City Council

TOWN OF CICERO TOWN COUNCIL STAFF MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2026 at 7:00 PM Call to Order: President Cox called the meeting to order. Present: Joseph Cox Absent: Jacob Everett Eric Hayden Dennis Johnson Emily Pearson Others Present: Rhonda Gary, Clerk Treasurer President Cox started the meeting by asking Angela Smith with Smith Insurance Services to step forward and introduce herself. Ms. Smith stated Smith Insurance Services is the new insurance carrier for the Town and she just wanted to introduce herself along with Kara Shepherd and Jay Tribbett. Ms. Smith shared who they were and where their offices are located and they are only a phone call away if needed. 1. Town Council – a. Weight Limit Updates to Ordinance – Mr. Hayden started out by stating why the weight limits were put in place. After a brief discussion Mr. Jerry Watson, Mr. Frank Powers, Mr. Cliff Carley, and Mr. Larry Prater shared their concerns with the council regarding the Weight Limit Ordinance and made suggestions for the council to consider moving forward. The long-term solution may be the need for a bypass, and those discussions are taking place with the county. After further discussion, the council thanked them for their suggestions, and the council will continue to work on the weight limit ordinance. b. PASER Street Analysis – Mr. Hayden opened the discussion and shared the PASER Street Analysis with the council and members of the audience. After a brief discussion and comments by Director Cooper, it was suggested to use the PASER ratings to help determine projects in the future. c. Alley Work – Mr. Hayden started the alley conversation with he had asked Director Cooper to look at the possibility of chip and seal for alleys. Director Cooper shared that chip and seal would not be the best solution and there may be a better solution. A better option may be to look at milling and put in a new asphalt base at an estimated cost of $100.00 to $110.00 a running foot. After further discussion, maybe there is a way to do a section at a time and try to see from where the funding might come. Mr. Hayden thanked Director Cooper for his work on this. d. Picnic – Ms. Pearson stated the Cicero Employee Picnic would be held at Community Park on July 24th at 12:00. 2. Plan – Director Zawadzki said he would like to have the parking lot at the Municipal Building seal coated and striped as the lot was getting in bad shape and presented two 1  quotes. The council asked Mr. Zawadzki to look at getting a couple of additional quotes and add this to the next council meeting agenda. 3. Fire – Staffing – Chief Frazier spoke to the council about staffing and some of the challenges the department was facing with staffing. Staffing now that we are going into summertime is becoming more challenging. Chief Frazier discussed what he would like to propose, getting to 15 full-time and ways that might work and fit within the budget. Chief Frazier said he would like to continue the discussions with the council. 4. Police – Chief Rednour shared with the council that he has a reserve officer that has done some grant writing. The officer would be willing to write a grant for public safety vehicles at no cost to the town. The consensus of the council was to allow the officer to pursue writing the grant for public safety vehicles. The council thanked Chief Rednour and officer for bringing this to the council. 5. Water/Wastewater – Director Cooper had nothing to report. 6. Clerk Treasurer – Ms. Gary was attending SBOA Conference and had nothing to report. 7. Project Coordinator – Wheel Tax – Mr. Strong asked for this to put on the agenda as this had been previously discussed. Mr. Strong said this is not currently a requirement for a Community Crossing Matching Grant but is a requirement for the Lane Mile Distribution Fund (LLDD). Mr. Strong explained the Lane Mile Distribution Fund and why it was created. After discussion, the consensus was to add this to the next council meeting agenda. 8. Parks Dept – Superintendent updated the council on the LWCF grant. Superintendent had some documents that he asked the council to allow President Cox to sign as part of the LWCF grant application process. Mr. Hayden made the motion to allow President Cox to sign the documents. Mr. Johnson seconded, motion carried 4-0. Superintendent Hunter asked the council to consider moving forward with the engineering portion of the LWCF grant once the town received state approval for the LWCF grant. After discussion Superintendent Hunter was asked to add this to the next town council meeting agenda. Next Superintendent Hunter stated that our current grant writer is at the end of her 6-month contract and the need to decide if we want to continue her contract for another 6 months or another option of doing a 3- month contract. The council asked Superintendent Hunter to add this to the next council meeting agenda. Superintendent Cooper was approached by Ms. Drake about installing a memorial plaque for her husband, a retired Lt. Colonel. The consensus of the council was to allow the plaque to be installed at the Veterans Causeway area. Motion to Adjourn: Mr. Johnson made the motion. Ms. Pearson seconded, motion carried 4-0. 2 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 3