Will County Gazette

City of Braidwood City Council met June 24.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

Call to Order: The Regular Meeting of the Braidwood City Council on June 24, 2025 was called to order at 7:00 p.m., by Mayor Lyons in the Council Chambers of the Braidwood City Hall.

Pledge of Allegiance: Mayor Lyons requested all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call: Upon Roll Call by the Clerk, the following members of the corporate authorities answered "Here" or "Present";

Elected Officials:

Present: Commissioner Dixon, Commissioner Wietting, Commissioner Walsh, Commissioner Mikel, and Mayor Lyons

Absent: None.

Appointed Officials:

Present: City Clerk Weaver, City Engineer Sean Kelly, City Attorney Wellner, and Attorney Umek

Absent:

Quorum: There being sufficient members of the corporate authorities in attendance to constitute quorum, the meeting was declared in order.

Public Comment: Danita Morgan; 495 W. 6th St.: I appreciate the council is providing the community to have this discussion regarding the potential ordinance change prior to a vote. I am assuming the attorney has reviewed these changes, so we know that nobody's rights are being infringed upon. Regarding to the PD, entering your property is the same as the current one with the exception of one part being removed. You can read that yourself. I ask if there will be any exclusions, such as a proper car cover in a fenced backyard, not visible from the street, or antique vehicles. If so, can we add a section for exclusions?

Alex Frandsen; 329 E. French St: You once told me we are all neighbors here, and that has stuck with me. That has had me look at both the town government here and the people in this city. The internet is not a representative of the actual town. We are all lobbyists in this town; a lot of people love their cars, some have sentimental value, even though they don't have much value. I know this ordinance isn't changing much, but it is getting some attention. No doubt, some people need to clean up their yards and we need to have these conversations. Just like the fires a few years ago. But whenever we have to get attorneys involved, there is a little more force behind that. We are neighbors, so if we need to clean up the town, we can have friendly conversations and sort that out. When we talk about passing ordinances, fines, and officers walking through yards, people are a little jumpy. I think there could be a softer approach.

Ron Wilczak: I like the idea that you are having a discussion. I suggest that during the discussion, you open for comments from the audience to know their perspective. There needs to be different wording because if a car is not running within seven days you are just going to tow it. There are people who vacation for two weeks. There are all kinds of reasons that the things that are in here might not be the best and appropriate. I am willing to go over those comments that might not be the best. The idea should be what makes a good-looking neighborhood, not just that it hasn't moved.

Robin Gacke; First St.: A lot of us might have cars we are working on, we don't have a lot of money so we work on our truck when we are able to. We are fixing it up but we are not driving it while we are fixing it. It's not an eyesore, not disturbing anybody, looks nice in the driveway and you're keeping the driveway neat. Vehicles like that should not be towed either.

Danita Morgan: It says that each day any violation of the provisions of this article shall continue to constitute as a separate offence. That can add up quickly. I suggest we include a grace period that once people are warned, they have time to get that situated or only get fined once.

Approval of Minutes: Commissioner Wietting made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Walsh, to approve meeting minutes from the June 10, 2025 Regular Council Meeting. Motion carried with 5 ayes: 0 nays; 0 Abstain (Wietting, Walsh, Dixon, Mikel, and Lyons)

Commissioner Mikel made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Walsh, to approve the meeting minutes from the June 18, 2025, Special Council Meeting. Motion carried with 5 ayes: 0 nays: 0 Abstain (Mikel, Walsh, Dixon, Wietting, and Lyons)

Mayor's Report: Lyons: We are going to do something different. Whenever there's an ordinance to be passed, we're going to put it out for a discussion so we can include the public. So, everyone is involved in the decisions we make. Everybody here today added something good that was valuable and important.

We did our last interview for the Chief of Police. My goal is to have one named by the end of the week.

I met with Doug Pryor, who is the director of Will County Economic Development. We talked about up- and-coming projects and possible projects coming to Braidwood. Steve and I met with Hitchcock Design to discuss the potential town center. We have not discussed funding but they are going to help to apply for grants. We also brought in Josh Bolatto from the park district to come up with a plan to help improve our parks. We came up with a splash pad, pickleball, and dog park all in one. So he was going to do two designs for us and we will bring that back to council.

