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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/13/1990 COW minutes MINUTES COMMITI'EE OF THE WHOLE NOVEMBER 13, 1990 I. ROLL (~ALL ~ The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p m Present at the meeting were. Mayor Gerald L. Farley; Trustees Ralph Arthur, Mark Bnsse, T~mothy Corcoran, Leo Floros, George Van Geem (at 8.10 p m.) and Theodore Wattenberg. Also present at the meeting were' Village Manager John Fulton Dixon, Assistant Village Manager John Burg, Finance Director David Jepson, Planning and Zoning Director David Clements, Public Works Director Herb Weeks, Personnel Coordinator Donna P~ke, Pubhc Works Superintendents Mel Both and Jerry McIntosh, Police Chief Ron Pavlock, Deputy F~re Chief Lonnie Jackson, Deputy Police Chiefs Tom Daley and Ron Richardson, Deputy Public Works Director Glen Andler, Economic Development D~rector Ken Fritz, four representatives from ILIN and Associates, Mike Garfield of CPC; three members of the press, many Pohce and F~re personnel with approximately 200 persons m the audience II. MINUTES The Minutes of the Committee of the Whole meeting of October 23, 1990 were accepted and filed. III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD There were no citizens to be heard IV. EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM Village Manager John Dixon introduced the discussion of the Employee Assistance Program. He recommended that the Committee approve this Program Personnel Coordinator Donna P~ke outhned the reasons why the Employee Assistance Program would be good for the employees and the Village. Mayor Farley said he now feels the %llage should pay the full cost for this Program. He suggested trying this for two years to see if it would help the superwsors and the employees. Trustee Wattenberg said he is very much in favor of the Program now after looking at the additional information. Trustee Busse said he supports the Program He asked what better investment can the Village have than putting it into its employees. He feels the Vtllage should pay the full cost of the program. Trustee Arthur does not support the Program He said the taxpayers are facing d~fficult economic conditions at this time. He said the Village has four certified counselors, and some employees have used them. Trustee Corcoran said he cannot support this Program. He considers this to be a duphcation of coverages and serwces we already have now. He felt this Program can be handled by personnel in the Human Services Division. Trustee Floros asked if we are duplicating coverage here. Donna Pike said she did not think so. Mike Garfield, of CPC, referred to the report indicating that the number one cause of hospital stays in 1988 in Illinois was for mental health care. He said the number six cause is substance abuse. Ten years ago, only 5% of hospital admissions were for mental health care. He said that 95% of the Fortune 500 companies have Employee Assistance Programs He said they adopted the Programs not only to help employees but also to save money. Trustee Floros asked how many member communities of the NWMC have enrolled in this Program. Mr. Garfield said that three communities have joined the Program since it was started three weeks ago He said eight others are committed to the Program and ten others are considering it. Trustee Floros said he is leaning toward the Program but he has not decided yet. Mayor Farley requested that this item be placed on the November 20 Agenda for further d~scussion V. PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITY DISCUSSION Mayor Farley said that he and the Village Board were disappointed with the results of the Referendum as were the employees and many c~tizens He expressed appreciation to all those who supported the Referendum and those who worked so hard to try to make the Referendum successful. At this point, at 8:10 p.m., Trustee Van Geem arrived. m2' Mayor Farley indicated that a very critical problem still exists and it must be addressed somehow. He noted that the service of the Police and Fire Departments will not diminish. He said we have an excellent Accredited Police Department, the 97th community to be accredited nationally. He said we have an excellent Fire Department with an ISO II rating. Very few communities are able to obtain such a Fire rating. Mayor Farley then indicated that he wanted to open the floor to comments by the residents because the Village Board would like to have any direction that can be provided. Ray Guilfoyle, the Police Union President, made a presentation on behalf of the Police Officers. He said the Village has one of the best Police Departments in the State but the worst facility for a town of this size He said this was an Advisory Referendum and now the tough decision must be made by the Village Board. He said that the Mayor and Board are on record as supporting the Facility. He said the Facility is needed and it is the right thing to do He urged that the Village Board set aside the results of the Referendum and go forward with the project. Larry Selbach, an active member of the Senior C~tizens' Advisory Council and Neighborhood Watch, said that the seniors as a group are disappointed at the failure of the Referendum. He read a letter dated November 13 from the Senior C~tizens' Advisory Council signed by 23 indMduals supporting the new Public Safety Facility. He said the Village President and Board should assume a leadership role and implement the construction of a new Facihty. Dennis Saviano, President of the Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber Board was deeply disturbed that the Referendum did not pass. He urged the Mayor and Village Board to set aside results of the Advisory Referendum and to vote to proceed with the construction of the Facility Fourteen other people m the audience stated their support of the Public Safety Facility. Typical comments included: 1. The Referendum should be set aside and the new Facility should be built. 