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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/25/1999 COW minutes MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MAY 25, 1999 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Farley called the meeting to order at 7 36 p m Present at the meebng were Trustees Paul Hoefert, R~chard Lohrstorfer, Daniel Nocch~, Michaele Skowron and Irvana W~lks Absent from the meeting was Trustee T~mothy Corcoran Staff members present included V~llage Manager M~chael Janoms, Assistant V~llage Manager David Strahl, F~re Chief M~chael F~golah and V~llage Attorney Everette H~II II APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of Minutes of April 27, 1999 Motion made to approve the Minutes by Trustee Nocchl and Seconded by,Trustee Lohrstorfer Minutes were approved Trustees~W~lks and Skowron abstained Approval of M~nutes for Special Committee of the Whole meeting of May 18, 1999 Motion made Trustee W~lks and Seconded by Trustee Skowron M~nutes were approved Trustee Nocch[ abstained ' III CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None IV. RECIUEST FOR WATER SERVICE OUTSIDE OF VILLAGE LIMITS A Elk Grove Flra Protection District Request Wllage Manager Janonis stated that the request to provide water ~s to a single station on the far southern reaches of the V~llage The water would be used for fire spnnklers and general braiding needs related to the expansion Arthur Pischke, a Trustee for the Elk Grove Rural Fire Protection District, spoke He stated that the water main ts close to the Station and once Wllage approval is obtained, they can finahze architectural plans,for the expansion General comments from the V~llage Board members included the following ~tems A question was raised whether the Wllage allotment for water can absorb addlbonal users outside the Village There was also a quesbon as to who absorbs the cost of the expansion of the mains Wllage Manager Janoms responded that the V~llage ~s well below ~ts allowed allotment and the F~re Protection D~stnct would incur all necessary costs to tap off a 16" main In the area The actual usage amount for the Station would be qu~te small Consensus of the Village Board was to support extending water service to the Elk Grove Rural Fire Protection Distrtat Station at 1415 East Algonquin Road The charge for water service would be conslstant with exlstlng Vdlage Ordinances. B Request by City of Prospect Heights to Provide Water Service to the Shell Gas Station at the Corner of Elmhurst and Camp McDonald Roads Village Manager Janoms stated that the V~llage ~s currently prowdmg water to the new Pol~ca Building and the Walgreens, which has now moved on to the s~te of the former C~ty Hall The Shell Gas Stabon is now requesting the water for business purposes He stated the water system can handle the add~bonal use and the stabon owner would recur all connection costs to connect to the Village water mare He stated that with the pending complebon of the Prospect Heights C~ty Hall, it ~s expected that the C~ty Hall would continue to be a user of Mount Prospect water He stated there is a remote poss~b~hty that the Prospect Heights Park District may also approach the Village to consider obta~mng V~llage water He stated that prewous studies of the V~llage water system revealed that the current water system in Mount Prospect ~s capable of prowd~ng up to one-half of the entire community of Prospect Heights' water needs if ~t were to become necessary Prospect Heights, as a community, conbnues to rewew ~ts water options for the future General comments from the V~llage Board members included the follow~ng ~tems There was a d~scuss[on regarding JAWA restnct~ons and how they related to supplying water to customers outside the mun~c~pahty There was also a d~scuss~on regarding the bdhng process for the station Consensus of the Village Board was to provide water service to the Prospect Heights Shell Station at the corner of Elmhurst and Camp McDonald Roads and charge the owner the applicable commercial rate for water as specified In Village Ordinances. V. ~JURISDICTIONAL TRANSFER REQUEST BY CITY OF PROSPECT HEIGHTS FOR THE VILLAGE OF MOUNT PROSPECT TO TAKE OVER JURISDICTIONAL TRANSFER OF A PORTION OF EUCLID AVENUE V~llage Manager Janonis stated that most of the sections of Euclid are already under the jurisdiction of Mount Prospect except for a very small secbon Due to vanous Annexations, th~s section wound up m Prospect Heights This change would allow for administrative streamhnmg of the boundary Acceptance of th~s section of the street would not place an additional burden upon the V~llage to maintain Consensus of the Village Board was to accept jurisdictional transfer over this section of Euclid Avenue as Identified by Village ataff Vi ELECTRIC DEREGULATION A Consideration of Conversion from Free Electric Service to an Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Assistant Village Manager David Strahl stated that the recent deregulation Act allows the Village to exchange ~ts free electrical service as part of the Franchise Agreement for revenue from an Infrastructure Maintenance Fee The Infrastructure Maintenance Fee could be categorized as a rental charge for the use of the Village r~ght-of-way The Northwest Municipal Conference contracted w~th a law firm to study the cost of the free electr~cel service for ~ts member communities The study revealed that the Village received electrical service valued at approximately $406,000 and through a R~der 16 CornEd passes along approximately $350,000 to the residents to cover a port~on of the free electrical service provided to the V~llage If the V~llage to convert to a Infrastructure Maintenance Fee, electric bdls would increase approximately were 2 39%, or $55,000 would be passed on to the residents in exchange for the charge of the Infrastructure Maintenance Fee to CornEd Staff recommends that the V~llage continue w~th ~ts current Franchise arrangement whereby the V~llage ~s prowded free electncal service in order to not ~ncrease electrical rates for residents after the 15% rate of August of 1998 as required by the Deregulation Act Arlene Juracek, Vice President of ComEd, spoke She stated that ComEd ~s encouraging mumc~pal customers to rewew their Franchise Agreement to determine what is most beneficial to their operation She stated that the only possible comphcabon to the Franchise service would be ~f the V~llage were to obtain an Alternative Service Provider for electrical