Good evening, everybody.

Welcome.

This is meeting of the Joliet City Council with Council Woman Quillman, me being pro Tem, and the Mayor Terry Darcy, in attendance as well.

And uh at 630 on April 201st.

Okay.

Too many papers here.

So we'll start out with the roll call.

I'm going to do the invocation.

Oh, indication.

I'm sorry.

I'm fudgled.

Okay.

Well, who's coming?

Oh, Robert.

Herbert Brooks, Pastor of St.

John's Missionary Baptist Church.

Oh my goodness.

Oh my God.

I haven't seen you for so long.

I can do the roll call too if you want.

I love to say that.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and audience.

Won't you pray with me?

Father God, we thank you, Lord, for this day in this place called Joliet City Hall in the state of Illinois.

We ask your blessings upon them.

Those that are elected here to elective sworn in by the powers of God to do the work that they've been called to.

Your word reminds us of Romans 13 and 1.

Let every soul be subject to a higher power.

And that higher power is our Lord God.

Bless the agenda on tonight.

All of the staff of the City of Joliet, and most of all the residents of Joliet that make us the city of champions.

In our Lord's name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the plan.

One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you so much.

So good to see you.

Good evening, neverby.

Yeah.

Mayor.

Hello.

Not here yet.

Good to see you.

We'll begin with roll call.

Mayor Darcy.

Here.

Councilman Cardinals.

Here.

Councilman Clement.

Here.

Councilman Hugg.

Councilman Abarra.

Here.

Councilman Moreno?

Here.

Councilman Mudron.

Here.

Councilman Quillman.

Here.

Councilman Rudon.

Here.

Under Mayor, we have a proclamation recognizing April 25th as Arbor Day presented by Councilwoman Jan Quillman.

I hope I get this one right.

Take your quest.

Okay, good evening, everybody.

And we have a proclamation from the City of Joliet.

Whereas we have Rita Runmick with us.

In 1872, Jay Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special date be set aside for the planting of trees.

Whereas on this holiday called Arbor Day was first observed with the planting of more than one million trees in Nebraska.

Trees can clean the air, produce oxygen, provide habitat for wildlife, reduce the erosion of our precious top soil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, and moderate the temperature.

Whereas trees in our city increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, and beautify our community.

Joliet has been recognized as Tree City USA for the 35th consecutive year by the National Arbor Day Foundation.

And Joliet desires to continue its tree planting ways.

Now therefore, I, Terry Darcy, mayor of the City of Joliet, on behalf of the City Council, do hereby proclaim April 25th, 2026 as Arbor Day.

In the City of Joliet, and I urge all citizens to support the efforts to care for our trees and woodlands and to support our community's forestry.

And it's dated April 21st, 2026, signed by Terry Darcy, Mayor of the City of Joliet, Illinois.

Great.

So we have Rita Runway.

She has been at this for many, many years.

If it wasn't for Rita, I don't know if it would keep going.

So keep on going, darling.

You look great.

And then on Friday, you want to tell us about uh the planting.

Oh, sure.

Okay.

I'm gonna say a few words.

It's all yours and plant.

Yes.

Uh thank you, Mayor and members of the City Council for once again proclaiming Arbor Day for the City of Joliet, and for supporting the care of our urban forest.

We've been recognized for 35 consecutive years as a Tree City USA, which is a long time.

Trees, as the proclamation said.

Trees make our neighborhoods cooler, more walkable, clean the air we breathe, reduce flooding, bring wildlife into our lives.

In fact, we have hawks nesting in my neighborhood.

Kind of exciting.

And they add to the beauty of the changing seasons.

In other words, they improve our quality of life.

With the council's support, the city is currently undergoing a survey of all the trees in the public right-a-ways parkways.

And if you've seen Great Lakes Urban Forestry in your neighborhood, that's what they were doing.

We have an inflation reduction act grant that we got like three years ago that funds part of this effort, and results will be used to update our current urban forest management plan to better care for and maintain our trees.

Findings will let us know which trees need to be removed, trimmed, and where new trees can be planted.

But we're here for more than the proclamation.

This year again, we did a poster contest.

And Dr.

Teresa Woodard, who I would love for you to come up with me.

And we're very excited for that to happen.

Students at the school participated in a poster contest.

And we've got the posters here today, and students will be celebrated and awarded their certificates.

But we really appreciate principals and staff who agree to do this because you know how much teachers and principals have going on.

It's often right when the kids are being going through testing, and somehow they fit this in too, which we really we really really appreciate.

So tonight we're going to recognize the Arbor Day poster contest winners, and uh Karen Fonte with our tree advisory board is going to come up and join us.

But how about winners come and stand by the posters?

Um I love these names.

Dahlia, Julissa, Olivia, and Ruby.

Would you come and stand up by the time?

This is always so much fun.

And Friday, we will also have Twig, the tree costume that somebody on their staff is gonna wear.

We don't know, it'll be a surprise.

So as I announce the uh winners, I'm gonna have each one of you come up, and Karen will hand you a certificate.

Or Dr.

Woodard could do that.

So we had a tie for third place.

Jalissa Terrazis, third place.

Another third place, Olivia Guardiola.

Second place, Dahlia Ramirez Rios.

And first place, Ruby Giordina.

Very much.

Thank you so much.

And I know we're gonna be taking some photos.

So good job, kids.

We're gonna be showing those that poster at your school on Friday, and uh, you all did such a great job.

All of these posters have facts that went along with them, and we judged probably a hundred posters.

Two hundred posters.

Quite quite a good submission from your school.

So we thank you too.

Okay, thanks.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is the approval of the agenda.

Is there a motion to approve the agenda as written with the following change?

Vote on council memo number 232-26 resolution authorizing the sale of a police dog to canine officer Adam Stapleton following our appointments in consideration of our canine police officer and our police dogs' attendance at this meeting tonight.

So it's been motion and second and to approve.

Councilman Cardinals.

Councilman Clement.

Councilman Hugs.

Councilman Mara.

Councilman Moreno.

Councilman Mudron.

Councilwoman Quolman.

Councilman Redan.

Mayor Darcy.

Motion carried.

Next is citizens to be heard on agenda items.

So is there anyone to speak on an agenda item?

We do have some speakers.

Yolanda Farmer.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor.

Evening.

And City Council members.

My name is Yolanda Farmer.

I serve as the executive vice president at Joliet Junior College.

And I'm here this evening on behalf of our college president, Dr.

Klein Namuo, who is currently in Denver representing the college at a major conference.

