Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line with Dixon Mayor Glen Hughes

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Talk Line with Dixon Mayor Glen Hughes · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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Speaker 1: Good morning, Sock Valley. You are listening to the Waking
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Speaker 1: Crew here on AM fourteen sixty FM ninety five to
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Speaker 1: one WIXN, where you're never more than moments away from
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Speaker 1: all the local news, sports and entertainment information needed to
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Speaker 1: start your day. Today on talkline, I am joined by
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Speaker 1: Dixon Mayor Glenn Hughes. My first time actually getting to
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Speaker 1: officially interview, passed a informal approach. It's nice to see
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Speaker 1: you today, sir.
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Speaker 2: Good morning. It's great to be here.
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Speaker 1: You're, of course a regular on the show. I'm still
0:32
Speaker 1: I'm cruising into my third week here now in the
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Speaker 1: hot Stephen Marco seats. Some big shoes to fill, but
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Speaker 1: I'm wiggling my toes and You've got quite a lot
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Speaker 1: to cover today. A lot going on in Dixon Lee
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Speaker 1: County Board voting on a fiscal twenty twenty six tax
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Speaker 1: levan budget property tax rate going up just slightly, and
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Speaker 1: I know, I think it's really important folks are for
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Speaker 1: them to understand, you know, these small increases. How does
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Speaker 1: this impact Dixon in residents specifically, and how does the
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Speaker 1: city plan to manage its own budget alongside the county levee.
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Speaker 2: Quite Honestly, the County Levee is is a totally distinct
1:12
Speaker 2: thing from ours. I haven't even I haven't even seen
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Speaker 2: the County levee. You know. I heard they got it
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Speaker 2: passed and they were you know, had some increases there.
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Speaker 2: But the reality is, we look at our budget, the
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Speaker 2: projected overall increase with adjustments, something's reduced, something's increased. Who's
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Speaker 2: going to be about four point nine percent. On the
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Speaker 2: other side of that, we'rere tax cap community, actually tax
1:46
Speaker 2: cap county, so we're looking at what happens with the
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Speaker 2: e a V. That will depend if if the stays
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Speaker 2: where the county is currently estimating it, we probably won't
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Speaker 2: get all of ours because of being tax captain. We're
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Speaker 2: looking at a two point nine percent increase, then we've
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Speaker 2: got some other issues. We've got to fall back on
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Speaker 2: reserves that we've set up. So the other side of
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Speaker 2: it is if the EAV increases substantially, then we should
2:25
Speaker 2: be able to get all or most of it, staying
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Speaker 2: within that limitation. And I think we're only I should
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Speaker 2: have pulled up that number, but it's approximately it's a
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Speaker 2: little less than one hundred and fifty thousand, is all
2:44
Speaker 2: we're looking at increasing that total budget, So it's not
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Speaker 2: a lot in terms of our overall, a good chunk
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Speaker 2: of it. As happens with a lot of communities right now,
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Speaker 2: the state has a serious problem with it. Communities in
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Speaker 2: general are looking at the pension situation. We've made some
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Speaker 2: moves in terms of bonding for our police and fire
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Speaker 2: pension and targeting one hundred percent pension by the next
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Speaker 2: state designated date, and that's a little bit of a
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Speaker 2: moving target as well. But what we've done in bonding
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Speaker 2: is to try and help stabilize or minimize those increases.
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Speaker 2: The trajector they were on was pretty significant, and the
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Speaker 2: cost of the bonding is got us in a position
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Speaker 2: where we're we're putting less into that than we would
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Speaker 2: have been if we hadn't bonded. But you know, as
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Speaker 2: the and I don't want to get into the technicals,
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Speaker 2: but from an actual standpoint, we would have been increasing
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Speaker 2: more than we actually are right now based on the
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Speaker 2: state's targeted one hundred well I guess they actually say
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Speaker 2: ninety dates. So it's people don't like to hear increases,
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Speaker 2: and we'd love to tell you we didn't have any,
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Speaker 2: but just like everybody's personal budget costs are going.
