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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/08/1994 COW minutes REVISED 3~23~94 MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MARCH 8, 1994 I. CALL TO ORDER The meebng was called to order by Mayor Gerald Farley at approximately 6 11 p m Present at the meeting were Trustees George Clowes, Paul Hoefert, M~chaele Skowron and Irvana Wilks Absent from the meeting were Trustees Timothy Corcoran and R~chard Hendnck~ Also present at the meebng were Village Manager Michael Janon~s, Assistant to the V~llage Manager Dawd Strahl, Pubhc Works D~rector Herb Weeks, Deputy Director of Public Works Glen Andler, F~nance D~rector Dave Jepson, Police Chief Ron Pavlock, Deputy Chief of Administration Ron Richardson, Deputy Chief of Operabons Tom Daley, Planning D~rector B~II Cooney, Assistant Finance D~rector Carol Widmer, Streets and Buildings Superintendent Mel Both, Forestry and Grounds Supenntendent Sandy Clark and Water Superintendent Sean Dorsey II. MINUTES Acceptance of the Minutes of February 22, 1994 Mobon was made by Trustee Hoefert, and Seconded by Trustee Clowes to accept the M~nutes Minutes were approved unanimously III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD None IV. 1994-1995 BUDGET DISCUSSION Opemn.q Remarks - Mayor Gerald L Farley Mayor Farley prowded some opening remarks and a general overview of the budget heanng process and stated th~s ~s a continuation of the budget heanngs relating to specific department operations Trustee WiIks prowded the phone number for audience members ~n the telewslon v~ewlng area to call ~n for comments if they w~shed Village Manager Michael Janonls provided the budget overview He stated that the Pubhc Works, Police and Planning departments would be presenting their budgets tonight Included m their budgets would be goals and objectives, as directed by the Village Board, ~n the funding requests related to ach~ewng the d~rectlon set by the Village Board He also stated that Mount Prospect is experiencing urban problems which it has not had to deal w~th m the past Therefore, there ~s an increase m the budget areas that provide the services relating to resolwng the problems which have been identified The key d~rect~ve that the budget follows is to maintain the ex~stmg service levels and minimize addlbonal service costs The total budget is approximately $47,278,000 and ~s balanced as presented without any fund draw downs Public Works Director Herbert Weeks prowded an overview of the Pubhc Works budget He stated that the department utd~zes extensive part-time employees and contracts out over $821,000 worth of services through bid contracts, which has minimized the growth of the number of full-t~me employees within his department Most of the budget that he has presented ~s related to add~bonal maintenance of the Public Works infrastructure The budget numbers reflect reallocation of the Pubhc Works resources to accommodate additional maintenance The aging ~nfrastructure has d~ctated th~s reallocabon Among the capital ~tems which are ~ncluded within h~s budget are a overhaul of the Village Hall, rebudd~ng of the Semor C~bzen Center parking lot and an expanded road reconstruction program The recent sohd waste b~d opening appears to be very favorable on the overall Pubhc Works budget for the future years General discussion followed in which numerous trustees and the mayor d~scussed various hne items m the Pubhc Works budget Among the ~tems d~scussed were street maintenance, beaut~ficabon funding, snow plowing and salting, street cleaning and urban forestry Mr, Weeks responded to the specific operational funding level questions by describing the service provided, the h~story of the service prowded and the impact on the service with the funding level recommended and the ~mpact on future service Mr Weeks then prowded a general overview of the Pubhc Works Water and Sewer D~wslons General discussion followed in which numerous trustees and the mayor d~scussed various hne ~tems ~n the Water and Sewer funds Among the ~tems d~scussed was the percent of water lost compared to other towns, the rehmng and the repair of sewer hnes and the water meter bdhng system F~nally, there was also some d~scuss~on related to the cost that c~bzens must incur to connect service hnes to the Vdlage sewer and water hnes Mr. Weeks then provided a general overview of the Pubhc Works Parking D~v~s~on Mr. Janonls stated that the only major item which has changed this year in the parking fund is the add~bon of the funds for the reconstruction of the Senmr Citizen Center parking lot There was also some d~scuss~on relating to the timing of closing the lots in order to repaint and repair the lots Mayor Farley suggested that the d~scuss~on relabng to the refuse d~sposal fund be deferred unbl the b~ds which came in today are analyzed Mr. Janonis suggested the refuse contract be d~scussed at length at the Committee of the Whole meebng on March 29, 1994 Trustee W,lks stated that she had requested c~bzens to call