City of DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes | City of DeKalb, Illinois/Facebook
City of DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes | City of DeKalb, Illinois/Facebook
City of Dekalb City Council met May 27,
Here is the agenda provided by the council:
A. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
B. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
C. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
D. PRESENTATIONS
None.
E. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
F. APPOINTMENTS
1. Appointing Greg Perkins to the Finance Advisory Committee for a Four-Year Term through December 31, 2029.
G. CONSENT AGENDA
1. Minutes of the Regular City Council Meeting of May 12, 2025.
2. Accounts Payable and Payroll through May 27, 2025, in the Amount of $3,786,991.74.
3. Freedom of Information Action (FOIA) Report – April 2025.
H. PUBLIC HEARINGS
None.
I. CONSIDERATIONS
1. Consideration of a Supplemental 2025 Round of Human Services Funding.
City Manager’s Summary: This Agenda item is prompted by contact with local human service agencies struggling to fund local services, many of which primarily benefit low and moderate income residents. Since 1998, the City has awarded human services funding (HSF) grants as a means of supporting local non-profit agencies that provide essential social services for the
Assistive services, including hearing assistance devices, available upon request.most vulnerable individuals and families in the community. Grantees have traditionally been considered in order of the following priorities:
▪ Providers of services that help meet basic emergency needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter.
▪ Providers of services that are preventative in nature and promote the highest degree of self support, self-care, and self-help; and
▪ Providers of services that seek to enhance the quality of life of those whose basic needs are already met, with priority given to services that primarily benefit low and moderate income residents.
Targeted populations include, but are not limited to, individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, individuals who have substance abuse or mental health conditions, victims of domestic and/or sexual violence, abused and neglected children, older adults, individuals with disabilities, at-risk children and youth, and households with low to moderate income.
In its first year (FY1998), HSF grants totaled $184,000. The total budgeted amount was increased to $200,000 in FY2022 and to $225,000 in FY2024.
The audited General Fund numbers, which are in the final stages of compilation for the Council’s review at a meeting in June, reveal a higher-than-expected year-end reserve, which makes a consideration such as this fiscally feasible. The 2024 year-end General Fund balance does not guarantee handsome surpluses for years to come, but it does open the possibility of an increase in human service funding in 2025, pending Council review and approval.
The most recent history of General Fund Balances is seen in the following table:
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Beginning Fund Balance | 9,073,797 | 7,402,850 | 10,523,566 | 12,286,411 | 19,625,869 | 25,317,478 | 31,944,119 |
| Total Revenues | 36,017,345 | 38,704,007 | 38,589,510 | 44,464,331 | 47,079,526 | 49,339,261 | 52,567,868 |
| Total Expenditures | 37,688,292 | 36,194,451 | 36,827,803 | 36,862,084 | 41,387,917 | 42,712,620 | 46,999,448 |
| Net of Revenues & Expenditures | (1,670,947) | 2,509,556 | 1,761,707 | 7,602,247 | 5,691,609 | 6,626,641 | 5,568,420 |
| Fund Balance Adjustments | 611,160 | 1,138 | (262,789) | ||||
| Ending Fund Balance | 7,402,850 | 10,523,566 | 12,286,411 | 19,625,869 | 25,317,478 | 31,944,119 | 37,512,539 |
Assistive services, including hearing assistance devices, available upon request.
The City Manager proposes the following:
a. A supplemental human services allocation of an additional $75,000 to bring the overall FY2025 funding to $300,000.
b. The mailing of applications for supplemental funding to those agencies that applied and were granted some level of human service funding in late January 2025 (23 in all).
c. A scoring metric to establish eligibility and levels of funding with a preference for meeting basic needs such as housing, food, and care for the elderly and disabled.
d. As with the core grants issued in January of each year, this supplemental funding round would be reviewed and scored by members of a seven-member City review team led by Jennifer Yochem, the City’s Community Services Coordinator. The grant requests and the review group’s consensus recommendations would then be considered by the City Manager in advance of bringing them to the Council for final action.
