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City Council Packet 2013 11-02-13 (Special CC - goal setting) United City of Yorkville t _ 800 Game Farm Road EST, 1836 Yorkville , Illinois 60560 Telephone : 630 - 553 -4350 Fax : 630 - 553 - 7575 KCadaq Qpusiky 4vE it I i NOTICE I , Mayor Gary J . Golinski , call a Special City Council meeting on Saturday, November 2 , 2013 at 9 : 00 a . m . , pursuant to the Open Meetings Act (5 ILCS 120/) . The agenda for this meeting shall include the following : i 1 . Call to Order 2 . Roll Call 3 . Establishment of Quorum 4 . Citizen Comments i f 5 . Business a. Goal Setting Session i 6 . Adjournment j Dated this 28th day of October, 2013 . • . 1 Mayor Gary J . Golinski i i i I i Co. Zo �, United City of Yorkville 4 esr - 1 800 Game Farm Road 1836 Yorkville, Illinois 60560 Telephone: 630-553-4350 'p `MCour Fax: 630-553-7575 AGENDA SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY CONFERENCE ROOM 9:00 AM Saturday, November 2, 2013 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Establishment of Quorum 4. Citizen Comments 5. Business a. Goal Setting Session 6. Adjournment Q Memorandum To: City Council Ear. lass From: Bart Olson, City Administrator Date: October 28, 2013 NcrAil Cc.city �� ALE ►�-�' Subject: City Council goals review- 2013 Summary Review of City Council goals from October 2012. Background The City Council met in October 2012 to set goals for the upcoming year. The City Council chose the goals by listing a variety of goals for the upcoming year, and then casting votes for priority rankings. Each alderman was allowed to vote for their top five goals,using a simple 5-point scale for their five priorities (i.e. top priority received 5 points, second priority received 4 points, etc.). The list of goals is attached,ranked according to priority. Goal 1, Build fund balance Did we satisfy this goal? Yes What should we do with this goal? Decrease priority This goal received a 45-point ranking, which means every alderman and the Mayor listed this goal as their number 1 priority in 2013. The FY 14 budget and FY 13 audit reflects the importance of this goal,which I believe we have satisfied in the short term. At the end of FY 13, our fund balance was above 40%, which is well above our fund balance policy range of 15-25%. A healthy fund balance is critical to our ability to weather economic downturns and political decisions, and it gives us the flexibility to pay for capital projects without borrowing. With fiscal health momentarily achieved, I believe we can let this goal fall down the list. The original intent of the goal was not to promote responsible spending, to become fiscal watchdogs, or to promote massive growth of the City's revenue line-items; it was simply to get us to the point where we were following our own general fund fund balance policy, and we have done that. The other financial health characteristics previously listed are still important to the City's ongoing operation, but it is not something we need to improve upon this upcoming year. Goal 2, Road improvement maintenance program Did we satisfy this goal? Yes What should we do with this goal? Decrease priority In Summer 2013, the City Council adopted a 5-year road improvement plan called"Road to Better Roads" (attached). This five-year plan is adopted on a yearly basis, taking into account funding levels, engineering analysis of pavement conditions and other items. The program has significant funding deficiencies, as our own analysis estimated that we needed to spend $17m in pavement improvements (no water or sewer improvements in that total) in the next five fiscal years to maintain the rating of our street system, and we currently have around $5m budgeted. This goal should remain,but should be decreased in priority and pivoted to focus on maintaining an adequate annual investment in the program. There is a big policy decision in FY 15 and beyond related to underground infrastructure. In short, underground infrastructure costs are more expensive than the pavement improvements for streets that should be repaired in FY 15 and FY 16. Under normal government budgeting practices, these underground infrastructure costs should be borne by their respective enterprise funds (water and sewer), but the amount of debt held by each fund prohibits substantial investment unless rates are raised. Goal 3.5, Police staffing levels Did we satisfy this goal? No What should we do with this goal? Increase priority The City is currently at 26 full time officers. At the start of FY 14 the department was at 28 officers. Our original goal was to raise the total number of full time officers by 4 to 32 officers. The Department had two officers leave in this past year and no additional officers were added or budgeted to be hired in FY 14. The department is currently looking to fill two vacancies by December of 2013 to bring the total number up to 28 