Annexation discussion or “the future building of the Quincy empire” highlight City Council meeting

QUINCY — Following a discussion where the Quincy City Council rejected a Zoning Board of Appeals recommendation, Alderman Jake Reed (R-6th Ward) talked about the city’s future growth.

“This meeting has given me some new ideas. Like, Quincy’s future annexation [and] the future building of the Quincy empire,” said Alderman Jake Reed (R-6th Ward) during the new business portion of Monday Quincy City Council meeting.

After a neighbor complained about the appearance of a new shed which would encroach the 30-foot front yard setback at 1428 Briar Rose. the Zoning Board recommended denial. However, the council voted to advance the project for a final vote.

Macy Waterkotte, a homeowner of the property, spoke during public comment. She addressed her neighbor’s thought that the shed would be unsightly.

“His opinion, unfortunately, does not change the placement of our lateral lines, slope of our yard, or the existing easement,” said Waterkotte, indicating that other locations would not be possible. She also petitioned 30 neighbors, and only three were not in support.

The Zoning Board of Appeals report was originally on the consent agenda, but Alderman Greg Fletcher (R-1st Ward) requested to remove the Briar Rose item and send it to the regular council meeting. During the discussion, Fletcher focused on the fact that the home is outside of Quincy’s city limits, yet within the 1.5 mile buffer zone where zoning laws still take place.

“I don’t see how this board can tell somebody that cannot vote for them, what they can and can’t do,” Fletcher said.

Alderman Eric Entrup (R-1st Ward) added that this specific situation, with the location of the septic and the laterals, made it necessary for a zoning exception in this case.

The vote in favor of the building of the shed passed 12 ayes, one nay, and two absent. Alderwomen Kelly Mays (R-3rd Ward) and Laura McReynolds (R-5th Ward) were absent. Alderman Jeff Bergman (R-2nd Ward) voted against, and Mayor Moore voted in favor.

Now, an ordinance will be created and added to next week’s agenda in favor of the shed. The ordinance will require three readings.

However, during new business, Entrup brought up the mile and a half buffer zone once again.

“I get frustrated with these types of things that we have to rule on, where people are not affected by us, or they’re not voting for us,” Entrup said. “We don’t have any real jurisdiction over them, other than that rule.”

Quincy City Planning Director Jason Parrott and Corporation Counsel Bruce Alford explained that this is common practice in most cities without jurisdictions immediately next to them.

“If we were to annex parts of that mile and a half, we can be at that 50,000 population mark, but then that means we’re spreading all of our police and fire public safety a lot thinner,” Moore said.

A population of 50,000 is advantageous because the city would be designated as a metropolitan statistical area, making it easier to secure funding.

“Annexation is something on my agenda. I want to be strategic about any annexation … we need to look at both sides of the coin: what is right for the resident, and what is right for the city,” said Moore after the meeting.

County citizens would not need to give consent to be annexed Moore explained.

“We could just do it,” she said.

“I remember several years ago the county board brought up a comprehensive plan, and it failed because they county didn’t want it, they didn’t want to have city rules.” said Alderman Richie Reis (D-6th Ward).

“It wasn’t that many months ago that this board denied the solar farm off on Ellington. That’s outside of city limits, it’s in the mile and a half,” Alderman Ben Uzelac (D-7th Ward) said. “This board needs to figure out, do we want to tell people in the country what to do or not? And we need to stand by how we vote every single time,”

“My issue is when on one hand we say we support what people do out in the county and we should stay out of their business, when months prior, we denied something out in the county, when we should have stayed out of their business,” Uzelac said after the meeting.

The meeting kicked off with a presentation by Director of Transit Marty Stegeman. The department is aiming to address the top concerns illustrated in a 2022 rider survey. The highest priority is addressing the amenities: new buses (check), updated bus shelters (in progress), and a climate controlled transfer facility (likely too expensive to complete at this time). They are also looking into the possibility of adding new routes to shorten the transfer wait times and expand into underserved areas.

In other business, the rest of the consent agenda and regular resolutions and ordinances below passed unanimously.

Consent Agenda:

• Special Event Application for the August 8 to August 10 10 Knights of Columbus BBQ
• Permission request to conduct a raffle and waive the bond requirement for the Quincy Children’s Museum and Friends of the Log Cabin

Regular Meeting:

• Approval recommendation from the Zoning Board of Appeals for the installation of a projecting sign at 501 Hampshire Street
• Recommended approval of the low bid of $2,375,880.15 from Rees construction Co. for the Cherry St. North 24^th to North 28^th Street Project
• Recommended approval to repair a garage vehicle lift by R.L. Hoener Co for $29,326.45
• Recommended approval of quote $7,800 for Peters Heating and Air Conditioning for the leased hangar and offices of Quincy Aviation
• Special permit adopted for Planned Development to allow for the use of 906 Lind Street as a counseling center with supervised visitation
• Second Presentation to amend zoning regulations to designate a landmark at 1515 Jersey
• First Presentation to amend the municipal code to remove 2-hour parking on the north side of Maine Street from N. 28^th St to N. 30^th St
• First Presentation granting a variation from zoning regulations to allow the installation of a projecting sign that is higher than 15 feet above the street grade at 501 Hampshire.

Lucy Nemerov contributed to this report.