I'm just waiting for him to have on and then we should be gonna go.

Okay.

If everyone would please take their seats, we're going to get started with our meeting.

I don't think we have the whole thing on your hand.

That's next time.

I need mine down to my wrist state street.

Um we can.

Let's make sure Amanda doesn't use it, and then we'll just call him and ask me.

It's 5 59 p.m.

We're going to start at six o'clock.

Thank you.

Is he on?

Councilmember Valpula.

Are you present?

Oh they're just saying.

Good evening, everyone.

It is six o'clock PM on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026.

I'd like to call the meeting of the Peoria City Council to order.

And I'd also like to welcome everyone who's here in our historic city council chambers as well as our listening audience watching on Cable Channel 22 or the Peoria City of Peoria YouTube channel.

Can you open the mics?

Madam Clerk.

The mics are open.

Please call the roll.

Mayor El Lee.

Present.

Councilmember Allen?

Present.

Councilmember Carmona.

Here.

Councilmember Sear.

Councilmember Gordon Young.

Present.

Councilmember Jackson.

Councilmember Kelly.

Here.

Councilmember Oiler.

Councilmember Riggenbach?

Here.

Councilmember Valpo.

Councilmember Vespa.

Here.

You have a quorum present, Madam Mayor.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

A notice was received by Councilmember Valpula of the City Council in accordance with the rules established in order ordinance number sixteen thousand one hundred and forty-two.

Councilmember Valpula would be deemed authorized to attend the meeting electronically unless a motion objecting to Councilmember Valpula's electronic attendance is made, seconded and approved by two-thirds of the members of the city council presently, excuse me, physically present at the meeting.

If no such motion is made and seconded, then the request by council member Valpula to attend electronically shall be deemed approved by the city council, and the presiding officer shall declare council member Valpula present.

Hearing no objection, uh Madam Clerk.

Councilmember Valpula.

I do not believe he has logged on.

You think he has not logged on?

He has not logged on as of yet.

Well, please join me everyone and stand for a moment of silent prayer or silent reflection, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Councilmember Regenbach.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I move to approve the minutes of the joint city council and town board meeting held June 9th, 2026 as printed.

Seconded by Councilmember Kelly.

Any discussion?

Please cash your ballots.

Motion passes unanimously.

Madam Clerk.

We are at the consent agenda.

26-157 is a communication from the city manager and chief of police with a request for the following.

A approve the purchase of one Ford Explorer Interceptor from Morrow Brothers Ford on an Illinois government contract in the amount of 45,788 dollars.

And B approve the purchase of the parts and labor estimated at 25,000 to have the vehicle equipped with all the necessary equipment needed for patrol.

26-158 is a communication with request to approve existing property and commercial auto insurance coverages with Liberty Mutual Insurance through Alliant Insurance Services Inc.

for a one-year term.

26-159 is a communication with request to approve and execute the Tri-County Planning Commission fiscal year 2027 joint funding agreement and approve the city of Peoria's contribution in the amount of 64,047 and 63 cents.

26-161 is a communication with request for the following.

And B, approve the 10th Amendment to the Peoria Urban Enterprise Zone Intergovernmental Agreement.

26-162 is a communication with request concurr with recommendation from the planning and zoning commission and staff to adopt an ordinance amending an existing special use ordinance number 16292 as amended for a pre-K through high school daycare and place of worship in a class A1 agricultural district to revise a site plan for a parking lot expansion in widened driveway, building addition and athletic field for the property located at 4125 West Charter Oak Road.

26-163 is a communication with request concur with recommendation from the planning and zoning commission and staff to deny a special use in a class R3 single family residential district for a short-term rental for the property located at 3614 North Gale Avenue.

26-164 is a communication with request to approve the site application for a Class B restaurant 50% food liquor license with on-site consumption and retail sale of alcohol for for Birani House LLC doing business as Birani House at 816 West Pioneer Parkway with a recommendation from the liquor commission to approve.

26-165 are reappointments by Mayor Ali to the Advisory Committee on Police Community Relations with a request concur of Al Kuzan Jr., David Williams Jr.

Andrew Edwards and Councilmember Denise Jackson.

26-166 is an appointment by Mayor Ali to the Historic Preservation Commission with a request to concur of Colin Krause.

26-167 is an appointment by Mayor Ali to the land bank board with a request to concur of Councilmember Bernice Gordon Young.

26-168 is an appointment by Mayor L.

Leith to the Peoria Housing Authority Board with a request to concur of Janice Parker.

26-169 is an appointment by Mayor Ali to the Planning and Zoning Commission with a request to concur of Cynthia Rivers and Brandon Russell.

26-170 is an appointment by Mayor Ali to the Zoning Board of Appeals with a request to concur of Gavin Hunt.

And 26-171 is a reappointment by Mayor Ali to the zoning board of appeals with a request to concur of Mason Roo.

And that concludes our consent agenda.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Um I think there are some items to remove from consent, but I wanted to point out in item number 26-169.

Maybe that correction had not been known, but I think we needed to hold off on the appointment of Brandon Russell based upon an address.

So I want to make that adjustment.

Councilmember Allen?

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I'd like to pull item 26-162, please.

160 uh two.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kelly.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh I'd like to remove uh 26161 and 26163, please.

Sure.

Thank you.

Are there any other items to remove from consent?

Can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda without those items?

Moved by Councilmember Allen, seconded by councilmember Gordon Young.

Please cash your ballots.

Motion passes unanimously.

Madam Clerk.

26-161 is a communication from the city manager and assistant city manager with requests for the following.

A adopt an ordinance approving an amendment to the Peoria Urban Enterprise Zone and B approve the 10th Amendment to the Peoria Urban Enterprise Zone Intergovernmental Agreement, and we'll need separate votes on each, please.

Councilmember Kelly.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I would just like to uh point out to the council that this particular item does not preclude any other um uh incentives uh in the expo area.

These are still on the table, but uh nothing's being adopted.

That's fine.

And and uh I would therefore move to approve item A.

Seconded by Councilmember Regenbach.

Any discussion?

Please cash your ballots.

And Madam Mayor, I would motion to unanimously.

Uh and Madam Mayor, I would uh move to approve item B.

Councilmember Riggenbach.

Okay.

Any discussion?

Please cash your ballots.

A motion passes unanimously.

Thank you, Councilmember Kelly.

Uh, Madam Clerk.

26-162 is a communication from the city manager and director of community development with a request to concur with a recommendation from the planning and zoning commission and staff to adopt an ordinance amending an existing special use ordinance number 16292 as amended for a pre-K through high school daycare and place of worship in a class A1 agricultural district to revise revise the site plan for a parking lot expansion and widened driveway building addition and athletic field for the property located at 4125 West Charter Oak Road.

Councilmember Allen.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh I pulled this particular item uh just because there will be uh an amendment to it.

But before I describe the amendment, I want to thank uh Debbie and and Julia uh for working with our our petitioner here, the uh Islamic Center of Peoria.

We appreciate your continued investment not only in District 4 but within the city of Peoria, expanding your grounds, um, and then also to working with some nearby neighbors who have some concerns about the project.

So we really appreciate your patience and diligence on that.

Um I would like to make a motion to approve this item uh with the caveat though that they construct a pro wag 88 compliance sidewalk along the property frontage on West Charter Oak Road.

Uh the sidewalk shall be completed within two years of the date uh of this ordinance.

Um, should it be passed tonight?

And there will be an opportunity if they do run into some unforeseen circumstances uh through our administrative process, they can uh extend that.

So we want to get that codified because the goal uh talking to our partners at the county is to uh with funding come available to have sidewalks along Western Charter Oak.

So we want to make sure that we are stepping in that direction to make West Charter Oak more pedestrian finity.

Is there a second?

Seconded by Councilmember Gordon Young.

Any discussion?

Please cash your ballots motion passes unanimously, madam clerk 26-163 is a communication from the city manager and director of community development with a request to concur with a recommendation from the planning and zoning commission and staff to deny a special use in a class R3 single family residential district for a short-term rental for the property located at 3614 North Gill Avenue.

Councilmember Kelly.

Thank you, madam mayor.

Um I'm I don't know if it's uh my place to uh uh pull up a delay here.

Uh councilmember Jackson is not here.

This is in her district.

Uh this was denied by the uh planning and zoning commission because of our restrictions on uh separation of short-term rentals, etc.

Um I'm willing to go along with this, but um since there's a petition, there's another side to the story, I guess.

And I'd like to wait until uh councilwoman Jackson is here.

She probably knows the pros and the cons.

And if it's agreeable with the council, I would move to uh defer this until our next meeting.

Till the next meeting.

Yes.

Okay.

As long as she will be here at the next meeting.

I I think so.

I think she'll be back at the next meeting.

Any is there a second to the deferral seconded by council member Allen?

Any discussion.

No discussion.

Please cash your ballots.

Motion passes unanimously.

Madam Clerk.

We are at first readings.

26-172 is a communication from the city manager and director of community development with a request to receive and file the first reading of an ordinance to amend appendix A, the unified development code relating to home-based food, clothing, and household item district distribution.

Mr.

Manager Um Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh we have a first reading, and I think that uh our planning manager Debbie LaRue is going to walk through that for us.

So I'll turn the floor over to her to talk about this ordinance.

Thank you.

Mayor, council members.

So the proposed text amendment establishes performance standards for activities involving the free distribution of food, clothing, and household items to the general public from a residence.

So wherever possible, our goal is to design rules with a light touch.

We want our zoning regulations to be narrowly construed to address concerns of nuisance, public health, etc., without limiting innocuous activities.

