City of Yorkville Administration Committee met May 17.
Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:
Committee Members In Attendance:
Chairman Jackie Milschewski Alderman Alex Hernandez
Alderman Chris Funkhouser Alderman Joe Plocher (arr. 6:05pm)
Other City Officials In Attendance:
City Administrator Bart Olson Finance Director Rob Fredrickson
Assistant City Administrator Erin Willrett Public Works Director Eric Dhuse
Code Official Tim Evans Director Parks & Rec Tim Evans
Facilities Manager Steve Raasch
Others in Attendance:
Thomas Milschewski Howard Manthei
Val Burd Carol Sheeley
Susan Kritzberg Lisa Wolancevich
Michael Wolancevich
The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm by Chairman Jackie Milschewski.
Citizen Comments: None
Minutes for Correction/Approval: March 21, 2018 The minutes were approved as presented.
New Business:
1.ADM 2018-38 Monthly Budget Report for March and April 2018
Mr. Olson said the sales tax figures exceeded the monthly projection by $15,000 for January purchases reflected in April. March receipts for February purchases exceeded the projections by $10,000. He said the city may actually meet their original budget estimates. State income tax is ahead of schedule regarding IML estimates. In the leader's meeting, the legislators and Governor wanted to add another reduction in the income taxes in the budget, but the outcome is unknown at this time.
2. ADM 2018-39 Monthly Treasurer's Report for April 2018
Mr. Fredrickson reported the following highlights:
$13,642,346 Beginning Fund Balance
$30,477,846 YTD Revenues
$31,508,577 YTD Expenses
$12,611,614 Projected Ending Fund Balance
This moves to the Mayor's report for City Council on May 22nd.
3. ADM 2018-40 Cash Statement for February and March 2018 For information, no discussion.
4. ADM 2018-41 Bills for Payment
No discussion.
5. ADM 2018-42 Monthly Website Report for March and April 2018
Ms. Willrett said website visitors have greatly increased and she compared statistics from 2017 and 2018. She said more people are getting information from social media as well. The greatest number of hits on the homepage is for baseball. She will verify some event dates for possible discrepancies.
6. ADM 2018-43 Required Reporting to Municipality by Yorkville Pension Board
Mr. Fredrickson said this is an annual report comparing city actuarial value with what the Illinois Department of Insurance reports. This is informational and will be presented to the Police Pension Board and to City Council on the Mayor's report, both on May 22nd.
7. ADM 2018-44 Fiscal Year 2019 – Downtown TIF Fund Budget Amendment
This amendment was previously budgeted and approved in July, 2017 according to Mr. Fredrickson, however, work at 206 Heustis was not done and is now scheduled for June. This action will now reflect the work in the correct fiscal year of 2019. Other carryovers from 2017 are completion of the west alley sidewalk and removal of the ITEP grant funding and related expenses. This moves to the Mayor's report.
8. ADM 2018-45 Municipal Aggregation Renewal
NIMEC solicited electricity bids on behalf of the city and found a rate of 7.84 cents vs. Com Ed's rate of 7.7 cents. The city will remain with ComEd. No further action per Mr. Fredrickson.
9. ADM 2018-46 Park Board
Alderman Funkhouser brought this matter forward for discussion. He said a significant number of Park Board meetings are canceled and rescheduled due to lack of a quorum, but not due to lack of content. He suggested the items could be handled in the Public Safety committee. Alderman Plocher asked if the statutes require a Park Board. Mr. Olson said State Statute does not require the Board and he suggested a Public Welfare committee inside of Public Safety. Alderman Funkhouser said he is OK with staff making some of the decisions. He said it takes time to assemble agendas and re-post after meeting cancellations.
Mr. Evans was asked to compile a history of the Park Board. There are 7 Park Board positions, but one position is vacant. Alderman Funkhouser praised the Park Board, but said he is just looking for efficiency and volunteers are difficult to find. Chairman Milschewski said future increases in development could change participation levels.
It was decided to send this to the June 12th Council meeting for further discussion under Additional Business.
Citizen Comments: None (out of sequence)
Old Business:
1. ADM 2018-30 Old Jail RFI
Mr. Olson said the RFI was updated and there is information in the agenda packet about the Clay County Jail (which is now closed), attendance numbers from Kendall County Courthouse Museum and the status of the old jail.
Pete Ratos and Eric Dhuse recently inspected the building and said the older part is sinking and full of mold. Staff made two recommendations: 1) demolish the building at a cost of $40,000-$80,000 and 2) if entire building is not torn down, the new part (garage & room above it) should be torn down to salvage the roof and secure the remainder, at a cost of $140,000 to $180,000. Both options are TIF-eligible in TIF #2, however, there are no funds in the TIF at this time. He said if any further sinking occurs, the building should be demolished. Mr. Olson said a board-up company will be securing the building regardless.
After staff inspections, the city contacted previously interested parties, but said they would need to inspect as well. Mr. Olson said he is not confident that someone would be interested in the building due to the condition. If the city goes through the RFI process, a possible buyer could be found, but there is the risk that the entire structure could collapse within two months.
Krysti Noble spoke with Illinois Landmarks to get information regarding options if the building is placed on the Historic Registry. If it is placed on the registry, any further changes to the building would be prohibited and the building could be eligible for tax credits. Grants may be available.
The discussion was opened to the citizens present. Lisa Wolancevich, Chairman of the recently formed Yorkville Historic Preservation Association/5-member board, said they have filed for their 501-3c. She has discussed options with the Illinois Historic Preservation and said the building has been on an endangered historic site list since 2004. A rep from Illinois Landmarks would like to view the building to possibly grant historic status to the entire building. Ms. Wolancevich said if historic status is granted, a 20% tax credit is available if it is on landmark status. She said her group could move forward with the landmark status, however, Mr. Olson said the city must give their consent as well.
Thomas Milschewski, Co-Chairman of the association, displayed artifacts and photos provided by some of the families who lived in the old jail. Items would be donated for display. He would like to share information on Facebook's “Then and Now” which he started.
Ms. Wolancevich said they would like to restore the 2 floors of the residence to be an exhibition center and feature the Then and Now as well as tributes to former resident families. Mr. Milschewski would like to be curator of the museum. They also spoke to a demolition company, who said the old building is sound and recommended demolishing the new section at a cost of $50,000 and $30,000 for breezeway. They have identified businesses to donate space for fund-raisers and donations of time, identified a grant and circulated a petition in favor of the project. The group also wants to form an ad hoc committee of local business people.
This group met on April 5th and did a cleanup around the jail and planted flowers. Ms. Wolancevich said this project could improve the downtown and build economic growth. She was the Director of Events at Wheaton College and has experience raising money for projects and founded a not for profit group.
Alderman Funkhouser asked if the city would be liable for the building while the Association raises money for renovation. He also suggested the idea of combining this property with the nearby county-owned Olson property to create a bigger opportunity. Mr. Olson said the city will prepare both an RFI for lease or purchase and RFP for possible full or partial demolition in the event of a safety issue. Mr. Olson will also contact the county regarding the possible sale of their building. Fundraising ideas should be packaged as part of the RFI. A status update will be provided at the July Administration Committee meeting.
Additional Business: None
There was no further business and the meeting adjourned at 6:59 pm.
https://www.yorkville.il.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2611
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