I had the opportunity with the engineer to go around to some houses to review some of the complaints to see if we can resolve some issues.

We met with Ford and Mastodon Truck Stop. Steve can report more on that.

Administrator Report: Gulden: First item is the creation of the Committee of the Whole Ordinance which is an opportunity to have discussions such as this. If you notice this ordinance has been placed for discussion only. But his Committee of the Whole will have an agenda to discuss specific ordinances that are being proposed. It would take place at 6:30 on the second Tuesday of each month prior to our city board meetings. We will still keep our 7 pm posted meeting and that will start when the Committee of the Whole meeting is completed. If it's done early, we just wait until 7 pm to begin the council meeting. If you are okay with this, we will put it on the next board meeting for votes. There is a public comment. It's an opportunity to discuss it as a group with the engineer with the city attorney or the staff member.

The project update list is in your folder. I did add a report. I will do these every two weeks for a board meeting to let you know what has been worked on. The Water Department has secured M and H Construction to repair the water tower at City Hall. This is the same contractor that Mastodon is using. Rob did a great job of securing a contract. The public works is doing to do the digging, then they will come in and do the pipe fitting and trench stuff.

We met with D'Orazio Ford and they should be breaking ground in about eight to ten weeks. They have a new rendering that we will put up. Bauer Chevy are just a few weeks behind.

For the town center we are looking at grants, one is the open land acquisition and development grant that is run through the IDNR. It is an $800,000 match. Hitchcock is a landscaping firm and are currently giving us a price. This will come before the board and be a Committee of the Whole discussion.

Sean and the public works department have agreed on two 500kw generators. We will purchase them separately and then hire a contractor to install them, build the pads and upgrade the electrical panels.

Sean Kelly: It will be closer to September before the package is done. We will put together the design, get the sub-consultant and electrical sub-consultant. We can do these two ways: We can put the entire design packet together, where a contractor then bids on all of it. The generators, installation, and everything else or we can split that part out. When we get closer, we will see what makes sense to get the generators going.

Gulden: Another item we will put out to the committee of the whole, giving the council an update on the generator progress.

Computer purchases, in order to be Windows 11 compliant, we have 11 city computers that we have to replace. There's money in the budget to do so. We will be buying two to three computers every month until we meet the 11 computers.

Purchasing Policy, we don't have one and Liz is working on surveying other communities on their policies. Then our new PO system will automatically flag if you are doing something that is not within the purchasing policy. We have to create a policy first so we can introduce the data to the PO program.

Building and Zoning, we are in the process of revamping our application process. Our zoning map hasn't been updated since 2009. Robinson is giving us a price for an updated map.

We met with Mr. Guinta regarding his subdivision. There are some things that need to be corrected. We have the engineer looking at the curbs, asphalt, and the road currently being built. We put a stop to him at this moment. We did come to an agreement on the foundation of one of his lots.

Mastodon, we asked for landscaping islands in their entrances, which is not in our codes, but we still asked for it. They can't do it this late because of the IDOT approvals. But he did agree to upgrade their landscaping. They are going to give a 10 x 10 section where a Welcome to Braidwood entrance sign can be constructed. Since it's in an IDOT right-of-way, we have to get permission from IDOT. IDOT is going to allow a four-way stop sign at this intersection before they consider a stoplight.

Manny's Mechanic Shop, we have Robinson Engineering conducting an inspection on the curb and grading work, which appears to contradict the plans.

Lastly is the property maintenance code and vacant homes. We have received multiple calls regarding vacant or abandoned vehicles, campers, houses, and garages. I drove around with the officers and we have identified 17 houses. These are not just simple code violations; these are beyond that. The point of this are vehicles and campers that have weeds growing through them. We are not going after homes that have paint chips; we are looking at the homes that have trees on top of their house and no front doors, they pose health and safety issues. This ordinance changes a few words and for campers and boats. The police already have the right to walk on your property for a code violation. This does not change any of that. We are updating and are not nitpicking. We want to go after the most egregious violators for the past several years. But, we can only write violations of what we see. If a neighbor complains and allows us into their house to see the neighbor's backyard property, then we can write the violation.

