Agenda Summary — Hello WeGo!

City Council discretionary agenda highlights for September 8, 2026

Agenda Summary

West Chicago City Council Agenda Review — September 8, 2026

This table summarizes each City Council agenda action, the money involved, and whether the action appears non-discretionary under the review rubric.

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Item	Short description	Money involved	Non-discretionary evaluation
5 — August 17 minutes	Approve the prior City Council meeting minutes.	No current expenditure; prior-meeting amounts describe earlier actions.	Likely non-discretionary / administrative. Minutes approval maintains the Council’s official record.
6 — September 8 Corporate Disbursement Report	Approve documented operating-account disbursements presented for payment.	$1,663,264.62 total: General $262,702.98; Capital Equipment Replacement $73,934.68; Sewer $272,647.05; Water $199,082.60; Capital Projects $834,617.10; Motor Fuel Tax $14,873.15; Miscellaneous Deposits $4,500.00; Commuter Parking $907.06. The eight fund totals reconcile to the cover total.	Likely non-discretionary / administrative. This is approval of already-incurred obligations.
7.A — Comcast Business services	Authorize the City Administrator to execute internet and network-service agreements for several City facilities, including renewals, a bandwidth upgrade, and a static-address block. The service orders and related agreements are not included.	Approximately $44,600 over 24- and 36-month terms, excluding taxes, fees, surcharges, maintenance, repair, and other charges. Two internet sites cost $127.90/month each, plus $79.95 and $39.95 one-time charges; enterprise changes increase recurring cost by $229.95/month (about $2,759/year).	Mixed / administrative-leaning. Essential-connectivity renewal supports operations, while upgrades and multi-year scope retain a meaningful choice. The packet carries no recorded same-evening Finance Committee recommendation.
7.B — Resolution 26-R-0074, Granicus website/GXA	Authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute the Granicus agreement. Staff recommends Package A plus Package B; Package A alone and no agreement are alternatives, and Council selects the scope. The cited resolution and agreement are not included.	Package A initial $46,933.43; Package B $17,500.00; both $64,433.43, within the $85,000 FY2026 budget. Optional combined annual renewals are $42,829.03, $44,970.48, $47,219.01, and $49,579.96 for Years 2–5 and require affirmative action.	Discretionary. Council selects a new digital platform and whether to add the AI assistant, balancing accessibility and service goals against costs and terms. The packet contains no recorded same-evening Finance Committee recommendation.
7.C — Downtown Revitalization Vision & Guiding Framework	Approve the DRC-recommended downtown vision, five priorities, and a two-part alignment test for future initiatives.	No current appropriation or project cost; later initiatives retain separate budget, procurement, planning, and approval requirements.	Discretionary strategic policy. Council would adopt a framework shaping future downtown projects and investments, though it does not approve any example project or funding.
7.D — 2026–2028 Economic Development Work Plan realignment	Approve the EDC-recommended resequencing of the current work plan, carrying forward and refining active priorities.	No current appropriation or direct expenditure; future initiatives remain subject to budget and Council approvals.	Discretionary strategic policy. Council would reset economic-development sequencing and priorities rather than merely administer an existing contract.
7.E — 2027–2029 Economic Development Work Plan	Approve a new three-year plan covering downtown revitalization, housing, business support, digital services, infrastructure, workforce, and potential new initiatives.	No current appropriation or direct expenditure. Future studies, finance tools, marketplace, branding, construction support, and futsal work may require later funding.	Discretionary strategic policy. Council would establish a multi-year agenda while reserving every project’s later contract, entitlement, and funding decisions.
7.F — Resolution 26-R-0075, Wiant House grant	Authorize the Mayor to execute a Downtown Investment Program reimbursement agreement with Wiant House Properties, LLC for masonry restoration at 151 W. Washington Street. Work must start within 90 days after agreement execution, finish within 12 months after permit issuance, and be maintained for five years.	Up to $9,362.50, the lesser of that cap or 35% of eligible actual cost. Bids are $49,200, $30,500, and $26,750; sufficient 2026 program funding is reported. The building permit is issued at 50% of the normal fee, with third-party fees paid by the applicant.	Discretionary. Council would award public program funds to a named private property, subject to completion, maintenance, program, code, and agreement conditions.
