Admin Committee Minutes 2002 02-14-02 UNITED CITY OF YORKVI> LE Apme
A DMINIS TR ATION COMMITTEE MEETING
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14,200;k
6:30 P.M.
Irr attendance;
Alderwoman- Rose Spears Alderwoman- Valerie Burd Alderman Marty Ar unns
Administrator Tony Graff Mayor Art Prochaska(until 7:00p.m.) 1
ests:
C -y Treasurer Bob Allen Tracy Pleckham Barb Chevalier of Speer Fi cial
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REOUES 1 TO REVISE REVENUE BOND ISSUANCE
Tracy Pleckham did- spear with -Kevin McCanna about a development coming - i The
developers are asking for a Revenue Bond Issuance in reference to an apartment 1
complex. Barb Chevalier of Speer Financial was asked to- attend the meeting to answer
any questions about the bond issuance for the development. I
Barb Chevalier opened the discussion with regards to -Kevin McCanna ! s- letter, to- tlCity
Council . She stated that the inducement resolution stated in the letter, was the beginn ng
of a- process in which the developer would- not authorize bonds at this point, but w Id
get the process started. The bonds that were issued would not be city debt, and would not
effect any credit rating that the city might apply for. This is just the initial stage -f r the
developer to proceed and have some intial costs that they have eligible within their
fmancialr ship- aid- She also indicated- that the- process- could take- up to a.year,,from
beginning to end. I
Alderman - Marty Munns - asked of the location of the development. Mayor Proch
j replied that it would be just south of where Inland will be building their new office.1 That
is where-the court decree allowed that to take place.
Mayor Prochaska ochaska asked Mrs. Chevalier about the time frame of the project.. She said it
could take up to q trear.
Administrator Tany 7 Graff stated that.the- developer will bring up a- proposal�e xt
Thursday to EDC. He said they are planning on doing an inducement that could go
through to the City Council, , The process could -take untilthe -middle of next maw -, They
also wanted to come in for building permits in May. He stated that the developers did not
need financing to- start building, but that it enhances the - project because it i� tax
investment. They will not be asking for any zoning because it is already Q.
Mr_. Graff added that the only thing the developers will he-askin&for is an ad ' ``o� of a
clubhouse and swimming pool. They are considered a recreational activity for thege
apartments. He stated that Attorney Dan Kramer is- searching- the legal requirem for
that. Attorney Kramer's primary review is that the developers could ask, and it could be
rejected because of the court decree. It could also be in agreement if the committee could
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'grgrer o . 'mfiey would need to agree that it would be an enhancement to the
development, does not change,the court decree. It is an amendment by agreement to
allow the clubhouse and the pool to be put into the .project, because it wasn't originally
part of the court decree. He stated that the court decree only addressed the 140 units. The
clubhouse and swimming pool are another zoning. A decision needs to be made if it
needs to go to Planning Commission. Attorney Kramer will be researching into to it to
see if it is another zoning or if it is within the current zone. It would be an enhancement
for the people that live there since there is not actually a park inside the facility. It also
enhances the AB and tax value because of the clubhouse and pool, plus benefit of water
sales.
Mayor Prochaska asked if the financing would allow them to lower the rents. Mr. Graff
said no, that the Fair Housing will come up with what they believe is the proper rent for
the area, and that is what they will be subject to. He mentioned that one to three bedroom
apartments could run around $850 - $950 a month.
Mrs. Chevalier stated that the developers have some kind of requirement to have
affordable housing in the development. The developers agreed to a portion of the
development at affordable levels, and that there are some ratios. She also said it would be
up to Stearn Brothers to decide as to what that portion will be.
Mr. Graff reported that they are anticipating their target portion for the bond, is earnings
of $24,900. This keeps the rents affordable to be eligible for low interest financing. It is
targeted more towards the earning ratio than the rent ratio. The court decree also
approves of having detached garages. Mr. Graff added that the developers would be at the
meeting on Thursday February 21 ' and Stearn Brothers will be there as well.
Mrs. Chevalier concluded that she couldn't say for sure if a year is all it will take. She
said that she couldn't really answer any questions about the development per se, but that
this is the first step to proceed towards the development.
REDISTRICTING MEETING UPDATE
Mr. Graff stated that both he and the Mayor looked over the redistricting numbers
presented by Dan Donohue. They found the numbers to be inverted. Mr. Graff tried to
reach Dan but found that his phone was disconnected. Mr. Graff said that he spoke with
Dallas Ingemusson, who does all the redistricting for the state and had also referred Dan .
to them. Mr. Ingemusson said he did not have another number in which Dan could be
reached, and that he would look further into the matter and get back to Mr. Graff.
