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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/14/1993 COW minutes REVISED REVISED ~ ~ 11117/93 MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLe: SEPTEMBER I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Vdtage Manager M~chael Janon~s at 7 40 p m Present at the meebng were Trustees George C]owes, T~mothy Corcoran, Paul Hoefert, U~chaele Skowron and ~rvana Wilks ^bsent from the meeting were Mayor Gerald Farley and Trustee R~chard Hendncks Also present were Assistant to the V;llage Uanager Oawd Strahl, Pubhc Works D~rector Herb Weeks, Deputy Pubhc Works D,rector Glen Andler, Soho] Waste Coordinator L.~sa ^nge]l, Me{ Both and Jerry Mclntosh, Pubhc Works personnel, F~nance D~rector Dawd Jepson, Pohca Chief Ronald Pavlock, Crime Prevenbon Officers Bdl Roscop and John Wagner On a MotIon by Trustee Irvana Wi]k~ and Seconded by Trustee H~efert, Trustee T;mothy Corcoran was unan;mous~y voted as President Pro Tem for the meeting i II, MINUTES A Mobon was made by Trustee Corcoran for acceptance of M~nutes of August 24 Trustee Hoefert asked to defer M~nutes unbl clanfied and Trustee Skowron pointed out the date ~s wrong Mobon was w~thdrawn Rewew in detml for next meeting Ill. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Ms Laura Rushke, 506 Na-Wa-Ta, approached the Board to d~scuss the Par~ D,stnct/School D;strict She smd that c;bzens should voice op;nlon and asked whether the land was for sale before School D~stnct asked about property What does V~l]age mean by swapping? Effect of land not as open land on atl residents study~ Wants to see the ong;nal contract - has not rece;ved, not the same nobce as School D~stnct residents What can the School D~stnct not use L~ons Park'~ Trustee Corcoran read the V~llage's statement regarding the Park site t Pat Wolf, 810 South William, stated that the School D~stnct ~s desperate to find a s~te Th~s hurts the V~llage Board She submitted a Pebbon signed by 100 residents of Mount Prospect and Des Pla~nes to keep the site as a Park No not~ficabon has been g~ven to the pubhc Park is m flood plato They are concerned about flooding into personal property Traffic study has increased and w~th school, traffic w~ll be ~ncreased further More cons~derabon is necessary, Don Maxwell, 632 Soultt Edward, stated that ~f new schools are necessary, th~s s~te w~ll k~ll the Referendum He does not want to lose the park to a school He feels property values w~ll be affected w~th a park s~te versus a school Where would the school have gone ~f the prewous referendum had passed Trustee Corcoran stated that the V~llage Board and other Boards are consldenng all comments and a copy of our tape would go to other Boards Trustee George Clowes stated the V~llage Board did not release the mformabon on the School s~te ~The decision to release the reformation was made by the School Board ~tself The School Board has the ultimate dec, sion on the s~te Resident Pat Wolf sa~d School D~stnct 57 has the '~lt~n~ate dec, stun but if the * V~llage does not sell the s~te to them, then construction of a school on th~s s~te would not be an opbon to the School D~stnct ~ ~ Trustee Hoefert stated that ~f the School s~te was under consideration then the ~, ' ' ~V~llage would have a Pubhc Heanng to determine c~bzen ~nput There would be no closed door meetings or approvals of selhng th~s s~te to the School D~stnct w~thout such input IV. FUGITIVE MOUNT PROSPECT ~ Trustee Wilks sa~d that she had teen a similar, program m Flonda while on vacation which prompted her to wrrte the memo requesting the staff investigate the poss~b~hty of starting such a program in Mount Prospect She also stated that based on the ~nformatmn of the program In Florida, the program only had been on for one week and had already caught two fugitives The program ~would be taped for replay, Trustee Wilks has talked to the appropriate staff that would be ~nvolved ~n such a project Follow-up comments from the staff have been positive There would be a dedicated phone hne for recording calls from c4tlzens General d~scuss~on followed among the Trustees One of the questions that was ralsecl was the start-up cost Cheryl Pasalic stated that the only addlbonal cost she could arnve at would be the cost of the dedicated phone line Chief Ronald Pavlock stated he thought ~t was an excellent ~dea and it would ~mprove crime prevention He thought that the cost could be minimized and there would not be any expenditure of Pohce overtime for putting together the program by rearranging the work day ~ Officer Bill Roscop felt