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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/06/1993 COW minutes COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE November 9, 1993 I Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Mayor Gerald L. Farley at 7:30 p.m. Present at the meeting were Trustees George Clowes, Pachard Hendicks, and Paul Hoefert. ~ Trustee lV~chaele Skowron amved at 8:25 p.m. Trustees Tim Corcoran and I~ana W~l~ were absent. Also present were Vdlsge Manager Machael E. Janoms, Public Works Du~ctor Herbert L. Weeks, Inspection Services Director Chuck Benc~c, Engineering Coordinator Jeff Wulbecker, Inspection Coordinator Dan lakes, Enwronmental Health Coordinator Robert Roels, Inspection Services Office Supervisor Ruth Maychszak, Commander M~chael Salatmo and Finance Drrector Dawd Jepson Addmonally, Pachard Bachhuber, ~ of the Finance Commission, two Villzooe residents and three members of the print med~a were m attendance. ~ H Minutes The minutes of the October 26, 1993 Committee of the Whole meeting were accepted and filed Trustee Clowes requested that pm~graph 4 and paragraph 7 on poge 11 of the Rewsed Minutes of September 14, 1993 be corrected to read as follows Paragraph 4 - Trustee Heefert asked Trustee Clowes ~f he was opposed to Special Service Areas. Paragraph 7 - Trustee Clowes felt the cost could be absorbed by increased efficiencies or passed on to the renters HI Citizens To Be Heard Jed Peeler, 316 North Elm Street addressed the Board and said he had addxtaon~l mformauon regarding the Cook County Firearm Ban that will become effective November 18, 1993 He stated that he is opposed to the County Ordinance and requested the Village to adopt an ordinance repeahng the County Ordinance. ~ Michael Donu-zalski, 1330 Indigo Drive also stated that he is opposed to the Cook County F~rearm ! ff'~ Ban and requested the Village to use its home rule power to pass an exempiaon ordinance. IV Departmental Reviews - Inspection Services Inspectton Serwces Dtrector Chuck Bencic presented informaUon on the three diwslons of the Inspection Services Department: Budding, Environmental Health, and Engineering. He stated that the work load of each diwslon is increasing with the greatest number of pernuts on record issued in 1992 He pointed out that the types of building pernuts that were being issued was changing In the 1980's, the pernuts were predominantly for new construction, whereas m recent years many of the pernuts have been for bmldmg additions or remodeling. Mr. Benc~c stated that the change in the types of pernuts being issued has resulted in a lower dollar volume, but review and inspecUon time has actually increased. He attributed this to the fact that each penmt is for a umque project compared to the Lexington-Old Orchard Project where numerous ~ pernuts were issued for slrrnlar structures. Additionally, more homeowners are now doing thetr own work and it generally takes more time to explain the various codes to individuals rather than dealing with contractors. Also, new regulations associated wath A.D.A., asbestos 'removal, sod contamination, and backflow preventors have increased staff t~me for pernuts and inspections, In the area of Envtronmental Health, Mr. Bencic stateid that the time required for food servxce inspections has increased due to the culturally diverse nature of the restaurants in Mount ProSpect. He added that cooperaUon of the restaurant owners is very good but that they often need to use an interpreter to discuss food handhng requtrements. Another responslbxhty of the Envtronmental Health Dlvasion is the inspection of mnlti-fanuly apartment umts. Mr. Benclc smd that due to the aging of many of the mult~-fanuly sti'uctures, much more time ~s reqmred for inspections, re-inspections and court time where citations are issued He , added that the adoption Of the BOCA Code and the Property Maintenance Code has also added staff time. He stated that an additional 2 to 6 inspectors would be needed to effectively enforce the . provisions of these codes. The Environmental Health D~v~s~on personnel are also responsible for ammal control regulations and service requests regarding insects, rodents, property maintenance and landlord/tenant problems. Envtronmental Health personnel also have had additional responsth~hties due to new restncuons on smoking in pubhc places. Mr. Benclc smd that the Engineering Dlvas~on has also reahzed a change m the types of development projects in the Village. He stated that most of the larger parcels of land have been developed and that there are often more engineering pwblems wtth smaller, less bufldable parcels. The Engineering Dlwslon is responsible for all road projects, rewew of development plans, project inspection, flood plato studies and community rating system studies. He smd that one posit~on was ehminated m 92/93 and this has resulted in less ava.dable time f~or special projects. However, he