Economic Development Committee

1 APPROVED 2 MINUTES OF A JOINT MEETING OF THE NORTHBROOK ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE & 3 INDUSTRIAL & COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION 4 Village Hall Board Room 5 January 13, 2016 6 7 EDC Members Present: Chairman James Kahan, Carol Currie, Jessica Donato, Edwin Feld, Sandy Frum, 8 Jay Glaubinger, Mike Gold, Kate Hall, Dr. Larry Hewitt, Judith Hughes, Tracy Katz Muhl, Karen Roloff, 9 Richard Rushkewicz, Ken Slepicka, Dr. Ken Spero, & Chris Young 10 11 ICDC Members Present: Chairman Patrick Lederer, Rik Blyth, Mark Freeman, David Gottlieb, Larry 12 Herskovitz, Brian Lee, Richard Leopold, Richard Rushkewicz (also noted above), & Curtis Wilens 13 14 Staff Present: David Schoon 15 16 Others Present: Gina Speckman, Executive Director, North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau 17 Richard Welch, President, Atlas Fibre Company 18 19 Recorder: Gale Cerabona 20 21 Call to Order & Introductions 22 ICDC Chairman Lederer called the meeting to order in the Board Room of Village Hall at 7:35 a.m. 23 Everyone introduced themselves. 24 25 Review of Minutes 26 A correction was made to the October 14, 2015 EDC draft minutes on Page 2, Line 29 to add, after 27 “Bonds were issued” the following “to complete capital projects and life safety repairs and”. On a 28 motion made and seconded, the October 14, 2015, EDC meeting minutes were approved as amended. 29 30 On a motion made and seconded, the October 27, 2015, ICDC meeting minutes were approved as 31 presented. 32 33 Public Comment – Hear from the Audience 34 There were none. 35 36 Consideration of Continued Village Support of the Chicago North Shore Convention and Visitors 37 Bureau (CVB) and the Northbrook Chamber of Commerce and Industry 38 Gina Speckman, Executive Director of the Chicago’s North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau 39 introduced herself and noted funding has been released by the State of Illinois. She announced that the 40 CVB welcomed a new community, Village of Wheeling, and stated Village of Glencoe will come on board 41 in 2016. Ms. Speckman provided a presentation and referred to the handout. She advised that a new 42 web site and newsletter is designed and revised, respectively. The goal of the bureau is to bring 43 meetings, visitors, etc. to member communities. Member Blyth noted that with the loss of Kraft Foods, 44 the hospitality industry in Northbrook needs the CVB now more than ever. 45 46 Staff Liaison Schoon advised that Tensley Garris, President of the Northbrok Chamber of Commerce, was 47 unable to attend today’s meeting due to a family matter. 48  Joint EDC&ICDC Meeting Minutes January 13, 2016 1 A motion was made and seconded to recommend the Village’s continued participation with the Chicago 2 North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 3 4 A motion was made and seconded to recommend the Village’s continued participation with the 5 Northbrook Chamber of Commerce. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 6 7 It was noted that the Atlas Fibre agenda item would precede the Wiss Janney Elstner item 8 9 Discussion of a Request by Atlas Fibre for Village Support of the Cook County Class 6b Classification for 10 an “Abandoned” Building at 3411 Woodhead Drive 11 Staff Liaison Schoon offered a presentation. He advised the building is located in Sky Harbor, the 12 business is growing, and is currently located in Skokie with 63 employees. The average annual salary is 13 $51,000 along with a package of employee benefits. The company manufactures and distributes plastics 14 and precision machinery for plastics. The building was purchased in August of 2012. Currently $1 million 15 has been allotted for improvements for the vacant building. Staff Liaison Schoon stated in 2014, a non- 16 profit organization used the building for six weeks at no cost. The property has been taxed at the 17 vacancy rate. The current Applicant is looking to purchase the building for $4.6 million in 2016. Staff 18 Liaison Schoon noted the Class 6b reduces the assessment rate for a period of twelve years. The project 19 must be used for industrial and/or research and development purposes. The estimated property tax 20 savings for the business were identified (with and without Class 6b) at $1.8 million. Staff Liaison Schoon 21 advised that the Village Board reviewed this application, and comments were positive. 