DeKalb Times

City of Sycamore City Council met Aug. 21.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

ROLL CALL

Mayor Braser called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and City Clerk Mary Kalk called the roll. Those Alderpersons present were Pete Paulsen, Virginia Sherrod, Chuck Stowe, Alan Bauer, Ben Bumpus, Nancy Copple, Alicia Cosky, and Jeff Fischer. Attorney Keith Foster was also present.

INVOCATION led by Alderperson Nancy Copple

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE led by Alderperson Nancy Copple

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

MOTION

Alderperson Copple motioned to approve the agenda and Alderperson Sherrod 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

Phillip Weaver, 405 West High Street asked what the city is going to do to fix the problem of race relations.

CONSENT AGENDA

A. Approval of the Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of August 7, 2023

B. Payment of the Bills for August 21, 2023, in the amount of $614,507.22.

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 Paulsen, Sherrod, Stowe, Bauer, Bumpus, Copple, Cosky, and Fischer voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.

PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS, COMMUNICATIONS, AND BILLS

Lions Club President, Kathleen Weisser, 25228 Henderson Road, presented the City of Sycamore with a bench as a gift in appreciation for all the city does for all the citizens in town. She worked with Public Works Director Matt Anderson on the location and details. The bench will be concrete from Doty & Sons Concrete and feature pumpkins and Sycamore Lions Club 75th Anniversary. The bench will be located on the area between the parking lot and the former 7 Eleven.

REPORT OF OFFICERS

Public Works Director Matt Anderson updated that Well #8 that was installed on 8-7-23, seized up after three days of sampling. Not being the motor, it may be a bearing or shaft, but it needs to be pulled again which will happen on the 8-29 or 8-30. The charge the costs will be charged to the warranty so shouldn’t be liable for the additional pulling.

Alderperson Copple complimented everyone on the Back2School Bash and how great it was.

REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES

Finance – Alan Bauer – no report

Public Safety – Pete Paulsen – no report

Public Works – Chuck Stowe – no report

PUBLIC HEARINGS

ORDINANCES

A. Ordinance 2023.13 – An Ordinance Extending the Refuse Contract Between the City of Sycamore, Illinois and Waste Management of Illinois, Inc. First and Second Reading.

City Manager Michael Hall said that with the contract ending on 12-31-23, staff and Public Works Director Matt Anderson researched, and they found that other communities have services that are a la carte. With Waste Management, it’s an all inclusive package which is highlighted below from the agenda.

Waste Management has proposed the following services for a five-year extension:

• Setting up individual routing accounts for each home. This will enhance account management for the resident, City and WM.

• Subscription food waste collection - piggyback program with yard waste, residents must rent an additional cart.

• CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) in year three of the contract - cleaner burning, less carbon emissions and quieter.

• Option to include WWTP rolloffs in the monthly residential rate. The additional cost will be paid for from the Sewer Fund.

• Introduce Smart Truck™: WM's Smart Trucks document trash and recycling collection at every stop for real-time positive service verification and documentation of any collection or contamination issues.

• Continue "At Your Door" services at no additional cost.

• No changes to leaf pickup or landscape dumpsters

Terms of the five-year extension:

• January 1, 2024 - $26.49/month (resident pays. $25.83 per month, with Sewer Fund paying $0.66 per account per month..) The Sewer Fund will pay 2.5% of the monthly billed rate.

• 4.5% annual rate increase for the remaining years.

o Per account per month

                             Resident    WWTP     Total

o January 2025    $26.99       $0.69        $27.68

o January 2026    $28.20       $0.72        $28.93

o January 2027    $29.47       $0.76        $30.23

o January 2028    $30.80       $0.79        $31.59

Waste Management Representative Vaughn Kuerschner was present to answer any questions.

MOTION

Alderperson Stowe motioned to waive First Reading on Ordinance 2023.13 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.

MOTION

Alderperson Stowe motioned to approve Ordinance 2023.13 and Alderperson Fischer seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL VOTE

Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Paulsen, Sherrod, Stowe, Bauer, Bumpus, Copple, Cosky, and Fischer voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.

RESOLUTIONS

A. Resolution No. 953 – A Resolution Authorizing the Execution of an Architect Agreement with FGM Architects to Construct a New Fire Station 1.

City Manager Michael Hall reviewed the history in that in 2017, Kluber did a Deferred Maintenance Study on Fire Station #1 which identified what needed to be addressed; building-wide electrical problems, building-wide plumbing problems, building wide asbestos (although not exposed), drainage and leakage issues, HVAC systems needing replacement, boiler needing replacement, windows needing replacement, structural problems needing repair, living quarters issues, apparatus bays not sufficient for modern day vehicles, and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance issues which all came to $1.7-$2 million in 2017.

