Peoria denies 6-acre solar project 7-4 over residential proximity and aging infrastructure concerns

foreign good evening everyone good evening it is six o'clock P.M on Tuesday March the 14th 2023 I'd like to call the meeting of the Peoria city council to order I'd also like to welcome everyone here in our city council audience as well as our listening audience at wcbu I'd also like to welcome the audience watching by cable channel 22.

Madam clerk the council mics are open please call the roll Ali council member Allen council member Seer here member Graham here council member Jackson here council member Jensen council member Kelly here council member Euler here council member regenbach here council member Rodrigo president and council member valpulla prisoner we have a corn president Madam mayor thank you madam clerk everyone please join me and stand for a moment of Silent prayer or silent reflection followed by the Pledge of Allegiance thank you pledge allegiance of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all Madam Clerk we are at proclamations okay proclamations today the first Proclamation recognizes women's history month and is presented by the city of Peoria whereas March is a significant month to honor and acknowledge the accomplishments of women in 1987 Congress declared the month of March as women's women's history month and March 8th is recognized as International women's day a global day that celebrates the social economic cultural and political achievements of women and whereas 51 percent of our community members are women and these women have played and continued to play critical economic cultural philanthropic and social roles in the creation ongoing development of our city and whereas American women have been leaders not only in securing their rights of suffrage and equal opportunity but also in the Abolitionist Movement the Emancipation excuse me the Emancipation movement the industrial labor movement and the civil rights movement and whereas Peoria has had its share of native daughters who have gone into the world to make their marks in Academia entertainment politics Sports and business including Annie Minerva Turnbull Malone who spent her teenage years in Peoria and is considered to be one of the first African-American female millionaires in addition to founding parole college she made her Fortune creating a successful business focusing on cosmetics and hair care products and whereas women's History Month honors women of every race status and ethnicity who have worked to establish an equal role for women ensuring the appreciation and value of Equitable labor for future Generations now therefore I read Ali mayor of the city of Peoria and on behalf of the Peoria city council do hereby acknowledge the month of March as women History Month in Peoria Illinois [Applause] our next Proclamation recognizes Parkinson's awareness month and joining us are Roger Helene Barbara howling and the companion dog from paws uh Ali giving Independence can you join us in the front at the podium that would be great Now where's Ollie okay hello Ollie thank you the the proclamation reads whereas Parkinson's disease is a chronic progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement for which there is currently no cure and whereas one million people in the United States are currently living with Parkinson's Disease an additional fifty thousand to sixty thousand new cases are diagnosed each year making Parkinson's disease the 14th leading cause of death in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and whereas every day through research patient and family services and education the American Parkinson disease Association provides the support Education and Research that help everyone impacted by Parkinson's disease to live life to the fullest and whereas increased efforts and awareness are desperately needed to help expedite the research efforts into better treatments medications and ultimately a cure to help those impacted by Parkinson's disease live full life until a cure is found whereas the world the nation and the state of Illinois observe Parkinson's disease Awareness Month in April 2023 and whereas the state of Illinois recognizes the efforts of the central Illinois Parkinson's support group to raise funds and promote awareness to fight Parkinson's disease thereby improving the quality of life for those living with the disease now therefore I read Ali mayor of the city of Peoria Illinois do hereby recognize April 2023 as Parkinson's disease Awareness Month in Peoria thank you Mr Helene thank you mayor Ali Council women and councilman uh unfortunately I have stood here for a number of years before you the story's always been the same the story's changed a little this year where we used to say one person was diagnosed every nine minutes one person is now diagnosed every six minutes with Parkinson's where we used to say the average age of diagnosis was 65 Plus the average age of diagnosis is now 59.

so you can see that we're losing the battle unfortunately but it's because of awareness and things like this that we can bring more awareness to the disease and to the effects of it those that remember me before we talked about 52 billion dollars a year that it costs in both medical and caregiving that's now up to about 64 billion dollars a year so we do need to raise awareness we need to help raise some funds for research through the various organizations and it's with to help these proclamations that I've gotten I think probably 10 or 12 at least from the city I always hope it's my last one not that I don't like coming down here and meeting with you but uh people like my wife she hasn't been here for the last couple years she was able to make it tonight so they're always hoping for a cure along with the other million boss people that are out there so on behalf of my wife and the Parkinson's community of central Illinois I thank all of you thank you thank you we thank you Mr Mrs haleem and we thank you Ali for your leadership and for your advocacy Madam Clerk we are at approval of the minutes councilmember Euler thank you madam chair and woman I move to approve the minutes of the city council meeting held on February 28 2023 as printed uh can I get a second Ed by council member Kelly any discussion please cash your ballots motion passes unanimously Madam Clerk we have two Town items item number 23-065 a request to approve the February 2023 actual expenditures and to approve the March 2023 anticipated expenditures for the town of the city of Peoria council member grab I'm Adam chair I moved to approve the expenditures as outlined for both February and March seconded by council member Jackson any discussion please cash your ballots motion passes unanimously Adam Clark item number 23-066 a communication with the request to approve the agenda for the annual town meeting council member Grant merely I moved to approve the agenda for the annual town meeting seconded by council member Jackson any discussion please cast your ballots motion passes unanimously Madam Clerk we are at consent agenda items item number 23-067 a communication with a request to approve the Declaration of local state of emergency item number 23-068 a communication with a request to approve the low bid and award a contract to R.A Cullen and his son for the Gill Avenue Mill and overlay project and the amount of one million forty six thousand ninety five dollars and forty cents with an additional authorization of 104 604.60 for contingencies for a total amount of one million one hundred and fifty thousand seven hundred dollars item number 23-069 a communication with a request to approve and award contracts for the 2023 city of Peoria and Peoria County trustee vacant lot mowing program and the amount not to exceed 854 dollars 23-070 a communication with the request to approve and award contracts for the 2023 facilities boulevards and right-of-way mowing program and an amount not to exceed 364 dollars 23-071 a communication with a request to approve a contract for the landscape stewardship and maintenance project with jymax landscape and the amount not to exceed 150 000.

including up to a hundred and twenty thousand for labor and equipment and up to thirty thousand for materials 23-072 a communication with a request to approve the sole the sole source purchase from traffic control Corporation and econolight traffic cabinets and an amount not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars and this requires two-thirds vote of council members voting 23-073 a communication with the request for the following a approved the low bid from autobomb company and the amount of one million 323 000 and approve a contract for the native plants and accessible interest project at the Public Works facility with an additional authorization of 132 000 for contingencies for a contract Award of one million four hundred and fifty five thousand and B adopt an ordinance amending the city of Peoria 20 and 2023 revised annual budget to allocate 640 000 from the storm Water Utility Fund balance for the native plants and accessible interest project at the Public Works facility this requires two-thirds of corporate authorities 23-074 a communication with a request to approve a sole source agreement with flock safety for an additional 43 license plate recognition cameras this requires two-thirds of Hope of the council members voting item number 23-075 a communication with the request to approve a professional service agreement to study the establishment of the proposed Galena Road Industrial Park tax increment financing district with Jacob and Klein and The Economic Development Group in the amount of 36 570 plus reimbursable costs item number 23-076 a communication with a request to approve a professional service agreement with Jacob and Klein and The Economic Development Group to study the establishment of the Southwest Washington Street Industrial tax in increment financing District in the amount of thirty seven thousand eight hundred plus reimbursable costs item number 23-077 appointments to the advisory committee on police and community relations with the request to concur Kelly Peterson Alexandra fosberg and Brock to good item number 23-078 an appointment to the cdbg public service advisory commission with a request to concur Pamela a Schubach item number 23-079 an appointment to the Housing Commission with a request to concur Brie Neil Bauer item number 23080 an appointment to the public Arts advisory commission with a request to concur May Gilliland Wright item number 23-081 an appointment to the historic preservation commission with the request to concur Reagan Leslie Hill item number 23-082 an appointment to the transport to the Transportation Commission with a request to concur Patricia Morrison Dennis item number 23-083 a communication with a request to receive and file for the month ended January 31st 2023 unaudited financial report that concludes the consent agenda items thank you madam clerk are there items to remove from consent Madam clerk I'm going to ask you to remove item 23-072 23-073 and 23-074 all of those items require a two-thirds or super majority vote from the council so I'd like for them to be voted separate from consent are there any other items to move to remove hearing then Madam clerk oh uh council member seer move to approve okay item all of them I think we have to take one at a time right sorry the consent agenda thank you very much thank you moved by council member Sierra seconded by council member Rodrigo and this is a move to approve the remaining consent agenda items any discussion please cash your ballots motion passes unanimously thank you councilman seer I'm Adam Clerk item number 23-072 a communication with the request to approve the sole source purchase from traffic control Corporation for econolite traffic cabinets and an amount not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars can I get a motion to approve moved by councilmember riggenbach seconded by council member valpulla any discussion please cash your ballots motion passes unanimously Madam Clerk item number 23-073 a communication with the request for the following a approve the low bid from Autobahn company and the amount of one million three hundred and twenty three thousand and approve a contract for the native plants and accessible interest project at the Public