Mayor

Interesting:

Following a contentious meeting Tuesday with about 20 local developers and builders, city officials sent an e-mail Thursday to those developers saying that "we are deferring action on this item until we have more internal consideration of the issues and options."

Craig Rost, the city's deputy city manager for development, said the increases, expected to generate $168,000 annually, had been scheduled to be on Tuesday's city council agenda. Now it has been "deferred indefinitely," he said.

"The timing was not good (with the economy) and they asked some questions we need to answer," Rost said.

One question raised by John North, a shareholder with Riley Homes in Urbana, was why the city was proposing to increase fees now, when it has hired a consultant to look at city fees in general to see if they are covering the actual cost of providing services. That study, being done by Navigant Consultants, is expected to be finished in several months.

That was exactly the question I asked last week.  Of course, this still begs the question of why the consultant was hired in the first place, since the staff has apparently already concluded that a fee increase is necessary.

The candidates are starting to line up, but the two profiled by the NG have been writing on IP.com about running for a while:

Lynne Barnes, a Democrat from Ward 7, says she doesn't intend to seek a second term on the council and a Republican newcomer, Robert Dunn, says he'll be seeking Barnes' seat. Aside from Barnes, all six other aldermen say they will be running again.

Rex Bradfield, 62, a Republican, said this week he intends to challenge Prussing for mayor.

If nothing else, this is going to be entertaining.

The Champaign City Council is getting closer to voting on staff-recommended fee increases for developers and builders:

But the city's finance director, Richard Schnuer, said the development-fee increases would be the first in a decade, while inflation has risen 31 percent during that time. He said the proposed increases are only to cover the cost of inflation.

"We're providing the service, administering regulations," said Schnuer. "We have the costs. The question is not if somebody pays, but who is paying? Should it be the developers, or the taxpayers? That's a policy question for the city council."

The noon meeting between city officials and local developers and builders will take place at the main city fire station, 307 S. Randolph St., C.

A draft city memo on the issue said the increased fees would generate an additional $168,000 annually for the city.

A city chart shows that the building-permit fee for a single-family home with more than 2,500 square feet would increase about 25 percent, from $350 to $435, under the proposal. Total fee increases for a single-family residence would increase by about $140.

Today's News-Gazette:

Meeting in study session Tuesday night, the city council voted unanimously to direct staff to gather more information about expanding current recycling services, including possibly expanding recycling to apartments and increasing the number of materials collected.

But given a list of several options for expanding services, council members didn't narrow the list at all.

Some of the listed options included establishing commercial recycling, expanding special recycling events, increasing recycling education and marketing, expanding the city's drop-off site and increasing monitoring and auditing of haulers to make sure they recycle materials they pick up.

City Manager Steve Carter said after the meeting that "this will take months" and that it might be next summer before a final vote is cast to revamp recycling services.

A number of council members appear to want to bring recycling to apartment buildings, something that has been in place in Urbana since 1999. Currently, Champaign requires haulers to provide curbside recycling to single-family homes through four-unit apartments, and only requires that newspapers, plastic jugs, glass and tin and aluminum cans be picked up.

Discuss.

Today's News-Gazette:

The city council voted Tuesday to convey three city-owned lots to not-for-profit groups that want to build affordable homes on them, including a lot that currently houses a mini-park across the street from King Elementary School.

Council members voted to convey the mini-park lot, at 1201 W. Beslin St., and a lot at 1405½ W. Beslin to Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County, and a third lot at 901 N. Division Ave. to Ecological Construction Laboratory for Affordable Housing Development.

The city is providing the lots for $1 each, expecting that the groups will build affordable homes there, said John Schneider, manager of the city's grants management division.

The minipark lot at 1201 W. Beslin has been the site of large gatherings and concerns about drug use, and council members didn't want those activities near a school, said Eileen Gebbe, executive director of Habitat for Humanity.

Discuss.

Yesteday's News-Gazette (forgive me, I'm still catching up...):

The city is prepared to buy several properties at the southeast corner of Neil Street and Bradley Avenue from the Urban League of Champaign County, with eventual plans to redevelop the property.

The city council will consider Tuesday authorizing the purchase of six properties for $250,000....

The properties include the former Community Day Care center, formerly operated by the Urban League, which is experiencing financial difficulties and needs to sell the properties.....

The city isn't sure what it wants to do with the properties, but will likely seek requests for proposals at some point "to see what developers have in mind," said Greg Skaggs, community development specialist with the city.

Before the city seeks proposals, it will conduct a study this fall of Neil Street between Interstate 74 and downtown, said Rob Kowalski, assistant planning director for the city.

"The zoning of that property is residential," Kowalski said.

"Although it's on a big arterial street, it's located in a residential area."

Multifamily zoning that would allow smaller apartments is a potential future use, he said.

"I don't think we're giving serious consideration to zoning it commercial, but it's still early and we have to study it," Kowalski said.

Interesting.

UPDATE:  The purchase was approved.  Rather than post another thread with today's NG article, I thought I'd just do an update.

