United City of Yorkville City Council met March 10.
Here is the minutes provided by the council:
Mayor Purcell called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. and led the Council in the Pledge of Allegiance.
ROLL CALL
City Clerk Pickering called the roll.
Ward I Koch Present
Transier Present
Ward II Milschewski Present
Plocher Present
Ward III Funkhouser Present
Frieders Present
Ward IV Tarulis Present
Peterson Absent
Staff present: City Administrator Olson, City Clerk Pickering, Chief of Police Jensen, Deputy Chief of Police Mikolasek, Deputy Chief of Police Pfizenmaier, Public Works Director Dhuse, Community Development Director Barksdale-Noble, Finance Director Fredrickson, Parks and Recreation Director Evans, Assistant City Administrator Willrett, Building Code Official Ratos, Purchasing Manager Parker, Attorney Orr, and EEI Engineer Sanderson.
QUORUM
A quorum was established.
AMENDMENTS TO THE AGENDA None.
ANNOUNCEMENT
St. Patrick’s Day Event Alderman Frieders announced that a St. Patrick’s Day event would be held in downtown Yorkville on Saturday, March 14th. Events will include a 5k run starting at 9:00 a.m. and an Irish parade starting at 11:00 a.m. Live Irish music and food specials will be available at the businesses located downtown throughout the day.
PRESENTATIONS
Recognition for Life Saving Efforts
Yorkville police officer Kyle Borowski and Kendall County Sheriff’s deputy Jason Larsen, as well as Kendall County public safety dispatcher Lindsay Ingram, and Bristol Kendall Fire Department Lieutenant Nate King, and firefighter/paramedics Jen Lynd, Chris Chasten, Randy Roberts and Alex Dunn were recognized for their life saving efforts in saving the life of Yorkville resident, Mr. Joe Martinez. Mr. Martinez was present, and he thanked those who saved his life.
PUBLIC HEARINGS None.
CITIZEN COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS Mike Rennels, programming manager of Fox Valley Television (FVTV) which is the public access arm of the Southwest Fox Valley Cable and Telecommunications Consortium, said that the cable consortium was formed in 2002 by Yorkville and four other communities and has provided public access programming since 2003. He encouraged the City Council to appoint a representative to the board and become more involved in the consortium. He mentioned that the last time a Yorkville representative had served on the board was 2014. He asked the City Council to consider remaining in the cable consortium.
Fred Wade spoke in support of the cable consortium and FVTV. He mentioned that while attending Waubonsee Community College, he had worked as an intern at FVTV and he was later part of the team that has recorded Yorkville City Council meetings. He said that FVTV has great value because of its’ promotion of community and its’ ability to teach future workers about real world communication in media.
CONSENT AGENDA None.
MINUTES FOR APPROVAL Mayor Purcell entertained a motion to approve the minutes of the regular City Council meeting of February 25, 2020 as presented. So moved by Alderman Transier; seconded by Alderman Koch.
Motion unanimously approved by a viva voce vote.
BILLS FOR PAYMENT Mayor Purcell entertained a motion to approve the bill list in the amount of $371,925.05 (vendors); $309,610.26 (payroll period ending 02/21/20); for a total of $681,535.31. So moved by Alderman Milschewski; seconded by Alderman Frieders.
Motion approved by a roll call vote. Ayes-7 Nays-0
Milschewski-aye, Funkhouser-aye, Tarulis-aye, Transier-aye, Plocher-aye, Frieders-aye, Koch-aye
REPORTS
MAYOR’S REPORT
Resolution Authorizing Notice of the Termination of its Participation in the Southwest Fox Valley Cable and Telecommunications Consortium (Cable Consortium Exit Notice) (CC 2020-10) Mayor Purcell stated he would like to discuss this agenda item. Administrator Olson said that the North Aurora materials are in the packet. After the meeting packet was posted, Yorkville received North Aurora’s formal withdrawal notice from the consortium. Administrator Olson said they would like to have this item on the next City Council agenda for continued discussion and consideration. Per the bylaws of the organization, the City has ninety days to decide if we would like to continue with the consortium. Mayor Purcell said the city’s contribution is approximately $100,000 of which we get back roughly $35,000; resulting in a net contribution of approximately $65,000 a year.
Discussion took place regarding the importance of transparency and the value that FVTV provides by videotaping city council meetings for viewing by the public. It was discussed that the city has not had a representative on the consortium board for over six years and that we might be responding too quickly to leave the consortium when other options have not been explored. There is a concern if we leave the cable consortium that the money we save will not go back into transparency. A few ideas that were discussed included the possibility of having the cable consortium meeting held in Yorkville, of having FVTV start videotaping committee meetings, as well as having them tag the City on their own Facebook page. The benefits of the education aspect of the FVTV public access studio and programming were seen as positives factors of remaining a member of the consortium.
A discussion took place about not being ready to make any decision yet. The elected officials would like to see what options the city has first before making a decision to leave the consortium. It was mentioned that we need to do our due diligence on how this could affect the consortium as well as the city.
Mayor Purcell said this would be on the next agenda.
PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE REPORT
No report.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE REPORT
AARP Grant Report (EDC 2020-20) Alderman Milschewski made a motion to authorize staff to apply for the AARP Community Challenge 2020 grant program; seconded by Alderman Frieders.
Director Noble mentioned that staff would like to apply for a $10,000 grant and there is not a financial match required by the city. The grant is open to government entities and community organizations that want to improve livable areas for residents. It was also mentioned that the city’s long-time minute taker was responsible for bringing this grant to the attention of the city staff.
Motion approved by a roll call vote. Ayes-7 Nays-0
Tarulis-aye, Transier-aye, Plocher-aye, Frieders-aye, Koch-aye, Milschewski-aye, Funkhouser-aye
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE REPORT
No report.
ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE REPORT Ordinance 2020-15 Amending the City Code (Elected Officials Salary Increase) (ADM 2020-15) Alderman Funkhouser made a motion to approve an Ordinance Amending the City Code (Elected Officials Salary Increase) and authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to execute; seconded by Alderman Milschewski.
It was mentioned that elected officials not only spend time attending city meetings, but they also spend a significant amount of time reading packet materials in preparation for city meetings. It was brought up that elected official salaries are significantly higher in some of the other communities and that Yorkville elected officials have not received a salary increase in fourteen years. It was noted that the increase would not go into effect until 2023.
Motion approved by a roll call vote. Ayes-6 Nays-1
Transier-aye, Plocher-aye, Frieders-aye, Koch-nay, Milschewski-aye, Funkhouser-aye, Tarulis-aye
Public Works Space Needs Analysis (ADM 2020-18) Alderman Funkhouser made a motion to authorize staff to issue a request for qualifications for the analysis of the Public Works and Parks maintenance facilities; seconded by Alderman Frieders.
Mayor Purcell asked Administrator Olson to give an overview of the space needs analysis. Administrator Olson discussed that there are generally three components of the space needs analysis. With the space needs analysis, the intent is to utilize as much as possible of the previous municipal facilities master plan that was done in 2005 and the building conditions assessment that was done in 2017. The consultant will then take that information and give the City a site evaluation of the existing public works and parks departments sites, along with the land adjacent to both sites, as well as the eight acres of vacant land at Kendall Marketplace. Additionally, the consultant will give the City a cost estimate of a few different options, along with letting the city know if there is a way to limit the cost anywhere.
It was questioned if the proposal comes back and is under $25,000, could the contract be approved by the Mayor or staff without coming back to the City Council for approval. Administrator Olson confirmed that contracts under $25,000 could be approved without further council action. It was further mentioned that the elected officials would like to see the proposals and they asked if this could be brought back to City Council to discuss after the proposals are received before any final decisions are made. Mayor Purcell commented that he has the authority to move forward on this without City Council approval, but that he would like to get the City Council’s feedback on this item.
Motion approved by a roll call vote. Ayes-7 Nays-0
Plocher-aye, Frieders-aye, Koch-aye, Milschewski-aye, Funkhouser-aye, Tarulis-aye, Transier-aye
PARK BOARD No report.
PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION
No report.
CITY COUNCIL REPORT
No report.
CITY CLERK’S REPORT
No report.
COMMUNITY & LIAISON REPORT
National Suicide Prevention + Action Month Proclamation Project Alderman Frieders reported that the National Suicide Prevention + Action Month Proclamation project currently has forty-five communities, two counties, and fourteen states that have agreed to issue proclamations for a potential impact of reaching 1.8 million people across the country.
STAFF REPORT No report.
Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Presentation (CC 2020-11) City Administrator Olson gave a PowerPoint presentation on the fiscal year 2020 budget (see attached). He said a public hearing on the budget is scheduled to be held at the March 24th meeting. The budget needs to be approved by April 30, 2020.
ADDITIONAL BUSINESS
Census Alderman Milschewski mentioned that this is a census year and she asked if any outreach was going to be done. Administrator Olson said that the City is planning on doing a public outreach push for the last two weeks of March. He noted that the online census forms would be available by April 1st.
CITIZEN COMMENTS
Old Jail Johanna Byram and Lisa Wolancevich with the Yorkville Historic Preservation Society were present to give an update on the Old Jail. Ms. Byram shared that on February 28th the Illinois State Preservation Office Advisory Council unanimously approved the old Kendall County Sheriff’s Residence and Jail for a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination will now go to Washington, DC for final approval. Ms. Byram mentioned that during her research she found copies of Yorkville’s old Sanborn maps on the Library of Congress website. Sanborn maps were produced from the early 1800s through 1960. For anyone interested in viewing the old Sanborn maps, the Library of Congress has scanned copies of the Yorkville Sanborn maps from February 1886, November 1892, February 1898, and September 1905. The maps are viewable on the Library of Congress website.
EXECUTIVE SESSION None.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Purcell entertained a motion to adjourn the City Council meeting. So moved by Alderman Frieders; seconded by Alderman Koch.
Motion unanimously approved by a viva voce vote.
Meeting adjourned at 8:31p.m.
https://www.yorkville.il.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/3472
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