Works facility with an additional authorization of 132 000 for contingencies for a total contract Award of one million four hundred and fifty five thousand and B adopt an ordinance amend in the city of the Peoria 2023 revised annual budget to allocate 640 000 from the storm Water Utility Fund balance for the native plants and accessible interest project at the Public Works facility council member grab um mayor I moved to approve a as outlined there's seconded by council member Jackson any discussion cash your ballots motion passes unanimously council member Grant um mayor I moved to approve B the ordinance as outlined seconded by council member Jackson let's cash your ballots motion passes unanimously Madam clerk item number 23-074 a communication with a request to approve a sole source agreement with flock safety Incorporated for an additional 43 license plate recognition cameras council member Jensen I move to approve is there a second seconded by council member Seer any discussion please cash your ballots motion passes unanimously Madam clerk we are now at a presentation item number 23-084 a communication with a request to receive and file a presentation regarding the broadband and digital Equity initiative from the Illinois office of broadband okay that says me doesn't it okay thank you uh we have been in communication with the Illinois office of broadband uh the there's been a team the city manager has been involved the assistant city manager director Joe Doolin from Community Development and members of a team of the Illinois office of broadband and we've had some very good discussion about how they're going to their plan to roll out Broadband throughout the state of Illinois so we thought it was very important to bring this presentation to city council and and also allow the public to hear what's going on so welcome if you would please introduce yourselves and go right ahead into your presentation thank you for being here thank you so much uh mayor and council members and community members as well it's a pleasure to be here my name is Alicia Ross I am with the office of Illinois Broadband Illinois Broadband lab and members of city council my name is Greg Kloss I'm the federal program officer with ntia which is the national telecommunication and Information Administration with the U.S Department of Commerce and we're here today to talk about high-speed internet also called Broadband so as part of the bipartisan infrastructure law that passed Congress in November of 2021 there's a ton of money in there for a lot of Roads Bridges highways but there's also 65 billion dollars that Congress passed to support high-speed internet access Broadband this funding goes through ntia you can consider U.S Department of Commerce for short and it goes through two major programs we'll talk about today the first is bead which is the Broadband Equity access and deployment program there's 42 billion dollars and you can think of this as the infrastructure of the internet this is building the fiber putting in the ground or on the polls in installing fix wireless you know the devices getting people the tech and the actual internet so that they can benefit from all the things you can do online then the digital Equity act this is the program that helps with all of the other things of access so having the adoption so it's one thing to have the Internet connected to your home but it means nothing if you don't actually have a subscription and you're not subscribing to it every month and it's affordable if you don't have a device you don't have a computer or a laptop or a cell phone to connect to the internet and use it and also you need to have the skills the Knowledge and Skills to support you know Tech help if my mom texts me and how do I do this or how do I enlarge the the size of text on my phone all of those things are essential as we're talking about getting people connected and closing the digital divide so briefly um and I'll pass over to the my colleague with the state who's working on implementing all of this exciting stuff our funding goes from the federal government to the state government which then they're developing a plan right now they're in the planning phase if five million dollars to look at the needs what are the problem areas with infrastructure access Who currently has internet access who doesn't what's sufficient speed what's the affordability situation look like and they're asking the public to weigh in on this process and submit information that they'll roll up into a report and then use that for the basis of how they're going to administer their program for the next five years uh when we talk about how much funding the state of Illinois is going to receive this slide just tells you there's a formula that Congress developed it has not been processed yet right now it's uh it's going to be run on June June 30th of this year so in a couple months but it's estimated that Illinois will receive around 600 million dollars to a 1.2 billion dollars so it's a lot of funding and it's a Once in a generation opportunity to close digital divide and connect all those who are unserved and that's defined by law as anyone who has less than 25 megabits download and three upload and underserved that's anything less than 100 megabits download by 20 upload so if you're looking at your internet bill minimum standards are 100 by 20 by the law and that's what the state's going to do is they're going to first prioritize anyone who is in that unserved category and make sure they're connected then they're going to look at the underserved category and if there's funding left over they're going to work on connecting Community anchor institutions think of schools libraries hospitals with one gigabit service so one gigabit down um download speed any of the recipients of our program so any of the sub-grantees the state will award to they have to have an affordability component That's essential and that includes a low-cost option you can think of the affordability connection program that the FCC runs which provides a 30 monthly benefit that's a really good example that the state can choose when they're finalizing their plan to to follow through and apply for Illinois program and a big component of the local coordination public engagement I mentioned is it has to be all over the state which is why we're here today we're talking every corner of the state to make sure not just elected officials but also residents and businesses are aware of the programs and are engaged in sharing their opinions on what they would like for Solutions and with that I'm going to pass it over to Alicia thank you thank you Greg and again thank you for having us here as Greg mentioned we the state we have been aggressively um meeting with a local government agencies council members as well as making plans to have listening sessions with community members residents to find out what the needs are in each Town each Community both whether it is for digital literacy whether it's technology and then of course overall Broadband so the office of broadband is housed at the Department of Commerce and economic equity and then we have the Illinois Broadband lab and that is a collaboration with the U of I extension U of I system as well as the department of technology and innovation of Illinois and so here you'll see um again we're meeting with the government entities uh the service providers working with some of them as well other private companies non-profit organizations Community organizations as Greg mentioned as we're focused also therefore on the bead program the ready program and those programs actually have been in existence for a couple of years now we're actually on phase three two and three of either one of those respectfully and here we have uh just to give you a glimpse of our road map or the beginning of our roadmap and and showing you that we have already started our listening sessions in the State uh this is something that we've uh talked with and thank you again uh mayor for meeting with us uh so that we can set up listening sessions with you all and your community members as well and so again that our state government agencies local government agencies we're all working together and getting your buy-in so that all of our communities can be connected and this is literally a road map of what it is that we're doing in our regions and a tentative schedule we've actually again already started in some communities without throughout the state and we'll be doing so uh up until June by the end of June because we have a couple of deadlines we have our digital Equity plan that will be submitted to the Federal uh by the end of this year and in order to have a robust uh Grant in order to have a robust proposal that will be submitted that is why we're going out we want to hear your voices we want to hear community members uh voices we want to know exactly what your needs are so when we have those listening sessions as we discuss say exactly what you need um because as you hear from federal the funding has come and we want to make sure that we use those funds effectively and efficiently for ourselves for government buildings for homes schools and churches as well so here you'll see again partner agencies are trusted members of the local communities um and as Greg mentioned again we are working with in the digital Equity the ready program The Bead program and these are our robust programs that have begun and we are looking forward to continuing those funds working with organizations that some of you actually may be familiar with and we look forward to you joining some of our other calls that we have which includes the digital Equity Coalition call which is a monthly call we have presentations from people representatives from around the state who give presentations on things that they are doing we also just receive funding from federal for the ACP Grant and so we had one of our meetings actually was a robust meeting this past winter going over what it is that we need to do to submit to now receive the funds that we have received and this is information if you would like to get in contact with us please do so um you may find Us online on our website uh you can also therefore contact us via email if you have any comments or questions and that is for community members as well thank you again my name is Alicia Ross from the state and I'm glad that you all had us here today thank you both very much for this excellent presentation uh we thank you for your leadership in this and you know Peoria wants to be one of the most connected cities in the state of Illinois we do have those areas of underserved as well as uh unserved within our our city and so we want to address those needs we talked about in our last meeting which I think may have been yesterday uh we talked about having two listening sessions in the month of June we did request possibly having them in May while school is still in so that we can try to have participation of parents and get the schools to help out with that do you know where we are with that request I know that is something that we're still working on and what we would like to know is finding out locations as we you know also discuss locations and potential dates that you all are uh that you would like to have us come down and to help out with those presentations I think yes I think we can close in on those dates and locations especially if they're in the month of March well may while school is still in it will be I think a little bit more challenging to get the parents and family participation if it's in the month of June when school is out that makes sense and um that I know that you made suggestions yesterday regarding uh School uh community and then having those separate sessions to make sure that we're addressing each community and that people will have access to come as well as therefore we discuss some of the time so we will definitely confirm that hopefully by the end of this week okay fantastic we just really talked about the importance of having high-speed internet access for all of our residents in Peoria this is the way that we look for jobs it's the way that we access our health care it's the way that we do online learning education there's so much that can be accomplished by having not just the the Broadband speed but also the the tools the equipment that's needed to access