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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/11/2000 COW minutes MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE APRIL 11, 2000 I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. by Mayor Gerald Farley. Present at the meeting were: Trustees Timothy Corcora~ Paul Hoefert, P,ichard Lohrstorfer, Michaele Skowron and Irvana Wilks Absent from the meeting was Trustee Dennis Prikkel. Staff members present included Village Manager Michael E. Janonis. Assistant Village Manager David Strahl and Community Development Director William Cooney. I1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of Minutes from March 28, 2000. Motion made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Lohrstorfer to approve the Minutes. Minutes were approved unanimously. Trustee Corcoran abstained II1.CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None. IV. REVIEW STATUS OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS Mayor Farley stated that the Board periodically reviews the existing Boards and Commissions and also looks at the various missions of the groups to determine if there needs to be any alterations or reconfigurations. The recommendations for consolidation or revision is included with a memorandum submitted to the Village Board for consideration. Mayor's Recommendation #1 The first recommendation is the dissolution of the Business District Development and Redevelopment Commission (BDRP, C). He is also recommending the increase in membership from seven to nine for the Economic Development Commission (EDC). General comments from Village Board members included the following items: There was some discussion regarding the completion of the duties of BDDRC. There was also some discussion regarding the additional members to the EDC in an attempt to broaden the membership base. Adelaide Thulin, Four South Owen, spoke. She is.the current Chair of the Sign 1 Review Board. She stated she would ;support disbanding the Sign Review Board as recommended by the Mayor and would consider accepting a transfer of membership to the EDC. Norm Kurtz, Acting Chair of the EDC, spoke. He stated the EDC currently meets five to six times per year and would welcome additional members to enhance the cross-section of interest on the Commission. Consensus of the Village Board was to disband the Business: District Development and Redevelopment Commission and increase the number of members assigned to the Economic Development Commission from seven to nine. It was also recommended that any members from BDRRC would be considered for membership of the EDC along with a transfer of the previous duties assigned to the BDRRC will now fall under the responsibility of the EDC. Mayor's Recommendation #2 The recommendation is to reduce the membership on the Plan Commission from nine to seven members. The primary purpose for this recommendation is to make it easier for a quorum to be convened. Carol Tortorallo, Plan Commission member, spoke. She supports the reduction in the number of membership to make it easier to obtain a quorum for meeting purposes. Consensus of the Village Board was to reduce the number of Plan Commission members from nine to seven members. Mayor's Recommendation #3 Delete the Sign Review Board because much of the function has been absorbed by existing staff and the duties for the Sign Review Board could easily be transferred tothe ZBA. Arlene Juracek, Chairperson of the ZBA, spoke. She would welcome incorporating the sign review process into the ZBA umbrella and would also welcome any members from the Sign Review Board to the ZBA. Village Manager Janonis stated that he would work with the Village Attorney to incorporate relevant duties of the Sign Review Board into the ZBA functions as spelled out by Village Code. Consensus of the Village Board was to disband the Sign Review Board and 2 ..-. transfer the functions to the ZBA. Mayor's Recommendation ~ This recommendation is to reduce the size of the Solid Waste Commission from nine to seven members and modify the meeting schedule. Again, this recommendation is intended to improve the opportunity for a quorum to be present and to relax the meeting schedule so that the Commission can meet when relevant topics are necessary. Ken Westlake, Chairman of the Solid Waste Commission, spoke He stated that he would support the proposed changes since the Commission is already down one member and they expect to lose another member due to a relocation. He also is supportive of the change in meeting schedule because of the limited amount of business when the Commission is not considering the Solid Waste Contract. He would also recommend the Village Board consider reconstituting the Commission in the future to an advisory group that would deal with broader issues related to the environment, General comments from the Village Board members included the following items: A number of Board members stated they were supportive of the change ~ the Commission to address broad environmental ~ssues. Ken Westlake stated that he could draft some possible environmental activities for the Village Board to consider if in fact they want to reconstitute the Solid Waste Commission. Consensus of the Village Board was to alter the Solid Waste Commission by reducing the number of members from nine to seven and modify the meeting schedule, John Kom, Chairman of the Finance Commission, spoke. He suggestecl that the Village Board also look at cleaning up some of the language in the Finance Commission charter at the same time as these other alterations regarding the Commissions are undertaken. Alicen Prikkel, Chairperson for the Youth Commission, spoke, She requested some language clarification and pointed out possible errors in consistency regarding the Ordinance establishing the Youth Commission. She would also suggest options be considered to remove members for non-attendance. General comments from Village Board members included the following items: There were several comments regarding the need to consider minimal attendance 3 standards for all Boards and Commissions. There was also a comment stating that it is important to review attendance over the course of a year or a period consistent with the meetings of the group to determine whether there are attendance issues. Village Manager Janonis stated the Youth Commission could establish a smaller quorum if necessary in order to conduct business due to the large number of members. Trustee Lohrstorfer spoke. He stated that recent discussions with the Chair and Village staff have led to a strategic planning session in the next couple