[{"_1":2,"_110":-5,"_111":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,74,86,98],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":44,"_46":47,"_48":49,"_50":51,"_52":53,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":59,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},"mediaId",6126123,"mediaKeyId","2670915-ba26d5baf0ee87723e85317242b67ecb","parentId",2670915,"title","La Cantina owner and community press council as liquor-license fight continues; neighbors and staff disagree on timeline","audioSeconds",0,"startMs",8351000,"endMs","viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2670915-ba26d5baf0ee87723e85317242b67ecb&start=8351&end=8351","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2670915-ba26d5baf0ee87723e85317242b67ecb/thumbnail_8351000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6126123/Waukegan/DuPage-County/Illinois/La-Cantina-owner-and-community-press-council-as-liquor-license-fight-continues-neighbors-and-staff-disagree-on-timeline","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6126123-d166bc51df6b4a8bd47c7bf9440aa383/orig.mp4?Expires=1771135436&Signature=To255fUUSp-j4glEXtl1RHDnnrZLZ~gs7mIRHX63PPCH3AsAenPLv3SuBQhvflBYzi6glRjTuql9j3Yc8z3rF8lnw~fghyTXLrQr~ska9ld94y9hBc7J~-enUo0L3NBbI7nkpkClzPUmZaszBP8ebAPGJMPIvYO5NzNxgkQ8N6iZTZ86-p~UlP13wJ2V4pCNWW2jqd2fWtSKrd5QhKlwFVhrqX5W4eeLuPfznBsxQFVkRG8e3nrCrDdzLKJ0x6fzaDvt5ajB3TZgvS1rNqppaIIV3hWUipvU63g1XoojYtW~Q-bKJhthlRNgHmGTLGEavRGipuMCV~2RTvJ95zLtDw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City Council of Waukegan, IL","date","2025-03-18T16:39:19.717Z","article","Dozens of neighbors, employees and business supporters addressed the Waukegan City Council on March 17 in a sustained public-comment block urging the city to finalize a liquor license application for La Cantina (operating adjacent to Toluca’s). Speakers described the venue as a community gathering place that provides jobs and cultural events; the owner and attorney said the business attempted to follow city directives but ran into inconsistent communication and delays during the licensing process.

What supporters said: Attorney Robert Rataca and a number of employees and patrons said La Cantina is a family-owned operation with community ties and that staff and customers have suffered financially and socially after the business was closed. Owner Edwin Lagunas acknowledged a 2018 DUI on his record and said he had attempted to comply with city conditions when he opened as a restaurant/bar. Several speakers said the business invested in meeting inspection and occupancy requirements and asked the council to allow an expedited hearing or reconsideration so employees could return to work.

What officials and critics said: Other council members and staff said the property had been operating in ways that required additional regulatory review and that inspectors and the liquor-control process flagged activities inconsistent with the current permit status. Alderman Guzman and others said operating as a nightclub or selling alcohol without correct licensure was unacceptable and that staff must ensure consistent enforcement. City staff and corporate counsel said they were working with the applicant and clarified that background disclosures and ordinance compliance are part of the review.

Process and status: The applicant’s attorney said the application had been in process for roughly four months and that administrative steps, including background checks, created delays. City staff said some elements of the case required additional review — including a criminal background question related to a prior DUI — and that a licensing board or commission process would need to be followed. The council did not take final action on the La Cantina license during the meeting; staff said they would continue to work with the applicant and that some issues might be resolvable administratively.

Why it matters: The dispute highlighted competing priorities: neighborhood economic activity and jobs vs. public-safety, code compliance and equitable enforcement. Several speakers urged the council to clarify and speed permit-processing timelines for small businesses and to ensure consistent city communications so applicants know exactly what steps are required.

