City Council Regular Meeting

URBANA CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES DATE: Monday, October 12, 2020 TIME: 7:00 P.M. PLACE: *Held virtually due to Governor’s and Mayoral Emergency Declarations The City Council of the City of Urbana, Illinois, met in regular session Monday, October 12, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine St., Urbana, IL 61801 ELECTED OFFICIALS PHYSICALLY PRESENT: Mayor Diane Wolfe Marlin ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT VIA ZOOM: City Council Members (CM) Bill Brown, Bill Colbrook, Jared Miller, Dennis Roberts, Maryalice Wu ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT: Shirese Hursey, Ward 3; Julie Laut, Ward 2; Phyllis D. Clark, City Clerk STAFF PRESENT VIRTUALLY: Elizabeth Hannan, Wendy Hundley, Jason Liggett, Carol Mitten, Lorrie Pearson, Andrea Ruedi, Bryant Seraphin, James Simon OTHERS PRESENT VIA ZOOM: Allan Axelrod, Tracy Chong, Lauren Conerly, Rita Conerly, Jayne DeLuce, Christopher Hansen, Justin Hendrix, Austin Hoffman, Meghan McDonald, Sarah Nixon, Eddie Pratt Jr., Sam Spiritos, Benjamin Stone, Pervaiz Usman, Lena Andrus Walker, Julie Watkins, Grace Wilken A. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL There being a quorum virtually present, Mayor Marlin called the meeting of the Urbana City Council to order at 7:17pm following Cunningham Township Board meeting. B. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING CM Miller made a motion to approve minutes from the August 24, 2020 (Joint Meeting), September 14, 2020, September 28, 2020, and October 5, 2020 (Special Meeting). Motion seconded by CM Colbrook and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None C. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA There was none D. PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLIC INPUT 1. Financial Forecast Finance Director Elizabeth Hannan presented the financial forecast noting that it is being presented earlier than usual due to the unprecedented circumstances due to COVID-19 and the related recession on the City’s finances. She addressed financial policies, impact of COVID-19, sales tax trends, retained risk funding, significant expenditures, and summary of other assumptions. She provided the following recommendations: make economic recovery for local businesses a priority, continue to make economic development a priority, no new expenditures, prepare for expenditure reductions or revenue increases, accelerate next financial forecast, and rebuild reserves in the general fund. After presentation, Finance Director Hannan, City Administrator, and Mayor Marlin addressed questions from council. Page 1 of 4  Public input via zoom from the following people: Allan Axelrod, Tracy Chong, Benjamin Stone, Austin Hoffman, Grace Wilken, Meghan McDonald, Lena Andrus Walker, Justin Hendrix, Eddie Pratt Jr., Christopher Hansen, Rita Conerly, Lauren Conerly, and Sarah Nixon. Some of the comments included: utility moratorium action, Freedom of information process, honor indigenous day, tone policing, social racial inequalities, remove resource officers from schools, and Buy Black Chambana. Public Input via email from the following people: Edgar Garrett and Grace Wilken. Some of the comments included: financial forecast, against public input restrictions, in opposition of Visit Champaign County agreement, freeze salary for elected officials, and allow Urbana Landmark Hotel to postpone opening until after the pandemic. E. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was none F. REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES Committee Of The Whole – (Council Member Maryalice Wu) 1. CONSENT AGENDA 2. REGULAR AGENDA a. Resolution No. 2020-09-046R: A Resolution Approving and Authorizing the Execution of a Community Partnership Agreement (Visit Champaign County, FY 2020-2021) – [COW 09/21/2020-10/01/2020] CM Wu made a motion to approve Resolution No. 2020-09-046R as forwarded from Committee without recommendation for approval. Seconded by CM Brown. Visit Champaign County Executive Director Jayne DeLuce read a statement that gave a background about the use of resources among the local county businesses. After discussion, Jane DeLuce and Mayor Marlin addressed questions from council about future partnership with Black Chambana. After discussion, the motion carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Roberts, Wu Nay: Miller b. Ordinance No. 2020-09-049: An Ordinance Amending Urbana City Code, Chapter Two, Addition of Section 2-5 (Electronic Virtual Public Meetings) – [COW 09/21/2020- 10/05/2020] Mayor Marlin introduced Ordinance No. 2020-09-049 and noted new changes to the ordinance as suggested by council members. CM Wu made a motion to approve Ordinance No. 2020-09-049 as amended. Seconded by CM Colbrook. Discussion ensued. After discussion, CM Roberts made a motion to amend the ordinance as follows: In section 2-5 (b.1.c) to allow a max of one-hour public input and no more than four minutes per speaker. CM Miller seconded. Motion carried by roll call as follows: Aye: Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: Brown, Colbrook After further discussion, the final motion was to approve Ordinance No. 2020-09-049 as amended. Motion carried by roll call vote as follows: Page 2 of 4  Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Roberts, Wu Nay: Miller c. Ordinance No. 2020-10-053: An Ordinance Amending Urbana City Code Chapter Three, Section 3-43 (Increasing number of Class R&T-1 liquor licenses for Hickory River/Urbana, Inc dba Hickory River Smokehouse, 1706 N. Cunningham Ave, Urbana, IL) CM Wu made a motion to approve Ordinance No. 2020-10-053 as forwarded from committee. Seconded by CM Colbrook and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None d. Ordinance No. 2020-10-054: An Ordinance Fixing the Salary of City Officers who are Elected for a Definite Term of Office (2021-2024) CM Wu made a motion to approve Ordinance No. 2020-10-053 as forwarded from committee. Seconded by CM Roberts and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None G. REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES There were none H. REPORTS OF OFFICERS 1. Update on Hillard Heintz Report Follow-Up and other Police Matters Police Chief Bryant Seraphin started the conversation by addressing some of the Hillard Heintze recommendation about training. Some of the training recommendations included use of force, de-escalation, and implicit bias training. Officers will be attending two separate in-house training in October and November about implicit bias and de-escalation training. City Administrator Carol Mitten said based on feedback received from CM Laut and with the hiring of the outreach coordinator the city will be hosting some listening session get additional feedback prior to writing a draft of the use of force police. These sessions will be open to public via zoom. Lemond Peppers will be moderating the upcoming listening sessions, November 12, 2020 from 1:30-3:30pm (youth participation encouraged); 5:30-7:30pm and November 13, 2020 from 3:00-5:00pm. After updates, Chief Seraphin and City Administrator Mitten addressed questions from council. I. NEW BUSINESS 1. Mayoral Appointment to Boards and Commissions a. Sustainability Advisory Commission – term ending June 30, 2022 1. Jessica Lehmkuhl Mayor Marlin presented the appointment of Jessica Lehmkuhl with the recommendation for approval. CM Miller made a motion to approve the appointment as presented. Seconded by CM Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None 2. Discussion - Urbana Landmark Hotel, Extension of Redevelopment Project Start Date to July 1, 2021 Page 3 of 4  At 10:22pm, CM Wu made a motion to extend the meeting to 10:45pm. Seconded by CM Colbrook and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Miller, Roberts, Wu Nay: None City Administrator Carol Mitten said that staff received a request from the developer of the Urbana Landmark Hotel to extend the project commencement date from July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021. Additionally, the city will not issue bond until they are ready to open with the Hilton Tapestry Brand in place. Discussion ensued with representative from the Urbana Hilton Tapestry Collection staff. (Pervaiz Usman and Sam Spiritos) Mayor Marlin said that this item would be presented at a special Meeting, Monday, October 19, 2020. J. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to come before the council, Mayor Marlin adjourned the virtual meeting at 10:33 p.m. Wendy M. Hundley Deputy City Clerk This meeting was video recorded and is viewable on-demand. Minutes Approved: November 9, 2020 Page 4 of 4