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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 07/09/1991 - City CouncilSPECIAL MEETING JULY 8, 1991 A Special Meeting of the McHenry City Council was called to order by Mayor Busse on Monday, July 8, 1991 at 7:00 P.M. in City Hall. At roll call the following Aldermen were present: Bolger, Donahue, Locke, Smith, Adams, Serritella. Lieder arrived at 7:55 P.M. Patterson arrived at 8:03 P.M. Absent: None. City Staff in attendance were: City Clerk Gilpin, City Administrator Peterson. Mayor Busse announced that the purpose of this Special Meeting was for a planning session to discuss the role, function, and mission of the City. Also, goals and objectives would be reviewed with additions, deletions, and prioritizations made on those goals. Aldermen would be asked to relate what one major accomplishment they would like to see in the next year. Organizational issues such as staffing, process, committees, meeting schedules, professional services, financial policy, personnel policy and other issues were to be brought forward at this meeting. Another matter to be discussed was if, and by whom, should the new Municipal Center be used. If time permitted, strategic planning issues with visions of the future would also be brought to attention at this meeting. FUTURE DEVELOPMENT The first question posed by the Mayor for discussion was: What type of housing, business, industry, or economic development should the City try to attract? Does the City have too much or too little of low, middle, or high end housing? Is there enough affordable or entry level housing? What type of housing, business, industry, or economic development should the City attract or avoid? Should the City try to surpass surrounding towns in population, or is it comfortable with where its at now? Alderman Donahue was the first to respond. It was her opinion that first time home buyers, or entry level home buyers, have been completely eliminated from building in the City because of the high impact fees. With approximately $7,000.00 in fees for homes added to lots which are $25,000 - $30,000, it would result in about a $100,000 package. She felt that McHenry is now a bedroom community, and she would like to invite more commercial and industry into town to help eleviate property taxes on homeowners. People can build cheaper in the County than they can in the City, she said. The City needs to find a happy medium to retain the people that are now in the City, and to keep the next generations here. She also felt it was important that the infrastructure be improved and expanded so that water and sewer could be provided to all City residents. In addition, she would like to see the City annex the homes on Country Club Drive and have City services brought to that area. The Mayor posed the question to Alderman Donahue as to how she would react to the statement that 75% of the existing housing stock in McHenry is entry level or affordable housing now, and so when people want to move up, they can't find anything here and then leave the community. Donahue strongly disagreed with that statement. She agreed there are existing entry level homes in the City, but they are getting harder to find. She contended that when developers come in to propose new housing units, they cannot construct new hones that would fall into the affordable or entry level housing because by the time they purchased the land, paid the fees and installed subdivision improvements, it would be impossible to package any homes for $100,000.00. Alderman Serritella agreed with Donahue, but did not want a lot of small, inferior houses built in town. She felt there was not enough affordable housing in the City and that more consideration should be given to lower and middle class home buyers. She didn't like the idea that everything that is built in the City or annexed, can only have large hones on large acreage. The Mayor asked if the City should be concerned about entry level housing which generates large numbers of children for the schools. Should the City be concerned about the impact on the schools? Serritella felt the City should be concerned with the school problem, and felt that some of the money that is now being collected for Park Donations could be put toward School Donation fees. She felt Parks and Recreation activities were important, but schools were more important. Even though the study done for the Parks and Recreation Department suggested what future needs should be planned, she did not feel all of it needed to be done. July 8, 1991 Page 2 The Mayor asked if the City should start encouraging developers to build starter o r affordable housing, rather than homes for the "move -up" buyers. It was Serritella's opinion that the City is not encouraging those entry level homes right now, however, she did not believe that developers should construct only affordable housing. Alderman Smith said that everyone agrees the City wants more industry, factories, and commercial businesses in the area, but you can't expect people living in $100,000 - $150,000 homes to work in those factories. The City has been increasing the lot sizes over the past few years and that was fine for middle or upper class homes, but 1f you want people to work in factories, you need to have housing