Good evening, everybody.

This is the City of Joliet Council meeting with Mayor Terry Darcy presiding.

And I am Jan Klman, Mayor Pro Tem, Councilman Cesar Cardenas, Councilman Joe Clement, Councilman Larry Hugg, Councilwoman Susan Ibera, Councilman Juan Moreno, Councilman Pat Mudron, and Councilman Sherry Reardon, the City Manager Beth Batty, and our City Clerk Lauren O'Hara and a cast of others.

So tonight, this is Tuesday, May 19, 2026, and we're going to have the invocation today by Father Chris Grove, the chaplain for the City of Joliet fire and police departments.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, you generously bestow your gifts in abundance, and we are most grateful for all that you continue to do for us and for the many favors you grant.

We gather tonight in your name, enlighten the members of our council so that everything they do may begin with your inspiration and wisdom.

God of wisdom and justice.

Through you all authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment is decreed.

Guide and support our mayor, the members of our city council, our city manager, and our city staff.

Give them the strength to know your will so that all decisions may be done with a desire to please you.

As we prepare to honor the memory of the members of our Will County law enforcement community who have died in the line of duty, and also for the many men and women of our military who have laid down their lives to preserve our precious freedom, give comfort and solace to their families.

Keep in your care all who keep us safe in our cities, within our nation, and around the world each day.

Watch over them and protect them with your care.

We likewise commend to your care all the residents of our city, that they too may be blessed and sanctified, so that together we may work for the betterment of our community and enjoy the many blessings promised to those who remain faithful to you.

For we pray to you our one Lord and God now and forever.

Amen.

I pledge your leaders to the night.

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

Thank you.

Okay.

We'll begin with roll call.

Mayor Darcy.

Here.

Councilman Cardinus?

Here.

Councilman Clement?

Here.

Councilman Hug?

Here.

Councilwoman of Barrow?

Here.

Councilman Moreno?

Here.

Councilman Mudron?

Here.

Councilwoman Quoman?

Here.

Councilman Ridden.

Here.

If the council will allow, I'd like to go a little out of order today and bring up our Chief of Police, Chief Evans.

This will be his last City Council meeting here with us in Joliet.

Good evening, members of the Council, Mayor Darcy, City Manager Beatty, and all of our city leaders.

As my time here at the City of Joliet has come to a close, I wanted to express formally my deepest appreciation for the support you have all shown the Joliet Police Department and specifically me as your chief of police.

When I arrived here over four years ago, I made two promises to you.

I told you that I would put my heart and soul into this position, and the second was that I would leave the place better than I found it.

I hope, in your eyes, that I've succeeded in accomplishing these goals.

At times my job was tough.

But in the words of Teddy Roosevelt, nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, and difficulty.

But nevertheless, over the last four years, we've accomplished a great deal, including lowering the crime rate, succeeding and successfully addressing a handful of high profile events, and providing the rank and file officers with state of the art technology and viable essential law enforcement equipment.

These accomplishments would not in any way be possible without your undying support of the men and women at the Joliet Police Department.

I do believe that our partnership has made the city of Joliet a better place and definitely a safer place to live.

While my retirement will be bittersweet, I am very proud of our collective efforts and hope that we continue to create cynicism and a culture moving forward into our future.

Let me tell you this.

So thank you for contributing to that.

If Jeff Kerry was a little nicer to me, I probably would have stayed long.

Lastly, I would like to publicly thank the residents of our city for not only the level of care and support that they have shown the men and women in blue, but for welcome me into your community.

God bless all of you, and thank you again from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes.

Goodbye, definitely.

Chief, oh, sorry.

Oh, you're in a picture.

Okay, let's do it.

We are.

Can I be in this one?

Thank you, Radio.

Thank you.

Don't go too far, Chief.

We've got some special guests here.

So before I speak, and I think the council want to say a few words as well.

I'd like to invite Dr.

Klein Namuo from Joliet Junior College and Chief Brandon Campbell up to speak for the Chief.

Thank you, Beth, and welcome to the roast of Chief.

I'm kidding.

Mayor Dorsey and members of the City Council and honored guests here today.

My name is Klein Namuo, and I proudly serve as the 10th president of Joliet Junior College.

It is an incredible honor to be here with you now to celebrate the remarkable career of Chief Evans.

And on behalf of Joliet Jr.

College Chief, the entire JJC community, we want to offer our sincere thanks, congratulations, and gratitude.

Now, tonight I'm joined by our Chief of Police, Brandon Campbell, who has worked closely with Chief Evans over these past four years.

Now, public safety leadership, as you all know, requires strength and compassion.

And often in equal parts, and Chief Evans has demonstrated that time and time again during his time here in Joliet, especially during some of the most difficult moments our community has had to endure.

During times of tragedy, during times of uncertainty, during times of grief, Chief Evans has helped lead the Joliet community with compassion, bringing comfort to so many in our community.

And one moment stands out for us at JJC during our 4th of July celebration at JJC, which occurred on the same day as the tragic events of the Highland Park Parade shooting, as communities across Illinois reacted to rapidly evolving concerns.

Chief Evans remained in constant communication and coordination with our team at JJC and committed every necessary resource to help ensure the safety of our campus and the community we serve.

And that level of calm, that level of calm leadership during such a difficult moment speaks volumes about who Chief Evans is, both as a professional and as a human being.

Those relationships have been built on trust.

They've been built on mutual respect.

And Chief, you have been central to that success.

Beyond being highly respected professionally, Chief Evans is a deeply valued personally by those who have had the privilege to work alongside him.

His leadership has always reflected not only strength and decisiveness, but also generosity, humility, and genuine care for the people he serves.

And Chief, your impact on this community will be long lasting.

You have served Joliet with honor and integrity.

You've strengthened partnerships across the region, and you've helped keep our communities safe and secure.

On behalf of all of us at JJC, thank you for your leadership.

Thank you for your friendship.

Thank you for your extraordinary commitment to the community you served.

We wish you well in the next chapter.

The roast will have to wait, Chief.

Congratulations.

I'll get it kicked off for the council up here.

I made a few comments because I know it maybe cry if I didn't.

Chief, you've been more than just the leader for the department.

You've been a trusted colleague, a steady voice, and someone who genuinely cares about this community and the people who serve it.

I see it firsthand.

I see it on the days that are really tough.

We've been through a lot together, but through it all, the time, energy, and heart you put into this job have not gone unnoticed by me or this council.

Public safety is never an easy job, but your steady presence and dedication have such an impact on the city.

To say I'll miss you is an understatement.

Thank you for your professionalism and everything you have done for Joliet.

I'm excited for you to enjoy your well-deserved retirement, but I'm never going to lose your phone number.

Thank you for everything you've done for our citizens and keeping them safe.

I will ever be grateful for the time that we were able to serve together.

I'll hand it over to the council.

Maybe we can decide who goes first.

Well, client said almost everything I was going to say, Dr.

You know, Chief, you have been a steady force for the community.

You came in at a time when we needed someone to put everything back together, and you did a wonderful job.

And I've never seen a community love a police chief like they love you.

So we love you, we thank you, and we appreciate you and wish you well in the future.

Thank you.

Chief, thank you for everything you've done.

It's obvious by the love and respect you have from your men and women that work with you that you have been just an outstanding chief, an outstanding human being, and led them in a way that they can understand that they feel valued through through your eyes and through the whole city's eyes.

I wish you the best in your retirement.

I 39 years?

Well, congratulations, and um, I hope you have a wonderful retirement.

Long live the chief.

Well, short little story here.

Um Chief came from Beverly, which is a very high priced home area in Chicago, and that was on the west side, and I grew up on the wet east side called Rosen or formerly West Pullman.

So when he first came here and he met, I met him, and uh I said, Oh, how do you do?

Where are you from?

And he says, I'm from Beverly, and I said, Oh Beverly.

And he knew exactly what I met.

He laughed right away, and so did I.

And from that point on, we were we were the best of friends.

Uh, he was a wonderful chief.

You could call him for anything, he'd get the answer for you immediately, not say, Well, why?

I can't do it, I'm busy.

You didn't have you can call so and so.

No, he took care of it.

If you called him, he took care of it.

And uh the people in our community, our citizens actually love him.

I've never heard anything bad about our chief Evans because they all love him.

He's always got that big happy smile, and uh he did a great job.

And if you look at the statistics, crime has gone way down.

So I'm sorry to see him go, but I'm sure I'll be calling him up every once in a while just so I can get that Beverly in again.

So good luck to you.

I will terribly miss you, but we'll be calling you so we can have fun again with Beth and everybody else.

And um just to say uh good luck to you.

I don't know what your future endeavors are, but I'm sure whatever they will be, you will exceed at those.

So happy to have known you.

My life wouldn't be as good as it is, is you just added to one more thing that I have in my life to be thankful for, a great chief to work for.

And um the citizens I know are happy with you as well, and I can say that because they call me all the time.

So, with that, thank you, thank you, thank you for all you're done.

Be well and stay safe.

See you soon.

Thank you.

Chief, like everybody here, I want to thank you for what you've done.

We appreciate it.

I want to wish you all the luck in the world for your new venture, whatever that may or may not be.

And as you may not want to admit, your knowledge of the Catholic football league in Chicago is not as good as you think it is.

Chief Evans.

I got to work with you for about a year, as long as I've been a council member, and it's been nothing but great.

Um, you whenever I had a problem with the resident, and the resident needed help, you're at a moment's notice, you help, and that goes a long way for myself and for the Joliet residents.

Um you're a great guy, you're a great leader for all the men and women in Joel uh in the police force.

And thank you for all you've done.

Thank you for your service.

And you've been a cop longer than I've been alive.

Um, that's a good one.

You know, but turn his mic off.

And if you no, you don't look old though, you look good.

So I know you're a boxer, and if you decide to start teaching boxing, let me know.

So uh thank you for all your service and thank you.

Oh you are everything that I would have imagined if I could wave a magic wand, you're everything I would have imagined uh chief to be, and more.

You care so much about the city of Joliet.

You helped us improve so many things, including protecting the waterway.

So many things under your leadership have gotten so much better.

And I'm not I was never really that worried about a city like this with you in charge, because I know this city is militarized and ready to go.

If we're ready um, you know, for any disaster that could possibly happen under you.

So you have some very big shoes to fill, and I know we are gonna miss you tremendously.

You're just literally everything that we would have wanted.

So we are gonna miss you so much.

Thank you very much for your dedicated service.

Thank you.

Chief, I know you're sitting back there silently.

I will defend Beverly against the councilwoman.

All right, you're in good company.

I believe that's where George went, otherwise known as the guy who played Norman Chairs was born and raised.

Am I correct?

