Kankakee Times

Members of the Kankakee City Council met Monday, July 18.

Here are the meeting minutes as provided by the Kankakee City Council:

CITY OF KANKAKEE

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

JULY 18, 2016 7:00 P.M.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Good evening. I’d like to call the meeting to order. Ah, there is no prayer this evening and the Council will lead the Pledge.

CITY COUNCIL AND ALL: Pledge of Allegiance.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you. Roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

PRESENT: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Department Heads.

CLERK DUMAS:

PRESENT: Regnier; Perkins; Kubal; Bohlen; Power; Simms; Tyson; Cross; Bertrand; Yohnka (10)

ABSENT: Schmitz (1)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: At this time, I would entertain a motion to approve the minutes of the July 5, 2016, meeting.

ALDERMAN OSENGA: So moved, Mayor Epstein.

ALDERMAN CRAWFORD: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Osenga, seconded by Alderman Crawford. Are there any additions or corrections to the minutes? Hearing none, all those in favor, aye. Opposed, same sign.

MOTION TO APPROVE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JULY 5, 2016

MAYOR EPSTEIN: The minutes are approved. The first item on the agenda is a petition by Donna Mitchell requesting a Conditional Use Permit for a group day care at the property known as 703 S. Lincoln. At this time, I would ask for a motion to approve the Findings and Recommendations of the Planning Board.

ALDERMAN CURTIS: So moved, Mayor.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Curtis.

ALDERMAN BARON: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded by Alderman Baron to accept the Findings and Recommendations. Roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

FINDINGS & RECOMMENDATIONS

PB15-09 – AN APPLICATION BY DONNA MITCHELL REQUESTING A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT TO ESTABLISH AND OPERATE A “MAJOR HOME OCCUPATION-GROUP DAY CARE” AT THE PROPERTY COMMONLY KNOWN AS 703 SOUTH LINCOLN

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Ah, a motion to Suspend the Rules that would interfere with the Ordinance of permitting the Conditional Use Permit for this property.

ALDERMAN CURTIS: So moved.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Curtis.

ALDERMAN BARON: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded by Alderman Baron. Roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Motion to place the Ordinance on Final Passage.

ALDERMAN CURTIS: So moved.

ALDERMAN BARON: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Curtis, seconded by Alderman Baron. Are there any questions? As some of you will recall, this woman currently lives in this neighborhood and she is building a home on a vacant property on Lincoln and she currently does have a day care and now would like to move the day care that she has in the home that she currently lives in, to the new home that she will be building. So, that’s the story behind this. Any other questions? Roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

AN ORDINANCE APPROVING THE CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT TO ESTABLISH AND OPERATE A “MAJOR HOME OCCUPATION-GROUP DAY CARE” AT THE PROPERTY COMMONLY KNOWN AS 703 SOUTH LINCOLN

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Moving onto Communications, the first three items are for your information. Thank you notes and, ah, from a scholarship winner, from the Provost family and from the family of Stella Ryan. Items D, E, F, G and H, I would like to consolidate and I would entertain a motion to do that.

ALDERMAN BROWN: So moved.

ALDERMAN TETTER: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Brown, seconded by Alderman Tetter to consolidate and approve–may I add that word?

ALDERMAN BROWN: Yes.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Consolidate and approve items D, E, F, G and H under Communications. Any questions? All those in favor aye. Opposed.

ST. TERESA PARISH IS REQUESTING STREET CLOSURE OF NORTH ST. JOSEPH AVENUE FROM EAST SPRUCE STREET TO EAST LINDEN STREET TO HOST THE

ST. TERESA PARISH FESTIVAL ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2016 FROM

7:00 A.M. UNTIL 10:00 P.M.

