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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/25/2007 COW minutes }~~;s~fi;-:~if4, II ~/Y ,-~,)-, I'll' . ',,' ~L.~ ," ~ ~u.lP "f~"1IlI1 'r.."I'..'~. .:;: ''':.=7'/~ \ <:- "':/ COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES September 25, 2007 I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:06 p.m. in the Village Board Room of Village Hall, 50 South Emerson Street, by Mayor Irvana Wilks. Present at the meeting were: Trustees Paul Hoefert, Arlene Juracek, and Michael Zade!. Staff present was Assistant Manager David Strahl, Police Chief John Dahlberg, Fire Chief Michael Figolah, Emergency Management Coordinator Thomas Janetske, and Community Development Director William Cooney. II. MINUTES Approval of Minutes of August 14, 2007. Two minor modifications to the minutes were made. Motion made by Trustee Zadel and seconded by Trustee Juracek to approve minutes with modifications. III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Mayor Wilks read an Emergency Preparedness Month Proclamation and presented it to the Fire Chief. Fire Chief Figolah spoke. He stated the natural disaster of August 23 was a prime example of why it is necessary for emergency preparedness. He also stressed the importance of residents creating a back up plan for their own safety and the ability to function without assistance for at least 48 hours. Tom Janetske, Emergency Management Coordinator spoke. He wanted to recognize the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) members for their assistance during the storm of August 23. Joe Mojica-622 E. Sha Bonee spoke. He stated he is coming to the Board to voice concerns about overnight street parking enforcement that is about to take place on Sha Bonee. He had previously been instructed to contact the landlord of his property to address his need to park multiple vehicles. He was questioning why it is necessary to enforce this Ordinance now, what has changed, and where would he be able to park his second car. He stated the Village Board is taking away parking without providing any options to him and other residents in the area. Police Chief Dahlberg spoke. He provided a history of the parking enforcement on the street and the additional signage which has been addressed near the intersection of the alley with William Street due to turning radius issues. He stated that previously residents and the owners in this area had told the Village they are working on a possible solution to their parking situation. In return, the Village relaxed enforcement of the overnight parking ban until a solution was in place. However, no action has been completed so there is a need to enforce the Ordinance. He stated he has walked the area and there are a number of garages that are available for use in many instances. He also stated there will be a need to have an accurate account of the number of vehicles that need parking, based on his review he estimates anywhere from 12 to 20 vehicles. He noted the area which has vehicles parked on the street has expanded over time apparently because there are more vehicles now than there have been in the past. He stated part of the problem might be the fact there are at least four homeowners associations in this area. General comments from the Village Board members included the following items: 1. There was a question whether any of the landlords completed the Crime Free Housing Training and whether that training would assist in addressing this issue. 2. There were also comments reiterating the equitable enforcement of the Ordinance and the fact the Ordinance has been around for several decades. 3. It was suggested some additional signage be added in the mid-block area. 4. It was also suggested residents be given some additional time to discuss a possible solution to the parking situation, possibly to November 1. 5. It was requested Village Board members be provided updates and status reports of the discussions prior to November 1. David Brents-620 E. Sha Bonee spoke. He stated he has observed Katco workers parking on the street as early as 5:00 a.m. and the fact the fence screening the yard for Katco makes it impossible for him to maneuver his vehicle into his garage. He also stated there are four units with one parking spot each and very few people only have one vehicle. He noted that he has not seen tickets being written along William for long time or overnight parking as he has on Sha Bonee. Lynne Arntson-614 E. Sha Bonne spoke. She stated she is the owner of the property which originally had one parking space but now she has two cars. She stated she had called the police at the time she was considering purchasing another vehicle and was told there was no enforcement on Sha Bonee at that time. Chief Dahlberg spoke. He wanted to clarify the fact that the lack of enforcement along Sha Bonee was only a temporary situation until a parking solution was worked out. Robert Punazak-721 S. Williams spoke. He stated he is concerned the owners will not be motivated to work directly with residents to offer a solution. Angela Infante- 716 E. Sha Bonee spoke. She stated when she moved into her rental unit the owner never told her parking was not allowed on Sha Bonee. Greg White of 423 S. Williams spoke. He stated due to economic circumstances renters must have multiple cars since multiple residents live in each unit due to the high rents. 2 General comments from the Village Board members reinforced the fact that the Village will not solve the problem for the residents but will work with the residents and owners for a possible solution. IV. PROPOSED CHANGES TO FACADE IMPROVEMENT AND INTERIOR BUILDOUT PROGRAMS Community Development Director William Cooney provided an overview of the current program as it stands to date. He is requesting the two programs be merged into one in order to improve the recruiting and marketing effort to entice retail establishments to move into Mount Prospect. He is also requesting the removal of the five year minimum of time the business was previously required to be present in Mount Prospect before they could apply for such a grant. He stated that these improvements will help target sales tax generating businesses. General comments from the Village Board members included the following items: 1. It was clarified that the funds for these improvements in this program are only through TIF funds and are available to existing businesses. 