Peoria approves $13-14 million Depot Street warehouse project, downtown dining pilot program

for e if everyone would take their seat we're going to get started in about one and a half minutes for make an amendment to those so try to make sure we can capture that council member velpula are you still there yes okay great thank you good evening everyone it's 6:05 p.m.

on Tuesday January the 9th 2024 happy New Year I'd like to call the meeting of the Poria city council to order also like to welcome everyone that's here in our city council chambers as well as our audience that's listening on uh Channel wcbu I'd also like to welcome the audience watching on cable channel M clerk the council mics are open please call the role mayor Ali present council member Allen council member sear here council member Gordon young pres council member graab here council member Jackson here council member Kelly here council member Oiler here council member riggenbach council member velpula oh pres and council member Vasa here okay a notice was received by council member velpula of the city council in accordance with the rules established in ordinance number 16142 council member velpula would be deemed authorized to attend the meeting electronically unless a motion objecting to council member vpa's electronic attendance is made seconded and approved by two-thirds of the members of the city council phys physically present at the meeting if no such motion is made and seconded then the request by council member velpula to attend electronically shall be deemed approved by the city council and the presiding officer shall declare council member velpula present uh Madame clerk council member velpula present great we have a quorum present Madame mayor okay thank you very much everyone please join me and stand for a moment of Silent prayer or silent reflection followed by the Pledge of Allegiance States the stands na indivisible andice all Madam clerk we are at proclamations we have one Proclamation and it is the 22 veteran artists vet check uh we have present with us uh Michael Reagan I believe in Randolph pry gentlemen if you would come to the mic I'll read the proclamation and allow you to make comments uh following the reading whereas 22 VA was established to raise awareness of the fact that 22 veterans take their own lives every day 22 VA also seeks to make an impact by connecting those in the community in need of support with art and Horticultural therapy both which make positive impacts on the lives of veterans and whereas since its Inception the 22 VA organization has continued to expand Outreach to raise awareness of Veteran suicide in addition to expanding opportunities for veterans and whereas now in its 10th year the annual 22 VA Art Exhibit at Peoria Public Library continues to serve veterans and educate the public expanded art exhibits are also on display in area VFW Halls and whereas all community members are encouraged to take advantage of the resources available from 22v and to practice the 22v vet check on the 22nd of every month please check on a veteran and let them know you're thinking about them the 22v vet check is intended to provide support to the neighbors and community members who are veterans and to remind them that they are not alone now therefore I Reed Ali mayor of the city of Peoria Illinois do hereby recognize 22 VA for their contributions and ask the public to participate in the 22 VA Vet check in Peoria Illinois dated this n9th day of January 2024 thank you I just wanted to say a couple things real quick the 22nd of every month at noon we do a Plunge in the Illinois River you don't have to wait for January 1 we do it every month um and we also uh started up a PTSD uh group at P Heights VFW uh the 28th will be our next day doing that uh you can check the PE Heights Facebook page for the VFW to learn more about it but it's for all veterans and First Responders Eric over there so I want to make sure a lot of our police fire department they see some pretty horrible things too so it's something we all need to to take care of mental health a little better so thank you thank you Mr Reagan Mr pry thank you for your important and dedicated work I I did visit the art display in the lower level of the downtown peor library it's very heart-wrenching it's very important it's very beautiful as well I encourage others to visit that display it's very important uh thank you again for your [Applause] work Madam clerk we are at the approval of the minutes council member rigbot thank you madam mayor I move to approve the minutes of The Joint City Council and town board meeting held on December 12th 2023 is printed seconded by council member graab any discussion please cast your ballots council member velpula I motion passes unanimously Madam clerk we have one town item 24-1 is a request from the town officials to approve the December 2023 actual expenditures and to approve the January 2024 anticipated expenditures for the town of the city of Poria trusty graab I uh move to approve as outlined seconded by uh trustee Jackson any discussion trustee Seer thank you madam mayor just got one request I've asked that a while ago and I'm going to request it again every month all 11 of us are asked to sign a document in back room there about the budget and all we see or all I see is really one payment um I asked before I'm going to ask again tonight I'd love to see the budget like what was the check this month year to date and what the budget is basically so when I sign a document I know a little bit more what I'm signing and I know we're on target with the budget I know how much we spent so far so I'm not sure I don't think it would be too difficult of a request but I'd love to see that at least three columns so we can we can uh I know a little bit more what I'm signing superv supervisor can you respond to that thank you yes thank you um trustee SE um for the question so the question that you're asking for are um the year to date now those are updated once we end the month um there is um some checks and balances that are set in place um that we have to have done before we put that in there what you're seeing before you and what we're asking um approval on are the expense reports but you would like to see what what is done so far um you should be receiving those um the the those documents here soon I believe oh right now um we did have our bookkeeper that was out last week so um you should have an updated um report this week for sure because she'll be in tomorrow but those are those are two separate so what what you're asking for approval on is the expense reports but what you're requesting is where are we at so far those we don't have you don't have to have approval on those but we do provide that for you yeah it really be interesting to see uh the year to date and what the budget is for each line item if it's possible absolutely in fact um I make sure that when you receive them I receive them so we get them at the same time so you will be receiving them as well thank you thank you madam mayor welc so we have a motion and a second any other discussion please cast your ballots trusty vesa h no I'm I didn't mean vesa I'm sorry trustee velpula yes motion passes unanimously thank you sorry about that I used to do that between two other other [Laughter] guys the RS and the B's okay Madam clerk we are at the city portion of the agenda the consent agenda 24-2 is a request from the city manager and the chief diversity and inclusion officer to approve the amendments to the Charter for the City County Commission on racial Justice INE Equity 24-3 is a communication with request to approve payment to PNC Bank for right-of-way acquisition and temporary easement of a portion of parcel 14- 06- 476-1779 North University Street for the proposed Pioneer Parkway and University Street intersection reconstruction project in the amount of $62,400 24-4 is a communication with request to approved payment to Parkplace real estate LLC for a right-of-way acquisition and temporary easement of a portion of parcel 14- 06- d015 at 8001 North University Street for the proposed Pioneer Parkway in University Street intersection reconstruction project in the amount of $64,500 24-5 is a communication with request to approve payment to Pioneer Industrial Park Inc for right-of-way acquisition and temporary easement of a portion of parcel 14- 8-11-2 and 14- 08-10 1-3 at 7820 North University Street for the proposed Pioneer Parkway and University Street intersection reconstruction project in the amount of $19,700 24-6 is a communication with a request to adopt an ordinance correcting certain scrier errors in the legal description of the South Village tax increment financing District Redevelopment plan and program 24-7 is a communication with request for the following a adopt an ordinance authorizing the establishment of Tiff interested parties Registries and Adoption of registration rules for such Registries for the proposed Galina Road Industrial Park Tiff district and B adopt an ordinance to establish a date for a public hearing for the proposed Galina Road Industrial Park Tiff district 24-8 is a communication with a request for the following a adopt an ordinance authorizing the establishment of Tiff interested parties Registries an adoption of registration rules for such Registries for the proposed Distillery T Tiff district and B adopt an ordinance to establish a date for a public hearing for the proposed Distillery Tiff district 24-9 is an appointment by mayor Ali to the East Village growth cell advisory committee with a request to concur of Daniel renck 24-10 is an appointment by mayor Ali to the to the historic preservation commission with a request to concur of John Wiggins Redmond 24-11 is a communication with request to receive and file the Springdale Cemetery Management Authority annual budget for 2024 and 24-12 is a request to approve the committee report policy session from the December 12th 201 23 city council meeting on violence prevention funding and that concludes our consent agenda thank you madam clerk are there items to remove from consent council member Kelly uh2 97 and please you saidou 07 didn't you yes I did okay okay I'm going to repeat those make sure I have them um 24012 yes thank you okay any other items to remove can I get a motion to approve council member Oiler seconded by council member Sear any other questions please cast your ballots council member velpula yes motion passes unanimously Madam clerk 24-2 is a request from the city manager and the chief diversity and inclusion officer to approve the amendments to the Charter for the City County Commission on racial Justice and Equity council member Kelly thank you Madame mayor I have a couple questions uh on the proposed changes um uh first of all on page number one of the uh proposed changes document uh Vision um says the vision of the joint committee on racial Justice and Equity is to end racism in City and County government that was in the original charter I understand is there racism in this in our city government and if so how do we measure that frankly I don't know that there is but uh is it truly the feeling of this commission that there is racism in our city government there was a a full report um actually there was a lot of work that was done prior to the commission coming into existence um that showed barriers to um Workforce barriers systemic historical barriers to sometimes employment to entry into certain opportunities um there's been evidence of historical institutional racism not just within the city government but throughout institutions whether they're educational government throughout the city and the nation count council member and and you know the intent of the commission which was approved unanimously by both the city and the county over two years ago was to try to remove all elements uh of racism institutional racism that may be built into the fabric of policies practices procedures you know that's that's really the intent of the uh commission is to help to remove those those elements uh I think I understand that Madame mayor first of all this is not looking back this is a present tense and it says we have racism in our city government if there is let's hear about it I I I don't believe that there is if there was in the past I don't doubt that there was in the past well you heard disparities based upon race just not too long ago I'm not talking about disparities I'm I'm not talk I'm say I'm saying do we have racism in our city government this says that we do my answer to that is yes okay I would appreciate um uh some evidence thereof and we can address that rather quickly I think uh my second uh in the same item the vision item we want to achieve racial equity perhaps I'm ignorant but I don't really know what that is is that you know I I don't know how we're doing and I don't know how we measure that and it kind of goes along with my fir my first objection um it sounds nice but what is it exactly and how do we measure it just to say it's there I we we there was a tool that was introduced a while ago to actually have some measurement of progress toward Equity but as I recall you didn't want to use that tool within city government I I did not I didn't I disagreed with um the disparity approach to it in other words we have um you know a certain percentage of this particular ethnic group in our city um do we have that same percentage everywhere in city hall or everywhere in the city and of course we don't I don't know that that proves anything um I think we're looking what we're looking at here is racial discrimination um I don't think there's racial discrimination in the NBA even though what that many what did you just say what did you just say I don't think there is raci much racial discrimination in the NBA even though there aren't very many white players you get to play in the NBA by Merit not by how many people does it represent in the United States of America so anyway these are are my objections and also I have one more question and this is on page four um under and it's U an addition on item number four item a on number four um what is a racially diverse person and that's also in paragraph C and C I I well councilman I think what the the intent of that change was was to talk about the fact that we wanted to have diverse chairs meaning not from the same race uh chairs uh co-chairs of the steering committee that would be or of the committee itself I think I get the idea except I I have a problem with the language there's no such thing as a diverse person okay um I don't mind having different people of different races heading these things up but a diverse person does not exist I don't believe again the point was to have racially diverse co-chairs of each of the steering committee as well as each of the subcommittees so that it's not a homogeneous leadership I understand it could it could read racially diverse co-chairs or racially diverse leadership I understand I I think the we should make that I think it's clear what the intent is but that's not what the language says that's my problem there um so um those are my objections Madame mayor okay and um even though I have objections I'll move to approve as long as they're noted okay is there a second seconded by council member Allen any other discussion council member Allan uh thank you Madame mayor since this item was pulled I'll go ahead and just provide um some comments I do want to applaud uh our steering committee and our and our co-chair specifically uh Tim and Mary for the work they've been doing in this space the last two years uh really uh mobilizing galvanizing the troops uh in the commitment to this work as we are seeing um nationally there is a trend to pull back from these type of efforts right now and to see that we have a joint commission here that is um based off the city and county government I think that demonstrates what type of community we have here uh within our city and our County and I'm very proud to be a part of it um I'm excited for the future of this work I want to commend uh our uh Chief diversity inclusion officer Chief green who I believe I saw walk in the chambers as well too for her work in this space and so again I know that um the last couple um months it's been tough to have some quorums for some of the subcommittees and that will change as well too um the Committees now will be able to uh meet virtually um based off of some of the language that's been changed uh in in this Charter so I think that will also help engagement and also some results that we'll see in the future thank you madam mayor thank you any other comments please cast your ballots council member