Village of Bartlett President and Board of Trustees met April 21.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
1. CALL TO ORDER
President Wallace called the regular meeting of the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Bartlett to order on the above date at 7:00 p.m. and is broadcasting live via Zoom Meeting video conferencing in order to comply with the shelter in place order issued by Governor JB Pritzker. (Village Hall closed due to the Village President’s Declaration of Local Disaster and Public Health Emergency Order)
2. ROLL CALL
PRESENT: Trustees Camerer, Carbonaro, Deyne, Gabrenya, Hopkins, Reinke and President Wallace
ABSENT : None
ALSO PRESENT: Village Administrator Paula Schumacher, Assistant Village Administrator Scott Skrycki, Economic Development Coordinator Tony Fradin, Sr. Management Analyst Sam Hughes, Management Analyst Joey Dienberg, Finance Director Todd Dowden, Assistant Finance Director Matt Coulter, Director of Public Works Dan Dinges, Public Works Engineer Bob Allen, Planning & Development Director Roberta Grill, Building Director Brian Goralski, Food & Beverage Manager Paul Petersen, Police Chief Patrick Ullrich, Deputy Chief Jim Durbin, Village Attorney Bryan Mraz and Village Clerk Lorna Giless.
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
4. CONSENT AGENDA
President Wallace stated that all items marked with an asterisk on the Agenda are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion. He further stated that there will be no separate discussion of these items unless a Board member so requests, in which event, that item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered at the appropriate point on the Agenda. He asked if there were any items a Board member wished to remove from the Consent Agenda, or any items a Board member wished to add to the Consent Agenda.
There were no additions or subtractions to the Consent Agenda.
President Wallace then recited each item that was on the Consent Agenda, including the nature of the matters being considered and other information to inform the public of matters being voted upon. He then stated that he would entertain a motion to approve the Consent Agenda, and the items designated to be approved by consent therein.
Trustee Deyne moved to approve the Consent Agenda and that motion was seconded by Trustee Carbonaro.
ROLL CALL VOTE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA AND CONSENT ITEMS THEREIN
AYES: Trustees Camerer, Carbonaro, Deyne, Gabrenya, Hopkins, Reinke
NAYS: None
ABSENT: None
MOTION CARRIED
5. MINUTES – Covered and approved under the Consent Agenda.
6. BILL LIST – Covered and approved under the Consent Agenda.
7. TREASURER’SREPORT
Finance Director Todd Dowden stated that this was the February 2020 Treasurer’s Report. He noted that the first page of the Treasurer’s Report shows the cash balances for each fund and that is what they will be watching over the next few months as revenues are delayed. He stated that March/April cash flows should be normal, we should start to see property taxes, sales tax and income tax be delayed starting with May. He then presented the Municipal Sales Tax Report through December 2019, and stated that it totaled $186,495 and was down $10,219 from the previous month last year but sales tax did pick up the last two months ($20,000 each month was higher than prior year). Motor Fuel Tax distribution through January 2020 totaled $128,180, of that $71,795 was the old MFT tax compared to $89,000 last year. MFT taxes have already started dropping off and they will continue to track those as we move forward.
8. PRESIDENT’S REPORT
President Wallace read a Proclamation for Building Safety month and proclaimed the month of May 2020 as Building Safety Month in the Village of Bartlett.
9. QUESTION/ANSWER: PRESIDENT & TRUSTEES
Trustee Reinke asked how everyone was holding up.
Village Administrator Paula Schumacher stated that they do check in with the employees and she asked the department directors to make a special effort to talk to everyone on their staff and see how they are doing. More than just a checkup on the work they are doing but how their families are doing and how they are dealing with the different schedules. She comes to work and she feels like a lighthouse keeper, since she does not see everyone because they are all in their own individual spaces. They do connect via phone and email in checking in with each other. Staff has been pushing out different articles and resources available from various organizations including the employee assistance program. She felt that there was a great sense of purpose here and the feeling that our work is important to the community which is a motivating factor and keeps our spirits higher than they would normally be.
Trustee Deyne asked about the accident at Western and Morse yesterday and stated that there was a big backup on West Bartlett Road.
Police Chief Patrick Ulrich stated that there was a vehicle westbound on Morse that didn’t see the stop sign and crashed into a vehicle traveling on Oak. It was a rollover crash and he didn’t think anyone was injured.
