way to reach your council person.

Um I'm not sure what the standard uh procedure for that is.

I sent an email to the mayor, the full council, the city manager, and the public comment page, and I believe I, if I remember correctly, I got two emails back out of eight, nine, ten.

And the public comment did anybody, I don't know who runs that, but um that was a little disappointing for me personally.

Um your own council person that's supposed to represent you does not respond to your communication, it can be kind of disheartening and for some reason make you feel like maybe the maybe someone's not listening to you out there.

Um you know, because I think we can all agree that the job of a city council person is to kind of be a voice for the constituents, and I know some people have districts, and some people are just um at large and kind of represent everyone, but I think it's very important to even just send like a hey, I got your message, and I think that that would go really far in making people heard.

Um, especially if they're like directly your consist constituent.

Um, I had a lovely chat with one of the council people.

Um I called a couple, but one was actually went to their personal phone.

We talked for well over an hour, a very long time.

Um, and I appreciated them for that.

Um, when I called my own council person, it went to their voicemail box.

I didn't even the thing that was frustrating for me was until the councilman that's not my council person, and it represents a different district, and I um spoke on the phone, I didn't even realize that the uh phone numbers just go to a generic voicemail box, and then you guys get a transcript emailed to you, and then you find out after the fact that we left you uh a message.

Um I'm not there's not really anything to my knowledge, maybe I missed it on the website that indicates that that's how that works.

Um so I know you guys have been working on transparency, and I know you guys always say to like reach out with comments and concerns and questions, but I think maybe we could set up a little bit uh better of a way to um make it a little more obvious how to reach your council person.

I did also come across a council person on Facebook, and I was like, Can I talk to them on here?

Like, I mean, I of course I can, like I have free speech, but I'm like, this feels weird.

This isn't like the official way to talk to them.

So I think it would go a long way in um kind of figuring out like how um the best way to reach your person is who your city council person even is.

It took me five minutes of Googling to figure out what district I was even in.

I looked at the map with the like 20 or 30 like different zones of Juliet and where they were, and I was like, okay, I'm in zone 15, whatever.

But that didn't tell me who my council person was, and I was like, well, that's kind of weird.

Why would we have this map that's super detailed that tells me that I live in the center of Joliet that doesn't tell me who my council person is?

Seems like that could be revised a little bit.

Um but I know you guys have a lot of uh big things coming up, some some projects and some uh big decisions have been made recently, so when you get to it, we would love to have a better way to connect with you.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your comments.

Madeline, I'm I'm gonna you know, say it out uh uh publicly.

You you you you were very classier not to mention I'm the one you talked to, and we had a great conversation.

We agreed on some things, we didn't agree on everything, and certainly we didn't agree on the final vote, but you were very respectful and very insightful.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I appreciate you being on stock me, even though you're not in my dish because I know yeah.

All right, good evening, Joliet City Council.

I am deeply saddened by your decision to vote yes to the proposed data center.

My name is Twitter, by the way.

You can't you can't create a question.

You can't comment on it, ma'am.

I I'm commenting on it anyway.

You have to do that.

You have officially spoken out every single citizen in Joliet.

You chose corporate interests over the livelihood of the very people who voted you into your position.

You chose money over the future of our children.

They can still hear me.

They can still hear me.

Okay.

Okay.

Just know that everyone is going to remember each one of you that voted yes on this, and we don't want to hear.

Okay.

We're very we're very disappointed.

Thank you for your comments.

And you should have let me speak, but that's okay.

Okay.

I'll speak next time.

Hi, everyone.

Uh sorry, my bad.

Thank you.

Um I want to thank you guys for uh I know this meeting was initially supposed to be at 9 a.m.

today, and I want to thank you all for having it rescheduled so that we could all, as many of us as possible attend after another day of work and for giving us at least this opportunity to speak.

Um last time I spoke, um I mostly spoke of questions.

Um I think today I'll do it a little bit of the same.

Um of the people were concerned uh the other day and and today about the rising cost of living.

Um if many of you are unaware, um there is a large population here in Joliet that is unhoused, that is um down the luck.

Um that struggle every day.

Um the only difference between us and them is is one one bad day is is one mishap, one accident.

And when people talked about the rising cost of living the other day, living on Social Security, paycheck to paycheck, penny to penny.