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Speaker 1: Up, yeah, on everything, and you know.
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Speaker 2: A big chunk of what we've got is in salaries
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Speaker 2: and insurance and benefits like the pensions, so it those
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Speaker 2: things go up every year. We can't even we aren't
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Speaker 2: even able to levy for the general corporate or the
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Speaker 2: corporate general section. We have to rely more on sales
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Speaker 2: tax and other income revenues from that area, uh to
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Speaker 2: cover that area. But fortunately, with the growth of Dixon,
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Speaker 2: we've been able. We should be able to meet that target.
5:15
Speaker 2: We should be able to cover those but it's been
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Speaker 2: I think we'd be in a real tough situation if
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Speaker 2: we weren't seeing the growth that we're seeing within Dixon.
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Speaker 2: And you know, we've put a lot of into amenities
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Speaker 2: which is helping that. And it concerns some people. You
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Speaker 2: don't why are you know, why are you building a
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Speaker 2: multi use or a walking bridge when you're increasing those
5:42
Speaker 2: two things. I don't know whether it's unfortunate, but they
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Speaker 2: don't have anything to do with each other. Those are
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Speaker 2: segregated funds. For that bridge. We applied, we got a grant.
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Speaker 2: We had set money aside over the years to handle
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Speaker 2: the matching side of it. We got another grant this
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Speaker 2: year that will actually from the state. The first was federal.
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Speaker 2: Now from the state, they'll help offset and take the
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Speaker 2: pressure off of us even for the monies that we
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Speaker 2: had set aside. So those monies that are going into
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Speaker 2: the bridge or the walking paths, those types of things
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Speaker 2: can't go into the city general budget. They can't go
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Speaker 2: they can't go into a swimming pool, you know, they
6:32
Speaker 2: can't go into the streets because they're segregated strictly for
6:36
Speaker 2: that purpose that we wrote the grand.
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Speaker 1: And I think that's I'm just so glad that you
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Speaker 1: mentioned that, just because I always noticed during my times
6:44
Speaker 1: of reporting, you know, I'd like to go to the
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Speaker 1: comments section and have conversation with people, and they really
6:49
Speaker 1: do a lot of people have that misconception that every
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Speaker 1: project comes from the same source of funding, and so
6:59
Speaker 1: again they're all asking, why are we paying out of
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Speaker 1: this for that, And they don't seem to understand that
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Speaker 1: there's you know, not only separate sources of funding, but
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Speaker 1: you folks, you go after and you write these grants
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Speaker 1: and a lot of times they'll have certain stipulations in
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Speaker 1: the way you know, you have to spend them, or
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Speaker 1: what you have to do with them.
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Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely, not a lot of the times, all the time,
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Speaker 2: and they've got their very you know, the federal grants
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Speaker 2: and the state grants are very specific. You know, even
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Speaker 2: even the engineering work. One of the time, one of
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Speaker 2: the things that takes so long to get a thing going.
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Speaker 2: Somebody hears about us talking about receive the grant, but
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Speaker 2: then they don't see any activity happening for twelve eighteen months.
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Speaker 2: The fact is we have to go through a complete process.
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Speaker 2: First of all, you don't want to you know, we'll
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Speaker 2: use Project Rock as an example. You don't want to
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Speaker 2: do all your engineering before you've even you know, as
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Speaker 2: part of the grant package, you've got to wait until
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Speaker 2: you get the grant. You've done some preliminarying, but you've
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Speaker 2: got to wait until you get that grant, so you know,
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Speaker 2: you've got the money to pay for the engineering and
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Speaker 2: to do the things that need to be done to
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Speaker 2: set out the specs for the bids and the criteria.
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Speaker 2: So it's and then in most cases, it has to
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Speaker 2: go back to the proving or the entity, whether it's
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Speaker 2: the federal or state that gave you the grant, to
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Speaker 2: make sure they're okay with everything. You did, and then
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Speaker 2: you get it back hoping that they haven't adjusted something
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Speaker 2: or said no, we need you to do this, or
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Speaker 2: we need you to do that. So that's a whole process.
