Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-01-22 MinutesCALL TO ORDER I. Village President Rick Krier called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. and led the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance. II. Village Clerk Carol Fritzshall called the roll. Present were: Trustees Georgianne Brunner, Dan DiMaria, Rita Minx, Dale Senensky, and Dan Staackmann. Trustee Kogstad was absent. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Regarding the Minutes of the January 8, 2007 Regular Meeting, Mayor Krier asked if anyone had any changes or corrections to the Minutes. Trustee Minx had one correction on page 3, under Trustee DiMaria's report. She said the word in the third line should be "re- mainde~" rather than "remained". The Board then approved the January 8, 2007 Minutes as corrected unanimously via voice vote, with one absent. 2. Regarding the Minutes of the January 11, 2007 Special Meeting, Mayor Krier asked if anyone had any changes or corrections. Trustee Brunner had a correction on the last page. In the third paragraph, the word "bars" should be changed to "restaurants". Trustee DiMaria said he was abstaining from this vote because he hadn't attended the January 11th meeting. The Board then approved the January 11, 2007 Minutes as corrected via voice vote, with one absent and one abstention. IV. PUBLIC HEARINGS NONE V. SPECIAL REPORTS NONE VI. RESIDENTS' COMMENTS (Agenda Items Only) NONE VII. Mayor Krier had no report. VIII. Clerk Fritzshall had no report. IX. A. Village Administrator CLERK'S REPORT STAFF REPORTS Mr. Wade reminded the assemblage the first Town Hall Meeting of 2007 would be held on Monday, January 29, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. at Oketo Park. This is a new location from what was previously announced. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. The Fire Department's new ambulance will be there for people to see. B. Corporation Counsel: Ms. Liston had no report. X. A. Trustee Brunner: TRUSTEES'REPORTS Trustee Brunner presented for a second reading Ordinance 06-36, Amending Title 8, Chap- ter 9 Entitled "Smoking Control" of the Municipal Code of the Village of Morton Grove. (This ordinance had been tabled from the October 9, 2006 Board Meeting.) Trustee Brunner requested that the Board take no action on this ordinance tonight, since there have been a number of changes to it between its first reading and tonight's second reading. Mayor Krier asked if anyone had any objections to postponing a vote on this ordi- nance to the next Board meeting. No one did. He then asked Trustee Brunner to highlight the more significant changes that have occurred in this ordinance between the first reading and tonight's version. Trustee Brunner said that, previously, there had been only five exemptions to this ordinance- now bars and taverns will also be included as exemptions. The Legion Hall will also be ex- empt, even though it is Village-owned property. Private residences are exempt, except if or when they are being used as a childcare, adult care, or health care facility. Bowling alleys are also exempt unless they're hosting a tournament, party, or other event where people under the age of 18 years are attending without the attendance of their parents or guardians. In that case, the bowling alley must maintain a total smoking ban for its entire premises for at least three hours prior to the tournament, party, or other event. X. A. Trustee Brunner: (continued) (continued) Trustee Brunner asked for some minor changes in the ordinance, as follows: -In Section 8-9-4, item G, she asked that the word "occasion" be deleted (it appears twice in that section). -In Section 8-9-4, item I, she felt that this section should be stricken entirely. Mayor Krier agreed. -In Section 8-9-5, item A, she felt that signage indicating "Smoking" should be posted at establishments where smoking is allowed, and that the dimensions of such signage should mirror the dimensions of the "No Smoking" signs described in item A. Trustee Minx asked about the definitions of "restaurant" and "retail tobacco establishment" in Section 8-9-2, specifically, whether the sales had to be 50% or 51 % of the gross sales of all items. Mayor Krier said 50% was correct. Trustee Staackmann asked how 50% was deter- mined. Mayor Krier said it would be the `honor system', but if complaints were made about a particular establishment, the Village could go in and ask to see the books to make a determi- nation about whether or not the 50% criterion is met. Mayor Krier said the effective date of the ordinance would be June 30, 2007. Trustee Brunner wondered if that was an adequate timeframe. Trustee Minx felt that "six months after pas- sage" should be the ordinance's effective date. Trustee DiMaria proposed July 31, 2007, stat- ing that having a specific effective date is necessary. Mayor Krier said that all these changes would be made before this ordinance is voted on. B. Trustee DiMaria: Trustee DiMaria presented Resolution 07-02, Authorizing the Execution of a Contract with G & L Contractors, Inc. for the 2007 Material Hauling Program. Trustee DiMaria explained that the Material Hauling Program is necessary to haul mixed fill material and to furnish sand and stone material for the Village. G & L Contractors was the low bidder this year. The estimated contract amount is $131,960, but since this is a unit price con- tract, the final amount will be based on the actual quantity of work performed. Trustee Senensky moved to adopt Resolution 07-02, seconded by Trustee Minx. Motion passed: 4 ayes, 0 nays, 1 abstain, 1 absent. Tr. Brunner ~ Tr. DiMaria abstain Tr. Kogstad absent Tr. Minx ~ Tr. Senensky ~ Tr. Staackmann 2~ Next, Trustee DiMaria presented for a first reading Ordinance 07-01, Authorization to In- stall Parking Restrictions on Crain Street Between Georgians Avenue and School Street Within the Village of Morton Grove. He explained that a request had been made for parking restrictions on Crain between Georgi- ans and School Street at the January 4, 2007 Traffic Safety Commission meeting. The intent is to alleviate parking congestion on this street. The Traffic Safety Commission is recom- mending the implementation of Zone 11 parking restrictions. X. B. Trustee DiMaria: (continued) (continued) Trustee Senensky