DeKalb Times

City of Dekalb City Council Met Jan. 25.

Here is the agenda provided by the council:

A. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

B. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

C. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

D. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

E. PRESENTATIONS

1. Certificate of Recognition to Ken Koch for 9 Years of Service to the Citizens’ Environmental Commission.

2. Certificate of Recognition to Christina Doe for 10 Years of Service to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

3. Certificate of Recognition to Susan Johnson for 13 Years of Service to the Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission.

4. Proclamation Declaring January 25, 2021 as “Kiwanis Club of DeKalb Day” in the City of DeKalb.

F. APPOINTMENTS

1. Appointment of Jeff Main to the Police Pension Board for a Two-Year Term through May 31, 2022.

2. Appointment of Kyle Moore and Nick Newman to the Citizens’ Environmental Commission for a Two-Year Term through December 31, 2022.

3. Appointment of Richard Dowen to the Airport Advisory Board for a Four-Year Term through December 31, 2024.

G. CONSENT AGENDA

1. Minutes of the Regular City Council Meeting of January 11, 2021.

2. Accounts Payable and Payroll through January 25, 2021 in the Amount of $3,143,716.98.

3. Investment and Bank Balance Summary through November 2020. 

4. Year-to-Date Revenues and Expenditures through November 2020. 

5. Hospitality Recovery Program Update through November 2020. 

6. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Report – December 2020.

7. FY2020 Human Services Funding Fourth Quarter Report.

H. PUBLIC HEARINGS

None.

I. CONSIDERATIONS

None.

J. RESOLUTIONS

1. Resolution 2021-010 Approving a Laundromat Liquor License for South 4th Street Mega Laundromat, LLC, Located at 1387 S. Fourth Street, with Supplemental Licensure for Video Gaming.

City Manager’s Summary: On August 24, 2020, the City Council approved a new liquor license classification for laundromats. Subsequently, the owners of South 4th Street Mega Laundromat at 1387 S. Fourth Street have submitted a liquor license application, as well as a gaming license application for up to six video gaming terminals. The laundromat liquor license application has been reviewed and received a positive recommendation from the Liquor Commissioner and Acting Police Chief Bob Redel.

Additionally, the owners have successfully completed their background checks.

Upon approval of the liquor license and supplemental gaming license, the City will receive an initial issuance fee of $10,766 with annual renewal fees of $2,692. The City will also receive an initial fee of $500 per video gaming terminal ($3,000), with annual renewal fees of $250 per video gaming terminal ($1,500).

City Council approval is recommended.

2. Resolution 2021-011 Authorizing the Adoption of the 2019 DeKalb County All Hazards Mitigation Plan.

City Manager’s Summary: Over the past 16-18 months, the attached plan has been under review by all DeKalb County municipalities and larger institutional entities (other public bodies, educational institutions, etc.). It sets forth priorities and protocols for preparing for and responding to major hazards (natural and human) in our region. The plan has also been reviewed and recommended for adoption by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency. The current Plan, dating from 2013, has officially expired.

The proposed all-hazard plan is intended to be in effect for five years. It touches on natural disasters such as floods or tornadoes as well as infrastructure failure (e.g., bridge collapse), mass cyberattacks, and catastrophic accidents such as a train derailment. The Plan is a broad guide for public officials but also qualifies the affected public bodies for certain state and federal relief programs, including flood insurance rate reductions for residents.

City Council approval is recommended.

3. Resolution 2021-012 Authorizing Payment to LiftOff in the Amount of $48,938.40 for the Renewal of the City of DeKalb Microsoft Office 365 Subscription.

City Manager’s Summary: The City currently maintains a subscription for the Microsoft Office 365 suite of applications through LiftOff, a third-party service provider. Office 365 includes a number of applications that are critical to City operations, including the ability to send and receive electronic mail (email) as well as use of the familiar Microsoft products Word, Excel, PowerPoint, integrated Skype for Business, OneDrive, and SharePoint.

