2017 Summary

12-11-17 Meeting (2 hours 13 minutes)    

• Waste Water Quality and Compliance with National Pollution Discharge Standards Report    (4 minutes)

  City of Prospect Heights Water Quality and Compliance with National Pollution Discharge Elimination Standards Report - Environmental Consultant Caitlin Burke of Gewalt Hamilton who handles the MS4 Program for Prospect Heights discussed water quality testing. The City has the proper testing and is compliant with the EPA requirements. - No action was taken.

• Plaza Drive Status Update     (25 minutes)

  Director of Building and Development Peterson said that the City had been meeting with Country Pines and Pabcor regarding maintenance of Palwaukee Plaza. It was noted that Country Pines was in favor of maintenance and Pabcor wanted to do more comparative pricing - they were awaiting information from their surveyors. Aldermen asked for an estimate on a reasonable amount of time for the completion of the fact finding that Pabcor was still doing. Mr. Peterson noted that it should take 30 days. It was noted that direction had already been given to take action and implement a fine. Director of Building and Development Peterson that the property is private and must be maintained. He said that the property owners would be put on notice and given a deadline to respond. It was noted that Pabcor was the roadblock to getting the maintenance done. Alderman Ludvigsen moved to direct Staff to issue a 30-day deadline with Final Notice Citation directed to Property Owners; seconded by Alderman Messer. There was unanimous approval.

• Zoning Variance for 697 Glendale     (37 minutes)

  Staff Memo and Ordinance for a Zoning Variance for 697 Glendale (2nd Reading) - City Attorney Kearney noted that he had sent out an email clarifying that in order to overturn a PZBA Approval vote, only a regular majority was needed. A super majority was only needed When overturning a negative recomendation by the zoning board. Alderman Williamson moved to Approve the variance for 697 Glendale; seconded by Alderman Messer. Discussion followed. Alderman Williamson said that it was his ward and that he was willing to compromise if the size of the variance was lessened. Mr. Stavros, attorney for the requester, said that the need for a variance had been out of hardship. It was noted by Alderman Messer that the City had approved garage variances in previous years, and that the neighbors did not have any issue with the request that was being made. Attorney Stavros said that this case might need to be taken to judicial review. The requester, Mr. Pascucci did not want to compromise. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES - Messer, Rosenthal / NAYS - Ludvigsen, Dolick, Williamson / ABSENT - None / Motion fails 2 - 3

• Request from Player's Pub and Grill for Disbursement of Money     (7 minutes)

  Request from Player's Pub and Grill for Disbursement of Tax Increment Financing Fund, per Player's Pub and Grill/City of Prospect Heights Redevelopment Agreement - Building and Development Director Peterson said that the facility had been inspected and was complete. He said that Players Pub wanted its $54000 payout. Aldermen noted that in the future the City could not write out contracts like these that were full of contradictions. It was noted by the City Attorney that based upon the agreement, Players Pub qualified for the payout. Finance Director DuCharme noted that Players Pub was one-month delinquent in its Places for Eating tax. Alderman Ludvigsen moved to approve the final disbursement of $54,000 to Players Pub upon payment of any outstandlng balances to the City; seconded by Alderman Meuer. There was unanimous approval. ROLL CALL VOTE: AYES - Messer, Dolick, Williamson, Ludvigsen, Rosenthal / NAYS - None / ABSENT -None Motion carried 5 - 0

• Adjustment of Daily Permit Liquor License Fees     (6 minutes)

  Adjustment of Daily Permit City of Prospect Heights Liquor License Fees (1st Reading) - the Mayor noted that all of the liquor license fees needed to be adjusted. This particular Adjustment was for the special late hour licenses requesting an add-on hour for a particular event. It was noted by the Attorney that this was separate from a new liquor code. The increase for the add-on hour would rise to $1000. - No action was taken.

• Discussion of Commercial Truck Parking Regulations     (4 minutes)

  Discussion of Commercial Truck Parking Regulations - the Council and Mayor wanted to make certain that the public was notified. Director of Building and Development Peterson said that there would be a January, 2018 public hearing. Assistant to the City Administrator Falcone said that there would be an insert in the newsletter. - No action was taken.

