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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/10/1998 COW minutes MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MARCH 10, t998 I. Mayor Farley called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. Present at the meeting were: Trustees George Clowes, Timothy Corcoran, Paul Hoefert, Richard Lohrstorfer, Daniel Nocchi and Irvana Wilks. Staff present included Village Manager Michael Janonis, Assistant Village Manager David Strahl, Community Development Director William Cooney, Environmental Health Coordinator Robert Roels, Fire Lieutenant Chris Truty and MIS Coordinator Joan Middleton II. MINUTES Approval of Minutes of February 24, 1998. Motion made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Nocchi to approve the Minutes. 'Trustee Hoefert noted that Trustee Nocchi was listed as coming late when, in fact, it was Trustee Hoefert who came late to the meeting and requested that revision. Minutes were approved with the revision unanimously. III.CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None. IV. DISCUSSION REGARDING EXOTIC ANIMAL REGULATIONR Community Development Director William Cooney provided a general overview of the topic. He stated that there'are a very few residents that keep pigeons and bees as hobbies. There are three types of animal regulations currently existing in the Village Code. These regulations are: (1) Dangerous animals; (2) Health issues related to keeping of animals; and (31 Prohibition of farm-type animals. When an Inspector goes out to determine which category such animal regulation fits into, there have been instances in which the Inspectors have been limited in their ability to resolve the issue for the resident. He suggested the Village Board define the nuisance of pigeons and bees or outright prohibit it so there would be no interpretation. He, also provided a general overview of the Village of Schaumburg Ordinance ~ reg'arding this issue. Trustee Hoefert stated that he initiated this discussion primarily because the Village receives about one to three complaints annually and such animals create a nuisance for neighbors and this Issue should be addressed to eliminate the impact on neighbors. He stated that because Mount Prospect is an urban environment, it is not appropriate for this type of hobby. He would support the Ordinance change which prohibits maintaining pigeons and bees by residents. Laura Eagen, 700 Elmhumt, spoke. She stated that their neighbors have a pigeon coop on the roof and the droppings are all over her home, care, driveway, vegetable garden and have created a general nuisance. She stated that the birds land and stay on her property and are not confined to the property in which the coop is kept. The neighbor feeds and raises the birds and this problem has been on-going for the last two years. Trustee Hoefert stated that he felt that this situation creates a significant impact on the quality of life of the resident and even though Inspectors have been out, they need the proper tools to address this issue. Village Manager Janonis stated that if Inspectors determine that a nuisance exists, ~.. a ticket is issued. The person cited has the opportunity to resolve the' problem and clean it up if necessary. There is the opportunity for the cycle to start all over again when animals cannot be restrained and the Issue is not resolved on a long-term basis. While this situation has only been identified through two recent complaints, meaningful regulation could eliminate the complaints altogether and the staff time necessary to follow-up on these complaints is cost-prohibitive. General comments from the Village Board members included the following items: There was concern raised that neighbors should not impact other neighbors. There '~ ~ was-also discussion concerning the Schaumburg Ordinance whereby it does not ~ ' ~pr0hibit bees and pigeons; it just regulates and licenses the activity. There was also Some discussion regarding why staff does not already have the' existing tools necessary to resolve this issue. Some Trustees felt that regulation could be : ~ handled through regulating health, noise and the number of animals and regulation ' should be used instead of outright prohibition. · , · esponded to · · Community Development Director Bill Cooney r a number of the comments. He stated that birds may not reach a safety or health hazard at the time of an Inspector's visit. He stated that outright prohibition is much easier to enforce and the probability of prevailing In Court is much improved when the judgment of the Judge is not a critical element in the case. ~ 2 Environmental Health Coordinator Bob Roels stated that he has worked with horheowners to dbCUment the damage but it has been very difficult to document the damage before a Judge because there is always an interpretation as to the level of damage for which the Judge must rely on to impose a fine. He stated that the resident sees this as a problem and he would like to resolve this issue on behalf of the resident. Consensus of the Village Board was to be more specific with