08/18/2026 City Council Meeting

Highwood, IL · 2026-08-19 · More Highwood, IL meetings · More Illinois meetings

View original source →

Agenda

Agenda: https://cityofhighwood.com/rss.aspx#agendaCenter

Transcript

Download: Text · SRT

SOURCE TRANSCRIPT

This transcript is downloaded from the source you provided but we haven't reviewed it for accuracy. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record. You can also request an AI-transcription of the audio file with the button to the left.

These are YouTube's auto-generated captions, not a human transcript — expect occasional errors, especially with names and technical terms.

[0:00] Just

[0:00] push the button. We're live.

[0:02] Andy, you ready?

[0:05] All right, let's call the City of

[0:07] Highwood's regular City Council meeting

[0:08] to order

[0:10] for Tuesday, August 16th, 2026. It's

[0:14] 7:31-ish

[0:17] in the evening. August Did I say 16th?

[0:19] It's my son's birthday.

[0:21] So, I I must have that in the back of my

[0:22] mind. August 18th,

[0:24] >> [laughter]

[0:24] >> 2026, 7:32 now.

[0:27] >> Roll call, please.

[0:28] >> Bauer?

[0:29] >> Here.

[0:30] >> Nebolsky?

[0:32] >> Here. Present.

[0:33] >> Hansen?

[0:34] >> Present.

[0:35] >> Fiore?

[0:37] Peterson?

[0:37] >> Here.

[0:38] >> Marcucci?

[0:39] >> Here.

[0:40] >> All right.

[0:41] Uh, please rise for the Pledge of

[0:43] Allegiance.

[0:45] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[0:47] United States of America and to the

[0:49] republic for which it stands, one nation

[0:52] under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:55] justice for all.

[1:04] » Moving down the agenda to number three,

[1:07] uh, review the minutes.

[1:09] There were no comments on the minutes,

[1:10] so if I get a motion to approve 3.1, the

[1:13] August 4th City Council minutes, please.

[1:15] >> So moved.

[1:16] >> Do I have a second?

[1:17] >> Second.

[1:17] >> All in favor?

[1:18] >> Aye.

[1:19] >> Opposed?

[1:20] Motion passes. 3.2 is the Committee of

[1:22] the Whole mini minutes for August 4th.

[1:26] Motion to approve, please.

[1:29] >> So moved.

[1:29] >> Second.

[1:30] >> Thank you. Thank you.

[1:31] All in favor?

[1:32] >> Aye.

[1:33] >> Opposed? [clears throat]

[1:34] Motion passes.

[1:37] Next item on the agenda is, uh, 5.1,

[1:40] which is the bills for August 18th,

[1:43] 2026. We did have a couple questions.

[1:45] Andy, what were So, we we get a motion

[1:48] and a second and we'll come back to your

[1:49] question if that's So, you can think

[1:50] about that. Motion to approve the bills,

[1:51] please.

[1:52] >> So moved.

[1:53] >> Have a motion and a second. We did have

[1:56] a couple questions in council.

[1:58] One was about the electrical.

[2:00] >> The recurring maintenance contract.

[2:01] >> both recurring now that I think about

[2:03] that, right?

[2:03] >> One was

[2:04] >> One the electrical appears to be a is a

[2:06] recurring maintenance contract for about

[2:08] $14,000 a year.

[2:10] And the other one is what appears to be

[2:12] a

[2:13] um

[2:14] pay per use

[2:16] >> Voyagers.

[2:17] >> for public records or some sort of

[2:19] information.

[2:20] >> Voyagers something like that.

[2:22] Okay, so we're looking at that. Were

[2:23] there any other

[2:25] questions?

[2:26] >> I just had one on Amazon Capital

[2:28] Services that Scott answered.

[2:29] >> Which were all supplies they ordered

[2:31] through Amazon.

[2:32] >> And we went over that like explaining

[2:34] the TIF and the cap.

[2:36] >> For housing student reimbursement.

[2:38] >> Oh, the student reimbursement was on

[2:39] there, too.

[2:40] >> Thank you.

[2:41] >> And that was $80,000 that's going to

[2:43] district 113. 13.

[2:45] >> 13.

[2:46] >> Cuz we have two high school age students

[2:48] living in our TIF.

[2:51] >> Just buildings just

[2:52] >> TIF supporting.

[2:55] >> Thank you.

[2:56] >> Wow, that was a lot. Okay, we have a

[2:57] motion and a second in some halfway

[3:00] pledgeable.

[3:02] Let's go roll call.

[3:03] >> Bauer.

[3:05] >> Yes.

[3:05] >> Nabozny.

[3:09] » [laughter]

[3:09] >> Present here.

