[0:02] Okay, we're going to call our regular council meeting to order. Monday,

[0:07] January 5th, 2026, 5:00 pm. >> Uh request to turn your cell phones off

[0:13] or silence them. Roll call, please. >> Here,

[0:17] » here. Morris >> here.

[0:19] » Here >> stand and say the pledge of allegiance,

[0:23] please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to

[0:29] the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with

[0:36] liberty and justice for all. >> Remain standing.

[0:39] » Dan,

[0:44] if I haven't met you, I'm Pastor Dan Herman. I'm a chaplain here, I guess,

[0:48] since eight years perhaps too. So, uh, we want to bow your heads and hearts.

[0:53] So good and gracious God, you've given to us another day of life and we've used

[0:56] it the way we've wanted. But we ask that in uh throughout the hours of this day,

[1:01] we have been able to look and see your face and understand your presence and

[1:05] we've been able to share that same presence and same grace with the Lord

[1:09] around us. We have special business tonight with the swearing name of a new

[1:13] chief. We ask you to bless him in all of his endeavors that you may bless the

[1:17] hard work and good work of the fire department, police department, and all

[1:21] of our services here in South Floyd. Watch over us and guide us in our

[1:25] conversations and in our lives. Amen. Amen.

[1:30] » Okay, we got a full agenda. Get a motion.

[1:39] » All in favor? >> Okay, public comment. You got public

[1:43] comment. Just please stand, give your name, raise your hand.

[1:50] No comments. Okay. Okay. Moving on. Uh, um, I'm going to got a couple things to

[1:58] say here. Uh, it's moreformational than anything. 2025 was a very good year for

[2:06] South, city of South. Uh, couple bumps in the road, but no roadblocks.

[2:13] Well, completion of the garden hotel and including the ownership, we took over

[2:18] ownership of it. The Besley building is going down and we've we've uh partnered

[2:24] with BL 200 to generate a feasibility study for the Garden Hotel in that area.

[2:30] The city approved the first strategic plan, a capital improvement project,

[2:36] lift station number one, that'll be over on South Bluff. We're working on that.

[2:41] We got the plan for it. We partnered with the Illinois Fire Chief Association

[2:45] to get a sta fire staffing study which come back and uh which ended up with the

[2:52] fire chief association search which we ended up finding our chief. We'll

[2:58] discuss that later. Um police pension right now is at 81.81%.

[3:06] fire pension actually is at over 100%. So we're doing great on that transition

[3:13] for the new financial system. Uh we use Tyler Technologies, the new new has

[3:20] helped us out with u almost every facet of our record keeping and everything

[3:25] else. Our many facility improvements, Donner Drive, the parking lot, we

[3:31] expanded that parking lot down there. police department had many uh grants,

[3:36] the $43,000 worth of grants. Uh Adam secured for us and the fire department

[3:43] had another thousand. Partnered with Craftsman of Character, which is a

[3:48] summer staff where young people come here and work during the summer and we

[3:53] get their get the idea of how to run city staffing. in that RBI funds

[3:59] expanded Manchester Road project that's out there by the new Quick Drip uh

[4:04] Quickstar employment cleanup uh cleanup uh efforts continue and take strides. We

[4:10] took three fuel tanks out of uh property on Sherland and two leaking fuel tanks

[4:16] out of uh property down here on Blackhawk. Massive undertaking of

[4:21] documents destruction retention. That's we had hundreds of boxes of documents

[4:25] that were all paper went in and our staff took them and put them put them

[4:30] all on file now with uh um what is it digital and filing

[4:37] and um we got an IGA with Rockton Fire District for use of repeat frequency of

[4:44] improved dispatching services. We had new three new uh businesses open up.

[4:50] Ross Robertson, we declared him a day and u right now in Northern Michigan, I

[4:55] guess they're on a 12game winning streak right now. So, they're doing really

[4:59] well. New construction, Manchester Trails, 19 single families, the duplex

[5:04] and multifamily. Uh Yellowstone, 13 single families and

[5:09] four commercial buildings. We annexed Jack Tire and Buff City which is next to

[5:14] it and and uh code enforcement consistency quality and mun municipal

[5:20] code enforcement. We uh we hired a firm out of that takes care of that now where

[5:26] we went through seven or eight different uh code enforcement officers in a matter

[5:30] of six years. Um we addition we had some two murals put up. One over here

[5:38] building next to us and then down at the confluence center and uh street sweeper

[5:43] was one of our larger uh purchases which uh 400,000 we paid for that and it's

[5:50] brand new and we with our additional 1% sales tax will put us over a million

[5:57] dollars we'll have add that with our uh MFT funds and we'll have 1.4 4 million

[6:03] to put into the roads this year. And none of this would be possible without

[6:08] our staff and uh department heads and and people on the boards and that

[6:16] and like Don Don's been our financial man for long as I've been here and a

[6:22] farmer who knows how to take care of the dollar really well. And u Shauna, she's

[6:28] worked two or three different jobs here. I don't know what job you're working

[6:31] today, but um she uh not only that being in code, but she's also takes care of uh

[6:38] our development and and been the star in court for many times uh representing

[6:44] South Polo. Um, and Jeff, which Jeff is not here right now, but he's another

[6:50] farmer that takes care of the dollar, and he's uh taking care of our $36

[6:54] million sewage plant. And >> state wastewater operator of the year,

[7:00] » was he? I did not know that. Oh, yeah. Wish brought that up. Okay, thank you.

