Sycamore City Council approves outdoor freezer for Dirty Bird

SYCAMORE – The Dirty Bird 815 in Sycamore will be getting additional food storage space, now that Sycamore City Council has approved the owners request to install an outdoor, walk-in freezer near the restaurant.

The restaurant’s owner, Josh Smith, contacted the city in January about placing an outdoor cooler on the furthest southwest corner of the property at 124 S. Maple St., according to city documents.

“It’s a walk-in freezer to store more stuff, to store more food,” Smith said.

After City Council unanimously approved Smith’s request for an 8-foot-by-8 foot walk-in freezer, he said it felt great to have the city’s support.

City Manager Michael Hall said the city has previous agreements with the owners of Dirty Bird 815 and the building it’s housed in, for wheeled dumpsters and car and trailer parking, among other things, because the city owns the parking lot and building behind Dirty Bird.

“He wanted to put a cooler back there,” Hall said. “It does seem feasible that we can do that. We talked with electrical, everything seems to be fine as far as staff goes. So we need to update that agreement to allow for that placement to be made.”

The owner of the building – Troy Oltman, according to city documents – first entered into an agreement with the city for the use of the space behind the building at 124 S. Maple St. Smith entered into an amended version of that agreement in October 2022. Now, the newly revised agreement between the city and Otlman and Smith includes language regarding the location, maintenance and removal responsibilities for the freezer Smith has sought.

The agreement is for a one-year period, however it will automatically extend unless a party provides notice of termination. Hall said city officials don’t believe the placement of the cooler will impact city government work.

“It will not interfere with any city operations, so staff is recommending approval of the agreement,” Hall said, before being asked if the outdoor cooler would affect the neighbors.

“We are the neighbors,” Hall said.