July 14, 2020
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Public comment will be taken electronically and in person. To submit a comment electronically, please click on the "Submit Public Comment" link on the Current Week's Meeting page of the Village website any time before or during the meeting. Thank you.
1. Call to Order
Mayor Pro tem Hosé called to order the Village Council meeting at 7:01 p.m. and led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
Mayor Barnett led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
2. Roll Call
Council Attendance (Present): Mayor Pro tem Hosé, Commissioner Earl, Commissioner Walus, Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt, Commissioner Kulovany, Commissioner Gray
Absent: Mayor Barnett
Non-Voting: Village Manager David Fieldman, Village Attorney Enza Petrarca, Village Clerk Megan Miles
3. Minutes of Council Meetings
MIN 2020-8619 - A. Minutes: Village Council Minutes - July 7, 2020.
Motion: Commissioner Earl moved to approve the minutes of July 7, 2020. Commissioner Walus seconded the motion.
Mayor Pro tem Hosé declared the motion carried.
4. Public Comments
Deputy Village Manager Mike Baker relayed the following on-line comments received: Three individuals were advocating for video gaming; one resident suggested that issuing citations for illegal fireworks could be a way close budget gaps. Mr. Baker noted the full text of all comments would be posted to the Village website.
5. Consent Agenda
BIL 2020-8618 - A. Bills Payable: No. 6536, July 14, 2020
RES 2020-8611 - B. Resolution: Extend and Amend Certain Emergency Orders regarding Outdoor Dining, Liquor and Parking Provisions and Utility Billing
Summary: This extends and amends certain emergency orders regarding outdoor dining, liquor and parking provisions and utility billing
A RESOLUTION EXTENDING AND AMENDING CERTAIN EMERGENCY ORDERS REGARDING OUTDOOR DINING, LIQUOR AND PARKING PROVISIONS AND UTILITY BILLING
RESOLUTION 2020-35
MOT 2020-8600 - C. Motion: Approve an Extension to the Rental of Portable Barriers from Traffic Control & Protection, Inc.
Summary: This approves an extension to the rental of portable barriers from Traffic Control & Protection, Inc.
MOT 2020-8613 - D. Motion: Authorize the Purchase of Thirty-Five (35) Desktop Computers, along with Monitors and Speakers from CDW Government LLC in the amount of $46,406.85
Summary: This authorizes the purchase of thirty-five (35) desktop computers, along with monitors and speakers from CDW Government LLC in the amount of $46,406.85.
RES 2020-8616 - E. Resolution: Authorize an Agreement with the Downers Grove Historical Society regarding the Republication of Downers Grove, 1832-1982, in Digital Format
Summary: This authorizes an agreement with the Downers Grove Historical Society regarding the republication of Downers Grove, 1832-1982, in digital format
A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AN AGREEMENT WITH THE DOWNERS GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY REGARDING THE REPUBLICATION OF DOWNERS GROVE, 19832-1982, IN DIGITAL FORMAT
RESOLUTION 2020-34
MIN 2020-8617 - F. Minutes: Note Receipt of Minutes of Board and Commissioners
Summary: Liquor Commission -February 6, 2020
Motion: Commissioner Earl moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Commissioner Walus seconded the motion.
Votes: Aye: Commissioner Earl, Commissioner Walus, Commissioner Kulovany, Commissioner Gray, Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt, Mayor Pro tem Hosé Nay: None
Mayor Pro tem Hosé declared the motion carried.
6. Active Agenda
ORD 2020-8598 - A. Ordinance: Rezone Certain Property located at 4725, 4733, 4737, 4744 and 4809 Douglas; 440 and 445 Prairie; and 444 Wilson for the St. Mary of Gostyn Parish and School.
