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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/24/1995 COW minutes MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE JANUARY 24, 1995 I. CALL TO ORDER Village Manager Michael Janoms celled the meet, ng to order at 7.36 p.m Present at the meeting were- Trustees George Clowes, R~chard Hendncks, Paul Hoefert, M~chaele Skowron and Irvana Wilks Absent from the meebng were Mayor Gerald Farley and Trustee Timothy Corcoren Mobon was made by Trustee Wilks to appmnt Trustee Mlchaele Skowron as Mayor Pro Tem for the meeting Mobon was seconded by Trustee Hendncks and was approved unanimously. Also present at the meebng were V~llage Manager M~chael Janon,s, Assistant to the' V, Ilage Manager Dawd Strahl, Planmng D~rector Wilham Cooney, Vdlage Planner MIchael S~ms, Pubhc Works D,rector Herbert Weeks, Deputy Pubhc Works D~rector Glen Andler and Village Forester Sandra Clark ~ II. MINUTES Acceptance of the M~nutes from January 10, 1995 Mobon made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Wilks Board members requested add~bonal deta;I be prowded concermng the d~scuss;on of the Student Resource Officer II1. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Jon Stewart, t777 Crystal Lane spoke Mr Stewart read a prepared document to the Village Board stabng he felt the commumty was deteriorating along w~th property values and felt there were too many vacent businesses in town He felt that Mount Prospect was not doIng all ~t cen to keep businesses going ;n Mount Prospect and he po;nted to Rosemont, Arhngton Hmghts, and Golf Road comdor as growth areas compared to Mount Prospect He encouraged the Board to request larger businesses ~n Mount Prospect to assist tl3e smaller businesses Trustee Hendrlcks responded to Mr Stewart's comments by requesbng that h~s concerns be sent to the Economic Development Commission for them to consIder and draft a possible response Trustee Clowes also responded to Mr Stewart's comments by stating the problems of businesses are pnmanly related to the level of Property Tax w~th~n Cook County not just w~th~n the Village of Mount Prospect Trustee Hoefert also responded to Mr Stewart's comments and felt that the philosophy the V~llage Board ~s pro-bus~ness and th~s philosophy obwously d#fers from the comments which he prowded IV. TREE RISK ASSESSMENT REPORT Village Forester Sandy Clark prowded an overview of the Tree R~sk Assessment of parkway trees w~th,n the Village. The rewew consisted of a analys~s of trees which may be prone to failure and cause property damage at the t~me of failure She stated the V~llage h~red Natural Path Forestry Consultants with grant mon~es to perform th~s analysis on behalf of the Village Mark Duntermann, President of Natural Path Forestry Consultants, spoke H~s serv~cas were pa~d by grant funds The project consisted of a review of parkway trees and to prowde the necessary training to Village staff to medtate ,denflfied tree nsk The rewew consisted of a hazard rating of trees over 23" in d~ameter and remed~at~on recommendabons including cabling, removal of trees or prumng He recommended the Village continue to assess tree risk periodically and to keep the report that hls firm has prepared up to date General comments by Trustees included questions whether trees on State and County nght-of-ways were included ~n the survey. Such trees were included ~n the survey and maintained by the Village Certain tree types were also ~dent~fied as more risk prone than others and the firm has recommended not planbng these types Obstructions of trees are now taken ~nto account but sometimes trees were present before the obstruction occurs Therefore, the rewew focused on hne-of- sight issues as ~t relates to tree growth A follow-up was strongly encouraged by ' the consultant concerning the prumng contractor and recommended the contractor also identify possible nsk to the Village at the time the prumng occurs F~nally, the report recommends 34 trees should be removed due to the dsk associated w~th their Iocabon and/or cond~bon This Item was presented for Information only. There was no recommendation necessary. ~ V._:. REVIEW OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT CONSOUDATED PLAN AND 1995 BLOCK GRANT BUDGET Community Development Director Bill Cooney stated that the Consolidated Plan includes the CHAS Program along with the CDBG money as part of a s,ngle grant He stated that numerous pubhc meebngs have been held to sohc~t ~nput from c;fizens and to determine the components wh,ch will make up the budget for 1995 In order to receive funds, there must be a clear showing of public benefit Also, the recommendation ~s to maintain a cons,stent level of funding for the short budget year and the following fiscal year. General comments included the following items' An explanabon concerning the method of measurement to determine the number of res;dents who are served by the grant monies ,s performed annually Spending pnonbes are determined by input of =bzens, the Village Board and other groups There are also serv;ces specifically targeted to seniors based on the populat,on make-up within Mount Prospect One of the items that will rece;ve fund,rig ~s s~dewalk rsmp,ng This ramping will occur throughout town and may be performed on a spe~al needs bas,s depending on requests from citizens Consensus of the Village Board was to move forward with the Resolution for ~ funding at the next Village Board meeting for the Community Development Block · ~ J Grant Consolidated Plan. D,scuss~on concerning the Consohdated Housing Plan. Resident Emle Lasse, 805 South Elm, spoke He stated he is in favor of ass,stance but is concerned about the crime on the south side and feels ~t ;s related spe=fically to Iow-income recipients of this program. He also quesboned whether Sect,on 8 promotional effort by the Vdlage ~s what the residents desire He stated he has concerns about the Vdlage cooperating with the Cook County Housing Authonty and requested pubhc heanngs for =bzens to have ;nput into the funding of the recommended programs Village Manager Janonls stated that Secbon 8 housing programs run independently of any funding which the Vdlage may rece,ve The Vdlage wants to provide some input and wants to work with landlords to educate and manage Section 8 housing The focus is to avoid a concentration of Secbon 8 housing