This ordinance is meant to fill a gap in our code and provide clarifications on what standards should apply to what are commonly called food pantries or porch pantries when located in residential districts.

It provides standards regulating the types of items that can be distributed, and then the size, design, number, and placement of containers used for storage or display of those items.

The standards are intended to address food safety concerns, ensure compatibility with the residential character of these districts, and then also prevent nuisances.

So long as the standards, the performance standards are met, the ordinance allows this type of activity, this distributed this distributive activity to happen by right, so that's not requiring any permits or review from the city.

If an occupant wants to exceed those standards, they can then pursue a special use through the planning and zoning commission and ultimately through your city council for approval.

So I'm happy to answer any questions that you have.

There's lots of little lemonade stands going on here lately.

It doesn't apply to those.

Correct?

Or does that well those are that is not for that's not a that's a commercial activity?

So this does not concern commercial activities.

If there is an exchange of money, um, it does not relate to this ordinance.

So how would that be commercial if it's outside someone's home as part of a garage sale or just outside their home?

Was that that best considered commercial, even though it's outside of a residence?

So we have um so presuming that the lemonade stand is asking for money in exchange for the lemonade, then that would be considered commercial.

Um we have other regulations regarding home occupation, garage sales.

Um we have we allow in our code for you, anyone can have a garage sale up to oh gosh, uh for three days, three times a year, or something to that effect to have a summary table.

So I think that lemonade stand would probably be construed as a garage sale.

Um but again, this language is really just sort of meant to provide some regulations and standards for instances in which someone is providing goods for free to the general public.

Okay.

Thank you.

Questions?

Uh Councilmember Kelly.

Uh thank you, madam mayor.

Uh, just for our information, are you aware of anyone or any operation in the city right now that would be in violation of this proposed ordinance?

We are aware of one that would need to follow a special use process to come into compliance.

The city has proactively reached out to them ahead of the planning and zoning commission meeting, and then we'd reach out to them again ahead of this city council meeting to see if they had any comment or would like to participate in the process, and they did not reply or respond.

Otherwise, our community engagement manager reached out to several different neighborhood organizations to see if there was someone who's conducting these activities that we would accidentally sort of catch up as we were creating these policies, and we weren't able to identify any in a residential location that would be governed by these standards.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Welcome.

Councilmember Rigambach.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

And was there um oops, sorry about that?

Um that being said, the explanation that you just gave the um councilman Kelly, was there something specific that brought this to our attention?

Why this amendment is being offered.

Yeah, so there have been some conversations or concerns about um public health as it relates to the type of food that is distributed, how it's stored.

You know, there's the most of the standards in here as they relate to what is permitted and how it's permitted to be shared, is language that came directly from the Department of Health.

Um, so for example, there's a regulation in the by rights standards that says that you know it needs to be a certain height off of the ground.

That's the health department's recommendation to prevent rodents from accessing the foods.

Um so there have been some of those conversations.

Um there is also you know a case that um has come before community development in different manner in which you know somebody was doing this great good for the community, but there was some nuisance concerns with neighbors as it relates to litter, with um folks coming in accessing the pantry during off hours in the middle of the night, etc.

Um, and that way the the expression of what they were doing was sort of exceeding what we would typically want in a resident for a residential neighborhood.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you.

Welcome.

Councilmember Allen.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um can you speak to, and again, we know that some of these that have popped up over the years have really stepped in to filled in the gaps in some of our more vulnerable areas.

Can you speak to what compliance enforcement will look like?

I know that you spoke on you all are doing your best to try to do some outreach.

Um, and some of that may have not been reciprocated thus far.

So, what will compliance enforcement look like as we look to get people within this standard?

Certainly.

So, as a as a general rule, when we notice that there someone is out of compliance with their zoning code, um, unless it's something that's egregious, we typically issue a letter sort of notifying them that they're out of compliance, and then we would direct them how to you know go through a special use process and and you know become legal.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

You're welcome.

Councilmember Carmana.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh Debbie, uh, I I really wanted to thank you for all your work on this, uh, and Director Doolin as well.

Um this got sparked because of a establishment in my district.

Um, there were some safety concerns uh not only with the food but also uh with a lot of after hours um activity, um, individuals walking through people's properties, stuff like that.

And so I think um the way it's laid out here is um a very good way to still allow it to happen um uh while having a little bit of rules attached to it.

So uh I just wanted to say thank you very much to you and the community development department.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

You're welcome.

Do you want to make a motion?

Oh, make a motion to approve.

Okay, seconded by council member Allen.

Any questions or discussion?

Please cash your ballots.

Motion passes unanimously.

Madam Clark.

We're at regular business 26-173 is a communication from the city manager and director of community development with a request to consider the property owner's appeal of the decision by the historic preservation commission to deny a certificate of appropriateness for stucco wall repair for the property located at 802 North Sheridan Road.

Mr.

Manager.

Uh thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh again, we're gonna turn it over to our planning manager, Debbie LaRue to talk through this next item.

Thank you.

So uh as was clarified in a council communication sent yesterday, city staff is not actually taking a position on this case.

Um, as a matter of procedure, we do not issue recommendations to the historic preservation commission, and we also do not represent or speak on its behalf.

So I'm going to provide a brief overview and then give the floor to the property owner if they are here to present or you know return the floor to you all for deliberations.

So this is a case involving exterior alterations for an existing multifamily dwelling in the Moss High Local Historic District.

Broadly speaking, properties located in historic districts must obtain either a certificate of appropriateness or a certificate of economic hardship from the Historic Preservation Commission before they can complete work.

This commission case history begins in fall of last year due to an enforcement case.

As you'll see in your packets, the application was either deferred by the owner or continued by the commission until a decision was issued on the second of this year.

At that meeting, the commission approved the petitioner's proposal to repair guardrails and replace Corbell's, but denied the petitioner's proposal for stucco wall repair and alteration.

The denied scope is what is being considered today.

Councilmember Carmona.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

And thank you again, Debbie.

Also in my neighborhood.

So for those of you either digitally, the council members who have packets in front of them or on your iPad, I'd like for you to turn to, if you can, um page 18.

And it'll show an example of the color or the variation of colors on the stuccoed wall.

And what it'll also show is a very up close repairs of uh some of the cracks with fresh um polyurethane put in them.

Now, if you go to the very next page, uh page 19, this will display the um the difference in color when that polyurethane sits for uh about six to eight or sorry, six to twelve months.

Um it kind of tends to blend in to the color of the uh the building.

The building itself um would take a lot of effort to um either repaint and a lot of money uh and or also, which was another recommendation to hire an artisan to individually paint each little crack to match its surroundings.

Um I think this is in my opinion going a little too far.

If you look at image number three on page 19, it'll show you an example of how one of the repairs that were that was done last year blends in quite a bit better than one of the fresh repairs that was done.

Um, and so visibly from the street or even walking close to it, you I wouldn't be able to tell uh unless somebody told you specifically to look for it.

Um also along with this on page 21, it shows the polyurethane mortar, um, the spec sheet, which uh is highlighted, it says it is um for um uh concrete masonry and stucco prepainted metal and it goes on.

So I also contacted um a couple of uh contractors just to get their opinion on it.

And I guess the best way I can put it is that the polyurethane is used um on stucco in a similar way that the that black tar would be used to repair cracks in asphalt.

And when you have bigger repairs, they actually use asphalt to fill potholes and whatnot.

So this thinner material is used because the the building is still gonna move.

If you put mortar in there, it's just gonna crack and it's gonna be visible again, which is why they use the polyurethane.

So it is a proper repair for the building.

And then on the next page, uh page 22 shows the actual stucco that would be used and mixed for the bigger repairs.

So as far as I I went to the to the HPC meeting for this because it had been denied once, and I was asked to help figure out what additional information was needed for the packet to get an approval.

Um and as far as I can tell, everything else got approved, but the commission didn't like the uh the fact that it wasn't gonna blend in perfectly or or you know, better than what it is now, which I completely understand.

Um I think that expecting an actual routine repair, which this is to go through the entire process of um power washing, scraping, and repainting the entire building for crack repair is a little unreasonable.

So I'm here basically uh to represent um the uh the homeowner because or the property owner, um, he's he's pretty old, heart hard hearing, and um he he just asked that I um explain what was going on here.

Um, but my honest opinion about the matter is that I would rather see this get fixed instead of either finding him or putting him through this process again and the building just sitting there um going into worse condition.

So, Madam Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to override the HPC's uh ruling and approve the um the um routine maintenance with the stucco repair.

Okay, is there a second second by uh council member Kelly?

Uh continued discussion, and uh I guess I want to ask the process question.

Um the historic preservations commission denies a certificate of what's it called?

Appropriateness.

Appropriateness appropriateness, okay.

Um what is there's been an appeal by the property owner?

Is that correct?

And the appeal comes to the city council.

It does.

Is that correct?

It does, yep.

And then the council can change that decision or override that decision.

Yes.

Is that the process?

That is correct.

You also have the opportunity to revise their decision.

Pardon me.

You have the opportunity to override their decision, revise it, or uphold it.

Okay.

Is there anything else we need to know about the process from your perspective?

Um legal perspective, uh, Council Hayes.

So it's uh great to see advocacy from our council members on behalf of their constituents.

It's what the big part of what their responsibilities and duties are.

Um I think that the commission addressed this issue with regard to they said that the scope of work was inappropriate.

They weren't denying the use of polyurethane as a patch, but just trying to comply with the council's ordinance, which says if the visual appearance is gonna change, then they're not to issue a certificate of appropriateness.

