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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarch 21, 1985 CC VOLUME L March 21, 1985 176B COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS COUNCIL-MANAGER FORM OF GOVERNMENT ADJOURNED MEETING An adjourned meeting of the Council of the City of Elgin, Illinois, was held on March 21, 1985 , in the Council Chambers of City Hall. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Verbic. ROLL CALL Roll call was answered by Counclmen Andersen, Gilliam, Hansen, and Mayor Verbic. Absent : Councilmen Schmidt , Shales, and Waters. PUBLIC HEARING 1985 HOUSING AND COMMUNITY BLOCK GRANT FUNDS Mayor Verbic: The first request to be presented tonight is from the First Congregational Church. Attorney Fred Steffen: I am a member of the First Congregational Church here in Elgin and you have before you our proposals and our exhibits. Some very exciting things are about to happen here on the eastside of Elgin. On March 10 , 1985 , the First Congregational Church approved a major capital fund drive and your can see by looking at exhibit A that the Church is prepared to raise and spend approximately $450 , 000 improving the facility at the corner of Chicago and Villa Street . The Church is also prepared to raise and spend an additional $400 , 000 at three specific sites within two and a half blocks of the Church. They are the Franklin Grade School at 37 S. Geneva Street , the Everett Apartments at 55 Park Row, and the Elgin Food Mart at 301 East Chicago Street . The specific proposal for 1985 HCD Funds: Acquisition of Franklin School from U-46 . Immediate Use of Part of Franklin Schhool - to provide a private, non-profit facility for the short term care of children who face family crisis situations. . Particularly children exposed to physical and/or emotional abuse from parents or others. Further to provide a home like atmosphere where the entire family may receive counseling in developing stronger family structures by using existing community agencies. $ 75 , 000 176C VOLUME L Rehabilitation of the Everett Apartments. The Church would acquire the premises and convert them into rental units for low to moderate income elderly. Rents would be set on a not-for-profit basis, only enough to meet operating expenses and retire any mortgage. $180 , 000 .00 Elgin Food Mart Project . City to install cut street parking along entire east side of Geneva Street between Chicago and DuPage Streets and along the West side of Park Row. Already budgeted. Total project Summary Acquire Franklin Grade School $ 75 , 000 Rehabilitate the Everett Apartments $180 ,000 Total Request $255 , 000 Mayor Verbic: The next proposal has been submitted by the Ecker Center for Mental Health. Bill Sundblad, Busines Manager for Ecker Center: We are requesting $5200 .00 of HCD Funds to renovate a bathroom at 396 Division Street to make it handicap accessible. The property and buildings in this request are located in the Neighborhood Conservation Area and the Low and Moderate Income Neighborhood Area. The use of the Community Development Funds for this will allow the Center to continue to receive Federal Revenue funding. Total Request $ 5 ,200 Mayor Verbic: The next proposal has been submitted by the Neighborhood Housing Services of Elgin. Mary Camacho: Tonight we are supporting several programs which the City has been funding and the first one is the City' s Residential Rehab Rebate Program. Since this program began in 1977 it has been responsible for a considerable amount of home improvement throughout the entire City. The amounts that have been budgeted have also been expended and quite a lot in the NHS area. The Rebate program has been used very effectively in combi- nation with our own NHS Revolving Loan Fund. In a number of cases , we have been able to develop loan packages providing rebate dollars at zero percent interest with the balance from i VOLUME L 176D the NSH funds at a term and interest rate most favorable to the homeowner. We can also combine these financial terms with conventional dollars to maximize the resources available to this area. This type of financing also stimulates private investment and results in more home improvements being made. The Funding that we recommend for this program is ----$100 , 000 Secondly, we support the property acquisition and demolition. In the past several properties in the NSH neighborhood have identified as problem properties. We are requesting that money be allocated for the acquisition and demolition of deteriorated structures within the NHS neighborhood, along with funds for relocation to insure that the occupants are provided with adequate housing. We recommend funding of: For acquisition and demolition $80 , 000 For relocation $20, 000 We recommend continued funding and expansion of the City' s Neighborhood Capital Improvement Program. This program visibly reflects the commitment made by the City to reinvest in the neighborhood, thus encouraging further reinvestment by the property owner and the community as a whole. Amount of Funding and ng Recommended; $75 , 000 We recommend that funding be allocated for School District U-46 toward the continuation of their Building Trades Program in order to provide honds-on experience for these students under the supervision of qualified instructors. Students who have completed at least 2 to 3 years in the building trades courses would be available to work on properties within the NHS area to reduce labor costs for homeowners. The NHS staff would act as the coordinating