in Mount Prospect Trustee Henddcks stated he objects to the Iow-,ncome housing reference by Mr Lasse and also rem~nded him that the V~llage does not have subsid,zed housing with,n its borders VI. REVIEW OF DEVELOPMENT CODE ~'~ Community Development Director Bill Cooney provided a general overview showing the h~ghhghted changes m the Code and stated the Code had not changed s~nca 1984 The Code sets up, among other things, street s~ze, pubhc improvement fees, etc, which govern development The need to update the Code was necessary due to the changes with State and Federal design requirements wh,ch have occurred since 1984 This Code applies to all new development The revised Code is based on requested changes and variations from numerous sources Mayor Pro Tern Skowron requested V~llage Board members limit their comments to major pmnts of concern and would like to avoid a philosophical d~scuss~on concerning the Development Code since two members of the Board are absent at this meebng General comments by vanous Board members ~ncluded the projected number of recent homes which would be affected by th~s change in the Code and the projected cost increase on a single-family home based on all Code requirements Bill Cooney responded to these requests by stating that a 25% floor space increase would cause Code requirements to take effect and specific ~tems w~thln the Code would apply depending on the Iocabon of the home '~'-'~ Village Manager Janonls stated that the worst case esbmate of an ~ncrease ~n the price of the home ~s $8,000 depending on the Code requirements that would apply and on the location of the home ~n Mount Prospect Trustee Clowes prowded a I~st of ~tems of concerning the Development Code Among these ~tems he requested is the consistent use of the word "shall," change 19__ reference to 20__; define wetlands and address property land-locking Trustee Wills requested some definitions be reviewed so they are made more clear She also requested a reference to half streets be included to address the eventual compliance of these streets w~th all others Trustee Hoefe~t stated that he would like the Plan to ;nclude a section where by the quahty of the restitution wh;ch provides the Letter of Credit be reviewed He also requested that Recapture Agreements be recorded on Title documents Consensus of the Village Board was to make the recommended changes. Once these changes have been made, the plan would then be retumed to Board members for further review. VII. MANAGER'S REPORT Manager Janonls prowded a Citizens' Utilities Rate Case update, He stated that the Village staff has had discussions with other towns in the area, spastically Des Plames and Prospect Hmghts in order to determine the approximate number of residents served by C~bzens Ut~htles in this area It was agreed at this meeting that each Manager would soli~t a commitment from their respectwe Boards to determine the funding commitment They also rewewed what the proJected ~mpact of an increased funding commitment may have on the final rate He stated that he and the other Managers felt funding projected at a minimum of $15,000 for each town would have a hm~ted impact on eventual rate increase The s~ze of the funding commitment ~s not directly proportional to an apprac~able percentage reduction in the rate It was agreed by the local area managers to request a local Heanng m the Mount Prospect area so c~tizens can prowde their input concerning the rate increase, Consensus of the Village Board was to attempt to get a local Hearing and maintain the $3,000 funding commitment as previously decided. Also, members stated that Il'necessary, Village staff could use the allotted funds to promote a local meeting. VIII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Hendricks stated that the Resolubon of Admonishment found him guilty without a thai He stated that no Trustee has called to get his side of the story, He would hke to address the other issues which were incJuded on the Resolution He stated that he felt that the Statutes provided that elected officials are considered "Peace Officers," He also read a letter from the Cook County Shenff's office rela*ang to use of his badge at the Criminal Court Building in Rolhng Meadows He also responded to the ~tem relating to going on to private property ~n other communities to point out possible violations He raad a letter commending his effort in the City of Des Plaines' Adopt a Spot Program Trustee Hoefert responded by stating that he thought the Village Board has put this ;tern behind them Apparently, Trustee Hendricks has not He also requested a Resolution be drafted requesting past and present V~llage Board members turn in the badges they may have been issued He stated he felt their cooperation would be on a voluntary basis Trustee Clowes stated the issue is not necessanly with the badges but the inappropnate use of the badges The badges are considered ceremonial only Trustee Wilks stated she feels the letter for the Adopt-A-Spot Program does not legitimize his actions of going on to pnvate property in other communities Trustee Clowes stated he wanted to commend the V,Ilage Manager for the qu~ck response of installing a warning s~gn about a blind person per a request of resident He also stated that he anbcipates the Recall Ordinance to be up for discussion at the next Village Board meeting and intended to submit a memo outlining his poslt~on on this ~ssue Trustee Clowes' final item~related to the Sign Rewew Board Minutes whereby d~scuss~ons centered on the Golf M~II Shopping Center signs being too small for shopptng centers He suggested add~tional consideration for shopping center signs in order to cell attention to the center, as necessary Trustee Hendricks proposed a Liquor Commission be created of three members ~nstead of the s~ngle Liquor Commissioner as the V~llage currently has He requested th~s ~tem be added to the Committee of the Whole Agenda Deferred L~st for future cons~derabon Trustee Wilks stated she also had a memo drafted and in the process of betng sent to the various Board members concerning the Recell Ordinance IX. .ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, a Motion was made by Trustee Hoefert and Seconded by Trustee Clowes to adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 11.05 p m Respectfully submitted, DAVID STRAHL DS/fcc Assistant to the Village Manager