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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/13/1996 CWC minutesfi MINUTES COFFEE WITH COUNCIL SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1996 9:00 a.m. 2nd FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM, VILLAGE HALL The meeting was called to order by Mayor Gerald Farley. Trust- ees present were Timothy Corcoran, George Clowes, Paul Hoefert and Irvana Wilks. Representing staff were Assistant Village Manager David Strahl and Public Works Director Glen Andler. Village residents present were: Walter F. Beck, 300 S. Main St. Ben Trapani, 222 S. Pine Beverly Carr, 427 Larkdale Patrick Carr, 427 Larkdale Rachel Toeppen, 409 S. HiLusi Ramon Rubio, 412 N. Elmhurst Ave. Mr. Kurtz, 32 W. Busse David Schein, 512 S. NaWaTa Barb Kutzer, 103 W. Euclid Nancy Bobikewicz, 1114 N. Meadow Ln. Roy Chapman, 1102 Sycamore Peter Gogolewski, 508 N. Main St. Jeanette Gogolewski, 508 N. Main St. Mayor Farley began by stating there would be no discussion on commercial vehicles. Residents wishing to voice their opinions should direct them to the committee that will be appointed at the April 16th Village Board meeting. Beverly Carr, 427 Larkdale, asked if a petition signed by commer- cial vehicle supporters was presented to the Village Board, would it have an impact on the Board's decision. Trustee Wilks suggested her time would be better spent working with the commit- tee versus soliciting petition signatures. Walter Beck, 300 S. Main, distributed a letter explaining a recent violation notice he received from the Village's Building Division. In 1982 Mr. Beck obtained a permit from the Village to increase the width of his driveway and install a shed. He is now being told 14 years later it does not conform to code and he has 15 days to correct the violation. Mayor Farley directed staff to research the status of Mr. Beck's 1982 permit and to allow him some additional compliance time. Mayor Farley did caution Mr. Beck that should staff verify the code requirements, he would be expected to comply. Rachel Toeppen, 409 S. HiLusi, came to inform the Village of two traffic problems in the downtown area. The first is the problem of cars illegally parking on the south side of Busse Ave. at - Rte. 83 in front of Central Continental Bakery. This is a dan- gerous situation for cars turning east onto Busse Ave. off of Rte. 83. Mayor Farley instructed staff to notify the Police to monitor this situation and Public Works will investigate the possibility of additional signage and/or painting of the curb. It was also suggested that Roger Czerniak, the owner of the bakery be informed of the situation. Rachel Toeppen's second traffic problem was the missing No Right Turn on Red signs for eastbound traffic on Northwest Highway at Rte. 83. As far as she can recall the signs were always there. The Public Works Department's Engineering staff will check with the State to see if they were the ones who removed the signs, why they did it and is it possible for them to be reinstalled? As long as the discussions were on traffic, Trustee Wilks wanted to make the Public Works Department aware of a problem with the length of the green light for east and westbound Lincoln at Busse Rd. It has been her experience that there is not enough green time for traffic to clear the intersection to go north- bound on Busse Rd. before the light turns red. The Engineering Division of the Public Works Department will review the timing sequence of these traffic lights. Ben Trapani, 222 S. Pine, and Norm Kutzer, 32 W. Busse, repre- senting the Economic Development Commission came to express their concerns for more redevelopment in the Village's down- town. They inquired about Northwest Electric and their possible plans for expansion on their current location. They also wanted to know the status of the Village Hall, as well as the old Doretti's site. It is their opinion that if the Village allows Northwest Electric to expand it will eliminate the possibility for any expansion of retail and commercial use such as those taking place within the Ponterelli development area. Mayor Farley requested staff to schedule this topic for discus- sion at a Committee of the Whole meeting in June and that both B.D.D.R.C. and the Economic commission be invited to the meet- ing. Trustee Hoefert stated that the Village has been working with Northwest Electric for the past seven to fifteen years and they continually say they do not want to relocate onto Northwest Highway or Central Rd. Trustee Corcoran agreed that something needs to be done in the immediate future and in fact if nothing happens within the next 60 days with Northwest Electric the issue should just be dropped. Trustee Clowes pointed out that when the TIF area on the west side of 83 was first formed the property owners there were not given the opportunity to offer input into the project. He is of the opinion that this project would move forward if the property owners were given more of a voice in the project and the opportunity to share in its develop- ment. Trustee Wilks asked that staff put together a packet of informa tion outlining the history of the proposed development within the area bounded by Central, Northwest Highway and Rte. 83 in- cluding all previous correspondence and plans. This information should be distributed to each of the Village Board members prior to the meeting and the same information should also be given to all B.D.D.R.0 and Economic Development Commissioners. Instead of a COW meeting, it was now the consensus of the people present that a Saturday morning open discussion would be more productive. Mayor Farley instructed staff to see about schedul- ing such a meeting. Beverly Carr of the Prospect Meadows subdivision had two addi- tional items of concern. The first being a sight/distance prob- lem at the corner of Larkdale and Elmhurst Ave. Bushes located