City Council Regular Meeting

URBANA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES DATE: Monday, July 20, 2020 TIME: 7:00 P.M. PLACE: *Held virtually due to Governor’s and Mayoral Emergency Declarations The Committee of the Whole of the City of Urbana, Illinois, met in regular session on Monday, July 20, 2020, at 7:00pm via Zoom. ELECTED OFFICIALS PHYSICALLY PRESENT: Diane Wolfe Marlin, Mayor; Phyllis D. Clark, City Clerk ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT VIA ZOOM: Maryalice Wu, Ward 1; Shirese Hursey, Ward 3; Dennis Roberts, Ward 5; Bill Colbrook, Ward 6; Jared Miller, Ward 7 ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT: Bill Brown, Ward 4; Vacant, Ward 2 STAFF PRESENT VIA ZOOM: Shannon Beranek; Curt Borman; Kevin Garcia; Charles Lauss; Stepheny McMahon; Kay Meharry; Carol Mitten; Lorrie Pearson; Andrea Ruedi; James Simon; Lily Wilcock OTHERS PRESENT ELECTRONICALLY: Gabe Lewis; providing public comment via Zoom: Alana Ackerman; Allan Axelrod; Alice Englebretsen; Tracy Chong; Christopher Hansen; John Hays; Ben Jocelyn; Rohn Koester; Meghan McDonald; Megan Mericle 1. Call to Order and Roll Call With a quorum present, Chair Hursey called the meeting of the Committee of the Whole to order at 7:00pm. 2. Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting CM Wu made a motion to approve minutes from the June 15, 2020 meeting. Motion seconded by CM Colbrook and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None Community Development Director Lorrie Pearson asked that item 8, Resolution No. 2020- 07-033R be moved to first after Staff Report. CM Roberts moved to move Resolution No. 2020-07-033R to be the first item after Staff Reports. Motion seconded by CM Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None 3. Additions to the Agenda There were none 4. Public Input and Presentations a. Public Input Public Input via Zoom: Alice Englebretsen spoke in favor of preserving the brick sidewalks in Urbana. Page 1 of 4  Tracy Chong and Christopher Hansen spoke about the lack of transparency in the FOIA process, and said the fees being charged help maintain the lack of transparency. Comments made by Jon Hays, Meghan McDonald, Alana Ackerman, Megan Mericle David Cisneros, Ben Jocelyn; Rohn Koester, Allan Axelrod, Sarah Nixon and Austin Hoffman included asking council and the mayor to demand the charges be dropped against Aleyah Lewis, charges against the 27 protesters be dropped, police unions protect cops who kill citizens, to defund the police and use those funds for social service purposes. Public Input via Email: Durl Kruse submitted an email concerning racial disparity in traffic stops in Urbana. He suggested a resolution from council with expectations and changes council would like to see in reducing traffic stop disparities. He provided a copy of a resolution he drafted addressing those issues. Eric Jakobsson submitted an email talking about a positive experience he and his wife had with the police. Theodore Johnson submitted an email telling council members they should commit funds to rectifying racial discrimination. Cherryl Brooks commented on her frustration with a FOIA request she submitted and having been told she was a recurrent requester. b. Presentation – FOIA City Administrator Carol Mitten began the presentation. She explained the goals of the City in FOIA responses and showed the increase in FOIA requests from 2015 to 2019. City Attorney James Simon explained the steps in processing each FOIA request, gave examples of voluminous request, recurrent requester, spoke about fees charged for some responses and named State Statutes regarding FOIA requests. Mr. Simon also clarified information redacted in FOIA responses because of exemptions that are determined by State Statute. Assistant City Attorney Curt Borman was also present to respond to questions from council members. Mr. Simon explained that a requester can ask for a waiver of fees if the information they are requesting is in the public interest. The question of which information would be in the public interest, and who determines that was discussed. It was questioned whether City Council members should have a part in determinations of FOIA requests. The part the Illinois Public Access Bureau has in the FOIA process was also discussed. After extensive discussion, it was suggested the topic be brought up for discussion at a later date. 5. Staff Report Community Development Director Lorrie Pearson reported that Kevin Garcia was promoted to Principle Planner and will oversee the Planning Division. She also reported that Stepheny McMahon has an interim position as supervisor of the Economic Development Division. 