Milwaukee Avenue Corridor Committee

MILWAUKEE AVENUE CORRIDOR COMMITTEE NOVEMBER 14, 2013 MEETING SUMMARY CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Co‐Chair Jekot at 8:03 a.m. ATTENDANCE The following Committee members were in attendance:  Danette Matyas, Village Trustee  John Jekot, Village Trustee  Ross Klicker, Economic Development Coordinator  Moses Nazzal, Superintendent of Engineering  Bob Pilat, Admin. Asst. to Director of Public Services Also in attendance were:  Igor Studenkov, Niles Herald Spectator  Louella Preston, Resident Ross Klicker stated Bruce Sylvester would not be able to attend the meeting due to an illness. APP0VAL OF MEETING SUMMARY Trustee Jekot made a motion, seconded by Moses Nazzal, to approve the September 26, 2013 meeting summary notes as presented. The motion passed unanimously. REVIEW OF MEETING WITH PROPERTY & BUSINESS OWNERS Ross Klicker discussed the meeting held with property and business owners on October 30, 2013. He stated there were about ten business owners present and while it started out interesting and how it could hurt businesses, by the end of the meeting it turned more positive. Those in attendance were encouraged to make comments on the aerial plan that was presented at the meeting. Comments included:  Do not install the ornamental fence at the south end of Celli’s property, just south of their entrance. It was felt this would block the view of the business.  Reduce the size of the plaza areas on the east side of Keeney Street so it does not extend in the parking lots. Page 1 of 3   Provide striping for cars parking along Keeney Street on the north and south side of the parkway so parking is more orderly once again. Currently motorists park in a variety of manners. Moses Nazzal explained the old striping was not replaced when the street was resurfaced as it did not meet minimum Motor Fuel Tax construction standards. Moses said this street is scheduled to be resurfaced again next year.  Reduce or eliminate the size of the landscape area on the east side at Cleveland Street. Bob Pilat mentioned this may be able to be reduced but still allow some type of parking whereby cars pull straight in.  On the west side at Oriole Avenue extend the plaza area into Oriole Avenue so cars approach Milwaukee Avenue at a 90 degree angle instead of the current 45 degree angle. This will provide a better line of sight for motorists.  On the west side of Milwaukee move the middle entrance on business south to match property lines. Both property owners in this area were in agreement.  The last concern was keep the landscape area on the east side between Keeney and Monroe as narrow as possible to provide as much parking area as possible, and explore bumping out the area if needed to accommodate streetlights. Maintenance of the parking areas was discussed and Ross stated there was discussion regarding Special Service Areas being established to handle maintenance but nothing is final regarding their establishment. Trustee Jekot discussed having the contractor provide a price to businesses to resurface private parking lots when the work is completed so it is all consistent when completed. Ross said in general the businesses on the west side of Milwaukee Avenue are on board with the improvement, however he is unsure if businesses on the east side will be completing happy due to the parking impacts. He said perhaps it is time to look at the possibility of making Keeney Street one way eastbound and Cleveland Street one way westbound so adequate room can be provided for cars to park along the street. There was general discussion about the possibility of completing the project in two phases starting with the west side and the south half of the east side for Phase 1, and the north half of the east side as Phase 2. Maintenance of the parking areas in front of businesses was discussed again and Ross mentioned Community Development will be stepping up enforcement of property maintenance standards. Bob Pilat will provide Akram Chaudhry from HR Green an update of the issues in this phase for his feedback and possible solutions. They will be discussed at the next meeting scheduled for January unless timing requires an earlier meeting. Page 2 of 3 BANNER PROGRAM Ross Klicker gave an update of the Village of Niles/Chamber of Commerce Banner program. He said there are 32 sponsored banners and the other 38 will be Village banners. A copy of the updated designs was presented. The banners are scheduled to be installed on December 2nd. TRAFFIC SIGNAL UPDATE Bob Pilat provided an update on the IDOT traffic signal improvement at Milwaukee & Howard, Milwaukee & Harlem, Howard & Harlem and Milwaukee & Oakton. He stated Meade Electric has completed all their work and is awaiting ComEd to supply electricity. Once it is completed the temporary signals will be removed and placed at the next intersections to be improved of Milwaukee & Main, Oakton & Harlem, Oakton & Waukegan and Oakton & Caldwell. ITEP II AND ITEP III UPDATE Martam Construction and their subcontractor LPS is currently working on finishing up miscellaneous items from ITEP II and III now that Meade Electric is almost done with their work. Once the brick work is completed the benches and trash receptacles will be placed. The planters and the flowers will be installed next spring. Bob said some brick work is the responsibility of Martam (LPS) and some is Meade’s responsibility to restore. NEW BUSINESS There was no new business. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 8:59 a.m. Page 3 of 3