[3:10] >> Yes.

[3:12] >> Hansen.

[3:13] >> I.

[3:14] >> Peterson.

[3:15] >> I.

[3:15] >> Markinson.

[3:16] >> I.

[3:17] >> Robbins.

[3:18] >> Got to do it together.

[3:19] >> Motion passes.

[3:21] All right. Anyone wishing to address the

[3:23] public in or public input items not on

[3:26] the agenda this evening.

[3:28] If anyone wants to address the city

[3:29] council, this would be a good time.

[3:33] No?

[3:34] Okay.

[3:35] Oh, sorry. Yep. I

[3:37] >> Can I ask?

[3:39] why there's so many outages

[3:42] these days?

[3:43] >> Uh yeah, yeah, just come on up and

[3:46] you know, you you you don't want to, I

[3:47] guess. Do we know why there's so many

[3:49] outages with ComEd?

[3:50] >> It's just so usually they come up and

[3:52] they help you.

[3:52] >> Yeah, come on up, give your name. Yeah,

[3:54] I think you have to.

[3:55] I go a little too informal and they yell

[3:57] at me. So, it's like, "Okay."

[4:02] You don't have to give us your address.

[4:04] >> No, but we've just had so many power

[4:05] out. We had one the other night for 3

[4:07] hours. I'm just I'm scared.

[4:09] >> Mhm.

[4:09] >> Yeah, couple nights ago.

[4:11] >> Yes.

[4:12] we've been in regular touch with

[4:14] Commonwealth Edison, although we've been

[4:16] disappointed in the amount of

[4:19] communication that we've gotten back.

[4:21] Uh we've we're coordinating with other

[4:23] communities in this area to discuss, all

[4:26] together, uh the communication on those.

[4:29] Uh the first few outages were related to

[4:33] storms. However, the most recent one,

[4:36] there was a fire and the transformer.

[4:39] So, the Highland Park Fire Department,

[4:41] which we contract with, was out there

[4:43] along with Commonwealth Edison, and that

[4:45] transformer was the same one that was

[4:46] used in uh repair from the storm. So,

[4:50] we're watching the investigation on that

[4:53] fire to know more.

[4:54] Um and we'll be able to report back

[4:56] after that, but we are working with our

[4:59] surrounding communities because many of

[5:00] us working together

[5:01] will make all of us stronger to be able

[5:03] to

[5:04] discuss with the company that's

[5:05] responsible for providing that service

[5:07] to all of us.

[5:08] >> Okay.

[5:09] >> Thank you.

[5:10] for coming up.

[5:13] Anybody else?

[5:16] Okay.

[5:19] Um

[5:20] Mayor's report,

[5:22] um

[5:22] was asked to share that the Highwood

[5:26] uh library and community center is

[5:29] coming out with their annual report. It

[5:31] will be distributed to all the houses

[5:32] here in Highwood. They did a wonderful

[5:34] job. If anyone's interested to see it

[5:37] before you get mailed to you, check out

[5:39] their website. We're pretty sure they

[5:41] have a PDF of it already up there. It's

[5:43] a great They do a great report.

[5:45] Um

[5:45] >> They did They did say that um

[5:49] that all their programs from little kids

[5:52] to teens to adult programming like it's

[5:54] all improved or increased that it's

[5:57] increased

[5:59] by lots. They really had a lot of growth

[6:02] and they have

[6:03] gotten a lot of grants that help them do

[6:06] that. So I you know, we're just very

[6:08] proud of the library and community

[6:10] center.

[6:11] I mean here they have church children

[6:12] services they

[6:14] 3,500 attendees, teen services at 6,600,

[6:19] adult services at 4,200.

[6:22] Health

[6:24] equity services they had 670 case

[6:27] management sessions.

[6:29] So they are very busy over there not

[6:31] just about books

[6:33] but as the name implies it is a

[6:35] community center as well and they're

[6:36] doing a lot.

[6:36] >> Oh and Susan also wants to tell everyone

[6:39] that this they have Libby now. They have actually three apps. I think

[6:44] they also have one called Palace and one

[6:46] called Hoopla or something but the Libby

[6:48] one I think you're right that it's it's

[6:50] very um the gold standard. Yeah,

[6:53] nationwide and so it's you get that app

[6:56] if you're a library member and you have

[6:59] access to audiobooks and you know, books

[7:03] on your iPad and your Kindle and

[7:05] >> and your phone.

[7:06] >> Yeah.

[7:08] Anything we forgot about this? Good.

[7:11] Okay.

[7:12] >> Anything?

[7:13] >> No.

[7:15] Thank you.

