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Minutes COW 5-18-2009Committee of the Whole May 18, 2009 7:00 p.m. A meeting of the Village of Lemont Committee of the Whole was held on Monday May 18, 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 Paul Chialdikas, Ron Stapleton, Cliff Miklos, Debbie Blatzer, Jeanette Virgilio and Rick Sniegowski were present. Also present were Village staff members Gary Holmes, Dan Fielding, James Brown, Charity Jones, Ben Wehmeier, George Schafer, Ed Buettner, Mark LaChappell, and Jim Cainkar. DISCUSSION ITEMS Discussion of Fourth Street/Keou~h Street Connection Mayor Reaves began the discussion by giving a brief background of the 4th Street connection issue. He explained that when Gallagher and Henry purchased Covington Knolls, there was a consent decree that governed the residential development. As part of the decree, homes would be built in phases and that there were to be connections at First Street and Fourth Street, with improvements to be made by Gallagher and Henry. He also stated that if Keough Street were to stay non-connected, it would be an illegal cul-de-sac because of emergency purposes. The general consensus in the past was to delay the decision on whether to open up the street or not, until after the results of a traffic impact study were received. However, there has been input from some in the community to open it up once all improvements were made. The Police Department and other taxing bodies were asked for their input on the debate. The Police Department and Fire District would prefer it to be connected because of public safety purposes. School District 113A would prefer it to be open for more efficiency in bus routes. The issue did not affect the High School since the area was within the walking boundaries of the school. Mayor Reaves also stated that there would be improvements that would need to be made by the Village in order to connect the road, and that there was no money in this year's budget to do so. Mr. Bill Woodward from KLOA was in attendance to discuss the results of the study. If the connection were made, it would require the addition of a right hand turning lane and a traffic signal, based on year 2030 projections. It was also noted that the possible connection of neither 1st Street nor the future signal at McCarthy and Walker were factored into the study. Trustee Virgilio stated that she has always been in favor of connecting the road but only if the sidewalks were installed on 4th Street. Trustee Miklos agreed. The sidewalk and related improvements to Fourth Street would cost the Village approximately $80,000. Al Rodi, 1238 Keough Street spoke in opposition to the connection. He stated that the street is too narrow to be connected and wouldn't be able to handle the extra traffic that would result from the connection. He sited many safety issues as a result of the connection and would settle for a connection blocked by a safety gate, for emergency purposes. John and Angie Sojka, 1200 Covington Dr. spoke out in favor of the connection. They stated that they were told that it would be connected and that the connection would bring fewer cars in front of their house. They stated that there should be more than one access point to 127th Street. Regardless of the connection however, the cars go down Covington too fast and some sort of traffic calming should be installed. Elizabeth Machay; 1258 Keough Street; Mike Gawenda, 1208 Keough Street; and Jim Phein, 1200 Keough Street, all spoke in opposition to the connection. Ralph Pirszel, 1289 Keough spoke out against the connection saying that it would cause cars to go too fast down 4th Street. Dawn Plachta, 585 S. Fourth Street, and Kathy Beebice, 1259 Keough Street both spoke out against the connection as well. Mayor Reaves said that the Village would require the contractor to put the connection through with an emergency gate being installed to block normal drive through traffic. Approval of Rezoning from B-3 to R-5, Amended Special Use for a PUD and Preliminary PUD Plat/Plan for Briarcliffe Townhome Development Ms. Jones briefly summarized the request. The request is fora 37 unit town home development located at the southwest corner of the Briarcliffe subdivision. Staff recommended denial based on inconsistencies with the Comprehensive Plan. She noted that the Planning & Zoning Commission made their positive recommendation based on the elimination of 3 units, and they never made the changes. The development team indicated that they would make the changes. Trustee Chialdikas stated that he agrees with residential since commercial will not work west of the toll way, since it is a dead end street. Trustee Virgilio stated that she is not in favor of putting residential on that corner so close to the CITGO tanks. Trustee Stapleton stated that he was always against residential there because of safety concerns next to CITGO. Trustee Sniegowski stated that he considered the safety issue but that there would be more people on this corner if it was office condo or commercial. Trustee Blatzer stated that she is not in favor of the lack of buffer near the tank farms. She recommended open