In April of 2022, he was made aware of an electrical problem in which the apparatus doors would not open. They repaired that for about $15,000 which led to discussion of this 2017 deferred maintenance report to update it adding a space assessment. In June 2022, Kluber was asked to update the deferred maintenance schedule and to also look at the space needs. The new study confirmed that none of the maintenance issues from 2017 were addressed for which the updated costs are now $3-$3.5 million. It identified space needs for the EOC-Emergency Operation Center being confined to one location which is not the best practice. A heat map of incidents revealed a location shift to the south and that being closer to the hospital allows for a quicker re-set time. Additional findings include the flow of operation needs to be changed and enlarged, it’s not ADA compliant, and the apparatus bays are not the right size for modern vehicles as the city must modify the vehicles to fit. He said the costs that came back with this study are big block estimations and are loose. He noted that the cost of the actual building is estimated at $6.2 - $7.2 million. The contingency costs which include construction contingencies, materials and inflation adjustments, soft costs, and site acquisition are $5.2 - $6.4 million for the total of $11.4 – $13.6 million. This number is a “cushy” number, so they are asking to contract with an architect to get down to what that number is. They are working with Ideal Industries to get the land donated, so once they have the location, they will be able to look at the needs and layout to determine the exact costs. He said with the building being 66 years old, this is a “need” project for which it will be for the next 50 years.

Alderperson Copple asked about the timeframe.

City Hall Michael Hall said that Kluber’s June presentation presented a groundbreaking in spring of 2025 but wanted to wait for the market to settle because it will require borrowing money.

Alderman Bumpus asked what the process is for what was presented at the last meeting for public engagement when spending money.

City Manager Michael Hall said that the resident who spoke is on the Park Board and on the Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) so he will see a lot of this when it comes to the PZC. He said that this is a bit different in that this is not a want, but this is an explanation on what is needed so we want to inform them. He wants to make sure that these facts are known to the public to understand why things are happening. He said that this is a big deal as Ideal Industries is getting involved in donating the land. With their 100th year anniversary next year they would like to do some other things in that area and have hired an architect. The public will become very aware as engagement processes come forth and get people involved.

Alderman Bauer expressed his concern on borrowing money and raising the property taxes as we are losing ground now. He is not ready to move forward on this until we “sharpen the pencil” to reduce the costs and give them a budget to work in.

City Manager Michael Hall said that this is what this will do and is the point of doing the architectural design to know what it is and that the previous number is not refined.

City Engineer Mark Bushnell said once we have that initial number, we will look at concept plans based on cost and scope of the project where the goal would be to get a consensus and then go to preliminaries. The preliminary will fine-tune the concept plan where then we can get public input and then go to preliminary engineering, get input on that, and then go forward with the final plan. He said that this is a very “stepped” process with the goal of gaining consensus along the way.

Mayor Braser added that in his conversation with Lauren Underwood and Dave Syverson, the city must have a plan before they apply for any money.

Fire Chief Bart Gilmore added that the assessment plan for modifying the existing fire house didn’t include the cost of $2 million to house the firefighters during the length of the construction. He said that with cancer in fire service, modern fire stations are built to separate firefighters coming from a scene.

City Manager Michael Hall elaborated that when firefighters return from the scene, they need a containment area for all the gear and to decontaminate where currently, it is just in the apparatus bay. They have made a makeshift drying system made from PVC pipe with fans. He recommended going to look at the station.

Alderperson Cosky inquired about helping Ideal Industries with fundraising and grants and confirmed that the city workers are not doing any of the work.

City Manager Michael Hall said that Ideal Industries is paying for the walkway, architectural and engineering design for their part which will all be in the agreement. They want to do more amenities so their design should be done late fall and then they need the city’s help in soliciting donations from the community.

MOTION

Alderperson Paulsen motioned to approve Resolution 953 and Alderperson Cosky seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL VOTE

Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Paulsen, Sherrod, Stowe, Bauer, Bumpus, Copple, Cosky, and Fischer voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.

CONSIDERATIONS

A. Consideration of an Administrative Recommendation to Award a Contract to the Lowest Responsible Bidder for the 2023 Peace Road Crossings Sycamore Creek Paving Project.

City Manager Michael Hall said this project for Peace Road Crossings and Sycamore Creek, is in the budget this year and that bids were opened on Wednesday.

City Engineer Mark Bushnell reviewed more details regarding the final lift.

MOTION

Alderperson Cosky made a motion to approve the consideration and Alderperson Bumpus seconded the motion.

ROLL CALL VOTE

Mayor Braser called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Paulsen, Sherrod, Stowe, Bauer, Bumpus, Copple, Cosky, and Fischer voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.

APPOINTMENTS

Mayor Braser appointed Alicia Cosky to the DeKalb County Historical Society as the city representative.

MOTION

Alderperson Stowe motioned to confirm the appointments and Alderperson Bumpus seconded the motion.

VOICE VOTE

Mayor Braser called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 8-0.

OTHER NEW BUSINESS

Alderperson Cosky extended a thanks to City Engineer Mark Bushnell and Community Director John Sauter for the path on Maplewood and extended thanks to Brian Grainger.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION

Alderperson Stowe motioned to adjourn the meeting at 6:54 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://www.cityofsycamore.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_08212023-168