Committee of the Whole Minutes

 VILLAGE OF NORTH AURORA

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES

Monday, July 15, 2024

CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Gaffino called the meeting to order.

ROLL CALL

In attendance:  Mayor Mark Gaffino, Trustee Jason Christiansen, Trustee Laura Curtis, Trustee Mark Guethle, Trustee Mike Lowery, Trustee Carolyn Salazar

Staff in attendance:  Village Administrator Steve Bosco, Finance Director Jason Paprocki, Village Planner Dave Hansen, Village Attorney Kevin Drendel, Public Works Director Brian Richter, Deputy Police Chief Joe Gorski.

AUDIENCE COMMENTS – None

TRUSTEE COMMENTS – None

DISCUSSION

1. Red/s Garage Special Use

Administrator Bosco stated that Red’s Garage was seeking to add a sales component to their business.  Red’s Garage is located to the east of Route 25 off of Butterfield Road.

Village Planner Dave Hansen stated that Red’s Garage was proposing a motor vehicle sales component to their existing motor vehicle repair and service to their property located in an I-1 Limited Industrial District.  A motor vehicle dealership is classified as a special use in the I-1 Limited Industrial District.  The petitioner was proposing to designate nine spaces in front of their building dedicated to cars for sale, a number dictated by the Plan Commission.  Red’s was also proposing paving the rear area for additional parking of vehicles awaiting repair.  It meets use standards for both motor vehicle sales and service.  The businesses hours of operation will remain the same, despite the adding the sales component.  Hansen explained that the petitioner currently had 34 parking spaces to which they would be adding 15 spaces for a total of 49, nine of which would be dedicated to auto sales, the zoning ordinance requires 30 spaces.  The Plan Commission unanimously recommended approval of the petition with recommended conditions.

Trustee Curtis expressed concerns about the business would turn into a used car dealership with the flashy marketing tactics typically associated with used car dealerships, such as banners, balloons and cars on risers.

Derek Knuth of Red’s Garage Auto Sales was on hand to answer questions, he assured the Village Board that they had no intention to become a used car dealership.  He instead stated that they were trying to become a full service facility.

Trustee Guethle asked if it was their intent to repair a vehicle and then sell it, up to nine vehicles at a time.  Mr. Knuth confirmed that thought.  He stated that they would likely not have the high turnover like other used car lots.

There was discussion regarding the intention behind the request and what the Village could expect to see happening at Red’s Garage.

Administrator Bosco reminded the Board that they could recommend standards just as the Plan Commission did.

The conversations turned to what benefits the change may have for the community.  Knuth reassured the Board that he envisioned his business to be a departure from the stereotypical used car dealership aesthetic.

The Village Board offered support for the granting of the Special Use.

2. Coop’s Driving School Special Use

Administrator Bosco stated that Coop’s Driving School was looking to open a commercial educational facility for youth driving.  The school would be located within the plaza on the northeast corner of Randall Road and Oak Street.  Bosco explained that this needed a special use because anytime an educational facility goes into a commercial area, it triggers a special use requirement.

Planner Hansen stated that Coop’s Driving School would utilize one of the middle units in the plaza, the unit is approximately 1,100 square feet.  The proposed floor plan shows open floor space, storage closet and a restroom.  The petitioner anticipated four behind the wheel vehicles would be parked in the lot and a maximum of four instructor would be on site at any given time.  There would be a maximum of 35 students in a single class, the zoning ordinance requires a total of 18 parking spaces, the subject property currently had 215 spaces for the plaza.  The Plan Commission unanimously recommended approval of the petition with no additional conditions.

The Village Board was in favor of the proposed Special Use.

3. Full-Time School Resource Officer

Administrator Bosco stated that this agenda item addressed the request to have a full time officer at Jewel Middle School.  Currently the North Aurora Police Department had an officer at the school 16 hours a week, a program that was instituted a few years prior.  The Village had recently been working with School District 129 to have an officer at the school full-time.  Part of the agreement was to have that same officer occasionally make visits to West Aurora High School and/or Herget Middle School if assistance were needed.