6. Ordinance No. 2020-07-038: An Ordinance Approving an Amendment to the 2005 Comprehensive Plan (Urbana Pedestrian Master Plan / Plan Case 2401-CP-20) Gabe Lewis, Planner with the Regional Planning Commission, presented this ordinance. He said the study for this plan relates to council goals and includes everything within city limits and immediate surrounding areas. Main goals of the plan for pedestrians are accessibility and connectivity, equity, safety and vibrancy. It includes existing conditions, destinations, infrastructure types, lights, signage and trail types. Page 2 of 4  Mr. Lewis, Planner Lily Wilcock and Ms. Pearson answered questions and concerns from council members. Ms. Wilcock explained that this ordinance would incorporate the draft Pedestrian Master Plan into the 2005 Comprehensive Plan and there would be no policy or City Code change. It could be used to obtain funding for infrastructure by showing public input for infrastructure projects when the city applies for grants. At 10:24pm CM Miller moved to extend the meeting time to 11:00pm. Motion seconded by CM Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None There was extensive discussion about brick sidewalks and the safety and maintenance of them. City Administrator Carol Mitten said the cost of maintaining brick sidewalks is twice the cost of maintaining concrete sidewalks. CM Roberts said grants are available to help with the cost of maintaining brick sidewalks and would like city to protect them. After discussion, CM Miller moved to send Ordinance No. 2020-07-038 to council with no recommendation. Motion seconded by CM Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None 7. Ordinance No. 2020-07-039: An Ordinance Approving an Amendment to the 2005 Comprehensive Plan (Urbana Bicycle Wayfinding Plan / Plan Case 2402-CP-20) Gabe Lewis, Planner with the Regional Planning Commission, presented this ordinance. He said the main goals and objectives of the plan were accessibility, connectivity, equity, safety and vibrancy. It includes existing conditions in eight sections or neighborhoods. Infrastructure types in the plan include sidewalks and curb ramps, shared-use paths, and marked crosswalks. He said the plan was presented at 10 public events and public input was taken during those meetings. City of Urbana Civil Engineer Shannon Beranek responded to questions about funding for the additional signage discussed in this plan, and said applications for more funding were on hold until this item came before city council. Funding and priorities in use of the funds was discussed. At 10:47pm CM Miller moved to extend the meeting another 10 minutes, until 11:10pm Motion seconded by CM Miller and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None CM Wu moved to send Ordinance No. 2020-07-039 to council with recommendation for approval. Motion seconded by CM Miller and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None 8. Resolution No. 2020-07-033R: A Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of a Grant for Market at the Square (LINK Up Illinois Grant – SNAP Double Value Program - 2020) Economic Development Coordinator Stepheny McMahon presented this resolution. She said it doubles the SNAP benefit at Market at the Square. Ms. McMahon answered questions from council members CM Wu made a motion to send Resolution No. 2020-07-033R to council with Page 3 of 4  recommendation for approval. Motion seconded by CM Roberts and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None 9. Discussion: Future of Public Safety and Policing-Next Steps Mayor Marlin proposed the continuation of this meeting on Tuesday, July 28 or to put the item on the agenda for the Committee of the Whole meeting on August 3. It was decided to add this item to the beginning of the agenda for the August 3 Committee of the Whole meeting. 10. Adjournment With no further business to come before the council, Chair Hursey adjourned the meeting at 11:02pm. Kay Meharry Assistant City Clerk This meeting was video recorded and is viewable on-demand. Minutes Approved: August 3, 2020 Page 4 of 4