July 11, 2000 - Workshop

Mayor Krajewski called the Workshop meeting of the Village Council of the Village of Downers Grove to order at 6:31 p.m. in the Committee Room of the Village Hall.

Present:Mayor Brian Krajewski; Commissioners Marilyn Schnell, Thomas Sisul, Michael Gilbert, Sue McConnell; Village Manager Michael McCurdy; Village Attorney Daniel Blondin; Village Clerk April Holden

Absent:None

Visitors: Press: Susie Gura, Suburban Life Graphic Residents: Peter Hultman, 1410 Gilbert; George Swimmer, DuPage Railroad Safety Council, 1200 71st Street; Susan Korn, Institute of Gas Technology, Mount Prospect; Steve Bailey, People’s Energy; Mark Zabloudil, 620 39th Street; John LaMotte, Lakota Group Staff: Rick Ginex, Police Chief; Dave Conley, Director of Engineering; Jerry Sprecher, Deputy Village Manager; Marty Lyons, Director of Financial Services; Mike Baker, Assistant to the Village Manager; Brian Pabst, Director of Redevelopment

Mayor Krajewski explained that Council Workshop meetings are held the second and fourth Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. The meetings are video taped 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.

The Mayor said a short special Council meeting would follow the Workshop meeting this evening.

MANAGER

Bids:

Police Department Radar Units and DUI Cameras for Police Squads. Village Manager Mike McCurdy said both of these items were under the State bid contract. Regarding the radar units, two pieces of equipment were considered – the Decatur Genesis II and the Kustom Golden Eagle. The Police Department recommended the Decatur unit because it is smaller. Some units were inadvertently ordered but not installed. The total cost of the contract is $26,085.

Regarding the in-car DUI cameras and microphone kits, the Manager said Kustom Signal provides these under the Illinois State Contract. Staff recommends purchasing four kits at a total cost of $14,916.

Commissioner Schnell asked if these were replacements or in addition to the existing kits.

Police Chief Rick Ginex said these are in addition to the existing units.

Commissioner Schnell asked if the cameras were digital or VHS .

Chief Ginex said they are VHS cameras that will be running as the officers are driving. He said the technology had not yet been upgraded to digital.

In response to Commissioner Schnell, Chief Ginex said there have not been any maintenance problems. He said they are primarily used on midnight shifts for DUI ’s. The cars are rotated through each shift.

The Mayor said he would like to see the vendor paid for the radar units that were ordered last fiscal year. Regarding radio replacements, Chief Ginex said he is in the process of working out the budget as they cost more than expected.

The Manager said these items would be on next week’s Consent Agenda.

Police Uniforms. The Manager said proposals were submitted by three firms – Ray O’Herron, Kale Uniforms and Constable Equipment. Ray O’Herron bid on all items; Kale bid only on uniforms and Constable bid only on equipment. The Police Department recommends awarding a contract to Kale Uniforms for $34,671.50 for uniforms only. They further recommend awarding a contract to Constable Equipment for $9,253.50 for equipment.

The Manager said this would be placed on next week’s Consent Agenda.

Design Engineering Services – Main Street Resurfacing & Fairview Signals. The Manager said these are two federally funded projects.

The first is the Main Street Resurfacing Project scheduled for construction in 2002. The other is the Fairview Avenue Traffic Signal Interconnect scheduled for the same year. These projects are funded by Surface Transportation Program funds, which are federal grants.

The federal grants will pay 70% of the Main Street Resurfacing Project, or approximately $245,000 of the total estimated construction cost of $350,000. For the Fairview Avenue Traffic Signal Interconnect Project the grants will pay 75%, or approximately $675,000 of the total estimated construction cost of $900,000.

Staff received four proposals from engineering firms and interviewed three firms. Staff recommends awarding a contract to Civiltech Engineering, Inc. for both projects. The cost of the first project is $43,498 and the second project is $87,002. The Manager said it was important to select a firm that had experience with Surface Transportation fund requirements and Civiltech has had that experience.

Commissioner Sisul said regarding the Main Street part of this project between Franklin and Prairie, there was discussion of installing a left turn only lane down the middle of the street rather than the current configuration. This is due to the traffic backup caused by traffic turning into St. Joseph’s Church and onto Franklin

The Manager said this could be reviewed in the engineering review phase.

