City of Elgin Committee of the Whole met Feb. 12.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
The regular Committee of the Whole meeting was called to order by Mayor Kaptain at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Present: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Absent: None.
Approval of Minutes
Councilmember Dixon made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Martinez, to approve the minutes of the January 22, 2020, regular meeting. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Agreement with Industrial Organizational Solutions for Police Lieutenant Promotional Testing Process
A resolution was presented at the Council meeting for adoption by the City Council to provide a fair, neutral testing process for police sergeants seeking to earn placement on the police lieutenant eligibility list.
Turf Quality Considerations
Parks and Facilities Superintendent Greg Hulke presented current and historical practices for herbicidal treatments on City-owned properties and considerations of alternative treatments. A copy of the presentation is on file in the City Clerk’s office. Mr. Hulke outlined the current practices, the costs and staff time associated with various treatment options, and effectiveness of the treatments. He also outlined alternative options for treatments in the future including an enhanced status quo, use of organics or no treatment.
There was discussion regarding the costs and effectiveness of each option. Options such as no mow, native plantings and butterfly gardens were discussed. There was discussion regarding the Sustainability Commission involvement including utilizing them to provide further education and communications about the various programs to residents.
Adjourn to City Council
Councilmember Gavin made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Dixon, to adjourn and go into the City Council meeting. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Reconvene
Councilmember Powell made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Martinez, to reconvene the Committee of the Whole meeting. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
2020 Special Events Recommendations
Special Events Coordinator Kate O’Leary and Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Barb Keselica recapped the special events reduction and refocus plan and presented recommendations for funding allocated for 2020 special events. A copy of the presentation is on file in the City Clerk’s office. Ms. O’Leary recapped the costs of all events held in 2019 including Nightmare on Chicago Street. The proposed allocations for the 2020 Special Events Budget, without the canceled events, consisted of operations, sponsorships, market firm costs, Festival Park Improvements, and funding to the Elgin Public Museum.
There was discussion regarding the amount for the sponsorships and what event costs it would cover. Also discussed was the market research study and the timeline for its completion.
Councilmember Powell made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Steffen, to approve a sponsorship for the Fox Trot and Art & Soul in the amount of $5,000 per event for 2020. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Sale of General Obligation Corporate Purpose Bonds to Finance Utility Fund Capital Projects
Councilmember Steffen made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Gavin, to authorize the sale of General Obligation Corporate Purpose Bonds, Series 2020B in the amount of $9,645,000 in order to provide funding to finance the improvement of underground utilities. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Contract with InfoSend Inc. for the Printing, Mailing and Emailing of Water Bills and Delinquency Notices
Councilmember Shaw made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Martinez, to award a contract to InfoSend Inc. in the amount of approximately $40,000 annually for the printing, mailing and emailing of water bills and delinquency notices in order to reduce the time demand placed on customer service, ITS user support and central service staff and reduce postage
expenditures through the use of outsourcing. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Purchase of Services Agreement with the Elgin Public Museum
Phil Steder and Judy Hayner, representatives from the Elgin Public Museum, presented information regarding the status of the Elgin Public Museum including information about the budget and staffing. Mr. Steder outlined the efforts the Museum has made to balance the budget, including changes to the staffing model and use of reserves. Ms. Hayner provided details on new fundraising efforts and membership drives. A copy of the presentation is on file in the City Clerk’s office. There was discussion regarding new exhibits, annual attendance, hours of operation and social media marketing.
Councilmember Gavin made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Martinez, to approve an agreement with the Elgin Public Museum in the amount of $60,000 to provide services to maintain public property exhibits and deliver educational programming to the community regarding natural history and anthropology. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Design and Construction Engineering Services Agreement with HR Green Inc. for the 2020 Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) Resurfacing Program
Councilmember Steffen made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Gavin, to approve an agreement with HR Green Inc. in an amount not to exceed $156,400 to analyze, design, prepare construction documents, provide field inspection, design interpretation, project coordination and contract administration including all required MFT documentation for the resurfacing of various residential streets. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Easement Agreements at 374 and 382 N. Crystal Avenue for Storm Sewer Repairs
Councilmember Powell made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Martinez, to approve easement agreements with Barbara Cortez of 374 N. Crystal Avenue and Maria E. Soto of 382 N. Crystal Avenue in the amount of $1,450 in order to acquire the proper rights to complete repairs on the storm sewer system on property that is not owned or controlled by the City. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Amendment Agreement No. 4 with Beneficial Reuse Management, LLC for the Removal and Disposal of Water Treatment Lime Residuals
Councilmember Powell made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Steffen, to award Amendment Agreement No. 4 to Beneficial Reuse Management, LLC in the amount of $1,906,200 to provide high quality City drinking water by responsibly handling the removal and disposal of lime waste residuals from the City’s water treatment process. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Annual Action Plan for Program Year 2020
Councilmember Shaw made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Dixon, to release for public comment the activities and funding amounts recommended by the CDBG Review Panel for Program Year 2020. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Economic Development Grant for Mixed-Use Development at 13 N. State Street
Councilmember Gavin made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Dixon, to approve Central Area TIF funds to Kurt Kresmery at 13 N. State Street in the amount of $45,051 to assist with the cost of a historic façade renovation and new fire sprinkler system at two downtown buildings. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Agreement with Fire Service Inc. for the Purchase of Wheeled Coach Ambulance
Councilmember Shaw made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Gavin, to authorize the purchase of a Wheeled Coach ambulance from Fire Services Inc. in the amount of
$259,118 (including trade-in) in order to provide reliable and effective transportation for those citizens needing emergency medical care. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Agreements with Rave Wireless Inc. d/b/a Rave Mobile Safety for Rave Alert and Smart911 for Public Safety
There was discussion regarding the costs per use, how often the system is utilized, and how residents are notified about signing up for the service.
