City Council

TOWN OF CICERO TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2025 at 7:00 PM Call to Order: President Cox called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Ms. Gary gave the prayer. President Cox called for roll call. Members of the Cicero Town Council were present or absent as follows: Present: Joseph Cox Absent: Dennis Johnson Jacob Everett Eric Hayden Emily Pearson Declare a Quorum Present: President Cox declared a quorum with four members present. Others Present: Rhonda Gary, Clerk Treasurer Jeff Rednour, Police Chief Lance Overholser, Fire Chief Frank Zawadzki, Cicero/Jackson Township Plan Commission Director Terry Cooper, Street & Utilities Director Jim Hunter, Parks Superintendent Aaron Culp, Town Attorney Keith Bryant, Town Engineer Bruce Freeman, Storm Water Management Board President Dan Strong, Project Coordinator Approval of Agenda: Ms. Pearson made a motion to approve the agenda as amended. Mr. Hayden seconded, motion carried 4-0. Budget Public Hearing/Excess Levy Appeal – Removed from the agenda. Rescheduled to 10/7/2025. Approval of Prior Minutes: Town Council Meeting Minutes, September 2, 2025, 7:00 PM Mr. Hayden made a motion to approve the minutes listed above. Ms. Pearson seconded, motion carried 4-0. Approval of 9/16/25 Claims: Mr. Hayden made a motion to approve the claims dated 8/19/25. Mr. Everett seconded, motion carried 4-0. Council Committee Reports: 1. EDC Report – Mr. Everett had nothing to report. 2. SWU Management Board Report – SWU President Freeman had nothing at this time. Legal Counsel Report – Mr. Culp had nothing at this time. 1 Cicero/Jackson Township Plan Commission Report – Mr. Zawadzki had nothing at this time. Town Engineer Report – Keith Bryant 1. Wastewater – Mr. Bryant relayed that Reynolds continues work on the sludge press building, miscellaneous concrete work, piping work, clarifier and headworks pump equipment installation, start-ups and other work. Reynolds will be moving ahead with the switch over to the new oxidation ditch and clarifier soon pending anticipated delivery of the remaining sludge dewatering system equipment. There was a brief discussion concerning the timely receipt and payment of invoices. No change in submittal schedule is needed. Afterwards, Mr. Hayden made a motion to approve Pay Application #14. Ms. Pearson seconded, motion carried 4-0. 2. West Jackson Street – Mr. Bryant reported that the contractor was working today, and they hope to pour concrete tomorrow beside Bronko’s Pizza. Midwest has indicated that they might start paving next week, subject to their milling equipment availability. Midwest is to confirm so that the public can be informed. Mr. Bryant is working on confirming a schedule for railing receipt and installation. They are also working on completing the work on the lights and finishing up with sod on 10/1/25 weather permitting. 3. 2025 Community Crossings Matching Grant – Mr. Bryant stated that there was a preconstruction meeting today with the contractor, DC Construction Services. Currently, the contractor’s plan is to mobilize on 10/20/25. They hope to have the project completed in about a week. 4. Morse Landing Drive Project – Mr. Bryant said that he plans to solicit bids in January 2026 and is coordinating for a Stormwater Utility Board meeting. He hopes to start the project in February, possibly March (weather permitting). Old Business: Mr. Strong inquired if the council is interested in applying for a CCMG and what project they would like to pursue. After a brief discussion, council decided that they do want to pursue a grant as it is a 80/20 match. Council agreed to allow Mr. Strong to move forward with the grant application with East Jackson Street. New Business: a. Rezone Ordinance No. 09-16-2025-01 to rezone a parcel currently zoned as “R5” Old Town Residential to “NC” Neighborhood Commercial – Mr. Munro is requesting a rezone to NC for his business. Mr. Strong added that the Plan Commission voted 9-0 favorably to allow the rezone request. Afterward, Mr. Everett made a motion to approve the ordinance. Ms. Pearson seconded, motion carried 4-0. b. ISO – Chief Overholser gave an introduction concerning the new International Organization for Standardization (ISO) requirements and distributed a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) in Response to Public Protection Classification (PPC) Retrogression required by ISO. The plan includes hiring three additional firefighters this year. Mr. Hayden addressed the public by asking that they come to meetings, call or email him or the council to address important issues as opposed to getting information from social media. He informed the public that the council does not take important issues lightly and spend many hours addressing them. President Cox, Ms. Pearson and Mr. Everett also shared additional comments. 2  Ms. Gary gave a brief presentation of the fund report as well as fund uses and an overview of the budget. Ms. Pearson thanked Chief Overholser and Ms. Gary for their hard work on this. Ms. Pearson made a motion to adopt and accept Chief Overholser’s CAP (draft #5) to submit to ISO. Mr. Hayden seconded, motion carried 4-0. Chief Overholser replied that he would submit the CAP to ISO the following morning. c. S&P Engagement Letter - Mr. Culp gave a brief description of the engagement letter in relation to the GO Bond. Afterwards, Mr. Hayden made a motion to allow Ms. Gary to reply via email to approve the engagement letter. Mr. Everett seconded, motion carried 4-0. d. Opioid Settlement – Consensus was to allow President Cox to sign the Opioid Settlement. Miscellaneous: There was nothing Comments by Citizens: There were none. Motion to Adjourn: Mr. Hayden made the motion. Ms. Peason seconded, motion carried 4-0. Signatures on Official Documents! Signatures of Cicero Town Council AYE NAY Joseph R Cox Jacob T Everett Eric C Hayden Dennis D Johnson Emily K Pearson Attested: Rhonda Gary, Clerk Treasurer The Next Cicero Town Council Meeting will be on October 7, 2025 at 7:00 PM at Cicero Town Hall. 3