[0:16] Good evening everyone. Welcome to the
Monday, March 2nd city council meeting.
[0:19] Clerk, please call the role.
>> Alderwoman Baney here. Alman Glab
[0:23] » here.
>> Alman Dhy
[0:24] » here.
>> Alwoman Bassie here. Alman Davis
[0:27] » here.
>> Alderman Cook
[0:28] » here. Alderwoman Miller here.
>> Please stand for the pledge.
[0:35] » Pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[0:40] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, liberty and
[0:45] justice for all.
[0:51] » All right. At this time, I open up for
public comment for items that are not on
[0:54] the agenda this evening. I have Joel
Williams from Habitat for Humanity.
[1:03] Joel, if you can hit that center button.
Thank you, sir.
[1:06] » All right. Yours.
>> Good evening, everyone. Thank you so
[1:08] much for allowing me to speak to you
today. My name is Joel Williams. I am
[1:11] the president and CEO of Lake McHenry
Habitat for Humanity. Uh this is my
[1:15] first time having the honor to uh speak
in front of you. Uh I'm relatively new
[1:19] to this uh to the Mckenry side of
Habitat for Humanity. I had previously
[1:24] served as the executive director of the
Lake County affiliate uh for about four
[1:28] years and then last year we merged Lake
and Mckenry together. One of the reasons
[1:32] we did that was we knew that we could
achieve a lot more together, have some
[1:35] economies of scale and some efficiencies
uh that have allowed us to impact more
[1:39] lives and uh serve more people. So as we
start to do a little bit more, I am
[1:45] really excited to be able to doing more
in Mckenry uh the city specifically. We
[1:49] think we've got some really cool things
that'll be happening here. Uh, I'm
[1:52] joined here tonight by our board chair,
Kyle Steiner, McHenry High School
[1:55] graduate. Um, there's some familiarity.
I thought some people might know him,
[1:59] but uh, Kyle is our board chair and, uh,
has been really helpful to, uh, guide me
[2:04] and help me understand a little bit more
about the goings on in Mckenry County.
[2:08] Um, as I, uh, have expressed to others
before, I have definitely been a taker
[2:12] of the city of Mckenry. I have been able
to enjoy all of the delicious food, uh,
[2:17] that, uh, I have been able to experience
throughout my life. uh and
[2:21] entertainment. I've been uh in this
region for a little while, but I'm
[2:24] learning more about the needs and the
different things that Mckenry or that
[2:27] Habitat for Humanity can do for the city
of Mckenry. So, hoping that most people
[2:31] know what Mckenry or excuse me, what
Habitat for Humanity is and does. Uh but
[2:36] we build houses uh and we help people
get into those houses. Uh we are
[2:40] currently building houses throughout
both Lake and Mckenry County and we're
[2:43] looking for new opportunities to be able
to build new houses. So, we are always
[2:47] on the lookout for land. if there's a a
piece of land available, we can do just
[2:51] one house. We can do multiple houses.
We're always looking for an opportunity
[2:54] to be able to do that and certainly
would engage with you as uh the people
[2:57] who know Mckenry best uh to be able to
find some of those opportunities as
[3:01] well. Um when we do build that, we build
it with volunteers and if anybody wants
[3:05] to come out and swing a hammer, you're
certainly welcome to join us with that.
[3:09] Uh but we uh build with volunteers and
then we help uh the individuals who are
[3:13] ultimately going to get into the house.
uh we help them um obtain a mortgage so
[3:19] that they can purchase the house and be
a homeowner. It's a home ownership
[3:22] program at its core. We also have what
we call our critical home repair
[3:25] program. That is a program that I think
is just as important as the new home
[3:28] build program, but we have that to be
able to fix homes that are otherwise
[3:33] decent, safe, and affordable, but they
just need one thing that the person
[3:36] can't afford. That could be a roof, that
could be a broken furnace, it could be
[3:39] all sorts of different things. And so we
work with them to be able to uh fix that
[3:44] so that they can stay in the house that
has been home but is otherwise
[3:48] affordable to them. Um that program is
uh really growing a lot. We're getting a
[3:52] lot of good support from the state of
Illinois to be able to support that. Uh
[3:55] so we're looking to be able to do even
more uh in various communities to be
[3:58] able to impact that including within the
city of Mckenry. Uh finally, some of you
[4:02] have probably been customers at our
Restore right on Front Street there. The
[4:06] Restore is basically we call it a
discount home improvement store. Uh, but
[4:10] think of it as anything that you might
need for your house, you're going to be
[4:13] able to find at the Restore. Sometimes
things you didn't even know you needed
[4:17] for your house, you will find at the
Restore. But all of the items that are
[4:21] there are donated. Some of them are
donated from people who no longer have a
[4:24] use for them, like the air hockey table
that is now in my basement, which my
[4:28] wife is a big fan of. Um, or some other
pieces of furniture or some other things
[4:32] that might have come from somebody else.
