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Minutes COW 10-19-2009Committee of the Whole October 19, 2009 7:00 p.m. A meeting of the Village of Lemont Committee of the Whole was held on Monday October 19, 2009 in the Board Room of the Village Hall at 418 Main Street in Lemont, Illinois. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Reaves called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and acknowledged that the following were present: Trustees Ron Stapleton, Debbie Blatzer, Jeanette Virgilio, Paul Chialdikas, Cliff Miklos and Rick Sniegowski were present. Also present were Village staff members Gary Holmes, Dan Fielding, Joe Camodeca, James Brown, Ben Wehmeier (via conference phone), George Schafer, and Ed Buettner. DISCUSSION ITEMS Intergovernmental Agreement with Illinois State Tollway Authority - Alba Street Excess Land Mr. Holmes explained that the Tollway owns 3 acres of land near 127th Street that includes ROW of Alba Street. The Tollway wants to convey this property to the Village at no cost, and as part of the agreement the Tollway would have the ability to take jurisdiction of the road back if needed in the future. Because the Village would be maintaining more roadways, the Village should attempt to receive an in-kind credit towards our tllway contribution. The Board indicated that the Village-should try to obtain an in-kind credit or have the stipulation where the Tollway can request the property back, stricken from the agreement. The Village will need the road as access to future development in the area. Update on Grant Opportunity for Bambrick Park Last month the COW discussed the retrofitted detention basin at Bambrick Park. The Board at this meeting indicated that it did not want to contribute much to the project since the project is not within the Village limits. Mr. Brown stated that the amount of financial commitment is less now and would not be payable for a couple years. In addition, the project would be a good example for others to follow in the Village for conservation design. The Board indicated that financial assistance should be sought from others, such as the Park District. Trustees Virgilio and Stapleton were against spending funds on projects outside of the Village limits. However, the majority of the Board thought that it was a good project. Discussion of UDO Amendment Requiring Sod Instead of Seed for Front and Side Yards Mr. Buettner stated that although most developments have used sod for front and side yards, the UDO does not require sod in the front and side yards, only seed. The Board was in favor of making it a requirement to sod front and side yards for aesthetic and drainage purposes. The only concern was whether to require the rear yard to be sod as well. Mr. Fielding brought up the problems of silt getting into detention ponds and drains with a seed in the rear lot. After some discussion, it was decided to allow seed in the rear yard with time constraints on when the seed must take, and if this time were to lapse, than sod must be installed. The item would be up in front of the Village Board at a future meeting date. Village Participation in Marketing Effort with the Chamber of Commerce Mr. Brown gave a brief presentation on the joint marketing efforts between the Village of Lemont and the Chamber of Commerce. While the marketing campaign is in the beginning stages, the scope of the advertisement needs to be discussed. Trustee Chialdikas thought that the marketing needs to broadly define the community, then concentrate on micro items. Marketing the town for visitors and recreation was also discussed. Mayor Reaves mentioned that the Village needs to market itself through new means such as using different technologies to get word out to the public of everything Lemont has to offer. Pro er~port for Economic Development & Downtown Improvement Plan Mr. Brown gave a brief presentation on the economic development improvement plan his department has been working on. Some of the items discussed include the informational signage and kiosks going up in the downtown, the new website being launched soon, the visitor's bureaus the Village could be a member of, and other marketing efforts the Village is undertaking. Staff will continue to update the Board on the Downtown Improvement Plan. Snow Removal Bids (Downtown and Police Facility) Mr. Schafer stated that the Public Works Department received bids for the Downtown snow removal and the Police Station. Last month the Committee of the Whole discussed requiring downtown business owners to plow their own sidewalks; currently the Village contracts out for this service. Because of the high bids that were received, staff s recommendation was to throw out the bids, and have the Public Works Department provide downtown snow removal in-house, to a limited degree. The change would be that the downtown business owners would have to plow their own sidewalks. The Board was receptive to this change because of the budgetary constraints the Village is facing and that this is the policy elsewhere in town. Although the Public Works Department was going to attempt to complete the work in-house, staff would reserve the right to call previous vendors in case of heavy snowfall. Letters will be drafted in the near future warning businesses of the change. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Brown led a brief discussion on Port Authorities, as this was touched on at the Village Board strategic planning session. He mentioned that staff had been doing some research and it is a bit more complicated than originally thought. The Port Authorities currently in Illinois are developed on large tracts of land on federally owned land, act as separate entities from the municipality, and act as an economic engine to the whole region. Staff will continue to research the topic and bring more findings to the Board. UNFINISHED BUSINESS The Mayor brought up the dumpster enclosures that were discussed a few months back. The Village was going to provide a 50/50 incentive for businesses to create joint dumpsters in the downtown. Jerry Culhanic was going to take the lead on an example structure. It was decided by the Board to move forward with the program as a 50/50 match with a maximum of $6,000. Future enclosures could be placed behind Dolce Vita/Stone House, behind Old Town, and near the Seamus McGee public parking lot. The Mayor also brought up a request from Marquette to lease out their condominiums as they are attempting to sell them. As part of the redevelopment agreement, leasing of the units is not allowed unless given permission from the Mayor or Village Administrator. Mayor Reaves stated that he would only be in favor of allowing leasing if it were a lease to own situation, and it was limited in time and only a maximum of 20% of the units. The Board concurred with Mayor Reaves. ADJOURNMENT .Mayor Reaves adjourned the meeting at 9:15 PM