Deputy Chief Joe Gorski explained that currently the Police Department currently had an agreement with West Aurora School District to provide a school resource officer (SRO) on a part time basis, that officer is Officer Sean McCoy, he is a veteran officer with the Village’s department.  His primary assignments are to Jewel Middle School, however on occasion, at the request of SD 129 he will also help out if there was a need at any of the Village’s three elementary schools.  In addition to Jewel Middle School, the Village has several students that attend Herget Middle School.  Students from both schools then move on to West Aurora High School.  West Aurora High School does maintain a full time SRO who is an Aurora Police Officer.  Gorski stated that having the ability to have an officer at Herget Middle School would contribute to community outreach.  He also stated that allowing the students the ability to become familiar with the SRO allows the students to become more comfortable in being open with the SRO.  The department views this as a valuable asset.

Gorski stated that the Village and School District 129 have been in discussions to make the SRO position full time since the end of last school year.  The Police Department feels that the agreement would be mutually beneficial and SD129 had been open to the Department’s terms of agreement thus far.

Administrator Bosco stated that the Village’s officers work in 12 hour shift, resulting in an 84 hour time period for two weeks.  During the nine months of the school year, the agreement that was drafted currently stated that the school district would offer 50% of the officer’s base salary, medical insurance and clothing allowance during those nine months of the school year, the Village would pay the balance.  While the children were not in school, the Village would have the benefit of the officer on the streets performing regular patrol.  Any overtime requested by the school would be paid for by the district.

Bosco addressed the question, if the Village was paying for half of the officer’s salary but the officer was in the school the entirety of the school year, what would the benefit to the Village be?  He stated that the benefit would be the relationships that the officer could forge with the students but it would come down to whether or not the Village Board felt that the cost was worthwhile.

Trustee Curtis stated that she was not opposed to the idea but she wanted to know if there would be any educational benefit to the agreement, if the officer would be providing any instruction to the students.  She gave an example of teaching the students how to handle situations such as being pulled over by the police.  She pointed out that many of the students that attend the schools do not live within North Aurora and she was questioning how the 50% cost to the Village would be justified.

There was discussion about taking this SRO off the streets and what detriment that would be to the Village.  Administrator Bosco stated that Chief DeLeo would then want to hire an additional officer for patrol.

Deputy Chief Gorski addressed Trustee Curtis’ question, stating that the SRO currently does provide ALICE training to the middle school students.  That is a benefit that is not currently experienced at the high school level with one of the Village’s officers.

Gorski stated that the SRO would only go to the high school if requested by the school district and then approved by the Chief.  The SRO would be spending most of his time at Jewel Middle School.  Gorski explained that the middle schools were experiencing an increase of issues at a greater rate than the high school.  Gorski also explained that the school district was receptive to any ideas or programs that the department wanted to introduce to enhance the students education.

There was discussion regarding the necessity of an SRO on a full time basis at Jewel Middle School and a reiteration of the intention, to have the SRO at Herget Middle School and West Aurora High School on an “as needed” basis.

Trustee Curtis stated that she would like to see a more equitable split of the SRO’s time between both Jewel and Herget middle schools.  Gorski stated that Aurora Police have full time SROs that split their time between schools, including Herget.  The North Aurora SRO would offer supplemental coverage at Herget Middle School.

The Village Board was in favor of the plan, Administrator Bosco stated that the next step would be to bring an agreement back to the board for review.

4. Economic Development Strategy

Administrator Bosco stated that in the Village’s Strategic Plan there is a goal to discuss an economic development strategy.  While business development was often talked about, the Village was looking to create a formal policy, made up of several aspects of economic development not exclusively recruiting businesses.  He said that the Comprehensive Plan also called for the establishment of a unified strategy.  During the Comprehensive Plan workshop, an Economic Development Workshop was held as well in an effort to gain direction from the Village Board to create a policy.  With that information, staff had been working for a few months to create a strategy.  Administrator Bosco was presenting the Village Board with the staff’s collaborative efforts in creating an Economic Development Plan, seeking the Board’s feedback.

