I'd like to call to order the planning and development committee meeting for March twenty third, twenty twenty-six.

Tonight's invocation will be given by Pastor Cameron Henderson of City First Church.

If I can have you all please stand, I'm immediately followed by tonight's comment excuse me.

And whereas social workers positively impact the lives of millions of Americans daily in hospital, school, child welfare agencies, community centers, and with federal, state, and local governments nationwide.

And whereas for more than a century, the social work profession has worked to improve society by playing a role in establishing a minimum wage, promoting behavioral health, social security, Medicare, and working to ensure equal rights for all, no matter their race, sexual identity, gender, gender expression, culture, or religion.

And whereas social workers are on the front lines helping solve pressing social problems, including increased demand for mental health services, and opioid addiction crisis, economic inequality, they confront oppression and racism, advocate for human rights and advancing fair policies for all persons by obliterating barriers that prevent individuals and families from thriving.

And whereas in 2026, social work month theme is social workers, uplift, defend, and transform.

It shines a light on the resolute spirit of social workers who transform lives while bringing hope, healing, and justice to the communities they serve, especially in times of profound change and challenges.

Now, therefore, I, Thomas P.

McTamer, as a mayor of the city of Rockford do hereby proclaim the month of March 2026 to be social work month.

Just want to say on behalf of Rockford to all of you and all the social workers out there, thank you so much for your tireless advocacy, special uh especially for those who are marginalized.

So thank you so much.

Mary, would you like to share a few words?

Thank you so much.

Thank you, City Council, thank you, Mayor McNamara, for this uh proclamation.

I think it's so important to shine a light on the social work profession, especially nowadays when we are um battling even it being considered a profession.

Um we are in you know the schools, we're in the hospitals, we're in government, we're in um the veterans administration.

Um we're in a variety of different areas um doing this work, helping um advocate for um rights for um the families and youth and with with whom we work.

Um and so I really appreciate everybody here tonight listening to the proclamation and wanted to give a shout out to my fellow social workers here with me tonight.

Um the work you do is so important.

Thank you for being here.

Um thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for the seat.

Thank you.

We'll go ahead and move into our public speakers.

Um, just as a reminder, all public speakers will have three minutes to make their comments.

We do have two microphones located at the back of the horseshoe.

Uh, once your three minutes are up, you will hear an alarm sound, and we just ask that you bring your comments to a close at that time.

That being said, our first speaker tonight is Andrew Petroselli.

Good evening, my city.

Tonight I'm here to talk about an independent candidate who is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people, as he would be Winnebago's first county clerk of Hispanic Heritage.

I, Andrew Petroselli, am that candidate.

A technician who believes political change is not only possible, but also a power of the people.

Now, I love this city because I see no shortage of room for voices of progress.

I believe in a revitalized Rockford, and I would be honored to be at that moment's forefront.

This includes representing the younger generations in public office.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Our next public speaker is Matthew Wilder.

What up, Matthew Wilder, Mr.

Regular Guy, here to talk about vital resources that are theoretically going to be compromised by billionaire initiatives, and that we should like to hold them accountable and put a moratorium in place until we have more information, done more ecological studies, more environmental studies, and actually have talked to the community of how they feel about it and how it will affect multiple things from the environment to the community and to the people that directly live around it and not to be just like sequestered to nothing as if they don't exist, and there's like at least 30 plus farms and farmats that surround that will be directly their livelihood will be directly affected on a daily basis for the rest of time.

That being said, um, we really need to just pump the brakes because I'm not here on a smear campaign against artificial intelligence specifically, that's a different conversation.

It's that there's not much transparency, there's not much information, and this could affect the water table, which could affect the bees, the prairie, it can affect people's well water, it could it's just for a negligible amount of jobs that aren't necessarily going to be long-lasting, and I feel like there's a lot of propaganda out there on both sides, and we just need to clarify what is true and what isn't, because that's very important.

And if nothing else, how could we gamble something like water for some kind of financial gain in any capacity ever?

Because, like they talk about people of our generation not having kids anymore.

Why would they want to bring kids into a world where our public leaders and the billionaires that say they're there for our benefit?

Well, not the billionaires, but the public leaders, they actually care about the future of our children, of our ecosystem, of our prairies, of our bees, of our water table, and why would you convert farmland into an 1,100-acre data center that would cost 12 billion dollars and really offer nothing to the city of Rockford?

Sure, it was an industrust industrial town, but that ship has sailed.

Do better and get more clever and find better things.

Converting jet fuel for the airport would be sort of an all right idea if it didn't have detrimental effects on the environment.

That's what they bade and switched.

They were like, we're gonna do this, and now we're gonna do that.

There's not enough information.

I don't even believe it's zoned yet.

And is it really I2?

Sounds more like I-3.

It's not an it's not light duty.

At one point, data centers might have been.

They don't seem to be anymore.

And if they spent more money, they can make them better and more environmentally sound, and they could choose better places to put them.

So, really, just slow down.

Think about the community and the citizens of Rockford and beyond, and really it should be an international movement and not just a here and now thing.

So, at the end of the day, are we really willing to gamble?

Vital resources.