So this outcome is strictly based on your historic commission following your ordinance.

So um I think that uh councilman Carmone brings up some excellent points about um the idea that it would be expensive, right, to comply.

So your ordinance has a hardship provision, which allows homeowners to say the cost of this is beyond my means or out of context with the benefit.

Okay.

Um but the there's a your ordinance again sets forth the items that need to be presented to articulate a historic commission, grant me this scope of work, which is just use some polyurethane and let it fade in because of the hardship.

And this uh applicant didn't choose to do that.

So the council might be looking at well, what's the reasonable outcome here?

And um the applicant here didn't use all of the means available to articulate that, which is fine because that's why the council's here to hear the appeal.

So the judgment now, the council is measured against sort of the bargain of the historic commission, which is you know, there's a lot of people that have to comply with the historic preservation issues, and there are some expenses involved.

And this is why your ordinance sets forth these methods to put all the issues in front of the council to allow them to govern these outcomes, but to be consistent over time.

So I don't know whether it's an economic hardship for this applicant because it didn't supply the information.

Um I think staff suggested this to the applicant before the final meeting, and they chose not to present that information.

Um, but it is it's not lacking in rigor what's required to be submitted.

So I can understand where you're at.

Uh the council now has to look at making an exception here to what the appearance is changing, and that's recognized.

So you know, the historic commission is guided by your ordinance.

Now the council has the discretion to override that or not.

Again, I think that uh uh Ms.

Rue uh articulated very well that staff tries to allow the the council's ordinance to control issues here and not participate by way of advocacy, but that's I think the process, right, accords our residents a way to approach um the historic commission with the practical reality of these requirements and for the historic commission then to have at least some way to adjust from this if the appearance changes, you're to deny it.

So now the council's in position to either do that or not based on its discretion.

That's very helpful.

Thank you.

I I do want to understand.

Did you say that the homeowner was made aware of the hardship opportunity?

It's my understanding that our staff, now I didn't participate in that communication, but it's my understanding that our planning staff did provide that information to the applicant or their advocate that was present at one of the meetings, and they chose not to pursue that.

And and in the event that the applicant had provided uh went down that road, then how does it change for the applicant?

I mean, what what other solution might there be?

A different that would change the application.

With the predicate information, could have at least considered whether to exercise their discretion to grant the limited scope of use because of the hardship.

But your ordinance doesn't allow them to consider the hardship without the predicate materials being submitted.

Okay.

Okay.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kelly.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

And this question would be addressed to whoever can answer it if it can be answered.

Um I'll start with uh Councilman Carmona.

It seems to me that there are two ways to approach this repair of the cracking problem.

One is what the building owner would like to do, which is um fill those cracks with a uh looks like a white material, but it blends in a fairly short period of time to look pretty much like the uh existing stucco finish.

Is that is that curate for option number one?

I would say that's accurate.

Okay, and then I correct that option number two is either is to repaint the entire building.

So option number two would still include option number one.

Well, yes, yes.

Building or hiring an artisan to paint each individual crack and repair to make it blend in to its surroundings, so that would be a third option, I guess.

Um, and did I read that it won't be a perfect match even with that?

Well, I would assume that unless you paint the entire building.

It won't be a perfect match because of the age of the building, the multiple colors that are on it.

So hiring an artist and would get you the most perfect match.

Me being a full-time artist myself, I wouldn't charge any less than a hundred dollars an hour to do something like this, and it would take a very long time.

So it I would imagine it'd be a very expensive endeavor.

Okay, and are you aware of a fourth option?

Or would those be the three options that we as far as the repair goes, I think I think that's all.

Okay.

And same with you.

Do you do you agree that those would probably be the three options?

I apologize for this rather unsatisfying answer.

One of the reasons that staff does not make recommendations to the historic preservation commission is because each site is very unique.

Okay.

So in that way, the Historic Preservation Commission typically relies on the applicant to present a solution for them to them, and then they make a determination whether or not the proposal is appropriate.

Sometimes during the commission meetings, if they find that the proposal will not meet their standards during the course of deliberation, there will be some conversation about potential alternatives to try to help to steer the applicant into a productive direction.

But I cannot directly answer your question.

That's all right.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

You're welcome.

Councilmember Vesma.

Um thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um so just to be clear, uh, this is for council member Carmona.

On page 19, we have two red circles.

The one on the left is older pairs not noticeable until you're close up.

Is that with the lime-based mortar?

There's talk about lime-based mortar.

And is is that why that seems to blend in better?

Um yes, it's a small rep there's small crack repairs, so it blends in better.

Um when the stuff when the new stucco will be mixed, um, I suppose we could recommend to, and I I didn't think about this till just now, but to um use a sand color or something closer to the building for the bigger repairs.

Um, but yeah, that that example is to illustrate the small hairline cracks that use the polyurethane.

Um on the left side, it's the the you know, the repair is done uh six to twelve months ago, and then um the other the other circle is uh a fresh repair just to show the difference when it comes out of the tube.

Okay, but I do you know if they if either one use that line-based mortar that's uh preferred to by the commissioners, okay.

I don't know what they mean by line-based mortars.

Um when I talked to the contractors that I uh approached, they it was their opinion that this was just how you um repaired a stucco like this.

Okay.

Well, because I do see some commissioners um suggesting using a line-based mortar to um better blend in with the uh the color of the stucco.

Um so I I suppose I was wondering if that was not possible because it was not feasible.

Um or why that wasn't um why that wasn't adopted by uh the property owner.

Um that's not clear to me.

Um there are several um uh criteria we need to take into consideration the distinguishing original qualities or character of a building.

it was not feasible um or why that wasn't um why that wasn't adopted by uh the property owner um that's not clear to me um there are several um uh criteria we need to take into consideration the distinguishing original qualities or character of a building uh shall not be destroyed uh architectural details and materials should be incorporated as necessary to relate the new with the old and to preserve and enhance the inherent characteristics of that area which I mean suggests that we should I think you know we should do um what we can to make sure that the the colors are consistent and that it blends in we've seen the photos it does look like over time it does blend in mostly um the the question is can he do more because there are other options but they may be more expensive and as council hayes uh mentioned there is you know a way to apply for a waiver that was not done in the law we call that not exhausting your um underlying or administrative remedies um before coming you know up on appeal um that leaves us to decide whether he is able has the money has the wherewithal to to do these repairs and I I suppose we're being asked to assume that he does not uh based on nothing um but I mean I I'm looking at this it looks like it's fine it looks like after a year or what have you it it does blend in it's not it's not noticeable um unless you get up really close we we could kick this back to the to the commission and you know tell him to to go through the the formal um waiver process um I'm kind of on the fence as to whether to do that uh I I actually know Mr.

Bobbitt I I think he's a he's a very good guy uh he's he's a colorful character um I know that he has a few properties here in town um I I kind of doubt in my experience that he is the ability or the means to uh go through a whole renovation or paint the whole thing at 100 an hour as councilman carmona said um so I I kind of see that practically speaking as a waste of time um I'm inclined to vote for this um but with reservations I I think people really should go through that process and you know exhaust their underlying remedies um applying for the waiver have that looked at before coming to us in the future um and I I hate to set a precedent by not doing that here but I do think we'd be wasting time um so I I will vote for it thank you Madam Mayor you're welcome Madam Mayor if I could just say one more thing um I just want to reiterate so I I do appreciate the historical commission um and what what they're set out to do um but these repairs do not change um the the look of of the uh the establishment in my opinion uh driving by it or whatever you know um walking walking by it you you would never know these repairs uh had been made I had to go through this um same process because I changed the design and sighting entirely of my home um and I got an approval um and so anybody who's driven by this before will continue to drive by it and see the same thing so um I also do uh believe that it would be a waste of time to continue to go through this bureaucratic process uh although it's well founded um simply to obtain all the records and all the different things because council hayes also said that it's uh you know I don't know the exact words but it's it's not like you just write you know you that you have a hardship you have to provide tax forms and all kinds of other stuff and uh just to complete the application alone uh I had to sit down and uh talk to them because of my experience and make sure that it was filled out correctly I'm assuming he'll have to find I don't know maybe his accountant or somebody to to help him go through the hardship process if we want him to do that but I would rather um that not happen and I'd rather just this thing just finally be fixed.

But I would rather um that not happen, and I'd rather just this thing just finally be fixed.

So thank you, Madam Mayor.

Welcome.

Councilmember Gordon, yeah.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh just a couple of questions.

One is on this page 19.

This is for you, Councilmember Carmona.

I'm just trying to determine like the I guess the the width or the diameter of the cracked stucco.

Is it on just on that side of the house on this page?

Or is it all over?

Of the the cracks are it, they're just kind of all over.

You know, stucco is a cement material as the house shifts and moves over time, pieces of it crack, so it's it's really kind of here and there all over the building.

Um, some places more than others.

Uh, but yeah, this is simply simply there.

There's all those three pictures are the same exact pictures, they're just from different distances.

And so with that explanation, that would mean that it's going to continue the um the cracking.

Yeah, everything deteriorates over time.

Yeah.

So yes.

Yes, right.

Okay.

Um, a couple things, right?

Like, you let me, I want to commend you for um representing this owner and advocating um, you know, for what's possible.

I want to be careful in the decision that we make today that we're not setting a precedence where we are undermining the work of the historic presence uh present was it preservation uh commission.

Um because what happens with the next house in the next house?

And has and if there is hardship, a hardship waiver, it just seems like that process should take place, otherwise the next person can say, Well, I don't have the money to repair that.

