City Council Regular Meeting

URBANA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES DATE: Monday, December 21, 2020 TIME: 7:00 P.M. PLACE: *Held virtually due to Governor’s and Mayoral Emergency Orders The City Council Committee of the Whole of the City of Urbana, Illinois, met in regular session Monday, December 21, 2020, at 7:00pm via Zoom. ELECTED OFFICIALS PHYSICALLY PRESENT: Diane Wolfe Marlin, Mayor; Phyllis D. Clark, City Clerk ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE: City Council Members (CM) Bill Brown, Bill Colbrook, Shirese Hursey, Jared Miller, Dennis Roberts, Erik Sacks, Maryalice Wu ELECTED OFFICIALS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Sanford Hess, Jason Liggett, Kay Meharry; Carol Mitten; Bryant Seraphin; David Wesner OTHERS PRESENT VIA ZOOM: Rick Beyers, Art Svymbersky; Public Comment via Zoom: Meghan McDonald; Christopher Hansen; Beau Barber; Tracy Chong; Wayne Williams; Allan Axelrod; Eddie Pratt, Jr., Rachel Conerly; Sarka Pelrickova; Lance Pittman; Deborah Liu; Lena Walker Chair: Jared Miller, Ward 7 1. Call to Order and Roll Call With a quorum virtually present, Chair Miller called the meeting of the Committee of the Whole to order at 7:49pm, following a Special City Council meeting. 2. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting A motion was made by CM Hursey to approve the minutes from the November 16, 2020 meeting. Motion seconded by CM Brown and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None 3. Additions to the Agenda There were none. 4. Presentations and Public Input a. Public Input via Zoom Comments via Zoom included: Public input for special city council meeting should have been about Ward 2 council seat, not issues on committee meeting agenda; Historic East Urbana residents concerned about Emulsicoat chemical emissions; concerns about One Door program and wonder if the steering committee for One Door is considered a public body, subject to the Open Meetings Act with recordings available to the public; city staff makes efforts avoid police accountability; Freedom of Information Act infraction committed by the City; Illinois American Water is disconnecting residents, Council and Mayor should pressure Illinois American Water to stop shutoffs; City recently lost a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and blamed other agencies for loss of the lawsuit; the only traffic enforcement Urbana Police should do is enforcement for Driving Under the Influence (DUI); Emulsicoat is planning to move to an area in Ward 3, and should not move there unless it is far away from the historically Black residential area, otherwise it would be environmental racism; it is time to address implicit bias and racial disparity in traffic Page 1 of 4  stops; One Door program will be run by a faith-based institute and there is concern about support queer and trans community; Hay muchas latinas aquí en Champaign que no entienden el inglés, pueden poner programas para que ellas entiendan. Pongan programas para la gente latina. Yo he vivido aquí por más de 40 años y me da decepción que no hay gente que pueda ayudar a esta gente porque no hablan inglés, por favor no se olviden de nosotros, porque estamos pagando taxes aquí en Champaign: There are many Latinas here in Champaign who do not understand English. I have lived here more than 40 years and am disappointed there is no help for these people. Do not forget us because we pay taxes here in Champaign; City is violating its own Human Rights Ordinance by requiring background checks on job applications; will City apologize to Aleyah Lewis for violent arrest; council members should be visible on Zoom during meetings. b. Draft Traffic Stop Pilot Program Procedural Guidelines Police Chief Bryant Seraphin presented this item. He said the purpose of this program is to help eliminate racial disparity in traffic stops. He went over the guidelines which will help officers understand the expectations of the department. Guidelines include: • Traffic stop zones - Crime analyst will identify various zones by using traffic crash data, which will be analyzed on a quarterly basis to determine which zones will remain designated, or if other areas need to be included. • Maps - Will be shared in paper format and on the internal web. • Traffic stops outside of the zones - Stops may be made outside of the zone as long as it is made for a dangerous life-safety issue, such as driving after dark without lights on, driving through a stop sign without slowing down, driving under influence of drugs or alcohol, or driving through a red light. • Beyond Zone checkbox - any stops made outside the designated zone will be check marked by the officer and will have short have short narrative from officer as to the reason for the stop. • Suspicious vehicle stops vs IDOT traffic stops - Traffic stops are stops made for a violation of local traffic code, or local traffic violation. A suspicious vehicle stop can be made on a vehicle leaving the scene of a crime, like a shooting. Officers who stop vehicles for suspected crime must use the correct specific language on the police radio to denote the stop. • Pretextual stops - Pretextual stops are legal in Illinois and will only be made to further the investigation of felony crimes. For example if a vehicle with a headlight out matches the description of a vehicle leaving the scene of a shooting, and it also has a headlight out, an officer can stop that vehicle for a traffic code violation and which will allow him to further the investigation of the shooting. At 9:25pm Chair Miller relinquished the chair to CM Colbrook in order to join the discussion. At 9:35pm CM Colbrook returned the chair to Chair Miller. As discussion ensued, Chief Seraphin responded to questions and concerns from committee members. 