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1979-11-26 - Village Board Committee of the Whole - Minutes SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE OF THE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF BUFFALO GROVE, ILLINOIS, HELD MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1979, AT THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING, 50 RAUPP BOULEVARD, BUFFALO GROVE, ILLINOIS. President Clayton called the meeting to order at 7:35 P.M. Roll call indicated the following present: President Clayton; Trustees Marienthal , Stone, O'Reilly, Hartstein, Gerschefske. Trustee Kavitt was absent. Also present were William Balling, Village Manager; William Raysa, Village Attorney; William Sommer, Assistant Village Manager. ARLINGTON HEIGHTS/BERNARD/NICHOLS TRAFFIC SIGNAL- President Clayton reported that she had received a letter from the Cook County Department of Highways, which informed her that, after a study of vehicle and pedestrian movement at this intersection, they have determined that a traffic signal should be installed. The cost for the installation of this signal is approximately $90,000, of which the Village of Buffalo Grove's share will be one-half. The maintenance cost of the signal will be approximately $375 per month. Mr. Balling has contacted the Village Manager in Arlington Heights to inquire whether or not the Village of Arlington Heights would be willing to participate by paying one-half of the municipal share (or one-quarter of the entire cost) . The Village Manager in Arlington Heights will be getting back to Mr. Balling with their decision. The formal agreement for this installation will be before the Board within the next month. PRE-APPLICATION CONFERENCE - REZONING APPLICATION TO 0/R (PUD) FOR 27 ACRES LYING NORTH OF LAKE COOK ROAD AND EAST OF ARLINGTON HEIGHTS ROAD. , President Clayton introduced Mr. Ronald Lunt, of Trammell Crow Company, and asked him to make his presentation on what he is proposing for this area. Mr. Lunt displayed a drawing of how they propose to develop this property. He stated that there are 3 acres on the corner of the property that Mr. Saltzman has chosen to continue to retain sole ownership of, so that area is not part of the joint venture agreement which they have negotiated. The remainder of the parcel is approximately 26 acres, after taking off the 50' right of way. Mr. Lunt stated that Trammell Crow is a developer in real estate. They develop property and retain ownership of it , rather than building and then selling the developed property. Mr. Lunt stated that their typical development would be a one-story brick building, with very heavy office use, those offices being approximately 3,000 to 5,000 square feet. The landscaping between the office and the parking would be about 15' to 20' . The service areas would have 8' to 10' overhead doors . Mr. Lunt said they have tried to take advantage of the aesthetic amenities surrounding the parcel . There will also be a park-type area of about one acre in the center of the property. There is also the possibility of multi-story buildings in the future. `/. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE NOVEMBER 26, 1979 PAGE TWO In answer to a question by Trustee Marienthal , Mr. Lunt explained the problems in having a two-story building rather than a one-story building. Trustee Marienthal asked if there were any underground parking planned, and Mr. Lunt said there was not because economics would not justify it. Mr. Baling stated that this project would be subject to the conditions of the 0/R PUD presently being considered by the Plan Commission. This petition would be substantially modeled after the new ordinance. One consideration to be worked out is a request by Mr. Saltzman to ask for a continuance of the expiration date of the settlement agreement. President Clayton polled the Board on the change in zoning of the property: "Yes" indicates favor of the concept of zoning as presented; "No" indicates opposition: YES: Marienthal , Stone, O'Reilly, Hartstein, Gerschefske NO: None ABSENT: Kavitt Trustee Marienthal asked if a joint petition was going to be filed. Mr. Lunt said that Mr. Saltzman 's only role is that of an investor, but since they would be joint owners, he assumes that the petition would have to be filed jointly. President Clayton stated that she is pleased that a developer with Trammell Crow's reputation is interested in developing in the Village. Mr. Balling stated that the Board had requested follow-up on the adjoining property to the north. He and Mr. Sommer did this, and a summary memorandum has been filed. FIRE IMPLEMENTATI'N PLAN Mr. Balling gave a brief run-down on the implementation schedule for the benefit of the audience. This information is contained in his memo to