So you know, I didn't know who what an Evans was when I first heard about you four years ago from the staff, and we're gonna hire a new guy.

He'd be really good.

I gotta say, I liked you from the very moment I and respected you from the very moment I met you.

You've done a tremendous job.

However, since you've announced that you're gonna be retiring, every time I see you, I ask you a question, don't I?

I'm gonna ask you one last time.

What do we need to do to keep it here another five years?

Come on, here you're on the spot.

No.

You know what?

You were the consummate professional.

You've done a tremendous job, and and talking to your troops, then they love you.

And that doesn't come easy in a position of of leadership and authority.

So you're going to be missed.

You've left it.

You have left this house in a better order than you found it.

You have.

Congratulations on your retirement.

Chief Evans, you know, uh, years ago, I heard uh your name as a candidate.

So, of course, I did a little investigation work.

Uh I had a talk to uh Raher from Cook County and uh Mike Matthews and a few of the other people there at Excel, and they said nothing, nothing but great things about you.

And it was so good to hear you.

You did a great job here every time I made a phone call.

We had an issue you would take care of, and I appreciate everything you did for the Citizens of Julia, everything you did for me, and um we're gonna miss you.

You did a great job, and uh we'll talk to you soon.

So yeah, thank you for for all your your your work and service working with you closely in our most recent uh parade uh for the Mexican Independence Day Parade was one of our experiences that I had with you personally, trying to make sure that everyone felt secure and everyone felt you know safe being at this parade, especially with everything that was going on in our communities at the time.

I think you've always made it a point to make sure that our entire city of Joliet feels safe at every corner of our city, and that was a prime example uh right now and today in social media, everything gets out there, and uh there was a social media post that probably had over 600 comments about how everybody enjoyed the parade, felt safe at the parade, families were out there.

So just thank you for considering the entire city and making sure everyone felt safe in the city of Joliet.

Thank you for your service.

Okay.

All right.

Okay, now we will have a presentation for the annual updates on historic preservation activities, projects, and initiatives presented by Jane Bernhard, planning director.

All right, good evening.

That was a tough fact to follow.

Okay.

My name is Jane Bernhardt, and I am the planning director of the City of Juliet, and I also serve as the staff liaison to the city's historic preservation commission.

And I'm here tonight to provide an update on major initiatives that staff and the city's historic preservation commission are working on to promote our city's heritage and recognize our meaningful places.

I know we have um several uh preservation commission members in the room tonight, so thank you for joining us.

And my attendance here also coincides with May being National Historic Preservation Month.

And also on the agenda tonight is the acceptance of the 2025 annual report for the Historic Preservation Commission and three proclamations bestowing the historic preservation awards.

I want to start this presentation with a quick overview of historic preservation as a function of local government here in Juliet.

The City Council in 1990 determined it necessary to preserve buildings, structures, and sites of historical and architectural significance, noting that these buildings, structures, and sites are important cultural, educational, and economic assets of the city of Joliet, and the character of the neighborhoods in which they are located should not be lost through inappropriate expansion, alteration, or change of use or appearance.

The 1990 Historic Preservation Ordinance established procedures and regulations for the designation of local landmarks and historic districts, and authorized the creation of the historic preservation commission.

And here on the screen is the Joseph Campbell House on Nicholson Street, and then the Jacob Henry Mansion was on the previous slide on Eastern Avenue.

These are two of the earliest designations that the city approved under the Historic Preservation Ordinance.

The Romanesque Revival style church here at 212 Richards Street is now home to the Christ Temple Apostolic Faith Church.

And this is one of our most recent designations.

We have a total of 11 designated historic properties ranging in architectural styles from the stately Romanesque revival style church to the bungalow here at 410 Whitney Avenue.

Juliet also has nine buildings individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and there are four National Register Historic Districts.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official federal list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that are significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture.

And then I also want to uh make everyone aware that we have two national scenic byways that cross through Joliet.

Historic Lincoln's Highway and Historic Route 66.

The 1990 ordinance also established policies and procedures to ensure that the historic integrity of designated properties are being protected.

Staff and the Preservation Commission for certain cases reviews certificates of appropriate applications, which are essentially pre-building permits.

And this is to ensure that the work that is being proposed is appropriate.

The commission conducted zero reviews in 2025 and have conducted zero reviews to date in 2026.

Staff, however, have conducted 15 administrative reviews in 2025, and then three reviews and approvals so far in 2026, including this project at 600 Western Avenue, which is for a new side and rear porch.

And now I want to highlight the major projects that city staff and the commission have been overseeing over the last year.

And before I do this, I want to point out that the City of Joliet, by having a qualified historic preservation commission, an effective historic preservation ordinance, and a system for the survey and inventory of local historic resources, has been certified by the state of Illinois as a certified local government, also in our world called a CLG, which makes the city eligible for state and federal preservation related grant funding opportunities.

The city received a CLG grant in 2024 to fund a study that documents the history and culture of the Joliet Area Black Community.

We also received another CLG grant in 2025 to conduct oral histories in conjunction with this project.

And I'm happy to report that we are in the final stages of this project with a draft report currently under review, and last year included community interview events, outreach, and oral history development.

Through the Interstate 80 Displaying Zover Bridge Community Plan project, we also manage the collection of oral histories in 2025, focusing on places, people, or events that are important to understanding the history and culture of the community surrounding the I-80 Bridge over the Displains River.

The Joliet Comprehensive Plan.

This kicked off in the summer of 2025, and there is a plan emphasis on neighborhood identity, historic preservation, and cultural celebration.

Joliet's greatest strength is its people, and across every neighborhood, residents share pride in the city's history, diversity, and creative spirit.

On January 21st of this year, we held the Arts, Culture and Heritage Workshop right here in the City Council Chambers, which focused on four areas related to arts, cultural, and heritage.

This was our highest attended workshop with over 50 people attending for the art thematic workshops.

I want to note why is everyone staring off into their phones on this screen, the image up here.

So we use this online engagement tool called Mentimeter, which was allowing us as staff in the committee to ask questions to the attendees, and they were able to input their responses anonymously, and we as staff in the committee were able to collect their input in real time so that their information was appearing on the screen, everyone could see it.

So that was an efficient and anonymous way to collect information.

Then the last few years and into the present, staff from almost all city departments over there, as well as our community departments or partners have been planning and executing projects to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of Route 66 and poison the city to welcome visitors from all over the world.

Another initiative that we have been doing every May is our places matter Facebook campaign, which occurs daily, and this highlights how our diverse, distinctive, and historic buildings, structures, and neighborhoods play an important role in our overall efforts to maintain an interesting, vibrant, and authentic city.

And then I want to close by mentioning that there is a variety of information available on the historic preservation web page on the city's website, such as the National Register nominations and survey reports like the St.

John's Neighborhood Historic Resource Survey.

There's an interactive historic resources database that uses a GIS viewer.

We have our historic residential commercial guidelines manual, and there is information on how to navigate the building permit process for designated historic properties.

Thank you for allowing me to share staff's and the commission's enthusiasm for our meaningful historic places in Joliet as we celebrate National Historic Preservation Month.

I'm happy to answer any questions.

Nice job.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Very nice.

Okay.

Under Mayor, we have three proclamations.

First is a proclamation presenting the owners of 408 Whitney Avenue, the 21st annual Joliet Historic Preservation Award presented by Councilwoman Quilman.

Okay, City of Joliet Proclamation from the Mayor's Office.

Whereas in celebration of Historic Preservation Month, the City of Joliet wishes to recognize the owners of 408 Whitney Avenue for the restoration and repair of the exterior and interior after a major fire damage.

The circa 1891 house at 408 Whitney, which was the house of downtown businessman Aaron Vance, features distinguishing characteristics of the free classic Queen Anne and Craftsman styles with its asymmetrical shape, pedimented front gable with decorative shingles, paired windows, and craftsman styled porch.

Whereas in April of 2023, the house suffered extensive fire damage to the upper level, causing the owners to vacate the house for over two years.

The owners took their time because they wanted to restore the house.

They wanted to ensure that its distinct features such as the cedar shakes and the front gable were reinstated.

With the work finished, the 135-year-old home looks just as it did before the fire and maintains its historic integrity.

Now, therefore, I, Terry Darcy, mayor of the city of Joliet, Illinois, on behalf of the Joliet City Council and the Historic Preservation Commission, extend our most sincere appreciation to the owners of 408 Whitney Avenue as we present the 21st annual Joliet Historic Preservation Award.

Date May 19th, 2026, and it's signed by Terry Darcy, our mayor of City of Joliet.

So I know how it is to rehab an old house, especially after it's a fire.

So congratulations.

We love our city and we love our old homes.

So congratulations and please say something, then we'll take a picture after.

Yeah.

Thank you very much.

Good evening, Mayor, Council Members, Historic Preservation Committee.

Thank you very much for this award.

It has been fun yet challenging for me and my wife to work at our 135-year-old home.

The Aaron Evan's house was built in 1891, has a lot of history.

And uh we're happy, we're happy taking on this project.

We're happy doing our part in making the cathedral area and the city of Joliet a beautiful place to live.

Thank you very much again.

Thank you.

Next is a proclamation presenting the George Warden Buck Boys and Girls Club at 226th East Clinton Street, the 21st annual Joliet Historic Preservation Award presented by Councilman Cardenas.

All right, proclamation.

Whereas in celebration of Historic Preservation Month, the City of Joliet wishes to recognize a Jordan Wardombuck Boys and Girls Club for the repair and preservation of a decorative brick details on their facility at 226 East Clinton Street.

And whereas the brick and limestone Byzantine Revival style building at 226 East Clinton Street was completed in 1928 as a new synagogue for the Joliet Jewish Federation and is embellished with geometric brick relief work and whereas the Boys and Girls Club moved into the building in 1965, 13 years after the club's founding in Joliet, and has remained a committed partner within the area of the city, providing educational, vocational, and recreational opportunities to over 1,200 children between the ages of six and eighteen years old in Joliet.

And whereas the Boys and Girls Club are actively took measures to preserve the intricate brick details of the North Facade while it was being rebuilt, ensuring these details were reinstated.

Now, therefore, I, Terry Darcy, Mayor of the City of Joliet, Illinois, on behalf of the Joliet City Council and the Joliet Historic Preservation Commission, extend our most sincere appreciation to the Jordan Warden Buck Boys and Girls Club as we present the 21st Annual Joliet Historic Preservation Award today, May 19, 2026, sign our Mayor Terry Darcy.

Thank you.

Mayor, City Council, thank you very much for this.

It was kind of a surprise for us.

I've been on the board for about 20, I don't know, I forget.

Past president, current treasurer, and typically in charge of all the building repairs.

And we have no plans on moving.