the definition of prohibition of the types of animals and consider Including pigeon coops and beehives as prohibited animal operationss within the Village of Mount Prospect. V. VILLAGE COMPUTER PROJECT STATUS REPORT Assistant Village Manager Dave Strahl provided a general overview of the PC purchases to date, He stated the Village currently has four LAN servers which are connected and provide network administration services to the various users. He stated that a Technical Committee of Departmental advisors was convened to address the various needs to each Department in terms of technology. He also stated that a smaller Network Administration group meets regularly to discuss very technical issues for the entire Village Computer Project. One of the items that has been completed is a User's Manual for various computer users throughout the f"'" Village which is attached for the Village Board's Information. He also stated that a conversion plan for implementing the new PCs and server upgrades has been drafted and is currently being utilized as new PCs are put online. The year 2000 r~roblem. Mr. Strahl stated that the year 2000 problem has been addressed internally through the purchase of new PCs and various server upgrades. The proposed Finance Software System will also be year 2000 compliant. PCs which will be retained and reconfigured will be upgraded in an attempt to be year 2000 compliant. However, it Is quite possible that these upgrades may be unsuccessful and the PCs would have to be replaced altogether. Therefore, Village staff would need to return to the Board In order to request additional purchase authority to ensure year 2000 compliance. General comments from Village Board members included the following items: There was great concern from Trustees regarding whether major vendors are 2000 compliant and are making the necessary improvements in order to become year 2000 compliant. There was a suggestion that all major vendors which deal with the Village be notified to determine their progress for year 2000 compliance so that the impact upon the Village and Village services would be minimized, There was also some discussion regarding assistance from the Northwest Municipal Conference to coordinate communications with major vendors. 3 , This item was provided for general information purposes only and required no .Village Board action. LAN server uDaredes. Mr. Strahl provided a general overview of how the current stable of servers are configured and the status of their capacity at this time and the plan in place so the servers might reach their projected replacement date. MIS Coordinator Joan Middleton stated that the Village Hall server is in great need of memory and hard drive space. Such an upgrade would cost approximately $1,900 now and would only buy time through the end.of the year. She stated that this upgrade would remove the mirroring capacity of the server. Mirroring capacity is for redundancy purposes and is critical in case there are problems. Assistant Village Manager Strahl stated the dilemma for staff at this point is whether to spend the $1,900 to do some Upgrades at this time and place the server into an accelerated replacement in 1999 or consider replacement during 1998. General comments from the Village Board members included the following items: It was suggested that staff consider doing a study in order to review the number of servers that are currently being utilized and attempt to consolidate server functions into fewer machines. It was also suggested that the Village look at a strategic plan providing an overall direction for the use of technology. There was also some discussion regarding the backup locations and the financial Impact of the proposed solution in relation to the time frame for replacements. MIS Coordinator Joan Middleton answered a number of the questions by stating there are some cabling limits which do impact the ability to consolidate servers. Assistant Village Manager Strahl stated that staff would review current serVers and determine whether some server functions can be combined and the new Village Hall server, if approved, would be oversized enough to support additional users at additional locations, He also stated that due to the band width of some of the connections between servers, there is an impact on the possibility of combining server functions. Consensus of the Village Board was to replace the Village Hall server in t998. Assistant Village Manager David $trahl stated the Public Works server is in need of repair and will most likely be recommended for an accelerated replacement in the year 2000. He stated the Police server situation is dependent upon the digital mug shot storage location and once that information concerning the digital mug shots is 'known, staff will return to the Village Board for additional direction at the time additional information is known. 