Oh Lord, okay, good morning.

Good morning.

Call the meeting to order.

Like the role, please.

All right.

Mayor Darcy.

Councilman Cardinals.

Here.

Ms.

Bottomly.

Here.

Mr.

Doris.

Here.

Ms.

Gruenberg.

Present.

Ms.

Howard?

Here.

Mr.

Martin.

Here.

Mr.

O'Hara?

Here.

Mr.

Parker.

Mr.

Pryor.

Mr.

Randich.

Mr.

Rico.

Here.

Dr.

Rouse.

Here.

Ms.

Walker.

Mr.

Stewitch.

Sure.

Chairman Rolf.

Here.

Okay.

Next on the agenda is the approval of the comprehensive plan advisory committee meeting minutes for the February 4th, 2026 meeting.

Is there a motion to approve?

So move.

Motion is made.

Do we have a second?

All right.

Nora, you were motioned.

Sure.

Bottomly second.

All right.

We have a motion and second for the meeting minutes for February 4th of 2026.

I'll do roll.

Actually, any discussion.

Okay.

Mayor Darcy.

Hi.

Councilman Cardinals.

Ms.

Bodomley.

Yes.

Mr.

Doris.

Hi.

Ms.

Gruenberg.

Hi.

Ms.

Howard.

I'll abstain.

I was not present.

Okay.

Mr.

Martin.

I have stayed too not present.

Mr.

O'Hara.

Hi.

Mr.

Pryor.

Hi.

Mr.

Randich.

I wasn't here either.

Mr.

Rico.

Oh, state also I wasn't here.

Dr.

Rouse.

Hi.

Ms.

Walker.

Hi.

Mr.

Stunich?

Hi.

Chairman Rolfe.

Yes.

Okay.

That passes.

Okay.

Next is citizens to be heard on agenda items.

Just like we have no one present.

Um, so we can move on to old business, which we have none, which brings us to new business.

And first on the agenda is community workshop number two, character area, and a discussion of character area online engagement.

Um, I want to welcome again our consultants, uh, Prayag, Leslie, and Katrina, and they are going to lead us through the both agenda items today.

So we'll kick it off to you.

All right.

Well, hi everyone.

I'm Katrina.

I saw many of you at the workshop.

Thank you so much for coming out.

We had a really great response.

So, as um Jane mentioned, we did the in-person, and then after the in-person, we opened up the opportunity for online feedback, and that was really fantastic because we had about a hundred people sign in at the in-person workshop.

We probably had a little bit more unattended.

But on the online responses, we had over 160, about 168 people responded.

So we were really able to more than double our input from the character area workshop.

And so that online response was open until March 20.

And then we closed it, and we're um going through the results now, processing those.

So from both the in-person workshop and the online workshop, we're taking that feedback and information, and that will inform the sub-area plans that will um the project team will create and be included in the draft plan.

The other nice thing about the online uh versus the virtual workshop was that you know we're seeing a lot of um kind of in general response from our top zip codes for the in-person, for example, or 60435, 60432, and 60431.

On the online, we had we did have 60431 and 60435 as our top, but we also had um 60586, which is much further west, so we were able to reach people who were not um who did not come in person and were able to participate online.

So that was a really nice um addition, and that's feedback that we heard um from this committee last time is wanting to have that robust opportunity for a meeting online after that.

So happy to share kind of preliminary results or like feedback we got by here, Gary Fascad.

Yeah, we did not end up today.

All right, so um for Joliet Mall, we heard a lot of desire for kind of this mixed use destination with multifamily housing, entertainment.

We got a lot of feedback that I would kind of categorize as family-friendly entertainment about like arcade or bowling, indoor pool, recreation center, and the desire for um kind of improved connectivity, not only for the area but potentially in the region as well.

For ridge road, I would say community feedback focused more on development that balances kind of housing with parks and plazas and community amenities.

So examples we got for that were the desire for a library branch or a small local grocery store, and a lot of comments around kind of safe um pedestrian and bike infrastructure, so safe crossings, but also connections to the areas around Bridge Road and um in that character area for the east side.

So this is the Cass Street and Henderson Avenue.

There was a strong desire to kind of build on the history and culture of the area.

So we saw feedback that focused on desire for community-centered development that strengthens the identity of the neighborhood.

So an example of that we got feedback about Darrell's flea market that we would like to keep that but improve it potentially with a mural or something else that kind of enhances that presence in the neighborhood.

Um we received feedback for the desire for an affordable grocery store.

Um in terms of recreational opportunities, um, there were a lot of comments about keeping and improving the parks, playgrounds, green space for Chicago and McDonough.

We heard um kind of this focus on neighborhood revitalization, improved amenities, an example of that.

We heard about like healthcare facilities, stronger connection between downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods.

So we got feedback about the opportunity for potentially welcome signage.

Um we also got feedback on um kind of more focus on the river, potentially a fishing spot um to be included there, and then in the in-person workshop, we um had a lot of discussion around kind of concern, concerns about housing conditions, correct the correctional facilities, and really the desire for communication and coordination regarding um development in the area.

So I'd say those are kind of like the high-level feedback that we got for each um one of the uh character areas that we uh had at the workshop.

Questions, comments about any of that.

I think those were a lot of the things that we heard from individuals as we were at the workshop and as we've had exchange here at the board level about some of the things and the different focus area workshops that we held here in the chambers where we got much of those same kind of comments, if you will, uh that I think is very helpful to hear it here and to hear it again, which reinforces that some of those things are really need to be addressed as a part of this process.

So thank you.

Comments, questions.

Well, I have one comment.

Uh, Katrina or Andor Leslie or priority, could you bring us up to speed about what what's next then for these character areas?

Just a recap where we're going with this.

So the comments received from the public workshop um will be incorporated into the character areas in a concept plan.

So we'll be able to show sort of what the physical reproductions of the comments that we received mean to those different areas.

Um these will be sort of conceptual diagrams, so they won't identify specific architectural typologies or building usage, etc.

Is it's more about um in the um sort of storyline of the comprehensive plan, it will be more uh focused along land use and preferred development patterns.

Okay.

Gene.

Yeah, just for my information.

So we we we pulled out these particular areas.

Is that part of the overall plan, or is this like a section that by itself kind of thing?

Um good question.

I mean, there'll be physical, as Leslie was saying, um physical roadmap for each of those areas.

Um this process and project has taken community feedback and feedback from the existing conditions report in this project so far, and and I would say like tested those out in these different character areas.

Um it is interwoven, uh, but there will be separate.

If you could, I guess you want to think about it as a separate section of just the character areas, but at the same time they are melding in what we this whole project is about.

It would be highlighted, yes.

I think you can't.

Yes.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but no, you're totally right.

I was just gonna add uh to what you're saying, because we're we're gonna go over the outline today.

But the the there will be overarching strategies, actions, policies for the whole city that apply to the whole city.

The idea behind the character areas is that um we wanted to identify um the specific examples of how you can implement some of those policies and strategies in areas that are replicated throughout the city.

So sometimes it's easier for people to understand because the city is large and there's a lot going on.

It's easier to um we wanted to give you a tool for implementation that was easier to understand.

And so the idea behind the character areas are they are examples of ways that you can apply strategy and policy to specific areas of the city that then can be replicated in other areas of the city with similar characteristics.

So it will be the both, and you will get overall uh overarching um strategies and actions, and you will also get um a little bit lower to the ground conceptual ideas about how to implement how to apply those strategies to specific areas of the city.