So last fall, we decided to move forward with our tuck pointing program, something that we knew had to be addressed probably 10 years ago, but didn't have the money to do it.

Unfortunately, it started out on a bad note, and that was that this wall was falling down.

Um they highly recommended it that we make the repair prior to the winter.

Um we did that.

Um we found the money and if you look at the draw uh the picture, you can see that the five arches and then like the new brick above it.

All of that had to be tear down to that level and then restored.

We did that in three months.

Um it came time to do the restoration, there was quite a bit of debate whether we restore the um arches or not because it was a cost adder.

Um and the whole project was over 100,000.

A lot of money for the boys and girls club.

Anyway, we decided to move forward, and we're glad we did.

Um I'd like to give special thanks to Rich Bertie.

Um he's kind of our construction mentor.

Um he got PJ Masonry involved.

Um bid was significantly lower than the next qualified debtor.

Um they did the work on time safely, and we were done before the winter started.

Add the roofing for the repairs they did at no cost, and uh the Buck Brick Yard for somehow finding uh brick that matches.

Um that's really all I have.

I I would like to add that we are in the process of upgrading the uh window, the pool window wall that faces Joliet Central.

Um it's kind of been an eyesore if you're familiar with with what it looks like.

Um it'll be very nice when it's done.

Thank you again.

Thank you.

Last is a proclamation presenting the state St.

Joseph Roman Catholic Church at 416 North Chicago Street, the 21st annual Joliet Historic Preservation Award presented by Councilman Mudron.

Father, the rest of the group not going to come up with you.

Welcome everyone.

Proclamation.

Whereas, in celebration of the historic presentation month, the city of Joyet wishes to recognize St.

Joseph's Roman Catholic Church for its work to enhance highlight and distinct architect featuring the historic St.

Joe's Church at 416 North Chicago Street with specialty lighting.

And whereas St.

Joe's Roman Catholic Church has established was established, excuse me, in 1891 to serve the city's growing Slovanian community.

And whereas the Roman District Reavilable Style Church was completed in 1905 after the parish grew its original building, and has been a dis a distinct visual feature of the community with its repaired Romanistic red eyed style, steeping that raise the height to 156 feet, a massive stained glass rose window.

And whereas the St.

Joe's parishioners continue to take great pride in their district and unique church and have funded the lighting project out of personal donations.

Now herefore, I, Terry Darcy, mayor of the City of Joyet, and on behalf of the Joey S City Council and the Joey Historic Preservations Commission, extend our most sincere appreciation to St.

Joseph's Roman Catholic Church as we present the 21st Annual Joyette Historic Presentation Award.

Dated here today, May 19th, signed Terry Darcy, Mayor of the City of Joyette.

Mr.

Mayor, City Council, thank you for this award and the historical commission for nominating us.

The idea for uh illuminating the church originally started about 10 years ago when we were going to celebrate our 125th anniversary.

However, the technology wasn't there to do it at the time.

And so with the 135th anniversary of the parish coming up, um, I got in touch with Accent Lighting and Dave Sloan and told him, you know, what I would like to do and to highlight the architectural detail of the building, and you can see the results.

And so they did a wonderful job.

Want to thank them.

Want to thank the parishioners of the parish too, because they were behind this, and um it just turned out better than I even thought.

Thank you.

Next is the approval of the agenda.

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

Remove council memo number two seventy-eight-26 ordinance proposing the creation of a business district in the city of Joliet, Will and Kendall Counties, Illinois, and fixing the date and time for public hearing in connection with the same rock run collection business district.

So moved.

Second.

It's on motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Cardinals.

Councilman Clement?

Councilman Hugs?

Councilman Abarra?

Hi.

Councilman Marino?

Councilman Mudrin?

Councilman Quomen.

Hi.

Councilman Ridden.

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Next is citizens to be heard on agenda items.

I don't have anybody signed up, so if you would like to speak on an agenda item, this is the time.

Good evening, Mayor City Council Mate Washburn 111 North Ottawa Street with KGGLLC.

I represent uh the petitioner Ron Shelling on uh Council uh item 272 uh-26.

This is the drought and road storage facility.

Uh Mr.

Shelling couldn't be here today.

He's got some uh health issues that uh precluded him from being here, but he asked that I step up and uh address the council.

Uh certainly uh as councilman Hugg pointed out, this has been before the council before, uh, and the question that was posed was what has changed about the development?

Well, my client uh has worked diligently over the intervening uh two and a half or so years to try to find alternative users for the site, and as none have presented themselves, uh you know, the requests continue to develop this for a storage facility.

Um, as there's two of these on the agenda for this evening, uh apparently there is still a uh need for additional storage facilities as people keep buying things and uh need a place to put them as houses aren't uh automatically getting larger.

Uh but certainly uh additionally, beyond that, my client has uh you know worked collaboratively with uh local labor to try to make sure that this is a top-tier project.

Uh another question that was brought up was what are the materials uh in the staff reports and packages before uh this would comply with all of Joliet's uh non-residential design standards, which is predominantly brick and or masonry material, uh though the exact color and mix of that is to be determined.

Certainly, if there are other questions, uh be happy to uh feel done to the best of my ability, but we hope for your support tonight and believe this is a good project for the community.

Questions?

Thank you.

Thank you.

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

Okay, seeing none under appointments.

Oh, there is somebody.

Oh, any kids on the board?

Is there somebody that would like to speak on an agenda item?

If you would like to, you can come up to the podium.

That's on the board.

Yeah.

For the tattoo uh my name is George Zabala.

I'm the owner of Lifestyle Inc., been in the community for almost 50 years, uh, been tattooing for 27 years.

Um I heard about this yesterday, so I'm not really prepared and prepared, but I'm trying to go against okaying that permit for the uh the special permit for the tattoo place on 81 North Chicago Street.

Um I feel like it's not gonna be uh a great thing to do because the person who was trying to do it has not been a tattoo artist in a shop.

So being in a tattoo shop for 27 years, knowing the regulations and what Joliet has told us we had to be doing and to open this permit up to allow someone that hasn't uh put in the time and the effort to know how to not just tattoo, isn't that what I'm talking about?

I'm talking about uh bio waste, uh regular waste um permits.

I mean, there's so much stuff going into tattooing, instead of just getting the permit and doing it privately.

Like I read his stuff online.

For me, it's like I'm not going anything against the kid.

Like I think he could do be good doing something, but not within the Joliet downtown area.

He's not experienced enough to do this.

Um I'm afraid that miners are gonna get tattooed because no one's watching them.

It's in a facility where he he's been tattooing out of, and I I noticed for a fact because I busted before and told him about this, um, out of nail salons, barbershops.

You can't he's been lying the whole time.

So now you guys are gonna.

I mean, I hopefully you guys don't permit this to happen because he has never worked in the tattoo shop.

The tattoo shop that I thought he had worked in, I had called the owner.

I've been owner for four years now, but I've been tattooing Jolie after 27 years.

I know a lot of artists, a lot of owners of shops.

He has not put in his time to know exactly how to run a clean uh sanitize shop because he's been working in these places, nail salons, barbershops.

What happened to the needles?

Needles have to be regulated and sent into a biohazard box and sent off, and you get a receipt for that.

I do it every month.

Same thing with sanitizing, same thing with uh with uh autoclaves, uh sport testing, all this stuff has to be regulated.

So, like we have the the health department come out to our shop every year.

We know her very well.

She checks everything out, everything's up to par.

MSD sheets for everything that's in his shop.

Does he have that?

I mean, there's a lot that goes into this, and he hasn't been in the shop to know what it takes to become uh a shop owner or studio one.

So for me, as being a tattoo artist in Joliet for 27 years, it's kind of and it's not just me telling this.

I was supposed to have a lot of people come here, but they're all working right now.

Today was my day off, so it was me to the bite the boat to come here.

But the thing is, I say this because I respect tattooing, I respect Juliet, spend my home forever.

So like to see this happen, and it's in downtown where you everyone's you know, making it a beautiful place again.

I I don't I don't really recommend that permit to go through.

I mean, that's my opinion.

There's an opinion of a lot of shop owners that would have been here if it wasn't working.

I called them all today, they're all tattooing right now.

So on my behalf, George Zabala, I've been in this community for almost 50 years, tattooing 27 years.

It's nothing against the kid.

If he wants to go on the outskirts, like we all have to do, well, I have no problem with that.

He's trying to go into the center of a downtown.

I don't feel like that's fair to any of us.

Okay, is there anyone else who would like to speak on an agenda item this evening?

Uh my name is Joseph Spilley.

Uh I'm the petitioner of what will be the private tattoo studio located at 81 North Chicago Street.

Um I've never had the pleasure of meeting George before.

He actually works at a shop where I got my first tattoo.

Um he owns the shop.

It used to be another shop.

Um at the same shop my dad got his complete full body of work done.

Um I think I know the general worry.

Uh I'm not going to be advertising as a walk-in shop.

All of my MSD sheets are clear.

My spore testing is I'm available for you guys to be seen.

I've actually been inspected by uh the health department twice before and after renovation and pass both of both of those times.

I have uh proof of both of those here today.

Um I did a traditional apprenticeship at Tattoo City in Lockport, and then it came to an election time where there was fundamental differences in the room, so I decided to opt out and kind of um pursue a private studio that allowed my clients to kind of come into a judgmental free zone where politics wasn't a topic of discussion.

Um I have a lot of respect for tattooing as well.

Uh for anybody who's been doing it longer than kind of I've been able to walk.

I've expressed to George, I've expressed to um the woman who's done my dad's tattoos that works at the same shop.

Uh I'm not here to impose, I'm not here to replace anybody.

Um if George is a doctor, uh, I'm only a dentist.

Um, and in that way I'm only working on teeth, and I could understand how um the medical field can be kind of general and someone can be worried about that.

Um but I actually send a lot of clients towards his shop because there's a whole section of tattoos um that I don't participate in.

I only do one style of tattooing.

It's extremely niche, and it's um for a crowd that comes to me specifically.

Uh I understand the worries, every proof, and um I've done a lot of studying.

It didn't um require me to be in a shop for a lot of years because I didn't have a lot of years to spend on this mastery.

Um I had to take it rather quickly.

Um like I said, I didn't want to offend any of the other shops in the area.

I'm not trying to replace or take any of the other clients.

My clients are set in stone for just about the next four months, so um, this isn't something that uh I want to use to offend or do anything like that.

Um that's all thank you.

Okay.

I wasn't gonna be up and I wasn't gonna get up and say anything, but this thing on this green road here for the annexation, I mean vacation of the very part of Breen Road here for the North Point thing.

I don't think you know you should have to keep on taking away public roads, you know, roads that people live on and make it inconvenience for them to have to go way around to get back to her home.

