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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/27/2007 COW minutes ,/' ';~!""~?4: 9.- :,.ItA'\~;/~(,~\., _C'r,-'~"""L \ ~_~ll..W gf_""DI 'r"""f(!~T> 7 \''B' ,)fT- " ..., ,OJ.. t,~. "' >-f1IlTIill-:~ COMMITTEE OF THEWHOLE MINUTES MARCH 27, 2007 I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Village Board Room of Village Hall, 50 South Emerson Street, by Mayor Pro Tem Mike Zade!. Present at the meeting were: Paul Hoefert, John Korn, and Michaele Skowron. Staff members present included: Village Manager Michael Janonis, Assistant Village Manager David Strahl, Finance Director Dave Erb, Deputy Director Carol Widmer, Public Works Director Glen Andler, and Village Engineer Jeff Wulbecker. II. MINUTES Approval of Minutes of March 13, 2007. Motion made by Trustee Hoefert and seconded by Trustee Korn. Minutes were approved. III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None IV. 2007 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT OVERVIEW Village Engineer Jeff Wulbecker spoke. He provided an overview of the 2007 Street Resurfacing Program. He stated that there will be approximately five miles of streets resurfaced this season which will include approximately twenty-five street locations throughout the community. He said that contractors will perform specific jobs throughout town whereby the contractors may prepare a street or streets in a specific location and move on toward preparation of another set of streets in another location prior to resurfacing. He stated the contracts include traffic calming work that has already been in the cue for implementation including traffic calming on East Prospect Avenue between Edward and Mount Prospect Road. He also stated that Linneman Road will have some lane configuration improvements completed as part of an annexation agreement, whereby the developer is paying a portion of improvements between Algonquin and Dempster to make the road consistent from end to end. The developer will let the contract for the improvements and the Village will reimburse the developer for the expenses outside of the developers responsibilities. He also stated streetscape improvements are included on Emerson from Northwest Highway to Central and on Busse from Emerson to Route 83 this construction season. The Sidewalk Improvement program will take place throughout the community with the Shared-Cost Program with residents slated at approximately $47.00 dollars per square and some new sidewalk installation that connects existing gaps throughout he community. He said that the Village will continue its ADA accessible sidewalks ramp program retrofitting sidewalks as money is available. 1 The Prospect Meadows Water Main Phase 1\ Replacement Project will continue this year and will include moving the water main from the rear yard to the front yard and increase the size from a four inch to an eight inch circumference with new services to the homes in the Prospect Meadows area. He stated work is continuing on the combined Sewer Repair Program including spot repairs and cured in place lining. He said that there are planned traffic signal improvements for pedestrian crossing which will include a countdown showing the pedestrian when the signal will change. There are two locations which will be part of a test to determine the value of the improvement for future implementation at other sites. Levee 37 Phase I along Palatine Road that would block the water from coming across the street has been promised by the Army Corps of Engineers for funding and construction this year. However, this is not the first time this has been promised so it remains to be seen whether such work will actually commence this year or not. Once Phase I is completed Phase II of the Levee could be constructed along River Road from Euclid to Willow which would block the river overflow and the Village be allowed to pump out the storm sewers from the west side of the wall back into the river. This information was provided as general information to the Village Board as part of the Annual Capital Improvement Projects. V. FLOODPLAIN ORDINANCE MODIFICATIONS Village Engineer Jeff Wulbecker spoke. He said the Village Board approved an Ordinance in 1977 to allow residents to purchase flood insurance and revised the Municipal Code in 2003 due to improved maps of the Des Plaines River. He is requesting the Village Code be modified to reference specific map dates for flood change impacts in Wheeling and Prospect Heights. Such additional detail has no impact on Mount Prospect and he would recommend Village Board approval of the Ordinance modification. VI. E-PAY OPTIONS Finance Director David Erb spoke. He highlighted the electronic payment process for utility bills including the current payment options available that currently include mailing to a third party, mail directly to the Village, night drop box, or coming to the Village Hall and paying in person. He stated that the Finance Department recently started accepting credit cards for payment of such utility bills and the E-Pay option would be another opportunity for convenience to residents to pay their bill. The residents would be able to view their bill over the internet prior to payment. He stated previous discussions in March 2005 highlighted some processing issues that have now been resolved. He stated Chase Bank would retain all the information for bill processing on behalf of the Village where residents could access histories and schedule payments as cash flow allows. There is a convenience fee schedule that includes a debit or credit card fee of $2.95 per transaction and a fee for an e-check of $0.50 per transaction. He stated that the site, when a resident signs on, would appear seamless and as if it were the Village site itself. He also stated that payments would include real time payment updates and security issues will be handled with the bank. This will also allow customers to enter meter readings. It is expected that a Spanish language option would be available within one year and this program could be implemented between 90-120 days after Village Board approval. 2 This option also includes a direct debit of the customer account when the bill is due. The regular bill will still be sent out prior to the electronic payment, but will advise the resident of the amount to be debited. He stated the overall participation percentage and the convienience cost would be reflected in the electronic payments in the future and could be reevaluated at that time. Consensus of the Village Board was to move forward with the implementation of an E- Pay option as described by staff. VII. POLICE IFIRE PENSION ANALYSIS Finance Director David Erb spoke. He said this information is provided for the Village Board through an Illinois Municipal League study of all pension systems excluding Chicago. The study highlights the impact to tax levies and the funded aggregate level or liability of the pensions including unfunded liabilities and funded ratio of tax levy as a percent of payroll were used as measurements for the study. As an example, the unfunded liability for police pensions went from 94.9% funded to 74.1 % funded between the period of 1996 to 2005. This is reflective of the Village Police pension system. The Fire pension system went from a surplus of 104% funded to 76% funded. He stated the funding sources include contributions by employees, Village and investments. He said the significant enhancements by the General Assembly have had a significant impact on the pension funding level and these enhancements are immediately available upon approval by the General Assembly without modifications to the percentage of funding by the employer or employee. He stated the Police pension levy has increased 28% over the same period along with the Fire pension levy increasing 33%. While the employee contribution has increased slightly over the same period, that percentage is dictated by the State of Illinois and any funding shortfalls become the sole responsibility of the municipality if investments are inadequate or the additional enhancements impact the pension funding. He stated the pension enhancements are estimated to have impacted the Police pension fund 2.2% over the past year and the Fire pension fund 7.1 % over the past year. The most recent pension enhancement program under consideration is called the DROP program which would increase the level of pension funding currently from $2.6 million to $3.2 million dollars with the local funding by the municipality absorbing the burden of these mandated enhancements by the State. This information was provided to the Village Board for informational purposes only and require no action at this time. VIII. VILLAGE MANAGER'S REPORT None IX. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Korn highlighted the upcoming Sister Cities Pot Luck dinner April 17. X. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 8:57 p.m. ~ .~~J ~{(J DAVID STRAHL Assistant Village Manager 3