Minutes COW 4-20-2009Committee of the Whole
Apri120, 2009
8:00 p.m.
A meeting of the Village of Lemont Committee of the Whole was held on Monday Apri120, 2009 in the
Board Room of the Village Hall at 418 Main Street in Lemont, Illinois.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor-Elect Reaves called the meeting to order at 8:15 p.m. and acknowledged that the following were
present:
Trustees Ron Stapleton, Cliff Miklos, and Debbie Blatzer, were present. Mayor Piazza and Trustees Peter
Coules and Jeanette Virgilio were absent.
Also present were Village staff members Gary Holmes, James Brown, Charity Jones, Ben Wehmeier,
George Schafer, and Mark LaChappell.
bISCUSSION ITEMS
Discussion of Sullivan & James Sian
Mr. Sullivan and Sullivan and James would like to place a sign in the public right- of-way in front of their
business on Main Street. Mr. Brown explained that the petitioner would have to acknowledge that if the
Village had to service any of the utilities in the right-of--way, the petitioner would have to repair the sign
at their own cost. Trustee Reaves also wanted to mention that if the snow plows were to hit the sign they
would also be on the hook, since the sign would be close to the road. Mr. Brown stated that the sign
would be 4 feet tall and that the sign meets all other requirements of the sign ordinance. The Board did
not have an issue with the request.
Discussion of Covington Knolls Townhomes (Phase 3~
Mr. Brown gave a brief presentation on the Covington Knolls Townhome proposal. The petitioner was
previously approved for the project but the approval expired due to inactivity. According to the
ordinance, the petitioner had to reapply. The request did not change; the request is fora 24 unit
townhome development in the R-5 District. The petitioner stated that some of the units had to be moved
due to the proximity to a pipe line. The lots should all still meet the requirements of the zoning. Trustee
Blatzer asked about the agreement with the park district about-land donation and landscaping. The
petitioner stated that originally they were going to donate lot 8 in the development to the park district.
Instead, they will just be providing the landscaping for the lot. Trustee Reaves asked when the project
was to begin, the petitioner stated they were waiting to see if the market turns around.
Discussion of Update on Railroad Grade Crossing_Quiet Zone
Mr. Wehmeier led a brief discussion on quiet zone improvements for the downtown. A few of the
residents in the downtown recently brought the issue back to the forefront. The options the Village has
examined in the past were abandoning crossings, installing quad gates, and installing wayside horns. The
cheapest option would be wayside horns, with a cost of around $500,000. Mr. Brown talked about the
high speed rail that was being discussed due to federal stimulus funds. The high speed rail from Chicago
to St. Louis would likely go through Lemont adding more trains to the line. However, the speeds of the
train will likely be unchanged in Lemont, with the high speed rail farther west of Joliet. Staff would be
working with neighboring municipalities on an application for some of the rail improvements. At that
time decisions can be made to go forward or not.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Brown stated that the developer of Paul Reserve Subdivision, Andrew Benarczik would like to
discuss bringing his development back to the Board. The project was discussed a while back with issues
on road alignment slowing it down. The development was for 12 single family lots on lots no smaller than
10,500, in an R-5 zoning classification. After a brief discussion, the petitioner was directed to go back
through the process for approvals.
ADJOURNMENT
Mayor-Elect Reaves adjourned the meeting at 9:10 PM