I'd like to call to order the planning and development committee meeting for Monday, August 11th, 2025. We're going to start tonight with our invocation. Um, and I will ask Alderman Beach if he'll lead us in a word of prayer. If everyone can stand, we will follow that with our pledge of allegiance. >> Shall we pray? Gracious God and loving father, we thank you for the privilege we have to serve you here around this council ring. and we pray that you'd be with us tonight. We've got decisions we need to make and we ask for your guidance and direction. We always want to remember our police and firemen, our first responders. Lord, every week we pray. But we from the bottom of our hearts, they put their lives on the line for us and we're grateful for the responsibility we have from our leaders, our mayor, and the staff. And we thank you for this again privilege. And we pray now this prayer in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, we will move right into our public speaking portion of tonight. Um, all public speakers will have three minutes to make their comments. You can step up to either one of the microphones located at the back of the horseshoe. Um once your three minutes is up, we just kindly ask that you uh bring your comments to a close once you hear the alarm sound. Our first speaker tonight is Prophet Yousef. >> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. In the book of Philippians, the 4th chapter, the 13th verse, it says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthen me." What I want to speak about tonight, Superman. My favorite TV program while I was growing up was Superman. Clark Kent was a bubbling idiot. Lois Lane couldn't stand him. Jimmy Ocean didn't respect him. He was always messing up. But Lord have mercy. Don't let him find a telephone boo. The criminals of Metropolis would be wrecking havoc on the city and someone would ask, "Where is Superman?" I would be sitting on the floor with my brother. Clark Kent would take off his glasses and unhook his tie. I would look at my brother and say, "There he goes." My man would go inside a telephone booth, a closet or something, and come back out with a red and blue jumpsuit on. Then my man would go streaking across the sky. Everyone arrive on the scene and change everything. He would catch bullets with his bare hands, bend barrels, and toss crooks around. All because who he really was came out. And he stopped hiding under his suit. It's time for Christians in Rockwood to take a trip to God's telephone. We need to take off our old suits, our fearful quad Kent way of thinking, live it and talk and put on our spiritual jumpsuit so we step back out into the world in which we live and become faster than speed and sin, more powerful than public unrighteous, able to leap evil in a single bow. May God help you to be his man or woman and stand up for truth and justice and America and the American way. Also, they want to tell brother Yakola Muhammad and my grandson Robera and granddaughter Alicia this for a long time and I'm going to get off my chest tonight. I don't like you. I love you and you can't do nothing about it. And happy birthday my good friends and I wish you many more and God bless you and your family. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to my good friends. Happy birthday to you. Thank you for allowing me to speak. >> Thank you. Our next public speaker is John Tag Brenley. >> Good evening Mayor, all the person citizens of Rockville, Illinois. I want to say God say that work is Jesus say the work is plentiful but the workers are few. This weekend it was an honor uh for Dr. Reid and the Brothers of Change to talk about what they about doing and what I've been doing for the uh past four decades. We had over 2400 people to show up at Auburn U high school and receiving information about going back to school. This weekend I took 66 of our youth to uh Naji Waters and want to talk thank those who uh sponsor me for being able to uh do that. But what I want to get at tonight is the fact that uh we still looking at open up a 24-hour daycare center at uh Orton Keys. Then talking with the mayor going through all this here red tape, I have to remind the mayor that um uh back in the days in the 60s when the u when the first free the first free healthc care was open was by the Black Panther Party. Crusader Clinic was founded by the Black Panther Party. The after school programs founded by the black parent party. The breakfast program found founded by the black parent party. The uh the clothing goodwill was founded by the black parent party. We didn't wait on the city or wait on the system to give us the okay to look out for oursel. If we didn't look out for oursel, ain't nobody else going to look out for us. What really irked me even more is the fact that in 1969, I'm gonna keep bringing it up, the 22-year-old Melvin that protested at West High School about the way whites was treat treating us and ethnic studies and the fact that we had no African-American administrators in the school. This went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court voted nine to zero in our favor in 1972. still here today. We still living on a reservation where we still have less than 5% of African-American teachers in in the school system. We had over 359 youth expel turned 19 of them inspection. There was once a time uh mayor that we had transparency. That transparency ended when Larry Moy left office. Chief Eperson was the chief of police. Chief Ker Red was just a sergeant at the time. We had transparency where we uh we knew was going on in the city and the city worked with us instead of getting upset and getting mad of us as you as a representative and all the augments here as a representative asking what our concerns are. But once you get upset with with us that means you don't care about our concern. You should be able to say what can we do to work together? What can we do to open up this ordin keys daycare center brother John that you talking about without having to go through a whole lot of red tape and we got the all the woman is behind us uh April doing this daycare we got the uh we got government behind us we got Rockford housing authority began behind us we got the Rockford airport I'm getting ready to have a meeting with the president of the Rockford airport about teaming up open up my key daycare center thank you for allowing me to Our next speaker is Mark Millz. >> Thank you. It's Mark McKinnus. Um, thank you very much. Good evening everybody. Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight uh with regards to the um Oaks Lodge 64. Um the city has uh apparently uh requested bids to demol demolish the building. Um but before I I go into that, I want to just introduce myself and that is uh what I've who I am, where I come from. I was on the historic preservation commission of Rockford for four years, one year as the chairman. I was a resident of uh and past president of Hate Village, Rockford's first historic neighborhood. I was past president of the Rockford Ashray chapter which is a engineering group that um writes standards such as indoor air quality um and uh energy efficiency, building envelope, those types of things. Though I was not born in Rockford, I lived and worked in Rockford for 30 years. I attended Rock Valley College. I've designed uh I've been designing HVAC systems since uh 1987. And uh I designed a lot of the schools in in the Rockford area, Harlem schools, almost all the Harlem schools. I designed the HVAC systems and some uh District 205 projects as well as uh Swedish American government, I mean, excuse me, uh Woodward Governor, Rock Valley College, uh so on so forth. I met my wife, Jennifer, and she was an architect back at Bradley and Bradley. We had our wedding reception at the Coronado Theater, which no longer is permittable, I guess. Uh we we have four children. We raised in Rockford. Uh we no longer live in Rockford. But uh lastly, uh I've I've saved several historic properties here in Rockford. And I'm urging you to all help me to to save the the Rockford Elks Club. I've done all the enemies of excuse me, all the remedies over the past few years as requested by the the court to make the building safe. However, the city has has uh asked me to do many things above and beyond just safety uh at this point. And I've uh been instructed by my historic building consultants um McCrosty and now Ryan to not proceed with some of them such as uh replacing the roof and doing tuck pointing. I've hired architects. I've hired tax credit consultants. I've invested over $150,000 of my own money. Um, and I've come to the point where I can't do it. I've exhausted every avenue and I can't do it. So, I put it online. It's up for sale. It's this the sale will culminate in in an auction in September 15th through the 17th. The 17th will be the award bid. So, I'm I'm asking Rockford to please have some patience. Let this happen and uh let's save this building. It's a treasure. It's beautiful and it will be beautiful and grand and it's our last gem that we have in this city. We don't have any more uh historic gems like this. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is David Gaxter. >> Hello. Yeah, I'm here to speak in uh support of the playground and skate park being included in the Davis Park renovation. Uh so Rockford has a chance to make itself stand apart from every every other city on this metro line by including both the playground and the skate park uh in the remodel. It will be the only stop on the train line that has something to offer everyone. Uh for out of town families, it offers the possibility of a weekend trip with plenty to do without ever having to leave downtown for entertainment. Uh for the locals, it adds to the appeal of going downtown. is I can't tell you the last time I was drawn to downtown when there wasn't some type of special event going on like the book crawl city market and Icehog's game or a parade. Uh and I think that's because when I'm forced to do spend money to do something I'm less inclined to do it even or even think of it as an option. And I think that's why City Market is so popular. That's because it's a free event where people can hang out and explore downtown. They don't have to spend money to enjoy it. So automatically they're inclined to go and I guarantee you the vast majority of people that go to City Market do end up spending money anyway. And that's where the skatepark and playground come in. Um both may not be direct revenue sources of revenue for the city but in their current proposed locations they add to the appeal of downtown and like city market I think that will both lead to additional spending indirectly downtown. Uh, and for a little background on skatep parks, skatep parks are almost always or always the most used feature in a in a park. They're used from sun up and from sun up to sun down. Uh, from people of all ages, ethnicities, skill levels, and backgrounds. They're used for multiple hours at a time. And people from other cities seek them out regularly. They're a safe place for kids to learn and for teenagers, young adults, and even adults to hone their craft. and they cater to an inclusive environment thanks to a user's shared interest and common goal to progress. The barrier of entry into an activity like skateboarding or scootering or rollerblading, whatever we use at the park is very small. A Walmart skate park, which is more than suitable for beginners, uh costs less than $30 and can last years, and it's the same for scooters and uh rollerblades. They're about the same price. Uh, keeping the skate park in the proposed location would not only aid the current crop of local skaters and community, but it also cater to a newer crowd thanks to its centralized and uh, accessible location because there's a lot of houses around that that area. Uh, it also must be said that the design of both the skatepark and playground are fantastic. Uh, the companies did a tremendous job on both and I feel like they blend in really well with the the Davis Park renovation. They both look aesthetically pleasing. uh with the skatepark specifically, the designers did a great job in accounting for the community's interest and and style and made a park that I can honestly say looks like a lot of fun and I am very excited to skate it and hope that it does get made. People from other cities uh are also in agreement there. So, thank you. >> Yep. Okay. All right. Our last