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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/13/2001 COW minutes MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MARCH 13, 2001 i. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:36 p.m. by Mayor Gerald Farley. Present at the meeting were: Trustees Timothy Corcoran, Paul Hoefert, Richard Lohrstorfer, Dennis Prikkel, Michaele Skowron and Irvana Wilks. Staff members present included Village Manager Michael Janonis, Assistant Village Manager David Strahl, Public Works Director Glen Andler, Deputy Public Works Director Sean Dorsey, Village Forester Sandy Clark, Village Engineer Jeff Wulbecker, Traffic Engineer Matt Lawrie, Project Engineer Donna Brown and Public Information Officer Maura Jandris. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of Minutes from February 13, 2001. Motion made by Trustee Corcoran and Seconded by Trustee Wilks to approve the Minutes. Minutes were approved. iii. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD George Clowes, 604 South Elm, spoke. He is appearing before the Village Board this evening to share an article that appeared in the Mount Prospect Journal on March 2, 2001 about a situation of a jogger being involved in a confrontation with a newspaper delivery person. From the information presented in the article, the delivery person apparently was ticketed although the jogger was in violation of the Village Code. He wanted to reinforce the idea that people are to use the sidewalks for such activities including jogging. Trustee Corcoran stated that there is a dilemma about forcing people to use the sidewalks due to possible trip hazards and a review of the risk should be considered. iV. WISCONSIN CENTRAL DOUBLE TRACK UPDATE Village Manager Janonis provided an overview of the planning process that has led up to the construction of the second railroad track east of the existing line and what is being done to mitigate the impact on the nearby homes. He stated there are plans for a screening fence to be installed and the closing of an uncontrolled intersection, which would no longer require the engineer to blow a warning whistle when approaching the intersection. He also stated that there will be an installation of a device to minimize illegal crossings at Euclid and he would expect the majority of the work to be completed during the summer. He stated that there were several citizens involved in coming to a solution, which did not adversely impact the residential area and commends those residents for their involvement. General comments from Village Board members included the following items: It was noted that the user projections when the original study was done to justify the station were well below what the actual ridership rates are. It was also noted that the Federal government is providing the majority of the funding. Richard Hendricks, 196 Christy Lane, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, spoke. He stated that he was happy to see the Morrison Street crossing being closed and has a concern about the location of the tracks between Kensington and Central as to whether they will match up with the tracks being constructed further north of the line. V. 2001 ROAD CONSTRUCTION PREVIEW Village Engineer Jeff Wulbecker reviewed several Village projects that are expected to be done this construction season including several State and County projects. He stated the Mt. Prospect Road crossing will be replaced during a two-week period in April and the remaining work yet to be done on Route 83 should be completed by June. He also highlighted the Village Street Lighting Project on Route 83, which will take place from May through September. He also stated Rand Road is to be resurfaced through the community and Northwest Highway will also be resurfaced. He also stated that Central Road between Arthur and Kirchoff will be resurfaced and would likely impact the traffic flow within the community even though the project is wholly outside of Mount Prospect. He stated that work continues on the downtown traffic signals. He stated that 18 streets, or 4.1 miles of street, are slated for reconstruction this season and 16 street or, 3.7 miles, are slated for resurfacing. He also stated that the Streetscape Phase 2 work will be underway this season in addition to some Weller Creek improvements. This item was presented for informational purposes only. VI. UTILITY PERMIT PROCEDURE UPDATE Traffic Engineer Matt Lawrie highlighted the right-of-way restoration issues that the Village has experienced over the last several years due to the proliferation of companies installing conduit and fiber in the Village right-of-way. He stated that Village does have a permit procedure and most companies have been following such procedure, however, it has required extensive staff time to work with the utility companies to ensure work is completed as promised. He stated, for example, during 1998, 55 Permits were requested. From 1999 to date, 550 Permits have been requested. Even though the majority of the Permits were related to the Ameritech New Media cable installation, the volume of the work is at such a level that it has become difficult to monitor the various companies. He stated it is not unusual for extensive communication between the contractor and the Village leading up to the project and then a different contractor will take over the actual digging and will cause issues unrelated to previous discussions during the pre-construction meeting. General comments from Village Board members included the following items: There was a concern raised that the rights-of-way continue to be disrupted and there needs to be accountability for what is going on in the rights-of-way. It was also suggested that a shorter restoration period be considered and a significant Bond be posted to ensure performance and completion of the Village's satisfaction. There was also concern about the disruption of the Village sidewalks and removal of equipment on a timely basis. General consensus of the Village Board was to request that staff review the procedures and see where such procedures can be improved to improve response time and improve restoration timeframe. VII. VILLAGE MANAGER'S REPORT None. VIII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Hoefert stated that he noticed there were audio issues related to the recent Village programs coming through the AT&T cable system and requested staff review that situation and correct as necessary. There was no Closed Session. IX. ADJOURNMENT Since there was no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:17 p.m. Respectfully submitted, DAVID STRAHL DS/rcc Assistant Village Manager H:\GEN\Cow\Minutes\031301 COW Minutes.doc