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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/26/1996 COW minutes Revised 12-10-96 MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE NOVEMBER 26, 1996 I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Farley called the meebng to order at 6 23 p m Present at the meebng were Trustees George CIowes, T~mothy Corcoran, Paul Hoefert, Arlene Juracek and Irvana W~lks Trustee R~chard Hendr~cks arrived at 8 45 p m Staff present ~ncluded V~llage Manager M~chael E Janon~s, Assistant V~llage Manager Dawd Strahl, Pubhc Works D~rector Glen Andler, Deputy Pubhc Works D~rector Sean Dorsey, F~nance D~rector Bnan Caputo, Assistant F~nance D~rector Carol W~dmer I1. MINUTES Approval of M~nutes of November 12, 1996 Mobon made by Trustee Clowes and Seconded by Trustee Corcoran to accept the minutes Trustee W~lks requested a change to page 4 to ~nclude a statement under general trustee comments to the effect that pohce officers should be trained to recognize code violations She also requested an addition to page 5 to ~nclude a suggesbon that code inspectors be available on the weekends or after hours for code enforcement Minutes were approved w~th rews~ons III.CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None IV. 1997 BUDGET DISCUSSION Public Works Budget Review: Public Works Director Glen Andler provided a general overview of the department and various d~ws~on accomphshments for 1996 He also prov,ded an overview of the proposed budget ~tems for 1997 General Comments by the V~llage Board Members ~ncluded the following ~tems Trustees commented on the fact that despite the aggressive replacement of sidewalks c~t~zens sbll walk In the street instead of on the sidewalk There was also a d~scuss~on as to the cost and reasons behind why wells are maintained ~n the village Some discussion also took place as to the cost difference between recycling and not recychng refuse D~scusslon also took place as to the cost of the extended leaf p~ck up program Mr. Andler responded to a number of the comments He stated that the wllage maintains 5 wells which ~s down from 17 when the village provided water only from the wells The wells are maintained as the emergency water back up system The proposed cost of rehabd~tabng a well ~s the first rehab s~nce 1985 The ~nterconnect~ons w~th other JAWA communities do not prowde enough water capacity to service the community so a scaled back well system is maintained for emergency water service He further stated that the cost of the extended leaf p~ck up program ~s s~gnlflcantly less than originally requested by the vendor Village staff is verifying the amount of matenal which ~s picked up and the vdlage is only paying for the amount venfled Trustee Clowes prowded a graphic illustrat~on of the need to increase the funding for street resurfac~ng and reconstruction He stated many of the reads were substandard by today's criteria and the hm~ted funding allotted m the 1980's has now necessitated the change ~n the funding in th~s budget NON-DEPARTMENT BUDGET ITEMS Finance Director Br, an Caputo prowded a general overview of the items which constitute non-departmental budget ~tems He h~ghhghted the aggressive debt payback amount for th~s fiscal year as in past budgets He also h~ghhghted the health and habd~ty ~nsurance expenditures The wllage ~s self funded for these coverages and purchases excess coverage for claims over a spec,ftc dollar value The health ~nsurance expenditure ~s anticipated to increase approximately 12% for next fiscal year Poi,ce Squad Fleet Replacement Discussion V, Ilage Manager Janonis presented an option to purchase 20 new Chevy Capnce squad cars under the 1997 budget which would effecbvely provide enough squads for departmental use unbl 1999 Th~s proposal ~s based on the fact that GM has terminated production of the Caprice and the only comparable vehicle avadable ~s from a single vendor Purchasing the vehicles ahead of schedule will lock in a specific pnce and allow for the marketplace to determine if other vendors are going to prowde squads besides Ford ~n the Crown V~ctona model There are funds avadable to make this bulk purchase due to vehicle replacement funding previously allotted The add~bonal vehicles would be mothballed untd needed for replacement, other commun~bes have utilized th~s approach to respond to the vehicle supply s~tuabon He is requesbng the Vdlage Board Members to consider this opbon as part of the 1997 budget 2 General Comments by the Vdlage Board Members ~ncluded the following ~tems Numerous trustees requested additional ~nformat~on as to the cost of conversion of the vehicles, the cost of maintaining the vehicles ~n a mothballed state, what effect the storage would have on the warranty period, the cost of duphcat~ng ~nventory parts, and the cost of retraining personnel to maintain vehicles from a d~fferent manufacturer Village Manager Janonis stated that staff would prowde additional research material to the board to consider at the wllage board meeting on December 3, 1996 However, since