March 09, 2004

Mayor Krajewski called the Workshop meeting of the Village Council of the Village of Downers Grove to order at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Village Hall.

Present:Mayor Brian Krajewski; Commissioners Marilyn Schnell, Sue McConnell, Martin Tully, Mark Zabloudil, Ron Sandack, Stan Urban; Village Manager Riccardo Ginex; Village Attorney Enza Petrarca; Village Clerk April Holden

Absent:None

Visitors: Press: Kris Owens, The Sun Residents and Other Attendees: Ken Willis, CLS Inc., 375 West First St., Elmhurst; Mike Parilla, 1409 Ridgeview Circle; Christine Fregeau, 1918 Elmore; Dave Brammer, 1711 Brookwood Dr.; Joe Ventrice, 6600 Blackstone; Kevin McDonald, 4228 Florence; Steve Krug, 1311 68th St.; Frank Cote, 1450 Concord Ct.; Andrew Clark, 1226 62nd St.; Laurel Q. Bowen, 829 Clyde Dr.; Sheryl Soberano, 7513 Bainbridge Dr.; Anthony Schiller, 6710 Bradley Ct.; William Waldack, 1409 Willard Pl.; David Roberts, 1455 Brunette Dr.; Michael R. Lawler, 506 68th St.; Rich Mueller, 1410 Concord; R. A. Kollmar, 1420 Concord Dr.; Rosalyn Hiatt, 2050 Prentiss Dr.; Feli R. Refuerzo, 7205 Powell; Greg A. Guthrie, 1121 Madison St., Lockport; Gene Spratt, 6911 Terrace Dr.; Charles M. Rinella, 3385 Holland Ct.; Tim Hampton, 4227 Florence; Robert O’Toole, 7060 Springside; Susan Dzieken, 7237 Powell Pl.; Janet M. Dzieken, 7237 Powell; Dawn Larson, 7117 Dunham; Eric and Teresa Johnson, 6614 Main; Donald Jankowski, 6825 Penner; Debra Martin, 658 Main; Amy Buonassisi, 6841 Saratoga; Mercedes Villanueva, 420 74th Street; Charles Reed, 5825 Washington; Dave Humphreys, Community Grants Commission, 4221 Saratoga; Mike Kelch, Economic Development Commission, 5729 Carpenter; Jane Amorosi, 5742 Dunham; Mike Kubes, 5538 Lyman; James Pierson, 5810 Walnut; Jeff Waxman; Jim Mulqueeny, 1190 Parker; Florence Nicholaou, 4845 Highland; Liz Chalberg, 728 Randall; Alan Jirik, Plan Commission, 1600 Hatch; Phillip Matejczyk, Plan Commission, 1539 Chicago; Joe Finata, 801 74th St.; Chuck Elly, 7061 Springside; Bob Segroves, 339 3rd St.; Santhosh Augustine, 6813 Ticonderoga; Rob Novak, Novak Properties, 4218 Florence; Mike Vaci, 1200 Gregory Pl.; Suman Mehta, 3513 Venard; Jack McGuire, 1425 Gilbert; Pauline Semenchuk, 742 72nd Street Staff: Dave Barber, Director, Public Works; Lori Sommers, Planner; Kerstin von der Heide, Forester; Bill Herman, Assistant Director, Information Services; Keith Sbiral, Planner; Pam Church, Deputy Police Chief; Bob Porter, Police Chief; Kurt Bluder, Deputy Police Chief; Mary Scalzetti, Director, Tourism & Events; Doug Kozlowski, Public Information Officer; Mike Millette, Assistant Director, Public Works; Mike Baker, Assistant to the Village Manager; Dave Van Vooren, Deputy Village Manager; Rita A. Trainor, Director, Financial Services; Cathy Shuster, Assistant Director, EDC ; Steve Rockwell, Director, EDC

Mayor Krajewski explained that Council Workshop meetings are held the second and fourth Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. The meetings are video taped live and for later cable cast over cable channel 6.

The Workshop meeting is intended to provide Council and the public with an appropriate forum for informal discussion of any items intended for future Council consideration or just for general information. No formal action is taken at Workshop meetings.

The public is invited to attend and encouraged to comment or ask questions in an informal manner on any of the items being discussed or on any other subject. The agenda is created to provide a guideline for discussion.

Mayor Krajewski welcomed members of Boy Scout Troop 95 and asked the Scouts to introduce themselves. They are 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students from Herrick, Pierce Downer and O’Neill Schools who are working on their merit badges.