service, the Franchise Agreement w~th CornEd would have to be altered and the Village would most likely end up switching to an Infrastructure Maintenance Fee et that time since CornEd would not be providing the electncal service to the V~llage General comments from the V~llage Board members ~ncluded the following ~tems There was an extensive d~scussion regarding the Deregulation Act itself and the impact of the Deregulation Act upon the V~llage and residents There was also a d~scuss~on regarding the Franchise Agreement itself and how the Franchise Agreement was structured Consensus of the Village Board was to continue receiving free electrical service as part of the Franchise Agreement with ComEd and not convert to a Infrastructure Maintenance Fee at this time C Participation In Service Provider Lottery Assistant Village Manager Strahl prowded a general overview to the V~llage Board regarding the option of the V~llage to enter into the Electric Service Provider Lottery The Lottery deadhne is June 15, 1999 w~th the drawing scheduled for July 1999 If a bus~ness customer is chosen ~n the Lottery, they would have the opportunity to consider an alternative electrical service prowder ~n October of 1999 I All bus~ness customers would have the opportumty to consider altarnat~ve electrical service prowders after December 31, 2000 ~nclud~ng businesses not chosen in the Lottery The Lottery was ~mplementad as part of the Deregulabon Act as an opportunity to work out some of the details of Deregulabon on a smaller scale rather than having all bus~ness customers enter the deregulation market at the same time Arlene Juracek, Vice President of ComEd. spoke She stated that the Lottery Itself ~s qu~te s~mple to parbcipate in All the customer would have to do would be to submit the informat~on regarding meter numbers and an application to the appropriate CornEd address She stated that even ~f the Village were to be chosen as one of the businesses that could contract for an altemabve electric service, the V~llage would not be required to do so Assistant Village Manager Strahl stated that staff recommends the Village enter the free-choice Lottery by June 15 to preserve the option of considenng a change in electric service prowders if the opportunity becomes available Consensus of the Village Board was to submit the necessary Information to Commonwealth Edison In order to partlclpate In the Free Choice Lottery. VII CONSIDERATION OF ILLINOIS STATE GIFT BAN ACT AND ITS APPLICABILITy TO THE VILLAGE OF MOUNT PROSPECT Village Manager Janonls stated that the Act is effective on July 1. 1999 He stated that recent efforts by the General Assembly to clarify port~ons of the ACt have not been successful w~th th~s Session Therefore, the V~llage would have to undertake approval of the Act as it currently exists Once direct~on has been given by the V~llage Board. staff w~ll have the opportunity to prepare the necessary Ordinances dunng the month of June for proper approval prior to the deadhne 3 V~Jlage Attorney Hill stated th~s ~s a very poor p~ece of legislation and it is qu~te d~fficult to interpret He stated the Act covers a number of areas among them, the definition of a Gift, whom does the G~ft Ban apply to, what is a prohibited source of a gift, and the t~m~ng for which a g~ft could be received The Act requires that an Ethics Officer be appointed to review ethics cases that are brought forward for consideration He recommends that the State Leg~slabve Ethics Commission conduct any Ethics Hearings instead of a local Commission He ~s anticipating add~bonal clar~ficabon during the Veto Session regarding this Act The duties of the Ethics Officer are limited to rewewmg the Statements of Economic Interest and review apphcat~ons of how the Act apphes to various Issues when ~nqumes are made The V~llage already has a G~ff Ban Ordinance m the V~llage Code and th~s Ordinance is more restrictive than the State regulations In th~s instance, the Village code would take precedence since it is more restrlcbve Mr H~II recommended that the Village Board consider appointing a retired member of the Judm~ary as ~ts Ethics Officer for the V~llage General comments form the V~llage Board members included the following ~tems Some Trustees pointed out that they do not feel that the Gift Ban Act would have much impact on the general operations of the V~llage Trustees s~nce there had not been an issue ~n the past There was a suggestion that the Northwest Municipal Conference considering hawng an Ethics Officer available for use by a number of towns ~n the Conference There was also a d~scuss~on regarding whether the Ethics Officer would be pa~d and what is the oversight for the Ethics Officer There was a d~scuss~on regarding how the exceptions of the Act would be ~ncorporated into the V~llage Ordinance and a suggestion was made regarding the establishment of a Local Ethics Review Board instead of utlhzmg the State Ethics Commission Consensus of the Village Board was to follow the recommendations of the Village Attorney whereby the V~llage Board would adopt the Gift Ban Act as required by the State and to authorize Investigations to be conducted by the State Ethics Board VIII MANAGER'S REPORT . V~llage Manager Janonis rem~nded the v~ewmg audience and the V~llage Board that the Jaycees Carnival is scheduled for the upcoming weekend and the Veterans Bandshell ded~cabon ~s scheduled for May 31 IX ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Nocchl read a prepared statement notifying the pubhc and the V~llage that he is seeking employment with developers who may be currently working or considering to do work in the V~llage of Mount Prospect He is only at the stage where resumes are being c~rculated and has not entertained or received any offers to date He w~ll nobly the V~llage Board ~f his status changes regarding employment w~th any developer that has a relabonsh~p w~th the V~llage He w~ll abstain from all votes regarding the development process in which a developer that he has submitted a resume may be revolved CLOSED SESSION Mobon made by Trustee W~lks and Seconded by Trustee Hoefert to move into Closed Session to d~scusston Land Acqu~s~hon and Personnel Meeting was adjourned ~nto Closed Session at 912pm Meeting reconvened into Open Session at 10 01 p m X. ADJOURNMENT S~nce there was no further bus~ness, the Meeting was adjourned at 10 02 p m Respectfully submitted, DAVID STRAHL Assistant V~llage Manager DS/rcc ~ ~\VH~V02~DEPT~VlLMGR\GEN~Cow~4mutes~52599 COW M~nutes doc 5