velpula yes motion passes unanimously Madam clerk 24-7 is a communication from the city manager and assistant city manager with a request for the following a adopt an ordinance authorized in the establishment of Tiff interested parties Registries and Adoption of registration rules for such Registries for the proposed Galina Road Industrial Park Tiff district and B adopt an ordinance to establish a date for a public hearing for the proposed Galina Road Industrial Park Tiff district council member Kelly thank you Madame mayor uh just uh some information Mr manager um we we established uh an interested party registry for our older tiffs we have for every Tiff it's a legal requirement that you establish the registry so that uh people that want information about the Tiff would be able to be notified thank you I'm I'm sorry for taking up our time it was new to me so I've not been paying attention so I'm sorry about that and I will move to approve item a sec can I get a second seconded by council member riggenbach discussion please cast your ballot ballots sorry okay council member velpula I motion does pass unanimously including uh council member grb uh you you had a comment I just want I'm sorry okay um we we'll come back to it later okay I'm excited about the gleener road toest okay great and so your vote Yes he was a yes vote thank you we M CL we need to vote on Item B yes council member Kelly uh I move to approve Item B uh seconded by council member riggenbach okay any discussion council member grab do you want to comment now yes um manager um this could be an exciting uh area for development for our city do you have anything you or maybe the district council person would like to add to the discussion here the area in question this area along Galina Road um is predominant zoned industrial and and looking at this is an area of future Industrial Development um we looked at the the Galina Road area and thought this made a really good opportunity for us to work um The Lion Share of the land that is east of Galina road is owned by the water company that we're talking about here and we've had discussions with them about about future development and being able to look at at that for um future Industrial Development there is Industrial Development uh as you go further north uh before you get to um the city's uh fire training Tower um that is in this location as well so it's a great opportunity for us to look at this uh very excited about this opportunity to try and Foster additional Industrial Development today we had uh the general meeting of the greater Poria Economic Development Council and one of the items that came up and'll actually come up Friday when we talk with our legislators uh is the fact that we don't have enough assembled land industrial land to Foster uh development in the community so this would certainly help us in that regard right and you know too often I think we're riveted on the idea of bringing in some huge employer but this Council has been approving one development after the next the accumulation of which I think think will put us in very good stead and maybe even better than just some huge Goliath of an industry that could uh could be helpful but the things that we've been approving for example uh over off Allen Road and councilman Sear's district with Maui Jim Etc now this I think these are huge pluses for our community and they will ultimately make our community more prosperous and create more jobs jobs Absolut thank you you're welcome council member sir thank you madam mayor thank you councilman Graham I love when you turn your mic on and throw some some good good news for the fifth district uh actually I just want to say you know I'm just teasing you but we do have a lot of great things happening in the Fifth District I just want to compliment our our manager Mr urick and obviously Mr Hayes will be part of this this today tonight is only step number one there are many steps to come and uh we'll be counting on I will be counting on my colleagues to help me with this development uh obviously for me I can't speak for any of you but education is for me is a priority number two is innovation and with with Tiff this Tiff District we we possibly will open the door to a lot more Innovation so uh thank you very much for voting for this tonight and I'm looking forward to all the work that will be coming very soon thank you thank you see no more comments everyone please cast your ballots council member velpula I motion passes unanimously Madam clerk 24-9 is an appointment by May RI to the East Village growth cell advisory committee with request concur of Daniel renck council member Kelly uh thank you Madame mayor I'd just like to uh ask if it would be possible to have these very useful and helpful bios for uh new appointments to be uh included in our packet or included uh you know on the uh on the iPad I think I think there was an intention because they just started coming and I know you just got them today but they were intended to go in the package earlier on that's great thank you Madame mayor you're very welcome and I will move to approve okay is there a second seconded by council member grup any other questions comments please cast your ballots council member velpula I motion passes unanimously man clerk 24-12 is a request to to approve the committee report policy session from the December 12th 2023 city council meeting on violence prevention funding council member Kelly uh yes madame mayor thank you I'd uh like to uh suggest or ask for a change in the minutes uh uh the minutes State I have to try to find it here it's from last Mee uh from the uh uh violence prevention funding uh oh notes policy session oh um it's the minutes and I'm on uh page three uh paragraph four uh the sentence in question speaking of myself said he said he supported long-term Solutions such as lighting for a lasting impact on the community and did not support funding programs focused on addressing poverty that uh it's a a Nuance but it's it's not really what I said what I said was I'm disappointed that power poverty programs don't seem to be working very well that's what I said I said I I did not say that I did not support funding programs V focused on addressing poverty so the committee report isn't that this right here it's attached to your Council communication it's 24- 012 in your packets okay okay I see so if the clerk could uh correct that I I would appreciate it understand could we have a motion to amend the minutes okay uh I will so move did you capture what he intended um we we had stated in the minutes that um he said he supported long term solution Solutions such as lighting for a lasting impact on the community and did not support funding programs focused on addressing poverty so um you know we can amend the minutes we can review the recording as well to make sure we capture that accurately okay are you comfortable with that yes I am Madam mayor okay based upon that Amendment do you want to uh I'll move to amend the minutes okay can I get a second seconded by council member sear any other discussion please cast your ballots council member Val Pula I motion passes unanimously okay thank you madam clerk we are at first readings 24-13 pardon me I'm sorry the motion to amend was passed but the but the item hasn't been approved so they're amended but they haven't been approved thank you thank you okay so we'll bring that we'll bring them back to approve is that correct or can we do it now okay council member Kelly I I will I will move to approve okay seconded by council member SE any questions comments please cast your ballots council member velpula I motion passes unanimously M clerk now we're at first readings 24-13 is a communication from the city manager Corporation Council and director of public works with a request to receive and file a first reading of an ordinance establishing the West lont Avenue special service area Council Hayes thank you and um appreciate a motion to defer this and I want to explain why um I I discovered in my review of finalizing the items for uh this agenda uh that there was a flaw in the uh legal description for the public hearing that we did in October it was my error I should have caught it back in September when I reviewed that but I did not to correct that we need to start the process from there and move forward I've spoken with the city manager when I discovered this error as well as um uh um the Public Works director this will not affect the project being done this year but we'll have to start the process new so we'll have a ordinance before the city council at the next meeting to approve a public Hearing in the 2nd February council meeting and then we'll be in position to approve this in the first meeting in May and the project will still take place this summer absence some unforeseen circumstances of objections what date do you want this deferred Council we can defer this generally and then we'll re agenda this item in May when it's up for approval okay can I a motion to defer moved by council member greb seconded by council member Kelly any questions discussion please cast your ballots council member velpula I motion passes unanimously madam mclark we're at regular business 24-14 is a communication from the city manager with a request to approve the 2024 annual City legislative agenda Mr manager uh thank you Madame mayor the the this is our annual legislative agenda for uh 2024 we do have in this uh some recurring items in our requests for direct sponsorship uh we also have some funding requests um some ver vertical and horizontal capital projects and then just some general POS position support uh the first item is um is our Public Safety pension reform request uh looking to extend the amortization period um second uh would be to uh include Peoria County in the uh list of counties uh that can utilize automated traffic law enforcement uh systems um third um looking at making some changes to the uh safety act and some of the public safety legislation to U strengthen uh some of of the the um um different types of cases and and strengthen their felonies uh to higher classes um making it that certain uh offenses require mandatory detention uh really to try and address the the detrimental effect that that's had on our neighborhoods uh fourth uh looking at Economic Development incentives and what we can do uh to support more expansive Economic Development incentives through the state of Illinois um and then fifth looking at um the Urban Decay statute and changing that to include uh Redevelopment as an eligible tax abatement within that process uh under the funding requests obviously we have projects that have been approved in the state's budget that we'd like to see the funding released we we're asking for those dollars to be released uh continued support of violence reduction programming um the warehouse District parking structure and the relocation of the State Street Post Office um looking at um capital projects uh road projects such as pioner Parkway looking at Allen Road uh laram me Avenue and then the Springdale Cemetery Road Network and then we have just various position supports that we've had in for a number of years so it's pretty straightforward um we would have the we have our legislative breakfast is scheduled for this Friday at the downtown library um the program will start at 7:30 doors will open at 7:15 um we have gotten confirmations from four of our state senators that represent all of Poria County uh including um uh the two or the three that represent the city of Poria um we have confirmations of three representatives and then staff from three of the other Representatives that will be there as well so um looking forward to sharing this with our legislative delegation and hearing uh their outlook for this upcoming legislative session as well great do we have confirmation from a good number of of us the council IL uh we will certainly confirm that and make sure that we do get we want to make sure that we have a good presence as well this is Friday this Friday morning at our uh legislative breakfast it's really important if you're able to attend to to be there weather permitting hopefully this this other storm that's coming through doesn't hit us too hard Thursday night if the weather is very inclement and slippery or you know just not a good time what will what's the backup plan making a decision on Thursday and if that's the case we'll shift to a zoom meeting and do it that way and we'll get the invitations out to everybody on Thursday okay any questions comments on the legislative agenda mad mayor s oh just I I'll get right back to you council member velpula council member SI thank you Madame mayor uh Mr manager can you give us a little bit more detail about the funding request uh I thought some of these have been have been uh I guess I was not telling the whole truth I thought they were were done but I guess we're not um so no I we have um we have made the request um of our legislators for funding such as Main Street the riverfront uh funding for Pioneer Parkway and MacArthur Highway uh those funds have not been released from dceo they've been reauthorized again and again in the in the state budgets but they haven't been released and so that's why we've put those back on the list asking the legislators to ensure that those dollars get released to the city so what is the earliest time that example pure Riverfront I mean what's the earliest time that money could be released well if if they they call us this week and say that we're ready to go and with releasing the funds it'll take us a few months uh to work through the process with them to to get the funding released or or the mechanism in place for that um but that's something that that you know it's been in their the state's budget for the last four years so we'd really like to to see that that that does those funding so I'm real happy to see that the Civic Center not mentioned this report their funds been released then they have been released thank you very much thank you madam mayor you're very welcome and that's a good example the Civic Center which was $25 million how long was that allocated on a list before it actually got released do you recall might have been two or three years that's what I thought it took it took a couple three years oh council member rigbot thank you Madame mayor Mr manager we talk about the relocation of the State Street post office is that something that is our wish or is that something that the federal government is actually actively pursuing no councilman that that's that's our wish that's our request uh the US Postal Service uh their policy is that if a city wants the post office to be relocated in their Community they'll work with them as long as we build them a like kind operation so that's something that we would want to certainly look at uh as we would structure that and that you know as we've discussed with the rail initiative that that may be a good location for the station for downtown uh that was the reason why we put that on the list thank you thank youcome council member grup uh thank you uh manager and staff for encapsulating uh much of the input perhaps all the input from the council members I have to be focused on the public safety amendments that are being requested uh because that's what I hear about virtually every day from my constituents with General alarm about the way things are going with many of the repeat offenders and we all know that the vast majority of our citizens here in pury including our young kids are law-abiding people we're an inflection point as relates to what we're going to do about people who repeated L commit crimes vicious crimes and who are harming innocent people and destroying the Tranquility of our neighborhoods I think that as I look at this manager you have um not framed this city request as it relates to Public Safety amendments in the form of repeal and replace I think what we're asking for unless this Council wants to change this is amending it to allow for example mandatory detention for class two class one cl X felonies and so we want our state lawmakers to know how much we appreciate what they have been doing for us and our federal lawmakers as well so when we meet with them I hope they take this in the appropriate way because the safety act was a big flatform all over this state and you had public officials in every County it be State's Attorney Police Superintendent um uh or County Sheriff Department saying there were some problems with this and it just seemed like they hunkered down and no there are no problems now I happen to know know that many of the problems that we have and you know this that