City Council Special Meeting

State of Illinois City of Urbana Diane Wolfe Marlin, Mayor Charles A. Smyth, City Clerk URBANA CITY COUNCIL CLOSED SESSION MINUTES 400 S. Vine St., Urbana, IL 61801 Property Acquisition, Pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2 (c)(5) - Part A Tuesday, January 22, 2019, 5:30pm The Urbana City Council met in closed session at 5:30pm in a Special City Council meeting for the purpose of discussing the Purchase or Lease of Real Property, pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(5) and the setting of a price for sale or lease of property, pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(6). Following a roll call vote, City Council Members and selected staff moved to the 2nd Floor Executive Conference Room. Elected officials present: Brown, Hazen, Hursey, Jakobsson, Miller, Wu, Mayor Marlin Elected officials present via teleconference: None Staff present: Carol Mitten, City Administrator; Brandon Boys, Economic Development Manager; Sheila Dodd, Grants Division Manager; Kay Meharry, Assistant City Clerk; John Schneider, Community Development Director; Curt Borman, Assistant City Attorney Mayor Marlin called the closed session to order at 5:32pm, stated the purpose of the closed session and acknowledged everyone present. Property Acquisition, Part A: The property is 704 North Broadway, across from Crystal Lake Park. The animal control officer was called to that property about the property owner’s dogs and notified Community Development about some structure issues. Staff went to look at the property and declared the home unfit for occupancy. The damage was so extensive the owner was unable to afford the repairs to bring it up to code, and funds from housing rehab assistance would not have been enough to make all of the necessary repairs to make it habitable. The property owner asked if the city would be interested in purchasing his property, which has an assessed value of $18,430. A negotiated purchase price of $20,000 was reached. Funding from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) is available, and the Annual Action Plan allocated funding for the elimination of slum and blight, which can be used for purchase. The cost for demolition and site clearance would about $18,000, and would be paid for by the Abandoned Properties Program. If Council approves, the proposal is to purchase the lot, demolish the structure, clear the lot, and then make it available to a non-profit for redevelopment. Another option is to ask adjacent property owners if they might be interested in purchasing it. If the property is sold, then the money from the sale would go back into the CDBG fund. CM Shirese Hursey said some residents in Ward 3 would like to have a chance to bid on properties rather than the City purchase them and have the property go to Habitat for Humanity. She said residents might want to have the chance to buy a property and try to save the structure. Property Sale, Part B: - Held Confidential With no further business to come before this closed session the council members exited the conference room at 6:43pm and returned to the Council Chambers at 6:46pm. CM Hazen made a motion to go back into open session. Motion was seconded by CM Miller and carried by voice vote. Respectfully submitted, Kay Meharry Assistant City Clerk Minutes Approved: July 15, 2019 Part A approved for Release: August 5, 2019, 2019-08-030R Page 2 of 2