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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/10/2004 CWC minutes MINUTES VILLAGE OF MOUNT PROSPECT COFFEE WITH COUNCIL SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2004 9:00 a.m. Village Hall 2nd Floor Conference Room The Coffee with Council Meeting convened at 9:00 a.ill. Present Mayor Gerald L. Farley Trustee Irvana K. Wilks Trustee Timothy J. Corcoran Trustee Michae1e W. Skowron Trustee Richard M. Lohrstorfer Trustee Michael A. lade1 Trustee Paul Wm. Hoefert Assistant Village Manager Dave Strahl Chief of Police Richard Eddington Residents In Attendance Kevin Bolger Ramon Rubio Lee Williams Kate & Bert Hanson Jean Shrzynski Jo1m Heidkamp Josh Lentini Carol Tortorello Margaret Lannen Larry Braus Donald Olsen Cathy Laschober Donna Heidkamp Blair Heidkamp David Schein Debbie Watson & Bill Schwerin 510 N. Prospect Manor 412 North Elmhurst Avenue 70 North Albert Street 103 Eastwood 100 N. Elmhurst 100 S. We-Go 100 N. Wille 223 South Elmhurst A venue 999 N. Elmhurst Avenue 612 W. Dempster 403 S. We-Go Trail 401 S. Na-Wa-Ta 400 S. We-Go 400 S. We-Go Trail 512 Na-Wa-Ta Trail 407 S. We-Go Trail Kevin Bolger, 510 N. Prospect Manor, came to Coffee with Council for two reasons. The first had to do with scooters. He realizes the Village passed an ordinance prohibiting the use of scooters on public property. He is waiting until the warm weather to see how well the prohibition will work. Mr. Bolger requested that the Village prohibit sales of both electric and gas scooters at retail establishments. The Village Board members were not inclined to pursue retail prohibition. Mr. Bolger's second issue was insufficient seating at the train station. He attended the November Coffee with Council to discuss this matter. Mr. Bolger felt that the square footage would not be profitable for the food vendor, and the Village should consider that the primary function of a train station is to provide shelter to train passengers. Ramon Rubio, 412 N. Elmhurst, came to Coffee with Council to visit \vith his friends and wish everyone a Happy New Year. Lee \Villiams, 70 N. Albert, came to Coffee with Council to advise that there were no current issues in his neighborhood and to stay informed about events in the ViJJage. Katy & Bert Hanson, 103 Eastwood, attended Coffee with Council to express their disappointment in the continuing poor relationship with their neighbor. They believe the neighbor's garage is used as a business. On holidays he works in his garage, sleeps three or four hours and returns to work in his garage. Lastly, the neighbor was spot welding in his driveway and there was no Village response. The Hanson's did not call and complain about it. The Hanson's were encouraged by members of the Board and the Police Chief to call when there is an activity of concern to them. The Village is unable to provide enough resources to constantly surveil their neighbors' property. Katy Hanson mentioned that she was a mall walker and was pleased at how clean Randhurst was during the renovation, but was concerned at the number of empty stores. Margaret Lannen, the Manager of Randhurst, thanked Katy Hansen for her comments on the cleanliness of the mall and went on to address Ms. Hansen's concern about the number of vacant retail stores. Margaret Lannen explained that retail sales are cyclic. If stores do not display profitability during the Christmas Season, it is not unusual for them to go out of business in January or February. This is a cycle that the retail malls are familiar with and have developed strategies to mitigate these circumstances. John Heidkamp, 400 S. \Ve-Go, attended Council with Coffee to express concerns about the widening of We-Go. The discussion points brought up by John Heidkamp were reinforced by the next speaker. Don Olson, 403 \Ve-Go, came to Coffee with Council to discuss the proposed widening of We-Go. He reemphasized that it was a beautiful street and questioned the need for universal conformity to other streets in the Village. This allowed the Village Board to address several issues, including application of codes and the setting of precedents. Trustee Corcoran recognized and commended staff s willingness to bring controversial issues to the Board's attention so that the Board could respond directly to citizen's needs and concerns. Josh Lentini, 100 N. \VilIe, was concerned about his observation of the volume of traffic near his home. He believed that the bank parking lot and cut through traffic were contributors. Several proposals were discussed. His name and number will be forwarded to the traffic engineer to determine if any traffic counts can be done in the area to determine if they support Mr. Lentini's observation. Carol Tortorello, 223 S. Elmhurst A venue, wanted the Village Board to be aware of the possible closure of Fannie Mae Candies and hoped that a replacement 7-Eleven or Convenient store could be lined up for the current Fannie Mae location. Also, Carol Tortorello had questions on the changes in the Niagara property. Dave Strahl was able to provide background inforn1ation on this matter Margaret Lannen, 999 Elmhurst. Ms. Lannen, the Manager of Randhurst, provided an update on construction. The Costco pad is ahead of schedule. She believes the pad wiJl be turned over to Costco sometime in April. Costco's timeline is 110 days from taking possession of the pad. Ms. Lannen gave an overview of recent property developments regarding the Jewel Food Store and the occupancy rate at Bank One. All members of the ViJlage Board expressed an appreciation for Ms. Lannen's commitment to the Village by her attendance at Coffee with Council and other Village functions. Larry Braus, 612 \V. Dempster, attended Coffee with Council to represent the Jaycees. He advised that the Jaycee membership decided to co-sponsor the Winter Parade. The Jaycees committed $2,000 and 2 would invite other service organizations in the Village to do the same. Ray Rubio, representing the Lions Club, advised that the Lions had also reached a similar conclusion and were committing $2,000 to co- sponsor the Winter Parade. Cathy Laschober, 402 S. Na-Wa- Ta, came to discuss sewer issues. She outlined the collapse of sewer pipes, both in her yard and parkway. She wanted the Village Board to consider whether or not they would change the policy and pay for sewer collapses on the parkway. Further, if the tree planting program continued encouragement of planting trees on parkways, homeowners should be aware of the possible ramifications of tree roots in their sewer lines. There were several responses to Ms. Laschober's request, including the cost could have been contained had the homeowner been advised of the double collapse at the outset of the project. There were also discussions of maintenance and the recognition that tile drainpipes in 50-year-old houses will eventually fail. The issue of the cost of a Village wide program was identified and deemed to be too expensive to consider. Donna Heidkamp, 400 S. We-Go, came to discuss the widening of We-Go with the Board. Debbie Watson and Bill Schwerin, 407 S. We-Go, also came to discuss the We-Go Trail widening. Several issues were discussed: safety related issues on a 19-foot street, the relationship of the golf course to We-Go, and P.u.D. issues. A balancing of all concerns would be addressed by the Village Board's final decision on January 20, 2004. Mayor Gerald Farley adjourned the meeting at 10:45 a.m. RR:tfull Submitted. Richard Eddington Chief of Police RE/dr 3