I mean, personally, I I really like that.

I mean, and I think that you know, for for somebody like me, I'd rather see you know what do we need to do out west that would would improve the lives of people there, what do we need to?

I mean, sort of the areas that you're talking about.

That's why I mean, almost as an appendix or something, it'd be nice to have that as part of the document so that people can see the overall, but but it you know, this is how it applies.

I don't know, to me that's more important than the overall.

I mean, what's what's in it for me, right?

I think everybody thinks that it's very challenging for challenging for people to take a document that is as comprehensive as the full plan and be able to know where to start.

So we really want this to be um usable and accessible for not just you know, city officials, let's say we want neighborhood groups and other folks that have been involved, other stakeholders that have been involved with this process to feel um personally engaged with the plan, and so that was one of the reasons why we wanted to pick a few character areas that then could be replicated throughout the city to do exactly what you just said to make sure that it was personal, that people could understand how to engage with the plan, that there was something that they it was easy to understand, and there was graphic representation of what these strategies meant because the other thing is that in plans with a lot of words, you know, and you've seen some of the documents that we've created.

Um sometimes it's hard to keep your people's attention for that long, and so being able to show them graphic images that um characterize what the ideal sort of desired development patterns, the proposed land uses, the level of density, those are diagrams that are much more accessible, and you know, like they say a picture is worth a thousand words, it's a similar idea.

So we're giving folks who engage with this plan a variety of ways to understand its contents.

I think that's good.

And I think the idea of what's in it for me, right?

I think really requires a solid communication plan be built into this as well, because if people don't know about it, they're not gonna know it's for them.

And I think the communication of of this whole plan has to be one that is a continual effort to keep people apprised of what's going on, whether it's one character zone or another one, because uh we've seen on other subject areas recently where hundreds of people show up and well, we don't have so many here, but I think that underscores the level of importance that is not understood by the general community.

And I get it, 150 or 160 showing up is great, but the communication is going to be critical on the implementation side of this.

Tear it down, build it up.

I also want to um I want to uh I don't want to discount the amount of response that we've had in the surveys that we've conducted also.

I mean the first survey that we had, you know, had over 2,000 responses.

The surveys that we're collecting just off this one workshop in a parallel format to the in-person collected over twice as many responses as the in-person workshop.

So I I think that you know those communication methods and allowing folks an opportunity to participate in the way that best suits them is the way that we've been able to reach people.

And I think that the combined level of interaction with the plan is exceptional.

It really what we have found is uh that people have been taking advantage of the dual formats and the suggestion to do a dual format for the second workshop has proven to be successful.

The other thing that was interesting about the dual format for this particular workshop is that there wasn't that much difference between the responses we received in person and the responses we received online on preference, on program elements, etc.

And so being able to extend the process to allow more people to participate in a way that is convenient to them is I I think for the community has been very very successful and moving forward with this process and thinking about what a broader communication strategy looks like.

We would like to continue to do those dual formats because we realize that not everybody is able to get to a place at a time in person, but their interest and participation in the plan is still there.

And so being able to give more residents an opportunity to participate is one of the goals of the plan.

Thank you.

All right.

Um we'll move on to the next agenda item, which is to discuss the or have a presentation about the draft plan outline and the key policy recommendations framework.

So there was a memo that was emailed out, as well as there's a copy at your seat.

So Leslie, cool, I'll just keep talking then.

Just keep talking.

Um all of you, thank you, Jane, for distributing the um the uh draft plan outline key policy recommendations.

This is a major milestone in the course of this planning process.

And um it is it's finally getting to that point that you all have been waiting for, where we start putting the whole thing together in something that looks like a comprehensive plan.

Um we intentionally take an iterative approach to putting a plan of the scale and the size together because it's really important that we um take that we're thoughtful about the contents of this approach, and we understand the nuance of the integration of key topic areas.

And so the the draft plan really begins to put together the pieces of the puzzle that created integrated and responsive plan that is reflective of what we've heard from public engagement, um, your input, as well as other conversations that we've had in focus groups, in you know, one-on-one with the councils, you know, etc.

So we're we're hoping that this reflects what you've seen and heard to date and also meets your expectations for the content that will be a part of this plan.

The content of this plan is structured into chapters.

Um, it is comprehensive of the entire planning process.

We like to start out with a welcome to Joliet, um, an acknowledgement of the folks that have participated and dedicated their time to this process, including you all.

Um, we like to have a message from the mayor.

We think this is important for supporting the plan, and then we do an overall overview and purpose of the plan.

This is the why should it, why are we doing this?

Who cares?

Why does it matter to you?

You know, we answer those questions in this section of the plan.

It also gives our uh readers an understanding of how to use the plan.

So by chapter, by strategy, you know, what do each we each one of these pieces and parts means and how should they be applied to a whole variety of situations and projects that you'll come across now and in the future.

Chapter six is the planning process.

This is what we've been doing over the last you know 18 months by the time we get through this.

Um then finally we get into the key policy recommendations.

We've structured those for you in this outline, so we'll walk through those together.

And then chapter eight are the character area plans.

Um, these are the conceptual plans that we've we talked about a little bit earlier.

Chapter 9 is implementation.

We'll not see that in this outline.

Generally, we like to create a draft plan first and come to consensus and agreement on the policy strategies and actions that we will be accomplishing in the plan.

And then the final plan will have an implementation chapter in it that includes roles and responsibilities, timelines, and where order of magnitude cost is known.

We like to add that in also.

The implementation plan will also have a strategy for how to implement, what is the priority, what do we want to do first, second, third, fourth.

We always want the city to be able to be opportunistic if other funding tools or resources have become available, but we also want to know what step one is.

And so the implementation plan will help give you a roadmap for that.

The appendix is going to be probably twice as thick as the actual comprehensive plan.

This is where all of the additional resources, the memos, the summaries, that's where all of that lives.

So you will have a record of all of the different pieces and parts that went into making this plan in the appendix.

The next part of your outline in front of you are the comprehensive plan priorities.

This is a reminder.

So we just we want to always return to the basis of where the draft plan is coming from.

These seven priorities have been followed through in all of the documents that we've created in the vision and goals, in the existing conditions.

These priorities continue to be through lines as we move into the draft plan.

We also recognize that the priorities have sort of cross-cutting ideas.

For example, workforce affects housing, it affects economic development, it affects education.

So we also want to make sure that the draft plan acknowledges and recognizes that there is integration between some of these priorities.

This is the key strategies and actions.

We have identified a vision for each one of the key strategies.

And we have identified the strategies for each one of these sections.

We have not yet decided on actions yet.

We will continue to develop those through the draft plan.

What we're really looking for from you today is to review the vision for each one of these key priorities.

We are also looking for your feedback on the preliminary strategies that you can see for each one of these seven priorities.

The actions we will fill in, you will see those in the draft plan, but we want to make sure that the strategies are reflective of your expectations for each one of the priorities.

And then you can see underneath that each one of the preliminary strategies.

Some of the priorities have more strategies than others.

It just sort of depends on as we look backwards in the work that we've done, what is truly going to capture, what do we truly need to capture for each one of those priorities.

I'm not going to read through each one of the prior, each one of the strategies, but for your homework over the next few weeks.

We love your you to take a read-through and just make sure that we're capturing sort of the big bullets appropriately.

So for each one of each one of the priorities, it is structured in the same way.

The last section is about policy contents and graphics.

So this is policy contents and graphics are by topic.

