Board of Trustees Meetings

REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF TRUSTEES, VILLAGE OF NILES January 23, 2007 8:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Village Attorney Joseph J. Annunzio. ROLL CALL The Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to order at 8:00 p.m. by Village Attorney Joseph J. Annunzio. The following trustees were present: Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, Preston, and Przybylo. APPOINTMENT OF Village Attorney Annunzio asked for a nomination PRESIDENT PRO TEM from the Board for a Trustee to act as President Pro Tem for this meeting, as President Blase was out of town. Trustee Bondi made a motion, seconded by Trustee Callero, for the appointment of Trustee Przybylo. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Trustee Bondi made a motion, seconded by Trustee Callero, to approve the minutes of the November 28, Regular Board Meeting 2006, Board Meeting, as submitted. On roll call, the November 28, 2006 vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. PRESENTATIONS: None. PROCLAMATIONS: None. TRUSTEE REPORTS: Trustee Preston stated that the Northwest Municipal Conference (NWMC) met in both December and January. At the December meeting, Senator Durbin presented the Congressional outlook as it relates to the NWMC. The January 10th meeting included a presentation from representatives from Character Matters in Lake County regarding schools and  January 23, 2007 organizations in that area that have developed and enhanced character development programs around the pillars of respect, responsibility, caring, trustworthiness, and good citizenship. It has been a very successful program and they wanted the rest of the area to know so that we could encourage our school districts or other organizations to participate in it. A report was also given on the FCC ruling regarding cable franchises: local franchise authorities must grant or deny a franchise within 90 days; unreasonable build-out requirements cannot be established; franchise fees are capped at 5 percent, including in-kind payments, fees, costs or other assessments; and benefits and authorities may not impose unreasonable PEG or I-Net requirements. The Illinois Municipal League and the National League of Cities are working to appeal this ruling. The Metra Board will be reappointing or appointing someone to the Metra Board. Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder has been the representative for the NWMC and they approved a resolution requesting that she be reappointed. There has been some debate in committee as to whether she would be reappointed or not. The Health Department Mutual Aid Agreement, which at one time included the Village of Niles, is being disbanded because there are other ways that this same situation is being handled without this agreement which pretty much has not been in use for at least the last 10 years. The NWMC sponsored their annual Legislative Brunch on January 20th. Attending from the Village of Niles were Village Attorney Joe Annunzio, Village Manager George Van Geem, Assistant Village Manager Steve Vinezeano, and Trustee Preston. This brunch had the largest turnout of legislators ever. Representing the various districts of the Village of Niles included State Representative Nekritz, State Representative McAuliffe, State Senator Garrett, and newly- elected State Senator Kotowski. George Van Dusen introduced the legislative program and presentations were made by Mayors of the Conference. Des Plaines Mayor Arredia presented transportation investment in capital program, one of the highlighted programs that is going to be debated at great length in Springfield. Buffalo Grove Mayor Hartstein presented catastrophic injury definition in PSEBA - the State of Illinois does not currently use the Federal definition of catastrophic injury and it’s created a big problem for the state. Barrington Mayor Darch presented protecting taxpayers from unnecessary pension liabilities, and there was feedback given by the legislators. All of those who have been in office before did say that the NWMC elected officials work very well together on a nonpartisan basis, in addition to working with their individual party. We have a unique area of legislators who work together very cooperatively and cross the aisle or meet in the aisle so that they 2  January 23, 2007 can represent us to the best of their ability. A presentation was given by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, which is part of Chicago Metropolis 2020, and they have done an analysis of local housing strategies and produced a booklet which was distributed to all municipalities at the meeting. On January 10, the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) also met. They are going to be having intensive meetings generally and have requested that each municipality that participates in SWANCC attend the Executive Board Meetings in addition to the general meetings where we vote on policy. Trustee Preston has been attending the Executive Board Meetings presenting the options that will be facing SWANCC between now and May of 2008, when we will be making a decision as to the viability of SWANCC in general. The highlight of that agenda included options for the continuation of the actual transfer station in Glenview at River and Central. We currently have balers in there and all of our garbage gets baled into what look like hay bales and it’s taken then to the garbage dumps in the baling bales. We can continue doing that with the garbage or there were three other options that were presented: a stationary crane with a grapple head; a track-mount excavator with grapple head; and a Sentabogan 825 material handler with grapple head (this is not being used currently in the United States but is being used extensively in Europe). Trustee Biederman reported on the