moved to waive the first reading on Ordinance 07-01. Trustee DiMaria seconded the motion. Motion passed: 5 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. Tr. Brunner ~ Tr. DiMaria ~ Tr. Kogstad absent Tr. Minx ~ Tr. Senensky ~ Tr. Staackmann Trustee Staackmann asked if adequate public notice had been given, if the Board was con- sidering taking action this evening. Since there was public notice given for the Traffic Safety Commission meeting, it was felt that that was adequate notice. Trustee DiMaria moved to adopt Ordinance 07-01, seconded by Trustee Senensky. Motion passed: 5 ayes, 0 nays, 1 absent. Tr. Brunner ~ Tr. DiMaria ~ Tr. Kogstad absent Tr. Minx ~ Tr. Senensky ~ Tr. Staackmann C. Trustee Kogstad: Trustee Kogstad was absent-no report. D. Trustee Minx: Trustee Minx had no formal report, but congratulated the Chicago Bears on making it to the Super Bowl. E. Trustee Senensky: Trustee Senensky had no report. He, too, wished the Bears good luck against Indianapolis. F. Trustee Staackmann Trustee Staackmann presented for a first reading Ordinance 07-02, Amending the Munici- pal Code, Title 7, Chapter 2, Entitled "Tree Preservation" in the Village of Morton Grove. Trustee Staackmann said that this ordinance will update the Village's regulations regarding the protection of trees on public property and trees located within a construction area. He said the ordinance has gone through a lot of changes and is less strict than the Natural Re- source Commission would have liked. However, it does impose stricter penalties for people who damage or remove trees from public property or who fail to protect trees located within a construction building activity area. There will also be a policy manual as a "sidebar" to this ordinance to assist with its enforcement. Trustee Staackmann said this ordinance is posted on the Village's web site and he recommended that everyone read it. 4 XI. XII. XIII. OTHER BUSINESS Trustee Brunner asked Mayor Krier if he had any updates of the status of Trustee Kogstad. Mayor Krier said he only knew what he's been reading in the newspapers; Trustee Kogstad has not contacted him directly. He said that he had sent Trustee Kogstad correspondence requesting clarification as to whether the trustee has resigned or is taking a sabbatical or is on leave. He said that, unfortunately, the State statute does not address "leaves of absence". It does, however, provide for the mayor to make an appointment within 60 days if a trustee re- signs. Mayor Krier said he has asked the law firm of Ancel & Glink for a legal opinion on this matter and received their response today. The firm states that there is no "leave" for elected offi- cials-they either serve, or they don't. In this case, the firm recommends believes that the Village's position should be that Trustee Kogstad has resigned. Mayor Krier said he wants to give the matter a little more time, and confer with Corporation Counsel Liston, Village Admin- istrator Wade, and the Board before coming to a final conclusion. Mayor Krier said he did not want the Village to be in a position where it could be open to a lawsuit or to a claim that any replacement's votes are invalid. Trustee DiMaria added that Trustee Kogstad did return his January stipend to him since he is the senior trustee. Trustee Minx asked what it's costing the Village to research this matter. Mayor Krier said the Village hasn't gotten a bill yet, but Ms. Liston estimated that, since this has never come up in the State, the law firm would have talked to its partners in order to render a legal opinion, and that would mean the bill would likely be in the thousands, not the hundreds. Trustee Brunner said it was a shame that Trustee Kogstad ran on the premise that the Village was spending too much money on legal fees and is now putting the Village through this. WARRANTS In Trustee Kogstad's absence, Trustee Minx presented the Warrant Register which totaled $2,865,604.11. Trustee Minx moved to approve the Warrant Registers, seconded by Trustee Senensky. Motion passed: 4 ayes, 0 nays, 1 abstain, 1 absent. Tr. Brunner ~ Tr. DiMaria abstain Tr. Kogstad absent Tr. Minx ~ Tr. Senensky ~ Tr. Staackmann Eric Poders. Mr. Poders wondered if the Village was still having issues with the videotaping of Board meetings. He also apologized to Trustee Minx and Economic Development Director Bill Neuendorf for getting "heated" at a recent Economic Development Commission meeting. He questioned whether the Village was moving towards condominiums or does the Village want retail establishments. Mr. Poders was also concerned because the Village's web site has a lot of outdated information posted on it-information from 2002, 2003, and 2004. Mayor Krier responded that the Village continues to have production problems with the video- taping of Board meetings. The Village's IT person resigned and a new person has only re- cently been hired. The new person is aware that fixing the production problems and updating the Village's web site are the top priorities. XIII. RESIDENTS' COMMENTS (continued) Mayor Krier disagreed with Mr. Poders about promoting retail establishments. He said the Board and the whole Village staff promotes and encourages retail businesses and meets regularly with the business community. Mr. Poders asked if it was a matter of being under- staffed. Mayor Krier said that, of course, it would be great to have two Bill Neuendorfs or two Joe Wades, but unfortunately, that's not the case. Mr. Poders asked if the Mayor had ashort- term solution. He said that he's working on it, but continued to disagree with Mr. Poders' ba- sic premise that "things are that bad". XIV. ADJOURNMENTIEXECUTIVE SESSION There being no further business, Trustee Minx moved to adjourn the Board Meeting. The motion was seconded by Trustee Brunner and approved unanimously via voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 8:08 p.m. PASSED this 12th day of February, 2007. Trustee Brunner Trustee DiMaria Trustee Kogstad Trustee Minx Trustee Senensky Trustee Staackmann APPROVED by me this 12th day of February, 2047. Richard Krier, Village President Board of Trustees, Morton Grove, Illinois APPROVED and FILED in my office this 13th day of February, 2007. Carol A. Fritzshall, Village Clerk Village of Morton Grove Cook County, Illinois Minutes by: Teresa Cousar