The area in red are what those graphics would be, is more for internal use.

Each one of the policy contents will be integrated into the strategies and actions.

This is a running list of subtopics that we wanted to make sure were integrated into the draft plan.

For example, density has been a part of the conversation for the comp within the comprehensive plan since the beginning.

We did not feel it needed to be elevated to a strategy itself, you know, sort of writ large is a bold heading.

But we do want to define what density means to the city of Juliet, what appropriate levels of density look like, weight where the density should be located, etc.

And so this is a part of the policy recommendations that will be integrated into this first section under strong neighborhoods and housing stability.

Similarly, preferred housing typologies.

We have done some visual preference.

We've had many conversations about what types of housing are appropriate for the city and where.

Each one of these sections is structured the same.

The second priority is economic development and local investment.

You can see there's a variety of strategies here that you're welcome to read through.

And then the policy contents are generally focused on economic development policy that are subtopics to the priority.

For example, coordination with TOD.

We don't feel like we need to visit the work that has already been done to create the you know less than a year old TOD study, but we do want to acknowledge the preferences, the locations, the connectivity, and accessibility of that particular effort.

So we put that under economic development.

Similarly, with innovation and emerging industries, this is not a strategy in itself.

This is a policy that we recognize needs to be integrated into the economic and into the economic development thinking about the future of the city.

And so this will be integrated into the strategies that you see above.

This is something that we heard many, many times in a lot of different ways.

It's a complex and diverse opportunity within the city, and there are a variety of strategies that address this particular priority.

There are some policy contents that we'd like to integrate into this particular priority, including arts and placemaking, history and legacy, civic and educational institutions.

These are important parts of the functioning and quality of life of the city of Julia, but they are not standalone.

We made a decision to make them not standalone strategies.

They are policies that can be integrated into the strategies that you see above.

This is about land use and future development.

This is where your future land use map will live.

This is where there will be some zoning considerations.

We do want to make recommendations where there's incompatibility with desired land use and zoning, where the zoning needs to change.

Again, you know, you all know by now this is not a zoning ordinance update, but this will give you some recommendations of a next step after this plan is adopted.

Unincorporated areas in green field development.

This is something we talked about.

It is not a strategy on its own because it integrates into other strategies.

This is a policy, so we want to make sure to capture some of those ideas.

In field development, same thing.

There's lots of ways that we can do infill infill development in the city, and they are not all the same way.

So creating helping a reader understand what we mean when we say infill development and where this should happen will be a part of the policy conversation in the comprehensive plan.

Similar with adaptive reuse, there's lots to say about this.

There are broader strategies for the whole city that incorporate adaptive reuse, and then this policy will help narrow down where there are opportunities and what those and define what those opportunities are.

This is your transportation mobility chapter.

There are variety of strategies related to accessibility, connectivity.

This is also multimodal, so walking, biking, trail systems, etc.

And then you can see some of the policy contents for this particular chapter below.

This is, you know, we do want to talk about micro mobility, we want to talk about shared mobility, we want to talk about you know trails and paths.

We there's a very active biker biking community in Joliet, so we want to make sure that the recommendations that we've heard for connectivity or other amenities are incorporated into this chapter.

Employer-sponsored transit is something that we've heard along the way.

Um some of our survey responses mentioned this.

It's not a big enough topic area to be a standalone strategy, but it integrates with other opportunities related to transportation mobility and really economic development.

And of course, emerging technologies.

I mean, this is a plan that Juliet's going to use for the next several decades.

So we do want to address what EP means, what infrastructure means, et cetera.

The sixth priority is environment and natural resources.

This is sustainability and environmental resilience.

There's a vision for that, and there's a variety of strategies that integrate many of the ideas that we've talked about throughout the process related to resiliency.

Um and the policy comment contents directly relate to that.

We look at public infrastructure, community assets.

Again, these are not standalone strategies.

These are policies that will be integrated into those strategies about the next priority is utilities and infrastructure.

Uh we heard from a certain person that there's a big goal for this project, a city of 200,000 residents.

We wanted to make sure and capture that somewhere in the comprehensive plan.

So this is where you see that.

There are variety of strategies to get us there.

And then policies that we need to look at to make sure that we are prepared for population growth, that there that we maintain a high quality of life as population growth and that our um we're able to accommodate uh the different needs of future residents.

And then the last chapter is implementation governance.

You will see this in the final plan, not the draft plan.

But this gives you a roadmap of the how to get there.

What are we doing first, who's doing it, um, what should we, how are we going to create those coalitions and partnerships to make sure that we're successful in accomplishing the strategies from the other priorities.

And there are a few, you know, best practices and policy contents for that as well.

We want to give you an implementation matrix.

We want to make sure that partners know what their roles and responsibilities are.

Um the city of Juliet staff cannot do this by themselves.

So we also want to make sure that there is accountability and responsibility on the part of the many who will be supporting implementation of this effort.

So this is this is the preliminary draft of what the contents of the first draft comprehensive plan will look like.

Um as with all of our deliverables, you will not only have one chance to look at this, to reflect on it, to provide comment, um, to make sure that we've captured your expectations accurately.

Um we want to make sure that this is responsive and reflective of the work that we've done today, and also make sure that we're not leaving anything out.

So as you're taking a closer reader, if you're seeing gaps, if you're saying if you're looking at something and you're just like, I don't get it, or this is wrong, or hey, you know, maybe we need to change this to something else, you know.

Please make sure and let us know that uh this is the guide that we will be writing the draft plan from.

So it is really important that this outline um makes sense and integrates the work that we've done before in a way that uh is intuitive.

Yeah.

Is this a good idea?

Giving us a lot to think about.

Do you want us to discuss?

I mean, I know you're telling us to give some feedback to you.

Is this the time and place to do that, or are you asking us to do this offline?

I I mean I think it can be both, right?

I think now if we have I would say if people are here, so let's if you have things to talk about, but as Leslie said, this is not final time.

So if you have something else that comes to mind later, um we you can share that with myself, and then we'll get it to the consultants, and we can also revisit it again in at the May meeting.

But this was given in advance, so I would say yeah.

So can we go to strategy two under this neighborhood?

Um first I'm gonna apologize.

I won't I don't want a word smith, and you know, and I've also had two months away, so I've I've got a lot of time on my hands and we've brought it up.

Um I'm actually struggling with strategy two.

Um I I know the buzzword of of affordable housing.

It's a it's a national crisis, it's a state crisis, it's a city crisis.

I get it.

But affordable housing to me sounds like good health.

You know, I mean, I I want everybody to have good health, but it doesn't really talk about all of the components that go in.

I mean, there's so many things that go into affordable housing, good jobs, interest rates, housing stock, you know, people have a down payment, um, able to manage, you know, what it takes to own a house and upkeep it and all that.

My issue is, you know, I've been in banking, wasn't banking a long time, and as Jim, you know, oh eight and oh nine sort of showed us what you know, everyone owning a house could do to the economy.

And and so I I don't think there's anybody in the world that would say we don't need more affordable housing.

I mean, I'm I'm not against that.

But I'm having a problem because it says here to meet diverse needs and prevent displacement.

What are we doing to attract the 200,000 more people?

You know, we're we're losing people all the time.

We we have our own city staff who don't buy houses in Joliet because we don't have the housing stock that they're looking for, so they go elsewhere.

We have seniors who you know, these aren't necessarily they could be middle income, they could be other incomes who are leaving to go to developments that other communities are offering that we don't.