we're having in Pura are not unique Mayor Lee to Pura that's right some of the communities for example that came down for the rail press conference like Morris and Pontiac and Bloomington and they weren't here for that but comparably sized cities they're having many of the same problems that we have and I think our Command Staff with the Pua Police Department and police officials throughout the state are taking a look at what we can do to make our community safer and take the people who are very viciously praying on innocent folks off the streets until it's safe to let them go back so I I'm going into this with a very positive attitude and I hope they will accept every one of our suggestions in a positive way because they've been working very hard for us I think it will be well received do you want to make a motion to approve sure should I'd make a motion to approve the 2024 annual City legislative agenda seconded by council member riggenbach any further discussion please oh council member velpula did you have a comment yes madame mayor I just have one quick question for Mr manager I'm sorry U thank you thank you Mr manager for for this comprehensive report I just wanted to you know I was looking I was trying to compare this um request with previous year's request and you're right majority of them are a repetition right I wanted to know um also about the performance of our lobbyists what were the what were the their accomplishments in 2023 and what will be their outlook for and and and uh also a report back on what we asked what we got and what we did not would be more appreciated because it's for me if I went back and looked at 2023 request and 2024 request both look the same except one here and there manager yeah councilman we'll be happy to to put together a report back kind of a a summary of what what we've received over the last several years in terms of of grants that have that have been direct legislatively directed um thanks to the efforts of our lobbyists and we'll also um talk about some of the other efforts that they've been working on for us as well so um we can prepare that and get that out to council uh by next week will our lobbyists be at the meeting they will be here okay that'll be good that'll be good um just to uh follow up so um so these are the so I saw there are one two three four five requests five direct five requests for direct sponsorship uh the landscape of theoria may have changed from 2023 to 2024 are you still willing to add any more requests or this is pretty much it the Acoustics are killing me but yeah councilman could could you repeat that one more time sorry about that we're just trying to to get the the question so basically we have uh list said five requests for the 2024 legislative agenda uh can we can we add more requests or this is it well well th this was we we put this together at the request of of council we send a request out to everyone asking them to submit information to us about what they wanted to see um corre correct yeah correct correct yeah yeah no no no I was I was uh after reading this I felt that maybe if there is a request to add something for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services probably somewhere it'll be helpful as well I don't know if there's time for addition but I I don't think the door is shut to adding something uh later on I mean this is what we're going to present to them on Friday but if there's something that comes up along the way that we want to sit talk to our uh legislators about we want to uh move something through the lobbyists about there's no you know time limit on that that's correct okay thank you Madame mayor thank you Mr manager thank you you're welcome council member Allen uh thank you madam mayor uh just a general question for you city manager um looking at some of these items some of these items are are going to require State um support and so when we talk about you public uh safety pension reform and some of these others those aren't unique challenges to the city of Poria are our other neighboring municipalities are they having these same items on their agenda so that way we present more of a united front that these are some common kitchen table issues that we need support Statewide yes and and the municipal league is as well pension reform is one of the the items in the State Illinois Municipal League's uh legislative agenda uh that they have continually put forward as being important um there are communities across Ross Illinois that are are talking about Public Safety pension reform and the challenges that would face I mean it's no surprise that that you know the the um projections that we put together for you in the budget where we show what what that that um uh continuing growth in pension costs are going to be up till 2040 every Community is facing that same thing some are at different levels just depending on their assessed value if they're more affluent or not they may have a higher tax base uh everyone is facing that same issue no I definitely appreciate that and um I know that there was some appetite around the council to look into the automatic um cameras if you will for the the traffic lights and things of that nature and so I didn't know if that was also the appetite of some of our local municipalities in the area as well too um again just kind of having just kind of sing singing from the same hymn may get us some more support to get some of those uh downstate um strategies so you know I think that there's uh um this this one is probably more um specific because it would you're you're asking to add a specific County to that list um you know so that that is where it would be focused on Poria County uh by doing that uh if there are others that are doing it I haven't heard you know and and quite frankly you know in we're somewhat unique in that we have this legislative agenda that we put together some communities don't do this to this level of specificity as they go forward with that okay thank you mad they rely on the municipal League you sir thank you madam mayor you're welcome council member vesa thank you Madame mayor um just a couple questions uh what's the justification for treating you know Chicago Pension funds different from down state that that doesn't seem very fair to me it it it was designed that way and I think that that you know it goes back you know when they created pensions 70 80 years ago they put them in different different statutes and they have different um different benefit structures and different different levels of uh requirements that are set out in each one of those different statutes so well yeah that seems kind of kind of an easy sell for my vantage point um and also with regard to the safety act you know we there was a lot of talk about you know how they'd be the purge when it finally went into effect I think that went into effect September 18th um I'm not sure that there's been so much recidivism before trials you know people being released and then committing crimes before their trials uh such that we've we've seen you know a big difference I I do think I do think what's you know been the problem before and is a continuing problem is you know minors uh committing crimes stealing cars throughout our city um that's that seems to be more the juvenile courts Act than the safety act I know the safety act gets a lot of the spotlight and a lot of the attention but you know at Juvenile Courts you know 16year olds stealing cars 15y olds joy riding um you know get get released to their parents uh as a matter of course and it's it's not really the judges um it's not the prosecutors it's the laws written so it's that's not a safety act issue in my opinion uh thank you madam mayor you're very welcome council member grup well we all got a report few days ago about a malignant player downtown who broke into many many vehicles belonging to people who either worked or lived downtown and according to the report that was given to us by the police department this person had been arrested multiple times in about an 8 day period and these were just wanting acts of Destruction if that particular person had been arrested and had to make bail we would have probably saved a lot of grief for people who had destruction of their property and their homes downtown an area where trying to raise up and make people feel like they can live there safely same thing with other neighborhoods I think you're right on on this one councilman uh vpa kids what we're doing with kids it's a joke and they know it and if you sit where I sit and you get the calls about the cars that continue to be car car windows broken rifling through the car stealing the cars same kids laughing at the police yeah they just laugh something's got to give it has to give we have to find a new way of dealing with it and yes maybe there aren't a lot of pre-trial items we can count to yet but there's enough that stand out in my mind as being very significant ones and the juvenile element alone it's just mind-boggling you take a look at the number of kids we've buried in Pura in the past two years between the ages of 18 and 24 and take a look at the number of times they've interfaced with the juvenile justice system we have a problem here and I I don't have all the answers and that is why I think it is so productive for us to meet with our state lawmakers because I'm not the only one thinking this my constituents think that many of us think this our Command Staff at the police department I want to speak for all of them they have to deal with with some of this every single day police go out and they arrest them and sometimes they jeopardize their very lives doing it and possibly the person being apprehended or eluding police and my constituents maybe yours are different this is probably the single biggest quality of life issue we have in Pura is this repeat crime recidivist crime and where we can and I didn't say replace but where we can amend that safety act to address some of these things things I think we should and I think our constituents are going to demand it um and I'm going to work to that end regardless but um I appreciate the comments that are made but I'll tell you what something's going to have to give because we can't keep people excited about living in community this community investing downtown Etc when we have all this rampant crime and and the police many of our police talk to them talk to them they feel like they're going out there with their hands tied behind their backs seriously talk to them and then some of these people you going to give them a citation really okay yeah right so we wonder why uh we're viewed as being rather ineffective in making our community safe for the rest of us who just want to live in peace tranquility and not have to worry about living our lives in this community not having our cars stolen Windows broken out not being robbed Etc not having a home Burg not having a bullet coming through the door or the window of the house the number of shots being fired in this community the number of people who were shot last year is unbelievable now this goes in Cycles we've been here before this isn't the first time we've had big problems and frankly mayor that's why we we lobbied effectively back in the 90s and early 2000s to get some assistance from the federal government to hire more police officers and there were people who sat in this horseshoe and they said well we don't think we want to apply for these cops grants because it only pays for the first three years the police officer but we ended up hiring 36 additional police police back in the mid90s and into the 2000s the ODS because of this this assistance and and we we did reduce the number of homicides but we've been at 25 before I don't know about 29 this year so I I don't want to act like the sky is falling we've never been here before because we have been but we've made the appropriate adjustments in the past to deal with the Threat Level and I'm I'm convinced we'll do it again this time mayor Le I agree thank you welcome mayor if there's based upon what councilman vesa said and what councilman graab just said it if there's no objection to the council we'll make that tweak to the language here on the public safety changes to include the juvenal court act so we can just talk about that as well that's great I don't no objections okay that's great okay uh council member vesa thank you Madame mayor um yeah I just want to clarify I I think as written I I think it's fine I do I do agree with adding more classes and reclassifying certain crimes to make it so that if you if you are arrested on you know a dangerous crime like uh fleeing and looting police I I think that's reasonable to make that something that would lead to uh pre-trial detention um my my concern is you know people um committing committing nonviolent crimes and then being told you got to you got to put up $500 uh and they so they sit in jail and they lose their jobs they lose their kids uh their farm animals die because I've actually seen that as a public defender um so I mean you have to strike a balance there I I am though I I think the uh the proposals uh that were put forth here are are reasonable so I'm not objecting to that thank you okay okay all right is that an amended motion is that an amended second by council member riggenbach okay all right if there's no more discussion please cast your ballots council member velpula I motion passes unanimously Madam clerk 24-15 is a communication from the city manager and assistant city manager with request to approve the purchase of infrastructure for an outdoor dining pilot program in the downtown central business area and Riverfront with the vendor mod Street in the amount not to exceed $175,000 good evening good evening mayor and councel happy New Year to you all um I want to present uh our request for a pilot to look at outdoor dining in the downtown central business district and River Front area in the amount to not to exceed $175,000 using arpa funds um in 20122 when I arrived uh I was informed that Economic Development was looking to place pets in the um excuse me parklets all these Peds and Parks parklets into the right of way to extend outdoor dining for businesses in the downtown dist District area and so if you know what a parklet is we in 2018 up Main Street we in front an ice cream shop there was a parklet that was uh The Invasion team at the time had used as a um a pilot model for potential expansion of parklets along um Main Street and in other areas of the city so we had a history of of utilizing parklets but we wanted to use it in the downtown that was the direction so in doing that what we decided to do in econom development we look to our community partner Urban kind Consulting to have them come in and really evaluate if we're going to put parklets in the downtown where would it make the most sense since we didn't have the capacity in house to really do that type of valuation so over the course of a few months U Urban kind met with Community Development um we spoke to we spoke to them um in Economic Development um spoke to looked at our current policies and ordinances and then did an evaluation of what we can do moving forward and what type of vendor we can potentially be moving forward with um initially we were just going to go ahead and get the container uh parklets that you see in our neighboring community in prioria Heights it's it's very successful everyone knows how that the structure looks like it is a one once you constructed it's a one unit piece so you can't deconstruct it so there was questions about well we do move with that type of material where will we store it in public works you know that was the first questions where will we store multiple units so we brought that challenge to Urban kind as well and so in doing so they came back and they presented us with a few of um vendors in adherence to our um purchasing policy we did review a number of vendors and then we came that mod Street was the most viable vendor look that fit the criteria that we wanted to move forward with but in selecting masterer we realized that they offered more than just a container they actually offered units and what the units are it allows for flexibility that you can construct and Deon assemble and de de assemble as well as something that we didn't even think about which totally took the project to the different direction they offer a system called a petet which is a pedestrian walkway why is that important because as we're going to explain in a couple of our locations not for having a petet option we would not be able to put place a outdoor um fencing at their location because of ADA accessibility