FAIR HAVEN CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST IS REQUESTING

STREET CLOSURE OF EAST MULBERRY STREET FROM NORTH

HOBBIE AVENUE TO NORTH EVERGREEN AVENUE AND THE ALLEY FROM

BIRCH STREET TO WILLOW STREET THAT IS BEHIND FAIR HAVEN CHURCH

FOR A CHURCH REUNION TO BE HELD AT THE CHURCH ON SATURDAY,

JULY 27, 2016, FROM 10:00 A.M. UNTIL 8:00 P.M.

ACTING OUT THEATRE COMPANY IS REQUESTING STREET CLOSURE OF DEARBORN STREET NEAR ST. PAUL’S CHURCH AND HOMESTAR BANK FOR

THE Sweeney TODD PRODUCTION TO BE HELD ON FRIDAY, SATURDAY,

AND SUNDAY, JULY 22, 23 AND 24, 2016, FROM 4:30 P.M. UNTIL 8:00 P.M.,

WITH A RAIN DATE OF MONDAY, JULY 25, 2016

KANKAKEE EVENTS PARTNERSHIP IS REQUESTING STREET CLOSURE OF

THE 100 BLOCK OF NORTH SCHUYLER ALLEY, THE 200 BLOCK OF SOUTH SCHUYLER ALLEY, AND MERCHANT STREET FROM SCHUYLER AVENUE WEST

TO THE KANKAKEE TRAIN DEPOT ON THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2016, AT 6:00 P.M. THROUGH SUNDAY, JULY 31, 2016 AT 6:00 P.M., FOR THE

2016 MERCHANT STREET MUSIC FEST

PLEASANT GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH AT 487 NORTH FAIRMONT AVENUE IS REQUESTING PERMISSION TO HOST A PARADE ON SATURDAY,

AUGUST 6, 2016, BEGINNING AT 11:00 A.M. UNTIL 2:30 P.M.,

TO KICK OFF THEIR VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

MAYOR EPSTEIN: The items are approved. Standing Committees. Building and Code. Alderman Tall.

ALDERMAN TALL: Yes, the minutes are self-explanatory. And, Cliff if you want to explain the contractors’ registration.

CLIFF CROSS: Sure, I’d be happy to. Ah, in our Code Committee, we’ve talked about–and I know this has been discussed before, but currently the Ordinance requires contractor registration for any contractor who’s doing work within the City to be registered through the County. One thing we are considering as part of our, ah, Code Committee is an amendment to the Ordinance which would require these contractors to further register with the City. The reason being is, is primarily to insure that they are meeting the insurance and bonding requirements that would protect any prospective citizens from any issues with those contractors. So, we’re goin’ through and we’re gonna’ discuss it further during this Thursday’s Code Committee meeting if anybody wants to attend. But, it’s just an FYI that we are considering an amendment to, ah, require contractor registration in the City of Kankakee and it’s not uncommon from some of our other neighboring communities because some of our neighboring communities do this as well. So, this isn’t somethin’ we’re doing on our own. We’re considering how they handle it and we want to try to stay consistent with everybody else throughout the area to protect our citizens.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Okay. Thank you. Alderman Tall. Anything else?

ALDERMAN TALL: Also, on Thursday, we’ll be discussing the elimination of billboards.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Okay. Moving onto Public Safety, Alderman Osenga.

ALDERMAN OSENGA: Yes, Mayor. Ah, we paid the bills as usual and we reviewed Part I and Part II Crimes and there was a discussion about, ah, increase in burglaries in the 4th Ward and Commander Kidwell said he would follow up on that to see what was going on there. Thought maybe new people moved into the neighborhood that are takin’ advantage. They weren’t sure. The Traffic Unit was very busy. They wrote 87 citations in June and they were scheduled to do an alcohol related detail, but because of lack of funding in Springfield, it was canceled. There’s a surprise. Ah, Fire side, overtime was up considerably from what it normally is, but had one firefighter that’s injured, two firefighters that are on medical leave of some type, one firefighter retired and another one was terminated. But, ah, in the near future they’re hirin’ two firefighters so, hopefully, that overtime will come down a little bit. Ah, 77% of the calls were EMS calls. They had nine fires in June and a big one was 332 S. Fifth had $100,000.00 in damage. And, Chief Young presented information to the Committee about increasing some fees. Use of oxygen on an ambulance. They want to increase that to $50.00. And, ah, starting in May of 2017, ah, they want to increase ambulance fees 2%. But, that will be covered by Medicare and Medicaid so we have no expense to the taxpayers. This is just keeping up with insurance. As insurance goes up, they want to be able to increase their fees so it would be a new revenue source for the City and it’ll be no cost to the taxpayers. And, that is, ah–the Committee voted on it unanimously and that is on our packet tonight to be approved.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Okay. Thank you.

