On the agenda: Dekalb meeting — data center (Jun 22)

CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING AGENDA
JUNE 22, 2026
6:00 P.M.
DeKalb Public Library
Yusunas Meeting Room
309 Oak Street
DeKalb, Illinois 60115
In accordance with Chapter 2, “City Council,” Section 2.04, “Council Meetings,” individuals who wish to
address the City Council during this meeting must register with the Recording Secretary prior to the
meeting’s start by completing a Speaker Request Form. Each speaker will be allotted a maximum of three
(3) minutes for public comment. Additional details regarding the public comment process are available on
the Speaker Request Form.

A. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
B. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
C. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
D. PRESENTATIONS
1. Proclamation: Designation of the City of DeKalb as a Purple Heart City 2026.
2. Presentation of the FY2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR).
3. America250 Pause for Patriotism: Why We Celebrate the Fourth.
City Manager’s Summary: As Lincoln promised at Gettysburg in November of 1863, the
principal Northern war aim changed in 1864. The third resolution of the Republican platform
adopted by the party’s convention in June 1864 resolved that “as slavery was the cause, and
now constitutes the strength, of this Rebellion,” the party demanded its “utter and complete
extirpation from the soil of the Republic.” While upholding Lincoln’s executive Emancipation
Proclamation of January 1863, the convention vowed to press forward with a constitutional
amendment to “forever prohibit the existence of slavery” in the United States. Lincoln was reelected on this platform, and on January 31, 1865, the Republican-dominated Congress
approved the Thirteenth Amendment, which declared “Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” The Amendment
was declared to have been ratified by three-fourths of the states on December 18, 1865.
There has been nothing like the Civil War in the American experience. At times, its ferocity
and human cost defied reason. In his second inaugural address on March 4, 1865, Lincoln
admitted as much: “the Almighty has his own purposes,” he said, and “He gives to both North
and South this terrible war.” But Lincoln was aware of the historic confirmation embodied in
the Congressional vote on the Thirteenth Amendment, and the human cost that was incurred
in attaining that triumph. During the run-up to the1864 election campaign, Grant lost 17,000
men in the first two days of his Wilderness campaign and when he and Lee later met at
Spotsylvania on May 11, the combined armies lost 12,000 men before the morning of the first
day of the battle was over. The recoil of the press to this savagery and the temporizing of both
Assistive services, including hearing assistance devices, available upon request.

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June 22, 2026
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“War Democrats” and moderate Republicans inclined some of the Republican leadership to
want to settle with the South before the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment could be
accomplished. On August 19, 1864, Lincoln invited Frederick Douglass to the White House.
Lincoln shared a draft of a statement explaining that it would be ruinous to recant the promise
of freedom but that if the South sued for peace, it would be politically untenable to continue
the war for the purpose of abolition. Douglass urged him not to send the statement, and he
did not. In the days that followed, he addressed an Ohio regiment and referenced the twin
goals of freedom and Union, declaring that both were their birthright dating to the nation’s
founding.
The promise of the Second American Revolution is further seen in the passage of the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, both ratified after Lincoln’s death
(in July 1868 and January 1870, respectively). A broader meaning of the Fourteenth
Amendment evolved over the next century, but in its day the amendment was principally
intended to affirm that all persons “born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No
state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens
of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property
without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection
of the law.” The Fifteenth Amendment declared that the “right of the citizens of the United
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account
of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
The triumph of these amendments and federal legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1866
and the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 in the wake of the Civil War may have represented the
high-water mark of liberty and representative democracy for another 100 years. For a few
years, federal courts and the United States Army (directed by Lt. General Grant, and later
President Grant) enforced national citizenship and equal rights in the South, and effectively
suppressed Klansmen until about 1873.
The economic panic of that year, and the rising antipathy of Southern whites and northern
Democrats toward persons of color in elective office, government positions and local
economies impacted a variety of Supreme Court decisions that, in effect, overturned
Republican reconstruction in the South. In 1876, the Court handed down a ruling (U.S. v.
Cruikshank) dismissing U.S. Justice Department indictments for the murder of about 100 black
persons in Louisiana, on the grounds that the Fourteenth Amendment empowered Congress
to legislate only against statutory discrimination by state governments, not against
discriminatory actions (even murder) by individuals in the states.
Aside from the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in August 1920 expanding nationwide suffrage to women, civil rights enforcement was handed over to the States with rare
exceptions until the mid-twentieth century. Among the early harbingers of the “second
reconstruction” were a number of Presidential initiatives sidestepping the clamp that Southern
Congressional leaders had on civil rights legislation:
 Democratic President Roosevelt issued an executive order on June 25, 1941, creating the

