Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to room 400 of Peoria City Hall, Council Chambers. It’s time for another Peoria City Council meeting! As usual, I’ll be updating this post throughout the evening, so be sure to refresh your browser to see the changes. Here’s tonight’s agenda (linkable version available here):

ITEM NO. 1 CONSIDERATION OF CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS BY OMNIBUS VOTE, for the City of Peoria, with Recommendations as Outlined:

A. Communication from the City Manager and Director of Information Systems Requesting Approval of the PURCHASE of DELL COMPUTERS from DELL, in the Amount of $88,895.45, as Part of the ANNUAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY REFRESHMENT PLAN.

B. Communication from the City Manager and Fire Chief Requesting Acceptance of the LOW BID from PIERCE MANUFACTURING for the PURCHASE of One (1) 75′ LADDER TRUCK, in the Amount of $582,980.00.

C. Communication from City Manager and Director of Public Works with Request to Approve the PURCHASE of ONE (1) FORD F-250 PICK-UP TRUCK for a Total Not to Exceed $22,000.00 from MARROW BROTHERS FORD, INC. and the PURCHASE of ONE (1) 2011 FORD E-150 VAN for a Total Not to Exceed $16,500.00 from LANDMARK AUTOMOTIVE GROUP in SPRINGFIELD, IL by Utilizing the State Contract Bidding Process for Both Purchases.

D. Communication from the City Manager and Director of Public Works Requesting Approval of the LOW BID of J.C. DILLON, INC. and Awarding a CONTRACT, in the Amount of $570,000.00, from the Base Bid of $50,633.20, for the ANNUAL STORM SEWER REPAIR CONTRACT.

E. Communication from the City Manager and Director of Public Works with a Request to Award a CONTRACT for LAMPS and BALLASTS for the PEORIA POLICE HEADQUARTERS to JDL LIGHTING and ELECTRIC, in the Amount of $10,287.00.

F. Communication from the City Manager and Corporation Counsel Requesting Authorization for the SETTLEMENT of a CLAIM for PROPERTY DAMAGE to CHUCK’S TOWING Arising Out of an ACCIDENT on December 30, 2009, on ALLEN ROAD, in the Amount of $30,000.00, and Requesting Authorization for the City Manager to Execute the Necessary Documents.

G. Communication from the City Manager and Police Chief Requesting Approval of a ONE YEAR CONTRACT with ULTRAMAX AMMUNITION for the ANNUAL PURCHASE of RELOAD AMMUNITION USED for TRAINING, in the Amount of $21,710.00.

H. Communication from the City Manager and Director of Public Works Requesting Approval of a JOINT AGREEMENT with IDOT for INSTALLATION of FLASHING YELLOW ARROWS on US 150 and IL 40 in Peoria, and Requesting Approval of an EXPENDITURE of up to $31,050.00 for the City’s Portion of the Project.

I. Communication from the City Manager and Corporation Counsel Requesting Approval of a RESOLUTION Amending Resolution No. 88-240 Pertaining to INDEMNIFICATION.

J. Communication from the City Manager Requesting Approval of an ORDINANCE Reserving 2010 PRIVATE ACTIVITY BOND VOLUME CAP, in the Amount of $10,270,260.00.

K. Communication from the City Manager and Director of Planning and Growth Management with a Request to Concur with the Recommendation from the Planning Commission and Staff to Adopt an ORDINANCE Approving the MULTI-FAMILY PLAN for Property Identified as Parcel ID Number 14-07-251-013, with an Address of 2207 W. WILLOW KNOLLS ROAD.

L. Communication from the City Manager and Director of Planning and Growth Management with Request to Concur with the Recommendation from the Zoning Commission and Staff to Adopt an ORDINANCE Amending APPENDIX B of the Code of the City of Peoria Relating to TELECOMMUNICATION ANTENNAS and TOWERS.

M. Communication from the City Manager and Director of Planning and Growth Management with Request to Concur with the Recommendation from the Zoning Commission and Staff to Adopt an ORDINANCE Amending APPENDIX B of the Code of the City of Peoria Relating to DEFINITION of CHANGE OF USE.