[7:16] library for all your hard work

[7:17] too. They do a great job. Laura does a

[7:19] great job and Lucy and the whole board

[7:21] are

[7:23] They do a wonderful job over there.

[7:25] We're going to jump down to new business

[7:27] here this evening. We have two items on

[7:29] the agenda. 11.1 is the first one.

[7:32] Consideration of a motion authorizing

[7:33] the city manager to engage McConnell

[7:36] Jones to conduct the F fiscal year

[7:40] ending 2026 audit in an amount not to

[7:43] exceed $44,100.

[7:47] If I get a motion to approve that,

[7:48] please.

[7:49] >> So moved.

[7:50] >> Second.

[7:51] >> Motion and second by

[7:53] Alderman Bauer.

[7:55] >> Perfect.

[7:56] >> Um

[7:57] Scott, a little bit more, but I think

[7:59] the

[8:01] we're not going to have as much uh

[8:02] selection anymore, either, right?

[8:03] >> Yes, that's a reasonable year-over-year

[8:06] price increase considering the price

[8:08] increases we're seeing in the county

[8:10] bill generally. So, we're happy to move

[8:12] along with McConnell Jones again, who's

[8:15] been a good auditor for us for at least

[8:16] the last 3 years now.

[8:17] >> And they just finished 2025?

[8:19] >> Correct.

[8:21] 2025 audit can be found on our website.

[8:24] Clean.

[8:25] >> Unqualified.

[8:28] >> Totally?

[8:31] » Yes.

[8:31] >> Has that ever happened before?

[8:33] >> Unqualified we've done unqualified

[8:34] before.

[8:35] >> Oh, and unqualified

[8:36] >> Um it sounds like it's bad in audit

[8:39] terms. Unqualified

[8:40] >> by the is good.

[8:41] >> Yeah.

[8:41] >> An unqualified opinion means that you've

[8:43] been able to produce every document

[8:44] necessary for them to give you a clean

[8:46] bill.

[8:47] And your processes and procedures

[8:50] >> Just when I first started we had 12.

[8:54] >> material weaknesses.

[8:55] >> Yeah. Whether it's cash flow and how we

[8:58] handled it or checks and balances and

[9:03] >> assets and inventories and

[9:04] >> Yeah.

[9:05] >> compensated absences.

[9:06] >> Remember the yeah, remember all that,

[9:07] yeah.

[9:08] >> Something to be proud of.

[9:10] >> Yep.

[9:10] >> Good job.

[9:11] >> Thank you.

[9:13] >> All right, we have a motion and a

[9:14] second.

[9:15] Thank you, everybody. Roll call, please.

[9:17] >> Bauer.

[9:19] Aye.

[9:20] Mendelsohn.

[9:23] >> Aye.

[9:25] >> Hansen.

[9:26] >> Aye.

[9:27] >> Peterson.

[9:27] >> Aye.

[9:28] >> Markoutsas.

[9:28] >> Aye.

[9:29] >> Motion passes.

[9:31] Next item on the agenda, 11.2, is a

[9:33] consideration of an ordinance amending

[9:36] uh 4-1-7,

[9:38] classification of licenses in the

[9:40] Hollywood City Code to add a class B

[9:43] liquor license

[9:44] for one off hospitality at Vec

[9:47] Restaurant.

[9:49] If I can get a motion to

[9:50] >> So moved.

[9:51] >> Waive first reading.

[9:53] >> And approve.

[9:54] >> Second.

[9:55] >> Motion and a second.

[9:57] Uh, roll call, please.

[9:59] >> Bauer.

[10:00] >> Aye.

[10:01] >> Nebolsky.

[10:02] >> Aye.

[10:03] >> Hansen.

[10:03] >> Oh, yeah, wait. Oh, go back one.

[10:06] Uh, Joseph.

[10:07] >> I'm going to announce that I'm

[10:08] abstaining.

[10:08] >> I'm abstaining from this vote.

[10:11] So, put abstained for him, please.

[10:14] >> Hansen.

[10:14] >> Aye.

[10:16] >> Peterson.

[10:17] >> Aye.

[10:17] >> Markwitz.

[10:18] >> Aye.

[10:19] >> Okay. Any reason why Joseph is

[10:20] abstaining, he has a liquor license and

[10:23] is not able to discuss nor vote on

[10:26] liquor topics.

[10:28] Okay.

[10:31] Uh, we have no executive session.

[10:33] We have no action coming out of the

[10:35] executive session.

[10:37] Motion to adjourn.

[10:38] >> So moved.

[10:39] >> Second.

[10:40] >> All in favor?

[10:41] >> Aye.

[10:42] >> Opposed?

[10:44] We're adjourned.

[10:45] Thank you, everybody, for coming out.