7.G — Resolution 26-R-0076, IMRF agent	Appoint Finance Director/Treasurer Katrina Hanna as the City’s IMRF authorized agent, replacing Interim Finance Director Jacob Henderson.	No direct expenditure identified.	Likely non-discretionary / administrative. State pension participation requires an authorized agent, and the change maintains continuity after staffing changes.
7.H — Resolution 26-R-0077, account signers	Authorize Katrina Hanna, Jacob Henderson, Viviana Ramirez, and Tia Messino as account signers and update approved depositories.	No expenditure or account balance is authorized by the resolution.	Likely non-discretionary / administrative. This updates financial authorities and records for operational continuity, subject to existing legal, budget, purchasing, and Council controls.
7.I — Resolution 26-R-0078, FOIA policy	Approve a detailed City FOIA policy governing submission, receipt, searches, extensions, denials, fees, recurrent/voluminous requests, AI/robot verification, review, and records.	First 50 black-and-white letter/legal sides are free, then up to $0.15/side; commercial searches receive eight staff hours free, then may cost $10/hour; voluminous electronic requests may cost $20/$40/$100 by data tier. Color/oversize, media, outside-vendor reproduction, off-site retrieval, and postage may be actual cost; certification is $1/document plus copying. Untimely responses require free copies.	Discretionary policy. Although FOIA compliance is mandatory, Council is choosing City procedures and rules within the statute, including request channels, receipt timing, electronic attachments, requester verification, and advance payment by cash, cashier’s/certified check, or money order.
7.J — Ordinance 26-O-0021, City Clerk office	Repeal both 2022 ordinances, expressly treat the Clerk Abolition Ordinance as ultra vires and void, restore the elected City Clerk’s statutory office and duties, create a Deputy Clerk framework, and declare a vacancy to be filled by mayoral appointment with Council consent through the April 3, 2029 election.	The draft restores annual Clerk compensation of $4,500; no separate implementation appropriation is stated.	Mixed / legally compelled corrective action. Legal advice says the City lacked authority to abolish the elected office without referendum, but Council still selects detailed code, deputy-clerk, duty, and compensation provisions.
8 — Establish consent agenda	Establish which proposed consent items will be grouped for one vote.	No amount beyond grouped items.	Likely non-discretionary / procedural. This organizes consideration rather than finally approving retained items.
9 — Approve established consent agenda	Take the scheduled final vote on items retained in the consent agenda.	Amounts are stated under Items 7.A, 7.B, and 7.F; no separate amount.	Procedural companion motion. Administrative in form, with substance depending on which discretionary and administrative items remain grouped.
10 — Items removed from consent	Consider any consent item removed for separate discussion or vote.	Depends on removal; no separate amount.	Likely non-discretionary / contingent procedure. The pre-meeting packet identifies no removed item or outcome.
12.A — Resolution 26-R-0079, global litigation settlement	Approve and authorize a mutual-release settlement. The City had already voluntarily dismissed its annexation complaint; after effectiveness, the releasors would dismiss the annexation counterclaim and election-litigation claims with prejudice within 21 days.	Sheehan would pay the City $6,247.00—$6,153 fees plus $94 costs—within 30 days after approval and execution. The packet states no City payment.	Discretionary legal settlement. Council would trade litigation claims and risks for mutual releases, dismissals, and the stated payment; the agreement also contains no-admission, prevailing-party-fee, and knowingly-false-statement/non-disparagement terms.
12.B — Ordinance 26-O-0018, publicly owned outdoor athletic fields	Consider under Unfinished Business the August 17-tabled zoning text amendment defining publicly owned outdoor athletic fields, allowing them as a B-1 special use, and requiring 4,000 feet between property lines of approved such uses.	No project cost or direct expenditure is authorized. Any West Washington Street futsal project still requires separate special-use, site-plan, engineering, and funding decisions.	Discretionary zoning policy. Council would create a new regulatory category after a 0–4 unfavorable Plan Commission recommendation and 4–3 favorable Development Committee recommendation. The recycled attachment labels the item 13.B and August 17, and cites Recommendation 26-RC-0009 while attaching 26-RC-0020.
12.C — Budget Discussion	Discuss the budget; the packet provides no proposal, attachment, amount, or explicit motion.	Not stated.	Informational / mixed-indeterminate as posted. Budget priorities are inherently discretionary, but this packet does not establish a concrete decision or expenditure.

