City of Urbana Updates

City Council Highlights:

The latest news out of the Urbana City Council was their holding firm against Automatic License Plate Readers, but there was a debate on the legal language to ensure that. From last week's News-Gazette Meeting Minutes:

“The city of Urbana will not authorize or purchase automated license-plate reader, ALPR, technology without explicit majority approval from the Urbana City Council,” Marlin went on to say at this week’s council meeting. “While the prior debate and vote on ALPRs centered on a budget amendment to purchase ALPRs rather than a general policy statement, the council discussion and 4-3 vote defeating the amendment made the position and concerns of the majority of the city council very clear.”

Marlin spoke in response to a resolution from Alderwoman Grace Wilken ahead of next week’s vote on the city’s budget. Fearful that Urbana police would attempt to buy surveillance technology without first asking council for approval — given that last year’s ask was for funding to buy plate readers, not permission to buy them — she proposed adding a side letter or amendment to the budget...

More at that full article here, including the proposed language and arguments on its necessity and semantics.

The City is also looking for public input on a variety of issues, including an increase in the stormwater fees residents pay. From the News-Gazette:

The fee, which covers the cost of maintaining and improving various components of the stormwater infrastructure — such as sewer pipes, manholes, ponds and a pump station — is already set to rise July 1 from $5.60 a month to $5.82 a month for homeowners.

Come Jan. 1, the monthly fee could rise to as much as $27 a month, with the city council’s approval, depending on just how proactive with maintenance and improvements the city decides to be.

Urbana has charged a stormwater utility fee for a decade, and it covers upkeep and improvements that are largely invisible to the public — unless that upkeep is neglected, which can lead to flooding.

That full article here. The public can access the feedback tools here on the City's website. The city recently voted to increase other fines and fees by 4% according to the News-Gazette's preview of City Council meeting last may. While the vote passed at that meeting (jump to video link), there doesn't appear to be a copy of the exact language or an agenda packet for that meeting on the City's website for some reason.

The City of Urbana is also asking for public input on almost every possible issue in the budget at it's Imagine Urbana public input page and multiple in-person events here.

In other budget news, there were updates on the city's proposed Capital Improvement Plan with an interactive map to help with public feedback. The Daily Illini had a short blurb on that here. The News-Gazette had a more detailed overview here. A vote to approve the plan is happening tonight. Latest updates and overview in the Agenda Packet for tonight's meeting (starting on page 22 of the PDF).

The News-Gazette also had a round up on the city's new Chief of Police:

Fourteen months after Bryant Seraphin’s last shift, Urbana’s police department now has a full-time leader...

His two-year contract, made available prior to Monday’s meeting, will pay Boone an annual salary of $205,000, making him the city’s highest-paid employee...

Boone, a 33-year law enforcement veteran who retired as police chief of Norfolk, Va., in 2022 after a six-year run, emerged in April as the sole finalist for the job held down on an interim basis by interim Chief Rich Surles since Seraphin’s retirement.

The hiring of Urbana’s second African American police chief coincides with the city spending $235,000 for the national consulting firm BerryDunn to help evaluate how it delivers public-safety services.

More at that full article here. WCIA also had coverage here. The town hall event videos for people to get to know the new Chief are still available on the City's website here.

Kathy's Mailbag highlighted an ongoing local census concern with the pandemic interruptions:

The city has identified the areas that showed the biggest declines in population, and they are concentrated near campus. Those areas would be recounted in the Partial Special Census. An added benefit for the city is that the recount could include several campus-area multi-family housing developments that were built after the 2020 Census...

[Mayor Diane Marlin] said the city is “requesting an estimate first because the entire cost of a Partial Special Census is borne by the community and we need to make sure the benefit outweighs the cost. We expect to get the cost estimate from the Census Bureau in a month or so and will make a decision after that.” She said the most likely timeframe for a possible recount would be the spring of 2024.

More at the full Mailbag article here.

Examine Urbana Presentation Series:

There have been a series of presentations to the Urbana City Council looking at various aspects of the city. More information is available at the Examine Urbana page on the City's website. 

Video links:

• April 10: Purpose of Examine Urbana and Introduction
• April 17: Transportation Chapter
• April 24: Development and Taxes
• May 1: Arts and Culture
• May 8: Energy and the Environment
• May 15: Housing

Other Urbana Updates:

• State diverting some federal funding to local affordable housing projects, including at the Steer Place Apartments in Urbana for seniors. News-Gazette eEdition (subscription) blurb here. 
• Possible landmark status for Canaan Baptist Church, from the News-Gazette.
• Still awaiting updates on the BerryDunn's "Community Safety Review" since the town hall event last month. News-Gazette coverage previewing that event here. There does not appear to be video of that event on the city's website, unfortunately.