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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 08/07/2017 - City CouncilREGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 7, 2017 Mayor Jett called the regularly scheduled August 7, 2017 meeting of the McHenry City Council to order at 7:00 pm. In attendance were the following Councilmembers: Devine, Mihevc, Schaefer, Santi, Condon, Curry and Glab. Also in attendance: Deputy City Administrator Hobson, Director of Economic Development Martin, Chief of Police Jones, Director of Public Works Schmitt, Director of Community Development Polerecky, Director of Finance Lynch, City Attorney McArdle and City Clerk Nevitt. PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Jett asked if anyone from the public would like to speak and the following did, Donna Gonshorek, Stephen Gonshorek, John Pavlis and Roger Thacker. Donna Gonshorek stated she would be speaking for herself and her husband Stephen. Mrs. Gonshorek expressed that her and her husband have lived in McHenry County for over 20 years and they are concerned about the flooding, stating it was worse this year than it has ever seen it. She also said she owns an extra lot behind her house and it was not able to function because of the flooding. She also made comment on the bad smell and abundance of insects. Mrs. Gonshorek expressed that she was willing to let the City of McHenry use her extra as easement to help with the flooding issues. Mayor Jett stated that there will be a Committee of the Whole meeting on September 25, 2017 at 7:00 pm to discuss the flooding and the Lakeland Park drainage and all Lakeland Park residents are welcome to come. John Pavlis declined to speak at this time. Roger Thacker who resides on Glenbrook Trail spoke about flooding. Mr. Thacker stated that staff and Director Schmitt did an outstanding job addressing the situation and were proactive. CONSENT AGENDA A. Waive bidding requirements and accept quote from Huber Technology, Inc. for repairs to South Wastewater Treatment Plant Wastewater Screen for an amount not to exceed $28,600.73; B. Pay Application #17 to Williams Brothers Construction in the amount of $873,321.40 for Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements; Co Plat of Easement Grant for ten (10) foot Public Utilities easement between 211 & 213 Veretta Court; D. Request for Temporary Use Permit from Next Auto Sales for a used car sales event in the Boost Mobile Store parking lot located at 3817 West Elm Street from 9:00 AM to Dusk, Thursday, August 17 thru Saturday, August 19; E. Parks Facilities/Special Use Picnic Permits; and F. Payment of Bills in the amount of $811,586.28. Alderman Glab asked to pull item B and Alderwoman Condon asked to pull item E to be voted on separately. Mayor Jett announced items B and E would be pulled from the Consent Agenda and voted on as separate items. Motion by Alderman Curry, second by Santi, approving Consent Agenda, as amended, Items A, C, D and F Voting Aye: Curry, Santi, Condon, Devine, Mihevc, Schaefer, Glab Voting Nay: None Absent: None Motion Carried. Consent Agenda Item 5-B Alderman Glab stated that he asked for Consent Agenda Item 5-1) to be pulled not 5-13. City Attorney McArdle stated to go ahead with 5-13 then go to 5-1). Motion by Alderman Schaefer, second by Alderman Santi approving Consent Agenda Item 5-13 as presented. Voting Aye: Schaefer, Santi, Curry, Mihevc, Glab, Devine, Condon Voting Nay: None Absent: None Motion Carried. Consent Agenda Item 5-D City Attorney McArdle stated that although Consent Agenda Item 5-D was approved, it could be discussed. Alderman Glab questioned if there was a limit to the number of cars allowed in the parking lot, to which Director of Community Development Polerecky responded that the handicapped accessibility would be maintained and there would be space for traffic movement, it is being used for visibility of the cars. Alderman Glab stated that there should be some kind of limit on the number of cars that can be parked there during the event. Alderman Glab added selling cars is great revenue for the City of McHenry. Director of Community Development Polerecky expressed that it is for display only and visitors of the event will park across the street at Next Auto Sales. Randy Jeske from Next Auto Sales said only 15-18 cars would fit with room to drive through, there will also be a 20x20 tent in the lot and Boost Mobile will still have seven parking spaces with a handicapped spot and be able to continue to do business. Alderman Glab said in the future, the City