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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/06/1998 EDC MinutesMINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION 2nd Floor Conference Room, Village Hall Thursday, August 6, 1998 8:00 a.m. The meeting of the Economic Development Commission (EDC) of the Village of Mount Prospect was held on Thursday, August 6, 1998 in the second floor conference room of Village Hall, 100 South Emerson Street, Mount Prospect, Illinois. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Norman Kurtz called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. Commissioners, Bruce Gillilan, Norman Kurtz and David Lindgren and Ben Trapani were present. Commissioner John Arndt and Patricia Biedar were absent. Also present were William J. Cooney, Director of Community Development and Michael Blue, Deputy Director of Community Development. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Trapani moved to approve the minutes of the May 7, 1998 meeting. Mr. Lindgren seconded the motion. Mr. Gillilan indicated that he felt the minutes should be modified to reflect Mr. Trapani's comments that the Village should pursue the acquisition of properties that are available for the ring road extension near the intersection of Route 83 and Rand Road. Specifically, the Village should pursue the acquisition of properties that are currently available and for sale. All Commission members agreed with the modification and voted unanimously to approve the minutes as amended. OLD BUSINESS Status Report - Current Developments Mr. Cooney indicated he had distributed a copy of the most recent economic development update to the Commissioners in their packet. Some of the projects discussed were the Big K Mart, Borders Books, Mrs. P and Me, 3Com, Menard's and Auto Bam developments. In addition, Mr. Cooney explained that Lincoln Technical Institute is reviewing multiple sites in town. Mr. Gillilan indicated he felt the former Windego Hotel property may be appropriate for this use. Mr. Cooney stated he would look into that as an option. Downtown Redevelopment Mr. Cooney explained that staff is continuing to work with property owners in the Phase I area of the proposed redevelopment to determine price for acquisition. He stated that the Village is nearly complete with appraisals for all these properties and the Village Board has authorized acquisition of several of these parcels. Mr. Kurtz stated that he felt that the momentum that was created from the Ad Hoc Committee's efforts was beginning to lose steam and that he felt that the Village Board needed to take action to demonstrate that the Village is serious about this redevelopment. He inquired about the status of the demolition of the recently purchased properties on the northeast corner of Northwest Highway and Route 83. Mr. Cooney indicated that the Public Works Department had disbursed demolition specs to various companies and anticipates awarding a demolition contract by mid - September. All the Commission members stressed that they felt it was very important that the Village keep the momentum moving forward and send a positive message to the development community that the Village is interested in continuing redevelopment of the downtown. Economic Development Commission Minutes Page 2 NEW BUSINESS Review of Buildin Permit and Development Review Process Mr. Cooney stated that since the May meeting, staff has met with several developers and subcontractors to further review the Village's policies and regulations regarding the permit and development review process. He indicated that the attached memo highlighted several recently enacted enhancements to the process and proposed several recommended enhancements. He stated that the input of the various individuals that participated in this process has been invaluable and he believed the recommendations provided in the document would further improve the service delivery capability of the Village. He stated that Mr. Blue would quickly run through the document and highlight some of the changes being proposed. Mr. Blue discussed the various enhancements that have been implemented by the departments involved in the permit and development review process. He stated that the focus has been on reducing the amount of ts and literature that departments that have to review particular development items and improving the handou explains the process to individuals. He stated that the majority of the recommended enhancements relate to technological improvements and additional staffing. He stated that the anticipated new computer program that the Village is investing in should greatly improve the staff's ability to track permits and allow customers to access information. He indicated that would depend on some of the requested technological purchases, including voice permit systems and hand held computers. He stated the Village Board had tentatively supported the purchase of these items in the recent CIP discussions, but that official authorization would be needed in the upcoming budget discussions. He stated that staff is proposing the addition of two new staff Positions aimed at expediting the permit process for our customers. The first position would be a project engineer. This individual would be primarily responsible for conducting engineering reviews and would free up other staff positions in the Engineering Division to more adequately provide their services. The second proposed staff position would be a plans examiner in the Building Division. This position would be responsible for reviewing all building permit plans and acting as a conduit for customers requiring additional counseling throughout the permitting process. This position would act as a liaison to individuals going through the permit process and limit the necessary contact to one individual. Mr. Trapani indicated he was pleased with the efforts of staff and thought that this issue has long been due to be discussed. He stated that although there were frustrations in the development he was recently involved in that having one contact person significantly improved the understanding and ability to complete that project. He supported the addition of the two new staff positions and felt this would enable the turnaround time for permits to be reduced significantly. He suggested that staff investigate eliminating certain practices related to required escrows for completion of projects. The Commission generally discussed the overall document and recommended forwarding it to the Village Board for their review and consideration. They felt strongly that the additional staffing and improved technology were critical in order for the Village to adequately provide services to the development community. Mr. Lindgren moved to recommend that the Village Board adopt the recommendations as outlined in the staff report. Mr. Trapani seconded the motion. It was passed unanimously. Building Permit and Development Guide Mr. Cooney discussed utilizing some of the economic development funds to create a Building Permit and Development Guide similar to one done by the City of Chicago. He handed out the Chicago guide and asked for comments. The general discussion was that, although the guide was helpful, the Chicago guide was very AU906 Economic Development Commission Minutes Page 3 thorough and may have too much information for the typical customer of the Village. The Economic Development Commission suggested that staff look at smaller handouts and utilizing the internet as a location for much of the information that was being proposed in the other guide. They indicated that the printing costs of such a guide would be excessive and probably would not be worthwhile. Staff indicated they would investigate other alternatives and report back to them at the next meeting. Chamber of Commerce Outing Mr. Cooney indicated that the Village had secured three foursomes for the outing and had three available slots for local business people. The Commission suggested that Mr. Cooney contact representatives of some of the new businesses in town and slot them appropriately in these foursomes. Mr. Cooney also indicated that the EDC would be sponsoring one of the holes and asked if there were any suggestions regarding handouts or giveaways. The Commission suggested that Mr. Cooney investigate looking into golf balls with the EDC logo on them and possibly handing out the golf balls as part of a giveaway. Mr. Cooney indicated he would investigate that and report back to the Commission. Chairman's Report There was no Chairman's report. Adjournment The Commission agreed that the next official meeting would be held on October 8, 1998. The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 a.m. WJC:bhs Aug06