ALDERMAN OSENGA: Thank you.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Any questions? Moving onto Budget, Alderman Baron.

ALDERMAN BARON: Mayor, just.first of all, a couple of, ah, numbers that we dealt with, we looked at sales tax and recognized that we had budgeted $310,000.00 per month for the year for receipt of sales tax. And, compared it with the receipt–the identified.the projected receipt for July–which was $286,000.00, a little bit down. But, in adding together May, June and July and looking at the three numbers that are available to us, actually that average was $325,000.00 which was above. So, no cause for alarm and as with everything, it takes a few months to see an actual normal. But, we’re doing fine there. As Alderman Osenga pointed out, ah, the OT for Firefighters was high and that had a lot to do with the fact that at one time, I think during the relevant period here, we were down seven firefighters from the budgeted force. So, we’re making a comeback and that probably will even out. Ah, finally, Alderwoman Kennedy brought up, ah, a concern at the Budget Committee about ways that we, as Aldermen, can respond to Capital needs within our Wards. And, we had a good discussion and a somewhat in depth discussion and, essentially came up with the plan that by August 15, which is the second Council meeting in August, the Wards will–the two Aldermen for each of the Wards will get together and come up with the most pressing Capital needs in their Ward, and take those and submit them to the Mayor. Thereafter, the idea is to have a goal-setting or priority-setting session where all these are on the table, you know, what we think are important. There’ll be an attempt to prioritize them as a group, ah, and then the Mayor will be able to make decisions concerning the allocation of the Capital that we just borrowed. We just borrowed $3,000,000.00. That’s not.that can’t be spent in a year and some of the $3,000.000.00 is already earmarked for specific projects. So, this is the way that we can best respond to the.it’s our job to hear our constituents tell us what the issues are and it’s our job to identify what the.what needs are crying out to be met Capital-wise in our Wards. So, that’s the plan. And, it’s very important that we all get together prior to our August 15. Make a list, make it look nice, ah, and submit it to the Mayor and then we’ll act from there.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you, Alderman. I’ve also, on that same note, I’ve asked Mr. Tyson to prepare, ah, an Executive Summary for me on monies that have already been promised as part of matches for different grants so that way we will truly have a picture of our obligations going forward for the next few years. Ah, talking about money, motion to approve payment of the bills.

ALDERMAN FAFORD: Your honor, I would move we approve the Report of Officers, place the money in the proper accounts and pay the bills in the amount of $1,850,289.13.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Faford.

ALDERMAN TALL: I’ll second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded by Alderman Tall to pay the bills in the amount of $1,850,289.13. The–I’m going to just point out the bills are very high based on a couple of things. You’ll see a payment to the pension fund for the Police. Fire pension is deposited directly from the County property tax collection, to the Fire pension. The Police comes to the City and then is distributed to the Police pension. That’s based on the first two distributions of property tax, so there will be another allocation to the Police pension fund, ah, in September or whenever we receive the final allocation or the next allocation from the County. So, that actually added quite a bit to the bills. Ah, are there any questions on any of the bills?