The current license subscription period will expire January 31, 2021.

Competitive bids were invited, and three vendors responded as follows:

1. Lift-Off - $48,938.40

2. CDW-G - $50,063.46

3. Southern Computer Warehouse - $51,770.08

Lift-Off’s proposal also offered access to a library for “Office 365 Admin” best practice documents, end-user training videos, AD connect support including re-installations and troubleshooting, invitations to our Office 365 Security Webinars and access to the recordings, limited free consultations on implementation processes like the “Office Deployment Tool”, annual Microsoft Office health check-ups and security check-ups, and ongoing training for our IT staff who need to conduct compliance retention searches.

City Council approval of the Lift Off proposal in the amount of $48,938.40 is recommended. (Click here for additional information)

K. ORDINANCES – SECOND READING

1. Ordinance 2021-003 Approving a Special Use Permit for a Parking Lot as a Principal Use when Located Within 300 Feet of the Use Served (1030 E. Locust Street – Nehring Electrical Works).

City Manager’s Summary: At the regular City Council meeting on January 11, the Council considered the attached special use permit on first reading. The petitioner, Scott Dillon representing Nehring Electrical Works Company, requested a special use permit to establish a 20-space parking lot at 1030 E. Locust Street (southwest corner of E. Locust and N. 11th Street). The site is currently zoned “SFR2” Single-Family

Residential District and a special use permit is required for a parking lot as a principal use when located within 300 feet of the use served.

The subject lot at 1030 E. Locust Street is currently vacant. A single-family home existed on the lot for decades until it was demolished in 2012, sometime after Nehring Electrical Works purchased the property. Nehring Electric produces wire and cable products and is located in a total of seven buildings along the north and south sides of E. Locust Street. The firm also has a building north of the Union Pacific tracks. An aerial map is provided in the Council’s packet showing the uses for each of the buildings.

Nehring needs additional parking for their employees as the result of their business growth in recent years. For several months, the City’s Building Department (Dawn Harper) and Engineering Department (Zac Gill) have worked with Mr. Dillon and adjacent neighbors to identify ways that the City could be helpful in rationalizing on street parking on E. Locust Street, eliminating truck parking on E. Locust and the vacant lot, and finding alternate locations for large wire spools that had been located on the lot at 1030 E. Locust on occasion as the plant envelope ran out of space.

Regarding the wire spools, Nehring is currently using the former parking lot and detention area in front of building #4 (1105 E. Locust Street) to store spools that were previously stored at the corner of N. 7th Street and E. Locust Street. Storing the reels in front of building #4 has greatly reduced the need to transport the reels between Nehring’s facilities, which had previously caused issues along E. Locust Street. In addition, the storage of the spools in a location less visible to the public is an improvement. Some of the steel spools have also been placed inside the various Nehring buildings.

In the summer of 2020, the City’s Building Department issued a permit for the grading of the vacant lot at 1030 E. Locust in anticipation of the construction of a new parking lot for employees, to open space for on-street parking by the neighbors. At that time, aggregate (gravel) was added, and a catch basin was installed and tied into the storm sewer network on N. 11th Street. This construction forced the removal of the wire spools. The applicant has agreed to pave and stripe the lot per the UDO standards and to reserve it for employee parking. It will not be used for truck parking or staging, and a condition is recommended in the approval to prohibit larger trucks. However, trucks will occasionally need to back up into one of the Nehring docks on the north side of E. Locust Street and a larger-than-average center driving aisle is provided in the new parking lot plan to allow for less erratic backing movements by semi-trailer drivers.

Parking is generally restricted to one side of E. Locust Street except for the section between N. 8th Street and N. 9th Street where it is allowed on both sides. Parking is also allowed along both sides of N. 11th Street between E. Lincoln Highway and E. Locust Street. Nehring Electrical has about 150 total employees with 70 on the first shift and 40 on the second and third shifts. There are approximately 45 parking spaces in front of building #3 and about 46 on-street spaces along E. Locust St. between N. 8th Street and N. 11th Street.

