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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/11/1990 COW minutes MINUTES COMMI'I'I'EE OF THE WHOLE SEPTEMBER 11, 1990 I. ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 7.35 p.m. Present at the meeting were: Mayor Gerald L Farley; Trustees Ralph Arthur, Mark Bnsse, Timothy Corcoran, George Van Geem and ,Theodore Wattenberg. Absent from th~ meeting was Trustee Leo Floros. Also present at the meeting were. Village Manager John Fulton DLxon, Assistant Village Manager John Burg, Planmng and Zoning Director Dave Clements, Finance Director Dave Jepson, Director of Inspection Ser~ces Chuck Benclc, Deputy Public Works Director Glen Andler, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Janet Hansen; three members of the press and 60 persons in the audience. (~ II MINUTES ~- ~-- ~' The Minutes of the Committee of the Whole.m~eting ~f August 28, 1990 were accepted and filed. III CITIZENS TO BE HEARD Mrs. Harmon, of 16 North William Street, complained about the Creative Children's Academy and the Suzuki Music School which are at the Bnsse School She d~d not feel these are appropriate uses for the building. She also complained about the parking situation there. Mayor Farley indicated we have a Legal Opinion that these two uses are educational orgamzations Also, he noted that the Safety Commission studied the parking situation at Busse School and made a recommendation. The recommendations were to be tried for a period of three months to see if this vall help the situation. He suggested allowing this trial period to be completed and then have a rewew by the Safety Commission at that time .Ion Peterso~ of 1~ North Owen, also questioned the use of Busse School by these two organizations He asked if the Village has a Legal Op~mon and requested a copy of the Opinion. ~He also urged the Board and residents to think long and hard before allovang home occupations. IV DISCUSSION ON CAMP MCDONALD ROAD JURISDICTIONAL TRANSFER Village Manager DLxon introduced the discussion concerning the proposed jur~sdlcnonal transfer of Camp McDonald Road. Inspection Servmes Director Chuck Bencic presented a drawing with cross-sections of the improvements suggested by the Village if the Village were to accept the jurisdictional transfer. He also noted what nelghbonng commumtics had proposed for their portion of the road Mayor Farley then opened the discussion to interested residents. Bill Haasc, of 1815 Camp McDonald Road, said he was not thrilled by the idea of this improvement. He said that in Mount Prospect, Camp McDonald Road is residentml unlike the stretches of the road in neighboring commumties. He did not feel change would be a betterment. There would be additional traffic and disruption of the neighborhood during construction He wished the whole project would just d!sa~pp.ear. Mayor Farley'asked what impact there would be to' the neighborhood if that section of Camp McDonald Road would not be improved Mr. Haase did not feel this would cause any problem to the residents in that area. Mmhele Dore', of 1764 Camp McDonald Road, spoke on behalf of many residents along the road. She had circulated a petition entitled, "Save our Street." She asked various questions regarding this project. She felt the County wanted to improve the road to allow better access for garbage trucks that would go to the proposed Transfer Station and to provide a better route for the proposed commuter station at Euclid and Wolf Roads She suggested a five-pmnt program that would cost less than $1,000. She said. 1 The street should remain a two-lane street. 2 There should be four-way Stop signs at Burning Bush and Columbine with painted crosswalks. 3. The posted speed hrnit should be dropped to 25 males per hour. 4. There should be more Police patrols especially on Friday and Saturday nights. , 5. No heavy-duty trucks should be allowed on the street. She presented the Mayor w~th a bag of garbage, mostly beer cans which were thrown on her parkway on Sunday. Ms. Dore' sald there are ~94~houses along Camp McDonald Road. She talked to all of the people and only two people were in favor of this improvement. She said these two people wanted to get nd of the ditch. Trustee Corcoran tried to clarify the s~tuataon. He said there is no mention of special assessment. He smd all taxpayers of Cook County will pay for this proposed improvement. He said the issue is a junsd~ctionai transfer. He said this is a Cook County street and he is not sure the Village could stop this project if the County wants to do it. Ms Dore' sa~d she wants her local elected officials to tell the County they do not want the three-lane road. Trustee Arthur also indicated this ~s a County road. He said that Carl Hansen is a County Commissioner who hves m Mount Prospect. If the residents are against th~s prolect, they can send letters to Mr. Hansen or to Cook County Comrmssaoner Dunne He noted that 94~homes translates to approxamately 188 votes and the County Commissioners may be willing to hsten to such a large votmg block. Earl Johnson, of 1803 Camp McDonald Road, spoke in favor of the proposed improvements to Camp McDonald Road. Patrick Moore, a resident at Camp McDonald and Wolf Roads, said he bought his home along th~s road because of the residential nature He was against ~mproving and enlarging the street. Arthur Kuehn, of 1823 Camp McDonald Road, asked what the Village has to gmn f by this ~mprovement. Mayor Farley indicated the improvements