How how do we capture that?

And and I guess my problem with two is if I'm a developer and I start looking at your plan.

Um, I guess if I'm only gonna do middle income housing, I probably will go somewhere else to build some other housing stock, um, because it sounds like that's what the city's after.

So I would like to see personally that reworked into you know, housing stock that's available in in many facets for for many different areas.

And and I get affordable housing, and I agree with it, but I don't know that that's the second prior, that's the second strategy that we're gonna work under in this document, and I think there are other things that we should be doing along with that.

And so I guess I I just would like to know how we capture that in a strategy.

Just one point of clarification.

The order of the strategies are currently arbitrary, they are not in order priority.

I don't care if it's first or sixth.

I'm just asking about how do we capture we I'm I'm more concerned for the city to attract more, you know.

We we know as the mayor says we need 200,000 more people to move in here.

How do we how are we open for business to developers of all income levels or all housing levels that will allow us to do that?

So can I jump in here?

Because I think the conversation is more about balance.

And to give you a data-based look at this, I track this since two the year 2000, last 25 years.

City of Joliet, 15,664 single family building permits.

1178 multifamily.

Last 25 years, 15 times, right?

That is but what are the price range of those homes, Doug?

The housing stock that we develop.

Were they 400,000 houses or 200,000 houses?

Well, this is a 25-year time period, so they've changed dramatically, but I can tell you they're up 45 to 50 percent over the last five to six years.

I don't know what that means.

What is what is a dollar figure?

Uh countywide, we're probably 360,000 right now, Joliet's on median sale price.

Joliette is probably a little bit back of that.

I can pull that for you.

I don't have that as readily available at the city level, but Nora does.

But that's my point.

But my point is balanced.

Well, I okay, but that's the point of this conversation.

We've been out of balance for a really long time, and it's not unique to Joliette, it's not unique to Will County, it's not unique to Northeastern Illinois, right?

I don't think being on the front line of this as long as I have, I don't think that we have a problem attracting single family developers.

Right.

Maybe I'm wrong about that, but I don't think we do.

Additionally, I'm concerned that you seem to be conflating affordable and ownership, right?

Which which is also an important distinction, right?

Ownership isn't what everybody's looking for, right?

And you talk about seniors downsizing like grandma didn't want to own anymore, right?

Wanted to be in a different kind of product, was able to find one in her community, but like that's I I think the point is diversification, right?

Uh uh across the board.

And I understand that you're concerned that you know, hey, we we need to develop more single family.

Joliet has been a top 20 single family developing community in this state for the last few decades, right?

It just sort of across the board.

We're not missing those opportunities, in my opinion.

I don't I don't I don't agree with you, but I but we couldn't, I mean agree to disagree.

I I think the data sort of backs my position there, but it does bear out that we're losing out on young professionals that we're losing the 18 to 35 because there's nowhere for them to live.

They don't necessarily want to purchase large single family homes at the 300,000 plus rate.

They are more interested in naturally occurring rental housing that they can afford and then move towards home ownership when the time is right.

That single family home ownership is not everyone's ideal right now, and being mobile and having opportunities to move up and down the housing ladder is something that we need, and we don't have that without housing diversity, different typologies, single family, multifamily, uh, at every price point, we're missing that diversity here.

And that's the important bit.

All of the above can we change strategy to to reflect what you're saying.

My recommendation would be to just say expand housing options to meet diverse needs and prevent displacement, and then with underneath that there's gonna be a variety of action items that would I think speak to the affordable, the missing middle, the um special needs housing, um, upper income.

So I mean that to me that would be this that strategy would capture all those housing options.

And that's my point.

My point is right now it it appears like we're looking for the middle income.

We're concerned about that.

I think we should be concerned about I mean we should be trying to attract other people other than middle, yeah.

I think we're getting stuck on the word affordable.

And and we've had this conversation before in that it's affordable in layers.

You know, we've got a housing need for the folks that are working our warehouses, we've got a housing need for our seniors.

It's got to be affordable on both those spectrums, and then you've got professionals that we we haven't built towards their affordability, which is more the upper income.

Um, and I think I think when we get stuck on this word affordable, we get we get to thinking only base affordability.

When I I really think that we have to continue to use Doug's term balance, the city for some reason has been against rental properties for the last 20 years.

It's frustrated me because I've asked repeatedly to have the city start looking at rental properties.

You get kids coming out of nursing school, teachers, they got to move somewhere else.

Around us, they've got thousands of apartments, but we're in this doggone block where we've mentally stopped building apartments, and to me that's been a real problem for the city for 20 years.

And I've heard some of our council members poo-poo it like we don't need it.

We do need it.

Middle housing doesn't have to be apartments, it can be town homes, closer homes.

It there this is missing middle housing, is not single family and not large-scale multifamily, it's what is in the middle, and that doesn't, you know, we don't have that.

You're right, we don't have places for seniors to move either, and that is an issue, and I don't think that that is not included in affordable and middle housing because many seniors don't want to be pushed off on the ice flow and move to Shady Acres.

They still want to live in integrated communities.

Some do want those 55 plus communities, and that's super.

But this kind of middle housing integrates all of these needs.

Would it upset anybody if we took that strategy and simply deleted affordable and middle income?

Yes.

That would be that expand housing options for all to meet the changing needs of the city.

Do you think we need to define what is missing though?

Yeah.

Well, my I think the action items that are underneath that would address all the different buckets.

That's I mean, Leslie, what do you what's your read?

I mean, the strategies are going to be there's going to be action items under each strategy that would I would think spectacular specific.

Yeah.

So if you generalize the strategy, we can be more specific in the action.

So if there if you change the strategy, for example, to expand housing options, we can have actions that are related to the balance between multifamily and single family.

We can address missing middle, we can address increasing home ownership.

We can address building new housing to attract residents, you know, et cetera.

But I don't want us to remove affordability and the missing middle and not address those issues.

So if it's not on here, it's not going to be addressed.

So it does need to stay, and maybe it's not in the uh actual strategy, but if we can add it in one of the actions, I don't want to see that affordability removed completely.

Agreed.

Well, I would agree too.

And the notion of the abject feeling that rentals are such a pariah in a city has been interesting to watch city council over the years that I've been here.

You know, it's like they want to get rid of as many, you know, rentals.

They don't want people to have rentals.

I'm a renter, okay?

That doesn't mean I don't pay property tax.

My rent has gone up every flippin' year I've been here.

I'm paying property tax.

I'm still part of the community.

I'm still a resident.

But renters are not viewed as residents in Joliet.

It's a mindset that it's not okay.

That's not unique to Joliet.

And I would agree, though, the notion of affordable and middle income does involve renters as well as owners who are all residents.

And we need to remember the community is often more expensive than mortgages.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

I I think for those of you that most of you have been around here a long time.

I experienced that the growth of the rental housing.

And how the rental housing went downhill in Joliet over the numerous years.

Whether it was Willowbridge in Crest Hill or what whether it was the former Bar Favreas.

Those were crime-ridden rental housing.

So there's a good reason, and so much of a landlord housing.

I won't say all of it, but I see that problem every day with the with the rentals where they don't upkeep their property.

I see some good examples that were bad before, right across from the barcelona.

Those guys turned around a 48 apartment unit.

It's now high quality apartments.

It was, I'll say it was a hole 20 years ago.

We live next door to that.

But there's a whole slew of bad apartments in Joliet.

And people have created how do I want to say they've developed an animosity because of the poor ownership and the poorly run apartments.

