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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-11-08 MinutesVillage President Dan Staackmann called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. After leading the assemblage in the Pledge of Allegiance, he directed the Village Clerk to call the roll. I!. Village Clerk Tony Kalogerakos called the roll. Present were: Gomberg, Bill Grear, Shel Marcus, John Thill, and Maria Toth. III, Trustees Dan DiMaria, Larry a. Regarding the Minutes of the October 25, 2010 Regular Meeting, Trustee Toth moved, seconded by Trustee Grear, to accept the Minutes as presented. There was no discussion. Motion passed unanimously via voice vote. b. Regarding the Minutes of the Special Meeting of October 25, 2010, Trustee DiMaria moved to accept the Minutes as presented, seconded by Trustee Grear. There was no discussion. Motion passed unanimously via voice vote. c. Regarding the Minutes of the Special (Budget) Meeting of October 26, 2010, Trustee DiMaria moved, seconded by Trustee Grear, to accept the Minutes as presented. There was no discussion. Motion passed unanimously via voice vote. d• Regarding the Minutes of the Special (Budget) Meeting of October 27, 2010, Trustee DiMaria moved to accept the Minutes as presented, seconded by Trustee Toth. There was no discussion. Motion passed unanimously via voice vote. IITA NONE Minutbs of November 0, 2814 Board Meetin V. SPECIAL REPORTS 1. 2010 Champion and Heritage Trees Presentation a. Mary Busch, Chairperson of the Natural Resources Commission, and Commissioners David Conrad and Sharon Erickson, thanked the Board and staff for the opportunity to present these awards. John Slater, representing the Morton Grove Historical Society, also joined the group. b. Ms. Busch read the mission statement of the Natural Resources Commission: It was established to make investigations and recommendations to the Village Board in order to preserve, conserve, enhance, and protect the environment and the natural resources of the Village. The Commission also promotes public interest, awareness, and education for the responsible management of these resources. The Commission hears appeals and requests for exemptions regarding tree permits and replacement of trees. The Commission also serves as a liaison between the Village and other governmental, public, and private agencies to encourage development of programs and management of land that support conservation, improvement, and enhancement of the environment. This Champion and Heritage Tree Awards is one such program, and this is the third year the Commission has had this program. c. Commissioner David Conrad, a graduate of Virginia Tech's School of Forestry, said it was quite impressive to see the trees on this year's awards list. He noted that there are some oaks and hickorys that date back 200 or 300 years, because the property owners took pride in them, cared for them, and looked at them as a resource. He pointed out that trees provide multiple benefits to homeowners, including reducing the need for air conditioning in the summer months, filtering out air pollution, trapping carbon emissions, helping to move ground water, etc. He said he was glad to view the nominated trees and hear the stories around them. Ms. Busch invited Mr. Slater to speak. Mr. Slater said that one of the items in the mission statement of the Historical Society is "cooperating with other Village organizations." This project of recognizing trees as an asset is one that the Historical Society is happy to partner with, and help with the recognition part. The Historical Society also recently partnered with the Village on the successful "Veterans' History" project, an exhibit that just opened at the Historical Museum. He thanked curator Mary Busch for all her hard work on this project. e. Commissioner Sharon Erickson then presented the first certificate of award to Gina Howe, for a shag bark hickory at 6021 Grove Court. The next award was to the Eugene Sutfin family at 8721 School Street for a small grove of burr oak trees. Another award went to the Craig Stehle family at 9336 for a burr oak tree adjacent to an Indian Marker Tree. Next was an award for a swamp white oak at 8715 School Street, belonging to Vera Ruehrdanz. Ms. Busch said that was the tree that Bill Burns, from the Public Works Forestry Division, thought was the best. Lastly, a king nut hickory tree, nominated by Trustee Thill, located in Linne Woods, received an award which was accepted by