DeKalb Times

City of Sycamore City Council met Dec. 2.

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: Alan Bauer, Steve Braser, Josh Huseman, Rick Kramer, Pete Paulsen, Virginia Sherrod, and Chuck Stowe. Alderperson Nancy Copple was absent. City Attorney Keith Foster was also present.

INVOCATION – Guy Herrmann, St. Mary’s School Principal, gave the invocation.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Led by Cohen and Jack, students from North Elementary School

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

MOTION

Alderperson Braser motioned to approve the agenda 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 7-0.

AUDIENCE TO VISITORS

Becky Hooper, Constituent Services Representative for Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, 490 E. Roosevelt Rd, West Chicago, gave a brief update on the Congresswoman’s work and how her office can help constituents.

CONSENT AGENDA

A. Approval of the Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of November 18, 2019.

B. Payment of the Bills for December 2, 2019 in amount of $2,802,795.03.

C. Close-out of a Façade Improvement Grant for Kishwaukee Bible Church at 201 W. State Street

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, Bauer, Braser, Huseman, Kramer, Paulsen, Sherrod, and Stowe voted aye. Motion carried 7-0.

PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS, COMMUNICATIONS, AND BILLS

A. Annual Presentation of Service Awards to City of Sycamore Employees. Director of Human and Administrative Resources (DHAR) Maggie Peck will Assist the City Manager in Presenting Awards to Employees with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 Years of Continuous Service to the Citizens of Sycamore.

City Manager Brian Gregory said it’s a pleasure each year to recognize those who continue to serve the City. Tonight’s recognition will be for five year increments all of which equal 220 years of service. He and DHAR Maggie Peck presented the following awards.

5 years

Christian Conlon

Luke Kampmeier

Maggie Peck

Jacob Turner

Kevin Noe

Jim Stehlin

10 years

Steve Braser

Richard Calligan

15 years

Dustin Ruby

Andrew Powers

Jim Ward

Scott Flatter

John Owens

Brian Thompson

Ryan Goodman

30 years

Tal Hickey

35 years

Fred Busse

REPORT OF OFFICERS

City Manager – Brian Gregory said Com Ed is changing the street lights to LED lights and they will work to continue to fully convert the city to LED’s. The Ad Hoc Committee on Growth Management will meet on December 4th at 5 pm in Council Chambers for the committee to hear proposed fee changes for the school and park district impact fees as a new land value is inserted into the formula that will actually reduce the fees. The binder course has been installed at Townsend Woods Phase V and the final surface will go in, in the spring. Friday, December 6th at 6 pm will be the Chamber’s Walk with Santa. He invited everyone to come downtown to enjoy one of the features that really makes us a small town Americana.

Police Chief – Jim Winters said The Police Department conducted an alcohol compliance detail last Wednesday with those businesses licensed to sell packaged liquor. Fifteen businesses were checked and 14 were found to be in compliance. For the business not in compliance, the employee was cited and the report will be forwarded to the Liquor Commissioner. He thank those that were in compliance and said they will continue to strive for 100% compliance. Within the next couple of weeks, they will be finishing up the final phase of our annual use of force training. The training includes instruction on the legal use of force as well as de-escalation techniques. Also included are practical exercises in less than lethal options with a Conductive Electrical Weapon aka Taser and less than lethal munitions. Finally, a quick note of thanks to those that participated in the FOP’s No Shave November event. Approximately $1,200 was raised for cancer programs including St Jude’s Research Hospital.

Fire Chief – Pete Polarek. Said the Red Wreath program kicked off on Thanksgiving and will run through New Year’s Day and said the goal was to keep all the lights red. If there is a holiday related incident, a bulb will be turned to white. The Fire Department will be delivering Santa as he will be visiting on December 6th. They are advertising for the College Intern program so information is on their Facebook and City webpage and is open to all residents in Sycamore and the Sycamore Fire Protection District.

Director of Public Works – Fred Busse said due to the setbacks they experienced with the leaf pick-up program this year, they have extended pick-up through Friday, December 6th. The dumpster for bagged leaves, will be at Public Works, 475 North Cross St, until December 15th.

Treasurer/Asst. to the City Manager – Adam Orton reminded everyone of the importance of shopping locally. In addition to supporting the vendors who have made an investment in our community, the Sales and Use Taxes make up a significant portion of our revenue. As we have seen in recent years, with the line has been held on the property tax levy, we continue to increasingly rely on Sales & Use Taxes.

Building & Engineering Director – John Sauter said they’ve had a couple demolition projects in process the past week with the former Seymour building on Lucas Street being demolished which should be complete in the near future. It is being replaced by their new building on Crosby Avenue and its unknown at this time what they intend to do with the vacant lot. Demolition is underway at the St. Alban’s building and they are making progress. He reported that they’re at 38 single family permits as of the end of November. Last year at this time they were at 48.