I hope I hope that it's in the council's mind to take that into consideration in the coming months, years that this will happen.

And that uh as people get pushed out of their homes, as people can no longer afford health care, medications, daily essentials food, water that you at least take into consideration and prepare for when this happens and try to mitigate some of these issues.

I know decisions have already been made.

But I just hope that you have the people's health and well-being in mind for the coming years.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Is there anyone else who would like to address the council this evening and a non-agenda item?

Anyone else?

Okay.

Seeing none.

We got one coming.

Hi.

So four minutes?

Yes.

Hi.

So we're I came late because I have work.

So I'm rereading.

It's the same, but we're not allowed to talk about the thing you voted on just now.

Yes?

Okay.

Then I would like to talk about the behavior that happened last time, because this is my first city council meeting last Monday, and it wasn't my best experience.

I would say when a person comes up and someone has to excuse themselves to the bathroom, that is understandable.

They go and they ask somebody, hey, can I wait till they get back?

And you start their timer and you don't stop it while they're asking a question about even if it's no, it might be polite to stop it and say no and start it again.

Uh because it doesn't say anywhere we have to keep going if the person we're trying to talk to is not exactly in front of us.

Um another thing would be if the person is in behind me within camera view and you guys can see them and anybody can see them, and they're laughing at women crying up here about like their worries.

Uh somebody can address it because they're laughing and pointing.

Uh so that would be addressed.

I am disappointed at the people who are laughing.

They are in the same seats behind me today.

Uh, because again, it was women crying or even anybody crying.

Um, pointing and laughing.

Uh somehow the people on the phone looking at TikToks were more appropriate.

I looked at the eyes of every single one of you and I gave you all my faith.

We see how that worked out.

Uh, but besides for that, uh, there were squabbling up here, and I don't think that was appropriate for us to see.

Um, because someone can ask a question sternly, but if you don't like it, you shouldn't really address it to them in front of the public like that just to make a statement.

Very odd.

It's it's weird because the public who are all private citizens are supposed to be respectful.

We're supposed to not cry out, we're not supposed to be too loud, we're not supposed to cheer, we're not supposed to clap.

Um, but the organizations, but whether you or the ones behind me who are representatives, who are maybe incentivized to be here, this is what they're supposed to be doing.

Us who are private, unorganized, we're all individuals, cannot be controlled, you know, because we're all individuals.

Somehow the people who are supposed to be as representatives aren't being professional, whether it's laughing, whether it's squabbling over, I don't know, whether it's them, like I said, not being good representatives of themselves.

Here are the workers today, so if it's much more, I can see if it was more unorganized, but it was just their representatives the other day, and they were not professional, and no one said anything for us.

When people, when living beings are crushed, they will cry out.

And we were scolded for that, understandably.

And then half the meetings said, this meeting is unfair, it's on a Monday, and then you tried to move it to a 4:30 when common jobs are 9 to 5, and the first thing that happened after 12 o'clock was we're gonna move it to Thursday at 9 a.m.

That shouldn't even been spoken out.

Let me just show you weren't no one was listening to what we were crying about.

Um we can whine, we can moan, but it wasn't listened to at all.

And it's really sad.

I thought better of this.

I hope for better of this, and I prayed for better of this.

Uh I want to be more than anything proud of my city, proud of the councilmen, part of the union.

Um that I respect so much and I'm part of, and my family is part of, and I want to respect them so badly, but what I saw Monday was disgraceful.

It was awful.

Uh, and then I hope to God, as everyone says, things can be clearer for the private individuals who want to be here, that these things can be actually listened to, because again, so many questions, so many comments were there brought up, and then 12 hit, and you couldn't do the election anymore.

I think comments probably, because that wasn't part of the election could be said, but um a certain council member was caught off mid-sentence, couldn't even finish his sentence before someone jumped on him and said you're not allowed to talk anymore because we can't make a vote, even though him finishing a sentence would be appropriate.

Uh so I pray, I beg, and I have faith in that this will be constructed from the ground up because I want to be here and I want to appreciate you guys.

Thank you for your comments.

Hi, my name is Felix Ortiz, and I'm here to uh make a public comment.

Uh the two people you moved earlier, that's unfortunate because uh, you know, as we you all know we live in a first uh a country that has the first amendment that allows for free speech in this country.