Trustee Thill, who commented that he enjoys working with the Natural Resources Commission very much. f. Trustee Thill said that most of these award - winning trees were located on the east side of Morton Grove. The west side of town was developed more recently, within the last 60 years, and the developers just bulldozed everything. He applauded the Commission for making people aware of the trees on their property, and their history, noting that "trees are living things," and by preserving trees, we're preserving our history. PA V. SPECIAL REPORTS (continued) Minutes of November8, 2010 a3oard Meoiigg5 g. Mayor Staackmann remarked that a vast portion of the west side of town used to be a nursery. He speculated that some of the trees on the east side of town may have come from that nursery! 2. Farmers' Market Recognition of GVA of Chicago and Dr. William Goldstein of the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute a. Kristina Otte, Rosetta Metz, Laura Frisch, and Trustee Larry Gomberg took part in this presentation. Ms. Otte first thanked the Village Board and staff for being so supportive of the first year of the Farmers' Market. She had a plaque to present to GVA of Chicago (the owners of the site the Farmers' Market is using) expressing the gratitude of the Farmers' Market to them for their support and sponsorship in allowing them to use the property this year and next year. Ms. Otte singled out Administrator Joe Wade, the Public Works Department, and the Fire Department for all their help and support, and especially the EMA volunteers, who came out every Saturday helping with safety and parking issues. She thanked all the sponsors of this year's Farmers' Market, all 16 of the vendors, and all of the patrons. Ms. Otte also thanked the Morton Grove Chamber of Commerce, the "umbrella" organization for the Farmers' Market, and said, without the Chamber, the Farmers' Market wouldn't be here right now. She said the market had a small —but strong —first year, as planned. Next year they will be expanding the number of vendors to 25 and increasing the number of festivals, as those proved quite popular. She said she is looking for ways to get other local businesses involved. Ms. Otte encouraged people to attend the Farmers' Market meetings, which are held every second Thursday in the Chamber's office at Village Hall. b. Trustee Marcus commented that the Farmers' Market was a wonderful success due to the chairmanship of Ms. Otte and her wonderful committee. He said their enthusiasm and great efforts were quite impressive, and he urged other residents to "get involved" with the Farmers' Market. COMMENTS V1. RESIDENTS' • I0 Lei 0 PRESIDENT'S REPOEN 1. Mayor Staackmann sought concurrence of his appointment of Allan Heinrich to the Economic Development Commission, Trustee Thill moved to concur, seconded by Trustee DiMaria. Motion passed unanimously via voice vote. 2. Mayor Staackmann asked residents to be patient with the trucks during leaf pick -up season. 3. Mayor Staackmann noted that he's recently been receiving many calls regarding the Library and the proposed new library building. He emphasized that the Library is a separate taxing body with a separate elected Board. The Village Board has no jurisdiction over the Library. He asked residents who have questions, comments, or concerns, to contact the Library's Executive Director, Ben Shapiro, or any of the Library Board members. 3 Minutes of November 8, 20'0 Board Meexir�g Vill. 1. Clerk Kalogerakos noted that any resident who wished to address the Board during residents comments should fill out a form found in the back of the room and bring it up. 2. Clerk Kalogerakos requested a motion for approval of Executive Session Minutes from March 22, 2010 through October 11, 2010. Trustee Toth so moved, seconded by Trustee Marcus. Motion passed: 6 ayes, 0 nays. Tr. DiMaria aye Tr. Gomberg Rye Tr. Grear afire Tr. Marcus acre Tr. Thill aye Tr. Toth aye 3. Next, Clerk Kalogerakos requested a motion to not release any Executive Session Minutes. Trustee Thill so moved, seconded by Trustee Marcus. Motion passed: 6 ayes, 0 nays. Tr. DiMaria ffa e Tr. Gomberg � Tr. Grear aye Tr. Marcus awe Tr. Thill � Tr. Toth We 4. Clerk Kalogerakos then requested a motion for the destruction of tapes of Executive Sessions held prior to April 9, 2010, as authorized by the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Trustee DiMaria so moved, seconded by Trustee Thill. Motion passed: 6 ayes, 0 nays. Tr. DiMaria afire Tr. Gomberg afire Tr. Grear aye Tr. Marcus ayre Tr. Thill afire Tr. Toth aye 5. Clerk Kalogerakos had several announcements: (1) Thanksgiving Day Dinner for cadets from Great Lakes will be held at the Civic Center on Thanksgiving Day. Support from residents, including monetary support, is greatly appreciated. Donations can be made to the American Legion Post #134. (2) The Lions Club is having a fundraiser this Saturday, November 13, at the Civic Center. For more information, contact Nick Marino at (847) 967 -5500. (3) Leaf pick -up ends the week of Thanksgiving. 