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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 10, 1988 COW Committee of the Whole Meeting October 10, 1988 The meeting was called to order by Mayor VanDeVoorde in the Council Conference Room of City Hall at 6 : 35 p.m. Members present : Councilmen Fox, Gilliam, Moylan, Popple, Shales , Walters and Mayor VanDeVoorde. Absent : None. Consideration of request for alley vacation. The City Manager told the Council a request for street vacation was submitted by the owners of the Huber Brick Yard and on August 24th, said street vacation was denied by the Council. The owners are now asking for a vacation of the alley, which presently is shown running under the building. Atty. Jerry Boose, representing the owners of Huber Brick Yard, Charles Pokorny, stated his clients are attempting to sell the subject property and it is necessary to vacate the alley located between Brook Street and Grove Avenue , parallel with Kimball and Water Street , to effect such a sale. Attorney Boose stated Chicago Title & Trust does not show any vacation, and his client has been paying the taxes for years . The City Manager stated the staff has very little imput on this matter and cannot recommend the vacation in view of the proposed redevelopment plan for this area. The City Manager requested Council discuss this matter further in Executive Session. The Council stated they would continue the discussion in Executive Session and have this matter re-scheduled for the next meeting on October 27th. Consideration of the status of the negotiations on the South Grove Tax Increment Financing project . The City Manager advised the Council that as a result of their last meeting with Harris Properties , the position of the staff and developer on the unresolved issues were as follows: Compensatory storage - Staff has offered to seek City Council approval to amend its local flood plain ordinance to provide developers with the option of a) providing the necessary compensatory storage ( as is now the case ) , or b ) demonstrating that filling of the flood plain will not cause a significant increase in flood elevations and in no case cause a rise of more than one tenth of a foot . In order for developers to take advantage of option b ) they would be required to use the appropriate FEMA hydrological model to determine any impact on flood heights . I Committee of the Whole Meeting October 10 , 1988 Page 2 Site Fill - The developer has requested the City pay for the cost of fill to elevate the proposed building pads . Originally, the cost for the fill was estimated to be $156 ,000 , but more recent estimates put the figure at close to $270 , 000 . The staff has maintained that it is the developer' s responsibility to pay for the site fill. Impact fees - The developer originally requested the impact fees be waived, but now agrees to pay $49 , 392 and $6 , 282 , respectively, as park and school site contributions . Demolition - The cost of the remaining demolition for the project is estimated to be $438, 800 . The City has spent approximately $120 ,000 of the $324 ,000 budgeted for demolition, leaving an available balance of $204 , 000 . The staff is prepared to recommend that the City provide an additional $234 , 000 to cover the cost of the demolition work. It is further recommended that the actual demolition work be the responsibility of the developer, with the estimated cost of the work being deducted from the purchase price of the land. Attorney Borde, representing Harris Properties , stated there were three items on the table to be negotiated as follows : They were asking the City to assume $272 , 500 for fill, $496 .00 for demolition, and $49 , 300 to waive the park fee. Mayor VanDeVoorde stated this request would total $817 , 892 . Councilman Walters asked what is the break even point . Mr. Cook stated the City asked Harris to add about 29 more units to the original plan because without them, the City could not meet the break even point at which the project would generate sufficient revenue to pay for the bonds which finance the site work. Without the break even point , the project no longer pays for itself from the City standpoint and begins to need funding from the taxpayers or other sources . There is no way to add these additional costs , the return is not there. Mr. Cook further stated he would rather see the City go out for a new development . The Council adjourned the Committee of the Whole Meeting to go into the Council Meeting, during which time Marianne Harris conferred with her attorney and engineer. When the Committee of the Whole Meeting reconvened Attorney Borde stated his client would pay the $270 , 000 for the fill, the City would provide an additional $234 , 000 for demolition, as recommended by staff, and the remaining $262 , 00 in demolition costs would be split evenly between the City and Harris . This request meant the City would provide an additional $365 ,000 and forgo the park fee of $49 , 300 . Committee of the Whole Meeting October 10 , 1988 Page 3 Councilwoman Popple stated the City had refused to waive the park fee in negotiations with other developers and she did not feel it was right to waive it in this case. Councilman Gilliam asked if the project was economically feasible with the additional $365 ,000 contribution. Mr. Cook stated this leaves us about a 10 per cent margin and that means that we are close to the point where a mistake could become a disaster. Councilman