Do they share that same animosity to owner-occupied residences that don't meet their standards?

Owner occupied.

No, I don't think.

There are plenty, I think there are plenty of code violations to be found in owner-occupied properties, and I'm wondering if they experience the same stigma and if that Citizen View app is being used to its best use.

I think that this is a tool that the city has that everyone, anyone can use it to say, hey, I'm seeing a code violation.

We need someone to show up, and someone will show up.

So you brought up the again though, I think if you look at the data, owner-occupied properties probably rank higher in complaints with the city than rental housing.

But the rental housing is constantly stigmatized.

Not to say that there are never any problems, but it's always the landlords and the renters, and it's never the neighbors who are also failing to meet the standards of their neighbors and the way that they upkeep their property.

You know, I think if we if the city can do one big thing to change that stigma is to go back to a proactive inspection policy for all types of housing.

That's a reactive that's a reactive policy.

I do I can drive up and down the streets and see violation after violation in rental properties.

That is why.

But you're not looking, are you looking at the owner-occupied property?

I see the owner occupied.

But you don't care because they own that property.

No, but you can you you notice.

I'm I'm sorry, Nora.

Do you live in Joliet?

I live in a suburb of Joliet.

Okay.

Okay.

Well, I live in Joliet, and I see owner-occupied uh residents that are not upkeeping their properties.

I've submitted Citizen View requests on set properties, and they still look the same.

Can I just put a positive spin on this?

I I I want to give credit to the team for including better code enforcement and landlord accountability as priorities in this document.

Those things are expensive.

No, make no mistake, right?

Um, to actually make happen.

You have to put a lot of resources into making that go.

But I think everybody at the table is identifying how important that priority is.

Um, and as we go through prioritization, Leslie, this one's directed at you.

Like, I I don't know how we'll do like cost-benefit analysis when it comes to prioritization, but what I'm hearing, and what we hear a lot locally, is that's a big one to actually put resources behind.

It won't be an easy decision, I think, for the city to actually financially prioritize that, but clearly it matters.

So credit to you for putting it out there, and hopefully we see that near the top of the priority list.

Can I make one comment on the housing stuff?

Um, you know, we can sit around and talk about it all we want.

Uh the governor has made housing a priority, and conversations about not wanting rentals or not liking different types of things.

Uh, if the governor gets the proposal that he has through the legislature, you're not gonna have a choice anymore.

And it's directly in response to conversations around complaints about rentals, complaints about multifamily, the communities aren't doing enough.

We're trying to fight that back as hard as we can, but his proposal will allow all kinds of things by right to go in neighborhoods, and they don't care if it fits the character of the neighborhood or anything else, though there's no exceptions for that.

So either we get with the program and figure out a way to provide diverse housing stock and meet those needs, or we're gonna get it shoved down our throat and no one's gonna like the way that that turns out.

So I think either we start to get on board with this and and use words like affordable or attainable or whatever we want to say.

Um, but if we don't do it, the results are gonna be terrible.

My suggestion would be that when we look at this with these phases that we are in, those of you at the table who made these subject now.

Well, I should preface this by saying Jane and Dustin, I'm not trying to create extra work for you.

Start by saying that.

But I think that like when we get to these phases, if there are individuals at the table who have seen this stage implemented well within another context to be able to say, hey, you all, here's an example of how this looks, and it's been done well.

So a lot of the things that we debate about, I think one of our issues and has been our issues as a lifetime resident of Joliet is we are extremely insular.

Like we try to figure it all out ourselves, and we usually bend toward our personal preferences.

But the world is much smaller now because of digital media.

Like there are easy ways to look to the left and to the right and to grab an example.

So a lot of the things that we complain about is not unique to Joliet.

But like there have been people who have rectified those things extremely well, and we just keep going round and round and round about something that there's an answer to.

So, like if there are people at the table who can say, hey, I've seen this done well in another city.

I've I've seen this done well as a part of another comprehensive plan.

Like, that's why so many young adults are leaving Joliet.

It's because they're on the internet, they're on social media, so they know where to go to get what they're looking for, versus like, you know, previous generations, they had to actually see it.

And like, you know, they had to go there, they had to be there and say, Oh, I think this is another option.

This generation will book a whole apartment.

I mean, close on homes online, site unseen.

And I think that's one of the things that we have to understand.

Like, this isn't rocket science at this point.

It's literally doing a Google search.

It's literally going like searching a hashtag, and you can see cities that have done this well.

Ron Kitchens has a book called Community Capitalism of how Kalamazoo, Michigan did this same exact thing.

Like, there are tons of examples of balance, well development, whether you want to call it affordable, attainable, whatever the case may be.

There are millions of examples, but we have to stop being so insular and acting like Joliet's history is the answer.

I want to make one comment.

Kalamuzou, Michigan, but they had the added benefit of I think Western Michigan University, large universities there.

They had Up John pharmaceuticals, and I think they have striker medical.

They started this probably 30 years ago to put a lot of goodwill from those large entities into the community to make them better.

And offer, and and they've done a great job of it.

And there are a number of Fortune 500 companies, maybe they have warehouses, maybe they have other distribution facilities in and around Joliet.

Maybe they have warehouses, maybe they have other distribution facilities in and around Joliet.

Maybe they could be part of this collaborative effort long term to help address some of this stuff.

But those strategies in Kalamazoo were not created because a few people at the table made the decision.

It was because they reached out, they expanded, they brought everybody together to say, hey, what we've been doing is only work for a few.

So let's bring some diverse minds to the table and develop in a way.

And they saw, hey, we could make the same amount of money if we just bring everybody to the table and develop more comprehensively.

And I think I'm not looking at detail by detail exactly what they're doing.

I'm looking more at strategy, how they approached it.

And I think that that's one of the things we may be missing is like we're trying to approach this differently.

If we keep, I mean, you a Phillip screwdriver is gonna do the same thing every time.

I don't care how much if you keep on using the same tool, you're gonna keep getting the same result.

And I think that's where we're being challenged and we're being stretched on this, and it's okay.

I think the discomfort is very okay.

Because I I think context matters too, because when I stand in my church and I have a ton of millennials in my church, like they're not looking for $400,000 DR Horton houses.

They can't afford them.

They gotta be making 180,000 a year as a couple to afford that to get approved for that.

So like they're not looking for that, and a lot of them don't want to buy, but like if I want to rent a place, a two-bedroom, you know, one and a half bath, just a decent apartment with just a one-car garage, like I'm going to Boldenbrook.

I'm gonna go to New Linux, I'm gonna go to Logport, and then I'm gonna pay 2200 a month for for a thousand square feet.

I think that's what we're missing, and we gotta start listening to some of these younger voices because like senior houses are gonna be the boom next.

We gotta start listening to some of these younger voices, and they're not gonna keep arguing with us.

They're just gonna keep leaving.

Right.

Yep.

And we're seeing that in the data.

I watch all these young adults that go to my church, they're driving in.

They don't want to live in Joliet because they're looking like what can I afford?

I think that when we say affordable, I'm not talking about like Section 8 housing.

I'm not talking about people who are on subsidized housing.

I'm talking about young adults who work who have jobs, but they are not trying to buy a 400,000 house.

Nurses, teachers, new graduates, early career people.

Most of my nurses that go to my church, they got a ton of student loans.

So they're paying that, and they're trying to afford rent too.

I think that's what we mean when we say affordable.

We're not talking about Section 8 housing all the time.