6. Clerk Kalogerakos noted that, earlier today Assyrians had rallied to protest the recent b 58 innocent people were killed in church on the government's attention to this issue. He families in their prayers. He said that, as an their voices were heard. at the Dirksen Federal Building, thousands of ombings of Assyrian Christians in Iraq. October 31 s`. The rally was an attempt to get asked residents to keep those people and their Assyrian, he was proud of his people and hoped IX. STAFF REPORTS A. Village Administrator 1. Mr. Wade announced that tomorrow evening, a third budget hearing would be held in the Trustees Conference Room at 6:00 p.m. The General Fund and Water Fund will be discussed. N IX. STAFF REPORTS (continued) Minutes of November 8,1 01oard Meoi #g', 2. Mr. Wade then asked Finance Director Ryan Horne to give a brief presentation on the new municipal parking lot across from the train station. A, Mr. Horne said that the 112 -space lot will open on January 1, 2011. For an $800 annual fee (payable quarterly or annually), people will be guaranteed a parking place with easy access to the train. The permit is transferrable, so it can be used on any car in the household. This is an "interim" parking lot which will probably be around for about 7 years. It will serve to increase the number of available commuter parking spaces. Morton Grove residents will get first preference. Mr. Horne said that, so far, 23 people have signed up for a parking space in the new lot. The permits are good for one year and good oI at that particular parking lot. Returned check fees as well as late fees and lost sticker fees will apply. b. Permits must be displayed in the lower corner of the rear window on the driver's side, near the It parking sticker, if applicable. The permits will use "window cling" technology, making them transferrable from one vehicle to another. The permits will be a different color year after year. The permit form requires that at least one vehicle's information be on file with the Village. The permit allows the vehicle to be parked in that lot from 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., although the deadline for getting vehicles out of that lot is 2:00 a.m. After 5:00 p.m., parking is free and open to any vehicle. No overnight parking is allowed. Mr. Horne read some comments that he's already received from residents about this new municipal parking lot. C, Trustee Thill asked if parking spots would be "assigned ". Mr. Horne said they will not be assigned or numbered. A resident who has a permit to park there can park anywhere in the lot. Trustee Thill commented that he would like to see the Village name the parking lot after former Mayor Dan Scanlon, who is ailing. d. Trustee Marcus asked if the Village would plow the lot when it snows (yes). He also wondered if cars would be towed if they were still there after 2:00 a.m. (yes). He said that he's heard some comments about the cost of parking in this new lot. He said it averages out to about $3.33 per day, which he felt was an outstanding value, especially since it's a "guaranteed" parking spot, and even more so when considering the cost of parking downtown. e. Trustee Gomberg said that he had spoken to a resident who thought that the municipal parking lot was replacing the existing Metra parking. He wanted to emphasize that this parking lot is in addition to the existing Metra parking. f. Mr. Wade said the Village had surveyed other communities' fee structures for a municipal commuter parking lot and Morton Grove's price is competitive. 