Commissioner Gilbert said a group was formed with the residents on Forest between Franklin and Prairie about three years ago to discuss possibilities for that area. At that time the idea was suggested to put the sidewalk under the street. Commissioner Gilbert suggested this be studied again and the costs be reviewed. He said Elmhurst went underneath North Avenue in about five different sections.

Commissioner Schnell referenced Commissioner Sisul’s comment regarding eliminating the right turn lane and installing a middle lane. She suggested looking at the amount of right-of-way the Village has at that location to consider a full turn lane.

Commissioner McConnell confirmed that only phase II was being done at this time. She reemphasized the importance of close communication. Further, she referenced the last page of the contract regarding what she assumes to be a mutually agreed mediation process.

Dan Blondin , Village Attorney, said the Village will sometimes authorize the use of mediation or arbitration. He said mediation is generally not binding. Mr. Blondin said he would review the language and send the Council a report.

Commissioner Gilbert pointed out that the proposal references Prairie to Ogden but the Manager referenced Franklin to Ogden.

The Mayor said these contracts were through the STP funds. The Village had not participated in these funds before. He said the section of Franklin to Ogden was included in the five-year plan. With some of the funding from the STP , he asked if other projects were moved up or if new projects were added.

Deputy Manager Jerry Sprecher said that portion of the roadway was projected for 2004.

The Mayor said with this funding something could either be accelerated or some other work could be added.

The Mayor asked about the installation of the three shelters. The Manager said these projects are sequenced out. This portion would involve METRA .

Consideration of Contract with the Lakota Group for Consulting Services. The Manager said as a result of discussions concerning the downtown redevelopment and planning efforts, staff is proposing using the Lakota Group who prepared the downtown master plan approved in 1997. The Lakota Group would review the master plan, assist in assessing redevelopment opportunities and proposals, look at constraints and opportunities for the CBD , assist with the location analysis for parking deck projects and assist with the final development of RFPs for the Block 117 project. He said information generated by the Lakota Group would be used for mapping and density studies and to determine how all the pieces will fit together. He said there have been changes in the business district since 1997 and it is important to bring them back to help facilitate the Village in the redevelopment process.

Commissioner Schnell said the Lakota Group did a good job of involving the public, Council, and board and commission members in the public meetings and in reviewing the charette designs. She asked if there would be similar opportunities throughout this process. The Manager said there would be. Commissioner Schnell said it was very beneficial to have the expertise of the boards and commission members.

Commissioner Schnell asked if the Lakota Group would be working with the present plan. The Manager said they would be. He said there have been some changes since 1997 and he feels there are important issues where it will be helpful to have the original consulting group that developed the master plan be involved at this point.

Commissioner McConnell said potential services include the market analysis and the TIF /financial analysis. She recommended including those services. She said the agreement was fairly open-ended and asked if the specific goals would include a timeframe. The Manager said there would be specific goals and timeframes.

Commissioner Schnell asked about the timeframe. The Manager said the initial effort will be to review the master plan and work to be done. It is his understanding from conversations with John LaMotte of the Lakota Group that they will prepare a report for the Council. He said he would like to consult with Mr. LaMotte before establishing deadlines.

The Manager said this would be placed on next week’s Consent Agenda.

Annual License Fee for SCI Software Modules. The Manager said this is to seek approval for annual license fees to Systems Consultants, Inc. for $13,777.50. This fee covers the Accounting and Payroll modules. As the Utility Billing and Budget Preparation modules are not currently being utilized, the license fee does not include those modules.

The Mayor asked if other communities are also have problems with their utility billing modules.

Marty Lyons , Director of Financial Services, said he received a request today for public records from Rolling Meadows regarding the utility billing. They are getting closer to an arbitration process with SCI . He said other communities purchased the SCI system before Downers Grove, which enabled the Village to become aware of problems with this particular module before investing a considerable amount of staff time into building tables. Instead of using the utility billing module, staff updated the current system. He said this is working well and is at a much lower cost. There is no current plan to use the utility billing system. Staff is working with SCI to use the credit for a variety of other purposes.

The Mayor reiterated that staff does not intend to use the utility billing module. Mr. Lyons confirmed that. Mr. Lyons said SCI would need to demonstrate a totally new product and be in open competition with other systems.

The Mayor asked about the status of the budget preparation module. Mr. Lyons said the budget preparation module only had one outstanding issue that will be reviewed this summer. He expects to be able to use this module.