N. Communication from Mayor Jim Ardis Requesting Approval of an AMENDMENT Concerning the APPOINTMENT of BOB MARX to the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau CHANGING the LISTED NAME of the Commission ON THE COMMUNICATION from the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to the RIVERFRONT PROGRAM AND POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (Amends Item No. 10-106)

Proclamations took a long time tonight. Reading of the consent agenda just started at 6:55 p.m.

Sandberg asks for item H to be removed. Van Auken/Turner move to approve remaining items; motion passes unanimously. Sandberg wants the staff to put a left turn arrow from westbound War Memorial onto southbound Knoxville because people are driving down Peoria Ave. to avoid the signal; he moves to approve item H with that stipulation, seconded by Spain. Passed unanimously.

ITEM NO. 2 Communication from the City Manager and Director of Public Works Requesting Approval of the LOW BID of STARK EXCAVATING, INC., in the Amount of $2,154,919.00, with Additional Authorization of $107,745.95 (5% for Contingencies) for the WATER STREET RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT (Liberty Street to Hamilton Boulevard).

Gulley/Van Auken move to approve; passes unanimously with no discussion.

ITEM NO. 3 Communication from the City Manager and Director of Public Works Requesting Approval of a CONTRACT with AECOM TECHNICAL SERVICES, INC., in the Amount of $197,229.00, to Provide CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING SERVICES for the WATER STREET RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT (Liberty Street to Hamilton Boulevard) and Authorizing the City Manager to Sign the Construction Engineering Services Agreement.

Gulley/Turner move to approve; passes unanimously with no discussion.

ITEM NO. 4 Communication from the City Manager and Fire Chief Requesting Acceptance of the LOCAL ENERGY ASSURANCE PLAN (LEAP) GRANT for $200,000.00, and Requesting Approval to Enter into NEGOTIATIONS to CREATE an INTERGOVERNMENTAL CONTRACT with TRI-COUNTY REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION (TCRPC) to ADMINISTER the GRANT for the City of Peoria.

Van Auken/Riggenbach move to approve. Jacob asks what role Ameren is going to play in this discussion. Terry Kohlbuss, Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, says “they will play a key role,” and gives some details. Jacob also wants some issues in North Peoria to be addressed in this plan. Jacob/Irving move to approve, even though a motion was made and seconded already; passes unanimously.

ITEM NO. 5 Communication from the City Manager and Director of Planning and Growth Management Requesting Concurrence with the Recommendation from the City Staff to Adopt an ORDINANCE Creating the HARRISON SCHOOL NEIGHBORHOOD IMPACT ZONE and a TIMELINE for ZONE IMPLEMENTATION.

Gulley asks Planning and Growth Department Director Pat Landes to give an update. She gives a brief overview of the Glen Oak Neighborhood Impact Zone and the positive response it has received; this impact zone is modeled after the Glen Oak impact zone. Gulley/Van Auken move to approve. Jacob is concerned about the two-year time-frame. Why is it “limited to two years?” he asks Director Landes. Landes says the language is “no less than two years.” You can’t focus resources on a targeted area indefinitely because we don’t have unlimited resources. Those resources will need to be reallocated elsewhere in the city after two to three years. Jacob asks for another year to be added. The maker/seconder of the motion agree to Jacob’s “friendly amendment.” Spain is concerned that this impact zone may take away resources from the Glen Oak impact zone before “the job is done.” Nevertheless, he supports the motion.

Sandberg suggests changing the language from “no less than two years” to “at least three [two?] years.” Another friendly amendment to which the maker/seconder agree. It’s getting confusing now. Not sure what the actual motion is anymore. But it passes unanimously. Moving on….

ITEM NO. 6 Communication from the City Manager and Director of Public Works Requesting Approval of an AGREEMENT with the ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION for FUNDING of PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING and the CONSTRUCTION of a PORTION of ORANGE PRAIRIE ROAD from AMERICAN PRAIRIE ROAD to ALTA ROAD.