So I'm here to speak on the City Council's agenda item two to five-26.

I had the opportunity to review the recording of last night's pre-council meeting.

There were many questions surrounding Joliet Junior College's awareness regarding the amendment.

There is indeed a time for everything.

There was a time when this residential complex was operated by the college.

A time when student residency requirements aligned with the original intent of the development.

We respect, I want to be clear about this, in honor our history at Joliet Junior College.

Since that time, however, housing demands have evolved as they often do.

And the requirements governing this property has also evolved.

Today the college has established a constructive future focus relationship with the current and the future owners of the resident.

One that reflects present day realities and serves the best interests of all involved, especially the 45 JJC students currently living in rock run residence.

Those students remain our highest priority, our highest priority.

And we are committed to supporting safe and supporting learning environments that allow them to focus on their education and thrive.

In a moment, you'll hear from the Jolia Junior College Chairman, Jim Bozinski, who will speak on behalf of the JJC Board of Trustees.

In advance of his comments, I will share that at the March board meeting, the board approved an agreement with the purchaser of Rock Run residents to support a short and long-term maintenance responsibilities of the Richard T.

Rivera Way.

This represents the first time in the college history that an agreement of this nature has been reached, marking a meaningful informed-looking approach to this collaboration.

The college administration is pleased with this agreement that has been established.

And it also reflects the shared responsibility, thoughtful planning, and commitment to infrastructure in the community impact.

It is also reassuring that the property is in good standing with the city's rental inspection program, reflecting a well-managed living environment.

In addition, probably most important to Jolia Junior College is our safety efforts.

They're strengthened due to an effective memorandum of understanding between the Jolia Junior College, campus police, and the Joliet Police Department, promoting clear communication, coordinated responses, and responsiveness for our students, the residents, in the broader community.

Promoting clear communication, coordinated responses, and responsiveness for our students, the residents, in the broader community.

Dr.

Nemo often says that a successful community college is deeply embedded in the college community.

One that is intertwined with the fabric of the community.

It serves.

And I believe though believe those connections are being very much alive here tonight.

While we honor the past of the development.

JJC is supporting in moving forward very thoughtfully and responsibly into the future.

So at this time I would like to introduce the chairman of the Board of Trustees, Jim Basinski, for his comments.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council members.

My name is Jim Bozinski.

I serve as the current chairman of the board of the Joliet Junior College Board of Trustees.

As a chair, my role is to speak on behalf of the board as a whole and reflect the decisions and positions taken by trustees during our public meetings.

At Joliet Junior College, the Board of Trustees acts as a single collective body.

Trustees have authority for official board action only when acting together in duly noticed public meetings, and it is through that collective voice that I speak today.

With that in mind, I can state confidently that the leadership of Joliet Junior College and the current Board of Trustees were made aware of the proposed amendment to the planned unit development and are supportive of and in peace with the city's consideration of this amendment.

Zoning requirements appropriately fall under the city's authority, and we respect that and trust both the city's community development process and its commitment to sound planning processes.

I would also like to note that during our March meeting, the JJC Board of Trustees approved an access easement maintenance agreement with the purchasers of Rockland property to jointly support improvements along Richard T.

Rivera Way.

That action reflects our shared commitment to collaboration, thoughtful planning, and responsible stewardship of the surrounding area.

Ultimately, the board is supportive of practices that aligning developments plan with its current practical use, particularly when those practices contribute positively to the community and support safe nearby living conditions that serve the needs of students and other residents.

Joliet Junior College values its long-standing relationship with the City of Joliet and remains committed to being a good neighbor and a collect or collaborative community partner.

And at this time, I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of JJC tonight.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

I also have Andrew Scott.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the City Council.

My name is Andrew Scott.

I'm with the law offices of Dica McGossett, and I'm here on behalf of the contract purchaser whom you've heard about Midwest REO5 LLC.

I'm sorry I couldn't be here last evening, but I was fully up to speed about some of the questions and some of the concerns.

And we really can't speak to sort of the past practices on the property, but I think our petition before you today is evidence that going forward, when we purchase this property, we want to do the right thing, and that we want to make sure everything is above board and there's absolute transparency as to how the property is going to operate.

So hopefully our position is evidence of that.

And something I want to also clarify is that this is not an intent to convert this multifamily property to wholly public, you know, open it up to the public.

They're great tenants, as best we're able to tell through all of our due diligence.

And we will continue to welcome them and we want them as part of the tenancy at the property.

Over the past decade or so, based on my research, the student population has fluctuated a little bit.

And so again, I can't speak to the past, but going forward, you need the constancy in order to be able to keep up a property, maintain it to the high standards that the college expects, that the city expects, and also the tenants inspects.

And so you do need to be able to draw upon as broader pool of tenants as you can.

And so while we will look to the general public for tenants, we will also continue to work with the college and work with the students and their faculty to make living arrangements available to them.

I think you've heard that we have established a good collaborative relationship with the college.

We worked through some uh knotty infrastructure issues that came to the fore uh as we were looking at the property, and our hope and expectation is that we will continue that collaborative um effort between Juliet uh reunit lodge and uh the contract purchaser going forward, not only on infrastructure matters, but also again keeping this property of the high standards that both the college expects, the city expects, the tenants expect, and uh also ownership expects.

So we're available to answer any questions if if needed.

Thank you.

Any questions?

Is there anyone else who would like to speak on an agenda item this evening?

This is for agenda items.

Okay.

Under appointments.

The mayor is recommending Norris Moffitt be appointed to the Juliet Public Library Board to replace Amita Ostrom.

So move.

Second.

It's been motioned and seconded to approve.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilwoman Abarra.

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudron.

Aye.

Councilwoman Clomen.

Aye.

Councilwoman Rurdin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinals.

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Now we have Council Memo number 232-26 resolution authorizing the sale of a police dog to canine.

Officer Adam Stapleton.

It is recommended said resolution be adopted.

So move.

Seg.

Any comments?

Mayor, Councilman.

Thank you.

In 2017, I was able to fulfill a lifelong dream, and that is to become a canine officer.

Ever since I was a little kid, that's what I do what I wanted to do.

Took me a long time to get there.

I am since retired, and now he is retired.

One of the things about our canine units, we're always told there's three things that our canines are able to do.

First and foremost, they're the only thing in our arsenal that we can recall.

If you shoot your paper spray, it's gone, it doesn't come back.

Anything else for that matter.

They're the only ones that will come back.

