Woodstock City Council Meeting - June 21, 2022
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Woodstock City Council Meeting - June 21, 2022
The Woodstock City Council met on June 21, 2022, at 7:00 PM in City Council Chambers. The primary agenda item was a presentation by HR Green on value-engineered options for Route 47 decorative paving, landscaping, and street lighting, followed by a vote. The consent calendar, including several routine approvals, was also passed unanimously.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: May 31, 2022 Special Meeting, May 31 Executive Session, and June 7, 2022 City Council minutes.
- Warrants: #4008 and #4009.
- Minutes and Reports: Arts Commission (Feb 10, Apr 14), Plan Commission (Apr 21, May 19), Police Pension Board (May 23), Board of Police Commissioners (Mar 7, Jun 6), and Human Resources Monthly Report (May 2022).
- Manager’s Report No. 206:
- Ordinance amending Athletic Exhibitions (206a).
- Ordinance amending Clerk compensation (206b).
- Ordinance authorizing lease for Woodstock Chamber of Commerce at the Old Courthouse (206c).
- Contract award for 2022 Pavement Marking Program to Precision Pavement Markings, Inc. (not to exceed $152,531.81) (206d).
- Contract award for Ice Control rock salt to Morton Salt, Inc. (unit price ≤ $92.72/ton) (206e).
- Four-year agreement with Darktrace for email-protection platform and extended network detection ($115,100) (206f).
- Approval of Cultural and Social Awareness Commission's 2022 DEI Plan, including community survey (206g).
- Authorization for Mayor to execute Push Tax Tolling Agreement with surrounding municipalities and gaming operators (206h). All consent items were approved unanimously without separate discussion.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke during the public comment periods for non-agenda items or for items on the consent calendar.
- Deb Shilbert (Human Resources Director), speaking as liaison to the Cultural and Social Awareness Commission, expressed pride in the commission’s renewed energy and productivity, noting the upcoming electronics collection resulting from their work.
Discussion Items
- Route 47 Landscaping and Lighting Plan: HR Green presented revised options to reduce costs from the previous $6.5 million estimate to approximately $4.2 million. Two paving measures were proposed: Measure 1 (stamped colored concrete at key locations, standard gray concrete elsewhere) and Measure 2 (further reductions to seed). Three lighting alternatives were offered: Alternate 1 (decorative lights throughout), Alternate 2 (decorative lights only at roundabouts, Calhoun, and Route 120, standard lights elsewhere), and Alternate 3 (minimal decorative lights at roundabouts only). Council members discussed preferences:
- Mayor Turner supported Measure 1 and Alternate 2, favoring concrete over seed for maintenance and aesthetics.
- Councilman Nearman opposed seeding medians due to ongoing mowing costs and preferred concrete, but supported green space where practical.
- Councilman Seegers favored seed in wider areas for green space and suggested using dyed concrete (without stamping) in narrow strips to add color at minimal cost.
- Councilwoman Lomaier emphasized keeping stamped concrete at gateway intersections for a sense of arrival and supported Alternate 2.
- Councilwoman Pearsall favored seed where possible but expressed concern about maintenance responsibility; she also asked about potential future signage conflicts.
- Councilman Tebow preferred measure one and noted maintenance trade-offs.
- Councilman Flynn supported measure one and wanted to ensure that all concrete is maintained to prevent weed growth.
- Councilman Seegers raised concern about dark-sky compliance of decorative lighting; HR Green confirmed they are exploring compliant fixtures.
- Old Courthouse Lease (Consent Calendar discussion): Councilman Flynn questioned whether the Chamber’s lease rate ($9.50/sq ft) was consistent with market rates. Mayor Turner noted the rate accounts for the Chamber’s operation of the visitor center seven days a week. Councilwoman Lomaier requested that any future arts tenants receive the same rate for consistency, which Mayor Turner indicated would be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- Council Comments:
- Councilwoman Pearsall asked about mowing at Donato Conservation Area; staff noted the maintenance agreement with the land conservancy would be addressed.