[7:07] Um, Jeff, uh, and Steve is not here. He's

[7:11] sick tonight, too. Steve uh he's done many things since he's got

[7:16] here. He started many projects. He's been able to fix and repair almost

[7:21] everything that's been busted or or wears out. Plus, he put in new CDL. He

[7:26] took over that. He he runs his own he gives his own CDL license out which is

[7:32] saves thousands of dollars when they come to all the boards there. and

[7:37] Brandon, which is with Fair Graham. They come here and they uh we got him here a

[7:43] couple days a week. Well, we not now, but we we got your what? Derek.

[7:48] » Derek. >> Yep.

[7:49] » Yeah, he's here now. But, uh been with us doing that. Chief, you'll get your

[7:55] chance, too. with uh Adam. Adam is uh he's worked with uh short staff for for

[8:03] almost a full year with people being in uh on deployment and plus uh we have new

[8:10] officers and u doing an excellent job. Tracy as usual, she's been the rock has

[8:17] always been here forever. Jennifer's always been helping us up

[8:21] there and doing doing real well. sat right come right into that job and sat

[8:26] right down and doing a great job. Sonia, which uh is irreplaceable. I think South

[8:35] has been very lucky to ever hire her because uh brought all this together and

[8:41] we have been nothing but growing since that time and I appreciate all that and

[8:46] and our attorneys and their staff. You guys have helped us out. But none of

[8:51] this, like I say, would be possible without everybody working together as a

[8:56] team. And we had a very good 2025. And um we look forward to 2026 and the

[9:03] council to uh Courtney and Kenny, Brian, and Brian. We uh made some tough

[9:11] decisions this year, and we probably have another year of it before we're

[9:16] done. But uh I'd like to thank everybody for that. And uh moving on.

[9:24] All right. Uh we get approve of the minutes of uh we get a motion for

[9:29] approval of the minutes for uh December 15, 2025 and approval of the minutes for

[9:34] the public hearing held on December 15, 2025. Get a motion, please.

[9:39] » Motion second. >> All in favor? I

[9:43] » uh port of officers finance for play of the claims from December 13, 2025 to

[9:49] January 2nd, 2026 for the Mono >> $563,251

[9:55] 97. Motion >> second.

[9:59] » Tracy, please. >> Yes.

[10:02] » Mr. H. >> Yes.

[10:03] » Commissioner Morris. >> Yes.

[10:04] » Mr. >> Yes.

[10:06] » Mayor Fitzgerald. >> Yes. Attorney's report.

[10:08] » None tonight. I forgot to mention I just sorry sorry

[10:13] about this about the people on our boards that work you know like uh police

[10:17] and fire board and our u and our uh zoning board and our park board. the

[10:23] people that they don't get paid for anything to be there and they put in

[10:26] many hours and they and they they are the backbone on a lot of stuff that goes

[10:32] on around here and I failed to mention them and I'm sorry about that but um

[10:38] okay no no return report. >> No.

[10:41] » Okay, Sonia, what do you got? >> Yeah, mayor. Um it's hard to hard to top

[10:46] all of the accomplishments and the thanks for the staff, but I'll just

[10:49] second that. Uh it has been a really good year. Uh we're really grateful both

[10:53] ways. Um you know, the five of you continue to allow our staff to grow and

[10:57] and do any training that we feel is beneficial for our city. So um

[11:02] appreciate both ends of the spectrum here. It's been been an honor and a

[11:05] privilege. I think everyone would agree. Um and then we'll just get right into uh

[11:11] you'll present Rob, but I I do want to say that these boards, these volunteer

[11:14] boards are often thankless. A lot of times people don't even know they exist.

[11:18] Um Rob has has helped the city in a lot of different ways. Wherever there was a

[11:22] gap, he has always kind of filled that in. Uh so we certainly appreciate that

[11:25] and and we want to do a better job of thanking people who volunteer to serve

[11:29] on these boards. So it is our pleasure tonight to thank Rob. And I'll let you

[11:33] take it from there, mayor, but got a couple things up there.

[11:35] » Okay, Rob, I know you've been on this board for police and fire board since I

[11:40] believe what is it July of 2021. Um please come up. I want to

[11:51] It's been a >> pleasure

[12:08] in recognition of your dedicated service to the city of South Board of Fire and

[12:12] Police Commission. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir.

[12:15] » THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

[12:37] WE DO WE really and we do appreciate it, Rob.

[12:48] Okay, now new business. Uh, or not court, uh, new business. Yeah, it is new

[12:55] business, I guess. Swearing in of our new chief of fire department, Scott

[13:00] Fiser. Uh, would you present Scott? Would you

[13:06] come up, please, Scott?