2. The present facility has many problems and is terribly inadequate. 3. Those who voted no were not properly informed. The Village needs to do a better sales job 4 There was confusion about the term, "Public Safety Facility."It should have been called a Police/Fire Building. 5. Some offered to help the Village sell a Referendum in April. 6. The Board could consider other options such as locating the Facility at the site of the old Pubhc Works Building or sphtt~ng the Police and Fire facilities -3- The comments went on for some time. At a certain point, the Mayor indicated that it was necessary to end the comment period in order to get on to other items on the Agenda. He allowed three additional people to speak at that time. Although there may have been persons in the audience opposed to the Pubhc Safety Facility, no one came forward to comment on the issue. Trustee Corcoran noted that the room was filled with insiders, those who know the need for the Facility. He said we need to get better information out to residents. He said that some of the Trustees made promises when they were elected to place these kinds of important issues on the ballot for residents to consider. He could not condone going against the results of the Referendum. He said the only way this Referendum will pass as ff everyone in this room gets out and pushes for the new facility. Trustee Floros said he is proud of the Board for its policy of openness in conducting its business. He said the Board is not afraid to go to the voters. He said 6500 people voted yes but you cannot ignore the 6700 who voted no. He said the Board would be derelict in its duty if it overturned the results of the Referendum. He could never support this kind of action. He suggested that we do our homework and do a better job of selhng it the next time. Trustee Arthur said that we, as a Board, did not do the selling job we could have done He smd the next time, he feels the Board will really get out and try to sell the Referendum. He agreed that we must respect the vote of the people. However, next time he will out and work hard to the get very, very ensure success of a Referendum. Trustee Van Geem said he never went on record saying that he would not build without a Referendum. He said he would vote to build the Facility tomorrow. He said the Village performed an extensive study, spent a lot of money on it and spent thousands of man hours to determine the best alternative. He asked who is served by a delay. He said this is a critical need The building is dangerous. Something must be done now. He then said that he does not intend to seek re- election. He said that perhaps some might view his comments in light of this decision He strongly feels that the project must go forward immediately but he will work very hard to pass a Referendum in April if the Board chooses to go this way. Trustee Busse said he would rather wait to make a decision until we re-visit the Downtown Redevelopment issue this coming Monday. He said staff did an excellent job in trying to sell the Referendum. He said this is a need that will not go away. However, he was not wilhng to make a decision as to the direction he feels the Board should go until reviewing the Downtown Redevelopment information. Mayor Farley recapped the &scussion and indicated there will be additional discussions on this issue at future meetings. He noted that an Ordinance to authorize a Referendum in April does not have to be passed until January 15 -4- There was a recess from 9.35 p.m. until 9:45 p m. VI. FLOOD STUDY Four representatives of RJN Associates of Wheaton were on hand to make a presentation on the Comprehensive Storm Water Management Report. The areas studied included Weller Creek, Feehanville and the Des Plaines River drainage areas. Catherine A. Morley and Randy Patchett were the major spokespersons. The presentation lasted approximately one hour with slides on the overhead projector. Mayor Farley said he assumes that P, TN has taken into account the effect on other areas in the Village and elsewhere. He asked what impact there would be on neighbors such as Des Plaines. Randy Patchett said there will not be a significant impact on Des Plaines. Trustee Floros asked if they took into account the huge facihty by the Airport. Ms. Morley said ttus project will take away some of the flow from TARP. She said, at present, TARP backs up during a three year storm. The new reservoir should be able to handle a three year storm. Trustee Van Geem said that $23 million is a lot of money to spend to prevent basements from flooding especially s~nce the proposed improvements only take care of a ten or twenty-five year storm. However, there are portions that need to be done He suggested that we study this issue at future meetings. Trustee Wattenberg said we are in the midst of a tax revolt. He questioned spending $23 million to protect basements. He indicated that we had asked for figures as to the dollar amounts lost when basements were flooded but we have never received information on this to be able to determine whether such a project would be cost effective. Mayor Farley indicated that a report on the f~nancing is due two weeks from now. He indicated this is an important project and the Committee will continue discussing this project as expeditiously as possible. Trustee Corcoran requested copies of topographical maps of the Village, Arlington Heights and Prospect Heights Mr. Patchett said he will have these available at future meetings. It was noted that the cost of property acquisition was not included in the Report. The discussion was then opened to anyone in the audience who wished to speak Four people had various comments and questions, mostly about the Central/Wa- Pella area. -5- II. MANAGER'S REPORT There was no report given. VIH. ANY OTHER BUSINESS There was no other business to come before the Committee of the Whole IX. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:27 p.m. Re~ submitted~.~~:~ -- JOHN P. BURG Assistant V~llage Manager JPB/rcw -6-