The proposed parking lot will have one-way access from E. Locust Street with vehicles exiting to the alley to the south. The spaces will be on a 45-degree angle and meet the dimensional requirements outlined in the UDO. The width of the driving aisle will be 17 feet, which exceeds the minimum in the UDO of 12.5 feet. As noted above, the additional width is needed to allow trucks to occasionally “nose in” from E. Locust St. and back up into one of the Nehring docks on the north side of Locust Street. A six foot-high wooden privacy fence will be added along the west lot line to satisfy the screening requirements in the UDO for a parking lot next to a residential property. The petitioner had previous discussions with the property owner to the west (1024 E. Locust St.) who preferred the fence over landscape screening. There will be no lights in the parking lot, which will make it more compatible with the adjacent residents. A streetlight is located at the southeast corner of N. 11th Street and E. Locust Street and along the east side of N. 11th across from the alley. Additionally, the parking lot will add value to the neighborhood by providing weekend parking for the Kishwaukee Kiwanis Park which lies to the south of the lot.

At the regular meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission on January 4, the Commission voted 6-0 to recommend the special use permit with the three conditions outlined in Principal Planner Dan Olson’s background memorandum. The Commission also added a condition: the addition of a “Left Turn Only” sign at the south end of the parking lot so vehicles exit the alley at N. Eleventh Street.

Since the Council meeting of January 11, Scott Dillon, Nehring’s senior vice president for operations, has talked with the neighboring Gibson and Wilford households and the company has installed a large banner directing semi-truck traffic to a staging area away from the neighboring single-family residences.

City Council approval of the Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation on second reading is requested. (Click here for additional information)

L. ORDINANCES – FIRST READING

1. Ordinance 2021-004 Approving a Final Plat of Resubdivision, an Amended Final Development Plan, and Amended Development Standards for Goldframe, LLC for the Facebook Planned Development Site Along E. Gurler Road to Accommodate a ComEd Substation.

City Manager’s Summary: The Plat of Resubdivision legally describes the new parcel that Goldframe (Facebook) will convey to ComEd. The ComEd substation was shown on the approved Final Plan that was part of the Facebook Planned Development Ordinance in April 2020.The proposed substation will be located just to the southwest of the data hall at the southeast portion of the subject property. The intent is to create a separate lot for the ComEd Substation.

An access easement from the ComEd substation westerly to the Crego Road turnround through the surrounding Facebook property is also needed. The access easement will be granted to ComEd through a separate agreement to be executed and delivered at the time that Goldframe conveys the parcel to ComEd (targeted for the end of January 2021). The Plat depicts the access easement area with the notation “Access Easement Separately Granted.” After the Plat is approved by the City, it will not be recorded until the easement agreement and conveyance documents are executed. The Plat also includes the dedication of a small amount of right-of-way at the southeast corner of Rt. 23 and Gurler Road. and additional right-of-way to accommodate the Peace Road/Gurler Road roundabout.

The Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing regarding the petitions at their meeting on January 19, 2021. By a vote of 7 to 0 the Commission recommended City Council approval of the Final Plat of Subdivision of DeKalb Subdivision – Phase 2 (3 sheets) dated 12-21-20 prepared by Jacob and Hefner Associates as shown on Exhibit A of the staff report; approval of an amendment to Ordinance 2020-026 regarding the Final Plan dated 12-28-20 as shown on Exhibit B of the staff report, and an amendment to the development standards in Ordinance 2020-026 as shown on Exhibit C of the staff report. City Council approval of the Planning and Zoning Commission recommendation is requested. (Click here for additional information)

M. REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS

1. Council Member Reports

2. City Clerk Report

3. City Manager Report

N. EXECUTIVE SESSION

None.

O. ADJOURNMENT

https://www.cityofdekalb.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01252021-1954