HomeMy Public PortalAbout2011-08-22 COW minutesMinutes of the Committee of the Whole Workshop of the President and the Board of Trustees Held on August 22, 2011 In the Boardroom Mayor Collins called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Board Present: Mayor Collins, Trustee Rippy, Trustee Bonuchi, Trustee Fay, Trustee Lamb, and Trustee Racich. Board Absent: Trustee Peck. Others present: Brian Murphy, Ad ministrator; Allen Persons, P ublic Works Director; Michael Garrigan, Planning Supervisor; Dean Marquez, Building Supervisor; and Traci Pleckham, Management Services Director, and John Konopek, Interim Police Chief. Trustee Fay moved to amend the Agenda to in clude an Executive Session for the purposes of Personnel, at the end, not to reconvene. Sec onded by Trustee Bonuchi. Vote by roll call. Rippy, yes; Bonuchi, yes; Fay, yes; Lamb, yes; Peck, absent; Racich, yes. 5 yes, 0 no, 1 absent. Motion carried. Trustee Fay moved to approve the Minutes of the Committee of the Whole Workshop held on August 8, 2011. Seconded by Trustee Lamb. Vote by roll call. Rippy, yes; B onuchi, yes; Fay, yes; Lamb, yes; Peck, absent; Racich, yes. 5 yes, 0 no, 1 absent. Motion carried. PRESIDENTIAL COMMENTS Mayor Collins stated that he recently attended funeral services for Mayor Pressley of the Village of Braidwood and sent a plant on behalf of the Villa ge Board. He received a thank you card today from the Village of Braidwood. TRUSTEES COMMENTS Trustee Fay requested an update on the progress of the Naperville Ro ad work. Mr. Persons stated that near Mill Street there was a c onflict with some utility lines and th at brought the project to a halt. However, the problem has been corr ected, the contractor has been no tified, and work is expected to resume. Trustee Lamb asked to review the traffic on Lo ckport Street. Trustee Lamb also commented on greeting students for the first day of school. Trustee Bonuchi stated that she too greeted students. Trustee B onuchi expressed concern regarding truck traffic on Route 30 making such a wide turn that they go into oncoming traffic. Mr. Persons stated that final pavement marki ngs should help with the issue. Trustee Rippy stated that he gree ted students too and was surprised at how orderly the process was. PUBLIC COMMENTS None
Minutes Committee of the Whole Workshop – August 22, 2011 Page 2 of 3 WORKSHOP MEETING #1 CENTRAL AREA PLAN Mr. Michael Garrigan, Planning Supervisor, gave a pr esentation highlighting th e preliminary draft of the Central Area Plan, including bo undaries, sub-sections, vision/goal s, history, Downtown Plans, street interconnection, neighborhood developmen t, design standards and redevelopment. Mr. Carl Bryant, downtown property owner, expresse d concern regarding the Street Car Barn and the Kachel building not being shown on the master plan and the impact that has to the current owners. Trustee Lamb thanked staff for includ ing the Riverfront Master Plan in this plan. The plan needs to be a bit more comprehensive and a bit more as a sales presentation. We need to know where we want to go and how we are going to get there. Truste e Lamb expressed concern that since there is no overall developer doing the work, we have to co ordinate between individu al property owners and developers. Trustee Fay stated that this is a very aggressi ve plan and has tremendous potential. He likes DesPlaines residential co mponent. Trustee Fay encouraged incl uding the parcel at Main & Center Street (Baish property) in the plan. There’s a potential there for a natural gateway. He also suggested including the abandoned ma nufacturing building. He thought that there are some ideas surfacing for Lockport and Route 59 and thought that discussions should conti nue for that corner. Trustee Fay stated that the Library is a vital attraction/destination a nd that there needs to be various amenities downtown, such as a grocery store/convenie nt store. Trustee Fay encouraged developing partnerships. Trustee Bonuchi stated that part of the discussion is how to connect the east side of Route 59 to the west side of Route 59 for pedest rian traffic. She also expre ssed concern regard ing putting in businesses in with current residentia l. Parking is an issue, if th e solution is a giant parking deck, where do we put it? We also need to be careful becau se that structure can cha nge how an area looks. Trustee Rippy suggested looking at separating service business and reta il. He thought that the Plan is aggressive and suggested putting emphasis on Route 126 as well. He stated that it is extremely important that when the economy comes back to exercise patience and follow our vision. Trustee Racich stated that the plan is very optimis tic. Currently, every thing is at a stand still with unemployment and declining revenues. How are we going to pay for it? The Board has to be concerned with future, but also needs to be concerned with the present. Mayor Collins likes plan, we need to be more proac tive rather than reactive and not be so anxious to fill a building, wait for what we want. Trustee Lamb stated that we need another river crossing. The parking deck may be an essential feature to make the plan work and could be locate d on Illinois Street where the parking is now. Right now, there’s no money, however. It pays to visua lize what you want and if you can then sell the concept, maybe it will materialize.
Minutes Committee of the Whole Workshop – August 22, 2011 Page 3 of 3 Mr. Garrigan pointed out that the Board may want to consider looking at th e Teng Plan at a future meeting to see if they are still interested in follo wing that Plan. Mr. Garrigan thanked the Board for the discussion this evening and will continue to work with th e Central Area Plan Committee. Mayor Collins read the reminders. Trustee Fay moved to adjourn to Executive Session as permitted under the Open Meetings Act, under Section 2 (C) (1) to discuss the appointment, employment, compensa tion, discipline, performance or dismissal of employees or legal counsel, not to reconvene. Seconded by Trustee Racich. Vote by roll call. Rippy, yes; Bonuchi, yes; Fay, yes; Lamb, yes; Peck, abse nt; Racich, yes. 5 yes, 0 no, 1 absent. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m. Michelle Gibas, Village Clerk