11-27-17 Meeting (57 minutes)    

• Ordinance for a Zoning Variance for 697 Glendale    (13 minutes)

  Side yard variation for a driveway into the rear yard at 697 Glendale.

• Real Estate Broker Contract Extension     (3 minutes)

  Extension of contract with Cornerstone Commercial Partners to continue to try to sell city property on Piper Lane.

• Insurance Renewal     (5 minutes)

  Approval of a contract with Mesirow Financial for Property, Casualty, Worker Compensation, and Cyber Liability Insurance for the year beginning December 1, 2017 through December 31, 2018

• Home Rule Presentation     (6 minutes)

  Home Rule presentation by City Treasurer Rich Tibbits.

• Congressman Representative     (2 minutes)

  Representative from Congressman Brad Schneider’s office talks about services that they provide.

• Building & Development Report     (1 minutes)

  Building & Development report by Building Director Dan Peterson

• Resident Comments Regarding Truck Parking Ordinance     (3 minutes)

  Truck Parking Ordinance comments by resident Ronald Pryor of 1015 E Wildwood Drive.

11-13-17 Meeting (2 hours 30 minutes)    

• Zoning Board Nomination    (25 minutes)

  City Clerk Wendy Morgan-Adams is nominated by Mayor Helmer for an open position on the Zoning Board.

• Chicago Executive Airport     (26 minutes)

  Chicago Executive Airport presentation by Director Jim Kiefer regarding the Airport Intergovernmental Agreement.

• Zoning Request For Side Yard Variance     (3 minutes)

  Ordinance granting a side yard variance for 305 Lonsdale Road.

• Greenbriar Senior Living Plat Consolidation     (2 minutes)

  Resolution Approving a Plat of Consolidation for 708 N. Elmhurst Road (Greenbriar Senior Living).

• Budget Report     (18 minutes)

  Six-month budget report by Finance Director Michael DuCharme.

• Commercial Truck Parking Regulations     (9 minutes)

  Discussion of changes to the commercial truck parking regulations.

• Comed Parking Lease Agreement     (20 minutes)

  Comed parking lease agreement for the Metra train station.

10-09-17 Meeting (55 minutes)    

• Treasurer's Report    (2 minutes)

  Report by city treasurer.

• Permitted Uses for Single Family Residential Districts     (2 minutes)

  Vote for an ordinance approving a text amendment to the Permitted Uses for Single Family Residential Districts section of the city code to accommodate a community integrated living residence.

• Vacant & Foreclosed Property Registration Program     (2 minutes)

  Vote to approve a new Vacant & Foreclosed Property Registration Program.

• Tourism District Fall Planting Program     (3 minutes)

  Vote of request for council authorization for expenditure in excess of $10,000 to hire Landscape Concepts Management ($11,401) for Tourism District landscaping, fall plantings and enhancement.

• Commercial Truck Parking Regulations     (28minutes)

  Discussion of city commercial truck parking regulations.

• Liquor Code Review     (12 minutes)

  Review and discussion of liquor code.

09-25-17 Meeting (1 hour 53 minutes)    

• Lake Claire Drainage Study    (17 minutes)

  Presentation of Lake Claire Drainage Study by John Briggs of Gewault Hamilton.

• Road Pavement Assessment Report     (6 minutes)

  Presentation of Road Pavement Assessment Report by John Briggs of Gewault Hamilton.

• Chicago Executive Airport     (14 minutes)

  Chicago Executive Airport report presented by Betty Cloud.

• Annual Police and Fire Commission Report     (6 minutes)

  Annual Police and Fire Commission Report presented by Joe Fiorito.

• Political Advertising in City Newsletter     (5 minutes)

  Discussion of policies regarding political commentary advertisements in the city newsletter.

• Rubens Bar & Grill     (8 minutes)

  Discussion and vote for a request for a special use permit to open a Sit Down Restaurant at 5 South Wolf Road, Ruben’s Bar & Grill.