You know, there's people that live right there off of 53.

I'm Breen Road there, and what they want to do then they vacate that, they make them go maybe all the way down Arsenal Road, have to come way back full circle to try to get back to your homes instead of you know just get right out 53 and get right there home.

You know, you these big corporations come in here, they got their plans and everything.

You know, did you look at how many of you know where the roads are and where you want to build your stuff at?

I think you should have looked before and stopped trying all of a sudden now you think you want to start taking away uh public roads to people because I remember when Joey said, Yeah, Joe, you have let center point come to you guys and have you guys vacate Patterson Patterson Road for us all the way out to br out to Brandon Road.

Needless to say the frustration of being stuck in the truck traffic on Larry Way Road trying to get the brand and road to get to town here was a big hassle.

Big headaches.

But that's what you do when you vacate public roads there that people live on, and it's their way of getting in and out conveniently, and I don't think so.

You know, you got all that land you bought.

Put your inner and exit to your bridges on your own property that you bought.

Don't be taking public roads to do it.

Put it on your own role, because why?

You might have to make a smaller warehouse somewhere on your land.

Well, too bad.

Shouldn't have to take away public roads for people.

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

Okay, seeing none under appointments.

The mayor is recommending Robert D.

Casey be appointed to the historic preservation commission, replacing Kevin Heinemann.

Is there a motion to approve?

Second.

It's been motion seconded to approve.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Councilman Barrow?

Aye.

Councilman Marino.

Aye.

Councilman Mudron.

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman.

Aye.

Councilman Ridden.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinals.

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

The mayor is recommending Elaine Bottomley, Katie Goulis, Kelly Roder Tanelli, and Gail Golek be reappointed to the Joliet Public Library Board.

Is there a motion to approve?

Sound moved.

Second.

Any comments, questions?

Thank you.

It's been motioned and seconded to approve.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman Abarra.

Aye.

Councilman Marino?

Aye.

Councilman Mudron.

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman.

Aye.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinals?

Aye.

Councilmanclement?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

The mayor is recommending John Jamantis be reappointed to the committee on citizens with disabilities.

Is there a motion to approve?

So moved.

Second.

Any comments?

Thank you.

It's been motion and seconded to approve.

Councilwoman Navarro?

Aye.

Councilman Marino?

Aye.

Councilman Mudron?

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman.

Aye.

Councilman Merden.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinals.

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

The mayor is recommending Karen Fonte and Jim Teston be reappointed to the tree advisory board.

Is there a motion to approve?

So moved.

Second.

Any comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's been motioned and seconded to approve.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudron.

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman.

Aye.

Councilman Ridden.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinals.

Aye.

Councilman McClement?

Aye.

Councilman Hugs.

Aye.

Councilman Abarra?

Aye.

Sorry.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Next our council committee reports.

We'll start with communication technology and information systems.

Okay.

Uh CTIS committee met May 6th, 2026 in the executive conference room.

On the committee and in attendance were council members Cardenas, Moreno, and me, along with the city staff.

We had five agenda items.

Our first item, five-year contract with video tech of Genitech for 83,872.

Video Tech supports our video management, access control, and physical security operations across our facilities.

The multi-year contract saved us 36,488.

Second, contract with a CDWG for Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure subscription.

Licensing and hardware support renewal in the amount of 101,687.

Nutanix maintains a reliable, secure, and fully supported operation of our core server infrastructure.

Our third item, uh renewal of VMware licensing for $66,000, $14.08.

The city relies on M or VMware to operate over 80 virtual servers which support the IT environment and maintains reliable, efficient, and flexible systems for staff and city operations.

Four, a three-year renewal to uh Avolve Project Docs premium bundle for 129,210.

Upgrading to the Avolve Project Docs premium bundle strike strengthens the city's development review operations by adding GIS integrate integration, mobile field tools, expanding analytics and data warehouse connectivity.

These support more efficient inspections, greater reviewer productivity, improved insight onto workload and performance trends.

And finally, the fifth was contract with Forte for the Joliet City Square requirements for installing the initial audio video security lighting and related infrastructure needed to operate the various AV systems.

This sets the stage for future infrastructures such as a video wall and other A V expansions.

The system is controlled and monitored remotely by the city.

The cost is $554,742, for which $225,000 is a heritage corridor grant, and the remainder is in our capital budget for this project.

I want to just say thank you to Jeff Pra for your assistance with this project.

I don't know if he's heard today.

Our recommendation.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you.

Diversity and community community relations.

Thank you.

The diversity and community relations committee met on Thursday, May 14th at 4 30 in Council Chambers.

In attendance were Councilman Clement, Councilman Marino, and myself, along with the community development director, Dustin Anderson, Cultural Affairs, and Special Events Director and Sylvester, Special Events Manager Charlene Boyd and CBDG program manager Bridget Rohr.

We approved the minutes from September 11th, 2025 meeting.

There were two items under New Orleans Business, not for final action, a recommendation.

First was an update regarding the Black Joy Parade special events manager, Charlene Boyd provided an overview of the Black Joy Parade taking place on Saturday, August 29th, including the parade route, a city square community celebration following the parade, event organizers, history of the parade, parade timeline, and the five parade committees.

Secondly, Bridget Roar provided an overview of the community development block grant, CBDG program, including the 2025 through 2029 consolidated plan approved in 2025 by City Council, which included eligibility criteria, project categories, 2026 HUD allocation totals, the application process, the number of applications received for 2026, evaluation criteria, requesting input for the committee for the senior snow removal program and the owner-occupied minor home repair program.

There was also a proposal to set a date for the next meeting, which will be held on May 28th at 4 30 and council chambers.

Mark your calendars.

Do you have anything to add, Councilman Clement or Councilman Marino?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Finance.

Finance commitment committee met here in the chamber today at 5 30 on the committee's Councilwoman Reardon and Councilman Hugg and myself.

It was relatively short meeting.

We had an ordinance for the Rock Run Business District that has been taking off the agenda for this meeting.

Monthly financial statements, the general fund revenues are coming in as expected.

The sewer and water fund revenues are trending on budget also.

The parking fund revenues expense are trending according to budget.

This would be January through March.

Notable attendance was 718 at the prison, 323 at the museum, museum's welcome center, uh 312 at concerts and 254 via field trips.

Visitors came from came from 27 different states and 15 countries.

We also got the beginning of the presentation for the 27 budget.

The finance department will be formally launching the 2027 fiscal year budget season.

Our goal is to have the budget uh ready for adoption in early October.

Sherry.

That'd be my report.

Thank you.

And finally, we have public service.

And finally, all right.

Public service, thank you.

Public Service Committee met here yesterday, May 18th, 2026 in the council chambers.

Um present and on the committee is Councilwoman Rodin, Councilman Mudron, and myself, and a short agenda, only for contract items.

Uh one is the 2026 Street Light Assembly Painting Project for 84,300 uh with a contract to be awarded if approved to Cosborough Construction Incorporated.

So people watching all the the vast majority of street lights in Joliet are not owned by Joliet, don't own by Comet.

So if you see the typical ones, there's not too many wood ones left.

Most of them are that concrete poles.

That's not ours.

This is a relatively low number.

These are the decorative ones that we actually own.

A lot of them are downtown in some of the historic areas, like along, I believe Areno Avenue.

These are actually, I think, uh copyrighted.

You know, we have a trademark on them.

Just for ours.

So they they have to be repainted every every so often so they don't rust out.

Um then we also looked at a contract uh you know a yearly contract for pavement marking uh program uh for $37,000 uh that should be awarded to America's parking remarketing.

I like that name, America's Parking Remarketing LLC.

And we also looked at the the purchase of traffic barriers, Meridian Rapid Defense Group Sales LLC, that'd be about 126,000.

Visa will be utilized for events specifically downtown on the plaza, as well as our Christmas parades or other things that we have going on that could be used at I think somebody mentioned the uh Mexican Independence Day Parade.

You know, they'll be used.

These are basically they're commonly referred to as anti-terrorist uh uh blocks or are uh what would you call uh uh barriers.

I'm sorry, anti-terrorism.

So right now we've gone to where we rent them when we have events, and I think it's the city intention it in the long haul to be less expensive to actually own them.

And I think we'll probably end up adding more as the air goes goes on, but we've got to work within a budget.

Um so the unique thing about this too is actually we don't want anything to happen, but more and more things have happened nationwide at parades.

You know, we've already said it was mentioned tonight today uh when they are honoring the chief about uh the 4th of July thing.

So these are approved by the federal government to the point that the federal government, if they were to fail, indemnifies the city from any liability.

So that's kind of an interesting thing.

So we looked at that.

Then we looked at approval of a professional service agreement with Strange Associates Incorporated, the International Code Council and H.R.

Green for an on-call development review for the rock run collection development.

Um that will be in the consent agenda today.

We have looked into it and talked about it.

Now, using outside engineers is is not unique or in common now.

What I I would like, if you don't mind us, and you can explain so we understand why we need to not you know to to on this project, and let me know if it's only this project, this is not a new policy, right?

Why why we need to use outside, if you will, inspectors instead of the staff.

I think there's a number of answers for that question, Councillor Hugg.

Uh first, I want to say that the staff that we have is highly technically proficient.

This isn't uh to replace the work that our employees do, but it is to be a force multiplier.

The Rock Run Collection Project, uh, as you remember from the last council meeting has some very aggressive timelines that are tied to financial incentives that the city and the developer will share in the enjoyment of.

So with that uh that aggressive schedule and the volume of work, it is necessary to have additional hands on deck to accommodate that additional volume.

So this isn't a new policy within the department.

This is specifically for this, if you will, mega project.

Uh yes, sir.

Okay, and actually the final determination, approval or not, or inspection is still done by our professional staff.

The final inspection of any building project.

Certainly, yes.

The the last person uh to look at that and give its beneficial will be a city of Joliet employee.

Okay, because what what these companies would now the ICC to explain it, that is actually the international association that kind of is the mothership for uh inspectors.

It sets uh standards or recommended standards for for building inspections and and building codes.

And if you're a Y city, and we are, all of your inspectors need to be certified by that organization, correct?

Uh you know, I'd be happy to give you a list of the certifications that our employees have earned.

I don't want to misrepresent any uh technical certifications, but yes, uh a comprehensive understanding and knowledge of the International Code Council is necessary.

Okay, so so the you know, this is just uh uh a one and done kind of thing because of the the size of the project, is my understanding?

Yes.

And you said the aggressive timeline uh uh deadlines that that they have between in this case Dick Sporting Goods, uh the developer colour and other uh uh slated uh so it's not something it's not something that's a new policy at all.

Absolutely not.

Okay.