Gilliam made a motion, seconded by Councilman Walters to commit the additional $365 , 00 , but to retain the $49 ,300 park fee. Yeas : Councilmen Fox, Gilliam, Popple, Shales , Walters and Mayor VanDeVoorde. Nays : Councilwoman Moylan. Attorney Borde stated that he and his client would have to check these figures and see if the project was feasible for them to absorb the $49 , 300 park fee. Attorney Borde stated they would get back to the City within a few days to advise what decision had been made. Consideration of the donation of the first watch from Elgin Watch Company. The subject watch is the first watch produced by the Elgin Watch Company. Mr. Don Brinckman is the owner of this watch and it is his request to donate it to the public. He would prefer to see it displayed in the Hemmens Building, but he also indicated he feels it would be desirable to have this display as a part of the Gromer opening. Mr.Gromer has indicated that he would be willing to provide a display and security for the watch. Councilman Gilliam made a motion, seconded Councilman Fox to accept the subject donation. Yeas : Councilmen Fox, Gilliam, Moylan, Popple, Shales , Walters and Mayor VanDeVoorde. Nays: None. Further consideration of City Council Expo booth. Councilman Fox made a motion, seconded by Councilman Gilliam to have volunteer Council Members be available at the Expo in the Parks and Recreation booth. Yeas: Councilmen Fox, Gilliam, Moylan, Popple , and Walters. Nays : Councilwoman Shales and Mayor VanDeVoorde. Consideration of a report from the Economic Development Commission for 1988. This report was rescheduled to the October 27th meeting. Committee of the Whole Meeting October 10 , 1988 Page 4 Consideration of a recommendation to transfer funds between tree planting projects. Staff recommended that the Council authorize staff to transfer $2 ,500 from the thoroughfare treet program to the participatory program. This would allow the City to fill all of the requests received from residents requesting trees as of October 5 , 1988. Councilwoman Shales made a motion, seconded by Councilman Gilliam to approve this recommendation. Yeas : Councilmen Fox, Gilliam, Moylan, Popple, Shales , Walters and Mayor VanDeVoorde. Nays: None. Further consideration of licensing of rental property. The Board of Realtors has requested that they be given until October 25th to respond to the City with their official position on the issue of rental registration. Councilman Gilliam made a motion, seconded by Councilwoman Popple to reschedule this discussion to the October 27th meeting. Yeas : Councilmen Fox, Gilliam, Moylan, Popple, Shales , Walters and Mayor VanDeVoorde. Nays: None. Consideration of a report on annexation of surrounded property. Area Nine is a surrounded area located adjacent to Royal Boulevard. This area consists of 3 parcels of land, which combined contain approximately 5 . 90 acres. Area nine could be forcibly annexed if a proper legal description and annexation plat were available. City data resources are insufficient to generate the necessary documents . Councilwoman Moylan made a motion, seconded by Councilwoman Popple to accept the low proposal for said work received from Hampton, Lenzini and Renwick, Inc. , for a total cost of $1, 395 . 00. Yeas : Councilmen Fox, Gilliam, Moylan, Popple, Shales , Walters and Mayor VanDeVoorde. Nays : None. Consideration of a report on the mid-block lighting program for 1988. Status report . Consideration of a report on the status of capital projects as of the end of September. Councilman Gilliam requested a report from staff giving the breakdown as to the eastside and westside projects . Committee of the Whole Meeting October 10 , 1988 Page 5 Consideration of a report on the I-90 bridge expansion. Status report . Consideration of a report on the Youth at Risk Program for 1988. Councilwoman Popple requested a report from staff giving the breakdown between boys and girls and ages . Consideration of a report on outstanding water accounts as of the end of September, 1988. Status report . Consideration of a report on discussions concerning boundary agreements with surrounding municipalities . Status report . Consideration of report on increase in landfill fees . Status report Proposed Resolution supporting the U-46 Referendum Councilman Fox introduced a proposed Resolution supporting the U-46 School Referendum. Councilwoman Moylan made a motion, seconded by Councilwoman Popple to have said Resolution placed on the October 26th Council Agenda. . Yeas : Councilmen Fox, Moylan, Popple, Shales and Mayor VanDeVoorde . Nays : Councilman Walters . Abstained: Councilmen Gilliam. Maple Street Assessment District . Council agreed to meet as the Board of Local Improvements on October 27th, at 6 : 30 p.m. Engineering Department Personnel Councilman Walters made a motion, seconded by Councilwoman Popple to approve the hiring of an additional engineer for the Engineering Department . Yeas : Councilmen Fox, Gilliam, Moylan, Popple, Shales , Walters and Mayor VanDeVoorde. Nays: None. Committee of the Whole Meeting October 10 , 1988 Page 6 Adjournment Councilman Fox made a motion, seconded by Councilwoman Popple to adjourn the Committee of the Whole Meeting to go into Executive Session to discuss , personnel, litigation and land acquisition. Yeas: Councilmen Fox, Gilliam, Moylan, Popple, Shales , Walters and Mayor VanDeVoorde . Nays : None. The meeting adjourn at 10 : 55 p.m. Marie Year ma City Clerk