The city of Urbana and its residents will share the cost of sewer repairs, the Urbana Committee of the Whole decided Monday after weeks of discussion.

Several Urbana residents expressed support for option three, which said that residents will pay for sewer lateral damages up to the public right of way where the city would then pay for damages. 

“(It is) a fair solution to our sewer lateral concerns,” Urbana resident Evelyn Underwood said.

City council members showed support in option three also. Dennis Roberts, Ward 5, said that he believed everyone was in agreement that the city should pay for any pipeline damage in the public right of way.

Diane Marlin, Ward 7, said that she was in support of the mayor’s proposal for fixing the public right of way for up to $4,500, saying that this could be done without raising the sewer benefit taxes. She also mentioned that if the city were to pay for too many repairs, it would exceed the budget of $42,000. If the city were to exceed the projected cost, there is a reserve the city can dip into to continue paying for any damages in the public right of way.

Charlie Smyth, Ward 1, then suggested that the city should fix sewer damage for up to $5,000, saying that it should still be able to stay within the sewer budget. He then motioned to move this to council with an amendment of changing the $4,500 to $5,000.

“We’ve discussed this very thoroughly, and I think this (option three) is where we’re going,” Eric Jakobsson, Ward 2, said.

The ordinance with an amendment was then unanimously moved back to city council.

At the beginning of the meeting, Cynthia Johnson of the Urbana Business Association gave a presentation on what the UBA has been doing the past year. Johnson was happy to announce the UBA received a green business certification, becoming the third business in Urbana to receive such a certification.

Johnson said that the association also saw a 20 percent increase in membership as well as 36 percent increase in followers on Facebook and a 31 percent increase on Twitter. She also said that the UBA created an “Urbana App” available on the iPhone and Android that lists all of the businesses in Urbana.

“We hope you realize it’s been a busy and productive year for the UBA,” Johnson said.

Johnson concluded saying that the association is asking for no increase in funding from the city as it is maintaining its current budget.

This led into the city council members voting to move a resolution to council that was on approving and authorizing an agreement for the UBA promotion and marketing services.

Jeff Yockey spoke during public comment on behalf of Champaign County Bikes on an ordinance on revising the Urbana Bicycle Master Plan. He spoke mostly on the benefits of having a bike-friendly community like more bike shops to support the local economy. He also said that Urbana is currently at a bronze status as a bicycle-friendly community and that the city has the potential to be of gold status.

“If you’re a potential employee of the U of I and you’re moving to the community and you see that Urbana is a gold bicycle friendly community, you’re going to want to move here,” Yockey said.

Rebecca Bird, a planner for community developmental services, then spoke on the actual bicycle plan update beginning with that it was originally adopted in 2008 for “environmental and livability” reasons.

She then talked about proposing a comprehensive update due to many things that have changed in the biking community since the plan was originally written in 2007. Bird also pointed out it was originally said the plan would be updated every five years when proposed in 2008.

To prepare for an update, Bird said that the regional planning commission is proposing to use a PABST survey, a pedestrian and bicycle survey, to help with the city with a good update to satisfy the community’s needs.

After discussion from the wards that were in support of going for a gold level bicycle community, the ordinance was moved to council.

The meeting was then concluded with budget reviews from the Urbana Free Library, finance department and City Clerk.

The Urbana Free Library was represented by Debra Lissak, executive director of the library, who said that the library had a successful year. The only noticeable change in the budget she said was a 7 percent increase in health insurance costs.

Comptroller Bill DeJarnette represented the finance department saying that the modifications in this fiscal year’s budget was that it added a new clerk and that the moved parking enforcement from the police department to the finance department.

The City Clerk, Phyllis Clark, said that the office hired a secretary in the last year to help out. She did note that the main thing the City Clerk office would like is more space because the city’s files are getting crowded.

“In order to protect the history of the city, you need it,” Clark said.

Kat can be reached at [email protected].