Fair Employment Practices Commission to address racial discrimination in war-related work;

 Democratic President Truman issued an Executive Order in July 1948 desegregating the

armed forces after the failure of Congress to pass any federal legislation to enforce voting
rights and fair employment practices, and also appointed the first black federal judge in
October 1949;

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June 22, 2026
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 Republican President Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren as Chief Justice of the Supreme

Court on October 2, 1953. On May 17, 1854, Warren wrote for the Court majority in the case
of Brown v. Board of Education. The ruling affirmed the argument by Thurgood Marshall in
behalf of the defendant that, in effect, laws tolerating the separation of any race as inferior
were unconstitutional, thus overturning the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling of 1896 which gave
the Court’s institutional stamp to segregation in schools and other public accommodations
such as trains and buses, drinking fountains, courtroom visitor areas, and dining spaces.

 On September 9, 1957, President Eisenhower signed a Civil Rights Act that had failed to

survive a gauntlet of amendments from Southern senators that watered down its provisions
but did create a Commission on Civil Rights and a Civil Rights Division within the Justice
Department.

 President

Eisenhower sent 1,000 paratroopers of the 101st Airborne into Little Rock,
Arkansas and federalized the Arkansas National Guard to protect nine black students
attempting to integrate Central High School on September 25, 1957, the first time federal
troops were deployed in the South to enforce civil rights since 1873.

 In significant

collaboration with Martin Luther King, the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, the NAACP and the AFL-CIO, Democratic President Lyndon Johnson forced a
landmark 1964 civil rights and labor act through Congress, making it a federal crime to
discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It also prohibited
unequal application of voting registration requirements, racial segregation in the schools
and public accommodations, and employment discrimination.

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June 22, 2026
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 On April 11, 1968, Johnson signed a follow-on Civil Rights Act one week after Martin Luther

King’s death on April 4, 1968. The bill’s unique provisions addressed discrimination in sports
(Title IX) and extended many of the guarantees of the Bill of Rights to native Americans.

*****************************
If our brief exploration of the American past over the past six months has taught us one thing,
it is that our history is human, and it is about imperfect people. We have no lock on what will
happen tomorrow, any more than those people who voted for American independence on July
2, 1776, did. We are the heirs of the First Revolution and those who signed their names to the
Declaration of Independence, in order to explain to the world and for all time what they were
doing, and why. We are also heirs of what was arguably our Second Revolution, born of a
commitment to at first contain and then ultimately expunge slavery from the Republic, the
heavy residual effects of which have confounded generations from the birth of our nation to
the present.
While it is true that the rule of law is fundamental to a democracy, the spirit of liberty and
equality is still caught in that sentence which begins: “We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal . . . “ We is the first word, as it is in our Constitution. That notion
binds us together, for the “hope” of liberty and equality in this country is more human than we
may know. The philosophers of the eighteenth century who were the intellectual forbears of
the authors of the Declaration had a phrase for it – a “social contract.” Since no person has
divine authority over any other, and since force creates no right, we are left with agreements
as the basis for all legitimate authority among citizens.
There is an example in Lincoln’s final days that illustrates how this contract can work even in
the heat of civil war. On the night of his second inauguration, on March 4, 1865, the gates of
the White House were opened for a public reception attended by the largest crowd anyone
could remember. President Lincoln shook the hands of over 5,000 people before the evening
was over, and the First Lady reportedly vowed to “remain until morning, rather than have the
door closed on a single visitor.”