ALDERWOMAN WELLS-ARMSTRONG: Yes. Check #70443. It’s on the first page. For $17,000.00.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: That’s, ah, we have a property tax rebate with Indian Meadows and that is, ah, a rebate to the owners of those properties on the first installment of the property taxes.

ALDERWOMAN WELLS-ARMSTRONG: Thank you.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Any other questions? Okay. Roll call. Oh, may I–there’s one correction on the bills. The back–the second page–if you look at where it says, ah, City.no ECI.starting at ECI going through Tyson Engineering, those are duplicates from last Council meeting’s bills. So, those are not being approved tonight because they were approved at the last Council meeting and should not be on the, ah, agenda for this evening. ** So, it’s just a duplication so you can scratch all those off.

**City of Kankakee General Fund #2604 $ 3,774.75

ECI #2605 33,933.90

Netvision 360 #2606 8,505.04

IPAC # 156 50.00

Illinois CPAA #1003 25.00

Tyson Engineering # 659 36,165.80

Okay, roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

REPORT OF OFFICERS APPROVAL OF BILLS - $1,850,289.13

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Moving onto New Business. We do have the Ordinance that Alderman Osenga spoke about that was approved at the Public Safety Committee on increasing ambulance fees to mirror what the Medicare/Medicaid payments would do in their billing process. Do I have a motion to Suspend the Rules?

ALDERMAN OSENGA: So moved, Mayor Epstein.

ALDERMAN CRAWFORD: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Osenga, seconded by Alderman Crawford to Suspend the Rules that would interfere with the passage of the Ordinance. Roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Motion to place the Ordinance on Final Passage.

ALDERMAN OSENGA: So moved.

ALDERMAN CRAWFORD: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Osenga, seconded by Alderman Crawford. Any other questions? Roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 14 SECTION 14-81 ET SEQ. OF THE CITY CODE OF THE CITY OF KANKAKEE (AMBULANCE FEES)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. The next item on the agenda is an Ordinance amending Chapter 32 establishing a Handicapped Parking at 692 N. Rosewood. Do I have a motion to Suspend the Rules?

ALDERWOMAN KENNEDY: So moved.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderwoman Kennedy. Do I have a second?

ALDERWOMAN WELLS-ARMSTRONG: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded by Alderwoman Wells-Armstrong. Roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Motion to place the Ordinance establishing the Handicapped Parking established at 692 N. Rosewood on Final Passage.

ALDERWOMAN KENNEDY: So moved.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderwoman Kennedy.

ALDERWOMAN WELLS-ARMSTRONG: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded by Alderwoman Wells-Armstrong. Any questions? Roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 32, SECTION 231 ESTABLISHING HANDICAPPED PARKING AT 692 NORTH ROSEWOOD AVENUE

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. The next item on the agenda is an Ordinance declaring property surplus from the City Public Library. I believe these chairs were the originals when the library was established at the Executive Center, so I’m sure it’s a very good thing they’re being surplused. And, I believe the new chairs were paid for by the Friends?

STEVE BERTRAND: We shared. Half the Library, half Friends.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Do I have a motion to Suspend the Rules?

ALDERWOMAN SWANSON: So moved.

ALDERWOMAN GALL: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Swanson, seconded by Alderman Gall to Suspend the Rules that would interfere with the passage of the Ordinance. Roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Motion to place the Ordinance on Final Passage.

ALDERWOMAN SWANSON: So moved.

ALDERWOMAN GALL: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman Swanson and Alderman Gall. Are there any questions? Roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

ORDINANCE DECLARING CERTAIN PROPERTY SURPLUS OF THE CITY

OF KANKAKEE - KANKAKEE PUBLIC LIBRARY - AND AUTHORIZING

THE SALE THEREOF

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. The next item is an Ordinance establishing a 30-minute parking on the 300 block of West Court Street on the north side of the street. This is a clean up Ordinance. If you drive by that block, you’ll see–this is not a very professional term–a mish mash of parking signs and really, this allows for 30 minute parking on that block. There’s hardly any businesses that are open and the other signs are very confusing with 15 minute, 10 minute, 30 minute. So, that’s the reason for the Ordinance this evening. Do I have a motion to Suspend the Rules?