Provenance: Compiled from the March 17 public-comment period and council discussion about licensing process and enforcement.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","2025-03-17 City of Waukegan Meetings","oneSentenceSummary","Business owners, employees and an attorney urged the council to grant or expedite a liquor license for La Cantina, saying the bar is a community hub; city officials and other aldermen said the establishment had operated without required permits and the application process must follow code.","taxTitle","Waukegan, DuPage County, Illinois","taxId",2647,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":75,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":76,"_41":77,"_43":78,"_45":79,"_46":80,"_48":81,"_50":82,"_52":83,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":84,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":85,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},6126128,"Waukegan 911 center lost connectivity in March county-wide outage; city seeks independent 911 phone system",612,9473000,10085000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2670915-ba26d5baf0ee87723e85317242b67ecb&start=9473&end=10085","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2670915-ba26d5baf0ee87723e85317242b67ecb/thumbnail_9473000.jpg","/articles/6126128/Waukegan/DuPage-County/Illinois/Waukegan-911-center-lost-connectivity-in-March-county-wide-outage-city-seeks-independent-911-phone-system","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6126128-22a5972dfc62cf428f43c0d5a79b4f9d/orig.mp4?Expires=1771135436&Signature=QFoX9BhtdxWqw1X-TnNgeUmxKq7oyjsi1yP299bvI1yNV0AR8cw4GBRFbfkP6k33Qej73Vez6ift2XKYfNIYX4hbrlyzV4LgQ-S6T8FNfNanLA2BDhzgTQkBhhFn2sKT8ifC~~8UbE02O01zW-26AsD2qkpK~TPBLArtjOmcssrmw9k5-UWL4tx0ZLHE3J8fFY-~xIFMLuBduTtPkBVR7U0YmJE6v-szJpLWnuPJgrhHhasOJJxI2Ag~5Xldhp6vVoEQxqT7R3LHyI4oJCdTQpUPw1FxGtzHmaSth9vAljNjNySAZR-Tz99ffnirlDBMLemyaEPBND8SGmdE~Ovv9g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Waukegan’s 911 communications center lost its connection to the county 911 phone system and computer-aided dispatch on March 11, leaving the local dispatch center offline for nearly two hours while the county and city worked to restore service, city officials told the council on March 17.

What happened: According to the city’s dispatch director, the outage was a county-side systems issue related to an upgrade. While other Lake County agencies experienced only brief interruptions, the Waukegan center remained down for almost two hours. Telecommunicators routed incoming 911 calls to the city’s backup center in Gurnee during the outage and engaged AT&T’s resolution center. City staff said they do not know why Waukegan’s connection lacked the same automatic failover protections as other centers and that the configuration predated the current IT leadership.

Why it matters: The Waukegan 911 center is the city’s primary emergency-call intake and dispatch hub. During the outage, the director said the center handled calls by routing to the backup and that staff do not believe any life-safety 911 calls went unanswered, though some non-emergency lines were unavailable. Staff recommended residents call 911 for emergencies even if nonemergency numbers appear disconnected.

City response and next steps: City IT and the dispatch director have engaged Lake County to obtain stronger backup arrangements and partially restore failover protection. The city reported identifying a potential interim solution but said it does not fully solve the phone failover problem. The director also said the city is moving forward with plans for a new 911 phone system for the future 911 center that will be architected without a dependency on Lake County systems and will include redundant backups and multiple connections.

What officials said: Director Gardella and dispatch staff said they are pursuing at least partial redundancy with the county and are prioritizing a new phone system design that will provide multiple failover options. The dispatch director emphasized that any calls to 911 should still be placed in an emergency because national routing protocols ensure unanswered 911 calls will roll to a center configured as Waukegan’s current backup.

Provenance: The dispatch incident and staff response were reported during the March 17 council meeting and the dispatch director’s prepared remarks on the March 11 outage.","A March county-wide upgrade disrupted Waukegan's 911 phone and CAD connection for nearly two hours; city dispatchers routed calls to a backup center and plan to implement a new phone system with built-in redundancies independent of Lake County systems.",{"_33":87,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":88,"_41":89,"_43":90,"_45":91,"_46":92,"_48":93,"_50":94,"_52":95,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":96,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":97,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},6126133,"Council approves marine motor purchase, police vehicles and a training simulator; waives bidding for several buys",218,4504000,4722000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2670915-ba26d5baf0ee87723e85317242b67ecb&start=4504&end=4722","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2670915-ba26d5baf0ee87723e85317242b67ecb/thumbnail_4504000.jpg","/articles/6126133/Waukegan/DuPage-County/Illinois/Council-approves-marine-motor-purchase-police-vehicles-and-a-training-simulator-waives-bidding-for-several-buys","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6126133-3caf344fbbee87a2685524c286325ba0/orig.mp4?Expires=1771135436&Signature=mc0W4hoZcUrluDhG3cLjE-tz3-MgZT3sv7~X4OH1cBkQlcbfvq2nBD8PF14YPOIytgtMAICJQ02W3ehv6E4v5mDF1TZ9BL7ve8M-dstbHZsCPk56atzGeW-YkYi6stPZ5Cww0wq-iXZgQM2HtrB6cikCCILx7zOb60v4xBs-hhNjAq0V17KUo-YdTtDrjcpHRWfTt6j9we96~cYBqxTWqupvAL6tqahomMp1vE0E10ZT75wdB-cFvGSq2OvK~VBIzS5E8S1hYhCupefaqByc-tSqjbA7jZR-YZizvsRrnLjxhF9~PfrKitJHDAfQ4UDIC9Z5C~B7Bl44aD8L9s98Bg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Waukegan aldermen on March 17 approved a set of equipment and technology purchases for public-safety and training purposes, citing urgency, local vendor relationships and sole-source availability in several cases.