I love you all.

Yeah.

Our next public speaker tonight is Prophet Yusuf.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

In the book of Psalms, 118 chapters, the eighth verse, it says it's best to put confidence in God than to put trust in man, man affair every time.

What I want to speak about tonight, the power to reduce gun violence we have in Rocco by using my 14-point system that I invented.

One, give people jobs to pay good wages and benefits, two, have the bus run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so people can get to jobs.

Three, have free daycare service so women can get to jobs or go to school, four, have affordable education, five, have affordable homes and mineral pops.

Six, give mental treatment by open up all the mental facilities in Rockwood.

Seven, open up drug and alcohol treatment facilities.

Eight, give felonies a second chance, like God gave us with his grace and mercy by giving them a job and a place to stay.

Now increase the quantity and availability of parent workshop throughout.

This will empower families with support to help them steer their children toward leading socially and economically productive lives, strictly, enforce curfew laws by having children who are under 18 who's not going to work or school to be in the house at 6 p.m.

All people who live in Rockwood must have an ID in their pocket.

Most fatal shooting take place after midnight.

Many young lives could have been saved if the victim had simply been inside as required by law.

11.

Expand drug court, other therapy court models and mental health service.

These programs ensure that participants with criminal cases are released back into society with support service that reduce the likelihood of them committing a violent crime.

Twelve, charge individuals pulling the trigger and co-conspirators with domestic terrorism.

It is clear that the small minority of individuals responsible for neighborhood bothers do not fear the law.

13.

Increase the use of the shared state police and forest police and high primary to help rock the police.

14, increase penalties for people illegally and possession of firearms and expand gunbat program.

This would help reduce the violence and crime in rock.

Also, they want to tell all the woman Ann Thompson and my good friend who worked for the human service department and Mr.

Nate, who works in the bank.

And I'm glad you're here tonight, Mayor Mac and Mayor.

I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time too.

I don't I don't like you.

I love you.

And you can't do nothing about it.

And happy birthday, my good friends, and I wish you many more, and God bless you and your family.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to my good friends.

Happy birthday to you.

Thank you.

Allow me to speak.

Thank you.

Our next public speaker is Alexander Thingfold.

Yes.

I know that uh amongst the audience, this isn't going to make me very popular.

Uh, I'm an omus business student at NIU, which is operations management and information services.

I'm the one who will be pulling the data from data centers like this.

Last fall, all three major data centers, and I don't mean individual centers, but all Amazon hosted websites went down.

All Oracle sites went down.

All Microsoft sites went down in the course of ten days.

If Amazon is offline for one day, it costs the economy approximately one billion dollars.

Data centers are important because without data centers, we don't have business.

We have gone to the point where everything is subscription.

You pay a subscription to have your server on an Amazon server.

Now the problem with this is that data centers have not been built with technology that have that has been around for decades.

They need to be using liquid cooling.

This is not what is being done now.

Now they are spraying the rooms full of water and using large amounts of air conditioning to cool the CPUs.

If the CPUs are submerged in liquid, which is a combination of water and another substance, it goes through eventually hits a radiator, which cools the water.

Now, that can be used to turn a turbine to produce additional energy.

This would actually make a data center not be a drain on the system.

And if a data center is going to take up that much farm space that we won't be able to get back.

Bloomberg and Forbes are saying that the AI bubble will burst in 2028.

What happens if we put all this money into it?

I am pro-data center if they're done correctly.

The problem is they don't have a good reason to do it ethically and ecologically soundly unless we require them to do so.

They need to use liquid cooling, they need to pay for any upgrades to the electrical grid.

They need to not leave all of the cost on the taxpayers.

And they need to actually be socially minded, not just about ecological things, but how it will affect the community.

So if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

Alex Thingvold at ProtonMail.com.

I can give you a great deal of information as well as backing up that data with actual facts.

If they go down, it destroys the economy.

The problem is we need them better.

Thank you for having me and have a wonderful night.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next public speaker is Carson Roberts.

Tonight and in recent weeks, we've heard mention of the environmental impact of data centers, the financial impact they have on people in the area, and the fact they create construction jobs that are ethereal in nature and highly specialized maintenance maintenance jobs, the responsibilities of which are often fulfilled by out-of-town specialists.

But I want to highlight something else, which is the capacity for AI to create nude images of people from originals in which the subject is clothed.

More and more, this technology has been used to create child sexual abuse material using images of real children.

Reports have stated that up to thousands of images per child have been generated.

My partner, Celeste Rube, who spoke here last week against this data center.

She worked for over two years as a date as a before and after school caregiver at a Montessori school until she recently found employment at the new Rockford Public Library branch downtown, setting up programs for kids.

I do volunteer tutoring every Tuesday with a kid from Chicago, and I help out a family friends kid with math every Wednesday.

When I was a kid, the worst I had to worry about was the popular kids making fun of me online, and most of the people in this room didn't even have to worry about that.

But kids today have to worry about pissing off the wrong person and getting AI generated child porn of them passed around to the school.

What's worse is that has already happened.

And I could go into instances of this happening nationwide, but I don't have to, because it's happening here too.

