Peoria Standard

City of Naperville City Council met Nov. 9

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

A. CALL TO ORDER:

Chirico called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

Present: 8 - Mayor Steve Chirico

Councilwoman Judith Brodhead 

Councilwoman Patty Gustin 

Councilman Paul Hinterlong 

Councilman Patrick Kelly 

Councilman John Krummen 

Councilwoman Theresa Sullivan 

Councilman Benjamin White

Absent: 1 - Councilman Kevin Coyne

Also Present

City Manager, Doug Krieger; Deputy City Manager, Marcie Schatz; City Attorney, Mike DiSanto; City Clerk, Pam Gallahue; Fire Chief, Mark Puknaitis; Police Chief, Robert Marshall; Director of Finance, Rachel Mayer; Director of Human Resources, James Sheehan; Director of IT, Jacqueline Nguyen; Director of TED, Bill Novack; Deputy Director of TED, Jennifer Louden; Deputy Director of TED, Allison Laff; Director of Public Utilities - Electric, Lucy Podlesny; Director of Public Utilities - Water, Darrell Blenniss, Jr.; Director of Public Works, Dick Dublinski 

Daily Herald, Naperville Sun, NCTV-17

B. INTRODUCTION:

C. PUBLIC FORUM:

COMMENTS TO BE READ BY STAFF

Jodi Trendle

Under consideration this evening for the 2021 budget cycle is the establishment of a Sustainability Director position. On behalf of N.E.S.T, the Naperville Environment and Sustainability Task Force, I would like to extend our appreciation of City Leadership in acknowledging the critical importance of environmental sustainability for our community. We strongly urge your support for this position, as this is a recommendation from our task force which was thoroughly researched and identified as a critical, consistent feature among communities with leading sustainability programs. Sustainability is an enormous undertaking requiring cross-departmental coordination and understanding to integrate across entire City operations and also extend out to our community as a whole. This requires specific skills, and dedicated time beyond what current staff positions have to spare. Your insightful leadership in consideration for the long-term interest of our community with this small investment will yield significant returns for our community- now and for generations to come, and can also ensure Naperville’s position as a consistently highly ranked city to live, work and visit.

SPEAKER

Jim Hill (Senior Task Force) asked that information regarding the sidewalk assistance program information be put on the website and that the Council consider establishing a resident group, with staff support from four departments, to focus on city beautification.

D. PRESENTATION:

1. 2021 Annual Operating Budget and Capital Improvement Program Workshop #2 Krieger gave an overview of the workshop and discussed questions submitted by the Council.

Mayer presented the Local Economy portion of the workshop and highlighted 2020 accomplishments related to navigating the pandemic, cannabis zoning regulations, and successful economic development projects. She also discussed development trends, sales tax revenue, and key initiatives for 2021 in the areas of development, process improvement, and partnering with businesses to assist with economic recovery. She concluded with the Food and Beverage tax, Hotel and Motel tax, Real Estate Transfer tax, CDBG Cares Act City Council Meeting Minutes November 9, 2020 funding, utility assistance funds, and the downtown streetscape project.

Council discussed the City’s investment in the Naperville Development Partnership (NDP), projected cannabis revenue, the impact of the pandemic on downtown businesses, and the appropriateness of moving forward with the streetscape project at this time.

Krieger explained the contributions to NDP and the Naperville Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Novack explained the structural integrity of the Washington Street Bridge, the SSA for the downtown streetscape project, that a vendor was ready to start on the project in March 2020, the same vendor is available to start in March 2021 and have the project completed by July, and if the streetscape project is delayed it may not begin until 2024.

Council discussed how downtown will be affected by the Washington Street Bridge construction, that the businesses voted to not move forward with the streetscape project due to operational hardship and construction inconvenience, financial assistance from the City, CARES Act funding, and that more information should be presented in the third budget workshop after additional input from the merchants is received.

Schatz covered the Programs topic and highlighted initiatives including the deferral of capital projects, improved utility investment, and technology modernization. She discussed key initiatives for 2021 including road projects, Motor Fuel tax, Maintenance Improvement Program, Local Gas tax, building and facility improvements, body worn cameras for police officers, and several utilities projects.

Council discussed Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) for police department staff, opportunities to collaborate with other police departments for body camera data storage, AMI, utility collection efforts, and ensuring all efforts have been made to give residents and businesses financial relief.

Mayer discussed the $500,000 in utility assistance funds that has been programmed in the 2021 budget.

Schatz continued and highlighted the Phosphorus fund, the impact of additional debt in the Water Utility, and ability to borrow for 2021 projects.

Mayer stated that utility debt service has been smoothed out but additional borrowing is necessary and that the Water Utility has not borrowed since 2007.

Blenniss explained the aging infrastructure, water loss at the meter, and that this is an opportunity to be proactive.

Mayer stated that consensus will be needed at the third workshop on CIT, downtown streetscape, borrowing for the Water Utility, additional police officers, and the city beautification project.

Krieger discussed affordable housing recommendations and new Council-requested staff positions. He also detailed potential beautification efforts for certain City-owned parcels, entry signage upgrades, and that there is currently no discretionary fund to support the effort. He also explained the areas additional police officers may be assigned.

Council discussed mental health prevention, drag racing complaints, traffic scores on resident surveys, questioned the appropriate number of officers, how success of the officers will be measured, and adding meaningful improvement to safety.

Krieger discussed fines imposed from DuPage County, sustainability efforts, Sister Cities and previewed the third and final budget workshop on November 23 at 7:00 p.m.

2. Receive the 2021 Annual Operating Budget Presentation

E. ADJOURNMENT:

The budget workshop of November 9, 2020 adjourned at 9:45 p.m.

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