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COW Minutes 8-16-2010Committee of the Whole August 16, 2010 7:00 p.m. A meeting of the Village of Lemont Committee of the Whole was held on Monday August 16, 2010 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, Paul Chialdikas, Cliff Miklos, Rick Sniegowski, and Jeanette Virgilio were present. Also present were Village staff members Ben Wehmeier, Randy Earnest, Gerald Turrise, James Brown, Charity Jones, George Schafer, Ed Buettner, Mark LaChappell, Jim Cainkar, Dan Blondin and Jeff Stein. DISCUSSION ITEMS Discussion of Facade Grant for 310 Illinois Street The Village board recently approved a revised grant program for the TIF District. The project at 310 Illinois is the first project to come through the process. The committee to review the applications met with the HPC and recommended approval. It was stated that funds would not be disbursed until the work was completed. The item would be in front of the Village Board at a future Board Meeting. Presentation by Keepataw Days Committee Mayor Reaves stated that the Jaycees no longer exist but a new 501 3(c) group has emerged to take over the annual festival. The group was in attendance at the meeting to answer questions about the festival. The festival will take place September 2°a to Sty', with the parade occurring on the 5'". The group stated that the biggest challenge this year will be controlling police and public works time. This year, the group is required to pay 100% of the Village's personnel time due to budget constraints. The group would be meeting with the PD to discuss ways to lower these costs, including hiring private security. The Village would also be donating its free dumpsters to the event that are a part of the Village's hauling contract. There was no further discussion on the topic. Discussion of Burrow Barge (ACL) Variation Burrow Barge is requesting a variation to allow the placement of two mobile home trailers at slip #3 on the American Commercial lines site. The trailers would be used for office space and a break room for employees for a period of 24 months. The P&Z recommended approval of the request. The Board had no issue with the request, as long as it is used for employee breaks and office space and not residential. The item would be up for approval at a future board meeting. New Business There was a resident from the Front Street Lofts that wanted to speak on an issue. The resident was complaining about the vacant property to the west of the lofts buildings. Mayor Reaves explained that the Village is working with the property owner on removing the metal building and making the property look respectable. Mayor Reaves said that the property would be cleaned up by the end of the year. Discussion of Proposed TIF Capital Budget As the construction of the new police facility was winding down, the Village contracted with Wight to finish up the space needs analysis for the Village and create conceptual plans for a possible village hall/old police station renovation. Staff met with Wight over the last few months in finalizing space needs for various departments. Wight presented four different options, including different uses for the upstairs at Village Hall and the entire space for the old police station. Although funding is scarce, the problems with the building may cause the Village to look into renovation in the medium term rather than long term. Problems with the building cited by staff include plumbing issues, security issues with the doors, HVAC issues, etc. Also discussed were possible uses for the old police station in the interim. One option looked at would be a Chamber of Commerce and business incubator use for 2-3 years. The other option would be to rent out the facility at a greater rent to institutional type use that the village has begun discussion with. The Board was receptive to working with this type of user to put bodies in the facility and also earn rent revenue. Originally the Chamber was going to move in to the empty facility, the Village will be working with the Chamber on finding a new facility or improving its current facility. Discussion of Grease Trap Ordinance Implementation Mr. Buettner gave an update on the newly passed grease trap ordinance for food establishments in town. The Building Department will be sending out information to the various food establishments on the process and also will be putting information on the website and channel 6. There will be more updates to the Board as the program moves forward. There are approximately 65 establishments in which the policy will be in effect. Discussion of Purchasing Manual Staff is beginning to review the purchasing manual for various outdated provisions and needed updates. A couple of the provisions the Village will be looking at are thresholds for authorizations and the local vendor provisions. Once the new policy is crafted, it will be brought in front of the Village Board at a future Committee of the Whole. Discussion of Re-Codification Ordinance During the course of the past seven months, Village Administration and legal counsel have been working through the process of re-codification of the Lemont Municipal Code. During the process the Village was looking at compliance with Illinois Statutes, consistency within the Village code, adding the UDO to the code, removal of fees from the codified code and instead replacing it with an annual schedule. The full code will be in front of the Village Board at a future Board Meeting. Discussion of Costar Property Reports Charity Jones opened discussion of software program and explained uses with power point presentation. Administrator Wehmeier added that this is just an information update to let people know what we can do with this site. Jim Brown added that the Village had one person utilize this system to search for a space for his battery recycling business. Discussion closed. Discussion of Budget Review Administrator Wehmeier opened discussion by passing out reports to Village Board. New process started a bi-annual budget review. As a whole the Village is doing well with spending. A power point presentation was shown for first quarter budget review. Mayor Reaves discussed the need for two new plow trucks. Two current trucks have major problems and may not last through the upcoming plow season. We have been procrastinating and now they just need replaced. Discussion closed. Discussion of Vacant Property Ordinance Village attorney Dan Blondin opened discussion. This draft is basically an Ordinance to allow the Commissioner to verify in 60 days if properties are vacant. This is not a licensing Ordinance; this is a registration Ordinance based on other Municipalities. Discussion closed. Unfinished Business The Glens of Connemara. There are complaints of similar homes being built in this subdivision. Jim Brown began discussion. The Monotony Ordinance was written in 1993 and may need updated. After driving subdivision, the homes do meet the standards for the monotony Ordinance. Jim Brown met with McNaughton and Rick Responte. There are some changes to the annexation agreement. Rick still wants to try to change impact fees. Board does not approve. New Business Administrator Wehmeier was contacted by Mrs. Morley for a program for education foundation. They are inquiring about adding an option for donation to the foundation with the Vehicle stickers. Board did not agree with this idea. Audience Participation No Audience Participation ADJOURNMENT Mayor Reaves adjourned the meeting at 10:00 PM