Economic Development Strategy-Contents

• Economic Development Tools
  • Economic Development Incentives
  • Tax Increment Financing Districts
• Business Attraction & Retention
  • Targeted Uses
  • Available Properties
  • Outreach Strategy
  • Visitation Program
  • Surveying
• Ongoing Economic Development Activities
  • Property Acquisition Plan
  • Business Promotion
    • Bosco explained that this was already beginning to happen through the Village’s social media accounts.

Economic Development Incentives

• The Village has never adopted a formal policy regarding financial incentives

• • Bosco stated that he felt that there were some concerns that come up about having a formal policy.  One may be that it could be viewed as too restrictive and alienate businesses.  A positive effect a formal policy may have would be in the time saving, the staff would be able to vet businesses seeking incentives before coming to the Board for approval.  He also stated that it gives the Village to ability to know how to attract and retain businesses proactively and reactively. 
• The Village does have a history of utilizing certain financial incentive strategies
  • Mainly tax sharing, tax increment financing & impact fee reductions
• 2024-2025 Strategic Planning Workshop
  • Village Board was asked to rand if/when incentives should be used to attract businesses (never, board-approved policy, case-by-case basis)
    • “Board-Approved Policy” and “Case-by-Case Basis” received an equal number of the high votes from the Village Board.

Incentive Types

Administrator Bosco explained that the following were the commonly used incentive types.

• Sales Tax Reimbursement
  • The Village receives 1% of the 6.25% State tax on general merchandise (or 1% of gross sales).
• Amusement Tax Forgiveness
  • A 3% amusement tax is levied on patrons of amusement places.
• Village Fee Reduction
  • Building Permits, Impact/Connection Fees & Business License Fees
• Property Tax Rebate
  • The Village’s proportionate share of property taxes is typically around 5%
  • Broker discussions with other respective taxing districts with higher shares of property taxes
• Tax Increment Financing
  • The Village has two Tax Increment Financing Districts: United TIF District and Route 31 District
• Tax Increment Financing Grant Program (Façade Grant Program)
  • Qualified applicants are eligible to apply for grant funds equal to 50% of the cost of improving their properties up to $20,000.00 and up to $10,000.00 (no match) for signage.

Administrator Bosco explained that the following was the process for a typical Financial Incentive Request.

1. Financial incentive requests shall be submitted to the Village staff. The request shall include documentation that identifies the nature of the request, rationale and justification for the request and the source of funding that is intended to be utilized as part of the project.
2. Staff shall conduct an internal review of the submittal information to ensure the request qualifies for an incentive and the request meets the policy requirements.
3. Staff shall follow up with further instructions or questioning.
4. After review is completed by staff, the request is forwarded to the Village Board for review at a Committee of the Whole meeting for initial discussion. A formal presentation of the incentive request may be required of the applicant.
5. If the Village Board agrees with the request, it shall be brought back to a future Village Board meeting for final consideration.

Administrator Bosco introduced the next slide by describing it as a chart that can easily be referenced to determine what the Board does and does not want.

Qualified Uses

• General Retail
• Automobile Sales
• Places for Eating & Drinking
• Entertainment Venues & Event Complexes
• Lodging/Resorts
• Mixed Use Development
• Beautification Projects
• Vacant Commercial Site Enhancement

Qualified Expenses

• New Construction
• Existing Space Buildout
• Property Acquisition
• Property Assemblage
• Infrastructure
• Improvements
• Site Preparedness
• Façade Improvements
• Demolition

Unqualified Uses

• Liquor Stores
• Tobacco Shops
• Gas Stations
• Cannabis Dispensing Organizations
• Convenience Stores
• Establishments hosting video gaming
• Residential (without mixed use component)
• Warehousing/industrial (unless approved by Village Board)

Unqualified Expenses

• Business equipment
• Payroll
• Office supplies
• Furniture
• Signage

There was discussion regarding “residential (without mixed use component)” falling under the unqualified uses.  There were clarifying questions which led to the conclusion that “residential (without mixed use component)” was in the correct category, falling under the unqualified uses, unless there was a commercial component to the residential property.

