HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/08/1995 COW minutes MINUTES
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
AUGUST 8, 1995
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Gerald Farley called the meeting to order at 7 30 p m Present at the
meebng were Mayor Gerald L Farley, Trustees George Clowes, Timothy
Corcoran, Richard Hendncks, Paul Hoefert, M~chaele Skowron, and Irvana Wilks
Also present were V~llage Manager M~chael Janoms, Assistant V~llage Manager
Dawd Strahl, Pohce Chief Ronald Pavlock, Pubhc Works D~rector Glen Andler,
Sohd Waste Coordinator L~sa Angell, F~nance D~rector Dawd Jepson and V~llage
Attorney Everette H~II, Jr
MINUTES
Acceptance of the M~nutes of July 11, 1995 Mobon made by Trustee Clowes and
seconded by Trustee Wilks to approve the M~nutes M~nutes were approved w~th
Trustee Corceran abstaining
CITIZENS TO BE HEARD
None
SOLID WASTE AGENCY OF NORTHERN COOK COUNTY UPDATE
Earher th~s year, the V~llage Board indicated a desire to devote some t~me to a
general rewew of our parbc~pabon in the Sohd Waste Agency of Northern Cook
County (SWANCC) SWANCC ~s comprised of 23 c~t~es and wllages located ~n
north and northwest Cook County, The 23-member commun~bes formed SWANCC
to prowde for an economically and enwronmentally safe management of their
municipal sohd waste The Agency currently operates the Wheehng Township
Transfer Stabon and over the past several years has been attempbng to construct
a h~gh-tech balefill (landfill) in the Bartlett area but has not been able to secure
approval from the U S Army Corps of Engineers Th~s lack of approval ~s
currently the subject of ht~gabon w~th the Army Corps
In September, the SWANCC Board of D~rectors will be rewew~ng its short and
long-term financial plans ~nclud~ng the possibility of refinancing some or all of the
Agency's $60 m~ll~on ~n current outstanding debt
Mayor Farley prowded general introduction for the topic to be d~scussed and
~nwted the Trustee representatives to SWANCC, Trustees Corcoran and Hoefert,
to provide ~nformat~on and to lead the d~scuss~on if they so desired He stated th~s
~s ~nformat~onal d~scuss~on only to answer any outstanding quesbons the V~llage
Board members may have
Trustee Corcoran stated that any d~scuss~ons concerning SWANCC are typically
lengthy and very complex He stated that SWANCC ~s In the process of appealing
the Army Corps decision to deny the permit for the balefill He stated that Federal
law I~mlts the Agency from any type of long-term debt agreement Therefore, the
Transfer Stabon and the organization of the landfill s~te was financed through
short-term debt Due to the w~thdrawal of the City of Des Plames, the Village of
Northbrook and the V~llage of Northfield and less than accurate waste stream
projections, the Transfer Station ~s falhng below the m~n~mum amount of waste
which ~s to be processed according to contract Due to the shortfall, SWANCC
must pay the operator for the d~fference Therefore, ~n addition to cons~denng
whether to rewse the agreement, there ~s a need to consider whether to refinance
and pay off the $23 m~ll~on debt for the construction of the Transfer Station The
cost to refinance w~ll be approximately $2 m~lhon Therefore, at th~s point, there
are three basic decisions to determine which d~rect~on SWANCC w~ll be mowng
toward
1 Refinance the debt
2 Renegotiate the long-term agreement w~th the Transfer Stabon
operator
3 Do nothing and continue down the current path
Brooke Beal, Execubve Director of SWANCC, spoke He stated that in order to
renegobate the agreement w~th the waste hauler, an escape clause ~s being
considered for the agreement so that SWANCC is not fled to a lengthy agreement
in case there are technology changes or a landfill s~te does become available
Trustee Corcoran stated that he feels that renegobabng the agreement has merit
because SWANCC ~s bound to pay $1 9 mlll~on for the balance of the agreement
for no services being provided because of the shortfall ~n volume
Brooke Beal stated that ~n all hkel~hood if the operation of the Transfer Station ~s
bid out, Groot will most I~kely maintain the lowest bidder status He stated that due
to SWANCC's overall volume, ~t can lock in favorable long-term landfill pnces
Manager Janonis stated that the hkehhood of new landfill space opening up ~n the
region ~s probably remote In all hkehhood, future landfills w~ll conbnue to move
downstate and everyone w~ll be looking to lock up long-term capacity agreements
w~th these landfills The V~llage of Mount Prospect ~s on the hook for a s~gn~ficant
financial commitment to SWANCC and ~t must beg~n to repay the debt at th~s bme
He stated that even with the refinancing as an opbon, there ~s sbll some value in
determining what the outcome of the pending ht~gat~on m~ght be
General discussion followed
Vanous Board members d~scussed the length of the contract, the specific language
deta~hng the early-out opbon, the debt obhgabon, the status of the current hbgat~on,
details of the debt financing structure and the revision of the current operabon
agreement of the Transfer Station and whether to consider selhng the Transfer
Stabon and lease the Station back to the operator
Trustee Clowes stated he was not supportive of any add~bonal debt undertaking
at th~s bme
Trustee Corcor:an stated that he d~d not see any other option except refinancing
and to work w~th Groot to get better rates through a rewsed agreement He also
stated that he would recommend the Village continue to await the outcome of the
hbgat~on
Consensus of the Village Board was to encourage the refinancing of the debt by
SWANCC, the renegotiaflon of the Project Use Agreement forthe Transfer Station
and to begin paying off Mount Prospect's obligation in the coming r~scal year.
