[0:04] Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'd
like to call to order this meeting of
[0:07] the Zion City Council. Clerk, please
call the role.
[0:11] » Commissioner Sthouse,
>> present.
[0:13] » Commissioner Fergus,
>> here.
[0:14] » Commissioner McDow,
>> here.
[0:16] » Commissioner Fischer,
>> here.
[0:18] » Mayor McKenna,
[0:22] » next item is the pledge of allegiance.
Uh, Mr. Bred, would you please
[0:27] allegiance?
Please join me in the pledge of
[0:32] allegiance to our flag. I aliance to the
flag of the United States of America and
[0:39] to the republic for which it stands. One
nation under God, indivisible with
[0:46] liberty and justice for all.
>> Thank you, sir.
[0:54] And uh
having a prayer for us tonight is Pastor
[0:59] John Mazardi.
>> Welcome.
[1:03] » Thank you.
>> Father in heaven, thank you for this
[1:07] day. Thank you for your mercies that are
new every morning and your faithfulness.
[1:11] That's great. The way you prove that to
our country. Father, I thank you as I've
[1:16] been asked and been happy to do for uh
the men who have served uh in our
[1:22] military and have won for us freedoms
and protect our freedoms. Father, I
[1:27] would add to that closer to home are
fire men and women, our police officers,
[1:34] uh all those who bravely move towards
uh danger instead of away from it. We
[1:41] thank you for what they do for us. We
pray your protection on them. Uh we pray
[1:46] that they would receive the
uh respect that's due them. And uh
[1:52] Father, we thank you for uh a safer city
because of them. Father, I thank you for
[1:58] the mayor and our commissioners and the
department heads uh men and women who
[2:03] have taken uh all the cares that come
with a normal life and added to them the
[2:08] the shephering of a city. And I thank
you for that. I pray that they also
[2:12] would receive the respect that your word
says is due them. And uh I pray that you
[2:18] would help them to
lead the city with wisdom and integrity.
[2:23] I pray that um when things don't go the
way uh that uh they would like that they
[2:29] would have grace and that they would
have grace for one another because I'm
[2:33] sure there's plenty of struggles uh just
in all the the resources and things that
[2:39] need to be managed. I thank you for
their oversight. We pray that you would
[2:43] bless us with uh safety and harmony in
our city. And we thank you for all your
[2:49] goodness in Christ's name. Amen.
[3:02] » Yeah. After after we before we do
citizens comments.
[3:06] » Uh item number four are agenda changes.
Any of the commissioners have an agenda
[3:11] change?
>> I think I have one uh that we can remove
[3:14] the uh closed session um item number 10.
>> Correct. Yes. Second. Okay.
[3:22] Um we might as well roll these in
together. Um there's also a change that
[3:27] needs to be made to the consent agenda.
Item B. The amount needs to be corrected
[3:34] to 2 million
228
[3:38] 972
and 91 cents.
[3:45] Is it acceptable that we put those both
on the same?
[3:49] » Yes, I'll second that.
>> Okay. Clerk, please call the role.
[3:54] » Commissioner Sthouse.
>> I.
[3:56] » Commissioner Ferson,
>> I.
[3:57] » Commissioner McDow,
>> I. Mayor Proton Fischer.
[4:00] » I just a a side note, Mayor McKini is in
Los Angeles with the Northwestern team.
[4:09] He does color commentary with WGN.
And so that's where he's at right now.
[4:14] So if anybody's curious,
hopefully hopefully he's enjoying better
[4:19] weather than we are.
So item number five is citizens
[4:25] comments.
[4:29] just here.
[4:37] Okay, just a quick note on uh city
council meetings. The um
[4:43] citizen comments are limited to three
minutes.
[4:47] Um
please uh address your comments to the
[4:51] city council. Uh
[4:56] and uh just be factual and courteous and
if you just uh let us know your your
[5:02] name and your address or your street
would be fine. Um so the first person up
[5:08] is Mary Lou Hiltran.
[5:19] I'm Mary Lou Hilterbrand and I'm with
Zion. Good evening Mr. Mayor and
[5:23] Commissioners, during the month of
December, your ESDA volunteers gave 145
[5:27] hours of service for a value to the city
of $5,44.