3. Next, Mr. Wade asked Public Works Director Andy DeMonte for a status report on the Dempster, Lincoln, and Ferris construction projects. a. Mr. DeMonte said, unfortunately, it's very evident that Dempster Street will not be completed by the end of the year. The water main work was finished early, but the three -week strike put the roadway improvements part of the project behind schedule. Also contributing to the lag is the utility companies, notably Nicor and AT&T. Mr. DeMonte said he was meeting with the contractor tomorrow to figure out how to close the construction work out for the year, and to see if the utilities can be penalized, since the lack of completion is no fault of the contractor's. He said that, weather permitting, the contractor will continue to work on Dempster through mid- December. IDOT's work on the Dempster Street bridge is scheduled to be completed by December 1 st Minutes of November parking restriction 8, 2010 Board Meetin -9j IX. STAFF REPORTS (continued) b. As far as the construction work on Lincoln and Ferris Avenues, by the end of November, that work will be substantially completed. The sidewalks will be wider than they look now. Mr. DeMonte said the sidewalks will be a minimum of 4 -feet wide with concrete or brick paving. He noted that there are still some problems with some of the utilities on the southeast section— Comcast, ComEd, and AT &T still need to relocate their utilities. c. Trustee Marcus asked if the utilities anticipated getting their work done before the end of the year. Mr. DeMonte said he was not optimistic about it. B. Corporation Counsel: Corporation Counsel Liston had no report. X. A. Trustee DiMaria: Trustee DiMaria had no report. B. Trustee Gomberg. Trustee Gomberg had no report. C. Trustee Grear: Trustee Grear had no formal report, but asked the assemblage to keep Karl in their prayers as his mother is quite ill. Karl is an EMA volunteer who usually does the taping of the Village Board meetings. D. Trustee Marcus: 1. Trustee Marcus presented for a first reading Ordinance 10 -21, Amending Title 5, Chapter 9, Section 9, Entitled "Municipal Parking Zones" of the Municipal Code of the Village of Morton Grove. He explained that this ordinance will update the Village's regulations pertaining to municipal parking zones, particularly to include the Village's new Lehigh /Chestnut commuter parking lot, and to impose certain parking regulations for all its municipal parking lots. Trustee Marcus noted that one of the updates will be to restrict parking in certain municipal parking zones between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. Trustee Thill commented on that. He said that the 2:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. parking restriction seems to apply only to the municipal parking lots on Dempster and the new one on Lehigh. _ Minutes of Novembo(8, 2010 Foard MOO W4 X. TRUSTEES' REPORTS D. Trustee Marcus: Trustee Thill said that there's diagonal parking on some of the side streets off of Dempster, and he would like to see the same parking restriction there, too. He also suggested that language be added that would include any future municipal parking lots. Trustee DiMaria asked if verbiage could be included that would point out what's applicable to "patrons" of the municipal lots, versus "employees" of adjacent or nearby businesses who might be parking there. Mr. Wade said that could be reviewed with the Police Department. 2. Trustee Marcus noted that he and other members of the Board had participated in the Veterans Day Parade yesterday. He said it was a wonderful experience for those who were able to attend, and a beautiful day to pay respects to our Armed Forces. Afterward, he visited the Historical Museum's new Veterans' History exhibit. Trustee Marcus said it really reflects who we are and how easily we forget some of the sacrifices of those who came before us. He commended Mary Busch and the Historical Society. He said the exhibit will be on display through the end of the year, and encouraged everyone to see it —and bring their children. E. Trustee Thill Trustee Thill had no formal report, but echoed Trustee Marcus' comments about the Veterans' Day events. He said he couldn't have said it better. It was an outstanding affair. He noted that the American Legion Post #134 had held a dinner dance the night before, to which the Board had been invited. That, too, was quite enjoyable. F. Trustee Toth: Trustee Toth had no report. X. OTHER BUSINESS ILC�I�I XI, WARRANTS Trustee Gomberg presented the Warrant Register for November 8, 2010 in the amount of $2,449,661.91. He moved to accept the Warrants, seconded by Trustee Toth. a. Trustee Thill had a question about a check for $4,000 listed on page 3 of the Warrants for "repairing warning siren in Harrer Park." Fire Chief Tom Friel responded that that is one of four warning sirens in the Village. It is