Councilmember Powell made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Steffen, to approve the contracts for Rave Wireless Inc., d/b/a Rave Mobile Safety for Rave Alert and Smart911 in the total amount of $89,844 over three years in order to maintain a mechanism to alert Elgin residents to important community/emergency information and allow resident to enter critical information for responding emergency personnel. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Traffic Administration Ordinance Amendment Changing Traffic Regulations
Councilmember Powell made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Dixon, to approve the proposed amendment to the traffic administration ordinance to authorize traffic enforcement in the Sierra Ridge subdivision pursuant to an agreement that was entered into by the City and the Sierra Ridge Condominium Association in 2002. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Agreement with B.M.K. Veterinary Associates (d/b/a Golf Rose Animal Services) for Sheltering Impounded Animals
Councilmember Dixon made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Gavin, to approve the proposed agreement with B.M.K. Veterinary Associates (d/b/a Golf Rose Animal Services) in the amount of $52,000 to provide housing and care for stray animals impounded by the police department as well as animals impounded due to animal welfare investigations. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Agreement with Sayers Inc. for the Purchase of Okta Identity Management Universal Directory with Single Sign on and Adaptive Multifactor Authentication
Councilmember Shaw made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Steffen, to approve the purchase of 900 Okta license subscription thru Sayers Inc., in the amount of $45,954 per year for three years plus $12,500 one-time implementation professional services to deploy Okta cloud-based identity management solution to secure user access to City information system resources. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
Proposed Amendments to the City's Ethics Act
Corporation Counsel Cogley presented details on the proposed changes to the city’s ethics act. A copy of the presentation is on file in the City Clerk’s office. Included in the draft ordinance was whistleblower protection, lobbying restrictions, and restrictions for those doing business with the city from making campaign contributions.
There was discussion regarding impact of city contracts, the position of an Ethics Officer, ethics training for staff and councilmembers, and the impact on the pool of candidates for city council in the future.
Councilmember Powell made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Dixon, to table amending the City's existing ethics act to provide additional ethics regulations for city officials and employees. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Lopez, Powell, Rauschenberger, and Steffen. Nays: Councilmembers Gavin, Martinez, Shaw, and Mayor Kaptain.
Discussion on Potential Development of a Vacant Commercial Building Inspection and Licensing Program (Councilpersons Powell and Rauschenberger)
There was discussion regarding the need to develop a Vacant Commercial Building Inspection and Licensing Program. Staff was directed to research a program that would be similar to the vacant building residential program, that would outsource the inspections, and inventory the impacted properties.
Discussion on Creating a City Council Liaison Position on the Sustainability Commission (Councilpersons Powell and Lopez)
Councilmember Powell proposed adding a City Council Liaison position to the Sustainability Commission, similar to the recent addition to the Human Relations Commission. There was discussion regarding which councilperson to appoint.
Councilmember Lopez made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Dixon, to appoint Councilmember Rauschenberger as the city council liaison for the Sustainability Commission. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None. Councilmember Rauschenberger abstained.
Announcements from Council
Councilmember Powell thanked those that participated in the Thin Red Line program at Elgin Community College.
Mayor Kaptain noted that Laura Valdez, Assistant City Manager, would be leaving the city and wished her well in her new endeavors.
Announcements from Staff
Molly Gillespie, Communications Manager, announced upcoming city events.
Aaron Neal, Public Works Superintendent, provided information regarding the “At Your Door’ program from Waste Management.
Adjournment
Councilmember Gavin made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Martinez, to adjourn the meeting. Upon a roll call vote: Yeas: Councilmembers Dixon, Gavin, Lopez, Martinez, Powell, Rauschenberger, Shaw, Steffen, and Mayor Kaptain. Nays: None.
The meeting adjourned at 9:33 p.m.
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