City Council Regular Meeting

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES DATE: Tuesday, January 19, 2021 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 Tuesday, January 19, 2021, 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: Shaennon Clark, Sheila Dodd, Kris Francisco, Elizabeth Hannan, Jason Liggett, Charles Lauss, Stepheny McMahon, Kay Meharry, Carol Mitten, Lorrie Pearson, Bryant Serphin OTHERS PRESENT VIA ZOOM: Joe Lightcap, Pete Resnick; Public Input via Zoom: Tracy Chong, Christopher Hansen, Julie Watkins, Deborah Liu, Minnie Pearson, Meghan McDonald, Grace Wilken, Haki, Rita Conerly, Justin Hendrix Chair: Shirese Hursey, Ward 3 1. Call to Order and Roll Call With a quorum virtually present, Chair Hursey called the meeting of the Committee of the Whole to order at 7:04pm, following a public hearing. 2. Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting CM Wu made a motion to approve the minutes from the January 4, 2021 meeting. Motion seconded by CM Roberts 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. Annual Audit Presentation Finance Director Elizabeth Hannan introduced Deputy Finance Director Shaennon Clark, who explained the method used to prepare the audit report. Joe Lightcap, with Baker Tilly, used PowerPoint in his presentation of the 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR). The report has three man sections: the Introductory Section, the Financial Section and the Statistical Section. He said a clean opinion was issued on the City’s financial statements and no new accounting standards were adopted during the year. Mr. Lightcap went over each of the three sections of the report, and answered questions and concerns from council members. Links for the 2020 financial audit reports are: Federal Financial Assistance Report; Fire Pension Audit; Police Pension Audit. b. Public Input via Zoom Page 1 of 5  Comments via Zoom included: the only avenue residents can use to voice concerns is through public input during meetings; addition of comments from council members is good; there should be no use of force by police unless person has a gun; City should not be exempt from its own human rights ordinance; City needs better traffic design so pedestrians are not injured or killed; letters about things happening due to racism and threats to African Americans are not coming from NAACP; will meet with the mayor to discuss the ACLU and NAACP and the draft of the police use of force policy; be sure to respond to people asking if you can hear them during public input; do not rush use of force policy; money in police budget should be reallocated to benefit public; Mayor and Council should let public know their intentions for the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) contract as there is concern the contract will be negotiated before new council members are sworn in; listen to residents and implement the best policies for them; abolishment of police is necessary; extend FOP negotiations; drop charges against Aleyah Lewis; respect personal pronouns. There was no email public input. 5. Staff Report Grants Division Manger Sheila Dodd said last spring the City was awarded $294,966 by Housing and Urbana Development (HUD) to prevent, prepare and respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and council approved allocating funds to housing assistance and small businesses. Out of 37 applicants, 27 grants were awarded out of which about $225, 000 was dispersed. She said the housing assistance program, launched in July 2020, will be available until funds are exhausted. Sixty-seven applications were received and out of those 20 were funded. Some applications are still in process, some had incomplete applications and about 50% were denied because they did not live in Urbana as required by HUD. They were referred to other agencies. Those who submitted incomplete applications are receiving guidance from Community Development staff to complete their applications. Interim Economic Development Supervisor Stepheny McMahon gave an update on the CURES Economic Support Grant to reimburse businesses for Covid related expenses. There were 32 awards from this grant which amounted to a total of $240,000. McMahon said staff is waiting on the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) for possible extension of the funding term and other possible uses of remaining funds. McMahon responded to questions from council members. Community Development Director Lorrie Pearson informed council members that there was a sprinkler issue in a section of the Landmark Hotel which caused some water damage. Drywall, wet carpet, mattresses and other materials are in the process of being removed from the hotel. Mayor Marlin commended the Grants Management staff and Economic Development staff for their hard work on dispersing grant money. Mayor Marlin said there will be a meeting with ACLU and NAACP representatives on January 20 to continue discussion about the use of force policy. She said they will take the necessary time to create a use of force policy that works for the community. The mayor gave a Covid update. She said the region went from tier 3 to tier 1 in phase 3, with limited indoor dining, and warned the virus is still dangerous. She urged everyone to get a vaccination when given the opportunity to do so. 6. Resolution No. 2021-01-001R: A Resolution Accepting the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program – Covid-19 Supplemental AFG-S Funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, United States Department of Homeland Security Fire Chief Charles Lauss presented this resolution and said county fire departments decided to apply for a supplemental grant through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant process. Urbana’s portion of the Page 2 of 5  grant will be $42,354 with a 10% share cost for each party receiving a share of the grant. The grant has been used to purchase personal protective equipment, which includes coveralls, masks, gloves, goggles, boot covers and N-95 masks. Chief Lauss responded to questions from council members. CM Miller moved to send Resolution No. 2021-01-001R with recommendation for approval. Motion seconded by CM Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None **Motion was made, seconded and carried by roll call vote to add Resolution No. 2021-01-001R to the Consent Agenda. 