body, providing the technical expertise and financial assistance when needed. Amount of Funding Recommended: $50 , 000 The final item is a Tool Lending Library. Due to the deteriorated condition of many of the properties located in the NHS neighborhood, the rehabilitation often requires the use of larger tools that would be needed on a one-time basis only. The purchase of such tools is usually cost prohibitive and even the rental can be expensive since they are big items. The NHS is requesting funds for a Tool Lending Library to be administered by the NHS staff. These monies would be used for the purchase, maintenance, replacement and storage of tools that are not easily accessable to the average homeowner. . Amount of Funding Recommended: $7 , 500 176E VOLUME L Mayor Verbic: The next proposal is the YWCA. Wendy Barr, Youth and Day Director at the YWCA: The WYCA see day care as an immediate need in Elgin for children, and it is our hope that we can provide quality day care for low or moderate income families, as well as to other middle class families that might need it . In addition to the child' s needs, the working parents are given emotional support while securing financial support for their families. The YWCA is currently exploring program ideas which are both flexible and creative and we are searching for a site that would provide off-street parking, one which is not located in a high special use area, and has adequate outdoor play area. The YWCA respectfully requests use of HCD funds for the purchase of a facility and for an architectual analysis of this facility to be used as a day care center for infants and children through 12 . The total amount being requested for acquisition is: $145 ,000 James Knowles representing The Greater Downtown Elgin Commission ( GDEC ) : Since the adoption of the Elgin Central Business District Plan in 1984 , the Greater Downtown Elgin Commission has focused its energies on implementing the CBD Plan. The Commission has been pleased with the level of activity in the CBD and wishes to enhance this activity by supporting HCD Funding directed toward the CBD. We have identified three projects which are as follows: The Prairie Path: The GDEC supports Elgin ' s commitment for its part of the Kane County matching grant in the amount of $200 , 000. Downtown Low Interest Loan Program: The GDEC supports the continued funding of this program in the amount of $100 ,000 . Purchase of vacant properties on South Grove Avenue: The GDEC recognizes that development of the South Grove area is a high priority for the City of Elgin as a complementary use for the Clock Tower Plaza and the Prairie Path development . The GDEC proposes that the City begin a program aimed at active purchase of available vacant property in the South Grove area and suggests a first year funding amount of $75, 000 with hopes that this program can be funded in the coming years with HCD funds. VOLUME L 176F I think that you are all aware of the investigations that the GDEC has made in this area. We appreciate your funding our investigations with a total of $5 , 000 and I hope you are pleased to realize that this program is practically completed and less than half of those funds have been expended. We appreciate your support in the past and we look forward in the future. Eugene Mikols: I represent the LeFox partnership and I have proposals here to pass out . As you will notice the proposal is for community development funds for the rehabilitation and adapted reuse of the Douglas Hotel. The two specific proposals objectives are ( 1) to develop housing for low mod senior in town Living; ( 2 ) for the adopted requse of vacant central business district property. This particular proposal outlines a adoptive reuse, rehabili- tation of the Douglas Hotel into 39 in town living units. Thirty-three units would be 1 bedroom apartments and six units would be efficiences. Following is the proposed financing for the project : 1. Purchase costs ( land and building) $ 90,000 2 . Woek accomplised or in progress 12 ,400 3. Block Grant Funding 223 ,000 4 . Commercial and investor financing 633 , 309 $953 , 903 The total request of $223 , 000 allocated to a project of 39 residential units is only a $5 , 718 grant amount per apartment . All of the work functions are projected to be accomplished near the end of the project although grant funds will need to be committed up-front . Mark Abate for the Dundee Avenue Association: I would like to stress that we are not just here asking for block grant funds and we are not doing anything other than this. We are doing a lot of other things without the use of block grant funds . We are doing a lot of calling on individual businessmen, we are rating properties, we are going to put out a newsletter congratulating people for improvements , we are doing a lot of things that won't cost the City any money. The Block Grant proposals are as follows: 1. Purchase and removal of sub-standard structure for the purpose of constructing a parking lot on the site. The lack of off-street parking along Dundee Avenue is a major problem and the reason that so many of the tree banks have been paved and used illegally for parking. 