City of Sycamore City Council met March 1.
Here is the agenda provided by the council:
1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
2. INVOCATION
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
5. AUDIENCE TO VISITORS
In accordance with previously adopted Rules, Public Comments shall be limited to a maximum of thirty minutes per meeting and the public may participate only during the “Public Comment”portion of the meeting. Comments shall not exceed three minutes per speaker unless limited to a shorter duration if numerous people wish to speak. All participants will be required to provide their name and address for the record. No speaker may speak more than once during any meeting unless specifically permitted to do so by the presiding officer. The City encourages that a spokesperson be chosen for individuals wishing to speak about the same subject matter to avoid repetitive presentations. All remarks should be addressed to the City Council as a whole and not to any individual member or employee. In the event speakers pose questions theCouncil or City staff, they should be aware that those individuals may decline to answer. Each speaker shall maintain civility and decorum. The Presiding Officer retains the right to stop or remove any speaker who becomes disruptive to the meeting.
6. CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approval of the Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of February 15, 2021.
B. Payment of the Bills for March 1, 2021.
7. APPOINTMENTS
8. PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS, COMMUNICATIONS, AND BILLS
9. REPORTS OF OFFICERS
10. REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES
11. PUBLIC HEARINGS
12. ORDINANCES
A. Ordinance No. 2020.27—An Ordinance Amending Title 6, “Motor Vehicles and Traffic,”Chapter 1, “General Traffic Provisions,” Section 7, “Distracted Driving,” of the City Code of theCity of Sycamore, Illinois. First and Second Reading.
In July 2019, Illinois law which prohibits distracted driving due to the use of electronic communication devices, was modified to classify such conduct as a moving violation.
The City Council, through Ordinance 2019.26 struck “using an electronic communication device” from the definition of being distracted. However, related language definitions and exemptions to electronic communication devices and wireless telephones remain, unnecessarily, in the ordinance. The PoliceDepartment recommends revising Ordinance 6-1-7 by striking all language pertaining to defining orusing electronic communication devices.
City Council approval is recommended.
13. RESOLUTIONS
A. Resolution No. 855—A Resolution Approving an Extension to the Contract Between the City of Sycamore and Municipal Engineering Corporation for Contractual Engineering ServicesDuring the Period May 1, 2021 Through April 30, 2022.
The agreement with Municipal Engineering Corporation—Principal Engineer John Brady—that theCity entered into in June 2008 for contractual engineering services is set to expire. The attached contract includes an extension with the following terms:
• A monthly retainer of $4,000 that includes ten hours per week for general engineering and development related services.
• Services related to the engineering design and fieldwork for the City’s Street Maintenance program under the MFT contract. Compensation will be based IDOT’s formula for these services.
A special focus of Mr. Brady’s consulting work has been the MFT portion of the annual street maintenance program and special projects. Mr. Brady’s long experience and familiarity with the City’s operations, makes him well-suited to assist the City with the program and through an organizational transition. In the course of his firm’s work, he or his employees will have reasonable access to City offices during regular working hours to examine City records, drawings, specifications,and other materials that may supplement the work of his firm, and to consult with the City Manager,City engineer and other City employees. The City Manager will provide guidelines and supervision.
City Council approval is recommended.
B. Resolution No. 856—A Resolution Authorizing the Execution of a Lease Agreement Between the City of Sycamore and Law Office of Stephanie P. Klein, P.C., for Suite 101B the Retail Space in the Sycamore Center.
When the City acquired and renovated the Sycamore Center, emphasis was placed on keeping the StateStreet frontage as commercial retail space. Recently TCOT Boutique leased two-thirds of the space originally allocated to S.I.S, therefore leaving an additional office space available for lease. In recent weeks, we have had some interest from the Law Offices of Stephanie P. Klein, P.C. to lease the space for their law firm. The attached agreement includes a one-year lease for Suite 101B that commences on March 1, 2021, with a monthly rent of $600 inclusive of utilities and taxes, with annual renewal options.
City Council approval is recommended.
14. CONSIDERATIONS
A. Consideration of an Administration Presentation of the FY22 Special and Bond Funds.
Since January, staff has presented preliminary budget assumptions for the general operating fund and the enterprise and capital funds. The remaining funds are categorized into Special Funds and Bond and Loan Funds.
Special Funds
The Special Funds are comprised of connection fee funds, fire and police pension funds, funds for specific fees, taxes and escrows and funds for obligations such as radium removal decommissioning or accrued leave payments. These funds total $3,956,973 in combined expenditures.
Combined, police and fire pension funds are anticipated to expend $2,161,873, primarily pension disbursements. The funds are expected to have $31.6 million in assets as of the start of FY22. Each year the City’s actuary calculates an amount needed to meet funding guidelines set by the State ofIllinois.
Other smaller specialized funds such as the hotel/motel tax fund, the radium decommission fund, the transfer tax fund, the foreign fire insurance fund, the employee benefit assistance fund and public improvement escrow fund receive revenue dedicated for a specific purpose.
No major changes are planned in any of the Special Funds in FY22.
Debt Service Funds
The Debt Service Funds are made up of general obligation bond issues and loans to support water and sewer operations. In FY22, the debt service obligations are as follows:
2003 EPA Loan 2005 EPA Loan 2006 EPA Loan 2009 EPA Loan
$49,737 $55,022 $66,697 $194,852
2012 Refunding 2017 Refunding 2019 EPA Loan
$265,150 $326,936 $1,252,000 (est.)
The 2019 IEPA Loan Fund receives low-interest loan funds from the Illinois EPA for Phase III improvements at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The debt on the improvements will be paid using the current user fee schedule and repayment will begin in FY22. Once the repayment schedule is established, the 2019 IEPA Loan Fund will be amended to reflect the repayment amount.
Staff continues to monitor debt obligations to review opportunities to refinance and save on repayment costs. No new general obligation borrowing is planned in the near future.
City Council direction is requested.
B. Consideration of an Administration Request for Direction Regarding the Sale of PropertyLocated at 258 Lucas Street.
For several years, the City Administration, Police and Community Development Departments have worked to acquire and demolish a dilapidated home at 258 Lucas Street. The property was in disrepair with many code and safety violations and presented an eyesore for the neighborhood. The property maintenance process took several years to navigate, but the City was ultimately able to acquire the property in October 2020. The structure was demolished this winter and the lot was brought to grade.The last step of the demolition process will be to terminate the water and sewer services to the property.
Staff recommends that the property be put up for sale to return it to private ownership. This can be done via sealed bids with a goal of recouping the costs (roughly $18,000) the City has into the property.
City Council direction is requested.
C. Consideration of an Administration Request for a Closed Session to Discuss Pending Litigation.
15. OTHER NEW BUSINESS
16. ADJOURNMENT
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