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Speaker 2: That whole thing is very those things are very specific.
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Speaker 1: The number of hoops that you folks have to jump
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Speaker 1: through looks like a game of hopscotch on speed. Folks.
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Speaker 1: Really don't think you understand what city officials have to
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Speaker 1: go through to get this money. And correct me if
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Speaker 1: I'm wrong, But most times, without a lot of these grants,
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Speaker 1: some of these projects just wouldn't get done because of
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Speaker 1: the amount of money that you're getting for them.
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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, a lot of yeah, they they wouldn't. We applied.
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Speaker 2: I'm probably could be corrected, but I think it was
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Speaker 2: at least four times for the grant that's going over
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Speaker 2: Project Rock. So you know, it's it's a matter of
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Speaker 2: fine tuning, being there when the opportunity is available, making
9:22
Speaker 2: adjustments if you need to. We have applied two or
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Speaker 2: three times for work on South Carolina and Bloody Gulch Road.
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Speaker 2: We didn't get that. We still need to deal with
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Speaker 2: Bloody Gulch Road, but fortunately the state moved up their
9:48
Speaker 2: work schedule on South Carolina. So you know, we can
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Speaker 2: take that out of the out of the mix right now.
9:56
Speaker 2: But and and that's coming to an end fairly soon.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, everybody gets so excited or excited. I
10:07
Speaker 1: guess there is one way to put it when it
10:08
Speaker 1: comes to you know, construction and anything to do with roads.
10:12
Speaker 1: My goodness, the way the comments blow up over that.
10:15
Speaker 1: But you know, and then there's you know, the process
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Speaker 1: for even getting the work done. You folks have to
10:19
Speaker 1: put bids out. You have to be open about the
10:22
Speaker 1: bid process. You try to get the first price. You
10:25
Speaker 1: hope you're going to get a good one. And then
10:27
Speaker 1: you've got to hope these companies have time within your
10:30
Speaker 1: timeline to get the project started and done.
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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, and though and that's you the timeline usually
10:40
Speaker 2: isn't a major problem. These companies are working multiple most
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Speaker 2: of them are working multiple projects. They're experienced in this area,
10:50
Speaker 2: and they won't take on the project if they don't
10:55
Speaker 2: think they can get it done. Because that's another piece.
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Speaker 2: You know, we set up a time frame or the
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Speaker 2: the engineers working with you know, the specs on the
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Speaker 2: bids are looking at a particular time frame in which
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Speaker 2: to get it done, so they've got to be able
11:11
Speaker 2: to comply with that too. Situation with South Galina, we
11:17
Speaker 2: were hoping to have it done, I'll call it a
11:20
Speaker 2: month ago. I'm really fortunate that it's getting as far
11:25
Speaker 2: as long as it was. I think some of the
11:27
Speaker 2: Ada corner, the work that was being done probably took
11:32
Speaker 2: a little bit more time than anticipated, at least that's
11:34
Speaker 2: the feedback I get. But I was concerned we were
11:40
Speaker 2: only going to have one layer on that, which would
11:43
Speaker 2: it still better than it was, but you know, they
11:46
Speaker 2: would have had to come back for to the spring
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Speaker 2: to complete the project put the second layer on. That
11:52
Speaker 2: would have been real tough. I think what it looks
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Speaker 2: like and you'd have to talk to somebody from my
11:58
Speaker 2: dot specifically, but what it looks like is that they
12:02
Speaker 2: should be able to get most of the pretty much
12:05
Speaker 2: all the work done yet in the next week or so,
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Speaker 2: except for the striping. We may end up going through
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Speaker 2: the through the winter with the temporary striping on the road,
12:17
Speaker 2: so that'll that'll probably have to come back in the spring.
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Speaker 1: How's the project progress? Looking over on Project Rock, that's
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Speaker 1: a big project and exciting one.
