City Council Regular Meeting

URBANA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DATE: Monday, May 26, 2020 TIME: 7:00 P.M. PLACE: *Held virtually due to Governor’s Stay at Home order The City Council of the City of Urbana, Illinois, met in regular session May 26 2020, at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. ELECTED OFFICIALS PHYSICALLY PRESENT: None ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT VIA ZOOM: City Council Members (CM) Bill Brown, Bill Colbrook, Shirese Hursey, Jared Miller, Dennis Roberts, Maryalice Wu; Diane Wolfe Marlin, Mayor; Charles A. Smyth, City Clerk ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT: Eric Jakobsson STAFF PRESENT VIRTUALLY: Alyssa Jaje; Kay Meharry; Carol Mitten; Lorrie Pearson; Kevin Sanderson; James Simon; Justin Swinford OTHERS PRESENT VIA ZOOM: Allan Axelrod; Noah Carmichael; Tracy Chong; Laura Haber; Christopher Hansen; Sarah Nixon; Steve Wald; Roland White A. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. With a quorum virtually present, Mayor Marlin called the meeting of the Urbana City Council to order at 7:11pm following a joint meeting of the Cunningham Township Board and the City Council. B. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING CM Miller made a motion to approve minutes from the May 11, 2020 meeting. Motion seconded by CM Wu and carried by voice vote. C. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA There were no additions. D. PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLIC INPUT 1. Vine and Main Street Intersection Analysis City Administrator Carol Mitten stated that this analysis was prompted by a pedestrian fatality that occurred about a year ago at the intersection of Vine and Main Street. She said Fehr-Graham was asked to investigate the intersection for deficiencies, not anything regarding the accident itself. Roland White, Project Manager for Fehr Graham began the presentation. He began by giving a historical review of the intersection with GIS aerial photos from 1973 to the present, showing changes to the intersection since 1973. Noah Carmichael, Principal Engineer with Fehr Graham, continued the presentation by talking about the various changes over the years, and why those changes were made. He concluded that there were no improvements needed at this time. He suggested checking the signal timing for pedestrians and addressing the ADA issues with the next resurfacing project, and suggested doing a study on the possibility of installing a refuge island in the northeast corner of the intersection. Discussion ensued, and Mr. White, Mr. Carmichael and Civil Engineer Justin Swinford answered questions and concerns from council members. Page 1 of 4  2. Public Input Public input via email: Bishop King James Underwood and Rev. Dr. Evelyn Underwood asked that their concerns about the Dr. Ellis subdivision sewer problems be entered into the record. Emails supporting saving the trees on Green Street were submitted by the following: Deborah Katz-Downie; Wuna Neighborhood; Sarah McEvoy; Steve Cartman; Phyllis Winters-Williams; Eunice Weech; Thomas Alan Schmidt; Amy Wagoner Johnson; Lois Steinberg; and Dan Newman. They were read by City Clerk Charles Smyth. Emails received and read concerning the Aleyah Lewis arrest and Urbana police officers were sent by the following: River Brown; Allan Axelrod; Rohn Koester; Patrick Kimutis; Austin Hoffman; Aiden Watson-Morris; Dottie Vura Weis; Party for Socialism and Liberation; Emily Blevins; Jane McClintock; Boblo Boat; Lilah Leopold and Phyllis Winters- Williams. Comments were: drop the charges against Lewis and have independent investigation of incident that is not state police; involve NAACP n investigation; review procedures of Civilian Police Review Board; take imagery of police squad cars off of city web page; make changes to ensure everyone is treated fairly; treatment of Lewis was racist act of terror; put officers involved in incident on administrative leave. Public input via Zoom: Christopher Hansen said he agreed with the statements made via email from citizens and feels CPRB needs to be fully reviewed. City of Urbana does not have transparency and needs to review policy concerning responses to FOIA requests. Tracy Chong agreed with Christopher Hansen on the lack of transparency from the City and wants full video footage from Lewis arrest to be released for viewing. Laura Haber called about the tree removal due to the MCORE project. She said there are now 823 signatures on the petition to save the trees on Green Street. She wondered how much council members knew about the removal of trees and why Tree Commissions was not involved in decisions about removals. Steve Wald called in support of saving the trees on Green Street that are slated for removal. Public sentiment should be recognized and trees should be saved. Sarah Nixon commended council members who stood up for community’s demand for accountability in the Lewis arrest and for push to have charges dropped. Allan Axelrod spoke about the summer temperatures, removal of trees and loss of the tree canopy. 