her to communicate what their preference is related to paying for waste p~ckup She stated she has received approximately 72 calls, and all except one person has requested that the refuse p~ckup charge remain on the property tax Police Depar[ment Overview:. Chief Ron Pavlock provided a general overview of the Pohce Department budget He stated that 81% of h~s budget ~s related to personnel costs The major changes ~n h~s budget are related to the three add~bonal pohce officers He prowded an overview of the value the three new offices prowded last year The three new officers were instrumental ~n estabhsh~ng a T A C unit which focuses on gang acbwbes Unfortunately, the umt was only part-time, based on manpower hm~tabons The add~bonal three new officers w~ll allow th~s T.A C unit to become full-t~me All of the additional personnel w~ll allow for expanded, community-oriented pohcmg acbvibes, and the additional officers w~ll allow for a focus on crime reduction and allow the department to be more proacbve in scheduhng of pohce act~wbes There are three capital expenditure ~tems which are prowded in the budget One Is the automated vehicle Iocator system (AVL), the hve-fire proper response s~mulated for deadly force training, the purchase of four vehicles to replace four 1989 vehicles, and the purchase of an additional marked squad car for the new pohce officers to utilize General discussion followed in which numerous trustees and the mayor d~scussed various hne Items ~n the Police Department's budget with the Pohce Chief Among those items d~scussed were details of how commun~ty-onented pohc~ng actlwt~es relate to crime reducbon, increased traffic enforcement, and how the three add~bonal officers would be uhhzed There was also general discussion relating to the details of the AVL system and the Deadly Force Training System which had been requested under the capital secbon of the budget The Chief prowded the general details of the value of these ~tems and the possible detriments of not hawng these items available Resident Frank Vlazny of 2103 Jody Court spoke He stated that ~t is d~fficult to sort out the statistics that the Police Department ~s using to justify additional personnel and would like to ask why the V~llage could not use add~bonal technology to minimize future personnel cost He also asked that the Police Department provide ~nformat~on to residents on how to prevent crimes and protect themselves so they w~ll not be crime wcbms Chief Pavlock stated that the Police Department uses as much technological dewces as it can w~th~n fiscal and legal I~m~tat~ons He also stated that the Pohce Department does have crime prevenbon officers and regularly runs a feature about cnme prevention ~n the V~llage newsletter and on the cable TV channel Planning Department Overview:. Planning Director Bill Cooney prowded an overview of h~s department, detailing the four major functions h~s department ~s ~nvolved w~th They include Zoning Adm~n~strabon, Comprehensive Planning, Community Development and Economic Development He stated that one of h~s goals for the coming fiscal year is to ~mprove the process of prowd~ng these services whereby streamlining of approvals could be achieved General d~scuss~on followed in which numerous trustees and the mayor d~scussed vanous I~ne items ~n the Planning Department budget Some of the ~tems included the role of computer technology ~n the future w~th~n the department, some general d~scuss~on relabng to Community Development grants and programs, and Economic Development The details of the V~llage Economic Development plans were d~scussed, relabng to business retention efforts, marketing and defining the Village Economic Development philosophy. Part of the defin~bon of the philosophy relates to des~gnabng funding for spe~fic Economic Development acbwbes Jim Ebbinghaus, the Economic Development Commission Chairman, spoke He stated that the V~llage is taking Economic Development senously, and the program discussed with the Planmng staff will help the EDC in defining a vision for Village Board ~nput He stated that Economic Development does not happen overnight, and it ~s ~mportant to focus on making the Village more compet~bve in order to attract businesses Resident Bob Scotese, of 911 South Albert spoke He commented that people and businesses leave town because of h~gh rents, expenencmg the same ~ncreased cost of operabons, not just the c~t~zens He also asked numerous quesbons concerning specific line ~tems and the change ~n funding of line ~tems from 1993 to 1994 He felt the cable Franchise Fee should benefit all residents and not d~rectly to support cable department He wants abare bones budget that prowdes basic service Mr. Janoms stated that he would be happy to d~scuss these items with Mr. Scotese in person ~f he would contact him d~rectly Mr Scetese stated he would. .ANY OTHER BUSINESS None VI. ADJOURNMENT The Committee of the VVhole meebng/Budget Heanng was adjourned at 10 34 p m Respectfully submitted, STRAHL DS/ndp Assistant to the V~llage Manager