added that the computer a~ded design (CAD) system and other new technologies have helped to increase pr&luctivlty. Mr Benclc stated there are three general concerns regarding the operation of Inspection Services 1) The need for additional space; 2) The level of staffing ~s less than in most other Vdlages, and 3) There is a need for continued automation. He concluded by saying that Inspection Services will continue to search for ways to ~mprove~ services, .but additional programs could only be undertaken ~f more staff ~s provided. Mayor Farley asked ~f the same inspector,,was~ass~gned to follow-up tnspecUons for a specific project. He added that he has heard that dfffereiit uispecto~s sotneumes have thfferent requirements Mr. Benoit responded that they try to cross-Warn inspectors so that an ind~vtdual tnspector can do multiple tnspect~ons, but that some projects reqmre an inspector with a special sknll. He also smd that each job has a project card so that each inspector can see the comtnents of any other tnspector assigned to that project. Mayor Farley also asked about the requn-etnent for wire tnesh tn windows. Dan Jakes responded that wire mesh is only required for certain rated structures. Mayor Farley then asked about the road pwgram. He smd it appeared that we were movtng in fits and spurts and ~sked if more resources should be invested tn the road program. Mr. Bencxc responded that the Vtllage has over 135 miles of streets and flus fiscal year only 5.5 miles of resurfacing and 1.5 nules of reconstruction were achieved and at this rate we wtll fail behind. He stated that tnore funding is needed. Trustee Hoefert complimented Mr. Benc~c's staff for dotng an excellent job. He smd there is a nusconceptton that the inspector is your enetny, but actually he is trying to help you, he is your friend. Trustee Hoefert asked for an explanalaon of garage sale permits, swimming pool inspections and animal control act~wlaes. Ruth Maycb~7~lr explained that garage sale pernuts take 15 - 30 minutes each and they cotne during the bus~est time of the year. Bob Roels stated that only pubhc pools are inspected and that live traps are loaned out to re.~dents primarily for squirrels and opossums. He added that the creeks are bmtod and checked for rats during June - September. He smd there are few complaints with this program. Trustee Hoefert then asked how tnuch engineering work was outsourced. Jeff Wulbecker responded that tnost of the major engineering projects were initiated by Pubhc Works and as a result they used outside sources tnore than Engineering. Mr. Bencic added that the road resurfacing program and some water mares are done in-house but bigger projects such as the Linnetnan Road Project have been contracted out. Trustee Hoefert asked if the Village was maintaining a list of contractors who worked without a perrmt. Mr. Bencic responded that *word is getting around' and the probletn not as bad as it has been Trustee Clowes asked if it was worthwhile to issue garage sale pernuts. Mr. Bencic responded that a pernut is ~ssued and recorded to be able to effectively control the nutnber of garage sales a resident has. Mr. Janoms added that before pernuts were issued, follow-up was on a cotnplaint only bas~s but it became too difficult to track. He added that flus is one of the areas where the Vtllage is looking at an automated process. Trustee Clowes said he would hke to see tnformat~on from other Villages on garage sales, Trustee Clowes asked if the Village needed to tnake the food tnspection procedures and requtretnents easier to understand. Bob Roels responded that the Village has adopted the State Food Code which is tnodeled after the Federal Code. He said the problem was tnore a language banter than ~understandab~ltty of the Code. Trustee Clowes also asked about the number of re'mspeclaons required for tnulti-fanuly umts and if there was a penalty for extra inspections. Bob Roels responded that it usually took at least two retnspect~ons to get cotnphance and that currently the Village dtd not charge a penalty for extra inspectaons. Trustee Clowes smd he would hke informataon on what other muulc~pahues do m regard to charging extra for remspectaons or ~mposmg penaltaes for excessive remspecUons. Trustee Clowes suggested that Engtneenng staff compahsons may be better based upon th~ rmles of roads in the commumty rather than on the bas~s of population. Adchtaonally, he suggested that the number of multa-fanuly inspections should be based on the number of multa-fanuly umts rather than populataon .