City of Dekalb City Council Met Feb. 22.
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. Stage Coach Players Theater Presentation of the Business of the Year Award to the City of DeKalb.
2. Recognition of NIU Police Officer Matt Lave and DeKalb Firefighter/Paramedics Jared Thorpe and Adam Miller for their Rescue Efforts in the High Meadows Fire of February 12, 2021.
3. DeKalb Public Library FY2020 Annual Report by Director Emily Faulkner.
F. APPOINTMENTS
None.
G. CONSENT AGENDA
1. Minutes of the February 8, 2021 Regular City Council Meeting.
2. Accounts Payable and Payroll through February 22, 2021 in the Amount of $2,420,863.47.
3. Investment and Bank Balance Summary through December 2020.
4. Year-to-Date Revenues and Expenditures through December 2020.
5. Hospitality Recovery Program Update through December 2020.
6. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Report – January 2021.
H. PUBLIC HEARINGS
None.
I. CONSIDERATIONS
None.
J. RESOLUTIONS
1. Resolution 2021-019 Authorizing an Architectural Improvement Program (AIP) Economic Incentive for Natalie Brown for the Property at 115 N. First Street in the Amount of $1,675.00.
City Manager’s Summary: Natalie Brown, the owner of the commercial office property at 115 N. First Street has applied for an Architectural Improvement Program (AIP) grant for twenty-five percent of the exterior painting that is planned for warmer weather this year. The AIP program parameters are summarized below:
Major Capital Improvements – 50% Reimbursement
*ADA Compliance
*Electrical, Mechanical, and Plumbing Upgrades
*Fire Alarm and Suppression Systems
*Façade Renovations
*Architectural Design Fees
*Tuckpointing
*Life Safety Equipment
*Historic Restoration
Minor Capital Improvements – 25% Reimbursement
*Exterior Lighting
*Exterior Painting
*Window & Door Replacement
*Screening of Unsightly Utilities
Deferred Maintenance – 10% Reimbursement
*Roof
*Gutter Replacement
*Stair and Handrail Replacement
*Floor Surface Repair
*Water Damage Repair
Ms. Brown provided several private bids for the exterior painting, which includes eaves, windows, and doors. The bids were as follows:
▪ J&M Painting: $6,700
▪ Truecolor: $14,250
The City Manager recommends Council approval of the bid from J&M Painting and disbursal of a grant in the amount of 25% of that bid ($1,675). The FY2021 TIF #3 Fund (Fund 262) allocates $70,000 for AIP grants.
City Council approval is recommended. (Click here for additional information)
2. Resolution 2021-020 Amending Resolution 2020-029 to Revise the Survey Exhibits Associated with Permanent Bus Stop Easements Located Within the University Village Subdivision.
City Manager’s Summary: As Marcus Cox writes in his background memorandum, in the process of recording three easements associated with bus stops in the University Village complex, some errors were discovered in the survey documentation. Specifically, Parcel 06 and Parcel 07 were incorrectly described and require updated exhibits to clarify the accurate parcel delineations.
City Council approval 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 of January 25, 2021 the Council first considered the attached ordinance on second reading and agreed to table final action until the last regular meeting in February. The Council’s intent was to allow more time for representatives of Nehring Electric and its residential neighbors to wrestle with several issues attending employee and truck parking on E. Locust Street.
Vehicle Parking on E. Locust Street: The special use permit was filed on behalf of Nehring Electric by Scott Dillon, the firm’s senior vice president of operations. The company seeks to provide twenty (20) off-street parking spaces for its employees on an adjacent corner lot at 1030 E. Locust which has already been prepped for paving under a permit from the City’s Building department. The intention is to reduce the number of employee vehicles that daily compete for parking with other vehicles on E. Locust Street between N. Tenth Street and N. Eleventh Street. The prospect of opening more on-street space for the adjacent residences and their visitors inspired all parties, including several city departments, to settle on the advantages of the Nehring Company’s investment in off-street parking. Chief Building Official Dawn Harper will be on hand to review the positive neighborhood solution she helped to broker with City Engineer Zac Gill, Mr. Dillon, and the nearby neighbors. The parking lot design and details are summarized in the Council background information. At this writing, there does not seem to be an objection to the parking lot, per se, or the relief gained by moving employee vehicles off the public street. The principal issue is the continued staging of semi-trailers on Locust Street.