City Council direction is requested.
2. Consideration of a Proposal to Revise Chapter 23 “Unified Development Ordinance” (UDO), Section 7.18.07 “Other Development Restrictions”, to Permit “Tasting Rooms” in Locally Licensed Cannabis Dispensaries.
City Manager’s Summary: Nakia McAdoo, a principal with Excelleaf Dispensary at 305 E. Locust Street, has requested City Council guidance about the prospect of opening a “tasting room” in the dispensary. Currently, Section 7.18.07, paragraph 12, the City’s UDO prohibits any cannabis business establishment from allowing any person “to smoke, inhale or consume cannabis on the property.”
The Council has the authority, upon the recommendation of the Planning & Zoning Commission, to revise UDO provisions. Additionally, state statutes give latitude to local jurisdictions regarding the setting of “reasonable zoning ordinances” with respect to cannabis business establishments. Municipalities such as Carbondale, the home of Southern Illinois University, have permitted cannabis “lounges” where cannabis patrons may smoke or ingest cannabis products. Smoking lounges are typically separate from the main retail cannabis services because of the extraordinary HVAC requirements to mitigate the adverse health impacts of captive smoke and to disperse the odorous exhaust.
Although a frequent analog for cannabis social use space is a bar that serves liquor, it should be noted that the consumption of cannabis poses uniquely different onset and duration characteristics for edible as opposed to inhaled cannabis.
Ms. McAdoo proposes only the consumption of limited quantities of various edible cannabis products and is not interested in featuring inhaled products in her proposed tasting room. Space for the tasting room has existed in the facility at 305 E. Locust Street since its opening in November 2023 but the room’s occupancy would depend on a proposed revision to Section 7.18.07 of the UDO as well as an occupancy permit from the City’s Building Department. Any sales from among featured edible products in the proposed tasting room would generate sales tax at the local cannabis rate of 3%.
City Council direction is recommended.
Assistive services, including hearing assistance devices, available upon request.
J. RESOLUTIONS
1. Resolution 2025-055 Authorizing a Third Amendment to the Land Lease and Solar Easement Agreement with DeKalb Taylor Solar, LLC (SunVest).
City Manager’s Summary: At the end of June, the “Development Term” in the current lease between SunVest Solar and the City expires. The “Development Term” is defined as the initial period of monitoring and testing on the City’s 48-acre parcel as well as the construction period up to the final occupancy permit. During the Development Term, the City receives a payment of $3,000 a year and a crop damage payment of $300 per acre. The “Operating Term” begins after the occupancy permit is issued. During the 25-year Operating Term, the initial rent is $1,900 an acre or $91,200 per year, with a 2% annual escalator.
Although substantial progress in the construction of the solar field has occurred, SunVest does not believe the solar field can be completed and energized by the June expiration date. SunVest has requested a third amendment to the lease, which extends the Development Term to December 31, 2025, after which the Operating Term will begin and the annual rent of $91,200 would be due on or before February 15, 2026. In its request, the Company cited the extended period for the FAA approval of its non-aeronautical use on Airport property (received on April 10) and other delays as outside agencies used all the time allowed by statute to issue reviews and approvals.
City Council approval is recommended.
2. Resolution 2025-056 Authorizing a Supplemental Professional Construction Engineering Services Agreement with Hampton, Lenzini, and Renwick, Inc. for the Widening and Reconstruction of Peace Road in an Amount Not to Exceed $279,475.
City Manager’s Summary: On April 28, the City Manager reported that preliminary audit findings relating to the Fiscal Year 2024 City Budget showed a higher-than-expected General Fund surplus (higher by $3,678,620) that would enable the Council to restore a positive balance in the City’s Motor Fuel Tax Fund (Fund 210). The projected imbalance in Fund 210 reflected higher-than-expected close-out costs associated with the N. First Street bridge project, the Lucinda Bridge project, and the Peace Road/Fairview widening project.
