McHenry Times

City of Harvard Administration Committee met June 22.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Chairperson Lisa Haderlein called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. Committee members present: Chairperson Haderlein, Alderman Dan Carncross, Alderman Charlie Gorman, and Alderman Matt Perkins. Also present were Mayor Mike Kelly, City Administrator Lou Leone, Finance Director Deb Bejot, and Community Development Director Donovan Day.

Public Comment

None

CAI Manufacturing – Use Matrix in T-C District for “School-Trade or Vocational, Dormitory” and “Parking Designated Area Multi-Tenant

CAI Manufacturing and their tenant were invited to the meeting but they were not in attendance. Mayor Kelly indicated that he and key members of City staff met with representatives for the building tenant this week. The Mayor provided input to the Committee of the tenants intended use pertaining to dormitory and multi-tenant parking. There are basically three buildings on the property: the distribution center, manufacturing area and the 5-story office building. The tenants have full expectation of using two-thirds of the space, but currently do not have an intended use for the office building. One aspect of their business is manufacturing the tools that make their end product which get deployed globally. The tenant would like the opportunity to house people onsite from those entities short term while they go through a training program. Their overall plan is fluid but they have approached the City to brainstorm alternate uses for the commercial office building. There is large space in the basement with a fitness center, workout room, aerobics room and library. The tenant is interested in partnering with the City to create an indoor rec center. They would also like to sublet/lease the 5-story portion to as yet unknown entities. Other uses discussed were to use one of floors as a convention center with a floor for a hotel and leasing space to other businesses. They are also interested in creating an entrepreneur incubator system which would necessitate the multi-tenant parking as those businesses start up. The tenant plans to conduct a tour mid/late July or early August. Schedules are being coordinated with local, county and state representatives. The Committee discussed procedure for permitted and conditional uses. The Committee did not have any issue with what the tenant is looking to do, but did not want to give up oversight into perpetuity. City Administrator Leone said in conversations with them, they seemed open to the dormitory use being conditional.

A motion was made by Alderman Carncross, seconded by Alderman Perkins to recommend to the City Council to amend the Use Matrix that “Parking Designated Area Multi-Tenant” be a permitted use and the “School-Trade or Vocational, Dormitory” be a conditional use in the T-C District. All ayes. Motion carried. 

Starline/Parking on Front St.

Chairperson Haderlein related that she spoke with Orrin Kinney about the curbside parking along Front St. between Page and Diggins St. He accepts that the road is too narrow for on-street parking but asked that any signs erected allow for delivery vehicles and vehicles that are dropping off or picking up people. A motion was made by Alderman Carncross, seconded by Alderman Perkins to recommend to the City Council to approve the ordinance as previously drafted for no parking on both sides of Front Street between Diggins Street and Page Street adding signage for a drop-off zone. All ayes. Motion carried. A proposed ordinance will be on the July 25th City Council agenda.

Proposed Ordinance Tree City USA

The Committee reviewed the proposed ordinance amending Chapter 5 of the Municipal Code, Regulating the Planting, Maintenance and Removal of Trees, Shrubs, and Other Plants; and Creating a Tree Board of the City of Harvard, Illinois. A motion was made by Alderman Gorman, seconded by Alderwoman Haderlein to recommend to the City Council approval of the proposed ordinance as written. Donovan suggested for code enforcement purposes, to have a certified arborist make the final determination whether a tree is safe or not. There was also discussion of providing a payment plan to residents if the removal cost is incredibly expensive, similar to payment plans for excessively large water bills. All ayes. Motion carried. The proposed ordinance will be on the June 27th City Council agenda. Upon approval by the City Council, the City can seek board members.

Proposed Amendments Regarding Required Connections to Sewer/Water Mains Within One Year of Sale of Property

Community Development Director Day noted discussion at the last City Council meeting regarding an amendment to include a grandfather clause for existing properties that are not already connected to water/sewer. A motion was made by Alderman Perkins, seconded by Alderman Carncross to recommend to the City Council to recommend approval of the grandfather language. All ayes. Motion carried.

New Business

Alderwoman Haderlein noted she was contacted by a resident concerned about the noise levels permitted under our current ordinance for live music in residential neighborhoods. The Administration Committee previously addressed similar concerns on more than one occasion and subsequently made changes in the time permitted, the permitting process and limiting the number of permits that are issued. The complaint was duly noted and no action was taken.

Finance Director Bejot updated the Committee on fund allocation issues.

• $150,000 was budgeted for a new dump truck; however, the actual cost is more like $250,000. Public Works Director Lamz was looking into purchasing the chassis portion of the dump truck this year which would be about $130,000. Rob has since found a lead on an auction where he might be able to pick up a 2016 truck. Two have already sold for between $70-80K. The auction ends in about 20 days. Rob would like John Bartel’s input and they will take a look at it next week. Depending on the condition of the truck, they may proceed to purchase this year and look at the budget again next year.

• Well #9 went down a couple weeks ago. In the process of pulling it for inspection, some of the pipe threads broke and it dropped 1,200’ down into the well. The initial cost was about $13,000 to pull the well and inspect it to find out what why it wasn’t functioning properly. Once it dropped, the cost to get equipment in adde about $50,000 to the price tag. They were able to get it out on the first try and found that the motor itself wasn’t damaged. This well was pulled in 2016 for inspection at which time it was determined that the motor was in decent shape and we could get 5-7 years out of it. At that time, the cable and some pipes were replaced. Jim is working with Municipal Well & Pump and they are not sure if the functioning issues are due to the motor itself, so while they have everything out of the ground, they will rework some of the pipe threads coming into the motor and sandblast and put a new coating on it which will give those portions of the mechanical parts of the well another 10-15 years. They will evaluate the motor itself to determine if it should be rebuilt/replaced. This is an unforeseen issue and there isn’t money budgeted in equipment maintenance to cover the cost which is estimated at $100,000 which includes the cost of the motor. The budget allocated $250,000 to repaint the water tower but the contractor is unable to do the work this year due to health issues. The funds can be taken from that line item for the well repair and the water tower can be revisited next year.

Mayor Kelly related that he presented the SRO contract to the school district which they rejected. Our new ask is what the District was paying previously (66% of salary) plus an additional $2,000 to go towards health benefits. This should be presented to the school board next month. There are currently three distinct issues the City is working with the school district on.

A motion was made by Alderman Carncross, seconded by Alderman Perkins to adjourn the meeting. All ayes.

Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 7:35 pm.

https://www.cityofharvard.org/sites/default/files/fileattachments/city_council/meeting/14795/minutesadministration2023-06-22.pdf