Oh, and I'm not saying that either.

I'm saying you need but I think that's the elephant in the room.

But I would like to also remind everyone that suction eight housing has higher standards for their housing provision, landlords have higher standards, and the tenants also have higher standards.

There are punitive measures for not being able to achieve these standards, and those who have vouchers still pay part of the rent too.

They are working people trying to get to the next stage, and they should not be stigmatized, they should be supported, and integrated housing has much better outcomes.

So this stigma is exactly why the state passed the source of income law, because they are working, they are achieving a standard of living that allows them to have this help that they can hopefully get to the next step and not have any reliance on government assistance.

And that is something that we hear time and time again in village halls and city halls that we don't want them coming here.

They are us, we are all one disaster away from needing help unless you're super blessed, and many of us are not.

So when we talk about those people in section eight, they are us.

So Nora, I just want to looks like you're talking to me.

Yes, very much so.

I was director of finance for the housing authority at Joliet.

I know very well all the programs at the city of Joliet or the Housing Authority at Joliet offer.

Hang on a second, Nora.

I never directed this conversation around that we shouldn't have affordable housing.

All of it did.

Absolutely.

And they should be, but not at not at the expense of everyone.

We cannot focus on only one type.

I think middle houses are.

That's a that's offensive to me.

I've been I live in this community, and I've been here for 69 years.

Okay.

I take offense at someone who tells me, as a person that worked in this town for 41 years, whether or not I think that affordable housing is not available or not.

You have no right, you don't even know how to do that.

You've said this.

I am responding to what you said.

Timeout.

This is a very passionate subject.

Well, let me finish, Jim.

No, wait.

No, no, I I I got the floor.

All I started with was I would like to see the strategy to expand it for all housing.

I never said it should be excluding any housing.

Well, you took offense at affordable hours.

I don't like middle housing.

I don't know what the word means.

That's true.

Well, how lucky for you to not know what affordable means.

Shame on you.

Right back at you.

Okay.

We know that the housing is a very important subject.

We know that this strategy needs to be massaged.

We're going to see more on it.

And we want the same passion on all of the other things that we're going to talk about here.

Because if we don't do the other things, it doesn't matter how good our housing is.

If the opportunities for people aren't here, I don't care what kind of housing we have, they're not going to stay here.

So we need to be thinking a little more broadly in that regard.

But I want the same passion on all these other subjects because hey, I'm glad when we I hate a silent room.

So this is good.

This is good.

And I'm the one that said take affordable out because as a banker, it was always look at the income.

Can they afford to be in the house, the apartment, or whatever it is, the individuals who are trying to rent?

I grew up in a two-bedroom house with seven brothers and sisters.

So I understand what affordable housing is.

Okay.

And we need to make sure it's like air, water, and housing, need to all be readily available for whoever is here, and at whatever price point they can manage.

I think that's important to recognize.

That's all different types of housing.

I think diverse, et cetera.

We spent enough time on housing.

We probably are we going to try to go through this whole thing today?

Well, we did.

So this is the time for anyone to bring up something that you want to talk about.

I think we covered the housing part, at least that one pretty well right now.

Well, there are some immediate needs, and I I think Boise's point on code enforcement is something that we as a city need to fix now because I really see a weakness in the city there.

And I'm going to take that as strongly as I did the word affordable, which comes in several layers.

But there are things we need to do there.

And speaking of our now, where are we at with Urban 3?

Well, where are we at with Urban 3?

Uh the staff team review reviewed as uh as a team their draft final presentation that talked about expenses, uh, the expense side of the equation.

Uh about a week ago, two weeks ago.

We provided a lot of feedback because we as a staff want this to be received uh and productive way.

They weren't ready for prime time.

We gave them uh a lot of feedback.

We're gonna take a take a beat, let them incorporate what we've shared with them.

Uh the short answer is we are looking to have this unveiled and presented to council and to various civic community groups uh the first week in June on Monday, uh June 1st.

Would it start here or is it gonna start somewhere else?

And we see a second right now.

The the conversation is that this would be presented to council uh at the pre-council meeting, and then there would be opportunities to have subsequent presentations while Joe Mikhausie, the owner of the firm is in town uh for that 72-hour period.

Can you do a two-sentence three sentence summary of what is urban three?

Sure or the economic analysis of what it was for people who don't know.

So uh Urban Three is a firm that uh varies data analytics, financial analysis, and geospatial mapping tools, right?

So what they are able to do is look at uh every parcel in the city of Juliet, and they've done this multiple places.

They're not we're not on the bleeding edge of anything.

They they've done this uh successfully in many, many states and many countries.

So they look at individual parcels, the use of those parcels, specific to those uh retailers.

So they look at individual parcels, the use of those parcels, specific to those uh retailers, they look at property tax uh produced, sales tax produced, so you can see you know what each parcel is uh it's financial productivity, I I would say is the is the best term, right?

So they can look at this and uh we'll present these are the different types of land use you have in your community.

You have single family detached residential, you have mixed use, you have commercial, you have small scale commercial, you have large format commercial, you have industrial, and per acre, this is the interesting metric, right?

Uh per acre, this is how productive this particular kind of land use is, right?

And then uh on the other side of the equation, you have how much does it cost to facilitate this particular use in this particular context, right?

So you have a large format retailer that you know uh academically we can see this produces a significant amount of sales tax revenue.

Well, it doesn't produce a significant amount of uh property tax, right?

Because it's just a big square.

Uh and the amount of infrastructure that is inside the ground and on top of the ground to facilitate the use of that, uh they look at the life cycle costs of that and say if you wanted to maintain this at uh at a at a standard level of acceptability in the community, this is what it costs per year.

So now you have uh you know some debits and credits, right?

And now you can look at by both land use and parcel and geographic area, uh what uh sections, what uses, what parcels uh are uh net productive, and uh what are uh I don't want to say subsidized because speaking of charged words, but uh require more investment than they produce, which isn't necessarily a negative thing, though this is a choice.

So that is gonna be just my short explanation was what we're clocking in at a minute and a half.

So the actual presentation they're doing better than I would though.

So the actual presentation is gonna be every bit of an hour, right?

Like this is very dense, but it's also very useful and actionable data that uh policy makers can use that staff can use to bring informed uh recommendations to groups like this advisory committee to the plan commission and to the city council ultimately for consideration based on what really is uh how's that perfect?

Okay, in other words, we're gonna know what our now looks like so we can figure out what our next should look like.

Yep.

And it's a really cool 3D mapping.

It's great.

It's really gonna bring us a whole lot of light into what we're doing right now, and then help us uh figure out what to do next as we go through this process as well.

If you haven't looked at it, Urban3.com will give you some samples of what's out there because I looked at one recently for Rochester, Minnesota, the home of the mail clinic.

And I had this vision of Rochester, Minnesota because of the mail clinic being incredibly large, and it's about give or take the same size as Joliet.

And found it very interesting how they did what Dustin just described in terms of looking at all the parcels.

So if you haven't looked at it in you have a minute or two to plug in on it, I would do that before it comes here so that you have a sense of what it is.

I think it I think it does describe some things uh that are very helpful as we continue the debate because all these subjects, zoning and ordinances gotta be a big part of this plan because we know ordinances and zoning have not been looked at for many years.

They will drive what we do in the future.

And either either we have a welcoming center for people to come, or we don't.

But they'll be all around us, and we'll wonder why we could.

So a lot of important information is in here, but far more needs to be incorporated into it because all of these aren't final without question in my mind.

