City of Sycamore City Council met Sept. 20.
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: Chuck Stowe, Alan Bauer, Nancy Copple, Jeff Fischer, Josh Huseman, Pete Paulsen, Virginia Sherrod, and David Stouffer. City Attorney Keith Foster was also present.
INVOCATION Led by Alderman Jeff Fischer
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Alderman Jeff Fischer
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION
Alderperson Copple motioned to approve the agenda and Alderperson Fischer seconded the motion.
VOICE VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.
AUDIENCE TO VISITORS
Rod Moyer, 9449 S. Kedzie, Suite 540, Evergreen Park, IL 60805, stated that he is the student that was again, falsely accused of being an active campus shooter in a racial, vicious, retaliatory attack by former NIU College of Education instructor Michele Duffy and told the narrative that was portrayed. He invited everyone to go to www.NIUKaren.com to check out all the information.
CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approval of the Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of September 7, 2021.
B. Payment of the Bills for September 20, 2021 in the amount of $635,937.14.
MOTION
Alderperson Bauer motioned to approve the Consent Agenda and Alderperson Stowe seconded the motion.
ROLL CALL VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Stowe, Bauer, Copple, Fischer, Huseman, Paulsen, Sherrod, and Stouffer voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.
PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS, COMMUNICATIONS, AND BILLS
Library Board member Nancy Copple reported that the library will be planning a pumpkin celebration on October, 28th, an after-hours event on January 21st from 6 pm to 7:30 pm, and “Loving our Library” event in April 2022.
REPORT OF OFFICERS
Acting City Manager (ACM) – Maggie Peck reported they received notice from the ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) that the first of two allocations of $1,245,384.90 is set to be transmitted in the next couple of weeks. They have limited options on what they can use this money for but it has been discussed that it will be used for the water and sewer infrastructure. She reported that the downtown planter is under way and is still scheduled to be done prior to Pumpkin Fest. There used to be a kiosk that staff removed which has been sandblasted and is currently getting powder-coated. They will be looking for a new permanent home to put it. She said that she has moved forward and has been working diligently as she plans to put in a directory of all the stores, shops, restaurants, and the services we provide in the downtown area. She is working on a design for that and will hopefully have that prior to Pumpkin Fest. With the increase in the recent census, said that she is working with the Dekalb County GIS (geographic information system) to update the ward maps. She will bring a couple of options to council in the near future but doesn’t anticipate a lot of changes.
Director of Public Works Matt Anderson said today, they started hydrant flushing on the north side of State Street and next week will be south of State Street. The advertisement for invitation to bid to paint Water Tower #1 will be posted tomorrow to open bids and bring to council in November. The NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) Permit for the treatment plant expires September 30th and has been renewed. The draft renewal is located in the bulletin board at city hall. There were no major changes from the previous permit
Director of Community Development John Sauter said they did a final inspection at the new Wendy’s on DeKalb Avenue last week. There are a couple of small items to address and should be approved for their grand opening this Saturday the 25th. Underground utility and site work is underway at the Nighthawk Video expansion on Afton Road. Footing & foundation work should begin later this week. Tuck pointing and painting of their front façade is complete and they’re very happy with the finished product.
Fire Chief – Pete Polarek said a little over a week age, they hosted the 9/11 Memorial Ceremony out at the Sycamore Park. He acknowledged those who participated, naming Mayor Braser, Father Beekman, Sycamore Police & Fire Honor Guards, and Mike Embrey who performed Taps. It was a short but very meaningful event.
Police Chief – Jim Winters said that last week, a representative from the police department met with Motorola to explore the options and application of license plate readers. For those not familiar with license plate readers, or LPRs as they are commonly referred to, they are cameras that take still impressions of license plates and can be used as a force multiplier to increase officer efficiency. This technology is used to assist police departments with leads during criminal investigations. They will continue to research this technology and try to determine if any grant funding is available going forward.
REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES
Finance – Alan Bauer said no report.
Public Safety – Pete Paulsen said no report.
Public Works – Chuck Stowe said no report
PUBLIC HEARINGS
ORDINANCES
RESOLUTIONS
A. Resolution No. 885—A Resolution Authorizing the Execution of a Lease Agreement Between the City of Sycamore and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Suite 301 in the Sycamore Center.