ALDERMAN TALL: Motion to Suspend the Rules.

ALDERWOMAN WELLS-ARMSTRONG: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Tall, second by Alderwoman Wells-Armstrong. Roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Motion to place the Ordinance on Final Passage.

ALDERMAN TALL: So moved.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Tall.

ALDERWOMAN WELLS-ARMSTRONG: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded by Alderwoman Wells-Armstrong. Any questions? Roll call.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Tetter; Brown; Curtis; Baron; Wells-Armstrong; Tall; Faford; Swanson; Crawford; Osenga; Gall; Kennedy (12)

ABSENT: O’Brien; Davidson (2)

ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 32, SECTION 180 ESTABLISHING THIRTY-MINUTE PARKING ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE 300 BLOCK OF WEST COURT STREET, FROM THE EAST RIGHT-OF-WAY LINE OF THE ALLEY THIRTY-FIVE

FEET TO THE EAST

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. There are no Motions or Resolutions on the agenda this evening. There will not be a need for an Executive Session. Ah, just going back, I forgot to mention it when we did the Report of Officers, but you’ll notice the Black History Scholarships are starting to come through. The recipients are starting to go to college, so we had many on the agenda for this evening. So, it’s good to see, ah, actually it’s wonderful to see the different colleges and universities that the kids are going to that received those scholarships. Ah, moving onto Public Comment. The first names, Sharon Richardson and Julie Gindy.

SHARON RICHARDSON: Hi, I’m Sharon Richardson and this is Julie Gindy, right here. And, we’re from Acting Out Theatre Company. I just wanted to do a couple things. Thank you, guys, for being supportive and making sure everyone knows about the show. It’s this weekend. We’re having, ah, the show right here in downtown Kankakee, Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Has everybody seen the stage? Are you aware that there’s.yes! Okay. Good. So, we’re at 356 (E) Merchant Street. We’ve been building the stage since Memorial Day–three tier, just a fantastic stage. Ah, we’ve been planning this for over a year and we’ve been in existence for six years. Three times out of the six years, we’ve been in Kankakee. We’ve been at River Road and did Big River in 2012 and in 2014 we did LesMiz at Shapiro. But, this is the first year we’ve been in the heart of downtown and it’s amazing. Your City is fantastic. I mean, where we’re at at the back of the Firestone Building looking at the Court House and looking at City Hall. It’s just a beautiful sight. You know, we’re trying to recreate 1800's London and man it is. Julie Gindy that’s handing out the cards, she has created a stage and so the stage with the surroundings is just amazing. So, I.the City’s been fantastic, Mayor Epstein’s been fantastic, Bill Yohnka, the Police. Everyone has worked with us so, so well. We couldn’t do this without you. And, we just want to invite everyone to please come to the show. It’s this weekend Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We’re having a Fleet Street Market before the show every night and that’s where vendors will be there serving food and drinks and just having a party because you bring your own chairs. So, at 5:30 (P.M.) it opens, you save your seats and then you can go to the Fleet Street Market and wait for the show to happen at 8:00, as the sun’s going down. That’s when Sweeney Todd’s world comes to life. So, we just.we’re excited. We can’t wait for the weekend and we just hope everybody here will come and be a part of it ‘cause it’s gonna’ be the best thing that’s hit Kankakee. We promise. Thank you.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you. You can tell they’re not enthusiastic. The next person–Angela White.

