DeKalb Times

City of Naperville SECA Commission met Feb. 19.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

A. CALL TO ORDER:

Chairman Brodhead called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM.

B. ROLL CALL:

Present 9 - Judith Brodhead, Natalia Dagenhart, Rich Gannon, Allison Longenbaugh, Kader Sakkaria, David Scriven-Young, Lai So, Arthur Zards, and Rachna Prasad

Absent 1 - Tom Miers

Commissioner Dagenhart arrived at 6:05 PM.

Also present: Melanie Marcordes, Director of Community Services; Dawn Portner, City Clerk and ARTFORUM; Michael Gold, ARTFORUM; Shannon Greene-Robb, ARTFORUM; Marilyn Schweitzer, Resident; Phil Buchanan, Resident

C. PUBLIC FORUM:

Marilyn Schweitzer (Naperville) asked if the City took ownership, or plans to take ownership, of the Century Walk statue of Genevieve Townsley that was located on private property in front of the former Barnes & Noble and if there is a plan for the statue to be returned to the same location. She suggested that the statue be relocated to Naper Settlement.

Dawn Portner, City Clerk, reported that the statue was removed for safety during construction on Washington Street and the plan is to return the statue to

its original location.

D. OLD BUSINESS:

1. Approve the SECA Commission meeting minutes of January 22, 2025

Commissioner Scriven-Young made a motion to approve the SECA Commission meeting minutes of January 22, 2025, seconded by Sakkaria. The motion was approved by unanimous voice vote.

2. Discuss Ms. Schweitzer’s emailed public comments from the 12/12/24 meeting

Marilyn Schweitzer (Naperville) clarified her comments from 12/12/24 and expressed concerns on SECA grant fund policy, SECA's mission and goals, what requires City Council approval, publicly sharing SECA applications, and improving public understanding of the SECA grant fund under the governance of the open meetings act.

Commissioners discussed public posting of SECA applications, funding long-time events versus new events, adding a short summary question to the SECA application, maintaining the anonymity of individual SECA Commissioner recommendations, public art being allowable on private property with owner agreement, allocating funding above an applicant's requested amount, and the necessity of reviewing and revising the SECA mission.

Brodhead recognized Michael Gold to speak on ARTFORUM. Gold stated that ARTFORUM hopes to become a public-private partnership with the City and is currently still forming a structure, an advisory council, and seeking their federal 501(c)(3) certification. They are not absorbing or affiliated with Century Walk.

Portner stated that existing Century Walk art is being maintained by the Century Walk curator and funded through a City Obligation for public art maintenance.

Brodhead stated that the mural at 222 S. Main Street should not have been approved when it was introduced under New Business at the 09/24/24 meeting.

E. NEW BUSINESS:

1. Approve the CY26 SECA Grant Fund Application timeline

Longenbaugh asked for the November and December SECA Commission meetings held in Council Chambers to be filmed and broadcast.

Commissioner So made a motion to approve the CY26 SECA Grant Fund Application timeline, seconded by Prasad. The motion was approved by unanimous voice vote.

F. ADJOURNMENT:

Commissioner Scriven-Young made a motion to adjourn the SECA Commission meeting of February 19, 2025 at 7:23 PM, seconded by Dagenhart. The motion was approved by unanimous voice vote.

https://naperville.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7259415&GUID=CD2257C4-41FD-46B4-8EED-7F96673B5582