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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/01/2001 PC minutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE MOUNT PROSPECT PLAN COMMISSION Revised Minutes August 1, 2001 CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the Mount Prospect Plan Commission was called to order by Chairman Pro Tem Carol Tortorello at 7:02 p.m. at the Village Hall, 100 South Emerson Street, Mount Prospect, Illinois. ROLL CALL: Present: Carol Tortorello Edwin Janus Bill Reddy Absent: Matt Sledz, Vice-Chairman Gary Grouwinkel Village Staff Present: Nicole Roberts, Neighborhood Planner Suzanne Mas6, Long Range Planner Others in Attendance: Linnea Pioro, Camp Fire,"Camp Kool" program Nancy Corry, Summer Adventure program April Foley, Mentor program Dianne Kovack, Clayground Inc. Barb Evos, Clayground Inc. Melissa Sly, District 57 John Healy, Arrow Road David McArdle, Arrow Road Lindsay Hopkins, Learning for Life program Robert Walsh, Resources for Community Living Jere Teed, CEDA Northwest Center Caryn Brauweiler, Children's Advocacy program Cynthia Ash, Girl Scouts program APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Chairman Pro-Tem Carol Tortorello asked for comments or changes to the minutes. Bill Reddy stated that the minutes were not accurate in summarizing his reasons for not funding the Boy Scouts program. Ms. Roberts asked Mr. Reddy to submit a brief summary of his reasons for denying funding to the Boy Scouts program, and Bill Reddy agreed to submit the information. There were no other comments or changes to the minutes. Bill Reddy moved to approve the minutes as corrected and Chairman Pro-Tem Carol Tortorello seconded the motion. The minutes were approved by a vote of 3-0. Chairman Pro-Tem Carol Tortorello asked staff to present the first case, PC-11-01. SUBDIVISION: PC-11-01 Garland's Lot Resubdivision 2233 South Busse Petitioner: Mr. John Healy, Arrow Road Construction Staff: Suzanne Mas6, Long Range Planner The petitioner is seeking to create two lots of record by subdividing an existing lot. Arrow Road is purchasing this lot from a neighboring property owner. The petitioner will be expanding an existing parking lot to Lot 1. Lot 2 will remain undeveloped at this time. Staff recommended approval. The plat was approved 3-0. Mount Prospect Plan Commission August 1,2001 page 2 NEW BUSINESS: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) FY 2002 Public Hearing: Ms. Nicole Roberts, Neighborhood Planner stated that the purpose of this meeting is to give all interested parties the opportunity to attend the meeting and discuss the funding recommendations. She said that due to conflicting schedules, not all Plan Commission members could attend this meeting. Therefore, in order to allow each member the opportunity to vote on the funding recommendations, members agreed to hold the public portion of the meeting tonight, but postpone the vote on funding recommendations until the August 15,2001 Plan Commission meeting. Chairman Pro-Tem Carol Tortorello asked Ms. Roberts to give an update on District 57 "Character Counts" program. Ms. Roberts stated that Melissa Sly, Program Coordinator of the "Character Counts" submitted a letter with additional information on how CDBG funds would benefit the low and moderate- income residents of Mount Prospect. Ms. Roberts said that based on an assessment of the letter, the Character Counts program has two events in mind: supporting crime prevention month at Randhurst with the Mount Prospect Police Department, and supporting a community cleanup in Spring 2002. She said that the crime prevention event is an eligible activity that benefits all residents; however, in order to meet HUD's guidelines, at least 51% of low-income residents must attend the event. Ms. Roberts said that the letter did not specify how they would determine that at least 51% of low and moderate-income residents would attend the event. Also, although the community cleanup would meet HUD's guidelines of benefiting low and moderate-income residents, the letter did not specify which low and moderate-income area would benefit from the event. Therefore, the recommendation was made to deny funding to the "Character Counts" program. The Plan Commission agreed that there is an extra $1,000 to allocate, but postponed how to allocate the extra funds until the August 15, 2001 Plan Commission meeting. Chairman Pro-Tem Carol Tortorello opened the Public Hearing at 7:20 pm., and asked applicants applying for CDBG funds to respond to the funding recommendations in the order that they signed in. Linnea Pioro of the Camp Fire "Camp Kool" program thanked the Plan Commission for their continued support of the program. However, she said that their program uses CDBG funds to pay for a portion of their youth counselors' salaries; therefore, the reduction in funding would reduce the number of counselors available to serve the youth. Edwin Janus stated that the decision to reduce their funding was based on the limited number of