[13:11] Casey will handle all this.

[13:19] » In the middle

[13:23] right now, repeat after me. I, Scott Fisher,

[13:27] » I, Scott Fischer, >> do solemnly swear

[13:29] » do solemnly swear >> that I will support

[13:32] » that I will support >> the Constitution of the United States

[13:34] » the Constitution of the United States >> the Constitution of the State of

[13:38] Illinois >> the Constitution of the State of

[13:40] Illinois >> the Code of Ordinances

[13:42] » the Code of ordinances >> of the city of South

[13:45] » of the city of South >> the rules and regulations

[13:48] » the rules and regulations >> practices and procedures

[13:51] » practices and procedures >> of the South Boy Fire Department

[13:55] » of the South Hawaii Fire Department. >> And that I will faithfully discharge

[13:59] » And then I will faithfully dis discharge >> the duties of a fire chief

[14:03] » the duties of a fire chief >> of the uh city of South

[14:08] » of the city of South Po >> to the best of my ability.

[14:11] » to the best of my ability. >> So help me God.

[14:13] » So help me God.

[14:24] » Welcome aboard.

[14:32] We welcome our new chief.

[14:54] All right. Thank you, Chief. Welcome aboard

[14:59] » for many years. Um, okay. B, discuss approve ordinance

[15:05] 2894. approving variance of the required set rear yard setback from 30 ft down to

[15:11] 20 ft for the property commonly known as 325 Oakland Avenue, South Deote,

[15:15] Illinois, Wnebago County, pin number 0407 1227.

[15:22] Um, we got a positive recommendation from the zoning board. Can we get a

[15:25] motion, please? >> Second.

[15:28] » Um, all in favor, right?

[15:34] » Yes. Yes,

[15:36] » Mr. Morris. >> Yes,

[15:39] » yes, this was about a house that didn't have a backyard to

[15:44] move in a garage from one side to the other and all that, but it's uh to help

[15:48] them out. Discuss. Approve ordinance 28.95

[15:52] amended section 10 base district intent regulation and use and chapter of 118

[16:00] 1118 zoning regarding allowance of auto related uses of a special use in the

[16:05] commercial retail CR zoning district. Motion please.

[16:10] » Second. This was about I asked Sean about this because I was kind of

[16:15] confused why we're doing this, but this was omitted in our rewrite of our code

[16:20] rewrite. They they left out commercial residential district. So, we're putting

[16:26] that in there. So, that covers all the all the uh filling stations and what

[16:32] have you. Okay. Okay. Tracy, please.

[16:37] » Mr. >> Yes.

[16:39] » Mr. Morris. >> Yes. apprentice.

[16:41] » Yes. >> Commissioner Alman,

[16:42] » yes. Mayor, >> yes. Discuss approve uh resolution 66633

[16:48] awarding proposal and approving an agreement with uh Geocon Professional

[16:53] Service LLC for soil boring among various streets within the city of South

[16:58] Floy. Motion, please. >> Motion second.

[17:02] » Okay. This is for our new work going to be done, right?

[17:04] » Yeah, we can touch on you, >> Brandon.

[17:07] » Yeah, absolutely. So, um, obviously it's on your agenda a little bit later, but,

[17:12] uh, city staff and the council have identified the road areas that we want

[17:16] to improve as part of the 2026 construction, uh, projects, both MFTt

[17:20] and, uh, local funding. Uh, the first step of that is getting pavement cores

[17:25] completed so we know how much, you know, soil, um, aggregate base and pavement

[17:30] depth that we're working with. Um, it will also tell us the condition of

[17:33] those. Um, which will then help fair refine our design and come back to you

[17:38] guys with very accurate cost estimates um, based on the proposed scope, let you

[17:42] know if there's anything of concern that we need to be thinking of. Um, but you

[17:46] know, unless we get back some poor results, which fingers crossed we do

[17:49] not. Um, this is basically just going to substantiate our uh, preliminary um,

[17:55] scoping that we have done for the roadway projects. So, uh, Geocon

[17:58] Professional Services, there's a company that Fair Graham uses, um, fairly often.

[18:03] We had the city, um, actually coordinate getting contract contracted with them

[18:07] directly to help save some of those costs and, uh, I believe that Geocon is

[18:11] proposing to get us the report back on those within four weeks of

[18:14] authorization. So, should be full speed ahead.

[18:17] » I just have one question. The the missing metals is on there, right? We've

[18:22] already done some work. We just need to finish that work.

[18:24] » Correct. Um why why do core samples there? We know we already have we're

[18:30] already going to do the work. >> Yep. So uh the reason being is uh when

[18:34] subdivisions are built there's numerous plats and they are not constructed or

[18:39] the same way every single time. In theory, yes, they should be. The city

[18:43] standards have always been the same. I can tell you firsthand experience in um

[18:47] you know actually in South Bully and Rosco. You will drive a road, there will

[18:50] be a seam in the pavement and then that's where the next plat picked up and

[18:53] you will get two different asphalt thicknesses in those two sections. So,

[18:58] um we did after talking with Sonia Fair actually was proposing numerous more

[19:02] locations. After some talking, we reviewed the old paper course from the

[19:05] other section. We said, "Okay, we can cut this down, help save some costs a

[19:08] little bit, but this is at least the bare minimum for us to um feel

[19:12] comfortable about the the preliminary skill." And I'm assuming, correct me,

[19:15] but I'm assuming it helps give the estimate a little bit more accuracy.