In his time, he's had actually over a dozen apprehensions where he actually didn't even make physical contact with the people because he was able to be recalled to me, and they gave up.

The other thing is that they work around corners.

I can't see what's around the corner, and I surely don't want to stick my head around the corner if I know there's something potentially bad around there.

They can go around the corner and they can see if there's stuff there.

They are the best locating tool that we have in our arsenal by far.

Even with all the technology of flare and drones and everything else, we always say you can fool our eyes, you can fool our ears, you can fool our notes.

You cannot fool back notes.

He is as protective of me as he is of my wife and my family.

And he has been since day one.

I again would like to say thank you.

You made our family whole, and he's got it from here.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Wait, can we get a photo with the picture?

Whoops.

Congratulations.

Thanks, Adam.

Thank you.

Nice to click.

Thanks for watching.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Good job.

Thank you.

No word.

Thank you very much.

He's gonna have lots of fun now.

Oh, yeah.

Okay, we still have the vote.

All right, it's been motioned and seconded to approve.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman Abarra.

Aye.

Councilman Moreno.

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilman Coleman.

Aye.

Councilwoman Rurden.

Aye.

Councilman Cardenas.

Councilman Clement.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Next, we will have council committee reports.

We'll start with finance.

Thank you.

The finance committee met here in the chambers at 5:30 today on the committee.

This councilwoman Sherry Rudon.

Councilman Larry Hugg and myself, Pat Mudrin.

It was a relatively short uh agenda, but financially very impactive.

We accepted an ordinance for a million dollar grant from the Will County Community Manual Mental Health Board for a no-cost consulting program, amendment to the 2026 budget to receive and expend the grant funds and creation of an additional social worker position to perform this grant funded activity.

An ordinance authorizing an amendment to the annual budget to the city of Joey after 2026 to spend the 25 2025 funds that were not spent.

Monthly financial report is all are moving as expected or above a couple items, um, one being video gaming sales and utility taxes are running slightly ahead of the budgeted amount.

Uh the parking report uh revenues are down, but when it was run again the next day, they were actually up.

So I would say they're trending as expected.

Uh we have one quarterly report from the Rialto.

This would be from January through March.

The Riolta had over 20,000 visitors for that first quarter.

That they attended 16 events, four weddings, and two movies.

Sherry, Larry, you want to add anything?

No.

That's my report.

Thank you.

Legislative.

Okay.

Legislative met here in Council Chambers on April 13th at 10 a.m.

In attendance was Councilman Ruordan, Councilman Cardinals.

Hello.

And myself, Jan Quillman.

And we were discussing the ordinance amending chapter 2, Article 2 of the Jillet Code of Ordinances to authorize pre-separation recruitment and temporary appointments.

And we discussed it at length.

We had a very good discussion.

And now I'm going to turn it over to our attorney so you can explain the whole ordinance for everybody.

You're on Todd.

Thank you.

Yeah, I'm on, thank you.

Um basically this ordinance does two things.

It allows overlap hiring.

So if someone puts in their retirement notice, the city manager under this ordinance can start recruiting and hire.

After discussion, it was decided that the six months would just be for the recruitment, the posting, trying to find someone.

But it would be limited 90 days as to them being on the payroll.

So that was the modification versus last time that this was at the city council.

And then it was also temporary recruitment, so that's the situation where you don't have any time frame and you need someone before you can find someone.

So the city manager can hire someone temporarily for that.

Um it was voted on to move this back to the fullest city council with the recommendation to approve with those changes.

Thank you, Todd.

All right, and that concludes our report.

Public assets.

We approved the minutes from February 25th, 2026.

There were no citizens to be heard on agenda items.

There were two agenda items.

The first was an approval of grass cutting for vacant city lots.

The city contracts cut 159 vacant lots.

There will be 15 cuts from May 1st to October 1st.

The second item was an agreement for the replacement of the fire suppression piping on the concourse level at Slammer Stadium.

This is year two of three of a capital improvement plan to replace the fire suppression pipe that is formed leaks requiring emergency repairs.

Greg Priable gave an update on the Joliet Area Historical Museum and specifically the big house ball game.

There is a lot of excitement for this game and the events surrounding this game.

Recently they were featured in the museums along Route 66 in the New York Times and NBC has featured some uh a piece that'll be coming out soon.

Reminder the game is April 30th at the old Joliet Prison.

Sharon and Nick Farrell gave an update on the Miracle League, which starts not the 9th.

Continued improvements in the bathroom and larger dugouts are in the works for this season.

120 Miracle League kids are expected to participate this season.

Additionally, we talked about the contributions of the person that retired Brent Frazier and everything that he has brought to this committee.

Also, all of those items were passed unanimously.

Councilman Clement, do you have anything to add?

Councilman Marino?

No.

Okay, that'll be my report.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And finally, we have public service.

Always finally, right?

Yes.

You guys change that out.

Public service committee met yesterday here in City Holland in the council chambers at 4 30 in the afternoon.

On the committee in attendance with Councilwoman Rearden, Councilman Modrin, and myself, Councilman Hogan.

Very short agenda, so it couldn't take me but 30 seconds here.

Under contracts, we only have two items.

Both have to do with the uh what's referred to as the former PACE building, which is where we're moving much of our fleet management and repair operations to update and modernize.

So there's some improvements that need to be done as we lease the building, you know, we're leasing that building from PACE.

And uh the two items, one was for five hundred not to exceed five hundred and fifty thousand, and that was for a number of different lifts.

Um twelve thousand pounds up to twenty thousand pound auto, you know, uh equipment lifts to lift uh vehicles so they can be worked on.

Um, and the other one was to for 80 about 85,000, so that we could the this concrete floor as it sits now is very smooth.

It didn't have any anti-slip um additives to it.

So working there full time would be a little bit dangerous when it gets wet and so forth.

So it's 85,000 to put a uh an additive over the top of the concrete so it's not non slip.

Um we had one change order, and that was just for 15,000, and that was for Hutchinson Engineering Incorporated, and we looked at that, and that's for the uh feral road over Spring Creek Bridge Improvement Project that we're hoping to uh get into you know the final phase in the fall and start to build, and there was some uh some additional items that were required uh to be engineered, if you will, by IDOT in order for us to make it through the phase two.

So kind of uh housekeeping, if you will.

Under the change orders and pay uh and I'm sorry, under ordinances and resolutions.

