Mayor

The NG:

With the tab for city ordinance violations ranging from $165 to $310, Champaign stands to gain more than $43,000 in revenue from fines, assuming all those ticketed plead guilty or are found guilty. Last year's police overtime cost taxpayers just over $10,600.

"It's like last year. We had a ton of arrests but we thought it was a success," Friedlein said. "We have recognized some of our key issues. Some of our party sizes seem to be down, which equates to, typically, less issues for us overall. We still had typical nuisance issues with balconies."

He said cracking down early (about 9:30 a.m. Friday) on an apartment complex where a young woman threw a beer can off a balcony helped a bit with that problem.

"We pulled in, took enforcement action and that party was shut down," he said, adding that word spread through that complex on East Armory quickly and police received no more complaints from that building of things being tossed from on high.

"That's the message you want to send our early and strong: We won't tolerate those behaviors that create a public-safety risk," he said. Nine people received tickets for throwing objects off balconies.

Discuss.

DI:

Assistant to the Chief for Community Services Rene Dunn, Champaign Police Lt. Brad Yohnka, Patrol Division Commander for University Police Lt. Skip Frost and Champaign Police Sgt. Scott Friedlein spoke at the Champaign Police Department.

“There has been a recent change in our city ordinance with regard to throwing things off balconies,” Yohnka said. “In the past we had to be able to identify exactly who threw the item. Now, we can also charge the actual residents of the apartment that it came from, which gives us a whole lot more leverage.”

One of the changes made from last year will be a new emergency ordinance by the mayor prohibiting package liquor stores from opening before 11 a.m. on Unofficial, Friedlein said.

The police also emphasized the importance of keeping interruptions out of the classroom.

“If you want to take the day off classes and have some drinks if you’re of age...great. That’s your choice,” Frost said. “But what you will not do is mess with the academic mission of the University. Anyone who is caught doing that will be dealt with pretty harshly by the Dean of Students Office.”

In the aftermath of last night's standing-room only crowd at the Champaign City Council meeting:

Speakers chide police at Champaign Council meeting:

Dozens of voices cried for changes by the Champaign City Council on Tuesday night in the wake of the Oct. 9 fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy.

Many people attending the council meeting called for the resignation or firing of Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney.

Others called for repeal of a use-of-force policy clause that reportedly allows use of deadly force, if necessary, to prevent escape or resistance.

"If you try to escape the police, they can kill you," former Urbana City Council member Danielle Chynoweth said, adding that police can also use deadly force and harm someone who is deaf or has mental problems that prevent them from understanding police orders.

"Or if you are a young person, resistance can equal death," Chynoweth said.

And Champaign is taking a look at ending that policy:

Former Urbana council member Danielle Chynoweth and others said a change in the policy went into effect Oct. 1, giving officers the discretion to use deadly force to prevent someone from escaping or resisting arrest. Several people also complained about the policy allowing the use of Tasers.

La Due said he was unaware of those provisions and found them "troubling."

City Manager Steve Carter said the council request calls for a study session on the use of force within the next month. He said the council had previous sessions to talk about use of force, but that was several years ago.

Carter said the police department has been going through all policies in anticipation of an accreditation process.

"What the police department is doing now is trying to get all the policies consistent with national standards," Carter said.

Carter also said he has asked experts from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Relations in Chicago to come help Champaign work on community relations.

It's going to take a lot more than that, I suspect.

Today's News-Gazette:

A more painful-than-usual budget season is expected to come to a close Tuesday with city council passage of a $114 million budget for the fiscal year than begins July 1.

The council meets at 7 p.m. at the city building, 102 N. Neil St.

The budget includes $6.3 million in budget-balancing steps, including $2.5 million in spending cuts, primarily through not filling vacant city positions, $2.8 million in spending reallocations, including taking capital project funds and redirecting them to the general fund, and $1 million in new fees and fee increases.

"I think we accomplished what we set out to do," Mayor Jerry Schweighart said. "We'll have a balanced budget with security for the future."

Schweighart said he was pleased that the budget still includes $33 million in capital projects and a general fund reserve balance of $7.7 million in case the economy continues to falter.

The budget can be found here.

Today's News-Gazette:

Members of the Champaign City Council will discuss nearly $2.4 million in budget cuts from police, fire, public works and administration in continuing efforts to reduce spending.

The budget discussion will be made in a council study session starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Champaign city building, 102 N. Neil St.

Champaign has been belt-tightening since January because of declining sales and income tax revenues.

Discuss.

Three significant happenings at last night's Champaign City Council meeting.  The first is that three new Council members were sworn in - Will Kyles in District 1, Kyle Harrison in 3, and Dave Johnson in 5.  Re-elected incumbents Mike Ladue (Distrct 2) and Marci Dodds (District 4) were also sworn in.  Congratulations to all five individuals.

The second is bond refinancing:

The city council approved refinancing 1998 and 1999 bond issues totaling $9.1 million. The old bonds had an interest rate of 4 percent, which has been reduced to 2.2 percent with the new bonds.
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The new tax-free bonds were sold Tuesday to Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc. of St. Louis, which also has a Champaign office. The new bonds will be paid off in 2016, the same payoff date as the old bonds.