and then the digital literacy that we need so we would entertain any questions or comments from the council beginning with council member Allen uh thank you mayor Ali and thank you all for your presentation I definitely believe that this is very timely as we look to make Peoria a desirable City and we look to recruit talent to our region with the emphasis on remote work and learning we can track people from far and wide that can come to our city long as we have the connectivity to be able to provide them the quality of life and that impacts their schooling their learning and then also their ability to work from anywhere in the world now so very timely thank you for inviting them and I look forward to seeing what we can do to make Peoria the most connected City in the state of Illinois thank you any other questions councilman valpulla thank you madam mayor I would say I mean I have just a clarification question it's a simply providing Broadband to these underrepresented communities do you think it'll address the root cause of life in the first place we haven't got them there such as the structurally equalities and or I would say systemic barriers can you comment to that please so I think that's a really great Point you're raising it's there's a lot of infrastructure issues which this grant does solve the um or fund the infrastructure problem but there's a broader adoption challenge recent Studies have shown that up to at least 30 percent of people who don't currently have internet are choosing not to have it and it's not only because of affordability although that's important it's that they don't feel they need it and so there's a broader education piece here on all the mayor just mentioned that you can do with the internet you know Telehealth we saw during covid remote schooling how essential it is just connecting to loved ones and remote work all of these things I think there's a broader education effort that's needed and that's another reason why these listing session that's going to happen here in Peoria is so important so we can hear from people about their connection issues and you know why they might not have internet service or why they some challenges with their current service thank you and I just have another follow-up question I'm actually copying from what mayor Ali's you know concluded can you you know Billy's program address factors such as what just the mayor said about the digital literacy or probably to to to be more crisp affordability of the device or content we have the internet but then will this program also help the underserved communities to have the device itself or even if you have a device it's hard to buy any software to run anything so will this program also help um you know the communities to have at least a bare basic thing to to to have it yes um and that depends on the organizations that will be working with Peoria that you all would be um referring to us that will be a part of the listening sessions that will be part of the management of uh programming but yes digital literacy is is a thing in our not just in our state but in our country we are and have been in the digital divide which is why we're grateful to have uh the funding that is now coming from federal because of the awareness that was that came about during the height of the pandemic um so yes that is something that will be addressed digital literacy uh the resources and you all as a city as a community as a county you all will be deciding on how those funds will be disbursed and how they will be used within your community and based on those listening sessions from uh from community members as well as yourselves then we'll be able to uh to gather that information and to help you strategically put a plan together thank you I I just have one question which is probably very silly but I will ask you anyways so what happens to the existing internet providers in this area so this is on this service is only for the underrepresented communities or for everybody this could be an accessible piece people develop their plan and the priority areas the funding has to First be to connect anyone who's unserved then second underserved and then the community anchor institutions the state will award sub grants to current Internet service providers but there's also a wide range municipalities could choose to be an internet service provider if they choose to um nonprofits could as well co-ops telephone co-ops lecture co-ops broadly defined whoever is going to deliver that sort of internet speed and consistently consistently reliably affordably our program is neutral on on who the provider is that's where the local decisions local input the state Grant making process scoring process will decide you know who the funding will go to thank you so much thank you madam thank you and just uh to can you clarify there will be both competitive funding as well as an allocation directly for the city is that accurate um and the the sub grants out for digital Equity act Grant programs has yet to be decided okay I don't want to commit to that okay all right and your office is connected U.S Department of Commerce it's what U.S Department of Commerce oh okay and then so it's kind of confusing so U.S Department of Commerce and then Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity so okay or and a glove here okay is there a a depart component within the governor's office as well or it's all through dceo dceo all right Miss Ross Mr Claus thank you very much for your presentation much appreciated [Applause] Madam clerk we'll need a vote to receive and file okay moved by councilman uh Ruck Regal seconded by councilman seer any discussion please cash your ballots motion passes unanimously Adam Clark we are now at regular business items item number 23-085 a communication with a request to concur with the recommendation from the Planning and Zoning commission to deny an ordinance or the recommendation from staff to adopt an ordinance approving a special use in a class R3 single-family residential district for a solo solar utility facility for the property located at 3901 West Reservoir Boulevard there's a handout on your desk from the League of Women Voters as well thank you councilmember Allen uh thank you madam mayor um before us tonight is a conversation about our proposed Solar Development in District Four um it's very unique because it was recommended by our amazing staff and it was uh denied by our uh Planning and Zoning commission which is staffed by private citizens who volunteer their time and so tonight we're going to have a robust uh conversation about this because it definitely is a very complex matter uh mayor I would like to request excuse me privilege of the floor for several individuals who will speak in favor of the project and then also in opposition of the project if I may okay yes those who I will call I will call you by first and last name in what organization or neighborhood you may represent um most of you filled out a speaker card but there are a couple people who haven't filled out a speaker card so at the conclusion of your talk if you can grab a speaker card from the podium and turn that in to the clerk's office clerk space over here that'd be great because we'll need that for public record so Donna Moore and Demarcus Hamilton will need you to do that at the conclusion of your talk uh the first person I would like to give privilege of the floor though is uh Pastor Jonathan Thomas of Saint Paul episodical Church aye Jonathan Thomas from St Paul's Episcopal Church I'm one of the priests there and we're the partner organization with hakatolo on this community solar project we met Jason Hawksworth a few years ago because his organization installed panels on the roof of our 54 000 square foot church building to provide all of our electrical needs that's over 700 panels and I would like to point out that they are all closer to our nearest neighbor homes than any of the panels on this project would be to any residences Jason and his partner can zika have a way of selling the tax credits which obviously the church can't use to a different company that still allows us to benefit from the solar energy at the time of installation three years ago we were able to save 20 percent on our electric bills but with recent rate hikes because our price is fixed we have saved over 50 percent uh our electricity so when they came to us to partner on this community-led solar project we were all in so that we could create the same sort of equity for others uh they're the solar experts and we are the community partner and our stipulation was that we get to decide who buys in to the electricity produced how that works is if the project were approved we'd have a series of community meetings around the city to explain solar energy to people how it works that there are in fact no health concerns related to it what we do with the panels when they're done and need to be retired all of those things and then we ask for Community input on who should be able to sign up for the program all I'm committed to is using our resources to make this available to people who have barriers for to accessing solar on their own that might be people who can't monetize the tax rebates non-profits like ourselves or people who don't pay income taxes or it could be the vast numbers of people in the city who rent but still have to pay their own utilities or people in some of our historic areas of town whose rooftops won't support it or where there's too much tree cover that's what we mean by Equity granting people access to the same resources that I've been given these subscribers will start with a 40 to 45 savings over their current electrical rate and save more over time because they won't have the wild rate hikes that we've seen recently with Ameren we've done what we could to make this project as beneficial to all the all as we know how to we chose a piece of land on the edge of the city that it butts the railroad tracks and is rather Steep and not good for much other development we researched fast-growing trees to plant at the top of the hill that'll block the view of most of the panels from the neighbors without blocking the view of the valley below from their deck we agreed to plant native pollinators under all the panels to absorb the rain water that runs off the panels so that this development does not further contribute to that problem in the city but rather makes a positive ecological impact we even signed a tripartite agreement with the unions to make sure that the electrical labor and mechanical unions all get their fair share of the work on this project and we did those things out of the profit margin so that we could still offer the greatest savings we could to the end users this project touches on a lot of things that people around this horseshoe care about it creates jobs and tax revenue and frankly draws very little from City resources in return it helps our environment and creates equity it's Innovative and helps move Peoria toward being a leader in new energy which we can and should be it uses private investment on private land to help people with their monthly budgets instead of relying on the government handout and it creates Community through our engagement while supporting so many of our City's stated strategic plan goals and the comprehensive plan passed by this Council and so if you are considering voting no I would ask you as a member of this community if not this project then when and where these are State dollars for tax credits that make this project possible and they're going somewhere in Illinois and if it's not Peoria we're just losing out and falling further behind I hope this explanation helps you and the other people hearing this to understand what this project is really about and I really hope that you'll support it thank you oh sorry about that uh thank you uh priest Thomas we appreciate your uh words today uh next up on behalf of the Sierra Club we have Joyce Rosenberger my name is Joyce Rosenberger and I live at 4030 North Brookmont Road I have lived in Peoria since 1989 and I have been a long-term member of the Sierra Club I have worked on many local and state environmental issues including State legislation for clean energy local campaigns to clean up our air and water and environmental justice I am here tonight to present this comment for the heart of Illinois group