And the open meetings act makes it very uh open that as long as you know people are speaking with the quorum, aren't being you know violently disruptive or otherwise um you know being belligerent, they have the legal right to be able to address all of the city council people.

You might not like it, it might not be polite, it might not be something that you any of you feel comfortable with, but we actually have the legal right to you know address everybody here directly on the same equivalent level.

You know, it's unfortunate that we have to be here at this pace because uh you know we've made it very uh obvious to all of you that we are concerned with the public health of the community.

Um we would ask that at the very least the city considers safety parameters around uh pollution for all developers, uh making sure that our water stays affordable, sustainable.

You know, we fought uh meticulously for years to ensure that we would have a uh tiered water system uh you know to hold other developers accountable to make sure that you know we aren't draining our aquifer at a rate that's unprecedented, but um you know it's unfortunate that you know we're continuing to you know choose development that's going to end up consuming it in the long term.

Um I know that many of you know are looking out for the best intent for the community, uh specifically when it comes to producing jobs.

I understand that many of you are supportive of the trades unions.

I again come from a Teamster's family.

I know what it's like to have to pay bills to get by.

We all do.

But at the end of the day, you know, I ask that a lot of my union siblings consider that, you know, um every development that we support is something that is ultimately gonna come and make its way back to you.

We all live on the same planet, we all live in the same community.

We all drink the same water, we all get electricity from the same grid, and ultimately the same air that you are breathing is the same one that we all do.

And if we don't take public safety as a legitimate concern, well, we're not gonna have a planet left to live in a couple years, you know.

We've already hit a tipping point when it comes down to uh you know, a point of no return as far as our carbon emissions go.

I know a lot of people here probably don't believe in global warming, but uh you know, just go outside.

It's been fucking it's like what 70 degrees in February.

Uh please don't cut me off.

I have not done anything to watch your language, please.

I did not say anything.

Yeah, you did you did.

I did not.

I have a legal right to again state my case, and if I'm being cut off, I will file uh open meetings act violation because I am being challenged during my legal four minutes to be able to speak and address all of you.

I am not being belligerent, I am not being aggressive.

I am respecting the rules kindly.

I've not even once mentioned uh specific word that I know I shouldn't even say right now.

Uh but uh yeah, I just want all of you to know that uh you know we're all watching what the city does.

Uh we are gonna be at this meeting tomorrow to talk about the uh you know the city's uh long-term uh plans for the city.

Um it's unfortunate that uh you know, one of the biggest comments that was that's been mentioned that a lot of these meetings is not being taken into consideration.

But uh, you know, you're all re-electable.

We all know where your business are.

We don't need to choose to do business with any of you.

Um I'd rather not have to uh I guess consider boycotting or doing anything like that, but uh you know the community's watching.

Um we have the right to uh organize and we have the right to make our voices heard.

Uh you will all be remembered in history for the way you vote, and every single thing that you do will come back to you because you're ultimately breathing the same air, drinking the same water, and your children will have to deal with the consequences that come in the future.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Is there anyone else who would like to address the council this evening on a non-agenda item?

Hi, folks.

So this is not my first time speaking in front of you, and every time I'm doing it, it seems like I'm taking another L.

Um I'll be honest, I'm disappointed in some of you.

Uh some of you, I well, I know all you pretty well, so we kind of knew how this was gonna go.

Uh, but nevertheless, this is very disappointing.

Um I gotta say, uh I'm hopeful.

I'm hopeful for the first time, because this is Joliet waking up.

This is thousands of people responding to this data.

I'm sorry.

This thing that happened.

And um a lot of a lot of feelings, a lot of facts, a lot of emotions, and um people are starting to get engaged today.

So I think today starts a new era, a new era of accountability for all of you and for the rest of the government.

So all of you, have a great day.

And I'll sure I'll be standing here again someday.

Thanks for your comments.

Hello.

My name is Cassidy.

I originally did come here to speak on an agenda item, but I'm gonna switch that up a little bit.

Uh tonight I would like to talk about censorship.

Um I noticed after I left last night when I went to watch the publicly recorded hearing of this public, the public meeting from Monday evening.

My portion was cut out.

And that could be an accident, but I don't think it really works that way when you're recording on live, so I don't believe so.

