Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/22/2008 COW minutes COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES April 22, 2008 I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. in the Village Board Room of Village Hall, 50 South Emerson Street, by Mayor Irvana Wilks. Present at the meeting were: Trustees Timothy Corcoran, Arlene Juracek, Paul Hoefert, John Korn, Richard Lohrstorfer and Michael Zade!. Staff present included Village Manager Michael Janonis, Assistant Village Manager David Strahl, Community Development Director William Cooney, Administrative Analyst Michael Dallas, Senior Planner Claire O'Shea, Public Information Officer Maura EI Metennani, and IT Director Joan Middleton. II. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES Approval of Minutes of March 25, 2008 motion made by Trustee Zadel seconded by Trustee Hoefert. Minutes were approved. III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None IV. RETAIL CONSULTANT REPORT Public Information Officer Maura EI Metennani provided general information regarding the BDI Marketing study components and introduced the principals who undertook the study. Bridget Lane of BDI spoke. She provided an overview of the retail study and highlighted the fact that the Village has the necessary demographics for retail success. She stated that there are three separate and distinct retail zones within the community each with different needs and retail clientele. She also highlighted the fact the Village has generated more sales tax through the capture of purchases from non-residents than some other communities that surround Mount Prospect. The sectors that the study highlights are the north sector including the Randhurst area, downtown sector and the southern sector which includes the Golf Plazas and the Kimco property. She stated retail typically looks for average daily traffic counts in the 20,000 car range and Mount Prospect is unique to have six roads with such high vehicle counts. Retail also looks for a population of approximately 25,000 people within five minutes between their home and the retail store. She also stated there is a strong worker population in the area of each sector which is valuable for the support of restaurants and service businesses. She provided an outline of the goals and objectives unique to each sector as part of the report. She also provided an overview of the redevelopment process which would be required for the Village due to the lack of open land sites. 1 She provided information regarding at least one landlord that rents to businesses in a specific sector just to get the initial rent and the business really never becomes active in the space and because of the rent structure the landlord still makes a profit. As part of the report, there is a suggestion for the Village to consider a community development corporation to assist in retail investment and provide a basic program for the Village to utilize in an effort to encourage development and redevelopment. She provided an overview of the strengths and weaknesses, along with threats in each retail sector that have been specifically identified. Diane Williams of BDI provided an overview of the north sector and the impact of the Randhurst redevelopment upon that sector. She also provided an overview of the downtown and unique challenges associated with the downtown. She stated the downtown needs to create more of an identity as to not to compete with the retail that is very close to the northern sector of the community. She also stated the branding effort the Village is currently undertaking will be very critical for marketing of the community and the available sectors. General comments from the Village Board members included the following items: · It was noted that the Mayor and select staff members have undertaken business visits with the EDC members as a means to reach out to the business community. · It was also noted that the suggested mix of tenants with rental housing creates an additional market parameter that could benefit the Village. · There was some discussion regarding the average rentals related to square footages in business sectors in the community. · There was also a discussion regarding different shopping trends and comparison of Mount Prospect to other downtowns in the area and what unique features distinguish the downtowns from another. · A discussion regarding the use of Village funds for changing the character of shopping center areas in order to encourage additional redevelopment and business expansion as part of a Village strategy. Chuck Bennett - 5 W. Central spoke. He stated as a resident of the downtown, he sometimes feels that the traffic flow through the downtown is almost too high and could be considered a detriment, which would limit pedestrian access to the downtown area. He also questioned at what point would the residential mass reach the necessary level to meet the requirements of a small grocery store to service those downtown residents. He suggested the Village Board may want to consider allowing a liquor license for a convenience store to locate within the downtown area in order to encourage a downtown grocery store. Village Manager Michael Janonis spoke. He stated the Village had considered treating retail as an asset and look to partnerships where possible and may want to consider a staff position focused on retail development and retention in the near future. 2 v. VILLAGE PHONE SYSTEM DISCUSSION Administrative Analyst Michael Dallas introduced Dave Wilson of Wilson Consulting. He provided an overview of the current system and the process that staff and the consultant went through that has led to this discussion. Phase I of the project included an overview of the current system and some modifications to the existing number of paid phone lines. Phase II included drafting the RFP and the vendor evaluation. He stated nine vendors responded to the RFP and the criteria used by Wilson Consulting weighed all factors including system configuration, system features, redundancy/cost, along with vendor strength and the manufacturer support. He stated this evaluation reduced the number of vendors to three for additional review that included four different system types. He stated the evaluations have led staff to recommend a CISCO voice over IP system. Dave Wilson of Wilson Consulting spoke. He provided information regarding the two different systems that were primarily evaluated. The first system of Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) compared to the Voice Over IP system (VOIP). He also highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of each system. He stated the VOIP system allows for a better redundancy and reliability and sets the stage for future development by existing data network. He mentioned the ability to move phones easily depending on needs is much easier in terms of the use of staff time than the current system by switching to the VOIP system. He also stated this would allow the alternative phone calling incident center to be set up rapidly with very little down time compared to a TDM system or the current system. Mike Dallas stated staff is recommending the Village to enter into a contract with Sound Incorporated, utilizing the CISCO call manager as a single source for maintenance creating phone voice mail and data. He stated this recommendation includes retaining the existing voice mail system which can be upgraded to the data system to benefit the Village for future needs. He also stated the main system costs has been quoted at $295,797 with additional options including call accounting, panic buttons with the phones and software changes for an additional $37,036. He also is requesting $7000 in contingency expenses for the project. General comments from the Village Board members included the following items: . There was discussion involving the panic button feature, the programming and function details of such a button. . There was also a discussion regarding the mean time between failures and how such failure periods would be minimized through contract guarantees. . It was also suggested that the UPS's that are to be included as part of the system be of such a strength to operate the system by at least twice the down time that is recommended by the manufacturer. · A suggestion that staff review the option of leasing compared to purchase just to insure that the staff recommendation is the most cash efficient recommendation. . Staff was also directed to return to the vendor to determine whether the 3 maintenance cost can be reevaluated so that the estimated five year cost would be decreased. · It was also confirmed that a redundancy back up options would still include copper lines in addition to the digital lines for outside phone access. Chuck Bennett-Chairman of the Finance Commission spoke. On behalf of the Finance Commission they are supportive of the proposed upgrade to the Village phone system. Village Manager Michael Janonis stated the staff will forward the Village Board's questions to the vendor and get back to the Village Board prior to contract approval completion. VI. VILLAGE MANAGER'S REPORT Village Manager Michael Janonis stated the last Saturday for vehicle sticker purchases will be April 26 from 9:00 a.m. until noon. VII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Korn stated Thursday, April 24 is the Sister Cities Pot Luck dinner event. Mayor Wilks stated the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast is May 1. She also wanted to advise everyone that the Arbor Day tree planting ceremony will be at Fairview school at 1 :00 p.m. on April 25. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Meeting convened at 9:45 p.m., moved into Closed Session and returned from Closed Session at 10:21 p.m. The meeting was immediately adjourned since there was no other business to discuss. -~a.:.j:dJP DAVID STRAHL Assistant Village Manager 4