The Manager said this will be on the consent agenda for July 18.

Parking & Traffic Recommendations: The Manager said there were three recommendations.

File #02-00 Belle Aire School Crossing. The Manager said this involves the placement of a crossing guard at a crosswalk 100 feet south of the Venard Road and Parrish Court intersection. He said the request came from the Belle Aire School Safety Committee. The Parking & Traffic Commission concurs and recommends that a crossing guard be placed at this intersection.

File #05-00 Camden Road & Ticonderoga Road Parking Restrictions. The Manager said this request came from homeowners having problems with students parking in the area. The recommendations are that the area be signed for no parking between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays on both sides of Camden Road from Concord Drive to Camden Court, and on Ticonderoga on both sides from Camden Road to Alamance Place.

File #06-00 Inverness Avenue (West of Belmont) Weight Restrictions. The Manager said this is a recommendation to place weight restrictions of 10,000 pounds on Inverness Avenue west of Belmont. This request came from residents on Inverness who were experiencing problems with increased truck traffic coming out of the Ellsworth Industrial Park. He said at one time this area was not incorporated into Downers Grove. It was determined that the Village did not have any ordinances that prohibited truck traffic on Inverness. The Parking & Traffic Commission has concurred with this recommendation.

Commissioner Gilbert said he had a request to review the area north of Ogden between Main and Fairview, particularly Sterling Road. He said he would like to have this area reviewed.

The Mayor said he received an e-mail from a resident indicating the speed limit is 30 mph at Belle Aire School, but 25 mph at many other schools. A resident in the Lester School district has reported the same. While 30 mph is the general state guidelines, P&T has lowered that upon request. He suggested reviewing all of the schools for a uniform speed limit.

Regarding the Camden Road and Ticonderoga parking restrictions, the Mayor said most of the parking restrictions around Downers Grove North are from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The restrictions around Downers Grove South are from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. He said the restriction being discussed tonight is near South and suggested looking at the hours to make it consistent with the other restricted hours at Downers Grove South.

Regarding the weight restrictions, the Mayor said when an overweight truck is coming into the Village they are required to get a permit from the State for which they pay a fee as well as a permit from the County for which they pay a fee. He asked if the Village issues free permits.

Attorney Blondin said it was his understanding that the Village has the authority to require a local permit, but the practice is to rely upon the County permit and to sign off on that.

The Mayor said Lombard charges a fee in addition to the State and County fee. These permit fees generate approximately $40,000 per year. He said the overweight trucks put the same amount of pressure on the road as does 8,000 to 9,000 cars. He suggested looking into charging fees as the trucks put pressure on the roads and can cause damage to them.

The Manager said these recommendations would appear on the August 1 Active Agenda.

Alternative Fuel Facility Agreement. The Manager said this agreement is with the Institute of Gas Technology (ITG). He asked Jerry Sprecher to discuss this matter.

Mr. Sprecher said the Village, as a fleet owner, is responsible to two programs. The Illinois Clean Fuel Fleet Program began in 1999. It requires the Village to begin to purchase vehicles that meet certain emission testing limits. The second program the Village is subject to is the Alternative Fuel Fleet Program, which is the subject of this agreement. The Alternative Fuel Fleet Program requires the Village to begin introducing alternative fuel vehicles into our fleet effective with the 2002 models.

The Village submitted an application with the federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program. The grant will be administered by the City of Chicago, Department of Environment. The CMAQ funds were geared toward communities that want to construct an alternative fuel facility in order to act not only in compliance with the Alternative Fuel Fleet Program, but also to allow communities to serve as regional fueling centers.

CMAQ funding represents an 80% award with 20% local cost sharing for the project. However, as a result of a relationship between the City of Chicago and IGT , IGT has agreed to pay most of the local share of the project cost. The Village has received notice that it has been awarded this grant funding and will receive 80% funding for what is projected to be a $305,000 project. IGT has agreed to pick up the local share. The cost to the Village will be approximately 8%, or $24,000 out of a total project cost of over $300,000.

Mr. Sprecher said that in applying for the grant money the Village was required to show commitments from other agencies to use the facility. Interest was expressed from Lisle, Lombard, Westmont, Woodridge, Lombard Park District, Downers Grove Sanitary District, Downers Grove School District 99, and the Woodridge Park District. Mr. Sprecher said it will be necessary to finalize these commitments.