Accordingly, on April 28, the Council transferred $1.5 million from the General Fund balance to Fund 210. The FY2024 budget amendments not only restored a positive balance in Fund 210 but also provided local funding to pay close-out costs in a timely fashion to IDOT and Hampton, Lenzini & Renwick (HLR), the consulting engineer on both the bridge and Peace Road projects.
The attached resolution 2025-056 and the following Resolutions 2025-057, 2025-058, 2025- 059, 2025-060, and 2025-061 (six in all) provide the action steps for the Council to pay final construction and engineering costs for these projects, within specific IDOT guidelines. As the Council will recall from the April 28 meeting, further action was needed because of utility delays associated with both bridge jobs, and higher-than-expected bid costs for the Peace Road widening that the Council was willing to assume in 2024. Each of the two projects (Peace Road and the bridges) has three amending resolutions: one amends the authorized engineering expenditures, one amends the authorized construction expenditures, and one amends the formal allotment of MFT and/or Rebuild Illinois funds in the project. These resolutions may be taken in omnibus fashion.
Assistive services, including hearing assistance devices, available upon request.
Peace Road Widening Project – Summary of Revisions:
a. Resolution 2025-056 raises the previous Council-approved limit for the reimbursement of HLR services for the Peace Road widening project by $33,008.24, or from $406,991.76 to $440,000. The attached supplemental agreement from HLR encompasses the IDOT authorization requirements for this project.
b. Resolution 2025-057 raises the previous limit for the appropriation of motor fuel tax funds for the construction of the Peace Road widening project by $11,500, or from $2,000,000 to $2,011,500.
c. Resolution 2025-058 approves a supplemental resolution that requests IDOT authorization for a previous allotment of MFT funds in the amount of $545,000 for construction and engineering relating to the Peace Road project.
N. First and Lucinda Bridge Projects – Summary of Revisions:
d. Resolution 2025-059 raises the previous Council-approved limit for the reimbursement of HLR services for construction engineering relating to the N. First Street and Lucinda Avenue bridges by $161,020, or from $544,188 to $705,211.
e. Resolution 2025-060 raises the City’s bridge construction obligation by $461,357.15 or from $1,121,000 to $1,582,357.15.
f. Resolution 2025-061 approves a supplemental resolution that requests IDOT authorization for an MFT and Rebuild Illinois allotment for bridge construction and engineering totaling $800,000. The following table details this supplementary authorization:
| Purpose | MFT Amount | Rebuild Illinois Amount |
| Contract Construction | $242,555.16 | $89,233.84 |
| Engineering | $468,211.00 | 0 |
| Total | $710,766.16 | $89,233.84 |
City Council approval is recommended.
3. Resolution 2025-057 Authorizing an Amendment to the Joint Funding Agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation for the Reconstruction of Peace Road to Increase the City’s Local Share of Construction Costs from $2,000,000 to $2,011,500.
City Manager’s Summary: See Item J2, above. City Council approval is recommended.
4. Resolution 2025-058 Requesting Illinois Department of Transportation Authorization to Appropriate Motor Fuel Tax Funds in the Amount of $545,500 for the Peace Road/Fairview Drive Widening Project.
City Manager’s Summary: See Item J2, above. City Council approval is recommended.
Assistive services, including hearing assistance devices, available upon request.
5. Resolution 2025-059 Authorizing a Supplemental Professional Construction Engineering Services Agreement with Hampton, Lenzini, and Renwick, Inc. for the Replacement of the Bridges at N. First Street and Lucinda Avenue in an Amount Not to Exceed $161,020.
City Manager’s Summary: See Item J2, above. City Council approval is recommended.