for people to fill those jobs, Smith said. Concerning the schools, Smith felt that since the School District boundaries are much larger than the City's, homes built outside the City should pay the same fees toward the schools as the City does. Not just the City should always be asked to increase its fees to meet the school needs. He agreed with Serritella that Parks and Recreation needs should be given consideration, but only if the City can afford it. Alderman Bolger felt that the matter of affordable housing was a national issue and was way beyond the City of McHenry's scope. He felt impact fees created higher taxes for young home buyers, makes every home in McHenry worth more money, and moves the whole matter up the scale so that first-time home buyers cannot afford to buy homes. A large part of the impact fees are for the schools, and Bolger felt the schools were not using their resources to fund proper educational programs. He felt the schools were top-heavy with overpaid administration people. In his opinion, the City had been more than fair in working with the schools on developer donation fees, but he didn't think the school administration had been fair with the people. Concerning housing, the City of McHenry hadn't done much to assist in providing affordable housing for the people, Bolger said. He did agree with the estate zoning that was recently passed, but he did not agree when the City increased the square footage of the R-2 Zoning Classification. It was the Mayor's perception that 75% of the City's housing stock is for starter homes now and when people want to move up, they can't find homes and leave the community. Alderman Donahue disagreed with that statement and said that Fox Ridge, Whispering Oaks, Brittany Heights, and Brittany Park are not starter homes. Busse felt that many of the families moving into those subdivisions had young children and these were their first hones. It was Donahue's opinion that many of those people were coming out of condos, townhomes, apartments, or smaller homes. City Administrator Peterson reported that he was meeting with an architect who was looking into affordable housing in Lake and McHenry Counties to see if it was feasible to develop affordable housing stock in this area. He will inform the Council on the results of that meeting later. Alderman Locke said he agreed with most of the comments made by the Aldermen. He felt the school taxes were outrageous, and agreed with Bolger that administration salaries were ludricrous. Regarding the housing market, he said it's whatever the market will bear because it's a free enterprise system. He agreed with the Mayor that there does seem to be first-time homes available in the community. The only problem he had was the increased developer fees that someone who wanted to move from Fox Ridge to Martin Woods would have to pay. If those increased fees would cause someone to move out of town just because they wanted to move to a larger home, that was a problem. He agreed with Bolger that affordable housing was a bigger issue than just local and it was going to get even larger because the Federal Government would not take responsibility for solving it. `:.Irdable housing, V 4 said that the house+ ;!It in the City now don't feel a a, 'Id not even be allowt�, mute id Winnetka. it', al a matter of perception as to what rdable using is. It's a, t, , W decide what they want th- ni­, e. July 8, 1991 Page 3 EXPANSION OF FACILITIES d SERVICES: The next topic of discussion was expansion of existing facilities. Is it part of the City's plan to bring private facilities into the City's system? What about the level of services versus taxation? Should we add or cut services? Alderman Serritella felt the City should aggressively expand to the east and south, and annex whenever the opportunity was there, and the price was right. But the ability to provide services to those areas is a completely different issue, she said. Before annexation, if those areas are developed, people should be informed that services cannot be provided immediately nor can a timetable be put on it. Concerning the acquisition of a private water company, Alderman Serritella said the City should seek the best price possible, and not pay as much as was paid for the Lakeland Park Water Company. She also felt the City should continue to expand City water lines into the McHenry Shores area. Peterson said there is the opportunity to install competing water lines in that area so that the City could start to take over the system, and have developers install those lines rather than the City and provide optional connections. Alderman Bolger said he wasn't as concerned about Crystal Lake coming to McHenry's south borders as he was about Lakemoor's encroaching on the east side of the river. He felt the City could better serve that area than Lakemoor. He felt that the City should aggressively try to annex east of the river, unconditionally with no promises, but that eventually, they will probably get better roads and better water and sewer service. Alderman Smith said rather than purchase a private water system that is worn out, the City should install its own lines next to the private water system lines and gradually take over the system. Alderman Donahue and Alderman Adams both felt that annexing