Um we had one ordinance which was to approve this expenditure of MFT taxes for that fifteen thousand dollar engineering bill that we I just mentioned, and then uh resolution accepting a grant of permanent easement at 1871 South County Line Road for the counterline road between Van Dyke and Kennedy Road Roadway Improvements Project.

This included uh sidewalks.

If we hadn't done this particular thing, which didn't cost any money, um cash exchanging hands, uh the sidewalk would go like this and then like that, and then back there again.

So we need we needed to align it so it wouldn't be goofy, or we'd be missing a big segment of all of it.

So that's pretty much it.

Very exciting as it was.

Did I miss anything, folks?

No, mayor.

With that, that is my report.

Thank you.

I show no other reports under consent agenda, approval of minutes.

It is recommended the minutes of the pre-council meeting, April 6th, 2026, and the city council meeting held on April 7th, 2026, stand approved as recorded.

Invoices to be paid.

It is recommended this report be approved.

Council memo number 210-26, award of contract for vehicle lift equipment purchase and installation to Napa Auto Parts and an amount not to exceed 550,000 dollars.

Council Memo number 211-26, award of contract for the nine Osgood street floor resurfacing to integrity concrete coatings in the amount of eighty-four thousand nine hundred and thirteen dollars and twenty cents.

Council memo number two twelve-26, approval of amendment number three for the phase two engineering services for the Farrell Road over Sping Spring Creek Bridge Improvement Project, MFT section number two one-zero zero five four two-zero-b R to Hutchinson Engineering Incorporated in the amount of fifteen thousand dollars.

Council Member number two thirteen-26 approved the purchase of body armor vests for SOS from First Spear in the amount of fifty-four thousand six hundred and sixteen dollars and twenty-five cents.

Councilmember number two fourteen-26 purchase for fire station one of cabinets from Riverton Cabinet Company in the amount of thirty-five thousand one hundred and ninety-four dollars in the installation of cabinets for fire station one from Heinz Construction Incorporated in the amount of thirty-two thousand four hundred and fifty dollars for a total amount of sixty-seven thousand sixty-seven thousand six hundred forty-four dollars.

Councilmember number two fifteen-26, award of professional services, purchase and installation of the Joliet Slammer's fire suppression pipe replacement to AMS Industries Incorporated in the amount of 100s, 86,770 dollars.

Councilmember number two sixteen-26, award of contracts for grass cutting on vacant city lots to summit lawn care in the amount of $38,970 and to call pepper lawn works in the amount of $17,535.

It is recommended Council Memos 210-26 through 216-26 be approved.

Is there a motion to approve all said consent agenda items?

Motion approved.

Second.

Mayor?

I need to amend my public service report.

I forgot one thing.

Probably the most important thing.

We went through the five items of which they're they're on this consent agenda.

I forgot to mention, folks, it was unanimously approved by the count uh the the committee that it be sent to the full council with a recommendation to approve all five items.

That's my amendment.

Thank you.

Okay.

It's been motioned and seconded to approve.

Councilman Barrow?

Aye.

Councilman Marino?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman?

Aye.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardenas?

Aye.

Councilman Clement.

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Under license and permit applications.

Council Memo number two eighteen-26.

Issuance of Class B and Class M liquor license at 227, North Gauger Road, Barber Oberwortman, Horticultural Center, Venue 98.

Is there a motion to approve the issuance of said liquor license?

So moved.

Second.

Any comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's been motioned and seconded to approve.

Councilman Marino?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilwoman Quoman?

Aye.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinus.

Aye.

Council McClement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman Abarra.

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Council Memo number two nineteen-26.

Issuance of Class E liquor license at 81 North Chicago Street.

Internode Greenery and Home.

Is there a motion to approve the issuance of said liquor license?

So moved.

Second.

Any comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's been motioned and seconded to approve.

Councilman Mudrin?

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman?

Aye.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardenas.

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman of Barrow?

Aye.

Councilman Marino?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Council Memo number two twenty-two-six.

Issuance of Class B liquor license at 3147 West Jefferson Street, the Prime House.

Is there a motion to approve the issuance of Sedlicker license?

So moved.

Second.

Comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's been motioned and seconded to approve.

Councilwoman Quillman?

Aye.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinals.

Aye.

Council McClement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilwoman Barrow?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudron.

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Councilmember number two twenty-one-26.

Issuance of Class E liquor license at 101 McDonald Avenue.

Wingate by Windham Joliet.

Is there a motion to approve the issuance of Sedlicker license?

So moved.

Second.

Sorry.

Any comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's been motion and seconded to approve.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardenas.

Aye.

Councilmanclumment.

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilwoman of Barrow?

Aye.

Councilman Marino.

Aye.

Councilman Mudron.

Aye.

Councilwoman McQuillman?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Council Member number two twenty-two-twenty-six.

Issuance of Class B liquor license at 16329 South Boulevard Place Longhorn Steakhouse.

Is there a motion to approve Sedlicker license?

So moved.

Second.

Comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's been motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Cardinals.

Aye.

Councilman Clement.

Aye.

Councilman Hug.

Aye.

Councilwoman Barrow.

Aye.

Councilman Moreno.

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilwoman McQuillman?

Aye.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Under ordinances.

Council Member number two twenty-four-twenty-six.

Ordinance approving the preliminary planned unit development of New Stoneshire phase two, PUD-2-26.

It is recommended that ordinance be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Sorry.

Any comments or questions?

Yeah, actually, if you don't mind just one more one comment.

It's actually in Sherry's district, but because of your district, no I'm joking.

We have all those farm fields there that for years we we we did mitigate with the water coming, you know, was unincorporated and it would cause flooding the subdivisions.

There's uh somebody in this room that that actually lives in the subdivision.

And um, this is a uh a march towards starting to develop that.

The only way to completely mitigate flooding off farm fields is to actually develop it.

So this is good news.

Thank you.

All right.

Okay.

It's been motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilwoman Barrow?

Aye.

Councilman Marino?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman.

Aye.

Councilman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardenas.

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Council Member No.

225-26.

Ordinance approving an amendment to the preliminary and final plan unit development of Joliet Junior College Student Housing Subdivision.

Ordinance number 13226, PUD-3-26.

It is recommended that ordinance be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Any comments or questions?

Mayor.

Yeah, Joe.

You know, I'm I'm glad we have uh pre-council.

You know, you hear a lot of things uh day one, and then you learn a lot more on the second day.

Um so I just want to make that comment.

It's um you know we spoke earlier and I talked to a few other people.

Um so those are my comments.

Thank you.

Can I say one more thing?

