Public Safety Minutes 2011 08-04-11
APPROVED W/ CORRECTIONS
9/1/11
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING
Yorkville City Hall Conference Room
Thursday, August 4, 2011 – 6:30 P.M.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Alderman Colosimo
Alderman Funkhouser
Alderman Kot
Alderman Spears
OTHER CITY OFFICIALS PRESENT:
Bart Olson, City Administrator
Chief Rich Hart
Deputy Chief Schwartzkopf
Deputy Chief Hilt
Citizen Comments:
There was no citizen comment.
Minutes for Correction/Approval:
The minutes for the July 22, 2019, September 30, 2010, October 28, 2010, and July 7,
2011 were unanimously approved.
New Business
1. PS 2011-20 Police Reports for June and July 2011
After some discussion regarding police policy for lockouts, the Committee agreed to
forward the reports to the Council Consent Agenda.
2. PS 2011-21 Request for Liquor Code Amendments
The City of Yorkville received an application for both a Class “A-1” – retail Tavern/Bar
and also a Class “G” – Beer Garden/Patio license for a new business that will be opening
at the corner of Rt. 47 & Van Emmon. Per city code, there is a limit on the number of
Class “A” and Class “G” liquor licenses and currently both of these liquor categories are
full. Before any new Class “A” or Class “G” licenses can be issued, City Council will
need to decide if the city liquor code should be amended to increase the number of
available liquor licenses. If the decision is made to amend the code, it does not guarantee
that a liquor license will be issued to this applicant. As with all liquor applications, the
Liquor Commissioner will review the application and make the final decision.
There are currently four locations licensed for Class “A” Liquor Licenses. OJ’s Tap and
Kendall Pub are both located in the downtown area. Stonefire Restaurant and Fox River
Lanes are located outside of the downtown area. Should the City Council decide to
approve an ordinance amending the liquor code, it will bring the total Class “A” licenses
up to five. Regarding the Class “G” – Beer Garden/Patio licenses, the city code allows
for a total of seven licenses. City Council approval of an increase in this classification
will bring the total number of beer garden/patio licenses up to eight.
Along with the request for the amendments to the Class “A” and Class “G” categories,
this applicant is also looking at holding a Catering Class liquor license to provide liquor
for another business located in the downtown area. To provide for this use, an
amendment to the Catering License definition would need to be considered.
3. PS 2011-22 Ordinance Amending City Code Regarding BASSET Training
The amendment to this Ordinance requires the general manager of each business with
liquor licenses to be BASSET trained. For temporary or special event liquor licenses, it
requires one person to be at the special event at all times that is BASSET trained.
Chief Hilt explained that the amendment places the responsibility for training on the
managers and owners. Under the current ordinance, businesses have difficulty remaining
compliant because of high employee turnover and a lack of staff to provide enough
training classes. The Committee agreed to forward the matter to the Council Consent
Agenda.
4. PS 2011-23 Ordinance Amending City Code Regarding the Term of License for
Beer Garden/Patio Licenses
The City has received a request from a current liquor license holder regarding beer
garden/patio licenses. Under the current liquor code, the code only allows for these
licenses to be issued from May 1 through October 31. Section 3-3-4-5, Paragraph D
states that “it shall be unlawful for any outdoor liquor license holder to sell or offer for
sale any alcoholic liquor, including beer or wine between November 1 and April 30 of
any year”. The liquor license holder asked if the code could be amended to allow
outdoor liquor sales at other times during the year. The license holder said that they had
patrons who had left their business during the month of April when the weather was nice,
because they preferred to eat outdoors.
Staff recommendation is to remove paragraph D from the liquor code, so that there is not
a prohibition on outdoor liquor sales between November 1 and April 30. This would
allow the Class G licenses to be issued for the same license term as the license holders’
primary liquor license. Per section 3-3-5 Paragraph A, outdoor licenses would then be
issued for a license term of May 1 through April 30.
After a brief discussion regarding the origin of the current ordinance language, the
Committee agreed to forward the item for the Council Consent agenda.
Old Business
1. PS 2011-16 Weather Warning Sirens
Chief Hilt responded that he was still waiting for a quote from the contractor; however, it
was estimated that the weather warning sirens would cost around $20,000 each. City
Administrator Olson informed the Committee there was $103,000 in the Police Capital
Fund, designated specifically for sirens. He further encouraged the committee to act
quickly on this item. The Committee agreed that as soon as the Chief received the quote,
the request could be forwarded directly to the City Council.
2. PS 2011-18 Parking Near Riemenschneider Park
At the July Public Safety Committee meeting, the Committee discussed parking
restrictions around the park and the cost of restriping McHugh Road to include parking
adjacent to the park. The specific proposal would involve restricting parking on the west
side of McHugh Road between Hayden Drive and Prairie Pointe Drive. In order to safely
allow parking on the east side of McHugh Road along that same stretch, the road will
have to be restriped for on-road parking stalls. Public Works Director Dhuse has
estimated the cost of the restriping to be approximately $570, with the work being
performed by Public Works and Parks employees. Staff recommends approval of an
ordinance that will restrict parking on the west side of McHugh Road between Hayden
Drive and Prairie Pointe Drive. The Committee recommended moving this item forward
to the Consent Agenda.
3. PS 2011-13 Ordinance Amending the Code of Ordinances Regulating On-
Street Parking (East Millbrook Circle – Grand Reserve North)
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This item was last discussed at the July 26 City Council meeting, where it was tabled to
the next Public Safety Committee meeting. At the City Council meeting, it was stated
that the residents of the Colonies neighborhood were originally concerned about parking
within the cul-de-sacs off of East Millbrook Circle, and not concerned about parking on
East Millbrook Circle. The reason stated for the tabling was that the proposed ordinance
would have no impact on the resident’s concerns. While true, the ordinance is still
recommended by staff for approval because of the right-of-way width, future build-out
and traffic patterns of the area. At full build-out, parking on both sides of the road will
prevent safe and smooth traffic flow in both directions. Therefore, it is recommended
that the restriction be approved by City Council. The residents’ concern about parking in
the cul-de-sacs must be handled by their HOA, as the cul-de-sacs are private streets.
Chief Hilt noted that this particular area is difficult for emergency vehicles to navigate
during snow events when cars are parked on the street. The committee agreed to forward
this item to the Consent Agenda with the recommendation for approval.
Additional Business
City Administrator Olson provided the Committee with information regarding a proposed
Taxi Ordinance. The City had been contacted by a resident operating a taxi service in
area towns and counties to inquire about a Yorkville taxi permit. The City does not
currently regulate taxi services though these services are commonly regulated by
municipal ordinance. Staff has provided the Committee with a proposed ordinance that
was fashioned after taxi cab ordinances from other municipalities. While there are
provisions of the ordinance that address public safety and powers given to the Police
Chief, it deals first and foremost with the regulations of an industry.
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City Administrator Olson stated that this ordinance was slated for the August 23 agenda.
The most regulatory aspect of this ordinance is the ability to create taxi zones.
Additionally, the ordinance gives the Police Department the right to inspect taxi meters.
The licensing and permitting will be handled by the clerk’s office.
The Committee discussed the enforcement and licensing aspects of the ordinance as well
as how potential fees could be used for signage. The Committee then agreed that the
item should be forwarded to the Council’s consent agenda.
There being no further business, they Committee adjourned at 7:14pm
Respectfully Submitted by:
Kristia Leyendecker
Minute Taker