youth served by the program. He said that during FY2000, records showed that the program served 37 out of 130 youth they proposed to serve from Mount Prospect. Linnea Pioro stated that the program actually served 72 youth. She agreed to submit information showing the total number of youth that benefited from the program during program year 2000. Nancy Corry and April Foley expressed appreciation for the Plan Commission's continued support of the Summer Adventure and Mentor program. They spoke about the programs that were undertaken this year, past and future performances, and their funding needs. Nancy Corry stated that the increase in funding would allow her to continue to provide quality services to the youth of Mount Prospect. Dianne Kovack of Clayground Inc., expressed appreciation for the Plan Commission's continued support of her arts program. She said that the Center has experience an increase in demand for services due to its new location; therefore, the additional funding would allow her to respond to the increase in demand. Ed Janus voiced concerns about the limited number of residents served by the program. He said that during FY 2000, records showed that the program served 25 out of 60 youth from Mount Prospect. Ms. Kovack said that the program actually served 87 youth from Mount Prospect. She agreed to submit information showing the total number of youth that benefited from the program during program year 2000. Lindsay Hopkins of Boy Scouts of America, Learning for Life program was concerned that the program was not funded. She spoke about the benefits of the program to the low and moderate-income youth of ount Prospect Plan Commission August 1,2001 page 3 Mount Prospect. She also stated that, although they receive funding from Boy Scouts of America, the Learning for Life program has a separate Board of Directors from Boy Scouts of America. In addition, she said that the Learning for Life program select the schools and businesses for its programs, but the schools and businesses selects the adults who work with the youth. Bill Reddy stated that the decision to deny funding to the Learning for Life program was based on the fact that Boy Scouts of America discriminates based on sexual orientation. Bill Reddy stated that the Learning for Life program is the same agency as Boy Scouts of America and the contractual agreement is between the Village and Suburban Northwest Council and not the Learning for Life program. Edwin Janus voiced support of the Learning for Life program. Robert Walsh of the Resources for Community Living spoke about the programs that were undertaken this year, past and future performances, and their funding needs. He made an appeal to maintain the current level of funding on the basis that the reduction would prevent the agency from expanding its program. Edwin Janus stated that the decision to reduce funding was based on the limited number of residents served during program year 2000. He said that during FY 2000, records showed that the program served 4 out of 7 residents from Mount Prospect. Mr. Walsh stated that the program actually served 6 residents of Mount Prospect. He agreed to submit information showing the total number of residents that benefited from the program during program year 2000. Jere Teed of CEDA Northwest Self-Help Center, ~Transitional Living" program spoke about the benefits of the program to the Mount Prospect community. He expressed concerns about their reduction in funding and inquired about the funding criteria. Ms. Roberts stated that the decision to reduce funding was based on the limited number of residents served by the program. Ms. Roberts also said that based on the 2001 six month monitoring site visit, the program did not place any residents from Mount Prospect. Carolyn Brauweiler of the Children's Advocacy Center expressed appreciation for the Plan Commission's continued support of the program. She spoke about the benefits of the program to the community and the need for the additional funding. Cynthia Ash of Girl Scouts expressed appreciation for the Plan Commission's support of the program. She spoke about the purpose of the program and its benefits to the Mount Prospect community. The Plan Commission reiterated that the program would be given ~seed money" and continued funding would be based on the performance of the agency. COMMENTS AND OTHER BUSINESS: There were discussions on how to determine what specific items agencies purchase using CDBG funds. Ms. Roberts stated that programs such as VOMP Summer Adventure & Mentor submit receipts for items purchased using CDBG funds. The Plan Commission requested census tract information for Boxwood and Judith Ann area. Chairman Pro-Tem Carol Tortorello closed the public session at 8:15 p.m., Edwin Janus moved to adjourn and Bill Reddy seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a voice vote and the meeting was adjourned. Nicole Roberts, Neighborhood Planner Suzanne Mas6, Long Range Planner H:\GEN\PLNG\PC\PC 200 l\Minutes\8-01-01 (CDBG Public Hearing).doc