requirements and right away you have to make sure people have access to the sidewalk and that they have the ability to walk freely and if you have a a piece of any type of um infrastructure in the sidewalk that is permanent or temporary that does not allow for accessibility you have to make accessibility away possible in certain places we removed um trees to make that possible but we did not want to move remove any type of infrastructure that was currently in place so the pet let actually allow for us to expand the program and look Beyond just what we currently have so in doing that we were able to then think about if we're going to have a parklet in the Central Business downtown area where would it make sense long story short a pedet in the current construction of our downtown streets is not probably the most ideal um viable option because even though our streets stay that our U that the miles per hour to drive vehicles is 30 miles per hour in practice we do not see people adhering consistently to that 30 m per hour um requirement and so until we have the Reconstruction of our streets where we will have bu pump outs and other ways of calming traffic down to slow down the traffic so that they're not going at a higher speed of rate having a stationary um object in the street may not be the most ideal at this present time but we did not want to scrap the program so what instead we decided to do is say well let's look at it from a different angle if we do have them on the sidewalks keep them as sidewalk cafes as we call them could we look at how can we make a uniform more elevated look of a of a program so that in the future we can figure out maybe a call sharing with businesses or give them some type of uh blueprint on how they can construct one that would allow for more durability so that is what we're here today presenting to you we've identified four businesses who are in the city's RightWay so that means the city owns the sidewalks so so they have the permission to use those sidewalks their businesses have been established for over a year over a year and a half so they are established restaurant or bar and they meet the criteria for having a cafe that will allow for accessibility uh for public right away one thing that I would say about this project that we really took our time and think about the materials being used so we talked about vandalism we talk about ease of use of clean um this because they are no cities right away we are going to disassemble them in those in the winter time to allow for the sidewalks to be open again we have a place to store because of the fact that they're now Compact and they're easy for us to lift and move out the way we no longer have to worry about finding additional storage to place these items over the winter months and it's something that our public works department is very excited about um and working with us um Mr Sai Maron was very excited something that he's always won in Champion for us to do but we just couldn't find the right product this is the right product for the city and I think it will Elevate our downtown and support our small businesses in conjunction to that so if there's any further questions I'm here to answer those questions I was trying to give a brief overview but I I don't want to be too long-winded so I'm here to answer any questions thank you manager Richardson um is the project restricted to just those four businesses initially it is okay and we did invite other businesses and these were the four that responded saying that they would be interested to work with us okay so we're keeping track of those that may want to come on board at a later time yeah we we in the downtown so we kept it very much in the downtown we actually went around and looked at every business that would have an access um have access and to in I would say 80% of those businesses we are capturing okay council member grup manager Richardson you've done a great job on this and uh in conversation with the big four that have been approved so far they're excited looking forward to it I had the chance to visit with uh the engineers um out at the uh director power shop on Dre Lane a few days ago and I understand we're going to begin that uh very important uh talked about since 95 we're actually doing it the conversion of Adams and Jefferson we're going to start in a few weeks actually and we're hoping that the conversion of Adams and Jefferson from Walnut to Hamilton will be be completed by July of 26 are we thinking in terms of sequencing that as we get parts of this done we might be able to begin even though the entire uh redirection of Adams and Jefferson project might not be totally Complete because of the length of it yes sir and and I would also what's so nice about this product is that as we continue to build the infr structure they're interchangeable pieces so we can move and place these anywhere we would like to see um so I would we finish with the two um Lane conversion the hope is going back to those businesses and re-engaging them now that the project is completed to see if they would like to be a participant in the program we did allocate funds in 2024 using ARA dollars for this to expand up Maine the pedet is a game Cher and I think if we expand and up main we will have the petl part of that project to allow for expansion of this program you know when we uh I think the first one manager was U outside Los delas and you know that was one of the negatives that we saw that it was made out of wood and I think now we have the ability to collapse these and store them more readily probably not going to use them in the winter no that is condition of the pro program that the businesses understand it's a seasonal use good I I'm I'm excited about it and I know the merchants downtown are but you know mayor I think there might be some more businesses and might want to join I think so well I look forward not to make this a pilot we're going to come back to council with an evaluation to share out so if there's any further questions or interests um we will look forward to answering those questions in Economic Development council member Gordon young thank you madam mayor uh manager Richardson I just wanted to commend you and the staff with of this wonderful work I am a fan of outdoor dining and I think that it um it definitely gained popularity during covid uh at the height of Co you know to keep businesses going but I especially like that it gives opportunities for businesses to draw in more um support but I also wondered and and you touched on it you know how far we're talking about expanding was thinking about Main Street so I know uh my colleague graab would like to hear see that and because it's just perfect a perfect area to see and and to make that connection from downtown all the way up to Hill uh I guess my question for you is for the listening audience because I think there's going to be a huge waiting list for something like this at least it sounds like it looks beautiful how would uh business owners you know apply or get on that waiting list or keep an eye out for additional information regarding this we are going to continue our Partnership of urban kind and they're going to help us evaluate how we move the next to the next step so that has already been something that we've been ideating about is how do we expand if the pilot is successful uh we call it a pilot because we are testing this out to see if the types of materials and the layout really make sense but the the fact that we can have some uniformity with some of our our product especially with Alor diet would be very beneficial so Main Street is definitely on our radar and we are looking at all the areas where we have our major corridors of of outdoor with um outside dining that's already established could we expand other businesses to you know participate with that and then just one more comment I also really appreciate the fact that it's interchangeable and so that means if the business moves then maybe it can go with them or whatever but at least it's not permanent fixture no flexibility there we own the the infrastructure and maybe that's a conversation we can have later if there's a way for a business to purchase it but for now under the pilot we do own that so if that business does go out of and there's not a restaurant there to replace it we can move that infrastructure to another location awesome thank you very much thank you Madame mayor you're welcome council member Allan uh thank you madam mayor um I want to Echo the sentiments of my colleague um this is innovative it's uh timely as we talk about just how do we continue to keep uh growing and developing our downtown which is one of the greatest assets that we have in our community uh I love the idea and seeing that you're collaborating with a a local uh consultant firm in urban kind I I I know some of their team and and that's great as well too um and I do believe that this is going to open up the possibilities of what other businesses can do you know once you see that neon bison has outdoor dining now and now across the street you say may maybe I can think about this you know where there it's that strip where the judges Chambers is or just other businesses you know I think sometimes um we're afraid to try or afraid to to see the possibilities and so I commend your staff for having the vision to try something different uh and I'm I'm excited as someone who works downtown now I look forward to to visiting one of these outdoor dining spaces in the near future thank you madam mayor you're welcome council member Jackson thank you Madame mayor well I would just like to Echo the sentiments this looks like a great idea I'm really excited about uh possibilities in and around areas like Fon Street um which you know is a can be a very inviting Place uh for lunch for music entertainment uh I just had one question um and I in the in the literature I don't know if I overlooked it do we know much about ours uh would this primarily uh operate during lunch evening dinner do we know much about that the the business would continue to operate as they normally do and if they have a liquor license they would still have to adhere to their liquor license requirements so we will continue to support those businesses and hopefully they are able to expand because now we're adding capacity by allowing them to be having having outdoor dining where some of these businesses I'm going to be honest with you one business owner was just over the moon because they knew this is something they wanted to do but did not have the capital to to invest in it because they're trying to keep their business afloat just with the changing economy and so this really has allowed some of those businesses to really think Beyond just the the now so hopefully that will allow some businesses to expand uh the neon bison as you all know is moving to the 600 block of Maine so this is where that infr structure to be and they're going to be right now they're currently a bar only they're expanding into a restaurant so this is going to help Elevate their um additional uh services that they are providing thank you very much thank you Madame mayor you're welcome council member Kelly thank you Madame mayor uh assistant city manager my my hat and my hair but my hat is off to you I think uh this this sounds like a wonderful idea uh it could be a real Catalyst for really changing the Ambiance of our downtown and really making it more uh uh more attractive uh to more people uh so uh I I just want to compliment you on the work the the drawings and the and the photos from other cities are very attractive um looks like very good work thank you I would also like to acknowledge Urban kind is here tonight uh we have Chantel and back there and I have to give it to the their team they really were the engine behind this if they not for their support you know we would probably still be talking about it so to be in front of you tonight really is a testament to the team and their efforts and commitment to their community so thank you to them as well great job great job manager Richardson great job ladies looks like we like it uh manager is this a budget amendment uh this is part of uh what we've already budgeted as part of the American Rescue plan fund so there's no budget okay so we don't have to have a certain number of votes other than majority council member grup uh I'd like to make a motion to approve as outlined uh spending no more than 175,000 excellent seconded by council member Jackson uh council member SE is that what you were going to do okay all right we have uh a motion and a second to approve the 17 up to 175,000 for this please cast your ballots council member velpula I motion passes unanimously thank you manager thank you Madam clerk 24-16 is a communication from the city manager and Corporation Council with request to adopt an ordinance approving the real estate exchange agreement between the city of Poria cast Technologies Inc and enm properties Poria LLC Corporation Council Hayes thank you I have a bit of a story to tell uh oh I'll try to keep it short so uh the council has previously approved our uh Depot Street project which is a just shy of a 300 parking space parking lot as well as an improvement to what is right now an unimproved Alleyway behind the properties in the 800 and 900 block uh Southwest Washington uh this project will support the housing the rehabilitation of a number of properties and the housing units that are going into those properties one problem we've had with some of these Warehouse District properties is they don't have the capacity to support parking on site and so to have the number of residences that we are planning on we need more parking and so this is part of that solution uh the project as originally designed would have done a couple of things that weren't optimal it's just where we were at a year ago um the project would not have completed Depot Street all the way to Pimon the last 250 ft of that was privately owned by cast Technologies um they're at the they're at pmen uh they operate a large Foundry on the south side of pmen but on the north side of pmen at the corner of all of the Depot Street project they have their receiving and delivery the project as designed would have cut off an area that they were using to turn their trucks around to get to their loading docks um but they happened to own the rest of the alleyway that would allow Depot Street to extend to perit that Alleyway was also Sub sub subject to easements for sprinkman that operates within enm properties buildings on the north side of the street of De street so we were able to persuade those Property Owners to engage in a property swap we're giving cast the little area in the Southeast corner of the parking area um about half of the square footage that we're taking from cast to finish the alleyway all the way to Pimon so we're going to be able to finished the alleyway to the through Street which is going to be helpful for circulation it makes better sense we've worked out with enm properties how to adjust the easement so we can get rid of a large loading dock that was compromising the alleyway and now that we're going to rebuild a smaller loading dock there was no money exchange in the purchase of the alleyway from cast uh the city's expenses are the extension of the roadway as well as the improvements to the to the loading dock to have that fit in the space so the few different moving parts that's why the document in front of you is so complex complex and Link um but this is a property swap to allow us to have a complete project now back there it doesn't give away too many of the parking spaces it creates an amenity that's improved it assists the businesses there instead of compromising cast operations it allows the city to be proud of that that area back there and I think it's going to be an amenity where it's going to draw people there and say hey this is a place we can park our cars if you've been down there that Alleyway is a bit challenging I'm glad when I drive it that I have a pickup truck um it's going to be a nice finished Alleyway it's going to be an amenity and a positive it's going to be a well-lit 300 uh space parking lot instead of what is right now a bit of sherwoods forest if you're back there it's treed and and hilled and we're going to get rid of all that so this is a great Improvement for our downtown along the lines of what councilman gr was talking about earlier we're making our downtown a place where people want to live and this projects when it's done is going to accomplish that in a way that's truly important for people who want to live in these redeveloped properties so we'll