Summary: This rezones certain property located at 4725, 4733, 4737, 4744 and 4809 Douglas, 440 and 445 Prairie and 444 Wilson for the St. Mary of Gostyn Parish and School
AN ORDINANCE REZONING CERTAIN PROPERTY LOCATED AT 4725, 4733, 4737, 4744 AND 4809 DOUGLAS; 440 AND 445 PRAIRIE; AND 444 WILSON FOR THE ST. MARY OF GOSTYN PARISH AND SCHOOL
ORDINANCE 5819
Motion: Commissioner Earl moved to adopt "An Ordinance Rezoning Certain Property located at 4725, 4733, 4737, 4744 and 4809 Douglas; 440 and 445 Prairie; and 444 Wilson for the St. Mary of Gostyn Parish and School" as presented. Commissioner Walus seconded the motion.
Mayor Pro tem Hosé extended his appreciation to St. Mary of Gostyn Parish for their application.
Votes: Aye: Commissioner Earl, Commissioner Walus, Commissioner Gray, Commissioner Kulovany, Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt, Mayor Pro tem Hosé Nay: None
Mayor Pro tem Hosé declared the motion carried.
ORD 2020-8599 - B. Ordinance: Adopt an Institutional Master Plan for the Property located at 4725, 4733, 4737, 4755 and 4809 Douglas; 440 and 445 Prairie and 444 Wilson commonly known as the St. Mary of Gostyn Parish and School
Summary: This adopts an institutional master plan for the property located at 4725, 4733, 4737, 4755 and 4809 Douglass; 440 and 445 Prairie and 444 Wilson commonly known as the St. Mary of Gostyn Parish and School
AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING AN INSTITUTIONAL MASTER PLAN FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 4725, 4733, 4737, 4744 AND 4809 DOUGLAS; 440 AND 445 PRAIRIE; AND 444 WILSON COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ST. MARY OF GOSTYN PARISH AND SCHOOL
ORDINANCE 5820
Motion: Commissioner Earl moved to adopt "An Ordinance Adopting an Institutional Master Plan for the Property Located at 4725, 4733, 4737, 4744 and 4809 Douglas; 440 and 445 Prairie; and 444 Wilson Commonly Known as the St. Mary of Gostyn Parish and School" as presented. Commissioner Walus seconded the motion.
Votes: Aye: Commissioner Earl, Commissioner Walus, Commissioner Gray, Commissioner Kulovany, Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt, Mayor Pro tem Hosé Nay: None
Mayor Pro tem Hosé declared the motion carried.
ORD 2020-8601 - C. Ordinance: Amend Liquor License Renewals and Terms
Summary: This amends liquor license renewals and terms
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING LIQUOR LICENSE RENEWALS AND TERMS
ORDINANCE 5821
Motion: Commissioner Earl moved to adopt "An Ordinance Amending Liquor License Renewals and Terms" as presented. Commissioner Walus seconded the motion.
Votes: Aye: Commissioner Earl, Commissioner Walus, Commissioner Gray, Commissioner Kulovany, Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt, Mayor Pro tem Hosé Nay: None
Mayor Pro tem Hosé declared the motion carried.
ORD 2020-8602 - D. Ordinance: Amend Massage License Renewals
Summary: This amends massage license renewals
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING MASSAGE LICENSE RENEWALS
ORDINANCE 5822
Motion: Commissioner Earl moved to adopt "An Ordinance Amending Massage License Renewals" as presented. Commissioner Walus seconded the motion.
Votes: Aye: Commissioner Earl, Commissioner Walus, Commissioner Gray, Commissioner Kulovany, Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt, Mayor Pro tem Hosé Nay: None
Mayor Pro tem Hosé declared the motion carried.
ORD 2020-8566 - E. Ordinance: Make Certain Technical Amendments to the Downers Grove Municipal Code
Summary: This makes certain technical amendments to the Downers Grove Municipal Code
AN ORDINANCE MAKING CERTAIN TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO THE DOWNERS GROVE MUNICIPAL CODE
ORDINANCE 5823
Motion: Commissioner Earl moved to adopt "An Ordinance making Certain Technical Amendments to the Downers Grove Municipal Code" as presented. Commissioner Walus seconded the motion.