Mayor Prochaska suggested that the committee should meet as a whole to discuss other
alternatives for the redistricting plans. This being if they are unable to reach Dan
Donohue. The Mayor also voiced concern about not seeing any progress with this issue.
He felt that it should be dealt with and resolved 180 day before the election.
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Mr. Graff stated that NIU could be used as a back up, but unfortunately they do not have
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the-same-redistricting software as Mr. Donohue. NRJ does have -maps and' data for i '! and
would be a good back up for it.
Chairperson Spears suggested, that they appoint a chairman for this matter-, at the next
COW meeting.
APPROVAL OF THE NOVEMBER/DECEMBEER- MEETING RTES
Chairperson Spears stated that everyone bad reviewed the - November ember mepting
notes and that they could go to- City- Council. She also made - mention that ce faint
meeting withDan Kramer and -the Bark Board, would- take place on Mach 7 at -'gyp, m.
EMPLOYEE MANUAL LEGAL REVIEW PROPOSAL
Chairperson Spears brought up a discussion of the- Employee Manual. She-indicatel that
it needed updating. The Committee -ham} agreed- and urged to go-ahead-with- it.
Mr. Graff stated that they needed to have the chairman sign the agreement to proceed
with the p ject.
REVIEW ALARIES OF ELECTED OFFICIALS
Ciiaitperscn Spears said Tat phis - pertained - ta the-City Clerk, Jackie Milschews ' She
reportedthat Jackie has been - doing- ad ditionafresponaibillties. AttorneyKramer ad
suggested creating another secretarial position to Hill in on the additional work that Jackie
has- he"ing.
Mr.. Graff s4gested,the_ Committee -come, up. we -a_j& description to_ see how-thev can
work it into a City Clerk/dual position. Everyone agreed to the suggestion.
Alderman M unns- asked_if City-AtrtPrmPn have_eventaken - on- some o tasks
as the City Cler r , a nd that sam
t C e s. Mr. Graff stated that it is b state law that the can not anithe
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City Clerk is recogce& as-bei a f lli time_city- officia.L_
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Chairperson Spears stated that she received a phone call from a Park board member who
asked how to go about getting. the City Aldermen an increase in salary. The Park oard
member volunteered to come in to speak with the committee and/ or COW. He alsd said
that he had taken a survey of about - thirty people, and-that all were in agreement that this
was an issue to be brought up. The Park Board member suggested that the Aldermeln
should have their salary _cover _their property taxes_ Alderwoman Valerie -Burl made
mention that individually, it would be an uneven amount depending where eacrson
lived. Chairperson Spears said that- n1geeciatethe P ark 3oardt m embers co n for
them and that he had mentioned the idea. Alderwoman Burd asked if they knew the
salaries of other Aldermen. C hairperson - Spe ars re a survey that gave
salaries, but-that it wastwa years old and- said-that_itneeded-to be updated- I
ARCHITECTUAL UPDATE
Mr. Graff stated that he had requested that they should go- down from three, to two
architects. The consensus was to eliminate the architect , Concept 3, the - building.
Chairperson Spears suggested that they invite the Library Board because they are going
to be looking_ for architects soon.
Mr. Graff stated that the next step would be to contact KSA and Williams to come and
meet with the Committee as The Whole. He also mentioned that KSA had a lot of
enthusiasm for this.
WAT ER DEPART BUILDING UPDA
Tracy Pleckham reported that they are- in the process of getting the most current shop list.
She said that the reads went well, given the fact that we- do not have meters any more.
She brought to attention that Olga had quit on Tuesday. Eric Duhse and the guys had
been taking the reads, and they had been great. There was only one glitch, but it had been
fixed.
Mr. Graff mentioned that Mr. Duhse had gone to a town up north to see a demonstration
of how the radio read works. Mr. Duhse is researching to see what it would cost to
upgrade the radio read.
Mr. Graff stated that he had talked with the loan and grant person who does radio reads
for other cities. He is exploring to see if that could be put into our Water Expansion
Program. It is needed to expand and upgrade the current system. He thought it would
meet the bond requirements because it is a water improvement. It will offer us better
service and more accurate reads of the water usage. The committee will be hearing back
from them soon, along with Mr. Duhse's price update. There will be an update on these
issues next month.
