Kane County Reporter

City of Geneva City Council met July 19.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

Staff Responses to Council Questions

Agenda Item 7. Reports

a. July 2021 Tax Revenue Report

Q: Page 104, why would local use tax be falling?

A: The “Leveling the Playing Field for Illinois Retail Act” (aka Amazon Tax) went into effect starting January 1, 2021 for remote retailers. The Act requires remote retailers to collect and remit the state and locally imposed sales tax for the jurisdictions where the product is delivered. Because of this requirement, Use Tax revenue will decline but the Sales Tax Revenue is likely to increase sufficiently more than to cover the loss in Use Tax revenue. The City will also see an increase in non-home rule sales tax.

Agenda Item 10. Municipal Bills for Payment

1) A&G Glass $5,770.89

Q: Where is this and what type of window?

A: This was to replace the window in the Chief of Police’s office and install bulletproof glass at the Records Counter. The block glass window in the Chief’s office was crumbling and no longer secure. As such, there was a risk of falling it out and injuring someone.

Agenda Item 12. Presentation of Ordinances, Resolutions, Petitions, Bids

c. Consider Resolution No. 2021-61 Authorizing Change Order No. 2 for the East State Street Phase II Engineering Contract with Bollinger, Lach & Associates, Inc. in the Amount of $13,238.00 Increasing the Overall Contract to an Amount Not to Exceed $1,361,538.52.

Q: What was the budgeted cost of the initial public info meeting?

A: The East State Street Project was initially as a streetscape and landscape improvement project with an Engineering Contract awarded to RHA/Hitchcock on March 21, 2005 in the amount of $214,579 to complete a Preliminary Design in accordance with IDOT standards. Since projects of this type are located within the ROW and do not impact the roadway, the design and approval process is simplified. For example, a Public Hearing is not required with a Preliminary Design Process. However, the E State Street Project morphed into a roadway reconstruction project and a complete Phase I Report was required by IDOT. As a result, in January 2008 a Change Order was issued providing an additional $32,765.44 to the original contract to expand the preliminary report into a Phase I Design Report. The

initial public information was actually a Public Hearing and was included within that overall Change Order.

Q: The resubmitted public info meeting estimates 104 hours of work, yet the engineering company states that "the scope and design of the project are generally unchanged since initial approval"...What is driving the 104 hours of work?

A: This is the same argument that staff and the consultants made with IDOT. Since there has been no substantial change to the overall design since Phase I Approval in March 2010, the hosting of an additional Public Hearing was a waste of resources. Furthermore, the argument was presented that this topic is presented at Strategic Planning, City Council Presentations, the City Web Site and in numerous articles and newsletters presented by the City that it was also redundant. IDOT relented only in that we are being required to host a Public Information Meeting so it can be accomplished in a less formal manner.

Q: What is driving the 104 hours of work?

A: IDOT standards require that a Public Information Meeting Program be developed and approved by IDOT. This program includes drafts of the newspaper publications, comment cards, sample letters, web page modifications, email solicitations, location, time and length for the meeting and even the sign in sheets. Once this program is approved, there will be two newspaper publications and direct mail invites to all adjacent properties, along with web and email solicitation. All comments are then collected, including the sign in sheets from the meeting and prepared in a report to IDOT along with the recommendation in how the concern will or should be addressed. IDOT then issues a standing if they concur with those recommendations which are then incorporated into the final Phase II Design.

Public Comments - None

https://www.geneva.il.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_07192021-1792