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June 22, 2026
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Yet, one visitor was rudely taken by the arm and ordered to stand back by two armed guards,
whose supervisor had ordered them not to admit persons of color. The man was Frederick
Douglass. The impasse continued for several minutes, then Douglass recognized a
gentleman moving into the East Room and asked him to let the President know he had been
detained. In a few minutes, the guards were told to admit Douglass. Lincoln already knew of
the affront, so moved from the receiving line and announced to the crowd: “Here comes my
friend Douglass,” then extended his hand to warmly greet him. As Douglass tried to politely
move down the line, Lincoln insisted that he linger: “You must stop a little, Douglass, there is
no man in the country whose opinion I value more than yours. I want to know what you think
of my speech.” That was just over 160 years ago; two men of remarkably different races,
backgrounds, and political statures with a shared understanding that a people’s government
could endure a great civil war.
And so, we come full circle. On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the
Declaration of Independence, what connects us to our common ground and our common
humanity? Two hundred years ago, as the 50th anniversary approached, the two surviving
authors – Thomas Jefferson and John Adams – exchanged notes and worried that no one
who had not been present in the tumultuous 1770s could appreciate what had been at stake,
and the momentous meaning behind their words. Jefferson thought nobody would be able to
adequately capture the times, “except perhaps the external facts.”
John Adams had a fonder expectation, and he more fully expressed his sentiments in a
remarkable letter that he wrote to his wife, Abigail, on the day that passed between the vote
for Independence on July 2 and the adoption of the Declaration on July 4. On Wednesday,
July 3, 1776, Adams wrote:
“The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable (day) in the History of
America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations,
as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of
Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized
with Pomp and Parade, with Shows, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires, and
Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward
forever more.
You will think me transported with Enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the
Toll and Blood and Treasure that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and
support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of
ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means.
And that Posterity will triumph in that Days Transaction, even although We should
rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”

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June 22, 2026
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E. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
F. APPOINTMENTS
None.
G. CONSENT AGENDA
1. Minutes of the Regular City Council Meeting of June 8, 2026.
2. Accounts Payable and Payroll through June 22, 2026, in the Amount of $3,246,524.15.
3. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Report – May 2026.
H. PUBLIC HEARINGS
1. Public Hearing: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Consolidated Annual
Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) for Program Year 2025 (April 1, 2025
- March 31, 2026).
City Manager’s Summary: The Consolidated Annual Performance Evaluation Report
(CAPER) is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and must
be submitted within 90 days after the close of the program year. The CAPER details the City’s
accomplishments under the Community Development Block Grant program during the prior
twelve-month federal program year, which runs from April 1, 2025, through March 31, 2026.
A copy of the CAPER Executive Summary and the full CAPER report are attached. The
complete document was released for a 30-day public comment period beginning June 3, 2026.
Any comments submitted during that period, or provided at this hearing, will be incorporated
into the final CAPER before it is submitted to HUD. The CDBG financial transactions for the
2025 federal program year are summarized below.

2020 CDBG-CV Funds
2023 Carry over unspent funds.
2024 Carry over unspent funds.

Amount
Available
$63,720.00
$31,784.20
$78,281.06

Total
Expenditure
$61,850
$0
$0

Balance of
Available Funds
$1,870.00
$31,784.20
$78,281.06

2025 Administration/Planning
2024 Public Facilities-Street Improvements
2025 Public Services
2025 Homeowner Rehab Program*
TOTAL

$80,133.00
$240,401.00
$60,100.00
$20,033.00
$574,452.26

$80,222
$0
$60,097
$0
$202,169

-$89.00
$240,401.00
$3.00
$20,033.00
$372,283.26*

* Remaining funds carry over to Public Facility activities unless otherwise obligated.

Public Facility and Street Improvement projects in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods
were postponed for the 2026/2027 CDBG program year, and $372,283.26 in funding will be
carried forward to strengthen the budget for future public facility work.
All HUD-required reporting – including Cash on Hand, Quarterly Timeliness of Spending, and
Labor Standards reports – has been completed accurately and on time, and the City of DeKalb
continues to hold a strong overall standing with HUD.

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June 22, 2026
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Notice of this public hearing has been published according to federal and state statutory
guidelines. The CAPER is an informational document that does not require action by the
City Council.
I.

CONSIDERATIONS
None.

