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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/23/2016 COW MinutesCOMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES February 23, 2016 I. CALL TO ORDER — ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Village Board Room of the Village Hall, 50 South Emerson Street, by Mayor Arlene Juracek. Trustees present included Paul Hoefert, John Matuszak, Steven Polit, Richard Rogers, Colleen Saccotelli and Michael Zadel. Staff present included Village Manager Michael Cassady, Assistant Village Manager David Strahl, Community Development Director Bill Cooney, Public Works Director Sean Dorsey and Finance Director Dave Erb. III.. APPROVAL OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES FOR January 26 2016 Motion made by Trustee Hoefert seconded by Trustee Polit to approve the revised minutes as presented with minor modifications as requested by the Mayor. Minutes were approved. Trustee Zadel abstained. III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None IV. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE/DOWNTOWN MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION - DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES: Chad Busse, President of the Downtown Merchants Association spoke. He is presenting the joint principles of both the Chamber and the DMA tonight regarding downtown redevelopment principles. The principles are as follows: a. Retail development follows residential: A downtown business district cannot attract high-quality businesses until it has a mass of residents to support the businesses. Unlike a commercial corridor which relies on traffic numbers and easy in/out access for its customers, downtown districts need local residents to provide the customer base. b. Retail spaces should primarily be occupied by retail/destination businesses: Non -retail businesses do little to create the all-important foot traffic every downtown needs. Restaurants and drinking establishments are best at creating this for traffic. Incentives or disincentives from the Committee of the Whole Page 1 of 3 02/23/16 Village may be a way to lead building owners in that direction. We believe TIF funds could be used in this way. c. If you have limited real estate, going up is a cost effective option: As the Lakota Group pointed out in this Downtown Study, in order to achieve the desired density going up not only makes financial sense, it provides a number of residential units necessary to sustain the downtown businesses and resulting "activity" we all say we want. If acquiring new downtown real estate is not a viable option than going up makes tremendous sense. d. Larger contiguous parcels attract more attention in a commercial marketplace: Using the Small Triangle as an example, offering small pieces of land for redevelopment among other small, future development sites inherently leads to a hodgepodge development that ultimately leaves the "highest and best use" component out of the planning process. The municipality should be collecting and packaging contiguous sites on paper if buying a parcel outright is not an option. Municipality has a staff, means and desire to do much of this investigation/matchmaking work. e. The Municipality needs to take a leadership role in the downtown redevelopment: The community we live in belongs to the collective residents of the community itself. The community administration should strive to create that community. Allowing outside developers large commercial entities to create a landscape of our community is not serving the best interests of the community. Municipalities can provide both incentives and disincentives to accomplish what it wants. It begins with a clear vision of what is wanted. We encourage strong oversight and even the occasional "Special Purpose Ordinance" to accomplish the vision of the community. Mr. Busse thanked the Village Board for its consideration of these principles, Marcin Bos, representative of the Mount Prospect Chamber of Commerce spoke. He stated that he and every member of the Chamber Board is encouraged and interested in working with the Village to achieve these principles. Dawn Fletcher Collins, Executive Director of Mount Prospect Chamber of Commerce spoke. She stated there is a great deal of collective thought that can be directed toward the development process and is excited about participating in such a process. General comments from Village Board members include the following items: There was general support for the principles as depicted. Committee of the Whole Page 2 of 3 02/23/16 W It was also noted that some of the concepts are not necessarily new and the Village Board would be encouraged by partnering with various entities to achieve the overall goals moving forward. 0 It was noted how the market is involved in the development process and its impact on the height within the community. It was suggested that targeting specific business types with incentives and disincentives could be an option to consider. • The Village Board was generally supportive of continuing the dialogue with the various stakeholders involved in the downtown redevelopment. V. CONSIDER USE OF UTILITY FUND RESERVES FOR REPLACEMENT OF THE STATION 17 GROUND STORAGE TANK ROOF Village Manager Cassady suggested the Village Board authorized the use of the fund balance in the amount of $912,000 as the differential for the repair that is currently unbudgeted as part of the scheduled repair work for Station 17. This is recommended so that there will be no diversion of funding resources from the existing water main and sewer construction schedule for the 2016 season. Consensus of the Village Board was to proceed with utilizing fund balance reserves from the water and sewer fund for the balance of the repair for the roof at Pump Station 17. VI. MANAGER'S REPORT None VII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS None VIII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:58 p.m. DAVID STRAHL Assistant Village Manager Committee of the Whole Page 3 of 3 02/23/16