Charlie Smyth Urbana City Council Ward 1	email: csmyth at charliesmyth.org phone: 367-2813 805 S. Coler, Urbana, IL 61801

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

Updated April 13, 2009

Thanks to everyone that voted April 7. The School Sales Tax and Park District referenda passed, all current council members were re-elected as well as Mayor Prussing except for Lynne Barnes who chose not to run. Diane Marlin, long time WUNA resident and community activist, will be taking her place. We thank Lynne for her wonderful service and I will miss her "let's keep moving" style.

To see current council and committee agendas please visit the City of Urbana Website Council Agendas

Neighborhood Meetings: I will be at the Urbana Farmer's Market many first Saturday's through October. Watch for an even better market this year after record setting attendance last year! Most likely, I'll be at the ChampaignCountyBikes.org table which has been a few tables east of the City of Urbana tent at the northwest corner of the parking lot. At the table you can find information on the various bike groups in the area including Prairie Cycle Club and theBikeProject. Last year we unveiled a Share the Road bus and a new cities area bike map.

Ongoing Council Activities: On Monday March 2, we approved a revised version of the notification provisions of the Mixed Office-Residential District along Green Street. Upcoming (and still at the Plan Commission level) is discussion of changes to zoning regulations concerning replacement garages near the property line. We also approved the preliminary proposal for the redevelopment of Nabor House. Since this is in the Busey-Lincoln corridor it will be subject to design review (see below) and takes advantage of the new PUD (Planned Unit Development) provisions in our Zoning Ordinance. In April we will begin consideration of the 2009-10 City Budget and Capital Improvement Plan. Another interesting development is related to the lack of progress on a new city-wide franchise agreement with Comcast concerning cable TV. Look for AT&T to begin offering competing service this summer as part of its U-Verse service (a state level franchise that the city has no direct control over). Also, crews have been finishing up fiber connectivity between the City, the University of Illinois, the Urbana Free Library, and the School District that will better serve all entities with expanded connectivity options. The city will be redesigning its web site and coordinating some companion marketing sometime in the coming year as well.

Some Recent Council Actions: Zipcar is finally a reality in our community with 2 cars located at Lincoln Square, 2 on campus, and 2 in downtown Champaign. The Urbana cars are located adjacent to Common Grounds Food Coop, near planned expanded bike parking. A group of us are looking at sustainable lighting issues and have put together some resources on the University District Lighting Project that are leading to changes in our lighting ordinance (before Plan Commission now) and hopefully, changes in all future public and private lighting. Working with staff, we are pursuing a number of sustainability initiatives and the Mayor appointed a Sustainability Commission whose first task will be to prioritize efforts and policies for the city to meet a number of green initiatives. The lastest report from staff has been the starting point for the commission.An Art Commission has been appointed, a Citizens Police Review Board has completed training and Carle Expansion plans are moving forward with construction of infrastructure along Church Street around Lincoln Ave near completion. With the first phase of street sales completed, Carle submited a more complete proposal for building to the State last March though no word on when actual construction will begin.

Neighborhood Preservation: A major addition to the preservation toolbox was added by the Council last month when we passed a Busey-Lincoln corridor Design Review provision that gives some control over redevelopment look and feel encouraging compatibility with the existing neighborhood. A citizen driven Neighborhood Conservation District creation procedure has been approved by City Council (November 5, 2007) as well as a new Historic District encompassing the 800 Block West of Main Street. Issues of demolition review have been incorporated into a separate discussion of historic and landmark buildings and how the city identifies these structures and has resulted in a 45 day Demolition Delay procedure. Staff has also increased notification of surrounding areas and started publication of demolitions.

Rental Registration: A Rental Registration and Inspection ordinance has existed for 2 years. Additional staff was hired and inspections have been underway for a number of months. This expanded program now includes 1 and two unit rentals and full descriptions of programs and ordinances can be found at the city's Building Safety Division site. The Property Maintenance Code (PMC) has been brought up to current international standards (2003). Included in the PMC are important provisions related to inspection items and repair schedules. Recently, council passed an ordinance clarifying gravel parking lots and defining more carefully, their use and such. Staff continue to look at this issue. I'd like to thank the neighborhood associations including WUNA, the Mayor's Neighborhood Safety Task Force, along with staff and council members for their work in getting this legislation completed.

Campus Safety/Bicycling/Pedestrian Issues: Various Campus Area Transportation reports were released last year and several proposals are being formulated that are supposed to address additional pedestrian concerns and include more specific bicycling related issues, bike path connectivity in particular. The Urbana Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee forwarded a Bike and Pedestrian Master plan that was endorsed by the City Council. This plan is based on several public input meetings involving hired engineering staff from the Regional Planning Commission in conjuntion with Ed Barsotti of the League of Illinois Bicyclists. Expect bike route signage, school crosswalk enhancements, and continued standardization of crosswalks during spring and summer 2009.

There are a number of efforts under way with respect to biking and walking with work being done by some with the League of Illinois Bicyclists and as part of the County RPC Big.Small.All planning efforts. Various useful links can be found on the ChampaignCountyBikes.org web site to get involved in biking activism in Champaign County. We really need to work towards plans that encompass all of our communities. Of particular interest to those near campus are plans announced by the engineering department for bike lanes as part of the roadway on Illinois, Oregon and Goodwin west of Lincoln as pedestrian bump outs and other road work gets done summer 2009.

Construction Season: Road construction and repairs for 2009 will be discussed as part of the upcoming Capital Improvements Plan discussion that is part of our annual budget process. The two major projects this year will be the continuation of the Windsor Road expansion all the to Hwy 130 and the Goodwin Avenue safety improvements. The 10 year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is updated yearly for all road, sewer, and related lighting, sidewalk, and pathway projects. This document is available at the Urbana Public Library and parts are on the city web pages.

Driver Cell Phone Ban: As many of you know, I'm interested in legislation banning the use of cell phones and similar interactive technologies by drivers of moving vehicles.With the support of Mattslaw.org, a cell phone ban while driving ordinance was proposed last May and though City staff were reluctant to support it, a distracted driving penalty ordinance was passed instead. The ordinance does include a ban on text messaging making Urbana the first place in Illinois to do so and the state is looking to follow suit. Research links and and more about this below but on January 12, the National Safety Council called for a complete ban. If you are interested in getting active in these efforts which are being led by the parents of Matt Wilhelm, contact me or check out their website, Mattslaw.org.  Locally, more than 1200 people have signed petitions asking that local government enact legislation. For more on local efforts please check out these links and articles.

Background Information:

If you have issues or questions, please contact me. I usually work 8:30-5:30 weekdays but will answer email and phone messages over lunch and in the evenings or weekends. I tend to stay up late -- feel free to call me in an emergency any time.

Council and Committee meetings are broadcast live (and repeated) on UPTV, Cable Channel 6 every Monday night at 7pm (though we meet on Tuesdays where Monday is a legal holiday and we don't meet on 5th Mondays of a month). A full schedule for UPTV can be found on the city web site:  http://www.city.urbana.il.us/urbana/finance/is/uptv/Main.asp. All city financial reports are on line as well.

The City Council has developed a set of goals (Sept 2008 update) covering a variety of important issues that the mayor and a majority, if not all, council members support. These serve as a road map for our work during our term on the council and form the basis of a number of study sessions and several task forces or commisions. If you are interested in helping out in one of the areas mentioned, or have ideas, please contact me. The linked site includes a progress report and updates from staff.