Sierra Club in support of this solar project and requesting this Council support the special use zoning which is allowed in an R3 residential district mayor Ali and members of the council an acre of solar panels can save about three hundred thousand pounds a year of carbon dioxide that would have gone into our air from carbon-based sources according to Columbia University's Sabin Center whether or not you are concerned with rapid climate change or reducing harmful pollution in our air and Soil and Water solar energy makes good business sense for the city of Peoria this six acre project is being done by a very reputable local business putting local people to work with jobs for construction tree planting Landscaping fencing and site maintenance solar panels provide Power for 20 years or more from the Sun and not from mining coal fracking for gas or drilling for oil this solar project has a church partnering with a local business and will be a shining example of Peoria progress for Community solar adding solar panels to our area provides more energy to the grid and eases the strain on power supplies during Peak use time such as hot sunny days the city development review board recommended approval of the request with conditions the developer responded with multiple steps to meet the conditions and Merit approval evergreen trees and other Landscaping will be a buffer for the backyards of the strip of Condominiums which are the only residences on the street side of the project housing is in demand and values typically increase over time there are many Studies by expert appraisers on the internet showing that there are no concerns for loss of property values from solar Farms but the internet will also find many fears and concerns regarding property values and other issues what is the truth for this situation will it be the long-term good for many will it be the facts that the developer responded and resolved conditions from the development review board or will the decision be based on the feelings and fears of those opposed this regards property that could be put to a productive use providing many benefits the direction and future of Peoria is decided by you the city council heart of Illinois group Sierra Club urges you to vote in support of the zoning changes and support this community solar project thank you thank you for your comments Miss Rosenberger we really appreciate that on behalf of the Sierra Club next up on behalf of the League of Women Voters we have miss Connie reminisce thank you mayor Ali and members of the council Council my name is Connie Romanus and I'm a lifelong peorian and a member of the League of Women Voters and on behalf of the leaf would like to remind you that in 2022 the League of Women of Voters established a climate change committee and one of the purposes of this committee is to help local governments in Central Illinois address the challenges of climate change global warming and sustainability with that purpose in mind the board of directors of the local League of Women Voters has reviewed the issues related to agenda item 23-085 and is respectfully requesting that you follow the recommendations from your staff to approve a special use for solar utility facility for the property located at 3901 West Reservoir Peoria surveys conducted nationally consistently show that over 50 percent of Americans are alarmed or concerned about climate change we anticipate that these numbers would be similar for those living in the city of Peoria climate change will not disappear on its own it will take concerted efforts by individuals businesses and government to address this challenge the city of Peoria has an opportunity to address this Challenge in a meaningful and concrete Way by allowing for the development of this community's solar project in addition to addressing climate change the proposed development will create good well-paying jobs for skilled trades people while at the same time allowing Citizens homeowners and renters alike to lower their utility bills approval of this project will promote sustainable growth and send a clear message that clean energy plays in Peoria we strongly encourage you to follow the recommendations of your professional staff and Grant the requested special use for this property thank you for your consideration thank you for your comments tonight on behalf of the League of Women Voters Miss reminisce next on behalf of atelo LLC we have Mr Jason harworth thank you mayor Ali city council members and staff my name is Jason Hawksworth I'm with hakatolo LLC um we're the uh the partner of St Paul's is the development partner on the on this project um we appreciate your service uh commitment and consideration of this small community solar project and the unique opportunity for its design and management to be informed through inclusive uh Community engagement St Paul's Episcopal Church passionately serves the community with a strong focus on equity and inclusion and Hawk Tolo is pleased to partner with the church in the development of this project as our own service model has focused on non-profit tax-exempt organizations that have been larger largely underrepresented in underrepresented in the in the clean energy sector our team worked diligently with City staff to have a design that is thoughtful considerate to the surrounding environment and compliant with the zoning code requirements with appropriate modifications right recommended such as screening and buffering at the property lines further we Outreach to councilman Allen and the adjacent Condo Association we worked with councilman Allen to listen to the concerns of the neighbors City Administration recommended it's this Project's approval as it meets local requirements and is consistent with the city's comprehensive plan and city council strategic goal plans concerns expressed through Planning and Zoning focused on glare and utility infrastructure the glare study provided by a third party demonstrates no glare impact the utility infrastructure and solar impact is not based on evidence and Ameren is the best entity to determine impact of their infrastructure which is done during the formal interconnection application process and whether any upgrades are required which is paid for by the project developer should the project move forward comments regarding electromagnetic radiation from solar panels are also not evidence-based renewable energy is much better alternative than fossil fuels and this project offsets its own carbon footprint in less than two years it is it is a renewable energy leader and Greater Peoria has integral to Workforce training with millions of dollars invested in locally invested locally for solar pipeline training through organizations like Illinois Central College the Peoria Tri-County Urban League and Heaven's View Christian fellowship and with the support from local unions and local companies like hakatolo significant training efforts are being made in this in the energy sector this project will create broad impact Community engagement equity and inclusion it'll grow small business job creation sustainability clean energy leadership positive environmental change Market choice for those who uh will subscribe reduced energy costs local dollars staying local and tax revenue generated from the project we as in hakatolo and St Paul's live work play worship and serve in Greater Peoria who better to pave the path for a local Urban solar it works in other communities across the United States and it can play in Peoria and it's up to us tonight I supposed to decide thank you thank you Mr hawkworth for providing comments on behalf of hockatello LLC at this time I would like to invite Paul kluber on behalf of Sandia Drive to speak to the matter at hand council members you all received a packet that was provided by Mr Kubler so if you can pull those out as he uh describes what is inside of your packet that would be very helpful thank you oh good evening ladies and gentlemen of the council my name is Paul kluber I live at 3609 Sandia Drive in Peoria uh in front of you you have a packet of exhibits and actually the information that uh councilman Allen had me draw up I wasn't anticipating speaking tonight so some of the information that I will tell you is taken verbatim from the information packets that you have in front of you I'll try to make it as brief as I can some of this information actually was the same information that went before the Planning and Zoning commission that denied this request so if you have talked to some of those people and some of this sounds familiar uh there is a good reason for that okay uh the first reason mine is more of an informational thing please don't get me wrong I think solar power is great I think low income provisioning of part of the cost to go back to people that can't afford the high cost of utilities is fine mine is more informational than nature for you to consider before you pass or deny the first thing is the glare reflection into the nine condos in the path of the solar panels if you look at your information you will see that exhibit one is an aerial photo and overlaid onto that is Arrows with times of day and also the height of the sun above the horizon the thing you need to keep in mind is the date that this takes place you'll just have to trust me in my normal day job I have access to programs that do this it is the real thing it's not something that I made up and just drew on a Google map if you take a look at it you will see the nine condos dead center on the drawing you will also see that at certain times running from 6 a.m to 11 A.M the sun is coming up behind those buildings uh if you can imagine sitting out on your patio that overlooks the solar panels having a cup of coffee you're sitting at your kitchen washing dishes you're sitting at your dining room reading a paper the next thing you know coming right over the roof right behind you is the Sun that hits the solar panel directly in front of you and comes back and hits you in the face unless you want to wear sunglasses when you're reading your newspaper on Sunday out on your patio or you'd like to work on your suntan like people used to do holding aluminum panels underneath their face uh glare is an issue if you go to exhibit number two that's provided you will see that um this is a two-story condominium the patio is on the top of the second store and not the top the patio is on the Second Story the kitchen's on the Second Story dining rooms are on the Second Story the solar panel program or the solar panel Farm is actually on a hillside that relative to the Second Story starts two stories above it by the time it gets to the bottom of the hill close to the railroad tracks all of a sudden you're six seven eight stories above the solar panels moving on you would ask why is all this relevant well it's relevant because at certain times of the year and the way the sun moves there is a very strong possibility that when the Sun hits those solar panels it's going to come right back into those people that happen to be out in their patio at their kitchen window their dining room windows it's just unfortunate that those nine people have their condos 75 feet 80 feet from a solar panel Farm which we'll get into a little bit uh second question that you need to consider is this uh the solar farm developer very nice gentleman he's come up here and he said he has a glare study that says don't worry no problem the exhibits you have in front of you exhibits three four and five with yellow highlights because some of it is technical jargon but if you look at what's in yellow you will see that anti-glare coatings on solar panels don't necessarily work glare studies don't necessarily tell the full story and location to solar panels relative to commercial dwellings or in this case Condominiums don't tell the whole story either so just because a glare study says there is not an issue if you look at exhibits three four and five in front of you in the highlighted areas in yellow they tend to disagree with what the gentleman says uh moving on number three solar farm access to the amaran substation every solar farm requires access to a substation in this case if you look at uh exhibit number six you will see that the substation that they are going to tap into is at the end of Sandia Drive at the corner of Sandia and Palmyra if you look at number six