Especially after talking to a lot of my community who was here with me two nights ago who said theirs was cut out as well.

So I think that people are getting scared, probably, like the gentleman before me said, a lot of us are waking up if you know.

I mean, most of us have known for a while, but a lot of people are just now getting realizing how deep the corruption goes.

So after talking with my communities, knowing that a lot of us were cut out from the recording last week, I obviously did some research and seen that public meetings are supposed to be pub uh open to the public no matter what, and that includes having a um properly recorded video of that meeting and publicly putting that meet that meeting publicly where anybody can have available access to it without any editing or interfering.

Not accusing, but I am going to be filing a freedom of information request and possibly filing lawsuit if I do find out that things were purposefully manipulated.

Um thank you everybody for showing up on this beautiful day.

Um I would like to talk about how we the people have more power than we think we do.

Um I believe there's uh class war in America and that we are intentionally divided.

Um racism, sexism, homophobia, political party division, it is all of fame that's fed by political acts of violence to keep us distracted and keep us mad at each other rather than taking out all of this energy and directing it towards a small number of number of people that they tell us are in charge.

Umge, though, that's my real question.

Everyone said that the thing I'm not allowed to talk about right now was a done deal.

The decision was made behind closed doors.

So my question is if we as a nation openly understand that the people we elect to represent us do not care about us, what do we do now?

Now that it's a yes, we did it.

We talked for 14 hours and it's still a yes.

What do we do?

They want us to sigh, move on, drink the poisoned water, breathe the polluted air, watch our mothers die of stroke from the noise pollution because rules are rules.

These dozen or so people said death is worth the money, our death is worth the money, so we must oblige.

I think she's going to be.

I think you're on the edge.

I'm on the edge.

All right.

Well, I think you are.

Um so when is enough enough?

At what point do we finally say this has gone too far and we will no longer die for their money hoarding?

What's our motivation to continue comply?

I don't have one anymore.

Um I think we do have a good start to stopping this cycle.

It was kind of satisfying watching the suits have to wait another two days for a vote they knew was in the bag.

Um, you know, we sat here for 14 hours, and after, you know, after work, all of the things we had to do to get here, the least I could do is put more money into our local businesses, right?

Um the visible anger, the size of annoyance when you realize you'd have to sit through this again.

I bet it was frustrating having to hear from the population of the city you plan to invest.

I'm sure you are exhausted.

I think she's keeping it.

You came in.

Yes, I think you've now.

I got 30 minutes.

I got 30 more seconds.

Um slow it down, demand answers.

The point is disrupting the process.

The point is slowing it down.

This was the point.

You may have thought you won, but the point is slowing it down.

Um be picky where you spend your money.

Do not support the people in this room.

Um the only people who benefit from our fear of resistance is them.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be scary, but I'd rather be scared in the face of change and scared every time they want to build a new death camp.

No justice, no peace, and there's no more room in this.

There's no room in there's no justice in the room, so there's no longer room for peace.

You're not nice to murder us.

Okay, is there anyone else who would like to address the council this evening on an unagenda item?

Okay, seeing none, we're going to move on to mayor and council comments.

Go ahead.

All right.

So I just want to take a moment to speak openly and honestly of where I stood on the data center project.

First, I've never really considered myself a politician.

Even after serving in this role for three years, I see myself as a member of this community first.

Someone who cares deeply about Joliet and the people who call it home.

And because of that, I've always made a commitment to myself and to the residents of Joliet that I will always vote for what I believe is right for our city, not based on pressure, politics, or personal gain.

I've been told directly that I could lose someone's vote if I support this project.

And I understand that.

People are passionate and they care deeply about the future of our city.

But I want to be very clear.

My decisions come from what I believe is right and the effort I put into understanding the facts.

I'm not going to compromise my values to win or keep a vote.

I also want the public to know this.

I have full trust and confidence in our city manager, our city staff.

They put in the time, the analysis, and the due diligence to properly evaluate this project.

This isn't a situation where we simply where we're simply taking a developer at their word.

We have brought in third party attorneys, independent consultants to review the data, analyze the impact, and ensure that this information we are receiving is accurate and in the best interest of Joliet.

We are the third largest city in the state of Illinois, and with that comes opportunity.