on the east side of the river should be a priority. Adams saw annexing on the east side of the river as an investment in the future to benefit the entire City because if sewer and water were extended to the east side, it would spur development there, and generate tax dollars from that new annexation. Adams felt that the sales tax and property tax money generated from there, minus the cost of providing police protection, could be used to install utilities. The staff could work up figures to see what the timeframe payback would be on that, he said. Smith felt that the people who were getting the services on the east side of the river should pay for them and not the existing taxpayers on the west side of the river. Concerning the level of services, Busse asked if the aldermen were comfortable with what the City has been providing? Should it be expanded or contracted? Alderman Bolger felt the level of services was excellent. Because finances are tight, he felt one thing that could be deferred might be City clean-up week. Regarding the fireworks display, possibly other organizations could assist and pay up to 50% of the fireworks costs, he said. He noted that with the picture as bleak as it is, the City could not continue next year to expand any services, and might in fact, have to cut some. He also felt the City might have to raise some user fees if more water is to be supplied. Alderman Serritella questioned if the Council had discussed the use of park facilities next year for non-residents. To her knowledge, she had never heard it discussed at the Council Meeting where the City would not provide use of our baseball fields to people who live outside the corporate limits. She considers that a service. Alderman Patterson, Chairman of the Parks and Recreation Committee, noted that there are a limited number of fields available, and the Park Department has given priority to those teams or groups that have all City residents. Teams that have a larger portion of non-residents on them are not given first choice, he said. There are many more teams being developed with City residential members, and so there is a shortage of baseball fields for non-resident teams, Patterson explained. July 8, 1991 Page 4 Serritella said it had been brought to her attention that the Park Committee has been telling out-of-town teams, that they might not be able to play next year because there are too many non-residents on their teams. She was specifically referring to Litttle-League and Youth League teams. Serritella objected to the Park Department and Park Committee telling non-residents that they may not be able to use City ballfields next year. She felt that decision should come from the Council. Patterson replied that when using school district facilities, school district boundaries are taken into consideration. When playing in City parks, then City boundaries are taken into consideration. He said that there are no ball fields being used on school property right now. Alderman Locke requested that the City Agenda be published in the newspaper. Busse reported that the agenda is sent to all the media, and they can publish it if they choose to. Locke felt the general public would attend more meetings if they were aware of what was being discussed. He felt the meetings should be made simpler and easier for the general public to attend. Peterson will write letters to the newspapers asking them what their timeframe is, and asking them to publish the agenda in their papers. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: Peterson reported that one of the Goals and Objectives on the old list was a suggestion to expand the South Wastewater Treatment Plant in modules, rather than the whole expansion at once. The engineering costs on that study are almost complete now. The Public Works Committee is in the process of considering new wells, pumping stations, and elevated tanks, he said. Those are among the immediate needs and priorities and the Council will have those matters brought before it in the near future. The Mayor asked each Alderman to state one item or short-term goal they would like to accomplish within the next year. Alderman Smith would like a final decision to be made on group usage of the new building and how the remaining acreage at the Municipal Building site should be used -- for a Parks and Recreation Building, or a Public Works facility. He felt that the additional acreage south of the Municipal Center site could be available for a Parks and Recreation facility if they wished to buy it. He felt it was an excellent location and he had no objection to the Parks and Recreation Department buying that land if they had the money. His opposition was to using the administration building for recreational use. He did not feel a Parks and Recreation facility should be placed on the 20 acre Municipal site. However, he did feel there was room to use half of the 20 acres of the Municipal site for a Public Works facility. He felt a facility for Public Works could be built on the far west end of the Municipal Center property, and tie into the Knox Park barn and the existing Public Works building. He also felt that the Parks and Recreation Department and the Public Works facility could tie in and be used jointly. He stressed that a decision should be made