still operational, but has limited rotation —it wasn't going in a 360- degree arc as it should be, thus necessitating the repair. Chief Friel pointed out that the $4,000 is only a partial payment; the total would be somewhere around $10,000. a Minutes of November 8, 2010 Board Mieetiii ' WARRANTS • -• Mayor Staackmann clarified that three out of four of the warning sirens were purchased using State grant funds. Chief Friel confirmed that, adding that the cost to install each siren is about $22,000. b. Trustee Thill also had a question about a check for $4,500, listed on page 12, for "street light repair ". He asked if this was a case where the Village made the repair and then would get reimbursed from an insurance company. Mr. Horne said yes, it will get reimbursed. C. Trustee Thill noted a $1,300 check for "street light maintenance ". Mr. Horne said that Lyons Pinner Electric does general street light maintenance. Mr. DeMonte said the Village has a contract with them for the general maintenance, but does get charged extra if they have to come for unscheduled maintenance or repair work. d. Trustee Thill asked about a check for $2,000 for tires, and another check for $1,500 for tires (on page 15). He wondered why the Village used two different tire suppliers, and why local vendors weren't being used. Mr. DeMonte responded that one purchase was through a state bid program. The other purchase for large recapped tires, which local suppliers can't provide. X1 1. There being no further discussion, Mayor Staackmann called for the vote. Motion passed: 6 ayes, 0 nays. Tr. DiMaria ale Tr. Gomberg awe Tr. Grear aye Tr. Marcus aye Tr. Thill afe Tr. Toth aye f a. David Conrad, Mr. Conrad wondered what was going on with the required parking expansion at the MEC. He said that, in July of 2009, which was a particularly troublesome summer for the neighborhood, due to late -night noise from the mosque, he requested of Joe Wade that the additional parking required by the mediation agreement be built. The parking spaces are required to be built when there are 50 cars or more parked on the streets. Building Commissioner Ed Hildebrandt wrote a letter in June of 2010 noting that the mediation agree- ment required that 201 parking spaces were to be constructed initially, with an additional 23 parking spaces "land banked" to be built in the future. Counts of parked vehicles on Friday afternoons are substantially and consistently exceeding 50 per week. Mr. Conrad said the Village has the authority to terminate the Special Use Permit if its terms aren't being met. He felt the MEC should live up to their agreement, but the Village needs to enforce. He noted that the MEC responded on July 30`h, but their response seems to indicate that they want to renegotiate this provision of the Special Use Permit. Mr. Conrad said that, according to Mr. Hildebrandt's counts, there are, on average, 90 cars on the street during the Friday afternoon services. He said he would like to see something happen. Mayor Staackmann said the Village would have a response for Mr. Conrad by the end of the week. b. Laura Frisch, 5830 Crain, Ms. Frisch wanted to invite the assemblage to a "night out on Dempster" on Tuesday, November 30, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. This is being sponsored by the friends of the Niles Township Food Pantry. Food will be donated by various eateries, and 15% of the sales will go to the Food Pantry. It's a chance to ' "give back" during the holiday season. She hoped everyone would come out for this event. 3 Xll. RESIDENTS' COMMENTS c. Trustee DiMaria asked for everyone to remember former Mayor Dan Scanlon in their prayers; he is not doing well. He said it's especially appropriate to remember Dan now, with Veterans Day coming up, because Dan is a decorated war hero who served in the Battle of the Bulge. X111. ADJOURNMENT /EXECUTIVE SESSION Trustee Thill moved to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Marcus seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously via voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 8:06 p.m. PASSED this 22nd day of November, 2010. Trustee DiMaria Trustee Gomberg Trustee Grear Trustee Marcus Trustee Thill Trustee Toth 22nd day of November, 2010. Daniel J KStaackmann, Village President Board of Trustees, Morton Grove, Illinois APPROVED and FILED in my office this 23rd day of November, 2010. Tony S. Kald er os, Village Clerk Village of Morton Grove, Cook County, Illinois Minutes by Teresa Cousar P