OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Woodstock City Council Meeting: Police Swearings, Proclamations, and Dean Street Bike Path Discussion – July 18, 2023

City Council — Tuesday, July 18, 2023
BodyWoodstock, Illinois
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, July 18, 2023
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:07:02

Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Don't do that.

0:02

You're live.

0:04

Well, good good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

0:06

I'd like to welcome you to this evening's meeting of the Woodstock City Council.

0:10

A few brief reminders before we get started this evening.

0:13

First is that the meeting this evening, like all city council meetings, is being live streamed and then saved onto the city website.

0:22

The City of Woodstock operates under what's called a consent format.

0:25

Consent format means that all items for action this evening will be considered in a single motion and a single vote.

0:31

Member of council may request to have an item separately considered and voted upon.

0:36

And then members of the public may also request an item to be separately removed and voted upon.

0:41

And if agreed to by member of council, it too will be removed and separately considered.

0:45

There are two opportunities for public comment this evening.

0:48

The first being at the start of the meeting during um floor discussion.

0:52

Public is uh invited at that time uh to come forward to uh the podium in the middle of the room.

0:58

If you're willing to do so, state your name and name and address for purpose of the record, and feel free to make your comments to the Woodstock City Council and any item not on this evening's agenda.

1:07

The second time uh public uh comment is available is when items are being acted upon uh this evening.

1:14

There will be an opportunity for public input.

1:16

Any questions, those items before we get started this evening.

1:21

All right, hearing no questions, uh I'll go ahead and and formally call to order the Woodstock City Council meeting for July 18th 2023, and ask Cindy to please call the roll.

1:32

Councilman Flynn.

1:33

Here.

1:34

Councilwoman McMahon.

1:35

Here.

1:36

Councilman Nearman.

1:37

Here.

1:37

Councilman Seegers.

1:38

Here.

1:39

Councilman Tebow?

1:40

Here.

1:40

Councilwoman Zamba?

1:42

Here.

1:43

Mayor Turner.

1:44

Here.

1:44

The record reflect that all members of the Woodstock City Council are present this evening.

1:48

Uh Cindy, I'll ask you to please confirm that this evening's agenda is the same as the true and published agenda.

1:53

It is.

1:54

Thank you, Cindy.

1:54

That being the case, ladies and gentlemen of the council, the city's pe uh the city's business is duly and appropriately before us.

2:01

First item this evening is uh floor discussion and under floor discussion.

2:05

We have a great uh a great opportunity and honor this evening, which is to swear in uh new uh not new officers, but new roles uh for our officers um within the Woodstock Police Department.

2:18

Uh so there will be four of those uh this evening.

2:20

I will start by turning it over to Chief Lee.

2:23

Thank you, Mayor.

2:24

And thank you for the time, Mayor and Council for allowing us to do this in front of um in front of you and uh other family members of the officers.

2:34

Six months ago, uh one of our members, Josh Fordyce, had an opportunity to uh forward his career with uh a higher level position.

2:45

He left Woodstock P and to become the deputy chief for East Dundee PD.

2:52

Um there.

2:56

With his departure, it created a chain reaction of opportunity for some of our members, where with his departure as detective sergeant, we moved one of our patrol sergeants into the detective sergeant position.

3:13

One of the uh one of the individuals who was on our sergeant promotion list into sergeant, and then and Detective Adolan at the time, uh when he moved over to sergeant, we had to fill that role, so that created an opening in detective, and then um when we pulled the detective position in, uh, it created an officer opening.

3:39

And so then we were able to hire uh an officer.

3:42

So after this uh six-month process, we've got everybody in place, and now we would like to swear them in uh on their oaths.

3:54

Taking an oath as a police officer is vitally important.

3:59

It is important to us.

4:01

Uh when officers begin their career, they'll they'll encounter many many challenges throughout their career, no matter how long it is, whether it's a two-year career or a 30-year career.

4:16

Um of the things that they do is when they swear that oath, they are essentially saying that they are going to protect uh individuals as best they can here in Woodstock while maintaining their integrity.

4:34

And that again, like I said, is vitally important.

4:37

So when they swear that oath, not only are they doing it in front of you, the public, but they're also doing it in front of their family members, and there's two different family sets of family members here.

4:50

Their biological families, but also their family that they spend a great amount of time at while they're working in their positions.

5:00

So with that, Mr.

5:01

Mayor, if you don't mind swearing in.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Active Transportation████████████████████████████████████36%
Procedural███████████████████████████27%
Public Safety██████████████████18%
Public Engagement█████5%
Public Works█████5%
Disability Rights████4%
Historic Preservation███3%
Transportation Safety██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Woodstock City Council Meeting – July 18, 2023

The Woodstock City Council met on July 18, 2023, at 7:00 PM in City Council Chambers. The meeting included the swearing-in of four police officers, two proclamations, unanimous approval of a consent calendar, and a discussion on a proposed bicycle path striping project on Dean Street. Council directed staff to proceed with the bike lane plan.

Swearings-in and Proclamations

  • Police Officer Swearings-in: Chief Lee administered oaths for four positions created by a chain reaction of promotions: Detective Sergeant George Kopulos, Detective Sam Gustafson, Sergeant Richard Dolan, and Officer Jarod Baker. The chief emphasized the importance of the oath and the support of family.
  • Retirement Proclamation for Rick Mack (METRA): Mayor Turner presented a proclamation honoring Rick Mack for 32 years of service at METRA. Mack expressed gratitude and noted his favorite part of the job was working with municipalities, including Woodstock. He regretted not completing the Woodstock Rail Yard project before retirement but pledged to continue advocating from his roles as Ringwood Village President and McHenry County Council of Governments President.
  • Disability Pride Month Proclamation: The council proclaimed July 2023 as Disability Pride Month in Woodstock, recognizing the Americans with Disabilities Act anniversary and the contributions of people with disabilities. The proclamation was accepted by the Human Resources Director on behalf of the Social and Cultural Awareness Commission.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Council Comments (non-public): Council member Tom thanked city staff for support of the Gavers Barn Dance fundraiser. Council member Gordy thanked staff for the tour of the old courthouse, noting it will be a community asset. Mayor Turner thanked staff for the July 4th celebration and highlighted the Food Shed groundbreaking earlier that day.
  • Public Comment on the Dean Street Bike Path: One resident, Philip Jackson, addressed the council. He expressed concerns about the bike lane width (9-foot travel lanes vs. 5-foot bike lane on one side and 4-foot on the other) and questioned the cost and source of funding. He asked about the long-term plan for connecting bike paths and whether it would require additional funding. Staff explained the cost was $2,000–$2,500, funded by Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) revenues, and that future expansions would come back to council. Council members responded that bike-friendliness is a long-standing resident request and that the road improvement plan ($56 million over five years) is on track, with pavement quality index improving by 8–10 points.

Discussion Items

  • Bicycle Paths – Dean Street: Christina Betts (Executive Director of Operations) and Chris T (staff) presented a plan to stripe bike lanes on Dean Street from Route 14 to South Street. The proposal was developed after a June 22 public hearing attended by 8 residents, who gave generally favorable feedback. The design, done in-house to save costs, uses:
    • From Route 14 to Hoy Street: 36-foot pavement width allows for two 9-foot travel lanes, a 5-foot bike lane (adjacent to parking) on one side, and a 4-foot bike lane on the other (per national standards).
    • From Hoy Street to South Street: 25-foot pavement width will use shared lane markings (sharrows) since there is insufficient room for separate lanes. Travel lanes will be 12.5 feet wide.
    • Council discussed lane width (9 feet vs. 10 feet), enforcement of bike lane rules, maintenance of striping (annual program using MFT funds), and potential for future expansion to Kimball Avenue and South Street.
    • Staff noted that the striping contract was already awarded under the consent agenda; quantities for Dean Street can be added or removed without penalty.
    • Council expressed general support and directed staff to proceed with the plan, while acknowledging the public’s feedback on lane width. Staff will continue to assess width and safety.