public speaker is Ben Larson. Hello. I am uh also here to talk about being pro Davis Park skate park and uh playground. Um >> yeah, hear me? Good. Um I'm here to talk about the Davis Park skatepark. Also, um I own a local skateboard shop in town, two blocks from here. Um, I also have a three-year-old and have lived in and around downtown for the last eight or nine years. Um, these give me a lot of interest in the Davis Park revamp, um, skate park or otherwise. Um, I was excited to hear that this was getting done um because I can build it into my regular routine. I can take my son there um, in the evenings and weekends. I can skate there in my free time and generally just spend more of my time being a pedestrian in downtown Rockford. Um, when I heard these were on the chopping block because possibly the amphitheater and such came back over budget, I was just I couldn't believe it. Um, these are two parts of the park that will bring people every day of the week um instead of occasionally for a concert like these venues. Um, I know that we have concert venues in Rockford and the Coronado Civic Music Shell in the amphitheater at Living Lake. Um, pull people in and people do spend money on these, but I I think that it's only a piece of the puzzle and a skate park and playground that are bringing regular people in to draw out their time in downtown are honestly more important pieces for the community. Um, two weekends ago, I went with some friends of mine to Genanoa, Illinois and Decal to go skate two different skate parks. Um, because that's just what skateboarders do. They're going out to explore and um, find new places to skate. I have people come to my skateboard shop every week from Bloit, um, Freeport, Shamberg this morning, um, that are buying skateboards and want to be involved in a local skateboard community. Um, and they ask me, are there any parks that I can skate here? And, uh, I can tell them about the two skate parks just outside of Rockford city limits. Um, but I know they might not be on their way. Kind of a trek from downtown. um they might be too crowded or too advanced, too big of ramps and such um or just not what they the design that they want to skate. Um Rockford has the ability to become much more of a destination for these people. Um and they might come and enjoy these activities so much that they build it into their routine. Um, if these were cut and Davis Park becomes just a big grass field with an amphitheater, I don't think it would be a huge step up from what Davis Park has been for the last 15 or 20 years or as long as I can remember honestly. Um, I think that these wouldn't not including the skate park and playground would be >> Thank you. >> disappointing. Thank you. We'll move right into tonight's planning and development agenda. We do have a presentation tonight with local traffic safety action plan from Mr. Jeremy Carter. I do apologize. Before we start, clerk, will you please call the role? >> Here, >> here. >> Thank you. It's all yours. >> Good evening. Um, we're here to present the local traffic safety action plan that was done uh through a safe safe streets for all grant. Um, with me is Brandon Ruckers, who is a planner at Region One Planning Council, and I'm going to let him take it away. >> Good evening. Uh, I'm Brandon. I work with Region One Planning Council, like Jeremy said, and I'm here to go over the city of Rockford traffic safety action plan. Um, if there are any questions throughout the presentation, please feel free to stop me and ask or ask me at the end. So since this plan adheres to the guidelines um and the principles of the safe streets for all or SSRA program from US DOT, I wanted to just give a little bit of background um on that program. Um so first of all, it has a strong focus on reducing instances of fatal and serious injury crashes commonly referred to as crashes with severe outcomes. Um so for the data analysis we we very heavily focused on crashes with severe outcomes. Uh through the SS for program partners are also able to apply for implementation grants to help fund roadway safety projects that are identified in the plan. And the program overall serves as a guideline for counties, regions, and municipalities to develop safety action plans um that align with federal goals and apply for funding for safety projects that can help uh reach those goals. Um and then just going over the uh the scope of work for the safety action plan. Um basically in 2022 um region one planning council staff applied for an SS4A planning grant and were awarded funds in 2023 to develop four separate safety action plans for the Rockford region. These were for um the region as a whole, one for Wnebago County, one for Boone County, and of course one for the city of Rockford. And while these plans shared many commonalities, uh the purpose of separating them was to encourage more tailored plans based on an understanding of some unique traffic safety circumstances to ensure each plan had proper representation from each of the jurisdictions. The local traffic engineers from each were selected as safety partners and met with project teams on a regular basis. The city of Rockford safety partners were Jeremy Carter and Carrie Lynn. Steering committees were also formed for each of the plans and were represented by local traffic safety professionals. Um I'll go over that a little bit more later in the presentation. Um and apart from the stakeholder engagement with the safety partners and steering committee, public engagement was also a large part of the planning process and came in the form of online surveys and engagement tools um which I will also share later. Um so R1 staff used that engagement along with additional research and in-depth data analyses um and internal collaboration to draft the narrative and develop some accompanying visualizations for each plan. And currently the city of Rockford's traffic safety action plan is in a public comment period that will end on August 23rd. Um so just briefly uh our data analysis covered six years from 2017 through 2022 and had multiple stages um and components but overall we utilized GIS very heavily or uh geographic information systems for our spatial analyses to get specific subsets of data and to develop our high injury network. Um, we also created data tables in Excel which give a nice snapshot of some of the different crash characteristics. Um, and all of our data came from these I do. Crash data extract files which included information on the crashes, the people and the vehicles involved. And again, this was all very heavily focused on severe outcome crashes. Um so diving into this um this graph shows the severe outcome crashes that occurred within the city of Rockford during the six-year analysis period. The fatal crashes are shown by the lower blue line and the serious injury crashes are shown by the orange. Um as you may see the number of fatal crashes spiked following 2020 but then fell the the next year in 2022. um while the number of serious injury crashes grew during that same year and continued to grow in 2022. Maybe a little hard to see, but this next graph shows the breakdown of those severe outcome crashes by the type of crash that occurred. The lighter blue bars show the percentage of serious injury crashes and the darker blue bars show the percentage of fatal crashes for these. Um, as you may see, the percentage of crashes involving a pedestrian stands out, especially when looking at the fatality percentage. Um, these made up over four 34 34% of all fatal crashes in Rockford during that analysis period. Um and this number along with statistics from the past 10 years were a driving force in uh behind the formation of the city of Rockford's pedestrian safety task force um who are working to come up with action items and solutions specific to pedestrian safety in the city. Uh to briefly touch on the vision, mission and goals. These were determined by the steering committee. Um and the vision is to eliminate traffic related fatalities and serious injuries in the city of Rockford while increasing safe and functional mobility for all. The mission mission is to work collaboratively within the city of Rockford and with surrounding jurisdictions to emphasize a positive traffic safety culture and use a datadriven proactive approach to prioritizing proven safety solutions effectively. Um, and the goals are to achieve a 50% reduction of traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2050, pursue funding opportunities for identified safety solutions, prioritize and program needed roadway safety improvements, increase awareness of road safety and risks through education and enforcement. um and promote the use of highv value countermeasures, communicate safety as a shared language, and bring attention to the safety of non-motorized users. As I mentioned earlier, stakeholder engagement was a large component of the planning process for the city of Rockford traffic safety action plan. And to kickstart all of the plans that I mentioned, there was a public traffic safety workshop event in early 2023 that introduced the SS4A program and engaged regional stakeholders and members of the public at the RMTD East Side Transfer Center. R1 staff then met with safety partners on a bi-weekly basis um throughout the planning process to share updates, ask questions, and collaborate on engagement tactics. Through these meetings, staff were also able to get guidance from the local experts for traffic safety to help inform the plan's scope and narrative as well as select the roadways for the high injury network um which I will share in a bit. Uh and then there was the formation of the steering committees. The city of Rockford steering committee was comprised of local traffic safety professionals that represent multiple sectors throughout the city. Um and that list of members is shown on the right of the screen. Um members of the steering committee attended three separate meetings where they convened on local safety concerns and collectively developed goals and strategies that could reduce the number of severe outcome crashes in the city. Um one of the biggest things discussed among the members were the traffic safety emphasis areas which are a list of 10 safety categories um that represent the city's top safety concerns. The list for the city of Rockford is shown on the bottom half of this slide. Um, and it includes pedestrians, pedal cyclists, intersections, roadway departures, impaired drivers, unrestrained occupants, older and younger drivers, heavy vehicles, speeding and aggressive driving, and distracted or drowsy driving. Each of these categories were more deeply analyzed and reported on in the plan um along with local statistics and a series of proven counter measures that could also help mitigate crashes of these types in the future. Each of the emphasis areas relate back to the objectives of the SSRA program's safe system approach which is a guideline for all safety action plans. Um, the high injury network is a list of 11 sections of roadways within the city of Rockford where the most crashes involving severe outcomes occurred during the analysis period. This list was confirmed with the safety partners and while these roadways only occupy just under nine miles, uh they accounted for a total of over 60 severe outcome crashes during the analysis period. So this makes these corridors uh statistically some of the most dangerous in the city. um and they were identified as a means to encourage safety efforts and countermeasures to be implemented um based on each corridor's unique safety characteristics. As I said earlier, public engagement was mainly done through um online surveys and engagement tools. They were administered on region 1's engagement website, engage R1. Um, last summer there was a survey and an interactive map that were open to the public and advertised through the city of Rockford's Facebook page. Members of the public were able to complete a traffic safety survey where they could answer questions about their traffic safety concerns for the city. And there was also an interactive map that allowed the public to place a pin on a specific location within the city that they felt was especially dangerous and uh a top priority for traffic safety initiatives. as well as describe their specific concerns. The map on the right shows the results. I apologize, it's probably very hard to see um but it shows the results of that um of that interactive