SYCAMORE CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF October 2, 2017 ROLL CALL Mayor Curt Lang called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and City Clerk Mary Kalk called the roll. Those Alderpersons present were: Nancy Copple, Rick Kramer, Pete Paulsen, Virginia Sherrod, David Stouffer, Chuck Stowe, Alan Bauer, and Steve Braser. INVOCATION Deacon Carla Van Natta from Salem Lutheran Church gave the invocation. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Girl Scout Troop 108: Ana Hall, Anya Berry, Gia Whepley, Maggie Klein, Grace Follman, Elizabeth Weydert, Delaney McDonald and Annamae Fredin APPROVAL OF AGENDA Alderperson Braser moved to approve the agenda and Alderperson Copple seconded the motion. Mayor Lang called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. APPOINTMENTS Mayor Curt Lang appointed Ken Mundy to the Board of Fire & Police Commission. Mayor Lang called for a voice vote to approve appointment. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 8-0 AUDIENCE TO VISITORS 1. Michael Gotmer, 403 Edward Street, Sycamore, IL 60178 asked the Council to consider stopping the fluoridation of Sycamore s water. He gave a history and explanation. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approval of the Minutes for the Regular City Council Meeting of September 18, 2017. B. Payment of the Bills for October 2, 2017 in the amount of $2,272,766.18 Alderperson Bauer moved to approve the Consent Agenda and Alderperson Stowe seconded the motion. ROLL CALL VOTE Mayor Lang called for a roll call vote to approve the motion. Alderpersons Copple, Kramer, Paulsen, Sherrod, Stouffer, Stowe, Bauer, and Braser voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS, COMMUNICATIONS, AND BILLS. A. A Presentation of Proceeds from the First Responder s Breakfast by the Sycamore Veteran s Club. Gene Ege and Ernie McGee from the Sycamore Veterans Club explained about the benefit breakfast to recognize and honor local first responders of Police, Fire, and Sheriff s Department. He presented a $1,600 check to both Police Chief Winters and to Fire Chief Polarek. The Police Department planned to use the funds for the newly established Explorer program. The Fire Department planned to use the funds for a piece of equipment for the ambulance and Sheriff s Department, who already received their check, planned to put their funds toward the Citizen s Police Academy. They served over 300 meals, did a memorial service honoring deceased veterans with a 21 Gun Salute and Taps, and received additional donations from the DeKalb County Marine Corps League, The Sycamore VFW, The VFW Auxiliary, The American Legion, and the Sons of the American Legion.
B. A Proclamation Declaring October 8-14, 2017 as Fire Prevention Week in the City of Sycamore. Mayor Lang presented a proclamation for Fire Prevention Week and said that Chief Polarek will address it further during his report. Mayor Lang also presented the Kids Work Day on Saturday October 14 th from 9-11 a.m. He asked the Council and audience to invite their family and friends. REPORT OF OFFICERS City Manager Brian Gregory thanked the Girl Scouts and commended them on a nice job. He thanked Mr. Ege and Mr. McGee on behalf of the Fire and Police Chiefs, the Departments, and the Explorers, for a nice event. He thanked Public Works Director Fred Busse and his crew for getting the downtown ready and cleaning it up so nicely. He thanked Adam Orton and the Finance office for their work on the audit report and he appreciates the year-round effort. He said that John Sauter and Mark Bushnell have been balancing many projects in residential, commercial, and industrial areas. They are making sure that projects are done safely and appropriately and turned around as quickly as they can. The volume has been and is significant. He appreciates all their work. Police Chief Jim Winters thanked Mr. Ege and Mr. McGee. He said with a goal of raising $500, it was beyond what they expected when they raised $1,600 for their Explorer program, so the Department is very grateful. Last Saturday ended Child Passenger Safety Week. They had 26 families come through for car seat installation. Residents can still stop in for that service as they have five trained officers. They will be participating in the Coffee with a Cop program on Wednesday. This is a national program that allows for opportunities for community engagement. Officers will be at McDonalds and Shawn s from 7:30-8:30 a.m. and at Sycamore Café from 8:45-9:30 a.m. The Homecoming Parade will be Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. from Maple Street to Sacramento Street. Fire Chief Pete Polarek announced Bill Reynolds, who presented a portable suction unit that the department purchased with the $1,600 from the Sycamore Veteran s Club First Responder s Breakfast. He also recognized Bill Reynolds, who was featured on the cover of the Environments Magazine, as one who teaches community based CPR classes. He said that National Fire Prevention Week starts next week, but really started today for them as it morphs into Fire Prevention Month. The Public Education Specialists started hosting the school children in the station today, running the children through strategies and skills they need to survive. They usually see 3000 pre-k through fifth grade kids during this month. The Fire Department is hosting an open house at Fire Station #2 on October 14 th. He also added that they received a grant announcement from Illinois Department of Public Health. Todd Turner, who was present, was the grant writer. They received $2,100 of the $5,000 requested, which will go to purchase an external defibrillator. He thanked Todd Turner and his wife, Missy, who was also present. He said that the team is wearing the special Breast Cancer Awareness T-Shirts, which reflect the pink ribbon. These will be worn for the next three weeks to bring awareness and commemorate those who are fighting and have fought the battle of breast cancer. Director of Public Works Fred Busse said he passed