City Council Planning Sessions

Monday, April 11, 2022 I. Call to Order The Wheaton City Council Planning Session was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Suess. The following were: Physically Present: Mayor Suess Councilman Barbier Councilwoman Bray-Parker Councilman Brown Councilwoman Fitch Councilwoman Robbins Councilman Weller Absent: None City Staff Present: Michael Dzugan, City Manager John Duguay, Assistant City Manager Susan Bishel, Public Information Officer Andrea Rosedale, City Clerk II. Public Comment There were no public comments. III. Approval of Planning Session Minutes – March 28, 2022 The City Council approved the March 28, 2022 Planning Session Minutes. IV. Review of Nonregulatory Boards, Commissions, and Committees Feedback City Manager Dzugan stated staff received feedback from the nonregulatory boards and commissions regarding the Council’s first draft of proposed amendments to the General Provisions and Purpose Statements sections of City Code Chapter 2, Article 5. He sought feedback from the City Council to develop a second draft to present to the boards and commissions, and eventually an ordinance for the Council’s consideration. City Manager Dzugan stated feedback from some of the boards/commissions relayed that the groups wanted for nonresidents to be able to participate in boards and commissions, citing difficulty finding volunteers to participate. Some of the groups suggested restricting membership to residents who live within the 60187 or 60189 zip codes or allowing residents living in unincorporated areas to be included. Some Council members expressed the opinion that nonresidents should be able to participate as board/commission members for nonregulatory boards/commissions. One idea discussed was allowing nonresidents to be part of the Environmental Improvement Commission only, since the activities of this group require coordination with a lot of outside groups and their events also draw nonresidents. Other Council members expressed support for allowing residents who live in unincorporated areas or within the APRIL 11, 2022 CITY COUNCIL PLANNING SESSION MINUTES 60187/60189 zip codes to be board/commission members. Some Council members expressed support for only allowing residents to be board/commission members due to the nature of the groups’ work in suggesting policy to the City Council. Following a discussion of these options, the majority of the Council expressed support for requiring board/commission members to be residents of Wheaton. City Manager Dzugan stated another area where several boards/commissions shared feedback was regarding a 2-year proposed term limit for board/commission chairs. Council members discussed whether term limits were necessary because there are annual elections for board/commission chairs. The majority of the Council supported instituting a term limit for board/commission chairs of 5 years and maintaining an annual election process for the chair. For Section 2-259, one Council suggestion was to clarify the language to say: “public notices of meetings shall include date, time and location of the meeting and any agenda of the items to be discussed or acted upon during the meeting.” In response to Council questions, City Manager Dzugan stated there will be a template for commissions to report their planned expenses for the year as part of the budget approval process. To answer a question about differences between sections 2-259 and 2-260 in the language used for what constitutes a majority, City Manager Dzugan stated staff will refer to Robert’s Rules for clarity on this. One Council suggestion was to add in section 2-262 “by the City Council” in referring to who would have the authority to remove or replace members of a board/commission. The Council discussed section 2-264 and expressed support for text changes that would encompass organizations and businesses as well as political party platforms and convey that commission/board members should act on behalf of the best interests of the City. City Manager Dzugan outlined how the annual reporting process will occur, stating that boards/commissions will prepare an annual report of their activities for the prior year to give to the Council by October 15. The boards/commissions will also use a provided template to prepare their proposed budget for the upcoming year with the activities they plan to accomplish to carry out their purpose statements and the associated expenditures and revenues. For Section 2-351 on the Community Relations Commission, the Council expressed support for expanding the maximum membership number to 13. For Section 2-352, the Council expressed the desire to use the original language proposed for the Purposes statement. For the numbered purpose statements, the Council spoke in favor of making some updates to the Council’s proposed changes, including removing “study and recommend” from number 1, and removing “such as ‘Good Citizens Award’” in number 4, as this is an action item, not a purpose statement. For Section 2-396, the Council discussed that the language proposed by the Environmental Improvement Commission was similar to what was originally proposed, and the majority of the suggested updates would be incorporated. The Council discussed the comments proposed by the Housing Commission for Division 11, which the Council proposed to be repurposed as the Commission on Aging. City Manager Dzugan stated most of the  APRIL 11, 2022 CITY COUNCIL PLANNING SESSION MINUTES feedback from the Housing Commission related to their desire to continue to focus on housing. In response to Council questions, City Manager Dzugan clarified that the work currently done by the commission is supporting a senior subsidy program, not housing-related work. The Council previously expressed the desire to align the commission with its work of helping seniors and adding other senior assistance functions to the commission’s purpose. The Council confirmed they would like for the originally proposed changes to be implemented. The Council directed staff to reach out to the commission and revise this section in support of senior assistance. For the Historic Commission, the Council supported the idea of updating Section 2-442 number 6 to reflect that this is an owner-initiated program to recognize historical structures, not a comprehensive program initiated by the commission to document all historic structures. The Council concurred with the Fine and Cultural Arts Commission’s suggestion that Section 2-462, number 6 be revised, as the commission does not have the resources to manage a calendar of events, and that numbers 7-9 can be removed since they are redundant. The Bicycle Advisory Commission proposed changes to Division 16 to add pedestrian considerations to their work. The Council expressed the desire to reword “accessibility” to reflect it is being used to promote access for bicycles and pedestrians, not to look at ADA accessibility issues; the City is required to address ADA accessibility, so this work would not be needed. The Council also wanted to reword number 5 to a format consistent with being a purpose statement. City Manager Dzugan stated staff will make the suggested revisions and will move forward toward a revised ordinance. One Council comment expressed concern with the approach taken in this process by having the Council propose changes to the boards and commissions, rather than starting with the boards and commissions’ ideas, with the result being frustration among some board/commission members and programs being put on hold. Other Council comments supported this process and the benefits that it will create in having a uniform way for boards and commissions to report on their work and request funding for their future projects. V. City Council/City Staff Comments There were no City Council/City Staff comments. VI. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8:33 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Bishel