Comprehensive Plan Implementation Subcommittee

Niles 2030 Plan Implementation Sub –Committee Meeting Summary Tuesday August 7th, 2012 The following persons were in attendance: Committee members Pat Dalessandro, Steve Gorski, Fred Kudert, Harry Major, and Mike Shields. Community Development Manager Rich Wlodarski chaired the meeting on behalf of Chuck Ostman who was not able to attend. Niles Village Manager George Van Geem joined the meeting after it was in session, at 7:15 PM. He was delayed because of a prior commitment with another Village function. The meeting was called to order at 6:25 pm by Interim Chairman Rich Wlodarski. 1. The Minutes of the July 30th, 2012 meeting were presented and approved unanimously by the Committee members present. 2. Mike Shields asked if Chairman Chuck Ostman is a voting member. Rich Wlodarski indicated that he is. This question was raised regarding the committees current voting process on objective priorities. Chuck’s individual votes will be included in the tabulation, averaging and analysis. 3. Fred Kudert asked a follow up question from the previous meeting regarding posting of the sub‐committee minutes on the Village web site. Rich Wlodarski indicated that they are being posted, after the committee’s approval. A request was made by Mike Shields and supported by the other members to add a link or cross reference in the section where the minutes are posted to connect to the Niles 2030 master plan. This will be added. 4. The Committee proceeded to complete the individual priority voting process and discussion of the following remaining areas: Parks and Open Space (16 objectives), Image and Identity (22 objectives), Economic Development (19 objectives), Sustainability (6 objectives) and Arts and Culture (9 objectives). Interim Chairman Rich Wlodarski compiled the individual results and he did not vote. Community Development will complete updating the composite spread sheet and posting of the individual votes on each of the 183 objectives, including Chuck Ostman’s priority votes when added. A copy will be issued to all Committee members in advance of the initial priority discussion meeting schedule for Tuesday August 21st at 6:30 PM. There were numerous questions and discussions concerning many objectives and priorities during the review. The main areas are summarized as follows. In the section, Parks and Open Spaces, Pat Dalessandro asked about grants, who prepares them? This was a general funding question concerning any recommendations that the committee will make in this area. Assistant Village Manager Steve Vinezeano and Village employee Bob Pilat of Public Services have the primary responsibilities. In Image and Identity, all committee members agreed that objective 26.1 concerning design and development standards is a key issue. Pat Dalessandro commented, based on his experience, that it is very important to have appropriate rules in place, referring to zoning, in advance of the expected upward changes in development activity. Harry Major commented based on his development experience that is important to consider cost versus benefits in the process of reviewing, changing and developing regulations, which will occur with the approved zoning review program and as referred to in objective 26.13. Mike Shields added a concern regarding specific wording, that some room for future interpretation is important and appropriate to avoid adverse limitations on valid designs, etc. that were not immediately evident when the regulations were drafted. There was also discussion in the Image section concerning the encouragement of diversity, specifically the meaning of the objective 26. 21, as it is written. It was agreed that the current wording was confusing but the committee felt that it may mean – to encourage community participation ‐ and that a wording change, replacing the relationship with Village Leadership to a broader definition should be considered. In the Economic Development section regarding a question on objective 26.1 TIF use, it was noted that the TIF process is inherently slow and it works best when developers ask for a TIF program for a specific project. In the discussion concerning objective 27.8 of Goal 1 on regulations and development, co‐ordination with various Village organizations, i.e. Chamber of Commerce, etc. Harry Major commented from his long experience with many different chambers and Village groups that the Niles Chamber of Commerce is very active and supportive of the business community, and among the best. Pat Dalessandro also supported this perspective. Overall, based on the discussion of this objective the committee felt that is very important to consider presenting specific recommendations in the Board summary and presentation to actively engage the Niles Chamber of Commerce in the implementation process. The committee unanimously agreed by individual priority votes that objectives 27.9 from Goal 1 and 27.1, 27.2, and 27.3 from Goal 2 (maintain the Villages diverse tax base with business development) are all “10”, highest priority goals that need to be focused on now. In Sustainability, Mike Shields commented that the Villages current program to develop a comprehensive Environmental Plan should address a number of objectives in this specific section within a high priority 2012/2013 time frame. There were many comments with respect to Arts and Culture. Mike Shields indicated that Niles may have a large architectural diversity that, with appropriate recognition and communication, may provide benefits in this area. Pat Dalessandro commented