officers. An additional facet of this goal was to increase the civilian staffing by 2 full time positions. No additional staff was added or budgeted for in FY 14. This goal should remain and maintain a similar level of priority on the list. It is important to incorporate additional staff into the FY 15 budget if the Council is looking to accomplish this goal. By adding additional officers the Police Department will be able to better staff patrol shifts, which will subsequently increase response times, reduce the potential need for additional overtime, and allow for more proactive policing. The addition of civilian employees will allow the department to reduce the amount of backlogged paperwork and to process filings more efficiently. Goal 3.5,Economic development Did we satisfy this goal? Yes What should we do with this goal? Maintain This goal was accomplished in part through increased tourism, commercial development, and by attracting businesses designed to draw in"other people's"money. Tourism was accomplished through our partnership with the AACVB. The City entered into a three year agreement with the AACVB in November of 2012. Since that time Chris Hamilton, the director of the AACVB, has provided the Council with quarterly updates related to tourism. They have collected data related to the usage of their websites and other media outlets and market Yorkville's events and festivals through these sources. Staff also looked into attending the ICSC conference and marketing Yorkville to potential businesses in order to attract them to locate in Yorkville, but due to a lack of funding did not attend. The City has also seen a number of commercial development projects. The City has a brand new movie theater opening in the next month at the corner of Route 47 and Route 34. This should be a large draw to the City as the closest IMAX theaters are located at the Randall 15 in Batavia and the AMC 16 in Naperville. This will bring additional amusement tax revenue into the City, although for 10 years the amusement tax is either rebated in full or shared with the movie theater developer. Another major commercial development has occurred in the Downtown along the west side of Route 47. The Mongolian Grill was opened in downtown and Cobblestone Bakery, the River's Edge Theater, and Kendall Grille have all received major improvements over the past year. In addition to these commercial improvements, Raging Waves draws in a number of outside visitors each year,who spend their money in Yorkville restaurants and stores. This goal should be kept for the foreseeable future, as economic development will allow the City to diversify its tax base and continue to bring in outside dollars for revenue. Goal 4, Downtown improvement Did we satisfy this goal? Yes What should we do with this goal? Maintain The City has addressed this goal through both public and private improvements. Public improvements are primarily occurring through the use of grants and TIF funds. The City has been awarded an ITEP grant for lighting improvement along Route 47. Staff is currently working on an agreement for these funds and has budgeted to use the grant in FY 15. The City was also awarded an OSLAD grant to develop Riverfront Park. The grant agreement has been approved; staff is looking at the best avenues to perform the improvements. The Downtown TIF is also being used to redevelop the East alley parking lot and to clean up a brownfield site into a parking lot. There have also been private improvements in the downtown, most notably on the west side of Route 47 through the renovations made to the various businesses located on the Route 47 corridor. This goal should be kept as improving the downtown will help with our efforts in attracting more business and residents to Yorkville. Developing a vibrant, aesthetically pleasing downtown along Route 47 can attract individuals to stop in downtown Yorkville and spend their outside money on Yorkville shops and attractions. Goal 5, Stricter code enforcement on all property maintenance Did we satisfy this goal? Yes What should we do with this goal? Maintain Since July 2012, staff has continued its proactive weed and property maintenance violation inspections, subdivision by subdivision, as well as respond to complaints from the public of potential violations. As of October 14, 2013, the 1.5 FTE Building Department staff has issued a total of 768 citations. The majority of the violations were weed citations associated with unfinished residential developments (e.g. Windett Ridge, Grande Reserve, Caledonia, etc.)with the remainder violations related to various property maintenance issues. Staff has seen a tremendous level of compliance in weed violations this past year, due in part to the persistence in citations and successful judgments. With regards to Downtown property maintenance, staff has implemented a system of scanning properties for exterior violations