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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/27/1999 FC minutesFINANCE COMMISSION Minutes of the Meeting May 27, 1999 I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Those present included Chairman John Korn and Commissioners Vince Grochocinski, Tom Pekras, Ann Smilanic, James Morrison and John Engel. Also present were Village Manager Michael Janonis, Director of Finance Douglas Ellsworth, Community Development Director William Cooney, Deputy Director Mike Blue, Fire Chief Michael Figolah, Deputy Chief John Malcolm and Captain Tony Huemann. Commissioner George Busse arrived at 7:55 p.m. H. Approval of Minutes Commissioner Smilanic moved the approval of the minutes from the April 22, 1999 meeting, seconded by Commissioner Pekras. The motion carried. Chairman Korn amended the agenda order to discuss the Community Development Department first, since Mr. Cooney and Mr. Blue had to go to another meeting. III. Discussion Regarding Community Development Department Mr. Cooney reviewed the department projects to be undertaken in 1999. These included downtown redevelopment, Saturday morning workshops for residents and contractors, software conversion, developing service request software, commercial corridor improvements, and the amendment of ordinances to simplify the development process. Mr. Cooney briefly reviewed the various projects anticipated for the year 2000. These included downtown redevelopment, Saturday workshops, commercial corridor improvements and amendment of development -related ordinances. Mr. Cooney stated that his department is always looking for grants and other funding sources for downtown redevelopment. Mr. Cooney reviewed the list of the most pressing internal and external issues facing the Community Development Department. Mr. Cooney said that the number one goal of his department is to make the permit and inspection process simple and fast for residents and businesses. Mr. Cooney mentioned that by June 14th all major positions in his department will be filled. Employee turnover has presented a significant challenge the past few years. Mr. Cooney stated that the TIF is in the construction stage now, and that they would like to minimize any inconveniences construction may cause to residents. Mr. Cooney reviewed the high volume of work performed by a relatively small number of staff. He stated that Mount Prospect has the highest ratio of inspections per inspector in the area. Chairman Korn commended the department on the amount of work it does with limited staff. Chairman Korn said he would like to discuss the permit and inspection process, specifically related to roofs, because he has had several residents approach him about the matter. Mr. Cooney breifly described the process for the Commission. Mr. Korn asked if it was possible to pre -qualify roofers so that residents do not have to wait for a sheathing inspection before the new roof can go on. Mr. Cooney said that he would have to give that some thought. Ms. Smilanic inquired as to how long we have been requiring a sheathing inspection. Mr. Cooney responded about one year. Mr. Morrison stated that there is a lot of residential construction going on, and asked if there was much commercial construction underway. Mr. Cooney responded that there is, including Menards, Borders Books, Steak and Shake, Walgreens and Country Inn Hotel. Mr. Korn asked how the department keeps up with inspections given the volume of construction activity. Mr. Cooney responded that it is very difficult; the inspectors handle approximately twice the number of inspections as other communities. The Village has to rely on interns to assist with inspections. Mr. Engel asked if the turnover rate on inspectors was high. Mr. Cooney said that one inspector has been here for many years, but the others were all hired within the past few years. Commissioner Pekras asked if there was a shortage of inspectors. Mr. Cooney said it was really the result of a booming building economy. Commissioner Grochocinski inquired about the status of the store at the corner of Northwest Highway and Main Street. Mr. Janonis summarized the current status. Mr. Janonis said that the cost to the Village to move the structure to a new site would be approximately $100,000. Commissioner Engel asked what the estimated completion date of the downtown redevelopment project is. Mr. Cooney responded 4'/z years for the 200 condominiums and less time for the small condo building at the Fanny May site. IV. Discussion Regarding Fire Department Chief Figolah handed out a revised list of the most pressing internal and external issues facing his department. Chief Figolah touched upon the conversion from Mac computers to PC's which was started three years ago, The project will be done in one month. Chief Figolah and Deputy Chief Malcolm reviewed the pre -plan project, stating that pre - plans are needed for anywhere from 2,000 to 2,500 structures. The pre -plans provide firefighters with the location of alarms, sprinklers, hazardous materials and utilities. Their goal is to do 500 pre -plans this year. So far, 250 have been done. Chief Figolah reviewed the need for new firefighter captains tests this year. Chief Figolah briefed the Commission on the disaster preparedness drills planned for 1999. Chairman Korn asked if the new imaging camera is being used. D/C Malcolm said it is being used frequently, and gave examples of some of the practical uses. Chairman Korn asked if the department or Village has given any thought to contracting out EMS service. Chief Figolah responded that it might save money, but the quality of service would suffer. Most of the private companies EMT's are inexperienced. Chairman Korn asked how the department was affected by the loss of 911 service this past Sunday. Chief Figolah said they had all equipment on the street and were as prepared as they could be for the problem. Mr. Janonis said the system was down for less than three hours. He further stated the outage was the result of a bad UPS system at Northwest Central Dispatch. Commissioner Morrison asked if we had any female firefighters. Chief Figolah said we have one paid -on-call firefighter that is a woman. Mr. Morrison inquired, and Chief Figolah responded, that the department's tests are geared towards non-discrimination. Commissioner Smilanic asked if we do drug tests as part of new hire tests. Chief Figolah stated that we do. Chief Figolah discussed the need for an EMS Coordinator position which he intends on asking for in the year 2000 budget process. The Chief handed out a list of changes that have affected the Fire Department in the last ten years. Chief Figolah said that he originally asked for the position in 1999, but delayed it a year due to lack of funds. The Chief stated that recent demands on the department are causing management to manage by crisis. Commissioner Busse asked if this position was his number one priority for 2000. Chief Figolah stated that it was. Chief Figolah then reviewed with the Commission the need for a new fire station to replace Station 14. He stated that the structure was intended to be temporary back in the early 1970's. He further stated that the station is not centrally located, causing problems with incident response times. The Chief handed out a map indicating the service areas of the three stations. Chief Figolah discussed our need to utilize automatic and mutual aid, and that we are receiving far more mutual aid from Prospect Heights and Elk Grove Township than we are receiving, and that this is starting to cause some problems. Commissioner Busse inquired about the possibility of compensating the other departments for excess calls rather than building a new station and increasing the number of firefighters assigned to a truck from two to three. Chief Figolah said he would look into the matter. V. Chairman's Report Chairman Korn said that he would forego the Chairman's Report this evening due to the late hour. VI. Other Business Commissioner Grochocinski moved that the Commission recommend to the Village Board that the Village not spend any more money on the corner store than would be spent on demolition of the building. Commissioner Smilanic seconded the motion. The motion passed. VIL Next Meeting The next meeting of the Finance Commission is scheduled for June 3`d, at which time they will discuss the proposed Capital Improvements Plan. There was a motion by Mr. Morrison, second by Mr. Engel, to cancel the June 24th meeting. Chairman Korn said that he prefers they meet on June 241' to discuss recommendations on the Year 2000 Budget directions. The motion to cancel the June 24'x' meeting failed. Mr. Busse moved, and Mr. Pekras seconded, that the July 22nd meeting be cancelled. The motion passed. VIII. Adjournment Motion by Ms. Smilanic, second by Mr. Grochocinski, to adjourn. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, L Douglas R. Ellsworth Director of Finance