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Speaker 2: Cross my fingers. It's staying on time, and you know,
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Speaker 2: and we had a we had a good work season
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Speaker 2: last winter. They're being able to extend that we've were come.
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Speaker 2: We're having so far this fall, we're having a pretty
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Speaker 2: decent work season. So as far as I know, they're
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Speaker 2: on time, if not ahead, but I'm pretty sure they're
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Speaker 2: they're on time, and that should be completed in June
12:59
Speaker 2: of next year.
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Speaker 1: That's well, that's such, that's good news. I will keep
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Speaker 1: my fingers crossed for it. Didn't mean to make us
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Speaker 1: knock on wood over just asking the question to beg
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Speaker 1: the universe for problems. Whenever you you you mentioned something
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Speaker 1: good in construction, but.
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Speaker 2: I would mention something there. They've they've been working on
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Speaker 2: the roadway and the parking lots in Page Park as
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Speaker 2: part of that overall project. It looks like they will
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Speaker 2: only be putting down the one layer that's there right now,
13:31
Speaker 2: so anybody driving through Page Park, I don't think that
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Speaker 2: it's being left, you know, partially done. They understand the timing.
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Speaker 2: This is a little bit of what I was concerned
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Speaker 2: about with South Carolina. But it's manageable, and it would
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Speaker 2: have been manageable on South Gleena. It's going to be
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Speaker 2: manageable in Page Park. They didn't want to have that
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Speaker 2: road tied up, and so they've got the one layer
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Speaker 2: down now and come spring they'll fin that project off
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Speaker 2: in there. That's part of the reason that's not expected
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Speaker 2: to be done until June. I mean, there's a lot
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Speaker 2: of there's a lot of work it takes. They're covering
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Speaker 2: a lot of territory within the park, within the pathways,
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Speaker 2: not just the bridge.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, and I mean it's really amazing work to watch
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Speaker 1: actually happen. It's going to be beautiful when it's done.
14:22
Speaker 1: And that's you know, I know everybody hates, you know,
14:24
Speaker 1: any kind of inconvenience, but if your city's going to grow,
14:28
Speaker 1: if it's going to be be something that you have
14:31
Speaker 1: pride in, you have to do these kind of projects
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Speaker 1: to add value, you know, not only the city itself,
14:36
Speaker 1: but to but for the residents, you know, for for
14:39
Speaker 1: what they for what the city offers them. You can't
14:42
Speaker 1: stay stay stagnant, and Dixon has really been leading the
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Speaker 1: pack and the expansion on adding to the city, at
14:47
Speaker 1: least in my opinion.
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Speaker 2: Thank you. Actually that was kind of reinforced when we
14:53
Speaker 2: had the Illinois Main Street the State conference here this
15:00
Speaker 2: past week. First of all, we got selected to have
15:05
Speaker 2: it because of the positives that were happening, the availability
15:08
Speaker 2: of of facilities, and the feedback that I got from
15:16
Speaker 2: people both within the community and in particular feedback from
15:21
Speaker 2: people outside the community was very positive. It's you know,
15:29
Speaker 2: people were talking about wanting to find time or taking
15:33
Speaker 2: some time to come back to Dixon, especially in you know,
15:37
Speaker 2: nicer weather when you know, so yeah, it was you know,
15:42
Speaker 2: you're talking about other communities that are working hard to
15:45
Speaker 2: improve their communities. And that's part of what happens with
15:50
Speaker 2: that main Street conference is you've got people able to
15:54
Speaker 2: network and get feedback from others and look look at ideas.
15:58
Speaker 2: You know, we obviously were taking we're not done, you know,
16:03
Speaker 2: working on the positives, taking notes on what other communities
16:08
Speaker 2: were doing. Likewise, they were they were very impressed with
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Speaker 2: what Dixon's been doing over the last several years.
