HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 12/11/1991 - City CouncilREGULAR MEETING
DECEMBER 11, 1991
The Regular Meeting of the McHenry City Council was called to order
by Mayor Busse on Wednesday, December 11, 1991 at 8:00 P.M. in the
classroom of the Municipal Center. At roll call the following Aldermen
were present: Bolger, Donahue, Locke, Lieder, Smith, Adams, Patterson,
Serritella. Absent: None. City Staff in attendance: City Clerk
Gilpin, City Attorney Narusis, City Administrator Peterson, Director of
Public Works Batt, Director of Parks and Recreation Merkel, Director of
Building and Zoning Halik. Absent: Chief of Police Joyce.
The purpose and the agenda for the second meeting of the month has
been decided by the Council to use for planning and development issues.
Those issues include discussion of existing annexations, proposed
annexations, water and sewer facilities, traffic, schools, legal issues,
and the positive and negative aspects of growth and development. The
goal of these planning meetings, is to have the City staff and the
Council deal more effectively with growth and development in the future.
Mayor Busse announced that he was vetoing Council action taken at the
December 4, 1991 meeting to grant a $35,000 Revolving Loan to Joseph
Caruso doing business as Caruso's Italian Kitchen. Official written
notice was sent to all Aldermen prior to this meeting. The Mayor's
letter was entered into the record as follows:
"Members of the City Council
333 South Green Street
McHenry, Illinois 60050
Ladies and Gentlemen:
As a public body, we often take opposing viewpoints on a variety of
issues. Without question, the decision of the majority establishes policy
when issues are discussed with full knowledge of the facts and
circumstances. However, when decisions are made with incomplete or
inadequate information, I believe it is my responsibility to respond with
whatever methods are legally available to hopefully convince you otherwise.
Therefore, please let this letter serve as notice of my veto of the
Council action of Wednesday, December 4, 1991 approving the $35,000 loan to
Joseph Caruso, d/b/a Caruso's Italian Kitchen repayable in equal
installments over ten years at an interest rate of 5.00% APR.
The most disturbing event of the meeting was the City Council action to
close off all discussion and call for the vote to approve the loan with
minimal discussion and few questions asked. This was the very first time
this application had ever been brought before the City Council as a whole.
In addition, the City requested and did not receive complete information on
the applicant and his business. Missing was the requested basic
information, such as three years of financial statements and/or tax
returns. Also missing was a current valuation of the equipment, a
requirement the COUNCIL requested and included in the recapture strategy
approved on November 20, 1991 only two weeks earlier. The City Council
never asked the pertinent questions or even discussed the applicant's
personal bankruptcy in April, 1991, what the assets were, or whether this
bankruptcy was discharged. Also ignored and never discussed was the
Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs recommendation that
our revolving load fund never loan more than 50% of a project to "protect
the fiscal health of your RLF and is in keeping with departmental
guidelines." This applicant requested and received approval for 100%
funding. Since this applicant will utilize better than 90% of the current
loan balance, very little is remaining for other businesses that wish to
apply.
I believe the vote to approve this very first application ever received
by the City was premature, ill-advised, and certainly not in the best
interest of the City. We can all agree that Mr. Caruso is a good corporate
citizen in the community. But, that fact alone coupled with good
intentions does not require us to leave our good judgment at the door when
we enter the Council Chambers. We are dealing with a significant amount of
public dollars which require our careful stewardship. Once lost, they can
never be recycled again for future borrowers' use. Moreover, I do not
believe we have given the business community enough publicity to solicit
additional applications for the use of these funds. We have bowed to
pressure from one Alderman who is aggressively promoting this single
application. The approval of this loan may be in the best interest of this
particular borrower, but I must question if approving this loan is truly in
the best interest of the community as a whole.
Sincerely,
/S/ William J. Busse
Mayor"
December 11, 1991 Page 2
Alderman Bolger said he felt that it was an illegal veto, since the
Council decided to defer this to any committee selected by the Council.
The Finance Committee was chosen to discuss this matter, and the DCCA
guidelines say that the Finance Committee has the final say on that
matter. Bolger said he inserted into the record that the City Council
should make the final decision and did not provide for a veto. Bolger
read a statement regarding his feelings on the Caruso Revolving Loan Fund
account and the economic condition of the country in general. At the
conclusion of his statement, he said that Mr. Caruso had agreed to lower
his request for a loan from $35,000 to $25,000. Bolger said he reported
this to the Mayor and the Mayor said that the new request would have to
go back to Committee.
Motion by Bolger, seconded by Donahue, to over -ride the Mayor's veto
and approve granting a Revolving Loan to Caruso's Italian Kitchen in the
amount of $35,000.00.
Voting Aye: Bolger, Donahue, Locke, Patterson, Serritella.
Voting Nay: Lieder, Smith, Adams.
Absent: None.
Motion did not pass because a 2/3 vote of the Council is needed to
override a veto. Therefore, the Mayor's veto stands.
PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ISSUES
City Administrator Peterson presented graphs showing the annual
building permits for single family homes from 1988-1991, the annual
building permits for all residential units from 1988-1991, a list of
approved developments in the process of being built, a list of
developments in the process of review by the Plan Commission or Zoning
Board of Appeals, a list of developments in the process of being reviewed
by staff or proposed to City Council, and a list of permits issued from
January 1, 1981 through December 31, 1991 for single and multi -family
residences. He also distributed a memo on recent conversations with
developers of the Fritsch farm property. He explained in detail a
summary of discussions with the Fritsch farm concerning proposed
construction of 491 single family hones, 312 multi -family hones, and a
public golf course owned and operated by the City of McHenry. These
plans were consistent with the development ideas which had been discussed
with the City Council for several years.