Irving/Montelongo move to approve. Irving thanks Sen. Dale Risinger for securing funding for this project. Sandberg concerned about plans to move the current Route 91 between War Memorial and Alta Rd. to the new route that’s planned to be built. The taxpayers of Peoria will have to pay to turn the old state route into an urban street with curbs and sidewalks. The state should be required to bring the old route 91 up to our standards for urban roads before jurisdiction is transferred to Peoria. Sandberg makes the analogy that Peoria has to pay to upgrade our sewers before we turn over jurisdiction to the sanitary district. Sandberg makes a substitute motion that “City” in paragraph 4 be changed to “State.” In other words, the State will still have jurisdiction over the “old” route 91 after the new route is put in; seconded by Spears. Jacob asks if this puts us at risk to lose funding; Director Barber and Attorney Ray have a little conference. Barber thinks the jurisdictional transfer is a requirement in order to receive funding; he suggests deferring the item until that question is answered. Jacob moves to defer for two weeks. Spears points out that there are many roads that are still maintained by the state until they bring them up to our standards (he cites the access road at Northwoods Mall, Glen Ave. access road, Northmoor road). More discussion ensues. Van Auken seconds the motion to defer. Motion passes 10-1 (Irving). Sandberg wanted to speak before the deferral motion was seconded; Ardis allowed everyone else to speak before taking a second, but didn’t recognize Sandberg. Once the second was taken, there could be no further discussion on the issue, only discussion about the deferral. So I guess he didn’t want to hear what Sandberg had to say. Hmmm.

ITEM NO. 7 Communication from the City Manager with a Request to Receive and File the REPORT BACK Regarding the 2009 UN-AUDITED GENERAL FUND REVENUE and EXPENDITURES Including FINAL SALES TAX and STATE SHARED REVENUES for 2009; 2010 BUDGET FORECAST; and Request to Provide Direction to Staff Regarding Potential Ways to Eliminate the Projected Budget Deficit. (Refer to Item No. 10-089)

Director Scroggins pointed out that only a pre-audit has been done, not a full audit, so the numbers could change. Revenues are so uncertain that he can’t guarantee that this is the last time he’ll be telling them they have to lower the budget. Sales tax revenues and personal property replacement tax revenues are down. There’s also a lack of increase in interest revenues. Recommends reducing budget by $1.5 million and provides some suggestions for things to cut. Staff would like feedback on where to cut so they can bring back a recommendation for final council action in two weeks.

One of the suggestions was doing away with rat abatement. Turner doesn’t like that idea; he’d like to see the rat abatement kept. Turner/Van Auken move to maintain rat abatement funding. Motion passes unanimously.

Spain asks that the council be “kept in the loop” as to how “all our revenues are doing.” Asks the City Manager to provide that info on a monthly basis.

Spain/Irving moves to accept the rest of the suggestions and bring back a recommendation for final council action; passes unanimously.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
(INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO MOTIONS TO RECONSIDER, IF ANY, ITEMS FROM THE PREVIOUS REGULAR MEETING)

(09-616) Communication from the City Manager and Director of Planning and Growth Management Requesting Approval to Enter into a ONE-YEAR CONTRACT with the EAST BLUFF NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES (EBNHS) for the USE of EBNHS SPECIAL SERVICE DISTRICT TAX REVENUE Received in 2010. (New Communication and Contract)

And now we come to the main attraction. This is the most controversial issue on the agenda tonight. Riggenbach takes the floor. He points out that, while the tax levy authorization was approved for ten years, the City will have an annual contract with the EBNHS. “We will receive monthly data on a quarterly basis.” Also, a “narrative that will summarize the work process.” And there will be “an actual disbursement register” that will show what money is spent and where.

Riggenbach says the EBNHS is not required to abide by the Open Meetings Act because they’re a 501(c)(3) organization. However, they will be required to follow “the spirit of the Open Meetings Act” by putting their agendas and minutes on their website. Regarding charges of conflicts of interest, what happens in the future will follow HUD guidelines; can’t do anything about the past. An ad hoc committee will be formed to look at the EBNHS bylaws. “This contract represents a new way of doing business.” “This contract has set the bar quite high for this organization….”

Riggenbach/Montelongo move to approve. The floor is opened for public comments — three minute limit on how long each person can talk.

• Nancy Shadid representing East Bluff Serenity Neighborhood — Supports the motion; thinks the new board is doing a good job. Supports renting one of the refurbished homes (one on Archer that used to be a drug house); it brings in monthly income ($800) and would have sat vacant for who knows how long if it had been put on the market to be sold.
• Lisa Fisher, Glen Oak Park Neighborhood Association president and EBNHS board member — Supports the motion; EBNHS has changed for the better.