Just wanted to let everyone know that coming here to speak at council really does make a difference.

I was convinced of the way I was gonna vote last night, and you can definitely make a difference coming here to speak.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

Okay, okay, it's been motioned and seconded to approve.

Councilman Hug?

No.

Councilwoman Abarra?

Can you pass me and come to me last?

Is that legally just say pass?

Pass.

Oh, we've never done that before.

Well, I can do it now.

I think you can do either pass or present.

Like president, I think you have to vote.

We've never done it.

I've seen Jandy O'Mearning.

No, I've never done that.

I've seen her.

Never done that, Mayor.

I definitely saw her do it.

I think you need to vote.

No.

I voted.

Yeah.

Just vote how you want to vote.

I literally don't know.

There's never been a time where I haven't known.

Okay.

Aye.

Aye.

Councilman Marino.

No.

Councilman Mudron.

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman.

No.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinus?

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Councilmember number two twenty-six-26.

Ordinance accepting a one million dollar grant from the Will County Community Mental Health Board for the no-cost counseling program.

Amendment of the 2026 budget to receive and expend grant funds and creation of an additional social worker position to perform grant funded activities.

It is recommended said ordinance be adopted.

So move.

Second.

Any comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's been motioned and seconded to approve.

Councilwoman Abarra?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudron?

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman?

Aye.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinus?

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Councilmember number two twenty-seven-26.

Ordinance authorizing an amendment to the annual budget of the city of Joliet for the 2026 fiscal year 2025 projects funded in 2026.

It is recommended that ordinance be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Comments or questions?

Mayor, just as I said yesterday from maybe somebody who's watching at home or somebody that attended tonight and they didn't see yesterday.

We are not adding any extra expenditures to this year's budget.

This is a formality to carry forward things, projects that have already been funded last year.

There might even be a couple of them that date back to 24 at the start date.

But we we technically have to approve bringing the money and the project into this budget.

So there's no new expenditures that weren't already approved in previous budgets.

We're just bringing them forward.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Okay.

It's been motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin?

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman?

Aye.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinus?

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilwoman Abarrow?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Councilmember number two twenty-eight-26.

Ordinance amending chapter two, Article 2 to authorize pre-separation recruitment and temporary appointments.

It is recommended that ordinance be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Any comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's been motioned and seconded to approve.

Councilman Mudron.

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman?

Aye.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinals?

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hugg?

No.

Councilwoman Abarra?

No.

Councilman Marino?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Under resolutions.

Councilmember number two thirty-26.

Resolution appropriating supplemental motor fuel tax funds for amendment number three to the phase two engineering services contract for the Farrell Road over Spring Creek Bridge Improvement Project.

MFT section number 21-00542-00-BR.

It is recommended that resolution be adopted.

Second comments or questions.

Thank you.

It's been motion and seconded to approve.

Councilwoman Quillman.

Aye.

Councilman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardenas.

Aye.

Councilman McClement?

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman Barra.

Aye.

Councilman Moreno.

Aye.

Councilman Mudron.

All right.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Councilmember number 231-26.

Resolution accepting a grant of permanent easement at 1871 South County Line Road for the County Line Road, Van Dyke Road to Kennedy Drive, Roadway Improvements Project.

It is recommended that resolution be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Any comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's a motion and second and to approve.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Hi.

Councilman Cardenas.

Councilman Clement.

Aye.

Councilman Hug.

Aye.

Councilman Abarra.

Aye.

Councilman Moreno.

Aye.

Councilman Mudron.

Aye.

Councilman McQuillman.

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Next is the city manager's report.

Good evening, everybody.

Yesterday we held a press conference in council chambers.

I want to congratulate Detectives Petro and Detective Espinoza and their work along with Plainfield School District 202 for their work in taking an alleged person into custody for being inappropriate with a minor.

JPD is really the best police department.

And they have people working so hard every day.

So thank you to those detectives.

Thank you to the whole police department chief, deputy chiefs for all their work to keep us safe.

This morning I had an opportunity to briefly meet and greet.

Crew and cast this morning for the new HBO show American Blue that we'll be filming here in Joliet.

We will have some road closures associated with that, so please keep a close eye on our media releases on our social media and our website for those.

Employee news.

We wish them the best and thank them for their service.

Nominated by a student for a Crystal Apple Award, which is an annual national contest looking to honor educators for their impact on students, their impact within and beyond their school, and their effectiveness and creativity of teaching.

Oh my goodness.

She wins educational funds for herself and the school as a well as well as a personalized trophy.

And I'd just like to add that the student that nominated her reached out to us asking if we could give her a shout out during the meeting.

So she's well loved by her students.

We want to congratulate Nissa on this amazing award.

I'm sorry, missed what school that was.

It was uh Joliet Central.

An art teacher.

Um and then community events attended since last meeting.

Uh attended dancing with our local stars, our one and only Cesar Cardinus, uh blew the roof off the building.

Uh and did such a good job.

It was really fun to watch and remarkable turnout for Guardian Angels.

There were so many people there, maybe the most tickets they've ever sold.

So it was a really great event for that.

Um last Thursday I had dinner with the Zanta Club.

So if you're not familiar with the Zonta Club, they help women and girls nation well worldwide actually.

Um, but do a lot here just in Joliet, and it was lovely uh to have dinner with them and conversation with them.

Um they are having a big event this Thursday evening.

I think the tickets are sold out, but doesn't mean you can't try, maybe get in the door.

Uh it's a women of distinction awards night, and um they're such a great organization.

I I recommend anyone try.

And then um last week we also had a Blackhawks game with the City of Joliet staff.

So thank you to Ann.

Why am I forgetting your last name right now?

Anne Sylvester.

I was blanking because it used to be something different in our old days.

Um to Anne Sylvester for organizing.

There were a lot of people there.

Uh Johnny Perry was there, I was there, there's a lot of family members there.

It's really a great opportunity for our staff uh to get together, get to know one another, and pretty much get a black hawk tickets for half price for the service uh to Joliet.

So great event.

Thank you for everyone that attended, and we will continue to have these positive events for our staff to continually thank them for the work that they do.

That concludes my report.

Okay.

Next we have public comments.

Um, is this for anybody that wants to address the council for a non-agenda item?

Is there anyone who would like to speak this evening on a non-agenda item?

Okay.

Good evening, Mayor and Council, Mary Beth Cannon, Joliet Resident.

Um, I almost didn't come tonight, but I felt compelled because I think most of the public isn't aware that recently the city changed its website in the FOIA section.