on the northwest corner are growing out into the right-of-way and obstructing the view of traffic if you are eastbound on Larkdale trying to turn onto Elmhurst Ave. The Public Works Department will contact the property owner regarding this sight/distance problem. The second item was a problem with disregard for the posted turning restrictions onto Prospect Manor from Rand Rd. Mrs. Carr indicated that vehicles are constantly ignoring the posted restrictions and requested that the Police Department do a bet- ter job of enforcement. David Schein, 512 S. NaWaTa, asked if the Village was aware of the movement by the Illinois Commerce Commission and the State Supreme Court systems to prohibit communities from regulating satellite dishes. Trustee Wilks stated that the Village cannot currently ban the use of satellite dishes but can in fact regu- late where they are placed on their property. Mayor Farley - indicated the Village is well aware of this movement and that we do not support it and will continue to monitor it. Mr. Schein also wanted to know if the Village was aware of the Park Dis- trict planting new trees along Council Trail? It appears they have planted these trees directly on top of the Candota sewer. The Public Works Department will investigate the situation and if it is determined that these trees are in conflict with the Candota sewer they will ask the Park District to relocate them. Nancy Bobikewicz, 1114 N. Meadow Ln., as a representative of the homeowners in her subdivision, wanted to make the Mayor and Trustees aware of several situations. The first being the prob- lem with the home at 101 W. Euclid (southwest corner of Euclid and Wedgewood) where there are four cabs being parked on the driveway. These are not local cabs but Chicago cabs. She has talked to Bill Cooney about this situation and he has indicated he would send an inspector out to the home. She also feels that the home is being utilized as a multifamily dwelling in that there are eight kids and six adults living there. According to the local mailman he is delivering mail to several different names. Mrs. Bobikewicz also believes they are doing remodeling - without a permit. She also said the inspectors need to come out to the home sometime prior to 8:00 a.m. because after that time the cabs are no longer parked in the driveway. The next item of concern was the Rand Rd. Corridor Study. She is not happy with what is being proposed; townhomes on the west side between the Cadillac dealer and the Mobil gas station and additional businesses on the east side north of the Harley deal- er. Mayor Farley indicated that these plans are only advisory and that the Village Board has the final say in the project. Trustees Wilks and Corcoran told Mrs. Bobikewicz if she has strong feelings and concerns about the study she should attend the Plan Commission meetings where she could voice her concerns firsthand. Trustee Wilks also pointed out that it was her opin- ion the planned use and proposed project is more staff generated than Plan Commission generated. Trustee Clowes pointed out that staff was trying to coordinate the Rand Rd. Corridor efforts with the State's SRA plans. The last item is Mrs. Bobikewicz believes there are numerous property maintenance code violations on the three homes along the west side of Rand Rd. just south of the Mobil station. As far as she knows these homes are all owned by the same owner and they are in dire need of repair. Mayor Farley indicated that the Community Development Dept. will look into the situation. Mr. Roy Chapman, 1102 Sycamore, was the next resident to speak. Mr. Chapman does not like the fact that the Village won't allow 1 its residents more freedom to do what they want with their prop- erty. It is his opinion that the Village is too restrictive. He does not agree with regulations governing rental property. The owners should not be held accountable for their tenants. Guns need not be regulated by the Village. He should also be allowed to replace his own water heater if the need arises, and do any electrical and/or other plumbing repairs. If the Harley dealership wants to offer tattoos to their customers they should be allowed to do so. The Mayor as well as the Trustees pointed out to Mr. Chapman that these permit requirements and/or inspec- tions are for the protection of the residents. Residents can in fact do a lot of their own repairs but they must have them in- spected by the Village. This ensures the resident that it has in fact been repaired correctly and helps eliminate any poten- tial hazards. Mr. & Mrs. Gogolewski of 508 N. Main had several issues they wanted to bring to the Mayor and Trustees' attention. The first item is the speeding that is occurring on the 500 block of north Main. The posted speed limit is 35 mph and for the most part vehicles are travelling in excess of 50 mph. They request the Police increase their enforcement efforts and would the Village consider lowering the speed limit. The reason for requesting lowering the speed limit is also related to the condition of the pavement. There are numerous failures of the pavement and when the traffic travels at high speeds and hit these failures the noise is enough to shake their home. Mayor Farley asked staff to contact the state and see if some sort of temporary patches and/or overlays could be installed along the deteriorated sec- tions of north Rte. 83. The last item Mr. & Mrs. Gogolewski brought up was the problem with the Village flushing the fire hydrant in front of their home. The crews do not use the flush boards and every year they have to fill in the washed out area with more dirt and seed. The Public Works Director Glen Andler said he would make sure that the flushing crews do use the flush boards from now on. The meeting was adjourned at 11:15 a.m. Respectfully submitted, '-'40 Glen R. An ler Director of Public Works GRA/eh CWCAPR13.96/FILES/ADMIN