But in addition to that, we also have
[4:36] new items that are donated directly from
the manufacturer. So, we've got some
[4:40] good relationships with some
manufacturers and some other folks that
[4:43] uh will donate new items. So, just about
anything that you might need for your
[4:46] house, you're going to be able to find
at the Restore. We're proud to have that
[4:49] in the city of Mckenry. We've been there
for a number of years. It is right next
[4:52] door to our office and we're looking
forward to being able to have an even
[4:55] greater impact because we know that
people are looking for items that are
[4:58] affordable um that they're going to be
able to have at high quality. All the
[5:02] profits that come from that store go
right back into building more housing.
[5:05] So when you are shopping there, you are
also making a difference for furthering
[5:08] affordable housing in Lake C in Mckenry
County. Uh again, this was just really
[5:12] my opportunity to be able to introduce
myself. It's been uh a year of trying to
[5:16] bring the teams together and so now I'm
kind of on a tour of uh trying to just
[5:20] introduce myself to some folks that I
might not know. As I said, it's just a
[5:23] privilege to be able to speak to all of
you today. if there are any
[5:26] opportunities to be able to work with
you to be able to develop affordable
[5:29] housing or to be able to repair some of
the existing housing that uh might need
[5:34] some um some work done on it, we
definitely want to be a part of that.
[5:37] So, we know that there's a lot of talk
going on around affordable housing uh
[5:41] right now and we're just very excited to
be here to hopefully support that and
[5:44] all the work that is happening within
the city of Mckenry. So, again, thank
[5:48] you so much. Uh hopefully we'll be uh
doing some more work with you and if uh
[5:51] there are questions certainly feel free
to reach out to me. Um, you can find my
[5:55] information on our website. It's
habitatlmc.org
[5:59] or you just come on down the street and
I'm there uh pretty often and you can
[6:02] just pop in and say hello. So again,
thank you so much for your time.
[6:06] » Thank you very much.
>> Have a good evening.
[6:10] All right. Any other public comment?
>> Vic, sit down. All right. Uh, consent
[6:16] agendas. Uh, consent agenda items 5A
through 5e. Is there any items that
[6:20] council would like to pull for separate
consideration?
[6:23] Looking for a motion to approve 5A
through 5E. Aldwin Miller.
[6:27] » I'll make the motion to approve consent
agenda 5A through 5e as presented.
[6:32] Please.
>> Thank you. Alden Bainy.
[6:34] » I will second Alderwoman Miller's
motion.
[6:37] » Thank you. Council um Trisha, please
call. Sorry.
[6:42] » Alderwoman Miller.
>> Yes.
[6:44] » Alderwoman Bainy.
>> Yes.
[6:46] » Alman Glab.
>> Yes.
[6:47] » Alman Dhy.
>> Yes.
[6:48] » Alumoman Bassie.
>> Yes.
[6:50] » Alman Davis.
>> Yes.
[6:51] » Alman Cook. Yes.
>> Thank you, council. Next item on the
[6:55] agenda is 6A is Windhill Pancake Parlor
Video Gaming. I'm looking for a motion
[6:59] to approve a video gaming license to 4X
Hospitality LLC located at 3307 West Elm
[7:04] Street, Mckenry, subject to the
completion of a video gaming development
[7:08] agreement. And if approved, pass an
ordinance increasing the number of
[7:11] location licenses for video gaming. I am
looking for a motion to approve.
[7:16] Alderman Banny,
>> I'll make the motion to approve the
[7:19] video uh Windhill Pancake Parlor video
gaming license.
[7:22] » Thank you. Second, Alderman Dhy.
>> I'll second the motion.
[7:25] » Thank you. Uh Phil Sudak, the owner of
Windhill is here in the audience if you
[7:30] have any questions. Um but I will open
it up for city council comments. Alo
[7:35] Bessie,
>> thank you. As of January, Fox Lake,
[7:39] Woodstock, and Crystal Lake have issued
in this order 29, 25, and 22 gaming
[7:46] licenses. These are the cities or
villages with the second, third, and
[7:51] fourth highest number of gaming licenses
in Mckenry County. Mckenry has issued
[7:57] the most gaming license in the county by
a significant margin with 44. A concern
[8:05] I have repeatedly heard from residents
is that we have too much gaming and it
[8:11] has a negative impact on the city's
reputation. The default of businesses
[8:16] and of businesses requesting a gaming
license with their liquor license
[8:21] particularly in the downtown districts
needs to change. I can appreciate that
[8:27] Win Hill previously had a gaming license
but we do need to draw the line
[8:32] somewhere. So, I am voting no.