10.TOWN HALL
George LeBron, 506 Tamarack Drive
Mr. LeBron stated that he was a 40 year resident. He stated that he has sent various emails to the board and he resides in the Timberline subdivision off of Naperville Road between Bartlett and Lake Street, with insane traffic patterns. This is basically due to construction in the community over the last several years (Brewster Creek industrial park, Munger Road commercial building). He would like the village attorney to get involved with the county because he has been working with the Village of Bartlett for the last two years. He thanked the people that have had recent interaction regarding a stoplight, which the village told the county that they would share half of the cost. It is a safety hazard and people are scared coming out of his subdivision onto Naperville Road. Their homes shake and trucks with heavy loads continuously go by. He stated that other planning on Route 59 and West Bartlett will yield more traffic down Naperville Road.
Trustee Hopkins thanked staff for working with the county and Mr. LeBron. He understood that things were kind of slow moving right now but he thought that if the village attorney gets involved, they may get some traction. It is a county road which makes it extremely difficult for the village to enforce or adjust speed limits.
Mr. LeBron stated that this was poor planning from previous Village Boards. Now Naperville Road is being used to go from Lake Street to Stearns Road.
Ms. Schumacher stated that this is an issue that they are absolutely committed to continue working on. They are a little bit hamstrung since it is not our road. They have to compel the county to take action on some of the things they have pointed out to them such as the signal on Spalding Road. It is close to meeting those warrants but is not there yet. They certainly are committed to continue monitoring. They looked at a traffic analysis that was done for the business park and it projected out to 2020. A number of the recommendations for road improvements in that area have been made but Naperville Road was not addressed. If the board would be interested, they could certainly approach Elmhurst Chicago Stone and ask them to do another traffic analysis projecting out to the end of the buildout of the park and focus on a directional analysis on where the traffic is distributing from the business park.
Trustees Reinke and Hopkins thought that was a good suggestion.
President Wallace stated that he appreciated Mr.LeBron’s feedback and stated that it looks like they now have a little different angle to look at this situation.
Mr. LeBron thanked Paula and felt that she was very helpful with the meeting they had with the county. He believed that the traffic study did warrant a stoplight. He knew that they still had TIF funds available from Brewster Creek with all the additional things going on in there. He suggested a sound barrier wall that could be put up and down in his area.
President Wallace stated that he knew this has been a long road and he appreciated him being vigilant about representing the residents there.
Ms. Schumacher stated that they have had support from the County Commissioner on this as well.
11.STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. BUILDING & ZONING COMMITTEE, CHAIRMAN HOPKINS
Trustee Hopkins stated that there was no report.
B. COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, CHAIRMAN GABRENYA
Trustee Gabrenya presented Resolution 2020-35-R, a Resolution Approving of the Bartlett Small Business Economic Relief Program. She stated that the village has worked with President Wallace on this program.
Ms. Schumacher stated that the Village Board at their meeting two weeks ago, asked staff to develop a local business relief program. They looked at what other towns were doing such as delaying business license fees, liquor license fees, extending those deadlines, not charging late fees for water bills, assisting with marketing and social media, relaxing sign requirements, providing information and answering questions about how to implement the new state guidelines and access to the federal assistance program. They look to find relief programs but also worked with a real sense of urgency and presented an outline to the Economic Development Commission (EDC) at their meeting last Monday. The program is targeted toward mid-tier businesses, these are the sales tax producing businesses with revenues between $50,000 and $2 million in taxable sales from last year. The businesses must show a verifiable loss as a result of the pandemic stay-at-home order. They cannot be part of a franchise or home occupation or a business that has four or more locations. The grant relief program is calculated upon the businesses lost sales revenue in comparison to March 17, 2019 to the date that they apply. It provides for the return of up to 25% of the prior year’s sales tax payment (village portion only) to a maximum of $10,000. The maximum exposure to the village for this program is $221,000 and they have identified the funding source to come from the remaining BEDA program funds and sales tax. It would not be correct to say that programs like this do not come with risk. They have tried to mitigate those risks by placing further requirements on how the funds must be spent and what operational expenses it can be spent on. There is also a requirement that they remain open for at least 30 days.
President Wallace stated that he realizes that the time constraints for both the conceptualization of this program and the board’s review is unusual. He wanted to give as much time as possible for discussion at this meeting and fully vetting of the program that is outlined.