be back in front of the council within the next 60 days for one additional piece of this related to the the development agreement being adjusted to give us the time to finish this project and take care of a couple of the details with the original developer but this part of the project I'm happy to bring to a conclusion that's been a little more difficult than I thought starting but we haven't spent a lot of extra money other than on the infrastructure we're going to be putting in there thank you thank you any questions for uh Corporation Council council member Jackson thank you madam mayor well um I just had a a a comment and a question um we're creating parking spaces as opposed to building a parking area because it's kind of narrow back there and you're right it's pretty tore up yes there you go thank you the the plan all along was to build a surface parking lot uh between the 800 to 1,000 block of Washington Street um where we are studying right now the potential for a parking structure would be across the street in the from about 8813 to 905 Washington on the other side of the street looking at a parking structure at that location the demand is there and continues to grow for additional parking in the warehouse District so it's a good problem to have yes it is and one last question do we know where where are we or where I know the goal had been up with regards to housing units downtown apartments uh do we know what those numbers are well I think that that there's currently 124 units under construction at 812 Southwest Washington there's another 180 units at 801 uh and 800 Southwest Washington that are on the books um we've added probably another 400 units in the warehouse District between other developments that have occurred um and the plan would be I think well well at 800 atoms uh I think there's another 90 units that are being built there as well so I'm just trying to keep track of everything there so okay quite a bit okay we're we're it sounds like we're reaching or exceeding that 800 Mark uh oh yeah I think that that you know as far as uh additional units and and the the potential growth we've done a number of studies working with the Downtown Development Corporation on the number of of apartments that we can add every year and I think um a couple hundred a year is still within that realm of possibility and we've seen that that de the demand from the development Community uh is still pretty strong all right thank you very good project uh thank you madam mayor council member Gordon young thank you Madame mayor just have a quick uh comment and a question uh first I think this is a much needed uh project and um there's certainly a a need for more parking spaces in particularly as we're continuing to develop downtown I was just wondering when we're talking about the estimated cost that we may um be going over do we have the dollar amount of where we're at yeah I think that that the overall project with some of the facility related where or uh utility related work excuse me um it's going to it's going to probably end up being closer to 13 to4 million is where we're going to be that all come out of the Tiff um and that's where you know as additional Tiff increment is generated that that's where that'll be be paid back for out of there okay thank you you say 13 or 1400 not million4 million million dollars okay as as your Public Works director would tell you nothing's uh cheap when it comes to infrastructure anymore thank you thank you any other comments questions um can I get a motion moved by council member Oiler seconded by council member Gordon young uh to approve the real estate exchange agreement between the city and cast Technologies and e& M properties P LLC please cast your ballots council member velpula hi motion passes unanimously Madam clerk 24-17 is a communication from the city manager and chief of police with a request for the following a accept the fiscal year 2023 Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and E Economic Opportunity in the amount of $125,000 and B to adopt an ordinance amending the city of Peoria 2023 revised budget relating to the general fund to recognize the receipt of grant funding from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity providing the fiscal year 2023 dceo Grant in the amount of $125,000 and Item B requires a 23s vote of the council members voting no less than six votes Mr manager uh so this is a grant that we received from the state of Illinois through dcoo it's $125,000 um due to the timing of the grant um what we wanted to do is use this funding through the police department for their License Plate Reader technology uh and this will reimburse us for the cost that we've already incurred okay any questions council member grah move to approve a as outlined uh there a second seconded by council member riggenbach uh move to approve a please cast your ballots council member velpula I motion passes unanimously council member grup um move to um adopt the ordinance amending the budget as outlined in B for um the receipt of grant funding from U the ight Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity seconded by council member riggenbach any questions comments please P please cash your ballots council member velpula I motion passes unanimously Madam clerk 24-18 is a communication from the city manager and chief chief of police with a request for the following a to accept the fiscal year 2023 Illinois Department of Human Services Grant from the Illinois Department of Human services in the amount of $500,000 B adopt an ordinance amending the city of Poria 2425 by annual budget relating to the general fund to recognize the receipt of grant funding from the Illinois Department of Human Services in the amount of $500,000 and this item requires a two-thirds vote of council members voting no less than six C is to approve the release of two notices of funding opportunities in the amount of $250,000 for youth related violence prevention Grant activities and the amount of $15,000 for youth related violence prevention micr Grant activities with recommendations to come to council for an internal staff review team and D to approve the remaining grant funding to be spent on police and fire Explorer equipment in the amount of $100,000 supplies for the Poria role model project in the amount of $35,000 in grant writing 301 workshops in the amount of $10,00 000 Mr manager uh thank you Madame mayor this is the grant that we discussed at the policy session that we had last month um it's $500,000 from the the Illinois Department of Human Services um what we wanted to do with this so obviously the first item uh item a is to just accept that Grant Item B is to create the budget amendment and then item C is the approval of how we'll go about spending those dollars and with that what we're recommending is as we discussed the $250,000 for um for violence prevention funding to go out for the community um and and there's uh the grant um or the proposed RFB is listed uh in the packet in addition taking $105,000 and trying to work with smaller agencies that have kind of been left out in the past and and really the police department has has leaned in and said that they will work with those smaller agencies to ensure that their rep report writing and and follow up and follow through is uh is up to to Snuff so that we can make sure that we're complying with the state's Grant requirements and then that leaves us then with um a remaining uh $145,000 in the Grant and we have three recommendations here um the police and fire department's explorer programs funding equipment for those um funding uh the role model project uh supplies for the role model project to match what came in through PNC Bank for that program and then lastly um and this has been very well received by the community is that our our Police Department's grants team has been providing kind of Grants 101 and 10201 and and now 301 training for the community to try and build their Grant uh management capabilities and that's what the the remaining $10,000 would be for um the the the because again we have to spend these dollars by July 1 we have an internal review team that we're recommending to to come back to you with recommendations and that's going to include the chief of police the community development director uh the the uh Community Development grants director um the uh city manager and the police department's grants coordinator as well so that's the team and I think four or the five of us are here in the audience tonight so uh but we'll be making those recommendations um with a fair very quick turnaround to try and get the dollars out the door and spent so would those come back to the next council meeting or I'm not sure if it'll be the next council meeting but we'll get them back to you as soon as we can and and then so that we can start that process with with the agencies so we're g we're try to move as quick as we can on this because we know that we we have a very short window okay questions council member Jackson uh thank you Madame mayor just one quick question uh you said said uh Mr manager that the money must be spent by July 1st that's correct okay and so okay all right really June 30th June June 30th is the end of the fiscal year yeah okay all right okay thank you thank you Madame mayor you're welcome council member Kelly thank you madam mayor I think this is uh should do a great deal of good for I'd like to move to approve item a is there a second by council member Allen uh discussion on item a council member Gordon young I was cancelling I was going to move oh okay sorry about that a discussion on item a please cast your ballots council member velpula I motion passes unanimously council member Kelly I'd like to move to adopt Item B is there a second on B seconded by council member Gordon young discussion on Item B Madame mayor council member velpula uh I don't have any question uh but I wanted to say that uh I'm I'm really impressed of how the grants were allocated to both qualified applicants and the organizations that usually don't qualify under the cdbg process you know this is this is something that I would I would like to see um even even all grants that are given to all organizations so that everybody will have a fair chance of getting funded I really like the way it was outlaid thank you Madame mayor okay Mr manager yeah thank you councilman that's I think that was really our intent was uh we knew after the the first two rounds of violence prevention funding that went out that it was there were agencies that seemed to be rising to the top because they have the capacity and so we wanted to to break off some of this funding to be able to reach out to others that haven't been able to had a chance to get some of that funding so thank you for that those comments thank you thank you m please cast your ballots on Item B council member velpula I motion carries unanimously council member Kelly I'd like to move to uh approve item C is there a second seconded by council member grup questions on item C council member riggenbach thank you madam mayor um following up I think a little bit on what councilman Vel Pula just mentioned the 250,000 um for youth related violence prevention how is that different than what we've done in the past so because it's specific to youth related programs some of our other violence prevention funding has been more Broad in terms of our ability to spend it but because this money is coming from the Department of Human Service is they've they've narrowed the scope for us to focus directly on Youth and I think that's where we the major difference is between the funding that we be seeing the past and would it be fair to say that organizations that have been awarded funds in the past and still have unspent money would not be considered for this additional resources since they're such a quick spend time frame I'm not I I'm not going to you know I think that that as we look at at um what we're going to do as far as the evaluation criteria I'm not sure if we built that in maybe if if Jenny I don't believe that we built in unspent funds into that uh as a requirement um but I I do think that what we're seeing is that some of the the entities that receive particularly in round two are starting to assemble their their programming to start to spend that money um others have spent money that are starting to Bild right now it's the the start of the new calendar year and I I've you know heard from at least one that had a a significant amount of funding that that that they're going to submit a bill for $250,000 so that's half of what they've received as far as funding so they're moving forward with that as well I think it's important to keep us um informed on that and thank you chief for the email yesterday and I asked the clerk to provide this to all of us just identifying again to have it in one place for us because it seems like sometimes these grants and rfps get kind of muddled in our minds so just to see how much money has gone out and how much has been spent and seeing the performance metrics I think is really important for us as we go forward so I would I would just um ask that we we we don't go to the same well over and over again and that this 250 is perhaps um new new agencies are encouraged um to apply for that new programing yes yes new programming thank you mayor um specific to the $105,000 micro grants I think that's a pretty pretty Innovative idea uh we saw how well the neighborhood associations um soaked that up last summer when we made that available to them I'm just a little bit um curious how how who who the target is is if I look at the the RFP it says eligible organizations or neighborhood associations home owner associations neighborhood watch groups I mean those hardly seem like the people with the capacity or or or knowledge of what a violent youth violence prevention program would be is that am I missing something here we're going to we're going to continue to review and and look at the requirements of the grant but we wanted to make sure that we cast it a wide net and that we would put that out to see that people could apply and and with this trench um the organizations don't need an audit apparently is that correct that's correct that's going to be a nice wide net so hopefully um we'll see some some outcomes there that will be um beneficial for all of us thank youc uh can you also identify U Mr manager what is the age of a youth in this uh opportunity I believe that in in youth here we were talking uh 16 to 24 I think is what we're looking at here what is it 12 16 to 24 16 to 24 okay 16 to 24 okay okay thank you council member Allen uh thank you madam mayor um I'm glad to hear that we'll be looking to open the uh pool if you will of eligible um organizations to in programming to go for these funds um just a a question and it may be a report back but I think that for the public they don't um not everyone understands the time of when we voted to allocate the previous allocations of violence prevention funds from the time we voted to the actual time the agencies received the funds um there was a there's a timeline there and I think that maybe we need to provide that that information to the public just so that way they can it manages expectations of return on investment and things of that nature and so maybe that is something that you can put together a report back just to just to help the public understand that we have a lot of different Investments out here and this was the time where agencies received the funds and then got their programs in place um so that way everyone is just on the same page and expectations are managed just so they know that we're good stewards of their funds and we're investing wisely thank you welcome okay please cast your ballots for item C council member velpula hi motion passes unanimously council member Kelly uh I'd like to move to approve item D can I get a second seconded by council member grab any any questions comments council member riggenbach thank you Madame mayor um one question on the um role model project which I think is a very worthwhile project and I'm fully supportive of I'm just curious though what kind of ongoing expenses are incurred with that I was under the impression that was more of a volunteer um well I think that you know there there's been there's been meetings that that have been held that that have had costs that have been inour for those and and uh if there's continued meetings that that or convenings of everyone that that there's going to be costs that are going to be incurred with that um there could be expenses that are incurred uh to encourage people to attend museums or things