[5:33] Supplied equipment and personnel for
safety for the Buzz Lumen area event. We
[5:38] performed a monthly siren test and
assisted at a fire on Ezekiel. Members
[5:43] attended city council and township
meetings for awareness of city
[5:46] happenings. We opened the center for the
annual backflow sprinkler system and
[5:50] fire extinguisher tests. We assisted at
both food pantries at ZB East and did
[5:55] standby at the center on New Year's Eve
to be readily available for callout in
[5:59] case of accidents by impaired drivers.
We did duty times for maintaining the
[6:04] center and vehicles. ESDA is actively
looking for additional members. If
[6:08] interested, you can fly online on the
city website. We also carry applications
[6:14] in all of our vehicles. Just ask a
member. Thank you for your continued
[6:18] support. And one other thing for those
who have the need [clears throat] this
[6:22] Saturday there's food pantry at Z Benton
East um from 10 to 11:00 a.m. For those
[6:28] who have time to give, volunteers are
needed at 9:30 to help pack food and
[6:33] distribute food and relieve each other
because of the severely cold weather
[6:37] this expanded.
>> Thank you.
[6:40] » Thank you, Mar.
[6:43] » Appreciate it. We'll make sure it's
added to the documents.
[6:48] Uh, Mr. Raymond Gilmore.
[6:54] Welcome back.
Back.
[6:59] Uh, I'm here to follow up on a uh
complaint I filed with the office over
[7:06] here. Some our residents put a roof up
without a permit.
[7:12] And uh
I want to know I'm going to follow up
[7:17] there. Did anybody go check?
Did anybody talk to the owner?
[7:24] Did what a would the guy get a citation
for doing that?
[7:29] Would they need a uh inspection report
if he did that? Yeah. I looked it as one
[7:35] of those do it do it yourself projects
because
[7:39] the owner the owner lives there. So he
had a bunch of guys come out they put
[7:44] the book you know if they had to do some
different equipment I would have never
[7:48] heard that
thing at 6:00 in the morning so I went
[7:51] over and asked them did they have a
permit. So if you don't have a a permit
[7:57] so do the city inspect that or go go
check on it. You don't have to answer
[8:02] that. And u the reason reason I'm asking
this because you got the camera posted
[8:10] on our Facebook page.
The HOA insurance is going up, you know,
[8:17] going up has went up. I was up a couple
years ago, you know, instead of paying
[8:22] just a couple hundred bucks. I only like
paying about 400 bucks, you know. And a
[8:27] lot of the insurance company are getting
out of the business of insuring HOAs.
[8:32] All right. And
like the other HOA in design, they have
[8:38] we don't have a pool. We don't have a
clubhouse and we don't have a golf
[8:42] course, you know. So myself, I've been
helping bring the our membership uh for
[8:51] homeowner down, you know. We lowered it
down
[8:55] another 20 bucks. And uh
reason was that reason that we made sure
[9:04] the homeowners
uh homeowners insurance cover pools and
[9:09] stuff like that. Cuz what if somebody
had fell off that roof and got hurt? Who
[9:15] would he sue? Who is he going to sue? If
he got hurt or somebody died, sue the
[9:21] city or sue the HOA. All right,
that's it.
[9:27] » Well, thank you, Mr. Gilmore. Um,
Directorson, if you want to stay until
[9:33] after the meeting, Directorson probably
could answer your questions about the
[9:37] permitting.
[9:40] » Yeah.
Thank you. Um, Brian Cashmore.
[9:49] Hello, Brian. It's nice to see you again
as well. Um,
[9:54] wrote down their speeding. It's a couple
of things. Mainly, uh, the speeding down
[10:00] Sheran Road. It seems like it's got more
out of control than it has been lately
[10:05] last year. I'd be doing between 30 and
35 and people pass me like I'm standing
[10:11] still.
Uh, flying up and down the street like
[10:15] they're engineering on a 500. I mean,
it's out of control there. And the stop
[10:19] sign at where 173 goes into 21st Street.
>> Several people have blown it. People
[10:27] have blown it and almost hit me trying
to get going across the road. And I
[10:32] believe it's Gilead right there.