Trustee Gabrenya applauded the mayor and the staff working as quickly as they could to try to put this in place. She was glad that they were cognizant of the size of the small businesses and how to actually get cash in-hand.
President Wallace stated that he takes the blame for the rushed venue and asked if there is a trustee that is not comfortable with rushing this through. He stated that funds ran out for the small business program offered by the government. This obviously drains funds from the BEDA program, but he thinks “survival” trumps the BEDA improvement program. He stated that they could certainly push this out to a future agenda in May if anyone does not feel comfortable. They have spoken to each qualifying business in town and there is not a whole lot of confidence in how quickly they can get funds needed to keep their doors open. He welcomed any feedback or improvements to the presented document.
Trustee Carbonaro stated that they would be remiss if they did not let the people who are applying for this, be known that through the payment protection plan, the application asked if they had applied for any other loans or grants, would dismiss them from the federal payment protection plan which was passed today with another $265 million dollars available. He suggested that they get their applications into their bank and if they don’t qualify, this would be an excellent lifesaver on behalf of the village and a great opportunity if they don’t qualify for the federal plan. He thought it was a great idea.
President Wallace stated that the amount was adjusted to what they thought was appropriate.
Trustee Reinke stated he struggled with this as far as what the federal government is doing and what is the role of the local government in all of this. He is generally not a big fan of bailouts but is forced to consider making provisions for the community when this is all over with. We need to save as many businesses as we can because when this is over, we will need to get a burger or ice cream and we must save it or do what we can. He will vote in favor, even though he doesn’t like programs like this that pick one business over another. He realizes that there is only so much we can do.
Trustee Deyne concurred with the statements made. He stated that he also has a small business and they applied for PPE and nothing has happened. He stated that it is a struggle right now. He has always been a proponent of trying to do whatever he can to supplement the businesses in our village and support those businesses. He would have a very difficult time, emotionally, knowing that we had the opportunity to help these businesses, then turn our backs on them and have them fail. We have no idea how long this is going to go on. During these unprecedented times, he believes it is their responsibility to do what they can to help the businesses.
Trustee Reinke hoped that they also look for ways to bail out the residents as we move forward. They have done a lot of those things already like not shutting off water, but just be as giving as we can while at the same time fulfilling responsibilities of a government entity.
President Wallace stated that he totally agrees with that and he is also not in favor of bailouts. This situation is no ones fault. Certain businesses have come to him requesting help from the BEDA program that opened prior to the program’s existence. They would have more capital to get through this hard time if the program existed prior.
Trustee Hopkins asked how many businesses in the community could apply for this program.
Economic Development Coordinator Tony Fradin stated that after implementing some of the provisions like removing the home-based and franchise businesses, it’s down to about 75 businesses.
Assistant Village Administrator Scott Skrycki stated that the information that Tony gave them is accurate but keep in mind, that’s the maximum exposure if everyone fills out the application and fits the parameters.
Trustee Gabrenya stated that it should be clear that it is up to $10,000. Trustee Hopkins asked which businesses in town would qualify for $10,000.
Mr. Fradin stated that there were only three businesses in the $9,000 range. One of them was a company that does electrical work in the business park and the other is TL’s restaurant. It drops off fairly quickly to the $7,000 range. They worked very closely with Todd Dowden the finance director on this and determined that the average amount would be somewhere around $2,600. He stated that only two businesses would qualify for the full $10,000.
Trustee Hopkins stated that this program will not save a business because $2,600 will not be life or death - just a little bit of a lifeline to help them through this month and a half.
President Wallace stated that for certain businesses, this is a small lifeline but might mean keeping someone employed for a month as a critical person answering the phones versus unemployment. Another way to look at this is that it gives the restaurant the ability to maintain a certain amount of staff now and maybe they can launch a little inventory.
Trustee Camerer stated that if the business wanted to get the Paycheck Protection Program, our grant would be on top of that.
President Wallace stated that this is not really an application. If the business paid a certain amount of sales tax last year, we rebate a certain amount of that back to them.
Trustee Hopkins asked if these applications could be attainable under the Freedom of Information Act.
Village Attorney stated “yes” because they are getting public funds.
Trustee Hopkins asked if they were going to be transparent with these funds.
Mr. Skrycki stated that it would be on the Bills List.
President Wallace suggested that if any trustee has thoughts, we can tweak this on the fly. He just wanted to get this to a point where we could pass something.
