By Danica Baker
Herald Staff Writer
July 18, 2006 11:19 am
—
FULTON, Ill. — The Fulton City Council decided Monday to approve the downtown historic preservation ordinance, but voted down a weekly yard waste pickup offered by Moring Disposal and voted against establishing a burn ban.
Ward 4 Alderman Ron Roels said the downtown historic preservation ordinance is better than the current ordinance because it makes the historical district smaller and more defined. He said the ad hoc committee made many compromises in preparing the ordinance, which is aimed at preserving the historical integrity and aesthetic balance of downtown Fulton, while planning for the future.
Changes to the ordinance include requiring the maintenance of exposed glass and brick facades, disallowing the construction of storage shed units in the district, a restriction on demolishing historic buildings unless hardship can be proven and requiring that awnings installed in the future be made of fabric.
The ordinance restricts metal exterior buildings from being constructed in the designated area unless covered with a brick facade matching consistent patterns of the district and will require new building exteriors to have 50 percent of the front facade be made of materials such as glass, wood, brick or an approved equivalent.
The city will be implementing a facade improvement matching grant program to encourage property owners to historically preserve and enhance their buildings.
The preservation ordinance passed by a vote of 4-3 with Ward 3 Aldermen Mark Bressler and Warren Juist and Ward 1 Alderman Keith King voting no.
An extensive discussion was held regarding the weekly yard waste pickup offered by Moring Disposal and a potential burn ban.
Moring offered a weekly pickup of yard waste on Mondays for $1.33 more each month per customer, in addition to the regular waste disposal routes. Under the new proposal, residents would have been able to place yard waste at the curb in biodegradable or paper bags or in containers that could be dumped into a truck.
Many council members stated they had received more calls about the two issues than any other issue while serving on the council. Roels said he thought the city ought to initiate the program for a trial period of one year and, if the citizens like the service, it could be continued. Ward 1 Alderman Gene Field said the consensus he heard was that citizens were against the expanded service.
“The consensus was that people in my area want things to remain the same. They’re not interested in making the change and so, from my standpoint, to not be confrontational with the people I represent of the First Ward, I would have to vote to leave it the same,” Field said.
Alderman King and Ward 2 Alderman Charlie Letcher agreed, saying they had received many phone calls from residents with 70 to 85 percent voicing disapproval of the waste pickup. Letcher added that many people didn’t feel it was the biggest issue facing the city.
Bressler said all of the calls he received were against the pickup service, but said he was for it. He noted that many people said “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Fulton Mayor Howard Van Zuiden expressed his disappointment over the sentiment by noting that for just $1.33 per month citizens of Fulton would not have to suffer health impacts caused by yard waste burning.
Bressler replied that the squeaky wheel is the one that is heard and noted that he would have to go with the public’s wishes.
Roels said many people saw the service fee as another tax and did not want the extra cost, even though he thought it was worth a try. The motion to impose the service on a one-year trial basis was defeated by a vote of 4-3 with Bressler, Letcher, Field and King voting no.
The council also voted not to impose a burn ban and a motion to ban burn barrels failed to pass. Upon discussing the burn ban issue, Ward 4 Alderman Bill Loerop suggested Fulton ban the use of burn barrels. King said the city of Morrison had passed a measure eliminating burn barrels, which helped to stop the burning of trash. Loerop said Fulton would have to compromise somewhere to address the health issue and Juist noted the council had just defeated a way to support the burn ban.
A motion was made not to impose a burn ban and it passed with a vote of 5-2 with Loerop and Juist voting no.
The motion to eliminate burn barrels failed by a vote of 5-2 with Loerop and Roels in favor of the measure. Field said he felt the council was attempting to come in the back door of the burn ban issue and said he didn’t like that idea.
The council also discussed the inclusion of non-motorized vehicles into a city parking ordinance. City Administrator Randy Balk said the current ordinance requires movement of motorized vehicles in the city right-of-way more than one foot every 72 hours. Field noted that simply moving a vehicle one-half block still makes for an obstruction and said streets are for moving vehicles.
Roels said he didn’t like the idea of someone getting a ticket for parking their boat in the street for one hour and noted streets also are made for parking. Field said if the vehicle creates a hazard, it shouldn’t be there. Letcher said he felt citizens have a right to park non-motorized vehicles in the street because items such as boat trailers are licensed for street use and he would prefer residents keep their belongings in front of their homes instead of moving the vehicles in front of neighbor’s homes just to keep the vehicle moving to satisfy the ordinance. He added that it should be an issue of common courtesy and that he didn’t think it should require an ordinance to prevent.
Bressler thanked Balk for including Clinton Herald articles regarding the issue as dealt with by the Clinton City Council and said that the articles had changed his mind on the issue. Bressler added that he would not want to be a police officer trying to enforce such an ordinance. Loerop said a non-motorized vehicle should not have any more rights than a motorized vehicle.
King said if residents have to go through the trouble of moving a non-motorized vehicle every few days, citizens would find another place to park the vehicle. The motion to include non-motorized vehicles in the ordinance governing parking in the city right-of-way passed by a vote of 6-1 with Letcher voting no.
The council addressed the issue of fencing in inflatable pools. Letcher and Roels said inflatable pools should be considered temporary objects and should be left out of the ordinance requiring that pools be fenced in.
A motion to leave inflatable pools out of the ordinance passed by a vote of 5-2 with Bressler and King voting no.
The next Fulton City Council meeting will be held at City Hall on Aug. 7 at 5:30 p.m.
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.