[19:20] » Correct. >> 100%. Yep. And that way, we're not just

[19:22] waiting for bidding time. That way, we will be able to refine that even before

[19:26] we start the design and tell the city, you know, Yep. based on our our

[19:30] preliminary understanding, we're okay here. Or if we, you know, we get paper

[19:33] cores back, we shouldn't in the Misty Meadow subdivision, but say the downtown

[19:36] area, the Wheeler House. Um, if we come back and we see a road that has, you

[19:40] know, 2 in of stone base, well, we might need to actually pivot and not be able

[19:43] to just resurface that road. We might need to start planning for

[19:46] reconstruction. And then at that point, we can start refining the scopes of the

[19:49] intended projects and um move forward with what you guys would like to would

[19:54] like to see. >> If we have reconstru if there's let's

[19:56] say you have that happen, will you skip that road this year and then come back

[20:01] and do it? >> Probably. That is what we recommend.

[20:03] Yeah, because there would be some actually quite a bit of additional

[20:06] design that would be required. Um, you know, then at that point you're looking

[20:10] at all the underground, you know, storm sewer, sanitary sewer, things like that.

[20:14] Um, so yeah, that's probably what we we would recommend just to keep the project

[20:18] moving, be able to still fit it in the spring.

[20:23] » You know, when the state comes through to to update our stretch of Highway 2,

[20:28] this has been something that they've been working on for 15 years. So, in a

[20:31] perfect world, um, have a lot of time to to engineer, to acquire property, if

[20:36] there's a a turn lane that needs to be adjusted, there's all these things that

[20:39] go into years and years of preparing. And we have gotten into a bad habit of

[20:43] expecting our engineering team to turn a project around in a year. It puts us

[20:47] under the gun, and we know that these roads are in pretty bad shape. Um, so

[20:50] that's why we're also doing so many, can you talk to how much it usually costs us

[20:55] to do a summer's worth of projects and why are we doing all these projects

[20:58] right now? Um, so yeah, I I don't have the numbers off the top of my head. I

[21:03] want to say that we're saving somewhere in in the range of 40% by not advancing

[21:07] these pavement cores, you know, one neighborhood by one neighborhood

[21:11] individually. Um, the city is getting a substantial discount by doing a more

[21:15] exploratory. I think we're doing them over in the the eighth center and rub

[21:19] area to plan for future projects as well. Those paper cores will be good

[21:23] forever. you know, unless the city decides to improve those roads um on

[21:27] their own, you know, that pavement section should should stay the same. So,

[21:30] this this pavement core data that we're getting now, we'll be able to use, you

[21:34] know, we'll be able to use that for the design um you know, pretty much any

[21:37] time. So, if the city can decide yes, we're going to move forward with these

[21:40] roads, we got it. If they want to say nope, we're going to shelf that project,

[21:44] we can come back in 10 years and get that same data and um we don't have to

[21:47] do it do it again and reinvent it. >> So, having the 1% money for five years

[21:53] guarantees us that we're going to get to these programs. Normally, we would only

[21:56] be able to bite off one. >> Well, we'd only have around 400,000 to

[22:00] work with, but now we got a million point three or four by the time we get

[22:04] all done with this. So, we should uh in five years there should be a lot of

[22:09] roads looking pretty good. And I want to remind people too is uh every time we

[22:15] start about talking about roads, everybody said brings up Black Lock and

[22:18] Gardener and 251. They're not our roads. Those are state roads. They own them. We

[22:26] patch them. That's all we do. And we can't do nothing unless we work with

[22:32] them to even patch them. We got to get the case for everything. So, uh I know

[22:38] uh the 1.4 million that we got to go on our roads will not go in out here. We'll

[22:44] be driving on them just like everybody else is until the state decides so that

[22:49] uh to step up and repave it and fix it the way they should do. But uh it's the

[22:55] way it is. >> I also just want to point out this I

[22:58] think at least points to me the the you know fostering responsibility f

[23:05] responsibility fostering the money that we've gotten from the state on this um

[23:09] on the 1% sales tax. This is showing that we're being responsible with it and

[23:13] and have a plan in place on what we're going to do with these roads. Um, and

[23:17] not just, you know, spend it willy-nilly on our best friend's cousin's street or

[23:22] whatever. We have an actual plan and putting that in place. So, I think that

[23:26] is something to be recognized as well. >> We else

[23:32] Tracy, please. >> Yes.

[23:39] » Yes. Discuss approve resolution 6664 approving the master service agreement

[23:44] with infosen inc. Is that right? Close enough motion.

[23:53] » Sorry. >> Um, who wants this?

[23:56] » I can do this one. Mayor. >> Okay.

[23:58] » We have a 60month lease for our postage machine and envelope stuffing machine.

