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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/09/1990 COW minutes MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE OCTOBER 9, 1990 O I. ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. Present at the meeting were: "' Mayor Gerald L Farley; Trustees Ralph Arthur, Mark Busse, T~mothy Corcoran, Leo Floros, George Van Geem and Theodore Wattenberg., Also present at the meeting were: Village Manager John Fulton Dixon, Assistant Village Manager John Burg, Public Works Director Herbert Weeks, Village Forester Sandy Clark, Cable Television Administrator Cheryl Pasalic; two members of the press and 15 persons in the audience. ~ II. MINUTES O The Minutes of the Committee of the Whole meeting of September 25, 1990 were accepted and filed. III. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Don Harmon, 16 North William Street, asked what the plan for Melas Park is. Manager Dixon reported on the tentative plans for the Park and said he would send a copy of these plans to Mr. Harmon. IV. ~ STREET LIGHTING REOUEST. LAKE BRIARWOOD SUBDIVISION O Mike Heaney, 2812 Briarwood East, acted as spokesman for the Lake Briarwood Homeowners Association. He noted that trees have grown up in that area and there is a lot more traffic these days. He satd Police patrols need the light to see if there is any suspicious activity. He also said the F~re trucks need the light to be able to see the addresses on the homes. Mr. Heaney then outlined the request ' by his group for the lights which they would like to have installed. He said that O all residents, with the exception of one, are in favor of the lights. He asked the Village to approve these new lights as a standard acceptable to the Village and he also requested CDBG funds. A representative of the light fixture company then explained the capabilities of the proposed light. Doug Anderson, of 2839 Briarwood, said that everyone, vath the exception of one resident, liked the aesthetics of the lights. He indicated that for safety's sake, the lights are necessary. He noted that there are very many pedestrians but no sidewalks and no lights. Trustee Wattenberg said he cannot agree with this request. He said there is very limited public benefit. Also, he said this is not a standard light fixture and would require a great additional expense. He said that Lf we allowed these kinds of lights, we would have to do it in other ~eas too. Trustee Arthur said that developers are required to install hghts. He said other areas in town do not h~ve lights, and they use their front porch lights or gas hghts. He said the Village has been very generous already and has committed approximately $200,000 to improvements in the area since it was annexed in 1978. He felt that the Village should not share in the cost of this project. Trustee Floros thought this would be a good addition to the commumty and it would be an important precedent for the Village. He said he would like to see lights throughout the Village, and he would welcome any program that would light up the Village. Trustee Corcoran said that he could only fixture. He also suggested that they obtain a petition from all the homeowners in the area to demonstrate complete support. He said he was leaning toward a 75-80% responsibility by the homeowners. Trustee Busse ~felt the Village should participate in s6me manner. He also 'thought the Village should help with the means of financing Trustee Van Geem felt the Village should not participate in this project. He did not feel that $1,000 per home would be be a very ~ajor benefit to the homeowners. Mayor Farley said that he would support Village participation but only t6 the extent of the perceived public benefit Mayor Farley said he supported a 10% participation by the Village. Mayor Farley then polled the Committee to see d , there is a consensus about a 10% participation by the Village. ' Trustees Arthur, Van Geem and Wattenberg felt the Village should not participate in the cost of this project. Trustee Floros felt that 10% was too low a level of participation. Trustee Busse was willing to go along with 10%. Trustee Corcoran felt that 20% would be a more appropriate participation, but only with the understanding that standard Village lights would have to be used. Mayor Farley then polled the Committee as to whether they would support a 20% participation by the Village using a standard light. Once again, Trustees Arthur, Van Geem and Wattenberg felt the Village should not participate in the cost. Trustees Busse, Corcoran and Floros agreed with the 20% participation. Mayor Farley said that he was not comfortable with a 20% participation, but he said he would supp6rt some type of participation. The consensus of the Committee was that the Village would be vailing to participate to the extent of 10-19% as long as stanitard light fixtures approved by the Vtllage would be used. Also, the Village would be wilhng to help with a special taxing district. The maintenance of the lights would be the responsibility of the Lake Briarwood homeowners unless an approved light stocked by the Village were to be used. Also, the electric cost would be taken care of by the Village. Mr. Anderson said he would advise the homeowners at the next meeting. DISCUSSION OF OBSTRUCTIONS IN PUBLIC RIGHT. OF-WAY Mayor Farley introduced the subject of obstructions in the public right-of-way. He noted that the Village has been enforcing the removal of various sight obstructions and hazards in the public right-of-way, but the staff