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Home My WebLink About12/14/1993 COW minutes REVisED 1/12/94 1/26/94 MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE DECEMBER t4, 1993 I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Gerald Fadey at 7 34 p m. Present at the meebng were Trustees George Clowes, R~chard Hendncks, Paul Hoefert, Michaele Skowron and Irvana Wilks Absent from the meebng was Trustee Timothy Corcoran Also present at the meebng were' Village Manager Michael Janon,s, Assistant to the V~llage Manager David Strahl, Public Works Director Herbert Weeks, Deputy Publ,c Works Director Glen Andler, Forestry, Supenntendent Sandra Clark, Finance Director David Jepson, Inspection Services D~rector Chuck Benc~c and Engmeenng Coordinator Jeff Wulbecker. (,'~ II. MINUTES The Minutes were asked to be deferred by Trustee Hoefert due to h~s request for · add~bonal detail on pages 4 and 5 of the M~nutes concerning add~t,onal Trustee comments Trustee Clowes also requested a review of page 3 to ensure that the comments were accurate The M~nutes were deferred unt,I the next Committee of the Whole meebng III.CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Richard Dumbrowsid, of 914 Sumac Lane~ stepped forward to speak about ~property taxes, He asked why can't residents get more acbon concerning m~n~mlzlng property taxes He stated that much of the d~scuss~on has focused on senior ~bzens He ~s concerned that the younger c4bzens are not getbng equal cons,deratlon of nsmg property taxes Trustee Hoefert stated that as Trustees, we all want to keep taxes down and asked Mr Dumbrowsk~ if he has gone to the other taxing bodies w~th h~s concerns Mr Dumbrowsk, stated that he is trying to get the other taxing bodies to d~scuss th~s concern, however, he feels there seems to be a great deal of apathy among the c~tizens He is planning to go to D~sthct 214 meetings ~n the near future Trustee Hendrtcks requested the V~llage Manager to rewew the Norwood pnce proposal for the downtown redevelopment proJect He wanted staff to research the price ~n order to ensure the price submitted ~s a complete pnce including site clearance and pubhc ~mprovements He also requested at the next V~llage Board meebng of December 21 that the Trustees reconsider their preferred developer vote VBage Manager Janonls stated he would prowde more reformation prior to the December 21 Board meeting He also stated that the Norwood pnce proposal stated that Norwood would undertake site clearance prov,d,ng they would be reimbursed the cost by the V~llage of Mount Prospect IV. URBAN FORESTRY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM ~ ' Forestry Supenntendent Sandy Clark spoke concerning the Urban Forestry Management Program She stated that the development of an Urban Forestry Management Program was a Department goal estabhshed in 1985 and then again, ' in 1987, however, due to the t~me commitments assoc;atad w~th creating a Plan, the Plan itself was not completed until 1993 One of the critical elements of sucre, a plan is the ~nventory of trees That took a couple of years to accomplish as part of the Plan Sandy ,ntroduced Chns Luley from ACRT Company Chris Luley spoke detailing the Urban Forestry Management Program His firm spec;alizes in the presentation and development of Forestry Management Programs He then proceeded w~th a shde presentation highhghbng the numerous aspects of the .. Forestry Program within Mount Prospect The Plan itself only looked at parkway trees, not the trees on private property beyond the parkway Trees themselves prowde an enwronmental benefit ~ncludlng shading and reduced water run-off. Trees also cut down on air pollution and cool urban environments The value of the trees within the urban area ~s estimated at approximately $47 million Dutch Elm disease prompted the establishment of Urban Forestry Programs in numerous mum~paht~es ~nclud~ng Mount Prospect He stated the tree populabon itself in Mount Prospect is rated as very good to excellent The total number of trees reviewed was approximately 20,000 As part of a typical Urban Management Forestry Program, ~t Is vital to have an estabhshed tree maintenance program. The Forestry Department for the Village does have a strong maintenance program which has shown benefits to the V~llage ~ ~ through the high rating of the tree health The majority of the trees ~n the parkway tend to be newer due to the Dutch Elm d~seasa problem which occurred a few years ago As these trees get older, there w~ll be an increased need for maintenance General discussion followed whereby numerous questions concerning miscellaneous issues related to the Forestry Program, type of trees planted and the types of trees currently planted in the parkway Trustee Hoefert asked numerous questions including the effect of last year's drought on