City Council Public Hearing
Regular MeetingUrbana, IL · January 19, 2021
Minutes
STATE OF ILLINOIS CITY OF URBANA
Diane Wolfe Marlin, Mayor Phyllis D. Clark, City Clerk
URBANA CITY COUNCIL
PUBLIC HEARING MINUTES
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
The Urbana City Council held a public hearing on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 7:00pm via Zoom to
receive public input on an amendment to the 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan Annual Action Plan FY
2019 / 2020 for the City of Urbana to receive and administer $334,849 in Community Development
Block Grant-CV funds (CDBG) funding.
Elected Officials Physically Present: Diane Wolfe Marlin, Mayor; Phyllis D. Clark, City Clerk
Elected Officials Present via Zoom: Bill Brown, Bill Colbrook, Shirese Hursey, Jared Miller,
Dennis Roberts, Erik Sacks, Maryalice Wu
Elected Officials Absent: None
Staff Present: Sheila Dodd, Kay Meharry, Carol Mitten
I. Call to Order and Roll Call
Mayor Marlin called the public hearing to order at 7:00pm. She announced this was a national
day of mourning for over 400,000 people who lost their lives to Covid-19 since the pandemic
began. She said a memorial was dedicated at the Unitarian Universalist Church for the 102
people in Champaign County who lost their lives to Covid-19. There was a moment of silence
to honor their memories.
II. Public Input
Mayor Marlin stated the purpose of the public hearing and asked if anyone would like to
provide input concerning the amendment to the 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan Annual Action
Plan. No one raised a hand to speak.
III. Adjournment
With no public input or comments, Mayor Marlin declared the public hearing adjourned at
7:04pm.
Kay Meharry
Recording Secretary
This meeting was recorded and is viewable on demand.
Minutes approved: January 25, 2021
Agenda
URBANA CITY COUNCIL
PUBLIC HEARING
DATE: Tuesday, January 19, 2021
TIME: 7:00 P.M.
PLACE: *to be held virtually via Zoom (400 South Vine Street, Urbana, IL 61801)
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING OF
THE URBANA CITY COUNCIL
The Urbana City Council will hold a public hearing at 7:00pm on Tuesday, January 19, 2021, to
receive feedback on an amendment to the 2015-2019 Consolidated Plan Annual Action Plan FY
2019/2020 for the City of Urbana to receive and administer $334,849 in Community Development
Block Grant-CV funds (CDBG) funding.
AGENDA
I. Call to Order and Roll Call
II. Public Input
III. Adjournment
Phyllis D. Clark
City Clerk
*Due to the Governor Pritzker and Mayoral Emergency Covid-19 Orders, the Urbana City Council
Chambers will be not be open to the public during this meeting. Council Members will meet remotely
using Zoom Webinar. You may watch the meeting on streaming services, or on Urbana Public Television,
or attend via Zoom.
You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Jan 19, 2021 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Public Hearing / Urbana City Council’s Committee of the Whole
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82370126441
Or iPhone one-tap :
US: +13126266799,,82370126441# or +19292056099,,82370126441#
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 929 205 6099 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 669 900
6833 or +1 253 215 8782
Webinar ID: 823 7012 6441
International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kzQyRx9lF
PUBLIC INPUT GUIDELINES
The City of Urbana welcomes Public Input during open meetings of the City Council, the City Council’s
Committee of the Whole, City Boards and Commissions and other City-sponsored meetings. Our goal is to
foster respect for the meeting process, and respect for all people participating as members of the public
body, city staff, and general public. The City is required to conduct all business during public meetings. The
presiding officer is responsible for conducting those meetings in an orderly and efficient manner.
Public Input will be taken in the following ways:
Zoom Webinar Participant
Click on the link listed in the agenda to join the Webinar. You must provide your name and email address in
order to join the Webinar. If you wish to speak during Public Input, “raise your hand” and wait to be called
on by the meeting host. You must state your first and last name for the meeting record. Participants will be
muted except when they are called on to speak; video will remain off for all members of the public when
speaking.
Telephone Participant
Call the phone number listed on the Agenda. Enter the Webinar ID followed by the # key. All callers are
muted by default. If you wish to speak, “raise your hand” by pressing *9 once. When you are called on by
the host or presiding officer you will be un-muted. You must state your first name and last name for the
meeting record.
Email Input
Public comments must be received prior to the closing of the meeting record (at the time of adjournment
unless otherwise noted) at the following: citycouncil@urbanaillinois.us. The subject line of the email must
include the words “PUBLIC INPUT” and the meeting date. Your email will be sent to all City Council
members, the Mayor, City Administrator, and City Clerk. Emailed public comments labeled as such will be
incorporated into the public meeting record, with personal identifying information redacted. Copies of
emails will be posted after the meeting minutes have been approved.
Written Input
Any member of the public may submit their comments addressed to the members of the public body in
writing. If a person wishes their written comments to be included in the record of Public Input for the
meeting, the writing should so state. Written comments must be received prior to the closing of the meeting
record (at the time of adjournment unless otherwise noted).
Verbal Input
Protocol for Public Input is one of respect for the process, and respect for others. Ridicule, obscene or
profane language, lack of respect for others, and personal attacks are not acceptable behavior. Public Input
shall not be used to air personal grievances. Speakers should address all comments to the public body as a
whole and not to individual members or City staff.
Public comment shall be limited to no more than four (4) minutes per person. The Public Input portion of
the meeting shall total no more than one (1) hour, unless otherwise shortened or extended by majority vote
of the public body members present. The presiding officer or the city clerk or their designee, shall monitor
each speaker's use of time and shall notify the speaker when the allotted time has expired. All public
comments should be addressed to the public body as a whole. A person may participate and provide Public
Input once during a meeting and may not cede time to another person, or split their time if Public Input is
held at two (2) or more different times during a meeting. The presiding officer may give priority to those
persons who indicate they wish to speak on an agenda item upon which a vote will be taken.
The presiding officer or public body members shall not enter into a dialogue with citizens. Questions from
the public body members shall be for clarification purposes only. Public Input shall not be used as a time
for problem solving or reacting to comments made but, rather, for hearing citizens for informational
purposes only.
Accommodation
If an accommodation is needed to participate in a City meeting, please contact the City Clerk’s
Office at least 48 hours in advance so that special arrangements can be made using one of the following
methods:
• Phone: 217-384-2366
• Email: CityClerk@urbanaillinois.us
*In order to maintain reasonable decorum at a meeting, the presiding officer or any member of the public
body may call a speaker “out of order”. The presiding officer of the meeting shall have the authority to
provide a verbal warning to a speaker who uses abusive, harassing, threatening, or defamatory language, or
who engages in disorderly conduct that disrupts, disturbs, or otherwise impedes the orderly conduct of a
meeting. If the speaker refuses to cease such remarks or conduct after being warned by the presiding officer,
the presiding officer shall have the authority to mute the speaker’s microphone and/or video presence at the
meeting. The presiding officer will inform the speaker that they may send the remainder of their remarks via
email to the public body for inclusion in the meeting record.
*Definitions of Types of Language and Conduct That May Warrant Verbal Warning:
“Abusive” means harsh, violent, profane, or derogatory language which would demean the dignity of
an individual or which is intended to humiliate, mock, insult or belittle an individual.
https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/abusive-language
“Harassing” means to annoy or bother someone in a constant or repeated way; to make repeated
attacks on another person.
https://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/harass
“Threatening” means to say that you will harm someone or do something unpleasant or unwanted
especially in order to make someone do what you want.
https://www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/threaten
“Defamatory” means a statement or communication that tends to harm a person's reputation by
subjecting the person to public contempt, disgrace, or ridicule, or by adversely affecting the person's
business. A statement that is likely to lower that person in the estimation of reasonable people and in
particular to cause that person to be regarded with feelings of hatred, contempt, ridicule, fear, or
dislike.
Black's Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019)
Citations that Authorize the Presiding Officer to Bar Offensive Language During Public Comment:
The following citations provide the legal basis for adopting UCC Section 2-5(b)(1)(d) that allows the
presiding officer of a City Council, Committee of the Whole, or a City-sponsored board or commission
regulate “abusive, harassing, threatening, or defamatory language” during public comment. The following
Attorney General binding opinions and case law essentially classify abusive, “harassing, threatening and
defamatory language as “manner”, not “content”, of speech that can be reasonably regulated under the First
Amendment. UCC Section 2-5(c) (Ordinance No. 2020-09-049. Attorney General binding opinion numbers
2019 PAC 59187, 2018 PAC 55462, 2016 PAC 45349; Milestone v. City of Monroe, Wisconsin, 665 F.3d 774,
783-784 (7th Cir. 2011); Vega v. Chicago Board of Education, 338 F.Supp.3d 806, 811 (N.D. Ill. 2018); Sandefur v.
Vill. of Hanover Park, 862 F.Supp.2d 840, 847 (N.D. Ill. 2012); I.A. Rana Enterprises, Inc. v. City of Aurora, 630
F.Supp.2d 912, 920-923 (D.C. N.D. 2009).
Persons with disabilities needing special services or accommodations for this meeting should contact the City of
Urbana's Americans with Disabilities Coordinator at 217-384-2366.
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