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HomeMy WebLinkAbout0743_001MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE JULY 22, 1986 Ile ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 7:31 p.m. Present at the meeting were: Mayor Carolyn H. Krause-* Trustees Ralph Arthur Gerald Farley, Leo Flo ros, Norma Murauskis and Theodore Wattenberg. Absent from the meeting was Trustee George Van Geem. Also present at the meeting were: Village Manager Terrance Burghard, Assistant to the Village Manager Michael Janonis, Acting Fire Chief Edward Cavello, Acting Director of Code Enforcement Del Ulreich, Fire Safety Specialist Keith Maclsaac, Director of Finance David Jepson, Public Works Director Herbert Weeks, Water Superintendent Jerry McIntosh, Planning and Zoning Director Steve Park and Jack Pettigrew from Trkla, Pettigrew, Allen and Payne. Also present were two persons from the print media. 1116 MINUTES The. Minutes of the Committee of the Whole meeting of July 8, 1986 were accepted and filed. Ille CITIZENS TO BE HEARD There being no citizens present who wished to make a presentation before the Committee of the Whole, the Committee moved on to the next item of business, IV. BUILDING/FIRE PROTECTION CODE VARIANCE Committee of the Whole members reviewed Mr. Burghard's memo regarding Opus, desire to be exempted from the requirement of installing backflow preventers in approximately five buildings currently under development at the Kensington Center for Business. Backflow preventers are required by State law and Illinois EPA requirements. While this requirement has been on the books since at least 1979, it was only recently brought to the Village's attention through recent seminars conducted by various State agencies. Prior to October, 1985, the Village had not required backflow preventers to be installed on new construction. Since that time, the Village has required that backflow preventers be placed on all new construction and on any retrofit of existing structures* To date, G. D. Searle and the Bristol Court Banquet Hall as part of retrofitting their sprinkler systems, have installed backflow preventers. Village staff, led by Acting Fire Chief Ed Cavello, presented the Mayor and the Board technical information regarding the purpose and workings of a backflow 1W prev anter and the need for their installation. Board members also viewed a videotape of the five buildings in question so as to see what stage of construction they were in and what type of modifications would be required to 'Install the backflow preventers. Representat ives from Opus stated that it was their 1"nterpretation of the Codes that because, these five buildings were designed and perm,itted under the Codes In effect prior to October of 1985, that these build,i,ngs s,ho,u,,Id no,t be required to have backflow preventers installed. It was pointed out that all of these buildings have backflow prevention devices in the form of detector check valves. It was also pointed out that the buildings were constructed exactly as the permit drawings indicated and that they meet all of the BOCA Code requirements including the requirement of a detector check on the fire protection system. It was Opus' contention that the detector checks are safe and an accepted method of preventing backflow contamination. Further, Opus representatives 'indicated that all new buildings since that time have and will be presented for permit approval with a reduced pressure backflow preventer4o Trustee Ted Wattenberg stated that he did not consider this to be a pressing matter and that there were other Codes that he felt were in more urgent need of enforcement. Trustee Wattenberg felt that Opus had been a good influence on the Village and had been a good corporate neighbor. He was, therefore, against ON enforcement of this Ordinance in terms of requiring prior constructed buildings to be retrofitted with the backflow preventers. Trustee Gerald Farley stated that he was sensitive to Opus' plight but that he considered the problem to be serious enough that he was in favor of following staff recommendations. Trustee Farley pointed out that it is never easy to enforce a new law and that there was always some hardship borne by someone when this happens. He felt that the staff's int erpretatiton, on Incomplete but"Idings was reasonable and that Opus had failed to demonstrate a s, , ignificant haedship In having to 'Install backflow preventers in the five buildi'ngs,., Trustee Farley also, *Indicated that because there had not been any problems in the past it was no guarantee that it would not happen in the future and that steps should, therefore, be taken to prevent any potential contamination of the Village's water supply. Trustee Ralph Arthur asked Opus representatives how many buildings they had constructed since beginning their development. Opus representatives stated that they had constructed more than 20 buildings and that with regard to the five in question, two were under contract for sale to specific buyers. Trustee Arthur stated that in considering the facts as presented by both parties, he could not support the staff recommendation that all bull dings be required to install the backflow preventers. He pointed out that there were a large number of buildings within the Village that did not have these prev,enters. He felt that the D. I I Searle retrofit was a unique circumstance and not a valid comparison to the present 'issues Trustee Arthur .offered a compromise position in which the two buildings under contract with prospective purchasers would not be required to have the backflow preventers installed. The other three buildings which were unoccupied and not under contract would have to have the backflow preventers installed* Trustee Leo Floros, stated that he was in general agreement with Trustee Arthur's analysis of the situation and he felt that the compromise, as stated by Trustee Arthur, was fair and acceptable to him. Trustee, Norma Murauskis also stated that she felt that, Trustele Arthur's compromise was a fair alternative to the staff"s eques r t that all five b,uildings be m,odlf,ied. Trustee' Murauskis stated that she was In favor of upholding Codes but 'that lin this 4 case she, did, not, think, that a change, midstream, was justifiedS Mayor Carolyn Krause also stated that she felt that Trustee Arthur's compromise ,plan was the best solution to the present situation. The Mayor stated that she had called the Illinois EPA in Springfield and had been very disappointed in their responses to quest -ions of why enforcement of the provisions had not been aggressively pursued back in 1979. She stated that she informed the EPA that she felt the whole situation was being handled poorly. The Mayor stated that in this particular case, all parties, were parti"ally to blame and that she had trouble with retroactive, enforcement