Milwaukee Avenue Streetscape Committee which met January 10th for a project “kick-off” meeting. This was the first of several committee and community-wide meetings that will be held over the next six to eight months. The Committee is composed of two Village Trustees (Trustee Biederman as chairperson and Trustee Preston), Village staff, Smith Engineering, and six resident and business community members. The object of the Streetscape Committee is to develop a streetscape design recommendation for Milwaukee Avenue from Harts Road to Monroe Street and present it to the Village Board by late summer or early fall. On February 1, the Committee plans to conduct site visits of several streetscape projects within the northwest suburbs, in an effort to become familiar with successful streetscape methods and materials. Trustee Biederman will continue to keep the Board updated with the Committee’s future progress, and additional information will also be posted on the Village website. 3  January 23, 2007 OLD BUSINESS: Special Use to Operate a President Pro Tem Przybylo stated that this is a Restaurant at 8257 Golf Rd. request for special use to operate a 60-seat 07-ZP-01 restaurant at 8257 Golf Road at Four Flaggs Shopping Center with a 23 percent total variation to the required parking for the entire shopping center. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if the petitioners were present. Isaac and Yong Ran Yoon Park stepped forward and introduced themselves as the owners of this restaurant. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked the petitioners where their residence was. Isaac answered that they lived in Buffalo Grove. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked Isaac to tell the Board about the restaurant and what they are planning on doing there. Isaac explained that the name is Shabu House and is a specialized restaurant mostly dealing with Shabu-Shabu, which is Japanese food. They use an induction range as an individual cooking system and they also use a “hot pot”. They put the broth in the pot and the customer will put the slices of beef and vegetables into the hot pot and slightly cook and eat with a dipping sauce. They specialize in this customized high-tech table and pot and homemade sauces. The price will be around $10.00. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if this was a family restaurant. Isaac answered yes. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if any alcohol will be served. Isaac answered not at this time. President Pro Tem Przybylo referred to the Niles Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals minutes regarding some concern about the parking and about the fact that there will be open cooking around guests. He asked if they have adequate liability insurance for that purpose. Isaac answered yes, but explained that induction range is electric and not gas. It is very safe. Trustee Callero wanted to confirm that their hours were 11:30 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. with no Sundays. Isaac stated that was correct. Trustee Callero also asked if they were requesting this variation for a 60- seat restaurant and not a 75. Isaac stated yes. Trustee Preston asked if the entire restaurant will have this concept and if all the tables will be doing this. Isaac stated yes, that they have three kinds of seats: one is a bar for one to three people; they have a small table for two people; and a bigger table for four people. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked Chuck Ostman, Director of Community Development, about the total variation of the required parking lot. Mr. Ostman responded that this is located in the Four Flaggs Shopping Center and we have two large boxes in there: Wickes Furniture and one that is vacant. In the area in which they are located, there is not a parking issue. Previous variation was 21 percent and they are asking for an increase up to 23. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if it was Mr. Ostman’s opinion that this would be fine. Mr. 4  January 23, 2007 Ostman stated absolutely. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked Isaac if he and his wife are going to be operating this restaurant as a family business and he answered yes. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked how many other restaurants that they have like this. Isaac responded that they’ve had two before. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if this is going to be their only restaurant at this time or do they still have the other two. Isaac responded no. President Pro Tem Przybylo then asked if they were going to be Niles entrepreneurs. Isaac responded yes. Motion was made by Trustee Callero, seconded by Trustee Preston, to adopt the ordinance which approves a Special Use to Operate a 60-seat Restaurant at 8257 Golf Road with a 23 Percent Parking Variation. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. Plat of Consolidation President Pro Tem Przybylo stated that this is a 8120 Park Avenue request to approve the Ballard Pointe Consolidation Ballard Pointe Consolidation for the Ballard Pointe Condominium development 07-ZP-03 of 24 units at the former Vegas Motel site. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked Chuck Ostman to give a synopsis of this request. Mr. Ostman explained that this particular property is a redevelopment of the former Vegas Motel and the Swanson paint store. The development was approved by this Board in 2006. There was a delay in the construction because we had to absolutely verify that no easements existed through the property once construction started, which took a little bit of time. Now the building is under construction and the interior of this development should be finishing up early this Spring. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if anyone in the audience was present on this matter and asked for the Board’s feelings. Motion was made by Trustee Preston, seconded by Trustee Biederman, to adopt the ordinance which approves the Plat of Consolidation, Ballard Pointe Consolidation 07-ZP-03 at 8120 Park Avenue. AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. 5  January 23, 2007 NEW BUSINESS: Responsibility of Business Trustee Callero stated that the reason for this Owners to Obtain Crowd request is that many times retail stores do need Control Personnel crowd control. In the past, crowd control has been supplied by the Village of Niles at great cost to the Village. It is unfair to the residents if this cost is borne by the Village and we want to shift this to the retail stores. Trustee Callero referred to the ordinance before the Board, Chapter 22, Article XII, creating Section 22-461, Making it the Responsibility of the Business Owners to Obtain Crowd Control Personnel. Trustee Callero asked Police Chief Dean Strzelecki if in the past, a request had to come through to the Niles Police Department and he would assign people. Chief Strzelecki said this was correct. Trustee Callero asked Village Manager George Van Geem and Chief Strzelecki how are we going to tell the various retail establishments that they must have crowd control and at what point. Chief Strzelecki responded that would be when they anticipated a certain amount of people. Trustee Callero asked, like a grand opening or sale of some type. Chief Strzelecki stated yes, or if they are going to have a large party. Trustee Callero asked what stops them from hiring their own security personnel who could be thugs as opposed to our Village personnel that we had before. Chief Strzelecki explained that he doesn’t believe that the ordinance says that they have to hire our people; they just have to have crowd control so they can hire their own security company. Trustee Callero said he presumed that we were still going to oversee that it is done properly. Chief Strzelecki added yes and make sure that there is crowd control. Trustee Callero asked who was going to do that. Chief Strzelecki responded the Police Department can do that. Trustee Bondi asked that if they use our personnel is there compensation coming back to us? President Pro Tem Przybylo responded that we are no longer able to use our personnel and deferred to the Village Attorney. Attorney Annunzio responded that we shouldn’t use our personnel and they have to hire their own. Trustee Bondi asked what if they used ours. Attorney Annunzio responded that they have to use their security because they are responsible for hiring their own security. Trustee Callero asked Chief Strzelecki then if we could not accept their request. Chief Strzelecki stated that we could provide traffic control and a certain amount of crowd control. What we cannot provide is security. Chief Strzelecki explained that once we cross the line where they would need Police service, they would have to hire our full-time officers not our auxiliaries, at a very high rate. Trustee Preston was concerned about the formula as to how to necessitate someone for crowd control personnel, for instance, when some of the big 6  January 23, 2007 boxes, and there are some in Golf Mill or Village Crossing, are having these special, super-duper sales where it’s the day after Thanksgiving or it’s the day after Christmas and they open at 5 or 6 or 7 a.m. or people are lined up overnight because they are going to have 10 of these special machines that every kid wants. How is it going to be determined that, yes, they need to provide some crowd control. Chief Strzelecki said that was one of the issues. Two of the stores in Niles had those videogames and it pulled a drain on the midnight shift of the Police Department because we had to provide crowd control basically, because things did get out of hand at times and brought this to our attention. Chief Strzelecki explained that because we addressed the issue right away and that is why we didn’t have a problem. Trustee Preston agreed and saluted the Niles Police Department. Attorney Annunzio added that because the way the ordinance is written they now have the responsibility of getting the crowd control, and if they don’t get the crowd control and it causes the Police Department to go out there and have to do it, we would go into court and get restitution for the money that the Village spent. Trustee Preston said that is the part that is not real clear here. Trustee Preston also asked if the OTB was covered by this or has it been covered by something else, specifically with the Triple Crown coming up this Spring and all of the parking and crowd control. Attorney Annunzio responded that it is covered the same way. Chief Strzelecki added that they currently do have their own security and on those big events, in the past, they have provided more security. We have provided auxiliary service for them in the parking lot for traffic control that they paid for. Trustee Callero asked Village Manager George Van Geem how we will notify the businesses that this has been passed. Will he get something out in writing through the Chamber of Commerce that the onus is upon them now. Mr. Van Geem replied yes, they will be notified. Motion was made by Trustee Callero, seconded by Trustee Biederman, to adopt the ordinance creating Section 22-461 Making it the Responsibility of Business Owners to Obtain Crowd Control Personnel. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. 