Consent Calendar

The consent calendar (Items IV.A through IV.D.11) was approved unanimously with a single motion (7-0). It included:

  • Approval of June 20, 2023 City Council minutes.
  • Warrants #4058, #4059, #4060.
  • Various commission minutes and HR reports.
  • Manager’s Report No. 229:
    1. Appointments to city commissions.
    2. Ordinance creating a Class A5 liquor license for Events at Ethereal and removing a Class A6 license for BBQ Smokehouse.
    3. Ordinance assigning a Class D liquor license to The Double Yolk Café.
    4. Resolution appropriating $1,045,000 in MFT funds for FY23/24.
    5. Contract award for sidewalk cutting (not to exceed $25,000).
    6. Contract award for electrical improvements at Emricson Park ($30,800).
    7. Contract award for 2023 pavement marking program ($148,124.31).
    8. School Resource Officer agreement with D200 for 2023–2024.
    9. Memorandums of Understanding with bargaining units (new pay grades, GPS in vehicles).
    10. Ratification of LED wall purchase for Opera House ($65,100).
    11. Expenditure for one 2023 Ford Utility Police Interceptor ($52,345 plus up to $5,000 for equipment).
  • Council member Gordy asked about Item D.10 (LED wall) and was informed it was a used unit purchased at a lower cost.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Calendar: All items approved unanimously.
  • Dean Street Bike Path: Council directed staff to proceed with the striping plan. The design was done in-house; the incremental cost is $2,000–$2,500 from MFT funds.
  • Next Meeting: Scheduled for August 1, 2023, at 7:00 PM. The DICAST TIFF redevelopment agreement was not expected to be ready for that meeting.

Meeting Transcript

Don't do that. You're live. Well, good good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'd like to welcome you to this evening's meeting of the Woodstock City Council. A few brief reminders before we get started this evening. First is that the meeting this evening, like all city council meetings, is being live streamed and then saved onto the city website. The City of Woodstock operates under what's called a consent format. Consent format means that all items for action this evening will be considered in a single motion and a single vote. Member of council may request to have an item separately considered and voted upon. And then members of the public may also request an item to be separately removed and voted upon. And if agreed to by member of council, it too will be removed and separately considered. There are two opportunities for public comment this evening. The first being at the start of the meeting during um floor discussion. Public is uh invited at that time uh to come forward to uh the podium in the middle of the room. If you're willing to do so, state your name and name and address for purpose of the record, and feel free to make your comments to the Woodstock City Council and any item not on this evening's agenda. The second time uh public uh comment is available is when items are being acted upon uh this evening. There will be an opportunity for public input. Any questions, those items before we get started this evening. All right, hearing no questions, uh I'll go ahead and and formally call to order the Woodstock City Council meeting for July 18th 2023, and ask Cindy to please call the roll. Councilman Flynn. Here. Councilwoman McMahon. Here. Councilman Nearman. Here. Councilman Seegers. Here. Councilman Tebow? Here. Councilwoman Zamba? Here. Mayor Turner. Here. The record reflect that all members of the Woodstock City Council are present this evening. Uh Cindy, I'll ask you to please confirm that this evening's agenda is the same as the true and published agenda. It is. Thank you, Cindy. That being the case, ladies and gentlemen of the council, the city's pe uh the city's business is duly and appropriately before us. First item this evening is uh floor discussion and under floor discussion. We have a great uh a great opportunity and honor this evening, which is to swear in uh new uh not new officers, but new roles uh for our officers um within the Woodstock Police Department. Uh so there will be four of those uh this evening. I will start by turning it over to Chief Lee. Thank you, Mayor. And thank you for the time, Mayor and Council for allowing us to do this in front of um in front of you and uh other family members of the officers. Six months ago, uh one of our members, Josh Fordyce, had an opportunity to uh forward his career with uh a higher level position. He left Woodstock P and to become the deputy chief for East Dundee PD. Um there. With his departure, it created a chain reaction of opportunity for some of our members, where with his departure as detective sergeant, we moved one of our patrol sergeants into the detective sergeant position. One of the uh one of the individuals who was on our sergeant promotion list into sergeant, and then and Detective Adolan at the time, uh when he moved over to sergeant, we had to fill that role, so that created an opening in detective, and then um when we pulled the detective position in, uh, it created an officer opening. And so then we were able to hire uh an officer.

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