And I know kids live in that
[10:37] neighborhood over there. I know elderly
people do. And just not a safety issue.
[10:41] And I have never seen I haven't seen it
myself. I've just seen it on a blur
[10:46] YouTube video and other people have told
me that
[10:51] there's been more uh there's been
probably at least a handful of city
[10:58] vehicles from the police department
rolling or even blowing that stop sign.
[11:06] Um, I'm just, as people know, I come to
these meet come to these meetings, so
[11:11] I'm just uh bringing it to you guys. I
was uh planning to bring it to
[11:17] uh Chief Barton, but he's not here. But
I mean, it's a stop sign. People need to
[11:24] stop. I get that the officers are
heading to a call or heading somewhere
[11:28] where they can't have the sirens heard
or something.
[11:31] » I get it. But
it's been icy. It's been cold. So, the
[11:36] road's been slick. And all it takes is
once for somebody to catch a patch of
[11:42] ice or something and cause an accident.
So,
[11:46] that's
>> okay. We'll make sure to uh we'll pass
[11:51] that on to Chief Bon
>> so that he can he can follow up on
[11:56] anything that needs to be followed up
on.
[11:57] » Thank you very much.
>> Okay. Thank you, Brian.
[12:04] All right,
we're going to move on to item seven
[12:08] now. Consider passing ordinances as
follows. 7 A6.
[12:16] » Oh, the See, I got Okay. Item six, the
consent agenda. I would see I want to
[12:23] get the meeting done
it. We got Tik Tok. We got to go. Okay.
[12:28] Um, so clerk, consent agenda, please.
>> Approval of minutes of a regular meeting
[12:34] held on December 16th, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
and a special meeting held on December
[12:40] 29th, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.
>> Is there a motion? So moved.
[12:48] » Second.
>> We have a motion and a second.
[12:53] » Clerk, please call the role.
>> Commissioner Sthouse,
[12:55] » I.
>> Commissioner Ferson,
[12:57] » I. Commissioner McDow.
>> Hi,
[12:58] » Mayor Proton Fisher.
>> I item 6B.
[13:05] » Bills vouchers 150818 through151064
drawn on Huntington National Bank. Total
[13:12] 2,228,972.91.
[13:18] » Is there a motion?
>> So moved.
[13:23] » Second.
We don't know what to do because you
[13:26] always make that motion. So,
>> yeah, I know it's a little confusing,
[13:29] isn't it? Yeah.
>> Clerk, please call the role.
[13:33] » Commissioner Sand House,
>> I.
[13:35] » Commissioner Ferson,
>> I.
[13:36] » Commissioner McDow,
>> I.
[13:38] » Mayor Fisher,
>> I. Okay, now we can move on successfully
[13:41] to item seven. Now that we've got
everything else out of the way, 7A,
[13:45] authorizing the lease of a portion of
property located at or about 23rd Street
[13:50] Rightway, uh the owner's Palmer Family
LLC for parking per Director Iansen.
[13:55] » Thank you, sir.
Palmer Family Limited Partnership
[14:00] discussing a lease agreement with the
city for the use of 23rd Street right
[14:04] away containing approximately 2,770
square ft for parking.
[14:13] Is there a motion? So moved.
>> Second.
[14:18] » Any discussion or questions?
[14:25] Hearing none. Clerk, please call the
role.
[14:28] » Commissioner Sandel.
>> I.
[14:29] » Commissioner Brierson.
>> I.
[14:31] » Commissioner McDall.
>> I.
[14:32] » Mayor Potent Fisher.
>> I. Item 7B. authorizing and approving an
[14:37] intergovernmental agreement with the
state of Illinois through the Illinois
[14:41] Department of Transportation and the
city of Zion for snow and ice control on
[14:46] state routes per director of ransom.
Mayor and commissioners um attaches the
[14:51] intergovernmental agreement for snow and
ice between the Illinois Department of
[14:55] Transportation and the city of Z. The
previous maintenance agreement between
[15:00] ID do and the city was for maintenance
of Sheridan Road 17th Street south to
[15:05] Wiseworth Road and Illinois route 173
Lewis Avenue east to Sheridan Road. It
[15:11] expired on June 30, 2025.