• Community Integrated Living Amendment     (12 minutes)

  Proposed changes to the Permitted Uses in Single Family Residential District section of the city code to accommodate a community integrated living residence.

• Vacant & Foreclosed Property Registration Program     (9 minutes)

  Proposed ordinance establishing a Vacant and Foreclosed Property Registration Program and a resolution and agreement with Property Registrations, LLC to manage it.

• Plaza Drive     (11 minutes)

  Plaza Drive update and discussion.

09-11-17 Meeting (1 hour 40 minutes)    

• Rubens Bar & Grill    (12 minutes)

  Request for a special use permit for a sit down restaurant at 5 South Wolf Road, Rubens Bar & Grill.

• Parking Lease Agreement with Comed for Metra Train Station     (19 minutes)

  Discussion of parking lease agreement with Commonwealth Edison for commuter parking at the Prospect Heights Metra station, 55 S. Wolf Road.

• Driveway Variance Request for 697 Glendale Drive     (25 minutes)

  Request by Joseph Pascucci of Gene’s Towing for a driveway variance for 697 Glendale Drive in order to park a tow truck.

• Commercial Truck Parking Discussion     (3 minutes)

  Ongoing discussion of Prospect Heights commercial truck parking regulations.

• Liquor Code Review     (7 minutes)

  Review of liquor code.

• Plaza Drive     (12 minutes)

  Discussion of Plaza Drive.

• Intergovernmental Agreement for Chicago Executive Airport     (2 minutes)

  Discussion of Intergovernmental Agreement for Chicago Executive Airport.

08-28-17 Meeting (54 minutes)    

• Chicago Executive Airport Report    (5 minutes)

  Chicago Excecutive Airport report by Bill Kearns.

• Comed Metra Station Parking Lease Agreement     (6 minutes)

  Discussion of Metra Train Station parking lease agreement with Comed.

07-24-17 Meeting (50 minutes)    

• Chicago Excecutive Airport Report    (7 minutes)

  Chicago Executive Airport report by Bill Kearns.

• Local Government Distributed Fund Changes     (6 minutes)

  Report of changes to the Illinois Distributed Fund, which the city receives money from every year.

• Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Las Vegas     (6 minutes)

  Discussion regarding which city council members will be allowed to attend the 2017 Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Las Vegas.

• City Flooding     (7 minutes)

  Discussion about city flooding after a large rain event.

• Sanitary Sewer Rate Increase Vote     (3 minutes)

  Approval of new Sanitary Sewer Rate.

• Glenview & Prospect Heights Revenue Sharing     (5 minutes)

  Report of Glenview/Prospect Heights and Wheeling/Prospect Heights Revenue Sharing Agreements.

07-10-17 Meeting (1 hour 13 minutes)    

• Sanitary Sewer Rate Increase & Lack of Information Resident Comments    (10 minutes)

  Resident comments by Peggy Lee of 202 S Owen regarding the proposed sanitary sewer rate increase. She also comments on how the city should do a better job getting city council meetings and topics of discussion out to the residents.

• New Public Works Superintendent     (2 minutes)

  Introduction of new Public Works Superintendent Mack Roscoe.

• Sewer Rate Increase Discussion     (8 minutes)

  Discussion of proposed sewer rate increase.

• Commercial Truck Parking Regulations     (24 minutes)

  Discussion regarding the current state of the city commercial truck parking regulations and possible changes.

06-26-17 Meeting (1 hour 42 minutes)    

• Willow Woods    (30 minutes)

  Willow Woods engineering assessment presentation by city engineer Steve Berecz of Gewault Hamilton. Also includes comments by and discussion with several Willow Woods residents.

• Water Committee Presentation     (10 minutes)

  Water Committee presentation by Bob Korvas.

• Chicago Executive Airport     (5 minutes)

  Chicago Executive Airport report by Jim Keefer.

• Building & Development Report     (2 minutes)

  Building & Development report by Building Director Dan Peterson.

