Mayor

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.

From the Daily Illini:

Following his speech, Herman offered additional stipulations the city should enforce, including only allowing people 21 and over into the bars and having the bars remain closed until 5 p.m.

"I don't want to see kids drunk on the street at 8 a.m.," Herman said.

Herman said he wished Scott Cochrane, owner of multiple campus bars, would come forward and be a part of the Unofficial dialogue.

"We are allowing Scott Cochrane to define this community, to define who we are and what we want to be," Herman said.

...

The mayor said he and the city attorney have been looking into the possibility of issuing an executive order to raise the bar age to 21, but nothing has been decided.

Not all members of the city council took Herman's speech favorably.

"He offered no suggestions," said Michael LaDue, Deputy Mayor and Dist. 2 Council Member for the City of Champaign. "There was nothing prescriptive in there. He basically got up and said 'I am very concerned.'"

Six hours later, we get the NG's story, but it's got a little more information:

Schweighart said after the meeting that he intends to bring back at least two measures to the city council for a vote in coming weeks and months. He said he would ask the city council to consider raising the bar entry age to 21, a move he predicted will fail. Despite that prediction, Schweighart said, he still wants to get council members positions on the record.

The mayor also said he will bring back some version of a proposal that the council rejected in October 2005 that would have increased penalties for bars where too many underage youths were arrested for drinking alcohol.

From today's News-Gazette:

Schweighart confirmed this morning that he and Prussing had discussed the issue. He said he now favors exploring purchasing local assets of the water company through eminent domain, and he said that a joint council meeting on the issue "is a possibility."

"We're already paying more than publicly owned water systems, and it just seems there's no stopping them," Schweighart said. "It's at least worth investigating the possibility of using eminent domain to take over."

Prussing has long been a vocal critic of the water company and has been an advocate for a possible public purchase, while Schweighart has been more reluctant to pursue city ownership of the water company.

Barry Suits, network operations manager for IIllinois American Water, responded this morning that "it is very disappointing to hear Mayor Prussing and Mayor Schweighart express this intent to use government's power of eminent domain to condemn a well-run business. Our customers – the citizens of Champaign County – do not want a long, costly and divisive debate over ownership that will distract elected leaders from addressing other, more important priorities."

Suits said the company's water rates will "continue to be reasonable after the current rate case concludes," and that the community will have a new water treatment plant to meet water demand over the next 15 years.

llinois American Water is asking the Illinois Commerce Commission for a 60 percent rate increase, in part to help pay for a $51 million water treatment plant the company is building 2 miles west of Champaign. The commerce commission is expected to decide the rate case by July.

This has come up before.  Back then, I thought it was a terrible idea.  But then, the City of Champaign went out and spot-annexed and -zoned land near Fisher Bondville for a water treatment plant, at the request of Illinois-American Water.  And then, weeks later, IAWC repays Champaign for that huge favor by announcing a 60 percent rate increase - in order to pay for said water treatment plant.

Normally, I wouldn't be in favor of cities using eminent domain to seize private assets like a water company.  Normally, I would argue that the public entities cannot run a private enterprise as efficiently and effectively as a profit-motivated company.  But IAWC's actions in this case are certainly making me rethink that - at least in this specific case.

From today's NG:

Rost said the city hasn't changed bid specifications much from the previous round of bidding, but will offer a $100,000 reward if the successful bidder can complete the project within 10 months of a city notice to proceed. The reward would be reduced to $50,000 two weeks after the deadline. After a month, there would be no reward and the city would begin charging the contractor for lost parking revenues, a term known as liquidated damages. The rewards are designed to attract additional bidders, Rost said.

The city wants the parking deck, which would be at the southeast corner of Randolph and Hill streets, finished by the start of 2009 because the facility will be used by many residents and customers of the M2 on Neil project, a nine-story building going up just east of the parking garage. M2 is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Seems a bit reactive to me.

More than a year ago, the City of Champaign and Mayor Jerry Schweighart were taken to court for alleged violations of the Open Meetings Act:

A local law office filed a complaint on Nov. 22 against the city of Champaign for a violation of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

The lawsuit, which was brought by the Robert Kirchner Law Office, named Champaign Mayor Jerry Schweighart and the city of Champaign as defendants after they closed a meeting to the public on the evening of Nov. 21.

Schweighart said the meeting was closed because the council generally prohibits the public from hearing about potential land acquisitions and litigation.

"You don't want to give whoever you're bargaining with the advantage," Schweighart said.

Ruth Wyman, who is an attorney with Kirchner's firm and is also listed as the plaintiff in the suit, said the closure occurred after the regular meeting had taken place and was not listed on the agenda.

The court has ruled in favor of the City and the Mayor.

An appeal is expected.

UPDATE: More, from the NG:

Champaign County Circuit Judge Chase Leonhard, in a 17-page decision issued Wednesday, issued a summary judgment in favor of the city and against Champaign attorney Ruth Wyman, who filed the suit.

Leonhard wrote that "without doubt," the city had complied in good faith with the requirements of the Open Meetings Act and that neither the facts in the case nor "any viable construction of the Open Meetings Act" supported Wyman's claims.

Wyman, who works for the Robert G. Kirchner Law Office, and Kirchner, who acted as Wyman's attorney, said they intend to appeal the judgment to the 4th District Appellate Court in Springfield.