[24:05] Um, this is this is only going to impact the machine that does our folding and

[24:10] stuffing of the envelopes. We will still have a renewal for 60 monthly for the

[24:15] postage machine, but the other machine we are looking at removing it. Infoend

[24:19] would outsource the printing and the stuffing and the mailing of our utility

[24:24] bills. Um, if we were using this machine for more than one purpose outside of

[24:29] sewer utility billing, it probably would be a good use of space. Um, but really

[24:34] it saves us about $15,000 a year by outsourcing the printing and the

[24:38] stuffing. We had a cheat sheet in the packet which basically kind of goes

[24:43] through each category and it shows the difference between how much we spend and

[24:47] how much we would spend by outsourcing it. Uh, but the postage alone is a

[24:52] significant savings. Also, the machine jams a lot and has issues a lot. Uh,

[24:57] it's very loud. It's not a fun thing to have going in city hall during the

[25:01] dayto-day business hours. Um, and it would save Jennifer at least eight hours

[25:05] a month in standing at that machine, calling a tech and having them come out.

[25:09] So, we we did about two months ago ask Laura if she would dive into our

[25:13] agreement, make sure that we weren't doing anything early with picky bows for

[25:16] the machine, but once that lease is up in February, would you want to swap it

[25:20] out and start outsourcing our building now that we have Tyler Technologies?

[25:24] This is one of those things that uh we are capable of doing. You know, some

[25:27] people have asked, why didn't we do this 60 months ago, but the truth is that

[25:30] maybe it would have not been possible unless we had the PDF version of the

[25:33] bills to be able to send to an outside company. They are based in Carol Stream,

[25:39] I think, where there is a postal there's a post office there. All of our mail, we

[25:44] bring our mail to the post office goes to Carol Stream and that goes back out

[25:47] to our residents in South Deote, which is kind of crazy. But in Carol Stream,

[25:50] they actually have a postal worker, a United States postal worker at their uh

[25:55] printing and publishing warehouse. So someone stands there, they get the tote,

[25:58] they bring it. We currently have Jeff come from the treatment plant, pick up

[26:02] six totes of mail, carry them to the post office. We have to get them there

[26:06] by 3:30 or that machine's done and it messes up the postage. It's all a a

[26:11] mess. And honestly, we've been waiting for this 60-month renewal to come up so

[26:14] we could explore other options. But I'm just thrilled that we found one that's

[26:17] going to end up saving the city about $50,000 a year.

[26:20] » You know, they explained to me if you want to put a a flyer in there and that

[26:24] you can add it to it and yes, >> it's no problem. So,

[26:28] » I did have a question. >> Yes, I we all know that the USPS is

[26:32] somewhat unreliable at times. Um I'm wondering, have we set up the ability

[26:37] for uh PDF or email uh sewer bills? So, we do have lots of different ways that

[26:44] people can receive their bills and pay their bills. They're all on the back

[26:47] side, right? Is that the best way, Jennifer? Um, but also now we have a lot

[26:52] of companies that people own rental properties or um in the in the mobile

[26:56] home park, one person gets the bills and the next month somebody else gets the

[26:58] bills. If people log in, they can send the email version of the bill to anyone

[27:02] that they want. Um, we can add a hundred emails in there so that everyone can can

[27:07] have access to that. The other thing that Tyler has given us permission to do

[27:10] isum or the ability to is we can set up all these different flags in Tyler. So

[27:14] now if we ever want to send a flyer home only to people um live inside city

[27:20] limits about open burn fine we can flag that whatever flags exist in Tyler we

[27:25] can use those with info send to send them out to just those people. So if we

[27:29] want to pick if we had 14 zip codes we can pick two zip codes and send

[27:32] something only to those people. Whatever flags exist in Tyler now for the future

[27:36] um this will give the city the option to to make use of that technology.

[27:43] Well, Tracy, please. >> Yes.

[27:46] » Commissioner Adman. Yes. Commissioner. Yes.

[27:48] » Mr. Morris. >> Yes.

[27:50] » Yes. Uh, discuss approve resolution 6665. Approving a service proposed

[27:56] agreement with Fair Graham to provide engineering services for 2026 street

[28:01] program local funds portion. Motion, please.

[28:06] Second, >> Brandon.

[28:09] » Absolutely. Okay. So, um I apologize. This the local funds for the fairground.

[28:14] Okay. So, um I'll just do an overview of both of them and then if more questions

[28:18] come up during the MFT side of things, um I can answer those. Uh but

[28:21] essentially in your package, you should see a breakdown um of a spreadsheet and

[28:26] Excel document titled Southwood 2026 streets program preliminary estimates of

[28:31] cost. Um what that is is a breakdown between our MFT project and our local

[28:37] funded um with a 1-centent sales tax project. Um due to the split funding

[28:41] sources for this upcoming year's project, um I do DOT specifically with

[28:46] MFT funds, we cannot incorporate local funding into an ID dot contract. So we

[28:50] had to split split these up between two. The fair contract that is on your agenda

[28:55] for today is for the local portion of the project, which is basically all of

[28:58] the roads around the Wheeler House. Um and

[29:01] » let's name them because this is fun, right?

