McHenry Times

City of Harvard City Council met Aug. 24.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

Mayor Kelly called the Regular City Council Meeting to order and led the pledge to the flag at 7:00 pm. City Clerk Moller called roll to establish a quorum. Aldermen present: Haderlein, Schulz, Lavallee, Carncross, Gorman, Perkins and Luna. Alderman Meza was absent. Also present: City Administrator Nelson, Treasurer Bejot, Chief Krause, Code Enforcement Officer Nutley, Community Development Director Santeler, Deputy Chief Bauman, Supt. Parks & Rec Knop, Supt. Public Works Kruckenberg, Supt. Utilities Grant, City Attorney TJ Clifton and members of the audience.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Stan and Judy Hage, 335 Marengo Rd., addressed the City Council to request a variance to continue to use their well, which is starting to fail, for barn use until such time as it actually fails at which point it will be shut off and sealed through McHenry County. They are in the process of hooking up to City water and sewer. City Administrator Nelson related that the house will be disconnected from the well when the plumber hooks the house up to the City water supply and installs the meter. The City will also be on site to inspect the connection. Mayor Kelly stated that the City Council could not take action on the request as it is not on the agenda which has to be posted 48 hours prior to the meeting. The Mayor asked the City Council for their input with a consensus to approve the Hage’s request in the future. City Administrator Nelson stated that City staff can prepare an ordinance for City Council consideration at next month’s meeting. He advised the petitioners to have the County contact him and he can apprise them of the timeline.

Alderwoman Luna joined the meeting at 7:06 pm.

TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES AUGUST 3, 2021 - APPROVED A motion was made by Alderwoman Haderlein, seconded by Alderman Gorman to approve the Transportation Committee Meeting Minutes of August 3, 2021, as presented. Roll call vote: Haderlein, aye; Lavallee, aye; Gorman, aye and Perkins, aye. All ayes. Motion carried.

ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES AUGUT 11, 2021 - APPROVED A motion was made by Alderwoman Haderlein, seconded by Alderman Carncross to approve the Administration Committee Meeting Minutes of August 11, 2021, as presented. Roll call vote: Carncross, aye; Gorman, aye; Perkins, aye and Haderlein, aye. All ayes. Motion carried.

CONSENT AGENDA - APPROVED

The items under the Consent Agenda are acted upon in a single motion. There is no separate discussion of these items prior to the Council vote unless a Council Member requests that an item be removed from the Consent Agenda for separate action.

a. Regular City Council Meeting Minutes of July 27, 2021

b. Park Board Meeting Minutes of July 19, 2021

c. Transportation Committee Meeting Minutes of August 3, 2021

d. Administration Committee Meeting Minutes August 11, 2021

e. Administrators Report

f. Building & Grounds Report

g. Community Development Department Report

h. Harvard Diggins Library Directors Report

i. Parks & Recreation Report

j. Police Department Report

k. Public Works Department Report

l. Utilities Department Report

m. Payment of bills in the amount of $1,725,509.38

A motion was made by Alderman Perkins, seconded by Alderman Schulz to approve the Consent Agenda, items 6a–m, as presented. Roll call vote: Lavallee, aye; Carncross, aye; Gorman, aye; Perkins, aye; Luna, aye; Haderlein, aye and Schulz, aye. Motion approved seven to zero.

SPECIAL EVENT LIQUOR LICENSE CARL OPPER/BOYS LEAGUE SHELTER - APPROVED Alderman Schulz recused himself from the meeting at 7:10 pm.

Carl Opper is requesting a Special Event Liquor License for Saturday, September 19, 2021, 11 am – 8 pm at the Boys League Shelter. The fees have been paid. Chief Krause had no objections. A motion was made by Alderman Carncross, seconded by Alderman Gorman to approve the license application as presented. Roll call vote: Carncross, aye; Gorman, aye; Perkins, aye; Luna, aye; Haderlein, aye and Lavallee, aye. Motion approved six to zero.

Alderman Schulz returned to the meeting at 7:12 pm.

PROCLAMATION DESIGNATING AUGUST 31, 2021 AS OVERDOSE AWARENESS DAY – APPROVED A motion was made by Alderman Schulz, seconded by Alderman Perkins to adopt a proclamation designating August 31, 2021, as Overdose Awareness Day. Aldermen voting aye: Haderlein, Schulz, Lavallee, Carncross, Gorman, Perkins and Luna. All ayes. Motion carried. The proclamation was then presented to a representative of the McHenry County Substance Abuse Coalition.

RESOLUTION OSLAD GRANT APPLICATION – APPROVED

A motion was made by Alderman Schulz, seconded by Alderman Carncross to adopt a resolution to authorize the City to submit a grant through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources OSLAD program which will be used to complete upgrades to the east side of Milky Way Park; the grant amount is $400,000. At Alderwoman Haderlein’s inquiry, City Administrator Nelson related that this is a construction grant under OSLAD which is generally an 80/20 match. The City is a disadvantaged community so it might be a 90/10 match to be determined when OSLAD receives the grant application. Supt. Knop outlined the scope of the grant to add additional soccer fields (2 adult and 1 youth soccer field and 1 combination soccer/football field).