ANGELA WHITE: Good evening, Hi Mayor. Hi everybody. My name is Angela White and this is my car club sister, Miss Mary and we’re part of the, ah.oh, and Desiree. And, we’re part of the Heavy Hittaz Car Club out of the.

it’s the Illinois Chapter and we are having a Stop the Violence Back to School Rally August 13, at Beckman Park. It’s from 12:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. and our intention there is to encourage the kids as they go back to school that they can have a prosperous school year, violent-free school year and we wanted to invite the Aldermen, the Mayor and anybody who wanted to come. It’s not a political thing. It’s a unity thing and we just want you to come out and support the kids. Let the kids see you so they know who their Aldermen are, who their Mayor is and they see that you all are supporting them to have a successful school year. And, I’m very nervous and that’s all I got to say.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: You did very well.

ANGELA WHITE: Okay, thank you.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you very much. Bill.

BILL YOHNKA: Thank you. Ah, this is the last meeting before Merchant Street Music Fest so I passed out before–there is an envelope to each one of you that has a couple of passes each night to Music Fest and keep in mind that’s the 29th and 30th. You’ve got Friday and Saturday, so two passes are good for one night, two passes are good for the other. So, you can bring a guest as a courtesy to all the Aldermen. And, what’s not in there, and I wanted to let you know about, if you wanted to write it down that’s great. On the 28th–Thursday, next week, is the sponsor appreciation night. We do this in conjunction with the Kankakee County Chamber of Commerce. This is a night where all of our sponsors come to the Depot. There’s some food, kind of a taste of what Music Fest is going to be like, but also all of our volunteers, it’s their time to come and pick up their passes for the festival and get their last minute instructions. So, what.I know what the folks from the Chamber really like about it is that it’s not just their regular Chamber of Commerce After Hours crowd. Even though that’s the time of it. 5:30 to 7:30 (P.M.) on the 28th. It’s a bigger group that they don’t normally get to interact with and, ah, you really get to see so many of the people who make Merchant Street Music Fest happen. And, I think that’s one of the things that we’re really proud of that we have this really great support from the business community, but also great support from volunteers. Now the number totals more than 200 volunteers that help out over the weekend. And, it really, in some ways, makes it hard to coordinate all those people, but in lots of other ways, it really is a blessing that we have that many people who come out of the woodwork who wants to play some kind of part in the weekend. So, the 28th is that Sponsor Appreciation night and, ah, to get you a little bit excited about Music FEST this year, I’m excited about it, but it’s not because there’s a bunch of music that I like at Music FEST and I think the Committee has this attitude that it’s not about the music that they like, personally. It’s providing an experience that a lot of people in Kankakee wouldn’t be able to get in Kankakee. Wouldn’t be able to get in a lot of smaller cities like ours and would have to travel some place to do? We really try to make it a reflection of the City. So, just for a second, I want to tell you a little bit about what’s going to happen. During the day on Saturday, the Kankakee Public Library, they pull out all the stops hosting the Kid Zone for kids of all ages. And, even the vendors this year are providing discounts during that time for families and kids. This year, for the first time ever, we’ll have our Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra playing at Music FEST. This time, and I think it’s the first time ever, that we’ll have Dos Santos Anti-Beat Orquesta, who is an all Spanish language band playing at Music Fest and they have this great appeal to all people, but we’ll put them right on the Main Stage, kind of as a message saying this is an event for all people of our City. We also have a gospel choir made up of choirs citywide. We have a local jazz band, the TJ Saxx jazz band. It’s made up of local people and Kankakee graduates. Kankakee High School students play in the band Catching On. We have the band Shining Star who was here before. It’s like a trip into a time machine as they are an Earth, Wind and Fire tribute band. Special this year, we have a band that plays all over the world and travels with the US State Department. They’re called the Henhouse Prowlers. They’re from Chicago originally, but what they do is they travel to Saudi Arabia, to different countries in Africa and try to share some American culture and also learn the cultures of other places. So, they kind of have this blue grass sound, but also take from every little place they go a little bit of that culture and share it when they travel. Ah, so I just wanted to share a little bit of those things with you just because if you see things on a poster you might say, I don’t know any of these bands. But, trust me, the Committee looks at this and says we want this to be a positive reflection of our community and to share this with the community. So, I want to thank you all for being so supportive and I hope to see you at Music Fest.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you, Bill. Okay. That concludes our meeting. Comments? Yeah, I’m getting there. Aldermen Comments. Alderman Swanson.