that~the program idea fits ~nto the overall crime prevenbon program as estabhshed by the V~llage He also stated that ~t was a good ~dea to focus the program to Mount Prospect residents Many times the local newspaper may not provide the coverage necessary to focus on crime prevention aspects necessary that th~s program would prowde Officer Roscop also stated that he thought the program should m~bally be approximately ten to fifteen m~nutes and d~d not necessanly have to focus only on crime It could also talk about prevention t~ps and other ~nformat~on for the pubhc Then after, the program could expand based on the amount of ~nformat~on available Trustee Hoefert sa~d apparently the cost ~s m~mmal He questioned the fact whether we had enough fugitives to lUStily running a lengthy program or not Chief Pavlock stated he would prefer a shorter program at first due to short staff and full program Officer Roscop stated that we could include bond jumpers and other ind~wduals that would have connections to Mount Prospect Village Manager Michael Janonis stated that we could uflhze a w~der audience to determine interest and expand over time by starting small Trustee Corcoran asked whether ~t would be v~able to check with any sponsors to help defray any possible costs Cheryl Pasalic stated they are bound not to get sponsors for paid-for-public access programs but there ~s a posslblhty to sohc~t donations Trustee Corcoran stated whatever options for add~bonal revenue he would be interested ~n Trustee Wllks thanked the staff for their support and stated that any money saved ~r~ crime prevei~bon Js well worth the program ~tself. Th~s program would g~ve the residents an opportumty to identify the bad guys and ~t ~s ~mportant to stress that ~'~ crime ~s not runmng rampant ~n Mount Prospect J Chief Pavlock stated that they are always looking for new ~deas Resident Emie Lassie at 305 South EIm'~spoke He stated that he cannot understand why the V~llage Board ~s so concerned about spending $1300 for a program when they h~red the Assistant V~llage Manager when the position does not show up ~n the budget document ~Viliege Manager Michael Janonie stated the Assistant pos~bon was budgeted for an approved by the V~llage Board The document that Mr Lassie ~s refemng to appears to be the draft budget Trustee Corcomn stated that every item has to be funded and approved bY Board approval V. DEPARTMENT REVIEWS. PUBMC WORKS DEPARTMENT Village Manager Michael Janonis stated that the purpose of these meebngs w~th the Departments ~s to prowde basic mformabon and educate the Wllage Board about the Department operatmns ~n preparation for upcoming Budget Heanngs ~ Public Works Director Herb Weeks stated he appreciates the opportumty to prowde insight into the Pubhc Works' operabons He stated that the Pubhc Works Department operates as a true Pubhc Works Depa~ment w~th all employees cross- trained thereby creating a labor force that is very flexible Adding add~tmnal serwces and programs would create a dra~n on resources based on the level of staffing that the Pubhc Works Department current has Staffing levels have not changed in five years according to the Park R~dge survey Pubhc Works Department let 30 contracts which amounts to approximately $15 m~lhon m Pubhc Work~ project~ over the last fiscal year Some'of these contracts included water and refuse The m~ssion of the Pubhc Works Department includes preserving the infrastructure, therefore, they have to work w~th at least 22 other governmental agencies and adhere to numerous unfunded Mandates which have stressed resources ~ Village Manager Michael Janonie pointed out to the V~llage Board on page 11 of the report showing the staffing levels which have not changed ~n the last five years Th~s points out that the Public Works Department is getting more out of employees w~thout adding employees for services Trustee Hoefert stated this appears to be a lot of material He also asked the question, "What ~s being done about the old well s~tes? Can we sell these off?" Herb Weeks stated that under the JAWA requirements, the V~llage must maintain a reservoir to supply needs Therefore, if JAWA goes down, they are able to draw from the wells For example, they test the wells every two months to make sure they are ~n operabng order so that not all well sites are wable for selling The V~llage also turns over all the water ~n the storage tanks every two days Trustee Hoefert sa~d are any s~tes capable of being sold Herb Weeks stated that not all sites have buildable capabilities, therefore, their value would be very hm~ted