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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES-2012-11-10-2012City of Evanston CITY COUNCIL ROLL CALL — PRESENT: Alderman Rainey Alderman Burrus Alderman Braithwaite A quorum was present. ABSENT: Alderman Grover Alderman Fiske PRESIDING: Mayor Elizabeth B. Tisdahl NOVEMBER 10, 2012 Alderman Wilson Alderman Holmes Alderman Tendam A SPECIAL MEETING of the City Council was called to order by Mayor Tisdahl Saturday, November 10, 2012 at 9:08 a.m. in the Council Chamber for the purpose of conducting a Public Hearing on the FY 2013 Proposed Budget for the City of Evanston and a Public Hearing: Truth in Taxation Hearing for the 2012 Property Tax Levy for the City of Evanston and the Township of Evanston. Alderman Fiske arrived at 9:10 a.m. Citizen Comment Dick Lanyon, chairman of the Evanston Utilities Commission, addressed the-1Council about the proposed FY2013 Capital Improvement Program for the water'and sewer fund. He reported that the Commissio-i encourages Council to continue investing in the renewal of the water and sewer infrastructure and increase water rates in July 2013 by 3% to provide needed funding. Padma Rao and B.K. Rao, both expressed their opinions that the City needs tc respect taxpayer's constitutional rights; the City needs to stop wasting money using tax collars to feast on pizza before meetings and the City needs to get competent legal advice. In addition, they feel that the Council and Mayor discriminate against those of color; and the City needs to protect the trees at Kendall. As there were no other speakers, Mayor Tisdahl closed the public hearing portion of the meeting. City Manager Comments: None City Clerk Comments: None Mayor Tisdahl called on City Manager Bobkiewicz to begin discussions of the FY2013 Proposed Budget. The first item to be presented was an update on the final list of city-wide performance measures and he called upon Godwin Chen to give his report. Mr. Chen then reviewed the background of the measures first brought to Council in May. His report included what we are trying to accomplish, goals that have been established, changes that were made since the performance measures were last presented and finally, next steps to be taken. A few questions were addressed. Mr. Bobkiewicz ended the report by saying that the performance measures will now be included in the budget annually and the annual report. It will also allow us to share Evanston data to compare it with other communities. Mr. Bobkiewicz then spent a few minutes on several responses to questions that came up at the last budget meeting with regard to certain items on the budget. However, the following items had changes made to the proposed budget. The first item was with regard to the proposed Crisis Intervention Coordinator. Mr. Bobkiewicz reported that he has heard from two other organizations who believe they can be of assistance to us so his recommendation is for Council to reallocate the $85,000 for the position from the budget to the City Manager's Operational Reserve Fund. The Mental Health Board and Health Department staff would return to Council in January with an alternate proposal. Alderman Rainey moved to approve the recommendation to set aside the $85,000. It was seconded. Roll call approved the motion 8-0. The next item concerned the installation of four (4) security cameras along with the technology needed to signal the police department near Evanston Township High School. The cost would be $60,000 — $61,000. Alderman Rainey moved to accept the staff report regarding expenditures and locations to install cameras in the Church & Dodge area and if the money is available this year, we should complete the project this year and if funds are not available, the funds are to be included in FY2013. Motion was seconded. Roll call approved the motion 8-0. The third item concerned additional lighting around ETHS. Discussions are currently on- going with Public Works and ETHS staff for locations. The recommendation is to continue to move forward and come back to Council in early January if additional resources are needed. Alderman Holmes moved to accept the City Manager's recommendation. It was seconded. Roll call passed the motion 8-0. The last item was regarding sidewalk maintenance and the use of asphalt patches. After some discussion, Mr. Bobkiewicz suggested that staff come back to Council in December or January with a specific plan offering different options. Mayor Tisdahl reported that the Illinois Municipal League is having some internal problems and she feels that while it is important to have an Illinois Municipal League, she suggests we keep the membership funds in the budget but hold off sending it until they can resolve the problems. Alderman Rainey moved to accept her recommendation. It was seconded and all were in favor. Being no other questions regarding the budget, City Manager Bobkiewicz proposed .Council introduce the ordinances regarding the tax levies and cancel the meetings scheduled for Tuesday, November 13 and November 19. Council would then adopt the budget at their November 26 meeting and adopt the levy ordinances at their December 10 meeting. Alderman Rainey proceeded to introduce the following ordinances as Consent Agenda. Ordinance 133-0-12: Citv of Evanston 2012 Tax Levv Staff requests consideration of Tax Levy Ordinance 133-0-12, which levies the annual property tax for General Fund Operations, Illinois Municipal 'Retirement Fund, and Police and Fire Pension funds. For Introduction Ordinance 134-0-12: 2012 Special Service Area #4 Tax Levv Staff requests consideration of Tax Levy Ordinance 134-0-12, which levies the annual property tax for Special Service Area #4. For Introduction Ordinance 135-0-12: 2012 Evanston Public Library Tax Levv Staff requests consideration of Tax Levy Ordinance 135-0-12 which levies the annual property tax for the Evanston Public Library. For Introduction - Ordinance 2T-0-12: 2012 Evanston Township Tax Levv Staff requests consideration of Tax Levy Ordinance 2T-0-12 which levies the annual property tax for the Town of Evanston. For Introduction Motion was made and seconded to approve. Roll call passed agenda 8-0. Motion was made and seconded to adjourn. All were in favor. The meeting adjourned at 10:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted by Elaine Autwell, Deputy City Clerk. 1