VILLAGE OF NORTH AURORA
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES
Monday, August 19, 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 Mike Lowery, Trustee Todd Niedzwiedz
Staff in attendance: Village Administrator Steve Bosco, Finance Director Jason Paprocki, Community Development Director Nathan Darga, Village Attorney Kevin Drendel, Public Works Director Brian Richter, Police Chief Joe DeLeo.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS – None
TRUSTEE COMMENTS – None
DISCUSSION
- Car Wash/Coffee Concept
Administrator Bosco introduced the first agenda item, he stated that there had been interest in the vacant site located at 415 S. Lincolnway and Community Development Director Darga would be presenting the concept plan to the Village Board to provide the developer with feedback.
Director Darga stated that the vacant lot, located at 415 S. Lincolnway had been formerly occupied by Callahan Car Company. The interested party was interested in redeveloping the site with two different businesses, a Scooter’s Coffee, which offered drive-through service, as well as a Blue Penguin car wash in the rear of the property.
Darga described the proposed layout of the development, emphasizing that both businesses were intended to be drive-through businesses, therefore few parking spaces available. Darga spoke about the grading of the property and explained that the developer was looking to add a retaining wall, which would need to be looked at in engineering.
Trustee Curtis asked why the developer would be interested in putting this business at this location, knowing that there was a Dunkin’ Donuts and Moka coffee shop within one mile.
A representative for the developer, Tom Liabo was on hand to answer questions, he stated that it was common for business competitors to be located near each other. He also explained that the location being near the I-88 exit was beneficial. He stated that the developer was not concerned about the competition.
Mr. Liabo gave a brief background on Scooter’s Coffee, he explained that it was new to the area and out of Omaha. There was a Scooter’s about to open on Route 59 in Naperville. The Blue Penguin was primarily located in southern states.
The developer expected heavier traffic to the site during late morning, early afternoon and weekends.
Trustee Lowery stated that he had no issues with the concept.
Trustee Niedzwiedz stated that he liked the idea of having the car wash to the rear of the property.
Mayor Gaffino stated that he liked the idea as well, he expressed concerns over the stacking of cars. The developer stated that the car lane would accommodate approximately 11 cars for Scooter’s. Mayor Gaffino expanded on his concerns explaining that Moka sometimes has cars that spill on Route 31 which could be problematic, he did not want to see the same issue happening at this location. The developer stated that it was early enough in the development process that the design could be altered.
Darga stated that the renderings showed two site access points, currently the site only had one.
There was additional discussion regarding the possible traffic challenges.
Trustee Christiansen expressed concerns about having multiple similar proposed projects so close in proximity, referring to an item discussed at the Committee of the Whole meeting on August 5th.
There was discussion regarding the proximity of the two similarly proposed projects.
- Tobacco Code
Administrator Bosco stated that in reviewing the tobacco code, staff noticed that there were some updates that needed to be made.
The first thing Bosco spoke about was the lack of definition for alternative tobacco products, such as vaping and e-cigarettes.
The next item he mentioned was a paragraph in the code that talks about licensing annually for tobacco, staff was suggesting increasing the cost for the licensing. There were currently 17 businesses with tobacco licenses.
Bosco explained that Illinois had changed the law on the age minimum to purchase tobacco, changing it from 18 to 21. The Village’s code still reflected the 18 year minimum. Bosco then went on to speak about the minimum age to sell tobacco within the Village as opposed to the state of Illinois.
Bosco spoke about the changes to the code involving tobacco vending machines and what changes had been made.
The Board was in unanimous agreement to move forward with the changes.
- Permitted and Special Uses Text Amendment
Administrator Bosco introduced the agenda item which would be dealing with the zoning ordinance, which staff reviews periodically in an effort to stay updated. He spoke about home occupation standards and that because the Village was non-home rule, it could not license businesses but can register them and zone them. Bosco explained that Director Darga took home occupation and all the standards the Village has for it and listed them as a permitted use in all residential districts.
Director Darga gave an overview of the changes made to the Zoning Ordinances. He stated that many changes came from streamlining terms, using the same terminology and definitions in each section.
He stated that in residential, staff mainly consolidated where appropriate.
In business, staff added multifamily and mixed use development as a special use.
Darga said that there were multiple categories for entertainment uses, those were combined into entertainment recreation facility.
There was a general update of definitions to remove unused terms and add new terms.
In industrial, there was no listing for data centers, they were added in as a special use in the Industrial Districts and ORI.
Staff cleaned up light, medium and heavy industrial as well as food users, so staff better defined food users, which do have a lot of water demands.