the avadabd~ty of the vehicles ~s only guaranteed untd December 3 the final decision would most hkely have to made at that meeting FINANCE COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS Finance Commission Chairman Dick Bachhuber prowded an overview of the commission's recommendations for the wllage board to consider as part of their final determination of the 1997 budget The F~nance Commission generally supported the proposed 1997 Budget as submitted Items of special ~nterest are I~sted below 1 The F~nance Commission opposes the formation of a Merit Pay Pool which would prowde lump-sum bonuses to certain non-bargaining unit employees based upon performance The vote on the proposal was 4 ~n favor of the pool and 5 opposed Some commissioners are opposed to the concept of merit pay on phdosoph~cal grounds, others have concerns about how a merit pay plan would be administered 2 The F~nance Comm,ss~on recommends that budgeted expenditures of the Commumcat~on Division not exceed the estimated revenues to be received from the Cable TV franchise fees The vote was 8 - 1 3 The F~nance Commission supports the addition of an administrative Community Service Officer ~n the Pohce Department The vote was 8 - 1 4 The F~nance Commission recommends that the purchase of a cholesterol machine be sh~fted from the 1998 forecast budget to the 1997 budget because estimated revenues would offset the cost of the machine The vote was 9 - 0 5 The F~nance Commission recommends that the F~re Training Academy be reinstated ~n the proposed 1997 budget because ~ts estimated revenues would offset ~ts expenditures The vote was 9 - 0 6 The F~nance Commission opposes continued funding of downtown white Christmas lights The vote was 3 in favor of conbnued funding and 6 opposed 7 The Finance Commission supports "Opbon 4" for the V~llage's street improvement program and recommends that the program be funded on a pay- as-you-go basis rather than through the issuance of bonds The vote was 9 - 0 Finance Commissioner Ann Smilanic made a presentation to the board as to why option number 4 as recommended by public works should be approved by the wllage board to accelerate the reconstrucbon and resurfac~ng the deficient streets ~n the community She also prowded an overview as to where the add~bonal funds could be found to fund th~s pay-as-you-go program Among the ~tems she suggested to be redirected were the funds set aside for Chnstmas I~ghts ~n the downtown, the merit pay pool, sales taxes proceeds which currently fund the debt for streets, the general fund money which ~s used to support the communications d~ws~on due to the shortfall of franchise fees, and motor fuel tax funds (MFT) New revenue sources recommended ~s an increase ~n the vehicle sbcker by $2 annually and an increase ~n the ubhty tax from 2% to 4% General Comments by the V~llage Board Members ~ncluded the following ~tems V~llage board members were concerned that the bmmg of th~s d~scuss~on may not be appropriate based on the stage of approval the budget ~s ~n at th~s brae However, th~s topic ~s cr~bcal and add~bonal d~scuss~on ~s necessary to determine a plan to resolve th~s ~ssue Board members were also concerned about ~ncraas~ng the ut~hty tax at th~s t~me and additional study ~s necessary General Consensus of Village Board: Trustee Corcoran was supportive of cons~denng option 4 to fund the street reconstrucbon and resurfaclng program However, he Is concerned about the ~mpact on the budget at th~s stage and would not be supportive of the budget reducbons recommended by the F~nance Commission He would consider an increase ~n the vehicle st~cker as a funding source, but ~s not supportive of the Increase in the utility tax at th~s bme He thanked the F~nance Commissioners for all their work and recommendabons to the wllage board Trustee Hoefert concurred w~th Trustee Corcoran's comments and IS not supporbve of the recommended reductions by the commission to fund the road program He further stated that he Is not favorable to ~ncreaslng the ubhty tax at th~s bme He supported adding the fire training academy back ~nto the budget because of offsetbng revenues generated from ~ts operabon He thanked the F~nance Commissioners for all thmr work and recommendabons to the wllage board Trustee Juracek was not supporbve of ~ncreasmg the utdlty tax at this t~me due to the posmble ~mpact of attempbng to collect the tax from out-of-state service prowders She encouraged more study of the F~nance Commlsmon recommendabons to resolve th~s Issue She thanked the F~nance Comm~smoners for all their work and recommendabons to the wllage board Trustee Clowes felt that the funding for this proposal should be hm~ted to ubhzlng current revenues and should not ~ncrease taxes to fund the proposal He encouraged a thorough rewew of current operabons to pr~onbze needs and levels of services He recommended removing the funding for the Christmas hghts and use the funds for service needs He recommended a review of the ment pool and cable operabons to determine ~f funding should be sh~fted He suggested the