map um along with the indicated travel mode of concern u between walking, biking, and driving. There were about 300 survey responses and roughly 200 pins placed on this interactive map. Uh and overall the responses tended to center around intersections, pedestrian safety, speeding or aggressive driving, and a lack of enforcement. So, the completion and adoption of the city of Rockford's traffic safety action plan will allow the city to competitively apply for multiple federal and state grant opportunities. These include, but are not limited to, SS4A implementation grants, which uh has another round of funding expected next spring, um where they're expected to award roughly $1 billion in funding for traffic safety projects. Uh and since this um safety action plan aligns with the SS4A guidelines, the city will be eligible to apply for an award. The IDOT highway safety improvement program or HSIP is another grant that the city will be eligible to apply for and receive funding for traffic safety projects. The next round of funding of for the HSIP is expected um spring summer of next year. And lastly, the ID do safe routes to school grant opened its application period on August 1st and region one staff will coordinate with the city on that. Um, as well as continue seeking out additional funding opportunities related to traffic safety. And lastly, I just want to share that this traffic safety action plan is by no means the end of the collaboration between region one and the city on traffic safety. Currently, we have a staff member serving on the pedestrian safety task force who will continue to assist with that endeavor. And as mentioned, staff will assist when necessary on any traffic safety grant applications for the city. Um, and the plan's narrative will continue to be regularly updated as is required in the SSRA program. Uh this will be in the form of updated data analyses, information on new safety projects, monitoring of safety project implementation, um and any updated policy information. So that's kind of all I had to share this evening. I hope it gave a good overview of the safety action plan for the city of Rockford. Uh if anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them. Oh, yep. >> Can we possibly get that email because it's really Absolutely. I'd be happy to share the slides and if anybody is also interested in reading the plan, you can also visit the web page which is uh linked in the slides um and you can find the actual plan that's out for public comment right now. >> So that that intersection is is definitely one of the top five crash intersections in the city. So yes, it was looked at. >> So this is not necessarily, you know, this doesn't lay out, okay, we're going to do this, this, this, and this. It is uh more here are the problem areas and here is a toolbox of items to possibly address the issues that we're seeing. Um the biggest benefit um to this uh plan is um it allows us to be more competitive when the safety grants are out there saying that we have a plan. Um this uh presentation tonight is information only. Once the um once the public comment period ends um and any of the the report is finalized at some point in the future, staff will be coming back to ask that this is um becomes part of the city's comprehensive plan. Uh which with the adoption would allow us to once again be more competitive when it comes to the safety grants. >> I just wanted to say I'm glad to hear this because you know I've really been working on the South Alpine. >> I'm sorry. >> We're on that team. Can you make sure you're up on your mic? Thank you. >> Um, as you well know, >> I've been working on the South Alpine rebuild and the next thing I would like to see is from Larsson to old um Charles because we start at Old Charles and that's where that terrible uh thing I'd like to see that all redesigned. It's terrible. And so I'm hoping that some ideas will come out of this because that whole area was not done well. Well, I mean, between this and the, uh, bike and pedestrian, um, plan, um, a lot of them call for areas like that to have some accommodations that weren't in installed when the road was originally done many years ago. So, it's one we're aware of. >> Alderwoman M, did I see your hand? >> Thank you so much. Um, I saw in one of the visuals it said redundancy is crucial. Can you kind of break down what that means in relation to traffic safety? >> It was in the visual chart, the circle chart, and there were all >> it was a part of the safe system approach. Yeah, that that's just a piece of uh US DO's guidance for the plans. The safe system approach is um >> something that we kind of used to help guide the plan. And the portion that talks about redundancy being crucial, I think that's just talking about um being redundant in your safety efforts. Um and um you know, I I don't know that I can give like an example for something where we're doing it in city. What what the the philosophy is is don't just rely on one thing to make the problem go away. try to come up with multiple multiple solutions because um almost attack it from an overkill perspective. Um >> so yeah, so I got that. So so would that kind of translate to where things are taking place in certain areas, we would implement that in other areas. >> Um >> safety things I I guess it could. Um I think I think it was more what it's more meant to is um don't just rely, you know, um if you're having a problem at an intersection, don't just re rely on the signals. Try to see if there's additional signage that can be done. So I I uh I think anywhere that we have a problem, we would we would bring that type of approach. And what are and maybe you can answer this, but what are some of the best practices that are out there now to prevent death and serious injury? >> I that's a tough question because it really depends on on what the reasons are for for the accident. Um we um once again it really depends on on what the the the uh the cause of the accident is. There was a a pretty bad accident at Ethel and 251 involving a bicyclist not too terribly long ago. Um, one of the things we we did um after that was make ensure that the uh crosswalk is highly visible so that drivers are aware that people might be crossing there. Um we also um put reflective um back plates up on the signals to make them pop out to drivers more so if they're losing the signals, you know, in the sky as they're driving, they can see them more. So there are solutions, you know, it just really depends on what the what the problem was. At that one, someone ran a red light. So we looked at solutions to try to prevent people from running a red light. >> Yeah. So I I appreciate that and I appreciate all of the efforts that we do when things occur. I would love I I think that why we're doing this is to become more of a react uh you know reactive city or instead of being a reactive to some of these issues. Um, and I think that it's going to take more safety measures throughout the city, throughout neighborhoods, throughout hightra areas, stop signs, striping, um, speed signs. I mean, these are just suggestions, but I think this is exactly what the funding is meant to do is to help us cover some of these things so that we can implement this throughout the community. Correct. >> Yes, absolutely. >> Thank you so much. Thank you for doing this, too. >> Thank you, Alderwoman Torino. >> Thank you, uh, Madam Chair, for allowing me to speak on your committee. I noticed that there was a steering committee and a pedestrian task force. Are there any city council members on either of those committees? >> So, uh, there was not a there was not any, uh, city council members on the steering committee for this. And there There is I don't believe there is any city council members on the pedestrian task force. >> Okay. I I know that I specifically asked to be on this committee uh this the pedestrian task force. So I'm just curious as to I can talk offline as to why but I'm just curious if there was others as I think that we clearly have something to offer. Um especially when I see that the high injury networks happen to be two of the two of the areas are fifth ward, three of the streets are the sixth ward. I think that we have insight that we can offer. You just heard from the alderman of the 12th war. She obviously had insight. So I think that my suggestion would be that we need to add city council members to either the steering committee or the task force. >> Are there any other questions or comments? Um I'll start to the left and work my way around. Um Alder I'm sorry, Alderman Derky, >> just a few uh questions. Um, one is you said you called the data that you have from the uh ID dot files. Is that supplied by our police department or is that did they do this independently? >> So the uh the Illinois Department of Transportation provides region one planning council with updated crash statistics for the region on an annual basis and those are derived from um police reports. Okay. Then um a couple more. The um on the uh percentage of severe outcomes by crash type, you present the data as percent. Um it doesn't really give us an idea of magnitude. Is there any way in some uh that you can recraft that and give us the n >> for all this? Yeah, there's there are also more visualizations in the actual plan and um if I'm not mistaken, there is a table that shows all of the emphasis areas. It's not in this presentation. I apologize. I'd be happy to supply you with uh a separate visualization that shows um the actual numbers instead of the percentages related back to the total number of serious injuries or the total number of fatalities. >> Absolutely. The um other is you have the slide on the high injury network. Does that include uh fatalities in that slide? >> So that section that is um severe outcomes the header of severe outcomes includes a combination of serious injury crashes and fatal crashes. >> Oh, so >> so it's they're combined to to be to be reflected as severe outcome crashes. crashes but no uh does you define crash as a car against pedestrian? >> If a pedestrian is involved in a vehicular crash then they would be included. Okay. Yeah. >> And then um just lastly uh an observation we you know even your data shows it but there seems to be there was at a period of time it seems to eb and flow a number of u fatal uh car versus pedestrian accidents along State Street. In fact, you identified Dempster Road to Arnold as a a hot spot. the um that that has come up before and I'm sure Mr. Carter knows this, but apparently one of the uh the problem was identified, but the um state of Illinois runs Route 20, al also known as State Street, and they were reticent to um allow us to put uh traffic signals, walk signals, because they had a um a maximum amount of time that they allowed the intersection to be read, running east and West. Is that still true? >> I I don't believe I would I would say that that's still true. Um that was definitely probably the way 15 20 years ago. Um but nowadays they are a lot more cognizant of of pedestrians and you just have to look at um New Town and State Street where I do DOT allows on at any given time when a pedestrian crosses the street we stop traffic on State Street for 45 seconds while that pedestrian crosses. So they are a lot more accepting of that nowadays and are willing to slow cars down so the pedestrians can get across safely. >> All right. Thank you. Alderman Timber. >> Thank you, Chairwoman. Uh, thank you, Mr. Carter, on your assistance with that Ethel and North Second intersection that, uh, I had called you on as well, and and thanks for some of the work that was recently done on that. Uh, as far as the spike in the pedestrian and car accidents, um, I know there was one we recently had on Auburn Street right at the bridge, uh, where the railroad tracks cross. Uh, there obviously is an underpass that pedestrians would be encouraged to use, but for whatever reason, that individual in that case chose not to and cross there. So, as we see the number of pedestrian vehicular accidents spike the way it has, uh I guess I wouldn't be asking you for an answer right now or if you even have that answer. What are the uh incidents where maybe it's a pedestrian's fault? Uh you know, I know as as a city we're trying to make our city more uh pedestrian, bicycle friendly. um and make drivers more aware of of the pedestrians and cyclists. Um but sometimes there are uh cases where it is the pedestrian's