like that that we might want to do as as the role model program rolls out that's the reason why we wanted to do this is bring it as a match to the the money that PNC Bank put up to try and leverage that even more as the program has continued to grow so we could potentially give scholarships if you well to the students for for things wonderful thank you or siens there's also you know this work in relationship with the Peoria Riverfront Museum for events there and those events sometimes require food or certain accommodations and um the park district has been great about providing um not waivers but kind of tickets to their zoo and different uh facilities that they have and uh the Riverfront Museum is a great venue to be able to take youth to and but there's some expense associated with that as well thank you any additional comments questions please cast your ballots council member velpula hi motion pass passes unanimously thank you Mr manager thank you Madame clerk we are at unfinished business 23- 399 is a communication from the city manager and director of public works with a request to approve the low bid from JC Dylan and award a contract for the storms who are cleaning an inspection project in the amount of $293,900 $342 for contingencies for a total contract Award of $322,700 Mr manager uh thank you Madame mayor uh this was uh deferred at our last meeting and I think that um staff did put together a report back and maybe if I could turn it over to director po just to quickly walk through that and then we'll go from there okay thank you Mr manager mayor counsel uh again there is a very detailed detailed report back that provides background relative to this contract that being a routine contract how it's put together how we try to be contiguous relative to work um going back to the point the manager made I think briefly earlier infrastructure is not cheap so we learned with sidewalks and any number of other programs where we try to bundle excuse me geog bundle is not the right word we Tred to do things geographically contiguously so that we get a more favorable bid response so hence we move this contract or this effort around the city annually and invariably it ends up in all districts this year it happens to be in two three and four next year it will include one in five um in years out it will again rotate and then we have the city on a 10year cycle uh I could go very deep into this and just say okay some of what we're actually doing is televising along with cleaning which is actually establishing within the storm water utility where this is buried again this is some old infrastructure in some cases where we don't even know just the condition but where it exists so this is an effort that is going through again a cyclic or cyclic type event um I believe again the report back explains what's there we've also explained what gpsd is doing within the first District um I would also state that the Lion Share of a $100 million effort over the next 16 years is taking place within the first district um next year alone we're spending $22.5 million in infrastructure improvements alone just infrastructure in the first district so I believe this is well represented overall in what is good for the city I think the contract rotates the correct way and I guess last I would add that the time sensitivity of this is the bid opening was 21 November and expires 60 days thereafter meaning we have till the 21st which this is our last opportunity um I'll stand by for any other questions we have but I think I hope we've answered your concerns thank you director Powers uh we have council member Jackson thank you Madame mayor I I just had a point of clarification uh did I just hear you say that uh the schedule would include for this uh this work would include district one next year yes district one and five okay which are not in this year okay I that that was the question I I needed some clarification on and you know as I I mentioned in the meeting that uh you know some of our older neighborhoods are probably in worse shape uh and I know that we we've got the CSO work going on but uh mind you uh we probably would not have the CSO work going on had the federal government not told us to do it okay so I appreciate your uh your information and I appreciate all the the hard work that you all are doing I just wanted to make sure that um given this uh tenure cycle you know we wouldn't uh be at the back end of it because we've got deteriorating infrastructure probably some of the worst in the city in district one so I appreciate your providing the information and with that um I would like to make a motion to go ahead and uh approve item number 23 uh 399 there were some more questions Council no okay actually well there may be one but uh yes seconded by council member grab thank you council member Seer thank you Madame mayor just one question Mr manager uh this contract um one the healthiest fund we have or pot of money is our storm water utility fee why are we not using storm water utility to pay for this contract instead of the CIP well uh this is if I look at this I think what what it's written it's coming out of the community investment plan we budget for that there but I think this is coming out of the storm Water Utility Fund it is coming out of the storm Utility Fund thank you sir thank you madam mayor yes you're welcome I don't see any more questions I need a motion to approve I move by council member grab seconded by oh you already you already made the motion motion was made by council member Jackson seconded by council member grab uh discussion is over please cash your ballots council member velpula hi motion passes unanimously thank you director Powers okay Madam Clark 23- 395 is a commity Comm unication from the city manager and director of Community Development with a request to continue the discussion on short-term rental regulations Mr manager uh thank you Madame mayor at this point I think I I'll uh turn it over to either the Corporation Council or assistant community development director to kind of give us uh kind of a refresher about where we are and then it's probably more a discussion amongst Council okay um I'll start start we had some additional questions last time we were together and um uh attorney Perkins was unavailable tonight so I'm hinch hitting so um we look at some of the other jurisdictions down state regarding short-term rentals and how they deal with it uh they uh as the exhibit shows they regulate regulate through licensing sort of a different approach than we take uh primarily and so their license regulations um are a little different but they kind of achieve some of the same purposes I think Springfield is a a good place to tell you about how they regulate the license you can get a license for a short-term rental in Springfield but you can only um have 95 days of rented property unless the owner is present and so similar to our approach where we allow permitted use by permitted use the zoning if the owner is going to be present on the premises um so they take a slightly different approach to that if you in Springfield for instance through their regulations you can license a property for more rentals when the owner isn't present but only in certain U uh types of zoning districts for instance um in a a multif family district U you can have a maximum of two adults per unit for an unlimited amount of time if the owner isn't present but again only in a multifamily area and it limits the occupancy to two um and uh finally if you want to have a a larger place than that you have to be in a commercial uh zoning district and so there's a lot of different approaches to allowing these uses that slightly differ from ours so it's tough to do a Apples to Apples type comparison uh but all of the communities have some level uh that we've seen uh of these communities the larger ones have some level of at least tax and most of them have regulations and when they struggle for instance in decator they have a few places that were causing issues and so they they regulate the disruptive conduct through their lure so you have to be licensed and you have to pay the tax and if there's disruptive events then that license can be um can be revoked and so we're seeing um a number of different ways to address some of the issues here indicator like here they were careful to express hey we don't have a lot of disruptive vets at airbnbs but when there are we have a strong tool to deal with that um I I uh I uh point out U the case that we summarized which was Wortham versus Village of barington Hills um and that case stands for the Illinois courts passing on a jurisdiction saying we're not not going to allow this use in our residentially Zone districts at all they were sued over that uh people felt it was overly restrictive it violated their property rights they raised all these issues about hey this is this is an inappropriate extension of government to say we can't have this type of a short-term rental in a residential Zone the Illinois courts F know that it's completely appropriate for a community to decide through their elected officials that that commercial use of a residential dwelling is inappropriate for their community and to ban it entirely so through our discussions here we've tried to point out some ways that the council might further limit than it already does the use of property for short-term rentals whether this Council decides to further limit that or to expand the ability to use it that's up to the council to decide one area that we are urging the council to take action on not tonight but that the tools to deal with disruptive outcomes we'd like them to be strengthened and those are detailed in the reports before you so if the council's ambition is to say we want to further limit the use of short-term rentals we have provided some tools that are consistent with our existing tools would further limit those we've discussed those previously the going from a a quarter mile area to a half mile area and going from 3% within the quarter mile to 1% within the half mile and also a distance setback of 1500 ft from use to use this would apply to the special use permit uh facilities where the owners are not present we haven't had a single disruptive event at one of these facilities ities where the owners are present um just so that you know there's 35 short-term rentals right now under permitted use where the owners are present on the property and 46 that we've approved by special use we've included some maps that show where these are and some of the proximity issues have been displayed so that you know that going forward kind of how that will work I don't know what if any additional questions you have but staff's question to council is shall we adjust our current regulations about where we allow special uses for short-term rentals by way of either uh the change to the percentage and the distance setback um and if we shall then we we'd like to go forward to the to the Planning and Zoning commission and get that recommendation back in front of council regardless of whether we do that your staff is asking you I am asking you please strengthen our tools to deal with the disruptive events so that we we can be responsive when you're asked by constituents to be responsive to this set of issues I wouldn't be so concerned with that except that we have presented some materials where where the Airbnb entity itself is addressing these disruptive method or parties that might occur on their properties and strengthening their tools to deal with these events now one of the marketing other marketing platforms for this vbo has a whole set of issues that relate to if you want to have an event on the premises when you book that you have to go through a whole different series of regulations so both of the main platforms there's other ones but VRBO and Airbnb are dealing in different ways but they're dealing with these disruptive events that can occur when people want to have a social event at one of these places where the owner isn't present and so our our our ask to the council is whether Council directs us to further restrict where these short-term rentals can be within our community whether Council directs us to do that or not we still would like Council to consider staff's suggestions with regard to the tools we have available to deal with disruptive events and now the ball's in your court I'd be happy to answer any questions I'll start with a couple questions uh for your Council um so first question is staff is not recommending the removal or elimination of what's the terminology um special use staff is not recommending the elimination of special use approval by Council in exchange for approval through an administrative process is that correct um that's correct we think that given the discussion of council that there was from what we're able to Divine from that that there is not a consensus that we ought to convert all of these to permitted uses that Council still wants to weigh in although there's a divide clearly amongst the council members it seems to me that there isn't an appetite for that if I am mistaken that's my that that was my perception to be corrected that is certainly an that we have described for the council that's available to them if they choose that okay um that was one of the first inputs we got was how could we how could Council maybe not deal with these things we answered that question sure okay so that's not a current staff recommendation correct okay second question is uh should Council adopt that one two and three three reducing the cap um from 3% to 1% increasing the cap radius from 0.25 mile to 050 half a mile and then requiring the 1500 foot separation how does that impact the existing approved uh Str strs the short-term rentals that are approved by special use currently would continue in operation even if they technically violate this section okay okay unless and until there is a change of ownership on change of ownership people have to reapp the next owner if they want to continue that use has to apply right for that use to be extended to them as the new owner if that violate if those setbacks are violated there that new owner could approach the council with a request for a waiver that would go through the planning and zoning commission just like a special use permit does okay and they'd provide a recommendation to the Council on whether to Grant or deny the waiver okay I would imagine that a well- conducted special use in a neighborhood where there wasn't an outcry from the neighbors we might be uh inclined to entertain as a governing body that sort of a waiver but uh that's up for future councils to determine whether that waiver would be extended or not okay in that regard the Contin uses would continue under present ownership but they would perhaps be a Jeopardy of not getting a new special use on change of ownership okay you answered my questions council member uh Gordon young uh just a question for clarification because um I was one it sounded like two different things like one are we having discussion about the [Music] recommendations and or do you want us to talk about discussion regarding how to handle the disrupt disruptions so I have suggestions for disruptions so yes um we need direction on whether to change our zoning ordinance from the council to go to the Planning and Zoning commission and seek the changes that Council wants us to pursue staff's made recommendations of what those changes would be based on all the inputs we've receive some council members might not like the changes that staff's recommending but we've tried to put together as best we can what the middle is on those zoning regulations the other tools about dealing with disruptive matters staff's asking you to grant us those tool improvements so that if there's disruptive events in the future we can have a reliable uh predictable outcome if we're seeking enforcement so we are asking for both but timing wise we need direction on the zoning changes so we can go through planning and I would like if you would indulge us to come back to you with that recommendation from Planning and Zoning with the suggestions for the changes as far as the regulatory tools at that time sure because depending on what the recommendations are out of Planning and Zoning we might have to shift or mod ify those um those U tools thanks thank you so when you go to planning zoning is I mean would there be any kind of public hearing related to those changes it would be happen at planning and zoning not here then okay got it uh council member Oiler thank you madam chairwoman um can you address are there actual changes in here regarding current actively