City Council Regular Meeting

City of Urbana 400 South Vine Street Urbana, IL 61801 (217)384-2366 FAX (217)384-2301 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE May 17, 2021 MINUTES The meeting of the Committee of the Whole was called to order at 7:00 pm by Chair, Christopher Evans. ELECTED OFFICIALS PHYSICALLY PRESENT: Mayor Diane Wolfe Marlin; Phyllis D. Clark, City Clerk. ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT via ZOOM: CM Christopher Evans, Maryalice Wu, Shirese Hursey, Jaya Kolisetty, Chaundra Bishop, Grace Wilken, James Quisenberry. STAFF PRESENT: Shelia Dodd, Kevin Garcia, Scott Tess, Carol Mitten, Elizabeth Hannan and David Wesner OTHERS PRESENT: Rev. Evelyn Underwood, Allan Max Axelrod, Tracy Chong, Maggie Wacther, Angie W., James Kilgore of First Followers, Sarah Nixon and Brian Dunn. Chair Evans declared the quorum and called for the approval of the minutes of the May 3, 2021 meeting. Moved for approval by CM Wu and seconded by CM Bishop. CM Kolisetty called for a correction to show that where the minutes stated “Committee of the Whole meeting followed Cunningham Township,” it should have been, “Special meeting of the City Council followed Cunningham Township.” Mayor Marlin addressed another area in the minutes that need correction. “On page 3, item 12 following Council input and communications 4th item stated “voter cade” but should have said “motorcade.” Chair Evans stated that the minutes were ready for a vote with the stated corrections. Voting Aye: CM Wu, Hursey, Kolisetty, Evans, Bishop, Quisenberry and Wilken. Voting Nay: None. Minutes carries 7 Ayes, 0 Nays. ADDITIONS TO AGENDA: None! PRESENTATIONS: Grants Manager, Shelia Dodd presented the report on the C-U At Home project. Ms. Dodd stated that the team reaches out to the homeless people that stayed at the shelter for two weeks or so. The shelter has a list of the persons who stayed in the facility they announced that the shelter would not be open past Wednesday. The team has met as a whole to work on this crisis. www.city.urbana.il.us Home of the University of Illinois Mayor Marlin gave an update on the latest masking guide lines. Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Public Health released the State of Illinois’ masking guidance. In both cases they rescinded the emergency guidelines. The CDC announcement came without warning on the State and Local levels as well as a surprise to the White House. We have had several meetings with our Community Partners along with the CU Public Health Department, City of Urbana, City of Champaign, University of Illinois and Champaign County all acting under the CDC masking guidelines. Fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks indoors and out. For those who are 12 and under they will have to continue to wear masks even if they are in a setting outside their immediate family. Businesses and organizations can set the standards that best represent their establishment. We will be working with City staff for the next few weeks or setting our masking guidelines for when the City and the Library will be open to the public. All agencies will continue to encourage those who are eligible to receive the vaccine to please have it done. At present we are inching forward but we are still not fully ready yet. The announcement from the CDC was not expected. We will be accepting applications for Special Events again. This situation is unfolding and we are doing our best to respond to the guidance from the State that we are receiving. PUBLIC INPUT Rev. Evelyn Underwood – No comments at this time. Allan Max Axelrod – Spoke on HB2877 that the Governor signed into law which will provide Assistance to renters and homeowners for utilities. Tracy Chong – Expressed thanks for at least one council member in attendance at the CPRB Meeting and showing concerns. Maggie Walker – Is a resident at the properties that was recently purchased by Township at 206 and 208 West California and expressed a thank you for their desire to help the homeless. Andie W. – A resident at the property on California and is very upset and does not know what the law is on situations like this. Rev. Evelyn Underwood – Asking for prayer and spoke about the passing of her eldest son due to COVID. James Kilgore of First Followers – Raised concerns about the allocation of funds for community organizations and how the process will go. Sarah Nixon – Wanted to agree with what Mr. Kilgore just said about allocation of funds that will be turned over to the Communities for distribution in the near future. Brian Dunn – Concerns about the notice to allow removing masks because he has a compromised immune system. COUNCIL INPUT Mayor Marlin gave a brief report on the Governors announcement on the removal of masks. Council member Hursey stated that Mr. Dunn has concerns about the removal of masks at this time for the many people who have compromised immune systems. She understands his concerns but she will choose to continue to wear masks as this is her personal choice. www.city.urbana.il.us