fault and and I know that many times that pedestrian and vehicular number will be used as a means to you know increase our work in that area. Sometimes again pedestrians are just you know at fault at times. Do we have any idea that number? >> So the um I don't have that number. Um as I'm sitting here tonight um I can tell you um at the pedestrian uh task force uh I think there were quite a few people who were surprised at the number uh the police do track u when the pedestrian is at fault um for an accident. I think there were quite a few people who were shocked that that how how large that number was. I don't know what it is and I can um I I can get it for you. Um but um while I understand uh well some of them cause and we we actually have um someone from the mental health um field uh on the on the task force because uh a couple of the people specifically the one at um Auburn at the interchange um I think some mental health issues and maybe chose to go out into traffic. Um so we're we're hoping to look at that. Um but one of the things is is kind of some oldfashioned guilt of well why did they choose to make this decision? Um you know did they choose to do something dangerous because there wasn't a safe alternative close and those are the things that we're we're looking at. Um maybe we should do better. Okay. And then then a couple of the hot spots uh are you mentioned and first word alderman mentioned east state u obviously we have north second incidents there uh north second being a state route as well. Uh are you feeling encouraged at all in uh IDOT's collaboration in helping solve some of these issues and working with them or is ID do being uh tend tending to be an inhibitor and I don't know if that's put me on the hot seat >> that's um >> in public discourse. My my personal opinion is ID do has come a very long way in the last 10 or 15 years. Um and when they are doing a reconstruction project like they did on North Main um or excuse yeah North Main Main Street they are fantastic in making sure that they um they meet their complete streets policy. Um I think they have a a lot of room to grow on when they enact their complete streets policy. um when they do minor um what they consider to be minor maintenance and believe it or not uh what's happening on North Second Street is considered maintenance. Um they're not necessarily as good about putting it putting in the accommodate modern accommodations that we would see. Uh but as part of the Alpine um South Alpine project, we expect that that will happen. It definitely happened on North Main. It happened on South Main. Um we've got sidewalk and multi-use path. They are they are better than they were in the past, but there's still room for growth in my personal opinion. >> Thank you. >> Um, otherwoman Prunty, >> thank you um for allowing me to ask a few questions. Um, speaking of states, when you're tracking your data, do you track the state roads that are within the city? Is that included in your data? Yes, >> it is. Okay. >> Yeah. As with the the county roads within the city also. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. Um and then when you It went kind of It didn't go fast. I just didn't see it. When you account for the ATVs and um off-road vehicles that shouldn't be using the streets but are a part of some of the incidents, what category does that fall into? Are they pedestrians? Are they >> I believe that they fall into um the the realm of motorcycles or motor driven vehicles um which is typically grouped with motorcycles. >> Okay. So, um, when you seek the grant funding, like what kind of things does it allow you to address in those two batches of funding that shared? Um, so the the HSIP funding um allows for um making road improvements, uh, geometric changes to the road, upgrading traffic signals, a lot of your your I mean real transportation projects, safe routes to schools, um, could be used for walking school buses. It could be used for, um, maybe building a sidewalk. um from a street to the back of the school to make it easier so kids don't have to walk all the way around a you know a neighborhood to get to the front of the school. Um the SS4A um implementation stuff is it's a little bit more out there as far as different things you could do. there's a world where we could possibly, you know, go after speed feedback signs um for areas of the city and it's a little bit uh not as hardcore engineering infrastructure as like the HSIP. >> Well, you can be creative. Okay, >> that's the word I'm looking for. Thank you. >> Okay. All right. Well, thank you for that. And then um you gave an example of a a Uh go back, go back, go back. Right there. Okay. Safe systems approach. What are some of the best practices that other cities are doing um that are addressing these types of concerns? So we used some different federal guidance for this plan and one of those was of course the safe system approach which is a part of the SSRE guidance. Um when it comes to counter measures or actionable items for safety, one of the main resources that we used was from the National Highway Safety uh transportation association. I believe it's Nitsa. they have proven safety counter measures. Um, and that was a very big source for us in finding some actionable things that relate back to our chosen safety emphasis areas. Um so within the actual plan at the end the final um appendix is a safety toolkit which offers kind of a variety of different potential safety solutions um with some general information about you know general cost information, what categories of crashes it might help reduce um where it could be implemented, things of that nature, just to serve as kind of a guidance for um municipalities. >> Thank you very much. And then one last question. Um I think I heard it, but I just wanted to make sure. Um when we're doing these, are we you list different streets? Maybe you notice different things happening in different areas. So you will approach different areas in different manners. or are we looking at a onesizefitit all or unique circumstance? Do we see unique circumstance? >> No, there's it's definitely you're looking at it each street and each area of a street individually. Um one sizefits-all will not work. Um State Street, our issues with pedestrians is is probably a lack of sidewalks. Um but Kishwalki has sidewalks and people are walking in the street um even with sidewalks on both sides. So those would have to be different approaches um to different streets. >> So thank you for mentioning Kishwalki and WA and people walking in the streets. Could that could we also look at an opportunity for um in that realm of those grant funds opportunity for blight removal. So keeping that grass cut even if the owner the land owner has not done their due diligence >> for a traffic safety grant. That might be kind of tough. We'd have to somehow make the argument that we were going to we think that we would see a traffic safety um improvement. I'm I'm willing to try to make that argument. I think um like with the SS4A grant um I think what might might be something that would be capable of it is doing PSAs to remind people that when there's a sidewalk, use them like instead of walking in the street. Um it doesn't have to ne necessarily be for building sidewalks or building traffic signals. You can do, you know, um do PSAs um with them if you get the grant. Um you can do other sort of education. Um there are some grants um that weren't listed there that the police have access for that um go towards um uh paying officers for call back so that they can do um um drunk driving enforcement at St. Patrick's Day or Thanksgiving, that sort of stuff. So, I hope that if if there's an opportunity there to think about that blight, that growth, overgrowth that takes place along some of those corridors. I know that the people who own that land would never think, "Oh, I didn't cut today. It's 4 feet high, but that would but somebody died because I didn't cut." They would never think that. But we there's that possibility. >> Interesting. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Um Alderman Beachch, Madam Chair, for letting me speak on your committee. Um of these selected emphasis areas on your report, there are percentages that you have there. And I'm trying to figure out from what number do we start? are these um could you help me? >> Yeah, I apologize that these are all reflected as a percentage of the overall um the overall severe outcome crashes. So that is a combination of fatal and serious injury crashes. Um and that number I don't have it anywhere on these slides, but it's 457. So all of these percentages are a percentage of that 457 number for that six-year period. Okay. So, so I understand what you're saying. Then of pedestrians, 17% 70% of 457. Is that what you're saying? Or drivers that are impaired with alcohol or drugs or whatever, only 18% is the 457. >> Correct. Those percentages are against the 457. >> Now, does impaired include alcohol, drugs, and other? >> Yes. uh and under the older 65 and younger 15 to 20 37% is that broke down? >> That is a combination of uh crashes that involved an individual that was 65 or over or an individual that was between the ages of 15 and 20 combined. But that's so you can't say that it's just older people or younger people that make up that number. It's just a combination. >> It is a combination of older and younger drivers. Yeah. >> Do you have the breakdown? >> Oh, between the two. >> I could provide you with that. >> Thank you. >> Uh thank you, ma'am. >> Are there any other questions or comments? >> Alderman Salgado. >> Yeah, just uh no comment, but uh thank you for the presentation. So I saw your mission goals um reducing by 50% by 2050 etc etc. My the question that I have where do we go from here and what's the next steps? Um it sounds like you guys are going to look for funding. You have site locations, intersections or so forth where you know the cra the big the major crashes are and incidents are. So just wanted to get an understanding what what's the next step. um you guys are going to continue to meet you know uh you know pass it over to public works you know what what what's the next action I just you know I think from that perspective I do appreciate your presentation though >> you want to talk about finalizing the report talk about where we go from here >> right so we are in the final stages of this plan as I said it's out for public comment um and that goes until the 23rd of August so following that I will implement any changes that are stated or are necessary based on any feedback. Um, and then from there we will uh coordinate with the city for adoption of the plan and then I think I should pass it over to Jeremy for from there. So, um, as I said, once we have the finalized plan, um, at some point we're going to come back and ask that it becomes part of of the city's comprehensive plan so that we can use it, um, when when we see grant opportunities for for safety. Um, we're um the this document will will be a guiding document for the pedestrian um task force. We're presenting it to them in a couple of weeks. Um, and so they will they'll be looking at it for as they come up with kind of action items that will also um guide the city. Um, I don't know that Brandon mentioned it. This a this um action plan is one of four action plans that R1PC put together for Wnebago County um Boone County and then the region as a whole in addition to one that was exclusively for Rockford because each area has slightly different uh safety issues. Um so we will absolutely be continuing our our um our partnership with with R1 um to update this plan as we move along because as it as it said it is a living document. Um but immediate immediately um the uh the pedestrian task force will be using it to help guide some of their their decision making. >> Thank you. Are there any other comments or questions? Alder member, >> is it easier to obtain funding when you're working collaboratively? >> Um, I think so. Um, I I mean it's um if if the city of of Rockford and Winnebago County can had a project that they were doing together, I think it always looks great when regionally you're you're uh working with your regional partners to get it done. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions or comments? >> Thank you, gentlemen. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. We have one item under um our committee reports. Item one is an approval of the proposed funding agreement with 205 district dental services 205 DDS for operational cost and initial dentist salary necessary to generate sustainable revenue for organization in the amount of $150,000. The funding source is cannabis funds. Do I have a motion to approve? >> Are there any questions or comments? >> Alderman Derky >> comment. Um the uh this looks like a great program. I think this was done once before, but um it's a it's a good idea and I I guess it was brought forward by Alderman Torino, which is a a great idea. Um, and I know uh Cyrus Oaks has done a lot of uh things like this in the community is well experienced. And one last comment, I made some comments before about the use of cannabis funds and throwing money at the wall and hoping something happens because some of the outcomes cannot be measured. We have no idea what we're doing with the money in some of these grants. But this is certainly something that's measurable, something that we can track and and is probably uh sustainable. So, um, highly in favor of this. >> Thank you. I saw a hand over me. >> Thank you so much. I actually want to agree. I thought that this was a great use of cannabis funds. Um, and I also wanted to point out, I love how we're also looking to not just service our Head Start students, but also the families that are touched by our Head Start students as well and implementing that into the program. So, I think this is also a really, really great program. So, I'm looking forward to seeing this through. Thank you. >> Any other comments or questions? Clerk, will you please call the RO? >> I I >> I >> thank you. That item passes. Item one under resolutions uh the appointment of Todd Kagnoni, city administrator as the Northern Illinois Land Bank Board Trustee. The proposed appointment is set forth per section 5.01 of the Intergovernmental Agreement between the city of Rockford and Northern Illinois Land Bank Authority for a period of three years. Do I have a motion to approve? >> Second. >> Are there any questions or comments? Alderwoman Meeks. >> Thank you so much. I was just curious what's the skill set or the requirements for this particular role. >> Mayor resolution by city council general understanding of what's taking place within uh the city certainly having experience in regards to reduction of blighted property. Uh how the law might work related to blight to blighted property. Uh there's a mixture of board members on the land bank board. Um now >> and can I ask you um administrator Kagnoning, how many boards and committees do you currently sit on for the city? >> Um I believe, let me think about that. This is the only one that I am specifically appointed by council on. I do serve on other boards that the city has relationship which with such as the Rockford Local Development Corporation um board. >> Are there any others? >> I sit on the Workforce Connection board and the executive committee of the Workforce Connection as well. Trying to make sure I don't forget any boards, but >> maybe maybe >> go Rockford as well. Go Rockford. >> Go Rockford. I feel like >> got Johnson in the background and I'm forgetting. I feel like you could keep going and and that's why I bring it up is because I I just don't I want to first see if there's a possibility that some other department um could that they're capable of taking on this role, maybe using it to progress in their role. Um just kind of be a part of what's going on with the city. And then I don't want to stretch you too thin either. So I I bring that up to say are there any other possibilities for this particular board. >> So I'd partly defer that uh question to the mayor. Um understand it's his appointment with council's confirmation. But um as it relates to my capacity, I feel comfortable in fulfilling a role. I think you'll find my attendance on all these boards and commissions is quite well. um and I actively participate and have a strong connection between our departments to make sure that we're communicating and advance the organization's goals as long as alongside the goals of the boards and or commissions that I serve on. >> Thank you. Uh so first and foremost, I think we're incredibly fortunate to have Todd Kegnoni at the city of Rockford and our city administrator. uh and one of those uh benefits that he brings is his ability to uh handle an incredibly rigorous workload as well as just strong community engagement. I think when you look at the land bank uh from its very creation, uh we here at the city were integral parts of the creation of us having our first ever land bank. in that uh Todd was really the tip of the spear in our uh city's work towards getting us part of that land bank understanding we didn't have home rule and we needed to utilize Belvadier's home rule status to provide that. Uh then you look at the more than two decades of community development uh community and economic development experience that he's had. Uh and then on top of that, I've looked at a as I do all of the board's uh attendance as well as the success of that board. And I think the land bank has been an unequivocal success. I would also agree with uh you alwoman Meeks uh that I think there are we're really just blessed. We have tremendous leadership and all of our department heads uh that have had the opportunity and continue to have the opportunity to serve on either statewide organizations, regional organizations or many here local organizations. And we try to encourage all of our employees to serve on as many uh community boards that they can while still being able to do the duties that we all want them to do. uh but also things that are personally fulfilling for them but also things that can be uh good for their career development. But land bank I thought really I I mean there's numerous people who could do it. I don't think there's anyone better at the city than Todd Kegnoni to serve on it. >> I like that you said there's numerous people that can do it. You know, I just like the idea of diversifying it just a bit. But I appreciate your decision and I do appreciate all that you do and all that you bring to the table. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Are there any other comments or questions? Alderman Derky. >> Yeah, I just want to echo also what the mayor said. You know, I've known uh Mr. Kagnoni since I came on the council and um grown to really appreciate his breath of knowledge, but one of his other sort of skills is to sort of navigate the waters sometimes of competing interests that sometimes go on throughout the city. And uh he's a great asset and I And I I think the all the roles that he serves in are um he does well in in this in particular and and how we really need to redevelop our city and uh start claiming this land and u improving our city. So I u I agree with mayor this outstanding candidate for the chair. >> Any other comments or questions? Cler, will you please call the role? I >> I >> I >> No, >> that item passes. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Second. >> Any questions or comments on that? All those in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Same sign. Thank you. Good evening. Welcome to the uh codes and regulations uh committee meeting. Um clerk, would you please call the role? >> Here. Thank you. We only have uh two items on the agenda uh tonight. The first one is uh plat number three of Harrison Park North Subdivision. The subject property is located at 5866,5884 and 5936 Columbia Parkway. The developer is combining three existing lots as a result of a recent zoning approval for a special use permit ZVA number 4-25 to allow residential storage units on this site. Is there a motion to approve? >> Are there any questions or comments? um as this is in uh the ward I represent and I'm going to be voting no and since I'm going to ask for a roll call vote >> no >> motion passes and item two is uh 109 North Showplace Drive Suite 133. Liquor and Tobacco Advisory Board recommends denial for the sale of tobacco products in conjunction with the cigar and vape store in a C3 commercial general zoning district at 109 North Showplace Drive, sweet 133 Mustafa Nahi Sahar Bari Premium Cigar and Vape LLC. Doing business as Premium Cigar and Vape is the applicant. Uh this was um when this was before committee two weeks ago, the alderman for the ward, this is in the first ward, had requested that we send this back to Elab and we instead uh laid it over for two weeks. The applicant has since submitted in writing in your packet some additional um uh information to answer the some of the questions that were asked at both um LTAB and here. Um but I'm going to ask if there's a motion to send this back to Elab. >> Clerk, will you please please call the role? Yes. >> Motion carries. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> All those in favor, please say I. >> Motion carries. Thank you. Welcome to the finance and personnel Committee meeting held tonight, August 11th, 2025. Sir, clerk, would you please take role? >> Here. >> All right. Uh, first uh item under committee reports, we have vouchers in the amount of $8,269,9116. Is there a motion to approve vouchers? >> Any question or comments on vouchers? All right. Uh, seeing no questions, all those in favor indicate by I. I. Opposed. Matter passes. Moving on to resolutions. Item A is award a bid for demolition group 32 package to Northern Illinois service endra uh in the amount of $64,410. It includes properties at 518 Peront, 921 North Church, 1628 Charles, and 2213 Wentworth Avenue. the contract creation is through the completion of the projects. The funding sources are the CDBG and the construction services operating budget. Is there a motion to approve? >> Second. >> Any questions or comments? Alderman Salgado. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me to speak. I don't have a specific question on the award bid but on um if uh someone could uh ask the answer the question regarding how these properties are um selected and what what's the process once that I think it's great um from my perspective but I just want to see what the you know the selection processes on that. >> Sure. Director Lace. >> Thank you. Um, so we uh are inspectors, we we get properties on the list in a number of ways. Either we find them when we're out um doing different inspections or they're called in or reported by you all or other there's other problems that happen at the property. For a residential unit to be demoed, we would have gone through whatever we possibly could to make sure that demo is the only solution. So, we work pretty directly with the land bank. We go multiple different ways to see if there's anything we can do to save it. Um but in the these cases either there were issues on the property um that made it impossible for us to like get it to the to the land bank or it was just beyond the condition was beyond um what it could be to repair it. So it just demo is the best solution right now. >> Go ahead. Um just real quick uh is there a specific budget that we grant ourselves each year out of the that fund or you know I just would like to see that. >> So out of the general fund or >> out of the CBG where this came from? >> Sure. Yeah. We present that and we'll do that again this year. There's I think it's usually around 300,000 of general fund that is set aside for for demo and in our um our CDBG demo fund we have funds left over from previous years plus we had some in our um our current budget so I believe we have about 500 to 600,000 currently that we could use on >> Mr. Mr. Kegel, you have something to add. >> I I just wanted to add a little bit of context to Director Life's um statement. You know, we her her and her team have done an excellent job of aggregating a lot of data uh utilization through a software company which all these uh the aggregated data is indicators of blight on a property. Um and then they use that list um to one to create um code violations, but then they also do all the field inspections to verify which ones are the worst of the worst. So I just the reason I just wanted to comment on a told me because we've brought it through council for approval in the past and how we're utilizing that that software that it's a pretty technical aspect of it but then at the same time uh a very large human factor in regards to our inspections and coordination with the land bank. >> Go ahead. Yeah, we'd be happy to. We We typically run this list on a