The third is Curtis Road jurisdiction battles:

[S]ome officials say the negotiations with the Los haven't gone well, and they're giving serious consideration to a second option: having Champaign County transfer ownership of the Curtis Road right of way to Savoy before the project begins.

"The county did buy right of way (on both sides of Curtis Road) and we're looking at that," Helton said. "Typically, the county would transfer ownership at the end of the project to the appropriate municipality. We may move that transfer up, if we have to, to get this done."

Legal staff for Savoy, Champaign and Champaign County have researched the issue and believe such a transfer would give Savoy legal jurisdiction over Curtis Road and allow the project to proceed, he said.

The county owns about 150 feet of right of way that encompasses both sides of the current Curtis Road, according to Roland White, Champaign's city engineer.

Discuss.

Today's NG:

The city council gave its verbal support Tuesday to AmerenIP's plan to clean up a former manufactured-gas plant site at Fifth and Hill streets, starting in mid-April.

But council members were less enthusiastic about an administration proposal under which city staff would work with AmerenIP to transfer ownership of the 2.4-acre site to the city once the cleanup is complete for future development.

"Frankly, I don't see why it's important we own the property," said council member Marci Dodds.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Yesterday's NG:

City department heads have been told to develop proposals to cut general-fund spending by 4 percent for next fiscal year, which starts July 1.

The public will get a chance to comment on some of those cost-saving ideas at three public hearings scheduled for mid-March.

The hearings are scheduled for March 14, 16 and 17 and will precede a 7 p.m. March 17 city council study session on the budget.

"It's good to have public input," Mayor Jerry Schweighart said. "That goes along with the national trend of transparency."

Budget-cutting proposals under consideration will be presented at the public hearings, allowing residents to comment on specific proposals before the city council considers them, said Richard Schnuer, the city's finance director.

The proposals will include straight budget cuts, along with some proposals that include both cuts and possible revenue increases, possibly through fee increases or budget transfers from dedicated funds.

The 4 percent spending reduction translates into a cut of about $2.5 million in the city's general fund, which this fiscal year is $63 million, Schnuer said.

Discuss.

A Democratic incumbent will face a Republican and a Green:

Green Party candidate Durl Kruse and expected Republican candidate Rex Bradfield both filed petitions Friday to run for mayor in the April 7 election.

Meanwhile, incumbent Mayor Laurel Prussing, a Democrat, said in an interview that she'll file her candidacy petitions Monday to run for a second term as mayor.

Discuss.

A lot of this stuff will be ignored due to the attention being paid to our latest indicted governor, but:

Several candidates turned in petitions Monday to run for city or township office in Champaign-Urbana on the first day of filing for the April 7 election.

In Champaign City Council District 2, longtime incumbent Michael LaDue is being challenged by Karen Rasmussen.

The LaDue/Rasmussen race is the only one mentioned as being contested.  Filing runs through Monday.

From the City's email list, in light of the projected deficit for next year's budget:

Q: Does the City need to make major cuts right away?
A: No. For the current year, FY 2008/09 the City planned well and instituted some safeguards into the budget, such as budgeting expenditures at 98.5% of projected revenues, so the City does not expect significant problems in the current Fiscal Year. In addition, there is a lag between the time that the economy worsens and the time that revenues are affected. However, City staff has already put some preventive measures in place, such as not filling some open positions at this time. Staff will continue to monitor the economic situation and its impact on revenues, and will take immediate action if the situation worsens significantly.

Q: If there is no problem right now, why is the City talking about it?
A: The City prefers to be proactive in financial planning. The Five Year Forecast is prepared annually to help the City design a budget strategy before the budget process begins. Identifying issues upfront allows for good planning and a strategic approach. This allowed the City to maintain a strong fiscal position in previous periods of slowdown and avoid issues faced by some other governmental entities.

Q: Why is there a problem for the budget year, FY 2009/10?
A: The worsening economic situation is already affecting City’s revenue negatively and revenues are expected to slow down significantly in the next few months. Staff projects that savings measures will have to be implemented in the amount of $800,000 - $ 2 million to produce a balanced budget for FY 2009/10.

Q: The City has a rainy day fund, why can’t that be used until the economy improves?
A: Using a rainy day fund might be part of the solution, but it only helps short term. The forecast shows that the budget shortfall will increase annually, and some long term trends contribute to that. Any savings measures to address the shortfall will need to have a long term impact.

Q: So how will the City address the shortfall?
A: The good news is that the City has time to develop a good strategy. The budget development process for FY 2009/10 formally begins in December and the budget does not get adopted until June. Staff has already begun work on a list of options to address the shortfall, which will be shared with Council in January, so Council can provide direction on which options are preferable to others.

Q: What specific cuts does the City expect to make?
A: The City will review all expenditures to come up with options, including administrative, operating, capital improvement and department-specific expenditures. Last year, the City implemented savings measures totaling $1 million, which included changes in employee health insurance coverage, extending the useful life of some equipment, allowing some employees to reduce work hours, and reducing temporary workers.

Q: As a citizen, should I expect a major impact on services provided by the City?
A: The City will identify savings measures that will minimize the impact on services to citizens. Citizens might notice relatively small changes in service levels such as decreased frequency of some activities, postponing some work, or a decreased level of lower-priority services. However, citizens should not anticipate a major impact on services that they receive.

UPDATE:  Here is yesterday's NG story on the City's budget and levy.

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?