City of Sycamore City Council met Sept. 7.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
ROLL CALL
Mayor Braser called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and City Clerk Mary Kalk called the roll. Those Alderpersons present were: David Stouffer, Chuck Stowe, Alan Bauer, Nancy Copple, Jeff Fischer, Pete Paulsen, and Virginia Sherrod. Alderman Josh Huseman was absent. City Attorney Keith Foster was also present.
INVOCATION Led by Fire Chief Pete Polarek
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Fire Chief Pete Polarek
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION
Alderperson Stouffer motioned to approve the agenda and Alderperson Copple seconded the motion.
VOICE VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 7-0.
AUDIENCE TO VISITORS
Joel Barczak, 403 Edward Street, spoke about the city-owned property on South Avenue, gave a timeline of events in that it has been 138 days since public notice with no bids, and that the rewritten lease decreased the space and increased the rent. He asked to consider getting another appraisal or putting it up for sale with no minimum or maximum to find a solution and make it productive.
Mayor Braser interjected that he is saying a bunch of falsehoods. He said the obvious thing is, is that Joel has still been using the property. He said, “You are complaining about it being a brownfield, but you are still using it”.
CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approval of the Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of August 16, 2021.
B. Payment of the Bills for September 7, 2021 in the amount of $660,501.11
C. Gateway Improvement Close-out for American Realty at 513 W. State Street.
MOTION
Alderperson Bauer motioned to approve the Consent Agenda for $660,501.11 (Total of All Checks City Council Run included herein) and Alderperson Stowe seconded the motion.
ROLL CALL VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Stouffer, Stowe, Bauer, Copple, Fischer, Paulsen, and Sherrod voted aye. Motion carried 7-0.
PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS, COMMUNICATIONS, AND BILLS
A. Proclamation Recognizing the 100th Birthday of Helen Beamish.
REPORT OF OFFICERS
Acting City Manager (ACM) – Maggie Peck reported that the flags went up in downtown Sycamore to observe Labor Day and will be left up in observance of the 20th anniversary of 9/11. They have closed the insurance medical open enrollment. Currently, they are working on the Risk Liability renewal that will be coming up. On September 3rd, the Governor signed Executive Order 21-22 requiring all individuals over the age of two, who can medically tolerate a face covering, to wear a face covering when indoors public places. She encourages people to follow that order and stay safe.
Police Chief – Jim Winters said that a review of CAD (Computer-Aided Dispatch) records of call volume for the first six months of this year as compared to last year indicates an increase from 3,773 calls for service for the first six months of 2020 to 4,139 calls for service for the same period in 2021. In terms of actual crime reporting, we are transitioning from the old nationally-used system called Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) which has been in existence for about 80 years since the 1930’s
to the new National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) beginning this year. NIBRS is designed to improve the accuracy and the timeliness of crime reporting and also dig deeper into statistical crime data. Records Clerk Mary Banasiak and Deputy Chief Mike Anderson are working on the implementation of NIBRS which has had it challenges but should be in place by the end of this year. It also helps in the efficiency to crunch those numbers, identify some of the trends, and allocate resources properly, making sure they are policing the community as efficiently as possible.
Fire Chief – Pete Polarek said as mentioned, the mask-wearing is ramped up and all should expect to be wearing masks indoors. Also, regarding vaccines and testing in the Governor’s order, he said that the Fire Department falls into the health care category so those mandates affect them. They are working with their collective bargaining group to comply with the order. He announced that there is a 9/11 ceremony on Saturday, September 11th at 7:30 a.m. at Sycamore Park Sports Complex just south of the Good Tymes Shelter. Police and Fire will be represented and he invites everyone, their family, their friends, and the public to attend.
Director of Community Development John Sauter said that they’re at 32 single family permits as of the end of the August. Last year at this time, they were at 23 and in 2019 they were at 30, so right now, they’re trending ahead of the last couple of years. They are reviewing two new projects that were submitted last week. The first is a 580 square foot addition to Sycamore Antiques located at 321 W. State Street. The addition will be located on the back of the building and will include an additional ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant restroom. The second project is cosmetic alterations to the existing restaurant space located at 418 W. State Street which is east of the Sycamore Theatre. A Greek restaurant is planned for the space and they hope to be open in the near future.
Director of Public Works Matt Anderson reported that Public Works has poured the pad for the downtown planter and are excited to get that up and running. He said there have been four main breaks since the last meeting as the dry weather is causing some problems. There was one by Fire Station #1, two on Page Street, and one on Maness Court. He also reported that they are finishing the cleanup from the two storms last week and said that they had well over 160 hours cleaning up debris, getting loose limbs, and trimming trees.
City Engineer Mark Bushnell reserved his time for agenda items.
REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES
Finance – Alan Bauer said no report.
Public Safety – Pete Paulsen said no report.
Public Works – Chuck Stowe said there was a Public Works Committee meeting this evening where they basically discussed the lead service replacement and they will be coming back to the Council with a recommendation in a couple weeks.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
ORDINANCES
A. Ordinance 2021.13—An Ordinance Dissolving the Special Tax Allocation Fund and Terminating the Designation of the City of Sycamore Tax Increment Redevelopment Project Area (RPA No. 1) within the City of Sycamore, Illinois. First and Second Reading.
Acting City Manager Maggie Peck said that in accordance with the provisions of Section 11-74.4-8 of the Act, the city established TIF Area Project No. 1 in August of 2000. The City desires to dissolve the special tax allocation fund at this time. They did everything they wanted to do, all the projects were completed, and they are ready to close it. This is one of those examples when a tool is used for redevelopment and doing the right thing. The next step, if approved this evening, would be that the TIF would be closed by December 31, 2021 which is a little shy of two years in advance. The next step after that would be to contact the County Treasurer and ask her to release the funds back to the taxing bodies that were collected this year based on the actual allocations of what they would be currently getting at their rate. This is very exciting news and a very good thing to do. She said that after this is closed, they can talk about putting that property up for sale in a bidding process.