you'll see it's indicated where the substation is where Sandia Drive is and where the solar farm is uh in the last three years according to Ameren we have had six non-storm related power outages due to the equipment that's on Sandia Drive let me emphasize that please these are underground cables and these are non-storm related mechanical issues that have caused the power to go out in some cases for hours on end so dramatic sometimes that they blow the sewer manhole cover off because of what's going on with the failure of the cable underneath it why is it important that you have this in front of you because you say we have no control over what amaran does why should we be concerned as a city council that's a utility problem it's an engineering problem it's the problem of the people that live there between them and Ameren the unfortunate part about that is there's 134 tax paying voting citizens that live on Sandia Drive and if you add to the problems on Sandia because of attaching a solar farm to cabling that is 45 years old and mechanical issues along with that Transformers uh politically it's probably not a wise thing to do because I don't think you want 134 people sitting here complaining about power issues and remembering that it's because a solar farm was attached to the cabling to get it to the substation and finally uh let's see here exhibit number seven actually not final exhibit number seven is from Ameren and it's from the Department that actually approves on a tentative schedule the ability of this solar farm to even take place to begin with if you read that letter you will see as the gentleman uh points out that initially when you call up Ameren and you say we'd like to put in a solar farm as he describes it the pre-application just gives the application a 30 000 foot view of what is out there capacity Wise It's only after it's approved does Ameren do a complete study to see the feasibility of doing it see the physical issues of getting power from the solar farm up to the substation and then allotting all of the costs that might be required I'm assuming from what they say which is the second highlighted amount that goes to the developer so if you do choose to approve this you need to make sure in concrete writing to the best of what your legal department can do that the developer is completely responsible for upgrading any of the power requirements and ensuring that they do not add to the issues that we have with power outages there and I also might add according to the engineering department and you might find this interesting for those of you that have cable that's buried underground they think it is not unusual to have two non-storm related mechanical failures every year now think about that just a second how many of you with electrical power can remember the last time you had a power outage that was not storm related and that's the case and we have had six of them so yes we have problems with our power Ameren has come out there and said it was done 45 years ago it is old it needs to be replaced or upgraded but as you well know companies are not really inclined to spend money unless they are pulled and tugged and forced to spend money for the type of upgrades apparently they have to do along Sandia Drive and I will finish uh by this uh there might be a reason why what seems is a politically correct idea of helping low-income families pay for their utilities and also increase the taxes that piece of land pays to the city but it might not be the best idea after all when you take a slightly different View if you Google solar Farms and you look at all of those pictures that you see because I'm sure all of you at one time or another have Googled something and seeing it flashes all of these pictures of different things in this case it would be solar Farms I would challenge you to find any solar farm sitting Within 500 feet of a two-story condominium I would challenge you to find any solar farm that's sitting within a thousand feet of any two-story condominium so just because it's right politically to do so and it feels good to do so most of the solar Farms you see which is the final exhibit you have in front of you which is a copy of the Journal Star article the lead article in January it had a picture of a solar farm excuse me excuse me Paul I'm out in the middle I'm sorry to interrupt sir we need to conclude as soon as possible and but thank you though thank you very much for your time and hopefully the information will help you in your deliberations no thank you so much for being very thorough we really appreciate it um and I know it was very insightful for us thank you so much Paul you're welcome uh next up we have Miss Donna Moore representing Valley View Condo Association thank you I'm going to read this because my 70 plus year old mine isn't what it used to be um first of all I'm a big okay I'm sorry I'm done excuse Madonna can you just pull the mic down to you just a little bit thank you so much condos that this will be right in our backyard I didn't hear a lot of what everybody said tonight because of the the sound but I've met with the developer several times and I know what they're trying to do I'm a big opponent of alternative energy I'm a big I believe in climate change 100 I have grandchildren I want them to have an earth but this is a six acre solar farm 80 free feet from our back door not 80 feet from our backyard but 80 feet from our back door yeah as Mr kluber said that's probably never been done before I couldn't find where it's ever been done before and it's an area with lots of Wildlife okay first they went to the zoning Commission for a six acre solar farm 80 feet from our back door we talked about all our concerns Ameron Aesthetics possible health issues property values even this study that the glare study the zoning commission unanimously denied the request for a six acre solar farm 80 feet from our back door now you may disagree with some of our findings as far as health and property values there's research goes either way but you won't find any research on an eight eight or six acre solar farm 80 feet from our back door the staff I don't know if that's planning commissioner with the staff they approved it they uh they approved it for guidelines for special use they do not take into consideration anything except residential special use they have the same guidelines for a nursing home as they do a six acre solar farm in our backyard the developers said it would save money on electrical bills for low income people great I love that he also said that if he built it five miles away he could still service those same people it didn't have to be 80 feet from our back door he mentioned solar panels by Islands in Peoria Heights I don't know if the neighbors protested maybe they thought they couldn't fight against all ones however that's a few rows of not and six acre solar farming and the one at Mount Holly airport which is not even close to one acre and is three tenths of a miles from any residence the trailer park it's 1500 feet from the trailer park it's not a six acre solar crime 80 feet from somebody's back door please do not let them build this six acre solar farm 80 free from our back door 80 feet less than 30 yards that's a pitching wedge that's all thank you thank you Miss Moore for your comments on behalf of Valley View excuse me next up we have Demarcus Hamilton representing Valley View Condo Association all right uh thank you councilman Allen the rest of uh the city council thank you uh mayor Rita ali um I'm not going to go on a huge long tangent about uh plus or minus um I appreciate Miss Donna and Paul as well too and I wanted to be um I wanted to be um officially put on record that I would gladly grab one of those yellow pieces of paper anybody that knows me knows that I support solar as well too I support Renewables our support recycling uh any forms of conservation compost we we need to figure a lot of those things out here in the city of Peoria um and I would love for Peoria to be um uh to lead the way in the region when it comes to Renewables so this is not about whether or not we support solar uh this is about supporting solar in some place that makes sense when it comes to the Valley View Condos in that space that small pot of land on the back end as Paul already mentioned um this is a concern about not only just property values and things like that we can put that health of course we see evidence Pro and against uh for cons and all that stuff but when it comes to the substation the power outages and uh just plugging those plugging the new materials from those solar panels from the solar Farms into the 45 year old faulty equipment that is uh amarin's um it it just doesn't make sense again this is not about whether or not solar makes sense solar definitely makes sense um uh going green seeing Peoria go green definitely makes sense but plugging new equipment into 45 year old faulty equipment does not make sense uh relying on Ameren to fix it also doesn't make sense I don't think anybody here would trust Ameren to come fix anything uh when it comes to something that they can get away with not fixing and so uh when it comes to the solar farm I think that uh I would love for all of us together as a city of Peoria to find somewhere to put this project um as Ms Donna mentioned uh and we were on the call with Jason not too long ago and he underscored the fact that he can service low-income housing and low-income residents from anywhere in the city so if that's the case luckily this project doesn't die at Valley View and so uh I want you guys to be mindful when you vote that this is not to kill solar this is not anti-solar to vote no on this particular item is to not to shoot down solar it's to suggest that we find somewhere that makes sense to put this solar project so that way we can be a leader in the region when it comes to going green and we're also going green in a capacity that makes sense in doing it in a space in the city that makes sense because we can still reach those residents that need it the most um that's it uh thank you Mr Hamilton for your remarks on behalf of Valley View Condo Association that concludes our citizens address for this matter as the District 4 council member I'm sharing my recommendation for the proposed solar farm at 3901 West Reservoir Boulevard after much consideration and discussions with constituents staff and various stakeholders it would be best to support the recommendation of denial from the Planning and Zoning commission for the proposed solar farm while I acknowledge the importance of transitioning to renewable energy and the impact of climate change I have received feedback from the constituents in District 4 expressing concerns about the potential impact of The Proposal as their representative it is important me to consider and address their concerns and any hesitations they may have I have made an effort to conduct due diligence by performing research and hosting multiple stakeholder meetings however this decision does not reflect a negative disposition towards future solar or renewable energy projects in our district or city rather than focusing on the opposition we can use this as an opportunity to engage and educate our constituents about Urban solar Farms which can help us develop a strategy that benefits both our citizens and solar Developers I'm willing to assist in the development of such a strategy including the identification the identification of alternative locations for urban solar farms in District 4 and other areas of our city in conclusion I am not anti-solar or anti-renewable energy Alternatives but I am Pro District 4 and my constituents with that being said I like to make a motion to approve the request to concur with the recommendation from the Planning and Zoning commission to go to deny this request for special use second by council member grab as we go into discussion I need to ask staff City staff member assistant director of Community Development to explain the staff recommendation please thank you madam mayor council um just to give you a summary of the The Proposal it is a six Acre Site that's currently undeveloped the technical review that our community development staff provided um found that as we reviewed the proposal with the standards for special use that it did meet our requirements and that's why we did recommend approval