the Board of November 23, 1979. President Clayton polled the Board: "Yes" indicates favor of ,accepting the Fire Implementation Plan as presented; "No" indicates opposition. YES: Marienthal , Stone, O'Reilly, Hartstein, Gerschefske NO: None ABSENT: Kavitt Referring to Mr. Balling's November 21 , 1979 memo to the Board, President Clayton stated that the Board must determine the type of referendum that we will be having. There was discussion on the wording of the questions to be put to the voters. Trustee Stone stated that the point has been raised on several occasions that having both Home Rule and Fire Service questions together could confuse the COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE NOVEMBER 26, 1979 PAGE THREE voters. He feels we must do a thorough job of educating the voter so that they know that these are two separate questions. Trustee O'Reilly stated that it has also been discussed that if the Home Rule passes , and the Fire District fails, we must let people know that the Village will not turn around and put the Fire District into action under Home Rule. Trustee Hartstein stated that a resolution could clear up that point. It was the consensus of the Board that voting on both questions would be held at the same time. President Clayton stated that it must be decided whether to hold the referenda on the same date as the March Presidential primary, or to have them on a separate date. There was discussion on the costs of each method. Trustee Stone stated that, if the cost is going to be approximately the same, he would prefer to hold our referenda separately from the primary. Trustee Marienthal stated we should consider which would turn out the greatest number of voters. Mr. Balling stated that a recent Village referendum had a 60% voter turnout. Trustee Hartstein stated that it would be the responsibility of two separate citizen 's committees to thoroughly educate the voters as to the pros and cons of each question. Trustee Gerschefske stated that he feels the hours for voting should be made as convenient as possible, thereby giving more people the chance to vote. Trustee O'Reilly stated that her concern in holding the referenda in conjunction with the primary is that there is so much material being distributed that people may reach a saturation point, and she feels this would harm the whole education process for the Village questions. President Clayton stated that her concern is that, if we go with the primary date, there are 22 county precincts , and at least 6 of those precincts contain voters who do not live in Buffalo Grove. President Clayton polled the Board: "Yes" indicates favor of holding the referenda in conjunction with the March primary; "No" indicates opposition: YES: None NO: Marienthal , Stone, O'Reilly, Hartstein, Gerschefske ABSENT: Kavitt Following discussion regarding the date the Village should hold the referenda, President Clayton polled the Board: "Yes" indicates favor of holding the referenda on March 1 , 1980; "No" indicates opposition: YES: Marienthal , Stone, O'Reilly, Hartstein, Gerschefske NO: None ABSENT: Kavitt The referenda will be held on March 1 , 1980. \g/ COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE NOVEMBER 26, 1979 PAGE FOUR Regarding the formulation of the citizens ' committees, President Clayton asked the press to inform the public that we are requesting volunteers to serve on the two referendum information committees. In answer to a question by Mr. Raysa, President Clayton stated that he should petition the courts to disannex from the present fire districts. Mr. Raysa stated that there would be three questions put to the voters: Home Rule; Municipal Fire Department tax; and Ambulance tax. RECESS President Clayton declared a recess from 8:25 to 8:35 P.M. TOWN LIBRARY COMMITTEE Trustee Marienthal stated that the Town Library Committee would file their report this evening. Mr. Jordan Shifrin, spokesman for the committee, stated that the purpose of this committee was to determine the goal of the large majority of the Village in how to expand and improve the present library service to Buffalo Grove. He said they tried to take into consideration every possible alternative. Mr. Shifrin then elaborated on the printed report filed by the committee. This report is on file in the Clerk's office. Mr. Shifrin stated that a serious consideration in this venture is dollars and cents , and it is the recommendation of the committee that an independent consultant be brought in to determine various costs. Trustee Marienthal cited the possibility of using Alcott School in District 21 , which is scheduled to close in 1981 , in conjunction with the Park District , for a library facility. The representative from the Indian Trails Library District stated that she feels it would