out the Leaf Pick-Up Program brochure. Pick up will begin October 16, and will be done in two sections as the map indicates. He reminded everyone that Waste Management will pick up landscape waste until the end of November. He said that a dumpster will be available for the public after the Leaf Program ceases on November 22 nd and be available for the first two weeks in December. The location will be available on the City s website. Mayor Lang asked about the progress of the Tree Program. City Clerk Mary Kalk said they had sold 32, as of today. Treasurer/Asst. to the City Manager Adam Orton thanked Jamie Wilkey, Jennifer Martinson, and their team from Lauterbach and Amen for their work on the audit this year. He said that this year s report is a comprehensive annual financial report. This is the first time the City has been able to issue a report that has achieved this level of reporting. It was a two-year process so we are proud to get to that point. He thanked each of the department for their contributions to the audit and especially the Finance staff whose work all year round to helped achieve clean audits. Building & Engineering Director John Sauter reported they have issued 41 Single Family Residence permits up to the end of September. They had issued 44 at the same time last year, but is confident we will end up equal to last year. They
have issued a full building permit for the Hardee s project, the Suter addition project, and interior mezzanine project at Menards, this week. He said they will continue to work on several commercial plan reviews for this fall. City Engineer Mark Bushnell said the warm temperature and sunshine is perfect weather to build the bike path along Airport Road. He said, however, the hot weather is not conducive to the Crack Sealing Program, which has been on hold as they need cooler weather for the adhesive to dry faster. This will hopefully be continued in mid-october. The Micro Surfacing project, West Prairie from Borden to Bethany and Peace Road, will also take place in mid-october. It will be closed to through traffic for 2-3 consecutive days so they will be coordinating with Ideal Industries and the other businesses in the area. REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES Finance no report Public Safety Pete Paulsen - no report Public Works Chuck Stowe no report PUBLIC HEARING - None ORDINANCES - None RESOLUTIONS A. Resolution No. 730 A Resolution Requesting a Permit from the Illinois Department of Transportation to Allow for the Construction of Water Connections and Driveway Replacements on Illinois Route 23 for the Hardee s Restaurant on Behalf of Rising Star Restaurant, LLC. City Manager Brian Gregory said this resolution is an Illinois Department of Transportation requirement to allow Hardee s to make water connections and replace driveways in the Illinois Department of Transportation s right-of-way. The City is responsible for guaranteeing that all work performed is in compliance with conditions of the permit. IDOT requires the developer to post a bond. Alderperson Braser moved to approve Resolution 730 and Alderperson Kramer seconded the motion. Mayor Lang called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. CONSIDERATIONS A. A Consideration of the City of Sycamore s Financial Statements for Fiscal Year 2016-2017, Including the Independent Auditor s Report. City Manager Brian Gregory said Jamie Wilkey from Lauterbach and Amen will present highlights of the annual financial report and be available for questions. Jamie Wilkey said this is a year-round process and thanked City Treasurer Adam Orton and his team for an outstanding job preparing for the audit. She said they are submitting what is called The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, which is the highest level of reporting governmental financial statements. She said this is an independent third party review of the financial statements. It is different than the auditor s review, which includes the audit opinion. The Certificate of Achievement Program is administered through the national organization; Government Finance Officers Association. She started with the Transmittal Letter, which is one of the new required sections for the Certificate of Achievement Program. The goal is to provide non-financial background information on Sycamore. She directed the Council to the Independent Auditor s Report, which, she said, have no issues with the audit and no internal control findings. It is a clean audit opinion; what they call an unmodified opinion, which is the highest level they can issue. She presented the Management s Discussion and Analysis which is a high-level executive summary. She highlighted the General Fund results, fund balance, and reserves. She said the Statistical Section, which is the second section required for the Certificate of
Achievement Program, covers 10 years of trend information on financials, property tax information, and long-term debt indicators, etc. City Manager Brian Gregory explained that each year, the City is required to have an outside accounting firm come in and audit our records. Alderperson Bauer moved to approve the consideration and Alderperson Paulsen seconded the motion. Mayor Lang called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye. Motion carried 8-0. B. Consideration of an Administration Report Regarding Possible Refunding Options for the Series 2007 and 2009 General Obligation Bonds. City Manager Brian Gregory gave a brief history. In 2009, the City of Sycamore issued Build America Bonds (BAB s) to finance the police addition. The City typically issues non-taxable bonds, however the BAB s were issued as taxable general obligation bonds that were to receive a 35% interest subsidy under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). At the time, the subsidy through ARRA made the effective interest rate payable by the City more attractive than traditional taxexempt bonds. On March 1, 2013, the President issued a sequestration order which requires automatic spending cuts as the