We are seeing major developments and investments come our way, like the new Hyundai Translate Manufacturing, coming to the old caterpillar and line electric site.

These opportunities don't happen by accident.

They happen because our city staff is doing the work carefully, thoughtfully, and strategically to position Joliet for long-term success.

I've done my own research, I've asked questions, I've taken the time to understand this project from multiple angles.

And based on that, I truly believe this data center project is a good project for Joliet.

I believe it represents a strong opportunity, a win for our city, and for our future, and for that continued growth of our community.

But this doesn't end with disapproval.

What matters just as much is what we do next.

I look forward to continuing to engage with our community to ensure that the tax revenue generated from these projects like this used our in a used in a way directly benefits our neighborhoods and improves the quality of life of our residents.

I've met with probably 30 people individually, many people that have called me out and we've sat down and we've talked about this.

I have not changed my position of where I felt on this on this data center.

And I just think that it's it's it's good for Joliet.

I know sometimes it's hard to understand, but I'm I'm excited for what's the future of Joliet.

Thank you.

Mr.

Mayor, yeah, Caesar, good job.

I agree with with what you said.

I want to thank again, I'll be very brief.

I want to thank Hillwood, Powerhouse, City staff for answering all uh the answers that you know to my questions.

I appreciate it very much.

You know, 14 and a half hours.

Um I listened to the residents, you know.

I know that they didn't like it.

I understand that.

Um, you know, I I attended the open house, the planning meeting, um, obviously the the the meeting money and in tonight.

Um, you know, but this decision, you know, was the the answers that I got to my questions about the power, the water, the noise, the land.

Um, you know, there's no trucks um that are gonna be here to disrupt uh what we currently have going on.

Um there's uh thousands of union jobs.

There's 700 permanent jobs.

This is just uh, I believe a win for the city of Joliet, and and uh Caesar, I I agree with you.

And um that's why I voted yes for for this project.

I believe it's it's a great project for the city of Joliet in moving forward.

So thank you.

I personally thank everybody who showed up today, Monday, at many of the meetings going back two or three months.

I appreciate that.

This democracy I want to point out that even those in opposition as passionate as they are, there was a hundred and twenty speakers, I think, roughly on Monday.

Only three or four were disrespectful.

Everyone else, even though they are in opposition of it, was very respectful.

And we spent a lot of hours, and I listened to everything.

And it gave me an extra three days to do research for anything new that they brought up because we couldn't continue the meeting.

Just to clarify, there was a young lady that came up here and thought that somehow we cut off, I think one, you know, uh councilman.

No, no.

It wasn't that we couldn't vote after midnight.

According to the state law, no public meetings can be assembled after midnight.

We uh it could have been in the middle of the mayor's, you know, it could have been in the middle of the Pope giving you a blessing, and we had to stop it.

Otherwise, we're outside of the law, and we are a nation of laws.

With that said, I'll tell you a quick story so you understand because I did my research.

I've talked to a number of people.

Most of the people that I talked to are in opposition.

They had a lot of questions.

I offered the information that I found in my research.

I've talked to experts.

I didn't just turn to staff, I didn't just turn to Hillwood.

I just did that then just turn to those in opposition or those in favor.

I I collected all this information, and I talked to people that don't even live in Joliet that are in the uh computer field and have been for years to get to get it crystallized, to get it clarified.

Back in 21 or 22, we had a uh economic development director.

Uh his name was Derek Connolly.

I was at the time, we had you know I was the chairman of the economic development committee.

We had a developer come in representing someone they didn't give us the name to, but we figured it out later who wanted to put a data center in.

They wanted a million to a million and a half gallons of water a day, and we said, not an option.

We told them if you need it was a smaller project than this one.

Um this one, which they're not allowed to do, would take over six million or more per day at full build out.

We told them we're not even gonna go any further, we're not gonna bring it to committee, we're not gonna bring it to staff.

Derek told them.

He said after he talked to me, he said, no, you got you you have to know that we're not gonna provide that water for you.

They left.

They went to the Calp.

Funny, because the Caleb about three or four weeks after we said no, they announced the building of the new Facebook data center, the meta.

We said no to that because we protected our water, and we're protecting the water in this.

150,000 maximum gallons on average per day, no day can ever peak above 300,000.