And and I just feel like, although like my heart goes out to this person, but this is something that's gonna continue to get worse, even if the it's patched up with the the white that's gonna blend in, um, and then what do we do?

You know, so I am really torn about this.

Um I I just think it it might be setting a bad precedence in terms of what happens with the next these are big, beautiful um homes and buildings, and they're old, you know.

But then the other hand, there may be some materials that are no longer made, right?

And so, how do we um you know renovate those places or those uh structures and make them comparable to what they once were from the perspective or the um the expectations of the commission?

Um my recommendation would be to at least prove that, and maybe maybe you're absolutely right in that there's no way a hundred dollars an hour, but at least he went through the process because we would have to make the next person go through the process, and so for that reason, I think that um I I'm not gonna approve um I'm I'm gonna agree with the historic preservation commission for that reason because I don't want to set that precedence that anybody can just say they can't afford the repairs, although my heart does go out to the situation.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

You're welcome.

Councilmember Wakenbach.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Uh couple things.

Uh corporation council speaking about the hardship waiver process.

Um I'll use the word owneress.

I'm I don't think that was the word you used, but does that in fact require tax returns and what what all does that involve high level?

Or is that for Miss LaRue?

I'm sorry.

I defer to Miss LaRue if she's got that information with her.

So all of the requirements for the certificate of economic hardship are listed in chapter 16, section 65 in our code.

The as uh council Hayes mentioned, the requirements are rigorous.

Um it seems the general intent of the ordinance is to um require a property owner, particularly for uh property um that is rented for profit to demonstrate that they are not able to use their profits to pay for the improvements.

So, yes, there is quite a bit of um the disclosures do require uh quite a bit of information to be shared with historic preservation commission.

Um, but that is the intent of those disclosures.

And councilman, I've been able to pull it up.

So the items are the amount paid, the date of purchase from whom they purchased, uh the assessed value of the improvements, the two most recent assessments, real estate taxes for the previous two years, annual debt service, if any for the previous two years, any appraisals uh obtained within the last two years um related to the purchase or financing or ownership of the property, any listing of the property for sale or rent, the price asked and offers received, if any, any consideration by the owner as to profitable adaptive uses for the property, and if the property is income producing, the annual gross income from the property for the previous two years, keeping in mind that most of these apply only to commercial properties and not single family residents that might be in the historic district.

So this is again somebody who's got a commercial rental property, you know, with you know, rented off with a view to profit, as Mr.

Then these rules apply.

So uh I think that most of our homeowners would be, hey, wait a minute.

And I that this doesn't apply to single family residents.

Thank you.

Well, rigorous might be a generous word to describe that process.

Um I think for me, this is really a difficult um process to go through because we we want to maintain the integrity of these buildings, and we want them to maintain that historic character.

But if we make the process so onerous, um he'll he'll end up doing nothing and then get fined and um deal with with the code end of it and and who knows who knows where it could go.

I think we need to accept some responsibility here though, as the council that as Ms.

LaRue pointed out, as with all of our commissions with planning and zoning, we we have choices.

We can accept the recommendation, we can deny it, or we can revise it and add a special use to planning and zoning or or or or revise this.

So I don't think we're setting a dangerous precedent.

We're just simply accepting the fact that that that's the process that we do have those three choices.

And in this case, I think councilman Carmona's um brought appropriate information that allows me comfort to to go against their recommendation in this case and not feel like I'm setting a precedent because that's that's our right as the council.

That's our responsibility as a council is to review the commission work and respect the additional research that our our our colleagues done.

So I I will be supporting the motion.

Thank you, madam mayor.

You're welcome.

Councilmember Allen.

Uh thank you, madam mayor.

Uh corporation council Hayes to clarify, if this is denied, what is the process for the petitioner to come back to the uh HPC?

Is there how long will they have to wait to go through the process again?

If the petitioner wants to submit the same scope of work for approval, they have to wait a year.

If they want to change the scope of work somehow, they can apply immediately.

So if they change their scope of for approval, they have to wait a year.

If they want to submit the same scope that they presented previously, they have to wait a year if it's denied.

If they change their scope of work, how they are gonna execute on the project before the commission, then they can apply immediately.

And I appreciate the the call from Carmo Councilman Carmana earlier.

Transparently, um I'm a little out of my depth with this one.

I'm not property brothers by no means in um you know, going through this, and and we have the HBC, you know, providing a recommendation, and then we have a council member who's also an artist advocating for his constituent as well, too.

And so this is a very unique uh place to be in right now on this particular matter.

Uh, I'm definitely empathetic to, and I don't want to assume someone's financial wherewithal by no means, but uh hearing that they may have to wait a year, um, that that is a lot on me as well, too.

So um, I need to sit back and let the thoughts marinate a little bit, but um appreciate the conversation thus far.

Thank you, madam mayor.

You're welcome.

Councilmember Gordon Young.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I just have a question regarding the process.

Um, if the the waiver is that um uh complex, is there a process to change that?

You know, where you have to have all those documents and is that possible, you know, and not necessarily for this uh time, but just in moving forward.

You're referring to the the hardship, yes, the hardship waiver the hardship waiver is uh part of the council's code, and the council has the discretion to modify its code at any time.

So even today we could modify well it wouldn't apply to an existing application, but it would apply going forward.

Okay, it just seems to me that um quite often you know they're just a lot of hoops to jump through, and through you know, by I do agree with council member Riggenbach's comment about not making it so challenging for people to where they just sort of give up.

They're you know, they're they're exhausted before they get started.

Um this is tough.

This is this is really tough because I don't want I I mean I want him to be able to move forward, but I don't want to open a door for um, you know, just a barrage of challenges that we didn't foresee or think about.

I don't normally go back on my word and once that's to say something, I stand on it.

But uh I don't know.

I I am really really torn on this.

I I do agree with I guess I'm thinking also, and I said this before, it's gonna keep cracking.

It's going to keep cracking.

So you can patch it up now, but it's not going to stop.

The whole um structure is going to eventually need to be repaired.

What do we do?

You know, that's a tough position to be in.

You're the artist.

Give us a recipe.

Help us out.

Oh man.

I don't know.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I'm rambling at this point because I'm stuck.

Councilmember Kelly.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I think it may be possible that the commission's decision uh was correct under their set of rules under their guidelines, etc.

But the rules and the guidelines in this case may be putting that property owner in a really extreme position.

And that's why the appeals process is there.

Um so I'm comfortable with sitting on this difficult question, just because I I don't know that they were out of line or anything like that, but this is maybe a little bit extreme.

There was a comment uh that said that uh this person uh is well off.

Um that may be he may be a billionaire.

The property in question has a rent role.

The rent has to pay for the building, has to pay for maintenance, has to pay it, doesn't really matter how much money that person has.

When you own your own home, you can put as much in it as you want.

When you have a rental property, you have to keep your eye on how much rent am I getting, and is that going to pay for this?

And I think that without seeing numbers, apparently the other options for this property owner are um uneconomic for the rent that he's getting.

Apparently, the other options for this property owner are um uneconomic for the rent that he's getting.

I can't say that, but I mean, you you start running up the bill and that put to squeeze on other things in the property.

Um so I I think you know, the rent rule has to cover the repairs of the up to you, the maintenance of the building, you know, and you you take care of all that, you take care of all this other stuff, and you hope to make a profit.

You know, great.

But just because you got money in the bank that is unrelated to that property, that's what you you're just gonna lose money and lose money and lose money on for goodwill.

You know, I don't I don't think so.

Anyway, I just um but I think it is important for us on my first point to consider that the commission may well have done its job, but this is uh a really difficult situation, and now it comes to us, and I don't know that we're undercutting the uh commission if we go ahead and uh uh uh you uh you know go the other way.

So thank you, madam mayor.

You're welcome it's just uh would you verify Miss LaRoe that the building is not owner occupied?

It is a commercial rental property, is considered commercial, but the owner is not a resident of the property.

I I can't confirm that.

You say what?

I cannot confirm that.

Okay.

Do you know the answer to that?

Uh councilmember Carmona.

I excuse me.

I don't know for sure, but I I really don't think he lives there.

But I I don't know for sure.

I'm almost positive he doesn't, though.

Is not does not.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

You had your light on.

You want to I'm sorry, yeah.

I think my apologies.

Did you want to speak also?

No.

Okay.

He has a different address on his application.

Okay, thank you.

Well, I'll just speak last and say I'm I'm not comfortable with an exception in this instance.

I I do think it it sets a precedent.

Um, especially in regard to a process that a pathway that we have for exceptions, and that pathway would be the hardship option, which the applicant chose not to go that route, and I'm not sure why he chose not to go that route.

Maybe because it was a little complicated, or maybe because he felt he didn't have to, because he has had an advocate on the council.

I don't I don't know.

But but I I do think it it was set a precedent, and I think we have to be fair.

I I do believe that the historic preservation commission was doing its job and following the rules that that this body set, and in light of that, I think to be fair uh to the integrity of that uh those those rules, um, though that ordinance, I think an exception in this instance would deviate from our process.

So that's why I would be uncomfortable with it.

I think that there would be others that would feel that that's unfair, uh, especially in the case of a kind of absentee landlord, even if he is a good landlord.

Um that's where I stand.

But we do have a motion on the floor to basically to override the commission's um denial.

Do you want to say something more, Councilmember Carmona?

Uh thank you, Madam Mayor.

Yes, one last thing.

I think this might be a good opportunity for us to look at the HPC process in general.

Um I have neighbors who are afraid to paint their houses because they don't want to go through this process.

Now, me having been through this process know that it's not the worst thing in the world.

