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Economic Development Minutes 2011 06-07-11 APPROVED 7/5/11 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE Tuesday, June 7, 2011, 6:30pm City Conference Room In Attendance: Committee Members Chairman Marty Munns Alderman Chris Funkhouser Alderman Jackie Milschewski Alderman Diane Teeling ( arr. 6:40pm) Other City Officials City Administrator Bart Olson Community Development Director Krysti Barksdale-Noble Building Code Official Paul Zabel Other Guests Jeremy Canavan, Fire Marshal, BKFD The meeting was called to order by Chairman Marty Munns at 6:30pm. Minutes for Correction/Approval March 7, 2011 The minutes were approved as read. Items Recommended by Plan Commission for Approval: None New Business 1. EDC-11 Building Permit Report for February & March 2011 For information only—there were no comments. 2. EDC 2011-18 Building Permit Report for April 2011 Information only—there were no comments. 3. EDC 2011-12 Building Inspection Report Summary for February and March 2011 Mr. Zabel said these reports were developed about a year ago and are broken down by category, the person inspecting and a list of re-inspections. Plumbing reviews are outsourced to a private company. 4. EDC 2011-19 Building Inspection Report Summary for April 2011 There were no comments. 1 (out of sequence) 8. EDC 2011-20 Building Code Update Committee Proposed Recommendations Fire Marshal Jeremy Canavan from BKFD was present. He recently chaired a committee that reviewed building codes. He said he had received recommendations from City Staff and also wished to discuss home sprinkler codes as they relate to the international code. Ms. Barksdale-Noble gave an overview of the building code review. The committee was formed in July 2010 and updated each of the 10 codes that the International Code Council sets forth. The City wished to move forward to the 2009 codes. The committee developed recommendations that will be presented in a Public Hearing. Mr. Canavan said there were 3 issues that the committee wished to have addressed: 1.False alarm fees: Mr. Canavan said he prefers the education approach to deal with repeated false alarms, but he explained that each false alarm costs the Fire Department money and a proposed false alarm fee schedule will be presented to the Council at a future date. 2.Light-weight trusses: The State has a light-weight truss act that would ask a business to display a $15 sign to inform firefighters at the time of a fire, if light-weight trusses were used. This would determine how the fire is treated. 3.Storage facilities: Some have live-in caretakers who can call for assistance in the event of a fire. The committee said complete fire alarm systems are not needed in these facilities. The most debated issue in the committee was the residential fire sprinklers. The 2009 IRC says all newly constructed family dwellings are required to have sprinklers. However, some communities do not comply. Builders do not favor this because the costs become greater with the average cost of home sprinklers being $4500. It was noted that the sprinklers are zoned so not all turn on at the same time and they are heat-activated. Krysti said direction will be needed from staff about committee recommendations. The EDC committee will review the sprinkler material presented and discuss at a future meeting. The Property Maintenance Code addressed mounds of dirt in unfinished subdivisions. Recommendations were made to fence off these mounds if 10 feet tall or to level them. Also, recommendation was made to exempt residential minimum heating standard. A 65 degree minimum was recommended, however, 68 degrees is in the code. Ms. Barksdale-Noble said the Code Update committee suggested an informational meeting for residents should be held prior to a Public Hearing. The EDC committee members decided the proposed updates should move directly to Public Hearing. 2 5. EDC 2011-13 Digital Billboard Signs - Discussion In previous budget discussions, the City wanted to explore billboards as a way to generate revenue. Media companies were contacted and expressed some interest. $20,000 per site could be generated if leased. Kendall Marketplace was one of the suggested sites. A State permit is required and the signs can only be located in a commercial or manufacturing zone. Pole signs were recommended over placing them on buildings since most Yorkville buildings are not over 80 feet tall. Possible uses include public service announcements and Amber Alerts. Chairman Munns recommended obtaining additional information. Alderman Teeling said she was not in favor of these signs, however, all committee members requested more information. Krysti suggested a possible presentation by a billboard company. 6. EDC 2011-15 Zoning Commission – Status Update This commission has updated 11 chapters of the City ordinances. Ms. Barksdale-Nobl.e requested feedback from this committee on the PUD chapter to streamline the process when building resumes. Two items were added to this code: 1) Statutes require developer to come back in one year if development is not final platted. An extension must be filed. 2) If site is undeveloped within 3 years, the City can revoke the PUD thereby un-encumbering land and making it available for others. The current revision also allows a developer to take the concept directly to City Council for input and also removes a Park Board review. This item will move to Public Hearing at an upcoming City Council meeting. 7. EDC 2011-16 Foreclosure Update Report for March and April 2011 For info only. (8. discussed earlier in meeting) 9. EDC 2011-21 Dormant Zoning Application/Petitions - Discussion Krysti reviewed old development applications from 3 or 4 years ago for which deposits are being held. A procedure is needed to release these deposits and the City Attorney developed a policy and ordinance. Alderman Funkhouser suggested this policy should only apply to those developments that have not broken ground. 10. EDC 2011-22 Development Fee Research - Discussion Ms. Barksdale-Noble said some developers had approached the City saying that other towns were being more developer-friendly in regards to reduced fees. She compared the fee structure of the City and some surrounding towns and asked the committee if they wished to reduce the fees. Plainfield and Sugar Grove have removed some fees and reduced others. She also did a comparison of sanitary fees, however, YBSD would make . this decisionAlderman Funkhouser said reducing the fees would encourage more development. The committee members agreed to a recommendation for reduction in fees. Bart Olson said land cash is most likely too high at this time. The land cash is a policy decision that also affects the schools, according to Administrator Olson. 3 Ms. Barksdale-Noble also mentioned other incentive ideas that some communities have implemented such as streamlining the engineering process, rebates and deferrals in fees. Suggestions for these reductions will be brought back next month. 11. EDC 2011-23 EDC Meeting Date and Time The committee will continue to meet on Tuesdays at 6:30pm. Old Business None Additional Business  The City Council goals/staff on the bottom of the meeting agendas will be removed.  Chairman Munns said liaisons are needed for Plan Commission, County Plan Commission and YEDC. There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned at 8:08pm. Minutes respectfully submitted by Marlys Young 4