Truck Staging on E. Locust Street: Over the past month, the City’s building department and Police department have monitored truck traffic on E. Locust between N. Eighth Street and N. Eleventh Street. A number of Council members have also visited the area to view the truck patterns. The following photos highlight the neighborhood dilemma.
The photo below is facing east and the truck in the foreground is directly north of the proposed parking lot at E. Locust and N. Eleventh Streets:
It has been assumed that the semi-trailers are typically waiting to back into the several truck docks to the north, as shown in the picture that follows:
However, in the weeks since January 25 another truck traffic pattern has become obvious. Many of the trucks staging east of N. Tenth Street may be waiting to unload nearer the factory entrances that are between N. Eighth and N. Tenth Streets. The picture below shows an unusually uncluttered streetscape between N. Eighth and N. Tenth:
Recommendation
Completing the parking lot at 1030 E. Locust as the Planning & Zoning Commission recommended on January 4 can only help the residents on E. Locust Street and will ease truck and car conflicts. The staff recommend proceeding with the special use permit for this purpose, and the paving of the lot at the earliest possible opportunity this spring.
The inefficiencies of the loading and unloading processes between N. Eighth and N. Ninth Streets also need to be addressed. City Engineer Zac Gill has discussed a several-pronged approach with Mr. Dillon, who at this writing is advocating the City Engineer’s suggestions within the company. Specifically, the City Engineer has recommended two options:
▪ Option #1: Convert E. Locust Street between Tenth and Seventh Streets to one way, westbound. This will accomplish two things:
a) On-street employee parking can be added on E. Locust Street, west of Tenth Street, if striped for diagonal spaces rather than parallel spaces on the north side. This would require making E. Locust one-way westbound from Tenth to Seventh Street; and
b) The one-way configuration would allow for three semi-trailers to park on the north side of Locust, between about Ninth Street and Eighth Street. One of those truck staging spaces would back up to a new enclosure constructed by Nehring to extend the existing loading dock to the curbline. The addition of the designated truck parking spaces would wipe out the existing parallel parking between Eighth and Ninth, resulting in a net change of “0” in employee parking stalls on the north side of Locust, but softening the impact of the truck staging.
▪ Option #2: This is the highest impact option but requires more investment. It also involves making E. Locust one-way heading west between N. Tenth and N. Seventh to eliminate opposing traffic and provide truck staging room at the north curb line of E. Locust. This part of the E. Locust corridor is entirely commercial. There are no residences and the prevailing traffic movements are west-bound. This option also includes the creation of diagonal parking spaces on the south side of Locust from Eighth to Tenth, creating approximately ten more diagonal parking spaces on the south side of the street between Eighth and Tenth, as shown in the picture.
To create the diagonal spaces on the south side, the grass parkway area would need to be converted to paved parking stalls.
In addition to the potential collaboration outlined above, the Company can continue to creatively find truck-staging space off E. Locust Street and work diligently with its partners in the trucking industry to advise their drivers of the preferred practices when visiting the Company in DeKalb.
City Council approval of the special use permit is recommended. (Click here for additional information)
L. ORDINANCES – FIRST READING
1. Ordinance 2021-005 Amending the Fiscal Year-End December 31, 2020 Budget.
City Manager’s Summary: As the last FY2020 invoices are processed from a variety of state and local vendors in February each year, it is prudent to revise fiscal year-end expenditures and revenues in a number of prime City capital funds. In recent years, the City Manager has brought year-end budget amendments to the Council to more accurately portray the final capital numbers. In FY2020, COVID-related impacts certainly prompted creative solutions that were never envisioned when the FY2020 Budget was prepared and approved in the late fall of 2019. The various amendments are portrayed in the table that follows:
| FY2020 Capital Budget Amendments | |||
| Fund 210: Motor Fuel Tax Fund | |||
| Line Item | FY2020 Budget | Proposed Revision Difference | |
| 33550 (MFT) | 2,644,745 | 2,666,423 | 21,678 |
| 37100 (Interest) | 65,000 | 20,887 | (44,113) |
| Total Revenues: | (22,435) | ||
