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Minutes COW 4-13-2009Special Committee of the Whole April 13, 2009 8:00 p.m. A special meeting of the Village of Lemont Committee of the Whole was held on Monday April 13, 2009 in the Board Room of the Village Hall at 418 Main Street in Lemont, Illinois. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Piazza called the meeting to order at 8:05 p.m. and acknowledged that the following were present: Trustees Peter Coules, Ron Stapleton, Cliff Miklos, Debbie Blatzer, Jeanette Virgilio and Brian Reaves 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 Briarcliffe Townhome Development Ms. Jones gave a brief presentation on the townhome development. The developer is requesting a rezoning from B-3 to R-5, an amended special use for a PUD, and a preliminary PUD platlplan to construct a 37 unit townhome development. Staff recommends denial based on the development not meeting the comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan calls for a transition type use in this area. The P&Z recommended approval with certain conditions. One of the main conditions was to consider a dormant SSA to pay for public improvements in case the home owners association defaults on payment. Mayor Piazza stated that this project was going to be coming back in front of the Board at some point. As part of the original PUD, this property was supposed to be commercial, then it was marketed for office buildings with no success. Trustee Virgilio stated that she thought all along that this area should have stayed commercial in order to buffer the residential from the heavy industry in the area. Trustee Stapleton mentioned the explosion that occurred in 1984 from the CITGO nearby and doesn't think that there should be residential in this area because of the possibility of another explosion. Trustee Reaves stated that he thinks it should be R-4 with the rest of the subdivision. The petitioner spoke about the project and explained that they had been trying to sell the property for years with the commercial zoning and have received no interested buyers. With the residential town homes they would be meeting all applicable rules of the Village and all the residents in the area except for one were in favor of the proposal. The petitioner also stated that they approached the CITGO nearby about purchasing the property but they had no interest. Later in the meeting representatives from CITGO spoke out against the project because of the proximity to industrial uses nearby. The CITGO representative stated that they were never approached to purchase the property and that the developer has not explored all of the alternatives for the property. Discussion of Appeal of Denial of Certificate by Historic Preservation Commission for Demolition of Residence Hotel at 322 Main Street Ms. Jones gave a brief presentation of the issue. The Historic Preservation Commission voted 4-1 to deny the demolition of the building. Staff is recommending that if the denial is overturned by the Village Board-that assurances are put up to pay for landscaping in case a new building is not put up anytime soon. The Board was receptive of the idea of an assurance being given such as a letter of credit. Trustee Reaves also mentioned that he wanted to make sure the trees on that lot were saved. Mr. Buettner stated that the Village had received complaints from the Fire District about issues with the fire alarm at the building. In addition there were ADA compliance issues that the apartment complex had to comply with. The owners of the building allowed the village to enter the premises to search for other code violations and the Village found 60 violations including numerous electrical and structural issues. All residents have been moved out and we are just waiting for the issue to move through the Village process for teardown. Trustee Coules stated that the Village should've taken action immediately and had the building demolished. Mr. Buettner stated that we had to follow the rules for demolition in the historic district. Barb Bushmen, from the Historic Preservation Commission briefly discussed the reasons for the denial to demolish the building, including the owner neglecting the building and allowing it to deteriorate. As part of the application process to the HPC, the owner is required to submit plans as to what will be built in its place. The plans the owner submitted were old simple plans that they have no intention to move forward with. Ken Baldwin, from the Historic Preservation District also spoke about the request. He stated that he does not want to send a signal to other property owners in the downtown that if you allow your buildings to deteriorate then you can demolish. The ordinance to overturn the decision of the HPC to deny demolition will be in front of the Village Board at the next Board Meeting. Discussion of Financin fg_or Special Service Area #2 Mr. Wehmeier spoke briefly on the special service area bonds; the total amount bonded for would be close to 1.4 Million. In order to reduce the issue, the Village will be transferring money from its working cash fund to supply the required debt reserve fund. Mr. Vail form Bernardi Associates gave a brief presentation on the special service area bonds. Bernardi has been making some calls this week and is confident that they can get an interest rate somewhere in the vicinity of 6%. The bonds will be sold sometime next week given they can achieve the desired interest rate. The-bond ordinance will be up for approval at the next Village Board Meeting. Discussion of Variation Request for Firestone Building on 127th Street The petitioner is requesting a variation to the required side yard setback on the east property line for a proposed Firestone located at 15645 127th Street. Staff and the Planning Commission recommend approval of the proposed variation. There was minor discussion on reducing parking spaces, but Firestone requires a set amount of parking space for their operations. The engineering was also a concern. The petitioner is working on the engineering with the Village engineer; they have a few different options. The request will be in front of the Village Board for final approval at a future meeting. Discussion of Intergovernmental Agreement with Lemont Township for Heritage Quarries Recreation Area Mr. Wehmeier briefly went over the intergovernmental agreement between the township and the Village for maintenance of the entire area and to indemnify the township for the Village's use of the property. IRMA has reviewed and approved the agreement. One other issue is that 3 of the parcels are currently not annexed into the Village; they will be annexed at a future Village Board Meeting. Discussion of Windsor Courts Project and Annexation Agreement Mr. Brown gave a brief presentation on the status of the Windsor Courts project. Because the Ashford Condominiums development is similar to Windsor Courts, all discussion for both projects took place. There were three major issues to discuss today according to Brown including impact fees, traffic impact study, and the engineering approval. On the impact fees, the petitioner is requesting that the timing of the required payment be delayed. Trustee Reaves stated that most other communities require payment of fees up front and that he doesn't want the Village to have to chase money for fees. The general consensus was that the impact fees should be paid before building permit. The second issue was the traffic impact study. Ken Baldwin, the petitioner, said that they would follow IDOT standard. Mr. Brown stated that he recommends that language should be added to the annexation agreement that the results of the traffic study should be followed, since IDOT has not given their final comments yet. The third issue was the engineering approval. Mr. Brown said that he received comment from Jim Cainkar that he recommends not using the I&M Canal as the detention. Mr. Brown pointed out that if the canal cannot be used, the on- site detention will be accompanied by large retaining walls all over the development. There are still some issues that need to be worked out. The proposal will be up for final approval at a future Village Board Meeting. NEW BUSINESS None. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Piazza adjourned the meeting at 10:05 PM