Board of Trustees Meeting

VILLAGE OF HOMEWOOD BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING TUESDAY -JUNE 22, 2021 VILLAGE HALL BOARD ROOM CALL TO ORDER: President Hofeld called the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees to order at 7 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: President Hofeld led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL: Clerk Marilyn Thomas called the roll. Those present were Village President Richard Hofeld, Trustee Barbara Dawkins, Trustee Lisa Purcell, Trustee Karen Washington, Trustee Vivian Harris-Jones, Trustee Lauren Roman, and Trustee Jay Heiferman. President Hofeld introduced staff: Village Manager Jim Marino, Attorney Christopher Cummings, Director of Finance Dennis Bubenik, Director of Economic Development Angela Mesaros, Director of Public Works John Schaefer, Fire Chief Bob Grabowski, Police Chief Denise McGrath and Assistant Village Manager Napoleon Haney. MINUTES: The minutes of the meeting of June 8, 2021 were presented. There were no comments or corrections. A motion was made by Trustee Purcell and seconded by Trustee Harris-Jones to approve the minutes as amended. Roll Call: AYES—Trustees Dawkins, Purcell, Washington Harris-Jones, and Heiferman. NAYS –None. ABSTAIN – Trustee Roman. Motion carried. CLAIMS LIST: The Claims List in the amount of $2,331,046.88 was presented. There were no questions from the Trustees. A motion was made by Trustee Dawkins and seconded by Trustee Purcell to approve the Claims List. Roll Call: AYES—Trustees Dawkins, Purcell, Washington, Harris-Jones, Roman, and Heiferman. NAYS –None. Motion carried. President Hofeld said two items on the list totaled 88 percent of the charges: $1,748 ,511.87 to Burns & McDonnell Engineering for work on the water line conversion project, and $313,284.56 to the City of Harvey for Lake Michigan water. HEAR FROM THE AUDIENCE: No comments were offered. APPOINTMENTS: A motion was made by Trustee Dawkins and seconded by Trustee Washington to approve the appointments of Marla Youngblood to the Senior Advisory Committee for a three-year term expiring June 22, 2024; Kathy Pagel to the Beautification Committee for a five-year term ending June 22, 2026; and Cece Belue to the Beautification Committee for a five-year term ending June 22, 2026. PRESENTATIONS: Police Chief McGrath offered comments and presented a certificate of appreciation to resident Todd Dorans who, having seen a police alert, recognized a Homewood resident with early onset dementia who was lost and far from home. Mr. Dorans notified police and stayed with the man until help arrived. His efforts were greatly appreciated. OATH OF OFFICE: Clerk Thomas administered the oath of office to Shawn Santos and Daniel Uhlmann serving with the fire department as full-time firefighter/paramedics. Clerk Thomas administered the oath of office to Alex Denman, Samuel Berrum and Ryan Rasmas serving as police officers. OMNIBUS VOTE: Consider a motion to pass, approve, authorize, accept, or award the following items “A” through “B”: A. PURCHASE AND SALES AGREEMENT/COOK COUNTY LAND BANK AUTHORITY: Authorize the Village President to enter into a purchase and sales agreement with the Cook County Land Bank Authority to purchase the former Citgo Gas Station at 2124 183rd Street for the amount of $40,000. B. CONTRACT/LOBBYING SERVICES/MAREN RONAN, LTD.: Authorize the Village President to enter into an agreement with Maren Ronan, Ltd. of Western Springs, IL for lobbying services from July 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021 in the amount of $3,000 per month. A motion was made by Trustee Purcell and seconded by Trustee Washington to approve the Omnibus Vote as presented. Roll Call: AYES—Trustees Dawkins, Purcell, Washington, Harris-Jones, Roman and Heiferman. NAYS –None. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS: REDEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT/HOMEWOOD INVESTMENT PROPERTIES, LLC: Approve a redevelopment agreement with Homewood Investment Properties, LLC of Orland Park, IL, (Homewood Brewing), to reimburse eligible expenses for the acquisition of the vacant commercial property located at 18027-18029 Dixie Highway under the Homewood Business Incentive Program in an amount not to exceed $20,000. A motion was made by Trustee Purcell and seconded by Trustee Washington to approve the redevelopment agreement. Trustees heard from the owners of Homewood Investment Properties about their plans to convert the site of the former Vice District Brewery into a Homewood establishment that will be both a brewery and restaurant. They also intend to invite entrepreneurs in to brew beer at the site. They estimate construction will take about 10 months after all the permits have been received. Roll Call: AYES—Trustees Dawkins, Purcell, Washington, Harris-Jones, Roman and Heiferman. NAYS –None. Motion carried. AGREEMENT FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING SERVICES/CHRISTOPHER BURKE ENGINEERING LTD./RIDGE ROAD STORM WATER IMPROVEMENTS: Staff recommends the Village Board waive competitive bidding due to utilizing professional engineering services and authorize the Village President to execute an agreement with Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd. of Rosemont, IL to provide professional engineering services for the Ridge Road Storm Water Improvement Project in an amount not to exceed $91,350, contingent upon final review and approval of the engineering agreement by the Village’s attorney. Director of Public Works John Schaefer said the Village Board is asked to approve the engineering work as the first step for the project to get underway. Ridge Road is a state road, but waiting for the state’s engineering department to undertake the work would mean additional delays. The village has worked with Burke Engineering in the past. Trustees thanked Schaefer for his work on this project. The 1500 block of Ridge Road has had flooding problems for some time and they are impacting streets in the general vicinity. A motion was made by Trustee Dawkins and seconded by Trustee Washington to approve the engineering contract as presented. DISCUSSION/MUNICIPAL CODE UPDATE: Manager Marino gave the board a review on work being done to update the Municipal Code, which was last revised in 1997. To date, about 90 percent of the work is complete. Marino said this effort was mostly house-keeping and making certain the code follows changes in state law. One of the biggest changes is moving fees and charges to one location as a schedule of fees, rather than being listed with each individual ordinance. The change also will make it easier for Village Trustees to review charges as work is done on the next budget so that changes can be made. The same change was done for streets and intersections with stop signs/stop lights. They will now be found in one location. The code also will be converted from PDF form of over 1,000 pages to HTML so that it will be searchable. That will make it much easier for staff to find things and will provide easier access to the general public. Trustees thanked staff for their work on this project. Trustee Heiferman represented the board on this project and President Hofeld thanked him for his help. Manager Marino said the Board will be asked to approve the changes at a future meeting. GENERAL BOARD DISCUSSION: None. A motion was made by Trustee Purcell and seconded by Trustee Washington to adjourn the regular meeting of the Board of Trustees. Roll Call: AYES—Trustees Dawkins, Purcell, Washington, Harris-Jones, Roman and Heiferman. NAYS –None. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Marilyn Thomas Village Clerk