proposed by the Village would include an extra lane to provide for a turn lane for the area residents Also, the V~llage requested that the d~tch system be enclosed vath a storm sewer system. F~nally, th~s improvement would extend the life of the road ~because the Village would request concrete with curb and gutter. Mr. Kuehn then asked what n would cost to mmntain the road into the future. Manager Dixon said that during the first ten years, there would be n~inlmal repmrs and the main cost would be snow and ~ce removal After 20-25 years, it would reqmre a major reconstruction. He said that under the FAUS Program, this street would be ehgible to compete for funds to reconstruct the road Under th~s Program, 70% could possibly be funded by the Federal government, 15% by the State and 15% would have to be contributed by the Village. Mr. Bencic ind~cuted in today's dollars, it would cost approximately $150,000 to resurface this street 25 years from now. Trustee Wattenberg indicated he sees no reason to do th~s project ~ He said the voice of the people is the voice of God. · Trustee Corcoran said there was a simple reason why the County wants to do this project. He said the County wants to make a one-time expenditure to improve the road and then pass on this responsibility to the Village in perpetuity. Trustee Corcuran also suggested that the residents opposed to this project exercise their right to express their concerns before the County Board Trustee Corcoran said he supports the residents, noting he is opposed to the jurisdictional transfer. He also mentioned that a Public Meeting regarding Citizens' Utilities'vail be held at the River Trails Junior High School at 7.30 p m, on September 19. Trustee Arthur also agrees with the residents and is not in favor of this project. He said he will vote no regarding the jurisdictional transfer. Trustee Busse also indicated that he does not support the jurisdictional m~asfer Mayor Farley indicated that there appears to be no support for the jurisdictional transfer. He said the County vall be notified of this Ms. Dore' presented the Village with a copy of the petition of residents ~long Camp McDonald Road opposed to this project V HOME OCCUPATION LICENSE Village Manager Dixon introduced the topic of Home Occupations. Janet Hansen, of the Chamber of Commerce, explained the reasons why she feels a Home Occupation Ordinance is necessary. Mayor Farley felt such an Ordinance would be a benefit to the Village. Trustee Arthur was opposed to this type of Ordinance. He said there would be more cost to the Village wath additional employees. He said he moved to Mount Prospect to live m a residential community. He was surprised the Chamber is supporting this concept because he thought the rebuilding of the downtown area ,was of the greatest importance. Janet Hansen indicated there are 300 home-based businesses m town right now. She said many businesses started out this way. She would recommend that the Ordinance prohibit barber and beauty shops and other problematic businesses. Trustee Wattenberg was in favor of home occupations. He noted that young mothers can use a computer in the home. This would allevaate some of the traffic congestion in the area. Trustee Busse asked how much additional expense there would be to the Village to hire the necessary personnel to handle licensing of home occupations. F~nance Director Jepson indicated the Village uses one-half of a clerk to handle the 1,050 Business Licenses and 1,000 Contractor Licenses currently. He estimated it would re,quire an additional 2-3 hours per week to handle the 300 home occupauons. Planning and Zoning Director Dave Clements indicated the Village would have to use Planmng and Zoning staff time if the Ordinance would require a Special Use Permit. He recommended against this because the staff time Would be prohibiuve.~ He suggested this be merely an administrative license which would not take up much of the staff time. -~ ~ Trustee Busse asked if this kind of arrangement would compete with existing businesses Janet Hansen said she did not have an accurate estimate, but she did say these businesses are already going on right now. Trustee Busse does not want any disturbance to the neighbor~hoods, however, he agrees with the concept of the Ordinance. Trustee Corcoran did not agree voth this type of Ordinance. He felt that many of the people are really doing hobbies in their home rather than a true business He felt It would be difficult for the Village to decide when a home occupation becomes a business that must relocate into a building zoned for a business. He felt the administrative burden would be prohibitive. Mayor Farley asked if anyone in the audience wished to speak to this issue Don Harmon, of 16 North William Street, said he was absolutely against home occupations. He felt that home owners can already use their phone and do typing at this time. However, he was not in favor of an .Ordinance ~hich would allow various businesses. He questioned whether the Village can enforce this Ordinance. He does not want trucks in driveways with people in and out of homes. Mr. Clements noted that the Vlllag~ staff ~recelves questions regarding the legality of home occupations. Staff must tell residents home occupations are against the law. This puts staff m a difficult position because someone down the street is already doing it ~ He suggested writing perf?rmance standards into the Ordinance. Trustee Arthur saw no problem in the situation