The previous agreement included pothole
[15:17] repair, trash pickup, mowing, tree
maintenance, and snow and ice.
[15:21] The new snow and ice agreement is
exclusively to remove snow and ice on
[15:25] Sheran Road from 17th Street South to
Wadsworth Road in Illinois right 173
[15:32] Lewis Avenue east to Sher Road. All
other maintenance will be performed by
[15:36] ID do. This new IGA is a 10-year term
and will terminate April 30, 2035.
[15:43] Estimated compensation to the city
during the life of this agreement is 3
[15:47] $370,530.
[15:51] Staff request and recommends approval of
the intergovernmental agreement between
[15:54] the Illinois Department of
Transportation and the city of Bay.
[16:00] » Is there a motion?
>> So move.
[16:04] » Second.
>> Second.
[16:06] » Questions or discussion?
Um just one uh director Ransom, any
[16:13] reason for that additional maintenance
switching over to the county? I'm
[16:17] guessing we were providing pretty good
service having it locally here.
[16:20] » Yeah. So, uh I do and it's going to ID,
not the county, but um yeah, back to the
[16:25] state. The state is going to do all
that. There was a situation where
[16:30] the city and and I do were having issues
with the storm sewer system. So then we
[16:35] decided that we'll m keep maintaining
the storm sewers and we're going to give
[16:38] the other maintenance back to them and
then continue the snow and ice control.
[16:43] » Got it. Okay. Thank you.
>> Anything further?
[16:50] All right. Uh clerk, please call the
role.
[16:53] » Commissioner Stack House.
>> I.
[16:55] » Commissioner Ferson
>> I.
[16:56] » Commissioner McDow.
>> I.
[16:58] » Mayor Potan Fisher.
>> I. Item 7 C, authorizing and approving a
[17:04] proposal for professional design
engineering services from Christopher
[17:08] Burke Engineering Limited for Corb
Avenue Water Main Improvements per
[17:14] Director Ransom.
Mayor Commissioners attaches a proposal
[17:20] from Christopher Burke Engineering
Services for the Horv Avenue water main
[17:24] and road and alley reconstruction.
The proposal will provide engineering
[17:29] design and preparation of bidding
documents for the water main replacement
[17:32] and resurfacing of Corv Avenue from 20th
Street to 21st Street. That'll be water
[17:38] main and resurfacing of road Herman
Alley 20th Street to 21st Street storm
[17:44] sewer and resurfacing of the alley. And
then 20th Street South alley from Horb
[17:49] Avenue to Herman Avenue which will be
storm sewer and resurfacing of alley.
[17:55] This project is being submitted for a
grant that may provide 100% funding.
[18:00] Staff requests and recommends approval
of the proposed engineering services for
[18:04] Christopher Burke engineering at the
cost of $64,965
[18:11] to advertise for the bids. Funding for
these services will be a line item in
[18:15] fiscal year 26 water project funds.
[18:23] Is there a motion?
>> Yes. So moved.
[18:27] » Second.
Questions or discussion?
[18:36] Questions? Clerk, please call the RO.
>> Commissioner Stouse,
[18:40] » I.
>> Commissioner Ferson,
[18:41] » I.
>> Commissioner McDall,
[18:43] » I.
>> May Fisher,
[18:44] » I.
Item 7D, authorizing and approving a
[18:49] proposal for professional design
engineering services from Christopher B.
[18:53] Burke Engineering Limited for the 2026
water main improvements per director
[18:59] ransom.
Mayor commissioners attach is a proposal
[19:03] from Christopher Burke Engineering
Services for the 2026 water main
[19:07] project. This provoke this proposal will
provide engineering design and
[19:11] preparation of bidding documents for the
water man replacement and resurfacing
[19:15] resurfacing of Ezekiel Avenue from 20th
Street to 21st, Ezra Avenue, 20th Street
[19:22] to 21st, Gabriel Avenue, 20th Street to
21st and Gilead Avenue, 20th Street,
[19:28] 20th Street to 21st. This project is
also being funded uh submitted for a
[19:33] grant that may possibly fund at 100%.
Staff requests and recommends approving
[19:39] the proposal for engineering services
from Christopher Burke Engineering for
[19:43] the cost of 66,785
[19:47] to advertise for the bids. Funding for
these services will be a line item also
[19:52] in fiscal year 26 water project.