I spoke about this issue at the event held by Alder Person Meeks at the library on March 10th.

And there, one of the other organizers let me know that her kid was friends with someone who experienced this harassment at their school.

To each other person here, if you vote to allow this data center to be built, what you're telling your constituents is that child porn is not a deal breaker for you.

If you vote yes, you prioritize a small bump to our economy over to keeping our children safe.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Here.

Here.

Here.

Thank you.

Item one is an approval of the 2040 future land use map.

Do you have a motion to approve?

Second.

We have a motion, we have a second, and we do have a presentation here tonight, so I'll turn it over to Mr.

Cobb.

Uh my name is Colin Bell.

I'm the city's planning and design coordinator, and I'll be presenting this evening.

I wanted to first remind uh committee that we were here about a month ago as we started the 30-day public comment period for this plan.

Um as such, uh the 30-day public comment period is ended, and we'll be having this evening's discussion.

So again, we're just gonna be going over the uh 2040 future land use map, which will be the first amendment to the city's 2040 comprehensive plan.

The original uh land use map was uh last updated in 2005 with a significant amendment in 2011.

Um as we remember in 2023 we adopted the 2040 comprehensive plan, and this would uh be the um the the first amendment to the comprehensive plan.

So this map is a long-range policy guide.

It's the city's vision for how land may evolve over time, a tool to inform zoning review, infrastructure investment, and development proposals.

The first amendment to a 2040 comprehensive plan is mentioned, and a framework for community discussion, coordinated decision making.

The map is not a zoning change.

It does not authorize any development or alter existing land use entitlements.

It is not a reduction of legally established property rights uh or a mandate requiring property owners to redevelop or make changes to their properties.

These are the uh new land use designations for the future land use map.

And at this time we're going to uh take a quick look at the previous map that we um currently have that we'll be looking at that we're updating here.

So the way the map is currently uh displayed on our website and able to be viewed, it's actually 43 separate maps, and you have to kind of guess which one you're looking for.

Um so I usually start with map one, scroll down, and you can use this key to sort of get an idea of where you want to go in the city.

Um not uh very productive, um, as well as not showing that much detailed um information.

Um this is a downtown area.

Um, it's a static map.

You can zoom in, but you're not gonna see any more information.

There's no aerial photos.

Uh as such, it's a bit cumbersome.

This is the new mapping application.

We can print from this, you can create maps from this as you wish, but the the beauty of this is that you're able to zoom in very, very close to see block level data.

And the um information here is based off of the current land use, which was also updated.

And this information here is much more detailed, but at the same time, it has much less categories, reducing the confusion.

The previous map also combined multiple categories together, further making more confusing.

There were um different hash marks, multiple different colors, and again, it was just very hard and cumbersome to navigate.

There will be more functionality added.

We'll be adding more layers to this, such as possibly bike trails, um, things of that nature.

Um we do have a legend that you can view here, and you're able to turn in the future we'll be able to turn those categories on and off as well.

No, I got a five.

So these are some of the key planning themes.

Guided growth, it directs development toward existing corridors and infill areas, reduces urban sprawl and over-extension of the public services, supports orderly and efficient use of our infrastructure.

For housing diversity, we're looking to support single family townhomes, multifamily, and mixed use development.

Uh, this is based off of the 2024 housing needs analysis.

And also, we're looking to um to focus on workforce and a table housing outcomes.

For economic development, it helps to reinforce commercial and industrial mixed uses.

Uh new technology industry designation for tech and RD growth.

It supports job attraction and workforce housing links, and also there's also infrastructure and sustainability, such as aligning land use and transportation, uh protecting the floodplains, greenways, and natural resources, and also to help coordinate with capital planning and our planned growth patterns.

Of notice, um, some of the um notable changes from the last map are that it did not include any water resources.

So we spent a lot of time uh mapping those out, digitizing those, and including any waterway or water channel that was in a hundred-year floodplain, um, and that was a substantial task.

Um, as you can see over here, Levings Lake has a creek that runs out, uh, which is the South Fork of the Kent Creek.

There's a couple privately owned ponds, a couple more over here, and that drainage uh heads north to a couple more ponds.

This is all new information that was not um in GIS or included on the last map.

Some other noticeable changes based on some of the public comments that we got were that there would be nice if there were some more mixed-use classifications throughout the region, um, above and beyond what we already had.

So we've taken the Broadway corridor and expanded a little bit in this area to the south and north, included an area over here.

Um we included Avon, which uh this is where um there's a proposed project over here for mixed use.

We've got the former Essex site, uh, this is above OSF Medical, and there's a few more here, including very importantly Coleman Yards.

Uh, this is just a few of them.

I think that we've added about 25 or 30 additional areas that we've already um identified as possible housing locations, but we think that a mixed-use development would uh be preferred there.

Additionally, residential development was examined in detail due to the number of studies that we've had recently done, and the fact that we know that we're um we lack housing right now in on all areas.

Um so these uh definitions for housing, the low, medium, and high were based specifically on our zoning designations of R1, R2, and R3/slash R4 to align with that directly.

The last map um was pretty much just done by looking at an area and kind of using your best judgment to decide that.