Used to be able to file a FOIA anonymously.

You know, I work much like SHIELD laws with journalists.

It guaranteeing you some kind of protection without fear of retribution.

And for anybody who says that doesn't happen, they're either a fool or they're a liar.

Um, I would kindly ask the city return to the option of filing FOIA's anonymously or with your name.

I've certainly done both over the years, and there have been two other administrations that allowed that.

You know, two very different from each other administrations who allowed anonymous FOIAs.

Citizen journalists should be able to do that.

I'm no longer a journalist, I'm just a resident, but I did work as one, and I did get my master's in it from Northwestern.

And somehow I feel like all my professors would be pushing me right now and saying, go fight for the people right now because you should be able to file that FOIA request anonymously.

I also question the legality of it.

Um looking at ILCS 140, Section 1.

Uh, public records must be available to quote any person, and the act does not require a requester to provide a name or personal identification to exercise this right.

Furthermore, per section five of the same statute of an official guidance from the Illinois Attorney General's public access counselor.

A public body cannot require the use of a specific form that mandates the disclosure of identifying information.

So what are we gonna do about this?

I know you can't respond to me right now, but I believe what you're doing is not only a legal, it's unethical.

People should be able to file that FOIA request and be able to file it anonymously and not worry about any kind of repercussions for it.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

My name is Diane Matter, and I reside in Juliet.

I'm here tonight to give you information.

I have gathered about the Love's truck stop being built near my home.

Loves is supposed to open in two weeks.

Instead, we've heard three months behind schedule.

So they are in a hurry, making mistakes and causing safety issues.

So who knows when they'll open.

Here are some of the few issues that I have found out.

Permits.

Loves has not been able to get proper permits from the city.

Loves has not met the requirements the city requires in order to obtain permits.

Traffic lights, a traffic light on Briggs and New Legs Road has not been installed or approved.

We understand the state of Illinois and IDOT are now involved.

No notice to residents.

No one was notified about the road closures.

The school bus cannot pick up kids this at the stop because of construction.

Out of common courtesy, it would be nice for Love or for the City of Joliet to notify all residents down Oakview Avenue and the immediate homes on New Lenox Road.

Time frames on what can be expected from this construction site and letting us know the days we will be able to get in and out of our homes.

An officer of the law informed my neighbor that there are violations that are being ignored.

Power.

Commonwealth Edison has not hooked up to electricity.

Right now, the site runs on a generator 24 hours a day, which is causing some residents issues to sleep.

It's not me because I can sleep through anything, pretty much.

Mail and services stop.

Mailboxes have been taken down.

Mail cannot get delivered for days in the neighborhood.

Garbage can't get through.

We are overflowing with trash.

A service we pay for can no longer because of Love's and the City of Joliet allow this to happen.

We feel it is irresponsible and demeaning.

We can't even get our garbage taken away that we pay for.

Unsafe road conditions.

New Linux Road is in front of my house.

It's so soft that my car starts sinking.

The gravel is unstable.

I drive and it feels like I'm gonna get stuck.

The undercarriage of my car has already hit the bottom, and so is my husband as well as my neighbors.

This is a real nightmare.

Residents on OFU Avenue have literally been restricted.

Let's just hope there's not a fire.

Someone needs an ambulance because they would not be able to get through.

There are days there's so much construction going on that you literally are unsafe trying to get in and out of your home.

We are prisoner in our own homes.

Safety.

Flammable hazardous tank.

There literally is a 500 gallon flammable hazardous tank sitting on the side of the road.

There's a lot of construction equipment moving around.

And this 500 gallon flammable hazardous tank is parked on the side of the road.

I'm concerned if something hits it, it'll blow up.

It's called safety.

We don't feel safe with this tank, only a few feet from a road that has massive amounts of construction going on it with residents having to use this road to get to their homes.

Property damage.

Workers told us that they are so close to our fence that they can't guarantee if our fence will remain standing with the work being done.

This is destruction of my property.

They do know that they have to fix this, but I still did not ask for this.

Signage.

There's a huge sign constructed.

I believe Joliet has ordinance for signs being too tall and neon flashing and brightness and only two signs to a pole.

I like to have that be looked into.

We believe this goes against city rules with the sign that has taken up half the sky.

We are living in the middle of construction zone, and it feels like no one in the city cares how this affects our safety and quality of life.

We did not ask for this, but yet our safety is being threatened, let alone our quality of life.

Basic services we pay for cannot reach us, mail garbage, school buses.

Our homes are not safe and our properties are not at risk.

This is irresponsible planning by the city of Joliet and Love's truck stop.

We did not ask for this project and is making our life a living hell.

Sean has been working with us, and I do appreciate his effort, but we also need honesty about what's happening in our neighborhood and what we have to live through on a daily basis.

Being informed will help us plan our days.

Some of us have work, doctor's appointments, therapy classes to attend, and obligations that we need to be at.

We have had to miss important appointments or postponed trying to leave our homes because of all this construction that surrounds us.

Driving New Linux Road and Oakview Avenue is dangerous for anyone to drive on it.

Safety of our lives has been threatened.

We need action now.

Protect residents before you protect this project.

Thank you for your time.

And I do have some pictures showing you how close this tank is to the intersection and also the construction of our homes.

I think you would like to pass it around.

Thank you.

Hey, I want to congratulate Bob.

Illinois, thank you.

Congratulations.

Another day is this Arbor Day thing.

You know, it's blessed that you guys like to want to preserve the trees, but I want to say something here.

You go all the way I used to live.

Oh the royal industry development here from route six, all the way into the center point intermodals and everybody all around that area.

All the trees have been taken down.

All the woods have been totally destroyed.

You know, I went down the road the other day, and it's like I'm walking down my old road, and there ain't no normal trees there anymore.

The trees have all been taken out.

The woods have been taken out.

I guess the plurality from high road and see all the way to yellow warehouses in the area because all the trees have been taken down for industrial development.

I think if you want Arbor Day thing, you gotta improve Arbor data everywhere, not just inside the city here.

You need to see it all around the city of Joliet, which is we know expanded south of here.

Need to start saving the trees.

And I want to talk about the important issue here is the truck accidents.

Just in the last week, we've already had three there's been three deaths for semi trucks.

Last week there was a semi-truck hit a motorcycle down there by bridge by Gradewood down if I reached Rita Gregro, we'll be on I-55.

That semi truck, of course, ran over the motorcycle and just kept right on going.