of this requiternent. In questioning whether, Opus would accept, the compromise positt"ono, the Mayor asked that each buildingibe discussed as to proposed' changes, Opus stated that thewere willngto install r - p. valves on two of the, Wildings# specifically, 1100 Feehanville Drive and 1200 Business Center Drive. They were opposed to back1flow preventers at 625 Slawin Court, 852 Feehanville Drive* both of which were under con ' tract with potential buyers, and also the four story building at 1661 Feehanville Dri'veo, Upon questioning by Village Manager Terrance Burghard and other 'Board members, it was determi"ned, that, plans have been submitted for the 625 Slawin Court, building which showed' that a, backflow preventer was, to be instal Subsequently, staff reported that the building was nearing completion without a backflow preventer. It was the position of Committee members thatplans were originally submitted showing a backflow preventer that one should be installed now. The final compromi Trustee Ralph Arthur stated that he did not feel that such,, authority was warranted in the face of only one actual arrest to date. Mr. Jano,ntis pointed out that the one occasion when a contractor had been arrested was unique in that there was a physical confrontation involved. Trustee Arthur reviewed, the survey, attachled to Mr. Janonis' memo which various communities were asked how they handle disregard of Stop Work orders. He indicated that only Elk Grove Village stated, that it would arrest contractors. Trustee Arthur did not feel comfortable with joining such a small minority of communities in arresting contractors and homeowners. He felt that the Village was setting 'Itself up for possible lawsuits. Trustee Leo Floros stated he was in favor of the staff recommendation that the authority to arrest be vested in the Director of Code Enforcemento He felt with the limitations placed on its use, that there was a small chance of abuse of power. Trustee Gerald Farley stated that he likewise was in favor of the staff's recommendation but added that he would feel more comfortable 'if the Manager's office were consulted before an arrest was made. Staff stated that there was no problem with adding that extra check into the system. Trustee Norma Murauskis stated that she did not feel it was appropriate for the Village to have the authority, to arrest contractors and homeowners In this Particular area. She stated that she felt more comfortable with having the Village rsnormal le al, alternative of filing a complaint in Court., It was her puue 't 'he, , 9 feeling that thIS was an adequate form of' protection. Mayor Carolyn Kra,use stated that she was not in favor of granting such authority to Village off icials. The, Mayor stated that despite the fact that the Court system is slow and curnbersome and that the desired outcome was not always achieved, Court was still a far better alternative to allowing government employees the authority to arrest people in situations that we,re in most cases vague as to, wh,ether a violation had been committed. She was also concerned that such, authority might be subject to abuse and was not w,illing to subject citizens to that potential. Further discussion among Committee members solicited a compromise position from Trustee Arthur who stated that he could support a grant of authority to arrest contractors but not homeowners in situations where Stop Work Orders were t ,ee disregarded. Upon polling, the Commftt there, was not a consensus of agreement on the com 0 *t, *1 -f orm ,promise post ion, Staff was instructed to, continue the, use of long complaints ints and administrative methods, to, ensure compliance wilh Stop Work O,rders,. .,VI* WATER STORAGE TANK At the request of several Committee members, this item was brought back for final discussion. Village Manager Terrance Burghard stated that Village staff needed direction on how to proceed with the water tank because time was of the essence in soliciting proposals from developers and getting the project "'in the ground." Mr. Burghard stated that the report of Trkla, Pettigrewt Allen and Payne, together be with the analysis of the Village's appraiser Neil King indicated that t would cost benef ficial to the Village to re -locate the tank elsewhere in the Villageo Additionally, financial data and cost projections supplied by Finance Director Dave Jepson continued to show the affordability of the re -location expense without negatively a1fecting our existing projected water rates. Therefore, the Village Manager, recommended that the elevated tank be replaced with a new 500,000 gallon tank at a, different site within the Village. Discussion, among Committee members indicated that the consensus was that the tank should remain at its present site and that no further action be taken. Trustee Leo Flores did state that he had changed his mind in favor of Mr. Burghard's recommendation. Since there was not a consensus to follow the Village Manager's recommendation, staff was instructed to proceed with implementation of the TIF Project with the water tank in its present location. VII. MANAGER'S REPORT Village' Manager Terrance Burghard reported that a meeting would be held on July 24 to review options to be presented on the PUBLIC WORKS FACILITY STUDY, Mr. Bur rd indicated, that Trustee Arthur would be attending that meeting and that Trustee Wattenberg had stated that he would attempt to be present, at the meeting 'ifpossi"ble., Mr. Burghard also stated that the staff would be bringing before the Mayor and the Board at the next regular Board meeting a recommendation to contract for a FACILITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT of present public facilities other than the Public Works Building,. Mr. Burghard indicated that this study would prioritize some of the maintenance needs of our present structures with an eye on spending our limited resources in the most effective manner possible. Trustee Norma Murauskis asked if the money for this study had been budgeted and Mr. Burghard indicated that it had been. Village Manager also informed the Committee of the Whole that staff was currently undertaking a comprehensive study of the Village's COMPUTER NEEDS and that 10 rep resentat iv es from IBM were currently interviewing various staff members on a needs assessment basis. Mr. .Bur gh,ard indicated that staff was also reviewing addiitl*onal cons,ultants that could be brought in to further help the Village in decilding Its long -terms computer needs., V11I,aANY OTHER BUSINESS There being no further business to discuss before the Committee of the Whole, the Committee moved on to the next item of business. IX. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to be discussed, the meeting was adjourned at 9:21 P. m. MEJ/rcw Respectfully submitted, MICHAEL E -o JANONIS Assistant to the Village Manager