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SCHOOL DISTRICT TRANSIT REOUEST
Mr. Graff reported that Dr. Tom Engler is still putting together the supporting documents
for the calculations that Mayor Prochaska had asked for. Jay Tobian did many of the
calculations. They are waiting for Jay to e-mail the documents back to Dr. Engler. Mr.
Graff said that it will go to the next Administration meeting, and will also be reviewed by
Roger Dasteae and Attorney Kramer.
�wtils'rc -on.
Alderwoman Burd asked Mr. Graff how much money Montgomery had collected. Mr.
Graff said that he thought they would collect $1500. The request went in for $3,000, but
didn't make it through the committee. He had tried to get an update from Ann Reid to
find out when it would go to City Council. She didn't think it was going to get through
until March.
Mr. Graff commented that if the council thought that it was in need of a Transition
Review, then they could have Attorney Kramer bring it to the Committee as The Whole
instead of waiting a whole month to bring it back to this council. All agreed that it would
be a good idea to speed up the process.
Mr. Graff stated that he had met at the schools with Lich Gerard and Art Schwempki, to
talk Aho»t the_school-sites_Dr_ Engler Nyas_there-also and_spoke_to them about 7ouTd hool
transition fee. Both Mr. Gerard and Mr. Schwempki said that they expected it be
around-33,000 and -that it seemed-to- he the trend to the_ east`
Alderman Munns asked if Dr. Engler had documentation on the figures for the transition
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fee--Mr— said that Dr that_the3uwer iting
for documentation from Attorney Kramer about the number of students entering th6
s chool district before N As soon as Dr- En gler ets the rlata
Kramer does the review, then it will go to COW.
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Al derman Mirnns ask .d if the Council deep not enact e the
I'UD's, from the developers, will it affect them. Mr. Graff stated that it was up o the
council- hove they write it as suhlect to change He ex ected_not tQS ar►.- other
for about ninety days. It probably wouldn't be approved for another ninety days after! that.
It will be ahnnt six month s_ b efnre-w e- see __any fot mal a .tie nn but_ still need ti this
passed by the end of next month. _ 1
Alderman Munns co would- like -to- -seems to on
the matter at the review.
UPDATE - ON HIGH SPEED
Mr: Graff stated the are twag4x an the7Tf line-_pplicat= that they hat�filed.
It came back - acceptably The- fee-is $909 a month Russ Walters recornmend tthat 5mce
the Library Board is paying $236 a month that we should get a second T1 line through
the- library: They d _tact the Illinois Oentur� s- legal -They
g Y library.
i said it was as long as it is a cit lib .
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Mr. Graff said that we are in the process of applying_for- a_ second T 1 line- h the
library. It will be brought through fiber and a pipe that is currently underground. W.
Graff_ is-anticipating-that-there- wilt b-e-high- speed lbe-city offices.with in_four �Qnths.
The T 1 line fee is $236 a month. There is a Community Wide Network policy for rion-
far= profit, k nown as5OlCY -s- The, YMCA_ and.ather.serviee_ ran t into
All Net Century Network. We do not fall into that category.
Alderwo Burrd repo rted that . b ecause, thingsdid .no_t_work_outwithChrisRo 7 that
they began going outside city limits to put out paraphernalia. It was also posted on ity
towers. This meant that they could offer the service to the people in the city. Alderwoman
Burd asked if by doing that, does it take away from our ability to use it. Mr. Graff said
not it would not interfere with our wave length. She also asked if it would hurt the city
not to receive the service for free. Mr. Graff stated that Mr. Rollins said he would 'only
give us the service for free if they could use our T 1 lines. He said that ICN was
unequivocal to allow them to use them. The problem that Mr. Rollins had was selling to
the business for profit and non - profit to the community.
Alderwoman Burd asked why the city couldn't sell services and do their own community
wide network. Mr. Graff remarked that ICN deterred from that and it has not been passed
yet to allow the city to run their own community wide network. Mr. Graff stated that they
are still looking at it as a non- competitive world with a private industry. The government
does that all the time, but most of the board is loaded with Ameritech ties.
Alderwoman Burd had concerns as to whether the lines could be controlled by
government agencies, and if private lines could be tapped. Chairperson Spears mentioned
that George Glass had talked with Steve Chapman about the questions raised upon
putting a value on inkind services. There was concern about to whether the. city would
want to get involved in something like that. They felt it would not be a good way to start
business.
Mr. Graff reported that there is a business in Virginia that has their own Internet services.
They had set it up as an enterprise consultant. They had partnered up with another
Technology Company. He said that he had read in the newspaper that Chicago is looking
at doing a technology partnership, to try and offer Internet services.