[29:03] » Okay, perfect. So I will go through the list really quick. Um, we have Le

[29:06] Terrace, Himway Place, Montgomery Street, Caswell Street, Salmon Avenue,

[29:13] Salman, I'm not sure how that's pronounced. Salman, um, Allen Avenue,

[29:17] South Park Avenue, Wheeler Avenue, Washington Street, and Thompson Street.

[29:23] Uh, there are also maps that you guys will see in your packets. It is

[29:26] basically everything south of Washington Street um right next right just north of

[29:32] the Wheeler House um excluding Eastern Avenue. Obviously we talked about that

[29:36] project. That's one that needs to be a full reconstruction. We're doing some

[29:39] sewer televising things like that. So that is not included in this scope, but

[29:42] basically all of the other roads around that area we are including um to be

[29:46] improved. It is a split. Uh again in your maps you will see there's both red

[29:51] and blue highlights. The red highlight is what we call a full depth

[29:54] reclamation, which is a a process where the contractor will grind up the

[29:59] existing road, overlay it with new asphalt, and the grindings and the

[30:02] existing materials turn into new base material. Um the uh we're doing all of

[30:07] that in the areas we do not have curbon gutter. Um because we are elevating or

[30:12] increasing the road profile by 2 in. If you have curbon gutter, obviously you're

[30:16] not just going to well, you shouldn't um lay the asphalt into the uh into the

[30:20] gutter. So, um, we are proposing that scope on those roads that will really

[30:23] beef them up. And then on the the blue highlighted areas, that is where we have

[30:27] curbing gutter, what we call an urban cross-section. We are proposing a mill

[30:31] and overlay, which is more of a standard process that we've done um on some of

[30:35] the other roads like over in the Hayes Avenue subdivision or the Hayes Haze

[30:39] Avenue area um and some of our other Kirkland roads over the years. So the

[30:45] proposal for fair grand for a doing the design of those roads uh is in front of

[30:51] you at a cost of $51,300. Um again that is all of the design at

[30:56] this point. Uh Sheriff Grant did not think it was conducive to include

[31:00] construction engineering services and materials testing services until we get

[31:05] bids back after the design one because we're waiting on pavement cores and we

[31:09] want to know exactly what you know what we're designing and what we're moving

[31:12] forward on. Um, but two, once we get bids opened as part of this project, we

[31:17] can then come back to the city based on the the overall

[31:21] uh proposed bid cost and give you guys a more accurate number of what our

[31:25] engineering services would be. Otherwise, what we would do is we would

[31:28] take this preliminary estimate to generally around 6% of the overall cost

[31:32] for the construction observation um needs. And if we end up getting bids 20%

[31:37] less, instead of having to go through and revise the agreement, we just

[31:40] thought, hey, let's just wait, go through the bidding process, and then

[31:43] we'll we'll follow up with that. So, what you have in front of you is simply

[31:46] the design engineering for the local um the local streets essentially. And the

[31:52] next item under the MFT, you will see we've included everything all in. I'll I

[31:56] can explain that when that item comes up. But that is the quick five minute

[32:02] summary. So, if you guys have any questions, I'd be more than happy to

[32:04] answer them. Um but fair obviously uh thanks you guys for the opportunity to

[32:08] submit a proposal to this.

[32:12] » Okay Tracy please. >> Yes.

[32:15] » Commissioner Hington. >> Yes.

[32:18] » Commissioner. >> Yes.

[32:20] » And that'll be yes. And here we go. Discuss approved resolution 666. the

[32:26] proven uh services proposed agreement with fair Graham to provide engineering

[32:31] service for 2026 street program MFTt funds portion

[32:36] » motion move second

[32:39] » and go ahead >> all right perfect so I I'll try to

[32:43] shorten this one um essentially the roads that we are looking at doing uh as

[32:46] we mentioned earlier there is the rest of the Misty Meadow subdivision um about

[32:50] half of those roadways were improved as part of the 2023 project we would like

[32:54] to come in do the same exact scope um full depth reclamation get those roads

[32:59] um completed that way hopefully the city doesn't have to go back and touch those

[33:02] for another 15 20 years. So um those are the roads that we are doing. Uh the as

[33:07] far as what you have in your packet before you you will see quite a few I do

[33:11] forms um three specifically. Um one is the resolution for maintenance under the

[33:16] Illinois Highway Code that is the BLR14220.

[33:21] Essentially, just like a local or local resolution, this is a resolution that

[33:25] the state requires when using NFTt funds to basically say here's the money that

[33:29] we expect to spend on this project in the upcoming year. Um, so that is a

[33:34] total all-in cost of $698,350.

[33:42] The there's another I do form titled the local public agency general maintenance

[33:47] estimate of maintenance cost that is BLR14222.

[33:51] In that you will see how we get that overall number of $698,350.

[33:57] Construction costs at this stage are estimated to be 610,000.