Council should see where cars would be parked, and have an outline of exactly where everything is going to be so there are no surprises. Alderman Santi agreed with Alderman Glab adding if it is not convenient for the customers they will not stay and shop. Alderman Santi also stated that Mr. Jeske would make it convenient for the customers, he is a businessman trying to do business. Alderwoman Condon expressed that she had concerns with the number of cars that were parked at the previous location. She added that she has no concerns with the new location, but cannot imagine more than 15 cars looking nice there for future events. City Council should have a layout on where items will be set up. Alderman Santi asked Director of Community Development Polerecky's opinion on how many cars would look good in the lot. Director of Community Development Polerecky replied that at this time he really could not say how many. Alderman Glab stated it is hard to visualize what 15 cars look like setup but would be comfortable with the 15-car limit. Alderman Curry expressed that for the future, a diagram with what the layout would be needed and that he trusts the business owner on what would look good for the display. Alderwoman Condon stated she did not know how it would look because there is no diagram to show the layout. Alderman Schaefer stated that the business owner will not make it look bad, and asked have there been any restrictions on other car dealers, other than size of lots, on Route 120. Director of Economic Development Martin stated that the cars cannot be parked on the grass and certain areas do have restrictions. Director of Community Development Polerecky stated that other car dealers can use the entire lot, but Mr. Jeske will be using the lot and will put a reasonable amount of cars on display. Alderwoman Condon stated this is a temporary use for a car lot. Alderman Glab questioned if it should be put on hold until City Council knows how many cars fit across the frontage of the lot. Mayor Jett said he would visit the site with staff to see the layout and make sure it does not look gaudy. Director of Community Development Polerecky explained the lot is roughly 120 square feet and parking stalls are usually 9 feet wide at a minimum. Mayor Jett stated that with parking stalls at 9 feet wide, less than 15 cars would fit in there. Alderman Glab expressed that he had no problem with an 18-car limit but there will also be a tent in the lot taking up space. Alderman Santi stated he was comfortable with not exceeding an 18-car limit for the event. Alderwoman Condon expressed she was not pulling her motion, if the intent is to sell cars there needs to be space for customers to open doors and room for them to look at the cars. City Attorney McArdle stated that if the motion passes, the limit of 15 cars would stand, if it does not pass, the original motion stands with no limit on how many cars can be displayed in the lot, unless another motion is made. Motion by Alderwoman Condon, second by Alderman Glab, to reconsider approval of Consent Agenda Item 5-1) with the condition, not to exceed 15 cars during the timeframe indicated. Voting Aye: Condon, Glab Voting Nay: Mihevc, Devine, Schaefer, Curry, Santi Absent. None Motion Failed. Alderman Glab stated he would like to make a motion to reconsider with limit to 18 cars. Motion by Alderman Glab, second by Alderman Santi, to reconsider approval of Consent Agenda Item 5-D, with the conon, not to exceed 18 cars during the timeframe indicated. Voting Aye: Glab, Santi, Schaefer Voting Nay: Condon, Curry, Mihevc, Devine Absent: None Motion Failed. Mayor Jett explained there would be no limit on cars parked in the lot during the event and he would be there Thursday morning to see the layout. CONSENT AGENDA ITEM 5-E Mayor Jett asked for any discussion on Consent Agenda Item 5-E from City Council and there was none. Motion by Alderman Curry, second by Alderman Santl, to approve Consent Agenda Item 5-E, as presented. Voting Aye: Curry, Santi, Schaefer, Devine, Glab, Mihevc Voting Nay: None Absent: None Abstain: Condon Motion Carried. INDIVIDUAL ACTION ITEM AGENDA A. Motion to approve the application for a Revolving Loan from Anthem R.E., LLC d/b/a Smith's Central Garage located at 3315 Pearl Street for installation of a fire suppression system in the amount of $50,000 as recommended by the Revolving Loan Committee. Director of Economic Development Martin presented this item to the Council. The owner of the business Mr. John Smith was in attendance. Alderman Curry stated the minutes