7  January 23, 2007 Repealing Authorization Trustee Preston stated that this is a request by the Allowing the Police and Fire Police and Fire Commission to no longer use the Commission to Utilize the Northwest Municipal Conference’s (NWMC) NWMC’s Cooperative Testing cooperative testing program for fire and police Program for Fire and Police recruits. This cooperative testing program was Recruits discussed at the last NWMC meeting she attended. Trustee Preston explained that we have participated in it the last few years and have found it helpful. However, the Police and Fire Commission have reviewed this process and feel that they would like to go back to the way we did it before. The Village of Niles would do their own testing through an independent evaluation service and create a single Village of Niles list, as opposed to being part of a joint list. For instance, the last time they sought a Police and Fire list there were four municipalities that participated: Morton Grove, Niles, Northfield, and Wheeling. When that list comes out, all of the candidates who have applied and tested get ranked on the list and any one of those four municipalities gets to recruit off that list. It becomes very unclear as to how soon the list is going to be depleted and who you are going to wind up getting because you must go in sequential order and you must take the next eligible candidate. Trustee Preston strongly urged the Village to, at this time, not take advantage of the Northwest Municipal Conference’s service. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked Trustee Preston if this was an example of us reclaiming our home rule powers. Trustee Preston responded yes and President Pro Tem Przybylo added that this was a good thing. Trustee Murphy asked how long this system has been in effect. Chief Strzelecki responded at least four years. Trustee Murphy asked that from the very beginning did it work this way that when the list came out they were intermingled with other municipalities’ recruits. Chief Strzelecki stated that, no, for many years we did it on our own. Trustee Murphy asked though when we went through the Conference did the listing become a listing of one or more municipalities. Chief Strzelecki stated that whoever joined in with the Consortium testing had the ability to pull people off of that list. Trustee Callero asked the Fire and Police Chief what their feelings were on this. Police Chief Strzelecki agrees with the Police and Fire Commission to have our own list. Fire Chief Mueller explained that the Fire Department is in a little bit different situation. They are presently utilizing NIPSTA, the training agency in Glenview, to conduct their tests and do it in conjunction with Niles, Wilmette, and Morton Grove. He explained that they did it the last go-round with their list and it worked out very well and they are going to continue to do that this next time starting in June. Chief Mueller stated that the Fire and Police Commission approve of it and they liked that system for us. Their testing is a little bit different than the Police because they have to do a physical agility test by statute that is very involved. NIPSTA performs that 8  January 23, 2007 service for us at a great savings to the community, so that’s why we do it with the Consortium. Trustee Callero asked if then could we make our own list like Trustee Preston stated. Chief Mueller responded that is exactly correct. Motion was made by Trustee Preston, seconded by Trustee Callero, to adopt the ordinance Repealing Authorization Allowing the Police and Fire Commission to Utilize the Northwest Municipal Conference’s Cooperative Testing Program for Fire and Police Recruits. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. Add Section 34-105 N. Density Trustee Biederman stated that this request is for to Condominium Conversion approval to add Section 34-105 N. Density to the Ordinance Condominium Conversion Ordinance. No residential condominium conversion unit shall be less than 750 square feet of gross floor area and such two-bedroom unit shall contain a minimum of 850 square feet of gross floor area. The gross floor area of a residential condominium conversion unit shall be exclusive of the floor area within the building devoted to common areas and means of egress. Trustee Murphy asked why only one- and two- bedroom units were addressed, what if there were three-bedroom units. Chuck Ostman explained that our concern is really with the one bedroom. We have one possible conversion in the Village of Niles that’s been applied for, or brought to the staff, and those units are less than 500 square feet and that’s where the concern came up. So it’s primarily with the one bedroom, and therefore he addressed just the one and two bedrooms. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if this was an attempt to control the Single Residence Occupancies (SROs) and he can go either way on it. He believes that people should have the right to live in a single room and contribute to society, but, on the other hand, how does this affect the Leaning Tower YMCA, which he believes has a fair amount of SROs. Mr. Ostman stated that he did not look at the Leaning Tower. Trustee Callero replied that those aren’t condos and this ordinance is only related to condos. Trustee Preston added that, in theory, the Y could not convert to condos. Trustee Murphy asked if this was another reason to keep affordable housing. Mr. Ostman stated that is the reason we did the condo conversion to begin with. Trustee Murphy then asked if we now have a 9  January 23, 2007 parking requirement in addition to this requirement. Mr. Ostman stated that in most cases many of the buildings, unfortunately, because they have been annexed after they were built, do not meet the parking requirements. So the developer, like in the case with the 47 units, will have to reconfigure the entire building to begin with to comply with the parking requirements. He feels at this time in having this number of 750 square feet for a minimum size, it would be an appropriate time to address that. Trustee Preston wanted to clarify that this was really adding on to the condominium conversion ordinance that we passed at the November meeting, since we went A through M and this is then letter N for density requirement. Mr. Ostman stated this was correct. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if we have done an analysis as to how this compares to other municipalities in the area, and are we trailblazing. Mr. Ostman said the average density requirement was about 800 square feet. For example, the smallest one-bedroom condo unit at the Eagle Point is just under 1,000 square feet. He offered to give some numbers of the four rooms in that condo and what the typical size would be. They took a lot of consideration into what the average one bedroom is nowadays. Trustee Preston asked if other municipalities are doing similar square footage. Mr. Ostman replied that there are a lot of municipalities in the area that do not have the density requirement. He had to reach a little bit further out in the State of Illinois and outside Illinois to get some comparisons on density. Trustee Preston stated that at the last meeting of the Northwest Municipal Conference when the local housing strategies and action people were there, there was talk among the other mayors regarding condominium conversion and that is a big item on local agendas. We are, as usual, farther out ahead of it. Mr. Ostman added that we are just a little bit below the average. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if we were promoting condominium ownership or are we promoting rental. Mr. Ostman stated that, in reality, we are promoting affordable housing and keeping the rental units in the Village of Niles. If a developer chooses to, and can meet the requirements of the condo conversion, at least we have some specifics. It really prevents a lot of these developers from coming in here and just doing a quick condo conversion and getting out and not really caring about what they are leaving behind in the Village. Trustee Callero asked if we had any ordinance on the book to stop a developer from coming in and putting up a new building with all 700 square feet. Mr. Ostman responded that this only applies to condo conversion. Trustee Callero stated that, however, it would not be feasibly economical to do that. President Pro Tem Przybylo responded to Trustee Callero that in that case that would come to the Board as a special use. Mr. Ostman stated that generally it would come in always as a PUD. All of the condo developments in 10  January 23, 2007 the Village come under a PUD. President Pro Tem Przybylo summarized that we would have to vote on it any way. Motion was made by Trustee Biederman, seconded by Trustee Bondi, to adopt the ordinance Amending Chapter 34 Condominiums, Article III Condominium Conversions, by Adding Section 34- 105, N. Density. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. Pace Agreement for 2007 Trustee Biederman stated that this is a request for approval of an ordinance authorizing the execution of an agreement with Pace for the purchase of services for the provision of bus service for 2007. This agreement is substantially the same as the 2006 agreement and takes effect on January 1, 2007. This agreement has been reviewed by the Manager’s office, the Village Attorney, Public Works, and the Finance Department. Motion was made by Trustee Biederman, seconded by Trustee Preston, to adopt the ordinance which Approves the Pace Agreement for 2007. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. Purchase of 12 Police Vehicles Trustee Callero stated that this is a request for approval for the purchase of twelve (12) 2007 Crown Victoria Police Interceptors off the State Contract at $22,666.00 each. He stated that it’s off the State Contract so it was bid out there and we do not have to bid it out any more, but he did have a couple of questions. Since we are replacing 12 2003 models, which are probably about four years old, Trustee Callero asked Chief Strzelecki what the average odometer readings on those vehicles were. Chief Strzelecki stated that Mike Haws keeps a record of that and that information is what puts the cars up for replacement. There are cars out there with 90,000-100,000 miles on them, but Mike picks the ones that need to be replaced based on maintenance problems and things like that. Trustee Callero asked George Van Geem if we have a place for these to be cycled out completely. Mr. Van Geem expects that we are going to try and sell them 11  January 23, 2007 because it costs $2,000 just to repaint them. They’ve all got close to 100,000 miles on them, therefore, the repair costs are unusually high per mile. There is a market for the police cars but we haven’t finalized the disposition of the cars yet because we are waiting for approval of this purchase. Trustee Preston raised a question that she has raised before whenever we’ve purchased police vehicles. She asked what kind of emergency lighting the police vehicles are going to have. Chief Strzelecki asked interior or exterior? Trustee Preston stated interior, and she is speaking against it again and this time she is going to vote against it. It’s not that she doesn’t want new Police cars, but because there are so many large vehicles on the road today (like SUVs), she doesn’t drive an SUV, and if there is an SUV in front of her she cannot see the emergency lights in the squad car because they are mounted in the rear windows. It was Trustee Preston’s understanding that we don’t have them on top of the cars because it is a car washing situation, or that is one of the reasons. The State Police cars all have them on the roof; the Chicago Police cars all have them on the roof; and Park Ridge and Morton Grove and our neighbors all have them on the roof, but we don’t. Trustee Preston stated that for a woman out at night, she would like to be able to identify an emergency vehicle with the lights on the roof. She specifically referred to the funeral of Officer Steven Zourkas. It was a