the tree population and ~f the Department has any recommendations to protect trees dunng construction He also asked rf the slower growing trees have a longer hfe-span compared to the fast-growing shade trees Trustee Clowee asked if the Forestry budget ~ncludes money for leaf p~ck-up He also asked what the ratio of parkway trees is compared to trees on private property He also stated the report states that most communities pay approximately $2 60 per capita for trees and he inquired whether th~s figure ~ncludes other governmental bodies' expenditures for trees, for example, the Forest Preserves, etc He also stated that there had been more trees planted than removed based on the analysis of the report, however, he questioned the level of c4tlzen pa~c~pation m replacement trees and whether the Village was mcumng higher cost for replacement w~th mtmmal c~tlzen participation Trustee Wilks stated that the report recommends on page 27 that the V~llage revise its Ordinance and prohibit topping of trees She also stated that the report recommend removal of unwanted trees She also asked rf there could be anything done to prevent gypsy moss prior to them becoming active m the destruction of the trees - Sandy Clafl( and Chris I.uley responded to the numerous comments from the Trustees The drought may cause long-term root damage, however, regular watenng does help In minimizing the root damage Also, there has been some .(..~ rapport estabhshed with area contractors to minimize the ~mpact and damage to trees due to construction projects There really ~s no data on whether slow- growing trees have a longer hfe span as compared to faster growing trees, ~ however, most homeowners want the fast growing trees to maximize shade avatlablhty as quickly as possible Many more trees have been planted without c~tizen partl=pation because there ~s minimal developer money available due to development being down within the V~llage so the Village will ~ncur additional cost ~n the V~llage for maintenance and ~nstalhng trees The topping of trees takes away the crown and it disrupts the growth pattern of the various trees The V~llage Forestry Department has a policy of not topping trees, however, vanous utlhties continue th~s practice The State is still studying the gypsy moth program ~n an effort to reduce its impact and study its life cycle However, as of th~s date, there has been minimal progress V. ECONOMIC INCENTIVE PROGRAM Lawrence Freedman, attomey for t~e Target Development Group, spoke He requested that the Board table the d~scusslon on Economic Incentive Programs until all of the Board could be present to partlc4pate ~n the discussion He also requested that the planned second reading of the Zomng for the Target property at the Village Board meeting of December 21, 1993 be delayed until th~s d~scuss~on has taken place 3 ,~Trustee Hoefe~t stated that the Economic Incenbve discussion should be broader than the single Target Development issue Mayor Farley stated that he would defer this discussion until another Committee of the Whole meeting when all members could be present VI. STATUS REPORT FOR REGIONAL ROAD PROJECTS Village Manager Janonis stated that staff has provided the Village Board w~th an outline of current construction projects within the Village and cost information which related to Flood Control Projects linked to these road construction projects He also stated that the numerous regional road projects are going to impact upon the V~llage due to addlbonal staff bme and wanted to keep the Village Board informed of these projects and their status Chuck Bencic provided an overview of the five major projects that are projected for the next couple of years w~thln the village of Mount Prospect Project #1 is Seminole Lane Project #2 is Unneman Road The V~llage is asking for Federal funding assistance for both of these projects. ~ #3 and 4 are SRA - Route 83 and SRA Route 12 Projects ' ' These two roads are expected to have m~nlmal financial ~mpact on the Village, however, there is expected to be substantial impact on local traffic movements Project #4 is Kensington Road Improvement near Prospect High School , Jeff Wulbecker, Village Engineer, summanzed the venous projects ~He started 'w~th an overview of SRA Route 12 (Rand Road) SRAs are supplemental major artenal roads designed to supplement highway traffic A recent pubhc heanng was held to present the final design report The projected schedule to prowde a final eng~neenng report is expected ~n February of 1994 The only real financial ~mpact to the village w~ll be the cost of upgrading traffic s~gnals with Optlcon systems The V~llage has gone on record w~th issues including a barner median and the ~ntersectlon of Rand/Kensington and Route 83 General d~scussmn followed in which numerous Trustees voiced concerns about d~splacame~t of homes and businesses and the impact of the barner median on local businesses along Rand Road.