Uh, as such, large parts of the city um have no variation in the housing density, and when in reality there is definitely there is definitely differences in those housing densities in those neighborhoods.

So you'll see a lot more detail in the housing layer as well.

And again, some of the notable changes that I didn't want to outline that I wanted to briefly mention were against again the methodology and data improvements.

Um the technology is vastly improved since 2005 and just aerial photography, let alone, but geographical information systems has much higher resolution and data available to us to do a better job.

Um again, we expanded the geographical scope.

It covers all the unincorporated islands this time as well, but also all the way out to um our adjacent uh municipal boundaries, which is called our ultimate planning boundary with our neighboring uh communities.

Uh the housing integration was was key again.

This is based off of the housing needs analysis and market study that we had done recently and the fact that there were projecting uh demand for several thousand additional units and or rehabbed units that exist currently.

Um again, these densities were um were a lot of time was put into the density analysis to determine um where we would want these houses to be placed in the future through the infill development process.

Again, it aligns with a comprehensive plan, which is very important as well.

And this time we are going to hold ourselves accountable for the ongoing maintenance.

We'll be looking at this every year, at least every year, to make sure that it is it is it runs with true to the planning that we see for the future.

So that's a very important process.

The last time I said I wasn't updated since 2011.

So the public engagement process, which was concluded uh a few weeks ago.

Um we uh made the interactive map available to the public.

We put a 30-day public comment period out there.

We did receive quite a few comments and um from both residents uh and businesses alike.

Um most of those um were submitted via email, but we did have quite a few phone calls as well.

Uh so the value of that public input ensures that the map reflects our local priorities, it highlights concerns, and it also strengthens transparent transparency and community trust.

So again, uh we responded to every comment.

Um, sometimes multiple times we had um some discussions with individuals and actually sat down with some of the um individuals who submitted comments and made sure that um you know their concerns were addressed.

Um based on those conversations, no major changes were made.

Um a couple of minor uh modifications were made to the symbology and the color of them, so they were easier to distinguish.

That was probably one of the bigger um changes that you'll see.

So again, these are the next steps.

Um we're you know, the committee review right now, we're looking for a committee recommendation, and the next process after recommendation would go to City Council, and then of course, ongoing updates that were just mentioned.

And at this time we'll take questions and uh comments.

Uh Woman Hoffman.

Thank you.

I believe you answered this already, but I just want to be perfectly clear for myself and for everybody who's come this evening.

This is not a vote for a data center.

This is merely changing our 2040 land plan, correct?

Correct.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

First of all, um Colin Bell, thank you for a tremendous job.

And I know the whole department contributed to it, but what a tremendous job you have done for quite a quite some time compiling this, updating this, getting this information together.

You have put in so much blood, sweat and chairs into this project, and I know there's more to come, but thank you for all of your efforts.

It's very much appreciated because what you were showing prior, who could comprehend how to get to what we need to get to, right?

That's crazy.

Um I want to ask a question.

Um, thank you for taking the time to meet with me prior to kind of go over some things, but um do we currently in this city have a need for um more industrial land?

And I can pose it to either one of you.

I think I could answer that.

Um I think the answer that we've determined is yes.

Uh there was many areas along bypass 20 and I-90 that were targeted for residential development, and I don't think anybody really wants to live next to these highways now that are carrying 70,000 cars a day with all the noise and traffic and everything.

So uh easy access to those near the interchanges, et cetera, where we're targeting those areas now for industrial growth.

So we have included a lot more, uh, especially on the around the airport on the south side uh near highway two, uh some of those areas.

So like there's a large area of industrial that came in based on some of these changes just a few years ago, um, right off of Highway 2 and bypass 20 on the South West Crown Southwest quadrant.

Um so yeah, we feel like it this has addressed some of those needs.

So I'm gonna stick to kind of my ward and my area.

Um is it because we're kind of located on the um I don't know what you just called it, but the entryways into the city, exits out of the city.

Is that why the area where the former Singer location was kind of targeted for an industrial planning?

So that area we looked at hard and based on the fact that North Rock Industrial is right across the street and has easy access to highway two, also access um to uh Riverside over to I-90, taking the Springfield uh, you know, extension around or Riverside around Springfield, qu easy access back over to um business 20 and bypass 20.

Um we felt that that the topography, the existing uh infrastructure, and uh the fact that um you know we've seen quite a bit of that area fill up with industrial, it made it more ideal for an industrial development that helped bring jobs um to an area that we think you know could use some more jobs as a matter of fact, which could help with our commercial development as well as well as residential.

Could it bring storage as well?

We I don't think we want to see any storage there.

But could it?

Uh but there's always the potential that anybody could take industrial property and put storage into it, yes.

Okay.

So I'm just gonna be on the record again stating that in that particular area where the former Essex location is, and this is a preference I feel that is happening right now.

It's a preference from our city to make that change to say that we would like to see that as industrial.

And that applies across the board for a lot of what's going on with the land use changes.

Some of them are needed, some of them are what we have done the research to exclaim that this is how it should be.