Um, but it is an additional step to maintain your own private property, and it's also one that is not explained to you in any way when you buy a home.

The um real estate agent isn't required to tell you.

Um I've lived in an HOA before, they're required to tell you you live in HOA, you have to abide by this, this, and this.

And that's just not what happens when you buy a home in a historically preserved area.

So I agree with what you're saying with uh councilwoman Gordon Young.

I I understand, and uh I also agree to an extent.

Um I just uh it it just frustrates me a little bit because we we uh I lean on the side of uh you know us making the upset exception because um this application was originally submitted last year in I think uh October or something like that, and just kicking this down the road and making it to where you know the the commission is supposed to meet once a month, but they only meet every other month.

So we're gonna prolong these repairs and make them potentially worse.

Well, the rain we continue to get and whatnot.

So um I guess I still um stand with uh although I understand what everybody's saying um with with uh making this exception and maybe potentially looking at the the onerous rules that we do have in this area and whether that's helping um or hurting in some instances.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

You're welcome.

I understand that councilman uh Valpula has joined us, and uh you've counted him present as of 630.

Yes, madam mayor, I have okay.

All right, I'll be sure and call your name for the vote on this, Councilmember Valpula.

So uh Madam Clark, can you read the motion, please?

The motion was made by uh councilmember Carmona um to override the HPC's ruling and to allow the stucco repairs as outlined.

Okay, please cash your ballots council member Valpula.

Yeah, yes.

Motion passes with three nays, Gordon Young, Alan, and Allie Madam Clark.

26-174 is a communication from the city manager and chief of police with a request for the following A approve the authorization to hire six community service officers in the amount of approximately a hundred and eight thousand dollars annually, and B adopt an ordinance amending the city of Peoria 2026-2027 biannual budget relating to the general fund for the use of fund balance for community service officers in the amount of five hundred and eight thousand dollars.

An item B requires two-thirds vote of council members voting, no less than six votes.

And also on your desk, there is a handout, um, which is a letter from the Greater Peoria Leadership Council, and on the opposite side is a breakdown of the costs.

Thank you, madam clerk.

Um, Mr.

Manager.

Um thank you, madam mayor.

I know that the chief has walked up to the podium, but I'd like to just open up with a couple of introductory remarks before I turn it over to the chief.

Um I think that you know the the city administration and the police administration have really noticed that there's some gaps in downtown around public safety.

And looking at what a number of other communities have done uh to really extend the reach uh and have more eyes and ears on the streets, um, they've utilized this concept of a community service officer, which is a civilian position in the police department um that would really be there to help um to uh again be the eyes and ears of the police department, but also be an ambassador for us in downtown uh to look at um certain events and activities that they're present at that, but also um to to really provide additional reach as people are coming into the community and or into downtown and then leaving downtown in the evenings as well.

So um you have that letter from the Greater Peoria Leadership Council.

Um we have met with the business community and the GPLC to talk to them about this concept.

Um they were kind of coming at it from the same direction, and they asked um they they've actually um talked about privately funding some security for a period of time uh while we get this up and running and and work towards that.

They've also agreed to provide the city with 72,000 dollars to provide the costs towards the training and for the equipment that we would uh need uh for the six additional officers.

So in addition to that, um our finance director put together a packet.

Uh I apologize.

I cut off the header when I printed this out, would have made a call I had with Councilman Kelly a lot easier earlier today.

Um we showed you the cost of what one community service officer is compared to one police officer.

And then the second column shows you the cost of all six as well as the training costs as well.

So versus you know, having six police officers on the street, uh, this is about half the cost of what we would be looking at to do that.

So that's another reason why we're looking at this to again be a cost effective way to provide additional safety support uh in our downtown.

And with that, I'll turn it over to our chief of police.

Okay, good evening, Mayor, City Council.

So I just want to build on that a little bit.

Um I I just want to be clear that uh we're not replacing officers.

This isn't affecting our hiring process.

Um, these are community service officers that essentially uh they're not sworn, but it will allow our police officers to focus on higher priority law enforcement calls.

So there's a lot of these these uh community service officers will be restricted to our downtown uh area, and um we're just looking for consistent visible, highly visible presence, and we want to provide um you know a higher level of customer service to our guests.

Uh the the Civic Center has done a great job of filling uh the downtown.

Uh the riverfront has done a great job.

Um we we have so many organizations that come to town as well as residents that come to our downtown, and uh a lot of these services don't need to believe be police officers.

We can we can free up police officers, we don't need to bring other police officers from other districts to the downtown to assist with the um downtown.

So we're just trying to enhance the overall downtown experience, and uh we think that uh adding these uh uh CSOs, if you will, um community service officers will fit in that uh that lane.

So I uh am more than I know there's gonna be some questions.

I'm I'm more than happy to answer them, and um so I'll turn it over to the council.

Thank you, Chief.

See a lot of lights on.

So we got a few questions.

Uh council council member Gordon Young.

Thank you, Madam May.

Okay, Chief.

I've got about um at least six.

Sure.

Okay, all right.

Um, well, the first one you answered, which was the what the salary.

Um and and of course, like let me just say this.

I I have a lot to say about this in favor of and against.

And I'm I'm saying that from constituents who have called and they have concerns so that I can be the voice to get the answers to relieve some of their concerns.

Okay.

Um, so you answered the the question about the salary, but the um will these positions receive pay raises?

So they will be AFSME, they are not in the same um bargaining unit as police officers, so they're asked me employees, uh city employees, but they would be in the ask me um bargaining unit.

So yes, they would get uh pay raises with the ask me uh per their collective bargaining agreement.

Okay.

All right.

And if the hours are 6 a.m.

to 10 p.m., what does that look like?

Is that two different shifts?

Is it three per shift?

Yeah, we anticipate two different shifts.

Uh six to two, two to ten.

Um so there's a there's a different service needs during different times of the day.

Um, it'd be three and three.

We anticipate, um, but we have events at night, those would likely be staffed uh with some overtime from the other three.

We could, you know, depending on how we structure it, we could flex hours depending if we know there's an event coming in.

Um there's a there's a it gives us a lot of flexibility, but there certainly would be some overtime.

Um we can also look at flexing hours.

It's just we have a great working relationship with our civic center and our and our downtown events, so it's something we can plan for.

Okay, so they will be paid over time, they may work beyond the 10 p.m.

hour.

Yes, currently they would they would likely be paid overtime, um, some of them anyway, not all of them.

Um currently, for instance, a lot of our events downtown for civic center that we staff, um we use detectives to to staff that on overtime.

That's that's what we're using right now, and that's for traffic control, getting crowds across safely across the street, um, things like that.

Okay.

This one you may not be able to answer, but this is really not necessarily for me, but maybe a refresher.

So back in my dispatch days, you know, I remember having that call log, and depending on what's going on in the city, that call log gets higher and higher and higher and higher, and the stress level gets higher and higher and higher because you don't have anybody to send on these calls.

And citizens are calling back in, wanting to know how long before somebody's gonna respond to the no injury accident.

Um, or uh, you know, the the theft, you know, those, and sometimes it unfortunately it can be ours.

What I didn't realize until recently is things aren't like they were per se.

A lot of things have changed since I was a dispatcher, but there's no no longer like two officers per district in and and in the districts, right?

And so that means if there is an emergency in the downtown area, not in the downtown area, let's just say in four district, right?

And on the south side.

So that officer may be the closest one getting pulled over there, and so there's nobody necessarily patrolling this area.

Do I still have it right?

Yeah, that in general, they're they're gonna go to a call, so the officers get called um, you know, if there's uh they get tied up.

But uh, but I'll give you a couple examples of where we can um, you know, I I talked about keeping officers focused on priority law enforcement responsibility.

So if there's a if there's a traffic accident downtown, you and and say we're impeding traffic, we would have one officer doing the accident, and maybe you have two officers blocking traffic, those are coming from other districts, we're pulling from those other districts or time consuming.

If we have CSOs, it could look a couple different ways.

If it's a private property accident, uh, you know, the CSO could certainly handle it.

Um, but maybe you have the police officer handling the traffic accident and you have your CSOs blocking traffic for them in their um cars.

So that would save two officers from coming downtown to to block traffic and be available for other priority calls.

And and you know, especially on our second shift hours uh from when you were a dispatch, the calls stack up and the priority calls, if you're on a call, you you're tied up and you're not available, so you're not able to be sent.

So, you know, in that scenario, which happens to be um uh a big call for service downtown, you know, there's there's uh minor accidents, but you could wait a long time if you leave a concert and you have uh you lost your cell phone or you need a uh a minor police report.

If it's a Saturday night, you're likely going to be waiting a long time for a non-priority call.

So um we think you know, we're we're really working on some customer service in the police department.

We we are I'm I'm desperately working to lower those response times for um traffic accidents, minor calls for service, and I I think this is a service gap we can fill with with CSOs.

Okay, right.

Thank you.

Um here's the other concern.

Um it's not in the budget, and so we're being asked to take a half million dollars essentially out of the general fund.

Uh the the con would be what happens if um you know for budget reasons or fiscal reasons, or we had pensions and all, you know, we got bills to pay.

Sure.

What happens if we cannot sustain those CSOs?

Um, so for example, I know that in a couple of other cities that have them, they were going to lay them off, but because they were part of their their union uh fought for them to not to keep their jobs, but they raise the sales tax.

And so, like lots of in order to be able to fund it.

And so that's a concern that I'm you know, I've been filling a lot of calls on this one that people are concerned about.

