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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOW Agenda Item II Draft Minutes 03/11/200/ and 04/29/2008 /Jr:~';~~~~$~cl,~;:~~~It,I. ( (f?~. "7~'!" \\ Jgi~:{}B'~' ~-, l~lblV"f~alldlllrg~ml _J.-=?"" \~~~f?r COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES March 11, 2008 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 Irvana Wilks. Present at the meeting were: Trustees Arlene Juracek, John Korn, Richard Lohrstorfer, Michael Zadel and Trustee Paul Hoefert arrived at 7: 11 p.m. Staff present included Village Manager Michael Janonis, Assistant Village Manager David Strahl, Community Development Director William Cooney, Finance Director David Erb and Village Attorney Everette Hill. II. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES Approval of Minutes of September 25, 2007 motion made by Trustee Hoefert seconded by Trustee Zadel. Minutes were approved. Trustee Lohrstorfer and Trustee Korn abstained. Approval of Minutes of January 22, 2008 motion made by Trustee Hoefert seconded by Trustee Zadel. Minutes were approved. Mayor Wilks abstained. Approval of Minutes of February 12, 2008 motion made by Trustee Hoefert seconded by Trustee Juracek. Minutes were approved. Trustee Lohrstorfer and Trustee Zadel abstained. III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Richard Valentino, Attorney for Tod Curtis at 618 W. Busse spoke. He stated his client also has redevelopment plans and hopes to present those development plans to the Village Board within the next thirty days. John Maller - One North Emerson spoke. He stated he has concerns about the Village's use of the Eminent Domain process for taking property of an active business in order to give them to someone else to build a project for private gain. IV. DISCUSSION OF SUB AREA #1 REDEVELOPMENT Mayor Irvana Wilks provided an overview of the proposal and a summary of the ground rules for discussion. Coomunity Development Director William Cooney provided an overview of Sub Area #1 including the history of the redevelopment process within the downtown. He also highlighted the businesses that are part of the redevelopment process within this area. John Heimbaugh of Heimbaugh Capital Development Corporation spoke. He also introduced the architectural team of Mike Fitzgerald, Hal Noman and Mike Rose. He stated this area is the center of the community and provided a summary of the market place and the background of his redevelopment team and its ability to complete this project. Mike Fitzgerald of OKW Architectural spoke. He provided a detailed overview of the project highlighting the various amenities on the buildings and the site plan. Community Development Director William Cooney provided an overview of the financial contributions anticipated from the Village regarding the land, street and public improvements including acquisition of additional properties to complete the development. He stated the proposed plan includes using sales tax dollars generated above $5.4 million and a 1 % sales tax overlay within the district to generate the necessary funds to cover the Village cost. He stated the Village's total financial impact is limited to $9.5 million. He also stated the Village assumes no risk until a loan for Phase I of the project can be obtained and only money generated by the development is at risk. There is no financial contribution prior to these commitments. David Lindgren, Chairman of the Economic Development Commission and resident of Mount Prospect at 743 Whitegate spoke. He stated that he is active in the business community and stands as a resident this evening and would like to tell the Village Board he is very excited about the project and feels it is a good combination for this area of the community. He stated the Village Board has been very thoughtful about the entire community in the past and these changes that will be brought through this development will further enhance the downtown and the community in general. Joneen Ford - 5 West Central spoke. She stated she is concerned about the parking garage entrance impact on the condominium parking of Village Centre and the excessive traffic due to the garage and business deliveries. She is suggesting the garage entrance and exit be limited only from Willie Street and not allowed to exit on the parking lot area north of the project area. She also stated she has concerns about garbage pick service to these businesses. George Schober - 5 West Central spoke. He stated he has concerns about trucks blocking traffic and access to the Village Centre parking during delivery periods and condo owners accessing their garage entrance. Maureen Meersman - 1442 Semar Court spoke. Ms. Meersman is an attorney in the community. She stated she had heard about the redevelopment project previously without the condominiums and feels the market is currently oversaturated and it's unrealistic to build condos at this time. She stated the Village does not have to follow the lead of other communities and make it look like them because Mount Prospect is unique. She also stated she feels a downtown grocery store would be very helpful but nothing has been accomplished in obtaining such a business. 