Mayor Lang recognized all the upcoming work in the spring and thanked John Sauter and his team for all their efforts.

John Sauter said he appreciates that and that they are ready to go.

Director of Human and Administrative Resources (DHAR) – Maggie Peck deferred her comments until the agenda item.

City Engineer – Mark Bushnell said to date, the contractor has completed $6.9M worth of work on their $19.9M contract. While they have seven different trades onsite, a large portion of the cost to date is towards the concrete and steel in the Sequencing Batch Reactor Tanks. These concrete tanks are approximately 150’ wide, over 400’ long and 20’ in depth. Work will continue at the WWTP throughout the winter. The only thing that will be affected by the weather is the pace of construction.

REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES

Finance – Alan Bauer - no report

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

PUBLIC HEARINGS

A. A Public Hearing on the Proposed 2019 Corporate Property Tax Levy.

Mayor Lang opened the public hearing for anyone who wanted to comment. Hearing none, he closed the public hearing.

ORDINANCES

A. Ordinance 2019.36—An Ordinance Levying Taxes for the Corporate Purposes of the City of Sycamore for the Fiscal Year Commencing May 1, 2020 and Ending April 30, 2021. First Reading.

The City Manager Brian Gregory said as discussed two weeks ago, the proposed corporate levy of $4,269,635 includes a City levy of $3,111,974 and a Sycamore Public Library levy of $1,157,661. Assuming a city-wide EAV of $472,578,869 in 2019—an increase of over $26 million in the City’s collective real estate wealth from 2018—the proposed corporate levy should result in a tax rate of $.90348 per $100 EAV. This rate represents a 4.03% decrease from the 2018 rate. This is First Reading tonight and will be brought back in two weeks for recommended action.

B. Ordinance 2019.37—An Ordinance Abating the Debt Service Levy for the General Obligation Refunding Bond Issue Series 2012 for the City of Sycamore, DeKalb County, Illinois for Fiscal Year 2020-2021. First Reading.

City Manager Brian Gregory said for the next two ordinances, the 2012 Refunding Bond was issued in July 2012 to refinance the 2002 General Obligation Bond and the majority of the 2003 General Obligation Bonds. All of the debt service ($262,350) on the 2012 Refunding Bond series will be abated. This approach is consistent with the City policy of paying the greatest share of its annual general obligation bond debt service from general revenues other than property taxes. The attached ordinance will levy $262,350 and abate $262,350, so the extension will be $0.00. The debt service will be paid by the 2012 Bond Proceeds Fund (Fund 36) which gets its primary revenue from General Fund, Capital Fund (Fund 6) and Road & Bridge Fund (Fund 8) transfers. These are the same sources that funded the 2002 and 2003 issues.

C. Ordinance 2019.38—An Ordinance Partially Abating the Debt Service Levy for the General Obligation Bond Issue Series 2017 Refunding Bond for the City of Sycamore, DeKalb County, Illinois for the Fiscal Year 2020-2021. First Reading.

This ordinance concerns the FY2019-2020 debt service on the 2017 General Obligation Refunding Bond. Historically, the City has levied $155,000 for debt service to be applied to the 1999, 2005 and 2007 bond funds. Both the 1999 and 2005 bonds have been retired and the 2007 series was refunded as part of the 2017 Refunding Bond, therefore the levy will be applied to the 2017 series. As a result, the total levy is $327,760 and $172,760 will be abated. The debt service will be paid from the 2017 Bond Fund (Fund 38) which receives its principal revenue from General Fund transfers. He reiterated that abating the debt service takes the burden off the property tax payers and requires the City to use other sources to meet these debt obligations. This is also First Reading and will come back for action in two weeks from tonight.

RESOLUTIONS - None CONSIDERATIONS

A. Consideration of a Presentation Outlining the City’s 2019 Safety Grant Implementation.

DHAR Maggie Peck reviewed the items that were purchased with the safety grant that the City was awarded.

• Sandwich Boards for the crossing guards

• Target Solutions Software and 2 iPads for the Fire Department

• 24 reflective safety cones

• 2 Residential Knox Box

• Programmed Security Cameras

She said that they did receive the award for next year in the amount of $5,084. The Safety Committee will be identifying additional needs to be purchased with this grant.

OTHER NEW BUSINESS

APPOINTMENTS

Mayor Lang said that Ken Mundy has asked to be released from the Fire and Police Commission for personal reasons. He has served for many years on that commission and is up to 48 years of community service. He thanked him for his service.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION

Alderperson Stowe moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:34 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 7-0

https://cityofsycamore.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/cc20191202mins.pdf