Mayor: The most important thing we are looking for is compliance.

Gulden: There is a warning given. But if things are not fixed, then we will take the next step.

Wilczak: That is not what is written, it says you have 14 days or it will be towed. I can help with correcting this if needed.

Gulden: This is all discussion, and I appreciate your input. This is the idea of having this format and having these discussions before we pass something.

Mayor: We might have some Town Halls later but the point of the workshops is so the council can have discussions.

Frandsen: If the goal is to go after people who have cars sitting for months, why not write the ordinance that way?

Attorney Wellner: If we ever go to court, we have to prove the violations fall under these conditions. Right now, 7 days is the time frame, that is not always easy to prove, unless it is obvious with weeds growing up around the car. If you look at any other town, these are the standard dates that are written. What was changed that we removed was to authorize the chief of police to enter the property to remove the vehicle. In my opinion, all the concerns that were addressed in public comments have been outlined in the drafted ordinance. The only way fines will be assessed is by a judge at his/her discretion. We are looking for compliance and do not want to go to court. These are mainly complaint-based. They can only cite you for what they see.

Mayor: In the last few years, we have enforced the abandoned vehicles and never had an issue. We really have not enforced the abandoned houses before; this is new that we are moving forward with this as a city, because we have had a lot of complaints.

City Clerk Report: Weaver: I wanted to remind everyone that the deadline for the zoning clerk application is Friday, June 27, at 3 pm.

Engineer Report: Kelly: We are finishing up the road program. The idea is to bid that out in July or August. We will give the contractors until the end of October. We are also finishing up the water study. It is taking a bit longer than expected. We should have a draft report in the next few weeks. We are also looking into changing some plans for Stacey Court and getting a price to asphalt the whole court and not just the wings of the court.

City Attorney Report: Wellner: Would like to introduce Adam Umek, an attorney at our office, who normally handles housing authority evictions, municipal prosecutions, and behind-the-scenes work for the municipalities. You may see him here from time to time to learn the other side of this work. For those who are not familiar with council meetings and how things transpire and may misinterpret when attorneys are involved. Every ordinance that gets passed, at the very least, I will review, but almost all of them I draft.

Accounts & Finance Report: Commissioner Mikel made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Walsh, to approve the Payment of Bills, in the amount of $58,690.34 as identified in the Accounts Payable

General Ledger dated June 24, 2025. Motion carried with 5 ayes: 0 nays. (Mikel, Walsh, Dixon, Wietting, and Lyons)

Commissioner Wietting made a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Mikel, to Approve Payroll Expenses in the amount of $88,399.95 as identified in the Payroll General Ledger dated June 20, 2025. Motion carried with 5 ayes; 0 nays. (Wietting, Mikel, Dixon, Walsh, and Lyons).

Dixon: In the Illinois Funds, General Account, there is $4.2 million, water $2.1 million, and MFT $1.6 million, for a total of $7.9 million. This does include the $1 million that was taken out in May and $500k has been returned to the account. We still need to put another $500k back.

I received notification of GATA audits, which are Grant Accountability Transparency Act. We were behind from 2019 to 2022. The notice said that if they were not completed by June 19 the city would be noncompliant and would be deemed the city unable to apply for state and federal grants. The audits were completed by the date.

During that time of getting information for these audits, I came across a check for a fence for $7,225.00 for a dog park that was written December 5, 2022, to Ameri Dream Fence Company. On March 19, 2023 the project was put on hold. I spoke with the park district as this was going in on their property. It was communicated to the former administrator on February 25, 2023, that nothing should be ordered yet. Yet it was already ordered without having an Intergovernmental Agreement. Right now I am trying to get that money back from the company as no fence has even been started.