Trustee Hoefert asked if JAWA goes down, how long a supply does the V~llage have'> Herb Weeks stated he could provide water to the Village for two weeks Michael Janonis stated that JAWA ~s looking at emergency alternabves to wells because they have deeded that wells are not the long-term solution for emergency s,tuabons They are also looking at interconnect~ons .Trustee Hoefert asked what are the costs of repairing wells that have gone bad Herb Weeks stated that due to the depth of the wells, they can easily be fowled and the maintenance cost is substantial He also stated that the V~llage has hm~ted interconnects w~th Des Pla~nes and Arlington Heights for add~bonal water if necessary Michael Janonis reminded the V~llage Board the interconnects cannot supply the entire town They are for hm~ted use only. Trustee Wilks stated that she noticed the point brought up ~n the report about the problems at Village Hall Herb Weeks stated that when the V~llage purchased the building from ~ts original owner, the bank, numerous changes were made to construct offices S~nce the building ~s being used for a purpose ~t was not designed for, it has stressed the heating and a~r-condlflomng system and the system ~tself ~s almost 30 years old There ~s a substanbal cost in maintaining and repamng the heating and a~r- conditioning system Many w~ndows leak and they have major heat transfer problems due to the s~ze of the windows ~ ~ Trustee Hoefe~t asked ~f the V~llage staff had looked into the poss~b~hty of hmng a space planner to rewew the utlhzatmn of space ~n V~llage Hall Hero Weeks stated that much of the equipment in the Village Hall ~s obsolete and there are numerous deficiencies It is d~fficult to determine where he should start ~n trying to address some of these problems Trustee Skowron stated that many th~ngs need to be looked at and possibly upgraded m the rewew of the V~llage Hall Michael Janonls stated that the mtenbon was not to talk exclusively about the V~llage Hall but the other services that Pubhc Works provides Trustee Wilks asked how recychng was working m the multi-family dwelhng un~ts Usa Angell stated that they are rece~wng approximately 70% partlc~pabon Some of the larger complexes they have hmlted cooperation She is working on some of the problems attnbuted w,th multi-family recychng spec~ficelly w~th contamlnabon of matenals due to m~x~ng of matenals ~ Trustee Wilks asked ~f the s~ze of the containers are still a problem as before Usa Angell stated that the container s~ze has been solved but there are problems with people taking the containers when they move out of the apartment Trustee WlIks comphmented the staff on the recychng program ~tself and has nobced that other communities have used Mount Prospect as an example of a responsive recycling program Trustee Wilks also asked how the pubhc educabon ~s going Trustee Hoefert stated that since Mount Prospect was one of the leaders, they must maintain that lead over the other c~tles He suggested ~n taking the lead w~th contract negobatlons next year He also asked the staff to consider including other materials ~n negotlatmns of the contract including scrap metal and construction debns Lisa Angell stated that she is interested ~n looking at all areas of waste m order to reduce the waste stream [ Trustee Clowe$ questioned the cost of the recychng program and specifically where the $29,000 comes from as pointed out ~n the report Usa Angell stated that the $29,000 ~s the average net recovery from the sale of recyclable matenals Trustee cl°wes asked what ~s the avoided cost of the recycled matenals compared to the cost of landfilhng the matenals Lisa Angell stated ~t was approximately $26 per ton Trustee Clowes asked ~f that cost figure is based on the cost of avoidance of the material as if ~t was landfilled Usa Angell stated ~t currently costs more to recycle than to landfill The V~llage w~ll receive a d~vers~on credit from SWANCC when SWANCC comes on hne Trustee Clowes asked ~f the V~llage staff had any idea about the fee pa~d to SWANCC Usa Angell stated that ~t may cost more for SWANCC compared to landfilhng ~t However, ~t ~s anticipated that ~t w~ll become cost effective over time Trustee Comoran stated that ~t as ~f the rate for SWANCC ~s close appears very to the commercial rate The Transfer Station is the long-term cost which ~s pa~d for over bme ~ Trustee Skow~on sa~d the program reflects Mount Prospect's commitment to residents It m~ght be a good ~dea to provide the residents with ~nformabon about where to send their waste ~n the future and opportun~bes to recycle Usa Angell