I think there could be people, planners that feel that a residential future use could be useful in that area just as much as the industrial, considering the need for housing that was stated.

Um there's I don't know how many areas there are, and I think we won't know those answers until we get that infill map that we've talked about of you know how many specific areas are going to be available specifically in the 12th ward.

But for me, what I know and what I have heard for many, many, many years is rooftops bring retail.

And I think it's very important that we consider housing as in as many places, and I know we've done it, we've made changes, future land use changes with this with this plan, and I think that that's great.

I would like to see more of that coming into the 12th ward.

Um I believe that that's what a lot of people would agree with, especially in the neighboring, it's right by school, it's right by housing.

I mean, we're we're just getting to a point where yes, we do have a location that has been zoned industrial for for uh you know a long time.

I just don't want to see that direction grow in that particular area.

Um but this just a preference that that I have, and I feel like there would be several residents that would agree with my uh analysis of that area.

So it just kind of shows me that what we're talking about here is in some forms, you know, preference of of how people feel we should be moving things forward.

Um so I just wanted to make that clear, and then the only other question that I have.

I know we're not here to talk about a data center or anything like that, but I I do have to ask, is there a way we can pull up where the data center is expected to be on this map?

That guy gets out of the way in that area there, zoned right now completely as I-2.

Isn't it?

Is that correct?

That whole area is designated for industrial, it's all zoned I-2 at this time, all the parts that are in the city, both on the Winnebago County side and the Ogle County side.

So there's two different sides, one's Oga County, one's Winnebago.

And is there no portion of agricultural in that specific area?

For the for the future?

For now.

For no for now, most of that area is agricultural.

So right now, and I know.

But the use is agricultural.

Yeah.

But the zoning is industrial.

I just want to understand that one more time.

This this land was brought in by uh the Wolf and Wolfenburger family.

Mr.

Cagnoni can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that's who it was initially.

And they brought it all into the city back in, I think it was 2008 or 9, and then it became contiguous in 2011, so that annexation then came uh was enacted.

But they had asked for industrial zoning and they were granted that zoning.

Okay.

So right now its current use is industrial.

So not the question.

It's eligible for industrial uses.

But it's agricultural right now.

Right now.

Okay.

It's no different than a plot of land that out on East State Street, or we're just off of East State Street where people were zoned commercial and they continue to farm them for many years, even though they were zoned for commercial development.

So it's very similar situation.

Okay.

And so yeah, I I appreciate you kind of explaining that so I get a better understanding.

I think there is, you know, a conversation on my end too of how much land that is deemed agricultural right now is switching over to industrial.

Is there a is there a way that I can kind of see that like side by side or something like that where it would show me the land that was formerly agricultural, that's the future land use is looking to change to industrial.

Or you can take a look at the current GIS map without the without the layers on it, and then compare that to the this future land use map, and you can be you'll be able to see that.

You can kind of see the transparency.

I think you can reduce that transparency a little bit.

You can see what areas are currently just agriculture.

And that would include all zoning districts, because there's going to be areas on this map that are not just being changed to industrial.

Some of them have been targeted for residential for years, commercial for years, 40, 50 years on these old land use plans that we've had, and they're still not developed, but it's just a continuation of the planning process in which we designate those areas for that type of growth in the future.

And are you finding those residential areas staying the same as residential, or do are you seeing us in this map change things up in those areas as well?

I think for the most part in the low density residential areas, uh we're seeing them stay the same.

It's more the medium density, high density stuff that was next to the highways that we you know we wanted to change to industrial.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

If I if I may, one quick thing on the Essex site.

We we we are we are designating that as mixed use.

So we do agree with your assessment that's now the Essex, because you mentioned Essex.

I meant Singer.

Oh, you meant Singer?

Okay.

I just wanted to make sure.

Definitely met Singer.

Right.

Excuse me.

Thank you for allowing me to speak on your committee.

I do see under the layers, uh, first off, thank you for your work as well, Colin.

I enjoy working with you on this kind of stuff.

The Rockford Ward, so if I want to speak to a potential out-of-town developer about developing specifically in Ward 5, they are able to differentiate by with this.

By ward.

Yeah, so they're there.

Sorry, here's here are the words right here, yes.

Perfect.

Um like I said, we'd be adding more functionality in the future.

You'll be able to turn them on and off.

So we wanted to look at just one ward.

Okay.

So that but that's a future function, or you're saying that works that works now?

So you can you can highlight them now, but we want to be able to turn them on and off independently.

Yeah.

Um we've had that request by a few individuals that some of the layers would be nice if they were able to be manipulated further.

Okay.

Thank you.

Um I do have a question.

Um, how often is this map updated?

So previously it hadn't been updated since 2011.

But to answer your question, we want to look at it at least every year.

Um for example, um, it could be less than a year if there was a special project or a major project that we knew was moving forward.

Um, we could make that change then at that point.

But as a reminder, it has to go through council.

But we can't just make the change ourselves.

They would have to go through the same process again for that specific site change.

So we would like to do it at least every year.

Um if there aren't any changes necessary, then we could, you know, go a little bit further, but we we expect there to be.