very rainy day, and the funeral cortege went down Milwaukee Avenue. There were police cars at the various intersections, especially the one at Milwaukee at Oakton. However, because of the positioning of the car you could not see the emergency flashing lights on this vehicle. Trustee Preston told Chief Strzelecki that if the lights were on top of the car she would have been able to identify it. The Milwaukee Avenue stretch by Maryhill Cemetery is very dark and if you are going south on Milwaukee Avenue and you have one of our Police cars with their red and blue lights in the back window and she is at the same level driving as those lights, they are blinding. Whereas, it they are on top of the roof, that is not the situation. President Pro Tem Przybylo stated that it seems to him that we are more interested in using our patrol cars as undercover revenue-producing units, rather than deterrents. During the night-time hours where the squad cars are proceeding down the street, where all the lights are hidden it is very easy to find violators, and that’s fine. However, President Pro Tem Przybylo asked are we doing it for that purpose, to find violators; or are we doing it for deterrence to stop violators? He wasn’t sure how that fit into Trustee Preston’s objection, and he wasn’t even sure how that fits into this to buy cars. In President Pro Tem Przybylo’s estimation this 12  January 23, 2007 request is to buy cars and not to equip them. It seemed to him that we should have another discussion on how to equip these cars. Since, as Trustee Preston stated, Chicago has all of the Mars lights and everything else very visible. There are other municipalities, like Park Ridge, that not only buy cars that are more than undercover, they buy cars that are not even Police patrol cars and then proceed to equip them with undercover lights to find and entrap and revenue-produce. President Pro Tem Przybylo is not sure that the Village of Niles wants to operate like that. He could be wrong, but he thinks it is a topic for discussion. Trustee Preston stated that as part of the purchase order presented to them, there is a whole list of additional options and the order form, which includes all of these things. When she asked the Chief if this included the interior lights, he said yes. Chief Strzelecki said he stands corrected. We are not buying them from Ford with that equipment. It’s when we get the cars that we will be putting our own lights in. As a matter of fact, the third form shows that they will delete the Wig Wag Flashers and other things because we are going to swap equipment from the old car and put it in the new car. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if we could buy the cars and revisit that topic later. He asked the Board members if anyone else felt the same way regarding this issue as he and Trustee Preston did. Trustee Callero has no problem at all with the cars with the interior lights going down the street, since we can use the old lights from the other cars and we won’t have to buy new lights. Trustee Callero would presume that if they were put on top of the cars, they would get a little more weather-beaten, etc. Chief Strzelecki added that there would also be a large additional cost to the cars, because we don’t have light bars for the outside, we only have them for the inside. Trustee Callero added that he would think that the sale value would also decrease. Chief Strzelecki did not know and referred that issue to Mike Haws or Scott Jochim. Trustee Callero added that he appreciated Trustee Preston talking about safety for herself being a woman to that extent. President Pro Tem Przybylo polled the other trustees on their comments regarding this issue. Trustee Biederman stated that she thought we should move forward with the purchase of the cars as requested here. Trustee Murphy added that we only talked about one other municipality, what about Morton Grove, etc. Chief Strzelecki responded that he would have to do a study, and doesn’t know how many have them and how many don’t. He does have two units 13  January 23, 2007 that are neighborhood patrol cars that special service officers and retired officers working part time use. Those are high visibility to deter burglaries and things like that in the residential areas. Most of the other cars are “slick tops”. Trustee Preston asked what the problem would be in postponing this purchase until the next board meeting and do a study of the police cars in the area, or with members of the Northwest Municipal Conference, and see who has what kind of cars, and make a better vote based on fact. George Van Geem addressed that issue by stating that this is coming off the State Contract so every municipality in the state is putting their order in and the sooner we put it in the better. As far as the equipment goes, we are not ordering the equipment now; we are just ordering the car. So, if we want to explore roof-mounted lights versus interior lights we have plenty of time to do this because the cars won’t be delivered until June or July if we put the order in now. In either case, it is going to be the same car. That is why he would like to get the order for the cars in and then we will have plenty of time to analyze the roof-mounted versus interior mounted emergency lights. Trustee Preston noticed that on the options it mentioned “roof wiring, no hole” which is one of the options listed on the order form. Mr. Van Geem responded that if the box before it isn’t black we’re not ordering it. Trustee Murphy questioned if Landmark is no longer a dealership, who is? Mr. Van Geem clarified that this is Landmark Ford in Springfield with no relationship to our Landmark which recently closed. Before he called for a vote, President Pro Tem Przybylo stated that he believed that we should go ahead and order the cars because it is prudent on our