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06/14/1999MINUTES COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE June 14, 1999 The Village Board met as a Committee of the Whole at 8 P.M. in the Board Room of the Village Hall on Monday, June 14, 1999. In attendance were: Trustee Harris ' Robert Franz, Village Manager Trustee Heuberger James Soyka, Director of Public Works/Engineering Trustee Ragona George Valentine - Finance Director Trustee Rosenthal Pat Anderson, Chief of Police Trustee Seiden Diane Mikula, Administrative Assistant Trustee Swanson Water Reservoir Improvements - Mitchell Park - Staff reviewed with the Board the proposed 2 million gallon, below ground water reservoir at Mitchell Park. The Park District, in a letter dated June 4, 1999, reiterated its intention to cooperate with the Village provided certain terms and conditions are met. They include additional tennis courts, resurfacing existing courts and on -going maintenance of all courts, and a new lighting system for both tennis and basketball courts. The Board had no objections to these demands since it has occupied space in the park for over thirty years without having to pay any on -going fees. A public hearing will now be scheduled with the Plan Commission for amending the special use to include these additional public improvements. Also, an agreement between the Park District and Village must be prepared specifying the above terms under which the Village can use the property. Jim Soyka also reviewed with the Board a meeting staff had with representatives of Deerfield High School concerning an easement for a new water line from Highland Park. Currently, the high school receives its water directly from Highland Park. That same line serves Bannockburn. The Village's objective is to secure an easement for a new line from Highland Park and, in the process, take on the high school as a Deerfield water customer. 1999 Street Rehab Contractor As directed by the Board on June 7th, staff met with Landmark Contractors, the low bidder in the 1999 Street Resurfacing Program to discuss their performance last year and conditions under which the contract would be awarded this year. Letters from both Landmark and the Village's engineer, Ciorba Group, were distributed. It is staffs recommendation to award the contract to Landmark with new scheduling conditions controlling the sequence of operations. Also, more detailed communications with residents are needed to emphasize the unavoidable inconvenience caused by street resurfacing. The Board agreed to proceed with Landmark. Formal action will be taken at the June 21st Village Board meeting. Ciorba Group will attend that meeting. Committee of the Whole June 14, 1999 Page 2 Soil Remediation - South Commons Development The Board was given a brief report on the history of the property which is proposed for multi -family redevelopment by James Company. After extensive study and soil testing; four alternative means of soil remediation are under consideration. They include: Thermal Remediation, Bio-remediation, scraping and burying the bad soil somewhere on site, and hauling the contaminated dirt to a properly licensed landfill. After reviewing the costs and risks of each alternative, it was the consensus that hauling the bad soil to a landfill was the best approach. Concern was expressed over the high cost, estimated at $1.8 million, with the possibility of finding more contaminated soil. While there was general support for cleaning the site and getting it developed and remaining on the tax rolls, it was agreed that there must be a limit on what the Village will pay to remediate the site. The Redevelopment Agreement with James requires the Village to meet Tier 1 Clean-up Objectives under the Illinois EPA requirements. If the estimated costs exceed $1 million, the amount budgeted by the Village for remediation, the Village can decide not to remediate. If the Village cleans the site, the developer has ten days to review and determine that the remediation program was satisfactorily completed. The agreement also states that James does not have to accept conveyance of the property (and pay up to $7,500,000) after November 1, 1999 since this construction season will be lost. Following further discussion, the Board directed staff to proceed with plans for hauling the contaminated soil off -site. If possible, staff would like the Board to authorize contracts for this project at the July 6th Village Board meeting. The actual hauling could be completed in a month, but confirmation sampling and final approval by the IEPA could take several weeks. Village's Future Building Needs The Manager briefly reviewed with the Board ten year projections on manpower increases and related building space needs in anticipation of the meeting with the Northwest Quadrant Task Force on June 23rd. With the exception of the police department, which sees a need for seven new employees by 2010, the Village staff should remain fairly constant. The location is ideal and the present structures should serve our needs for several years. With the exception of an on -going parking shortage, no major changes in our operations are expected over the next decade. Coromandel Theft Chief Anderson gave a brief report on the theft of several mezuzahs in Coromandel. Investigation on this incident continues. Committee of the Whole June 14, 1999 Page 3 Longfellow/Waukegan Intersection The Manager asked the Board how it wished to proceed with improvements to the Longfellow/ Osterman/Waukegan Road intersection given the concerns expressed by the Poets Corner homeowners. There was consensus that the subdivision's request to leave their leg of the intersection as close to its current condition as possible should be honored. It was noted that IDOT may have some objections, but that staff would proceed as directed. Trustee Ragona suggested that our practice of inviting public comment (non -agenda items) at the end of the meeting should be changed to the beginning. The pros and cons of that change were expressed with no decision to be made on the matter until after Mayor Forrest's input is sought. Board Involvement The Manager commented that he and Trustee Ragona recently discussed the Board's role as it relates to what in the past has been considered administrative matters. He emphasized that the Trustee - Manager form of government clearly defines the difference between policy making by the elected Board and the day-to-day administrative operations of the municipality. The Board as a whole can make any procedural changes it chooses, but the staff must treat each Trustee equally. Trustee Ragona preferred not to articulate his position on the matter at this meeting. He agreed to provide the Board with a written report prior to the June 21st meeting, at which time he would like some discussion on the subject. The meeting adjourned at 10:35 P.M. Minutes prepared by: JF-V_� &ft--A C�14 ROBERT D. FRANZ, Villag eager