ALDERWOMAN SWANSON: Ah, July 26, next Tuesday, there will not be an Ordinance Committee meeting.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Any other comments?

ALDERMAN TETTER: Mayor.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman Tetter.

ALDERMAN TETTER: Yeah, I would like to, ah, thank the Public Works, Fire Department and Police Department during this last round of severe weather. Ah, Alderman Brown and I were called out and.to respond to some of the issues that were taking place and the response from the.especially the Fire Department was incredible. And, I really want to thank all of them for keeping people safe. There were power lines down. There were trees down and, ah, I was completely impressed by the next day those branches and tree limbs were gone. So, ah, kudos to the Public Works and Fire Department for that.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you Alderman for those comments. Alderman Faford.

ALDERMAN FAFORD: I want to express our appreciation to the Public Works Department as well. The 4th Ward was probably hit the hardest in town. I don’t think there was a street in the 4th Ward that didn’t have a tree down. Public Works was there. They worked overtime. They worked Saturday. The 4th Ward is back to normal. We really appreciate their work and their effort to get it cleaned up and back to normal.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: It was a very.we really had a one, two punch. We’ve had two severe storms and that’s on top of all the tree trimming we do on a regular basis throughout the City. So, you can imagine if we didn’t have that program, what our City would have looked like. And, they did work overtime on Saturday to try to catch up and, ah, you know, they’re still working so if you have people in your wards that still have brush that hasn’t been picked up, patience is a virtue. But, we are getting there and we really try to do the worst areas. I mean, we had trees down on cars. You know, we had streets blocked. We had alleys closed, so it was pretty devastating. So, thank you for those comments. Motion to adjourn. Oh, Alderman Wells-Armstrong.

ALDERWOMAN WELLS-ARMSTRONG: It was brought to my attention yesterday that we have a Sister City.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Yes.

ALDERWOMAN WELLS-ARMSTRONG: In Mexico.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Yes, we do.

ALDERWOMAN WELLS-ARMSTRONG: And, I was asked why I wasn’t at this somethin’ that happened yesterday and I didn’t know anything about it so I was wondering if you could share with us how this came about and what it is?

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Actually, the City of Kankakee has been a Sister City with a City in Mexico called Yuriria in Guanajuato–sorry if I didn’t pronounce that correctly–and, actually it was not an invitation to the Aldermen. I met with the Mayor of that City and Mayor Green had traveled to Mexico to establish the Sister City relationship. Over the years it seems to have diminished and they are very interested in reestablishing those connections. So, they had a group of visitors from Mexico here as well as dignitaries from the Consulate in Chicago and we had a wonderful breakfast at Martinez and I presented him with the key to the City. Ah, then they met with Hispanic residents in the City. They met with Hispanic business owners because they were here to really establish, ah, a groundswell of support because they would like to open a community center to help their residents navigate life in the United States. So, it was a wonderful day. They had a very heavy schedule. They were just here for–from 9:00 (A.M.) ‘til probably 2:00 in the afternoon and then they were going back to Mexico today. They had spent a significant amount of time in Chicago at the different Hispanic communities in Chicago, also. So, that–it was a great–it was nice. They were very welcomed and, ah, they loved our City and they spent a lot of time talking to their residents and trying to establish some type of relationship with them. Motion to adjourn.

ALDERWOMAN SWANSON: So moved.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Swanson.

ALDERMAN CRAWFORD: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded by Alderman Crawford. All those in favor, aye. Opposed, same sign.

MOTION TO ADJOURN CITY COUNCIL MEETING

MAYOR EPSTEIN: We are adjourned.

7:32 P.M.