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HomeMy Public PortalAbout03.18.98 COW Agenda~ ~ Richard A. Rock PRESIDENT TRUSTEES Jay D. Darnell VILLAGE OF PLAINFIELD Jeffrey Dement Kathy O'Connell WILL COUNTY'S OLDEST COMMUNITY Steven L. Rathbun Raymond Smolich ~RKSHOP OF THE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES Kurt Stalzer HELD ON MONDAY, MARCH 23, 1998 Susan Janik AT THE VILLAGE BOARD ROOM VILLAGE CLERK 23145 W. LINCOLN HIGHWAY, PLAINFIELD 7:00 P.M. 1) CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, PLEDGE. 2) MINUTES -Approval of Workshop Meeting Minutes, March 9, 1998 and Joint Meeting with the Park District, March 18, 1998. 3) VII.,LAGE CLOSURE OF LOCKPORT STREET DURING STRAWBERRY FEST (MAY 30 & 31) AND PLAINFIELD FEST (JULY 16-19). Discuss with area residents and businesses the two proposals from the Park District and Main Street regarding closing of Lockport Street. Distributed with the Agenda is a recent memo from Chief Bennett and a copy of my critique of last year's Harvest Fest. The Village needs to delineate the frequency of closings, their limits (which street to which street), and the legitimate purposes of such closings. Taxpayer funds expended for this special service range from $2,000 for a weekend closing to perhaps $4,000 fora 4 day closing. The expenditure of taxpayer funds should be supported by a clear policy. 4) ANY OTHER BUSINESS. DEFERRED ITEMS Personnel Policy Downtown Competition Implementation Joint Meeting with Plan Commission Land Acquisition Infrastructure Maintenance Fee Alternate Water Sources MainStreet Status Economic Incentive Target Areas Budget 1998-1999 r~ ~.. ~~~~;o. (.7 v~,,..~+~, 23145 W. LINCOLN HIGHWAY • PLAINFIFLD, ILLINOIS 60544 • ($15) 436-7093 • Fax (815) 436-1950 PLEASE JOIN US THE VILLAGE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES WANTS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE AFFECTED NEIGHBORHOODS ANZ] BUSINESSES KNOW CLEARLY WHAT IS GOING ON AND HAVE A SAY IN HOW IT IS DONE. • MONDAY, MARCH 23 AT 7:00 P.M. • VILLAGE HAIL, 23I45 W. LINCOLN HIGHWAY • PLANNING FOR DOWNTOWN ACTIVITIES VILLAGE CLOSURE OF LOCICPORT STREET DURING STRAWBERRRY FEST (MAY 30 SL 3 I) AND PLA.INFIELD FEST (JULY I6-I9) WILL BE DISCUSSED. IF YOU KNOW OF A NEIGHBOR OR AN ADJOINING BUSINESS THAT MAY NOT BE AWARE OF THIS MEETING, PLEASE INVITE TI-IEM. • MEMO TO: TERRY BURGHARD, ADMINISTRATOR FROM: DON BENNETT, POLICE CHIEF DATE: MARCH 17, 1998 SUBJECT: LOCKPORT STREET CLOSURE The purpose of this memo is to express the concern the Police Department has on three items in reference to PlainfieldFest: Item #1-Closure of Lockport Street/US 30 Unlike for Harvest Fest, this closure will occur during the work week, i.e., Thursday afternoon rush hour and Friday morning and evening traffic movement. Traffic volumes during these times will require police officers at specific intersections to assist with traffic control. This will add to the Village expense, as each intersection will require two (2) officers to handle the volume of vehicles. Additionally, we will have traffic back-ups, as the viaduct area on Route 59 cannot handle the volume of traffic we will be placing onto the roadway system. The movement of second division vehicles places additional restrictions, and will add to the overall traffic situation. Item #2-Bryant Building Construction If the construction actually begins on the Bryant Building, it will add additional security concerns for the Police. Since this building will be in the middle of the Fest area, it will be a big temptation for many kids. Item #3--Parkin Parking has always been a problem, and Staff feels that additional signs and/or accommodations need to be made to handle an expanded Fest. The Police certainly are willing to adjust to any demands that may be placed upon them, but want the Village to understand these are often associated with additional expense. Please advise with any comments, questions, etc. DEB/Id FILE COPY VILLAGE OF PLAINFIELD WILL COUNTY'S OLDEST COMMUNITY To: Richard A. Rock, Village President Board of Trustees Fram: T. L. Burghard, Village Administrator Date: Novezxxber 14, 1997 Subject: Harvest zest Critique Richard A. Rack PRE9I~E,NT TRUSTEES Jay D. Darnell Jeffrey Dement Kathy O'Connell Steven L. Rathbun Raymond Smolich Kurt Stalzer Susan Janik VILLAGE CLEFK On Wednesday, November 12, 1997 Chief Bennett and I met with Mr. and Mrs. Waldorf and Main Street Director, C. W. Welsh to review Harvest Fest issues. I have created some broad categories that may help us in the future. 1) ADMINISTRATION. A) On the positive side, the Vilhge responded with initiative and promptly met the expressed needs of the apparent leaders of Harvest Fest. I use "expressed" and "apparent" purposely ... there were some underlying problems here that we will get into later. . B) The actual rerouting of traffic patterns worked well, no accidents, no major bottlenecks and we proved that the viaduct can take trucks other than "special permits." C) Signage left a lot to be desired. To expedite the IDOT permit process we subcontracted detour signage to ACCI often hired by IDOT and contractors that knows the standard regulations. Unfortunately, standard regulations did not take into account the needs of the local community. 