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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/11/1990 COW minutes MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE DECEMBER 11, 1990 I ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 7.50 p m Present at the meeting were' Mayor Gerald L. Farley; Trustees Ralph Arthur, Mark Busse, Timothy Corcoran, George Van Gccm and Don Weibel. Absent from the meeting was' Trustee Leo Floros Also present at the meeting were. V,11age Manager John Fulton D~xon, Assistant V,11age Manager John Burg, F, nance D,rcctor Dawd Jepson, Public Works Director Herb Weeks, Pohce Ch,el Ron Pavlock, F, re Chief Ed Cavello, Planmng and Zoning Director Dave Clements, Deputy Public Works Director Glen Andler, Deputy Pohce Ch, cf Ron Richardson, Terry Hodmk and Mr. Brown of Greeley and Hansen, Fred Borich of Donohue and Associates, two members of the press and 10 persons in the audience. II MINUTES The M,nutes of the Committee of the Whole meeting of November 27, 1990 were accepted and filed. III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD There were no c,t,zens who wished to be heard IV. PUBLIC HEARING. TAXI INCREASE Mayor Farley opened a Public Hearing to discuss the proposed rate mcrease request by Amer,can Taxi. Mayor Farley noted that notice of the Public Hearing was pubhshcd in the Daily Herald cd,t,on of November 24, 1990. --~.~. Randy Moss, of American Taxa, sa,d that it has been roughly four years since the last rate increase. Due to the great add,tional expense for gasoline, automobiles and repairs and labor, a rate mcrease is very much needed at th,s t,me. Trustees Arthur and Corcoran sa,d they were in favor of the increase. Mayor Farley asked what impact there would be on the Senior Taxi Program budget. Finance Director Dave Jepson said that according to the report by Nancy Morgan, the additional expense for the Program during this current fiscal year would be approximately $2,000 Trustee Busse said the Village has had a few complaints about senior taxi service. He asked Mr. Moss what American Taxi is doing to improve the service. Mr. Moss said he recently had a meeting with Nancy Morgan, of Human Services, to try to iron the problems with the program. He said that he will work very hard to make sure that good service is provided to the senior citizens Trustee Busse said he would prefer to wait three months to momtor the improvement of the service. Mr. Moss said this would make it very difficult for someone to get a cab in the Village of Mount Prospect because the operators would not want to provide service at a lower rate in this community when the higher rates are being charged in neighboring communities Trustee Corcoran did not feel the rate increase should be put off for three months. He felt the increase, however, should be made contingent upon good service. Trustee Weibel also felt that the rate increase should be approved contingent upon good service He said if the Village refused the increase, he was concerned that the sennce would get even worse. He said the increase should be probationary. Trustee Van Geem said he is uncomfortable deciding upon a rate increase w~thout seeing the financials and he requested copies of the financials There appeared to be a consensus by the Committee to support the taxi increase ns requested by American Taxi contingent upon good serwce in the next 90 days. Mayor Farley noted that the Public Hearing was dosed at 8 05 p m. He asked staff to draft the appropriate Ordinance for consideration at the December 18 meeting V. PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY DISCUSSION Trustee Van Geem urged the Village Board to go ahead wath the construction of the Public Safety Facility despite the results of the Referendum He said the building is needed and remodeling is not a wise expenditure of tax dollars He said he has received communications from over 100 residents urging him to proceed with the project despite the results of the Referendum. Trustee Corcoran supported another Referendum in April He feels the residents will approve the Referendum because he feels the Village can sell the need for the Facility. Trustee Corcoran supports the current site of the Public Safety Building for the new building -2- Trustee Arthur supports a Referendum in April, but he feels the new Faclhty should be at Pine Street He said there would be less cost and less inconvenience. He also suggested cutting out the purchase of furmture. He said the Facihty at the Pine Street location would be only $4 million Mayor Farley asked Fred Bonch, of Donohue and Associates, to clarify the costs for these two alternatives. Mr. Borich said that the Public Safety Facility at the current site is estimated to cost $7,156,000 while the Pine Street site would cost $5,858,000 according to the original report. Village Manager Dixon indicated that the project at the current site was reduced by staff to $6,992,000 He said the actual difference between the two projects was about $1.1 million. Trustee Weibel said that we asked the voters and they did not pass the Referendum. He would be hesitant to go back to the voters with the same proposal Trustee Busse said that we lost the Referendum by a slim margin but we still lost. He said the Village should look at other options. He said another Referendum is necessary. Mayor Farley opened the floor to comments by residents. Tom West, of 1507 East Thayer Street, said that after touring the facilities, he felt the Board should be ashamed for such a poor facility. He said that this issue has been studied to death and the time for action is now. Don Harmon, of 16 North Wllham, said he would object to going forward without another Referendum. He said he supports the new Facility but we need another Referendum. Idyl Nipper, of 1220 East Cardinal, said she feels strongly that we can pass another Referendum. She cautioned that we should call it a Pohce and Fire Building. She suggested a Citizens' Committee to get out the support for the Facility. She smd she has a group willing to help out and to educate residents on the need for this Facility. There was a consensus by the Committee to place this issue on the Referendum in April In regards to the proper location for the Facility, Trustee Van Geem asked if the Village could possibly acquire the property right next to the present Public Safety Building. Village Manager Dixon said the owner may be willing to sell but the tenant has the right of first refusal. Trustee Van Geem said he needs this information before he can make a decision on the proper location He said the Pine Street location looks very attractive but he wants to know how this would affect the redevelopment of the downtown area. -3- Trustee Arthur felt he has the information needed to make a decision about the site. He asked Finance Director Jepson to explain about the worst