Mr. Sprecher said the Village received notice of the award in February, but the City of Chicago was not ready to administer the program at that time. He anticipates approval by the City of Chicago as early as July 19, 2000.

Mr. Sprecher referred the Council to the agreement. He said there were representatives from IGT at this meeting to answer technical questions. He said this is an exciting project. The intention is to construct this at the new Public Works Facility, which is in a desirable location for use by other communities. He said the target date for this is late fall. Staff is working on vehicle specifications for this year’s budget. He hopes to get quotes for as many as ten compressed natural gas vehicles that would be brought to the Council this year to be awarded.

The Mayor complimented Mr. Sprecher on a great job. He said it shows Downers Grove is taking the lead on clean air. He also referenced Commission Gilbert’s press conference on coal fired power plants. He asked the location of the next closest facility. Mr. Sprecher said it was Argonne.

The Mayor said he noticed the Downers Grove Park District was absent from the list of those expressing an interest in using the facility. He asked if they had been contacted. Mr. Sprecher said they did not make a commitment initially, but he has had verbal assurances that they are interested.

The Mayor asked if this could operate as a profit center, or if there are costs the Village can recoup since there will be many other communities coming here to fuel up. Mr. Sprecher said that has to be negotiated with the communities; however, he assumes the Village will have an agreement similar to that currently in place with District 99 and the Sanitary District for conventional fueling. He said that agreement includes a 10% surcharge.

The Mayor said we should build in the Village’s 8% cost as well as administrative and maintenance costs.

Commissioner Gilbert asked about the reported 20-40% cost savings over the price of gasoline.

Steve Bailey of People’s Energy said natural gas prices have recently gone up, but are still at about 1/3 of gasoline prices. He said the cost after compression and maintenance would be $1.00 per gallon at current prices.

Commissioner Gilbert asked if the driver will notice a difference in performance when driving a vehicle with natural gas fuel. Mr. Bailey said there will be no difference with the OEM vehicles; however, when converting a gasoline engine to natural gas, there is a 10% reduction in power.

Commissioner McConnell asked if there would be any other changes to the vehicles that would have maintenance costs associated with them. Mr. Bailey said maintenance costs are generally lower because the fuel is cleaner. He said the life of the vehicle also increases. He said the vehicle costs more; however, the Village would qualify for rebates from the State. Mr. Sprecher said the State has a rebate program of 80% of the additional costs paid over a conventional vehicle. The Village will be applying for the rebate.

Commissioner McConnell asked about the timing of the funds with the City of Chicago and reimbursement of any monies the Village paid prior to a signed contract.

Susan Korn , IGT , said Carol Brown from the City of Chicago, Department of Environment, is sending a letter confirming that the Village has been awarded the funds. She said the station for Downers Grove has been ordered.

The Mayor asked when our facility would be up and running. Ms. Korn said by next year.

The Mayor asked when the Village would be buying the vehicles. Mr. Sprecher said he has been holding off on purchasing the vehicles pending this agreement. He anticipates a recommendation to Council in August and expects about three months from the time they are ordered until they are received.

The Mayor said he would like the facility completed before the vehicles come in.

The Manager said the resolution to approve this agreement will appear on the July 18 Active Agenda.

ATTORNEY ’S REPORT

Attorney Blondin said he was presenting six items to the Council: 1) a resolution authorizing execution of a second amendment to annexation agreement (northeast corner of Highland Avenue and 31st Street) – Opus; 2) an ordinance authorizing a conditional use for a drive-up window at 1341 Butterfield Road; 3) an ordinance amending the Downers Grove liquor code to provide for a ratio index for restaurants that have liquor sales; 4) a resolution authorizing execution of an agreement between the Village of Downers Grove and Illinois Gas Technology related to the Regional Alternative Fuel Grant program; 5) an ordinance amending the concentrated business district definition; 6) a resolution authorizing execution of an agreement between the Village of Downers Grove and the Lakota Group, Inc. for consulting services.

COUNCIL MEMBERS

Commissioner Gilbert said there will be a review of this year’s Heritage Festival tomorrow night. He said even with the rain the results are very close to budget.

There being no further discussion, the Workshop meeting was adjourned at 7:19 p.m.

April K. Holden Village Clerk