Votes: Aye: Commissioner Earl, Commissioner Walus, Commissioner Gray, Commissioner Kulovany, Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt, Mayor Pro tem Hosé Nay: None
Mayor Pro tem Hosé declared the motion carried.
7. First Reading
MOT 2020-8603 - A. Motion: Award $1,426,526.25 to J. Congdon Sewer Service, Inc. for the 2020 Water Main Improvements Contract B.
Public Works Director Andy Sikich walked through his presentation of Contract B. Contract A was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Per Mr. Sikich, Contract B includes water main replacements on Florence Avenue from Foxfire Court to 41st Street; Warren Avenue from Belmont to Cornell; and Puffer Road from 61st to 63rd Street.
Commissioner Kulovany asked how many tree removals were occurring and asked for this information to be placed up front in the document summary.
Commissioner Earl pointed out the price of the contract but also the amount of revenue the village was receiving (noted in an upcoming report) and cited that the water main matter was determined to be a priority.
Mayor Pro tem Hosé echoed Earl's comments, noting that making such an infrastructure investment was a positive.
8. Manager's Report
RES 2020-8609 - A. Resolution: Appointments to the Building Board of Appeals
Village Manager Fieldman summarized the technical credentials that are required for the Building Board of Appeals. He thanked Community Development Director Stan Popovich and staff for recruiting the appointees.
BUILDING BOARD OF APPEALS
Appoint Mike Davenport as Chair to a three-year term expiring August 31, 2023
Appoint Bob Carlson to a two-year term expiring August 31, 2022
Appoint Kirk Johnson to a two-year term expiring August 31, 2022
Appoint Dan Fettig to a three-year term expiring August 31, 2023
Appoint Jim Nagle to a two-year term expiring August 31, 2022
Appoint Jen Hense to a one-year term expiring August 31, 2021
Appoint Mike Kelly to a three-year term expiring August 31, 2023
A RESOLUTION APPOINTING MEMBERS TO THE BUILDING BOARD OF APPEALS
RESOLUTION 2020-36
Motion: Commissioner Earl moved to approve "A Resolution Appointing Members to the Building Board of Appeals" as presented. Commissioner Walus seconded the motion.
Commissioner Kulovany noted the individuals had high credentials and could be used on other commissions.
Votes: Aye: Commissioner Earl, Commissioner Walus, Commissioner Gray, Commissioner Kulovany, Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt, Mayor Pro tem Hosé Nay: None
Mayor Pro tem Hosé declared the motion carried.
INF 2020-8588 - B. Information: 2019-2021 Long Range Plan Update
Village Manager Dave Fieldman recalled for the commissioners that this was the second of the five planned meetings for the Village's Long Range Plan. A schedule for the Long Range Plan was referenced. Two new key issues were being introduced tonight. First, was that revenues continue to perform poorly due to the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. There is a conservative revenue projection shortfall of $9.3M. Second, is the unexpected increase in the required contribution to the police and fire pension funds, which will increase anywhere from $1.2M to $2.0M or about 15% to 22%. Manager Fieldman reviewed the revenue shortfalls for 2020 in greater detail and the revenue projections for 2021 which, based on recent performance, was expected to be $40.8M to $49.5M or a shortfall of approximately $8.3M as compared to what was budgeted for this year.
Mr. Fieldman reported that expense reduction efforts were very good and general fund expenses were projected to be $3.0M lower than budgeted. Compared to revenues coming in and what was expended, the anticipated shortfall gap totaled about $1.3M to $6.3M, which gap could be addressed by using reserves and transfers from the Capital Fund and Major Buildings Fund. He highlighted the fact that the ending General Fund balance was $20.6M and, with the updated worst case scenario, the General Fund reserves would remain at $20.6M for 2020. He relayed those figures were due to staff's control expense efforts.
Projections for 2021 were briefly reviewed with Fieldman explaining that at the next meeting where long range planning is discussed, he will be providing a proposed plan to address the 2021 shortfall.