J. RESOLUTIONS
1. Resolution 2026-058 Receiving and Filing the FY2025 Annual Comprehensive
Financial Report (ACFR), Single Audit Report, Report on Compliance With Public
Act 85-1142 (TIF Report), Downstate Operating Assistance Certification And
Independent Auditor’s Reports, and Management Letter.
City Manager’s Summary: The following reports were produced under the supervision of Brian
LaFevre, a principal with Sikich CPA LLC. Collectively, they constitute the final draft of the
independent audit of the City’s finances for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025:
 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR)
 Single Audit Report
 Report on Compliance with Public Act 85-1142 (TIF report)
 Downstate Operating Assistance Certification and Independent Auditor’s Reports
 Management Letter

The ACFR is the primary report generated as a result of the annual audit, and encompasses
all funds and operations of the city, including the Police Pension and Firefighter’s Pension
funds, and the DeKalb Public Library (as a discretely presented component unit). A synopsis
of that report is detailed below.
The single audit report contains information on all the federal grant programs administered by
the city during fiscal year 2025.
The Report on Compliance with Public Act 85-1142 contains information on the operations of
TIF #3 and TIF #4. TIF #1 expired on December 31, 2021, and the small fund balance amount
that remained was transferred to TIF #3 on December 31, 2023.
The Downstate Operating Assistance Certification and Independent Auditor’s Report is an
audit of one specific city grant program of the Transportation Fund. The reports are prepared
for the grant year, which ended June 30, 2025.
The Management Letter discloses any instances of material weaknesses in the city’s internal
control identified during the audit (there were no such instances for FY2025). The City must
be audited annually in accordance with state statutes. The independent audit firm of
Sikich LLP conducted the audit of the City of DeKalb for the fiscal year ending
December 31, 2025. Sikich LLP issued an unmodified (“clean”) opinion on the City’s
financial statements, which is the highest opinion level an entity can receive.
The City’s three largest sources of revenue are property taxes, sales and use taxes (both
municipal and home rule), and state distributions of annual income tax proceeds from the

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June 22, 2026
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Local Government Distributive Fund. As shown in Table 1, the City’s equalized assessed
valuation (EAV) has experienced annual increases since 2017 and cumulatively has grown
168% since then. Growth is expected to continue as the fully assessed valuation of several
new corporate developments including Kraft Heinz, Project Midwest (Goodyear), and the Pilot
Truck Center are realized. The City’s total rate-setting EAV increased by $83 million from
2024 ($1,339,235,605) to 2025 ($1,422,263,872), or 6.2%. Nine consecutive years of EAV
growth indicate relative strength in the local economy.
Table 1 – EAV 2017 – 2025

Sales tax remained strong in 2025, with a 12.9% increase over 2024. Since 2021, the City
and the local economy have experienced steady growth in commercial tax growth. Other
major revenue sources of the City (1.0% municipal sales tax, 1.75% home rule sales tax, and
a local share of the state income tax) experienced considerable gains in 2023 and 2024 and
continued to hold strong in 2025 as depicted in Table 2 and Table 3, below:

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June 22, 2026
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Table 2 - Combined Municipal & Home Rule Sales Tax 2017 – 2025

In 2025, combined sales tax revenues increased by 15.7% over 2024. The City has a healthy
mix of retailers providing grocery and household goods, home improvements,
pharmaceuticals, clothing, auto dealerships, and restaurants. Online retailers also contributed
to the tax base.
Table 3 – Illinois Income Tax 2017 – 2025

State income tax revenues experienced an increase of 6.2% from 2024 to 2025. The State of
Illinois remits income tax on a per-capita basis, and the Illinois Municipal League tracks and
forecasts this revenue source. For calendar year 2024, the actual distribution was $160.87/per
capita; for calendar year 2025 it was $182.58, an increase of $21.71 per capita. The other
factor impacting this revenue source was the certification of the City’s population from the
2020 census: the City’s population declined from 44,030 to 40,290. This became effective
with December 2021 remittances and the impact was fully felt in FY2022.
The General Fund’s total net revenues and transfers surpassed the final amended budget by
$2,053,895, principally due to General Fund reserve transfers out for road improvements,
which count as expenditures.

