[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.

City of Zion Illinois City Council Meeting January 20 2026

Transcript