Alderwoman Burd felt that for benefit of the city, this subject should be further
researched. Mr. Graff said that he would do some more researching on the website.
EMPLOYEE MAN HOUR REPORT — PUBLIC WORKS
Mr. Graff said that Mr. Duhse made a Man Hour study and presented it to_ the,Park
Board. He will have the studies at the - Public Works meeting.
Chairperson Spears commented that Mr. Duhse had done a good job and that the studies
looked great. She said it stated it should work well and show if the .employees would
need new or different equipment. The studies gave excellent detail of names, where they
are working and where time is spent. She said it should be beneficial all around.
Mr. Graff stated that the report will be put into the packet and reviewed monthly.
ADDITIONAL BUSINESS
Fox Industrial Park Bid
Mr. Graff stated that Joe Wywrot came in with his bids. Aurora Blacktop, came -in at
$618,000 for the Fox Industrial Park bid. This will be taken to COW on Tuesday to
request to ward the bid. Joe's estimate was $738,000. It was good that the bid came in
lower. It will definitely fit in the budget.
Clerical Position
Mr. Graff stated that both he and Jackie Milschewski had interviewed Liz D'Anna for
Sandi Marker's position. He said that Liz has a lot of experience and she seemed eager to
come back to work full time. He highly recommends her for the position. 4_
Mrs. Milschewski will do her interview with Mayor Prochaska and also the
recommendation for the Deputy Clerks staffing. Mr. Graff said that they will also be
advertising for an Office Room receptionist.
Purchase Info.
Tracy Pleckham stated that there will be another memo about the Purchase information.
It is a follow up that Chairperson Spears had requested. The new memo will have more
detail than the previous one.
Chairperson Spears had questions about the file room and locker room on the Amended
Bill list. She asked if all the bills were approved by COW. Mr. Graff said they were
approved and that they did motions for them not to exceed but allow the general
contractor to do the bidding on them. He said the locker room bid was around $32,000
and the file room bid $35,000. Both are still with in the budget. He did relate that there
are still questions about what type of flooring they want for the file room. The concrete
floor has been cleaned and sealed. They are still waiting for bids on the carpet vs. tile.
i Runners will be added to the concrete floor until the new floors are in,
Budget Report
Alderwoman Burd asked Mr. Graff if the budget was on schedule. Mr. Graff said that
they were close. He stated that things are being discussed with Sue Swithin and the
department heads. Eric has had his review with the Park Board approved. Sue Swithin's
review was also approved and had come with a few changes.
Mr. Graff had stated that since the pool is not opening, it was recommended that $7,500
go to a study to do a pool. Another $7,500 was recommended to go to a study for the
Park District. Both suggestions will go to committee.
Loan Payments
Tracy Pleckham asked Mr. Graff about the loan payments to existing debt and if it needs
to go through the same process as the bill list to have it approved. She said it was in
particular to cutting checks to pay debts that are due. Mr. Graff said that the auditors are
reflected to give policy decision about that. A list of all the loan payments and dates for
those should be presented to them. It would allow Tracy authorization to pay the debt
upon the due date.
Letter head/Logo
Alderman Munns felt that all city officials should have the same official letterhead. He
thought that anything the public should see should all look professional and have the
same letterhead.
Mr. Graff said that he would download a template to the city officials so that all would
have the same letterhead and logo.
TH Bonds
Treasurer Allen had asked about where we were with the TIF bonds issue. Mr. Graff
explained that with every thing in place, we will not be doing any TIF funding this Year.
It will be presented as an NOT backed bond and will go before the Committee as aThe
Whole. The NOT bond does allocate for the TIF funds to be used when they are
available. We should see TIF money coming in after this property tax period gets applied.
It is probable that we won't see any funds until this summer. The bond is a Motor Field
Tax bond because it's obligating both bond sources. We are anticipating that if the
assessments keep going up, ultimately the balance will be more or all TIF to pay off the
bond. We are waiting for Kevin to give us a final say on the subject after he meets with
loan.
Joint Meeting
Chairperson Spears stated that the committee has been selected to do another joint
meeting with the School Board. The city needs to know the recommended locations of
additional schools.
Mr. Graff suggested that the Park Board, the Chairman of Planning Commission and
possibly John Lewis to be at the meeting. John Lewis is from NIU and would be a neutral
facilitator. Mr. Graff said that it sometimes helps to have a facilitator at these kinds of
meetings. Everyone agreed that it would be a good idea to have Mr. Lewis there.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 P.M.
Minutes done by Theresa Brady
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