City council members aren't sure what type of development will eventually arise on properties along Neil Street and Bradley Avenue that they agreed to purchase Tuesday night.

But they said they believe the city has a better chance of ensuring a quality development by temporarily owning the six properties at the southeast corner of Neil and Bradley.

"We want something attractive for the corridor," said council member Marci Dodds. "We don't want a bunch of junk."

Council members voted 6-2 Tuesday to authorize city officials to purchase the properties for $250,000 from the Urban League of Champaign County. Mayor Jerry Schweighart and council member Ken Pirok were opposed.

Today's News-Gazette:

The study will look at income the city receives from certain types of development, such as new property and sales taxes, compared to costs of serving that development, such as constructing new main roads and hiring additional police and firefighters.

The issue is more than just an academic exercise because Champaign currently has a $45 million funding shortfall for needed arterial roads over the next decade. Champaign is also one of the few larger cities in Illinois that doesn't charge developers impact fees for new arterial roads or require mandatory park-land dedication.

"The goal of the study is for us to better understand the true costs and revenues of development in the city," said Rob Kowalski, Champaign's assistant planning director. "It'll look at existing areas, and areas where we might grow in the future."

The study will also look at the costs and benefits of developing within the established city, called infill development, vs. developing on farmland at the edge of the city.

The study will help shape an update of the city's comprehensive plan, to be called Champaign Tomorrow, by identifying areas where the city can grow at a lower cost. City staff plans to begin work on the comprehensive plan this fall and to adopt it by next summer.

Discuss.

Yesterday's News-Gazette:

The city council will discuss a "sustainability inventory report" Tuesday that is meant to show where the city stands in terms of energy usage and conservation.

The council meets in regular session at 7 p.m. at the Champaign City Building, 102 N. Neil St. The sustainability report will be discussed at a post-council study session.

Sustainability is a popular issue these days with cities across the nation. It is defined as meeting current needs without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs, and involves balancing environmental, economic and social concerns.

Assistant City Manager Dorothy David said the city needed an update of where it stands before moving on to new initiatives.

"We want to know where we started from," said David. "This report is a baseline. We felt as we move forward to really be proactive in sustainability and environmental concerns, we needed to know what we're doing right now."

Discuss.

Today's News-Gazette:

The bonus payments, which all regular city employees get, are part of a worker's compensation self-insurance program in which city employees share 50 percent in overall savings when worker's compensation claims are lower than expected.

The bonus payments were made in November. The News-Gazette recently requested information about the payments, after learning about them, through the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

For both Prussing and Clark, the bonuses represented two years' worth of payments, $450 for 2006 and $490 for 2007. Prussing and Clark had not received the bonus in 2006 and Prussing said she asked officials last fall why she and Clark were excluded.

"I checked it out with the (city) accountant," Prussing said. "I asked the question and the answer was we should be included."

Huh?

Today's News-Gazette:

The Urbana City Council rejected an appeal Tuesday night by Urbana developer Howard Wakeland, who is seeking to demolish a house in a historic district in the 800 block of West Main Street.

The council voted 4-3 to uphold the decision by the city's historic preservation commission to deny Wakeland a certificate of appropriateness to demolish a house at 809 W. Main St., and its decision to deny Wakeland a certificate of economic hardship.

Discuss.

This has been a topic of discussion on here before:

The city council on Monday will consider developer Howard Wakeland's request to rezone nearly an entire block of properties along North Lincoln Avenue.

The council meets at 7 p.m. Monday at the Urbana City Building, 400 S. Vine St.

The properties are west of Lincoln Avenue, between Hill and Church streets, just north of the Illinois American Water plant. The site is currently made up of single-family homes and Wakeland wants to change the zoning from residential to general business-university.

So, um...discuss!

In yesterday's News-Gazette there was this excellent article by Mike Monson about Champaign's Garden Hills neighborhood, some of its history and challenges, and plans for it moving forward:

Garden Hills has a way of getting noticed.

The northwest neighborhood of roughly 1,000 homes – a proud, diverse and working-class neighborhood – has its share of problems. But it's also filled with many longtime residents who say they wouldn't live anyplace else.

This summer, Garden Hills is the focus of an intense city effort to provide activities and guidance to local youths, who alarmed city officials last spring by gathering in large numbers on many nights and sometimes clashing with police.

More than 50 years ago, Garden Hills was getting noticed for a different reason: its sheer unprecedented scale. The dream of developer Cecil Ozier and his two sons, Darrell and Mervyn, all now deceased, Garden Hills was described in a 1955 news article as "the largest single residential development ever proposed here at one time."

Discuss.

City of Champaign Township Supervisor Linda Abernathy, who is asking voters for a property tax increase this fall because she feels she doesn't have enough money to provide general assistance to township residents, somehow submitted a budget which inlcuded several thousand dollars in legal fees despite the City of Champaign providing free legal service for the Township.

Tension was higher than normal as the town of the city of Champaign Township debated their budget for Fiscal Year 2008-09 Tuesday night.