result of Congress' failure to enact legislation to reduce the budget deficit. This included the interest subsidy for th e City s 2009 Bonds which have been reduced by 6.9%. The City currently transfers funds from the Sales Tax Distributive Fund to the 2009 Bond Fund to offset the annual debt service obligations. The chart below shows the combined annual principal and interest (without subsidy) debt service payments for the 2009 Bond. The 2009 Bond is callable in January of 2018. He said that Eric Anderson from Piper Jaffray is here to go over options. Eric Anderson, along with colleague John Balzano, said the objective was to right size the budget relative to the debt service component each year. Option 1 extends the debt and keeps the payment at the $585k-$600k range per year, but adds three additional years so payments are still retired within 10 years. It costs about $16,000 in terms of savings. Option 2 keeps the payment at about the $585k level, for seven years and drops to $400k for the final three years. It allows for the City to take on debt, if inclined, and to do so efficiently. This also retires all the debt in ten years. It also provides for an equity injection from funds from the City in the amount of $115,000 therefore, looking at a break-even situation. Option 3 is lowering the debt service burden each year, but adds on an additional eight years, which makes a more attractive annual payment but a less attractive total payment. He said, even with an injection of $115,000, the City would be paying in excess of about $300k more over the term. He said that staff is recommending option #2. City Manager Brian Gregory said the refunding would include the 2007 and the 2009 bonds together so that would just leave us two obligation bonds. He said there is about $120,000 in savings with the 2007, 2009, and 2012 bonds funds so we would put that toward the debt. For issuing bonds for the amount that we need to pay off with the 2009 and 2007 Series, we will issue as much as we need less the $115,000. That will come in from the reserves and that is what takes it to the break even point. He wanted to clarify that the money is not coming from general operations, it s just residual fund balance that s in those three bond funds. Eric Anderson said in terms of how quickly the City may choose to proceed, they have this coming before the City Council, for adopting of the refunding bond ordinance, at the November 6 th meeting. Alderperson Bauer said he is not comfortable with extending the debt. He asked if the staff is comfortable with the difference between the $585k-$600k payments. City Manager Brian Gregory said currently, we have $585k-$600k coming in from the General Capital and General Operating funds, to pay the combination of the 2012 and 2007 debt service, The 2009 Bond has been funded out of Fund 22: the sales tax distributive fund. So, he said, it s imperative that we do not exceed $585k-$600k. For the last 10 years, those funds have been set aside for debt service to get the debt paid down.
Alderperson Kramer said he would go with the staff s recommendation for option #2. City Manager Brian Gregory reiterated that option 2 is the most responsible option. C. Consideration of a Request by the Liquor Commissioner to Discuss Applications for Additional Class VG Licenses. City Manager Brian Gregory said this is a discussion item. There has been interest from three different companies to add an additional VG license. Two of those companies interested are present Alderperson Braser said he would like to offer more licenses. He feels we are being antiquated by not doing it. This was something that wasn t available 10-12 years ago. Its growth and they will be taking over unoccupied spaces and putting them on the tax rolls. He said he recalls that Chief Winters said that there is almost no problems in any of the current café s compared to a regular liquor license. Alderperson Stouffer said he would hold off for now since we just changed our decision to have the extra four VG licenses. We still have the three bar licenses available. He said instead of adding more competition, he suggested to hold off for a year or two. Alderperson Stowe said he is not for expanding the licenses at this time. Alderperson Braser said this is the only industry that we put a cap on. He says that s unfair if people are willing to invest their own time and money to provide a service. If they fail, it s their failure, if they thrive, we thrive. We are not here to legislate morality. We are here to put the laws in place and keep it safe. He thinks people look at video gaming as another bar and it s just not. Alderperson Bauer said he is not interested in expanding the VG licenses either. Alderperson Kramer said he doesn t see an issue with expanding, but we would have to have some type of limit versus 12 or 13 licenses. He thinks if we have people who have established businesses in town, and they want a VG license, then we should consider that, too. Alderperson Braser said we do limit them already with five gaming machines, maximum and he thinks there are a few that don t even have all 5 machines allowed. Alderperson Paulsen said if we had issues, he would be more concerned about it. We don t, so he said he s not opposed to having more VG licenses. He said to maybe limit it, but not necessarily at the four we have right now. Alderperson Sherrod said she would love to see established business owners be allowed to expand. She has never heard of any issues or doesn t see a problem with adding more VG licenses. She said she is at a toss-up, but with their success, we would succeed with revenues. She said yes, she would allow them to try. Mayor Curt Lang said thanks, we have some direction. OTHER NEW BUSINESS ADJOURNMENT Alderperson Stowe moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:07 p.m. and Alderperson Paulsen seconded the motion. Mayor Lang called for a voice vote to approve the motion. All Alderpersons voted aye Motion carried 8-0.
Approve: Mayor Curt Lang Attest: City Clerk Mary Kalk