and created a checklist to assist with streamlining this process. Currently, staff has completed a thorough exterior scan of 47 commercial properties in the downtown area, resulting in eleven(11) properties to be cited for 37 various violations. These downtown scans will continue periodically over the next few weeks until all properties within the area have been inspected. This is another improvement staff has made in the methods by which we proactively address property maintenance issues in the City. Goal 6, Capital Improvement Planning (River Road Bridge in 2013) Did we satisfy this goal? Yes What should we do with this goal? Increase priority The River Road Bridge project was completed and opened in the summer of 2013. While this portion of the goal was completed,the City needs to maintain its focus on developing a list of long-term capital improvement needs. This will allow the City to develop a comprehensive idea of all the needs for City buildings, roads, water, sewer and other capital projects and costs, regardless of funding. Currently Brad and Eric are working on developing these pages to be included in the FY 15 budget. This goal should be modified and kept, as it is important to develop a long-term plan which will identify any major capital expenditures the City is expecting to face in the future. The goal should be modified to remove the language reference the River Road Bridge, as it was completed this past summer. Goal 7,Website improvement Did we satisfy this goal? No What should we do with this goal? Maintain This goal was not met in the past year due to funding. Staff has contacted various website vendors for general quotes on how much it would cost to do a complete overhaul of our website. This range is anywhere from $25,000-$40,000. Any new website would most likely feature responsive design which would automatically be able to identify if the website is being accessed by a mobile device and adjust the screen accordingly. Staff is currently proposing a website redesign in the FY 15 budget. This goal should be maintained as it has not been completed. It is important that the City website be upgraded in the near future as there are various components of the website which are out of date and unable to be edited by staff. Goal 8, Sidewalk Improvement Maintenance Program Did we satisfy this goal? Yes What should we do with this goal? Maintain Sidewalk improvement was addressed during the safe routes to school program. This past year $270,000 was spent on this program and the majority of the sidewalks were constructed in the south western portion of the City. In addition the City has budgeted to complete sections of sidewalk as opposed to utilizing a 50150 cost sharing program for each fiscal year. This is represented by a$12,500 line item expense found in the City-wide capital budget which will be used on Van Emmon next year. In future years, a Road to Better Roads-type analysis and study should be completed for sidewalks to address potential safety issues. Goal 9, Home Rule Referendum Did we satisfy this goal? No What should we do with this goal? Remove This item was tabled by City Council at the end of 2012. Goal 10, Public Riverfront Improvement Did we satisfy this goal? Yes What should we do with this goal? Maintain The City was awarded the OSLAD grant this past year to develop Riverfront Park. This will directly improve the riverfront area and the work on this project is expected to begin in FY 15. We are currently working through state and contractor issues regarding the park as well, specifically related to the rocks placed on the south bank. In addition to the ongoing work at Riverfront Park, the City is also working to improve portions of Clark Park as part of the IDNR RTP grant, which includes trail work and parking lot construction. The riverfront area is one of Yorkville's most unique assets. It is important that we continue to develop this area in order to improve the appeal of Yorkville to potential businesses and to draw in residents. Therefore, this goal should be kept and the City should focus on completing the improvements covered in the various grants received by the City. Goal 11, Tourism Did we satisfy this goal? Yes What should we do with this goal? Maintain This goal was directly related to the City's decision to renew the contract with the Aurora Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau. The City approved a 3 year commitment with the AACVB. The AACVB has also presented statistics to the Council detailing the organizations influence and how it is directly assisting with bringing in tourists to Yorkville. The AACVB is currently in the process of creating a DVD featuring all of the participating communities. In addition, the City has held a number of events and festivals which were designed to bring in tourists from outside of Yorkville and these were broadcasted on the AACVB's website, facebook