176G VOLUME L Completion of this project is necessary if the tree banks are to be restored and trees planted prior to the State of Illinois improvements to the street , curbs, gutters and sidewalks in 1987 . The exact site would be selected by the City following the identification of possible sites by the City and the Dundee Avenue Association. Estimated Cost . $75 ,000 Establish a revolving loan fund to provide low interest loans for exterior structural improvements. This fund would operate in a manner similar to the fund used for downtown establishments. Estimated Cost . $50 ,000 Close Keep Avenue between Liberty St . and Dundee Avenue and construct a parking lot . This would effectively combine the parking lot at Beef Villa with the current on-street parking on Keep Avenue in front of the shops. Presently available parking in this area is inadequate. Estimated Cost $25 , 000 Funding for a Regional Urban Design Assistance Team ( R/UDAT) . This is a program under which the American Institute of Architects sends teams of skilled practitioners to a host city to help local people solve specific problems. The team members are not paid for their services and would work with the local A. I.A. members and students on the locally determined project , in this case Dundee Avenue. A team from R/UDAT would visit Elgin for three to five days and in cooperation with the local A. I .A. members and students develop architectural and landscape drawings, renderings, and suggestions for the entire Dundee Avenue corridor. . These drawings, suggestions would be given to the City to serve as the blueprint for future private/city improvments to the corridor. The only costs to the city are the out-of- pocket expenses incurred by the visiting team, such as : transportation between Washington, D.C. , and Elgin; meals and lodging for the team members; and any incidential expenses. Estimated Cost $20 , 000 VOLUME L 176H Gifford Park Association, Wayne Stempel, presented the following proposals. Neighborhood Consultant Plan $25,000 Non-Profit/Public Joint Rehabilitation Seed Money Grant . $35 , 000 Riverfront Acquisition (Lower Wellington $100 , 000 Street Cut Parking (or Off-Street ) $50 , 000 to $75 , 000 Roger Dahlstrom stated he would like to read the following proposals from the League of Women Voters of Elgin: 1. Continue the commitment to maintain and upgrade the housing stock through the residential rehabilitation rebate program. $200 , 000 2 . Matching funds for the construction of the Prairie Path. ( no specific amount mentioned) 3 . Continued acquisition and demolition of substandard structures. $60 ,000 4 . Hiring of a part time staffer to seach out under-developed areas on the southeast side that would be appropriate for open space or vest packet parks, tot lots and small nature areas. $10 , 000 5 . Funding for staff to work with local schools, public and private to set up cooperative programs using school buildings and grounds for recreational and park programs. $80, 000 6 . Funding for technical assistance for neighborhood groups that would act as planning groups to develop neighborhood plans $100 , 000 7 . Continue funding the business redevelopment revolving loan program. $100, 000 8. Assistance to grups developing to cost or subsidized day care or after school care programs for low income families. (no budget provided) 9. Acquisition of riverfront property to complete the linear park system north of the Kimball Street Bridge. (No specific amount ) 10. Revision of zoning ordinance for implementing the comprehensive plan updating ordinances to permit high density multiple use in the central business district $70 , 000 176I VOLUME L 11. Acquisition and demolition of the housing complex once known as Casa Linda on William Street , with relocation of inhabitants. (No budget provided) In addition on behalf of the Planning staff, the City Building Department and the City' s Public Property and Recreation Department , I would like to point out to the Council that as a Federal Revenue Sharing recipient , receiving funds in excess of $25 , 000, and soon to be implemented regulations under Block Grant as well, the City under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that the City of Elgin conform to the regulations which prohibit discrimination on the basis of handicap. This applied to programs and activities sponsored and structures owned by a recipient of these funds. With the cooperation of the three City Departments that I previously mentioned, an extensive survey was completed in the summer of 1984 , which assessed each structure owned by the City of Elgin for its compliance, or lack thereof, with Section 504 . These improvements are mandated and will be necessary to be carried out sometime before October of 1986 , in order for the City to continue its eligibility under those Federal funding programs . Group A in the package refers to improvements in Lord' s Park would have a total budget of $29 , 000 for full access- ability improvements to that complex. Civic Center Complex full accessability improvements, a budget of $15 , 100 . City Park Washrooms at various locations a total of $8, 000. These can be funded with Block Grant Funding. Mayor Verbic: When will me meet on this again. Roger Dahlstrom: The work session will be on April 1, 1985 at 5 : 15 , which not include participation by the public, but will simply be your analysis of all the budgets and a determination of a budget . Your third public hearing will be on April 8, 1985 , at which time you will make your final determination. Mayor Verbic: If there are no further proposal I would like to call for a motion to adjourn the meeting. VOLUME L 176J ADJOURNMENT I Councilman Hansen made a motion, seconded by Councilman Gilliam to adjourn the meeting. Yeas: Councilmen Andersen, Gilliam, Hansen and Mayor Verbic. Nays: None. The meeting was adjourned at 9L5 p.m. LJ, � Marie Yearman, City Clerk