Milwaukee Avenue Corridor Committee

Milwaukee Avenue Streetscape Committee MEETING SUMMARY Wednesday, October 31, 2012 The following persons were present: Chair Chris Hanusiak, Chuck Ostman, Bob Pilat, Mousa Nazzal and Steve Vinezeano. Also in attendance was Christopher Bigall of HR Green. Chair Hanusiak opened the meeting at 10:15 a.m. I. Approve Draft Meeting Summaries: a. The Committee approved the draft summary from Tuesday, September 18, 2012. II. Old Business: a. Project Update. Christopher Bigall provided an update on the new trees to be installed by the end of the week or early next. He discussed that the temporary signals are up, but not turned on yet. Vinezeano mentioned that Scott Jochim was going to meet a representative from IDOT on site to discuss the project. There was a concern that we get to the holiday and it look bad on the corners. Chris mentioned a need to get a permit from Chicago for the lights there. The Chair asked about an expeditor for the project and Chris mentioned Eckert would help to get things going. Chris thinks the three intersections in Chicago are being held up. He stated that the contractor wants to turn on all the lights at once. The Chair asked to get the Alderman involved. If Scott’s meeting with Romeo does not prove to move the project, we can contact the Alderman. The Alderman is Mary O’Connor in the 41st Ward. There is a concern that the area be cleaned up for the holidays if the work is not completed on the corners. Meade and IDOT are responsible to cleanup the intersections if the project is delayed. It must be made safe. There was a question about the extra stone out there and Nazzal stated that it was extra backfill from the pole placement. That can be removed. Romeo is the person to be contacted to cleanup the corners. He is the RE on the project. There was discussion about the signal hit at the corner of Harts. Pilat stated that the black posts and materials for signals are not kept on hand by IDOT. They have unpainted replacement parts, so the new based installed will not be black and will have to be painted in the Spring. There was discussion about having IDOTs contractor (Mead Electric) shop paint those before they are installed. Chris said he was told it could be requested, but the extra  cost would need to be paid. Pilat will look into this since he was told it was not an option. The Village pays Mead and the Village’s insurance company goes after the insurance company of the vehicle that hit the pole. Joe Eckert is the person to coordinate with Mead to get them shop painted. b. Banner Program Update. It is in the budget to make the changes to the banners. Sometime between the 1st and 19th of November. It will be the Shop Niles banners. Once Katie has her tails installed, they will be ready. Chuck mentioned banners and White Eagle location. These poles cannot get banners because of the wires. Nothing is put on these poles. III. New Business: a. Discuss and Prioritize Potential Projects. i. Lone Tree property. There was discussion about reducing the very large curb cut and placing the sidewalk where it belongs at the property owner, but this would remove parking spots. Grass would be added to the east of the sidewalk by Milwaukee. There was discussion about installing the sidewalk in such a way that did not touch the parking. Vinezeano mentioned that there would be more work on this project as related to the other options. Designs and estimated costs would be needed. This was made Plan B. ii. The property across from Jerry’s and the Park District at 7850 Milwaukee. This would simply be removing asphalt and installing shrubs. The problem is that there would need to be a temporary easement and there is no funding for shrubs. iii. 7640 to 7634 Milwaukee request for sidewalk. This request was requested to be placed inline with 7636. Chris pointed out that IDOT would not allow this sidewalk because it could not be made to be ADA accessible. The committee agreed that it could not be done. There is also a concern that there is no designated parking lot. There was concern about the liability of a sidewalk. iv. 8166 Milwaukee just north of Ottawa Avenue. The pizza restaurant burned down and now Chuck would like to improve the location by adding the planned streetscape sidewalk and grass. It would also require removal of asphalt and a railing. Chris mentioned that the work within the scope would be limited to just south of the property line toward Ottawa. The railing removal and sidewalk installation would need to be done by the Village. There was a concern of whether or not this was a gas station at one time. Ostman stated that he would research this issue. If this was not a gas station, we would want this to be our plan A. The condition of this site has gained a lot of attention. It will remain as a carry out. Will Martam remobilize to get the job done? The prices would be the same as in the contract. Chris stated that he has been very tight  with the costs and materials, so he feels that it can be done within the contract. There was discussion that a drawing would be required and estimates. This will all then need to be approved by IDOT. It is estimated that the work would be done in the Spring of next year. There was discussion that there would be room for additional trees as well. Chris will return to HR Green’s Chris Hartke for the drawings. The designs would use IDOT standards. This will be brought to the Village for okay and then it is sent to IDOT for okay within this contract. Once it is okay, we can return to the Board of Trustees to request the matching funding for the granted funds. Ostman brought up the issue of seeking out additional locations to improve using the $150 in grant funds that would not be used up by Plan A and/or B. Vinezeano stated that the committee has walked the project several times now and nothing pops out that is not going to negatively impact businesses and parking. There was a discussion of possibly requesting extra banners. The Chair would rather use the guaranteed funds. IV. Open Discussion Items. V. Adjournment at 11:10 a.m. Next meeting TBD.