That is like the the standard of water consumption of an entire subdivision, but yes, but it's not five million, six million, seven million gallons a day.

We wouldn't allow that.

Comed has done their private business uh guarantees that uh you know they're paying their their freight on the upgrades.

So I looked at that.

I have one woman, she spoke today, and she said uh, you know, when she spoke when she spoke a month and a month, month and a half ago, I knew nothing about at the time, tier one, tier three, tier two, tier four generators, and she said, I hope you guys are are are requiring tier four generators, because tier four generators means on the current EPA, those are the ones that are the quietest, not that they won't improve that over the next five, ten, twenty, and the least polluting, okay?

Not not polluting least.

And I said up here to myself in my own mind, I talked to myself, but I didn't get an answer.

And I said, what is this, Tara?

Okay.

I made notes.

I went home, I did some quick research on it, I talked to some people, and I found out, okay, now I understand what she's saying.

And I talked to the city manager, and the city manager talked with Hillwood, and we determined that the agreement required tier four compliant generators.

Am I correct, City Manager?

Yes, you are.

So had they said tier two, I would have dug my heels in and said, hey, Hillwood, we got to talk.

They didn't.

They realized that Jolie has looking out for its citizens, and that we demand the best that's available to protect our citizens.

And if they didn't want to do the best, even though it was much more expensive, go on down the road.

So with that said, I do really appreciate everybody that's come here on all sides, both sides of the issues.

There's there's more than one side to this issue.

I really do appreciate the opposition that came here, the passion they showed.

The we've had, you know, 150 to 200 people in opposition show up over the last few weeks and in a couple of meetings.

I do believe as a city of 152,000 people.

I think uh Ms.

Magoskey said it earlier.

Simple message.

Yes, like this nation, we need to come together.

That's my comments, Mayor.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So I just want to say, and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak.

My loyalty is to the residents of District 5, first and always.

Secondly, the residents in the city as a whole.

For year, my for years, my district has carried the burden of industrial development while receiving the lease in funding and resources.

And I could not then ask them to carry any more, especially without basic protections in place.

Let's all be clear.

The voice of the people has not been accurately or respectfully addressed in this process, and I will not ignore that.

To the residents, I see you, I hear you, and I feel all your concerns, your fears, and your struggles.

What I've seen that I am very proud of is residents across the city of every age, background, political belief coming together with one message.

Slow down and get this right.

Those residents are not saying no forever.

They're saying not until protections exist, and right now, even at state level, these protections do not exist.

I want to commend the city manager at Beth Beattie on those community benefits.

That is a genius move.

And something that I've been talking about for more than 10 years.

If all the conditions exist and we have everything that a Hillwood or Powerhouse would want, why don't we get something out of it?

Why would we give tax incentives?

Why don't we get something out of it?

So I do want to commend the city manager and the staff.

That was really a genius move.

We're talking about a hundred million and community benefits agreement, money that could fix roads and sidewalks, improved neighborhood lighting across the city, especially in districts like mine that have been overlooked.

Instead, my district is being asked to accept risk, uncertainty, and too many unanswered questions.

So the way that I describe District 5 is actually respectfully the dumping ground for what none of the other districts want.

That might be the way that they're situated, or that there is a lot of land, but their quiet, peaceful lives have been upheavaled, and a lot of these people are people that just can't afford to go anywhere else.

So to the residents of District 5 in this city, you have my respect, and I hear you.

And to our city staff, I respect the work and effort that has gone into this process.

But my responsibility is to the people I represent.

I also want to say my dad was local, labor local 75, and back in the day, this is actually extremely civil.

My dad was in fist fights, my dad had guns, held to his head for jobs.

My dad has been through it all.

So I do very much respect the unions, and I and this is extremely civil compared to the 70s and 80s when I grew up with you know my father who is laborers local 75.

So I do very much respect the unions, but I also I have I have to my I just want my regular life back.

I can't go to the store to get dog food without residents from District 5 grabbing my arm and commandeering me.

And I'm here for it.

I want to hear what they have to say.

But we also have regular things that need to get taken care of, and we would like to get back to some of those regular things as well.

So I want to thank everybody that came out tonight on both sides of this.

I want to thank Powerhouse and Hillwood.

This city is an amazing city.