I asked um, because I was wondering if it was like done real time as council is approving things and you're getting it updated that way residents like as they're asking, you know, they have that transparency right there to where they're able to see that.

So for the future land use, there will be a little bit of a lag.

Um, but we do have that we're we're not even talking about it, of course.

We don't need to be, but there the current land use was developed prior to this in order to get here.

So the current land use, yes, that will be updated internally by staff as needed.

That yeah, and it's updated automatically when I when I make my changes.

Thank you.

Are there any other questions?

Um Chairman Woman.

I got a couple questions for you.

The first one that I have is you mentioned some changes that the public um brought recommendations to you guys.

Um and you said there wasn't major ones.

What can you give me an example of some of the discussion that the public brought forward that sure?

Yeah, so one of the one of the main ones was the categories.

People were having trouble looking at and discerning between the industrial designation and the transportation designations, which were both grays.

Um they were just different grayscales.

Uh so we added a hatch mark to the industrial to make it stick out a little bit more.

Um also the same with the um with the residential.

It was a light yellow, a medium yellow, and a bright yellow that just wasn't working, there wasn't enough variation.

Um so we actually changed one of the colors completely and then put a hatch mark on the high density residential because that was the one that you know we want the pop the most.

And um we did um speak with Cottonwood Airport pretty extensively, and they just wanted to make sure that our land use designations, our future land use designations aligned with you know their future goals of staying as an airport and wanting to be an airport, and they were just a little bit concerned with some of the stuff they saw on the map.

We met with them multiple a couple times, we invited them in, had that discussion, and and um were very amicable, and we uh we came to a conclusion.

And um as such, the airport is industrial, which that's what it's zoned as, and that's what they wanted.

Um same with the air with the with the Rockford International Airport that also is zoned industrial, so the future land use for that would be industrial.

Um I think that those were really all the comments.

We had the majority of them were for Cottonwood.

Um, and like I said, we had some really good meetings with them.

Sure.

Thank you.

Um my next question that I have is on page 1113 of this packet you provided us.

Um I know that there's a lot of talk that you know there is going to be a need, there is a need of multi-units and units and housing in our city and so forth.

I can't remember the exact number um that has been put out there.

Um so my question is uh based on the maps that you guys created, um, is there new updates on the high density, medium density uh locations where some of this uh potential opens up for this high density and medium density for these uh additional units or housing would be for for sure.

Yeah.

Um I can think of a couple locations.

Um there's a site up on Riverside right now that's being actively marketed, and um that in the previous map I believe was um open space um or or priority acquisition, sorry, which is the type of open space.

Um that's uh you know not really aligned with what we see in the in the um peripheral of that little area there, so we made that modification to show that as medium density residential.

Um there are a couple other locations throughout the city too.

Um but to your point you said that you know it does it does follow our zoning classifications and we wanted to, as you know, most land use maps, they want to align current, you know, similar uses near each other.

Um so we we followed those those guidelines.

So this may be for Scott uh question.

So say for example, uh it's not as zoned as high density or medium density uh from that perspective.

Um, if a developer came forward and said, hey, I'd like to propose in these certain lots, you know, a multi-unit uh complex.

I'm just throwing things out there.

20 unit, 30 unit, um, you know, if it's not in that high density or medium density, how can someone still go through the process or can I can they not go through the process on on getting that developed?

Oh anyone can go through the process, Alderman Salgado.

It's um if you if you if you want to attempt a zoning change, uh you know, we'll work with you, we'll you know, help you fill out the applications and everything.

Um the staff may not recommend approval of it.

Um and the zoning board, then that's a whole nother story.

Uh depending on you know, public input and things like that at these zoning board meetings.

So it makes a big difference to a lot of the members.

They listen to the pros and cons.

So you know, anybody would have the right to read.

If we if we see something we say, hey, it should be low density residential, and someone comes to us and says, I want to rezone this to R3, which it would allow up to 15 units per acre, then you know, we're gonna take a look at the overall uh development of the site and say, does this make sense?

What are the compatible uses in the area?

How does it blend in with the surroundings, things of that nature?

So but you're all you're more than welcome to reapply or apply for any type of zoning change.

Yeah, I just wanted to, you know, thank you for that commentary.

Just want to make sure that there is a process through the zoning that you know anything could be possible where you know, a it it uh conflicts with our 2040 plan, but the doesn't necessarily mean that it's an automatic denial uh from that perspective.

So I just want the public to understand that that there is a process from that perspective, and uh most of these will go through with the zoning committee and there'll be minutes and testimony and so forth, and anyone can object or approve or say I'm for it against it uh from that perspective.

Um I also do want to uh just you know uh there's comments out there, you know, um as of right now it there's a comment about grandfathering, correct?

Um the current use of that property does not you know say it automatically changes uh to this new uh land use, correct?

I just want to make sure that's correct.

And as Colin pointed out, like the very first thing he said is that this is not a zoning change.

This is just a future designation that for for the most part in areas that's uh that are already developed, it's gonna align with what's there.

It's the areas where there is no development that it may not align.

At that time, then if there was to be a change, say we were asking for we wanted to see something zoned residentially, but it gets owned commercially instead.