Though the township board eventually passed the budget, debate ensued about a $9,000 line item, of which a large portion was called "a supreme waste of money." An amendment was eventually added re-appropriating the $9,000 of the $688,668 budget. Originally, $3,000 of that money was allotted for professional fees such as membership to the Township Officials of Illinois, while the other $6,000 was appropriated for legal fees, which a number of the Board members had a problem with.

The legal fees were said to be used for outside legal counsel, despite the fact that the city of Champaign currently allows the township to use their attorneys.

"It sounds like there could be a fight on the horizon," said Board member Tom Bruno. "I don't want to suggest we get separate legal counsel if that's not the case. It seems like a supreme waste of money."

Township Supervisor Linda Abernathy said the counsel was not going to be used for any legal action brought up against the city of Champaign but rather to get advice about how to properly run the township and utilize its resources.

"This is not about a lawsuit," she said. "What (the board members) are doing is polarizing the issue."

Sheesh.

From today's News-Gazette:

Faced with skeptical council members and many questions about how it would work, city staff asked for – and received – city council approval Tuesday to define a proposal more clearly to require that garbage containers be screened.

City Manager Steve Carter suggested the move late into Tuesday night's study session, saying the proposal "probably deserves some additional thought by staff."

Lots of good questions in the article.

Champaign's Council has unanimously passed a FY09 budget:

Capital improvement spending is set at $29 million. The budget includes $12 million in funding for a 600-space parking deck at the southeast corner of Hill and Randolph streets that is under construction; $950,000 to improve the intersection at Windsor Road and First Street; and $4.2 million to widen Curtis Road to four and five lanes next year for 2 miles between Wynstone Drive and Wesley Avenue.

The capital budget also sets aside $6.1 million for the Boneyard Creek detention project, also known as the Second Street reach. Work will begin this year on drainage improvements, including underground conveyance of storm water, in Scott Park.

Discuss.

From yesterday's News-Gazette:

Sales tax represents almost half the city's operating money, and Champaign has come to expect a 4 percent increase in sales tax revenue every year, Schnuer said.

"This year, it's coming in at 2 percent," he added.

And:

Schnuer said the upcoming year's budget proposal doesn't call for any new taxes or fee increases, but it does recommend two new fees – one a fee on builders for erosion control and the other to cover the cost of inspecting multifamily residence common areas, Schnuer said.

Discuss.

From the Daily Illini:

The Champaign City Council elected Tuesday night to not give the Urban League of Champaign County the property at 208 N. First St., despite its proposal and numerous supporters.

There were six proposals brought to the Council for the property, once occupied by the Lone Star Lodge. The Council voted 7-0 to sell the property to Pekara Bakery and Bistro for $225,000.

The Urban League had asked for the property to be donated,

"We have an incredible opportunity in front of us," said Sandi Jones before the vote, chairman of the board for the Urban League.

The Council decided to give it to the highest bidder because the city has lost money on the property in the past, with the Lone Star Lodge defaulting on its loan.

The Council also made its decision due to problems the Urban League has had internally and said those issues need to be resolved.

Discuss.

From the Daily Illini:

The Champaign City Council voted 6-3 Tuesday night to pass an ordinance giving Mayor Gerald Schweighart the power to increase the entry age for University bars from 19 to 21 in "emergency" situations.

In order to enforce that power, the mayor must give Champaign bars 24 hours notice before implementing the age increase, meaning the act would be in anticipation of uncontrollable environments, not a reaction to them.

Discuss.

A few weeks ago, the City of Champaign wasn't satisfied with the bids it got for a downtown parking garage.  The new bids are in:

On its second round of bids, the city of Champaign got a more competitive price for building a 600-space parking garage at the southeast corner of Randolph and Hill streets in downtown Champaign and now appears ready to move forward on the project.

English Brothers Co. of Champaign submitted a low price of $10.59 million and likely will be awarded the job at the city council's March 18 meeting, said Craig Rost, deputy city manager for development. A bid opening was held Friday.

In the first round of bidding, the lowest responsive bid was $11.9 million by F.A. Wilhelm Construction Co. of Indianapolis.

From the News-Gazette:

Mayor Jerry Schweighart doesn't have the legal authority to raise the age of admittance to bars to 21 this weekend, a possibility he was considering to deal with "Unofficial St. Patrick's Day."

But Schweighart said he signed Thursday an emergency order that gives him broader powers to shut down individual bars if they are serving intoxicated patrons, are over their occupancy limits or if fights are occurring at a rate where authorities believe the bar is losing control.

Schweighart said the bars would get one or two warnings before they would be shut down. But he said he won't hesitate to take such a step. Bar owners have been notified about the new emergency order, which has not been used in prior years,

"It puts the bars on a little extra notice," the mayor said. "If they know they can be shut down and lose a night's revenue, they'll be a little more observant at the door not to let in intoxicated people and to make sure no one gets out of control.

"It gives the doorman an opportunity to say, 'You can't come in; you're too drunk,'" he said.