>> Thank you.
[8:38] Any other comments by city council?
Phil, would you like to say anything?
[8:44] » I'm trying to get off.
>> Yeah, if you can come up to the podium
[8:47] if you don't mind,
[8:50] if you hit that center button for me,
sir.
[8:56] » Uh I am trying to improve the whole
riverfront area as well. So, I'm
[8:59] starting with the uh front condo that we
own uh in front of Windhill. It's been
[9:03] vacant since we took it over about two
and a half years ago. So, we are putting
[9:06] Italian deli in as a forefront of that
business. Up the stairway towards the
[9:10] Windhill side, I'm putting six machines
potentially as well. So, we'll be
[9:14] covered up, not covered, but it will be
forefront will be a Italian deli and
[9:18] grocery store, but I'm putting in the
small area in front. Then the games will
[9:22] be kind of tucked away as well. So,
we'll really be the forefront of what
[9:24] the business is. Then eventually plan on
going to the riverfront as well. I'm
[9:27] going to DNR tomorrow to get the peers
approved that way as well, similar to
[9:31] what Bimbo's u did in front there as
well to increase the traffic flow to the
[9:36] riverfront, redevelop the restaurants on
the riverfront as well. Then there's a
[9:39] fourbedroom house behind there. I'm
going to eventually turn into a uh
[9:43] vintage burger shop as well. So, similar
like a cop's burger in Milwaukee. So,
[9:47] that's my immediate plans over the next
probably year, year and a half as well.
[9:50] So, I'm putting an extraordinary amount
of capital into the riverfront as well
[9:54] and the the city front as well to make
that corner much more known. I've
[9:58] cleaned up the property quite a bit. Did
a full interior remodel of Windhill. Uh
[10:02] painted the exterior of the house next
door which is high for many years. So,
[10:06] you know, I just asked you guys for a
little leniency so I can make a little
[10:09] more profit out of the out the business
at hand.
[10:12] » Yep. All right. And I appreciate on, you
know, on behalf of all of us, we
[10:16] appreciate all the money you've invested
in Mckenry. We really we really
[10:19] appreciate it. So,
>> absolutely. Thank you.
[10:21] » Any questions for the applicant?
>> All right, Madam Se. Thank you, sir.
[10:25] » Thank you.
>> All right. Any other questions, comments
[10:29] by councel? Please call the role.
>> Alumoman Baney,
[10:32] » yes.
>> Alman Dhy,
[10:33] » yes.
>> Alman Glab,
[10:35] » yes.
>> Alwoman Bassie,
[10:36] » no.
>> Alman Davis,
[10:38] » yes.
>> Alman Cook,
[10:39] » yes.
>> Alwoman Miller,
[10:41] » yes.
>> Thank you, council. Once again, Phil,
[10:42] thank you very much.
>> Look forward to working with you on the
[10:45] other projects.
>> All right. All right. Next item on the
[10:48] agenda is 6B, TIFF fund uh budget
amendment. Motion to pass an ordinance
[10:52] authorizing a budget amendment for 2526
tax uh increment financing fund. Looking
[10:57] for a motion to approve. Alone Miller.
>> I'll make the motion to pass an
[11:01] ordinance authorizing a budget amendment
to the 2020 2526 tax increment financing
[11:07] fund.
>> Thank you. Second Alderman Glenn.
[11:10] » I'll second.
>> Thank you. Discussion by city council.
[11:13] Alman Glenn.
>> Yeah. I just want to say that uh I voted
[11:17] against uh purchasing the property. Uh
however, uh
[11:25] it's you know got passed by the council.
Uh I feel that uh doing a tax increment
[11:31] is the only proper way to do it that um
don't want to see it coming right out of
[11:36] the general fund. However, uh I know
this is going to take a big bite out of
[11:42] the uh the tip funds. So, we're we're
always going negative before the
[11:48] property taxes come in. And uh I just
want to be sure that we just don't get
[11:53] too far in the hole over the next couple
years uh that we get try to get closer
[11:58] and closer to the uh plus sign side. You
know, I know we need to reinvest it all
[12:03] the time to for it to grow, but uh just
so that we are at a stage of being
[12:10] cautious. That's all.
>> Thank you. Appreciate the support.
[12:12] » I'll do Bassie.