outhned by Mr. Clements He suggested that the staff tell anyone who inquiries that it is against the law and to get the name and address of anyone who is breaking the law. Trustee Arthur also asked Janet Hansen if this Ordinance is recommended by the Chamber Board Ms. I-I~nsen indicated that the Board ~had asked her to check with the Village Board to see if there is an interest in this type of Ordinance. Trustee Van Geem said he generally supports the tdea of a Home Occupation Ordinance. He would like to see an Ordinance proposed by staff. He is not in favor of a License Fee. He suggested one of the requirements of the Ordinance would be that the neighbors cannot perceive there is a business. There should be no outward signs, no extra cars, no trucks and no inventory. He is thinking in terms of a computer being operated in the home. ~ Mayor Farley indicated there is support for the staff to prepare'an Ordin~nce. -5- VI EMERGENCy WATERMAIN REPAIRS ON ROUTE 83 Village Manager Dixon outlined the problems related to the watermmn repairs on Route 83 He suggested doing the repair to the 8" section of pipe on the block from Lonnquist to Sunset and then doing a 6" line replacement as an emergency repair on the block from Sunset to Golf. He said IEPA is requinng a costly 'repair to the storm sewer line which would be about $55,000-$75,000 He felt thts would make the cost of the project prohibittve. Trustee Wattenberg was in favor of the recommendation of the Village Manager Trustee Van Geem was opposed to circumventing the IEPA. He felt it was good pubhc policy to hve wathin these regulations He felt the Village should spend the extra money and do it right. Trustee Arthur said he was perfectly walling to go on record to oppose this costly repair He indicated the d~tch is constantly torn up day after day, even today. Th~ emerge~n~ r. epairs must be done now. Trustee Busse felt the Village should do it the Fay we are supposed to. He felt we should do i?,by the,rules. ' ~, ~ ~ · Trustee Corcoran made a distinction between the Village and the IEPA. He said 'the Village makes laws and the people can complain and change the laws He said State Legislature passes a law but then the bureaucrats at the IEPA ~nterpret these laws He smd they come up w~th ideals but then it is up to the villages to pay for these ideals. Trustee Corcoran felt that the factor of cost-effecttveness should come ~nto the equation. He asked if it is really worth $75,000 to do this Trustee Van Geem smd he would agree to contacting the IEPA to see if there could b'e a compromise "Trustee Corcoran noted that the bureaucrats do not respond. Hegave, as an '~example, the no right hand'turn on red sign requested at Algonquin and Busse. Manager D~xon noted that we d~d~contact the IEPA but there As no appeal possible ' ' ~ , ~ Mayor Farley asked what our liabihty is if we were to proceed. Manager Dixon ~ indicated the mammum fine would be $50,000. He noted, however, that almost every Court Case has come down on the side of m/micxpality when emergency repairs are involved, ~ ', , Mayor Farley said he was not comfortable to proceed in the second block w~thout appropriate authority. -6- It was the consensus of the Committee to proceed w~th the first block and to contact a high-level official, perhaps, a Cabinet official to review the request for Permits for the second block. Manager Dixon said he will see if IDOT will pamclpate in moving the storm sewer. VII SALE OF VILLAGE PROPERTY AT 443 RAND ROAD Mayor Farley suggested that it might be wise for the staff to negotiate to lift the restrictions on the Real Estate Contracts provided by Mr. Mauro and Mr. Cohen for the sale of Village-owned properly at 443 Rand Road. Trustee 'Corcoran made a Motmn to throw out all the b~ds He suggested requiring on the next btd specs that no contingencies be allowed The Motion faded for a lack of Second. Trustee Arthur agreed w~th Trustee Corcoran, noting that the bid process should start all over agam with no provasos on the Real Estate Contract. Trustee Van Geem felt the high bid of $50,025 by Francis Cadillac was attractive He said the Zomng Board would have to make the recommendation as to the rezoning and the matter would be rewewed by the Board following the Zoning Board's recommendation. Trustee Wattenberg felt the Village should go ahead with the sale of this property. The consensus was to delay a decision on the sale of the property until Trustee Floros and the full Board were in attendance. VIII. MANAGER'S REPORT 1. There was a successful Open House held last Saturday at the Pubhc Safety Building Manager Dixon encouraged anyone to contact the Vdlage for tours. 2. With regard to the Census, Manager D~xon said that the vacant dwelling list provtded by the Bureau is too high. We are now reviewing th~s list to make corrections. IX ANY OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Wattenberg indicated that he has been trying to move forward w~th the Court Watching Program which he is developing vath help from volunteers. Trustee Wattenberg also asked for a written report of the most recent meeting of the Chiefs of Police wath Judge Geocaris At 10 05 p m, Trustee Wattenberg moved and seconded by Trustee Corcoran to convene into Executive Session to discuss litigation Motion carried unammously At 10.53 p m, the Committee reconvened into regular session. At 10'54 p.m., the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully subrmtted, JOHN P. BURG JPB/rcw Assistant Village Manager