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Home My WebLink About2. COW Agenda Item DRAFT Minutes 02/08/2011COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES February 8, 2011 la CALL TO ORDER — ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. in the Village Board Room of the Village Hall, 50 South Emerson Street, by Mayor Irvana Wilks. Present at the meeting were Trustees Paul Hoefert, Arlene Juracek, John Korn, John Matuszak, and Steven Polit, and Michael Zadel. Staff present included Village Manager Michael Janonis, Police Chief John Dahlberg, Village Attorney George Wagner, and Administrative Analyst Michael Dallas. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes was made by Trustee Hoefert and seconded by Trustee Juracek. All trustees approved the motion. Before moving on to the next section of the meeting's agenda, Mayor Irvana Wilks proposed adding an item (Personnel) to the Closed Session. A motion to approve the addition was made by Trustee Korn and seconded by Trustee Hoefert. All trustees approved the motion. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Mayor Irvana Wilks introduced Keagan Anderson, the Senior Patrol Leader from Boy Scout Troop #23. No citizens requested to be heard. MASSAGE BUSINESS REGULATIONS Village Manag emphasizing th mechanism to activities. Mr. Janonis impede the operations evening's discussion regulations. Janonis introduced t develop a regulatory prohibit massage /spa noted that any regulatory of legitimate businesses vas to provide Village he meeting's main topic of discussion, scheme using the Village's licensing businesses from conducting criminal scheme must be considerate and not in the profession. His goal for the staff with sufficient direction to draft During the evening Village Attorney George Wagner and Police Chief John Dahlberg were asked to provide their reasons for support of the regulatory scheme and points of clarification. The following represents a summary of their responses: • The Village can use the business licensing mechanism to deter this activity; • Massage /spa businesses are regulated through zoning regulations; • The State of Illinois preempts licensing of message therapists; • There are many requirements to obtain a State of Illinois massage therapist license including good moral character, minimum 500 hours of training, and a competency exam; • Only licensed massage therapists may use the term "massage" or "massage therapy" when advertising; H: \VILM \MDallas \Meeting Minutes \COW Minutes 2- 8- 11.docx Committee of the Whole Page 1 of 3 2/8/11 er Michael e need to deter and • In the past, the Police Department has made arrests at massage /spa businesses; • The Police Department monitors Internet traffic and uses undercover officers to investigate criminal activity; • Such investigative operations are expensive and difficult to conduct; • The Police Department wants to reduce investigative time and resources by creating a tougher regulatory scheme. To help Village staff design the proposed regulations, the Village Board proposed the following ideas: • Require all business licenses to be prominently displayed in front of business; • License other employees that are not already licensed by the State of Illinois; • Require frequent inspections; • Hold landlords responsible for criminal activity, including possibly restricting their ability to lease the same space again for a similar business for specific period of time; • Require a more open floor plan /configuration, including a visible waiting room; • Require business to pay for criminal investigations; • Require all transactions to be credit card transactions; • Use the conditional use process to approve new businesses; • The business must provide a picture and obtain a background check for every employee; • The business owner must be a licensed massage therapist. General comments, questions or concerns from the Village Board included the following: • Human trafficking is a related issue; • Avoid regulations that would impair or prohibit businesses from conducting legitimate operations such as physical therapy; • In order to avoid drafting regulations that impede legitimate business, define the specific characteristics that distinguish legitimate and illegitimate massage business operations; • Police stings are a more effective approach to addressing criminal activity; • Ask businesses in this profession for their opinions on how to deter or prohibit criminal activity; Before closing, Mr. Janonis agreed that Village staff would meet with businesses to solicit their opinions regarding business license regulations before coming back to the Village Board. V. MANAGER'S REPORT Village Manager Michael Janonis noted Village staff's outstanding efforts during the recent snow storm to clear the streets and provide other public safety assistance to the community. Village trustees thanked Village staff and also noted their efforts during and after the storm. General comments, questions or concerns from the Village Board included the following: ■ Establish an emergency fund to address these types of events; Committee of the Whole Page 2 of 3 2/8/11 • The State of Illinois is primarily responsible to clear snow for some major roads within the community; • Recommend residents and businesses sign -up for the Village's Everbridge Mass Emergency Notification System; • Community should be mindful not to plow -in neighbors driveways or fire hydrants during /after snowstorm; • Important to check -in on neighbors during similar weather events. Mr. Janonis also noted the February Coffee with Council meeting. VI. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Mayor Wilks stated that she, Trustee Korn, Trustee Juracek, and Trustee Polit recently met with Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle to discuss community affairs. Mayor Wilks also recognized the Shining Star recipients and the outstanding efforts by the Special Events Commission. VII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:52 p.m. MICHAEL DALLAS Administrative Analyst Committee of the Whole Page 3 of 3 2/8/11