Acting City Manager Maggie Peck said this is a two-year agreement with a flat-rate renewal for year #2, includes two reserved parking spots, and is inclusive of utilities, taxes, and garbage. The funds received from tenants are used to maintain the buildings.
MOTION
Alderperson Sherrod motioned to approve Resolution 885 and Alderperson Huseman seconded the motion.
ROLL CALL VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Stowe, Bauer, Copple, Fischer, Huseman, Paulsen, Sherrod, and Stouffer voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.
CONSIDERATIONS
A. Consideration of an Administration Recommendation to Award the Bid for the City’s 2021 Tree Planting Program.
Acting City Manager Maggie Peck gave a brief background on the 50/50 program and that last year, they starting replacing some of the downtown trees that were diseased or are too large. The lowest bidder was Langton Group.
Note: Extended Cost Prices within the Langton Group’s bid were incorrectly calculated by further multiplying by the number of species in each group. These values are shown in italics. When quantities are multiplied by unit prices, Langton Group is the apparent low bidder. This recommendation is consistent with the language in the Instructions to Bidders on page 3 of the Bid Documents, allowing the City to waive any informalities.
| Langton Group | Stran | EnCap | |||||
| Qty | Unit
Price | Extended
Cost | Unit
Price | Extended
Cost | Unit
Price | Extended
Cost | |
| Group A Trees | 2 | $422.10 | $844.20 | $454.00 | $908.00 | $695.00 | $1,390.00 |
| Group B | 25 | $412.24 | $10,306.00 $72,142.00 | $442.00 | $11,050.00 | $695.00 | $17,375.00 |
| Group C
Downtown | 3 | $464.42 | $1,393.26
$4,179.78 | $492.00 | $1,476.00 | $715.00 | $2,145.00 |
| $12,543.46 | $13,434.00 | $20,910.00 | |||||
Alderman Huseman asked if they use the whole allocation.
ACM Maggie Peck said yes, but said if they don’t utilize all the trees, they may end up absorbing that and doing more of the city trees downtown. She noted that two of the trees are located outside of the downtown area as one is in Johnson’s Junction.
Alderman Paulsen asked if the contractor is planting the trees.
ACM Maggie Peck said yes, and that the city staff takes the trees out and gave kudos to one of the public works employee that is phenomenal on the excavator. The trees will be planted after November 1st so that it is not affecting Pumpkin Fest.
Alderman Fischer asked where Langton Group is located.
ACM Maggie Peck said it’s in the packet on their bid but she didn’t have the packet in front of her.
MOTION
Alderperson Bauer motioned to approve the consideration for $16,680.92 to Langton Group and Alderperson Fischer seconded the motion.
ROLL CALL VOTE
Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Stowe, Bauer, Copple, Fischer, Huseman, Paulsen, Sherrod, and Stouffer voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.
B. A Consideration to Amend Ordinance 2021.05—An Ordinance Amending Title 8, “Water and Sewer”, Chapter 2, “Water Use and Service”, Section 6, “Repairs or Replacement; Excavations”.
Acting City Manager Maggie Peck reviewed a brief background on the Lead Service Line Reimbursement Program being $2,000 for the long side and $1,000 for the short side in the form of a credit on the utility bill. Recently, a resident spoke at council stating that they preferred to receive a lump sum check. This was taken to the Public Works Committee where consensus was to bring something to council. She is bringing this forward in the best interest of everybody, thinking of the residents and their financial needs as well as administering the program. Once all the work is done and they submit for reimbursement, they will reimburse in the form of a check. They will budget next year accordingly.
To incorporate this program change, the following language (underlined) is proposed:
8-2-6: REPAIRS OR REPLACEMENT; EXCAVATIONS:
7. The City will reimburse the resident the awarded funds in the form of a one-time check upon completion of the work.
She added that if this is brought back as an amended ordinance, she would like to reach out to the four residents and give them a check for the remaining balance of their credit.
Alderperson Copple asked to have something be written about the long side and short side in #7. Alderman Stouffer added that this is a great idea and his direction is to bring it back.
Consensus of the council was to move forward
OTHER NEW BUSINESS
APPOINTMENTS
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION
Alderperson Stowe motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:23 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 8-0.
https://cityofsycamore.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/cc20210920.pdf
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