REVIEW OF PROPOSED YOUTH AND GANG RELATED OFFENSES
ORDINANCE
The proposed Youth and Gang Related Offenses Ordinance came before the
Village Board at the August 1 V~llage Board for a first reading ' Due to continued
d~scuss~on and debate by the Board, Mayor Farley asked that th~s matter be held
over to the next available Committee of the VVhole meeting so that sufficient t~me
could be devoted to the matter
Mayor Farley stated that he was hopeful that th~s would be the last rewew of th~s
Ordinance and ~t is h~s goal to complete the work ~n order for the Board to move
forward to a second reading as soon as possible It ~s h~s ~ntenbon that once
these rews~ons are ~ncorporated that the Board w~ll have the opportumty to e~ther
vote the Ordinance up or down at a Board meeting
Trustee Clowes provided a general overview of the remmnlng ~ssues which he had
concerning the Ordinance
1 Curfew lan,quaqe contained within the Ordinance Consensus of the V~llage
Board was to change the cut-off of curfew to 17 years of age and to rewse
the Saturday and Sunday time frames to be more clear
2 Truancy lanquaqe rewslon Consensus of the V~llage Board was to
strengthen the language relating to resident versus non-remdent truancy
detained w~thln the Village ~
3 V~canous hab~hty lanqua.qe references the wron,q Section of the Code
Consensus of the V~llage Board is that th~s Section w~ll be renumbered to
be accurately referenced
4 Rewordmq of the spray pmnt lan.quaqe defined ~n the Ordinance
Consensus of the V~llage Board was to recommend rewording of the spray
pmnt language deflmng private property and retmn the age of 21 as the cut-
off Also the t~me frame for removal of graffib remains at 14 days based on
~nput from Chamber of Commerce representabves
5 Gan.q sLqns and altered cloth~nq defimtlon Consensus of the V~llage Board
was to retmn the altered clothing and jewelry prows~ons as defined in the
language
6 Lmtenn,q lanquaqe Consensus of the V~llage Board was to retain the
language as depicted in the Ordinance by a majonty of 4-3
Jack Metcalf, 210 North Prospect Manor, spoke He wanted to congratulate the
Village Board on taking th~s bold step ~n passing th~s Ordinance
Ray Sowell, Director of the Mount Prospect Townhomes Association, spoke He
felt that the nghts of Ind~wduals should be free from intimidation and the Board
should focus less on freedom of express~on He stated that there are many
residents m h~s area that have a high level of fear due to th~s mbm~dabon and ~s
very supportive of any assistance the V~llage Board can offer
Trustee Clowes recommended cross-reference changes ~n the Alcohol Beverage
Ordinances and add a new Secbon F to clear up th~s confusion
Attomey Hill stated that hopefully these revisions can be completed ~n the near
future so that the Board can make final determmabon of th~s Ordinance at an
upcoming meeting
Manager Janonis stated that he expected the changes to be completed and the
Ordmanca placed m final form for consideration by the V~llage Board at ~ts
September 5 meebng
VI. MANAGER'S REPORT
None
VII.ANY OTHER BUSINESS
None
Motion made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Skowron to move Into
Closed Session at 10:18 p.m., to discuss Litigation and Personnel.
VIII ADJOURNMENT
The meebng adJourned from Closed Session at 10 35 p m There being no further
business, the meeting was adlourned at 10 36 p m
Respectfully submitted, .~
DAVID STRAHL
Assistant Vdlage Manager
DS/rcc ' '