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Speaker 1: Well, we'll be excited to see that. We're going to
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Speaker 1: take a break for a moment, folks, but we will
16:20
Speaker 1: be back with our Dixon Mayor Glenn Hughes for part
16:23
Speaker 1: two just after some local news. You've joined the Waking
16:27
Speaker 1: crew here on AM fourteen sixty FM ninety five to
16:30
Speaker 1: one wix N and we are continuing our talk line
16:35
Speaker 1: segment with Dixon Mayor Glenn Hughes and mayor of We
16:40
Speaker 1: have had a listener question kind of sending on our
16:43
Speaker 1: Facebook page. Eric Schumacher had asked, is there any plans
16:47
Speaker 1: to upgrade sports facilities, gym's, wrestling rooms or even create
16:51
Speaker 1: a new sports center like Westwood for Dixon athletes? Can
16:55
Speaker 1: you provide some sort of update to there.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's as far as wrestling rooms and gyms
17:03
Speaker 2: that you know, that's more the area of the public
17:07
Speaker 2: school district. However, in terms of additional sports facilities, as
17:14
Speaker 2: we expand and as we do planning for the properties
17:20
Speaker 2: that we have either purchased or have options on or
17:25
Speaker 2: finding space, a sports complex continues to be. It has been.
17:31
Speaker 2: It's kind of come on and off the back burner.
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Speaker 2: The park District did a great job of, you know,
17:39
Speaker 2: doing expanding some of the facilities. They've added, added some
17:43
Speaker 2: things in over the years in different parts of the
17:46
Speaker 2: you know, the last few years in different parts of
17:48
Speaker 2: the community. But a more extensive sports complex for baseball, softball, soccer,
17:58
Speaker 2: possibly some indoor opportunities as well. That we're looking at.
18:04
Speaker 2: We talked to developers, we talked to it's going to
18:10
Speaker 2: probably be a public private partnership, but we are keeping
18:16
Speaker 2: that as part of our plans going forward. So nothing
18:23
Speaker 2: specific nowhere near. I don't expect something to happen in
18:27
Speaker 2: the next year or two, but those that type of
18:33
Speaker 2: additional sports facilities that would be able to draw people
18:38
Speaker 2: into the community, expand our capacity for doing tournaments and
18:44
Speaker 2: that type of stuff is definitely in consideration.
18:48
Speaker 1: Well there you have it, folks. Nothing concrete right now
18:50
Speaker 1: on the horizon, but it is definitely in the minds
18:53
Speaker 1: of city officials and as things progress, and if news
18:57
Speaker 1: ever comes out.
18:58
Speaker 2: With that, we will be here to share it with
18:59
Speaker 2: you definitely.
19:02
Speaker 1: And you wanted to talk a bit about electrical vehicle charging.
19:05
Speaker 2: Yes, last night we approved an agreement with Commed. I've
19:13
Speaker 2: actually been working with commeds since May on site location
19:20
Speaker 2: and they've been researching power and the appropriate equipment and
19:25
Speaker 2: it's been a whole process over the last six months
19:29
Speaker 2: to get a site for EV charging ready. Commed has
19:38
Speaker 2: uh had a grant program, the city had the opportunity
19:44
Speaker 2: to take advantage of that. They will handle the preparation
19:49
Speaker 2: of the site. The equipment that's to be used is
19:55
Speaker 2: already already been designated. We will they will help support
20:01
Speaker 2: us with the maintenance and the networking. So there will
20:06
Speaker 2: be two chargers, each with two ports, so the capacity
20:13
Speaker 2: to charge four vehicles. This is going to be what
20:16
Speaker 2: they call a level three or direct charge capacity, So
20:23
Speaker 2: depending on what level of depletion your battery is probably
20:29
Speaker 2: be able to get your battery back to a full
20:32
Speaker 2: charge within an hour plus or minus. So I think
20:38
Speaker 2: it's something that there's a lot of people have been
20:41
Speaker 2: concerned about. I know I've had a lot of people
20:44
Speaker 2: asking when the city was going to do something, So
20:49
Speaker 2: I have in some of these cases quietly told people
20:52
Speaker 2: we were working on that project. I'm not sure they knew,
20:56
Speaker 2: you know, how working on it, with how effective or
21:02
Speaker 2: how soon that was going to be. But we're expecting
21:06
Speaker 2: them to, if not finished by the end of the year,
21:09
Speaker 2: at least have made substantial progress by the end of
21:14
Speaker 2: the year on the evy charging stations. And although I
21:20
Speaker 2: had wanted to get them at two different locations within
21:23
Speaker 2: the city near the downtown area, actually i'd looked at
21:27
Speaker 2: another site as well on the north side of town
21:33
Speaker 2: that wasn't viable for the way the parameters of the
21:36
Speaker 2: program were set up. But the one site had too
21:41
Speaker 2: much of a slope, which was an issue for the
21:44
Speaker 2: handicapped accessibility. But those two stations for vehicle capacity will
21:54
Speaker 2: be down in what I call the Old Chamber parking lot.