stated residents are prowded a complete hst of available recychng s~tes ~n the northwest suburbs ~ Trustee Corcomn stated that the staff should consider rewew~ng ~the hauhng contract and focusing on three years or longer or to amortize costs over t~me SWANCC should prowde draft language for other part~pants ~n the orgamzabon and look at economies of scale w~th other towns Allow SWANCC to prowde any mforrnabon Mount Prospect may need m order to take some of the burden off the Mount Prospect staff Usa Angell stated that SWANCC has improved services recently ~n th~s effort Trustee Corcoran stated that hopefully there w~ll be no duphcated effort and the staff should be especially aware of avoiding' this possibility Usa Angell stated that she does not know whether there are any duphcat~on of serwces, however, much of the money is'~golng ~nto educabon at schools and trying to get the residents at the most basra level to participate in recychng As far as she knows, there are no duphcated efforts ~n terms of education Village Manager Michael Janonis stated that one of the areas of interest was the mulb-fam~ly educational materials has been prowded ~n d~fferent languages m an effort to reach all residents Trustee Wilks sa,d she had toured the Transfer Station and said that a good neighbor agreement was ~n place ~n order for residents to monitor operations at the Transfer Stabon SWANCC offered to test waterwells ~n the River Forest Subd~wsmn but had~ only one well owner take up the offer ~ Dave Jepson sa~d they are looking to firm up the figures at this bme and ~t appears that a large increase is'on the honzon However, there are some posslblhtms of cost offsets and w~ll refine the figures m the near future m order to prepare for the budgebng process Trustee Wilks stated ~t was her understanding that SWANCC ~s ~look~ng at residential and commerc4al waste to reduce the cost of the capital project of the Transfer Station Usa Angell stated that as far as she knows at th~s time, the focus ~s on residential only w~th the a~t~c~patlon of adding commercial as necessary Trustee Corcomn thought it was a good idea to bnng as much waste as possible and to lower the cost of the facd~ty Trustee Corcoran suggested that we bnng ~ Pubhc Works back for another n~ght s~nce the~re,,~s ,qu~te a b~t of ?atenal yet to be gone over VI, APARTMENT COMPLEX ISSUES - POTENTIAL FUNDING MECHANISM , ~, Trustee Corcoran stated that ~t was h~s understanding that the staff is looking ~nto a Special Service Area for apartment services funding as the preferred mechanism to fund add~tional services Village Manager Michael Janonis stated that the funding proposal is to address concerns that are occurnng in the south end of town The V~llage Board has attempted to address some of these problems through three additional Police Officers The staff has created an internal task force to look at the problems concentrating on revle~ng occupancy hm~ts and property maintenance ~ssues It was found through this rewew that In order for the services to be provided, there needs to be a means to fund the necessary servtces This funding mechanism of creating the Special Service Area was brought up tonight primarily because ~t must be ~n place by the end of the year. The Village Board has the option of creating a Spe=al Service Area and determining the use of the funds at a later date The staff w~ll track all expenses to jusbfy the Spec4al Service Area Dave JePs°nStated the mechanism for the V~llage Board to adopt the Ordinance includes a Public Heanng and a pubhcetlon of the Notice in order for the persons ~n the Spec4al Service Area to have an opportunity to voice their concerns Residents ~n the Special Service Area can terminate the Special Service Area option ~f they have 51% of the signatures of the registered voters and 51% of the signatures of the property owners w~th~n the Special Service Area Th~s proposal has been reviewed by the Vtllage Attorney and meets all necessary legal requirements for creabng a Special Service Area This ~s a d~fferent type of D~stnct which is typically created ~ It is usual for most Spe=al Serwce Areas'to be created to fund Capital Improvement Projects instead of just services To meet the necessary deadline in order for this Special Service Area to get on the Levy for next year, ~t must be completed by the end of this year. Therefore, we are presenting the proposal tonight with a Pubhc Heanng on Tuesday, October 5 and it ~s projected the Ordinance w~ll approved at the second reading on December 7. Based on this bme frame, the V~llage should beg~n