7. Resolution No. 2021-01-002R: A Resolution Approving an Amendment to the City of Urbana Consolidated Plan and Annual Action Plan FY 2019/2020 Grants Division Grants Manager Sheila Dodd presented this resolution. The City of Urbana received $334,849 through CARES funding last fall and was told to amend the most recently adopted plan, which at that time was the FY 2020/2021 plan. The amendment was made in November, 2020. In December 2020, the City was notified by Housing and Urbana Development (HUD), that all CARES funding should be in the 2019-2020 Annual Action Plan. After going over some of the details in the amendment, Dodd responded to questions and concerns from council members. Community Development Director Lorrie Pearson said the recommendation for this resolution was to put it on the Consent Agenda. CM Miller made a motion to send Resolution No. 2021-01-002R to council on the Consent Agenda. Motion seconded by CM Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None **CM Miller moved to add Resolution No. 2021-01-001R to the Consent Agenda. Motion seconded by CM Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None 8. Ordinance No. 2021-01-001: An Ordinance Revising the Annual Budget Ordinance (Budget Amendment #5 – Omnibus) Finance Director Elizabeth Hannan presented this ordinance and went over the various changes, some of which were: reallocating funds from City Council travel and training ($6,650) to implement gender-neutral language and training; $5,500 for testing city employees on a weekly basis for Covid; an increase of $166,963 to Fire Operations overtime because of duty-related injuries and Covid; grant writer ($5,000) for the Fire Department to apply for grants for the addition of five firefighters, to address the increase in overtime; HVAC improvements related to Covid amounting to $30,708. Other costs included can be found in the memo and exhibit for this ordinance. Discussion ensued and Hannan responded to questions and concerns from council members. CM Wu moved to send Ordinance No. 2021-01-001 to council to be added to the consent agenda. Motion seconded by CM Miller and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None 9. Resolution No. 2021-01-003R: A Resolution Amending the City Council and Committee of the Whole Rules CM Miller introduced this resolution and explained it is to formally add an item to the agenda allowing council members to respond to public comment, make announcements or comments, and will added Page 3 of 5  after public input at the council meetings and at the end of the agenda at committee of the whole meetings. There were two versions of the resolution included in the packet. The second marked-up version was done by City Administrator Mitten and based on the first version by council members, with suggested changes by legal counsel, some clean-up and a section that clarifies the process of council members bringing forward resolutions or ordinances. Various changes were suggested, and Mitten asked that the marked up version be the one council members approve, with changes they wanted to make. CM Roberts moved to send Resolution No. 2020-01-003R to council with no recommendation. CM Miller seconded the motion. There was further discussion. After discussion, Administrator Mitten suggested taking out the changes she made to the resolution, leaving the changes by legal and sending a Word version of the resolution to council members to be presented at the council meeting on February 1. CM Wu suggested the following changes: Rule 3 first paragraph, to remove “To allow due process in acknowledging concerns of Councilmembers and concerns raised by the public”; Rule 3, (e) Topics considered appropriate are as follows: i., change wording to “Responses to past or current public concerns”. After discussion, CM Wu moved amend Resolution No. 2020-01-003R with two changes. The first change was to remove the following wording in the first paragraph of Rule 3 “To allow due process in acknowledging concerns of Councilmembers and concerns raised by the public” and begin the sentence with “Councilmembers will have the opportunity to provide input, responses...”. The second change was to the wording in subsection i. under Rule 3, section (e) Topics considered appropriate as follows, “Responses to past or current public concerns”. CM Roberts seconded the motion, which carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None CM Miller moved to send Resolution No. 2021-01-003R, as amended, to council for approval. Motion seconded by CM Roberts and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None 10 Ordinance No. 2021-01-002: An Ordinance Amending Urbana City Code Chapter Two, Section 2- 27 (Change Council Rules by adding an item to agendas for Council Member Comments and Communications) CM Miller moved to send Ordinance No. 2021-01-002 to council with recommendation for approval. Motion seconded by CM Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None 11. Resolution No. 2021-01-004R: A Resolution Regarding the Implementation of Gender-Neutral Language in Official Written and Verbal communications by the City of Urbana CM Miller introduced this resolution. He said he and former Council Member Julie Laut had worked on it. City Administrator Carol Mitten said she has talked to department heads to see what would be involved in doing this and decide what can be done in the short term. Mitten said it will take years to fully accomplish and will take an additional $3,000 to make the Municode changes. CM Miller moved to send Ordinance No. 2021-01-002 to council on the Consent Agenda with recommendation for approval. Motion seconded by CM Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Page 4 of 5  Nay: None 12. Ordinance No. 2021-01-003: An Ordinance Amending Urbana City Code Chapter 12 (Exceptions to the Human Rights Ordinance) City Administrator Carol Mitten introduced Pete Resnick, the Vice Chair for the Human Relations Commission (HRC), who worked with her on the ordinance. Mitten began by looking at the language in the ordinance related to exceptions, Sec. 12-105 (d), which says that the provisions of the article do not apply to other units of government, which includes, among others, municipal corporations or their agencies. Mitten said the ordinance is ambiguous as to whether or not the HRC has jurisdiction over the City, and in the past this was interpreted to mean the City was not subject to the jurisdiction of Article III of the Human Rights Ordinance. The only way to resolve the ambiguity in the ordinance is to amend the ordinance to say either the City is subject to the jurisdiction of the HRC, or the City is not subject to the HRC jurisdiction. Pete Resnick said the HRC passed a resolution offering two ways to clarify the jurisdictional issue, with suggested changes to make the City clearly subject to Article III or clearly not subject to Article III. There was extensive discussion and concern about the fact that there were two options suggested in the HRC resolution and only one solution offered in the ordinance presented at this meeting. After discussion, CM Miller made a motion to keep Ordinance No. 2021-01-003 in committee to have further discussion. Motion seconded by CM Wu and carried by roll call vote as follows: Aye: Brown, Colbrook, Hursey, Miller, Roberts, Sacks, Wu Nay: None 13. Adjournment With no further business to come before the Committee, Chair Hursey adjourned the meeting at 10:21pm. Kay Meharry Recording Secretary This meeting was recorded and is viewable on-demand. Minutes Approved: February 17, 2021 Page 5 of 5