within the next twelve months. Alderman Adams felt that the City should grant tax abatements to lure business development into McHenry. He would be in favor of tax abatements, but not TIF districts on vacant property. He would also favor aggressive advertising and promotion techniques tied with the Economic Development Commission and the Chamber of Commerce to attract business to the area. He felt McHenry Corporate Center was a great foundation and furthur development should be encouraged. He felt the City should pursue the the White Collar/High Tech job market. Alderman Patterson's number one priority was to expand the park land program and make other capital improvements in that area. By expanding the park land and other programs, it makes our area more beautiful and desireable for bringing business into the area because corporation presidents will bring their companies to areas with good residential and park amenities, Patterson said. Alderman Serritella would like to see the expansion of sidewalks throughout the City, especially areas that do not have any now. She also mentioned that she likes the agenda packets as prepared by Administrator Peterson, and felt they were very concise and informative. She also was unclear as to who Aldermen should give their complaints to for processing, to the staff or Administrator? July 8, 1991 Page 5 Alderman Bolger's number one priority is to improve the City's infrastructure, namely water and sewer availability, because without that we could not expand into more industry. Alderman Donahue would like to organize a program to get local businesses involved in a recycling program. She would also like to see some beautification done in downtown business districts through the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Commission. Alderman Locke said he was not as optimistic as other Aldermen in the way things could go throughout the next year. He felt the City should not be spending money as freely as it has in the past. Essential City services should be provided, but the City should not raise taxes. His wish is that the City should have a little more conscience as far as future expenditures are concerned, and if not really necessary, they should be deferred until a time when the economy catches up. Alderman Lieder said the major concern of all residents is taxes. The City should continue to be pro -active, and to encourage commercial and industrial development to try and reduce the tax burden to local homeowners. He felt we also needed to improve communications with other municipalities and governmental agencies within our jurisdiction because we are all fighting for the same tax dollars. The City should make sure it is making maximum use of its tax dollars and should share resources the best it can. He felt the next area we need to be pro -active with is looking at our water and sewer needs, and plan accordingly. Another issue that concerned him was finalizing priority needs for Parks and Recreation. The demands by the residents are outstretching the facilities that the City presently has. We must identify if it 1s land or facilities that are needed, or both, and what resources the City has to accomplish that, Lieder stressed. Mayor Busse called for a recess at 8:43 P.M. The Meeting reconvened at 9:00 P.M. with everyone still in attendance. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES: -Stafflny: Peterson felt the staffing level was right where it should be now. Aere are two vacant positions in the Building and Zoning Department. One existing vacancy has not been filled for Building Inspector. Another position for City Planner which was authorized, has not yet been filled. Because development activity is down, and the budget is relatively tight, Peterson said he was going to defer filling that position this year. -Process: The question arose as to whom Aldermen should contact with their compTaints. Peterson said it was preferable that they go to him but if the Aldermen felt more comfortable going to the Department Head, it was their perrogative. However, he could not be expected to follow up on a complaint if he was not made aware of the problem in the first place. -Committee Structure: Bolger felt there should be one new Committee and thateach Alderman should have Chairmanship of a Committtee. He especially felt there should be a Building and Land Committee. Patterson felt the existing number of Committees was very good and much better than the previous number. Peterson asked if the Committees were getting enough information to make decisions. Lieder felt that having a document to react to at Committee Meetings gave the Aldermen the chance to review it and prepare their questions so that the Committee's time could be used more efficiently. It was also recommended that the Committee Meeting minutes be more detailed and prepared in the same format as Agenda Supplements where the problem is outlined and then a recommendation of the Committee is made. That might eleviate the length of discussion necessary at the Council Meetings in order to thoroughly understand the recommendations. -Meeting Schedules: Are there too many? Too long? Should the meeting da e changed? Alderman Smith said that the Council should never go to just two meetings a month. The Council should never go longer