Under ORI, staff also updated contractor office which often comes along with a contractor’s yard, therefore standards were created for it.
Chapter 11 updates included for use standards for recreational facilities, contractor’s offices, and gas stations.
Definitions were updated, obsolete definitions were eliminated, and others streamlined.
The conversation turned to Home Occupation Standards, Darga stated the standards had been added to the chart in residential so it was listed as a use and tied the standards.
Mayor Gaffino spoke about a house in North Aurora with a two-story garage in which the owner runs a construction business out of. Gaffino stated that the owner has multiple pieces of heavy machinery on site. He expressed concern for the work being done out of the home that results in noise for the neighboring residents.
Darga displayed the current home occupation rules stating that they were fairly generalized. Some of the rules included that the home occupation must not interfere with surrounding properties, the business shall be conducted entirely within the dwelling unit, only one non-resident may be employed and work not more than 25 hours, home occupation shall not generate excessive vehicle or pedestrian traffic, and shall not generate noise, or solid waste.
There was discussion regarding these rules and how they apply as well as what neighboring towns do to be able to enforce standards.
Darga stated that he would compile a list of prohibited home occupations to present to the Board.
There was a discussion regarding garages and how they relate to home occupations and zoning.
Trustee Niedzwiedz asked about how short-term rentals fit into the code, Darga stated that they are still not allowed and a definition of short-term rental was added to the definition section. There was discussion regarding the difference between a short-term rental and a bed and breakfast.
- Purchasing Policy Update
Administrator Bosco explained that a couple years ago the Administrator’s spending authority had been changed up to $25,000, at the time the discussion focused around things being more expensive. Bosco went on to say that a unique situation arose recently with the Road Program. Staff had been able to work it out and the total change fell below the $25,000 mark. Bosco spoke about the expensive projects that the Village enters into and the likelihood of change orders related to those projects being more than the current $25,000 spending authority. The necessity to wait for Board approval could slow down projects. Bosco stated that Director Paprocki was going to go through a proposed change that would make change orders in these types of programs similar to the Village’s Emergency Purchases.
Director Paprocki stated that in the section of the policy that stated what happened when a change order was $25,000 or more, it stated that “in certain situations where it is impractical to delay a project while waiting for Village Board approval, the Village Administrator may, at his discretion approve changes orders up to $25,000 with the Village Board approval to follow at the next regular or special meeting”.
Paprocki explained that the Village Administrator used to have a $15,000 spending authority, in June of 2022 that was increased to $25,000. Therefore in the current policy, the Village Administrator already had the $25,000 spending authority, so the suggested change would alter the verbiage to reflect the change that the Village Administrator would have authority to approve changes orders over $25,000 upon concurrence from the Mayor and then formal approval from the Village Board at the next scheduled meeting.
Administrator Bosco explained to the Board how staff had come to the decision for the proposed change.
Trustee Curtis stated that she liked the change and appreciated that adding of “upon concurrence from the Mayor” offering accountability for decisions.
Trustee Lowery expressed reservations for the proposed changes, stating that it opens opportunity for possible misuse of funds in the future. Lowery stated that he would like to see the policy reworded to guard against that possibility.
There was discussion about the Village Board’s role in approval of change orders, that they would be voting after the funds were expended. Administrator Bosco suggested that the changes to the policy could include a cap on expenditures.
There was discussion regarding what a “change order” consists of and the spending authority that would accompany it.
Attorney Drendel offered that in these situations where the Administrator, upon concurrence with the Mayor, authorized a change order and work proceeds, the payment to the contractor would not be completed until it was approved on the consent agenda. He also stated that he would argue that the Village’s code was presumably known by everyone as it is public record, if a decision were to be made to approve a change order that was not an emergency, the Board could refuse payment.
There was discussion regarding how budgeting the Road Program works.
The discussion turned back to the reservations Trustee Lowery had with the verbiage change, Administrator Bosco suggested adding verbiage stating that prior to the authorization of a change order, the Administrator would notify the Village Board. Trustee Niedzwiedz suggested adding an annual review of the purchasing policy, there was discussion regarding this suggestion. Trustee Lowery felt these suggestions made the changes more palatable.
There was a discussion on the clarification of a change order.
Director Paprocki continued his presentation adding that within the policy, staff had included language that helped to define change orders and the criteria for approval. This included:
The change was not reasonably foreseeable at the time the contract was signed.
The change must be relevant to the original scope of the contract.
The Change is authorized by law and is in the best interest of the Village.
EXECUTIVE SESSION – None
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn made by Trustee Lowery and seconded by Trustee Niedzwiedz. All in favor. Motion approved.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jessi Watkins
Village Clerk
