City Council Planning Sessions

MEMORANDUM TO: Record FROM: Susan Bishel, Public Relations Coordinator SUBJECT: June 27, 2016 City Council Planning Session Minutes DATE: June 28, 2016 CC: Mayor and City Council, City Manager, City Clerk, Department Heads The Planning Session took place in the Council Chambers, Wheaton City Hall, 303 W. Wesley St., Wheaton, Illinois. Those attending the Planning Session included: Mayor Gresk, Councilwoman Fitch, Councilman Prendiville, Councilman Rutledge, Councilman Saline and Councilman Scalzo. Councilman Suess was absent. Also in attendance were City Manager Dzugan, Assistant City Manager Duguay, Director of Planning & Economic Development Kozik, Director of Engineering Redman, City Clerk Barrett-Hagen and Public Relations Coordinator Bishel. The session began at 7:45 p.m. following the conclusion of a public hearing and concluded at 8:15 p.m. The following items were discussed: I. Call to Order The Wheaton City Council Planning Session was called to order at 7:45 p.m. by Mayor Gresk. II. Approval of June 13, 2016 Planning Session Minutes The Council approved the June 13, 2016 Planning Session Minutes. III. Public Comment Kara Kortum, 1307 E. Taft, Apt. A., presented the Council with a petition with more than 300 signatures asking the City to consider lowering the speed limit for residential streets in Wheaton to 25 mph or less. Ms. Kortum stated the petition is in response to a recent incident in which a boy was hit by a car on a Wheaton street and later died from his injuries. Eleanor McNear, 203 N. Blanchard, encouraged the City Council to consider a uniform residential speed limit of 25 mph, which would be the same as some unincorporated areas of Wheaton. In response to a question, City Manager Dzugan stated the last time the City Council did a traffic study was sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s, when the City Council considered lowering the residential street speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph. He stated the City Council may want to consider whether this should be revised. Michael Parent, 1510 County Farm Court, stated after Nicor installed a new gas meter, he has had a water leak in his home and is having difficulty getting a response from Nicor. City Manager Dzugan stated the City will contact Nicor to assist in having this resolved. Mike Putman, 706 Wakeman Ave., stated his neighbor was also recently hit by a car on a residential street. He expressed concern about drivers exceeding the speed limit and using residential streets to bypass traffic. He asked the City to consider lowering the residential speed limit. Erin McNealis, 3S701 Wilbur Ave., Warrenville, stated that the residential speed limit in Warrenville is 25 mph or less and Warrenville has not had safety issues. IV. City Code Recodification City Manager Dzugan stated the City enlisted the assistance of an attorney specializing in municipal code to review if the 1996 City Code continues to comply with all applicable state and federal statutes. A staff team consisting of the former City Manager, City Manager Dzugan, City Attorney and City Clerk also completed an administrative and legal review of the City Code. The team developed some suggested revisions, which they presented to the City Council. Most suggested revisions are minor in nature. Other changes moved penalties for code violations from individual code sections to one location and moved fees from individual code sections to one section. City Manager Dzugan stated the City Code contains five areas that require extra majority voting and two areas of the Zoning Ordinance that require extra majority voting. There are three different standards used for the number of votes needed for an extra majority vote to pass: two- thirds of members then holding office, 5 of 7 votes, or three-fourths of the Council qualified to vote. City Manager Dzugan stated several issues could affect extra majority voting standards, such as when Council members are absent or recuse themselves from voting. City staff sought the Council’s direction on whether they would like to continue requiring extra majority votes in these areas, and if so, what the standard should be for an extra majority. Council members expressed a desire to reword the revision to Section 2-103 regarding bonding requirements in order to make the language clearer. Council members expressed an interest in creating a uniform standard definition for extra majority voting. In response to a Council question about whether Wheaton’s Home Rule municipality status allows the City to deviate from Illinois Municipal Code, City Attorney Knippen stated based on previous case law related to the issue of supermajority voting, the City can modify voting requirements as it deems appropriate. In response to a Council question about why the supermajority requirements exist, City Attorney Knippen stated historically most of these requirements were created to ensure that voting bodies have a heightened awareness of disputed property rights. Other instances are less clear, such as the supermajority requirement to pass an annexation agreement, while there is no supermajority requirement to annex a property. City Attorney Knippen suggested if the Council would like to retain extra majority voting requirements, it can remove ambiguity from the language by spelling out how many members must be present and include a clause requiring a certain number of members to be present for the issue to be voted upon. 6/27/16 Planning Session 2 The Council expressed interest in having the City Attorney and City staff present options for a consistent supermajority voting requirement at a future City Council Planning Session. In response to a Council question, City Manager Dzugan stated City staff is currently looking at the PUD Ordinance and could potentially look at the Zoning Ordinance in the future. V. City Council/Staff Comments The Council encouraged the community to attend the Fourth of July Parade in downtown Wheaton. VII. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. 6/27/16 Planning Session 3