it provides the proposal includes fencing around the perimeter of the site it includes landscape buffering along the east of the site adjacent to the rear yard Residential Properties that you heard tonight um they uh there are some conditions in waivers that are included in the recommendation again that came through our review waivers for fence material on Richwoods and Reservoir there is a waiver for sidewalk and installation on the Richwood side of the street and then there are conditions of approval that we recommended through our review that the applicant is also concurrent with which includes making sure that the access roads are paved appropriate equipment facilities are designed with the material and again making sure that there's appropriate Landscaping as in the front yards and the buffering for the Residential Properties does that answer your questions yes if you stick around in case there are any additional questions uh director Allison uh council member Kelly oh what oh wait hold on just a minute okay thank you Paul council member Kelly uh thank you madam mayor I'll also be voting to deny my my reasons as usual are a little different um solar power has been around for a while as a matter of fact when I was in eighth grade I had a solar battery project and uh but in appropriate places and for appropriate uses solar began to get a lot of subsidies from the feds uh 40 years ago to help them get over the hump of being a viable economic alternative that hasn't happened however the subsidies are enormous at this point and the rush to Alternatives that don't make economic sense continue a pace in the meantime fossil fuels Etc have gotten cleaner and cleaner and cleaner and they provided reasonably priced power this power is going to go out to poor people supposedly and the rah-rah people who are in favor of this are the ones that have shut down our very clean power plants and doubled and more than doubled the utility bills of people in this city this hurts the poor the most so the poor were used to shut down the Edwards plant and Duck Creek but now they have to be part of the transition and they can least afford that I don't like to be part of this kind of a game if this is a uh and also you know we had global warming the science was settled and somehow those dire predictions never came about there's still snow on Kilimanjaro we still have our Solar uh I or our polar ice caps um it didn't work so well that they had to change the name it's not global warming anymore because that didn't exactly work out so now it's climate change which is nicely undefined these kinds of things cost fortunes to feed an ideology and they harm taxpayers and now with so many places like Peoria they harm rate payers and so I don't want to jump on that train and I will be voting against that thank you madamir you're welcome did you have your light on it we kind of started all over here because of technical issue councilmember Jensen thank you oh I had my light on first to ask staff a question okay and I do have some comments but I can make them later um is there any alternative site that you're aware of in the city of Peoria that would fit you know that six acres that could support such a project um so we certainly could look we haven't done a search for any alternative site at the moment but that's something we could certainly work with and do oh but you don't you don't know if there is one okay I just find it hard to believe whether or not there is one okay um I'm going to support this project I think it's it's well overdue um we have been pushing for Innovation and investment and for clean renewable energy and this is our first opportunity that our project's come forward to the city of Peoria I understand some of the neighbors concerns but I don't buy based on the data and the evidence that I've seen that it that this is going to be a project that is really going to interfere with the quiet enjoyment of their property I think it's it's a very important step for this city and this Council to make um not only to support renewable energy but also to support local businesses and local labor and local jobs that this will produce and to help citizens reduce their utility bills and to have an alternative energy source so I support this wholeheartedly and I thank the petitioner and um the pastor for bringing this project forward to us and finding a location and I hope we pass it here tonight thank you any other comments council member thank you I actually Echo with the councilwoman Beth Jensen's Commons I am also a strong believer in investing in renewable energy and I believe that that takes us to a sustainable future so I I understand the concerns of the neighborhood but we have to look at the big picture that is bringing jobs and we also it creates a local employment first off and then I I personally visited the site some of the concerns are are very real the the form is going to be very close but then if you look at the big picture I think I favor to support that thank you welcome I have to say for full disclosure for the past seven years I've been an advocate for solar energy and also for the bipartisan legislation in Illinois making Illinois a leader in a clean Edge energy solar energy I learned a lot about solar when I worked at Illinois Central College and helped to develop and oversee icc's solar Workforce training program solar is one of the fastest growing Industries in the nation I I find this opportunity to be a unique opportunity for Peoria kind of an inaugural opportunity to to Launch similar type projects within our community to make our community safer and healthier in terms of environmental justice so I I will support the project as well and and hope that it passes council member Sear thank you madam mayor thank you for all the people that we have here tonight to very uh uh helpful information from everybody uh the same reason as for the mayor I mean I have to be honest with everybody in the 2019 first of all I do believe in solar energy because in 2019 I worked very hard with our staff and with our rli to uh to start their Farm over there now to make sure everybody understand the farm at rli the zoning over there was commercial and Industrial and it was 6.5 Acres and they were over 700 feet from the closest uh resident there or the mobile home park so it's a little different it's hard for me I I I'll although I do support solar it's very difficult for me to ask someone to have a farm 80 feet away from their back door so I think the location is just wrong the project is great the location is wrong I will be supporting my colleague from the from the Ford District thank you well council member Rodrigo thank you madam mayor and uh councilmember Kelly's comments kind of reminded me um that back in I believe was sixth grade I during a science fair had one my my project that year was on solar energy so I would agree with councilman Kelly that this topic has been one that I think we as a community and we as a nation have have had for a long time and tonight's discussion I think is a very important one and I believe in the power of solar and the power of being able to have a an organized plan on being able to implement this with into a grid prior to covid I had the opportunity of touring through through a European country actually the only European country which has a plan to be able to be self-sufficient by a certain time frame and they are up right now to 12 solar but it is a dedicated plan that they have come with and been able to add in new construction been able to talk about solar Farms how solar energy is implemented by zoning within parcels and so when you travel the country when you travel the city you see an integrated plan in there myself that's the piece that I I think I'm missing here tonight I I'm sitting here listening and we've had some great speakers on both sides and some very valid points and there are a lot of Pros more Pros on why solar is right for our community and to be able to help with those energy costs for our citizens that are most impacted by those high energy costs are extremely important but I think for me we've missed a step we need to have an organized plan and maybe that will come out whenever we as a council sit down and have a strategic plan it didn't come up in our last strategic plan this did not hit our our level maybe it should have but I also think about what we are dedicating as a city we are doing construction projects and we haven't put solar into our perspective and I think for me we can't pick one piece and not the other one when I look at staff recommendations and I like a lot of the staff recommendations but the recommendation of maybe moving the solar panels back from that property line it was not one of them that was considered and with six acres it seems to be one that could easily have been considered and I appreciate the paved roads I think that's important but I think the residents who are probably most impacted are more worried about the distance than they are at the road materials for long term for for this particular project the citizens who were impacted close by in the Condominiums I fully believe are not against solar they're wanting it utilized in a way that is consistent throughout the city and I think we've we've had conversations on short-term rentals on cannabis um distribution points and one of the things comes from the fact that then how does that that precedent from one become and be used throughout the city and I think that's where a plan has to come forward I'm not against solar and maybe this comes back in a way that can be approved tonight maybe it gets approved tonight but for me right now I'm not at the capacity that I can push for approval on this I like the work that's been done I think that there's a lot more work that we can do so that we can all be very consistent and comfortable in the vote that we make not only on the first of a project like this that's in a residential area but then but the ones that follow that and interestingly enough throughout the country there are some neighborhoods and subdivisions that are being built that their thought process that they are actually being clean energy developed communities where that is actually part of the subdivision or or the neighborhood and being built in and so I think that there's a lot of ways that we can go but I think we've got to do that planning here maybe it's a policy session maybe it's within the strategic planning but I look forward to those outcomes so that I can support solar projects in the future thank you you're welcome council member Graham it seems to me um councilman Allen is trying to do something with his district with this neighborhood he's not trying to do something to them and this is where our Council breaks down sometimes in its deliberations we substitute our judgment for that of the people greatest impacted and those are the folks who are living 80 feet from this my goodness gracious when I looked out the window today I saw sunlight for the first time in several days I know Leah Allison that we can find other places in the city to do this and I'm rather disappointed that staff hasn't started to think about maybe future projects even though we're not going to approve I hope the project that's being rammed down the throats of the people in this part of town we need to start thinking about where it would be embraced instead of embracing a Hindenburg bottle of implementation of solar smart biofuels it's just that simple and you know we can come in here and say all kinds of Buzz words that make us feel good sustainability and inclusion and equity but what about all those things as relates to the property values and Investments that the people have made in this part of town and we wonder sometimes why folks really don't want anything to do with the city of Peoria why they're suspicious when we do anything by way of pre-annexation or whatever this is why this is why and it's a shame because solar deserves a better uh introduction to this community than what's happening here today I respect the the Judgment of my fellow District councilman and I will tell you councilman Allen I after considering our conversation today in my years of service on this body I have never supported something it's been now going close to 12 years being District 2 councilman I have never supported something for district 2.

