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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES-2011-11-29-20114 N •• ' J Q Of Evanston CITY OF EVANSTON, ILLINOIS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Tuesday, November 29, 2011 7 p.m. Council Chambers Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center 2100 Ridge Avenue Evanston, IL Roll Call: Alderman Grover Alderman Wynne Alderman Rainey Alderman Wilson Alderman Burrus Alderman Holmes Alderman Fiske Alderman Tendam Presiding: Mayor Elizabeth B. Tisdahl Mayor Tisdahl opened the Special Meeting at 7:07 p.m. on completion of the Roll Call. Alderman Braithwaite arrived at 7:20 p.m. after Roll Call had been completed. She then asked the City Manager if he had any announcements to make and his answer was yes. He asked Ms. Suzette Robinson, Director of Public Works to come forward to introduce the new Mr. James Maron, Superintendent of Streets and Sanitation. Ms. Robinson gave a summary of the new Superintendent's qualifications. Citizen Comment The Mayor decided to have comments from the citizens for both the Council and Township at the same time without separating the two by recessing into Township to deal with the Township issues. She disregarded the advice of the City/Township Clerk to recess from the Council to the Township to deal with Township comments and issues. Junad Rizki, Sherman Ave. had concerns for the idea of taking over the Township by dissolving it and its services. He also stated there will not be any savings to the City or citizens with the closing of the Township. Alderman Rainey suggested to the Mayor to allow citizens to speak on whatever concerns they had for either the Township or Council issues to prevent having two lists and two lines, and the Mayor agreed and then she asked Mr. Rizki was there anything else he wanted to say. His answer was yes and he began to address his concerns of the Council's actions as follows: 1) The Electric rate issue (he does not believe the citizens who don't opt out will get the best rates from the change over); 2) CIP process from the Goals list (the management of the funds are not properly managed). Bonnie Wilson, Township Assessor spoke of her concerns for the Township Levy Ordinance 102-0-112-00 and the legality of the Resolution to dissolve the Township. She also stated she had legal opinion that she passed out to the Council members, as well as having invited to Lawyers to speak on behalf of Township government. Greg Pelini, Champain, IL stated he was an Attorney who has practiced Township Law for over thirty (30) years, and he announced the coterminous units that he had represented in the pass including Evanston Township. He stated the language in the code does not allow for the dissolution and discontinue the Township government. He also stated the transfer of funds from the Township to the City would amount to a gift from one political jurisdiction to another, and it is not permissible. If the City proceeds with any of these actions this Council/Board to proceed would be inviting a lawsuit, and with both lawsuits you would loose in his opinion. Before the next speaker spoke Mayor Tisdahl stated in theory we are limiting this to 3 minutes per speaker. Ali Elsatfar, 142 N. Austin, Oak Park speaking on behalf of the Township as a guest of Bonnie Wilson, Township Assessor. He has held the position of Oak Park Assessor for ten and a half years and he is an Attorney. He stated what the City of Evanston is proposing can not be done, at least not City wide but County wide. He stated what happens in Evanston will reverberate across Cook County and there are concerns throughout the Townships. He also stated that Township Government is very important, and he suggested if you have problems with the Township then fix it don't discontinue it. Ethel Perrin, 647 Dodge Ave. spoke in favor of retaining the Township because you can obtain one-on-one service, and if you have to go downtown people will have to wait in long lines and still go away not knowing what happened. Betty Ester, 2031 Church stated her concern for the Resolution of placing a referendum on the ballot and her concern of the GA program and wanted a clear understanding of what is happening. On the budget she questioned the $50,000 and $250,000 that will be coming from the Township and what services will be eliminated. She also questioned the rates that will be offered due to aggregation The followinq speakers spoke on Aqqreqation Ordinance 103-0-11: Jonathan Niewsma, 1408 Dempster stated he was supportive of the ordinance as a citizen and a member of the board "Citizens for a Greener Evanston". Nathan Kipnis, 