3. MCORE Phase 5 Green Street Tree Removal Discussion City Administrator Carol Mitten began this discussion. She explained the improvements that the MCORE project will provide for the area. She said the City Arborist consulted on the project along with the engineering team. She said the Tree Commission will also have input on the trees that are chosen to be planted when the others on Green Street are removed. Civil Engineer Just Swinford through the list of trees slated for removal and explained why each was rated as it was, and why each would be removed. City Arborist Kevin Sanderson also provided information on the tree removal. Discussion ensued and Ms. Mitten, Mr. Swinford and Mr. Sanderson answered questions and concerns from council members. E. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was none. F. REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES Committee Of The Whole – (Council Member Dennis Roberts) 1. CONSENT AGENDA Page 2 of 4  2. REGULAR AGENDA 1. Ordinance No. 2020-04-022: An Ordinance Amending Urbana City Code Chapter 14, Section 14-7, Regarding Schedule of Fees Subsection A - “Liquor Licenses” (July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021) On behalf of the committee, CM Roberts moved to approve Ordinance 2020-04-022. Motion was seconded by CM Wu. Mayor Marlin reminded council members that two of the fees were changed. The Incubator license fee was changed to $1,000 for the first six months and $2,000 for the second six months, which was a decrease of $1,000. The RT-2 license was decreased from $3,000 to $2,500. The motion to approve Ordinance No. 2020-04-022 was carried by roll call vote as follows: Brown-aye; Colbrook-aye; Hursey-aye; Miller-aye; Roberts-aye; Wu-aye Nay: None 2. Resolution No. 2020-05-023R: A Resolution Approving the Champaign-Urbana Solid Waste Disposal System Annual Budget (Fiscal Year 2020-2021) On behalf of the committee, CM Roberts moved to approve Resolution No. 2020-05- 023R. Motion seconded by CM Miller and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None 3. Ordinance No. 2020-05-028: An Ordinance Approving an Amendment to the City of Urbana Consolidated and Annual Action Plan FY 2019/2020 and Citizen Participation Plan On behalf of the committee, CM Roberts moved to approve Ordinance 2020-05-028. Motion seconded by CM Brown and carried by roll call vote as follows: Brown-aye; Colbrook-aye; Hursey-aye; Miller-aye; Roberts-aye; Wu-aye Nay: None G. REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES CM Hursey reminded everyone how important it is to turn in census forms. Each census form not returned, means a loss of $1,400 per person that would go toward future program funding for the state and municipality. H. REPORTS OF OFFICERS Mayor Marlin reported that the governor announced the state will be going into phase 3 as of May 29, which allows food and liquor establishments to have outdoor seating following the guidelines released on May 24. She said staff has been working very hard on trying to put things into place to provide flexibility for restaurants and bars to open. She said there are many things to consider, but they will be ready for May 29 I. NEW BUSINESS 1. Ordinance No. 2020-05-029: Ratification of Emergency Order 20-03 “Temporary Suspension of Issuance of Special Events Permits” Issued on May 20, 2020 Mayor Marlin presented this ordinance, which cancels special events permits on public property through September 7, 2020. Events affected would include the very large events with hundreds of people in attendance. CM Hursey moved to approve Ordinance No. 2020-05-029. CM Brown seconded the motion. There were questions about flexibility in the emergency order. Mayor Marlin said there could be some, but at that point did not know how much. The possibility of the Labor Day parade was mentioned. The mayor said the parade is not the problem, but the very large gathering after the parade is. Page 3 of 4  After discussion, the motion to approve Ordinance No. 2020-05-029 was carried by roll call vote as follows: Brown-aye; Colbrook-aye; Hursey-aye; Miller-aye; Roberts-aye; Wu-aye Nay: None J. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to come before the council, Mayor Marlin adjourned the virtual meeting at 10:54 p.m. Kay Meharry Assistant City Clerk This meeting was video recorded and is viewable on-demand. Minutes Approved: June 8, 2020 Page 4 of 4