behoove Buffalo Grove to continue to use Wheeling's tax base. She also stated that she does not feel that Wheeling residents would vote to allow Buffalo Grove to disannex from the library district. Trustee Hartstein pointed out some of the concerns he has with the report filed by the committee. He stated that, theoretically, everyone would like to have a library in their own community, preferably within walking distance; however, since we live in a mobile community, it is not always possible to have this convenience. A resident stated that we need a library to benefit the people of Buffalo Grove. Trustee Hartstein stated that he wants Buffalo Grove to have the best possible library facility available to them, but just because a library is located in Buffalo Grove does not necessarily mean that it will be a better facility than the ones now serving Buffalo Grove. Mr. James Button stated that the purpose of the document is to ask the Village to further study the possibility of a library. He also stated that the committee could only go so far without using staff time, which they were not authorized to do. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE NOVEMBER 26, 1979 PAGE FIVE Mrs. Diane Nicholsen, President of the Board of the Indian Trails Library District, stated that more advice is needed, not only from a consultant, but also from attorneys well versed in library law. Madeline Seckler, representing Indian Trails, stated that she would like very much to have a library in Buffalo Grove, but questions whether or not we can afford a library in Buffalo Grove. She said we have a library now which is providing good services, and it may behoove us to continue with this for a while. Ann Tomasello stated that we were promised a library in Buffalo Grove. Trustee Stone stated that we do not have enough information at this point, and asked how we could get more information. President Clayton stated that perhaps we should consider expending staff time to some extent, together with the staffs of both library districts, to look into the scope of what is needed regarding both financial and legal information. The representative from the Vernon district stated that she did not feel it fair to ask them to expend their staff time to help us disannex from the district. Mr. Balling stated that all that would be requested of them would be identifying the issues to be explored. In answer to a question by Trustee O'Reilly, Mr. Balling stated that the key issue in the study would be the evaluation of library services. Trustee Hartstein stated that perhaps a consultant can tell us whether or not we can be properly serviced by the existing districts, or whether we need to explore other alternatives. President Clayton polled the Board: "Yes" indicates favor of involving our staff in a study to determine the feasibility of a municipal library service; "No" indicates opposition. YES: Marienthal , Stone, Hartstein, Gerschefske NO: O'Reilly ABSENT: Kavitt A resident stated that he would like the Board to know that there are some people in Buffalo Grove who do not need to have a library with the name "Buffalo Grove" on it. His main concerns are a quality facility and good services for his family. Another concern is economics; we are limited in Buffalo Grove as to the amount of industry we can incorporate. He feels that if we stay with Indian Trails, we have a better hope of approaching quality, rather than starting over. He stated that there are people in Arlington Heights who are further away from their library than anyone in Buffalo Grove will be from the new facility on Schoenbeck Road. He hopes we will at least get a consultant who would be unbiased. Another resident stated that it is possible that if we disannex from the current library districts, we will end up with a mediocre facility. She said she would rather have one good facility than two mediocre ones. She feels that theoretically it would be marvelous to have a library in Buffalo Grove, but she does not want mediocrity. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE NOVEMBER 26, 1979 * 0 ...„ PAGE SIX Mrs. Madeline Seckler stated that branch facilities cause mediocrity, and she feels it is better to have one good facility. Mrs. Alice Moody stated that she sincerely believes that, if a third library is created, all three libraries would suffer. Mrs. Diane Nicholsen stated that the operating budget of the Arlington Heights library is in excess of $1 ,000,000 per year. ADJOURNMENT Moved by Hartstein, seconded by Marienthal to adjourn to executive session to discuss personnel . Upon voice vote, the motion was unanimously declared carried. The meeting adjourned to executive session at 9:50 P.M. The executive session was adjourned at 11 :00 P.M. Th. &AA4zi4t, Janet Sirabian, Village Clerk