from the Revolving Loan Fund read as a consideration from the committee and needed to be changed to a recommendation from Revolving Loan Fund Committee to City Council. Alderman Santi questioned if the motion passes what is left in the fund, to which Director of Finance Lynch responded there is currently $83,000 and if the motion passes there would be $33,000 left, plus $12,000 at end of year from a loan being paid and a loan being paid back monthly, so the balance in the fund would increase with those payments coming in. Alderman Glab expressed his concern for problems with the amount of potential Parking; if the loan passed there would be an additional 120-130 cars parked on streets and it would really impact parking for rest of city. Alderman Glab also expressed the pressure on the city to correct parking issues and the potential for hurting other businesses in that area. He stated he had reservations about this and will not support using government money when it could hurt other businesses. Alderwoman Condon asked business owner John Smith, if he knew it needed the fire suppression system and why it was not originally incorporated into the plan, to which Mr. Smith replied that he was not exactly sure what he would be doing with the building at the time. He later decided to turn it into an event center. After opening the business, he learned that it only allowed up to 100 people and decided the fire suppression system was needed after receiving inquiries for larger events. Alderwoman Condon stated the doors were open for business and Mr. Smith knew it needed the fire suppression system. Mr. Smith expressed that he had already seen anti - business sentiment displayed from City Council tonight and will withdraw his request and he left the meeting. Alderwoman Condon finished her statement saying that she was going to support the loan; she just wanted an explanation for why. Alderman Schaefer expressed that this is the type of business we want in the community and Mr. Smith has already put thousands of dollars into this business. After he found out that it could not accommodate more than 100 people he stopped accepting events with more than that and applied for this loan to get the fire suppression system to hold larger events. As the request was withdrawn, no motion was made on this item. B. Motion to approve a Professional Services Contract with Baxter &Woodman, Inc. for Recreation Center Parking Lot Expansion for an amount not to exceed $22,930. Director of Public Works Schmitt presented this item to the Council. Mayor Jett asked for City Council comments and there were none. Mayor Jett asked for public comment and a citizen stood up and expressed that this is really needed. Motion by Alderman Curry, second by Alderman Santi, approving a Professional Services Contract with Baxter &Woodman, Inc. for Recreation Center Parking Lot Expansion for an amount not to exceed $22,930. Voting Aye: Curry, Santi, Glab, Schaefer, Devine, Condon, Mihevc Voting Nay: None Absent: None Motion Carried. STAFF REPORTS Chief of Police Jones announced the McHenry Police Department would be hosting Butter Burgers and Badges at Culvers Restaurant and a percentage of the proceeds will be donated to Special Olympics of Illinois. Deputy City Administrator Hobson announced Farmers Markets and band concerts in Veterans Memorial Park are scheduled through September. The Spirit of 45 Alive event recognizing the Veterans will be held on in Veterans Memorial Park on August 10, and the McHenry Rotary Blues, Brews and BBQ's event will be held in Petersen Park August 1&20. Mayor Jett left the meeting at 7:47 pm and returned to at 7:51 pm. MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL COMMENTS Alderwoman Condon expressed that there will be a Community Development Committee meeting on Monday August 14at 700 , pm. Alderman Santi announced he and staff are preparing dates for Public Works Committee meetings. Director of Public Works Schmitt added the next meeting is scheduled for September 11, at 6:30 pm. Alderman Schaefer announced a Parks &Recreation Committee meeting will be held on August 21, at 5:30 pm. Alderman Curry reported there was a Finance &Personnel Committee meeting held before the City Council this evening and the next meeting is scheduled for September 5. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Alderman Santi, second by Alderman Curry, to adjourn the meeting. Voting Aye: Santi, Curry, Schaefer, Condon, Glab, Devine, Mihevc Voting Nay: None Absent: None Motion Carried. The meeting was adjourned at 7:56 pm. r