[19:59] » Is there a motion?
>> So moved.
[20:01] » Second.
Anyone have any questions or discussion?
[20:06] » Thanks for your diligent and uh
diligence in um
[20:12] working on the grants.
>> Appreciate that.
[20:17] » I do have a question. Does this tie in
with the the 20 street um storm
[20:26] » storm system upgrade or is this totally
separate?
[20:28] » Totally separate. And um and they're and
actually they're totally separate in two
[20:32] total separate grants.
>> Grants.
[20:34] » They're both different. So all three
projects will be three different grants.
[20:42] » All right.
There are no further comments. Clerk,
[20:45] please call the role.
>> Commissioner Stuff.
[20:48] » I.
>> Commissioner Brien,
[20:50] » I.
>> Commissioner McDow,
[20:51] » I promis
>> I.
[20:55] Okay, we're moving right along here.
Item eight is departmental commentary.
[21:00] Uh start the round robin. Director
Iansson, do you have anything for us
[21:03] today?
>> Yeah, thank you sir. With the cold
[21:05] weather, just a few tips on how to help
prevent your pipes from freezing. You
[21:09] can turn your faucet on a trickle. The
cold water on the trickle.
[21:12] » Open up your cabinet doors. Allow heat
into the cabinets. Insulate your pipes.
[21:17] And one of the big ones that people
forget about is disconnect your garden
[21:20] hose. Make sure
it's all I have today. Cool.
[21:27] » Director Rance.
>> Okay. So, uh this is a quick heads up in
[21:33] the in the future in the as soon as the
spring construction season starts, I do
[21:38] I'm sorry, Lake County Department of
Transportation will be uh putting in two
[21:42] roundabouts. One is going to be at
Russell Road and Kenosha Road, and the
[21:46] second one is going to be at Russell
Road and Lewis Avenue. They're not going
[21:50] to do them at the same time, but they
are going to happen in the same year.
[21:53] and each one will roughly be a 90-day
closure when they do them. They won't
[21:58] overlap them and do them at the same
time. Um the construction meeting for
[22:01] that has not happened yet. So actual
dates of closing has are not out, but
[22:06] there will be signage and they will post
the closing dates soon. So anything any
[22:10] questions for that project would be
referred to Lake County DOT because that
[22:15] is who is running the project. But they
will give us a heads up and I can let
[22:19] everybody know once I receive more
information.
[22:24] That' be it.
[22:29] Usually with those projects they us
don't they usually have a a public
[22:35] um comment?
>> I believe they I believe they did and I
[22:40] believe
>> they did. Is that the one they already
[22:41] did?
>> I believe they done this one already.
[22:44] » Okay. And then to speak to 21st and uh
21st Street and 173 that the gentleman
[22:50] spoke about here. They're getting ready
to have a conversation about putting a
[22:55] roundabout at that intersection as well,
which would help with all of the stop
[22:59] sign issues and the the speeding issues
in that area. I believe, don't quote,
[23:04] but I believe they're slating that for
construction year 28, right around that
[23:08] time.
>> What happened to Koshi Road in the 21st?
[23:13] That one is another one that's slated
and that don't quote these because these
[23:17] are all lint county projects. I'm just
the the messenger here. But I think that
[23:20] one may be 27. Don't quote those dates
cuz I'm not the like I said I don't
[23:25] spearhead these things.
[23:30] » Did you have a question for director?
>> I was just going to circle back to
[23:33] director to speak on the permitting
issue.
[23:36] » Oh, I thought I was going to be back.
Yes. Once we're made aware somebody
[23:39] works without a permit, we send out a
notice of violation and have them come
[23:44] in and get either an after the fact or
current permit while they're working. We
[23:48] do charge violation fines when they get
open for and
[23:54] you know
I've seen seen this truck go through a
[24:01] couple times at other locations. It's
not that I'm being nosy. It's just that
[24:05] when I leave the house, I don't go
straight straight lines to where I all
[24:11] over the place.
And but we we do address.
[24:19] » Thank you, Directors.
>> Chief Street.