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June 22, 2026
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General Fund
Revenues
Taxes
Licenses and Permits
Intergovernmental*
Charges for Services
Fines and Forfeitures
Investment Income
Miscellaneous
Sale of Capital Assets
Lease Liability Proceeds
Transfers In
Total Revenue

Final
(Amended)
Budget

Original
Budget

$

$

25,695,953 $
806,960
17,095,119
4,708,972
507,711
500,000
371,062
2,500
1,029,500
50,717,777 $

25,695,953 $
806,960
17,095,119
4,708,972
507,711
500,000
371,062
2,500
1,029,500
50,717,777 $

27,219,534
959,208
16,834,109
4,259,125
449,432
1,494,330
517,992
1,357
7,085
1,029,500
52,771,672

7,080,850
36,197,555
3,635,524
1,383,984
5,762,376
54,060,289

$

6,771,423
36,170,784
3,563,050
1,388,217
28,096
5,762,376
53,683,946

(3,342,512) $

(912,274)

Expenditures
General Government
Public Safety
Highways and Streets
Community Development
Debt Service
Transfers (Out)
Total Expenditures

$

7,080,850
36,197,555
3,635,524
1,383,984
4,762,376
53,060,289

Change in Fund Balance

$

(2,342,512) $

$

Actual

$

$

$

Although expenditures and transfers were projected to exceed revenue by $3.34 million, the
actual deficit was smaller than anticipated. As a result, the General Fund concluded with a
balance of $34,803,659, reflecting a net reduction of $912,274. However, the closing
General Fund balance was 63.7% of annual expenditures (the amended FY2025 pegged
the year-end balance at 59.57% of expenditures).
The revenue sources described above are expected to remain stable or increase in future
years, due to continued economic development. The City will continue to evaluate these
annually to ensure expenditures do not outpace the anticipated revenues.
Long-Term Financial Planning
The following strategies and procedures are utilized by the City to accomplish its long-term
financial planning:
1. The City Manager, assisted by staff, facilitated a public planning workshop in April 2024.
The core discussions were actively guided by Mayor Cohen Barnes, the City Council, and
the executive leadership team. The review of the strategic goals established in August
2019 and the subsequent outcomes, highlighted the municipality's major advancements
through 2024. The continuing priorities identified by the Council focused on a strong
General Fund reserve balance, confidence in the City’s public safety, strong business

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June 22, 2026
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development, property tax relief, and increasing attention to the upgrading of capital
equipment and infrastructure improvements.
2. The City’s Water Operating and Capital Funds have successfully kept pace with industrial
development over the past five years while also addressing the repair and replacement of
aging underground infrastructure. Nevertheless, in October 2023, the City Council
authorized water system modeling (Resolution 2023-098), which was completed in April
2025. The consultant study by Baxter & Woodman considered the realistic prospect of
new industrial development on approximately 2,100 acres south of I-88 and east of IL
Route 23, as well as 405 acres north of I-88 and east of Peace Road within the next 5 to
10 years. Additionally, the Baxter & Woodman Water System Study predicted that the
City’s existing wells can comfortably meet projected demand through 2030. However,
supply deficiencies may arise by 2035. To address this challenge, the City’s Water System
Plan also includes construction of a new shallow well (Well #18) designed with a minimum
capacity of 1,000 gallons per minute, or an increase of 1.44 million gallons per day. The
Lincoln Highway Water Treatment Plant was originally designed with sufficient capacity to
handle this added demand and is already connected to the raw water transmission main
that Well 18 will supply. With this well, it is assumed that the potential supply deficit by
2035 will be erased.
3. The City adopted a five-year Capital Improvement Plan during the FY2017 budget process
for general capital infrastructure of streets, fleet, and equipment. A strategic planning
session on April 27, 2024 further expanded this plan. Funding sources necessary to
implement this plan are reviewed as part of the annual budget process.
4. The City attempts to maintain a diversified and stable revenue system to protect it from
short-term fluctuations in any one revenue source. As part of annual revenue forecasting,
all fees and charges were reviewed, and several recommendations were implemented in
FY2016.5 and FY2017. These were increases in the ambulance transport fees, an
increase in the video gaming licensing fees, and an increase in the fuel surcharge. In
2019, the Council increased the local motor fuel tax from five and one-half cents per gallon
to 9.5 cents per gallon to address serious deficiencies in the pavement condition of City
streets and alleys, and to address the declining condition of the City’s fleet of Police, Fire,
and Public Works vehicles. The local motor fuel tax proceeds are distributed as follows:
 1.5 cents to the Airport Fund (Fund 650)