receiving funds from the Special Service Area ~n late August or September of 1994 Based on the review of the value of the property contained within the Special Service Area, it ~s expected an average of every $10 per hundred would generate approximately $48,000 The current Landlord~enant fee of $7 00 per unit was put in approximately 1983 and ~t has not changed since then The V~llage gets approximately $39,000 from th~s fee but ~t ~s still d~fficult to raise the fee to generate the necessary revenue to prowde the services necessary to keep th~s area ~n a proper condition By estabhsh~ng the D~stnct, the V~llage Board can estabhsh the Tax Rate at a later date Prior to the V~llage Board establishing the actual rate, the staff should have some type of esbmates on the cost and services expected t~o be prowded in the Spec4al Serwce Area ' Trustee Corcomn stated that it appears to make sense to h~m to idenbfy the 9 sources of revenue pnor to ubhzlng the revenue This ~s very s~m~lar to what most businesses do Dave Jepson stated ~n reviewing the s~te and the 'serv~c~es prowded, this area appears to be re~ce~wng more services than other areas ~n the V~llage Trustee Clowes~asked why ~s Boxwood not ~ncluded within the Special Service area Trustee Skowron asked ~f staff had any idea of the number of property owners within the proposed area Dave Jepson stated he was not exactly sure of the number based on inaccurate records from the Township and the County Also, the properties must be contiguous ,, ~. Trustee Wilks asked what are the general expectations of additional services which these funds may be used for -, Dave Jepson suggested the poss~blhty of additional Pohce Officers, add~bonal Inspectors and funding add~bonal Human Services ~,Also, currently the Pubhc Works Department ~s expending services m th~s area for clean up and vehicle removal It ~s estimated the Wllage could obtain from $280,000 to $300,000 per year to fund these additional services Trustee Wilks asked if there must be a tracking mechanism in order to show where the funds are going .. Dave Jepson stated that all services w~ll be identified and tracked as money is expended Trustee Wilks asked if there had be~n any feedback from Comm(~nwealth Edison concerning th~s Special Service Area Dave Jepson stated he has contacted Commonwealth Edison but has not received any official reply ~ Village Manager Janonls stated that the V~llage has already put in services and capital ~mprovements w~thln the right-of-way itself Trustee Wilks stated she supports the program, however, she ~s concerned about the current d~spanty of taxing rates of apartment owners compared to other businesses and asked if there ~s a poss~blhty of legal acbon that could block th~s Trustee Wilks further stated she felt ~t ~s important to maintain affordable housing stock in the V~llage, however, ~n an area that ts demanding add~bonal serwces, she ~s concerned about the ~nequltms of that service being delivered Resident Merrill Cotton, of 2710 Brlanvood Drive We~t, commented that he supports the Spemal Service Area and stated that ~t was ~mportant to ~dentlfy the problems and services that are prowded Increase services if there is a funding mechanism He stated he ~s surprised the V~llage ~s proceeding faster than he had expected to address this problem Resident Frank Vasney, at 2103 Jody Court, spoke He stated he had some concerns about the Special Service Area 'As he remembers, when there was a water problem for all residents, all residents paid and all residents pa~d to buy land ~n the downtown He felt that we had over-h~red Firefighters and d~d not hke the idea of Special Service Areas because it ~s selective taxation for services to be provided He felt resources could be reallocated to prowde these services w~thout add~bonal taxes for this area The cost should be borne by all Village residents It is the responslblhty of the Village not to drive people out of the V~llage He would recommend against the Special Service Area · Trustee Wllks commented on Mr. Vasney's comments She stated that some of h~s comments sounded a httle b~t contradictory She stated the V~llage had put m Special Service Areas for water improvements and curb tmprovements Mr. Vasney stated Capital Improvements can be measured but not serwces It ~s much more d~fficult to define services provided for the additional costs He stated it was the respons~blhty of the general government to use other means necessary to generate enough revenue to spread the costs out among all residents Trustee Hoefert stated there ~s a difference between homes and