Discussing the required and unanticipated pension fund contribution to police and fire, Manager Fieldman relayed that the Village's contributions to such funds will increase by a minimum of $1.16M and a maximum just short of $2.0M. This was due to the change in the mortality table used by the actuaries across the nation as well as changes made by the State of Illinois for individuals hired after 2011 (Tier 2 employees). Fieldman relayed that pension costs, required contributions, have increased over 65% between 2015 and 2020 as compared to total Village expenses in the General Fund, which increased less than 6%.
For the next Long-Range planning meeting, Mr. Fieldman discussed that staff will present strategies and solutions to address the two issues for 2021. He invited Commissioners and the public to provide input.
Mayor Pro tem Hosé acknowledged the challenging issues discussed above but reminded Council that the possibility of CARES Act funding could be coming from DuPage County as part of the federal stimulus package. He further reminded the Council that the funds were reserves coming from the Capital and Major Buildings Funds for investment into the community but were now being used for operational purposes and that the village was basically a person-driven organization with personnel costs that dominated the village's budget. If cuts were to be made, he cautioned everyone to understand the consequences of those reductions. Lastly, Mayor Pro tem Hosé pointed out that police and fire are first responders putting their lives on the line daily, they pay into their own pensions, and the changes recently made to the pensions were due to avoid social security liability.
Commissioner Gray, referring to the General Fund balance figure on the bottom of page 6, commended staff for their efforts. He questioned where the CARES Act funds will be allocated, if staff could see any improvement in retail businesses, and why housing had strong numbers. Manager Fieldman noted the funds would be placed into the General Fund, directly towards the deficit questions. In regards to the question on retail, Manager Fieldman noted the numbers do not capture online sales and that the new state program for online sales would begin with July and those numbers would be available in October. Lastly, Mr. Fieldman addressed Commissioner Gray's question on housing and said the market remained strong and anecdotally there seems to be a push to move from the city to the suburbs and that further detail could be retrieved.
Commissioner Kulovany noted that over the years the Village has become very lean in staff and no real excess existed. Uncertainty existed as it related to the budget. He suggested that the public shop locally to fill the revenue gap. Commissioner Kulovany said he was pleased the Village was not going into its reserve fund which helped in the village's bond rating. Mr. Fieldman explained how the Village achieved its current bond rating status through the good planning of this Council and previous Councils. Village Manager Fieldman and staff were commended for their work. Lastly Mr. Fieldman announced that in the first week of August, he anticipates presenting some ideas to the Council to consider that address the issues being discussed.
Mayor Pro tem Hosé extended his appreciation to Manager Fieldman and staff also.
No additional comments were received from the public.
9. Mayor and Council Member Reports
Commissioner Gray thanked the community for its continued efforts to stay safe, use masks and social distance.
Commissioner Earl asked the public to stay masked but for those who are unable to use masks, due to health issues etc., she asked the public to not aggravate the situation.
Commissioner Kulovany reminded the public that the village's long range plan was on the village's website and the Downers Grove Historic Society was hosting a July 25, 2020 event for Dr. Floyd Wisener who received a recent award.
Commissioner Sadowski-Fugitt asked the public to continue to wear their masks, be kind and social distance. Commissioner Walus reminded the Hopes Front Door school supply drive was underway until August 10th with drop-offs at Evelyn Jane Boutique (tinyurl.com/hfdschoolsupplies.com). She reminded the public that the pandemic has given local governments many predicaments and such governments are doing their best to solve them while being in a fluid environment. She asked the public to be kind, show empathy, and put yourself in the commissioners' shoes.
Mayor Pro tem Hosé indicated that one number that was not discussed in the long-range planning report was the 11% unemployment figure in the village and he asked that fellow citizens show some grace/kindness to those who may not have a job.
10. Adjournment
Mayor Pro tem Hosé asked for a motion to adjourn.
Motion: Commissioner Earl moved to adjourn. Commissioner Walus seconded the motion.
Mayor Pro tem Hosé declared the motion carried and the meeting adjourned at 7:48 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Megan Miles
Village Clerk
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