Trustee Lowery asked if the Village ever incentivized residential subdivision projects, Administrator Bosco answered no.  There was further discussion regarding this idea.  Trustee Lowery suggested adding to the “residential (without mixed use component)”, “unless approved by the Village Board”.

Trustee Salazar asked for clarification regarding the “(unless approved by the Village Board)” aspect to the “Warehousing/Industrial” Unqualified Use.  It was explained that now both “Warehousing/Industrial” as well as “Residential (without mixed use component)” would have the “unless approved by the Village Board”.

Trustee Curtis expressed concerns regarding “property acquisition” falling under the Qualified Expenses.  Her concerns lied with helping someone acquire a parcel and that development goes belly up, leaving the Village with no recourse to recoup the investment.  Administrator Bosco said that the next part of the presentation would address that concern.

Funding Policy

• The Village will not accept requests made for front-loaded funding. All TIF incentive funding shall only occur on a reimbursement basis from funds deriving only from net increases in tax increment associated with the project. 
  • Administrator Bosco gave the example that the Village will not front $5 million dollars to acquire a property or construct but once that begins and the EAV comes in, the Village will give an agreed upon percentage of that increment until the $5 million dollar mark is reached.
• The Village Board has the right to refuse any incentive request regardless of the use, if deemed undesirable.
• The Village Board may consider warehousing and industrial requests after formal presentation of incentive request and concept plan review.
  • Consider this also for residential with no mixed use component?
• All applicants shall be in good standing with the Village of North Aurora, Having no open Village Ordinance violations or defaults in payment to the Village. Any open Ordinance violations or defaults in payment will result in automatic disqualification.
• Video Gaming may be allowed once incentive terms are complete or the incentive has been forfeited.
• Economic Incentive requests must be approved by the Village Board prior to the issuance of a building permit. Should a building permit not be required, the request must be approved prior to project commencement.
• Economic incentive requests involving any rebate or share of the retailer’s occupational taxes received by the Village must adhere to the statutory findings included in 65 ILCS 5/8-11-20 of the Illinois Municipal Code, all other State Statutes, federal regulations and Village Codes.
• TIP incentive requests shall only apply to properties located in a TIF district and must adhere to the Illinois TIF Act, all other State Statutes, federal regulations and Village Codes.
• All applications made requesting funds under the Tax Increment Financing Grant Program shall adhere to the grant guidelines.
• Taxes or revenues historically received by the Village will not be reduced below the base year of an incentive. The Village shall reserve the right to consider historic averages when formulating the base year.

Administrator Bosco posed a question to the Village Board asking if the Village would like to give incentives after a project has already begun moving forward or should the request be required prior to the project initiation.  The Trustees expressed that it would depend on what the project was and if it had benefits for the Village.  There was further discussion regarding this situation.  The Trustees agreed that the onus should be on the business to request an incentive or assistance prior to the project’s beginning.

Administrator Bosco asked the Village Board for guidance on this funding policy “Taxes or revenues historically received by the Village will not be reduced below the base year of an incentive.  The Village shall reserve the right to consider historic averages when formulating the base year”.  He inquired whether or not that was the way the Board wanted to proceed, the Board agreed with the policy as written.

Administrator Bosco went through the additional policies with the Board to ensure understanding and agreement.  The Trustees were in favor of the policies.

Administrator Bosco explained that the staff only wanted to carry out the wishes of the Village Board.  The Economic Development Plan was intended to carry out the wishes of the Board while conserving time by avoiding requests and inquiries not within the Board’s vision.

Trustee Salazar stated that having established policies would be advantageous to the Village, having parameters set helps to negate the appearance that the Village could be playing favorites.

Mayor Gaffino advised that the Village needed to be careful not to disadvantage itself by turning off potential new business within the Village, however the policies offered reasonable guidelines.

The conversation shifted, Administrator Bosco asked the Board what they would consider a restaurant as it relates to policy.  The consensus was a restaurant was any place that sold food.

Administrator Bosco stated that he expected to have a whole draft for review.

EXECUTIVE SESSION – None

ADJOURNMENT

Motion to adjourn made by Trustee Guethle and seconded by Trustee Lowery.  All in favor.  Motion approved.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jessi Watkins

Village Clerk