The council approved a not-to-exceed $58,869.43 purchase to replace two outboard motors for the Waukegan Fire Department’s dive and rescue boat from Bay Marine Chicago after department leaders said the current loaner boat had an unusable motor and a long lead time for a new vessel. Fire leadership told the council the department must retain an operational boat for the coming boating season; a previously offered loaner from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office was not sufficient.

Police vehicle and equipment purchases approved included a 2025 police interceptor (joint purchase) not to exceed $51,762 and a 2025 Toyota Tundra (good-faith waiver) not to exceed $48,604 to be used by a Community Crimes Division/DEA task force officer; staff said the vehicle for the task-force officer will be paid from forfeiture funds tied to the task force.

Training and software purchases
- A simulator from CM Labs was approved as a sole-source purchase for about $219,785.74; staff said this simulator is the only product found that provides heavy-equipment training for Public Works and the Water Department.
- The council approved migration from BoardDocs to Diligent Community Platform and associated software licenses not to exceed $29,100 for FY2025; the clerk’s office and IT said Diligent is the successor platform and will support agenda management going forward.

Why it matters: The fire department argued that a timely purchase of motors is needed to maintain water-rescue capability before a new boat could be acquired — department officials said a new boat build could take two to three years. Police and public-works leadership said the simulator and vehicles improve operational readiness, and that local vendors sometimes offered quicker delivery or service.

Procurement notes: Several items used waivers or sole-source justifications: Bay Marine was selected in part because of a local relationship and faster turnaround; the simulator was presented as sole-source after staff research indicated it was the only available product meeting requirements. The Toyota Tundra and police interceptor purchases were described as joint or expedited purchases to ensure officers have reliable vehicles and to allow immediate deployment of a task-force vehicle.

Votes and next steps: The purchases passed by recorded roll call. Departments will finalize purchase orders and schedule installation or delivery; staff said the simulator will be used across departments for operator training and the boat motors will be installed before the peak boating season.

Provenance: Details appear in the March 17 committee and council discussion and roll-call votes for equipment, vehicle and simulator procurements.","Waukegan authorized purchases including two outboard motors for the fire department dive boat, new police vehicles, a Diligent agenda-management platform and a simulated heavy equipment trainer — several buys were handled as waivers or sole-source approvals because of urgency or vendor uniqueness.",{"_33":99,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":100,"_41":101,"_43":102,"_45":103,"_46":104,"_48":105,"_50":106,"_52":107,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":108,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":109,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},6126138,"Waukegan council approves multiple water, sewer and roadway repairs, emergency fixes",483,2451000,2934000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2670915-ba26d5baf0ee87723e85317242b67ecb&start=2451&end=2934","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2670915-ba26d5baf0ee87723e85317242b67ecb/thumbnail_2451000.jpg","/articles/6126138/Waukegan/DuPage-County/Illinois/Waukegan-council-approves-multiple-water-sewer-and-roadway-repairs-emergency-fixes","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6126138-9b799550036d811f1a5c3393c82f6d11/orig.mp4?Expires=1771135436&Signature=MdcSPTUxQOG40G0gq59bRJGn7T0DHCfyTv-jmf2WW1SNLt5avumhfwC6JWVZXJF44GF-keyh9WHALoZTSRsVvNDtlEmwbvbVCkLq9T2F-dycPOwb3QhfTvXrjsuacXZe~fjNvWdwAe6AGJD6LD1gu206mxebWHLRbXjOw-LnibA1VixJcuOhhHjdcWa3CGc-8KtMZtrc7x~eRD1fPQzHRYUyE0nxK4j0Mm0Uqh8LXWaCoL0m9cxkzkeJ1MjKU-Vjtb7Un7-3N-qGLAN1rEmN~1dlMInXCIwBMjTTFsvH9u1baeUk8TeottSCccNbP0IWHSCAqOwaC309P95jLHlcLw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Waukegan officials on March 17 approved several resolutions and emergency procurements to address aging sewer and water infrastructure and recurring stormwater problems.