[24:23] » Good evening, Mayor Pro and
Commissioners. Uh earlier today, we
[24:26] posted on our Facebook page uh potential
warming centers if needed for our
[24:31] community. So, I would urge our uh
residents and um visitors to check that
[24:36] if need be. Um there's there's some
offerings for city properties, library,
[24:40] and park district properties. And um we
also mentioned in that Facebook post if
[24:46] if you if our residents are having
issues with their their heating or bills
[24:50] or whatever, there's a couple resources
they could try. United Way 211 Line is
[24:55] one of them. Uh Zion Township is
another. Um, but please uh check our
[25:00] Facebook post for those specific
locations and times for warming centers
[25:04] if needed.
>> Excellent. That's all.
[25:08] » And I have the great pleasure of
introducing
[25:12] um Melissa Wellendorf who is our new
finance director. Uh she just started
[25:19] January 5th.
>> January 5th.
[25:21] » And she is still here.
>> That's the word, but I'm here.
[25:25] [laughter]
So, uh, you know, you can introduce
[25:29] yourself briefly and if you have any in
anything you want to share with the
[25:33] public, that would be great.
>> Sure. I'm Melissa. Um, I was previously
[25:37] the treasurer of a couple villages out
west. Um, so I'm getting acclimated to
[25:41] the finance department in the city here.
Um, if you ask me where these streets
[25:45] are, I don't quite know yet. Um, but I
will know at some point. Um, also I
[25:51] wanted to let everybody if they're not
aware, uh, we do have a position open in
[25:54] the finance department. Um, it has been
posted internally and I believe it's on
[25:57] our website. Is it Cheryl? Yes. Okay.
Um, it's for utility billing. So, we
[26:02] have uh collected a few resumes. We're
hoping to maybe get some interviews here
[26:06] soon so we can have a full department
again and then we can start getting
[26:09] caught up on some other finance
activities. Um, that's about all I have
[26:14] right now. I'm just kind of taking it
all in.
[26:16] » Well, again, welcome. Um, and we look
forward to working with you and uh, you
[26:22] know,
all these people here are resources for
[26:26] you if you have questions or anything
that's going on. So,
[26:30] » having some uh, uh, asking the council
for some uh, opinions on some matters
[26:36] next meeting. So, that'll be on the
agenda hopefully.
[26:39] » Great. Okay.
Commissioner McDow, do you have anything
[26:44] tonight? Um, nothing tonight except for
to extend a welcome to Melissa. So glad
[26:48] you're here.
>> Thank you.
[26:52] » Same. Extending a welcome. Happy New
Year to everyone. I know it's a little
[26:55] late in the month, but it's my first
time seeing you. So, I hope everyone had
[26:58] a good holiday and stay warm.
>> Oh, that that's that's important.
[27:03] » Commissioner Stack House.
>> Yes. I also um want to say I was a it
[27:08] was a pleasure to meet you today,
Melissa, and just welcome to the city
[27:11] and just looking forward to getting to
know you and working with you
[27:15] » and um to say thank you to all of you
brave people that came out in this cold
[27:19] weather. Thank you for coming out to
visit tonight and be safe going home.
[27:24] » It's double digitally.
[27:29] » All right. Excellent. So, I really don't
have anything tonight. Uh thank you all
[27:33] for coming out tonight. Um and I I think
we all would just reiterate everybody
[27:38] please stay safe, stay warm. Um you know
and watch out for your neighbors. So
[27:45] thank you all again. Um the next item we
will move to is announcements.
[27:52] So February 3rd is our next meeting at
700 p.m. here in the city council
[27:58] chambers. Then on February 17th,
um we have the Zion Township Board
[28:04] meeting at 6 PM and the Zion City
Council meeting at 7 PM. Um we are not
[28:12] having a closed session tonight. We
already dropped it. So we are going to
[28:15] move to item 11. Is there a motion to
adjurnn?
[28:19] » So moved.
>> Second.
[28:20] » Second.
>> Clerk, please call the role.
[28:24] » Commissioner St.
>> I.
[28:25] » Commissioner Fergus.
>> Commissioner McDow.
[28:27] » Hi. Mayor Proton Fisher.
>> I
[28:31] thank you all. Have a great night.