Well, then we'd have to go back in and Colin would have to make the change on the future map so it aligns with the current zoning as well.

Yeah, and I just want to, you know, you guys made property rights, which I think that's fundamental as part of it.

I just want people to understand that that in no shape or form completely changes their their current use of that property.

So just wanted to make those that commentary from that perspective.

Um the other one, the agricultural, obviously, the elephant in a room here, data center, um potentially coming uh forward.

Uh so it has been designated as I2.

Thank you for answering that question.

Uh, but it's currently being used as agricultural, correct?

Correct.

All right.

Then that's that's all the questions that I have.

Thank you.

Are there any other questions or comments?

Clerk, will you please call the room?

All right.

Thank you.

The item passes.

Item two is an approval of the proposed funding agreement with Phantom Regiment Inc.

an Illinois nonprofit, excuse me, not for profit corporation located at 5608 International Drive, and not to exceed the amount of a hundred thousand dollars over two years, sixty thousand dollars in twenty twenty-six and forty thousand in twenty twenty-seven.

The funding source is casino foundation funds.

Do I have a motion to approve?

So moved.

Second.

Are there any questions or comments?

Alderman Salgado.

Um just just real quick.

Um just I don't know if you can answer Mr.

Cagnoni on this.

Um I saw there was multiple programming and so forth.

Um, what exactly uh does the Phantom Regiment um is it you know they where do they get the kids?

Is it competitive?

Is it kind of like say, for example, in soccer, right?

We have clubs club soccer out there and we compete, or we just perform uh compete against each other, uh, kind of like the Raptors or some other rock run or whatever other what is exactly does the the Phantom Regiment, you know, entail and you know, from that perspective.

So uh thank you, Alderman, and that's an excellent question.

And they do all the above uh related to the examples that you provide.

They do compete on a national uh level, but they also have a number of programs such as the King Penn's Drumlines program, uh, which is for drumming for for students with disabilities age 15 plus.

Um they also do Rockford Rhythm, which is another youth program, uh, percussion and color guard assemble throughout the Rockford community.

So, you know, they've created these additional programs really to create a pipeline um for the more competitive um events and activities that they're located in.

Thank you.

Father Wang and Meeks?

Thank you so much.

Um thank you, Todd, for the response.

I know that Rockford Rhythm has been active for some time in the community.

I know it it's gone through some changes.

I I believe it collaborated with another group called YEVO, Youths Against Violence Organization.

Is that correct?

That is correct.

Okay.

Um the other organization um or the other group with the disabilities.

Um has that started?

I'm uncertain if that I believe it has started, but I can't say for certain that it has.

Okay, but there's more than likely a possibility that if it has started, it's very fresh.

It just kind of came online.

That is my understanding.

Okay.

Um so I just want to make this comment.

So I just want to make this comment.

I'm just kind of really trying to understand how the process is.

And I talked about this online on social media, just the process of how nonprofits are coming forward, who is not necessarily allowed because I feel like everyone has the ability to come to City Hall, make a request, and potentially get funding if it's a you know a good enough request.

But I am curious to know is there you know kind of a more formal process with regards to nonprofits and how they go about requesting funding for the city.

So that is an excellent question, Alderwoman.

And they you know, those opportunities come about in a number of different ways.

Um whether that's a program that City Council has approved through the council process in which there's an application process, or we have a number of uh events and activities that not for profits might come forward on that are less than $25,000, and we may provide funding to support um that activity.

And then there's larger requests that that come in.

Um, you know, over the last several years, many of those have been aligned with our ARPA funding.

This particular request um was initiated on the the city's end uh from an administration level as well as um other organizations within the community.

We had reached out to Phantom Regiment as an organization and as a community several years ago to lure them back um to Rockford as their hometown.

Um at the at that at that point in time, uh they had a number of personnel and activities and their headquarters was no longer Rockford, Illinois.

And through that effort um they were able to acquire a property in East Rock Industrial Park and re-establish Rockford uh as their hometown.

And as we've gone through that process, we also talked about additional programming that we would that would be beneficial not only to them, as I mentioned earlier in regards to creating their pipeline, um, but also outreach to the community.

And as we had those conversations, uh we thought there was an opportunity that we could offset some of those costs, and then through that conversation is how this particular request came forward.

So did they discuss with you how they go about their outreach?

So uh yes, um, and I certainly can't talk about that in great detail.

Um they have a significant budget.

Um so they have a significant and robust fundraising um as an overall organization.

I don't know what their overall I don't know what their told.

Is that what I heard?

I'm sorry.

You said they have a significant budget?

They do.

Okay.

And they need our money because to help support and run these additional programs that we discussed.

And they can't do that with their significant budget?

I don't believe they could.

Okay.

So thank you.

I don't really have any more questions.

Alderman Salgato.

If I may, um so uh back to some of the commentary that was made here and questions.

Is there a cost for these uh participants uh through the phantom regiment?

Obviously, there's the instrument cost and so forth and uniforms and and so forth, but my question is is it is it free um to these participants or is there a fee that they have to incur?

I don't know what the what the cost is.