21:57
Speaker 2: It is the parking lot on the river to the
22:01
Speaker 2: east side of the bridge on off a Galina. So
22:06
Speaker 2: that's a that's a real positive thing. I think those
22:09
Speaker 2: who are have electric vehicles will appreciate that, and quite honestly,
22:18
Speaker 2: I see that as providing a substantial draw to the
22:22
Speaker 2: downtown area because most people that have evs also have
22:29
Speaker 2: programs that allow them to see where charging stations are.
22:35
Speaker 2: They're not as common as gas stations, so we can
22:41
Speaker 2: we should be able to pull people off the interstate
22:46
Speaker 2: and into town. You know, it's only a mile and
22:49
Speaker 2: a half if you've got to charge up your vehicle.
22:51
Speaker 2: Just like if you need gas, you need gas, you're
22:54
Speaker 2: only going so far if you don't, if you don't
22:56
Speaker 2: get the refill or the recharge in this case, so
23:00
Speaker 2: this will bring people off the interstate and into our
23:03
Speaker 2: downtown and riverfront area.
23:05
Speaker 1: Well, certainly a reason for EV owners to get charged up.
23:11
Speaker 2: Nice job.
23:14
Speaker 1: You wanted to talk about the shop small event.
23:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, we've got as we do. The Saturday after Thanksgiving
23:26
Speaker 2: is shop spall is a shop small emphasis. Dixon is
23:32
Speaker 2: a community, has a lot of opportunities for people, a
23:36
Speaker 2: lot of variety. I think sometimes people tend to go
23:41
Speaker 2: out to the larger communities thinking that they can, you know,
23:45
Speaker 2: find a better deal or find something unique. In my experience,
23:49
Speaker 2: that's not always the case. As a matter of fact,
23:52
Speaker 2: probably as often as not, it isn't the case. So
23:56
Speaker 2: we really want to emphasize shopping small for the holidays.
24:02
Speaker 2: Shop Small Saturday is the kickoff to that. But this
24:06
Speaker 2: year the Chamber in Main Street has expanded that programming
24:12
Speaker 2: and they've got some different things tied to the shop
24:18
Speaker 2: Small and they're running they're running that emphasis and some
24:21
Speaker 2: of that programming and events from Saturday the twenty ninth,
24:26
Speaker 2: November twenty ninth until December fifteenth, so you know, please
24:32
Speaker 2: take advantage of that. There's a lot of merchants that
24:35
Speaker 2: are i think involved in that extended shop small programming
24:41
Speaker 2: that we're looking at or event that we're looking at.
24:44
Speaker 2: But before you head out of town, absolutely there's a
24:49
Speaker 2: lot of opportunity here in Dixon. And you know, even
24:52
Speaker 2: just walking around and going through the different stores, maybe
24:56
Speaker 2: it'll you know, if you don't buy something, maybe it'll
24:59
Speaker 2: help with your ideas. But start start here.
