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Home My WebLink About08/22/2000 COW agenda COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE AGENDA Meeting Location: Meeting Date and Time: Mount Prospect Senior Center Tuesday, August 22, 2000 50 South Emerson Street 7:30 p.m. I. CALL TO ORDER - ROLL CALL Mayor Gerald L. Farley Trustee Timothy Corcoran Trustee Dennis Prikkel Trustee Paul Hoefert Trustee Michaele Skowron Trustee Richard Lohrstorfer Trustee Irvana Wilks II. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF JULY 25, 2000, SPECIAL MEETING OF AUGUST 1, 2000 AND AUGUST 8, 2000 III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD IV. WISCONSIN CENTRAL/METRA NORTH CENTRAL COMMUTER LINE DOUBLE TRACK PROJECT-UPDATE Since 1995, when the Metra North Central Commuter Line began preparation for its start-up operations, the Mayor, Board of Trustees and staff have devoted hundreds of hours of time working with nearby residents, neighboring towns, transportation agencies and State and Federal Legislators to minimize the impact of rail operations (both freight and commuter) on the immediate community. These efforts have borne fruit with substantial changes being made to the original Double Tracking Plan. On April 5, 1999, Metra agreed to a Mitigation Plan (attached) which included among other things, the installation of the second track on the west side of the existing track, the extension of screening fences proportionately within the extension of the Prospect Heights' Station platform, closing the private rail crossing at Morrison Avenue and taking other steps that would minimize any requirement for whistle blowing at existing railroad grade crossings within the Village. All of these promises were incorporated into the engineering plans which were recently submitted to the Village for review. The Village has been informed by representatives from Metra that initial construction; i.e., roadbed grading, structure modifications and grade crossing reconfigurations will begin in September of this year (2000). At this time, staff is in a position to provide the Village Board with a detailed status report of the construction project, including implementation of the Mitigation Plan. The update will consist largely of an oral report made by appropriate staff. Once the status report is delivered to the Village Board, a Resident Information Bulletin (RIB) will be prepared and distributed to residents adjacent to the Wisconsin Central Railroad right-of-way. Appropriate staff will be on hand to answer questions and facilitate discussion .NOTE: ANY INDIVIDUAL WHO WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND THIS MEETING BUT BECAUSE OF A DISABILITY NEEDS SOME ACCOMMODATION TO PARTICIPATE, SHOULD CONTACT THE VILLAGE MANAGER'S OFFICE A T '100 SOUTH EMERSON, MOUNT PROSPECT, ILLINOIS 60056, 847/392-6000, EXTENSION 5327, TDD #847/392-6064. V. ROUTE 83 RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT - UPDATE Since the detour went on line April 21 of 2000, progress has been steady with the work, however, as with most construction projects, there have been a number of things that have come up during the process. As of this point, the project is considered on schedule and two- way traffic, at least one lane of two-way traffic, is expected to be in place by Thanksgiving based on the current pace of construction. The project is approximately two weeks behind on paving for the east side of the street and two weeks ahead on the west side of the street with the bridge currently being four weeks behind due to steel shortage and structural concrete shortage issues. IDOT has authorized overtime for the construction crews to complete the bridge on schedule once the necessary steel is in place. The permanent traffic signal installation, tree replanting and parkway restoration will likely not be completed this season but will promptly begin early next year. Overall, the communications with the residents along Route 83 has been very positive. There have been very few issues which have arisen with the residents themselves to date. A reconfiguration of the southbound merge has been instituted at the request of the ICC. One-way southbound now is in place north of Northwest Highway to reduce the number of lanes of traffic crossing the tracks on southbound Route 83. However, this reconfiguration still allows for right turns and left turns on Northwest Highway from southbound Route 83. A summary of the construction progress will be provided by Village Engineer Jeff Wulbecker. As with the construction and traffic issues related to southbound Route 83, the Police Department has been heavily involved in traffic enforcement throughout the streets that have been affected by the detour. The Police Department has instituted extensive traffic enforcement along Emerson and other streets where traffic has been found to be cutting through the neighborhood. The traffic detail at Central and Northwest Highway has been cut back and some of the Officers have been reassigned to assisting traffic flow at Emerson and Prospect/Route 83. As one might imagine with the closing of the left turn from Prospect on to northbound 83, some traffic has shifted to Emerson and Police Officers have been involved in assisting in efficient traffic flow at the intersection. The Village Board has been receiving a weekly summary of traffic enforcement efforts along Emerson Street and the ancillary streets near the construction zone detailing the number of tickets and what the tickets were issued for. Sergeant John Dahlberg will be available to provide an overview of the Police enforcement efforts during the Route 83 construction to date. VI. MISCELLANEOUS ZONING ISSUES DISCUSSION Early each year, staff polls Village Board members regarding topics the Board would like to discuss at Committee of the Whole meetings. One topic that generated substantial interest was the recent phenomenon of "residential tear downs." This redevelopment practice involved the purchasing of older, smaller homes in well-established neighborhoods and thereafter the homes were either demolished or completely engulfed with a substantially larger single family residence. While the Village has not yet experienced a significant "tear down" problem, a number of Chicagoland communities had and were studying the implementation of appropriate controls so that the essential character of existing neighborhoods was not detrimentally altered. Over the course of 2000, additional concerns regarding lot coverage restrictions and the size of garages also came to the forefront. Since each of these items relate to the redevelopment or improvement of existing structures, and in many cases are interrelated, staff is bringing forward these issues for discussion as a group. Community Development Director Bill Cooney and his staff have prepared a memorandum outlining the salient points that should be considered with each of these subjects. Appropriate staff will be on hand to answer questions and facilitate discussion. VII. VILLAGE MANAGER'S REPORT VIII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS IX. ADJOURNMENT CLOSED SESSION PERSONNEL 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (2). "Collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees." LITIGATION 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (11). "Litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting." PROPERTY ACQUISITION 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (5). "The purchase or lease of real property for the use of the public body." H:\GEN\Cow~Agenda\082200 COW Agenda.doc