| 62300 (Arch/Eng) | 1,045,000 | 441,417 | (603,583) |
| 83000 (Street Imp) | 375,000 | 246,240 (128,760) | |
| 83050 (Street Maint) | 450,000 | 179,198 | (270,802) |
| Total Expenditures: (1,003,145) | |||
| Fund 260: TIF #1 Fund | |||
| Line Item | FY2020 Budget | Proposed Revision Difference | |
| 30300 (TIF Increment) | 7,280,074 | 6,611,022 | (669,052) |
| 37100 (Interest) | 100,000 | 28,951 | (71,049) |
| Total Revenues: (740,100) | |||
| 65300 (Legal Exp) | 5,000 | 20,000 | 15,000 |
| 68600 TIF Surplus Dist) | 3,640,037 | 2,998,209 | (641,828) |
| 83900 (Other Cap Imp) | 1,000,000 | 132,912 | (867,088) |
| 91100 (Trsf to GF) | 15,000 | 5,000 | (10,000) |
| Total Expenditures: (1,503,916) | |||
| Fund 262: TIF #3 Fund | |||
| Line Item | FY2020 Budget | Proposed Revision Difference | |
| 30300 (TIF Increment) | 546,476 | 300,640 | (245,836) |
| Total Revenues: (245,836) | |||
| 69199 (TIF Projects) | 3,778,250 | 3,183,999 | (594,251) |
| 83900 (Other Cap Imp) | 500,000 | - | (500,000) |
| 91100 (Trsf to GF) | 15,000 | - | (15,000) |
| Total Expenditures: (1,109,251) | |||
| Fund 400: Capital Projects Fund | |||
| Line Item | FY2020 Budget | Proposed Revision Difference | |
| 31600 (HR Fuel Tax) | 1,216,250 | 911,145 | (305,105) |
| 38600 (Property Sales) | 700,000 | 604,387 | (95,613) |
| Total Revenues: (400,718) | |||
| 62300 (Arch/Eng) | 125,000 | 109,102 | (15,898) |
| 83050 (Street Maint) | 1,100,000 | 718,617 | (381,383) |
| 86100 (IT Equip) | 272,500 | 113,836 | (158,664) |
| Total Expenditures: | (555,946) | ||
| Fund 420: Capital Equipment Replacement Fund | |||
| Line Item | FY2020 Budget | Proposed Revision Difference | |
| 31600 (HR Fuel Tax) | 173,750 | 121,502 | (52,248) |
| 34900 ( ? ) | 155,000 | 168,474 | 13,474 |
| 38200 (Refunds/Reimb | 172,500 | 202,609 | 30,109 |
| 38600 (Property Sales) | - | 83,924 | 83,924 |
| Total Revenues: | 75,259 | ||
| 79000 (Principal) | - | 28,550 | 28,550 |
| 79100 (Interest) | - | 3,848 | 3,848 |
| 87000 (Vehicles) | 1,145,000 | 123,739 (1,021,261) | |
| Total Expenditures: | (988,864) | ||
City Council approval is recommended. (Click here for additional information)
2. Ordinance 2021-006 Approving an Amendment to the Special Use Permit for a Private Therapeutic Day School Approved by Ordinance 2020-015 for the Property Located at 900 E. Garden Street (Menta Group – Chesebro Elementary School).
City Manager’s Summary: On March 9, 2020, the City Council approved Ordinance 2020-015 which approved a special use permit for a private therapeutic day school (The Menta Group) at the former Chesebro Elementary School at 900 E. Garden Street, which has been closed since 2011. The DeKalb Community Unit School District #428 is proposing to amend the site plan approved with the special use to add a one way access drive and 10-space parking lot to the north side of the site and other improvements. The site plan attached to the special use permit approved by Ordinance 2020-015 did not show an access drive or parking area along the north side of the site (E. Garden Street), so an amendment and public hearing is required.
The Menta Group is a non-profit social service organization that serves students with special needs that require varying levels of therapeutic support. The School District reached out to The Menta Group to open a school in the DeKalb area for children with disabilities. Placing the therapeutic day school in the former Chesebro School will allow the School District to have their students closer to home. Due to COVID-19, the project was put on hold since their approval last March. Menta is temporarily using a 3,500 sq. ft. tenant space at 1600 E. Lincoln Highway (Pen’s Point Market) to serve 8-10 students in person and 25 remotely.
Planned exterior improvements include the addition of a one-way access drive and 10 parking spaces on the north side of the lot. The proposed angled parking will include 10 conventional spaces and one handicap space. Entrance to the doors on the north side of the building will be secured. An eight-foot-wide walkway will be added along the one-way drive. A total of four (4) trees will be removed on the north side of the lot to accommodate the access drive and parking lot with 11 trees being saved in this area. For the area south of the building, planned improvements include resurfacing and restriping the parking lot, resurfacing the sidewalk around the west side of the building, adding a new trash dumpster enclosure, and replacing parking lot signage. In addition, a new fire service line will be connected to the building and a fire hydrant will be installed just to the southwest of the school. Construction would start as early as March 1 with an anticipated end date of mid-July. The therapeutic programs offered by the Menta Group would open shortly thereafter.