[34:01] The engineering preliminary engineering design services uh we are just so you

[34:06] know we are capped at 5% of the overall uh cost estimate of the project. uh that

[34:11] is $31,750. The engineering inspection or the

[34:15] construction observation, we are capped at 6% of the preliminary estimated cost.

[34:20] That is $36,600. And then materials testing, there's no

[34:24] cap for that, but what we've done is we've looked at past um projects, came

[34:28] up with a budget amount that we feel is um a safe number. We will then likely go

[34:33] through Geocon Professional Services who's doing the uh the payment course

[34:36] for the project. And once we have a final set scope and we go out for bid,

[34:41] we will ask Geocon for a proposal for that. Um just to let you know, this is

[34:45] this 20,000 for this that is not something that we will build unless it's

[34:49] obviously used. So that will only be um build based on what is actually

[34:52] submitted from Geocon. So the preliminary engineering is a is a lump

[34:57] sum approval to get the design completed. The engineering inspection or

[35:01] the construction observation is a time of materials. We will only use that if

[35:05] we need to. We always handle it in a part-time inspection basis. And then

[35:09] same with the materials testing. That is a a time and materials um service for

[35:13] that as well. So um all in all of those those costs included $698,350.

[35:20] Um so then finally the last form that you will not sure what order they're in.

[35:25] I apologize but you will also see the maintenance engineering to be performed

[35:28] by a consulting engineer BLR05520 but that is just an I do version of the

[35:34] engineering agreement we have to use their forms in order for us to um

[35:38] utilize MF funds. So overall it's a resolution of uh allocating the money

[35:43] and allowing the city to spend the money for MF dollars. It is a breakdown of all

[35:47] the individual costs as the maintenance costs and then is the engineering design

[35:51] agreement. That's before we put the road in.

[35:55] » I'm sorry. >> That that doesn't include the road.

[35:58] » No, no, that's 698,000 will include all of those.

[36:02] » Yeah. 610,000 of that is the the actual construction.

[36:06] » Okay. All right. That's I want that. >> Yeah. No, that is definitely not

[36:10] » I was going to say >> the reason that there was two different

[36:13] processes, >> right? I just want to make sure that

[36:15] everybody knows what we're talking about.

[36:16] » Yeah. I do requires that resolution to be their own when you're spending I do

[36:21] money. So we have NFT chunk and then this the section we're going to do%

[36:27] » and I'm sorry one more thing that I should add. Um so obviously these are

[36:30] preliminary estimates. If we get bids back and the costs come in lower than

[36:35] what is anticipated um there's nothing that we need to do. We can still move

[36:39] forward at the end of the project. We will do what's called a final uh

[36:42] authorization change order that basically um balances all of the money.

[36:46] We send that into I do and then they retroactively update the city's MFT

[36:50] records to say no, we didn't spend 698,000, we spent 690,000. If we get

[36:55] bids back that are higher than that, the city will have to either consider

[36:58] reducing the scope or passing what's called a supplemental resolution

[37:02] essentially just like you're seeing here, but it's a supplement to say, hey,

[37:05] we don't want to reduce scope, but we do want to spend more NFT dollars to get

[37:09] this done. Or the option that you could fund it locally as well if you wanted

[37:12] to. So, couple different options there. um pretty

[37:16] » sorry one thing but one other thing um the although we have two separate

[37:21] agreements for these projects we will be bidding them together as one to get some

[37:24] better economies of scale so that'll be something that fair just does in house

[37:28] um we'll track our time accordingly for each project but then when we go out for

[37:31] bid we will have one unified plan set to get better pricing from the city

[37:35] » pretty slim chance of coming in under isn't it

[37:38] » we're usually pretty conservative with our estimates we don't want to have to

[37:41] make the city you know put everything to a halt have to come back and approve

[37:44] additional monies Um, so yeah, I I you know, we don't have

[37:47] a crystal ball. We're not really sure, but we do use uh usually the past at

[37:51] least three previous three years worth of pricing and that's how we develop our

[37:54] estimate. So we've got a pretty good pretty good tab on where contract

[37:58] pricing will fall. >> Well, with this extra money that we're

[38:01] from the 1%, it's going to cost us more for engineering because we're doing more

[38:05] business. We're doing more roads. We're doing uh and u so it's uh sounds like a

[38:12] lot which is but it's something we have to do to get these roads done.

[38:16] » The roads have been neglected for as long as they

[38:18] » Yeah. And we've getting miles done now. We've for the last couple of years we've

[38:23] really been going good and this this will really help out this this 1%.

[38:28] Anybody else? >> Tracy, please.

[38:33] » Yes. >> Commissioner Morris.

[38:34] » Yes. Apprentice. >> Yes.

[38:37] » Yes. >> Yes. Discuss approval awarding request

[38:40] for proposal for a strategic plan. Get a motion, please.