MANAGER

Bids:

Supply of Water Clamps & Fittings. Manager Ginex said this is for various clamps and fittings needed to repair and maintain the Village water distribution system for FY 2004 /05. The Village received four bids. Staff is recommending various items be awarded to a number of bidders as follows: An award to Ziebell, Inc. in the amount of $33,139.39; Mid American Water, Inc. in the amount of $12,304.10; and National Water Works in the amount of $40,314.63 for a total amount of $85,758.12 for clamps and fittings.

Hydrants. The Manager said staff is recommending extension of the 03/04 contract with US Filter Distribution Group for supply of fire hydrants until April 30, 2005 with a 2% increase on the unit prices. The vendor has successfully performed all phases of the current contract. Staff recommends extending the contract for one year. The Village is proposing to purchase about 30 fire hydrants in FY 2004 /05.

Leak Survey. The Manager said the Village annually performs a leak detection survey of approximately 1/3 of the water distribution system. This year the contract includes three areas:

Area One – bordered by 63rd Street to the north, Fairview Avenue to the east, 75th Street to the south, and Main Street to the west.

Area Two – bordered by 63rd Street to the north, Main Street to the east, 75th Street to the south, and the Village limits to the west.

Area Ten – bordered by 31st Street to the north, Village limits to the east, Ogden Avenue to the south, and Highland Avenue to the west.

Five vendors bid on the contract, but only two met the specifications. Staff is recommending that the award not be made to the lowest bidder, but instead to M.E. Simpson Co. in the amount of $11,800.00.

Unified Data Storage System. The Manager asked Bill Herman, Assistant Director, Information Services to address this item.

Bill Herman , Assistant Director, Information Services, said this system will provide a unified place to store data. He said it is a group of dedicated hard drives attached directly to a network without the need of a server to control them. He said unified storage provides improved storage management, faster backups and restores, as well as growth potential. Staff recommends purchasing the NetApp FAS250 storage system from Forsythe Solutions in the amount of $20,904.00.

Commissioner McConnell asked Mr. Herman to explain the process of evaluation used in recommending this system.

Mr. Herman said there are thousands of storage units on the market. The biggest advantage of this one is that it can grow, it is from a major storage vendor, and it has redundancy factors built in.

Commissioner McConnell asked if staff has talked to anyone who has installed this system.

Mr. Herman said they went to the company, and checked references, although they did not speak with anyone who had this specific model.

Mayor Krajewski asked if the Technology Commission looked at this.

Mr. Herman said they did not.

Mayor Krajewski asked if staff talked to any other Villages with this system.

Mr. Herman said they did not find another Village with this particular type of storage, although everyone is going to the concept of network storage.

Commissioner Schnell asked how long this system, without additions, will last.

Mr. Herman said the plan is to keep the system until we can no longer get support. He said he anticipated it would be a couple of years before we would have to add another box.

Mayor Krajewski asked that staff e-mail this information to the Technology Commission for their comments.

Addendum to CM Lavoie’s Contract for Parking Deck and Main Street Pedestrian Access. The Manager asked Mike Millette, Assistant Director, Public Works to address this item.

Mike Millette , Assistant Director, Public Works, said this will be the final addendum to CM Lavoie’s contract for both the parking deck and pedestrian access alley projects. It is to cover extra work that was not originally anticipated in the scope of work.

Municipal Turf Maintenance Contract. The Manager asked Kerstin von der Heide, Village Forester, to address this matter.

Kerstin von der Heide , Village Forester, said staff is proposing renewing the contract with Sebert for the second year. The original bid for the second year was 6% higher than the first year but, in negotiations with staff, Sebert has agreed to an increase of only 2% for the second year for a total cost of $22,381.50.

Commissioner Tully thanked Ms. von der Heide for negotiating this contract.

Lacey Creek Invoices. The Manager asked Mike Baker, Assistant to the Village Manager, to address this.

Mike Baker , Assistant to the Village Manager, said staff is seeking approval of three invoices and one contract with Conservation Land Stewardship for work related to the Lacey Creek Improvement Project.

The invoices are for $36,050.00 for additional work for the east pond excavation done in January. The contract is for $20,546.94 for work that is required to be done in 2004 for maintenance and stewardship of the Lacey Creek project area. This is a requirement as part of the grant agreement with DuPage County. Mr. Baker said the Village is expecting to receive money from the County in the form of a reimbursement grant for both the invoices and the contract.

Commissioner Tully asked why the Council is only now seeing these invoices when the work was completed in June.

Mr. Baker said the invoices were received after the work was completed. Staff had concerns and spent time with the company to understand the nature of the work and to explore other opportunities outside of Village sources for funding it. Staff was able to identify grant funds from the County.