1642 Payne stated his support for the Ordinance and he too is a board member of "Citizen's For a Greener Evanston". He said he sees no downside of the proposal and it will decrease the carbon footprint and save the citizens money on their bill. Joel Freeman, 2151 Hartrey stated his support and was pleased that City staff forged forward to get it on the ballot. He believes it will save the citizens money as well. Ron Fleckman 1657 Church stated his support for the Ordinance and that he is the President of Citizens for a Greener Evanston. He stated this proposal will allow the citizens to spend less for their electricity. He stated each resident could save $150.00 annually. These funds could assist the residents in many different ways for their use. Steve LeVon, 1738 Chicago Ave. stated he is all in favor of cleaner energy. He stated he would choose clean energy even if he had to pay more and he is very much in favor of aggregation. Mayor Tisdahl then stated citizen comments for both the City and Township have been concluded and asked if someone would motion to recess and convene as the Township. The motion was moved and seconded by voice and the motion was passed again as a voice vote. The time for the recess was at 7:40 pm. The Trustee Board adjourned the Township Meeting and reconvened at 9:30 pm. as the City Council Board. Mayor Tisdahl called the meeting back to order and stated the item before the Council was Ordinance 103-0-11. The Mayor called on the City Manager and he stated before the Council moves on to discuss Ordinance 103-0-11 he wanted to recognize the staff members who have been here to talk on the previous item on the Agenda for all of their work. Sarah Flax, Mary Ellen Poole from the Community Economic Department, Jonathan Webb from the Health Department, Matt Menkowski and Adelita Hernandez from the City Manager's Office, they prepared the documents for part of the packets this evening. He stated they did a lot of work in looking into what to do with General Assistance and other issues if the Township would be dissolved. Ordinance 103-0-11: Submission of the Communitv Choice Electrical Aqqreqation Question to the Electors of The Citv of Evanston Staff recommends passage of Ordinance 103-0-11, providing for the submission to the electors of the City of Evanston, the question whether the City should have the authority under Public Act 096-0176 to arrange for the supply of electricity for its residential and small commercial retail customers who have not opted out of such a program. For Introduction The City Manager stated that Catherine Hurley and Dave Stoneback have worked on preparing the presentation that Ms. Hurley will present for both of them. She gave a ten slide presentation on the Aggregation Referendum and she thanked Mr. Stoneback for his help on the memo, the presentation and making sure all the data was compiled. Once Ms. Hurley had completed her presentation there were only a few questions and concerns from the Aldermen that she answered to their approval. Alderman Grover motioned to introduce the Ordinance 103-0-11 it was seconded. A Roll Call was taken and the result 9-0, the motion passed. It was motioned to suspend the rules and it was seconded. A Roll Call vote was taken with the results 9-0 and it passed. A third motion was made to approve the Ordinance 103-0-11 and it was seconded. A Roll Call vote was taken and the results were 9-0 and the motion passed. FY2012 Citv Council Prioritv Goals It is recommended that the City Council select four of its FY 2012 Goals to be designated as "Priority" goals. For Action City Manager Bobkiewicz stated during the Council's September 19th meeting the Council set thirteen goals for the fiscal year 2012. The Council members were to pick their top four choices. Economic Development was the top goal and the next 4 highest were: • Safety issues • Efficiency & Effectiveness of Services • Capital Improvement Program Planning • Youth Engagement Mr. Bobkiewicz suggested the Council prioritize the final 4 and to spend some time studying the goals and then come together to discover how we can implement these goals. He will keep the Council informed of the other goals as they progress along. Alderman Holmes motioned to accept 5 goals instead of 4 and it was seconded. A voice vote was unanimous and the motion passed. Mr. Bobkiewicz stated he just wanted direction from the Council and sense he has that he will move forward. A motion to adjourn was asked by Mayor Tisdahl and Alderman Wynne moved and it was seconded. A Voice vote was unanimous to adjourn and the meeting ended at 10:15 pm. Submitted by, Hon. Rodney Greene/City Clerk 1 1 1