25:02
Speaker 1: First, absolutely, start local, Start Dixon. And honestly, I don't
25:07
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I don't think people really realize
25:10
Speaker 1: how much is available to them until they actually go
25:14
Speaker 1: out and start to explore these opportunities used to be.
25:18
Speaker 1: I mean, was one of my favorite parts of reporting
25:21
Speaker 1: for Shawback and when I was a reporter was these
25:24
Speaker 1: locally owned businesses. I find people really rally behind it
25:28
Speaker 1: and support it. And if you really want to support it, folks,
25:31
Speaker 1: the best way to do is get out there and
25:34
Speaker 1: shop local. Find the things you're not going to find
25:36
Speaker 1: anywhere else. You're not going to find a Dixon owned
25:39
Speaker 1: business up in Chicago. You're going to find it right
25:42
Speaker 1: here for much less of a drive and in a
25:46
Speaker 1: much safer place. So I couldn't agree with you more,
25:49
Speaker 1: all right. And the oh, the the Christmas Walk. My
25:54
Speaker 1: boy wouldn't let me forget the Christmas Walk. My son
25:57
Speaker 1: goes to your Christmas Walk every year.
25:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you? This is really something need to follow
26:04
Speaker 2: discover Dixon Dixon Chamber and Main Street four. This is
26:08
Speaker 2: kind of their animal. But since we won't be on
26:12
Speaker 2: on on the air before that happens, that's December fifth,
26:17
Speaker 2: I think I believe it starts at five o'clock Friday night,
26:20
Speaker 2: December fifth. There's always a really nice event for the
26:28
Speaker 2: Christmas walk on in this year on December fifth, So
26:34
Speaker 2: it's always a nice event.
26:35
Speaker 1: I think it's just a great example of the way
26:38
Speaker 1: I was talking about it this morning, and probably will people.
26:42
Speaker 1: I'm sure you'll get tired of hearing me hear it,
26:44
Speaker 1: but I don't care. I love Christmas. I love this
26:48
Speaker 1: time of year. I love when I see your the
26:50
Speaker 1: bridges get get adorned with the neon Christmas lights and
26:55
Speaker 1: you can tell it's that time of year and and
26:58
Speaker 1: these events start happening, and it's just it's just a
27:01
Speaker 1: really great way that you can tell that the city
27:03
Speaker 1: and its officials are getting into the holiday season and
27:06
Speaker 1: bringing the cheer to the people.
27:08
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, Yeah, it's it's about it's about having a
27:11
Speaker 2: positive attitude. Now, I'm one of those who doesn't necessarily
27:16
Speaker 2: like seeing Christmas stuff up before Thanksgiving. I'm a seasonal guy.
27:20
Speaker 2: You know, you've got the events, but this year they
27:23
Speaker 2: came up early, and I've been asked this question, so
27:26
Speaker 2: I wanted to address it. They came up early because
27:30
Speaker 2: of the Illinois Main Street Conference. You know, we're past
27:34
Speaker 2: the petunias, We're past the Scarecrow fest, you know, and
27:39
Speaker 2: obviously those scarecrows can only stand so much weather. So
27:44
Speaker 2: to kind of brighten up the community, to give some emphasis,
27:49
Speaker 2: we did get those those Christmas decorations out early. And
27:54
Speaker 2: I know there's people like you who just love the
27:56
Speaker 2: extra lights and the and the and the holiday atmosphere.
28:01
Speaker 2: So we were glad to oblige this year.
28:04
Speaker 1: So well, maybe in some future years, I'll look over
28:08
Speaker 1: the bridge and I'll see some Neon turkeys or some
28:11
Speaker 1: Cordia kopy is going on. Because I say this all
28:13
Speaker 1: the time with Christmas movies. I say, give me a
28:16
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving movie and I'll suggest it to you. But pretty much,
28:20
Speaker 1: it's the meals, the star of the show. Mayor, Thank
28:23
Speaker 1: you so much for joining me. We're out of time today,
28:25
Speaker 1: but again we'll continue these talks. Thank you so much, sir.
28:28
Speaker 1: Thank you