than two weeks without a meeting. Alderman Lieder felt there should be two business meetings, and one planning meeting a month. He felt the length of the meeting was dictated by the Aldermen and how much conversation they had -- that should be continually monitored by the July 8, 1991 Page 6 Aldermen. He also felt that when audience members are present at the meeting, and their topic is on the agenda, those matters should be brought up first, and not make the people wait. He also stressed that when important issues are discussed around midnight, the meeting should be adjourned and reconvened the next night or another time. He felt hasty and imprudent decisions are made when everyone is tired. Alderman Patterson felt the Consent Agenda was very effective. He did not approve of starting the meetings earlier than 8:00 P.M. and would prefer an 11:00 P.M. cutoff. He would like to see more pictures or visual displays presented at Council Meetings to clarify issues for the Aldermen. He didn't think that two meetings a month would be sufficient to handle the City's business. -Public �InnR� ut Session: The Mayor asked each Alderman their impression�f�pu6Tic input -Session. All the Aldermen felt the Public Input Session was working fine and should continue as is. No response should be given or debates undertaken after the public comments are made. Also, all of public input should be made at the ten minutes prior to the start of the meeting and not prior to each agenda item. -Financial Policies: Peterson would like to see a purchasing policy set up concern ng proposals, requests for bids, etc. A consistent policy should be developed in that area. The staff discussed developing a standard request for proposal or contract document that could be used whenever bids are solicited. Bolger asked who did the investing for the City. Why does it go to Springfield sometimes? Should we invest locally? Should we go with the local banks? It was suggested that the Finance Committee look into the investment and purchasing policies and come up with a recommendation. It was also agreed that the Personnel Policy should be reviewed to make sure that it is compliance with all State and Federal regulations. Peterson said the legal review of personnel issues is a highly specialized area that should be handled by firms that specialize in that area. The Aldermen agreed that he should contact a firm to undertake that project. -Other Issues: Discussion was held on redistricting the City to provide more wars now that the population is over 15,000. State statutes require that another ward needs to be established. The redistricting must be done by September of 1992 because the next municipal election takes place in April of 1993, and the ward lines must be drawn before petitions are handed out. It was decided to have the City Attorney check the Statutes to see if it was possible to establish more wards with one Alderman, rather than have two Aldermen per ward so that the number of Aldermen could be kept at eight. Concerning group use of the Municipal Center, Serrltella felt the building should be strictly for administrative purposes, and not for use by other groups. Alderman Smith had no objection to Senior Citizen driving classes or other organized groups where additional help or additional hours are not required for building maintenance. Alderman Bolger said at the present time no one should be allowed to use the building, and the matter should be reviewed again in October. Alderman Donahue felt that because so many people wanted to use the facility, maybe the Council should consider keeping the existing City Hall, do some rehabbing, and rent out space for organizations to use. Busse felt the Municipal Center belongs to the people, and legitimate requests that come in for use of the classroom or the courtroom should be allowed. If it is in the public interest, the Council ought to at least consider allowing use for certain groups, he said. Lieder felt the classroom and the courtroom were the only ones that would lend themselves to meeting use. Until we get into the building and live there awhile, it might be in the best interests of the Council to allow individual groups to use it but not commit to long term arrangements. This could be reviewed after the building has been occupied and we know better what is available and can be accomodated, Lieder said. It was stressed that the Council room should be available only for City Council and City Board meetings and the Aldermen's Conference Room should be available only for Council Committee Meetings, Executive Sessions and Aldermen's use. The agenda item, Visions of the Future, was deferred until another time. July 8, 1991 Page 7 Legat Architects proposed four designs sign for the Municipal Center site. Sign presented for Council review. A straw pole C receiving four votes each. There being a layout B without the domes, and that is the to Legat Architects for construction. for a large identification layouts A, B, C and D were was taken with designs B and tie vote, the Mayor selected design that will be submitted Motion by Smith, seconded by Adams, to adjourn. Voting Aye: Bolger, Donahue, Lieder, Locke, Smith, Adams, Patterson, Serritella. Voting Nay:• None. Absent: None. Motion carried. The Meeting adjourned at 10:40 P.M.