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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1. COW Agenda 09/09/2014 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE A G E N D A Meeting Location:Meeting Date and Time: Mount Prospect Village HallTuesday,September 9, 2014 50 S. Emerson7:00 p.m. I.CALL TO ORDER -ROLL CALL Mayor Arlene A. Juracek Trustee Paul HoefertTrustee Steven Polit Trustee John KornTrustee Richard Rogers Trustee John MatuszakTrustee Michael Zadel II.APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE FOR AUGUST12, 2014 III.CITIZENS TO BE HEARD IV.MEDICAL MARIJUANA The State of Illinois recently passed regulations which permits both the production and dispensing of medical cannabis within Illinois. The Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act (or Act) provides guidelines for where facilities which are participating in the program can be located. The Act established a four year trial period for the program which has been modeled after similar successful programs in other states. Additional legislation would be required to be passed by the State legislature to continue the program beyond the introductory period. Staff will provide a brief overview of the Act, the potential impact to Mount Prospect, and discuss how the Village may treat uses governed by the Act. V.KENSINGTON BUSINESS CENTER DISCUSSION The Kensington Business Center(KBC)is a 300 acre business park that is home to several high-profile corporations. It boasts over 60 properties with more than 3,000,000 square feet of leasable office and warehouse space. Due to its proximity to O’Hare and Palwaukee Airports; availability of a high caliber labor pool; and physical amenities which include several landscaped ponds, a jogging trail, and a public park, the center is marketed as an upscale light industrial business locale. Originally, the site was a Northern Illinois Gas Company tank farm facility. It was reshaped as light industrial/commercial businesspark during the 1970s and 1980s by the OPUS Corporation. As part of this redevelopment, the village accepted responsibility for a variety of public improvements including streets, storm sewers, water mains, sanitary sewers, streetlighting, and parkway trees. By agreement, the Village does not own but has accepted responsibility for sediment control in the business park’s retention ponds. Similarly, the Village does not own but has accepted responsibility for the maintenance of the jogging path. The Village also maintains the Feehanville Creek channel to preserve its capability to convey storm water from the Village to the Des PlainesRiver. Generally, all of the public assets and Village-owned infrastructure in the park have been maintained in a manner that vigorously supports its market profile as apremium business site. Since 2004, the Village has expended approximately $2,400,000 to improve public infrastructure in the Kensington Business Center. These expenditures facilitated street resurfacing, pond dredging, streetlight replacement, tree removal and planting, jogging path maintenance, and a number of other improvements. Inthe 2015-2019 Capital Improvements Plan, an additional $3,565,000 has been forecast to continue improvements to the retention ponds and jogging path. As part of a recent emerald ash borer infestation survey, Public Works crews noted a preponderance of dead or declining trees on private property within the Kensington Business Center.Subsequently, staff conducted a detailed walking survey of alltrees in the Kensington Business Center. 346 trees were identified as dead or dying. For the purposes of this survey, a “dead” tree is defined as one with no foliage and a “dying” tree is defined as a tree that exhibited at least 50% crown loss. All 346 trees are on private property. Legally, the maintenance and/or removal of these trees rests with the respective property owner(s). There are presently no dead or declining Village-owned trees in the business center area.Staff will present a plan to eradicate these trees at a possible total cost of $100,000 to the Village. Appropriate staff will be available to facilitate discussion. An issue, at present, is the fact that no property association has been active in the center for a number of years, making it difficult to bring owners and/or tenants together to discuss common property maintenance issues. In addition, as many as 25% of the properties in KBC are currently vacant. Staffwill providea brief overview ofthe challenges of attracting potential businesses to the center and discuss options available to market the center. The Village has reached out to the Chamber of Commerce, School District 26 and property owners in KBC to attend and participate in discussion. VI.MANAGER’S REPORT Status VII.ANY OTHER BUSINESS VIII.ADJOURNMENT NOTE:ANY INDIVIDUAL WHO WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND THIS MEETING BUT BECAUSE OF A DISABILITY NEEDS SOME ACCOMMODATION TO PARTICIPATE, SHOULD CONTACT THE VILLAGE MANAGER'S OFFICE AT 50 SOUTH EMERSON, MOUNT PROSPECT, ILLINOIS 60056, 847/392-6000, EXTENSION 5300. 2