apartments Apartments are typically businesses where land owners make a profit while homeowners typically are not renbng out their home for a profit The level of Pohce service provided to both residents ~s approximately the same, however, the demand is much higher ~n apartment areas , Trustee Clowes stated he was concerned about the cost being passed on to '~ renters He illustrated th~s by stabng that renters are currently paying more than other residents ~n town based on the amount of taxes within their monthly rent He further stated that this problem should be addressed as a Wllage-w~de problem He sa~d ~t would be ~mportant for the staff to review the possibility of sh~ftmg to establishing a Special Service Area resources prior Trustee Hoefert asked Trustee Clowes ~f he was opposed to Special Service Areas Trustee Clowes stated he was not opp(~sed to it, however, when the V~llage Board talked about Flood Control as a Special Service Area, th~s opbon was not put forth Trustee Hoefert stated that many areas w~thm the V~llage do have curbs and gutters and Special Service Areas for curbs and gutters are not that unusual However, in this case where an area is getting additional services, the assumption ~s that they should pay more for the add~bonal services There ~s a possibility that the increased cost will be passed d~rectly on to the renters, however, it ~s d~fficult to determine whether that is actually the case He agreed w~th the project because of the additional services He suggested that the staff research the poss~b,lity of creabng an Ordinance and requ~nng owners of apartment buildings to prowde pnvate security for their buildings ~ ~ Trustee Ch)wes felt the cost could be absorbed by increased efficiencies or passed on to the renters ,~ - Trustee Skowron suggested s~nce there was no requirement to levy the tax for the Special Service Area, the staff could ident~fy the basic serwces and recommend the level of the Levy annually beyond the basic level of services She also stated that th~s area ~s demanding more services, th~s group ~s taking more than ~ts fair share of services It ~s ~mportant to look at long-term solubons for th~s problem She d~d not th~nk the residents would I~ke resources being sh~fted to other areas and reducing resources and services from their area Apartments are businesses which are asking for more services She suppo~rts the concept Trustee Corcoran stated he supported the concept The d~fference between th~s Issue and the flooding ~ssue ~s flooding typically occurs over land so there ~s numerous property owners revolved and ~t would be much more d~fficult to ~denbfy Special Service Area for spe~fic location for flood control The V~llage Board d~d ~dentlfy the Sales Tax revenue to go d~rectly to flood control, therefore, the Board has estabhshed the precedent ofdeterm~n~ng a funding source pnor to paying for the services He stated he agrees the Property Tax ~s not the best way to generate revenue However demand based on head count ~s also not necessanly the best means to generate revenue He does not beheve that apartment owners are paying more per capita than homeowners for services He th~nks the problem ~s the lack of re~nvestment back into the build,rigs themselves keeping them m a I~vable cond~bon ~ If th~s tax w~ll change the investment decision of property owners, then he supports ~t Th~s area ~s stressing the balance of resources and ~t ~s ~mportant to address this problem It ~s a step ~n the nght d~mcbon in a positive way to minimize impact on the rest of the V~llage Trustee Wllks stated she used to hve ~n the area and ~t was a race place It ~s ~mportant that residents want to keep the quahty of hvlng and ~t ~s the Board's respons~b~hty to maintain that Trustee Corcomn stated this is a first m a series of d~scuss~ons and th~s was a very good discussion concerning this issue The Public Heanng on the Spe~al Services Area is scheduled for October 5 All interested partms are inwted and property owners are inwted also to voice their concerns about the Spec4al Service Area 7 VII, OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Wilks stated that a resident celled her concerning the M~llers Stabon project Workers had been working after hours Them was some concern about getting V~llage employees to respond due to the weekend hours However, a Pohce Officer d~d come out to talk to the resident She just wanted to make sure them was some follow-up to the residents concerning th~s problem Th~s meeting adjourned at 11.03 p m Respectfully submitted, DAVID STRAHL Assistant to the Wllage Manager DS/rcc