Trustee Gabrenya asked how this would be advertised.
Mr. Fradin stated that they are maintaining very close communications with all the businesses and they would be directly contacting each business within the next couple of days that would be eligible for this if it does pass.
Mr. Skrycki stated that they looked at their database and began extracting e-mails from every single eligible business so they have everything queued up and ready to go.
Mr. Mraz stated that they would have to pick an application due date, but more importantly, in the administrative rules, there is a provision that says that the money cannot be used for capital improvements or rent. He frankly thought that it would be helpful if they could use it to pay rent.
Trustee Carbonaro stated that the PPP is for payroll and the company portion of the medical expense. It can’t be used for rent or utilities. He did not think they should put a restriction on our grant program.
Trustee Deyne agreed.
President Wallace agreed with the capital improvements but thought that the rent should be striked.
Trustee Gabrenya asked for the definition of capital improvements. There are some things in her office that she needs to add in order to bring her staff in, such as plexiglass, etc.
President Wallace stated that he didn’t think that would fall under capital improvements since you are not depreciating it.
Ms. Schumacher stated that one of the things they are thinking about at village hall is how to make the residents feel comfortable coming here. Any of those precautions for safety and health will be very important going forward.
President Wallace stated that he thinks they should be eligible to use it for rent but not capital improvements.
All trustees agreed.
Discussions ensued regarding having a 30, 60 and 90 day notice.
Trustee Reinke suggested a due date 90 days from and after approval of the program.
Trustee Gabrenya moved to approve Resolution 2020-35-R, a Resolution Approving of the Bartlett Small Business Economic Relief Program and that motion was seconded by Trustee Deyne.
ROLL CALL VOTE TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 2020-35-R, APPROVING SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIC RELIEF PROGRAM
AYES: Trustees Camerer, Carbonaro, Deyne, Gabrenya, Hopkins, Reinke
NAYS: None
ABSENT: NoneMOTION CARRIED
C. FINANCE & GOLF COMMITTEE, CHAIRMAN DEYNE
Trustee Deyne stated that Ordinance 2020-36, an Ordinance Reserving 2020 Volume Cap for Private Activity Bond Issues and Related Matters and Resolution 2020-37-R, a Resolution Approving of Disbursement Request for Payout No.16 from the Subordinate Lien Tax Increment Revenue Note, Series 2016 for the Elmhurst Chicago Stone Bartlett Quarry Redevelopment Project were covered and approved under the Consent Agenda.
D. LICENSE & ORDINANCE COMMITTEE, CHAIRMAN REINKE
Trustee Reinke stated that there was no report.
E. POLICE & HEALTH COMMITTEE, CHAIRMAN CARBONARO
Trustee Carbonaro stated that Ordinance 2020-38, an Ordinance Approving the Village of Bartlett Neighborhood Traffic Calming Policy was covered and approved under the Consent Agenda.
F. PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE, CHAIRMAN CAMERER
Trustee Camerer stated that Resolution 2020-39-R, a Resolution Approving an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Elgin and the Village of Bartlett for the Setting and Sharing of Costs for the Resurfacing of Lambert Lane in both Municipalities and Resolution 2020-40-R, a Resolution Authorizing the Purchase of up to 1,300 tons of Road Salt from Compass Minerals America Inc. were covered and approved under the Consent Agenda.
12. NEW BUSINESS
He would like to see them communicate to the residents in an organized manner of what the village is trying to do to help them out.
Trustee Camerer asked how the flower baskets were coming along. Public Works Director Dan Dinges stated that they are coming along.
President Wallace agreed with Trustee Reinke to get some items out there as far as what the village can do for residents in these trying times. He has been holding Town Hall meetings, recently with mental health experts and will continue these types of things.
13. QUESTION/ANSWER PRESIDENT & TRUSTEES - None
President Wallace stated that there are no items on the Committee of the Whole this evening.
14. ADJOURN TO COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING
There being no further business to discuss, Trustee Camerer moved to adjourn the regular Board meeting and that motion was seconded by Trustee Deyne.
ROLL CALL VOTE TO ADJOURN
AYES: Trustees Camerer, Carbonaro, Deyne, Gabrenya, Hopkins, Reinke
NAYS: None
ABSENT: None
MOTION CARRIED
The meeting was adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
https://www.village.bartlett.il.us/Home/ShowDocument?id=11079
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