The actions authorized replacement and repairs to a failing sanitary force main on River Road, a meter-vault interconnect on Fourteenth Street (Audrey Nixon Boulevard), drainage and roadway repairs on Seahorse Drive, an additional materials change order for Kershawffer Trucking, and a retroactive payment for an emergency transmission-line repair performed by Joel Kennedy Construction Corporation. Public Works said the projects respond to repeated repairs and chronic flooding in specific locations and to a large, urgent break on a 30-inch transmission line.

Why it matters: The council and Public Works leaders said the measures are needed to prevent recurring service interruptions and public-health hazards from standing water and sanitary leaks; several items were designated as time-sensitive or emergency work. The spend authorizations range from roughly $30,000 for a materials change order up to roughly $401,660 for a meter-vault award.

Most significant items
- River Road sanitary force main: The council authorized a contract with Campanella & Sons to replace a deteriorated force main; the authorization was for a not-to-exceed amount shown in committee as $337,730.07. City staff said easement issues delayed the work and that the line carries pressurized sanitary flow that presents particular risk if it fails.
- Fourteenth Street interconnect meter vault: Campanella & Sons was awarded the meter vault contract as the lowest qualified bidder for a not-to-exceed $401,659.94.
- Seahorse Drive drainage and roadway repairs: The council approved Rabin Paving to repair drainage, address frequent flooding and restore the roadway for a not-to-exceed $225,170.15. Staff said the work includes catch basins and reconfiguration to reduce ponding at the beach entrance.
- Kershawffer Trucking materials change order: A change order of $30,000 was approved to replenish materials that were consumed responding to an unusually high number of water-main breaks over the winter; staff said the earlier authorization (May 20, 2024) was $60,000 and the new total would reach $90,000.
- Emergency water-main repairs (Joel Kennedy Construction Corp.): The council approved a retroactive payment not to exceed $112,021.41 for emergency repair to a 30-inch transmission main on Pershing Road; staff described the incident as a bona fide emergency that required contractor assistance because city crews could not complete the repair in time.

What officials said: Public Works staff described the River Road pipe as galvanized and in poor condition with repeated repairs over the years and explained that the Seahorse Drive work aims to reduce a recurring health and access hazard created by standing water at the roadway. City engineers said Seahorse work is an interim measure (paving with drainage and inlet improvements) while a later full realignment and reconstruction is planned.

Funding and process notes: Staff said some items were bid (Fourteenth Street interconnect) and that Campanella was the lowest qualified bidder; others were handled as good-faith waivers or emergency procurements because of timing, site-specific easement constraints, or immediate public-health risk. Several motions were introduced in Public Works committee and forwarded to the full council under standard ordinance and waiver provisions in the municipal procurement code.

Next steps: Contractors may begin work once contracts are finalized and permits are secured; staff said Seahorse Drive is an interim repair pending a future reconstruction project that will require a separate engineering phase and funding.

Provenance: This article summarizes agenda items discussed and voted on during the March 17, 2025 Public Works committee and full council meeting (transcript excerpts from the River Road and Seahorse Drive items).","City council and public works committees approved a set of vendor contracts, change orders and an emergency repair authorizing work on a River Road sanitary force main, a Fourteenth Street water-main interconnect, Seahorse Drive flooding repairs and additional emergency and materials payments.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

La Cantina owner and community press council as liquor-license fight continues; neighbors and staff disagree on timeline

Waukegan 911 center lost connectivity in March county-wide outage; city seeks independent 911 phone system

Council approves marine motor purchase, police vehicles and a training simulator; waives bidding for several buys

Waukegan council approves multiple water, sewer and roadway repairs, emergency fixes