I I can speak to some of that, and and maybe I need some help, but um, you know, the ask me union if if the position was no longer funded and and went away, um, they would have priority for other ask me positions unfilled in the city.

So um for instance, if something came open in code or there was something open in code enforcement, or um we certainly need help with our FOIs, you know, our our FOIA requests.

So they would have priority on those positions as far as uh raising sales tax.

That that would be obviously a um council decision, but the employees, if we did not fund them, would have since they would be ASME employees, they would have priority for open ASME jobs.

Okay.

Um I think that's all I have right now.

Um and additional questions may come up, but I do want to say that I see um some positives, particularly as it relates to our strategic plan, our goals to um, you know, downtown development, public safety.

Um, you know, sometimes we're leaving here late at night.

Um, you know, there are people walking around, and um, you know, we we've got a lot of services that are sometimes um they sometimes draw um a variety of people, and we just want to make sure that we keep people safe.

Uh I do understand the challenges that uh you know some people are concerned about, uh but this is specific to the downtown area, and I think that um it is possible for us to be able to move through this and assist and help with the uh free up those police officers.

And thank you for those questions.

I just I just want to reiterate we're we're not replacing any police services.

If you know, in my view, I think we're trying to enhance our police response.

Right.

All right.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

You're welcome.

Councilmember Allen.

Thank you, madam mayor.

Uh Chief Dixon.

It sounds good to say that, by the way.

Thank you.

Oh can you speak to what is the training look like for these individuals?

Yeah, so um, and and I'll relate it to some of the calls we have downtown.

So uh the training, you know, they will be going through some similar police training, de-escalation, um, you know, first aid, things like that.

They'll be trained to the same level as our police officers on first aid, um, you know, report writing.

They won't get into investigative, sorry, I've got an itch here.

They won't get into uh investigative type reports.

Um, and and we certainly don't want them responding to things like domestics and things like that.

But um, you know, basic calls for service, um, traffic safety, um, and and anything generally dealing with the public.

Um, certainly have some uh um enhanced uh um you know um like like let me give you example for medical training.

Last year, the the number one call for service in our downtown district was were medical calls.

So um and and Dr.

Gordon Young, you you could speak to you, you know, if you go to a medical call, they send the fire department and the police officers go there, but they are often deferred to higher priority calls for service.

So um, and sometimes they're on there, and when you're on the call, you're tied up, not available.

Um, these off these community service officers would be downtown available.

Um they're they're trained to the same level as a police officer, um, which is a basic medical training, and so they could respond to those calls.

I think we had close to 400 medical calls downtown.

That was the number one call for service last year.

So that training would be put to good use, but it would not be for um, you know, I gave the example of domestics or somebody armed with a um weapon, something like that.

We would not be sending them to those calls, but they would be in the area, um, they would be, you know, for lack of a better term, for those instances, trained observer.

Um they could call in suspicious uh um persons, things like that.

Now, in practice, will these individuals will they be stationed in vehicles or would they be just kind of on foot walking around?

Uh, what is this look like when the elements change?

Yeah, they certainly have will have vehicles.

Um they'll be highly visible.

Uh, they won't be red and blue lights, they'll kind of be the amber color, they'll be clearly marked vehicles.

Uh so we don't want them getting confused with police officers.

They will have completely different looking uniforms.

Um, but you know, during uh high traffic events, you may see them driving around with their lights on, uh, just as a high visible presence in and um you know, better weather, we want them out visible.

They may be in a uh uh UTV striped for them or or um um walking, you know.

I think I think on bikes is another good asset for them.

They're gonna be downtown, um, but certainly one of them would probably be in a vehicle.

Um we've got uh we've got some parking decks that we would love to have a visual presence in.

Um that is a that is a big um task for the police officers, pulling them to have them drive through our parking decks.

Um, and again, you talk about that visual presence.

I I think that would be well suited for those type of responses.

And then can you clarify what type of equipment will they have?

It sounds like they won't be armed with a firearm.

Will they have any other type of protection for themselves?

Yeah, so they it it depends.

Some of those details still have to be worked out, but um they definitely will not have a firearm.

Um, you know, they certainly will have a radio with our our prep so they can they can talk to our officers, they'll go to our roll calls with the officers um so they know what's going on in the districts.

Uh they'll respond to a a sergeant, a police sergeant will be responsible for them.

Um so um, you know, flashlight.

They, you know, I don't I don't think we'll have a need for handcuffs.

We're not asking them to arrest anybody.

That's not the um approach we want.

Um we certainly would have to talk about whether we're gonna outfit them with um ballistic, you know, our parking enforcement don't wear ballistic um um armor.

So that would have to be part of the discussion on on the type of response they have.

But flashlight, um, um radio, that type of thing.

No, I absolutely will I definitely appreciate uh this being brought forth.

I know that I've had conversations with several business owners downtown, and um we know that we are wrestling uh with the perception of you know, downtown sometimes has a challenges when it comes to to safety.

Uh I had a constituent of mine who was a seasoned ticket holder to the Bradley Braves and had an encounter with an unhoused individual, and she let me know she canceled her season tickets.

And you know, I tried to direct her to the civic center to see how they could work it out and just that one situation um she bowed out gracefully.

And so we know that these instances happen, so I'm glad that we are trying to do something.

Uh for some of the calls that I've gotten about this, I would like to just reiterate though that I think this council under this administration has demonstrated that not only are we looking to address the um I would say the root causes of some of these issues.

We've supported you know initiatives for our unhoused and we've given uh funding to social service agencies through the community block development grant process and and other means, but also too, we are addressing the public safety aspect of it with this.

So I think we've demonstrated that we are focused on doing both in order to uh not only uh address downtown development, but as council member Gordon Young said, we're addressing quality of life, community safety, and as well as business growth and prosperity under our strategic plan.

So I wholeheartedly will be supporting this tonight.

Thank you.

And and I just if I could just follow up, um, you talk about some of the training.

Um we do plan on some of our social service agencies that deal with our own house.

Uh we work very close with them nearly every day, and and so that would certainly be be part of that training.

Thank you, Chief.

Thank you, Madam Metter.

You're welcome.

Councilmember Wiganbach.

Thank you, madam mayor.

Thank you, Chief, for this out-of-the-box thinking that it's really a creative approach and something that I think um will get great support from the community at large.

I would just begin by saying though, I think you need to talk to public works about using the acronym CSO.

I think they've got that one trademark.

So picking up where you just left off though, um, regarding training and the social service agencies.

You and I talked offline about particularly the the unhoused population and the challenges there.

And we mentioned Lula and Casey Bernard in particular.

So I think people like that would be a great resource for the CSOs.

That would be a great work on the name.

That would be a uh one of the many great um resources for these um folks as they get into training that work with people who have that hands-on experience.

But um serving on the Civic Center authority on behalf of this council and working downtown.

I can tell you that the feedback that I've received has been only positive that people are curious how it's all gonna play out.

So um I don't have any questions, just want to say thank you for this creative approach, and I will definitely be supporting this as well.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

And I'll follow up with those comments and and say I really appreciate your proposal, Chief.

I wish we could do 10 instead of six.

Um, but you know, six, I think is a great start.

And I guess I see these individuals as maybe potential um pipeline members into the police force.

Perhaps these are people that will serve as uh community service officers and maybe have an interest at some point in trying out to become a police officer.

Uh there's certainly that possibility that these this could be a feeder.

Um but our downtown is a strategic priority.

We have more people living in the downtown area than ever before, and that's only going to increase with some of our housing projects.

We need a downtown that is more walkable.

And we are you know fighting with the perception of a downtown that is not safe.

We we know better than that, but we do have to do everything that we can to make it even safer, and I think this is a great strategy in terms of actually putting people uniformed individuals who are not just citizens that are out there, you know, trying to to help, but these are trained officers.

Um I I kind of think about that concept that was used that is used now in the schools with the school resource officers who are uniformed and they're in the schools, and I don't know, I know that the salary and benefit the salary of these positions is half of that of a police officer pretty much.

But do you think that there will be decent retention?

And I don't know how that this salary compares with the SRO school resource officer, but but are you comfortable that we would be able to retain these individuals in these positions based upon um the the salary benefits and the type of occupation?

Yeah, so I um I've reached out to some of my colleagues in in the industry, if you will, and um, you know, you get you get all kinds of you you spoke about um basically recruitment, it's uh could be a pipeline for the police department.

It certainly is.

You get a great look at the police department, you're working hand in hand with them.

Um and some people just prefer to be community service officers.

So um they don't want to be police officers, but they want to help their community and and work um with the community.

So um we we certainly partner with our Peori Public Schools uh during events.

You will see uniform Peoria Public School Umicers at the Fourth of July event we have.

They are they are helping us uh through the screening process.

The park district has a police department, and they also have um uniformed, um, they're not they don't call them community service officers, but security.

You will see them at the Fourth of July.

They were there a Juneteenth.

So we just look at it as enhancing our public safety, highly visible, consistent downtown area.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kelly.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um Chief, uh I have my firm and always correct idea about where downtown starts and ends until I talk to my next door neighbor, and their definition is over here, and then somebody else is over here.

What uh when we when we're talking about downtown with these with the CSOs, what are the boundaries of that downtown definition?

Yeah, that's that's a good question.

And I and I kind of had to, you know, sometimes it could be confusing a police district versus uh a business district.

Um, but I think we have settled uh, you know, essentially if you can imagine bridge to bridge and then uh where Cumpf comes across, or just just north of Perry, right there.

So um that would be our our main focus right there.

Okay.

Um I'm sure whatever it is is okay, but I just all right.

Um hopefully that makes sense.

Yeah, yeah.

