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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/13/1996 COW minutes REVISED 3/12/96 MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE FEBRUARY 13, 1996 Due to the absence of Mayor Fadey, the meebng was called to order at 7.34 p m, by V~llage Manager Michael Janonis who began by requesting a Mobon for nominabon for President Pro Tem for the evening A Motion was made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Clowes to nominate Trustee Corcoran to serve as President Pro Tem for th~s meeting The Mobon passed unammously At th~s point, Trustee Corcoran took up the center chair and began the meeting CALL TO ORDER Present at the meeting were Trustees George Clowes, T~mothy Corcoran, R~chard Hendncks, Paul Hoefert, M~chaele Skowron and Irvana Wilks Absent from the meeting was Mayor Gerald Farley. Also present were Wllage Manager M~chael Janoms, Assistant V~llage Manager David Strahl, Commumty Development Director William Cooney, Economic Planner Kenneth Fntz, Environmental Health Coordinator Robert Roels, Environmental Health Inspector D~ane Gartner and F~nance Director Dawd Jepson II MINUTES M~nutes of December 12, 1995 Mobon made by Trustee CIowes and Seconded by Trustee Skowron M~nutes were approved Trustees Corcoran and Hoefert abstained ' Minutes of January 23, 1996 Mobon made by Trustee Hoefert Trustee Clowes requested a revision on page three of the Minutes and Trustee Corcoran requested a revision on page two Minutes were approved with revisions III CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None IV MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING INSPECTION PROGRAM Community Development Director William Cooney provided a general overview of the Program proposal General components of the proposal include an overview of the current program, an overview of staff msues related to the current program, recommended staff solutions and a request for ~nput from the V~llage Board The $7.00 per umt per year fee was estabhshed m 1983 for a Housing Inspector and a Landlord/Tenant Mediator Recent d~scussmns by the Visions Committee, which ~s an interdepartmental task force, has d~scussed numerous problems and solutions relabng to the continued d~lap~dabon of some multi-family un,ts throughout the V~llage The ~nspectmn concentration on the common areas and extenors of the buildings have been reasonably successful However, humerous emergencies or other opportunities to ~nspect the interior of the u~ts have confirmed poor cond~bons which are d~rectly related to overall poor maintenance of the fac~hty Also, recent Ordinance changes, where enforcement fees are lewed instead of relying on the Jud~c4al process for solubon, have been successful dunng th~s past year Environmental Health Coordinator Bob Roels stated that he has seen a substanbal increase ~n the service requests and the necessary follow-up of staff has overburdened available resources He stated many buildings are reaching the end of their useful hfe and the ab~hty of some owners to maintain the buildings has not been on a prlonty bas~s by the landlords He stated that he provided th~s overview to a subcommittee of owners and property managers recently and the attached Minutes of that meebng are included ~n the packet for Board members' ~nformabon The g~st of the staff request ~s to ~ncrease the fee to $14 O0 per unit ~n order to fund an addlbonal Inspector Staff also would set a goal to ~nspect 15% of all un,ts annually The ~nspect~ons would include the interior of multi-family un~ts Trustee George Clowes stated that he felt that the V~llage should consider mspecbng only the bad un~ts and to be consistent, should ~nclude interior ~nspect~ons of condominiums and s~ngle-fam~ly homes 2 Village Manager Janonis responded by stating that the defin~bon of what ~s bad and what is not becomes very subjective. He also stated that the ~mpact of poor cond,t~ons on a group of umts tends to trickle down due to typical ~nfrastructure problems which may affect numerous units within a single building He further stated that the need has clearly been shown for mulb-famlly dwelling umts due to the tenants being ranters The level of maintenance in owner occupied units tends to be much better than in rental umts, therefore, the need to concentrate resources on rental properties would be a more useful expenditure of rasources General comments of the Board members included the follow~ng ~tems Educabon of tenants could be improved to prowde a general background on typical standard of living quahty A 15% benchmark ~s~a reasonable start and computenzed tracking should assist ~n ~dent~fy~ng and following up on problem units from the past Other Board members exprassed concams of indlwdual nghts and the need to protect the privacy of residents within each dwelling unit Some d~scuss~on also ensued where Trustees suggested the fee be phased in over time Consensus of the Village Board was not to phase In the fee if, In fact, the fee increase would be recommended for approval by the Board members. Bill Cooney rasponded to the concerns of the Board members concerning ~nd~wdual privacy nghts He stated that warrants to enter dwelhng units would be raquested only in very controlled s~tuabons whera probable cause was present The administrative procedures which will be set up will focus on nobflcabons to individual tenants requesting