[38:49] » Yes, ma'am. >> We are absolutely thrilled to be putting

[38:52] this on the agenda. We're going to try really hard to stay on track. Um I feel

[38:55] strongly that the the council who supports

[38:59] funding a strategic plan should be here when the strategic plan kind of goes

[39:03] into action. So, I'm going to work really to have this be our 2026 primary

[39:07] goal to try to get this plan in place while the five of you are here um and

[39:11] let that get under your belt. But uh we had six proposals. They were all pretty

[39:16] similar in scope. Um we created a committee of three people for the review

[39:20] team uh that consisted of Roxani from our legal team and also Manny Nelson who

[39:26] helped with our uh retention and destruction process. She's been a first

[39:29] time employee for us for the last year. So, the three of us uh reviewed these.

[39:34] You have in your packet a summary of the six proposals that we received and how

[39:40] much their total proposal was. And then you also have in your packet a green

[39:44] score sheet that has uh all of our for each category, basically a blank

[39:50] template of how we scored plans that came in. But we are thrilled to

[39:55] recommend the NIU Center for Governmental Studies. We feel like this

[39:59] is really their jam. And also they were uh the lowest responsive bid with the

[40:03] exception of one who failed to include out ofate travel costs. So we know that

[40:09] um they would have ended up being the lowest responsive.

[40:13] So I'm happy to to answer any questions about it. Uh but basically uh this is a

[40:18] plan that for the first time uh the city is going to invest some energy into

[40:23] really putting benchmarks in place to help us achieve some of those uh

[40:26] overarching goals. Um it's really easy for me to do uh reviews every year of

[40:30] our department heads and tell them how great they're doing, but if it doesn't

[40:33] line up with where our city is trying to get to, it's almost kind of like, hey,

[40:37] good job guys. We're doing great because we said so. You know, we want to plan.

[40:40] We want to get a pulse of all of our residents and and get their priorities.

[40:44] We want to put those on paper. Um, so this is a very thorough plan. It does

[40:48] include a lot of public involvement. So we'll do various types of outreach. But,

[40:52] um, I don't know. I'm excited. Anybody who sits in this seat in the future is

[40:56] going to want some kind of plan. And I think the department heads that show up

[40:59] year after year after year and continue to pour their heart and soul into this

[41:02] place. Uh, they deserve to have some benchmarks before them and and be able

[41:06] to hit those and know that they're doing a great job. So, I am very appreciative

[41:10] of this. I know it's been a long time coming. Uh, we've been talking about it

[41:13] and kind of preparing for it. And so I think that for $28,000 the proposal from

[41:18] NIU uh is just under budget. I think we budgeted 30. Is that right down? Did

[41:22] that sound right? We we did have this pencil in as a capital project for this

[41:26] year. Uh you remember that boy 200 came to us a couple months ago. Wanted to do

[41:29] some feasibility studies. We could have either contributed more or gotten

[41:33] ourselves a plan to put on the shelves so that whoever replaces us in the

[41:37] future kind of has a road map on where we're trying to go.

[41:40] And that most businesses when they come to a city they they come down there and

[41:45] they ask you what's your strategic plan? What what do you guys do want to do in

[41:49] the future? And this is what this is once you get it in black and white where

[41:53] you say hey this is a guideline that this is what we want. It helps these

[41:58] businesses when they look at us and say well yeah they they they got what we

[42:03] want. They're they're moving in that direction. And uh this is like you say,

[42:07] this is for down the road. This is to give us a road map on how to travel this

[42:13] year. And uh I think it's a good thing. I do.

[42:19] » I was I was really surprised when I came on the council that we didn't have one.

[42:24] » Yeah. >> Several other boards and governing

[42:26] bodies I've been involved with, I was shocked that we didn't have one as a

[42:29] city. >> Yeah. But we've been fortunate to have

[42:33] elected leaders that kind of, you know, grab the reigns and and take over. And

[42:37] usually people don't run for an elected seat unless they have some ideas that

[42:41] they want to try to implement for change and improvement. So I think this just

[42:44] kind of stabilizes the the working force a little bit as elected leaders kind of

[42:49] come and go. This kind of gives you a road map. So it'll be it'll be nice to

[42:53] have something on paper for department heads at least.

[42:57] » We had one a few years back. We did. >> We had a we had a comprehensive plan.

[43:02] » Comprehensive plan which was a kind of a strategic plan.

[43:06] » Yeah. In my opinion, your comprehensive plan kind of stays on the shelf. It

[43:09] doesn't change a lot. You know, your land uses and your your overarching, you

[43:13] know, demographics of the city don't change, but this is an action plan and

[43:17] it really connects goals to baby steps and how you're going to get there.

[43:21] » Like you said, it's an action plan. It's not it's not a it's it's a it's a plan.

[43:26] This is how we're going to move forward in this. It's a very good deal.

[43:31] Um, anybody else? >> Tracey, please.

[43:34] » Commissioner Morris. >> Yes.

[43:35] » Commissioner Apprentice. >> Yes.

[43:36] » Commissioner. >> Yes.

[43:40] » Yes. Uh, we get a motion to adjourn. >> Motion.

[43:43] » Second. >> All in favor?

[43:45] » All right. Thanks everybody. This was this good meeting. We did a good job.

[43:51] » Welcome to >> Yeah. Welcome to 2026.

01 05 2026 South Beloit City Council Meeting

Transcript