- Mayor Turner recognized the success of Pride Fest, the new mural by Mauricio Ramirez, and Terry Wilcoxon’s awards (Woman of the Year and NW Herald Woman of Distinction). He also announced Summer in the Park events starting June 22.
- Councilwoman Lomaier praised the Cultural and Social Awareness Commission’s DEI work.
Key Outcomes
- Route 47 Improvements Approved: Council approved Measure 1 for decorative paving and landscaping at $2,068,512 and Street Lighting Alternate 2 at $2,128,071, totaling $4,196,583. The motion passed unanimously (7-0).
- Consent Calendar Approved Unanimously: All items A through D8 passed without opposition.
- Next Meeting: July 19, 2022, at 7:00 PM. No meeting on July 5 due to the Independence Day holiday.
- Future Agenda Item: The Responsible Landlord Program will be scheduled for a future meeting.
Meeting Transcript
I don't know for some reason why the well good evening uh ladies and gentlemen. I want to welcome you to this evening's meeting of the uh Woodstock City Council. A few brief announcements before we get started this evening. Just a reminder for everybody that the meeting is being recorded and live streamed. Um the city council operates under what's cons called a consent format. Consent uh format means that um all items are considered for action this evening are considered in a single motion or a single vote. Um members of the uh city council may choose to have an item removed for separate consideration and voting. Uh members of the public may request an item to be removed for separate consideration and voting, and if a member of City Council concurs, then that item can also be separately considered. There'll be two opportunities for public comment this evening. Uh the first will be at the start of the meeting for items that are not on this evening's agenda, and then there'll be an opportunity after each item that comes before council for the public to uh make comments as well. Any questions on those announcements before we get started this evening? All right. Hearing no questions, I'll go ahead and formally call this June 21st 2022 meeting of the Woodstock City Council Order and ask Cindy to please call the roll. Councilman Flynn. Here. Councilwoman Lomaier, here. Councilman Nearman. Here. Councilwoman Pearsall? Here. Councilman Seegers. Here. Councilman Tebow? Here. Mayor Turner. Here. The record reflect that all members of the Woodstock City Council are present this evening. I'll ask uh Cindy to please confirm that this uh the uh agenda this evening is the uh same as the published agenda. It is very well, ladies and gentlemen of the council. That being the case, the people's business is duly and appropriately before us this evening. Um the first item on this uh agenda this evening uh is floor discussion. And before we get to public comment or council comment, uh the first item under floor discussion is actually a presentation uh by H.R. Green on the Route 47 uh landscaping plan, which includes decorative paving, landscaping, and lighting options. Uh council may recall that we had a um a presentation from H.R. Green um uh previously, and following that we gave uh uh direction on what they had presented, uh which included to um to see if they could pair back um costs while still keeping uh the roadway um distinctive and good looking for uh for the goal that we have in in making it look uh you know look very good for uh for something that's so permanent in the community, but at the same time to see if we could pair back some of the costs. So this evening we are joined um by H.R. Green again uh to show us the work that they have uh done in uh in putting forth another option for us to uh to consider. And so we are looking for um council um feedback and actually a motion correct Roscoe on the um on the uh specifics presented to us. It doesn't mean that there can't be uh some administrative um uh review and even some minor changes on the part of of staff, which may be a direction we choose to go this evening given the major policy input that we've already given to get to this point. Um but we do want to see where H.R. Green landed, give council an opportunity to have any input, discussion, questions on that, and then uh we'll set a direction um after that because the clock is ticking. Fortunately on Route 47 improvements, and we are looking to get this uh get this finalized. Correct? Roscoe, any other comments on that? No, Mayor, I think you summed it up uh well. Uh we appreciate HR Green, all the work they've done working with the city staff and uh are excited to kind of show you where we're at now at this point in the project and see where council uh is at and if we're in agreement and we can move forward and submit it over to IDOT and get this thing running. Okay, so Roscoe or Christina, you want to do introductions of uh HR Green and then let them uh plow into it. Sure. Um same as last time we have Ted here from HR Green in the audience and uh Jamie Ramos and Phil Stufort will be on line and through a Zoom meeting call to pres make the presentation. Okay.
openpublica.com