regarding festivals that an offering which differs significantly from programs in the surrounding communities, something other than for example the multitude of farmers markets, would be helpful. He cited the potential of a Winter Festival with ice carving etc., perhaps at the Oak Mill Mall, as a program to potentially explore based on favorable performance in other more distant suburbs. With respect to public art, Mike Shields commented that Niles is largely void of this art form versus other suburbs. The committee agreed. Harry Major indicated that this may be a difficult area to implement from a financial aspect. By his own business experience public art is costly and something that most businesses are likely to see as very difficult to fund. Pat Dalessandro offered suggestions to perhaps consider a “starving artist” format associated with Jr. College Art Programs, where art would be on display, for sale, at various locations. Fred Kudert indicated that some of the local high schools may also have interest in public art displays of some form. This completed the specific review of the remaining sections. For the record Village Manager Van Geem joined the meeting at 7:15, as previously noted, which corresponded with the Arts and Culture discussion. Related to this area, an art funding discussion occurred later in the meeting. Harry Major provided the group with details concerning a major program in Oak Lawn ($33MM) to improve 95th Street which included funding for planters and other beautification support, asking if something similar was available for Niles. Mike Shields indicated and showed a section of the detailed program for Milwaukee Avenue beautification  which requires $4MM to $5MM to complete. Village Manager Van Geem commented that while Niles is a low debt community, it is not likely to find additional public debt or other financing for the full scope of the Milwaukee Ave. program because of underlying pension funding liabilities of $40MM to $50MM, etc. 5. How to format and present the results was discussed next. It was agreed that the current working format listing all 183 individual objectives with each corresponding individual vote followed by an average thereof, would be used. In addition the 10’s and 9’s would be flagged in some additional form to aid the upcoming priority discussions. 6. As part of the priority discussion process it was also agreed that the committee would review objectives for fit with the four basic broad areas of importance to the Niles community as determined through the 2030 survey initiatives: Storm Water remediation, Milwaukee Ave. Streetscape, Image and Identity and Traffic congestion. The committee also agreed with the need to begin applying funding constraints in the upcoming review process. Mike Shields apprised the committee and Village Manager Van Geem of his request, made previously via email to Chuck Ostman, to provide each committee member with bound black and white copies of the 2013 budget. Village Manager Van Geem was asked to provide direction at upcoming meetings regarding funding capabilities within the existing budget and where directional decisions can be made on the allocation of available monies. 7. A discussion followed regarding possible general prioritization steps and implementation related issues. Harry Major commented that the committee should consider to first develop a list of the near term critical items and then follow this with a funding review. Similar to previous meetings, the appropriate number of objectives was also discussed in terms of preference. Harry Major believes that a smaller list may be preferred for focus and assurance that some very basic key objectives, once identified, can readily be achieved. This is the main purpose/benefit of the committee in his perspective. Mike Shields continued to support his previous view that a larger list is achievable. Fred Kudert suggested consideration of groups as a means of developing and posting specific priorities for near term implementation and that a larger total of overall objectives may be important to support a sense of urgency. The approved zoning review program was cited as an example as it will absorb a large number of specific 2030 objectives under one activity and primarily utilizing an outside firm which limits the impact on existing Village resources.  In a similar perspective Mike Shields added that once the new hires for Economic Development and Planning are in place that another set of primarily manning related objectives can also be supported increasing the number of objectives that can be addressed. Fred Kudert also commented from his professional experience that starting with a larger number of goals or actions generally leads to better results in terms of what is successfully completed. He also added that a number of objectives are not finance constrained as they are “cultural” in the sense that they call for “promote or encourage” as the action steps and that it would be important to capture as many of these objectives early on in order to develop a Village wide cultural tone for the program. Mike Shields supported this perspective. Mike Shields also reiterated his concern for the need for urgency, to accomplish as much as possible over the next several years in terms of the importance to the Village’s finances and competitive position in the area. 8. It was noted that the next meeting, composite review and initial priority discussions, is scheduled for Tuesday August 21, 2012 at 6:30 PM. The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 PM.