Mayor Krajewski said this was a joint effort by the Orchard Brook Homeowner’s Association, DuPage County, the Village and the Conservation Land Stewardship. They all contributed funds to the restoration project. He thanked County Commissioner Tom Bennington for his assistance in securing funding from the County.

Main Street Pedestrian Access. The Manager asked Mike Millette to address this issue.

Mike Millette said bids for the Main Street Pedestrian Access Alley were opened on February 23, 2004. Three bids were received, but two were incomplete, and therefore, considered unresponsive. Martam Construction submitted the only proposal in conformance with all the bid requirements including both the first and second issued addenda. The total base bid amount submitted by Martam Construction is $223,283.00 to perform all paver block work throughout the alley. Staff recommends using brick pavers instead of stamped colored concrete, as they did not feel that the savings realized by using concrete was significant in light of the total contract cost. Staff received unit prices for the new street as Alternate #4. Staff recommends awarding the contract to Martam for the base bid of $223,283.00.

Mayor Krajewski asked about the incomplete bids.

Mr. Millette said Addendum 2, to change the quantity for electrical items, was missing. Therefore, staff had no confidence in the bid. In further response to Mayor Krajewski, Mr. Millette said Addenda 1 and 2 were faxed to the 12 plan holders. The two unresponsive bidders said they did not receive the fax although staff has a log that the fax was received and phone calls were placed to the vendors telling them the fax would be sent. They both included Addendum 1. He said he did not know why they did not include Addendum 2.

Mayor Krajewski asked if this could be re-bid.

Village Attorney Enza Petrarca said it is within the Village’s discretion to eliminate the unresponsive bids. All bids could be rejected and be re-bid.

Commissioner McConnell said she did not recall approving the design plan.

Commissioner Urban said he would like to see this re-bid. He asked about electrical items for the new street.

Mr. Millette said the electrical, trees and other elements were part of the original bid.

Commissioner Urban said he did not realize the design plan had been approved. He thought it was just a conceptual drawing. He suggested approaching Ballydoyle to see if they are interested in expanding to an outdoor café and if they want to piggyback on this to cover some of their expenses.

Mr. Millette said part of this improvement would be on Ballydoyle’s property and we would probably look to set up an encroachment license or agreement with them. In further response to Commissioner Urban, Mr. Millette said the owner of Ballydoyle’s has seen the plan and said he likes it.

Commissioner Tully said if there is no imperative reason to award this now he would like to see it re-bid.

Mr. Millette said it could be re-bid. There are some connections from the stormsewer that is proposed to go down the alley that have to be made to the deck. Staff would like to coordinate this so it could be a fairly seamless transition; however, it could still probably be done by stubbing the utilities out from the deck.

Commissioner Tully suggested checking with some of the property owners along what will be curbside property on the new street to see if there is anything the Village wants to take into account before doing the work.

Commissioner Tully asked if the crosswalks on Main Street are stamped concrete.

Mr. Millette said the last ones are; the first are not.

Commissioner Tully reiterated that staff is recommending the brick pavers at this time because the cost difference between the stamped concrete and the pavers is nominal. Mr. Millette agreed. He said there is a durability issue with the brick pavers in the crosswalks as far as vehicular traffic. It is an issue of vehicular vs. pedestrian traffic.

Commissioner Schnell said the reason for going with the stamped concrete was because of heaving and the fact that plows were having problems and picking up the bricks. She asked if there will be similar problems in an alley.

Mr. Millette said staff will use the broom to clean this area in the same manner as is done on the rest of the downtown sidewalks. A concrete sidewalk has a certain amount of maintenance required of it. It can also crack and heave. Pavers, used for pedestrian traffic, are easier to maintain as they can be taken out, leveled and put them back down. This cannot be done with concrete.

Commissioner Schnell said there have been concerns voiced in the past regarding Martam’s ability to provide safety for pedestrians, workers, etc. She asked if they would be held to certain standards and if there are penalties if they do not meet the standards. Mr. Millette said there are established standards and penalties in the contract.

Commissioner Schnell said she agrees this should be re-bid. She agreed with Commissioner Urban that there should be compensation of public funds for improvements made on private property.

Mayor Krajewski asked if some of the sidewalks installed on Warren and Main were on private property.

Mr. Millette said many of them encroach two or three feet. No compensation was required, but there are agreements.

Commissioner Schnell said the plan for this pedestrian access includes planters such that half could be used as for a café and half could be used as a public walkway.

Mayor Krajewski asked about the lot line on the south side. Mr. Millette said it is coincident with the wall.

Commissioner Sandack asked if the paver would look consistent with the other improvements on the street or if there would be a variance.

