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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07 April 14, 2010 COW COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING April 14, 2010 The regular Committee of the Whole meeting was called to order by Mayor Schock at 6:05 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Present: Councilmembers Dunne, Gilliam, Kaptain, Prigge, Steffen, Warren, and Mayor Schock. Absent: None. Approval of Minutes Councilmember Gilliam made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Steffen, to approve the minutes of the March 31, 2010, regular meeting. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dunne, Gilliam, Kaptain, Prigge, Steffen, and Mayor Schock. Nays: None. Councilmember Warren voted present. Snow Removal Presentation Dan Rich of Public Works presented a report on the 2009/2010 snow removal efforts. Highlights included: 85,760 lane miles were traveled 7,500 tons of salt were spread 36,000 gallons of beet brine were used Total snowfall for the season was 54.2 inches Total cost of snow removal was $2,026,404 More effective plowing in odd/even areas Complaint calls were down by over 50% Staff was complimented for their efforts by the Mayor and Council. Consideration of Proposed Development Agreement with Artspace Projects, Inc. for the Proposed 51 S. Spring Street Project Cherie Murphy introduced Heidi Kurtze of Artspace who gave a presentation on the proposed project at 51 S. Spring Street. She stated that it would include fifty-five units, 6,863 square feet of retail and gallery space, and forty-eight adjacent parking spaces. The budget is $14 million and no state money would be involved. The planned opening is September 20, 2012. Councilmember Dunne asked if the budget was realistic. Ms. Kurtze said she was very comfortable with the budget as it had been reviewed by two different contractors. Councilmember Kaptain said he was pleased with the presentation and that he would be supporting the project. Mayor Schock stated that he had made several trips to Springfield to lobby for the project. One hundred fifty applications had been submitted for consideration and this has been cut to thirty-three. He said he was cautiously optimistic that this project would receive funding. Committee of the Whole April 14, 2010 Page 2 Councilmember Gilliam made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Warren, to approve the proposed development agreement with Artspace Projects, Inc. for the proposed 51 South Spring Street project. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Gilliam, Kaptain, Prigge, Steffen, Warren, and Mayor Schock. Nays: Councilmember Dunne Consideration of Request from Gerali Custom Design, Inc. and Concrete Specialties Company for Renewal of Cook County Class 6B Real Estate Tax Incentive Councilmember Gilliam made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Warren, to approve a request from Gerali Custom Design, Inc. and Concrete Specialties Company for renewal of the Cook County Class 6B Real Estate Tax Incentive. Councilmember Dunne wondered how many other properties would fall into this situation and asked for a breakdown of what effects this incentive will have. Councilmember Kaptain said he would not be supporting this request due to the fact that the original intent was to provide for new construction, substantial rehabilitation, or substantial re-occupancy of abandoned property. He feels the incentive has accomplished that objective allowing these to be viable businesses. He does not feel it meets the criteria anymore. Councilmember Prigge said his understanding is that this is only a recommendation, not an investigation. City Manager Stegall said that these properties will be at a disadvantage due to the high sales tax rate in Cook County and the higher property tax rates. This tax incentive would provide equity with those businesses located in Kane County. Councilmember Dunne asked for an example of a business not receiving the recommendation. Mr. Stegall said that he believed it was necessary to do this to keep these businesses viable and that there may be requests from other businesses that will have to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Gerali Custom Design, Inc. was turned down previously, but now they have an offer on the property from a not-for-profit organization which would take the property off the tax roll. Councilmember Warren wanted to remind everyone that Concrete Specialties Company currently employs fifty people and that this incentive is an economic development tool to level the playing field. Councilmember Prigge stated that what the Council recommends is not the final work and Mr. Stegall agreed. He said it would be Cook County. Councilmember Steffen asked what has happened to any company that has been refused. Mr. Stegall said that he has not been invited to any ribbon-cuttings in Cook County. Mayor Schock said the program originated years ago due to the fact that Cook County taxes are triple those of adjoining counties. He said collecting some taxes are better than collecting none and that this incentive brings equality to those of Kane County. Committee of the Whole April 14, 2010 Page 3 Councilmember Dunne asked if a building is vacated did the owner still have to pay taxes. Mayor Schock said they did, but it was generally assessed as vacant land. Councilmember Kaptain said that he hoped that every time a building owner came to the city and said that if the city didn’t help them they were going to sell to a not-for-profit that the council didn’t react this way. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dunne, Gilliam, Prigge, Steffen, Warren, and Mayor Schock. Nays: Councilmember Kaptain. Consideration of Agreement with School District U-46 for Continuance of Police Liaison Program for the 2010-2011 School Year Councilmember Gilliam made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Kaptain, to approve an agreement with School District U-46 for continuance of the Police Liaison Program for the 2010- 2011 school year. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dunne, Gilliam, Kaptain, Prigge, Steffen, Warren, and Mayor Schock. Nays: None. Consideration of Engineering Services Agreement with Engineering Enterprises, Inc. for 2010 Master Plan Update Councilmember Gilliam made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Kaptain, to approve an engineering services agreement with Engineering Enterprises, Inc. for the 2010 Master Plan Update. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dunne, Gilliam, Kaptain, Prigge, Steffen, Warren, and Mayor Schock. Nays: None. Consideration of Proposed Termination of Development Agreement with Krystal Enterprises, LLC for Development of a New Beef Villa Restaurant Councilmember Gilliam made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Kaptain, to approve termination of a development agreement with Krystal Enterprises, LLC, for development of a new Beef Villa Restaurant. Councilmember Dunne stated that he hoped when the economy improved this could be revisited. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dunne, Gilliam, Kaptain, Prigge, Steffen, Warren, and Mayor Schock. Nays: None. Committee of the Whole April 14, 2010 Page 4 Announcements from Council Councilmember Warren announced the upcoming ESO Kids Concert Series to be held at the Hemmens Cultural Center. Councilmember Prigge congratulated the Elgin Police Department Gang Unit on the closing of several investigations. Councilmember Kaptain announced that the Elgin Community Network is creating a website for not-for-profit organizations and that there will be an upcoming Unity in the Community Event. Councilmember Dunne announced an upcoming Friends of the Zoo fundraiser and that Discover 2010 will be held at the Gail Borden Public Library. Councilmember Steffen announced an upcoming job fair an Elgin Community College. Councilmember Gilliam introduced Tonya Hudson of the Downtown Neighborhood Association and two residents of River Park Place. Ms. Hudson gave a status report on the efforts of the Downtown Noise Task Force. She stated that the charge of the task force is to accomplish the following: 1) come up with noise reduction solutions for Roadhouse/Main Event and Mad Maggie’s; 2) recommendations for an ordinance that is specific to the unique, urban commercial/residential environment, and 3) present suggestions for future commercial/residential development. Ms. Hudson outlined several short-term solutions that the Roadhouse/Main Event and Mad Maggie’s could implement, but some of them are going to be costly. She indicated the next steps for the Task Force would be to gather cost estimates and further information, continue to work on the downtown noise ordinance, and identify buildings in the downtown with potential for entertainment use for sound impact planning. Announcements from Staff Intern Dan Ault reported on the Sustainability Master Plan. He said that staff is currently reviewing the draft and that the plan will be available for comments by the council at its upcoming retreat in May. He also mentioned that staff has been working on briefs that cover individual topics related to each group’s focus. These briefs will be available to council and on the city’s website. He noted that the bi-annual report will be submitted to council later in the week. Public Information Officer, Sue Olafson, announced upcoming city events. Committee of the Whole April 14, 2010 Page 5 Adjournment Councilmember Gilliam made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Dunne, to adjourn to Executive Session for the purpose of: Collective Bargaining Issues or Deliberations Concerning Salary Schedules for One or More Classes of Employees - Exempt Under Section 120/2(c)(2) of the Open Meetings Act Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dunne, Gilliam, Kaptain, Prigge, Steffen, Warren, and Mayor Schock. Nays: None. The meeting adjourned at 7:15 p.m. s/ Diane Robertson April 28, 2010 Diane Robertson, City Clerk Date Approved