1) The northbound left turn lane of Rt. 59 at Lockport Street frequently caught drivers by surprise when they saw Lockport closed. 2) The signage on Rt. 59 in advance of 143rd Street was too small. 3) The signage on Rt. 30 at 143rd southbound did not permit the continuation of local traffic to the Post Office and Larry's. 4) Local Street Department people were unaware on Saturday morning of the need for several local barricades. 23145 W. LINCOLN HIGHWAY • PLAINFIELD, ILLINOIS 60544 • (S15) 435-7093 • Fax (815) 436-1950 5) The signage subcontractor did not remove the signs on a timely basis. Overall, there is significant room to im rove the si a e and traffic control. p gn g With _~ greater lead time in the future, we can spend additional time with the subcontractor A A~- A~ and prepare some of our local signs to anticipate and deal with such problems. ,~,, g¢J'' ,pr Chief Sennett will be our coordinator with the sign company and Dave I~~'~-p~ Countryman will assist and coordinate our local sign needs. 1M D) Power distribution downtown is inadequate. Fuses were blown repeatedly and no Staff were on hand to solve the problem. Fortunately, some of our Trustees responded and found parts and assisted. When the band set up it too had insufficient power and the portable generator we brought in did not solve the problem. If we know in advance of the need, we may be able to do a better job. Dave Countryman will familiarize a designated person from Main Street with our power capabilities and identify future needs. Main Street will calculate its power needs well in advance of the event so the Village has time to respond or Main Street reorganizes the placement of power consumers. - E) The target time for the street closure was originally 10:00 a.m. This was inadequate for set up time for the street vendors and final decorations. They need at least three hours, Therefore, in the future, the signage etc. must be in place at least three hours in advance of the actual stated opening. At the last minute a parked car on T ockport caused a minor problem necessitating police_action. Temporary no parking signs need to be placed an lamp poles the night before. Dave Countryman will see to that, F) Liquor control went well except for when the band started operating. Local customers could not "see" the band and wanted to drift from the assigned/fenced consumption area. Abetter location far the band will solve this. G) We tried to keep sidewalks open for pedestrians, etc., and this did not always work. Some thought has to be given whether a "pedestrian" way is better in the street or should vendors move completely to the street and stay off the sidewalks completely. H) Clean up and security went fairly well and no real refuse problems were encountered. Individual vendors did a good jab of "policing" their units. A clean and secure place is a friendly place. 2) COMMUNICATION. ~ ~p Q~~-"~ A) There is room for great improvement here. Various businesses and interested parties initially received various information about the street closing, the hours, the requirements, etc. from a variety of sources. Most of this information was misleading and incomplete leading to various levels of hostility and included, at one point, discussions with the State's Attorney to verify that we did not violate . the Open Meeting Act. In closing the street we moved so fast that many were left behind; and, in the absence of knowledge, rumor and speculation abounded. This can be solved in the future with a longer planning period and in inclusion of a broader representation of interest. Sue Janik will be assigned as Village Liaison to Main Street and they will initiate planning for Strawberry Fest in January. Main Street must incorporate the larger business community and perhaps prepare a weekly or monthly Flyer they can hand out to local businesses. B) Similarly, the local churches plan and schedule events that conflict with the street closing and noise of the fest events. Clearly, we have to be most respectful of their needs far decorum and access for events like weddings. Perhaps Main Street can have a special focus meeting with the churches and find in the end that they can be actual participants. C) Local restaurants were hesitant to participate at first and may well have suffered in their business. Get those owners/operators to a meeting well in advance, encourage them to participate and pay attention to their access needs. Lombardo's, Baci and Larry's_had specific problems of access and feel they lost business, communicate with them directly and personally well in advance. (But don't let their individual needs eliminate the event.) D) Tl-~e buggy ride was a real success. Unfortunately, poor communication undermined the photo opportunities and the real benefit of residents bringing home a memento of the ride and Main Street securing a mailing hst for future events. In my mind this was a missed opportunity at long term promotion. 