The meeting will be at 6:00 pm in City Council Chambers at 524 West Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor.
If you have Comcast Cable, go to channel 17 to watch live.

Items of interest:

Presentation by students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School of Urban and
Regional Planning on projects such as passenger rail, housing, Tutty’s crossing, and public transit.
This should be an interesting presentaton. Go to http://urpl.wisc.edu/ for more about the Department.

Update from Dave Young, Director of Northwest Illinois Development Alliance (NIDA). Probably wants more money!

1st Reading (no comment allowed since there was a public hearing) of Ordiance for Variation for Group
Home (eight residents) for special need individuals at 325 West Rye Ridge. Since there were no written
objections and a unanimous recommendation from Planning Commission, it can be voted on with only one only one reading. In the minutes of the meeting, Laura Kelly who represented the applicant,
Northwest Illinois CILA, LLC, of Galesburg, Illinois, when asked what types of disabilities the residents would have stated that the primary disability would be developmental/mental retardation. The use of the term “mental retardation” which many people find offensive has been replaced by the term “intellectual disability” by most organizations and governmental agencies such as Social Security. It is surprising that someone in this field who purports to be an advocate in the area of helping individuals with special needs would use such a term. Someone should ask Ms. Kelly if she has heard of “Rosa’s
Law.”

Now for the big question that no one asked – How much will this home pay in real estate taxes or is it just another tax exempt parcel in Freeport which will demand city services and pay nothing towards them? A similar home for individuals with intellectual disabilities at 1774-1776 S Hance Dr pays –you know the answer – no real estate taxes!

The minutes of the Planning Commission hearing are informative and can be found at http://www.cityoffreeport.org/OrdRes/SUP%20325%20RYE%20RIDGE%20_20140121.pdf

For the complete agenda of the council meeting, go to http://www.ci.freeport.il.us/citygovernment/Agendas/A20140121a.pdf