>> Andy, did you copy what I've got here in
[12:17] my notes? Um, mine is I voted no to
purchase the property because I do not
[12:23] want to see this 1939 building which is
significant to Mckenry's history and
[12:29] culture demolished with the land
marketed to a corporate developer.
[12:34] However, since the purchase has already
been completed, I am voting yes to using
[12:40] TIFF money rather than general fund
money to purchase. This will this will
[12:45] put the TIFF fund over a half a million
dollars in debt to the general fund. And
[12:50] this money needs to be paid back before
an additional TIFF before any additional
[12:56] TIFF spending is in the budget for the
next fiscal year.
[13:02] » Thank you. Any other city council
comments?
[13:05] Any public comment regarding this item?
>> Clerk, please call the role.
[13:09] » Alderwoman Miller,
>> yes.
[13:10] » Alderman Glad,
>> yes. Alderman Bainy,
[13:13] » yes.
>> Alman Dhy,
[13:14] » yes.
>> Alwoman Bassie,
[13:16] » yes.
>> Alman Davis,
[13:17] » yes.
>> Alman Cook,
[13:19] » yes.
>> Thank council. Next item on the agenda
[13:23] is 6C, uh, an IGA with the fire district
for sale of property. Motion to pass an
[13:28] ordinance authorizing the mayor's
execution of an IGA with the McHenry
[13:31] Township Fire Protection District for
the sale of the vacant parcel of land
[13:34] west of DOT Street, pin number
09-28-151-026
[13:40] for a gross sale price of $52,000. I'm
looking for a motion to approve. Alman
[13:46] Dornney.
>> Yeah, I make a motion to approve item 6
[13:49] C as presented the intergovernmental
agreement with the fire district for
[13:52] sale of the property listed.
>> Thank you. Second, Alman Cook,
[13:57] » I second the motion.
>> Thank you. Discussion by council.
[14:02] Although ambassy,
>> I am voting yes on this, but I would
[14:07] like the proceeds to go towards the
city's portion of the 31 expansion.
[14:16] » Any other council comments?
>> Any public comment? Clerk, please call
[14:22] the RO.
>> Alderman Dhy.
[14:23] » Yes. Alderman Cook,
>> yes.
[14:26] » Alwoman Miller,
>> yes.
[14:28] » Alman Davis,
>> yes.
[14:30] » Alman Glad,
>> yes.
[14:31] » Alwoman Batty,
>> yes.
[14:34] » Thank Council.
>> I'm sorry. Alderwoman Bassie, I
[14:37] apologize.
>> I'm finally voting yes.
[14:41] » I'm sorry, Alderoman.
>> Thank you. No, I'm just kidding. Been
[14:43] » a long day. I apologize.
>> Thank you very much. I appreciate all
[14:48] you've done in the community.
>> All right. Next item on the agenda is
[14:54] discussion. Uh staff reports. Any staff
reports? Russ, go ahead.
[14:58] » I do have one real quick. Uh Alderwoman
Bassie pointed out that we forgot to
[15:01] include the Arbor Day um information in
the staff update for this month. So, I
[15:07] just want to remind everyone that the
Arbor Day celebration is April 24th this
[15:11] year. Um the deadline, if anyone's
interested in donating a tree to that
[15:15] program, is April 1st. And there's
information about that on both the city
[15:20] website under the permits applications
and forms and also in the city
[15:24] newsletter that will be coming out
shortly.
[15:26] » Thank you, sir.
>> Thank you.
[15:28] » Any other staff reports?
>> Just that small thing before we meet
[15:33] again of Shamrocks the Fox, if you heard
of it, it's happening uh the 13th
[15:37] through the 15th of March. So, it will
be Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Um recap
[15:43] will just be the Friday night will be
the 10th down at Miller Point. Saturday,
[15:47] we'll start the day with the Shamrock
Shuffle by the Kuanas Club. Uh based out
[15:51] of the freshman campus, East campus for
for most of us, but freshman campus. Um
[15:57] the dying on the river will be
approximately 10:00 a.m. They'll
[15:59] probably start a little bit before that
by the time the boats are in the water.
[16:02] Uh then we'll have uh the Miller Point
will open up with I think we'll have six
[16:08] uh eight food trucks this year. Um and
then the tent with live music. Uh and
[16:14] then the same and then Sunday we'll have
the tent open again at noon uh with
[16:19] fireworks ending the day at
approximately 7 p.m. So a weekend full
[16:24] uh both both at Miller Point but
throughout town there's events. The
[16:27] parade uh uh the parade is Saturday.
That was the one thing I forgot to
[16:29] mention. Sorry about that. Uh parade is
Saturday at noon I believe. So
[16:36] everything everything's coming together
pretty good and just pray for nice
[16:40] weather, right Trish?