I'll let you know.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, okay.

Um the uh uniforms.

I'm not a uniform expert, whatever, but it's um are we tending toward something calming or something intimidating?

Yeah, that's uh we we definitely don't want this as a customer service, you know, approach.

We want to be approachable.

Um we don't want to have an aggressive stance, so we will do our due diligence to make sure that they um I don't think our police are are have aggressive stances, but um, you know, I I we'll look at the uniforms, but we'll make sure that it's professional in appearance, and um we want our CSOs to look approachable and and professional.

Thank you.

Um will these CSOs have access to all of the downtown parking decks?

Yes, okay, private and public.

Well, we would the private parking decks very much want us to in their parking decks.

I'm sure they do.

Yeah, so I um obviously the priority are the the city parking decks, but yeah, part of their uh you know, I mean, we would have to talk to those businesses essentially, but I I do anticipate parking decks being a major part of their um patrols.

Okay, thank you.

And um this really is a confusing item to me.

Um 6 a.m.

Yeah to 10 p.m.

Now not being in your business, sure.

It's a fair question.

Um my thought would be 9 p.m.

to 4 a.m.

or something like that.

Uh you know, 6 a.m.

I don't know.

We're are we gonna have trouble at six six?

Well, what what what's the what's the rationale?

I'll tell you the rationale is is we don't I don't necessarily want um community service officers working a downtown bar district at two, three in the morning.

That's those are that's a police job.

I want them dealing with that.

That's mainly fights and things like that.

But if you think about uh the business district, all the folks we have coming to work, parking, getting in.

Um we have a lot of calls for service in our parking decks in the morning.

Um we have some issues with um our own house in the morning.

Um, and so we think that would be a good use of resources in the morning prior to everyone arriving.

Um they can they can start their patrols and be out.

Um, and then you know, our busiest time is in the morning around 7 30, 8 o'clock in the morning when everybody's arriving, and then when if you've left downtown, you know that four to five time period is also really busy.

Um, and then there's another wave around 7 7 30 when the entertainment districts start our our concerts and our um downtown civic center events, our Bradley games and concerts and things like that.

So we're just trying to cover as much of that gap as we can.

And so um the the hours are not set in stone, but uh that is the general consensus uh that that we're thinking based off of some data and calls for service, things like that.

Um but we don't want to confuse the role right um, you know, we're kind of customer service oriented.

We're we don't want to get them involved in um downtown bar incidents.

Okay.

Um can you walk us through what this if you have the doctrine set walk us through what a a uh CSO would do when they find uh someone uh sleeping in a parking deck?

Yeah, so um I I fully anticipate that uh you know the more you work downtown the more you get to know them.

I I certainly get to know some of our unhoused in the area.

So um, but you know, if we see someone sleeping in a uh parking deck, you know, it's an approach and say, hey, this you can't sleep here.

If we can also you know uh we would love to refer them to services, work with our community agencies, see if we can get them housed, um, but we're hoping enough contact that's not going to be a place where you would see somebody sleeping if the if they know um um you know are are unhoused, certainly have some challenges.

We we want them to have places to go, but we don't want our parking decks to be that place.

So um we're gonna put a big um priority on that space and and hopefully we can fix that issue of people sleeping in our parking decks by having a high visual presence in our parking decks.

Okay, um and if they would run into some trouble, they would just call a regular.

Yeah, so um you know, they would obviously be on the radio, we would know where they're at.

Um they wouldn't uh you know there's there's some support there.

Um there's still a police officer in that area assigned to that district, they would um as long as they're available, they could stop by, but we certainly wouldn't um want to put them in danger, they wouldn't uh they wouldn't need to approach them, but they could use their radio to say, hey, I need a police officer to come down here.

There's somebody sleeping in this parking deck, they they don't need to approach them or have contact with them, especially if it's gonna be confrontational.

Thank you.

Thanks very much.

Uh Madam Mayor, we don't have a motion yet, do we?

No.

Uh well, I'll move to uh uh uh approve item A.

Okay.

Seconded by Councilmember Reaganbach and continued discussion.

Councilmember Carmona.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

And thank you, Chief, for bringing this forward.

I also wanted to thank uh director Craddy.

Yeah, it was very helpful to see the breakdown of the cost of a CSO compared to a uh sworn officer.

So uh thank you very much for that.

I was just in uh Nashville about a week ago and saw a few of these CSOs walking around.

Um I know they won't be exactly the same, obviously, but uh they were doing everything from picking up trash to directing people where to go, directing traffic, and um it seemed to me to be very helpful, and obviously they have them there for a reason.

Um I know that the businesses and residents from the downtown area being my my district, um, they are very um very concerned um at times with safety, um, certain times of the day and whatnot, and they are they are very supportive of uh this agenda item.

Um I've had a couple of questions in regards to things we've already talked about, um, but once I explained um, you know, the cost and obviously not having, for example, a detective directing traffic uh or on overtime or you know, I mean, we're doing what we have with or what we can with what we have, but this will be a much more efficient and effective way, hopefully, um, to keep our city safe in our downtown area.

Uh I do have one question.

Um is there a plan for the CSOs to wear uh body cams?

Is that something you've thought about?

Yeah, they um we're I was just working with our or talking to with our public works um uh folks out there, and um there's some creative things we can do in the cars um as far as cameras since they're not police officers.

Um we're we're still working on that.

But um I I think that that would it may be a good fit.

I don't know that I can't answer that just yet.

Um we're going through an axon transition currently.

Um so I I we have one of our contracts coming up, so we're trying to work that in.

Um axon's a great product, but as you know, it's it's very expensive.

So um, but I would certainly like them to have body cameras.

They're not statutory, it's statutorily required to do that.

So police officers are so I guess the technical answer is they're not required to do it by law.

Um, but you know, I don't think that's a bad thing having a body camera on.

Okay, uh thank you.

And I uh trust your expertise to find the right decision as to what to do there.

Um thank you again very much uh for bringing this forward and I will be supporting this agenda item.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

You're welcome.

Councilmember Vespa thank you, madam mayor.

Um yeah, I I echo a lot of the comments that we've heard tonight, and uh certainly thank uh thank the chief for this this good idea.

Um I I think more people walking around makes people feel safer.

So, you know, if if you want more people walking around downtown, you got to get more people walking around.

So just and especially people in uniform, even if they're not um if they're not sworn officers.

Um plus you know it's gonna alleviate overtime uh by your officers.

I know we had a lot of them uh at the Juneteenth um festival downtown.

Um we had some park district officers.

Um, but I mean if we don't have to pay overtime to sworn officers, if we can just get people um, you know, um these CSOs to do crowd control, that's good for the budget.

Um so it makes people feel safer.

I think it will lead to it being safer, um, our downtown being safer, and uh it will be good for the budget.

Uh these CSOs, I see them as you know, observing and reporting.

Um, I see them as being our eyes and ears um of our police force.

Um, so that's good to have uh as long as they're properly trained, as long as they know to limit the use of force.

Um that's important.

Uh you know, we don't want them trying to make arrests, trying to use force on people when they're not they're not fully trained.

I know our police officers, I think, get hundreds of hours of training.

Um these CSOs will not so as long as as long as they operate in those strictures, um, this can be a good thing, very good thing.

And I very much support it.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

If I could just follow up on that.

I I don't anticipate um, you know, like our parking enforcement officers deal with conflict, but we don't want them engaging with anybody.

They they call if they need assistance, and that would be the same thing.

Observe and report.

Thank you, Chief.

We have a motion and a second to approve item A.

Please cash your ballots.

Councilman Valpula.

Yes.

Motion passes unanimously.

Councilmember Kelly.

Uh, I move to approve uh item B.

Seconded by Councilmember Regenbach.

Please cash your ballots.

Councilmember Valpula.

Yes, please.

Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you, Chief.

Thank you.

Madam Clark.

26-175 is a communication from the city manager and chief of police with a request for the following.

A accept the tobacco prevention enforcement program grant from the Department of Human Services in the amount of $17,034.

And B adopt an ordinance amending the City of Peoria 2026-2027 biannual budget relating to the general fund to recognize the receipt of grant funding from the Department of Human Services providing the tobacco enforcement in the amount of $17,034.

And item B requires two-thirds vote of council members voting, no less than six votes, and separate votes on each, please.

Mr.

Manager.

Well, we've kept the chief back up at the podium for this next item, so I'll turn the floor right back over to him.

Chief.

Yeah, this one is a much more basic request.

Um, this is something we do annually.

This is our um what we call TSEP, but this is how we uh um we check and educate our um it's compliance checks and education for our uh tobacco vendors essentially.

So um we're requesting to accept this grant money to to pay for the officers overtime to do it.

Thank you.

Uh, can I get a motion to approve item A?

Councilmember Allen seconded by council member Gordon Young.

Any questions or comments?

Please cash your ballots.

Councilmember Carmona, Councilmember Valpula.

Sorry about that.

Yes, please.

Motion passes unanimously.

Uh Councilmember Allen.

I move to approve item B, please.

Seconded by Councilmember uh Carmona.

Any discussion?

Please cash your ballots.

Councilmember Valpula.

Yes.

Motion passes unanimously.

Madam Clerk.

26-176 is a communication from the city manager and assistant city manager with a request to adopt an ordinance approving the redevelopment agreement with 6035 Knoxville LLC to develop Keller Station Business Development District.

Mr.

Manager.

Um thank you, Madam Mayor.

This is uh the Peoria Color Station Business Development District Agreement.

Um we established the business development district um several years ago, and we're finally getting around uh to working through the agreement uh with the developer.