used short-term rentals because it seems like all of the discussion has been around making it more difficult to get one more restrictive not really addressing the real problem that I hear being talked about which is some that are non-compliant um the changes that are detailed in the report in the code section deal with existing uses and how the C how staff can process a revocation of an existing special use permit those are the enforcement tools we're asking for to be improved so we have a more predictable outcome and so if you look at the at the uh starting on page three of the report it details the license regulations and we've included the current regulations uh along with the suggested modifications and so those um the deletions would be the stricken language and the um and the under line language is additional one area where I'd point out to you is um when originally adopted it would allow up to four valid complaints received on any one property within a six-month time frame I think we need a stronger tool and so we're asking to allow staff to have the discretion to process a revocation on a single disruptive event whether we do that or not will be what um uh councilman vpa is currently nodding his said we would exercise some prosecutorial discretion here about when that would be appropriate or not and so that would give staff a tool and the idea is to get compliance among a large group of licensed entities with a very strong tool for staff to have the credibility to approach them and say if this happens we can revoke your special use permit or perhaps if it was not a terribly disruptive event staff's determined that if there's any repeat of this we have the ability to revoke it but you give that discretion to your staff so we have the ability to negate these episodes right away I I totally support that it is that most of the conversation has centered around making it more restricted to even get one not about actually addressing the problem that I hear being brought to a front thank you thank you very much welcome council member vesa thank you m thank you Madame mayor I I was going to address that same language I think I think it's very good language you originally it said you needed four valid complaints uh regarding anyone property within a six-month time frame uh so you know the question would be what constitutes a valid complaint um now it just says or the proposed change uh would say that you need any complaint received regarding anyone property so that that gives us a lot of discretion you know there are sometimes where you know um there could be damage to a neighbor's property you know there could be a very big event so you know maybe one strike is enough um I do like that just wanted to put that out there I think these are you know it's a good enforcement mechanism thank you thank you Madame mayor you're welcome council member sir thank you Madame mayor um I believe we had a great discussion last meeting and and uh will be again tonight um these the work we're doing I believe is man-made which mean will not be perfect but I believe what we have in front of us is definitely a huge Improvement what we had before so I want to say number one and and we all have different management style all of us do I'm not a micromanager and some of us or some of you guys are micromanagers but to me it's not doesn't mean that we need to insult one another we just need to accept different styles so and not being a micromanager doesn't mean that you're not accepting your responsibilities as a councilman so what I'm going to do tonight I'm going to be uh making I'd like to make a motion similar motion to the last one but uh I won't add the the staff I mean I believe in our staff Joe uh Leah uh we have qualifi qualified staff they're they're making they know their job and and as a manager uh I like to give responsibility to the people I paid that people that are on the team I let them do their job basically so that's why I made my motion the way I did last time but obviously uh the majority did not like that but I'd like to make a motion right now that uh we move to accept the three original recommendation from the staff and then we uh accept the Improvement for the the strength of of uh of uh um of the rules that they want to to start so uh this would be my motion and just leave it at that for now and hopefully most of people agree around the Horseshoe uh to that that that motion seconded by council member Oiler uh let's continue the discussion council member Allan uh thank you Madame mayor and uh I think that we have learned a lot over the last um well we've been doing this now I think this goes back a few years actually because I know that short-term rentals have been along even before they we had an ordinance but I do commend the the work of the staff uh just a clarifying question and you may have this uh information assistant director Allison I meant to reach out to you before do we have any current neighborhoods that are at the 3% threshold per our current ordinance I do believe we have just a few few that may have met their their maximum allowed not a lot but a few I think have they didn't have a a large number to allow to begin with okay that was something I just wanted to ask just to be mindful because I can see some um some some apprehension there of uh you all change the ordinance now we already got our 3% Max and so just kind of being being mindful um obviously we you know whoever is approved if this passes tonight will be grandfathered in but just something to be mindful and how we want to maybe communicate with them um and just be empathetic and in understanding um to maybe some of their concerns uh I do appreciate uh councilman sir's uh motion and I think that uh the work that you all have done is a a good happy median of you know respecting um our our residents that are making the biggest investment that most people do and that's home ownership uh while also to respecting those who uh want to pursue this as a um as a business opportunity as well too and so we'll continue to keep learning and growing from it and hopefully our our residents understand and our citizens understand that we're not perfect and just have patience and give us Grace as we continue to keep navigating this thank you thank you madam mayor than you councilman Allan and just in follow up to his question how would we handle those that are in the queue or how would you recommend we handle those how how many do you think they are uh director Allison well so there um I believe they'll have you'll have one more short-term run out to review at your next meeting okay the um February Planning and Zoning commission agenda has uh I believe one queuing into to that okay so there may be there's certainly one more coming possibly two before regulations could be modified okay so there's potentially three one that's coming two total two total two not total three total two so how would you recommend that we handle that that they they would operate under the existing rules not under the change rules Corporation Council you have a comment too no it's common to think that a moratorium solves the issue but it causes more problems than it solves I think our current regulations should be in place until you change them and we can deal with that say that again our are current our current regulations will be en forced until un unless they're changed and we I'm suggesting we not engage in a moratorium in the inter okay it causes more issues than it solves in our and it takes a little while to for the change to kick in right okay council member sorry council member uh riggenbach thank you Madame mayor um I appreciate councilman Sear's motion and I thank think those three recommendations from staff that we had a month ago are logical and a good way to begin to get a little more um restrictive let's be honest um with with the process um Corporation Council you mentioned the disruptive events and and on page four as has been pointed out um the license can be revoked or suspended for any complaints received how long does that process take from the time that that that complaint is officially registered with the police department with Community Development with your office how long would that process take before that license is actually revoked so I'm most comfortable if there's an actual violation and we deal with that in our administrative process which generally takes about 60 days to get through to a hearing so the and then and then after that administrative hearing is completed there's a period of time where that could be reviewed under administrative review law so if we get to the point where we get an outcome and um there's no appeal of that through the administrative View Law that's another 35 days then we would process the revocation by sending a letter saying it's revoked so I've described a period of time that's 95 days long there's a couple mailing periods in there that might make it a little longer or shorter um and so from the event to that outcome somewhere around 90 to 100 days and the operator could the license be suspended during that time frame or would they be allowed to continue renting it for that 100 day time frame so I think going forward in the administration of this because the tool is so strong there'll be incidents where we staff might might decide to do a suspension and have the individual suffer some period of suspension rather than revocation uh I think that would be a negotiated outcome and that could take effect rather immediately or we might determine at that 90th day rather than to revoke to say that your license is going to be suspended for 90 days or six months or a year um so that we can you know uh Penal the conduct without absolutely taking away the right um staff makes these kinds of decisions in other Arena all the time and those are the kinds of decisions that you would see us making in the future as a man of faith I believe in grace and um the concept of one and done is a little bit harsh but after seeing some of the egregious actions that we've seen in our neighborhoods I think one and done is an appropriate response so I would encourage you to make that revocation as strong and clear and forceful to all operators as possible and if there's a way to suspend their ability while the process is working out and I'm no attorney but um I'm a neighborhood representative and that would clearly be something that I would like to explore to the fullest extent of the law um after last council meeting I had made the comment that we had only had one or two complaints well um I've been informed by residents that there have been issues and I've seen video and I've seen text messages sent to the operator of the Airbnb I'm pleading for help with nothing being done I'm like why didn't you call the police well you guys didn't listen to us when we said we didn't want it so why would you listen to us now kind of a a slam I think to our enforcement process but I'm telling you that story to let you know that there are more incidents out there that are called into the police and I can't quantify that but I know firsthand from my residents and the Third District has a fair share of these that that is happening um would be curious um Corporation councel if you could talk a little more on the VRBO event regulations because that that's intriguing to me because if if VRBO is making it clear that this is for single family usage or six adult usage and you want to have but you want to have a family reunion you you need to go through some other Hoops is that what I understood you saying right uh so VRBO has more of a week-long vacation model or longer they typically are dealing with situations where the owner is not on premises it's one of their main marketing points they are in the vacation home business as opposed to a okay a Weekender type thing and so some of those venues are very lovely large and places where you would naturally perhaps want to have a an event a party that type of thing and Gathering and vbo has some regulations insurance requirements things like that uh so I think they're they cautiously engage in that with a structure that allows them to predict a successful event without a lot of disruption outside of the property and so um it's not like they're marketing you know the equivalent of Animal House um they're renting out ski in ski out facilities and vacation homes on lakes and things like that where they're built for entertainment and they expect that and they can support that in a way that doesn't uh isn't disruptive to the neighboring comp would that be um a stipulation we could add to our process that um you can't you know we we limit the number of people that can stay there four people six people um I think as many as 10 in some instances but is there a way for us to say that no no congregation congregants you know would that be something we could look at we're going to be enforcing the occupancy limits and that's how we're going to negate Gatherings and because the predominate uh area in Poria where where the vbo or where these uh uh facilities are are adjacent to or near other residences we're not going to be initially encouraging any kind of gther Gatherings beyond the individuals that are renting the place so um I don't think we're going to flip to that vrb vbo model right away I think if we got there we'd probably come back with some kind of idea about in some of our in the downtown footprint the for districts perhaps where uh where we're uh more in an Entertainment District that type of thing that we might entertain it but I don't think our neighborhoods would support that right now uh if that's a direction from Council we could I I mean that to to prohibit it yeah right now it's my view that our ordinance the way that we've adjusted it we're going to be able to uh address that who will be enforcing the occupancy limit would that be based on complaint driven anything else it's going to be based on complaint uh we don't have the capacity to be vigilant on all these sites when there's you know a a rental but on complaint um one of the tools that we're going to provide to our law enforcement folks is all the roster of the V of the of the short-term rental places all the contact information and have that briefed up on the fact that they're to you know write reports so that we can process through Leah's Department the violations of the different codes and things including an over occupancy ticket if that's the method we're going to use to create the violation and then off the back of that will'll do the revocations or suspensions as as we've been talking about this specifically um since the last meeting I've given a lot of thought to some of the comments about the special use process that were made because councilman Sear's original motion was to make all airbnb's permitted uses as I recall and there was a number of council members who spoke up saying we need to be more respectful of the neighborhood hoods and listen to to what they say well that that really struck me and I had to stop and think about the neighborhoods that I have been contacted by there's three major homeowner associations in the Third District which all have are in the process of amending their bylaws to prohibit Airbnb short-term rentals excuse me in in their subdivisions there's a number of neighborhood associations and neighborhoods that don't have HOAs so they don't have that option I wonder how many of us and I'm looking at myself who vote for these consistently does your HOA prohibit them I I I think it's important for us to realize I have not had one call we've approved 46 of these I I don't think I've had one neighborhood association for HOA call me and say you know what we can't wait for this Airbnb to open they have been consistent voice against it as we look at becoming more restrictive I I'm going to support the motion on the floor tonight and want that to go through I think we need to take a hard look at whether or not we continue to allow these to be in the R2 R3 and R4 single family neighborhoods and that's a 180 for me I'll admit it but hearing what my colleague said about listening to the neighborhoods hearing what my neighborhoods have been telling me I think that's something that we need to consider not tonight not at the next planning zoning commission we're making some changes we're increasing enforcement maybe that will be enough to deter it but I want to put that out there that that is our nuclear option ladies and gentlemen and I don't think we should say no to that I think we need to leave that card on the table and see see how this plays out because it it's clear the the the neighborhood folks don't want it I