City Council Planning Sessions

MEMORANDUM TO: Record FROM: Susan Bishel, Public Relations Coordinator SUBJECT: May 14, 2018 City Council Planning Session Minutes DATE: May 15, 2018 CC: Mayor and City Council, City Manager, City Clerk, Department Heads The Planning Session took place in the Council Chambers, Wheaton City Hall, 303 W. Wesley St., Wheaton, Illinois. Those attending the Planning Session included: Councilman Barbier, Councilman Prendiville, Councilman Rutledge, Councilman Scalzo and Mayor Pro Tem Suess. Councilwoman Fitch and Mayor Gresk were absent. Also in attendance were City Manager Dzugan, Assistant City Manager Duguay, Director of Finance Lehnhardt, Director of Engineering Redman, Special Projects Assistant Kowalke and Public Relations Coordinator Bishel. The session began at 7:00 p.m. and concluded at 8:08 p.m. The following items were discussed: I. Call to Order The Wheaton City Council Planning Session was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Pro Tem Suess. II. Approval of April 23, 2018 Planning Session Minutes The Council approved the April 23, 2018 Planning Session Minutes. III. Public Comment There were no public comments. IV. 2018 Bond Issue - Downtown Streetscape Project Director of Finance Lehnhardt stated at this year's Budget Workshop Sessions, the City Council expressed support for issuing a bond to support the portion of the Downtown Streetscape Project not eligible for TIF funding. The Council had requested more information, so City staff worked with its financial adviser, Ehlers, to examine different funding options. The City advised Ehlers that the funding strategy must be flexible and able to respond to changes in the City's revenues and expenditures. It must also maintain the City's current tax levy, maintain current reserve levels, and create a repayment schedule at a cost of no more than $750,000 per year from the Capital Projects Fund. The City also advised Ehlers that costs must be minimized and should be shared equitably between current and future residents. Ehlers created three options for the City's consideration: Option A and Option B would have two $5 million bond issues. Option A would minimize the use of cash reserves and have bond terms of 13 and 11 years, respectively; whereas Option B would use a higher amount of cash reserves, but each bond issue's term would be 10 years. Option C would be a single $8 million bond issue with a 10-year term. Director of Finance Lehnhardt reviewed the methods of sale for a bond issue, including a public competitive sale and a direct placement. City staff recommended the City use Option C using a public competitive sale, as it would provide greater certainty by capturing the current market interest rates, and it would have a shorter term of repayment. In response to Council questions, Director of Finance Lehnhardt stated using a greater amount of the Capital Projects reserve to fund debt service for the bond issue will limit funding other capital projects over the next 2 years. City Manager Dzugan stated in 2020, the Council will need to look at the structural issue of revenue over operating expenses. Maureen Barry of Ehlers answered a Council question by stating Ehlers would not be able to act as a placement agent for the City due to federal regulations, so if a placement agent was needed, Ehlers would need to get another party involved. Adrienne Booker of Ehlers answered a Council question on placement agent use by stating the advantage would be that a placement agent would have a larger pool of banks to draw from to get the best rates possible for a bond issue. Some Council members stated they were in favor of Option C but would like to issue a $10 million bond to ensure there are sufficient funds for other capital projects. V. Special Events Special Projects Assistant Kowalke provided a review of the City Code as it relates to special events and City staff's desire to make the special events process more efficient. He reviewed the current procedure for applying for a special event permit, which the Police Department oversees. After seeking out a special event permit, an applicant must then seek out other applicable permits on their own, such as tent permits, or other required permits. Special Projects Assistant Kowalke stated some of the challenges that staff would like to address are difficulty administering the flow of information from the applicant to the City, coordination of permits, and fees not reflecting costs to the City. Staff suggests forming a committee made Planning Session 2 up of representatives from the Police, Public Works, Fire and Building & Code departments plus a representative from administration. This would allow the City to determine the needs upfront and better coordinate communication. Another change staff suggests is altering which events need to receive City Council approval. To allow for more efficient processing time, staff suggests allowing the committee to authorize certain types of events and establishing a stringent timeline. The application would be changed to be more comprehensive, collecting all necessary information, and the City would set milestones that must be reached for the applicant. Special Projects Assistant Kowalke stated the City has received resident complaints about the frequency of road closures for races, especially on the north side of the city. The proposed changes would limit the number of runs to 2 per month, and a total of 12 per year. It would also prevent the same streets from being closed more than once in a 30-day timeframe. To address legal issues, the City Code would differentiate between free speech/political events versus special events. Finally, staff is suggesting adjusting fees to better cover the costs to the City. Proposed are a non-refundable processing fee of $75, and $50 fee for all events. In addition, City staff has found that while City Code states the applicant should be paying for services such as traffic control and on-call medical response in certain types of events, in many cases this is not being charged. City Council members spoke generally in favor of the suggested changes but asked for staff to add an appeal process to be added that would allow an applicant to have a final appeal to the City Council. Some City Council members suggested waiving fees for some of the events that are for the entire community, such as the Memorial Day Parade or Fourth of July Parade. Council members also suggested the City consider basing fees on whether the sponsor is generating revenue or not. VI. City Council/Staff Comments Assistant City Manager Duguay answered a Council question about the Fourth of July Parade route by stating it will start on North Main Street, turning west on Wesley and ending at City Hall. Mayor Pro Tem Suess encouraged people to take the City's survey about Adams Park. Assistant City Manager Duguay stated the City is seeking basic feedback and will have public input Planning Session 3 sessions at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. May 24 for the consultant to gather feedback about what people would like to see and what they currently like about Adams Park. VII. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:08 p.m. Planning Session 4