Um so under this agreement um the city would reimburse 75 percent of the business development district revenues for eligible private development costs in the in the the business district and up to 90 percent of the BDD revenues towards public infrastructure costs, and we've capped it at 1.975 million dollars.

So um we've generated about 190,000 so far in the BDD, um, and it's roughly generating about five or fifty thousand dollars a year that would be eligible for distribution and be happy to answer any questions.

Questions, um council member Vespa uh thank you, madam mayor.

Um actually I I just want to inform everyone um this LLC 6035 Knoxville um is a client of mine, so I'm going to abstain from this vote.

Thank you.

Understood.

Thank you.

Councilmember Regenbach.

Thank you, madam mayor.

Um this is in the third district and has just been a great anchor to that part of Donovan Park and has continued um it it opened around the time of COVID, so there was some some bumps along the way, but there's plans for future expansion and growth there as well.

So I'm very excited to to see this item before us tonight and move for the approval.

Okay, seconded by council member Kelly.

Any questions?

Discussion, please cash your ballots.

Councilmember Valpula.

Yes, please.

Motion passes with one abstention.

Vespa.

Madam Clark.

26-177 is a communication from the city manager and assistant city manager with a request to adopt an ordinance approving the redevelopment agreement with RSCC Group Inc.

to build Dutch Brothers Coffee.

Mr.

Manager.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

This is uh the redevelopment agreement for Dutch Brothers Coffee with uh the RSC group.

Um the total project cost is estimated at a million four twenty-five.

Uh we're anticipating it would generate about four hundred and nineteen thousand dollars a year in property taxes.

Um they've requested 50% of the tax increment until the end of the uh TIF.

Um and the TIFF eligible expenses up to uh 1.2 million dollars, whichever comes first.

Um by the agreement, and there was a prior agreement that was passed uh in 2023, um, where the the larger developer that that developed this area put in uh the infrastructure for the roadway network that comes into this development.

Um, and that agreement sets aside any future tax increment that's generated from the site would go towards that agreement first.

So what that means is that um 75% of that available tax increment that's generated from Dutch Brothers will repay the initial developer, the master developer for the infrastructure that was put in place.

Um, and then after that, um, once that's been paid off, then ultimately uh the increment will go back up and they'll be able to get more reimbursement back from Dutch Brothers.

So happy to answer any questions, and I think I got it right.

Checking with Kimberly.

Councilmember Carmona.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you, Mr.

Manager.

Uh had several questions that you answered earlier.

And um, this is gonna be a good development.

Uh the TIF has been established.

This is what it's here for, and um so they've broken ground, and um, I know a lot of constituents are looking forward to having Dutch Brothers on the corner there.

So, uh, Madam Mayor, I'd like to move to approve uh this item.

Okay, seconded by councilmember Allen.

Any discussion or comments?

Please cash your ballots.

Councilmember Valpula.

Yes.

Motion passes unanimously.

Madam Clark.

26-178 is a communication from the city manager and director of community development to receive and file a report back on the East Village Growth Cell.

Mr.

Manager.

Uh Mayor, and this and this uh item, I'm actually gonna turn the floor over to the third district council member, Councilman Riggenbach, who's gonna talk about uh the East Village Growth Cell.

Councilman Rigambach.

Thank you, madam mayor.

Thank you, Mr.

Manager.

As Director Doolin and I were going over this um earlier a couple days ago, he's like, why don't you just present it?

You you hear me talk about this a lot and the benefit that this has provided to the East Bluff neighborhoods.

Um but I thought it was would be really important to have these numbers so you know that I'm not embellishing them, that they're legit and that this is this has been an incredible success for the city of Peoria.

This was established in 2010, and for those of you that remember 2010, um Cub Food at Midtown Plaza closed in 2009.

So the idea of creating another TIFF was a little apprehensive for many council members, let alone those in the neighborhood.

So we wanted to make this TIFF different, and it wasn't gonna be geared toward one development, like respectfully a grocery store, but it was gonna involve uh a wider swath of the city, and as OSF began discussions with city staff on that, they were very adamant about including the neighborhood and having this TIFF provide a benefit for the neighborhood.

So the boundaries are quite large, and some of the projects that have taken advantage of redevelopment agreements with the city are of course OSF, the jump trading center, that was kind of the anchor and the initial driver behind this.

But since that time, we've also seen Obed and Isaac's Peoria Opportunities Foundation has built 30 single family homes in the East Bluff, um, using some of these um TIFF funds as gap funding for their projects.

Burger King, um, the Starbucks, there's just a list there along Knoxville, and I have to give Ross Black a lot of credit in the boundaries were set up.

He wanted to be sure to include the west side of Knoxville.

So that includes, as I mentioned, the the Burger King, the Starbucks, the car wash along there.

So one of the most unique things about this TIFF is that it was the first TIFF we had that was gonna um spin off some of the increment to the school district.

So we set the goal that when that number reached 500,000, that that the TIFF increment reached 500,000, we would begin spinning off 10% to the school district.

Um Director Craddy's had some conversations with them.

We owe them money, um, we just haven't had the right connection to to get it to them yet, but this is very career and um career oriented, so likely it'll be something at Woodriff High School, the career and technical school that these funds will be um dedicated to specifically in 2016 that the housing program took place, uh was implemented, and since that time we've had a hundred and sixty nine um property owners take advantage of this.

It's over two million dollars in economic development for individuals living in the East Bluff.

Umright it was set up that the city would match 50-50, and you could get up to 30,000.

Well, in 2025, we expanded those a bit, and there's some income income writers that give you more with a less of a match, and then for low income homeowners that are 55 and up, there's no match required at all.

So, needless to say, we've seen the program just grow exponentially in the first eight years of the program.

We had 92 projects with about a million dollars of investment since 2025, so that's a year and a half.

Um, we've had 77 projects and another um 1.2 million in investment.

So that just shows the need and it shows the value of thinking a little bit outside the box.

Another um component of this that we added in 2024 was garage demolition.

So if there was a garage in the alley that needed to be taken down, um, you could apply for that as well.

And we've done nine of those so far for about 17,000.

So I had to talk to Director Craddy to be prepared if there's any questions on the finances, and the back page has all those numbers.

Um I'll defer to him if you do have any questions.

But I just think that a lot of times um TIFF districts are misunderstood by people, and I think this is a good example of it benefiting the business community as well as the neighborhood, and we continue to look at the the needs in the East Bluff and tweak this as appropriate to make sure that we're meeting those.

And the another unique feature, and then I'll wrap it up, is that we have a um citizens advisory council that meets twice a year, and that includes residents of the East Bluff as well as business and nonprofit.

So we're able to hear directly what the needs are, and that's been a great great um resource for us as this is moved on.

Was that me?

I don't think so.

So um with that, I would make a motion to receive and file.

Seconded by council member Kelly.

Um, I just want to say congratulations.

These are phenomenal numbers, and you know, I would argue that the school district benefits as well and their return on investment in this TIFF.

It's it's phenomenal.

And uh thank you for your leadership.

Thank you to all the stakeholders, certainly to uh Director Doolin and his team to POF, I mean all the stakeholders that have been involved in making this a success.

It's it's a great example, and I will say a great model.

So congratulations.

Thank you.

Uh we have a motion to receive and file.

Uh councilmember Allen.

Uh thank you, madam mayor.

I just want to say again, thank you, Councilmember Riggenbach.

Like this is amazing.

And sometimes, like you said in your comments, uh, when we talk about TIFF and TIFF is an economic development tool that we utilize to spur development, um, but not in the concept of where it actually goes back to the residents, you know, and you did a great job uh illustrating that.

So thank you so much in the work to our community development department.

I mean, this is this is amazing, and sometimes this good work doesn't make the Facebook algorithm, so it's important that we have these report back, so then that way we could take this back to the community to say that we are using our economic development tools wisely, and we're being very detention about that.

So thank you, sir, for uh your overview.

And uh, you know, you may have a future in community development because the way you just did that presentation, you know, maybe maybe Joe might put you on a payroll or something.

So no, thank you, Battle Bear.

You're welcome.

Uh please cast your ballots.

Councilmember Valpula.

Yeah.

Okay, thank you.

Motion passes unanimously.

We're at unfinished business.

We are at new business.

Do we have any new business?

Councilmember Reganbach.

Thank you, madam mayor.

In light of our discussion earlier with the historic preservation um commission.

I think councilman Carmona mentioned it, but I would like to make an official request that community development, sorry, director, um, reviews the process, particularly regarding the hardship waiver, but um is is the process and the guidelines that we set appropriate?

Are they on us?

Um in 2026 have things changed that that need to be looked at.

So I I would like a specific review of the hardship waiver, but um a precursory look at the um ordinances that we have in place in general.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Um in light of the fact that we won't meet again until after the 4th of July.

I just want to encourage all of our residents um to come out and celebrate with us the 4th of July at the waterfront, riverfront, the red, white and boom celebration.

We're also celebrating our 250th anniversary of America, and uh there's a lot of plans that have been put in place for this just amazing event.

And uh there's going to be over 200,000 people on downtown on both sides of the river.

So it's going to be huge, and it's going to be a safe and family event in Peoria.

So come on out, we'll be there.

So is there any other new business?

We don't have any citizens' comments.

We do not, no, and no executive sessions.

So we are at adjournment.

Can I get a motion to adjourn?

Move by council member Carmona, second by council member Alan.

Uh please cast your ballots.

Councilmember Carmona.

Councilmember Valpula, I'm sorry.

Yes, please.

Thank you for your service.

Sorry.