2. It was suggested that there be additional clarifications as to the type of businesses that are eligible including some examples. 3. There was also a comment regarding the communication outreach and how it can be improved. 4. There was also a discussion regarding who would actually obtain the grant whether it would be the business owner or the building owner if they were different. 5. There was a discussion regarding the assistance for sprinkler improvement build-out that may not be part of the new construction. Consensus of the Village Board was supportive of the changes as recommended by staff. V. EMPLOYER ASSISTED HOUSING PROGRAM Community Development Director Bill Cooney stated there has been a movement across Northwest suburbs to assist employees in obtaining affordable housing within the community for which they work. He stated this assistance would be available to employees that met the income criteria and stay with the employer for a minimum period of time. He also stated there is a limited amount of funds available for this program and would be on a first come first serve basis. Claire O'Shea Long Range Planner spoke. She stated this program would be a valuable recruitment tool. General comments from the Village Board members included the following: Several Board members wanted to clarify any program that would be established under these parameters would not be required under any collective bargaining agreement with the employees and extra effort would need to be undertaken to avoid any possible appearances of favoritism. 3 VI. DOWNTOWN PARKING RECOMMENDATIONS Community Development Director William Cooney provided an overview of the Downtown parking surveys that had been completed during the summer. He stated there is plenty of parking in the downtown area and many spaces are under utilized. He also highlighted the fact that there is substantial evening parking available for any activity which is occurring in the downtown area. The parking review is broken down into several areas for discussion purposes. Each area will be discussed independently and recommendations or modifications will be considered for each area. Prospect Avenue (west of Pine)-there is insufficient on site employee parking. Recommendation from staff is to consider issuing parking passes for parking beyond the four hour zone for thirty nine available spaces. Village Board suggestions included: 1) designating parking further away from Prospect Avenue; 2) a daily pay basis so that it would not be convenient for commuters. Consensus of the Village Board was to consider a hang tag system. Elmhurst Avenue/Northwest Highway-there is insufficient employee parking. Options include: 1) increasing the zone from two hour to four hour; 2) establish employee parking on Prospect as a fee based; 3) consider parking in the Village Hall deck on a per fee basis. Staff recommended either option 2 or 3. Consensus of the Village Board was option 3 however, employees would not be charged for parking in the Village Hall parking deck due to bond sale and electrical service restrictions. Village Hall Parking Deck-consider instituting short term overnight parking for guests of the condominiums and surrounding area. Suggestion by staff was to set up a three day parking pass for a set number of spaces on a first come, first serve basis. This would be on a trial basis with no fee using different color hang tags. Village Board discussion included the fact that if this were available to the condominium owners then other residents in the community should also be considered for this program. Consensus from the Village Board was to continue discussions and formulate how this program might work on an administrative basis. Chase Bank Parking Lot-the parking lot in the evening is significantly under utilized. It could meet much of the parking needs related to businesses at Busse and Emerson. Currently there are signs restricting parking in the lot but many times it is not enforced. Staff recommendation is to pursue a parking lease agreement with the property owner to allow parking between 5:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. 4 Consensus of the Village Board was to empower staff to approach the Bank property owner to consider leasing options. Maple Street Parking Lot- currently it is limited to residential parking only and there is an average of 82 spaces left unused after 10:30 a.m. on weekdays. The option is to consider issuing residential overnight parking passes for a fee to utilize some of the under utilized spaces; however, there is still snow removal and staging issues that need to be worked out prior to this option being considered. There was also some need to address the business need of reverse commuters, again it would be fee based. Consensus of the Village Board was to direct staff to explore further the parking options and make sure the cars move and they do not impede necessary Village operations of the lot and do not create additional staff administration. Downtown Parking Signage staff option is to consider hiring a consultant to assess the current directional signage with the goal to redesign and relocate signage for better communication with the vehicle drivers. This would also be coordinated with banner programs highlighting downtown and community events along with directional signage on light poles which highlight different areas of the community and downtown. Part of the interest is to better identify the Village parking deck and encourage additional usage. General comments from the Village Board members included the following items: 1. It was suggested that some additional signage be placed on the outside of the parking garage, but be limited as to not damage the brick that is currently attached to the building. 2. There was also a suggestion to consider the option of physical barriers to direct cars more efficiently into and out of the deck. Consensus of the Village Board was to pursue the option of hiring a consultant to review the parking signage issues. Trustee Hoefert also suggested staff look at the opportunities and possible locations for a low rise parking garage which would allow doubling up of any surface parking space in the downtown. VII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS None VIII. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 9:37 p.m. :D&d:S'tfj DAVID STRAHL Assistant Village Manager 5