that I didn't think was good for our entire city so I don't think there's that bifurcation that oh this is not good for my district but good for the city the people in District 4 are part of our city some of these people have lived there folks for decades decades so I'm looking forward to some wonderful project that can be brought forward that won't come with this kind of heat and negative energy thank you mayor you're welcome the motion is to deny a special use an ordinance approving a special use there's no more discussion please cash your ballots motion passes with seven years and four Nays Ali Jensen Euler and valpulla Madam Clarke item number 23-086 a communication with a request to adopt an ordinance provided for issuance of General obligation bonds and the aggregate amount not to exceed 20 million five hundred thousand to the city of Peoria Peoria County Illinois to provide for the purpose of financing certain Capital Improvements within the city and providing for the levy of a direct annual tax sufficient to pay the principal and interest on said bonds authorizing the sale of set bonds to the purchaser they're thereof Mr manager uh thank you metamor I'd like to turn the floor over to our finance director uh Crotty to talk through uh this item that we have on the agenda this evening absolutely um the ordinance in front of you tonight is brought to you based off the discussion um tutor well at the last meeting this would be the issuance of 20 million dollars in debt for the Civic Center for the needed Capital Improvements at that facility in terms of timeline we are looking at if this is approved tonight a bond rating in late April with a hopeful closure at the end of at the end of May obviously Market dependent um the one thing I do want to just address in the actual ordinance itself you'll notice that the ordinances for a not to exceed amount of 20 million five hundred thousand that is standard protocol when you are looking at bond issuances to allow for the cost of the issuance as well as any premiums or discounts that might be provided on that debt so the intention is still that we will be providing under this ordinance the 20 million dollars to the Civic Center for their Capital Improvements I'm available for any questions you may have questions council member seer thank you madam mayor just one question uh director can you explain to all our all of us and our listeners the relationship between the bond and the items that would qualify on their Capital Improvement thank you absolutely any time that bonds are issued those Capital Improvements are those items that you're you are purchasing as part of the use of those funds have to be what they call bondable projects I.E they need to have a useful life beyond the debt so in this case 20 years so if we're issuing this debt those projects would need to be over that 20-year useful life and what are some of the items that would qualify um things like roofs and Mechanicals and all those different areas obviously the ordinance itself does discuss the ice plant in it as an OP as an option for use so it is those types of items things like carpet and those kind of things don't necessarily always qualify because they don't have a 20-year useful life thank you director thank you madam mayor thank you madam mayor director crady can you provide some clarity as we look to potentially add this new debt service to our annual obligations we're currently paying our annual pension obligations we're currently paying into our CSO obligation as well too do you see that if we add this would this possibly hinder our ability to still maintain those other debt services that we have on the books I don't necessarily have that concern right now primarily because of how this debt is being structured if you remember from the conversation a couple weeks ago how this debt is going to be structured is interest only until 2030 at which point the existing six and a half million to seven million dollars in debt we're paying debt payments that we're paying on behalf of the Civic Center right now expire and roll off so the intention of this is to provide the needed Capital now while also not hindering Us in the short term of meeting some of those obligations and again just for clarity we are paying this out of our current HRA tax and do you do not foresee a increase in our current HRA tax to take care of this not within the current structure but obviously that would be a discussion for future councils thank you sir thank you madam mayor discussion council member councilmember rock regal thank you madam mayor Madam mayor I would make emotion to approve the issuance of these general fund bonds as outlined second by council member seer continued discussion council member Jensen thank you madam mayor um Mr credit wondering if you have an opinion if this will have once we take on this additional obligation and debt any impact on our rating this is I don't think the addition of this debt will have any impact on our rating the the factors that have affected the city's rating over the years has been more our Reserve levels which as you saw in your packet in the financial report is improving so that may have a positive impact um on our rating the other area that the rating agencies have looked negatively on the city is related to our pension obligations and that's obviously something we now currently have a plan to tackle whether it be just in the short term over the next four years that having that plan may also help us um would love to sit here and say that I think we're going to get a rating increase as part of this um but we're going to try it I don't want to promise that right now okay um we can certainly make a good case for it and we're going to try and we're going to try yeah gotta try um one other question I have do we have any update on the status of the negotiations with the Civic Center and the rivermen in a contract uh no we don't at this point in time I do think that that both parties um are still you know moving down the path of operating a good faith to do that but we don't have any update at this point in time that I can give you okay thank you you're welcome any other comments or questions the motion is to approve ments to issue the general obligation bonds please cash your ballots motion passes unanimously [Applause] Madam Clerk we are at unfinished business item number 22-293 a communication with a request to adopt an ordinance amending Article 19 operation of a cannabis business of chapter 18 licenses licenses and miscellaneous business regulations of the code of the city of Peoria Mr manager uh thank you this is a item that we've deferred which comes back to you which is the discussion about our cannabis dispensaries the number that we have and any of the regulations that we might like to consider we do have Deputy Corporation Council Christy kabuska is here as well to talk about any of the the specific recommendations that we've laid out this this item had been deferred and we pushed it out until this meeting for discussion yeah and I I don't know that we have enough time to really discuss it tonight I almost want to see either this item pushed to a policy session that we have right before council meeting or push to a special meeting uh I'm seeing some head shake so can I get a motion moved by council member Sears seconded by council member rock regal that we're going to move this to do you think we have time right before the next meeting in March or do you think we should move it to April what you know I think maybe if we did it at the first meeting in April if Council would be amenable to that we could schedule it for like four o'clock and and so we're we've got two hours to discuss this prior to the council meeting if council is amenable to that and we can schedule it for that first meeting in April maybe 4 30 4 30.

or do you want an hour and a half council member sir thoughts I apologize man Amir uh since I'm gonna it's gonna be my motion I know I will be out of town the next the first meeting of April can we put the second meeting in April uh you don't want to move it that far next next meeting if if counsel so desires we could we could certainly look at 4 30 on the 28th and have a policy session at that time I see it's shaking that's okay that would give us an hour and a half for our regular emotion move to defer until our next meeting in March figure out the time yes ma'am all right sounds good second it by council member record council member Allen uh thank you madam mayor I'm definitely in support of the policy session uh Deputy Corporation kapuska can you provide any update though regarding uh R2 or I guess our our three active special use permits that we have out there in the queue uh the old Applebee's the one out in shops at Grand Prairie in Metro Center and then also do we have any potential applicants that have um provided any interest of possibly applying for a special use permit sure I'd be happy to give you what I know about those I will also point out unfortunately I am not able to be here on March 28th so we can certainly see if there's someone else in the legal department that can provide this information but I do know that unfortunately historically I have been the person that has been in front of you for a few years with with this so I feel like I have a good handle on uh some of the history at least but in the material that you had tonight we did give you a list of where we believe we're at with all of the licenses that the state of Illinois has issued and where they're at with their special use permits so for example Trinity we know has special use permits and they have a license for both of their facilities North Cardinal Ventures LLC does have an approved special use permit exotic strains LLC does have a special use permit world of weed does have a special use permit of those three that I just listed none of those have actually applied for a city business license at this point however so we have not seen those applications come through as of right now today there are a potential We Believe of 11 current licenses that are in our BLS region and then again you can see in the chart what has the special use permit and then who has a City License none of those those others however have anything on file it's my understanding thank you for that update appreciate it thank you madam mayor yes we have not voted yet I'm concerned about having a meeting on cannabis without Council capacitor there she's the one that has had the wealth of knowledge the all the information and so maybe we can find an agreeable date that's sooner than later where she's present we're all available we can try to look for a date within the next three weeks it could potentially I think we can try to search for it an agreeable date if you're willing to make that adjustment councilman seer seconded by council member Herrick Regal okay thank you council member grab one of the things that um I'm a little concerned about is letting this drag on and drag out I think it's important that the council knows what's in the pipeline what may be elapsing soon whatever do we have any idea what might be coming forward between now and God knows when we schedule this policy session is there anything in the pipeline not that we've seen at least as to the existing existing licenses that we know that the state issued at the end of December so interestingly enough when we first started talking about this we had eight social Equity licenses that have been issued for our BLS region by the time we came back to in December they had added two to that list we also know that as of January 1st they've announced that they're going to issue additional licenses and one at least one will come to our BLS region but that's the only information I have on timing at this point I don't want to get into something that could be litigious but is there any feedback you can give us on the status of the one that was proposed and approved on Glenn uh just that they have yet you know although anybody that's had a special use permit they have yet to propose any business licenses to the city well we did get a letter in reference to that location and I'm just wondering if that remains in the uh queue for potentially being a viable cannabis Outlet or if the water has been muddied to the point where that's no longer a viable location that's that's something I need to know because I think it's about time we shut these off I don't think they're healthy for our community I've gone along with some of them but at some point with the risks to health and smoking and everything else what are we really doing here I suppose you know if we use one of those buzzwords we heard earlier we can justify almost anything and then look back hell I don't even think 20 years 10 years and say what were we thinking in this state anyway mayor I'm anxious to see the Bradley game as well thank you welcome should be interesting discussion just just a quick oh are you available next Tuesday if we did one next Tuesday absolutely unfortunately March 28th is a mandatory parent meeting for my my kids school but any other date I'm happy to make myself available that would be an in-between meeting uh either 4 30 to 6 30 or 4 30 to 6 we'll figure out the times parent meetings I'm sorry what was that at six we could do it at six we could do six to eight or six to when we're done six to seven thirty or eight okay I'm seeing some thumbs up to that that's what we'll try to shoot for next Tuesday at six o'clock and we'll try to end no later than eight that's that's the plan thank you Council Madam Clerk we are now at new business any new business it oh I'm sorry I wouldn't vote thank you councilman Euler keeping me on my toes here uh that motion is to ex to defer until next Tuesday is that right councilman Sierra seconded by councilman uh Rodrigo please cast your ballots motion passes unanimously any new business council member grab thank you mayor the Community Development Department of our city is hosting a copy with code open house on Wednesday March 22nd from 4 P.M to 6 p.m at the Peoria Public Library at 107 Northeast Monroe in the lower level Auditorium coffee with code is a great opportunity to meet your code enforcement inspector over some coffee talk to City staff about any issues and learn more about Grant programs the other announcement that is very pertinent to our constituents is that the Community Development