Economic Development & Neighborhood Renewal

COMMISSION FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND NEIGHBORHOOD RENEWAL MEETING MINUTES Thursday, September 24, 2015 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING Persons in Attendance: Executive Committee: Charles Ostman – Executive Director Ross Klicker - Associate Executive Director Cathy Spadoni – Secretary Steven Vinezeano – Village Manager Joe Bialko Mike Shields Jason Trunco Alan Zielinski Cammy Fortuna – Staff member Chris Hanusiak – Niles Resident Persons absent: Executive Committee: Mayor Andrew Przybylo – Ex-Officio Trustee Joe LoVerde – Ex-Officio I. Call to Order Charles Ostman called the meeting of the Executive Committee to order at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers Conference Room, Village of Niles Administration Building. II. Approval of Minutes Alan Zielinski made a motion, seconded by Steve Vinezeano, to approve the minutes of the August 20, 2105 meeting. On voice vote, all concurred. III. Façade Grant Application for 6881 N. Milwaukee Home Comfort Showroom at 6881 Milwaukee Avenue is making significant improvements to the facility. Applicant is requesting the full $5,000.00 grant for façade improvements and the $1000.00 for architectural assistance.  Economic Development/Neighborhood Renewal September, 24, 2015 Alan Zielinski made a motion, seconded by Mike Shields, to approve the $5,000 façade grant application and the $1,000 architectural assistance for 6881 N. Milwaukee. On roll call, all concurred. IV. Façade Grant Application for 6480 W. Touhy The Wildwood Tavern at 6480 W. Touhy has spent in excess of $80,000 in repairs. They are now down to the final stages and need help. They are requesting the full $5,000 grant for façade improvements and $1,000 for architectural assistance. Joe Bialko made a motion, seconded by Steve Vinezeano, to approve the $5,000 façade grant application and the $1,000 architectural assistance for 6480 W. Touhy. On roll call, all concurred. Ross Klicker will look into the possibility of planting trees in the right-of-way on the property. General comments included:  Now that the word is out about the façade program, businesses are approaching the Village to apply, but the Village also approaches businesses to see if they are interested in making improvements via the façade program.  We have the necessary funding in the budget for the façade grant application program - $20,000.  This program creates an incentive for businesses to come into town. There is momentum going on right now and we will see more requests in the future. At budget time, the façade grant policy will be reviewed and the distribution of funds to new as well as existing businesses will be evaluated.  Chuck Ostman will contact the stakeholders who have had little to no participation to see if they want to be removed from the contact list.  Staff will look into a more convenient method to amplify stakeholder meetings (for the purpose of recording the meetings) so as to encourage more participation. V. Adjournment Joe Bialko made a motion, seconded by Steve Vinezeano, to adjourn the Executive Committee meeting. The meeting adjourned at 5:47 p.m. 2  Economic Development/Neighborhood Renewal September, 24, 2015 REGULAR MEETING Persons in attendance: Executive Committee: Mayor Andrew Przybylo – Ex-Officio Charles Ostman – Executive Director Ross Klicker – Associate Executive Director Steven C.Vinezeano – Village Manager Cathy Spadoni – Secretary Joe Bialko Mike Shields Jason Trunco Alan Zielinski Stakeholders: Kyle Brown Stephen Costa Cammy Fortuna Steve Greif Chris Hanusiak Carol Harczak Janet Lee Rich Mangold Judy McNulty Barry Mueller Louella Preston Katie Schneider Linda Stoops Rich Wlodarski Persons absent: Executive Committee: Trustee Joe LoVerde – Ex-Officio VI. Call to Order Charles Ostman called the regular meeting of the EDNR to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers, Village of Niles Administration Building. He reported that the minutes of the August 20, 2015 meeting and the façade grant applications for 6881 N. Milwaukee Avenue and 6480 W. Touhy Avenue were approved in the Executive Committee meeting. VII. Discussion of Neighborhood Maps and Neighborhood-Building Activities Discussion of Neighborhood Maps – The proposed neighborhood map was included in the Focus on Niles newsletter. After considering the input received from residents and keeping in mind that the neighborhood names were selected based on history and nostalgia, the stakeholders made the following decisions: All the names will remain the same with the following exceptions:  The neighborhood on Caldwell just south of Oakton will be named Rivers Edge  Golf Glen Gardens will be renamed Courtland Park  Niles Villas will be renamed and divided in two: Dutchmans Point for the triangle west of Milwaukee and O’Shanter Estates for the area east of 3  Economic Development/Neighborhood Renewal September, 24, 2015 Milwaukee (After reviewing a number of choices, these names were chosen by majority vote.)  Niles Terrace will be renamed The Terrace The Village of Niles GIS Department will make the appropriate changes to the map, which will be presented to the Village Board for adoption. Neighborhood-Building Activities – Friday Flamingo Social Hour. A resident puts a flamingo on their front lawn on a Friday evening indicating the location of a neighborhood gathering. There would be one flamingo per neighborhood. The Village would provide the flamingos and post the events on the Village website. A vote was taken by a show of hands that the Friday Flamingo Social Hour will be the first of new neighborhood-building initiatives. The Friday Flamingo Social Hour program will be announced at the same time as the new neighborhood map. Neighborhood Garage Sales. Everyone in a specific neighborhood would have their garage sales on the same weekends. (Staff is still in the process of a developing a new garage sale permitting process and signage program.) Neighborhood Garden. This would be an area of land that is not utilized within a neighborhood that could be converted into a flower garden, rock garden, rain garden, etc. to bring the neighborhood together and emphasize environmental friendliness. This concept needs further study. Contests for the best garden and/or holiday decorations. These would encourage residents to take good care of their property and their neighborhoods. Garden Party. Neighbors can come together to share resources. Every Block and Next Door Niles Apps. Currently, not enough Niles residents use these social apps. They are more dominated by the Edgebrook and Wildwood neighborhoods in Chicago. VIII. Initiatives to Help the Restaurants in Niles Staff has been looking for ways to help restaurants attract clientele. We continue to conduct the Dine-In program with the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber is helping