I I'd like to hear anybody disagree with that and Council Corporation Council one last question and I'll wrap it up here I promise I I do need to get a little clarification on what was talked about business opportunities and you referenced um these airbnbs are a business and I'm sorry I keep saying Airbnb these short-term rentals are a business what was the law suit that you referenced that a municipality tried to restrict it and then they were sued over property rights right um in the council Communications um we we uh detailed the Wortham versus Village of barington Hills uh ultimately barington Hills was successful in defending their absolute ban of short-term rentals uh in the residential uh areas uh and so uh you know that's at least one example of the extreme uh on regulation versus the extreme on permissiveness that we've tried to express to council you have a wide Lane here to develop what level of Regulation restrictive or permissive you want to strike for the city of pure um so that was there to just at least support that you have this ability to regulate here and to prohibit if you choose to and and that was upheld by the appell at court yes sir and for those that say you we're we're taking away the rights of the the property owner don't frankly doesn't government do that frequently well uh you know cities uh themselves municipalities are all an organization of regulations and restrictions on other people's rights so that everybody can get together and live close proximity to one another and Thrive so um you know there's government regulation is that you know the citizens have formed us to co codify these rules we can all get along good fences make good neighbors that kind of stuff so there's no problem with the regulation and this regulation that this court dealt with the Constitutional and property rights challenges to this absolute ban and said that's within the discretion of the city council that's their determination that this commercial use in a residential setting was not appropriate and the court uh agreed that that's fine so that's that is an option this Council has and any Council has and the court considered that a commercial use right in a residential neighborhood right and I think that this I think our zoning officer would agree that this is the commercial use of a residential residentially zoned parcel it's not you know inherently illicit to allow that but it's within your authority to prohibit that something to think about thank you Madame mayor you're welcome uh council member grup council members I think something happened somehow this name plate went over over there yeah it seems like it it sure seems like it uh you know I have the greatest respect for councilman riggenbach and all of my colleagues and the one thing that I wanted to come out of this meeting tonight was basically we don't upend special use process with the final okay coming from the elected leadership yes that's what I really wanted to have come out of it we have many more good things I think think that have come out of it and I appreciate the team work on this thank you yes council member Gordon young yes thank you Madame mayor corporate Council Hayes I I think you may have touched on it one of the suggestions I was going to make regarding the disruptive behavior was that we get those Str strs uh address add and owners as well as their contact information in the cast system and of course that'll be working with director blay um that is something that could be done tonight um but but just like with all businesses the owner or the contact information is always in that system so if there's any incident that police fire or any you know related entity have with that particular uh place they can contact someone and I'm saying this to say that if we have that system in place then perhaps there won't be three days of disruptions that owner would have been notified day one that there's been a violation because I imagine they have that Clause perhaps in in their um uh contract so again if that's not in place that's something that we can consider and because how will they know that there have been there's been an incident why does it happen two three days in a row that's one way to curtail that and that can be done immediately we'll take action on that tomorrow thank you Council thank you good thank you Madame mayor thank you there's one more light council member Kelly thank you Madame mayor welcome uh just some clarification uh Council um we have a maximum of six adults that's also restricted by the amount of bedroom square footage is that correct under our zoning regulations I need to phone a friend here that is correct sir yes okay um thank you uh when we have a a short-term rental that applies are we aware of that square footage uh within that property we when when we review applications and through that process yes we do inspections and we ask for square footage of bedrooms okay so absolutely that's great thank you very much and I'll be supporting the motion okay you didn't know you were going to get a vote out of this tonight but it looks like there's going to be a vote on this tonight if there's no more questions we have a motion made by council member seir can you repeat that motion yes motion was to uh uh accept the original recommendation from the staff number uh one two and three and also accept the uh the I don't know how to say it the new rules to straighten uh our rules I guess tools or or tools yeah to strengthen our tools thank you okay and it was seconded by council member Oiler looks like no more discussion please cast your yes just for clarification oh you need a clarification do we consider the tool changes license regulation changes to be a first reading we'll come back with that ordinance when we have the recommendations from the Planning and Zoning commission okay I'll change my motion thank you the three okay council member grab mayor just one clarification um and encapsulated in that motion is an understanding that we would continue with the special use permit thank you yes we would and then also those two and the Q will be treated under the O rules right right okay all right you got all that Madam clerk I think so okay I don't know how you keep up honestly challenge sometimes please cash your ballots council member velpula I he say yes M yes motion passes unanimously good all right keep us going Madam clerk okay the next two items are out of order as to what is customary so I ask that we go ahead and do new business before we have citizens opportunity to address the council okay well I'm going to ask under new business that we uh that director powers that you come up and give us an update on our snow event thank you Madame mayor thank you and Council we're actually believe it or not into the fourth event of this year of this winter um we've been in skirmishes most of you know I'm an over so it's like kind of equate snow fighting to War battlefields and fog this event in particular is not over so I don't want anyone confident and for those who listening and for you and your families and anybody that does hear me this event has been snowing all day but the temperature has been above freezing so the ground temperature and I'll give you a little every storm has its own characteristics we've been through this before but because that's happened we've had a very high Mel rate meaning on the streets off the streets you've seen slush we've been plowing and moving that snow as it falls off the streets now what you're seeing is actually running water meaning literally off of the unpaved areas onto the paved areas into storm systems and the pavement the temperature is not going to go below freezing tonight until about 4:00 a.m.

which means we would be prime right before a rush hour tomorrow for a possible surface freeze event definitely overpasses Bridges exercise Extreme Caution in the morning we will be using material keeping in mind that we haven't been using salt because literally water is Flowing across the road because this has been a a continuous snow and melt event with the danger lurking in the morning and if I'm overstating this event I hope so because if it saving someone life staying off of ice which the best thing for all of us to do to include snow plows is to stay off of ice because it's dangerous just is the most dangerous event that you can have relative to Midwest Winters so that is for this event and that's where we are now our staff is out they're in neighborhoods we're back in arterials again it's snowing now it's 34 degrees so again this is continuing and will continue throughout the night we will be on the streets throughout the night and then at the end of this as we conclude and get through this and we will we have a great staff but as I have said said and coming from the tip of Lake Michigan before I came here weather can win and it can win in a little way or a very big way so we are prepared we are ready I just want everyone who can hear me to be ready in the morning for what we don't know we hope that we come through this okay that it's a relatively short event that the daylight helps us as the sun rises and the materials will work but expect a slick condition tomorrow morning for us shower then moving to the event that the manager noted earlier that may interfere with the legislative PR that will be the first event of the Season where Thursday night our temperatures will be below freezing when the event starts right now we're looking at a possibility of 1 to three inches overnight Thursday night and then five to8 when on top of that all day Friday an addition 1 to three Friday night if that happens that means we will be in a battle from Thursday night through Friday night fighting over a foot of snow collectively with temperatures below freezing throughout the event so that will be an allout War we will get to the neighborhoods when we can and again we know that there is the 2-in point we will far exceed that it will likely delay us getting there but we will get there and again so I can't reinforce enough please stay off the emergency snow routes as far as parking uh I will be communicating with the manager relative to if we need to expand that I don't believe we will it is it is going to be a snow event it's not it's Unique but it's snow and it's going to be cold and then it's going to get real cold so I really just wanted to speak to the council to anybody that again might be listening uh watching me just please be careful and exercise caution for the remainder of this evening and then it's coming up hopefully the characteristics of the storm change because they can but we are expecting a big one so thank you mayor I appreciate thank you for the update and thank you for all your your work and keeping us safe keeping the RADS clean and you and your entire team director Powers thank you thank you C so manager this is why we're worried about Friday's legislative breakfast Friday could be 6 to 8 Ines ouch okay well no we'll know on Thursday what the decision is okay but it's going to be on either way if we're either going to be in person or we're going to be virtual okay um any other new business council member riggenbach thank you m mayor two quick Things director douan I would like to get a little information on how the city of Poria deals with little houses I've had a number of people approach me about them recently just doing General inquiry and um if you could tell us if we have any policy in place where they would be allowed what other cities have done if you could just get us a little information on little houses and then second of all I received a phone call from um Mr Bullock's colleague at the Journal Star asking me about uh victim ADV excuse me victim advocacy program if the city has anything like that there was a shooting on um in the East Bluff back in October and a elderly woman and her daughter and granddaughter were coming out of their house and witnessed it and the police responded appropriately they did everything they were supposed to secured the area there was no harm done to to this um resident or her family but they were clearly emotionally traumatized and after talking with the chief that's not something that we've we've had in Poria in the past but with our co-response model coming online here um I've asked him to talk about or I've we we've talked about that and um Chief perhaps you want to just give us an update about the director coming on um later this month and that this is in a roundabout way the kind of thing that that co-response model will be also dealing with if I'm not mistaken yes good evening so as of January 22nd the director for the Social Services Unit will start uh we have Carl Health has put out uh the opening for the social workers so we're looking for those social workers and the applications I don't know how many we've gotten up to this point um but starting January 22nd we'll start the buildout of the Wisconsin substation get everything prepared hire the social workers and that's exactly what the social workers will be doing is dealing with victims of crimes it's going to be referred to as the social service division is that what you Services Unit at this point okay yep thank you very much and I just wanted to express this publicly because this this woman was was like I say traumatized by it reached out to the Journal Star so there might be some followup so I just wanted my colleagues to know about this and that I did speak with her personally this afternoon thank you m thank you uh new business council member council member SE thank you madam mayor uh thank you madam mayor tonight and Mr manager for great dis discussion on Str Str in near future I'd love to put on the agenda or just have conversation amongst ourselves I know Str Str Is Not the Only Solution but know when I look at what's happening in pure I'm talking about positive thing like the growth grow the business growth with with Maui JY caring and and the cancer center and and and uh nfw and and I mean there's going to be a lot of and we have a group of people business people that were here a few months ago make a presentation about how to keep the talent in Peoria and how to attract talent in peia I'd love to have a conversation with people how are we gonna generate labor for all these companies if it does happen and also housing for all these people so and I know strr is not the the solution for all but I mean to me it I use Str strs and and and uh I'm okay with them so anyway maybe we can talk about that in the future any of my colleagu you have any ideas about uh all the growth that hopefully will happen in Peoria next few years how are we going to uh get uh a housing for hopefully all these new people coming to por thank you very much you're welcome council member Gordon young I just wanted to follow up to um council member ringbox uh question remember you have a mental health professional on the council call me and we do have resources in this community and now we can talk offline good point uh council member velpula I know did you have a new business okay all right I think we're ready to move on we are at citizens opportunity to address the city council and I believe we had one card we have one we have H jessemine or Jess Hill Jess hello mayor Dr Ali and the city council and the horu I'm jessemine Hill of the central Illinois homeschoolers resource guide or cih hrg for short I'm here tonight to invite all of you including those who are tuning in at home to the Illinois music educators Association conference and that is in two weeks from today January 24th to 27th I believe the first three days are for the Educators and the students only and Saturday the 27th of January is for the general public there will be clinics concerts vendors and companies and universities that offer I guess music education and really cool marching Vans and whatnot they might even have recruiters from say drumcore International or some other Organization for kids to get away from the summer because there's more out there besides Peoria you know get out and explore and Jess this is at the Peoria Civic Center yes Civic Center thank you very much and PS the new school year edition of my resource guide I'm working on the rough draft right now and I plan to secure some funds to get it printed and distributed before the beginning of the new school year wonderful thank you you are welcome Madam clerk we do not have an executive session so we are at adjournment can I get a motion to adjourn please uh moved by council member Kelly seconded by council member Gordon young uh please cash your ballots council member velpula did he say something motion carries thank you for your service