Wow, I never realized how much East Bluff residents love being taxed extra! Maybe they can help the City close their budget gap?

Sandberg points out that those in the EBNHS district pays 19% more than the rest of the city in property taxes. No sitting council members live in the EBNHS special service district. Sandberg distributed each council member’s “skin number” — i.e., how much extra in taxes it would cost each council member if they actually lived in the EBNHS district and had “skin in the game.” For Riggenbach, $82; Ardis: $99; Irving: $165; Jacob: $162; and if Jacob moved his business to the EBNHS district, it would cost him over $2,400 extra. Then he pointed out how the EBNHS money is used now versus how it was used in the past. “This was never supposed to be the lifeblood, sustaining fluid for this agency.” “You are creating dependency on taxation.” Sandberg is in rare form tonight.

Montelongo speaks in favor of the motion. He says that the concerns he’s heard from constituents concerned what happened in the past. If the tax money is used properly, he thinks the residents are for continuing the EBNHS. He makes some suggestions — like send out a newsletter, rehab and sell homes rather than renting, follow the bylaws especially in elections, record minute thoroughly and properly.

Jacob points out that Sandberg has supported the EBNHS over many of the past years. He acknowledges that there have been problems in the EBNHS in the past, but that has changed. He sees this as part of the council’s larger vision for the East Bluff (including the impact zone and other interventions). Progress has been made. This is the time to “improve and take advantage of this opportunity.” He supports the EBNHS and the motion.

Ardis thanks Riggenbach for his efforts, as well as former councilman Manning’s.

Riggenbach can “count on one hand the number of people who said to shut this organization down.” The people he’s talked to who support the EBNHS have skin in the game. Riggenbach appeals to those on both sides of this issue to work together for the betterment of the East Bluff.

Motion passes 10-1 (Sandberg).

(09-618) Communication from the City Manager and Director of Planning and Growth Management with Recommendation from the Zoning Commission and Staff to DENY a Request for a SPECIAL USE in a Class R4 (Single Family Residential) District for a WIRELESS COMMUNICATION FACILITY for Property Commonly Known as COLUMBIA MIDDLE SCHOOL Located at 2612 N. BOOTZ AVENUE.

Van Auken received request from petitioner to defer again (third time). Moves to table this item, seconded by Spain. Passes unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS

• Jacob suggests staff explore holding some sort of a youth summit to engage our young people.
• Gulley wants to establish an “adopt-a-block” program, like what they have in L.A. This is a faith-based initiative. There’s a meeting planned for March 29 (Monday) in council chambers to discuss it. Doesn’t require any City funding. Calling on pastors to attend the March 29 meeting at 4 p.m.
• Gulley went to White House for the signing of the jobs bill, and while he was there he met with Congressman Schock. He says there are four specific projects on which Schock (and others, possibly?) want feedback: Route 24, Martin Luther King Dr., Eagle View TIF, Harrison School Impact Zone infrastructure. Asks City Manager to prepare a report.
• Gulley wants to know why we’re not developing the Eagle View land for something usable — e.g., by elevating it. Why do we take our excavating material to East Peoria instead of taking down to Eagle View? There’s a current project with 10,000 cubic yards and we’re hauling it outside the City of Peoria. Can staff report back on why this is?
• Spain talks about — guess what? — the CENSUS! Note to Spain if he’s reading this: I already received mine and sent it in. You’re welcome. 🙂
• Van Auken invites everyone to a “Just Hit Send Google Party” this Friday at Kellehers from 4-6 p.m. Mayor Ardis will speak and give some awards for the Google Initiative. And they have a special surprise at the party that is “sure to get the attention of Google Headquarters.” I hope it’s nothing violent.

CITIZEN REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE COUNCIL

• Ken Carrigan — He spoke positively of the hotel project.
• There was one other speaker, but I wasn’t paying attention. Sorry.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

ADJOURNMENT

That’s it. Have a nice evening, everybody. There is an executive session, but I’m not allowed in there… thank goodness! Good night.