Um and we have a fair, I guess then that we can't fall behind on some of the deadlines, so we're not saying uh with 100% certainty that our staff couldn't do it, but because of the volume of work we're saying, that would be a risk, and we can't take that risk, we need to back it up with this.

I'm sorry, someone caught that in hear your entire question.

Um what you're saying is you know, we can't say for sure that that that we could, you know, staff wouldn't handle it, but it would be a risk, and the risk would be detrimental to the timelines if the risk were to come true.

I I think there is a clear and present risk to uh have the city be partially responsible for a faltered deadline if we were to assume all this work in house.

I think that is a fair thing to say.

And just as uh an additional note, when we review plans for all the people who submit plans for construction who want to invest in our community, both residential owner occupied businesses staying businesses coming.

We review those as a first come first serve.

We don't really have a policy for where someone can line jump.

So if we said, yeah, we want to keep this in, and we're gonna clear the decks and do only rock run collection, that would come at the cost of time and investment of the people who are already in line.

So the ability to supplement our already uh highly uh qualified staff to keep those people who are already in line uh getting their inspections done in a timely and efficient manner while also meeting our deadlines that we've uh entered into an agreement with at the last council meeting.

I would suggest is uh a prudent and responsible decision.

And uh just to reiterate uh so what these third parties would be doing if this is approved, is they will be reviewing the plan before it's the construction starts, and if there's any problems that don't meet code or our ordinances and and you know uh accepted industry standards, like our like our staff does, they they would note those and say, hey, you need to change this in your plan before you start, correct?

Yes, so both the ICC and HR Green have copies of our ordinances and are reviewing the architectural plans based on our adopted ordinances.

They uh so I don't want to get too deep in the weeds, but the system that we use that you just uh heard in a prior committee uh report called Project Docs by Evolve.

Uh we can assign those outside uh reviewers from either ICC or HR Green as reviewers in project docs.

Our employees right now can also see those same projects.

So there's not a curtain or a veil that would separate the City of Juliet staff from seeing that uh review that is ongoing by those outside reviewers.

And and the downside reviewers, you know, the these third parties won't be doing the final okay.

They'll be okay.

No, we we will be physically uh in the field, we will be laying eyes on it.

The city of Joliet and our employees.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

I don't know if anybody else has any questions about that because it was kind of a unique item.

Um we looked at all four of those contracts and all four contracts were passed forward by this by the com uh committee with uh recommendation to approve.

Um the change order of pay estimates, final payments.

Uh we had one for 89,410.

Uh this is part of our lead service replacement that it's been going for several years to Stip Brothers.

We looked at that.

Actually, this is a forgivable loan is we refer to it as.

So this was additional money so that if uh if uh unknown lead uh services or lead pipes, which are mainly Jolie had never had lead pipes other than lead service to the house that uh builders put in.

If they're discovered along the way, we need to have that money approved so they can replace them.

And it doesn't cost that we don't charge the homeowners.

And as long as we use those loans for lead service removal or lead removal, um it's forgiven.

The EPA forgives the loan.

So we looked at that and that was voted on and sent forward with a recommendation to approve.

It's just uh another uh part of a uh ongoing very successful um program that we've been doing for I probably at least six or seven years.

And then we had the three items under ordinance and resolutions, two of them had to do with the same construction problem and they're just uh housekeeping as we call them, their easement agreements um from comed for the West Acre uh Glenwood and West Acres water main improvement project.

So we looked at those and those are standard uh easement agreements that are needed for that type of construction, and both of those were sent forward with uh committee recommendation to approve after voting on it.

And uh we looked at a resolution authorizing the execution of an intergovernmental agreement with pace regarding trap uh transit shelters.

What we we've had an agreement with PACE since 2011 with uh it lays out the maintenance, the construction of new uh transit shelters or bus shelters, uh the maintenance as well as the advertising, and in that uh period of years, there was a third party called Titan that took care of the advertising.

They will no longer be involved under the new agreement.

Pace will be completely involved.

Pays cannot build any new bus stations anywhere in the city without city approval.

So that hasn't changed either.

And the city will continue to get 50% of the revenue from the advertising from pace.

So we looked at that, and uh really was the same agreement we've had since 2011, except we're taking out the middleman, and it's gonna be pace in the city doing it now.

And uh it was sent forward with committee voting to recommend approval to the full city council, and the last item we really looked at was an application for a drive-thru permit for Zaxby's restaurant, Larkin Avenue, 110 Southland, Larkin Avenue.

Uh staff recommended its approval, showed us you know how they're retrofitting a building, you know that was under older code and it's gonna be done right.

It won't impede traffic, so um we looked at it and we took the recommendation staff and sent it forward to you folks there on the council or the vote to go ahead and approve as a council.

Did I miss anything?

No, I think it's worth noting because people always say, where is that on Market?

It's the uh former Wendy's, so that's what exactly.

There you go.

Free advertising.

So yes, the former Wendy.

So I'm sure we'll all stop either when it opens like we've always done.

We we'd like to support our local businesses as they they come in and remain.

Mayor, that's all I have.

Thank you.

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

It is recommended the minutes of the pre-council meeting May 4th, 2026, and the city council meeting held on May 5th, 2026, stand approved as recorded.

Invoices to be paid.

It is recommended this report be approved.

Council Memo number 258-26, purchase of interior wall painting and sanding services for fire station number one and fire station nine from Smith Painting Services in the amount of sixty-seven thousand and sixty-two dollars.

Council Member No.

Street Light Assembly Painting Project, contract A to Cosgrove Construction Incorporated, in the amount of eighty-four thousand three hundred dollars.

Council Member No.

MFT section number twenty-six-00575-00-st to America's parking remarking LLC in the amount of 307,416.

Council Member No.

261-26, approval of purchase of traffic barriers from Meridian Rapid Defense Group Sales LLC in the amount of 126,344 dollars and six cents.

Councilmember number two sixty-two-26, approval of a professional services agreement with Strand Associates Incorporated, International Code Council, ICC and HR Green for on-call development review for the rock run collection development.

Councilmember number two sixty-three-26, approval of change order number three for the lead service line replacement phase four contract to STIP Brothers Excavating Incorporated in the amount of eighty-nine thousand four hundred and ten dollars.

Councilmember number two sixty-four-26, award of contract to video tech for five-year renewal of Genitech Advantage Support Agreement in the amount of eighty-three thousand eight hundred and seventy-two dollars.

Councilmember number two sixty-five-26, award of contract to C DWG for Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure Subscription, licensing and hardware support renewal in the amount of 101,687.

101,687.

Councilmember number 266-26, a word of contract to Heartland Business Systems for VMware, an annual renewal in the amount of $66,014 and eight cents.

Councilmember number 267-26, award of contract to evolve for the three-year renewal of Project Docs premium bundle in the amount of 129,210.

Council Member No.

268-26, a word of contract to Forte for the Joliet City Square AV background music system project in the amount of $554,742.

It is recommended Council Memos 258-26 through 268-26 be approved.

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

So moved.

Second Any comments, questions?

Thank you.

It's been motion, seconded to approve.

Councilman Mudron.

All right.

Councilwoman Quillman.

Aye.

Councilman Rudin.

Aye.

Council McCartanus.

Aye.

Councilman McClement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman Abarra?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Motion carried.

Under licenses and permit applications.

Council Memo number two seventy-26 application for a drive-thru permit for a Zaxby's restaurant at 11 South Larkin Avenue.

It is recommended Council Member number 270-26 be approved.

So comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's a motion and seconded to approve.

Councilwoman Quillman.

Aye.

Councilwoman Verden.

Aye.

Council McCartanus?

Hi.

Council McClement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug.

And just for emphasis, it's on Larkin Avenue 110 in the old Wendy's building.

Aye.

Councilwoman Barra?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudron?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Under ordinances.

Council Memo number two seventy-two-26.

Ordinances associated with the development of 1701 Droughton Road.

Ordinance approving a special use permit to allow a self-storage facility located at 1701 Droughton Road.

ZBA 2025-51.

Ordinance approving a variation of use to allow a B3 general business use in the B1 neighborhood business zoning district located at 1701 Droudden Road.

ZBA 2025-52.

It is recommended said ordinance be adopted.

Second.

Any comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's been motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Rudin?

No.

Councilman Cardinus?

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

No.

Councilman Barra?

No.

Councilman Marino?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin?

Aye.

Councilman Quillman.

No.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Council Mel number two seventy-three-26.

Ordinance approving a variation of use to allow the continuation of a three-unit residence and R for multifamily residential use in the R2 single family residential zoning district located at 201 North William Street.

ZBA 2026-22.

It is recommended said ordinance be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Comments or questions?

Mayor?

Yeah.

Whose district is this?

Pat.

Is it sure, Pat?

Are we good with this?

I just wanted to go to the next slide.

You've been down zoning it for a long time.

I'm fine.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Okay.

It's been motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Cardinus?

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hugs?

Aye.

Councilwoman Barron?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin?

Aye.

Councilwoman Quoman?

No, we've been trying to uh down zone a lot of these uh places that have been multi-family multi-family for a long time.

And I notice lately we've been allowing uh multifamily back after the Cathedral Area Preservation Association Historic Preservation has been trying very hard to get our neighborhoods back to single family.

So I have to vote no.

Councilwoman Rudin?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy?

Aye.

Motion carried.

Councilmember number two seventy-four-26.

Ordinance approving a special use permit to allow a self-storage facility located at 2450 West Jefferson Street, ZBA 2026-16.

It is recommended said ordinance be adopted.

Motion approved.

Second.

Any comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's been motioned and seconded to approve.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

No.

Councilman Barra?

No.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin?

Aye.

Councilman Corman?

No.

Councilman Burden?

No.

Councilman Cardinus?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Councilmember number two seventy-five-26.

Ordinance and resolution associated with the vacation of a portion of Breen Road.

Ordinance approving a vacation of 76,289 square feet of Breen Road east of Route 53, V-2-26.

Resolution accepting the dedication of a public utility easement along Breen Road east of Illinois Route 53.

It is recommended said ordinance be adopted.

Second.

Comments or questions?

Mayor, if you don't mind.

Just to be clear for anybody watching, because this has been an ongoing project.

This is a necessary part of the closed loop that we're requiring.

Correct.

Right, right, right.

This is a necessary part of the closed loop system.

That's correct.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Okay.

It's a motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman Abarra?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudron?

Aye.

Councilman Quillman?

Aye.

Councilman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinus?

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Councilmember number two seventy-six-26.

Ordinance approving a plat of vacation for a 3.788 acre drainage and city utility easement along the former bridge road right of way south of Gladys Avenue and north of Knoll Road.

It is recommended said ordinance be adopted.

Thank you.

It's a motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Abarra?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilman McQuillman?