of weeks and this process should lay the groundwork for future discussion among the Youth Commission. David Schein, 700 Ivanhoe, spoke. He is a member of TAP-Mount Prospect and he related his experience at attempting to get people to show up for the meetings and the need to obtain additional teen members. Village Manager Janonis stated that another issue which should be addressed at the same time as changes to the Boards and Commissions is a change in the resolution providing for a free vehicle stickers for members of the various Boards and Commissions. He also stated that there is a need to clarify language within the Resolution as to how Youth Commission members benefit from a free vehicle sticker when some members may not have access to a vehicle. He suggests that a car be in the Youth Commission member's name in order to trigger the opportunity for a free vehicle sticker. General consensus of the Village Board would be to consider a free vehicle sticker per household for a member of the Youth Commission. - V. CONSENT AGENDA DISCUSSION Village Manager Janonis stated that the discussion regarding the Consent Agenda has come up in the past (1978) and most recently in 1998. He stated the use of a Consent Agenda is quite common in other communities as evidenced by the survey matedal that is submitted with the Agenda. He stated the use of a Consent Agenda would require a change in the Code regarding the Order of Business and the consideration to eliminate the concurrence vote for ZBA cases require only two readings. General comments from Village Board members inCluded the following items: Some Board members felt that it is not neCessary that every item be available for 4 full discussion when it is a routine matter. However, several members felt that they would like the option for a citizen to request the removal of an item from the Consent Agenda for discussion purposes There was also a concern that an alteration to the Consent Agenda format would not allow an open forum for discussion and would allow Trustees to hide behind the Consent Agenda and not be forced to give an opinion on various items. There was also a concern regarding what items would be considered for the Consent Agenda purposes. There was a suggestion that housekeeping items be included as a Consent Agenda item. There was a comment regarding the need to make the meeting value added from a citizen perspective to conduct business in a prudent manner. There was also a suggestion that a citizen be defined for purposes of requesting removal of an item from a Consent Agenda. John Korn, Chair of the Finance Commission, spoke. He felt that the option of a Consent Agenda has merit and would recommend the Board consider controls so that every item is not pulled from Consent and no benefit is derived from Consent Agenda vote. It was also suggested that the Village undertake an extensive public relations campaign to notify the public of the change in business so that they are familiar with the process. Consensus of the Village Board was to consider a Consent Agenda Ordinance and allow a citizen, Trustee or staff member to request an item to be removed from the Consent Agenda for discussion purposes. It was also recommended that the concurrence vote be removed from the ZBA vote process, It was also recommended that the Invocation be moved to a position on the Order of Business ahead of the Pledge of Allegiance. Items which the Village Board would consider for Consent Agenda purposes include the following items: Minutes Bills Resolutions Approval of Public Improvements CDBG Approval Second Reading on Non-Controversial Issue Bid Results The Village Board would not like to see the following items on Consent: Levy Ordinance Budget Approval Any ZBA Appeals VI. ELECTED OFFICIAL REIMBURSEMENT POLICY Mayor Farley Stated that this item is only presented for clarification purposes for the Village Board to consider a Policy that has been unwritten and enforced by the Village Manager in the past. Village Manager Janonis stated that there quite a few official functions that Board members are invited to and the majority of these functions have costs associated with them. He would suggest the establishment of a stipend for the use by individual members for this purpose if, in fact, the general parameters as outlined are acceptable. General comments from Village Board members included the following items: There was a concern that it would be necessary to define a charitable event. There also was a comment regarding the need to encourage participation in events as a representative of the Village. Several members felt that the Celestial Celebration expense should not be considered a reimbursable expense. It was also suggested that the spouse of the Mayor be included as an expense to the Village for these functions due to the unique status of the Mayor as a representative of the entire Village. Hank FriedriChs, 320 West Central, spoke. He stated that he feels it is necessary for the Trustees to make an appearance at employee retirement dinners so the inclusion of these exPenses should be considered. General comments from Village Board members included the following items: Some members felt it would be helpful to have a written policy while others felt that elected officials must be responsible to achieve their status as TruStees and there has not been a problem in the past. A comment was made that the burden of enforcement through the policy has fallen to the Village Manager and Mayor and it would be good to have some guidelines for new Trustees. Village Manager janonis suggested that a single page outline be provided as a guideline for consideration of expenses related to Village Trustee functions. Consensus of the Village Board was to consider a general oUtline but not institute a formal policy at this time. VII. MANAGER'S REPORT Village Manager Janonis stated the Welcome New Resident event is scheduled from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. on April 22 at the Senior Center. VIII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS 6 None. CLOSED SESSION Motion made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Skowron to move into Closed Session to discuss Personnel and Litigation. Motion was approved, Meeting moved into Closed Session at 10:15 p.m. Meeting reconvened into Open Session at 11:14 p,m. A discussion took place regarding upcoming meeting schedules. IX, ADJOURNMENT No other business was transacted and the meeting was adjourned at 11:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, DAVID STRAHL Assistant Village Manager DS/mc H:\GEN\Cow~vlinutes\031400 COW Minutes.doc 7