Other motorists had a flag to follow the mo follow the semi-truck and let state police know what that semi-truck to get that truck or they end up eventually end up killing that motorcycle by her.

We had in Chicago today.

She was just standing on a road, you know, one side of the road, I guess.

Yo story happens that she got ran over by a semi-truck beckeld.

Today, right on Brandon Road there, Route 6, so which I call now Shanahan Road.

I don't know why he should be called Route Six over here on Brandon Road over here today.

Another death to a semi truck.

I need to know when we're going to start regulating these semi-trucks because we need to start concentrating on the laws of the semi-truck drivers and everything, the laws that you know with these semi-trucks.

Fouling distances, you know, at 40 miles an hour, semi-trucks should at least be four seconds behind the vehicle in front of them.

How many times you're driving through these streets here, and you got a semi-truck right on your back end.

This semi trucks are not caring, they're not staying the proper following distance.

Yet they know they cannot stop on a dime.

You hear them arguing all the time.

Oh, we can't stop on a dime.

Oh, then why are you following so close?

Why are you going so fast?

Semi-trucks have their own speed limit on the highways, which are five to ten miles an hour slower than the regular speed limit.

That's why a sign that follows the regular speed limit on the highway says truck speed limit or trucks over 8,000 pounds or trucks over four tons need to go to speed limit.

That's normally five to ten miles slower than the regular speed limit.

So why is it you're in your vehicle, you're in your car doing regular speed limit, and you got semi-trucks flying right past you on the highway.

You know, we don't have enough police around here to get these semi-trucks and make them drive safe.

But the semi-truck accidents and the deaths with semi-trucks accidents keep increasing.

And we all have getting tired of it.

We're all getting suffering here, and not to mention the roads and bridges suffering too.

You know, but I think the law enforcements need to start stepping up, and even here in a city, to start stepping up and start getting these trucks to learn the proper fouling distance, and they're going to go to speeds that they can handle and not be sitting here right on people's tails.

Let's stop the deaths of semi-truck accidents, please.

Okay.

Is there anyone else who'd like to speak on a non-agenda item this evening?

Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to Mayor and Council Comments.

Sure.

Uh, I just want to say thank you again to our Juliet Police Department.

I did see that report on the news this morning, and job well done.

Yeah, sounds like we have a potential predator off the streets, so thank you very much.

Well, Kathy beat me too this little bit, but I just wanted to read this.

Uh, Shaw local reporter Ocon named Illinois Journalist of the Year.

I'm gonna read this about you.

You deserve credit.

Veteran Reporter Bob Ocon was honored by North Illinois University as recipient of the school's Illinois Journalists of the Year.

He is an associate professor was Andrea Guzman, who presented him with the award.

She says, I appreciate this award really because it recognizes the effort devoted to local journalism.

Many people do this work like I do, and it's not always given a lot of value, but it's said to see the work valued by Northern Illinois University, Mr.

Ocon said.

A Joliet Native Ocon graduated from Blackburn College in 1979.

His entire journalism career has been reporting on local government and business news from we at Watseca to Chicago and the suburbs, including for many, many years in Joliet.

For years, Bob has been a steady, trusted voice in Will County, and this award reflects the countless stories he's told and the relationships he's built along the way.

We at SHA Media couldn't be more proud of Bob for this award, which reflects a career defined by curiosity, integrity, and a deep commitment to local storytelling.

In addition to his many years at the Herald News, where he also previously served as news editor and business editor, Ocon worked at the Daily South Town, the Iroquois County Times Republic, and the former Romeoville Beacon.

He lives in Joliet with his wife and has two grown children.

Mr.

Ocon praised the quality of the journalism program at Northern Illinois University and the work of the alumni from the school.

And his quote here is I have worked with many Northwestern graduates over the years, including Shaw Media colleague Felix Server.

Sarver, sorry.

Very tiny friend here.

They always know what they're doing and are well schooled from their days at NIU.

So, Bob, you deserve this.

Congratulations.

And since you were here and waited, I'm glad I was able to read this little thing on my phone.

So congratulations to you.

You go right ahead.

Sorry.

Go ahead.

You get it.

No, I'm just gonna let it go because I don't want to stir the pot here.

So thank you.

Robert, I'm not gonna read anything, but congratulations.

I think all of us had the opportunity to have a squad car pull up behind you with their lights on.

And most of the time, when that's happened, I'm thinking I know I wasn't going that fast.

I got my heart in my throat.

But yesterday, I had a disabled vehicle just off the corner of Larkin on Jefferson Street at about 1.30 in the afternoon.

And I'm sure all the other cars trying to get around me were not happy, but fortunately for me, a Joliet squad pulled up almost immediately.

Officers Bell and Gomez.

I want to thank you for being there for me and getting my car towed to a dealership related to people.

Thank you, everyone.

That's it.

I just want to say congratulations to our uh Joette Via.

She was named uh 911 communication.

Jesus Christ, I can't say that word.

So we telecommunicator, Jesus.

Sorry.

Yeah, I do.

Um, the year of 2026 uh of our own Jolia Police Department.

So congratulations to you.

Nice.

That's it.

Thank you.

I want to congratulate the fire department and the police department for their exciting rescue.

I'm sure most of you saw the video of them rescuing someone from the water.

I want to also commend this entire council for putting protections on the water to save lives.

Trista Graves Brown and Speak Up came again and again and again.

And the protections are there, but the quick action, it was so exciting and amazing.

I felt like I was there watching it.

So congratulations to the Joliet Police Department and the fire department for the exciting water rescue.

Also, I want to encourage everybody.

I know I talked about this last year, but those government subsidized rain barrels.

I cut my water bill from spring all the way through until the planting season is over by about 75%.

They're only $54 maybe with tax, and you can save yourself the 40 or $50 delivery fee by just driving out to Morris and getting them.

So if you pay a City of Joliet water bill, you definitely need to get your subsidized rain barrel and save money on your water bill.

It really works.

It works so well.

I got two.

I want to thank our public relations media manager for posting about that because the spring season is here.

One weekend, I had one barrel completely full.

My second barrel is 75% filled.

I'm ready for the planting season.

Also want to agree, actually, with um Mary Beth Gannon, and I want to thank her for coming here to talk about that.

Immediately when there's changes made outside of this council, the the residents notice we're getting those calls.

I thought of first I thought maybe it was a mistake.

Like I must be missing it, I must be not on the right page.

Maybe it was moved somewhere else.

And I thought definitely eventually we would get an explanation on why that happened.