their cooperabon. Manager Janonis stated that there is a need to bnng the quality of housing up to a m~nimum standard He also stated that w~th the ~ncreased staff, the number of violations may not decrease over bme, however, the number of wolabons should stab~hze over time w~th the emphas~s placed on the m~mmum standards of housing He also stated that the V~llage has under taken numerous tenant educabon programs with m~xed success He also feels that the resources which must be expended for education may not necessarily be the respons~b~hty of the local government to fund Resident Jack Barringer, 1510 North RiverWest Court, spoke He stated that a majonty of property owners are not supportive of interior inspect~ons He stated they have concerns about pnvacy rights of tenants and stated that if ;ntenors of apartments are going to be inspected, then should not the V~llage also respect single-family homes He is also against any increase in license fees 3 Jerry Mullck, 510 River West~ spoke He stated that using 1165 Boxwood as an example of why ~t is ~mportant to get ~nto the interior of apartments is not a good example He stated the focus should be to go after the bad landlords and charge them more for hcense fees Conrad May, 1410 South Can-Dote, spoke He stated that 80% of the good landlords support the increase in fees He also stated that quahty tenants are supportive of the interior ~nspecbons to protect their quality of housing He stated that problem landlords are not concerned about quahty of buildings and tenants and this rewsed Ordinance should address those concerns Lillian Perham, 501 West Dempster, spoke She stated that although she is somewhat concerned about ~nd~wdual rights of tenants, she stated that tenants she has dealt w,th have been extremely cooperative with interior inspections provided proper notice has been g~ven She also stated she would hke to congratulate the Inspections Department because they have been consistent with their enforcement and are getting some improvements in the problem buildings Consensus of the Village Board was to support the systematic annual inspection of 15% of the multi-family dwelling units Including Interiors and to Increase the annual license fee from $7.00 to $'14.00 per unit. Manager Janonls requested the Board consider ~ncreasmg the fee before May 1 m order to take into account the bme needed to h~re an Inspector The administrative process to bill landlords must commence in the near future ~n order to prowde proper nobce of the ;ncrease Consensus of the Village Board was to Implement the Increase as of May 1, 1996. The Board also supports hiring the additional Inspector once the fee is In place with the appropriate Ordinance. V. CENTRAL ROAD CORRIDOR STUDY FOLLOW-UP Community Development Director Bill Cooney provided a general overview outl~n;ng the pnonty ranking of steps as submitted by the V~llage Board members for the Corndor Study He stated the focus seems to be on pubhc right-of-way ~ssues w;th pnvate property ~ssues rated as less ~mportant He stated that the items rated h~gher by the V~llage Board w~ll be pursued by staff and was happy to report that no action steps were requested to be deleted General discussion followed ~n which vanous Board members d~scussed the need to address the possible w;den;ng of Busse Road to accommodate the proposed increase In the number of employees at U S Robotics Members of the Village Board stated ~t was ~mportant to get c;t~zen input eady ~n the process and to focus on a reasonable solution not necessarily on whether the Road w~ll or will not be widened 4 Consensus of the Village Board was to request staff to discuss the options for Busse Road with the Cook County Highway Department and to report back to the Village Board at a future meeting outlining the suggested means to foster citizen Input as part of the design stage. Manager Janonls stated that future Comdor Studies will be brought to the V~llage Board for their reacbon and input Studies will be updated as staff completes the recommended pnonbes as determined by the V~llage Board VI. MANAGER'S REPORT Manager Janonis stated that the Committee of the Whole meeting for February 27, 1996 has been cancelled VII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Manager Janonis stated that vanous Board members had requested a tentabve date for discussion of commercial vehicles and nght-of-way s;gns He stated that the date has been set for the March 12, 1996 Committee of the Whole meeting. Th~s ;s only a tentative date at th~s t~me and w~ll prowde the proper not~ce once the meebng has been set officially Trustee Skowron requested that the staff research whether there should be a hmlt on the number of Tag Days in which organizations use to raise money for their operations VIII. ADJOURNMENT Trustee Hoefert made a Motion to move into Closed Session to discuss Potential Litigation. The Motion was Seconded by Trustee Skowmn. On a roll call vote, Trustees Hoefert, Skowron, Wilks, Corcoran, Hendricks and Clowes all voted to move Into Closed Session at 9:58 p.m. Village Board members moved back Into the regular Commiltee of the Whole meeting at 10:56 p.m. and on a Motion by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Skowron, the Coremittee of the Whole meeting was adjoumed at 10:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted, DAVID STRAHL DS/rcc , Assistant Village Manager