Uh much of the cost is uh being colored either by them or this grant proposal, so if there is a cost, it would be nominal.

Alderman Bell.

Thank you, uh Chairwoman for allowing me to speak on your committee.

Mr.

Gignoni, do you know if uh Phantom Regiment is renting space right now?

They they own property, whether they rent additional space, I'm not certain.

But the I just want to know if these funds would be covering um like rental fees for space or what have you.

So no, no, it would not.

Thank you.

Alderman Salgado.

Do you want to go so just I I just want to make uh uh similar commentary that uh Ms.

Meeks has made um and uh I've brought this up again.

I think there needs to be a process of how we know get these recipients, these not-for-profits, or whoever it is that you know we're we're trying to give them some grant opportunities because we have funding mechanisms.

We have the casino revenue, we have the high risk.

Uh we've seen that portion of it, or wherever ARPA funding that comes out of it sometimes.

And so I'd like to understand that more, what our commitments are.

Um, you know, what have we got our bang for a buck and per se from that perspective because they are taxpayers' money uh from that perspective on some of these things, and so coming out of the general fund.

So I'd like to, you know, once again, um, because we had these budget discussions about the regrow and and so forth.

I I honestly think that uh we we need to have some sort of policy in place um for that uh to ensure that you we understand how that process goes.

Uh just to you alluded to your process that you explained how this was approached.

I'm not taking anything against uh Phantom Regiment.

I think they're great, they do good things.

I've seen uh some of the performances and they compete, they they go on parades, it's et cetera, et cetera.

I think it's wonderful uh from that aspect of it.

I'm not questioning that.

I'm questioning just you know, um, for clarification, transparency from that perspective of some of the decisions where this uh the casino money came from, whether it's ARPA, whether it's the wherever these funds are, and what our commitments are uh from that perspective.

So I just I'm not asking you a question, I'm I'm just trying to express uh mutual things that Ms.

Meeks has brought up.

Um, and we've seen a couple things that have come forward, and you know, we've gotten challenged because we're tight on money, our budget uh constraints, etc.

etc.

So just wanted to make sure that you know, hopefully down the road we can come up with some um sort of policy or procedures uh from the uh particular with not-for-profits or whoever um we need to uh enforce on that.

So just that's my commentary.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any other questions or comments?

Alderman Bell.

Thank you, Chairwoman.

Um Mr.

Kenogan Cagnoni, can you share with us um I see the funding sources, the casino foundation funds?

Um you share with us of other projects that have been funded through this fund in the past since establishing this fund.

That's uh I off my memory, I I don't recall um what we have funded out of that program.

I'd be happy to follow up with you.

I just don't recall what other what off the top of my head, and I don't want to be wrong on that.

Do you know if if we funded nonprofits through this fundamental?

We have um maybe maybe Director Hagerty can answer this.

You know, we if my time.

So tourism grant and Rockford Break are two examples that we would have funded.

Um we've also funded other not for profits, but not necessarily um with that funding source, you know, that went through the council process.

We had a dental program with um Dr.

Oates not that long ago, and I can't recall if we used this program or a different funding source.

Thank you, Ms.

Alderwoman.

It was cannabis funds.

Sorry, just to clarify, um, the cannabis funds were used for the dental program?

Correct.

Okay, so back to this fund.

Um mentioned Rockford Break and tourism.

Uh I guess my understanding here in that uh is it's more focused on economic development.

Previous investments.

It's uh you know, it's one of multiple buckets within the casino funds that f that city council could allocate funds to projects on.

Gotcha.

Not seeing it here, uh did not this is not my committee haven't done my due diligence in looking for what I'm gonna ask.

Um is there like um a summary or uh mission vision or statement that is directly under casino foundation funds in what this body has um earmark these dollars for?

Not on the and there are certain pillars or uh rubric, I guess, that we we follow in administering funds through this grant or through this uh line item.

So there's not a mission statement or pillars, but I'd be happy to share the resolution that city council approved that designated the funds and the language that was in that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Oftentimes we look at money investments, and we say, is there an ROI?

Is there a return on the investment?

And you take an organization like the Phantom Regiments, nationally known, internationally known, and every time they travel, every time they're introduced, every time they have a literature, it says Rockford, Illinois.

That's a big deal to me.

Because very seldom do we can invest in places where every time they go, they talk about us.

They talk about our city, where we're located, the good about this city, its parks, its rivers.

It's a great investment, if nothing else, than to tell our story over and over and over again.

And I tell you, besides that, musically, there are student excellence.

They're not just children learning, there are children learning, but they're at the top of their game.

They're professional in every aspect, coming from Rockford, Illinois.

That makes me proud.

And all the times we invest in things, and they're great things we invest in.

This is one that procases our community.

And I think for a hundred thousand dollars, as it may come from these sources, is a great return on our investment for the city.

That's my comment.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um Mr.

Cignoni, do you know if the Phantom Regiment participates or collaborates with the Art Art Arts Council?

I believe they do, but I don't know to what level.

Thank you.

Are there any other questions or comments?

Aye.

Aye.

No.

Thank you.

Are there any questions or comments?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, same sign?

This meeting is adjourned.