and best scenarios for redevelopment in the downtown area Mr. Jepson outlined the best and worst case scenarios for redevelopment of the various downtown properties. In the worst case scenario, the Village would have to pay approximately $6.4 million and could expect to recover approximately $2 1 million in a non-TIF project and $3.6 million in a TIF project. In other words, the net cost to the Village would be about $4.3 million for the non-TIF project and $2.8 milhon in a TIF project In the best case scenario, the Village's expense would be about $7.3 milhon and could expect to recover $4.4 milhon in a non-TIF area and $12.7 malhon in a TIF project. Under this scenario, the Village could expect a $2.9 million loss in a non-TIF project but a gain of $5.3 million vath a TIF project. Mr. Jepson noted that for any project to be successful, it would have to be in conjunction with TIF financing Also, the project would probably have to be a high-density project with a rmnimum of 150 apartments to make the project pay. Trustee Arthur then suggested that the P~ne Street location would be excellent because it could possibly be used in the future for a Village Hall. In response to the question about the cost for the property next to the current Public Safety Building, Mr. Dixon smd that the Village has an idea about the cost but the unknown is still whether or not the tenant would exercise the right of first refusal. Trustee Corcoran said he needs information to make sure that redevelopment of the Pine Street site is not wable before he can change his opinion about the appropriate location of the fac~hty. Trustee Arthur d~sagreed with Trustee Corcoran and felt that we have the information from the market survey. Trustee Busse said the report on the best and worst case scenarios convinces him He said the Taxing Districts wall be upset about expanding the TIF. He also noted that for the project to be successful, it would have to be dense apartments Trustee Busse said that he is in favor of the Pine Street location for the Public Safety Facility. Trustee We~bel said he has supported the Pine Street locat~on for some time but he asked several questions to obtain additional information Trustee Corcoran asked how the meetings w~th the developers are going. Village Manager Dixon said that three developers attended a prehminary meeting last week and a fourth was unable to attend although they wanted to He said he expects an answer from them as to whether or not they are interested by Friday Trustee Corcoran said he would like to wait until after January 5 when we have the meeting with the interested developers. Trustee Arthur dtsagreed with Trustee Corcoran, saying that we already have the information. He said there is not enough time after January 5 to pass the appropriate Ordinance on the Referendum. Paul Hoefert strongly urged that we remain with the current site. He said there has been interest amongst developers all along for the property in the triangle area but the developers have been waiting for the Village to get their act together. He said that if the Pubhc Safety Facility is moved to the Pine Street location, then redevelopment would be killed. Mayor Farley said it would be helpful to have the information from the developers on Friday. He asked that the question of the siting of the Public Safety Facility be placed on the December 18 Agenda VI. DISCUSSION ON ACQUISITION OF CITIZENS' UTILITIES Village Manager Dixon introduced the discussion on the proposed acquisition of Citizens' Utilities. Terry Hodnik, of Greeley and Hansen, made a presentation on results of the recent studies on water quality and the additional expenses for purchase of the Citizens' Utihties system. Mr. Hodnik noted that it would not be cost effective to try to obtain additional water from JAWA He indicated that he did not obtain information on the cost to deliver Glenview water. He suggested that perhaps the Village could obtain information from Glenvlew as he was unable to do this. Mr. Hodmk also said that he d~d not include information on cost to disconnect from the sanitary sewer north of town He said he will provide this information to the Village Manager. Village Manager Dixon explained that the $990,000 for purchase of the Rob Roy system would be paid for not by our residents but by people living in that area. He said the cost to acquire the entire Citizens' Utilities system and improvements would be about $17 million plus the additional expense to connect to Glenview water. Village Manager Dixon then noted that he had a meeting that day with the new Adnnnistrator in Prospect Heights to discuss a possible request for water in a westerm portion of Prospect Heights. Trustee Van Geem asked if the costs outlined by Greeley and Hansen would hold up in Court if we chose to condemn the system. Mr. Hodnik said he would have to do more studies to refine the figures to withstand a Court challenge Trustee Van Geem suggested this further study. Mayor Farley felt this was putting the cart before the horse. Trustee Busse would also hke to defer any further study untal he obtains the cost for connecting to Glenview water. Mr. Hodnik indicated that he will help the Village Manager to draft a letter to Glenview regarding the cost. Trustee We~bel also felt it was necessary to obtain information on the cost for the transmission of Glenview water. He said that rate increases were the big problem in the past. Trustee Arthur said he thought that water quahty was the problem all along. Trustee Weibel said that the water quahty complaints were lodged by a limited number of indlwduals. Pete Lannon, of 1409 Dogwood, said that Citizens' serwce has not been all that bad However, he feels the obscene rate increases are the problem. He said profit is their motive while the Village would have a different motive. Also, by hook or by crook, he wants to get off well water because of the periodic stains it can cause to clothes. Trustee Weibel said he would hke to see a Referendum on the C~tizens' Utilities acquisition as soon as possible However, he would not support two Referenda in April. He suggested putting off the Citizens' Utihties Referendum until November. Trustee Busse agreed with his approach VII MANAGER'S REPORT 1. Manager D/xon reported that the Pubhc Works Bmld~ngs and Grounds Division has recexved a Second Place Award from American City and County Magazine. He commended the Department for this Award. 2. Manager Dixon reported on the Star Program through Human Sermces VIII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Busse requested that the Employee Assistance Program be placed on the next Village Board Agenda. Trustee Corcoran requested a review of the lighting standards in the Vdlage. IX. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10 10 p.m Respectfully subnutted, JOHN P. BURG Assistant Village Manager JPB/rcw -6-