Aye.

Councilman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinals.

Aye.

Councilman Clement.

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Councilmember number two seventy seven-26.

Ordinance associated with the tenant space at 81 North Chicago Street.

Ordinance approving a special use permit to allow a tattoo studio located at 81 North Chicago Street.

ZBA 2026-13.

Ordinance approving a variation of use to allow a B3 General Business Zoning District use in the B2 Central Business Zoning District, located at 81 North Chicago Street, ZBA 2026-14.

It is recommended said ordinance be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Any comments or questions?

I have a question, Mayor.

We had somebody come up there, and I respect I think it's great that anybody in the industry takes enough pride in our industry that they show up to support their industry in the right ways.

So the only question I have, the gentleman that spoke, when it comes to the health related, who monitors it?

You know, he was talking about disposal needles.

He was talking about certain things that are required to be done properly, biohazard and stuff.

Does the city monitor this or does the county monitor?

I mean who or does nobody monitor it?

The city does not monitor it.

The county monitors it the health department.

The county health department does.

So it is a monitor.

So if he's deficient, being that he's not experienced enough, they they will they will oversee that and uh remediate that, correct?

This the county would.

It's not our response.

We we have no control over that.

Correct.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hey, Joel.

You that one?

Hey, uh, you want do you mind coming up to my report?

Hey, um how many years of experience do you have?

Um, this would be my sixth year of tattooing.

Uh I like to tell people I've been doing art for a lifetime to give them the tattoo that they asked for that.

I've been drawing since I could hold a pencil.

Um I try to do more tattoos than a lot of people around to get to kind of catch up to to people like George who have been doing it a long time.

Um I ask you again.

I had left my mind.

No, yeah, so uh not gonna penalize you because I mean six years is quite quite some time uh for experience.

Um I support it, and I just want to say obviously my support comes with accountability.

Uh Larry Hug.

Councilman Hug uh did say that the county uh he asked a good question, and the county does monitor um the things that uh the other gentleman asked for sure uh with the needles, so I think we can count on the health department inspects me, they ask what I do with my needles, and I give them uh the official company that comes and picks them up once a month.

So you have that little red bucket, right?

Or whatever's not that little thing.

We all see that the doctor's office.

Exactly that.

You know, exactly that the sharks go in there, and once they're in there, they're they're there to be contained, they're never to be pulled out again.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

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

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilwoman Quillman?

No.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardenas?

Aye.

Councilman McClement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman Navarra?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Under resolutions.

Councilman number two eighty-26.

Resolution approving and authorizing the execution of the collective bargaining agreement between the city of Joliet and AFSME local 440.

It is recommended said resolution be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Just a comment, Mayor, real quick.

I know it's been a long goal on this.

Um I want to thank everybody that had a hand in it, get getting this done.

Beth, I know we spoke a few times on it, so I want to thank you and and the 440 people.

So thank you.

All right.

Real quick.

Uh yeah, I'm glad that it's finally getting done.

And happy to be here now that after a while.

So thank you.

It's a motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilman McQuillman.

Aye.

It's been a long time.

I'm glad it's finally over.

Congratulations to 440.

Councilman Rudin?

Aye.

Councilman Cardinals.

Aye.

Councilman McClellan?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman of Barra?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Councilmember number two eighty-one-26.

Resolution accepting and placing on file the Juliet Historic Preservation Commission annual report for 2025.

It is recommended said resolution be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's a motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman McQuillman?

Aye.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman McCartiness?

Aye.

Councilman Clement.

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman Abarra?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudron?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Council Memel number two eighty-two-26.

Resolution authorizing execution of a memorandum of understanding.

MOU between the City of Joliet Fire Department and the East Side Joliet Fire Protection District.

It is recommended said resolution be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Any comments or questions?

May I clarify one thing?

Because Joliet Joliet Township Joe.

A lot of us know this this fire department.

I believe this is the uh each Joliet fire department is what people refer to it as.

I just want to remind people, it's not like we have two separate fire departments here that we're doing an MOA with.

Um this isn't uh a district, fire district, a smaller fire district.

Uh they have their their fire station out on Briggs, and so this is a mutual aid agreement to help them, and they would help us if we needed it over in their area on the unincorporated east side.

I just wanted to clarify that.

Thank you.

Okay.

It's a motion and second to approve.

Councilman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman McCartanus?

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman of Barra?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilman McCloman.

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Councilman 283-26.

Resolution requesting authorization to enter into a regular 2025 justice assistance grant intergovernmental agreement between the city of Joliet and Will County.

It is recommended said resolution be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's a motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Cardinals.

Aye.

Councilman Clement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman of Barra?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudron.

Aye.

Councilman McQuillman.

Aye.

Councilman Rudin.

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Council Memo number two eighty-four-twenty-six.

Resolution approving an intergovernmental agreement with the county of will for the placement of license plate reading cameras located on county highways.

It is recommended said resolution be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's a motion and seconded to approve.

Council McClement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman of Barra?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilman McWoman?

Aye.

Councilman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinus?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Council Member number two eighty-five-26.

Resolution appropriating motor field tax funds for the 2026 pavement marking program.

MFT section number 26-00575-00-st.

It is recommended said resolution be adopted.

So moved.

Second.

Comments, questions?

Thank you.

It's a motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Hugg.

Aye.

Councilman Abarra?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilwoman McComan?

Aye.

Councilman Ruiden.

Aye.

Councilman Cardenas?

Aye.

Councilman Clemet?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Council Memo number two eighty-six-26.

Resolution accepting an easement agreement from the Command from Comed for the Glenwood and West Acres Water Main Improvement Project, Glenwood Avenue, just east of Hames Avenue.

It is recommended said resolution be adopted.

Second.

So we'll second.

Well, I was just checking.

Is it on the other hand?

Three motions on that one's voice.

We're good.

All right, thanks.

It's been motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman of Barra?

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilman McQuiman?

Aye.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Council McCartanus.

Aye.

Council McClement?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Councilman Mom number two eighty-seven-26.

Resolution accepting an easement agreement from Comed for the Glenwood and West Acres Water Main Improvement Project, Oneida Street, just east of Hames Avenue.

It is recommended said resolution be adopted.

Motion approved.

Second.

Comments, questions?

Thank you.

It's been motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Councilman Mudrin.

Aye.

Councilwoman McQuiman?

Aye.

Councilwoman Rudin.

Aye.

Councilman Cardinals.

Councilman McClellan.

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman of Barrow?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Council Member number two eighty eight-26.

Resolution authorizing the execution of an intergovernmental agreement with pace regarding transit shelters.

It is recommended said resolution be adopted.

So moved.

Thank you.

Comments or questions?

Thank you.

It's been motion and seconded to approve.

Councilman Mudron?

Aye.

Councilman McCloman.

Aye.

Councilman Rudin.

Aye.

Council McCartanus.

Councilman McClint?

Aye.

Councilman Hug?

Aye.

Councilman Abarra.

Aye.

Councilman Moreno?

Aye.

Mayor Darcy.

Aye.

Motion carried.

Next is the city manager's report.

Okay, I know we've been doing a lot of talking tonight, so I'll go quickly.

Umbers of the Joliet Police Fire Department participated in CAP on a rooftop last week for special Olympics.

They raised $4,000.

National Police Week was also last week.

Um JPD users social media last week to honor their fallen members.

In tribute to those officers, I'd like to ask for a moment of silence.

Retired Battalion Chief Dan Berta was presented with the Firefighter Excellence Award at the 33rd Annual Fallen Firefighter Memorial and Firefighting Medal of Honor Awards Ceremony in recognition of Battalion Chief Burgess Berta's actions during the Essington fire in the summer of 2025.

Officer Katie Kusharski was honored as a law enforcement person of the year at the annual Polish American Police Association Awards Banquet.

Lieutenant Andrew Jose was presented with the Leadership Communication Award by the Joliet Jesters Toastmasters Club.

He was nominated for his work with the new officer recruit training program and the Joliet Explorers Program.

May is Mental Awareness Month.

The city is committed to providing mental health care and support to its residents, ensuring that no one faces their challenges alone.

Those in need of cost-free mental health care and counseling services are encouraged to call 815-724-3506.

And finally, a reminder for submissions are open for the Neighborhood Hero Award program.

We've received six submissions so far, and submissions are due by June 8th.

They can be sent to Neighborhood Hero at Joliet.gov.

That concludes my report.

Okay.

Next we have public comments.

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

I just really want to make a comment, and my comment is just in essence to the permit for the guy with the tattoo.

I think it's honorable.

I think the fact that we say that we want to go forward in our community.

And I love I want to give all honor to his parents because he's very respectful of the other tattoo artists.

He said that I forgot other people to you.

And I wanted to say that because we are a city that's going forward, and I respect that we still have young people.

Let's not forget.

We are we may be a sister role, but we still have to go forward in our community.

And we because he is downtown, Chicago and Joliet, we bring in more younger people.

He also stated that he has clients.

So I just wanted to relax, say that because again, if we got a talent going forward, and he's respectful to the other young man as well.

And he also said he does before you could do anything, you still have to go through all these other channels.

So he's done his part diligently.

And I just want to say, as we say kudos to him and respect that we could see him coming down to our city.

I just wanted to lift him up and say thank you.

Oh, he's gone.

Oh, there he is.

Yeah, and I just wanted to be in his corners that we honor you to come into our city.

Thank you.

You can I can pass them.

Sure.

I can take it and pass it to the council.

Hi, uh my name's Ronald Sesset.

And um I just want to comment uh to Mr.

Mayor and the council people.

He did a good job downtown as I go through to get here.

Looks really beautiful, especially by the Royal Theater area.

Um today I'm here because uh back in 1991, three and a half decades ago, I built a duplex from scratch from the ground all the way up.

Brand new.

At the time, it was Inspector Jerry Stir and uh Dick Bazarone, and they had okay the blueprints before I got started.

So I went through the whole process of building the duplex over at 308-310 Thomas Ike Drive.

Um it's over by Chignoli Auto in that area.

Um you guys started this new rental program, which is really good because I and my mom, we do small rental properties in Joliet.

We've been doing this for I've been doing it for 39 years.

Uh she's been doing it since 1959.

And um, we've never had an issue before regarding egress windows in a bedroom.

Uh when I had to bring the blueprints in to get them inspected, all the windows, everything was all laid out for the city inspectors to do their job.

I certainly did my job building the place.

And we had inspected, you know, the rough, the final, and also the occupancy permit was granted.

And back in the days the fire department actually came in to make sure you had smoke detectors and everything that's supposed to be in a house, that it's okay.

So we got all the okay's, everything was fine and dandy.

Um 67 years old.