The grant will also connect Ratzlaff St. with the existing walking path and provides for a restroom and shelter. Roll call vote: Gorman, aye; Perkins, aye; Luna, aye; Haderlein, aye; Schulz, aye; Lavallee, aye and Carncross, aye. Motion seven to zero.

CALL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING TO DISCUSS THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN FUNDING

Chairman Carncross called a Community Development Committee Meeting for Tuesday, September 14, 2021, at 6:30 pm to discuss the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. City Administrator Nelson reported that the City will receive $1.2 million. Funds can only be used for water/sewer infrastructure, broadband development and to pay back lost revenues which have been calculated. Staff will be proposing projects from the old capital improvement plan, the Ayer St. water main and other projects for consideration.

DEPT. HEADS REPORT

Written reports as submitted.

Chief Krause thanked everyone for attending the Open House. The Police Dept. hired William Mills who comes to the Harvard PD from the Evanston PD with the police academy already completed. He is in week 3 of field training. There is an open spot at academy for another candidate in December.

Supt. Grant reported that the WWTF project is starting to come along. Supplies are starting to be received on site but there are still some material issues. Concrete was poured today for the sludge handling building.

Supt. Parks & Recreation Knop reported that pool will be open for the next two weekends with Sept. 5th being the last day.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

ALDERMAN GORMAN

Alderman Gorman reported on the Transportation Committee Meeting held on August 3, 2021, to discuss parking concerns at Harvard High School due to their construction situation. He thanked Alderman Schulz for his suggestion to reach out to the Methodist Church to utilize their parking lot. Subsequent to the meeting, the school has worked out an agreement to utilize the Methodist Church parking lot.

ALDERWOMAN LUNA

Alderwoman Luna made reference to the most recent Parks Board Meeting and suggested that each alderman take a park to help out with the residents to get things done. Mayor Kelly said her suggestion was something that could be entertained and further noted there were suggestions that came out of the meeting that will provide opportunities to explore over the next few months to try and accommodate items that staffing just can’t get to.

ALDERWOMAN HADERLEIN

• Alderwoman Haderlein noted one of the charges to the Administration Committee is to develop some type of IGA or MOU with the Library. She and Karen Sutera will present a concept to the Library Board at their September Meeting to be reviewed by the Administration Committee in October and referred to the City Council at their October meeting.

• Jamie Rachlin from Meristem Advisors gave a great presentation to the Library Board on cash flow analysis and budget assessment which will assist the board in borrowing funds to manage upcoming maintenance issues.

ALDERMAN SCHULZ

Alderman Schulz thanked the Park Board committee members for their input dealing with the last Park Board Meeting held at Park Pointe Park. One of his strategy ideas going forward is to take a park and address that park and then shift to another park. The price point for Park Pointe is pretty reasonable and can be addressed next year.

ALDERMAN LAVALLEE

• Alderman Lavallee reported that the billboard has been taken care of with the dilapidated portion removed. Administrator Nelson said the owners are working to replace that portion of the billboard.

• Alderman Lavallee noted that while the last Park Board Meeting was difficult, it was refreshing to see people in the community passionate about their park. He further agreed with Alderman Schulz’ plan.

ALDERMAN CARNCROSS

Alderman Carncross stated that the Police Dept. looks amazing. He also noted that National Night Out was a good community outreach.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Report as submitted.

NO REPORT

City Attorney Clifton, City Administrator Nelson and Alderman Perkins had no additional report.

CLERK’S REPORT

There will be an Overdose Awareness Event held in the Woodstock Square on August 26 from 5:30 – 9 pm.

Upcoming Meeting Dates

September 7 Planning and Zoning Commission Meeting - 7 pm

September 9 Administration Committee Meeting - 6 pm

September 14 Community Development Meeting – 6:30 pm

September 20 Park Board Meeting - 6 pm

September 21 Events Committee Meeting - 5:30 pm

September 28 Regular City Council Meeting - 7 pm

MAYOR’S REPORT

Mayor Kelly updated the City Council on the status of the Motorola property. The previous buyer, Green Data Center Real Estate, is no longer in contention to purchase the building as they were unable to get the total funding needed to deal with power issues. The Marshal’s Service and Justice Department have advised the City that they do not have to go through another full bid process as they already met that requirement. It is simply a real estate transaction in which they’re trying to maximize the profit of the building. There are new players that have come to the table that were not part of the original bid process that are in due diligence pulling FOIA information from the City. The broker is engaged with at least two or three buyers.

Mayor Kelly is working with the Youth and Family Center to utilize the Community Hall to offer a Harvard location for after school programs for teens and pre-teens. The YFC will be hiring someone to run the program for Harvard.

A motion was made by Alderman Perkins, seconded by Alderman Gorman to adjourn the meeting. Aldermen voting aye: Haderlein, Schulz, Carncross, Lavallee, Gorman, Perkins and Luna. All ayes. Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 7:35 pm.

https://www.cityofharvard.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/city_council/meeting/14090/ccminutes2021-08-24.pdf