It is a fantastic city.

I can see why you would want to come here, and thank you for wanting to come here.

Thank you.

Over the past several weeks, I've heard concerns.

I read emails, took your calls, and had real conversations with people across our city.

This is not a time to call me.

Um those concerns mattered, and they were part of my decision.

This was not an easy vote, but it was an important one.

Joliet is growing.

Joliet is not.

The question is whether uh development is coming.

It's whether we shape the growth in a way that benefits our residents.

I believe this project is an opportunity to strengthen our tax base, support our future, and keep our city our yeah, keep our city moving forward.

But let's be clear, my succumb my support comes with expectations.

I will be pushing for accountability, responsibility, infrastructure, and real benefits for the people of Joliet.

Our residents deserve to see the upside, not just the impact.

To those who are opposed, I hear you, I respect you.

That does not stop today.

I will continue to advocate for your for you throughout this entire process.

At the end of the day, I was elected to make tough decisions, even when they're not popular.

And I believe this is the right one for the future of our city.

Also, I would also like to throw in there that with the revenues generated from this development, or with the 100 million dollars that with uh community development, we can get rid of the grocery tax, which I famously opposed.

Um maybe even reduce the city's portion of the gas tax.

Obviously, that would have to we have to vote on that.

I know I spoke to a councilman hug about that earlier.

Um our residents must directly share in the benefits.

With that being said, I to the comment that was made.

I you know, I replied to a lot of emails.

I was on the phone uh for the past week very hectic, I'm sure for every council member and even the mayor.

Um we did it, at least I I can speak for myself.

I answered to whoever everyone that I could, and I sent the emails back, text, and a lot of people that I spoke to, they said thank you for calling me back.

So with that being said, thank you everybody that showed up today in support and everyone that opposed it as well.

And let's keep moving forward.

And thank you, Hillwood, for being a good uh neighbor to the residents.

We're keeping open communication with our city manager Dustin and even Greg Ruddy.

Maybe we can uh fix swipes of road.

So thank you.

Larry, the lady who first for me first brought the difference in generators of the generator two and forward named Miss Andrea, who spoke again tonight, and I think she's still here, and I thank her for that.

I obviously you want to thank her for that also.

Uh she's still here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Mayor, uh City Manager, Beth, and the city staff.

I know all of you put an enormous number of hours in, made yourself and all members of the staff available to us, gave us as much detail as possible, made Hillwood available to us for all questions.

And I appreciate that.

Uh use that with other articles that have been in public publications, some of them maybe questionable, how well they fit into our situation.

Uh Mr.

Singh, thank you for all the financial information that you provided for us showing how this potentially will positively affect everyone's cost of living here.

Um with that said, uh I think my yes vote says enough on on that end on being for the project.

Uh as Caesar mentioned, uh Hyundai trailer was a bit overlooked.

2500 jobs, uh bringing two new facil two old facilities back to life is great for the community.

Last Sunday there was a brunch honoring Michael Austin Clark and his mentoring program.

There was a street named after him, which is Glenwood, right outside of Joey at West High School that was uh attended by lots of individuals.

And everybody here today, whether you were for or against the project, I appreciate whether you spoke or not.

Also, I appreciate you coming, those of you that were here and made it through the marathon on Monday.

Uh thank you and have a good night.

Again, um I thank all you for being here and it's about getting involved in government, and we need to have more communication.

The young lady that was here earlier talked about our website wasn't so user-friendly and it's hard to communicate.

And um I I would have to agree with that.

We don't communicate enough with our residents.

At one time we had a newsletter that stopped, and then we were talking about putting a uh bulletin in the water bill, so we're gonna get something to know it's not going about.

But no one reads the newspapers and uh listens to the radio.

The main thing is social media now, but not everybody uh the older folks, they don't have social media, and that that gets out of hand a lot.

But somehow we need to reach out to the citizens and let us know how we can communicate better with all of you.

And um I totally agree with that.

So and I have a phone number that everybody calls me, and I say if I don't get back to you, it means you talk too fast or the recorder ran out.

And um, if you emailed me this last two weeks and I didn't get back to you, it's because I was out of the country.

And um long plan vacation.

But anyway, I'm back now.

If you want to call me, the number's always up there 815-726-7071, or you can send me an email, Jan Quillman at Joliet.gov.