annual basis. Um, and then complete a lot of field inspections during the winter months when it's a little bit easier to determine whether there's individuals going in and out of the property when there's been a snowfall. Um, but we'd be happy to share that list and I just would qualify, you know, the list that we send doesn't mean that all these properties should be demolished. Um, these are just indicators of potential blight that we want to keep an eye on. >> Any other questions? Seeing none, all those in favor indicate by I. I >> oppose. Matter passes. Item B is an award a bid for demolition of 1122 South Main Street to end track in the amount of $13,220. The contract duration is um through completion of the demolition project. The funding source are ARPA funds. Is there a motion to approve? >> Any questions or comments? I just had one. Um the costing of the six figure demolition seems kind of large. I don't I'm not familiar with the building. Is it a commercial building? >> It is. Um, it is a commercial space. It has a a retail space in the front, but it's a theater in the back. >> So, we're just demoing the the theater portion. Um, so we're preserving the historic facade and the front part of the building. So, that's part of the cost is we have to work at um shoring that up while we're doing the back demo. And then there is quite a bit of asbestous removal that we'll also have to do. >> Thank you. All right, seeing no further questions, all those in favor indicate by I. I opposed. Matter passes. Item C is award a bid for station for hood replacement uh to complete mechanical solutions in the amount of $95,639.75. This is a one-time purchase. The funding source is the 2025 gaming tax revenue. Is there a motion to approve? >> Any questions or comments for staff? Alderman Logan. >> Yeah, quick question. Thank you, Chairman. I noticed in the memo there was a kind of a list of things that were wrong with the hood um including just general look compliance. I was just curious how long this um hood has been out of compliance at fire station 4. >> Do we know? >> Uh that's that hood has been a part of the original build of the fire station when it was there. Um it was discovered we had some roof leakage and stuff like that when they initially did some repairs to the hood. it wasn't uh vented properly uh for some time there. So, this is an up update and upkeep of that to vent it through the roof and also with the new code and compliance, we have to actually have an extinguishing system above the ovens now whenever we do anything. That's why the cost is so uh a little higher than what a normal hood would be. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions? Alvin Turkey. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. the um that was the sort of the question I had. $95,000 for a hood. So it has a because of its use in a fire station is it's that considered like commercial use. So it needs to halide extinguisher to it. >> Uh not speaking I can't speak directly on the codes but that's what we've had to do at station six when we had a also the same kind of problem where we had to repair a hood. Um the the uh equipment includes a lot of the stainless background. um and almost treating it as a commercial hood. Um just because of the location with it being in the fire station, there's a lot of labor involved with the the sheet metal and the plumbing, uh the fabrication that has to be done. Also, they have to bring a crane and rigging in for the rooftop equipment for the hood. Um fire rated insulation, uh gas and electric hookups, also the compliance testing. It covers permits, inspections, um the certified air balance training, the the flow of the hood. It's a lot more than just putting a regular oven or a hood at your home or anything like that. It is more commercial. >> I said a quick question. How many people are at the station at one given time? >> Uh there's six a day over there. >> So six during during a shift. >> Mhm. >> Okay. Thank you. Other questions? All right. All those in favor indicate by I. I opposed. >> All right. Matter passes. I moving on to item D is a change order for the 11th Street reconstruction stage one to Entra. Uh it's a change order of $246,250 bringing the amended contract total to 12,481,572. Uh this reflects delays due to utility relocations. The revised schedule allows for a water mane and box cover installation in 2025, necessitating the temporary pavement to reopen the road during the winter months. The funding source of the 1% infrastructure sales tax and the water replacement uh improvement account funds. Is there a motion to approve? >> So second, >> right, any questions or comments? Sure. of McGrath. >> So, is this going to then impact the rest of the phases of 11th Street? So, is is it going to have a compounding thing going forward? >> Uh, no, not as of right now. Other than phase one won't be complete until next year. So, we can only do partial work this year. >> Alden Beach. >> Thanks, Mr. Chairman. Um then what caused the delay in the utility relocation? >> Um so if you recall we were initially planning on burying the utilities um along this corridor and then that cost uh became prohibitive. Uh so we had to change path to aerial relocation which extended some time uh comed and and their design work to change from burial to aerial relocation. Thank you. >> But so because of that delay, what was the actual necessity of the increase of a cost of a4 million dollars? >> So this work would have uh when they installed the water man and the box culvert, they would have uh been reconstructing the roadway along with that. Now we have to temporary pave it for the wintertime because it won't we won't be reconstructing the road. We'll just be completing the water mane installation and the box culver installation this year. So in order for them to plow snow and and things of that nature in the winter time, we have to put temporary pavement down through th those months. >> But but but the box cover installation that was already included in the non non amended. >> Yeah. We just wouldn't have you know the road would have been reconstructed. So there would hadn't been no temporary pavement because it would all been done at the same time in phases. >> Thank you. Any other questions? See then all those f all those in favor indicate by I. I oppose. That passes. Item E is award a bid for the Davis Park site improvements to Stenstrom excavation the amount of 7 million567,31360. The contract duration is through May 22nd, 2026. Uh is there a motion to approve? >> Are there any questions or comments for staff? So, I'm coming late to this uh uh issue, but I just want to state that um I am wholeheartedly in agreement with this uh continuation and growth of Davis Park. And I um want to reference one of the speakers this evening when I um you know, when you have young children and you want to be able to come downtown, it's a challenge as a parent. And I remember when my kids were young wanting to come downtown and there wasn't a lot going on. So, is there a um and I hear the comments in regards to the skate park and the playground um but I do believe that it is going to attract and bring people to downtown that maybe haven't been downtown on a consistent basis. So, is there an overview of or is there something that you could talk about in regards to the changes of why the increase in the money of what it was before to what it is now? just an overview of those changes. >> Who wants to answer? >> So, I will attempt to get started on that and um let Mr. Henkins um fill in the the gaps of of where we're at. And one maybe take a, you know, a quick moment to to thank you alderwoman and the other uh men and women of city council that we've discussed this project with um over the last few weeks as you know bids came back and bids came back um higher than anticipated and how we might want to move forward a as a as a community. Um I believe it was four weeks ago uh we advanced forward um a recommendation to move forward with the site improvements that included the playgrounds um in the in the skate park. Understanding that that portion of the project came in uh generally within the engineers estimate. We held back um advancing forward the awarded bid for the stage and the bathrooms concession building uh because that component had came came back higher than the engineers estimate and and not that we were abandoning that portion of the project. Um but we recognized that there could be financial concerns in regards to how we advance the project forward. As we talked to community members and members of city council, it was clear in our minds on a staff level that the the stage u the bathroom and concessions buildings were a critical component of the overall phase one design. Uh when we started this process, we wanted to make sure that we had a a park that had entertainment opportunities as well as day-to-day activities. and to start losing those elements. Um it wouldn't bring the complete package that we were hoping to to deliver to the community um consistent with the the approvals that we had through the design and and public input process. As a result of that, um, we reached out to our local delegation, um, and Senator Staldderman pledged an additional million dollars, uh, to help with the gap on the the building portion of the package. Um, in addition, we worked with John Gro uh from Go Rockford who pledged to assist us in securing um an additional half a million dollars in naming rights on components of the park at a minimum. But, you know, recognizing that in the past we've had, you know, naming rights as part of our overall budget that haven't always come to fruition, he said he would backs stop it with um his development fund, which is really an offset of his his rent um under the development agreement that we have um with Go Rockford. So with those two um components coming forward um we also reached out to our partners with this I want to make sure I state it correctly. Um you know we had the New Bower family that um had agreed to provide a small private donation for the skate park um in the amount of $27,000. So with those three components, we the mayor staff um and I met with director Hagerty to evaluate our existing fund balance as well as discuss what we thought was the the cost overruns or and the in the building portion of the package. And we can't pinpoint those, you know, why the bids came back exactly higher than what we anticipated that they they would be. Um, you know, we we've heard from our design professionals as well as the contractor. Um, you know, some different opinions in regards to rising costs on materials, the uniqueness of the design and some of the specialty uh, you know, construction um that would took place. And as we evaluated all those items and and looked at our fund balance, we thought it was important to bring forward a recommendation to advance the project as a whole. Um now, um when you look at the total package of the procket the the park, it's it is $15.5 million. That includes a half a million dollar um contingency. Um of that $15.5 million, we've spent almost $1.5 million um already on design and public engagement um through through the through the process. and we've stacked $6.5 million in grant funding to offset um the local cost. Um taking all that into consideration, that's why we we brought forward the recommendations that we we are discussing here tonight related to the site improvements, uh the building package as well as the construction um oversight on the project. Um, I'm giving you what seems to be a a long answer to a to a question, but really it's a short answer. Um, and I'm happy to go into much larger detail in regards to the full public engagement process, the full council approval process. Um, you know, some of the discussions that we have had through the 30% design, the 60% design, or where we're at now. But hopefully that summary will will stir additional questions if you have them. >> Go right ahead. >> So um you say this is phase one and then phase two there's two and three. Is it how many more phases after this? >> So there is a larger Davis Park master plan. Um you know what we have here tonight for consideration is consistent with what we called phase one that city council had approved in in 2022. Um, you know, once council approved it, you know, the the guidance to to staff was to to start implementing the the phase one design which had us go after and seek additional grant opportunities, additional partnerships with U. Senator Stalleman, uh, additional grants with with DCO to build that capital stack to bring the the project forward. The much larger plan uh would include the removal of a parking lot um that exists uh across from the the Brown building. That's not a component here. Um you know, that'd be a much larger uh public discussion um at the at that at that point in time, but we do believe phase one stands alone on itself. Um there are other components you know regard that have been discussed um andor are in the larger master plan such as you know a splash pad. Um we removed some components out um through additional validation such as the you know there was a a a sand sunning beach um along the river that that's been removed out. There's been discussion about possibly um you know adding an an ice rink or an ice ribbon as an additional feature. Um but when we went through the validation process, it was determined um that these were the the most important components of the park. So, I certainly don't want to suggest that this phase one doesn't fully deliver because I believe it does, but I think there could be additional amenities added in the future. But, I mean, obviously that would would take additional funding to be secured. >> I just want to say I appreciate all the work in the information that you just gave and I will be voting yes for this and I'm really looking forward to using it once it gets completed. So, thank you, Alman Beach. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, uh, I'd like to know about the maintenance of the park. Who is going to take care of it? Will they be an employee of Rockford or some other organization? What will the maintenance be? Will it be just cutting grass or will it be the beautifification, planting flowers and that kind of thing? That's one question that I have. The other side of that question is um you know we have a worldclass park district in Rockford and I mean that's not just something that I'm saying it's known around and I just don't understand why they're not involved some way in this park design and this upkeep and maintenance because that's what they know how to do and that's what they are doing. And so I'm not trying to let that stand in the way of this, but I want to put it out as a concern to me is why. So if you'd address the maintenance, I'd appreciate that. >> So there there are two questions there, alderman. Um, and I'll start with this the second one because I think that leads to the to the first question related to the maintenance. I can't fully answer your question in regards to why the park district has ended the partnership. Um when we brought forward the project u for the phase one approval um they provided a letter of support uh for the city to move forward with phase one. City council relied on that letter of support as part of the the approval of the phase one master plan. Um and that set the path. Um that was back in 2022. uh the park district and rave and city staff were partners through the design process. So we had numerous numerous uh meetings uh related to the the design of the park. So on the design portion they were included um and you know we had you know multiple partners. So, we are looking at it related to the park district lens as well as the lens from RAVE uh to making sure that we were we're hitting the mark and and validating what we're trying to accomplish um through the construction of this project. It wasn't until February of 2025 um earlier this year that the park district sent the termination um letter to the city. Um, so we didn't anticipate that they were not going to be a partner because one of our validation meetings is, and I'll I'll remind you, Alderman Beach, because you stressed this to me that you wanted our partners that were currently existing at Davis Park to remain our partners. So that was a strong component of our discussions and we had the validation meeting as the park district in and is rave in as existing partners. They both validated as yes and we move forward with the the design. Subsequent to the termination letter in February 2025, I had asked our team to do uh an evaluation estimate in regards to cost um that the city would now incur for the maintenance. Um and that would be a combination of, you know, contracting stuff out um and doing stuff with our own internal staff because both of that would would need to take place. Um and that estimate is approximately $75,000 on an annual basis and that was prepared by our public works department. Um in addition to that um you know we do need to recognize that these these are capital improvements and that capital improvements are going to need reinvestment on an annual basis. So, we already have a line item uh within our redevelopment fund uh related to to Davis Park. Um so, we validated and to increase that amount so that we had u an ongoing fund to support capital investments should that be needed. I would also point out that the recently approved IG with rave um has them on the maintenance of the buildings um up to $50,000 on an annual basis there. So there there's some shared costs between the city and rave um you know related to the buildings, the park ground, skateground, the playground, skate park, landscaping would all be responsibilities to us. Um, fortunately, Mitch Leatherbe, our our street superintendent, has some some I I don't want to overstate, but I would call it extensive experience uh with playground inspections. Um, his father-in-law is very well known, um, not father-in-law, stepfather or father, uh, very well known in the industry in regards to playground safety, inspections, and design, and I believe has authored a few books um, related to that matter. So, uh, his estimates is not an uneducated estimate in regards to what we think the the cost um would be, but we as an organization, we will we will need to take on uh that responsibility with maintenance now that the the park district has backed off. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> Turkey. >> Yeah, I just um have a a couple of comments. Um, as this thing has rolled through council, um, there's there's a couple of things that at least the council was that was communicated uh to the council is regarding this project uh over the years. And one of them is before we really went forward with the different components that we would have a I know we're voting on uh the first phase. And by the way, I'm uh before I get rolling, u I am supportive of of this project. I think it's very very important project. Um we were basically told we would be afforded an examination of the the really the objective and the and the final uh components of the park and and we really haven't had that opportunity. In fact, the renderings, boy, I haven't seen the final rendering in a while. The 3D is I sort of get uh an idea of placements and of where things are going to be, but I I didn't see the even the uh the band shell. And I'm also wondering about the size and scope of the band shell, by the way, as if you know if there's a bigger act, will they fit on the stage? Um, but when when you when you take a 40,000 foot view of what is trying to be done, it's it's it appears like it's the camel that a committee designing a horse uh came up with. Um, it I think right now it's trying to do too many things with too many components. Um and uh I understand the uh the park itself, the kids park is a handicap park. Um which has some cost to it, has some maintenance to it, and it has to have accessible parking spots close to it. Um but at the same time, I believe the park district is punching up Alpine Park, which may serve that purpose already. So having two parks, you know, of of that nature, I'm I'm not sure. Um the other components that I'm not quite sure why we why do we have EV stations? I mean, why not a gas station? Why not a gas station for boats? Um so I don't I some of these things I'm not sure. I'm not in favor of the skateboard park. I'd like to see that more of a neighborhood park or somewhere um uh where where it would get uh in a to me these are all my opinions in a better location but um I have mentioned this in the past um and that is what we I haven't seen you know this park and the and the boat dock and this even relate to what generated this comment to begin with was the the beach um is that the boat docks in some elements of the park are about 500 ft from a lowhead uh spillover dam with the hydraulic jump at the base of it. And I still haven't seen any idea of what water safety what that would look like. So that it takes the the water speeds up prior to the dam. The water flow speeds up and and it takes, you know, at 2 three miles an hour, it only takes about a minute to hit that dam. So if you you launch your boat, you come off the dock and you lose power, you have about a minute to get your boat started before you hit the dam. So I don't know, I'm not an expert in it. It just is a glaring thing here. You have a big safety hazard right next to a community park and I haven't quite seen that addressed. I I hope it has and I hope hope we're working that. I'm okay with phase one, but if we go much farther, we need to we need to um we need to see um uh some some idea of what's going to happen as it relates to the uh the op-ed in the paper that was written as far as uh this grandiose plan. Man, I heard that before and I heard it with the sports factory and we were told this was going to be the greatest thing in the world, the big city thing and now it's a high school gym. We really don't program it. I know I don't know what happened to it. So, I'm a little leerary of um studies and community groups sometimes because sometimes they get it wrong. Not sure we're getting it wrong here, but I have my suspicions um because of what went on with the sports factory. I love to see downtown punched up and to be developed and I like this park to be successful, but I'm wondering if doing too much threatens it its success rather than keeping it straightforward and simple. Um but um and I so that's those are um those are some of my uh those are some of my observations but um I wanted to clarify something. You said naming rights are going to be done by go Rockford >> n um so let me make sure I'm I'm clear on that. Um any naming rights first and foremost will be subject to city council uh approval. Um but they agreed to help secure naming rights and in the absence of securing naming rights they're designating $50,000 on an annual basis over 10 years um from their development fund >> from go Rockford's fund. >> Yeah. Uh it to be clear we have a a development agreement um and in lie of paying rent they put money into the development fund that can be utilized for tourism related activities. >> Yeah. So that those are my a little bit of my worries and my concerns. I mean, it's $15 million plus because we all I mean, we've done this stuff and the the final scope of it, but I think the sports factory was 20 million. To give you an idea of what we're pouring into this is a relative scope. You look you look on one side of the river, boy, there's a big building with a lot of stuff. Other side of the river, you got a park, a skateboard, and a thing, and then a band shell and some EV parking things. So I'm I uh like I said I think we there should be some caution in doing too much and promising too much uh when we look at this but it has to be done and uh it has to be done effectively and I'm I'm in full support of uh of the project at least with phase one and um and such. But I and I appreciate the work that that has gone into it. So, >> so I'll be real quick just to answer the the question and if there's because I know you had comments and questions um but I do want to make sure that we did um took your comment uh related to river access seriously that that came out of the 30% design u strategic planning session um that we had and one it resulted in our our fire department having a greater discussion and accountability with the sheriff's department related to the the line that goes across. So, shortly after that 30% design, the line went across the river. Unfortunately, the ice took it out. I think it was the ice that took it out um recently and then it got reinstalled. Um but then also the the design of the of the of the park, you know, has a you know, boulders versus a retaining wall. So, the accessibility is limited compared to what it is now. >> Tunberg. Thank