HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES-2009-12-07-2009December 7, 2009
Roll Call:
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SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
LORRAINE H. MORTON CIVIC CENTER
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
DECEMBER 07, 2009
8:10 P.M.
Alderman Wilson
Alderman Holmes
Alderman Tendam
Alderman Grover
Alderman Rainey
Alderman Burrus
Alderman Fiske
Alderman Jean -Baptiste
Alderman Wynne
Presiding Officer: Mayor Elizabeth M. Tisdahl asked City Manager
Bobkiewicz if he had any announcements. City Manager responded by
introducing the two new employees with the City: Mr. Grant Farrar, City
Attorney Corporate Counsel, and Mr. Lehman Walker, Director of
Community Development.
City Clerk: No communications, Madam Mayor.
Public Comment:
Mike Vasilko 2728 Reese spoke on the budget as well as passing out a
drawing and a written statement to the Council. He also stated with all of
Evanston's charm it is not a destination that distant visitors choose. He also
read a list of items he believed to be important for Evanston to attract distant
visitors, as well as Northwestern's input into possible inclusions to the City.
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December 7, 2009
Alderman Wynne stated at the November 12th meeting the Lakefront Plan
was discussed and the Council had decided to follow the proposed Lakefront
Plan.
Alderman Rainey asked if the drawing that Mr. Vasilko passed out included
a landfill, and how much would be included. The answer was yes from Mr.
Vasilko and he stated it was about 500,000 square feet.
Alderman Jean -Baptiste in response to Alderman Wynne's statement stated
at that Council meeting it was decided not to close the discussion if there
were viable options, and he felt this was a viable option.
Jeff Smith 2724 Harrison spoke on two items; he wanted to know how many
of the jobs that were to be eliminated lived in Evanston, because that would
account for foreclosures and bankruptcy and loss of revenue for Evanston.
The yard waste was also a concern of his, as well as the Lakefront issue and
a possible landfill because putting any type of material in the lake to create
land. He stated any pier promontory jetties would interrupt the littoral rift
and would cause further erosion if we try to build anything later. He also
suggested in tough economic times we should not get rid of services.
Dona Gerson, 200 Lee Street spoke on the issue of the South Branch Library
closings. She urged those who had not visited the library they should. She
stated the importance of the South Library to the children, parents, and the
elderly in that neighborhood. The South Branch has been in its location for
ninety years. She stated the branch libraries embodied values that are
important to all who live in Evanston.
Manager Bobkiewicz then asked Ms. Lynne Montei the Budget Facilitator
for the budget sessions to come forward and present summary of the Budget
Committee that ends tonight. She thanked the staff for their cooperation in
the successfulness of the process. She stated the Committee started out with
a context that all cities are required by law to create and adopt a balanced
budget. She then gave a break down of the number of participants and on
lookers for each of the meetings. There were 8,771 visits to the home
webpage, and for the electronic polling there were 1,045 on the top five
priorities but in actuality only 1,003 were counted since some were deemed
invalid entries.
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December 7, 2009
Mr. Bobkiewicz stated the way the eliminated repeat voters was by their IP
address, and if there were more than one entry the extra ones were not
counted. He gave credit to Erika Storlie for creating a program to catch those
who tried to stuff the poll.
Ms. Montei continued explaining how the process was followed. She
explained in order to be a participant the person had to attend the first two
workshops otherwise you could only be an onlooker with no input. The
participants in the first session generated 38 questions to set up a focus for
the second session. In the second session it dealt with setting context and
frame of reference. The participants went into dialogue about what is
important to the City, why is this City meaningful to me, what we want to
honor our past and what do I want to generate the priorities in 2010-2011 we
want to remember when we are generating ideas. In the third session was
idea generations and the fourth was the discernment process and selection.
She proceeded to show some charts on the screen that represented the
participation in all sessions. She also stated she believed it was a very
healthful and informative process where all had the opportunity to
participate and not be reactive but proactive. She thanked the staff and
Council for allowing her to be a part of the process that included the
community at large as well as City staff and government.
Alderman Grover thanked Ms. Montei for facilitating and the City Manager
for holding the workshops. He question was did Ms. Montei ask for
feedback after every workshop or was it at the end of the whole process?
The answer was there were feedback forms for workshops 2 and 4. There
was a poster on the back wall for workshop 3, and because she was not at the
first workshop she could not remember. She advised that it would be
advisable to have feedback after each one. Alderman Grover stated she
would be interested in receiving some of the input from the workshops.
Mayor Tisdahl asked if Ms. Montei had any information concerning the
safety of the community if we closed a Fire Station. Ms. Montei stated she
did not have any documentation about the Fire Station closure that relates to
safety and maybe someone else could answer.
City Manager stated they had provided feedback for questions and there was
a question regarding reduction in Fire Department service and that
information was provided in the packet as a summary of the document, and
it is available on the City's website.
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December 7, 2004
City Manager Bobkiewicz proceeded to walk the Council through the
proposed calendar for.the review of the budget for 2010-11. He also stated
under the City Code he is required to submit a City budget to the City
Council no later than December 31.On Friday, December 18th he will be
providing an outline of what will be included in the proposed budget due to
the layoffs.
After much discussion the dates were set for the next set of meetings with
the first on January 9, 2010 at 8:30am with additional potential dates of
January 23rd and January 30th if needed.
Mayor Tisdahl asked for a motion to adjourn, it was moved and seconded
with a roll call resulting in a 9 — 0 vote. The meeting ended at 9:05 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Rodney Greene, City Clerk
A CD RECORDING IS AVAILABLE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE
ROOM 1200.
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