I play pickleball, I live a tranquil life.

Um all this came down in March when the rental inspection department said that my building needs to have two windows put in, one on each side of the duplex.

Um the windows, everything was all put in when I had to build uh to pay the impact fees and building inspection permit.

Everything was inspected, we got the occupancy permit.

Um been doing this for 35 years, and then in March they said we have to cut in a new window on each side to make it so people can get out.

I put one in an egress window back in 1991, because Jerry Stern told me to put one in and then everything would be okay.

So that's what I did.

And somehow, three and a half decades later, the bedroom, the second bedroom, is is no good, it's not in compliance.

I dug up stuff on the internet, and that's all the pages there, um, showing that um, if possible, I need your help.

Um, if you can possibly put in a grandfather clause, where by you know, if you met all the codes and everything for new building, new construction way back, and all of a sudden things were changed now that that even though it doesn't conform, supposedly, there's a non-conforming clause that you can add in the ordinance, grandfather in to help me out because I take pride in my buildings, and uh it hurts that I have to do something like this when I followed all the rules to the teeth, and it's just it really hurts.

And I talked to my mom, she's 95, she still does uh rentals and stuff, even at that age, and uh she can't believe it.

And and I can't either.

And it's just hard because you put your blood, sweat, and tears into building something from the ground up, and to have this we're it just doesn't make sense, you know, and and I don't know what to say.

I followed all the rules, it was inspected, the fire department came down, everything was good, and then up until March.

And then I get a notice that the windows are no good uh in March.

So the lady who did the inspection said, I'll get back to you.

So she got back to me like a week ago.

I got notice, and then they wanted me to put two windows in by uh March 28th, it's like 13 days.

How can you get windows ordered that quick?

It's not even possible.

And uh we we've done rentals with the city, we have a good working relationship, we have no qualms.

It's just that you know, this is just crazy because it was okay once, you know, by the city people, and all of a sudden it's not good now.

It doesn't make sense to me.

Um the only other option would be, like I said, you can have the grandfather clause put in.

The only other thing would be is for me to say, well, it's a flex room.

There's a lot of places, uh new builders, they they have like a flex room now, and that that's a stupid way of going about it, but it it bypasses the whole egress problem.

If I would just say I'm gonna go with the flex room.

But um, I'm hoping I can get help from you guys because uh we we really have good rental properties.

You can ride by any of them, and we're in the top one percent, we're not slum lords at all.

And I know the rental program is good because you're targeting people that don't give a crap about apartments.

We do, and uh I'm gonna say.

I said I sent all the papers in as I Google that stuff where it does say you know that a flex room can have a bed, flex room can have a closet stuff, but I don't want to go that route.

This should be all solved easily here by just a grandfather clause.

If somebody bought an old house, you know, and repairs on it, that's where this would apply.

But if it's been inspected like by two billing inspectors way back, Jerry and Dicklas room, the fire department approved, you know, you have to give three sets of blueprints and everything.

It just it just doesn't make sense.

It's not right.

So, I mean, how can you help me?

Um I need help.

I'm happy to look in into it for you, but I'll just meet you right after to get your name and phone number and address, no problem.

Thanks, Lat.

Yeah, and like I said, we we we love our property good tenants.

You know, we're not slugglers, we provide by any property, and they're probably better than most single family homes in the city of Jolia.

Yeah, honestly.

Happy to help.

If it's okay with the council, yes, yes, yes, make it happen.

Good evening, Mayor, Darcy, Councilmembers, and staff.

My name is Diane Manner.

I live at 1316 New Lengths Road, where my husband and I have been in our home for many years and raised our family.

I've come to this podium for more than a year.

Love struck stop projects and have expressed my concern.

Mayor Darcy, you were kind enough to visit our property and ride the site and look around.

We talked extensively about the issues.

Then you visited my neighbor Tammy.

You saw for yourself there would be problems with this project.

The excavator for this project ripped out critical root zone of our 50 to 80-year-old trees.

Your own city arborist documented moderate damage and said he should have been on site when the to they tore the roots out.

Excavation of a mature tree system violates the Illinois urban manual tree production standards.

It also violates the Illinois Timber Law 74.

I LCS 185 slash 2.5, which provides the triple damages when trees are injured or destroyed without consent.

I have submitted FOIA requests for permits, inspection reports, and tree protections plans related to this project.

I am not here to debate.

And who on staff will be my point of contact going forward?

I stand together with my neighbors tonight.

We need answers, not just about tree destruction, but about mailboxes damaged in yards.

Loss of privacy in our homes and light shining into windows from a sign that violates code and leaving and entering our driveway safely.

We have trucks running all night long, which is also a violation.

We have trucks going down a 12-ton road in a residential district.

What are you going to do?

This is proving loves is not a good neighbor.

We have reached out to the contractors, the city, and loves to resolve the issues that have occurred in the past few weeks.

And no one has made good on meeting with us.

They say we will have a meeting.

But when?

Our trees are crying for help.

So we are contemplating our next step.

Thank you for your time, and I await for answers.

Members of council and city manager and city staff.

I am Kaylee Matter.

I am here tonight because leadership in this building is broken.

Over the last few weeks, I have sent detailed evidence-backed emails, formal grievances, and public records requests regarding the severe structural and root damage done to the trees on my family's property.

Trees that have stood for 50 to 80 years.

And for weeks I have been met with a calculated cowardly wall of silence from almost every single one of you.

In fact, out of this entire administration, only one of you had the backbone to actually stand up and respond to me.

Peter, the city arborist.

He is the sole individual who showed a shred of professional integrity.

But where is the rest of the staff?

I want to look directly at the city manager Beth and every other department head.

Hiding behind an out-of-office reply or the silence wall.

My emails are not optional reading.

They are a paper trail of your collective negligence.

When a resident brings you clear evidence of ordinance non-compliance, safety violations, and the active destruction of their property by a city project, your job is to respond.

Your job is to investigate.

Instead, you ignored me.

You ignored tree law.

You ignored inverse condemnation concerns.

You chose to treat a local taxpayer like an inconvenience.

They would just go away if you stayed quiet long enough.

Let me be entirely clear.

I am not going away.

Your silence is an admission of guilt.

It tells me that you know exactly how badly this project was messed up.

You know the damage that was done.

And you simply do not care.

You have forced my family to hire an independent arborist to document the wreckage because your own administration refuses to take responsibility or enforce its own tree preservation codes.

Every single person on this staff who deleted an email, ignored a follow-up, or pass the buck has failed the very basic requirements of public service.

You are comfortable taking public paychecks, but completely allergic to public accountability.

I am done waiting for replies that are never going to come.

I am demanding a formal written response from the city manager's office regarding the status of the investigation into the site damage and blatant failure of communication from city staff.

You ignored me in your inboxes, but you are going to look me in the eye tonight, and you'll answer for the damage done to my family's property.

Thank you.

Hi, Mayor Darcy and City Council members.

My name is Tammy Cornhour, and I live at 640 Oakview Avenue and unincorporated Joliet.

I own the brick ranch that butts right up to the brown fence that loves installed in my front yard.

That is 68 feet from my front window.

I was told right along that there would be a berm with a fence on it so that I would be protected from prying eyes of who knows where they're from, where they're going, who they are, what kind of people they are in the truck stop.

I can stand in my living room right now.

I didn't get a berm.

It's right on the floor, and I can see the whole parking lot and all the trucks and everybody in it.

And guess what?

That means they can see me too.

And I do not feel safe at my home.

I've lived there 32 years.

And I picked the unincorporated area because of the laid-back lifestyle.

And now you approve the Love's truck stop, and I want to know why I am being discriminated against when you go down Oakview Avenue.

There's a berm and a fence.

And the house is four times the distance from that fence that I am.

I'm 68 feet, and I can see into the parking lot, and they can see me.

I need help.

Who is going to help me to correct this wrong?

I feel totally unsafe.

Totally unsafe there.

And at the end of the fence, it's open.

It's not even fenced all the way off.

You can walk right down and walk right down into my yard.

I don't know the people there.

And I don't think that I should have to spend the rest of my uh retired years in my home, which is my retirement portfolio that I've lost all my a lot of my uh value on my home.

Who's gonna want to buy my home?

People say, well, go ahead and move.

I can't.

I can't sell it.

I lost money.

I lost 100,000 dollars, probably from what has happened to me.

And now I have to sit and look at it, and they look at me.

24-7.

So who can I go to for help for this?

This is wrong.

Everybody else has a little bit of a well, they don't have to look at it.

I have to look at it 24-7, and it's wrong.

If any of you wanted to come out and look at it, you would understand where I'm coming from.

Standing in my house, I can see everything, and they can see me.

And I just need some help of how this is gonna, if it has to go through loves or it has to, whoever, I don't I don't know anything about politics.

Never been involved in anything.

Now it's right in my face, and I don't know which way to turn to find myself in a protected home like I had for 32 years.

That's all I wanted to say.

I speak from the experience, you know, because I know how these people feel.

I knew what it was like, and I said my fear was having people look in my ma's, my window at me up in my bedroom while I'm trying to sleep.

And of course I sleep with no top on, and yeah, I look out the window, I hear people looking right in my window at me.

So I know how these people feel.

Your privacy is affected in that, and you know, like you said, where are these people coming from?

Who at these truck stops?

You don't know where all the buddy comes from.

And you got people, you know, you got fear of people looking their windows at you so you don't feel safe at all.

If you could see them, they could see you.

And you must respect that.

And that goes for all these other warehouses that you want to prove people proven of and have built.

All the other people around warehouses have been affected too and everything, and they feel exactly the same frustration.

And you guys need to understand that and put yourself in their shoes and feel what it feels like.

You know, they lived out there in them areas all their lives and everything, and they felt safe all their years and everything.

Then you'll invite industry to come in and get built right next to them, and it all just totally takes away everything, their privacy, their quality of life, and their safety features.

So I want you to consider that considerably and start being held accountable for things that you guys vote in.

Other people residents feel, you know, respect their feelings and respect their lives and everything.

And I just think I think last night when I said last night that the the weight tone limit was 35 ton for the brand new old bridge.

We're here to looked up and Google it, and it says a weight limit for the Brandon Road Bridge crossing over to Splines Room, Rockdale, Illinois, 15 ton.

Not 40 ton, like I dot had said yesterday.

And lastly, God is I want to be the last to speak on this, you know, Bill Evans.

You have been four years already.

I just can't believe that time has flown.

But you know, when you became the police chief, I remember that when you when they introduced you here at the city council meeting.

I met you for the first time and hadn't told you about the drag racing situation by my aunt's place and that.

And you told me you would take care of it for me, and you did.

I mean, you've been the best, Bill.

You have been the best.

I mean you know, I got very few of me.