Alderman Stowe said congratulations to management and to the city as he said they have all heard horror stories of TIF districts in different areas and said this shows people how they are supposed to do things right and do it for the good that it’s intended.
MOTION
Alderperson Stowe motioned to waive First Reading on Ordinance 2021.13 and Alderperson Bauer seconded the motion.
ROLL CALL VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Stouffer, Stowe, Bauer, Copple, Fischer, Paulsen, and Sherrod voted aye. Motion carried 7-0.
MOTION
Alderperson Stowe motioned to adopt Ordinance 2021.13 and Alderperson Bauer seconded the motion.
ROLL CALL VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Stouffer, Stowe, Bauer, Copple, Fischer, Paulsen, and Sherrod voted aye. Motion carried 7-0.
B. Ordinance 2021.14—An Ordinance Authorizing the Establishment of Tax Increment Financing “Interested Parties” Registries and Adopting Registration Rules for Such Registries within the City of Sycamore, Illinois. First and Second Reading.
Acting City Manager Maggie Peck said this is in accordance with the provisions of Section 11-74.4-4.2 in that the city desires to adopt this ordinance to comply with such requirements of the Act as they look to establish a registry for anybody who might be interested in receiving information about the potential Project No. 2. She explained that any time there is information, they post something on it, or have an upcoming meeting, and they would receive this information. The form they would fill out is in the packet whether it be a person or company/entity, they would receive this from the Clerk’s office who would keep record of that making sure they receive that notice.
MOTION
Alderperson Stouffer motioned to waive First Reading on Ordinance 2021.14 and Alderperson Paulsen seconded the motion.
ROLL CALL VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Stouffer, Stowe, Bauer, Copple, Fischer, Paulsen, and Sherrod voted aye. Motion carried 7-0.
MOTION
Alderperson Paulsen motioned to adopt Ordinance 2021.14 and Alderperson Fischer seconded the motion.
ROLL CALL VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Stouffer, Stowe, Bauer, Copple, Fischer, Paulsen, and Sherrod voted aye. Motion carried 7-0.
RESOLUTIONS
A. Resolution No. 883—A Resolution Providing for a Feasibility Study on the Designation of a Portion of the City of Sycamore as a Redevelopment Project Area and to Induce Development Interest Within Such Area.
Acting City Manager Maggie Peck recalled that they hired PGAV to do some assessment on potentially opening a second TIF known as Project Area No. 2. This resolution essentially provides them the opportunity to continue moving forward with that feasibility study and dig deeper. They have determined that a large section in the map area included in the agenda packet is considered a blighted area needing a potential use for a TIF. The second part of this resolution allows us to capture, as a municipal organization, the cost associated with this project. She said that if they did open a second TIF, they would be able to come back and recoup some of the costs for the study and anything else they may be putting forth as a city. If there is displacement of residents, you would have to do a feasibility study but because this doesn’t impact more than 10 homes in the area, they would not have to do that.
Alderman Stouffer asked if they are approving the map as is and asked if there are any adjustments, if it would come forward again.
ACM Maggie Peck said they are not approving the map, they are approving them to continue with the feasibility study of that area.
MOTION
Alderperson Paulsen motioned to approve Resolution 883 and Alderperson Fischer seconded the motion.
ROLL CALL VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Stouffer, Stowe, Bauer, Copple, Fischer, Paulsen, and Sherrod voted aye. Motion carried 7-0.
B. Resolution No. 884—A Resolution Approving and Accepting Certain Public Improvements at the Nicor Reporting Center located at 2820 Dosen Drive Sycamore, IL.
MOTION
Acting City Manager Maggie Peck said that Nicor Construction has completed the installation and testing of the public water main improvements. In accordance of section 4.7.11 of the City’s UDO, the City Engineer brings forward a recommendation for when this is acceptable. Staff recommends that City Council accept the public portions of the water main improvements as shown in this resolution. The developer is required to guarantee the improvements for a period of one year.
MOTION
Alderperson Bauer motioned to approve Resolution 884 and Alderperson Stouffer seconded the motion.
ROLL CALL VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Stouffer, Stowe, Bauer, Copple, Fischer, Paulsen, and Sherrod voted aye. Motion carried 7-0.
CONSIDERATIONS
A. A. Consideration of an Administration Recommendation to Award the Bid for the City’s 2021 Cracksealing Project.
Acting City Manager Maggie Peck said on August 25, City of Sycamore read bids for the City of Sycamore 2021 Cracksealing Project. There was one bid:
| 1 | SKC Construction Inc. | $172,300.00 |
Alderman Bauer asked why there was only one bidder.
City Engineer Mark Bushnell said that he did contact the usual bidders and some said that it’s an issue with labor, some said it’s an issue with material, and a couple didn’t even answer the phone.
MOTION
Alderperson Sherrod motioned to approve the consideration for $172,300 to SKC Construction Inc. and Alderperson Fischer seconded the motion.
ROLL CALL VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Stouffer, Stowe, Bauer, Copple, Fischer, Paulsen, and Sherrod voted aye. Motion carried 7-0.
OTHER NEW BUSINESS
Mayor Braser wished Alderperson Virginia Sherrod Happy Birthday.
APPOINTMENTS
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION
Alderperson Stowe motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:28 p.m. and Alderperson Paulsen seconded the motion.
VOICE VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 7-0.
Approve:
https://cityofsycamore.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/cc20210907.pdf
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