Department is accepting applications for we knew it was coming another tranche of money for the neighborhood mini grant program and they're accepting those applications until Friday April 7th with this program neighborhoods can get up to five thousand dollars to fund a project of their choice last year we saw a wide variety of projects including block parties public art projects bike repair station youth litter cleanup and security cameras neighborhoods can apply online by visiting the city of Peoria webpage and searching neighborhood mini grant program or if you're old-fashioned like me you can call the Community Development Department directly at 309-494-494-8600 and you can have a paper application mailed to you can you believe that we still have paper thank you council member rickenback thank you madam mayor we're all proud of the local um homegrown businesses that we have here in Peoria well today one of our very own George manius is celebrating his 92nd birthday 76 years in business so I just thought he deserved a shout out from the council amazing happy birthday George yeah fantastic thank you for sharing that council member Rodrigo very quickly uh we've got about 27 minutes until the Bradley takes on Wisconsin tonight in the NIT game bringing not only local but national attention to the good things that are happening right here in Peoria Illinois so um I know we wish them all the best thank you very much anybody know what channel that's going to be shown on ESPN woohoo okay council member Allen uh thank you madam mayor I'll be very fast too just in the spirit of shout outs uh obviously shout out to Bradley Braves who won the Missouri Valley uh conference um regular season title so that was like the first time in a long time so congratulations to the Braves but also I want to shout out some of our local high school basketball teams including my rich Woods knights we won our first Regional Title in a good long time so shout out to coach Bobo Smith there in the nights I would like to also shout out the Peoria High lady Lions who received the third place trophy uh Aaliyah Guyton who was first team All-State and Coach Miche effort has a great program there and then I would be remiss if I didn't shout out uh because it is a Greater Peoria shout out Metamora Redbirds won the first place in the ihsa basketball championship yes beating the PowerHouse Chicago Simeon and I have to I have to bring it up I was a junior in high school when we lost to Derrick Rose in overtime to Simeon and my boy who's on the coaching staff at Metamora who was an allstator for us that year he got his revenge for the Richwoods alumni so go red birds thank you you're welcome and everybody I remember that the annual St Patrick's parade will be held this Friday at 11 p.m starting right in front of the Civic Center sorry uh madam Adam clerk we are now at citizens opportunity to address the city council and town board we did receive comment cards we have first uh we have four four individuals here starting with Jonathan Hudson l they have Mary Kerr Madam air city council and staff I thank you for all you have done I almost have tears um like Congress or Congressman councilman Sierra said last time we're just in the second period we're get the third period starting and I hope that we um get a contract my name is Mary Kerr I'm from Morton sorry about that we moved to um the area in 2004 my husband came here with caterpillar and I happen to love hockey I grew up with Bobby Hull and the Blackhawks and I had a passion for hockey so um I was so excited that Peoria had a team but I'm also a relationship person in these 19 years I've probably attended at least half if not three quarters of the rivermen games in town and I've watched relationships for the last 15 years between the PCC and the ribs and they seem to work really well together and had great Partnerships there was advertising on the outside Billboards we had many Saturday games we had Bradley Saturday afternoon games and then at night rivermen game there were also many other things we had good concessions but didn't last four years things have changed and it doesn't appear to be in a partnership anymore and since this whole discussion started several months ago I've heard a lot of people in talk radio talk about this horrible Monarch company and Mr Ewell who saw a value in Peoria and their hockey and he became majority owner we do still have local owners but Mr Ewell has put millions of dollars into the city of Peoria because of our 40 Years of Legacy hockey he's brought jobs to this city and um that Peoria has among lots of other good things in Peoria but he has he has brought lots of good things to the city Peoria is known for its hockey it draws people to the city and you've heard a lot the last month or so the value of hockey I'm terrific to the city um but the city brought ASM global to our city with no investment or knowledge of Peoria or what was important to our community The Authority board has listened to narratives and hung on every word that Mr Edgar has said he's a great booking agent but he has not been a very good manager and money is the bottom line I believe ASM should have been told or communicated to about what's important to our community do we even know what's valuable to our citizens mayor Ali stated that the river men are a staple and a vital part of our community it breaks my heart that a handful of people who hang on every word of a GM from ASM Global has the power to wipe out a 41 year old staple or Legacy to Peoria the people in The Authority board look at the rivermen organization as nameless faceless people who don't bring in enough money for this Global worldwide Corporation with offices in Australia England Dubai Los Angeles and Brazil this Corporation is telling people in Peoria what's important for us they have a narrative this whole situation with the rivermen being treated so poorly never should have happened the names of the front office staff aren't even known I bet they even walk past in the Great Hall the general manager without even being acknowledged as I said before I'm a relationship person where's the relationship between the city and the ribs a partnership we are all better together we can make great things happen how did this whole thing happen where are the checks and balances the last four years has been really very upsetting and heartbreaking I pray that a win-win solution happens soon and I believe the city is Monster Mantra or motto is Peoria is the place well puring is the place where the sphl Presidents Cup champions play hockey the Riverman a 40 year old Legacy and I really hope it continues thank you very much [Applause] Molly catechin I am Molly cadigan and I'm representing the floundering Columbia Terrace North neighborhood association um I've been here before this is probably my third attempt at this it's nice to hear that the code enforcement people are going to have a meeting on the 22nd unfortunately I will not be able to attend I'm having surgery on Friday I came here to talk to you about two things the lack of ordinance ordinances being followed regarding litter the litter problem all over this city is abominable it is absolutely horrific and dangerous in my neighborhood there is not a sidewalk in my neighborhood anywhere that I can safely walk my dogs anymore because of shattered glass thrown there by drunks on a daily basis I've been told by the city oh you shouldn't be picking it up and I said well if not me who if my dog were to step in any of that broken glass they could bleed to death before I could get them home so I pick up the litter every day and I get takes me about an hour on my walk to pick it all up and I get back home and the area I've already picked up is trashed again so I'm asking for one thing I have tried to educate the people in my neighborhood most of whom don't give a frankly about the importance of keeping their yards clean and I've said to them and I've been quoted that there is an ordinance if I'm not mistaken that says that people who are renters or homeowners are responsible for all the litter and trash in on and in their property up to and including the curbside I'm not going to ask for a yes or no on that because I don't want my use my time arguing on that but if that were true and it appears to me that about 90 of the people in my neighborhood are not aware of that ordinance perhaps education is what's needed so I'm asking the council to get together and put together a little note that can be sent to every voting person in the city just like we have all the political postcards that go out every year that says that tells them what this ordinance is because it's really gotten to the fever pitch on a daily basis there are syringes in my neighborhood and used disposable diapers it has become a public health hazard for everybody in my neighborhood which is made up primarily of the Working Poor the retire the retired people and shut-ins when I have someone who is wheelchair about in my neighborhood who can't even safely get down off the sidewalk because of broken glass and she's going to get a flat tire in her power operated machine that just is absolutely inexcusable so I'm asking for an educational component to come into play I'm asking for if nothing else and I'd have this from the last three code enforcement people in my neighborhood that they got frustrated handing out tickets to people who were chronic litterers because the tickets are never paid so I'm asking you to basically put on your big boy pants big girl pants and start enforcing this ordinance and making people pay for being chronic litterers because there are people in my neighborhood Who basically it looks like somebody used their front yard as a town dump and I know it has all to do with integrity and self-worth and power in your neighborhood but from my point of view it shouldn't matter whether it's a homeowner or a renter there should not be all this trash and litter all over the city and I know that you're always trying to Advocate getting new businesses coming into the city but I gotta tell you anybody from out of town who's going to drive the West Bluff and look at all the litter on Main Street is going to go gee yeah syringes diapers along the street yeah I'd really like to start a business here so I want you to think about that because that really and I was quoted one I had someone say to me one time did I really think litter was that important and I said yes as a environmentalist I certainly do it also bespeaks the broken window syndrome my neighborhood is being turned into a ghetto because of all the trash I moved here in 2014 as it was going to be my retirement place I'm now not safe to walk outside my house I don't want to be a prisoner in my home and I don't want to be a prisoner in my neighborhood thank you welcome and our final speaker is Mike Olson I'll make this quick because I want to watch that game tonight too I wasn't able to this basically I had a little speech for the uh Authority last night Mike Olson 2407 Wisconsin that was a long time ago 1025 West Teton Drive um I I just like to let the mayor and the council know that we're appreciative of the uh all the interest that's been taken on behalf of all the people that are in this room and and many many others that attend the games I mean that sincerely but there's three things real quick that I that I want to acknowledge that's went on that I was able to observe in the last two weeks at our Civic Center number one the synchronized skating that was here I hear all the time the ice plant for the river no no what about the Jamboree kids that were here last Saturday from nine in the morning until three five to eight year olds boys and girls boys and girls from all of our Central Illinois area Peoria Pekin Decatur uh Springfield Champaign Decatur they were on that ice from nine in the morning till till three in the afternoon they break the ice up into three different sections and they play across there's 30 kids 30 kids on the ice same time and some people might say well they could do that on now you they had such a great time you could just see it they had a great time but just I applaud The Authority for for providing that the other thing I mentioned just real quickly was that you know we had 30 synchronized skating teams here from all over the country California Florida 30 synchronized skating teams uh a week and a half ago and they did they were you know if you put even 10 or 12 skaters on a team you know you're talking a lot a lot of hotel rooms they were here from Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday rented our facility and it and and I know where they were very happy with it for the most part so congratulations to the group over there and then Friday night Saturday and Sunday you know a year a year ago that those three nights would have been taken by the state basketball tournament or at least what two years ago I guess that we finally we lost it but you know the Riverman picked it up we had over 2 300 people here on Friday I say we the ribbon 2300 on Friday night over 4 300 on Saturday night uh my guess would be pretty and I see a lot of games about 2 000 on Sunday afternoon with it what I call the family A Day game and kids really enjoyed it and took some nice pictures of families that were having a good time so roughly about 8 600 people in the three days that we use the that the ice was used the ice plant needed down the road to continue to do that so thank you for that for your vote tonight and uh looking forward to all the efforts that have gone into make this a very fruitful thing for all of us people in the city of Peoria thank you [Applause] Adam Clark Madam mayor we are now at a German to exact session I would like to invite a motion to adjourn and to convene in closed session immediately following adjournment of the city council meeting pursuant to the open meetings act 5 ilcs 120-2 C1 to discuss the performance of a specific employee pursuant to open meetings Act five ILS 120 Slash 2 C 11 to discuss pending litigation and pursuant to the open meetings act 5 l i l c s 120-2c21 for approval by the body of closed session minutes and the semi-annual review of closed session minutes moved by councilman Allen seconded by council member Rick Regal please pass your ballots council member Sierra okay motion passes unanimously thank you for your service if you all go there's those cards back