Mr. Millette said it will look like the approaches to the crosswalks.

Commissioner Sandack suggested the prior to the re-bidding, staff look at revenue sharing for improvements on private property.

Mayor Krajewski said a representative from the Rotary spoke before the Council about the pedestrian access. He suggested staff meet with this representative.

Commissioner Urban about the encroachment on the private property. Mr. Millette said it is four feet.

Pauline Semenchuk , 742 72nd, asked how much of the pedestrian access is being incurred due to the parking deck.

The Mayor said it was all due to the parking deck as it is the pedestrian walkway to go from the parking deck to Main Street.

Ms. Semenchuk asked about the cost of the deck now compared to the initial cost estimates.

The Mayor said the total cost of the parking deck is $21,315,830.00. This expense is part of the total cost.

2% Fund – Ordinance Amendment. The Manager said this is to amend the current ordinance such that it will comply with the existing purchasing policy.

Attorney Petrarca said this ordinance was not updated when the purchasing policy was amended.

The Mayor said Council approves Foreign Fire Tax Fund expenditures over $15,000 even though they have no say in the fund.

Strategic Land Use Planning Summary. The Manager asked Joe Skach, Director, Planning and Community Development, to address this item.

Joe Skach , Director, Planning and Community Development, thanked the Strategic Planning Subcommittee of the Economic Development Commission and the Plan Commission for their work. He said he would provide a summary of their discussions.

Mayor Krajewski asked about special use requirements at the gateway corners as a way to control the auto dealerships at those locations.

Mr. Skach said there are plans to discuss this matter. Issues to be reviewed are whether this would be a special use or some other requirement such as a minimum two-acre requirement on auto dealerships.

The Mayor asked if special use requirements could be established at every gateway corner.

Village Attorney Petrarca said all gateway corners could be restricted. She said she would review this.

Commissioner Schnell said the two-acre minimum makes sense. There have been complaints from residents about car dealerships that are set up on small parcels and encroach the sidewalk.

The Mayor said he would like to get some requirements established soon.

Mr. Skach summarized the discussions and findings of joint discussions of the Plan Commission and Strategic Planning Subcommittee of the Economic Development Commission. He provided overhead slides as a part of his discussion.

Mr. Skach said the Village has a history of comprehensive planning initiatives. He briefly reviewed the zoning ordinance, comprehensive planning efforts, neighborhood planning discussions and the current Future Land Use Plan. He then provided information on the existing land use map. He said Council discussions on the current land use map began in 1995/96. There was a refinement of land use designations including a universal change to use the ORM designation rather than Industrial designation.

Regarding land use and zoning, Mr. Skach said land use designation are not zoning designations. Land use designations provide guidance regarding general types of land uses and enabling for zoning designations. Zoning designations provide the Village with control over specific uses and bulk characteristics to ensure logical and orderly development and to protect public health, safety, and welfare.

Mr. Skach then discussed land use and economic potential. He said the Village is approximately 14.6 square miles, 5% of which are designated Commercial, 2% are designated Office, Research, and Manufacturing, and 1% is designated Office Research. He reviewed the economic potential and discussed the economic productiveness of land.

Mr. Skach said comprehensive planning is a process resulting in a public document, a comprehensive plan, that establishes an overall strategy to guide the growth and development of a community. It is aimed at unifying and coordinating physical, economic, and potentially, social development of a community.

Mr. Skach then reviewed comprehensive planning strategies including smart growth, mixed-use and transit-oriented development. He discussed the elements of a comprehensive plan. He said the State has given backing to comprehensive planning. He referred to HB 4023 , the Local Planning Technical Assistance Act. He reviewed the key elements that the State considers municipalities or communities should be looking at as part of their comprehensive plan.

Mr. Skach then reviewed the joint workshops of the Plan Commission and EDC . The group began their work in July 2002. They focused only on key strategic commercial areas and identified goal statements, issues opportunities and constraints, conclusions and recommendations, and issues to address or monitor for each of the 14 key areas. The guiding principles to the discussions included the recognition that the Village needs to respond to emerging demands, the Village is able to take advantage of competitive conditions, and the recognition that the Village should employ a smart growth strategy. He said a successful economic development strategy is inextricably linked to land use strategies.

Mr. Skach showed a slide depicting the 14 key strategic commercial areas.

Mayor Krajewski asked if the committee had a sense of which areas to focus on immediately.