page, and in their catalog. These events include Ribs on the River, Hometown Days,travel baseball tournaments, and other similar events. While we have been able to generate tourism through our events, it is important that we continue to keep this as a goal as it brings in outside tax dollars and helps stimulate local businesses and the local economy. Goal 12, Metra extension Did we satisfy this goal? Yes What should we do with this goal? Maintain Metra has added Yorkville to the preliminary engineering study and environmental assessment report. This is the first step in the process of getting a Metra station. The actual process of getting a Metra station is a long and tedious one, with many steps. At the earliest Yorkville could expect to get a station 10-15 years from now. This goal should remain and with the same priority. It is important to keep the Metra extension on our radar and to ensure that we are progressing toward construction of a Metra station in Yorkville. Goal 13, Community Outreach Did we satisfy this goal? Yes What should we do with this goal? Maintain, refocus This goal was was in specific reference to disseminating information regarding Route 47 construction. Currently the City communicates all major changes regarding Route 47 on its facebook and twitter accounts,website homepage, and in the Administrator's Weekly. The articles which are cited through these posts are supplied with IDOT and they have been great with their outreach efforts. This goal should be refocused to more broad community outreach measures. While we've been very successful in the Comprehensive City Services Survey, there may be other outreach measures desired by the City Council. Goal 14, Elected Official Referendum Planning Did we satisfy this goal? Yes What should we do with this goal? Maintain This goal dealt was in reference to the referendum surrounding the appointment or election of the City Clerk and Treasurer positions. Staff prepared and distributed the information regarding this referendum and it was placed on the 2013 consolidated election ballot. The referendum asked residents if they wanted to allow for the Clerk and Treasurer to be appointed. The referendum failed and the Clerk and Treasurer are still elected at large. If the City Council wishes to take up the referendum question again, this should be maintained on the list of goals. Goal 15, Updating technology in Chamber Did we satisfy this goal? No What should we do with this goal? Maintain Staff performed research into the cost to update various facets of the Council Chambers. A memorandum was then presented to the Administration committee on September 9th, detailing the costs to equip the Council Chambers with a video system that would live stream Council meetings online. At that meeting the committee decided the City would be better off spending their excess funds on an overhaul of the City website,new microphones in the Council Chambers, and to install Laserfiche weblink. However, the City did enhance the Council Chambers by painting the Chambers this past spring. For the FY 15 budget, there will be various proposals which will present decisions to the Council to satisfy this goal in FY 2015. This goal should remain in a similar position as the previous year. It is not a pressing issue which needs to be resolved immediately, but accomplishing this goal will allow the City to become more transparent and enhance the methods from which citizens can view a City Council meeting. United City of Yorkville - 2013/2014 Goals jGoal Priority • • Update Rob Fredrickson and Build fund balance 1 Bart Olson Admininstration Road improvement maintenance program 2 Eric Dhuse Public Works Police staffing levels (4 patrols, civilian usage) 3.5 Rich Hart Public Safety Economic development (tourism, commercial development, other Krysti Barksdale-Noble people's money) 3.5 and Bart Olson Economic Development Downtown improvement (public and private; downtown property Krysti Barksdale-Noble cleanup) 4 and Bart Olson Economic Development Pete Ratos and Krysti Stricter code enforcement on all property maintenance 5 Barksdale-Noble Economic Development Rob Fredrickson, Eric Capital Improvement Planning (River Road Bridge in 2013) 6 Dhuse and Bart Olson Public Works Jeff Weckbach and Website improvement(tie-in to tourism and mobile) 7 Bart Olson Admininstration Sidewalk improvement maintenance program 8.5 Eric Dhuse Public Works Home Rule Referendum 8.5 Bart Olson and Jeff Admininstration Public riverfront improvement(bridges to river islands) 9 Krysti Barksdale-Noble Economic Development Tourism 10 Krysti Barksdale-Noble Economic Development Metra extension (Oswego and Yorkville) 10 Bart Olson and Krysti Economic Development Community outreach (Route 47) 10 Bart Olson Admininstration Elected Official Referendum Planning 10 Bart Olson Admininstration Updating technology in Chamber 10 Bart Olson and Jeff Admininstration