Detailed analysis of substantive topics

7.B — Granicus website and optional AI assistant

The proposed annual agreement separates a core website package from an optional Government Experience Agent. Package A includes design, hosting, content migration, communications tools, accessibility work, support, and training. Package B supplies a multilingual AI assistant and interaction analytics. Implementation is expected to last 9–12 months, ahead of the April 26, 2028 accessibility deadline described in the packet. Renewals are not automatic and rise 5% annually.

Decision point. Approve both packages for $64,433.43, approve only the website for $46,933.43, or decline/pursue alternatives.

7.C–7.E — Downtown and economic-development policy frameworks

Item 7.C would adopt a downtown vision organized around place/gathering, business vitality, investment/redevelopment, infrastructure/access, and identity/inclusion. Its alignment test asks whether an initiative advances at least one priority without meaningfully undermining the others and moves downtown toward the stated vision.

Items 7.D and 7.E would respectively realign the 2026–2028 Economic Development Work Plan and adopt a 2027–2029 plan. The latter includes possible City rebranding, a community survey, revolving/bridge-loan partnerships, Downtown construction support, a Grand Lake Boulevard/Elliott Avenue land-use study, a year-round indoor marketplace, and futsal-field design/construction. None of these votes independently appropriates funds or approves a listed project.

Decision point. Decide whether these frameworks should guide later priorities, budgets, land-use actions, procurements, and investments.

7.F — Wiant House Downtown Investment Program grant

The contributing Turner Junction Historic District property at 151 W. Washington Street houses Kamila Cakes on its first floor. The project is masonry restoration; the Historical Preservation Commission approved COA 26-15 on August 25, and a permit remained under review when the packet was prepared. Reimbursement is capped at $9,362.50 or 35% of eligible actual cost, whichever is less, after approved work is completed.

Construction must commence within 90 days after execution, finish within 12 months after permit issuance, and the improvements must be maintained for five years.

Decision point. Authorize or decline the Mayor’s execution of the property-specific reimbursement agreement and its completion/compliance conditions.

7.I — City FOIA policy

The policy consolidates rules for written requests, designated submission channels, receipt dates, searches, extensions, exemptions, denials, recurrent and voluminous requests, review by the Public Access Counselor, fees, immediate-disclosure records, and retention. It states that requests sent to non-designated officials, social-media sites, or only through attachments/hyperlinks may not be accepted as valid, and it permits human-verification procedures when an officer reasonably believes a request was not submitted by a person.

Decision point. Approve, amend, or reject the City-specific procedures while maintaining statutory FOIA compliance.

7.J — Restoring the elected City Clerk

The draft expressly declares the Clerk Abolition Ordinance ultra vires and void and separately repeals both 2022 ordinances, based on legal advice that Illinois law and the state constitution prevented elimination without referendum. It restores statutory duties, annual compensation of $4,500, an appointment process for the vacancy through the April 3, 2029 election, and a Deputy Clerk structure. Drafting defects merit review: the five-page redline is duplicated, Sections 6–7 incorrectly call the ordinance a “Resolution,” and the attestation names the Administrator.

Decision point. Enact the corrective ordinance and its selected administrative framework; a later mayoral appointment remains subject to Council advice and consent.

12.A — Global settlement and release

The agreement would resolve remaining claims associated with `City of West Chicago v. Chicago Title Land Trust Co., as Trustee, et al.` (2023 CH 11) and `Joseph Sheehan v. City of West Chicago` (2025 CH 12). The City had voluntarily dismissed its annexation complaint in August 2024. After the release becomes effective, the releasors would dismiss the annexation counterclaim and election-litigation claims with prejudice within 21 days. Sheehan would pay the City $6,247—$6,153 in fees and $94 in costs—within 30 days after approval and execution.

Decision point. Accept or reject the negotiated release of claims and authorize execution of the settlement.

12.B — Publicly owned outdoor-athletic-field zoning text

The proposal appears under Unfinished Business after Council unanimously tabled old Item 7.A on August 17. It defines publicly owned outdoor fields/courts, permits them only by special use in B-1, and imposes a 4,000-foot property-line-to-property-line separation. Approval would create a regulatory pathway; it would not approve the contemplated West Washington Street futsal installation, which still needs its own special-use and site review. The recycled attachment calls the item 13.B and gives the Council date as August 17; the ordinance recital cites Recommendation 26-RC-0009, while the attached exhibit is Recommendation 26-RC-0020.

Decision point. Adopt, amend, reject, or continue the tabled citywide zoning framework.

Last generated: September 15, 2026 at 7:04 AM CDT