I've engaged with you all my twenty years here, and I'm not stopping now.

But um you're absolutely correct.

We don't communicate well enough with our citizens.

And so we need some suggestions.

So I thank all of you for being here.

This was a uh very informative and interesting conversation.

I'm glad we were able here to have this conversation with all of you.

Sorry about Monday, but I did for two days.

If you weren't here at the beginning of the meeting, I looked at the entire six, seven hours.

Seven hours and nineteen minutes, that's what it was.

So I know I got beat up a lot on social media and things were made up, but that comes with the with the job, you know, you just gotta tough it up and figure it out, and people it's like the telephone that game.

You'd say one thing, and by the time it gets down to number 10, it's a whole different story.

And that's what happened.

So anyway, appreciate all of you guys and keep keep your um please keep coming to the meetings.

That's how we get to know you, and you know, contact your council person or your at large folks.

So anyway, that's all I have to say.

I'm glad this went very well, very uh professional, all of your professional.

I'll be a professional.

I know anger gets us sometimes at the better of everybody, but that we're human, and that happens to everybody.

So uh again, I want to thank you, and I will move this on to Councilman Reardon.

Thank you.

So here I am at the end, but at the risk of breaking our own rules of repetitive repetitive comments.

I have a list of the repetitive comments.

So here we go.

I'd like to thank our city manager, Beth Beatty, and her incredible team for their countless hours of meetings, collecting the facts necessary for all of us to make an informed decision for this very important project for Joliet.

Every single time I called with a question or concern, Beth answered my questions and/or listened to my concern and contemplated whether adjustments needed to be considered.

The entire team was always open-minded to thoughts and ideas that we may have not already considered.

AKA, the generators.

We I think we all jumped on that when we heard that comment.

Last week I had some residents reach out to me requesting an in-person meeting.

I asked our city manager if she could facilitate this.

Within 24 hours, Beth Beatty had put together Dustin Anderson, community development director, Alison Swisher, director of public utilities, Kevin Singh, director of finance, myself and Beth.

We met for with several residents here in the executive conference room.

It was an extensive give and take.

It took over two hours, and in the end, it was yet another example of our desire to be as transparent as possible with the residents who reach out to us.

In addition, I'd like to thank my district residents and all the residents of Joliet for your input and for and against this project.

Many, many changes to the final draft are of this agreement were derived from the public comments and questions.

To Beth Beatty, a couple quotes I think truly apply.

It is not about being the smartest in the room, but building a team whose collective wisdom far surpassed that of any single individual.

True leadership is about cultivating a team with diverse superior skills to drive better decisions rather than needing to be the expert on everything.

Based upon all of my individual research, meetings with staff, input from third-party sources for each important feature of this project, staff recommendations, public input, and the changes enacted because of that input.

I feel this project is a very sound, safe, and lucrative development for the city of Joliet.

And those are my comments.

Thank you.

Thank you.

For the one that goes very last, I have X'd out a lot of what I was going to say for sake of repetitiveness.

If I look at my notes for more than three seconds, I have not fallen asleep.

I too would like to thank everyone who has come to the council meetings and planning meeting over the past months to share your concerns for or against this project.

There have been countless hours working on this to be sure that any information we share has been verified.

As I say measured twice and cut once.

Many concerns were brought to our attention during the comments to this council that has caused us to dig in to find the answers to those concerns.

So we can make a very informed decision for our community on this very important time.

Please know that we have heard your voices and appreciate your time, your courage, and the energy you took to share all your thoughts and concerns with us.

I did spend a lot of time on phones, and I tried to call everyone I could and respond so that I could share some of the things that weren't shared.

It has been a difficult decision.

This will be built under strict oversight of the EPA and all federal and state requirements.

And I know that some of those things are changing, and I believe Hillwood will follow some of those changes with us.

Whether we agree or disagree after tonight.

That's $22,580,000 a year to help educate our young people.

To me, that's an important number.

Probably more important than the hundred million we talked about.

Joliet Junior College, $76 million.

There's a lot of good things that will come from this.

And again, we're here because we love Joliet.

We do appreciate all the comments that were made.

And I just want to say God bless Joliet and God bless all of you.

Thank you.

Is there a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Meeting adjourned.