The School District provided a brief traffic impact analysis, which is included in the Council’s background material. On a daily basis, there will be five (5) School District employees working at the school who will park on the north side of the building. Twice a week (on Wednesday and Thursday) and two Sundays a month, there will be six (6) to eight (8) Food Mart volunteers at the school who will park on the south side of the building. The Barb Food Mart will be open once a week on Thursdays from 3:30 PM to 6:30 PM. It is anticipated that most volunteers and shoppers will use the parking lot off E. Taylor Street; however, some patrons may use the north parking area. Twice a week, there will be a box truck delivering food to the Food Mart that will use the E. Garden Street entrance. Randomly throughout the week, there will be School District and Menta Group visitors who may use both entrances. Traffic will be very limited on the weekends. There will be no student drop-off or bus traffic along the access drive from E. Garden Street. All school buses and student drop-offs will occur along the south side off the lot off E. Taylor Street.
The Planning & Zoning Commission considered the special use application at their regular meeting on February 16 and recommended Council approval by a vote of 7-0. City Council approval of the Planning & Zoning Commission recommendation is requested. (Click here for additional information)
3. Ordinance 2021-007 Approving a Zoning Map Amendment from the “HI” District to the “PD-I” District and Amending a Development Agreement – North Side of Gurler Road, East of S. First Street (Midland Trust Company – James Planey).
City Manager’s Summary: The petitioner has requested a rezoning of the 36-acre subject site along Gurler Road to the “PD-I” District and amendment of Ordinance 2019-002 to (1) remove the time restriction for State approval of a solar energy generation facility; and (2) to allow the permitted and special uses in the “HI” District on Lots 1, 2 and 3 including a solar energy facility as shown on the approved plans in the Ordinance.
On January 28, 2019, the City Council passed Ordinance 2019-002, which conditionally approved the rezoning of the subject site from the “HI” Heavy Industrial District to the “PD-I” Planned Development Industrial District. The 36.34-acre site is located along the north side of Gurler Road, approximately 500 feet east of S. First Street and is presently farmed. The rezoning was contingent upon the approval within one year of a solar energy generation facility on Lots 1 and 2 (plan attached) through the State. The applicant (SunVest Solar) did not receive State approval within the first year. On January 27, 2020, the City Council approved a Resolution granting a one year extension per the request of the applicant. SunVest Solar did not receive approval again in 2020 as the State process was delayed due to COVID-19. The Ordinance did not allow for any further extension requests.
The owner of the property, Jim Planey, desires to have more flexibility for Lots 1 and 2 to be able to develop a use allowed in the HI District. The current agreement restricts the use of Lots 1 and 2 to a solar energy generation facility only. The owner also wants to keep open the option to have a solar facility on any of the three lots if it is approved at the State level.
The Planning & Zoning Commission reviewed the applicant’s petition on February 16 and recommended Council approval by a vote of 7-0. City Council approval of the Planning & Zoning Commission recommendation is requested. (Click here for additional information)
4. Ordinance 2021-008 Authorizing a Reimbursement in the Amount of $470,506.93 to Northern Illinois University for the Overpayment of 2020 Annual Contribution for Integrated Transit Services.
City Manager’s Summary: The approval of this Resolution authorizes the City to issue a reimbursement check to Northern Illinois University (NIU) for the overpayment of their 2020 annual contribution for integrated transit services in the amount of $470,506.93.
According to the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the City and the University, NIU provides 40% of the total funding for fixed route and dedicated paratransit services. As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic for the majority of 2020, fixed route and paratransit service hours were much reduced. Due to the reduction of service hours between March 2020 and December 2020, NIU contributed more funding than necessary. Concurrently, the City was earning a credit in its payments to TransDev and the Voluntary Action Center (VAC). The payment to NIU of $470,506.93 is roughly equivalent to the credit extended to the City by TransDev and VAC.
City Council approval is recommended. (Click here for additional information)
M. REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
1. Council Member Reports
2. City Clerk Report
3. City Manager Report
N. EXECUTIVE SESSION
Approval to Hold an Executive Session in Order to Discuss:
1. Purchase or Lease of Real Property as Provided for in 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(5); and 2. Pending or Imminent Litigation as Provided for in 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11).
O. ADJOURNMENT
https://www.cityofdekalb.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02222021-1964
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