~ Trustee tIoefert stated that ~t appeared that the Vdlage expended 1/4 of an employee's tame on ~ garage sale pernuts and that he supported a fee of $5.00 to $7.50 per penmt. He also asked selectave street resurfacing ~s effectave and ~f there was a benefit to sealtag ~oads. Mr. Benc~c responded that ~t ~s not cost effectave to selectavely resurface streets because the highest costs are for curb replacement and restorataon. Mr. Wulbecknr stated that sealtag does extend the hfe to a degree but it does not ~mprove the basic structure. He added that crack sealtag xs more cost effectave than sealtag the entare street: Trustee Skowron stated that she would hke to see funds included m the 94/95 budget to obtain software and hardware for automating Inspection Servaces. She added that she would hke to see the necessary nules of streets resurfaced and reconsffucted each year ba~ed on a predetermined need rather than on the funds avaLlable. Also, Trustee Skowron smd she thought the Vdlage should continue to issue garage sale permits. Village Manager Janoms pointed out that there was valuable information that had been provided on the Vdlage's Road Program. The report shows a total of 44.9 rmles of resurfacmg at an estimated cost of $5,409,303 and 18.6 miles of reconstruction at an estamated cost of $8,810,388. The ~'port hsts the streets in each area of the Village and the work needed on a priority bas~s He added that the Village ~s consMenng borrowing funds to be able to complete a greater number of reconstructaon projects m 94/95.. Trustee Clowes said he would like to know the percentage of streets that deteriorate each year to the point of danger. Mr. Ben¢~c responded that the Village is using data that is e~ght years old and that they are looking at ways to update thts mformataon. Prellmlnnry Discum~on - 1994/1995 Budget Finance DLrector Sepson stated that one of the first steps in the d~velopment of th'e 94/95 budget is the determination of the 1993 Tax Levy. Mr Sepson smd that in relataon to the 1993 Tax Levy, certain procedures needed to be followed to comply wath Truth In Taxataon requtrements. The first requtrement was the determmataon by means of a resolutaon of the expected amount of the proposed tax levy. This resolutaon needs to be approved at least 20 days prior to the pubhc hearing for the 1993 Tax Levy. Based on the regular meeting dates remaining m November and December, tt would be necessary to pass the resolutaon on November 16, 1993, introduce the 1993 Tax Levy Ordinance on December 7, 1993, pubhsh a notace on December 10, 1993, and then hold the pubhc hearing and adopt the ordinance on December 21, 1993. 4 Mr. lepson reported that prehmina/'y figures for the 93/94 fiscal year indxcated an esUmated $1,250,000 deficit and a projected $1.3 million deficit for 1994/95. Under these ctrcumstances, Mr. Jepson requested that the Board consider increasing the proposed 1993 levy to an amount greater than 5% higher than the 1992 levy. Mr. Sepson informed the Board that a decision on the amount of the 1993 Property Tax Levy could be deferred to November 30, 1993 if the November 16, 1993 meeting would be adjourned to November 30, 1993. Mr. Jepson reported that during the Mount Prospect 2000 d~scuss~ons prior to the development of the 93/94 budget, it was proposed that the Village increase vehicle hcense fees as of May 1, 1994. The current $20 fee for a passenger vehicle has not been changed since May 1, 1987. The recommendation is to increase the passenger vehicle fee to $30 and to increase fees for other velucles proportionately. It is expected that the proposed increase would raise approximately $310,000. The purpose for the increased velucle fees is to provide additional funds for the street resurfacing and recon$lxuctxon program. Mr. Jepson explained that a decision must be made by the first week m Dec~mber so supphes could be ordered. Trustee Ileefert stated that he supported the increase in the vehicle hcense fee to fund adcht~onal street projects. Trustee Hendrlcks asked Mr. Jepson what current vehicle license fees are used for. Mr. Jepson responded that the monies are deposited in the General Fund and used for street related projects There was consensus to defer the decision on the amount of the 1993 Tax Levy and the increase in vehicle license fees to November 30, 1993. Manager's Report No report was given. VII Any Other Business Trustee Hoefert complimented the staff on the thoroughness of the request for proposal for development of the Pme/Wille Block. Trustee Clowes stated that lleen Manno represented the Vdlage on the CNN newscast on TAP Mount Prospect. He also mentioned that an editorial m the Clucago Tribune on Monday, November 8, 1993 was very positive. Vdlage Manager Janonis stated that he had received calls from many commumt~es nat~onwide who requested reformation on TAP Mount Prospect. He asked for permission to prepare a packet of information to send to interested communities. The Board concurred and Trustee Clowes responded that he would be glad to help put the packet together. 5 Mayor Farley reminded the Board of the 9:~0 a m. meeUng Saturday, November 13, 1993 with the Sohd Waste Commismon. ~ ~ VIII Adjournment There being no further business to be dxscus~l, the meeting adJourned at 9:54 p.m. Respectfully subnu~d David C. lepson Finance D~rector DC J/sm