[16:46] We don't say that out. We don't say that
out loud for events.
[16:49] » I get it.
>> All right. Thank you, Bill. Appreciate
[16:51] it.
>> All right. Uh, any other staff reports?
[16:55] All right. Uh, city council comments.
Aldo Miller.
[17:00] » Thank you, Mayor Jet. I just wanted to
put a public shout out to parks and
[17:03] downtown maintenance. They've got all
the lights out for Shamrocks and it
[17:08] looks amazing. We drove around the other
day and I don't know where all the
[17:12] lights came from because it appears to
be double what we had last year. Um, but
[17:16] it looks just amazing through town. Very
festive, very springy. And uh,
[17:21] congratulations to the guys that got it
all done in time. Thank you for all your
[17:25] hard work.
>> We're still working on it. But drive by
[17:29] uh, if you haven't driven by Vets Park,
the there's two pots of gold there is a
[17:33] fun little thing that the guys worked
on. It's every year they kind of come up
[17:36] with something and the decor decorations
that they do in house are amazing. So,
[17:39] thank you very much.
>> Well, and the new lights over by the
[17:43] digital sign in front of Spring Oaks
Park. It just I saw that today coming
[17:48] back into town and I'm like, wait, those
are new. Those have never been there
[17:52] before. So, it's kind of fun to run
around town and, you know, discover what
[17:56] we didn't have before. So, thanks guys.
>> Any other city council comments? Alman
[18:02] Dhy. Yeah, I just want to acknowledge
that it I know the mayor and chief were
[18:06] at a funeral today for Bob Marace. Um
definitely the community lost a huge
[18:12] member um and a very big supporter of
the city of Mckenry. He was involved in
[18:18] Fiesta Day for years. I believe he's on
the police commission. Um but anyway,
[18:22] the community had lost a big person
today and I just want to publicly
[18:26] acknowledge it for the family. Our
condolences.
[18:29] » Thank you. I was actually gonna say it
after that, but he he got me to it, so
[18:33] that's why I skipped me. But, uh, yeah,
once again, uh, Bob has been someone
[18:38] that has been involved in the community
for a long time. And, uh, his, uh, kid,
[18:42] uh, Mike has also been involved in the
chamber and rise up and everything else.
[18:47] So, we attended today and, uh, yeah, um,
he'll be greatly missed in the community
[18:51] for sure. So, uh, any other city council
comments?
[18:57] » Glam. Yeah, I just want to mention the
fact that uh bringing up the the TIFF
[19:01] budget amendment and all that uh brings
back uh uh my concerns about uh creating
[19:07] the new tiffs and that uh I would hope
that uh as that
[19:14] moves forward that we also look at uh
right away that uh we get some uh
[19:20] committee of the whole meetings to
discuss these areas and so that we know
[19:25] and we're on board before before we
start spending any of that money,
[19:28] exactly what it is we want to accomplish
and what we'd like to see the ending
[19:32] goals be.
>> No problem.
[19:35] » Thank you.
>> Yep.
[19:37] Uh Benny, go ahead.
>> I just wanted to say for those who
[19:40] weren't able to attend how great the
state of Mckenry lunchon was last week.
[19:44] Um Mayor Jet did a wonderful job. I know
you had supportive staff and it was a
[19:48] wonderful presentation and just want to
say thank you to you and to the Chamber
[19:51] of Commerce for putting that together. I
think it's really an incredible event.
[19:55] » Thank you. I appreciate all of you that
joined. I know some of you have to work,
[19:59] so I appreciate all of you that
attended. Um, and yes, Suzanne, for
[20:03] helping me out. Uh, we did a run through
at the Vixon the night before or day
[20:07] before. Thank god we did that. It was
horrible.
[20:10] » Two and a half hours.
>> Yep. That was the best uh thing we could
[20:14] have done. So, uh, but yeah. So, other
than that, uh, it was it was great and
[20:17] well attended. So, thank you. Any other
city council comments? All right. Motion
[20:23] to adjurnn.
Alman Cook,
[20:27] » make a motion to adjourn.
>> Thank you. Second. Alderman Bainy.
[20:30] » I will second that motion.
>> Thank you. Clerk, please call the role.
[20:34] » Alman Cook,
>> yes.
[20:35] » Alwoman Bainy,
>> yes.
[20:36] » Alman Glab,
>> yes.
[20:38] » Alman Dhy,
>> yes.
[20:39] » Alderwoman Bassie,
>> yes.
[20:41] » Alman Davis,
>> yes.
[20:43] » Alwoman Miller,
>> yes.
[20:45] » Thank you everyone. Have a good evening.