DeKalb Times

City of Sycamore City Council met Oct. 1.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

ROLL CALL

Mayor Lang called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and City Clerk Mary Kalk called the roll. Those Alderpersons present were: Rick Kramer, Pete Paulsen, Virginia Sherrod, David Stouffer, Chuck Stowe, Alan Bauer, Steve Braser, and Nancy Copple. City Attorney Keith Foster was also present.

INVOCATION – Pastor Preston Fields, Salem Lutheran Church, gave the invocation.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Southeast Elementary School Students Caleb Fruit, Ally Gregory, Jared Lanting, Josh Miller

and Luke Miller.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

MOTION

Alderperson Kramer moved to approve the agenda and Alderperson Copple seconded the motion.

VOICE VOTE

Mayor Lang called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.

APPOINTMENTS

A. Appointment of Tom Weaver to the Architectural Review Committee.

Mayor Lang thanked Kevin Mathey for his years of service and appointed Tom Weaver to the Architectural Review Committee, effective November 1st.

MOTION

Alderperson Kramer moved to approve the appointment and Alderperson Sherrod seconded the motion.

VOICE VOTE

Mayor Lang called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.

AUDIENCE TO VISITORS

CONSENT AGENDA

A. Approval of the Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of September 17, 2018. B. Payment of the Bills for October 1, 2018 in the amount of $1,605,344.67.

MOTION

Alderperson Bauer moved to approve the Consent Agenda and Alderperson Stowe seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL VOTE

Mayor Lang called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Kramer, Paulsen, Sherrod, Stouffer, Stowe, Bauer, Braser, and Copple voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.

PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS, COMMUNICATIONS, AND BILLS

A Proclamation Declaring October 2018 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month in the City of Sycamore, Illinois. A Proclamation Declaring October 7-13, 2018 Fire Prevention Week in the City of Sycamore, Illinois.

A Presentation by Members of the Turning Back Time Car Show Committee Including the Distribution of Proceeds from this Year’s Event to Local Non-profit Organizations.

Car Show Committee President, Mike Tritle, announced the 2018 beneficiaries of $10,000 and thanked City, the Committee, and the Volunteers for all their help.

REPORT OF OFFICERS

City Manager – Brian Gregory reported that there will not be an October Plan Commission meeting. There are a few trees left for residents to purchase through the Tree Program and the information is in the Clerk’s office or on the City’s website. He announced that October 13th from 9am – 11am is Kids Work Day where kids can help clean up the downtown area before Pumpkin Festival. Kids will receive a t-shirt and lunch certificate. Details are also on the City’s website.

Police Chief – Jim Winters said the credit for the car show and all the special events in town goes to Commander Steve Cook as he’s the Special Events Coordinator. He thanked the Mayor for the Domestic Violence Proclamation and explained that officers are assigned to act as domestic violence liaisons that work with Safe Passage. They also work with the Lethality Assessment Program. They hosted a car seat check with Hy-Vee last Saturday, September 29th which was a good turn-out and reminded everyone that the car seat check is a service that the Police Department has available. They will be hosting Coffee with a Cop on Wednesday, October 3rd, at McDonalds from 7am – 9am, and at The Parkway Restaurant from 7:30am – 9:30am.

Fire Chief – Pete Polarek out on call.

Director of Public Works – Fred Busse said he passed out the annual Leaf Pick-up flyer. The program will run from October 15th to November 30th this year. Please, rake leaves, only, to the curb, leaving them in the parkway. This will be the second year to have the dumpster down at the public works building. It will be there from December 1st to December 16th and is just for leaves only.

City Manager Brian Gregory interjected a thank you to the Public Works department for the new signs that were installed in lots #3 and #4. These signs are made in house.

Treasurer/Asst. to the City Manager – Adam Orton reported that as a review, an audit of the phone system is currently being done through a traffic study by Frontier to analyze how the phone system is used and where it is under-utilized. This will allow us to find efficiencies and any cost savings.

Building & Engineering Director – John Sauter said they did a final inspection at the new O’Reilly store on DeKalb Avenue last week and they were approved for employee occupancy to begin stocking the store. They’re not sure about a grand opening date but it sounds like it will be late October or early November. They also did a final inspection of the new mammography lab at Edwards Medical Group on East State Street and the lab was approved for use. They’ve issued 40 single family permit as of the end of September. Last year at this time, they were at 37 single family permits.

City Engineer – Mark Bushnell said Crack Sealing was scheduled to start today but was delayed due to the rain. A list of streets is on the City’s website and Facebook page. Work should last approximately two weeks. Next week the contractor will be completed work on the downtown area between 2am and 6am. This includes State, California, Exchange, Somonauk and North Maple.

REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES

Finance – Alan Bauer - no report

Public Safety – Pete Paulsen - no report Public Works – Chuck Stowe - no report

PUBLIC HEARINGS - None ORDINANCES – None RESOLUTIONS - None

CONSIDERATIONS

A. Consideration of an Annual Update from the Sycamore Chamber of Commerce.

City Manager Brian Gregory said the city has had a partnership with The Sycamore Chamber of Commerce for many years and they serve as the marketing wing to help promote tourism and economic development. He said that tourism is a significant industry that drives hotel/motel stays, bringing in revenues that are put back into the downtown and that partnership, further promoting, both outside our community and here, to generate customers to the shops.

Rose Treml, Sycamore Chamber Executive Director said it is groups like The Car Club and events like Cinco de Mayo, Ladies Night Out, and the block parties hosted by MVP’s, Pub 64, and PJ’s, that help the Chamber to promote. Those groups, as well as, Director of Public Works, Fred Busse, Commander Steve Cook, and their teams are great to work with. She reported that, according to the Illinois Tourism, DeKalb County saw a 5.5% increase in visitor spending from the previous year, which was an all-time high of $98.8 million. Breaking that down, Sycamore’s Hotel/Motel Tax increased 11.5% from 2016 to 2017 going from $217,651 to $242,547. She said their goal, as Sycamore’s tourism entity, is to generate and increase the economic impact of tourism for Sycamore through social media marketing, internet marketing, strategic tourism marketing, engaging promotions, unique branding, and by creating extraordinary events focusing on dining and shopping destinations in a historic downtown. They continue to increase the use of social media, as studies show leisure visitors (the largest group of growing visitors) use these methods to gather information regarding places they are visiting. As a result, visits to the Chamber’s Discover Sycamore website, Facebook pages, Instagram, Twitter and blogs continue to grow. She also introduced Shelby Huffman, Events and Marketing Director.

Mayor Lang asked about the Chamber division.

Rose Treml explained that the Chamber is member-based, however, the Discover Sycamore website does not require membership. Any business or event will be posted to the Discover Sycamore website if they are a draw to Sycamore. But the Chamber is member-based and the dues help to market the businesses, provide networking opportunities, and advocate on the businesses behalf.

Alderperson Stouffer asked if they still do the Young Professionals program.

Rose Treml said yes they do and she is really proud of that program.

B. Consideration of an Administration Request for a Closed Session to Discuss Pending Litigation.

MOTION

Alderperson Stouffer moved to enter into Closed Session at 7:53 p.m. and Alderperson Kramer seconded the motion. VOICE VOTE

Mayor Lang called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.

MOTION

Alderperson Kramer moved to return to Open Session at 8:11 p.m. and Alderperson Stouffer seconded the motion.

VOICE VOTE

Mayor Lang called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.

OTHER NEW BUSINESS

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION

Alderperson Stowe moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:12 p.m. and Alderperson Paulsen seconded the motion. VOICE VOTE

Mayor Lang called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.

http://cityofsycamore.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/cc20181001mins.pdf