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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/11/1993 COW agenda COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE AGENDA Meeting Location: Meeting Date and Time: Mount Prospect Senior Center Tuesday, May 11, 1993 50 South Emerson Street 7:30 P.M. t. CALL TO ORDER - ROLL CALL Il, ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF APRIL 27, 1993 Ill, CITIZENS TO BE HEARD IV. DOWNTOWN CELEBRATION The Mayor and Board of Trustees have received a request from the newly formed [Downtown Merchants Association to sponsor and provide municipal services for their proposed "Downtown Celebration" scheduled for Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 6. The request for sponsorship includes a $1,500 cash contribution which would designate the Viilage as a "Platinum" Sponsor. The request also seeks waiver of alt License, Permit and Inspection fees as well as in-kind services from the Police, Fire and Public Works Departments. The "Downtown Celebration," as sponsored by the Downtown Merchants Association, is similar in scope and content to the annual Hometown Days Festival that was sponsored by the Mount Prospect Chamber of Commerce. The Hometown Days Festival typically took place during the latter part of July of each year. Recently, the Chamber of Commerce has decided to cease sponsoring the Hometown Days Festival and allow the Downtown Merchants Assodation to assume the role of organizer. Since this is a first-time request, Village Board members asked the Downtown Merchants Association to appear at the May 11 Committee of the VV~ole meeting for purposes of further discussing the particulars of the proposed Festival and to provide background on t~e make-up and purpose of the Downtown Merchants Association. Village Board members also requested information regarding the scope and cast of the in-kind services requested by the Merchants Association. Staff has analyzed the request and generally feels that the services requested can be provided without undue disruption to existing municipal operations or substantial cost. As part of the Hometown Days Celebration, the Village budgeted a minor amount ($300) for anticipated Public Works' overtime costs and another $100 for miscellaneous supplies. Since the Hometown Days Festival will not be held this year, those budgeted amounts would be available for the proposed Merchants Association Festival. The Departments of Police, Fire and Public Works have provided memorandums outlining their respective scope of involvement and any associated costs. With regard to the request for a cash sponsorship, the Village did not provide general sponsorship money for the Hometown Days Festival. However, in 1991, the Vitlage did on a one-time basis, cover the cost of children's carnival rides associated with the Festival. The amount of that contribution was $2,800. Representatives from the Downtown Merchants Assodation and appropriate staff will be in attendance to help facilitate the discussion. V. WILD ANIMAL TRAPPING POLICY For many years, it has been the policy of the Village to provide residents, free of charge ($25.00 deposit), with non-lethal animal traps for the purpose of catching small wild animals such as squirrels, raccoons, opossums, etc., which from time to time take up residence in homeowners' attics, crawl spaces and under porches. When it was originally conceived, this program provided residents with the necessary equipment and advice to enable them to take care of a periodic problem at little or no cost. Approximately 150 traps were leant out during the 1992 calendar year. VVhile the service has remained very popular, regulations imposed, mainly at the County level, have made it more difficult to continue providing this service in an efficient manner. The Village has secured the necessary County Permit which allows for the release of trapped animals at a single location in Deer Grove Preserve in Palatine and then only under very specialized circumstances. The Permit also limits the total number of animals that can be released in a year. The Permit further imposes liability on the Village without regard to the fact that the traps are actually being used by a third party (homeowners). During this past April, we were notified that our Permit no longer allowed for the release of raccoons at the Deer Grove site. Due to the increasingly strict regulations, Inspection Services has seen a drop off ~n the number of requests for traps as people opt for contracting with an animal removal service. Along these lines, we no longer lend out large traps for the purpose of catching raccoons. The complexity of the regulations also put citizens and, as a result, the Village at risk for violation as options to release the animals continue to diminish. Internally, staff has been analyzing and discussing options since 1991. Several options appear to be available including continuing the existing policy or at the other end of the spectrum, stop lending traps and act only as a referral source to private animal disposal servicas; Due to the relative popularity of the program and the fact that it is a current Village service, I feel it is necessary for the Board to participate in discussion and provide staff with direction regarding an acceptable level of service. Your information package contains several memos written over the past several years which identify various facets of the problem. The cover memo highlights the situation as it exists today and shows the results of a survey by Inspection Services staff of the policies of neighboring communities. Those communities which continue to lend traps indicate they are facing the same dilemma as we are in Mount Prospect. Appropriate staff wi!i be available to discuss this item. VI. REAL ESTATE TRANSFER TAX ORDINANCE The Village's Real Estate Transfer Tax Ordinance, as currently written, provides for a partial rebate of the Tax in cases where a homeowner sells a home in Mount Prospect and then subsequently purchases another home within the Village. The intention of the rebate provision is to encourage homeowners who are considering selling their current property to purchase replacement property within the Village. While the rebate language of the current Ordinance covers the vast majority of sales/resale situations, it does not take into account situations known as "Contract Sales" in which the sailer takes back the note and the purchaser pays for the property over a number of years on an installment contract basis. Generally speaking, the Deed is held in escrow until such time as the note is retired. One of the conditions in our current. Ordinance calls for the Transfer Tax to be paid on the first house before the rebate is granted to the second-time Mount Prospect homeowner. Under normal circumstances, the Tax is paid at dosing when the Deed is recorded. However, with a Contract Sale, the Deed can be held in escrow for many years. The current Ordinance places a one-year limit on the ability to exercise the rebate option and, therefore, the ability to take advantage of the rebate provision is negated due solely to the form of sale. Finance Director David ~epson has reviewed the Ordinance and has proposed minor changes which w ~uld clarity and take into account a Contract purchase situation. The proposed ~.-mendment is presented for your review and discussion. If the Board so directs, the Ordinance will be placed on the May 18 Agenda for first reading. Vii. VILLAGE NEWSLETTER FORMAT in early 1992, Trustee Clowes expressed a desire to discuss a change in the Village Newsletter's current format. It is my understanding that his suggested changes were passed on to the Board by the former Village Manager but the entire topic was never brougt~t forward for formal discussion. Since other Trustees have expressed an interest in exploring the topic, pertinent information is provided here so as to facilitate preliminary discussion and if there is a desire by the Board to pursue a change in format, staff will finalize costs associated therewith. Depending on the style of Newsletter, it is possible that the Village could realize substantial savings in printing costs. Your information package includes a variety of Newsletter styles including the Des Plaines Newsletter which is produced by the printing arm of the Journal and Topics Newspaper. The Des Plaines Newsletter is of newsprint quality and since it is produced in a manner similar to newspapers, the cost can be substantially less than for the production of a standard newsletter. Appropriate staff will be available to discuss this item with Board members. VIII. MANAGER'S REPORT IX. ANY OTHER BUSINESS X. ADJOURNMENT