• SSA Consolidation for New Sewer Fees     (13 minutes)

  Discussion regarding the possible consolidation of current SSA's to dovetail with the the new proposed sanitary sewer rate.

06-12-17 Meeting (1 hour 20 minutes)    

• City Center    (12 minutes)

  City Center planning presentation by Jim Tinaglia of Tinaglia & Associates.

• Elsie's Place Cafe     (5 minutes)

  Citizen Comments by Mariusz Kock of 1225 Stratford Road regarding Elsie's Place Cafe.

• Sanitary Sewer Rate Increase     (11 minutes)

  Discussion regarding proposed sanitary sewer rate increase.

• Home Use Occupation, Zoning Variance and Commercial Vehicle Parking Ordinances     (15 minutes)

  Discussion of Home Use Occupation & Zoning Variance Ordinances. Includes a discussion of parking commercial vehicles on residential property.

05-22-17 Meeting (1 hour 42 minutes)    

• Possible Sanitary Sewer System Sale    (38 minutes)

  Presentation by Rich Herman of American Water regarding their proposal to purchase our sanitary sewer system.

• Chicago Executive Airport Report     (5 minutes)

  Chicago Executive Airport report presented by Betty Cloud.

05-08-17 Meeting (1 hour 43 minutes)    

• Claire Lane Retention Pond    (27 minutes)

  Presentation by Prospect Heights resident William Koch of 501 Shawn Lane regarding flooding problems due to retention pond overflow.

• Elsie's Place Cafe     (28 minutes)

  Presentation by Chuck Knoblauch regarding a proposed restaurant and gaming facility to be located at 1300 N Rand Road. Also includes comments by Mariusz Folta, a Prospect Heights resident who resides at 1225 Stratford Road. Following presentation and comments a vote is undertaken by city council.

• Subdivision Request for 1201 N Drury Lane     (9 minutes)

  Presentation and request by Prospect Heights resident Joseph Papanicholas to consolidate two lots and build a pool house on the property.

• Plaza Drive Potholes     (3 minutes)

  Report on potholes on Plaza Drive by Alderman Messer.

• Sanitary Sewer Rate Increase     (14 minutes)

  Discussion regarding proposed sanitary sewer rate increase.

04-24-17 Meeting (52 minutes)    

• Sanitary Sewer Rates    (7 minutes)

  Sanitary sewer rate discussion. Includes resident comments.

• Chicago Executive Airport Report     (3 minutes)

  Chicago Executive Airport report by Betty Cloud.

• Treasurers Report     (4 minutes)

  Treasurers report by Finance Director Stephanie Hannon.

• Elsie's Place Cafe     (19 minutes)

  Request for Special Use Permit for Elsie's Place Cafe, a proposed restaurant & gaming facility at 1300 North Rand.

04-12-17 Sanitary Sewer Town Hall (1 hour 44 minutes)    

04-10-17 Meeting (1 hour 47 minutes)    

• Liquor Code & Video Gaming Review   (26 minutes)

  Review and discussion of city liquor code and video gaming.

• City Revenue Sources     (28 minutes)

  Discussion regarding city revenue sources. Includes a discussion of city sticker pricing.

03-27-17 Meeting (1 hour 2 minutes)    

• Chicago Executive Airport Budget    (11 minutes)

  Chicago Executive Airport Budget Presentation by Jim Keefer.

• Police Department Adjudication Process     (7 minutes)

  Report by Police Chief Stephen regarding department analysis and recommendation for the administrative adjudication process.

03-13-17 Meeting (2 hours 55 minutes)    

• Building & Development Report    (2 minutes)

  Building & Development status report presented by Building Director Dan Peterson. Topics Include Bridge Church and Thorntons building updates.

• Elsie's Place Cafe     (18 minutes)

  Presentation by Elsie's Place Cafe regarding a new proposed restaurant/gaming faciliy at 1300 N. Rand Road.

• Building and Property Maintenance Regulations     (19 minutes)

  Discussion regarding proposed changes to the Prospect Heights building and property maintenance regulations.

• Police Pension Fund     (46 minutes)

  Discussion of the police pension fund.