 1.0 cents to the Capital Equipment Replacement Fund (Fund 420); and

 7.0 cents to the Capital Project Fund (Fund 400) to increase the allocation for street

maintenance by approximately $525,000 per year.

In 2021, the City began participating in the State of Illinois’s supplemental reimbursement
of ground emergency medical transportation (GEMT), and this ongoing revenue has been
earmarked to fund Fire Department capital purchases and facility improvements.
5. The City strives to encourage industry and attract major businesses to locate in the City
to enhance future EAV and stimulate job creation. The City’s Enterprise Zone program
provides property tax abatements to qualify industrial businesses that meet certain
benchmarks.
Major Initiatives
During FY2025, the City was able to complete a variety of projects, programs, and activities
designed to meet identified community needs. These included:

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June 22, 2026
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 ChicagoWest: Continued focus on large-scale industrial development in the ChicagoWest

Business Center, south of I-88, since 2020 has led to the multi-billion-dollar development of
a Facebook/Meta data center; the development of a $160 million Ferrara Candy distribution
and packing center; the development of an Amazon fulfillment center; and the development
of Kraft Heinz, a $250 million distribution center for an international food manufacturer and
distributor. The development company recently sold a 160-acre parcel to ComEd for the
construction of a transmission substation (the “Keslinger Substation”) that will significantly
upgrade electrical power and handle larger electrical loads in the DeKalb area. In early
December 2025, Council approved an annexation and development agreement relating to
approximately 560 acres of the ChicagoWest Business Center along Route 23 for the
development of a second advanced data center complex known as Edged (Project Vector).

 Fire

Station #4: On September 11, 2023, Council authorized a $4,265,000 general
obligation bond to fund the construction of Station #4. In February 2024 the City Council
approved an amendment to the annexation agreement for Glidden Crossing to allow the
construction of an 8,000 sq. ft. Fire station. Construction began in May 2024 and was
completed in April 2025. The new Fire station provides improved fire suppression and
ambulance service to the southwest portion of the City and reduces response times.

 10-Year Water System Study: An unexpected transition in key Water Division positions

required the City Manager’s close attention to the research and developing assumptions
being prepared by the Baxter & Woodman consulting team in the Winter and Spring of 2025.
The Manager’s summary of the final water model and system findings followed many hours
of close collaboration with the consultant.

 SAFER Grant: In 2025, the City secured a $1.892 million dollar FEMA grant through the

Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program to hire six additional
firefighter/paramedics. The City will complete the hiring in 2026 and request the awarded
funding for the first year of this three-year grant.

 GEMT: With the collaboration of IAFF Local 1236, the City continued participating in the

State of Illinois Ground Emergency Medical Transport (GEMT) program, which allows
ambulance providers to receive supplemental reimbursements for patients with Medicaid
coverage, effectively decreasing the difference between the actual City cost of providing
ambulance services and Medicaid payments. The GEMT funds generated in 2025 were
sufficient to purchase a Rosenbauer Aerial Truck with upfitting at a total cost of $1.76 million
dollars.

 TIF: In FY2025, a number

of architectural improvement grants were approved by the
Council. Substantial rehab grants were extended to the owners of the former McCabe’s (323
and 333 E. Lincoln Highway) and Eduardo’s (206 E. Lincoln Highway) buildings, and
infrastructure assistance was extended to Heartland Bank (205 S. 4th Street). In addition,
the City continues the pursuit of the remediation of the remaining hazardous concentrations
of lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and low-level concentrations of volatile organic
compounds at the former Protano site on S. Fourth Street, with potential redevelopment
possible in the future for private purposes. Additional site drillings in 2025 have created the
data necessary to qualify for a cleanup grant from the IEPA Site Remediation Program. The
City’s application for assistance has been filed.