vdlage board review the posslbdlty of charging ambulance fees for general revenue purposes He felt the wllage may be subsidizing insurance compames for th~s serwce He felt the board must rewew the overall tax burden for citizens He thanked the Finance Comm~smoners for all their work and recommendations to the wllage board Trustee W,lks supported the continued funding of the merit plan pool and using general funds for cable operabons She also supported adding back ~n the F~re Trmmng Academy and funding the purchase of the cholesterol machine recommended by Human Services The funding for Chnstmas lights should be maintained as ongmally proposed She would hke to rewew the ~mpact of repaying bonds through ubhty taxes before moving forward with th~s funding source She thanked the F~nance Commissioners for all thmr work and recommendations to the village board Village Manager Janonis stated that the F~re Academy was removed because departments were required to meet specific budget targets and in order to reduce the overall percentage increase for the department ~tems were removed regardless of whether the ~tems had offsetting revenue The pay-as-you-go option ~s the most prudent, however, an overall capital ~mprovement budget with long term road ~mprovements ~ncluded is expected to be addressed during the coming year and should asmst ~n laying out a plan for a long term solubon Consensus of the V,Ilage Board There was general support to approve the 1997 budget as presented. However, schedule a meeting in the near future with the Finance Commission to determine the preferred strategy to address the need of reconstruction and resurfacing the streets which are in the most need of repairs Trustee Clowes stated he was unw[Ihng to increase taxes to fund roads and ~s concerned that expenditures are ~ncreas~ng faster than revenues Trustee Hendricks requested the village board approve the add~bon of a K-9 unit to assist the pohce department Chief Ron Pavlock stated that the department d~d not request a K-9 unit because the department has other pnor~bes and the pohce can receive K-9 related services from other commun~bes w~thout incumng the costs of maintaining a K-9 unit Consensus of the Village Board There was no support to include funding for a K-9 unit. Trustee Clowes requested $2000 be designated from undetermined sources of the budget for TAP-Mount Prospect for fiscal Year 1997 He stated that TAP ~s expecbng to receive a grant ~n the near future to match funds prowded by the wllage Consensus of the Village Board Support allotting $2000 from undetermined sources to fund TAP-Mount Prospect acbvit~es for f, scal year 1997. Discussion of Police Traff, c Related Items Chief Pavlock stated that the purchase of a photo radar unit was expected to cost approximately $100,000 He also stated that the state legislature has I~m~ted the use of photo radar and judges have not recognized the c~tabons as vahd bckets The purchase of a smart taller which could be moved from location to Iocabon to ~llustrate speed ~n heavy traffic areas is recommended at th~s t~me and the pohce staff could continue to research the possible use of photo radar Consensus of the Village Board Board members were supportive of the purchase of a smart trailer to ~llustrate speed to motorists. However, staffwas requested to continue to research the implications of eventually purchasing the photo radar. Board members were supportive of funding the merit plan pool, continue fund,ng cable with general fund money to make up the shortfall of franchise ~ fees, add back in the fire training academy (due to offsetting revenues), approve the addit,on of a Community Service Officer (CSO), purchase a cholesterol machine for Human Services (which will generate revenue), and funding Christmas I,ghts as proposed. All other budget ~tems were approved as presented. Trustee Hendricks stated he was opposed to adding the CSO Trustee Clowes stated he was supporbve of the add~bonal CSO ~f exisbng expenditures were offset by the cost of th~s add~bon Trustee Hendricks voiced concern about how the v~llage board responds to Finance Commission recommendations He felt the recommendabons should be followed and would hke to see commission recommendations for each department before the committee of the whole meeting to discuss funding for the ~nd~wdual department · V. OTHER BUSINESS Village Manager Janonis thanked all participates ~nvolved ~n the budget process Trustee Juracek recognized two Eagle Scouts who recently achieved the Eagle Scout rank Trustee Clowes provided an overview of EAV trends ~n the wllage and the ~mpact of reassessment on property taxes pa~d Market values of residential property ~s ~ncreas~ng faster than commercial and ~ndustr~al Trustee Wilks stated the Cook County Economic Development Councd ~s organizing a response to the ~mpact of property tax ~ncreases on residents due to reducbons of commercial and ~ndustnal taxpayers Vi. ADJOURNMENT There being no further bus~ness, meebng was adjourned at 11 10 p m Respectfully submitted, DAVID STRAHL Assistant Vdlage Manager