Mr. Skach said the despite the environmental issues in Ellsworth Industrial Area, it needs to be looked at. Over the long term, they may want to look at this area as mixed use rather than industrial use so as to maximize its potential. Another area is 63rd & Woodward, which needs some help and focus. The Butterfield and Finley area on the south side of Butterfield Road has many B-3 designations. There is concern about the permitted uses in the B-3 district that allow higher end B-2 uses as well as industrial uses. If these were zoned B-2 they could have higher economic potential.

In conclusion, Mr. Skach said the discussions were timely, warranted and productive. There was recognition of 14 distinct strategic commercial areas. The committee came to a consensus of a characterization of each area and what that area ought to be. Initial conclusions were made and issues to monitor in the future such as code modifications or administration of petitions were identified. Next steps include providing updates to the Council on discussions, formal considerations to amendments to the Future Land Use Plan, staff and committee work on follow-up issues, and the need to revisit this regularly.

Mr. Skach discussed housekeeping, near term and longer-term amendment considerations to the Future Land Use Plan. Housekeeping issues include consideration of land use changes to firmly establish commercial areas already functioning in identified areas. Near term issues would include Village consideration of replacing or updating existing commercial land use areas to further strengthen or establish new commercial uses in identified areas. Longer terms issues include potential new creation of a Mixed-Use and Office, Research, Commercial land use designation.

Commissioner Schnell thanked the Committee for their work. She said it was very interesting and well done. She asked the time frame for short, mid and long-term issues.

Mr. Skach said short term would be up to six months; mid term would be up to one year; and long term would be one to two years.

Commissioner McConnell thanked Mr. Skach and the Commissions for working together. She said the information was helpful and well laid out. She said it appears that the Village is getting rid of the concept of manufacturing and industrial areas entirely.

Mr. Skach said the manufacturing and industrial areas are highly suspect from an economic standpoint. He said several of the Committee members articulated the economic underpinnings of why manufacturing uses may not be viable in the long-term.

Commissioner McConnell said there was discussion regarding the automobile businesses along Ogden and a conclusion that, in at least some locations, the high-end auto business is recommended.

Mr. Skach said how Ogden is going to be structured will need additional thought. Some felt Ogden should be recognized as an auto-oriented corridor driven by auto-oriented revenues. Others discussed the concept of nodes clustered into areas. There were a variety of issues related to Ogden, but there was a recognition that auto orientation is probably there to stay for quite some time.

Commissioner McConnell said she the notion of nodes makes sense for further exploration due to compatibility of uses. She said there were three areas identified on Butterfield. She said traffic is a horrendous problem on Butterfield and suggested that this may need to be addressed quickly.

Commissioner McConnell said the downtown area has come a long way. She said another group was looking at the downtown zoning in an attempt to make it easier and clearer and perhaps get rid of the overlay districts. She said she does not want to lose track of this work as it was very useful and beneficial and perhaps should be tied into this work. She said this may fit into the long-term goals.

Mr. Skach said Curtiss Block will play a dominant role in the downtown. As the Village looks at Curtiss Block development options, we will be able to generate ideas as to how the downtown should look. The discussions of the previous group will be helpful there.

Commissioner Tully thanked the Commissions for their work. They are taking the necessary steps to insure the future economic viability of our community. He said we can either be run over by change or we can try and guide it and he appreciates the efforts in trying to help guide our community.

Commissioner Tully said that it was mentioned that future recommendations regarding changes in the Future Land Use Plan designations would come before the Council. He asked how those designations are publicized as occasionally people will comment that they did not realize they lived in or near an area with a particular zoning designation. If some of these designations are to change, there may be more questions of this nature.

Mr. Skach said there have been discussions about this. He said these are public hearings and there is a legal requirement to notice the hearing. There is discussion regarding establishing a standing community development site on our website where people will be able to log in and find the Future Land Use map, the zoning map and individual parcels. Further, Mr. Skach said he is planning to put the document presented tonight on the website.

Commissioner Tully asked if the Village is obligated to give notice to residents and business that reside in an area where a change in the Future Land Use Plan is being proposed. Mr. Skach answered affirmatively.

Commissioner Tully asked if a special use could be applicable to the entire TIF district, not just the gateways, particularly with regard to the two-acre requirement. He said he thinks there is precedent for this to happen.

Mr. Skach said there would be trade-offs in doing this although as a Home Rule community we would be able to do it.

Mayor Krajewski suggested looking at banks on Ogden as well.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

There were none.

ATTORNEY ’S REPORT

Village Attorney Enza Petrarca said she was presenting two items to the Council: 1) An ordinance amending the foreign fire tax fund; and 2) An ordinance adopting and approving publication of the Village of Downers Grove zoning map.

There being no further discussion, the Workshop meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

April K. Holden Village Clerk tmh