 Capital Projects: The annual street maintenance program of $4.5 million in 2025 was

funded by a combination of monies from the State MFT Fund (Fund 210), the Capital
Projects Fund (Fund 400) and the General Fund (Fund 100) reserve balance. The Council
has aimed for an annual street maintenance budget of about $2.5 million in recent years,
with a $3.0 million budget in 2026.

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June 22, 2026
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 Capital Equipment replacements in 2025

 Purchase of four new police squad replacements ($275,000).
 Purchase of an aerial truck ($165,000), a pickup with plow package ($78,000) and one
dump truck with plow ($242,000).
 Purchase of a new 2025 Ford Ranger XL for the Building & Code Compliance Department
to be used for property maintenance and building services.
 The City utilized roughly $3.4 million in federal transit formula grants plus an additional $6.9

million of IL Downstate Operating Assistance Program (DOAP) funds to operate the City’s
transit system and continually expanded daily service for the transit shuttle to the Elburn
Train Station and daily routes to and from the Park 88 and ChicagoWest industrial parks,
which serve an increasing number of local employees.

No anticipated auditing changes are expected, so the Council is urged to accept the
final audit draft, summarized above, for 2025.
2. Resolution 2026-059 Authorizing a Contract with Flock Safety for the Provision of
Police Department Automatic License Plate Reader Service for a Two-Year Term
(2026-2027) in an Amount Not to Exceed $27,500.
City Manager’s Summary: The City of DeKalb began using ALPR cameras in 2022 with the
installation of 12 Genetec units, which have been valuable in identifying vehicles connected
to serious crimes. Nine additional cameras were added in 2023, allowing investigators to
benefit from broader regional camera networks that support cross-jurisdictional cooperation
and have contributed to multiple arrests.
The program was implemented in two phases: the first set of cameras was leased and will
remain under that agreement until 2027, while the second set was purchased outright. The
City pays annually for ALPR service but owns the nine cameras from the second phase, and
although the original purchase did not include maintenance coverage, no major repairs have
been required. Flock Safety can provide its services at a reduced cost because the City
already owns the hardware, charging half its standard annual rate, and any failed City-owned
camera would be replaced with a fully warrantied Flock Safety device. The leased cameras
from the first phase may also be migrated to the Flock Safety platform when the lease expires
in 2027.
ALPR technology is widely used across the country and in Illinois, and its application is
controlled by state law and local policy. Switching vendors will not significantly alter
investigative practices or the technology’s effect on the community. Illinois law (625 ILCS
5/2-130) restricts how ALPR data may be used, including prohibitions against interfering with
access to lawful health care or using the data to investigate immigration status, and also limits
information-sharing to states with matching protections.
Financially, the current Genetec service costs $14,576 per year with maintenance included,
while Flock Safety’s service costs $13,500 annually plus a one-time $500 implementation fee,
with additional costs if replacement cameras are needed. The proposed agreement is a
two-year contract billed annually.
City Council approval is recommended.

