City Council Regular Meeting

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES DATE: Monday, October 28, 2019 TIME: 7:00pm PLACE: Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine St., Urbana, IL 61801 The City Council Committee of The Whole of the City of Urbana, Illinois, met in regular session Monday, October 28, 2019, at 7:00pm in the Council Chambers of the Urbana City Building. ELECTED OFFICIALS PHYSICALLY PRESENT: Bill Brown, Dean Hazen, Shirese Hursey, Eric Jakobsson, Jared Miller, Dennis Roberts, Maryalice Wu, Charles Smyth, Diane Wolfe Marlin ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE: None ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Wendy Hundley, Carol Mitten, James Simon OTHERS PRESENT: Esther Patt, Steve Ross, Bishop King James Underwood, Rev. Dr. Evelyn Underwood Chair: Shirese Hursey, Ward 3 1. Call to Order and Roll Call With a quorum present, Chair Shirese Hursey called the meeting of the Committee of the Whole to order at 7:00pm. 2. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting CM Jared Miller made a motion to approve the minutes from the October 14, 2019 meeting. After a correction was made, motion was seconded by CM Dennis Roberts and carried by unanimous voice vote. 3. Additions to the Agenda There were none. 4. Presentations There were none. 5. Public Input Esther Patt addressed the Downtown Campus plan. As an ex-council member, Ms. Patt reminded council members that Lincoln Avenue to Race was and will always be attractive to income property owners and developers because of its proximity to the University of Illinois. However, she hopes that council members will stand by the intent and purpose of the plan and to protect the maintenance of a stable single-family home neighborhood east of Lincoln Avenue. Bishop King James Underwood and Rev. Dr. Evelyn Underwood did not wish to speak but wanted their concerns about the Dr. Ellis subdivision sewer problems entered into the record. Steve Ross addressed the committee to express his concerns in opposition to Ordinance No. 2019-10- 060. He agreed with Mr. Newman about the safety, fairness, and efficiency of the change. Chair Hursey acknowledged an electronic correspondence received from Dan Newman in opposition to the expansion of mandatory sidewalk snow removal districts. CM Roberts reported his participation during the Folks & Roots Festival 2019 held in the Urbana Downtown, and thanked the City Arts & Culture Commission for its sponsorship. CM Roberts announced that the Sister Cities program is sending a delegation in November to Thionville, France, Urbana’s Sister City in France. The reason for this trip is to honor their invitation to celebrate the 75th Page 1 of 3  Anniversary of the Liberation of Thionville. 6. Staff Report There was none 7. Ordinance No. 2019-10-060: An Ordinance Amending Urbana City Code Chapter 11, Section 11- 65 (Removing Snow from Sidewalks and Other Areas) City Administrator Carol Mitten introduced Ordinance No. 2019-10-060 with a recommendation for approval. She said that CM Bill Brown presented a recommendation from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) to expand the Mandatory Sidewalk Snow Removal Districts. The proposal to expand is offered in response to current development projects such as the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Multimodal Corridor Enhancement (MCORE) Project Phase 5. CM Brown added that the proposal’s main empathies were to address the school routes, increased foot traffic, and bus stops on both sides of West Green Street between Race and Wright Street. At the request of the council Ms. Mitten gave a summary ordinance warnings and violations issued since 2016. She said that out of 53 warnings issued, 14 resulted in abatement for noncompliance. CM Miller made a motion to send Ordinance No. 2019-10-060 to council with no recommendation for approval. CM Wu seconded. Discussion ensued. CM Roberts noted that the University Avenue and Green Street corridors would be under construction and thought this ordinance a year ahead of itself and should wait for the work to be completed. He was also interested in pedestrian use of these two corridors noting new developments. CM Brown noted that the corridors are a small part of the areas covered by the ordinance but could serve as a good trial period and citations could be held off administratively. The other areas are busy areas with ADA ramps, have new infrastructure or have had significant development so these areas are past due. CM Brown sees no reason for delays or to spend money delaying implementation. Some of the questions asked by committee are as follows:  How many of the properties affected are single-family homes vs. four units?  Does the city have an estimate of cost for shoveling the snow in this area?  How many sidewalks are going to be done by the University of Illinois?  How many of the proposed affected areas is the City currently clearing?  Is there any civil liability for not shoveling a sidewalk? City Administrator Mitten noted that if the ordinance passes, the city would have a sub-contractor on call for any compliance clearance work and will have a better sense of costs after getting bid responses. City Attorney Simon addressed the issue of liability citing the state Snow Ice Removal Act. CM Jakobsson indicated his understanding of the ordinance for including Green Street given the MCORE project, was to have a clear path between campus and downtown. CM Brown agreed that MCORE is the main consideration with better bus and pedestrian facilities. CM Jakobsson indicated support for city clearance of sidewalks but recognized the costs involved. CM Brown stated that the areas added by the ordinance were based on consideration of compliance and for enforcement being high traffic and commercial areas. With no further discussion, the motion carried by voice vote. 8. Ordinance No. 2019-10-061: An Ordinance Amending Urbana City Code Chapter 2, Section 2-27 (Rules for Deliberations/2019) City Clerk Charles Smyth presented Ordinance No. 2019-10-061 with the recommendation for approval. His recommendation will address a couple of changes to City Code, Chapter 2. • Combining “Presentation and Public Input” so it can be meeting specific without the need for additional motions. Page 2 of 3  • “Call to Order and Roll Call” formalizes current practice. CM Wu made a motion to send Ordinance No. 2019-10-061 to council with the recommendation for approval. CM Jakobsson seconded. City Clerk Smyth addressed questions about flexibility and how this will change the current format. After discussion, motion carried by unanimous voice vote. 9. Adjournment With no further business before the committee, Chair Hursey adjourned the meeting at 7:56pm. Wendy M. Hundley Deputy City Clerk This meeting was video recorded and is viewable on-demand. Minutes approved: November 12, 2019 Page 3 of 3