part. However, he thinks that there is some discussion needed. If members of the press want to address this and put it out there, it’s a question of deterrence versus the possibility of Police being undercover on patrol work and that’s the basic bottom line. Do we believe that people should be deterred or caught? In President Pro Tem Przybylo’s opinion, he believes that they should be deterred and then possibly caught, and he thinks that we can do both. Trustee Preston restated that hers was a safety issue for a woman seeing a car with official lights on it. Yes, she needs to see it and also wants to know that the car she is seeing is an official car whether it’s in front of her, behind her, or pulling her over. She wasn’t sure if that was deterrence or not, but it is for her safety. Trustee Callero stated that the purchase of the 12 new Police Interceptors is a budgeted item and he 14  January 23, 2007 made a motion to approve, seconded by Trustee Bondi. On roll call the vote was: AYES: : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo Trustee Preston voted yes with a request that the Police Chief do a study of the surrounding areas and include the Police cars in the City of Chicago, since we are contiguous to Chicago, and also the State of Illinois. We will then have that information when we bring this up for another discussion regarding the lighting of the new vehicles. There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. Resolution Supporting Trustee Preston stated that this is a request to enterpriz Cook County NFP support enterpriz Cook County which was requested of the Northwest Municipal Conference but it did not make their agenda in a timely manner, nor did it apply to many of the other municipalities because we also include Lake and DuPage County. This was then given to each individual municipality and this resolution endorses the continued funding of enterpriz Cook County NFP. Trustee Preston added that, in the past, Mayor Blase has been very instrumental in supporting enterpriz Cook County NFP. Motion was made by Trustee Preston, seconded by Trustee Callero, to adopt the resolution in Support of enterpriz Cook County NFP. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. Appointment of Deputy Trustee Bondi stated that this is a resolution Village Clerk appointing Marcia A. Jendreas, the past Village Clerk, as Deputy Village Clerk on an as-needed basis as backup to the Village Clerk, Marlene J. Victorine. Trustee Callero asked for clarification of “on an as- needed basis”, with no standard hours. Mr. Van Geem stated that was correct. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked what the compensation package was. Mr. Van Geem stated that it was in the range of $17.00 per hour. Trustee Preston summarized that if Marlene is now the Village Clerk (and has been since January 1), and Denise Joseph is also a Deputy Village Clerk (who is out on maternity 15  January 23, 2007 leave), then in her absence we are going to hire Marcia on an as-needed basis. At the time that Denise returns, we will still continue to have two Deputy Village Clerks. Mr. Van Geem stated this was correct. Motion made by Trustee Bondi, seconded by Trustee Callero, to adopt the Resolution to Appoint Marcia A. Jendreas as Deputy Village Clerk. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. Bid Award to Gallagher Trustee Murphy stated that this is a request from Insurance for Excess Property, Finance to approve and authorize the renewal of Liability and Worker’s excess property, liability and worker’s compensa- Compensation tion coverage through Gallagher Insurance. This is a budgeted item for $665,891.00, an increase of about 5.4 percent over last year. Motion made by Trustee Murphy, seconded by Trustee Callero, to authorize the renewal of the excess property, liability and worker’s compensation through Gallagher Insurance for $665,891.00. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. Bid Award to Custard Claims Trustee Murphy stated that the Finance Department Management for Worker’s has requested our authorization of the contract with Compensation Claims Custard Claims Management for worker’s compen- Administration sation claims administration. This authorizes the contract for third-party claims administration. The term is from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007. Service levels have been excellent during the expiring contract. The budgeted impact is $15,000.00. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if this was an item that was bid out. Mr. Van Geem stated that it was not. President Pro Tem Przybylo then asked how we came to Custard Claims Management. Mr. Van Geem explained that it has been bid out in the past, but Custard has been doing this service for us for probably five years now and their price is competitive compared to the services that are provided to the communities around us. We have been very pleased with their service, and as long as 16  January 23, 2007 they didn’t raise their rates we went with them again. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if this was the same as last year and if there was any reason to believe, on the Village Manager’s part, that the rates would have gone down. No reason, stated Mr. Van Geem, and other communities are paying more than we are. Motion made by Trustee Murphy, seconded by Trustee Bondi, to authorize the renewal of the contract with Custard Claims Management for worker’s compensation claims administration for 2007 at an annual fee of $15,000.00. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. Bid Award to Custard Claims Trustee Murphy stated that the Finance Department Management for General is asking for authorization of the contract with Claims Administration Custard Claims Management for general claims administration. This authorizes the contract for third-party claims administration with the term from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007. Service levels here also have been excellent in the expiring contract. This is a budgeted item in the amount of $30,300.00. Trustee Preston asked that if the service contract is from January 1st to December 31st and, since we are approving this on January 23rd, shouldn’t this contract really be approved in November, so that we don’t have a lapse in contract time. Mr. Van Geem explained that if we went out to the insurance market to have it approved at our November Board meeting, we would roughly have to go out in September in order to get our statistics together, and the insurance market doesn’t like committing to a 2007 number that early. That will usually force their numbers higher because of the uncertainty that they are going to have to deal with by giving us a number four months in advance. The closer that they could bid to the date of coverage, the more they can sharpen their pencil. We have asked that same question in the past. We need numbers January 1st, but in order to get them they are committing to us in September and they will be putting a lot of fluff in their numbers in order to protect themselves. Trustee Preston asked, then technically, from January 1st until January 23rd, who has been our service contractor. Mr. Van Geem stated that Custard Claims has. We go on a gentlemen’s agreement that they will continue the service to us until the Village Board approves the contract. If you chose not to approve the contract, 17  January 23, 2007 we would have to meet around the table and settle up for their services. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked Mr. Van Geem that this was a non-bid, but they have been our previous provider, and was he confident that this is a legitimate and good and fair and equal to or below market price. Mr. Van Geem responded yes he was. Trustee Callero pointed out that the three amounts that Trustee Murphy has presented here: the first amount of the total insurance was a 5.4 percent increase, and if you take together with our service agreements, it is only actually a 2.37 percent increase overall. President Pro Tem Przybylo encouraged the administration to make sure that next year this goes out to bid. He does not think it is good that we go past six years. He knows that these providers may have a certain knowledge of our functions here, but he thinks that we probably should go out. The Board members agreed. Motion made by Trustee Murphy, and seconded by Trustee Callero, authorizing the contract with Custard Claims Management for general claims administration for 2007 for an annual fee of $30,300.00 On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. Bid Award for Professional Trustee Bondi stated that this is a request for Custodial Services Contract approval to award the Professional Custodial Services contract to Crystal Maintenance Services, Inc., the lowest bidder. This was budgeted for $115,000.00 and Crystal Maintenance came in with a bid for $104,760.00. Trustee Biederman stated that in looking at the figures of Crystal Maintenance versus all the other companies that they are significantly lower. She wanted to confirm that all vendors were working off the same specs to bid on, including the amount of work, and the amount of employees that they are providing, etc. Why is there such a stretch on the figures with the highest being $215,634.42. She asked if we have had any problems with this company in the past with theft or anything along the lines of that. Mr. Van Geem stated we have had no problems, and that they are our current provider. Trustee Callero asked Scot Neukirch, Finance Director, if he recalled what the amount of the contract was last year. Mr. Neukirch responded that it was $111,240.00. They actually bid less than what they were charging us previously. 18  January 23, 2007 Motion made by Trustee Bondi, seconded by Trustee Preston, to award Crystal Maintenance Services with the Professional Custodial Services Contract for the amount of $104,760.00. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. PETITIONS FOR REFERRAL: None. FINANCIAL REPORT: November 2006 Trustee Callero stated that the Accounts Payable for the month of November 2006 were $8,534,058.48. The ending cash balance as of November 30, 2006, was $29,333,109.72. Trustee Callero made a motion, seconded by Trustee Murphy, that the Accounts Payable for the month of November 2006 be approved for payment and the Treasurer’s Report filed for audit. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. December 2006 Trustee Callero stated that the Accounts Payable for the month of December 2006 were $3,950,741.33. The ending cash balance as of December 31, 2006, was $28,976,788.34. Trustee Callero made a motion, seconded by Trustee Murphy, that the Accounts Payable for the month of December 2006 be approved for payment and the Treasurer’s Report filed for audit. On roll call, the vote was: AYES : 5 Biederman, Bondi, Callero, Murphy, and Preston NAYS : 0 ABSENT : 0 ABSTAIN : 1 Przybylo There being 5 affirmative votes, the MOTION CARRIED. President Pro Tem Przybylo asked if there was anything from the floor. 19  January 23, 2007 Bob Truty Bob Truty, 7515 Lawler, stated that he has an ongoing concern regarding the size of new homes being built in Niles and their affordability. He explained that there are huge homes going up all around his neighborhood and he would like to see homeowners have a say in what is being built next door to them. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, Motion to Adjourn was made by Trustee Callero, seconded by Trustee Murphy. On roll call, all concurred. The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m. ___________________________ ____________________________________ Village Clerk Village President 20