has requested, add~txonal direction in this matter. Trustee Corcoran suggested that the Safety commission could review appeals of decisions by the Public Works Department requiring removal of various sight obstructions. Trustee Arthur indicated that this Ordmance has been on the books since 1984. He noted that the purpose of the Ordinance is safety. He does not want to see the Village sued. He said to leave the Ordinance in place and agreed with turning the review responsibility over to the Safety Commission with the Village Board acting as final arbiter. Trustee Wattenberg agreed with enforcing the Ordinance as recommended by the Village Manager to prevent any liability. He agreed that the Manager should be the Hearing Officer. Trustee Busse felt the Village should continue to have the Ordinance in force. However, he suggested trying to pubhcize to the residents what is prohibited in the parkways so they do not spend money needlessly. He also would rather see any reviews of Public Works' decisions to go to the Safety Commission. Truste~e Van Geem felt the Village should scrap the current Ordinance. He felt the Village has an Ordinance and we are not enforcing ~it. He said either we should have'the Police and Public Works remove all obstructions from the parkway or do away with the Ordinance ~f we cannot enforce it totally. He ,'agreed that we need to emphasize safety and sight triangles around intersections. However, it is almost impossible to enforce the thousands of small ornamental items on the parkways. Mayor Farley asked what could be done by residents to keep cars off the lawns. Mr. Weeks indicated that there is a special plastic reflective device that the Village installs on request at curves and corners which lets drivers know they have gone off the road. ~ Trustee Arthur disagreed with Trustee Van Geem's notion that the Ordinance is not being enforced. He said, per the memo prepared by Public Works Director Herb Weeks, the Village appears to be attacking the problem of sight obstructions in the parkway very hard and very systematically. Trustee Flo~'os agreed with Trustee Arthur or~ this point. He said to leave the Ordinance the way it is with review by the Safety Commission. Mayor Farley would also hke to see the Safety Commission review the decisions. However, he would like to see the Safety Commission make the final determination. He would like to see the Village staff only as ex-officio members in th~s review process. In th~s instance, the citizens on the Safety Comrmssion would then be able to make the decisiorl. ~ , ~ Don Harmon, 16 North William, urged the Committee to enforce the Ordinance. He said the parkways should be for grass and trees. ~Mayor Farley indicated the consensus was that the staff should continue to enforce the Ordinance as equally and fairly as possible. Also, the Safety Commission would then be asked to review decisions by the Public Works Department. Trustee Van Geem noted that a homeowner on Ironwood sent a letter explaining why the Ordinance should not be enforced in areas with no s~dewalks or curbs. Herb Weeks cautioned the Committee to be rmndful of the fact that this Ordinance should be enforced. According to the attorney, the Vdlage could be held liable for failure to enforce the Ordinance. Mayor Farley noted that he will ask the Safety Commission Chairman if he wishes to take over the additional responsibility to review these decisions. He will invite the Safety Commission to a Committee of the Whole meeting if they wish to discuss the issue. I DISCUSSION ON HETHER TO BROADCAST ZON, J BOARD MEETINGS Manager Dixon reported that it would cost an addttmnal $1,300 to broadcast the Zoning Board meetings. This figure only covers the additional expense for community assistants Trustee Arthur felt it would be worth $1,300 to broadcast the meetings. Trustee Van Geem said he would like to try it for awhile to see if residents hke the service. Trustee Corcoran questioned the $1,300 figure. He said that it would cost $26,000 to hire the proper personnel to do it correctly without taking away t~me from current staff needs. He suggested this ttem should be taken up during the regular Budget sessions to deterrmne whether this project should be undertaken. Cable Television Administrator Cheryl Pasalic noted that it would take away approximately four hours from the present duties handled by staff members. Trustee Floros supported the idea of broadcasting the meetings. Mayor Farley also supported the broadcasting of the meetings. There was a consensus by the Committee to authorize the telecasting of ZBA meetings beginning in January. ~ VII. MANAGER'S REPORT 1. Manager Dixon reported that engineers from the Village, from Arhngton Heights and Dismct 214 will meet on Thursday to dtscuss the proposed study of the flooding problems near Prospect High. On Friday, we should have the cost of the study. Also, Manager Dixon noted that residents need not worry about the ponding of water caused by leaves over the drains. He asked that residents who see thts happening should call Public Works or possibly lend a helptng hand to brush the leaves away. 2. Village Manager Dixon noted that the intergovernmental meeting will be held on Thursday. VIII. ANY OTHER BUSINESS There being no further business to come before the Committee of the Whole, the Committee moved on to the next item of business. IX. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10 20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, JOHN P. BURG JPB/rcw / Assistant Village Manager -5-