What's next, Jane?

Well, I mean, again, is there any other comments on this?

Um you started to frame it up perfectly.

I mean, you have your priorities, you have preliminary strategies that go with each of these priorities, and then I think we all need to think that within each of these strategies there'll be multiple actions, or you can even think of them as substrategies.

So as Leslie was seeking feedback today and going forward, this is not a done deal.

Is there anything that you you want to question?

Does the strategies it could include X, Y, and Z, we can we can answer that now.

I think we've covered a few of these already, but um, I know people have spent time looking at this, so is there's anything else you want to talk about about what's here?

I just have a quick process question.

Maybe this is for Leslie.

So the the actions where we haven't put those in place yet, but I'm confident we're thinking about them.

Yes.

So from a process standpoint, layout actions in these chapter seven subsections, right?

And then prioritization comes later and costing comes later because ultimately, right?

This is fabulously comprehensive, but uh also really ambitious list of things and prioritization is really gonna matter.

So I'm just trying to understand like will will we have a swing at the actions before prioritization becomes the the target, I I guess, or the next step.

Just trying to figure that out actions to prioritize actions.

Yeah, the strategies will be prioritized.

The actions are the how you're going to do the strategies, so it's less important to prioritize the actions than the strategies.

Okay.

So we'd like your support on prioritizing the strategies.

Okay.

And so from an order standpoint, um prioritization is next, then for those for the strategies.

Yeah, we'd like to confirm and validate that those are the right strategies and then prioritize those.

We will be creating the actions for each strategy concurrently.

Because they can move around depending on where you want uh what the first second or priority is, but the actions will always remain under each one of the strategies.

So those two act those two things can happen uh concurrently.

And when you say order of magnitude cost estimates, to me, that means like we're just gonna have buckets.

This is gonna cost one million, this is gonna cost 10 million, this will cost a hundred million.

Like are we talking about it?

Like this is like one dollar sign is least expensive, three dollar science is more most expensive.

I mean, there's there's you know, five to nine strategies per priority, and some of these are multi-step strategies.

So if a developer comes in and wants to develop housing, there's not a way for us to be able to cost estimate what that development is.

But if there are, you know, but there's a cost related to a specific thing, we can make some assumptions about is it gonna be a lot or is it gonna be a little?

And if the city decides to take that on as a priority, then we can you know that's in after the plan has been adopted, then a separate cost estimate will need to be created for each one of those.

That makes sense.

Okay.

Because it I mean it needs to be coordinated with the with the CAP, right?

And the budget.

So if you want to make, for example, a trail extension.

I mean, this is something that's gonna have to be budgeted to you know the CAP works, there's there's a whole separate budget for that.

Maybe you want to apply for some grants, and they're drawing the cost estimate to be created as a part of that grant.

But if you say this is our first priority after the plan is adopted, then you know the actions will help you line up what needs to happen afterwards.

So I would like to add that I'm following up on um voice um code enforcement, and I would like to see the city invest in also the economic development part of it, new business, old business vacancies in our commercial buildings, especially in the entryways into our city, our main streets, Jefferson, Larkin, Mall, Chicago Street.

Um, but have some more code enforcement, or if there are codes, uh, do we need more codes um to make sure that the businesses are really pitching in to make the city look good, but also for to help them succeed.

One of the items that I wanted to touch on um is specifically about the mobility and access across the city.

Uh so transpility specifically strategy number four um that discusses a little bit about safety, visibility, and conflict with investing and cyclists.

So I think you guys all know that my day job for the county.

Um we did complete a safety action plan for Will County.

We took a look at our roadway network, trails, sidewalks, everything, and talked about safety for all users.

And it's something that's front of mind for me.

It's something that I'm thinking about how can we meaningfully implement and create changes.

So this is probably a little in the weeds, but something that I'd like to see happen at the city level and frankly throughout the entire region.

Establishing a goal of zero fatalities on our roadway network.

And that can be done through a wide variety of things, right?

It's education, it's engineering and design that helps promote safety.

We recognize that there's obviously some level of human error that can happen, but making sure that our transportation systems are designed in such a way that it's safe for everyone to use.

So to me, like I it's great that we have safety listed in one of the strategies, but I I think inherently we all want and we all agree that transportation mobility needs to be safe, right?

It's as someone that's lived here, it it's always upsetting to see in the Harold News, see in the paper that there's been another fatality.

There's been a crash between a vehicle and a pedestrian or two vehicles or someone dies.

And I I think that as we talk about the future of the city of what I want my hometown, what we want our hometown to be, it's inherently safe.

Um so I would really like to see us really lean into that.

I think that safety as we talk about design is absolutely critical.

So I think that's another key opportunity there to even say and here's an example of a city.

Yeah.

Who has done that well?

You know, every city doesn't get it all right, but like here's here's a example, right?

Here's a link.

Here's an email of somebody else who has done that well.

I think that would help us even see better and even know what to expect.

Jersey City, New Jersey.

Oh, there it is.

See, I I didn't even add too much work to you.

All right, anyone else see anything that wasn't reflected as a preliminary strategy.

Okay.

Um again, keep looking at this.

Send me any additional comments you have.

Um, and keep elaborating on this document.

Thank you, Leslie and Pyrog and Katrina.

So next we'll move on to staff reports.

Um Dustin covered already one of the items.

I was gonna just those that mentioned urban three, so scratch that off my list.

Um we have kicked off the downtown Juliet Equitable Transit Oriented Development Zoning Project.

So this is this was an implementation component of the adopted ETOD plan, which was adopted last summer, um, July of 2025.

So what this means is that we have a consultant who has been engaged, we have a small steering committee who is looking at zoning in the downtown.

Um we plan to have an open house at some point, potentially in June.

Oh, well, that's it's coming up fast.

So we'll see.

Um, but the goal there is a goal to get a zoning package to the plan commission and then council um review by the end of this calendar year.

So uh we we would like to see that happen.

Um and again, prior to that, there would be an open house um for public feedback on um on the zoning package before it would even go to plant commission.

So um that's one major project.

We have a lot going on in the community development department.

So that's one urban three is the other.

The Interstate 80 displays river bridge community plan um that is still moving forward.

Um, we're working with our consultant, which is CDM Smith right now on um design of a trail network through the South End neighborhood.

Um, so heavily involved with our public works engineers right now on cost estimates.

So um nothing new to really share out at this time, and um, that project does have a web page that's linked from our city's um overall website if you would like to learn more about that if you haven't already.

We have the bicentennial bluffs choice neighborhood transformation plan project that is already about halfway through the that process.

Um again that has its own project web page, it's Juliette Choice dot com.

Also linked from our city's website.

Um they are planning some additional upcoming um community meetings for that.

I'll try to share those out when the next ones are occurring for that.

I think there's one in June.

I think that's the next one.

It will be June.

Yeah.

June 4th.

Yes.

May is coming up, and that is the National Historic Preservation Month, which I think many of you know it's near and dear to my heart as the staff liaison preservation planner here at the city.

So what that means, um, wanted to just report out that we have an open call for nominations for the annual historic preservation award.

So this is, I think it's the 20th year that the city has done this.

Um the close of the nominations is April 10th.

Um so if you know of a project that's been completed that has um kept the spirit of preservation standards or no, or if you know someone who is really been dedicated to the field of historic preservation, um, I encourage you to submit a nomination.

And then finally, um happy to report that the Juliet Area African American Historic Context Study is is uh heading towards the finish line.