6. Resolution 2025-060 Authorizing an Amendment to the Joint Funding Agreement with the Illinois Department of Transportation for the Replacement of Bridges at N. First Street and Lucinda Avenue to Increase the City’s Local Share of Construction Costs from $1,121,000 to $1,582,357.15.
City Manager’s Summary: See Item J2, above. City Council approval is recommended.
7. Resolution 2025-061 Requesting Illinois Department of Transportation Authorization to Appropriate Motor Fuel Tax Funds and the Remaining Rebuild Illinois Funds for a Total Allocation of $800,000 for the N. First Street and Lucinda Avenue Bridge Projects.
City Manager’s Summary: See Item J2, above.
City Council approval is recommended.
8. Resolution 2025-062 Authorizing the Award of a Contract to D. Ryan Tree & Landscaping Service, LLC for Hazardous Tree Removal and Tree Pruning in an Amount Not to Exceed $230,300.
City Manager’s Summary: The Public Works Department recently invited bids for critical community tree maintenance, encompassing the removal of 40 hazardous trees and the trimming of 738 parkway trees. The bid responses are shown in the table below:
| Tree Removal | Tree Pruning | Total | |
| D. Ryan Tree & Landscape LLC | $30,000 | $200,300 | $230,300 |
| Kramer Tree Specialists Inc. | $102,977 | $350,578 | $453,555 |
| Tree Care Enterprises Inc. | $86,800 | $452,840 | $539,640 |
This 100% reimbursement funding will support a comprehensive urban forest enhancement project, encompassing the pruning or removal of hazardous trees, as noted above, as well as the planting of 50 new trees within targeted census tracts. Compliance with the grant also requires some revisions to the City's tree ordinance which will soon be brought before the Council.
City Council approval is recommended.
Assistive services, including hearing assistance devices, available upon request.
K. ORDINANCES – SECOND READING
None.
L. ORDINANCES – FIRST READING
1. Ordinance 2025-025 Approving a Special Use Permit to Allow for the Construction of a New Public Swimming Pool Facility at 1403 Sycamore Road (DeKalb Park District).
City Manager’s Summary: As Planning Director Dan Olson writes in his background memorandum, the City has received a special use permit and variance application from the DeKalb Park District to allow for the construction of a new public swimming pool facility at 1403 Sycamore Road. The demolition of the previous pool and associated equipment was recently completed. The subject site is zoned “SFR2” Single-Family Residential District, and the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) requires a special use permit for any new public building or facility in such a zoning district.
A new zero-depth entry pool (with an approximate 710 swimmer load) will be cast-in-place, with an adjacent spray pad. Four new waterslides with supporting pumps will be a part of the new aquatic work. The parking lots will be updated and expanded along with additional paving to service the new pool features. The proposed work will also include renovation of the first floor of the existing Hopkins Community Center (Park District Building). New features in the center will include guest services, a rental room, public restrooms, and new locker rooms. There will be two additions to both sides of the Community Center, which will include new space for utility services, pool equipment and storage as well as pool-support offices. Finally, utilities will be updated across the site.
The total estimated cost of the work is about $14 million and work on the new features is expected to commence this summer. The previous pool was constructed in 1974 and was closed before the 2024 season. A public swimming pool has occupied the site since the 1930’s. The District indicates the new pool is planned to open in June of 2026.
The Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing regarding the special use petition at their meeting on May 19, 2025. By a vote of 5 to 0 (Commissioner Maxwell was absent) the Commission recommended City Council approval of a special use permit to allow the construction of a new public swimming pool facility at 1403 Sycamore Road per the site plan dated 4-7-25 and exterior elevations dated 3-21-25 and labeled Exhibit A in the staff report.
City Council approval of the Planning & Zoning Commission recommendation is requested.
M. REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
1. Council Member Reports.
2. City Manager Report.
N. EXECUTIVE SESSION
None.
O. ADJOURNMENT
https://www.cityofdekalb.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_05272025-2700
Alerts Sign-up