Home of the University of Illinois Brief discussion ensued. STAFF REPORT ORDINANCE No. 2021-05-018: An Ordinance Amending the 2005 Comprehensive Plan of the City of Urbana, Illinois (Champaign County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan 2020 Update/Plan Case 2419-CP-21) Presented by Kevin Garcia from Community Development. He advised that the Comprehensive Plan is a guiding policy document for the City of Urbana and it is also a living document that stays static over the years until there is a need for a change. This version tonight is on the third version back in 2009 and then again in 2013 when Urbana adopted the Champaign County Hazard Multi-Jurisdictional plan also known as the Hazmat Plan. This was spearheaded by the Champaign County Planning and Zoning Department and we are asking the Council to review and adopt this new plan. Discussion ensued. Ms. Hursey wanted to know if adopting this plan it could be amended at any time. She also wanted to know if the City of Urbana had an evacuation plan in place in the event of a major disaster. Scott Tess reported that the plan that is in place for emergencies in Urbana is handled primarily by Fire and Police. He also explained the difference between an Emergency and a Hazmat disaster. An emergency is one that occurs immediately and Fire and Police is on the scene immediately. Hazmat is when you have a plan in place before a disaster occurs and you are working with all entities involved to prevent the disaster from happening. Ms. Hursey also wanted to know that should a scenario like this happen should the plans that Urbana have in place be a part of this mitigation plan. Ms. Wu asked that since we have a plan in place how often will there be an opportunity to update this plan to get needed changes made. Regional Planning representative stated that the plan that is in place now has expired. Scott Tess stated that this plan different from the disaster plan for the City. This plan gives direction on what Champaign County ids to do when there is a disaster where chemical are prevalent. Kevin Garcia stated that this plan is more of a day to day plan and not one that goes into play when a natural disaster happens. Ms. Wu stated that she understand what is being said about mitigation catastrophe events when and if they happen. Her question is a procedure one. If having this plan in place would we be able to apply for federal funds. Is what we have in place that encompass the county wide plan or over the general region adequate? Mayor Marlin addressed the concerns that Ms. Hursey pointed out. She stated that we have a very good plan in place for the City of Urbana if a disaster hits. The Mayor and Staff has gone through many hours of training to learn how to address any crisis that should occur here in Urbana in collaboration with Fire, Police and the University of Illinois. There are many agencies that will respond to a disaster or emergency of any sorts such as a tanker truck flipping over near a populated area to a terrorist attack or natural disaster. There are plans in place to counter act this. www.city.urbana.il.us Home of the University of Illinois Ms. Wilken asked if we had applied for any grant funding for disasters or natural emergencies specifically for those similar to the pandemic. Mr. Tess stated that grant funding was discussed but have not been able to put together the dynamics to follow through with checking out the possibilities of funding yet. Brief discussion ensued. Motion was made by Ms. Wu to send the ordinance approving the Comprehensive Plan to Council for approval, motion was seconded by Shirese Hursey. Voting Aye: Ms. Wu, Mr. Evans, Ms. Hursey, Ms. Kolisetty, Ms. Bishop, Ms. Wilken, and Mr. Quisenberry. Voting Nay: None. COUNCIL INPUT AND COMMUNICATION Ms. Hursey commented on what Mr. Dunn brought up during public input. She stated that she understands his situation fully and feels that wearing a mask or not is strictly up to each individual. She urges Mr. Dunn to do what is best for him and his condition because for her and her household masks will be required. Ms. Hursey advised him to take care of himself. Mr. Quisenberry shared that the Silver Hearts has planned an event for June 12, 2021 at 12:30 p.m. He will be meeting with SUNA. He stated that he is in support of the programs that the Township is putting forth with the purchase of the apartments on California and he fully trusts Danielle. CLOSED SESSION CM Wu moved CM Quisenberry second to go into closed session at 8:15 p.m. Voting Aye: CM Wu, Evans, Hursey, Kolisetty, Bishop, Wilken, Quisenberry and Mayor Marlin. Voting Nay: None. CM Wu moved CM Hursey second to return into open session at 9:47 p.m. Voting Aye: : CM Wu, Evans, Hursey, Kolisetty, Bishop, Wilken, Quisenberry and Mayor Marlin. Voting Nay: None. With there being no further business to come before this body the meeting was declared adjourn at 9:48 p.m. Phyllis D. Clark City Clerk APPROVED: 09/20/2021 www.city.urbana.il.us Home of the University of Illinois