restaurants by giving discount programs, and has been working on promotions that will encourage employees in the area to patronize Village restaurants. It was noted that demographics in Niles have changed and that has played a role in fewer people going out to dine. It was also noted that some restaurants are better at marketing than others, and that some responsibility needs to be put back on the owners. Mayor Przybylo noted that we have always tried to help the hospitality industry. We take 1% of the sales; all that we have given back is the Dine-In program. Niles has always been a rich restaurant / hospitality place, but we are now becoming less and less so, 4  Economic Development/Neighborhood Renewal September, 24, 2015 principally because of the economy. We don’t have to do anything to help, but it would be a shame if Niles became a “restaurant desert.” The questions at hand are: Is it important that we work with restaurants and, if so, do we need to look at some limited gaming. Do we look to hire a professional to help the restaurants with their marketing needs? If so, we need to budget accordingly. Should we pursue an RFP for marketing to help our restaurants? IX. Discussion of Limited Video Gaming State law dictates that only establishments with a liquor license can hold a gaming license. Gaming is linked to liquor licenses because those businesses are used to checking IDs and are good at it, and if they violate the laws, they will lose their liquor license as well as their gaming license. There is a lot at stake. The group reviewed information prepared by Mike Shields regarding Video Gaming. Ross Klicker discussed the Illinois Gaming Board Video Gaming Report dated January 2015 – August 2015. While municipalities do not get much revenue from video gaming, it should be discussed if this is something that could help the restaurants survive. Comments included:  In order to prevent over-spending, do not have a cash station at a facility with video gaming.  Family values go a lot deeper than a putting a video gaming machine in a bar.  Off-track betting has not hurt the Village of Niles. The income is good and most people don’t even know it is there.  Video gaming has not hurt Morton Grove, Norridge or Fox Lake.  We lose revenue not only on the gaming, but also from the sales from bars and restaurants when patrons leave Niles to go to Morton Grove.  If someone wants to gamble, they will gamble anyway.  This can be a subtle form of entertainment while guests are waiting for their food.  We need to create new revenue streams to replace some things that the state is taking away.  To have a video gaming license the business must have a pour license.  Video gaming does not create new jobs.  There is a cost that needs to be looked at but we would not be creating gamblers.  Signage is a concern for video gaming; there are restrictions for signage in the provisions.  Reasonable restrictions should be put into place to maintain the Village’s image.  A lottery would be put into place to limit the amount of machines.  Morton Grove has a moratorium at this point with eight licenses.  Moretti’s will be coming to Morton Grove because of gaming. 5  Economic Development/Neighborhood Renewal September, 24, 2015  To be fair to our town, we should align ourselves with the “nicer” towns in the area that do not allow video gaming rather than the ones that do.  Video gaming will help some businesses, but not others.  We need to have further discussion on gaming. Questions included:  Who gets to apply for a license?  How does gaming impact the restaurants? How will it help them?  What are the costs involved - policing, cameras, etc.  What are the benefits?  Should a proposal be sent out for a professional consultant group? It was advised that at the next meeting, we bring in a speaker to talk about video gaming and ask our branding consultant to speak to this issue as well. X. Open Discussion Staff is looking for ways to get businesses other than restaurants involved in the Shop Local program. The Mt. Prospect Chamber and Mt. Prospect Library have devised a program where the library card is used as a discount card. In Niles, this approach would drive traffic, as our library is one of the most visited institutions in town. Each business can set its own levels of discounts to be offered. This collaboration would be beneficial to all parties. A TIF District has been approved for the Touhy triangle and surrounding area. The Lakota Group, a master land use planner, has submitted an existing condition summary that speaks to the demographics, the needs and challenges, and the advantages and opportunities in the area. Findings include: The extreme traffic volume on Touhy and Caldwell needs to be addressed; there are three areas that are prime for redevelopment – 1) entertainment and hospitality corridor, 2) uses that compliment #1 such as micro- breweries, and 3) a pure retail environment; existing transit assets are quite good and there are opportunities to create a small transit center; and creating ample parking is key to the success of the redevelopment plan. The new Costco Gas pumps and the new Aldi are not part of the Touhy triangle project. Costco’s growth due to the success of the gas pumps indicates that the Touhy Avenue corridor is a tremendous economic driver, and the potential for growth is real. We need to capitalize on it, put the plans in place and give property owners the opportunity to maximize their profitability and investments. Wildwood Tavern is open for business. Volume is good, food quality is good, and they are working to resolve service issues. They are confident that this is a good location. There is a long term possibility – 15 to 20 years – to get a Metra Station. The RTA has agreed to look at the intersection at Jarvis and the train tracks and, in the next ten years, will study the possibility of a train station. If the study warrants a train station, RTA will put this into their 10 year capital plan. 6  Economic Development/Neighborhood Renewal September, 24, 2015 Nothing has been done to improve the area on the east side of Milwaukee south of Oasis Pool. The business owners were asked if we could make improvements, but they refused and threatened law suits. Many of Niles’ successful restaurants are near Chicago and are walking distance from the patrons’ homes. Perhaps, maybe through the Chamber, we can set up a shuttle for bar- hopping on Friday and Saturday nights to take people to restaurants that are not within walking distance to bring more business to those establishments. XI. Agenda Items for Next Meeting XII. Next Meeting Date The next meeting will be held on November 19, 2015. XIII. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Commission, Alan Zielinski made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Steve Vinezeano. On voice vote, all concurred. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m. 7