So um staff has reviewed an internal internal draft.

Um we have a consultant firm who's making um edits to that, and then we have a steering committee that'll review the second draft, and then um little then we'll be seeking public feedback on the draft document.

So we're expecting to close that project this summer, so I think end of July ish.

Um any comments on the projects that I just mentioned?

Okay, and then I want to say we have a new administrative assistant, Kelsey Karpinski.

So uh she replaced Lauren Howland, who now works in our city clerk's office.

So we're we're excited to welcome Kelsey to the community development department.

So you'll be seeing her from now on.

Lauren's still here, so hopefully you'll see her too.

Thanks, Kelsey.

Of course, Ray.

Thanks, Ray, for helping out today.

Okay.

All right, that's all I have.

Ums from anybody other topics that you think we should cover or haven't covered.

I have one I'd like to bring up on the con on the communication side.

A lot of it's about outreach, right?

There are a lot of neighborhood meeting groups or associations, sorry.

Ums the cathedral, uh, Collins Street, Cunningham, Forest Park, Fairmont, and others.

All of these groups hold regular meetings.

And I think it would be something that all of us should consider is taking one or two of them and going to those meetings and providing them with an update on where the plan is at this point, encouraging them if they haven't been engaged to get engaged, because there's lots to be done yet, and we need lots of input yet.

Um we can send a list to you, and you can check one.

Uh I've done City Center Partnerships Board.

I've done the Silver Cross Hospital Healthy Community Commission, which was developed as a result of the hospital move and pretty much focuses on district four and five in the city.

The Joliet Region Chamber, I spoke to their government relations committee.

Uh and the Latino Economic Development Association, I spoke to them as well.

I think I would encourage you if you once you get the list, if you know anyone or you know any of those areas and you want to go out and do it, it would I think be very helpful because the question would be how many individuals in those different organizations know that this is even going on.

And we need to reach out to every point possible.

And Jane, in the next email to the group, if we could send that list and just simply ask them to get back to you.

If you can't do it, I get it.

But we'd like to try to get everyone on the list uh checked so that we know someone's gonna talk to them.

And if you see something on the list or you don't see a group that you know exists that's not on the list, serve that one up because the communication of this will help us get the input from all the different perspectives in the community.

And I think that would be a good thing for us to do.

And upset just to piggyback on that, Jim.

I I appreciate the emphasis on the communication because if we don't communicate it, people will create their own narrative.

So it's it's better to have the information from the or from the group than for people to create their own.

Um, just a quick um little public service announcement on the 18th of this month.

We will have our community open houses at the old Hufford and the old Gompers.

Um one last chance for community members to walk through the old buildings, be sentimental, and then go away because we're gonna knock them down the summer.

But God bless.

Um April 18th from 10 to 12, both those schools will be open for folks to walk through one last time.

Um, and it's just we'll have um some students and some staff just doing some little guided tours through our foundation is gonna be selling t-shirts and raffle tickets, and that to support the foundation, and uh it's uh it'll be a great opportunity to to do that.

Um we've also scheduled because we we did um the board did decide to close Marshall Elementary School.

Um, so we will do a similar type open house over there at the end of May or May 27th in the evening from 4 30 to 6, just a walk through one last time.

Uh we're not gonna we're not demoing that building, we're gonna try to sell it, hopefully.

Um, but um and then in August we'll be doing our ribbon cuttings for the new Hufford and Goppers.

So um a lot of great activity.

Um we're starting another construction project over at Jefferson Elementary on Glenwood, breaking ground on the last day of school on June 2nd, at a gymnasium and four classrooms there.

That was the third uh part of the referendum that we asked for the for the taxpayers to pass, and so we're following through on those obligations, and that'll be done by the end of the following school year.

So lots of good things happening in that regard um across the school district.

So I welcome you all to come to those community open houses.

It'll be nice.

Thank you.

Jim, I want comment.

You had brought up Mayo Clinic.

Um you guys are all familiar with Mail Clinic, probably considered the best hospital in the world.

Mail Clinic was originally St.

Mary's Hospital.

And not sure how many of you know it, but the founder of St.

Mary's Hospital, which became the Mail Clinic, that none served 13 years in Joliet.

Her incredible tenacity started guardian angel home.

Sister Mose.

Mother Elfred Mose.

But she started a religious order in Joliet.

She developed the Franciscan order to thrive and end up educating people in five states.

Women from throughout the country came to Joliet to work under her tutelage and learn.

The point of making, Jim, she got kicked out of Joliet, went up to Rochester and did the same thing initially in education building schools, but her and the sisters scrimp and scrimped and worked their butts off to make that hospital the world's best, along with the male brothers.

I'm just saying that should be our goals too on how to make Joliet better.

So that's where I want to be.

Good historical commentary, and and yes, it does point forward.

I'd just like to follow up on our Civic B.

The chamber is hosting for the first time.

We are a regional host, and we have our regional competition on April 28th at Lewis University at the St.

Charles Bormeo Center.

Um we have 20 finalists that will be competing in a live competition.

Um thank you to the some of the judges in the room.

Hugh, thank you.

And um Steve's wife and Elaine, um, thank you to some of our judges.

But it would be great if we could have some of the community there.

It's at four o'clock.

Um, and it shouldn't be too long, but um sixth through eighth graders again.

Um there's uh represent students from as far as Naperville, Wheaton, quite a few from Plainfield.

We have Lairway School represented.

Um so it's a it's a great mix.

The date and time again?

April 28th at 4 p.m.

So we'd love to see anyone who would like to see some amazing students compete.

Uh we're pretty excited, a little nervous, it's our first one, but we've gotten some good guidance.

Any other comments?

Hearing none.

Well, I got I just got one thing, just one announcement.

Um Will County and Juliet is in a period right now where we're gonna see a lot of growth, you know, economically, um specifically on the construction side of things.

Um I would just like to extend an invitation to all of you to anybody that you know who may be interested in a career in the trades, not specifically as electrician, it could be any trade.

Um recently what I've been doing, I've been I've been doing a lot of recruiting.

Um I'm doing walkthroughs through our new training facility um that we just opened up uh a year and a half ago.

Um Reverend, I'm sure you mentioned that uh you know you have a lot of young people in your church.

Um I could do this one on one, you can bring a group.

Um I'm meeting with some parents on Friday um that are gonna bring uh uh uh a young man uh to our to our training facility.

So I would just like to extend that invitation to all of you.

Um or if you you you can put somebody in touch with me, uh put the someone in touch with my with myself who who you know who may be looking at a career in in the trade.

So good.

That's that's a good thing.

Great because we've got all this billing coming, we're gonna need capable people to do that work.

Yeah, we'll uh just last year we started getting younger as a local.

So um we're looking at we're looking at growing.

We're we have about just over 200 apprentices right now in our program, and I hope that by the end of this year we're gonna be at about 300.

It's great.

Outstanding.

So AI doesn't take those jobs.

No, we build AI.

Yeah.

We build that infrastructure.

It's better.

Yeah, we build that infrastructure.

So motion to adjourn.

Motion.

You still have to be public.

Yes.

We have a motion.

Okay, we're still a policy.

Oh, sorry.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you, Ray.

Um, is there anyone here who would like to speak under public comment?

Seeing none.

Is there we is there a motion to adjourn?

So motion.

Second.

Second.

Second.

Okay.

All those in favor of adjourning.

Aye.

I abstain.

Oh okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you.