you chairman. Uh a few things. One is that the uh for all to know the EV stations have been taken out of the uh plans. Correct. >> It's EV ready, but correct the the charging station is out. >> All right. And the the beach has been taken out as well. >> And correct. >> The chairman might want to return all his tanning products to Walgreens now. So, um the uh I I do look at part of that agreement with go Rockford as kind of a shell game actually. Uh instead of that money coming to the city of Rockford, which we then would have in the coffers is now just going out to coming into us just to be paid out. So, um you know, however that that is, that's the way I kind of view that a little bit. Um, could you let the I know we have the $50,000 agreement with RAVE. Could you let the uh individuals know that what how much the line item is for the continued costs that it's going to be for the city. >> So, we've budgeted $250,000 in the redevelopment fund and I believe we have that growing at 2 to 3% on an annual basis. similar to other annual expenses that we have. >> Uh real briefly, um I asked some questions about this project back probably two years ago. Uh I raised many questions about the skateboard park itself. Uh because um the community does have two skateboard parks already that I think in my mind when I go by them uh are underutilized. Um, I met with Ben Larson, the owner of the skateboard shop downtown. Uh, he is very energetic and trying to, you know, get more people into skateboarding and I hope he bucks the national trend. And Ben, I hope you have a line out your door. Uh, and I hope to see that. So, uh, as much as I was opposed to it, I mean, the cost of it is not that great. It's it's buffered away enough from the park that I don't think that it's, um, going to be a distraction or a noise concern or a nuisance. Um, so I have um, you know, I've also had the benefit since the layover we had two weeks ago of meeting with uh, the mayor multiple times, Mr. Kagnoni, Alderman Beach has put in put in, alderman Tunberg has, Alderman Durky uh, who have have been able to attend some of these meetings and get some further information. So, I I appreciate that uh, our city staff on doing that and clearing uh, some of those issues up. I'm still not a fan of a of a a fancy playground because, as I said before, it's somewhat mutually exclusive. You don't bring your kids to a concert to go into a playground. You're either watching the concert or you're watching your kids. Uh so I think it is a little bit of a different idea. I guess we'll see what the proofs in the pudding. I hope we don't have the proof in the pudding like Alderman Derky mentioned with W uh Sports Factory. Uh at the time Alderman Mcame and I were on that committee. uh questions were raised then the building got built and it's probably alery about 25 to$27 million and it's unfortunate I think the success of it uh or the lack thereof exists it doesn't mean it can't be reinvigorated or find other uses I'm glad that people in the quote unquote community can go down there and play pickle ball indoors right so at least it's getting utilized as as a facility so uh it would be nice to see uh as it was tied to uh the Gorman permanent hotel and you know has told us if you don't build it we're not building our hotel and you all these sources of tournaments whether they're basketball or volleyball that frankly have been a complete and utter failure. So I agree with you all the derky on that and that doesn't mean it can't be fixed. Um I asked also questions about the the budget of this. I mean we're we're sticking 15.5 million. Please don't come back and ask for change orders because that's a chunk of money to go into a small piece of property. Um, but again, I agree with Alderman Tunberg. I know it's shocking, but uh I think the $500,000 line item from the go Rockford and I'm a board member there should be taken out because it's not new money. It's allegedly over 10 years, so it's really $50,000 a year. But really, it's not new money. You're saying if I'm I'm going to go get a naming right? Well, I could get you a naming right. I can do that today, right? I mean, I don't need I don't need Go Rockford to help that. And then I don't believe they should get quote unquote credit or commission for that. and and and the other money is if is that it's in lie of the rent. So I mean they were either going to pay us rent or they're going to pay us this. So it's it just as Alderman Tunberg correctly said it it looks and it is a shell game. It's no new money. So take it out of the line on it. I mean it it just doesn't make sense to be in there. What's more important is that we've added ourselves in there $3 million extra in the redevelopment fund. So again, we're using a lot of city money on this project and like I said, I I hope it is a success. Um, the plan is the plan. I've been uh a little bit lackluster and disappointed about the folks that designed it since I've met them and there really hasn't been any modifications made. So, it is what it is and I wish you the best of luck. Any other questions? All person Tamir Bell. >> Thank you, Chairman. Uh, a few questions, Mr. Koni. Uh first I'd like to just make mention of an event that I was able to sponsor at the UW this past weekend. Female energy that brought hundreds of of uh young women and entrepreneurs out to uh use the facility and I think it was just a great uh time for those who attended um and you know didn't play pickle ball or basketball there. Uh they had an opportunity to uh support small businesses. uh can you talk through us I guess for the record um there was made mention today in today's discussion about uh a handicap park for my friends in the community with mobility limitations can you talk to us about the universal park that we uh would be supporting >> so I it is a universally uh universally designed uh playground understanding that there's components um that meet the needs of numerous abilities uh for individuals within our community. So it's not, you know, singled out for any one particular group of individuals, but I do believe this is a playground that all can enjoy if I keep want to call him director. So sorry. >> Sure. There's I mean beyond physical disabilities uh of which there are climbing features for the physically disabled there are uh for the hearing uh um impaired uh there are some specific features as far as a cone. Uh for some with sensory um uh um impairments uh there are some quiet zones as well. So uh it is like like uh administrator Kagnoni said there there it is not just for the physically disabled. It is for all uh universally disabled uh and impaired persons. >> Thank you. >> Me I just wanted to comment because I don't want to lose this opportunity to uh make mention of the ADA accessible playground at Oxford Park in honor of John Beck. um we have we have some in this community. So I I think it's just important to state that that this is not the first and um if you want to enjoy a park come over to the 12th ward at Oxford and Ingresol Park. Thank you so much Grant. >> Um as a special education teacher and I just want to reiterate that going to give a little history lesson. Texting, voice to speech was something that was used for students a long time ago before it became a universal thing that we all use. And so, as an educator, I want my students and my children and everybody else to be able to walk onto a playground and be able to experience it as everybody else is experiencing it. And as what we consider today, what might be something special is just the beginning of something that will then eventually become universal. So I just want to reiterate that yes, we have other parks, but we need to continue to make all places accessible for all people and I am really appreciative of this park be doing that. So thank you. >> All right. Any other questions? Almani. Um, thank you. I just kind of wanted to make sure I understood the shell game portion because even if they're G, if you're not using the money here, aren't you going to use the money on the park? Well, I don't get the shell game reference. >> You want me to answer that? >> I I don't Yes, chairman. >> Sure. in in the proposed budget uh it says $500,000 from go Rockford and then it says in parentheses committed over 10 years. So if all these other numbers are, you know, for an annual cost or I'm not sure what what this length of the revenue coming in from this, but I know we have to pay a contractor, right? He's not waiting 10 years to get paid. Um, so it makes it look larger than it is. But I think what Alderman Tunberg and I were making reference to was one uh it in the information provided it indicated that GO Rockford would help secure someone to uh have naming rights hopefully up to or in excess of $500,000. So, let's just say they pick Tunberg Asset Management to be the one that's the name on it for $500,000. The money comes from Tunberg Asset Management, not Go Rockford. Right. So, they're claiming a credit for doing what they do already. Right. Secondly, uh it said in lie of that that uh pursuant to the the rent the lease terms uh we have between the city of Rockford and Go Rockford, they pay rent and it says in there that if in lie of paying the the rent every month, they can uh divert that rent money to a project. So we either so the city either so then we either get paid the rent or we don't and if they don't then it goes somewhere else. So it's no new increase in money. It's one or the other. It's it's it's flat. It's the same. >> So that's only if >> you don't come through. Tune doesn't come through. Right. >> Correct. >> Correct. >> That might be a little bit low. So >> okay, >> that was the bottom talking about >> that was it. >> Nothing disparaging. I mean I mean uh and Mr. Grow was really the leader behind in working um patiently and diligently over a course of a number of years of really putting this together. And when I had hard questions to ask, M Mr. Gro was the one frankly who had the best knowledge base of anyone and could could answer because he had he had the historical knowledge and he was the one that really put in in my mind from the city, but Mr. Gro really put in a lot of work into the whole Davis Park project in the committee. So, >> thank you. >> Seeing no further questions, all those in favor indicate by I. I >> opposed. Matter passes. Item F is an award of bid for Davis Park building improvements phase one building to Strumm construction. The amount of $5,68,000 plus a $500,000 contingency. The contract durations through May 22nd, 2026. Is there a motion to approve? >> Any questions or comments? >> Seeing none, all those in favor I I opposed. Matter passes. Item G is an engineering agreement amendment to Davis Park improvements to Smith Group of Madison, Wisconsin in an additional amount of $465,000 for an amended total of 1,798,900. This amendment includes construction engineering services for the site and building improvements. Uh it also includes participation in pre-construction and coordination meetings uh review of construction drawing submitts 19 on-site construction observation visits and reporting punch list inspection and project closeout. The contract ration is through May 22nd, 2026. Is there a motion to approve? >> Any questions or comments? Alman Tumer. >> Uh, I'm in the wrong business. Thank you. >> Yeah. Uh, I I did speak to um Mr. Kegoni today about this and I did inquire. This is the group that designed it. And like I said, um they've already been paid in excess of $1 million. And I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but and and I'm not saying that they didn't do work. Um, but I just wanted to know whether or not at this point in the project, if we're going to hire u someone like Stenstöm Excavating and Stenstrm Construction, whether or not it's needed to have someone come down here 19 times for a for a construction visit when they really don't know a whole lot about construction. So, Mr. Kagni was going to look into that and see if it is necessary, if we can dial back the scope because again, it's it's it's frankly an extra half million dollars thrown into this to have someone babysit. So, um, I'm going to vote yes for it tonight, but hopefully we can get some answers before we vote on council. So, any questions? All right, seeing none, all those in favor to give I post. Matter passes. Is there a motion to adjurnn? Second. >> All those in favor I. >> Thank you.