space for the far south-west corner and reduced density. Pete Colorelli of CITGO spoke out against the project. He also reminded the Board that CITGO made a verbal deal in the past to deed over a portion of Smith Road in the area if that parcel were to remain commercial. Christine Huffman, 12600 Briarcliffe, stated that she would rather have single family at a lower density at this location since she is very concerned about the drainage in the area. The item would be up in front of the Village Board at a future Board Meeting. Approval of Special Use for Outdoor Storage/Material Stockpiles for American Commercial Lines at 16100 Des Plaines River Road American Commercial Lines is requesting a special use to allow the outdoor storage of salt, coal slag, steel coils, sand, stone and shipping containers. Staff and the P&Z recommended approval of the request. Trustee Virgilio said she wanted a better definition of what they are storing in the ordinance. Trustee Chialdikas wanted to commend the petitioner for being accommodating at the P&Z level. Mayor Reaves stated that everything would be stored west of the building and a 30 foot max height, or 3 containers. The Board also recommended that the salt be in an enclosed structure, the petitioner had no issue with this request. Approval of Special Use and Variations for Lemont Park District LED Sign at 16028 W. 127th Street The Park District is requesting a special use for an electronic message sign at 16028 W. 127th Street. The request is also for variations to allow the sign within 5,000 feet of another LED sign and to be visible from residential properties within 500 feet. The Board has no issue with the request; it would be up for approval at the next Village Board Meeting. Discussion of Class 6B County Tax Program for Insituform Midwest at 12897 Main Street Zack Kafitz, a potential purchaser of the Insituform property, asked whether the Village of Lemont would grant a resolution supporting the Cook County Class 6B property tax classification for certain parcels on Main Street. The tax incentive allows industrial properties to be assessed at a lower rate. The Village would have to support such an incentive for it to be approved by the County. The Mayor stated that he would need to see a proposal before he could consider such an incentive. The Village Board agreed with Mayor Reaves. 'Discussion of Proposed Ordinance to Require Licensing and Inspection of Legal, Conformin R Properties Mr. Buettner explained a program the Building Department is preparing to start in relation to rental units in the Village. Because of recent events and tenant complaints regarding property maintenance violations in various rental units in town, the Building Department is proposing that all legal conforming rental properties be licensed and inspected every two years. This program will allow the Village to prevent buildings from being neglected, such as 322 Main Street. The Board supported the Building Department's request. A resolution will need to be passed at a future Village Board Meeting. Discussion of Revisions to Title 15.00 of the Lemont Municipal Code (Tables R404.1 (1), (2~ & (3~ Mr. Buettner stated that Building Department staff is recommending adoption of an ordinance removing various tables from the Municipal Code and Building Code and adopting the revision in the 2007 supplement to the 2006 International Residential Code regarding spacing of anchor bolts within a foundation wall. The Board had no issue with the request; the ordinance would be up for a vote at the next Village Board Meeting. Discussion of Committee Structure and Board Liaisons Mr. Brown went over some possible changes to the structure of the economic development committees. His recommendations include eliminating the downtown commission; elevating the heritage committee to a.commission and expanding its scope to include not only the I&M Canal, but also to include non- architectural urban design elements in the downtown such as landscaping; and elevate the festivals committee to a commission and redefining its scope to include planning, marketing, and operation of festivals for economic development purposes. Other topics of discussion included an update of the downtown block party scheduled for August. NEW BUSINESS Mayor Reaves informed the Village Board that there was an opportunity in the pending state capital bill that the Village could receive up to 1 million in funds for a capital project. Mr. Wehmeier explained the various projects that the Village could apply for with the capital money. The projects discussed include the I&M Canal dredging project, Castlebowl Dam project, Kim Kip Keepataw Water Main, Warner Avenue Storm Sewer, and new Avenue Water Main replacement. Mr. Fielding recommended the water main and reconstruction projects, as opposed to the canal dredging project. Trustee Virgilio agreed with Mr. Fielding but would like to eventually dredge the canal if funds were to become available. The consensus on projects would be the Warner Avenue Storm Sewer and New Avenue Water Main Replacement Project. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Reaves adjourned the meeting at 10:30 PM