2 Rosemary Hendrickson - 20 South Main spoke. She stated the access to the condominiums that are currently empty in the same area as the garage entrance would cause conflict. She feels there is too much traffic already and as long as the delivery situation can be worked out she would be supportive of the project and feels it is an enhancement to the downtown. Tom Zander - 208 North Forest and Realtor in the community spoke. He stated downtown by definition has more density and traffic with different lifestyle expectations than single family homes in the community. He is supportive of the project. Wes Pichot - 714 Whitegate spoke. He stated he is a retired architect and has offered advice over the last forty years. He also stated he is complementary of the design but feels it's far too dense for the site and likes the fact that it is a different developer from the one the Village has used in the past. He has concerns about the lack of surface parking and ready access to any retail stores in the development. He stated the Village should bring in a planning consultant and put out proposals for redevelopment consideration by the Village so other developers can have the opportunity to provide designs for the Village Board to consider. Harry Tribune - 5 West Central spoke. He stated that his condominium faces the proposed parking lot and is concerned about the moving vans and trucks that apparently have trouble maneuvering in the lot would be complicated by additional traffic that would be generated by the parking garage on this site. He has some minor concerns about the look of the parking garage and felt that it could be designed so it would blend more with the buildings themselves. John Abbs - 11 South Wille spoke. He stated he has concerns about the garage access and how it lines up with the condominium parking access. Mike Fitzgerald provided an overview and detailed information regarding loading and drop off areas to service the businesses. He also provided an overview of why there is a need to have two points of access into the proposed parking garage. John Heimbaugh responded to the concerns regarding the current market price. He stated it is important to be positioned in the market place so once the economy starts to pick up they have units that are readily available for purchasing and occupancy. General comments from the Village Board members included the following items. It was mentioned that the plans remain somewhat flexible and can be modified to address various concerns and needs of impacted property owners. It was also noted there are a number of ideas that have been brought forward by the citizens which will need additional consideration. Trustee Hoefert stated he feels the development has significant shortcomings because of its different style and its density. He also has concerns regarding the retail sight lines and the readily accessible parking access to the retail establishments. He feels the appearance is too different from what already exists in the community and would like to see other proposals for consideration of this parcel. He stated he feels there is not enough parking and there are too many condos with too much height. He would suggest the Village Board consider a retail study or a professional leasing agent to confirm that the site is viable before moving forward with the consideration of this proposal. Village Manager Michael Janonis did state these plans will be provided to the Planning and Zoning Commission for discussion on March 27, 2008. VII. VILLAGE MANAGER'S REPORT None VIII. ADJOURNMENT Meeting convened at 10:03 p.m. DAVID STRAHL Assistant Village Manager 4 FINANCIAL PLANNING WORKSHOP DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING ApRIL 29, 2008 VILLAGE HALL BUILDING DRAFT I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6:29 p.m. by Mayor Irvana Wilks. Village Board members present at the meeting were: Paul Hoefert, Arlene Juracek, John Korn, Richard Lohrstorfer and Michael Zadel. Finance Commission members present at the meeting were: Chairman Charles Bennett and Commissioners Wayne Gardner, Vince Grochocinski, John Kellerhals, Don Ocwieja, Tom Pekras and Ann Smilanic. Staff members present were: Assistant Village Manager Dave Strahl, Director of Finance David Erb, Deputy Director of Finance Lynn Jarog, Finance Administrative Assistant Lisa Burkemper, Director of Human Services Nancy Morgan, Chief of Police John Dahlberg, Fire Chief Mike Figolah, Director of Community Development Bill Cooney, Deputy Director of Community Development Brian Simmons, Director of Public Works Glen Andler and Deputy Director of Public Works Sean Dorsey. II. ROLL CALL Roll call was taken by Mayor Irvana Wilks for the members of the Village Board and Finance Commission. III. FINANCIAL PLANNING WORKSHOP Director of Finance David Erb began the meeting with a brief outline ofthe agenda and provided an outline of the materials presented in the Long Range Financial Planning Workshop binder that was distributed to the Village Board, Finance Commission and various staff members. Mr. Erb first discussed 2007 year end results. Mr. Erb reported that as of 12/31/07 the general fund had a surplus of$1,017,347 and a fund balance of32%. Mr. Erb then discussed the first quarter of2008 and advised that the current projected deficit at year end is expected to be $1,061,303 and fund balance is expected to drop to 28.6%. Part ofthe deficit is made up ofthe $339,803 transfer to the CIP to pay for the new telephone system and approximately $106,000 in carry over items from the 2007 budget. Mr. Erb briefly discussed the 2009 forecast budget and advised that the proj ections were made assuming very conservative growth. The 2009 forecast shows a deficit of$907, 727 and an estimated fund balance of25.23%. Director of Finance David Erb added that the deficit projected for 