Tag Archives: business

Freeport City Council Meeting Tonight, September 16

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6:00 pm at City Council Chambers at 524 West Stephenson Street, 3rd Floor
If you have Comcast Cable, go to channel 17 to watch live. See complete agenda at http://www.ci.freeport.il.us/citygovernment/Agendas/A20130916.pdf

Somethings of interest on the agenda:

Appointment of Jon Staben (remember he ran against Gitz for Mayor) to Planning Commission – that’s one one way to get rid of the opposition!

Shelly Griswold, Community Development Director, will present a an interesting report on the status of Tutty’s Crossing and Jane Addams Trail.

Business Owners – Watch Out – Someone Wants You Out of Business or Just Another Reason Not to Do Business in Freeport

There will be 1st Reading of an Ordiance on Landscaping and Screenings. Every business owner should read this one carefully. It certainly could be construed as anti-small business. For example, the following provision on lighting:

“A lighting plan shall be required any time exterior lighting is proposed or modified and shall be submitted along with the site plan information to the City Engineer for approval. The lighting plan shall include a site plan indicating: the location, height, type, design, orientation, anchorage, and wattage of all proposed light fixtures; a photometric plan prepared by a lighting professional showing spot illumination levels at regularly spaced intervals on the lot and at all lot lines and average proposed illumination levels on the site; a summary table containing average foot-candles, minimum foot-candles, maximum foot-candles, uniformity ratio (average/minimum), and catalog cuts of the proposed fixtures.”

Don’t build or modify a building in Freeport with a few parking spaces since you will have to spend thousands of dollars on a photometric plan prepared by a lighting professional. This is just a small part of this proposed ordinance. The Gitz administration says it is for economic development, but actions speak louder that words.

Read complete proposed ordinance at http://www.cityoffreeport.org/OrdRes/1272%20LANDSCAPING%20AND%20SCREENING%209.11.13.pdf

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Attention Business Owners – Another Reason Why Businesses Are Leaving Illinois

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The Third Appellate District Court in Illinois has found that an employee was entitled to workers’ compensation benefits for a wrist fracture as a result of a fall on or near her residence. The employee fell on a snowy sidewalk going to a van after eating her lunch at her own home. The van was owned by her employer who let her take it home. Case is sad but true. No wonder no one wants to be in business in Illinois. Private and public employers who let employees take vehicles home should look at this case. It would take the Illinois Legislature or the Illinois Supreme Court to correct this result in the future. Don’t bet on it! Milynarczyk v. The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission