City Council Regular Meeting

CITY OF URBANA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE – Monday, March 25, 2019 CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS - 400 SOUTH VINE STREET, URBANA, IL The City Council Committee of The Whole of the City of Urbana, Illinois, met in regular session Monday, March 25, in the Council Chambers of the Urbana City Building. ELECTED OFFICIALS PHYSICALLY PRESENT: Bill Brown; Shirese Hursey; Eric Jakobsson; Jared Miller; Dennis Roberts; Maryalice Wu; Charles A. Smyth; Diane Wolfe Marlin ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE: none ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT: Dean Hazen STAFF PRESENT: Carol Mitten, Elizabeth Hannan, John Schneider, Jim Simon OTHERS PRESENT: Members of the Media; Siti Mariah Jackson; Bishop King James Underwood; Rev. Dr. Evelyn Underwood; Barney Bryson; Allan Axelrod 1. Call to Order and Roll Call There being a quorum, Chair Maryalice Wu called the meeting of the Committee of the Whole to order at 7:00 pm. 2. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting City Council Member (CM) Roberts made a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting held on March 11, 2019. CM Hursey seconded the motion. With no corrections or discussion, the motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 3. Additions to the Agenda There were none. 4. Public Input Bishop King James Underwood and Rev. Dr. Evelyn Underwood did not wish to speak but wanted the public record to reflect their continuing concern for the Dr. Ellis subdivision sewer issue. Elderess Melinda Carr did not wish to speak but wanted the public record to reflect her continued concerns about the Dr. Ellis subdivision sewer issues, equity, and historic impact. Barney Bryson spoke about a problem with bees in his yard and neighborhood in unincorporated Urbana. He reported that he has made contact with many, filed FOIA requests, talked to bee keepers, the county land use committee and Public Health. He stated that he is not against bees or beekeepers, only irresponsible keepers. He has lived in his neighborhood for 26 years and recent issues are related to 27 hives on a half-acre on property next door to him. Other issues are bee frass on clothes, cars, dog bowls, bird baths. Bees buzzing have kept homes from being sold, and kids playing have been stung. He listed a number of individuals and frequency of having been stung, including himself and his fiancée. His fiancé now has an allergic reaction to bee stings and has to keep an EpiPen, which is concerning as she has a heart condition. Mr. Bryson said that in confronting the beekeeper, she told to him to use EpiPens and denied it was her bees. He asked for some kind of amendment to nuisance ordinances to restrict and regulate beekeeping. Questions followed from council. Mr. Bryson provided the list of contacted agencies noting that Public Health does not control this. CM Jakobsson noted that there is regulation of hives in NYC which seems to work pretty well to address the issue, and may be a model. Mr. Bryson stated that he has model county and city ordinances. CM Roberts told Mr. Bryson that he had given his research packet to City Administrator Carol Mitten. Ms. Mitten added that with respect to the ETJ, we react when the county proposes something but we don’t proactively change zoning. Page 1 of 3 5. Presentations The Mayor introduced Siti Mariah Jackson, the artist who donated 4 new paintings of Presidents of the United States hanging in the council chambers. Mayor Marlin provided a brief biography of Ms. Jackson, a well-known local artist from Malawi. She received a diploma in textile design and art education in Malawi and came the University of Illinois to pursue a Master of Arts in Art Education. She has been a resident of Champaign for over 30 years and was married to renowned artist Billy Morrow Jackson. After Mr. Jackson passed away, she married artist Brian J. Sullivan. Ms. Jackson has participated in more than 400 art shows, both locally, nationally, and internationally, including China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and Great Britain. She is an active member of the International Women Artists Association, Malaysia Women Artists Association, and the Angkatan Pelokis Kedah, Malaysia. She is the recipient of many art awards, including the 2011 Outstanding Asian American Community Builder from the Asian American Cultural Center at the U of I. More than 500 of her artworks are represented in art museums, private and public collections in this country and abroad including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and Illinois State Museum. Mayor Marlin described how she met Ms. Jackson who in turn offered to complete the collection of presidents and even repainted two of them so that they all match. Mayor Marlin stated that we are deeply, deeply grateful for this gift and collection presenting her with a small gift. Ms. Jackson stated that it is an honor to present the paintings here. She stated that she was very pleased to have done these portraits and is looking forward to additional work for the city. Mayor Marlin also noted that Ms. Jackson has offered to paint a large picture of a historic Urbana building and has asked for advice from the Historic Preservation Commission. 6. Staff Report Mayor Marlin announced that the next Plan Commission is April 4 with three items listed (Mixed use planned unit development on West University, zoning ordinance omnibus amendment, and a Champaign County Zoning Map amendment. She reminded council to respond to a doodle poll related to budget and planning meetings. 7. Ordinance No. 2019-03-022: An Ordinance Revising the Annual Budget Ordinance (Budget Amendment #9 - Omnibus) Finance Director Elizabeth Hannan and Financial Systems Analyst Don Ho presented the staff memo on the budget amendment. Ms. Hannon summarized the main items, noting an increase in the mayor’s budget by $90,000 for legal services, that the city received $25K for a branding study, some changes for staffing reclassifying an existing position, using savings from the vacant Public Works Director line. She noted that an error was found in police patrol funding from five years ago, so additional funds are needed to correct this. The Fire Department needs to increase its overtime budget due to unusual levels of duty injuries requiring call backs. Previous plans to lease vehicles have been changed for a better option. Questions from council followed. In response to CM Roberts about the city branding donation, Mayor Marlin stated that we are still defining the scope of work but it’s basically not for a logo, but to identify our strengths and how best to tell our story. CM Wu asked for clarification of the $30K donation items and other one-time amounts of around $193K total. She stated that we worked pretty hard to decrease our budget by about 600K this past year but asked how much have we have increased the budget this year with various changes. Ms. Hannan clarified the question and stated that she will provide a summary of additions to the budget. With no further questions or discussion, CM Miller made a motion to send Ordinance No. 2019-03-022 to council with the recommendation for approval. CM Jakobsson seconded. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 8. Ordinance No. 2019-03-023: Suspension of Processing and Granting Applications for Class G-1 liquor licenses Page 2 of 3  Mayor Marlin presented her memo concerning suspending class G1 video gaming licenses as in the best interest of the city until a complete overall review is done for an update of the liquor ordinance. She noted that the process began several weeks ago and will take several months and that there areas that need to be clarified.. She also noted that that the code did not foresee options related to placement of gaming terminals. The overhaul is long overdue and the best policy needs to be determined going forward. She added that this won’t affect other licenses or holders of existing licenses, noting that she could have taken this action on her own but would appreciate council support. Questions and discussion followed. In response to CM Miller, Mayor Marlin acknowledged that this would affect the most recent possible license application. CM Jakobsson asked if it would it be possible to roll in some assessment of whether the gaming machines that we have permitted have had any deleterious affect on problem gambling and related issues. He stated that for a solid foundation going forward, getting a read on this is important. Mayor Marlin clarified the process by which licenses are granted and that the council has the final vote on the license. CM Brown stated that he thought the suspension a good idea and worth looking at what other cities have done so that it is more predictable. He noted that assessment of problem gambling is assessing individuals when they make contact for help. CM Miller asked that the competitiveness of our license fees be considered. CM Jakobsson moved to send Ordinance No. 2019-03-023 to council with a recommendation for approval. CM Hursey seconded. Chair Wu read public input from Allen Axelrod, who did not wish to speak, but asked that the record reflect that addiction-inciting commerce is not how the city should seek to improve services in Urbana. CM Hursey commented that based on her studies last week, video gaming is concentrated in her ward or close to it. She said she would be satisfied with a suspension of all of it right now and would welcome a moratorium on the locations. CM Jakobsson noted his reasons for supporting the machines in the first place as important to the bottom line of certain businesses even though constituents opposed them and would be happy to see these machines gone from Champaign County. Mayor Marlin reiterated that this was not the intent of this ordinance and does not impact existing machines or licenses. CM Roberts indicated his support and reasoning. Mayor Marlin summarized again that there are 22 locations with gaming machines, nine of which are standalone facilities. She noted that one of the concerns with these facilities related to increased crime, but there have been no related problems or increases. With no further questions or discussion, the motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 9. Adjournment With no further business before the committee, Chair Wu adjourned the meeting at 7:40 pm. Charles A. Smyth City Clerk This meeting was video recorded and the website link to documents and video is: https://www.urbanaillinois.us/node/7557 This meeting was broadcast on cable television (UPTV) and streamed live: http://urbanaillinois.us/uptv Minutes Approved: April 8, 2019 Page 3 of 3