2008 will be monitored throughout the year. Additional action regarding cost cutting will be considered if the financial condition of the Fund does not improve. The deficit forecast for 2009 will be addressed during the budget process in the Fall of2008. Finance Commission member John Kellerhals asked what the decrease in sales tax revenue is contributed to. Director of Finance David Erb advised the decline is due to general economic conditions. Trustee Paul Hoefert asked whether any of the planned redevelopment was considered in the projections. Finance Director David Erb stated that the redevelopment was not included in any of the projections. Trustee Michael Zadel asked ifthe rising fuel prices will have an impact on the Public Works budget. Director of Public Works Glen Andler advised that the fuel budget will certainly be over budget; however, this line item is a small portion of Public Works overall budget. Trustee Arlene Juracek discussed a challenge she would like put out to Village Staff to cut costs from the budget to offset an increase in the tax levy (approx. $300,000). Trustee Juracek stated that staff should try to come up with ways to cut in other places to make up the money needed to not increase the tax levy. Director of Finance David Erb gave examples of staff cuts made in 2004 amounting to $500,000 and also mentioned that during that year any vacant positions were held open to cut costs. Director of Finance David Erb began the discussion on the five-year Capital Improvements Plan by stating that $58.8 million would be needed to complete all the projects listed in the five-year CIP plan. Mr. Erb added that the CIP projects funded by TIP monies or the water fund are fully supported; however, this is not the case for projects funded through state motor fuel or home rule sales taxes. Director of Finance David Erb mentioned the new Fire Station 14 and the two companion projects and noted with the exception of these projects Public Works projects make up the bulk of money in the CIP requests. Finance Commission member John Kellerhals stated that he wanted to discuss the public works expansion and the Emergency Operations Center as proposed in the CIP as he questions the justification of these projects. Several trustees stated that this meeting is not the proper place to discuss these items and stressed that these topics have been discussed previously at Village Board and Committee ofthe Whole meetings. Mayor Wilks stated that the Village Board has elected to move forward with the Fire Station and companion projects. Finance Commission Chairman Charles Bennett added that the role of the Finance Commission is not to set policy but to discuss financial aspects with respect to identifying funding alternatives for projects that are approved by the Board and Mayor. Director of Finance David Erb outlined the contents of the five year forecast as it includes most major operating and capital budgets. Mr. Erb also mentioned that significant revenue sources are broken out. Trustee Arlene J uracek suggested that staff could prepare best case, worst case and mid line budgets, in having these various budgets in hand they would be able to react more effectively if something drastic happens in one area of revenue. Assistant Village Manager Dave Strahl added that the current financial software would not allow for this kind of budgeting and preparing three separate budgets would be extremely labor intensive. Mr. Erb noted that within the next few years the Finance Department will be purchasing new financial software and that this concept could be considered at that time. Director of Finance David Erb advised that the cost of water purchased from the City of Chicago will increase 15% per year for the next three years. Finance prepared a water rate study because of these increases. In preparing the study the Village learned that the Village's water cooperative Joint Action Water Agency (JAW A) was able to make adjustments to their annual budget so the overall impact to the Village would be considerably less than the 15% increase. The study results showed that a projected rate increase of 4% for the next three years will be able to support ongoing operations of the Water and Sewer Fund. Director of Finance David Erb provided an outline of the work done with FEMA in order to apply for reimbursement of storm-related expenses. Various departments worked extremely hard gathering information and preparing worksheets for submittal to FEMA. Mr. Erb recognized Public Works, especially Deputy Director Sean Dorsey and Forestry Superintendent Sandy Clark. FEMA deemed $905,617 eligible for reimbursement from the total hard costs of$957,264. The Village received $698,325 in reimbursements. The Village expects to receive an additional $19,112 in administrative allowances after the final audit is prepared at FEMA. Mr. Erb stated that the revenue received from FEMA was included in the 2007 budget. 2 N. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Irvana Wilks thanked the Finance Commission for their contributions and stated that the Board respects the roll the Finance Commission plays with respect to the budget process and appreciates the work that is done by the Commission and all recommendations presented to the Board are given consideration. Trustee Paul Hoefert motioned to adjourn which Trustee Arlene Juracek seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 8:29 pm. Respectfully submitted, cRu"\)-. ~~~~~~--t1€- Lisa Burkemper Administrative Assistant Finance Department 3