And I am definitely looking for an explanation.

I like to give people time to explain to us why something has happened, but I agree with you because then what are you gonna do with that information?

We're gonna do with it.

But whether it's you know I'm sure we're not doing anything illegal, right, Todd.

I think it's a question of ethics, though.

I also just want to say for the record, I am not in favor of us taking votes.

Nobody up here made that decision for us to take votes on an agenda item, and then the public cannot speak on them.

That if we're so self-assured in the votes that we're taking, we should definitely have no problem hearing what the residents have to say about those votes.

We took and I think we agreed to that when we were elected.

So thank you.

It's a throwback to the old days when we used to have separate uh newer old business, not for final action, and then comments.

We can't combine them.

Remember, we all did this a couple of years ago.

I would like an explanation of by whose authority and what was the thought process of removing the ability to foyer anonymously.

I will say up front, there's nothing in life I do anonymously.

That's not how I'm I'm wired, but there are people that are wired that way.

And some people are afraid of government, too.

I get that.

Can someone give me an explanation, please?

As far as I know, we still accept anonymous inquiries.

That means you know, I'll get an update from the clerk's office on what's going through, and many of them are anonymous.

So you just met was it just a change in the format on the screen then?

Um you're gonna look into it.

I will look into it.

Okay, yeah.

There we go.

We're gonna look into it.

You know, I'm in agreement.

You know, hopefully it was just a mistake or what have you.

That's great to hear.

There's no way we would restrict that.

I mean, okay, thank you.

That's see how easy it is to clarify.

Yeah, Bob, congratulations, man.

I'm an alma.

That's my alma mater in Northern Illinois.

So I would have voted for you too.

Congratulations, Bob.

You do keep up the great work you've been doing for decades.

You want a photo?

No, Bob.

With the council with the council.

Yeah.

Put another front page tomorrow.

We had a good story.

I think I just want to uh congratulate Mary Aguirre.

She also retired.

She was with the Joliet Police, you know, 25 years.

She was with the Joliet Police Department, uh front desk area, motor maintenance.

Um, she was in finance as a meter reader, and also uh public utilities uh as a repair person.

So congratulations to her.

Um, you know, we did get some emails on uh people that were retired.

It'd be nice to know, like maybe a day or two who's retiring because we do have a lot of friends uh here that you know next thing you know, you ask ask about them, and they were gone three months ago, so it'd be nice to to find out um who's retiring um like that day or day before.

Also, uh great news.

Uh Chicago Land Speedway was up and running today.

They had the uh the tire testing out there, so that's great news.

Looking forward to uh July here in their event.

So thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh yeah, I just wanted to say thank you for everybody that came out.

I think well, doing the dancing with the local stars, probably one of the most stressful, funnest things I've ever done.

Uh, but it was for a great organization.

Uh the Guardian Angels do great work in our community, they're over 100 years old.

So if anybody ever is thinking about it or wants to try it out and and wants to get out of their comfort zone, I decom I recommend to try it and do it.

Uh it was a lot of fun.

Again, very stressful, but a lot of fun, but a great organization.

Um, I also wanted to say that you know, we got uh a lot of exciting things happening next week with the red carpet corridor kicking off here.

Obviously, we've got the big game going on.

Uh our square is gonna be activated with the first event sounds on 66 happening on Friday.

Uh the Realtos having Sunday all day family event as well, which our square will also be activated.

So a lot of cool things happening in Joliet.

And I know when we talked about like there's a lot of negative stuff online, and we need to try to focus more on the positive.

And you know, I've seen a couple of posts that popped up on my feed, and we think about the city of Joliet being the city of champions and things that are happening, even though I didn't get the championship of the dancing, but I'm still you know I'm not gonna I'm not gonna harp on it too long, but it was good.

Um, I want to say congratulations to Detective DJ Green on receiving the excellence in public safety award from the Illinois State Senate and the Alliance for Civic Engagement, Ace, for his amazing contributions to community engagement.

So he's a Jolia police officer who's doing great work in our community.

Uh another young gentleman, Mr.

Jeremy Fears, if we know Jeremiah Fears, uh, who at he made history in the NBA.

He's a Joliet uh recognition native.

Uh he dropped 40 points in the aim and first time in NBA history for a point guard.

Uh, these are exciting stories.

You know, we got Jojo the boxer who's doing a great thing, it's gonna go to the Olympics.

So I think we need to, you know, uh really encourage a lot of us to start literally looking into the positive news of things that are happening in Joliet because there's a lot of amazing things happening.

So uh I encourage everyone to start looking out for those those type of stories, and uh and just you know, thank you to everybody up here for all the work that we do and uh and congratulations to all.

So thank you.

Thank you.

I want to know what dance you did.

Us also sometimes it's good to go last because I can cut about half of what I was gonna say out here.

Uh a couple things though I'd like uh to mention.

It's been a busy month welcoming new businesses to Joliet.

Uni Uni Baba held the ribbon cutting last Friday, which is I was glad to attend that, along with members of our economic development team.

And if you stop by, they got the greatest desserts I've ever seen.

They got these cool little panda bears.

I had two myself that day.

Anyway, they're they're excellent.

Another neat new business in Joliet.

Another one that's gonna open up uh Thursday at four o'clock.

There's gonna be a ribbon cutting for the banks, bridal suites, and lodging.

They're right down on Chicago Street across from the county building, and it's really cool.

What is that?

A nine-unit building, Caesar?

Yeah.

And we did for the longest time I didn't know what they were doing with it.

They've turned that into a really neat spot where on these wedding venues and stuff, folks can come and people can stay there like a VRBO.

It's been really, really well done, so we're excited about that.

Uh City Center Square, I've been talked over on that, Slammer's game talked over on that.

Um there's something kind of cool though.

There's uh a special project involving a local Korean war veteran, a longtime Joliet resident, Bill Waters is being honored through a video project organized by his daughter, Deanna.

It's part of a documentary about his life and service.

She's collecting short video messages from across the country, wishing her father well and thanking him for his service.

If you'd like to participate, you can record a message and send it to Sydney.

She'll pass it along.

And Bill especially loves the song Get Your Kicks on Route 66.

So anybody that might know Bill have some thoughts on that, that'd be great to send something to him.

Uh Bob Cronkite, I too would like to congratulate you on your recognition.

I call you Bob Cronkite, because you tell like it is.

And that's all I've got.

God bless you, and have a great day.

Thank you.

Is there a motion to adjourn?

Sorry.

All in favor?

Meeting adjourned.