All I got or puis chief friends like Fred Hayes and Elwood and Tom Dart up there uncle Pounty and that and Bill, you have just been the best.

The best, you know.

I mean, this guy is just terrific, you know.

Everything about him, his integrity, his toughness, and you know, yet the heart, the big heart that he has, you know, and hope you enjoy your attirement, and you get to walk in that dog or so I said get that dog to stop walking you.

I mean, here's a guy, even in his day off, he's he's out there in the city and and being a part of the city, you know.

I see him walking his dog, and I said, God, I look at the guy who's being pulled by his dog, and it was it was Bill.

And he recognized me in my truck and had to stop by, you know, and we set our eyes and everything to each other.

And Bill, I just hope you retire enjoy your retirement.

You're just gonna be impossible to replace, you know.

I just all the love you've given me, you know, the the the talks, the preps, the encouragements and everything, has just meant the world to me.

And I can't say thank you enough for it.

You know, I want to come to come to the city council meetings just so I can be there to see Bill to get my words of encouragement for the week.

You know, and I can't say thank you enough like everybody else on the city of Joe yet.

We love you, you're gonna be a possible replace.

Thank you so much for everything you've done.

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

Okay, seeing none, we will move on to Mayor and Council comments.

No comment.

Okay, we have uh Arborist Peter.

I'd like to meet him someday.

I know uh Jim used to do that type of work.

Um we get update on the parking downtown.

We took all the meters out.

I don't know, Greg has been it not today, maybe uh a couple weeks to see how everything's going.

Do we need to make some changes?

Or are things working out?

Just kind of give us an update if you don't mind doing that for us.

And we approve the painting of the street lights.

Uh I remembered that on Rayner Avenue.

We are missing some uh street lights there.

They've been down for a long time.

Can we have uh that's some of our people take a look at and see what we can do over there?

Yeah, so all right, thank you.

Beth, can we have someone talk to the woman right here?

Ma'am, what was your name again?

Danny.

Tammy.

You know, I don't know if what you say is accurate or not.

I don't I I don't have the agreement in front of me.

If if in the agreement there was a broom required by her house too, we need to enforce that.

If not, then it's not an agreement.

Who should she talk to?

Um we can sorry, we can certainly look into it.

Um Dustin will be helping me with that first thing in the morning.

If you you would like give them your phone number if they don't have it already, so they can contact you.

You know, Dustin can probably take Dustin.

Do you mind?

Thank you.

That's all I know.

I've been out there to the house by the love struck stop, both of them.

They are bad.

They're they're worse than bad.

I don't know.

I forwarded a lot of those emails, and I don't know what the city's been doing, but they're all valid concerns.

Um those tree roots in particular, she's afraid now the tree roots are damaged, which an Arborist said they're damaged that it's gonna fall on her house, and that's a real concern.

That is a real concern.

Tammy's house over there is right on top of it.

I don't know how anyone could stay there because I'm sure it's very disruptive.

So I have been out there.

Um and thank you for saying that you'll do something about it or at least check into it.

They seem very knowledgeable about the ordinances, so it doesn't matter how much money that loves will bring into the city, they still have to be um regulated just like any other business that comes in the city of Joliet.

They should follow our ordinances and they should follow the information they were told to follow by the letter of the law.

Also, I had um I lost my beloved pet of 15 years.

Sorry, Panda Marie Ibarra and Jolia Township, actually animal control.

There was no care for my dog, and he was having seizures and he was very sick, and I didn't have thousands of dollars to spend on having someone to come to the house.

So I don't I don't know if we're all aware of how much Joliet Township Animal Control does for the community, but if your pet is suffering and there is no cure, they they will help uh cross the rainbow bridge for you and your dog.

So I want to thank Jolia Township Animal Control for helping me.

It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make, and I want to thank every single person that reached out to me, texted me, called me, showed up the house.

I appreciate every one of them.

I also want to say that my son made me feel so much better.

Two local businesses that are my favorite things on on the face of the earth, but in my district.

He didn't bring me over one, two or three social butterfly coffees.

He brought me over four of their best flavors, and there is no better way for me to grieve but with the best coffee in town, actually.

And the second thing he brought me was also something from my district.

It was Papa's popcorn jerk popcorn, and I've been passing that along everywhere I go.

So if you love jerk and you have a chance to get to Papus, also in District 5, please, that jerk popcorn, it is addictive, and I love it.

So thank you to everyone who reached out on the loss of Panda Marie Ibarra.

Thank you.

Councilwoman, sorry for your uh your pet and councilman Hug.

It was your birthday, wasn't it?

Happy birthday.

Thank you.

Well, you are how'd you know that?

You spying on me?

I got eyes everywhere.

He Google that.

Thanks.

That's it.

Father Chris.

Could you come to the mic?

I'd like to talk about the uh law enforcement memorial ceremony this Thursday.

Yes.

Yeah.

Um we have an annual law enforcement memorial.

It's usually a little bit earlier in May, but the way things fell in the calendar, um, we try to have it between the state memorial, which is the first week of May, and the national, which is around the 15th of May, but it just didn't fall into the calendar correctly.

So we're a little bit later this year.

But our annual celebration um acknowledges the men and women throughout Will County who are paying the ultimate price in serving our communities.

We've lost 38 men and women over the years.

I believe the first loss that we had in law enforcement was back in 1865.

So it goes way back.

We have a long history.

Um we commemorate those men and women.

We remember them, and we begin with Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St.

Mary Magdalene Church on Brig Street with a mass at 1030 in the morning.

Then we have a procession down to the law enforcement memorial, which is what I call the old courthouse square across from the new courthouse there.

And we have a ceremony there, which is participation with just about all of the various aspects of law enforcement, the agencies and departments throughout Will County.

We have a speaker each year.

Uh the speaker this year represents the national memorial from Washington.

He was a local chief of police.

I think it's in Riverside.

And he's retired, and he will be giving the keynote for that.

So everybody in the city and throughout the county is welcome to join us.

And you know, it is good.

We say we're always going to remember.

There will be survivors, family members that will be there.

We usually have a pretty good turnout of survivors that are there too.

So it's a way for us to show support for them and to show for show support for our law enforcement community.

The time father for this ceremony downtown.

10:30 is mass.

12 o'clock noon is a ceremony downtown.

So it's right in lunch hour.

So if anybody is downtown, it's a comedian time to come out over.

Thank you.

That's Thursday, correct?

Yes, Thursday, the 21st.

That's it.

Okay, so let's remember all of our veterans that have left and have fought for our freedom, and um not only them, but also the police and fire department and anybody else in public service that have lost their lives protecting us.

Um I would like to bring up for this memorial day, honor flight Chicago.

It's been going on now for like 10-15 years.

And those that aren't familiar with it, it is a free, all expense paid trip for any veteran, Vietnam, World War II still, Korean War, and um they are it's a memorial, it's a wonderful day.

It's an all-day thing.

I've served as a flight nurse in three different times, and it is a memory to remember.

If you can volunteer and help, they're always looking for volunteers, especially at the airport to help some of the veterans get on board.

And um, it is an amazing day, an amazing day.

They go to Washington, D.C., everything's paid for, they go to some, they get to see the Enola Gay in the Air Force, or excuse me at the Air Airplane Memorial Memorial, where they have all different planes.

And uh, just to give you a little taste of that, it's an all-day affair.

You start early in the morning, you come home in the evening, and they fly out of Midway.

It's usually Southwest Airlines.

So get your veteran registered, and all you have to do is go to Honor Flight Chicago.org on your website, and then they will direct you to an application for your veteran.

And uh, I know sometimes they're hesitant to go, but after they go, they're just so happy and just can't believe it because they reminisce with a lot of people that were there and still get to talk about the different wars.

And unfortunately, we're losing many, many, many by the day, the World War II vets, but let's start getting the Korean War vets and the Vietnam vets.

And once that all gets through, then they're gonna go on to the next ones that are serving now.

And um with all that being said, Memorial Day is not only for all of those, but for all of us that have lost loved ones and pets, because I've lost pets too, and it's like part of the family.

And um, I just want everybody to have a safe memorial day, please be safe, have a good time with your family and friends, and remember those that have gone on before, and you're left to carry on their legacy.

So, everyone enjoy your holiday and thank you so much.

Okay.

I am just going to say a few thank yous to people for the Realto celebration.

I'll let the mayor have his time with it.

Um I want to thank it was they had their hundredth anniversary Saturday, and several of us on the council were there to celebrate.

They did a magnificent job.

And I just want to say congratulations and thank you to Wade Welsh, Steve Randich, Jane Condon, Bob Filato, Leanne Hoffridge, the many volunteers, the many dedicated volunteers, all the employees of the Realto, and all the donors, um, the and the 100th anniversary committee who did such a tremendous job, but all the donors to keep this jewel in downtown Joliet.

I won't uh mention anything other than oh, there's someone getting married May 29th, um, just a few doors down from me here.

I got to meet his lovely bride Jessica at the event.

And um but they've only been together for 16 years.

Yeah, they finally decided to do something.

I said, What are we they met at like two years old or what?

You know, so anyways, congratulations.

I hope you have a lovely day.

Thank you, appreciate it.

That's it.

Well, that was everything I was gonna say about the Ray Altos.

Thank you.

I didn't say anything.

I said I wasn't giving any details.

No, it was really a great event.

Uh there were 400 people that attended it, and many of us were there.

Um, Councilwoman Reardon, Councilwoman Quillman, Councilman Cardinus, Cardinus, and Councilman Marino.

But we had a great time.

They did a wonderful job, and everybody just enjoyed the night.

And it was probably one of the best parties I've seen in Juliet in a long, long time.

Um tomorrow we're gonna celebrate the uh Memorial Day commemoration at our city center at our city square to honor the brave men and women who have lost their lives in service to our country.

The event will kick off with a performance of the award-winning American Legion Band at 1130, followed by a brief ceremony, and we'd invite everyone to join us at that.

Looking ahead to June, City Square will be home to the traveling remembering our fallen tribute towers of Americans fallen from a global war on terror.

The nationally traveling display will be in City Square from June 11th to the 14th with an opening ceremony on June 11th at noon.

And also on uh June 18th at noon, we're gonna have the uh official hosting of the City Square dedication on the Unity Dome with artist C.

J.

Chen will be in attendance to help us celebrate this new chapter of our downtown.

And lastly, we would like to celebrate all those who are and congratulate all the graduates of 2026 Joliet, kindergarten, eighth grade, high school, college, and all the accomplishment accomplishments deserve to be recognized.

So please join me in wishing them all well and best in their futures.

Thank you and God bless you all.

Okay, is there a motion to adjourn?

All in favor?

Aye opposed, meeting adjourned.