5. Staff Report City Administrator Carol Mitten introduced Dave Wesner, with Evans, Froelich, Beth and Chamley, who will be providing supplemental help to the legal department. Mayor Marlin announced that about 500 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were administered locally last week and more will be coming. The University of Illinois is coming close to rolling out a strategic Page 2 of 4  application of the saliva test to the community, which will be for essential workers, schools, and vulnerable communities. Mayor Marlin spoke about the One Door program and said she thought it had the most promise for the long term for the community and would take longer than thought to implement because it is very comprehensive and complex. The partners in this are Rosecrance, Carle Hospital and CU at Home, all of which are very important in the plan. She said there has been concern about CU at Home, and it is the alternative to jail or the emergency room and they would accept anyone in crisis. 6. Resolution No. 2020-12-069R: A Resolution Approving and Authorizing the Execution of a New Cable Franchise Agreement with Comcast of Illinois/Indiana/Ohio, LLC UPTV Manager Jason Liggett presented this resolution. This is a 10 year agreement and is a renewal of the cable franchise agreement with Comcast. It allows cable companies the use of right-of-way and allows the City the use of Public Education and Government (PEG) channels. He said the City collects a franchise fee and a PEG fee. He said included in the agreement is the option for a fifth public access channel, which would give the Champaign and Urbana the option to launch a fifth PEG channel for public access. He said there is also a change in the PEG capital fee rate, which will be .075%, down from the current 2% rate. This will amount to about $41,000 annually which will be spent on PEG capitol expenses. The City will provide Comcast with a detailed report of how the PEG fee is spent. Arthur Svymbersky, Comcast Manager, Government Affairs, IT Director Sanford Hess, and City Administrator Mitten responded to questions and concerns from committee members. CM Colbrook moved to send Resolution No. 2020-12-069R to council. Motion seconded by CM Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None. 7. Discussion: Community health concerns regarding emissions at Emulsicoat plant Rick Beyers, Sales Manager with Emulsicoat was virtually present during public input and during the Emulsicoat discussion, and said Emulsicoat has been at its current location for 45 years. He said there are six to eight employees who have worked there for more than 40 years who have had no health issues. When Emulsicoat was established in its current location, it was a heavy industrial area, which is no longer the case. He said Emulsicoat is concerned with air quality, the health of its employees and residents. and has added numerous methods to trap odors and fumes. He agreed there are sometimes strong odors, as there were at a recent burn-off, and said there will be no further burn-offs at the current location. He said of all of the asphalt producing plants in the country, Emulsicoat has done more to capture fumes and odors than any of the other plants. Beyers said who would like to tour the plant is welcome to do so, and Emulsicoat will provide any toxicity reports requested by council members. He said any agency would also be welcome to run tests on the systems. The plant is in the process of moving production to a location on Saline Court. Permits had been issued by the City and construction has already begun there. He said Emulsicoat does studies and is constantly trying to improve the capture of emissions. At 10:29 CM Wu moved to extend the meeting to 11:00pm. Motion seconded by CM Hursey and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: Colbrook There was further discussion and Beyers answered questions and concerns from committee members. Page 3 of 4 8. Discussion: A resolution regarding the implementation of gender-inclusive language in official written communication by the City of Urbana Chair Miller said he had worked on the resolution for this item with former Council Member Julie Laut. He said changing language in City Code, ordinances and resolutions to be gender-inclusive or gender-neutral would probably take years to complete and felt it was necessary in order to be respectful to everyone. It was suggested to start by using gender-inclusive/neutral language in documents going forward and then to work on existing documents like City Code. Information regarding those terms and guidelines for using them can be found online at the United Nations gender inclusive language guide. Mayor Marlin asked to have a clear definition of the terms gender-inclusive and gender-neutral so the intent of the resolution is understood. It was suggested this item be included on the next Committee of the Whole meeting for further discussion. 9. Discussion: Addition of Council Input agenda item and reordering of the regular agenda With only a few minutes left for the meeting, Chair Miller asked for a motion and second to send this item to the next Committee of the Whole meeting. CM Roberts moved to send the addition of council input agenda item and reordering of the regular agenda to the next Committee of the Whole meeting. Motion seconded by CM Colbrook and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None 12. Adjournment With no further business to come before the Committee, Chair Miller adjourned the meeting at 11:00pm. Kay Meharry Assistant City Clerk This meeting was recorded and is viewable on-demand. Minutes Approved: January 4, 2021 Page 4 of 4