3) ORGANIZATION. A) The Village will assign our Clerk, Sue Janik, to work with Main Street on planning the next event. She can, in turn, communicate with the Village Board and Staff so we may assist Main Street. Chief Bennett will be responsible for security, detours and traffic control. Dave Countryman will be responsible for power distribution, local barricades and final clean up and coordination of refuse with our contract hauler. B) Because of the short planning period for Harvest hest, the Village often reacted to requests rather than anticipating all the needs. Additionally, several members of Main Street and local businesses were ,contacting several people within the Village. It appeared that Main Street had several committees and several directions with a multitude of ideas. A longer planning period for future events and our recent experience will synthesize our efforts and provide a united front and a better representation of order and authority. An organization with simple lines of communication will lend credibility to decisions and provide a cohesive authority. I guess I'm saying that Main Street could be better organized and centralize its decision making authority. Overall, the Harvest Fest was a success. I have seen the letters and notes written by residents expressing the wonder and joy of enjoying their downtown in an environment absent the elligerent trucks and threatening traffic. But we can do better. Lets find a way to increase the "participatory" rather than static displays. Dancing children are more energetic than the display of an emergency vehicle. There were a lot of favorable comments about the pumpkin/flower display. It was "pretty" and participatory. Find ways to capitalize and expand it. We are headed in the right direction, how do we get more people to go along with us? cc: C. W. Welsh, Main Street Jim & MaryAnn Waldorf, Main Street Chief Bennett Dave Countryman Sue Janik Pete Waldock Jeff" Durbin Allen Persons Chamber of Commerce • BOARD (7F C(iDnMIS510NERS • George R. Jensen, President Kenneth M. Smith, Jr., Vice-President Daniel R. Bush, Commissioner John M. Wilson, Jr., Commissioner Michelle A. Kelly, Commissioner ~regory B. Bo[[, Director February 12, 1998 C~ Terry Burghard Village Administrator Village of Plainfield 23145 W. Lincoln Highway Plainfield, IL 60544 Dear Terry, ~~4 ~c~ ~~~ ~r~ PARK DISTRICT 1~ ~` C"`t~ r ~ f ~ OQ- The Plainfield Township Park District is requesting the closure of Lockport Street from Rout 59 west through the intersection of DesPlains and Lockport streets from 5:40 p.m. on. Thursday, duly V~ 16, 1998 to approximately 11:30 p.m, on Sunday,luly 19, 1998. The closure of Lock port Street will enable the traditional festival grounds to expand to create a more enjoyable event. Additionally, the closure will serve to integrate the festival activities with the Downtown Plainfield Business District. I am looking forward to hearing from you shortly regarding this request. i Sincerely, ~ ` ,~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -~" © ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Bill McAdam. _ r Pla>nfield Fest Chairman ~' ~' tl~" ~'~ ~ ~ `` a~ P ~ . ~ ~ ~' ems"" J~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~ `~ w `~ 100 W. Ottawa + Plainfield, Illinois 60544 • (815) 436-8812 • FAX (815) 43 -8935 ~ain5tr~zct 1'l~in~ielc~, Inc. February 18, I998 Susan Janik, Village Clerk Village of Plainfield 23145 West Lincoln Highway Plainfield, Il 60544 Dear Ms. Janik, This letter is in reply to your request of February 12, 1998, for an official application for street closures by MainStreet Plainfield, Inc.. Our Board of Directors held a special meeting this evening that determined the dates for Strawberry Fest based on recommendations from our promotion committee. As our liaison to the Village and as a promotion committee member, please ask the Village on our behalf to make plans to close Che following streets: Lockport Street from Division St. (IL RT. 59) to Fox River St.; Illinois St. from First Midwest Banks drive thorough lanes to the Plainfield Public Library's parking lot. Desplaines St. from the alleyway between the old post office and the Carl Bryant lot to Che alley by Che Village Fire Department. Additionally, we request that angle parking be allowed from James St. Co Fox River St. on Lockport Street. The dates and times for Strawberry Fest are as follows: we ask that you close the streets as of 6:00 A.M. Saturday morning so that we can set up. We intend to open to the public at 10:00 A.M., The Fest closes down for Che evening at 10:00 P. M. and starts up again at lO:Ot) A.M. on Sunday May 31st, and closes at 5:00 P. M.. Clean up will be from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Streets could then be .re-opened at 7:00 P. M. We look forward to continuing to work with you. Please thank Terry Burghard, the Village Administrator, for appointing you to our team. If Chis basic concept for the street closures is acceptable to the village, please send us a map of Che proposed closing so that we may communicate with the local businesses to get suggestions to fine-tune the plan. See you at our next meeting of the promotion committee on February 25th at 6:00 P.M. here at our office. Sincerely //j~ ~/~ im Waldorf, ED.. C. W. Welch Board President Executive Director 506 W. LockpoR 5t., Plainfield, IL 60544 • phone: (815) 436-5510 • FAX: (815) 436-5540