~*~ Jeff Wulbecker further stated that IDOT is ~nterested ~n designing Rand Road as a long.distance travel road minlm~zmg local traffic movement through the use of mcreased green time on the traffic hghts ~n the Vtllage Jeff Wulbecker then summarized the status of SRA Route 83. No draft report ~s expected until early 1994. IDOT has proposed a project from Interstate 90 to Northwest Highway. The cost impact to the Wllage ~s hm~ted to any ~nfrastructure ~mprovements that may be provided s~multaneously with the road construction Based on the prehmmary plans that have been prowded to the Wllage, a s~gmficant tree loss is expected The w~demng of the road to five lanes w~ll cause 75% of the trees to be removed between Golf and the s-curve. With only four eleven-foot lanes, there w~ll be a 50% tree loss Some of the problems that are expected to be encountered w~th this reconstruction are the closeness of the homes to the road at various locations and the cul-de-saclng of P~ne and Wille streets on the s-curve. The pubhc heanng ~s expected to be scheduled for sometime in early 1994 and to take place m the spnng of 1994 General d~scuss~on followed m which numerous Trustees stated their concern about the tree removal and the ~mpact on residents including the noise of enlarged lanes closer to residential units It was also discussed among the Trustees that, ~the pubhc nobce and the pubhc heanng ~s the respons~b~hty of IDOT and recommended the V~llage staff also provide the notices to the area residences which w~ll be affected Jeff Wulbecker stated that the traffic hghts which had ong~nally been projected to be removed w~ll now be staymg on the road after reconstruction Jeff Wulbecker then summarized the status of Semmole Lane reconstruction from Wolf to River Road Th~s ~s a joint project between Prospect Heights and the Village of Mount Prospect They are projecting funding from the Northwest Mumc~pal Conference for approximately 60% of the total pnce Prospect Heights is the lead agency and they are awaiting status of the funds ~n order to determine when construction m~ght beg~n General d~scuss~on followed in which Trustees were ~nformed that the Northwest Mumclpal Conference ~s the agency that reviewed Federal Fund Applications for ~'eglonal road projects JeffWulbecker summarized the Linneman Road reconstruction The project runs from Dempster to Golf Road At th~s point, the Village is ~n the process of obtammg the nght-of-way necessary for the reconstruction A prehm~nary schedule has been determined w~th the recent approval of the englneenng firm which is charged w~th performing the Phase I and Phase II eng~neenng 5 , Village Manager Janonls stated that the schedule is also based on projected ,Federal funding approval Currently, there is some discussion with the Northwest --~ Mumc~pal Conference in order to obtain some funds to assist m this project However, due to the limited amount of funds available, the prospects of obtaining funds is somewhat unknown at th~s point However, the Village staff ~s pursuing the possibility of obtaimng funds in order to assist in funding this project Jeff Wulbecker then summanzed the Kensington Road project Th~s project is pnmanly w~thin Arlington Heights, however, they have asked for some assistance from the V~llage of Mount Prospect at the point of the intersection of Prospect H~gh School and Kensington Road At th~s point, Village staff has not expended much staff time in this project due to the fact that Arlington Heights ~s the agency which ~s interested in constructing th~s road VBage Manager Janonis stated that one of the concerns the Village has ~nformed Arhngton Heights of is the State requirement for junsdl~onal transfer Arlington Heights was reformed that the V~llage of Mount Prospect is not interested in taking jurisdictional transfer over any part of Kensington Road at this point Trustee Wllks offered some final comments concerning SRA Route 83 Sh~t' reiterated her concern for taking of people's front yards in order to widen the road She is ~nterested m determining ~' other options are available Village Manager Janonls stated that staff will work with IDOT to determine what options are available and commumcete these options,to the Board VII. MANAGER'S REPORT No Manager's Report VIII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS No other bus~ness IX. EXECUTIVE SESSION A Mobon was made by Trustee Wilks and Seconded by Trustee Skowron at 10 13 p m to go into Executive Session to d~scuss ht~gatlon V~llage Board returned from Executive Session at 10 27 and i:Jromptly adjourned for the evening X. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 10 28 p m espe. c~full~ s/u b/m~ed, ~ DAVID"STRAHL- ' DS/rcc Assistant to the Village Manager 6