Spoke with the auditors about the 23/24 Audit. She stated that they are working steadily on the audit. We have received a request for 27 more pieces of information and Sarah and Cris are working on that.

We ordered a new printer/copier/scanner/fax machine for City Hall. The one now works when it wants and the new one should be here next week some time.

Working with the TIF coordinator to set up a TIF Joint Review meeting as required. We haven't had once since 2022. These meetings can't happen without an audit, since we just finished the 23 audit, we will get this meeting scheduled. I am hoping to have this meeting at night and not in the middle of the day so more people can attend.

We have a MFT budget meeting scheduled for June 27 at 11:30 am for the 26 fiscal year MFT budget.

At the Food Pantry, the water heater and sump pump went out and have been replaced.

Streets & Public Improvement Report: Walsh: There was an accident on North Center that damaged the railing. Today it was fixed after some debate with the township as to who this fell under. It was paid for by the insurance company.

Public Property Report: Wietting: Thanks to Rob and Steve for getting the water tower project back on track. Thanks to Sean for working on the water study that is ongoing. George has sent me the work they have been doing the last couple weeks: 109 locates, 10 final reads, 2 meter repairs, 1 sewer clean out and lowered, 2 dept head meetings, 1 public works meeting, changed 6 light bulbs and ballast in council room, changed furnace filter at Depot, 5 emergency water shut offs, 14 water off for nonpayment and 11 back on, 3 b-box repairs, monthly meter reads 2100, and replaced fuel pump in Colorado in his spare time.

About the Food Pantry, I did go look at the stairs. It could use a replacement but most of it is secure and still good lumber.

Public Health & Safety Report: Mikel: The Braidwood Police Department Press Release from June 10 to June 24 had total number of calls for service 300, case reports 35, total subjects arrested 7, total arrest charges 14, total number of traffic stops 83, citations 22, written warnings 59, semi-truck violations 2, and total number of P-tickets 6.

We already discussed the ordinance pertaining to the abandoned and inoperable vehicles.

Shout out to our police department and ESDA for a great job.

Gulden: If everyone is good about the discussion about the code ordinance, we will have it on the agenda for the next meeting.

Planning & Zoning Report: No Report.

Old Business: Mayor: What is new with the Beautification?

Karen Hart: We met and are wanting get a few more planters for businesses. We also talked about the street signs and hanging planters. We also had the Blood Drive on Wednesday. We had 20 people preregistered, not many walk-ins because of the weather, but we still collected 17 units.

New Business: Gulden: The Mayor and I met with the owner of the Lucenta Tire building and the proposed business owners who want to rent out the building. They would like to do a used car lot, there has been one there in the past. However, they need to get a special use and need to go through planning and zoning. This is why we sat down with them to know what they want to do and then bring it before the council and get their thoughts to see if they still want to spend the money to move forward with the zoning process. We thought it was not the right use for a vision perspective in our downtown to have a used car lot that could lead to some code violations. I would like your input to tell them to either move forward with this or not. This is not a vote or recommendation but just your thoughts.

Mayor: This is the entrance of our town and they said they would have the overstock piled up behind the building but would still be visible from Casey's and the roadway. We are looking at improving our downtown and possibly a town center.

Wietting: With the bays they have there, what kind of work is going to be done there? It could lead to many code violations with mechanical work being done.

Dixon: What price range of cars?

Gulden: We cannot put a mandate on what price range of cars you can sell. They usually have a wide range.

Wietting: What kind of curb appeal does it give?

Gulden: This is why we have the special use permit so we do have some say in what can or cannot go on properties with gas stations and car dealerships. Even though it is zoned, it needs a special use because these types of businesses can be intrusive or an eyesore.

Adjournment: Commissioner Wietting made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Walsh, to adjourn the June 24, 2025 regular meeting of the Braidwood City Council. Motion carried with 5 ayes: 0 nays. (Wietting, Walsh, Dixon, Mikel, and Lyons)

The next regular meeting of the Council will be held Tuesday, July 8, 2025 at 7:00 pm.

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