• 2017-18 Budget Discussion     (1 hour 3 minutes)

  Discussion of 2017-18 city budget.

• Thornton's Gas Station Revised Agreement    (10 minutes)

  Discussion of revised agreement with Thorntons regarding new gas station at Rand and Thomas.

02-27-17 Meeting (36 minutes)    

• City Center Discussion    (6 minutes)

  Report by the Strategic Directions Committee regarding a possible City Center for Prospect Heights.

• Chicago Executive Airport Report     (9 minutes)

  Chicago Executive Airport report by Bill Kearns.

• Holiday Market     (7 minutes)

  Report by city clerk Wendy Morgan-Adams regarding holiday market.

02-13-17 Meeting (1 hour 43 minutes)    

• Geographic Information System (GIS) Presentation   (38 minutes)

  GIS presentation by Greg Newton of Gewault Hamilton Associates for a new system with a starting cost estimated to be about $50,000. A Geographic Information System is a computerized database management system for capture, storage, retrieval, manipulation, analysis and display of spatial (IE: locationally defined) data.

• Sanitary Sewer System Rate Study Discussion    (40 minutes)

  Continuing discussion of sanitary sewer rate study, which was originally presented at December 12, 2016 meeting.

• Drainage Issues     (2 minutes)

  Approval of engineering study by Gewault Hamilton for drainage ditch improvements.

01-23-17 Meeting (58 minutes)    

• Airport Report    (12 minutes)

  Chicago Executive airport report presented by Betty Cloud.

• Police Department Security System     (2 minutes)

  Proposed three year service contract with Xtivity for police department security system.

• Budget Amendment     (17 minutes)

  Budget Amendment Discussion
  Topics Include:
     Drainage Improvements
     Police Department
     Tree Program
     Strategic Directions Committee Recomendations

• City Attorney Needs to be Present at Workshop Meetings.     (2 minutes)

  Motion to reverse a decision by Mayor Helmer, originally discussed at June 27, 2106 meeting, in which he decided that the city attorney would no longer be present at City Council Workshop Meetings. This comes after there was a significant amount of confusion involving some legal issues at the January 9, 2017 meeting because the attorney was not present.

01-21-17 Special Meeting (1 hour 8 minutes)    

• Thornton's Request for Tax Subsidy to Pay for Extra Construction Costs    (1 hour 8 minutes)

  Special City Council Meeting to consider a request by Thornton's Inc. for a sales tax subsidy in the amount of approximately $300k to pay for storm water detention and soil disposal costs associated with their proposed new location at Rand Road and Thomas Street.

01-09-17 Meeting (2 hours 39 minutes)    

• Police Pension Fund Presentation    (49 minutes)

  Police pension fund presentation by fund Board Member Sal Palazzolo.

• Police Telecommunications System Presentation    (16 minutes)

  Presentation of police telecommunications system by Chief Al Steffen.

• Treasurer's Report    (12 minutes)

  Treasurer's report presented by Finance Director Hannon.

• Health and Sanitation Inspections Report    (12 minutes)

  Report of health and sanitation inspection activities presented by Building Director Peterson.

• Police Security System Service Contract    (20 minutes)

  Recommendation and discussion of a proposed three year service contract for the existing police wireless surveillance system with Xtivity Solutions, LLC. in the amount ot $18,500 per year.

• Old Willow Road Resurfacing    (2 minutes)

  Staff recommendation and request to participate with Mount Prospect in the joint resurfacing of Old Willow Road, from Mura Lane to River Road.

• Milwaukee Ave Tourism District Landscaping and Discussion Regarding City Attorney    (17 minutes)

  Requested approval of award of a contract with Landscape Concepts for up to three one year terms in the amount of $4,071. Also, a discussion of a separate bid for landscaping services for other city property including city hall as well as a discussion about the difficulties surrounding no longer having the city attorney present at workshop meetings.

• 2016-17 Budget Amendment    (12 minutes)

  First Reading and discussion of 2016-17 budget amendment.

            See 2016 Meetings...