Building & Zoning Committee

VILLAGE OF NILES 1000 Civic Center Drive Niles, IL 60714 www.vniles.com Approved Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 16, 2017 8:20 AM Village Hall BUILDING AND ZONING COMMITTEE MEETING Chairman Denise McCreery - Trustee Members Charles Ostman – Community Development Director Rich Wlodarski – Community Development Assistant Director Tom Kanelos – Chairman Planning and Zoning Hadley Skeffington–Vos – Assistant Village Manager Danielle Grcic – Legal Rich Mangold – Resident Building and Zoning Meeting Minutes March 16, 2017 Committee Meeting CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL The Niles Building and Zoning Committee Meeting was called to order at 8:20 AM. Present: 5 - Chairman McCreery, Wlodarski, Grcic, Kanelos, Mangold Absent: 2 – Charles Ostman, Hadley Skeffington-Voss APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chairman McCreery asked if the meeting minutes for December 15, 2016 can now be approved. Rich Mangold approved the minutes and Tom Kanelos seconded it. AYES: 5 – Chairman McCreery, Wlodarski, Grcic, Kanelos, Mangold NAYS: 0 NEW BUSINESS III. Business Videos IV. Townhome Areas – a) Discussion on common sidewalk repair/replacement b) Discussion on fly dumping and street cleaning V. Vehicles for Hire – Discussion on Current Regulations VI. Permit Bonds – Proposed Amendments to Current Requirements VII. Performance Measurements IX. Next Meeting Date and 2017 Schedule X. Adjournment Village of Niles Page 2 of 5 Building and Zoning Meeting Minutes March 16, 2017 Committee Meeting NEW BUSINESS III. Business Video Rich Wlodarski introduced Mitch Johnson, a Communication Multi Media Video Coordinator, to the Building and Zoning Committee and he showed the committee the first business video made for Niles businesses called “Niles Open for Business”. The owner of Riggio’s Restaurant was on the video and he talked about the restaurants history and how they became famous in Niles. The group discussed how this type of media can be used as a recruiting tool and how it can target outside businesses from other towns that might want to come to Niles with their established business or to start up a new business. The video can show them that you can open a business and have it last a long time or open for a short run and also have success. It can also be good for the residents here in Niles to see and enjoy Niles and what it has to offer. Showing these videos on social media and the Niles website would help promote them. Once the word is out, many businesses will want to be included in the videos. The discussion lead to - how do we pick these businesses and the following ideas were mentioned: 1) How long has the business been in Niles? 2) How much do they give back to the community? 3) Are they a member of the Niles Chamber of Commerce and Industry? Another point that was discussed was what businesses are the oldest in Niles and should they be considered first when putting these videos together. The following four businesses were mentioned: 1) Golf Mill Mall 2) Schmeisser’s 3) Ridgewood Gardens and 4) Meinke’s Garden Center Chairman McCreery mentioned that Meinke’s was the oldest business in Niles and should probably be approached first. The committee all agreed that Mitch Johnson and the others he worked with did a great job on the video. The cost was brought up and Mitch told the committee that the production cost was $400.00 per video and it includes editing, voice-overs and filming. Everyone agreed the price was good and they look forward to seeing other videos soon. Tom Kanelos suggested that the businesses should pay for such advertising but after much discussion it was not agreed upon. Mitch thanked everyone for the time he spent with us during our meeting and he said he would keep in touch. Village of Niles Page 3 of 5 Building and Zoning Meeting Minutes March 16, 2017 Committee Meeting IV. Townhome Areas a. Discussion on common sidewalk repair/replacement Rich Wlodarski and Chuck Ostman are working with Public Works and would like to incorporate them in this area along with Village contractors to get the sidewalk repair/replacement done at a reasonable price. If the owners want to get their own contractor it would be alright but probably cost more money. Unfortunately, because there is no association each townhouse owner is responsible for the sidewalk repair or replacement. Letters will probably go out in the beginning of May to explain to the owners what needs to be done to their sidewalk and they make sure to meet the codes. The owner can then decide if they want to go with our sidewalk program or hire their own contractor. After drafting this letter, the legal department will look it over and add anything necessary to make this work out for all involved. b. Discussion on fly dumping and street cleaning Rich Wlodarski mentioned Chuck Ostman wanted him to tell everyone that there was no reply from Public Works yet regarding fly dumping. Rich W. said that our Community Development department does not have the means to handle this and sometimes Public Works picks up and sometimes they do not. This has been an ongoing problem for the last ten years but it is in the budget to have someone take care of this. Chairman McCreery mentioned that Chesterfield townhome street cleaning and garbage pickup is the same day and after she talked with Public Works they are planning to change this. V. Vehicles for Hire – Discussion on Current Regulations Rich Wlodarski said this is an open discussion – we license dispatching companies, each cab and each driver and require drivers to have background checks. We also inspect cabs for cleanliness and it is a lot of work for what we get out of it. Uber, however, is not regulated at all while other towns do flat rates and are not regulated. Some cabs pick up at schools and others do not. The question is, should we continue to do licensing or not? These licenses are done once a year and the cost is $30. for cabs per vehicle along with $75. for an inspection and both need to be done together for a total cost of $105. There is also a $75. chauffeur fee. After much discussion, a registered company should check for safety regulations and a third party certificate should be on file with us. The cab owner needs to give us a sheet that says their cab has past the registered company’s test and all the Village needs to do is inspect the cab for cleanliness – this way the liability is off of the Village. Village of Niles Page 4 of 5 Building and Zoning Meeting Minutes March 16, 2017 Committee Meeting VI. Permit Bonds – Proposed Amendments to Current Requirements Rich Wlodarski mentioned the only reason we are bringing up this subject of permit bonds is because it is a large part of the new software. Rich W. said that Niles requires a $25,000. permit bond but all this covers is code issues only and the only bond we have ever made a claim on is for concrete bonds. Some other towns require $10,000. for permit bonds. Mt. Prospect has no bonds and other towns do not have them either. Rich Wlodarski wanted to know how everyone would vote on this if needed. Tom Kanelos said it was unnecessary cost to the taxpayer. Rich Mangold said he was in favor of eliminating bonds. VII. Performance Measurements Rich Wlodarski mentioned that Hadley Skeffington-Vos was going to go over the performance measurements but she could not attend the meeting today. Rich W. said we will keep an eye on that for right now. VIII. Software Update Rich Wlodarski mentioned that the Mayor approved the new software and in April there will be a full week of the City View software training. Rich W. also said we are shooting for the end of 2017 for this software being live but it could end up being the beginning of next year. IX. NEXT MEETING DATE AND 2017 SCHEDULE The committee agreed to the third Thursday of April for the next meeting and the date is April 20, 2017 at 8:15am. X. ADJOURNMENT Chairman McCreery entertained a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:55am. Tom Kanelos made the motion to adjourn the meeting and Rich Wlodarski seconded it. Village of Niles Page 5 of 5