4 · GIS Connection. Assistant Village Manager Strahl stated that it is critical to · 6stablish a high-speed data connectiOn between Public Works and Village Hall Primarily for GIS data transmission~ He stated the GIS servers have been set up with one at Public Works and one at Village Hall. ' MIS Coordinator JOan Middleton stated that the Village has been talking to 3Com and Fujitsu to formulate a solution to not only connect the Village Hall and Public ~ Works but also the Outlying Fire Stations. i She provided an OVerview of the various options, Which have been submitted so far and stated that this connection will be used for finance software traffic, Intemet access and E-Mail connection to the outside world in addition to the data transmission. Assistant Village Manager Dave stmhl stated that the estimated cost of between $64,000 and $73,000 could, in fact, be included in ~the 1999 Budget as previously projected once additional staff reseamh Is completed. Fire Lieutenant Chris Truty spoke. He stated the Fire operation needs the connection with the outlying Fire Stations due to the necessary management of documents and real-time access for all users within the Department. This InformatiOn was provided to the Village Boardf0r diScussion purposes only and required no Village Board action at this time. However, Assistant Village Manager Strahl stated that there may be a need for additional discussion as part of the 1999 Budget Process. Villaqe Home Paae. AsSistant Village Manager Dave Strahl stated that there is a shell of the Village HOme Page currently available for viewing. However, the shell is incomplete and in order to make the information relevant,~ it is critical that development be completed for staff to populate the various sections with data. One of the limitations whiCh haS been determined recently is the ability to use Microsoft Front Page as therWeb development tool. The use of this software has created some issues with the Home Page location at Northstar Net. He is SUggesting that the Village Home Page be moved to a commercial provider-which would cost approximately $1,500 per year and allot $10,000 for professional Web Page development assistance. Northstar Net alSO has a limitation concerning E-Mail to Village staff through the Home Page and there is a need to resolve this issue. General comments from the Village Board members included the following items: Board members suggested staff investigate th~ bse of volunteers and local assistance to develop the Home Page. 5 Consensus of the ¥illage Board was to authorize the expenditure of $10,000 for professional Web Page development. Village Board also authorized the Home Page be moVed to another location If necessary to Improve communication capabilities. VI. CABLE TELEVISION FRANCHISE NEGOTIATION UPDATE Assistant Village Manager Dave Strahl provided a general overview of negotiations to date and is before the Board this evening in order to receive some direction as to the priority of items the Village Board is Interested In pursuing. He stated that FCC regulations limit the Village's scope in negotiations. He is recommending that the Village conclude negotiations with TCl which are the most favorable as possible to the Village and revise the TCI agreement once competition comes to Mount Prospect. General comments from the Village Board members included the following items: There was concern regarding the leverage of the Village in dealing with other providers including Ameritech. There was general support to complete the agreement with TCI as soon as possible and work with other providers as they become available. General' support from the Village Board members included the retention of advertising revenues, the number of PEG channels, the suggested length of the agreement as recommended from staff and the public access studio. Trustee ~10wes stated.he is concerned with the retaining the number of PEG channels and the public access studio as his primary objectives. Consensus of the Village Board was to proceed with the recommendations from staff to conclude'negotiations with TC~,, to obtain aP agreement that would 'be most favorable to the Village and entertain other franchise agreements with competitors a= those competitors become available. VII. VILLAGE MANAGER'S REPORT Village Manager'Michael Janonls provided an overview regarc~ing the Village's response to the snow event of Mamh 9. He stated that power was out in various areas of the community; but all power has be~n restored. He stated the Police and ~'- Fire had substantial increases in cell volumes and Public Works cleared the streets in a timely'manne~. Trustee Hoefert complimented the Public Works Department and other Village staff for their handling of the storm event in the community. 6 Trustee Clowes stated that he noticed during a power outage, there were numerous traffic lights which were out and was concerned about the electric feeds to these lights appear to impacted when surrounding businesses' power are still on. He recommended that staff investigate this impact and report back to the Board. VIII, ANY OTHER BUSINESS None. ix. A Motion was made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Nocchi to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted DAVID STRAHL Assistant Village Manager DS/roc X:~USE RS'~ROB ERTAC~WIN~OFFICEACOWMI N~310COW. MIN 7