City Council Regular Meeting Agenda
June 22, 2026
Page 14 of 17

3. Resolution 2026-060 Approving an Event Venue Liquor License For McCabe’s
Events LLC, Located at 323 E. Lincoln Highway.
City Manager’s Summary: On May 26, the City Council unanimously approved Ordinance
2026-020, which established a new, “Event Venue,” liquor license. McCabe’s Events LLC,
owned by David Long, has applied for the Event Venue liquor license that permits alcohol
service only during live entertainment or other approved event-related activities. If the
application is approved, the City will issue a conditional liquor license while the remaining
requirements in the resolution are completed, including obtaining a State of Illinois liquor
license.
Background investigations for both the owner and manager have been approved by the
DeKalb Police Department. Upon approval, the City will collect an initial license fee of $2,500.
Non-refundable application fees totaling $666 have already been submitted to cover the liquor
license application and background investigations.
The Event Venue liquor license is valid from January 1 through December 31 and carries an
annual renewal fee of $1,800. Because the license, if approved, will be issued within the final
six months of the licensing cycle, staff respectfully recommend prorating the first renewal fee
due on December 1, 2026, to $900, as permitted in Chapter 38 “Intoxicating Liquors”, Section
38.08-d), “Term of Licenses and License Fees”, of the City’s Municipal Code.
City Council approval is recommended.
K. ORDINANCES – SECOND READING
None.
L. ORDINANCES – FIRST READING
1. Ordinance 2026-021 Approving a Final Plat of Subdivision and Preliminary and Final
Development Plan for Park 88 – Unit 5 (Park 88 Group LLC).
City Manager’s Summary: Park 88 Group LLC has applied for approval of a Preliminary/Final
Development Plan and Final Plat for a 47.1-acre, “L-shaped” property at the northeast corner
of Fairview Drive and Macom Drive, to be designated Park 88, Unit 5. The subdivision will
include two lots: (a) a 21.49-acre parcel at the northeast corner of the intersection (Lot 2),
along with a 0.22-acre right-of-way dedication along Fairview Drive; and (b) a 25.39 acre
parcel south of Macomb Drive (Lot 1)
The “Project Big Lakes” development proposal includes a 186,040 square foot manufacturing
facility on Lot 2 for a major manufacturer of climate control and energy management systems,
with a planned future expansion of 185,640 square feet. Access for employees and visitors
will be from Fairview Drive, while trucks and deliveries will enter from two points on Macom
Drive. The layout provides 140 parking spaces, including five accessible spaces. Stormwater
management will be handled off site at an existing regional detention facility northwest of
Macom Drive.
The City staff and the Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District have completed their review,
and all comments have been addressed at this stage. Additional submittals – such as final
engineering, landscaping, and photometric lighting plans – will be required during the
building-permit process. The applicant intends to begin grading in July and have the facility
operational by mid-2027.

City Council Regular Meeting Agenda
June 22, 2026
Page 15 of 17

City Council Regular Meeting Agenda
June 22, 2026
Page 16 of 17

The Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed the proposal on June 15, 2026. By a vote of
4 to 0, the Commission recommended City Council approval of the Preliminary/Final
Development Plan and Final Plat, subject to all staff comments being resolved prior to building
permit issuance and Final Plat recording.
City Council approval and the waiver of second reading is recommended.
2. Ordinance 2026-022 Approving a Special Use Permit to Allow for an Expansion to
the Existing Church and Parking Lot for the Property Located at 1515 N. First Street
(Hillcrest Covenant Church).
City Manager’s Summary: The City received a special use permit application from Hillcrest
Covenant Church to expand its building and parking lot at 1515 N. First Street. The project
includes a one-story west-side addition that increases the sanctuary capacity to about 350
people and adds classrooms, gathering areas, and larger restrooms. Because part of the
addition is built over an existing lower-level space, the footprint increases only modestly. The
parking lot will be redesigned and enlarged by 55 spaces for a total of 116, including five ADA
spaces, which is more than required under the Unified Development Ordinance.
The plan also includes a new stormwater detention area on the southwest side of the property,
a six-foot privacy fence with landscaping along the northern edge near 108 Ridge Drive, and
additional landscaping on N. First Street and Ridge Drive. Some trees will be removed for the
parking and stormwater improvements, while others will remain. The expansion is intended to
fit the surrounding neighborhood and lessen the need for street parking. The church expects
to apply for building permits by the end of June, begin construction in August, complete the
parking lot by winter, and finish the building addition by August 2027.
The Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing on June 15, 2026, to review the
special use request. After the hearing, the Commission voted 3-0 (with Commissioner Sisler
abstaining), to recommended Council approval of the permit for the expansion of the church
and parking lot. Their recommendation includes a condition requiring the parking lot lighting
to be installed so that it does not create glare for nearby properties, especially 108 Ridge
Drive, and that cut-off lenses be used to direct the light away from neighboring homes, subject
to approval by the Planning Director.
City Council approval and the waiver of second reading is recommended.

City Council Regular Meeting Agenda
June 22, 2026
Page 17 of 17

M. REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
1. Council Member Reports.
2. City Manager Report.
N. EXECUTIVE SESSION
None.
O. ADJOURNMENT
AGENDA PACKET