ALDERMEN'S OPINIONS ON GROWTH
Mayor Busse asked each Alderman to express his/her opinion on growth
and the City's record to date.
Alderman Bolger stated he would like to slow down residential growth
and put more emphasis on industry and a meaningful retail shopping area.
He didn't feel the City should stop residential growth because
substantial developer donations are being required by the Cityfor new
growth. He felt the City should set standards and if developers meet
those standards, the City has to accept the growth.
Alderman Donahue felt the City should establish a stronger industrial
and commercial base that would ease the burden on City taxpayers.
Alderman Locke agreed with Alderman Donahue's viewpoint and felt the
City should encourage quality industrial growth such as in the McHenry
Corporate Center. That would speed up the economy and employ more
people.
Alderman Lieder pointed out that McHenry is a skilled community that
has a lot of people involved in producing gravel, cement, and in the
construction field. If the City does slow growth, it would have a very
negative effect on local people and their jobs. He was concerned that
the quality of education would start to suffer when more children came
into the system and class sizes increase. He pointed out that 60% of the
students in McHenry schools are from outside the corporate limits of the
City, so if growth inside the City limits is stopped, the City has no
control on homes being built outside the City. Therefore, he felt the
City's issues with the schools should not only be the City dealing with
the problem, but other governmental bodies as well. He felt the City
should hold discussions with the citizens, the builders, and people of
the community, weigh all the facts and talk about them to came up with a
philosophy, a direction, and a goal to guide the Council in the next five
years. The whole picture must be looked at because you must weigh the
jobs for people against stopping growth.
December 11, 1991 Page 3
Alderman Smith stated he was not against growth. He felt each
individual has the right to live where they want to if they can afford
it, and they should abide by the rules and regulations of the community.
If schools can't keep up, the answer is not to stop growth. The school
districts have a school board and they should govern the schools. The
City can't control everything in the school districts because a lot of
the growth is not inside the City limits. He agreed that the City needs
more commercial and industrial growth to eleviate some of the tax burden
for residential hone owners.
Alderman Adams felt the City should increase the commercial and
industrial base. In order to do that, the City needed to enhance the
infrastructure such as sewer and water, but primarily the highway
system. He pointed out that McHenry was unique in the County and in the
area in that it has an inadequate highway system going in and out of the
area. IDOT is beginning to take measures to widen Route 120 east, which
is a step in the right direction, but it could take three to five years
for completion. He felt the City should build on that and look where the
City could feeds off of the new highway. He felt infrastructure had to
be in place before you can attract commercial and industrial business, as
discussed tonight. He also urged the Council to increase right-of-way
requirements when new developments and annexations come into the City.
He felt residential growth would come whether the City wanted it or not,
the City should provide for it and try to keep taxes low by increasing
the business base in town.
Alderman Patterson stated industrial and commercial growth need to be
given a greater emphasis. He felt tax abatements did not create a
negative aspect for development because developed property is more
valuable than vacant land to taxing bodies.. He felt the school boards
and the administrators should be asked to attend every meeting where
growth is an issue so they get the information first-hand. They could
also then better appreciate the problems that the City is dealing with.
Alderman Serritella said she agreed that industrial and commercial
growth should be encouraged. She does not want to stop growth and is
definitely pro -growth, mainly because there is no way it is going to
stop. If the City stops growth, it will come in through the County and
the impact will be the same on the schools. She also felt that maybe
more money should be requested for the schools through annexation
agreements. She pointed out that it was important to remember that
schools do change. Schools that are full today may not be full in five
years. The City cannot answer all of the school's needs. She felt the
schools should attend more of the Council meetings when growth is
discussed. She also noted that whatever the City annexes should not be
just in four to five acre lots because local people should be able to buy
affordable housing.
Mayor Busse said it was an important point to remember through
experience learned from the suburbs, that there is a danger in
overbuilding schools because demographics do change over time. Those
suburbs that did overbuild now have changed those vacant buildings into
community centers, senior citizen centers, churches, etc. He also felt
that since the City has no problem attracting residential developers, the
City should try to get them to do a little more besides the minimum. The
City should go that extra mile and ascertain what that development can do
to enhance the community.
Mayor Busse called for a recess at 10:13 P.M. The Meeting reconvened
at 10:28 P.M.
Alderman Bolger, Donahue, Adams, and Serritella left the meeting at
10:25 P.M.
Aldermen remaining in attendance were Smith, Lieder, Locke, and
Patterson.
INFRASTRUCTURE AVAILABILITY
Discussion took place on water and sewer capacity for new
development. Director of Public Works Batt and City Administrator
Peterson reported that the sewer facilities are in great shape, but the
weak link is water capacity. It was the consensus of opinion to have
Peterson and Batt prepare specific information on infrastructure needs
and present it at the January 15, 1992 Planning Meeting.
December 11, 1991
Page 4
Motion by Smith, seconded by Locke to adjourn.
Voting Aye: Lieder, Locke,
Smith, Patterson.
Voting Nay: None.
Absent: Bolger, Donahue, Adams, Serritella.
Motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 11:38 P.M.
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