22 23 Chairman Kahan welcomed staff from Atlas Fibre who introduced themselves. It was noted there is a 24 parent company along with operating companies that would occupy the building. Some operating units 25 have had double digit growth; a new building is imperative. The current property owner has made 26 improvements to make the property attractive to the market. 27 28 A question was asked about the increase of employees. Atlas staff responded that they anticipate a 29 growth to 90-100 employees. The building will accommodate warehousing and manufacturing. The 30 company is currently in a 55,000 square foot building; this building offers 50% more space. 31 32 A question was asked about the non-profit organization having occupied the space for a period of time. 33 President Frum stated it wasn’t an issue for the Board. 34 35 Ken Slepicka stated that the Park District would like to see any business obtaining the Class 6b seek LEED 36 certification for building improvements. Atlas staff responded that they are pressured by their 37 customers to do just that; they will work with the contractor to implement LEED features to the site. 38 39 Chairman Lederer inquired about the ownership. Atlas staff advised the operating companies are also 40 (family) owned by the same individuals who own the parent company (husband and wife). 41 42 A member of the EDC moved, another seconded, to recommend to the Village Board support of the 43 Class 6b Classification for an “abandoned” building at 3411 Woodhead Drive. On a voice vote, the 44 motion was approved, with two members abstaining 45  Joint EDC&ICDC Meeting Minutes January 13, 2016 1 A member of the ICDC moved, another seconded, to recommend to the Village Board support of the 2 Class 6b Classification for an “Abandoned” Building at 3411 Woodhead Drive. On a voice vote, the 3 motion was approved with one member opposed and one member abstaining. 4 5 Discussion of a Request by Wiss Janney Elstner Associates for Village Support of the Cook County Class 6 6b Classification for the New Construction at 330 Pfingsten Road. 7 Staff Liaison Schoon offered a presentation. He noted technical research of structural building elements 8 is conducted at Wiss Janney Elstner Associates (WJE), which is an existing Northbrook business. There 9 are currently 270 employees and the company wishes to add 68 employees. The average salary is 10 $100,000 annually. WJE is considering other options outside the state to accommodate its projected 11 growth. 12 13 Two buildings (totaling 42,400 square feet) would be removed and replaced with a 69,390 square foot 14 building addition resulting in a total of 137,600 square feet of floor area on the Subject Property. The 15 Class 6b Classification would apply to the value of the new building addition. Staff Liaison Schoon 16 stated the property tax differential for WJE with and without the Class 6b is $2.3 million. 17 18 Chairman Kahan stated the incentive would be granted on the gross addition (rather than the net). He 19 noted this is a company we would like to have remain in Northbrook. Chairman Lederer concurred that 20 with the people moving into Northbrook, these employee salaries would support the businesses in 21 Northbrook; he believes it is a good use. It was noted this company works closely with UL. 22 23 A member of the EDC moved, and another seconded, to recommend that the Village Board support the 24 Class 6b for Wiss Janney Elstner Associates. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 25 26 A member of the ICDC moved, and another seconded, to recommend that the Village Board support the 27 Class 6b for Wiss Janney Elstner Associates. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 28 29 Discussion of a Request by Panek Precision for Village Support for the Renewal of the Cook County 30 Class 6b Classification for the Property at 445 Academy Drive 31 Staff Liaison Schoon advised the EDC & ICDC do not need to take action on this matter. He stated that at 32 the Village Board meeting the previous evening, the Village Board decided that it would not take action 33 on this renewal request as taking such action would not be consistent with the Village’s policy of not 34 renewing Class 6b classifications. 35 36 Chairman Kahan asked if anyone had comments regarding the Village’s policy of not renewing Class 6bs. 37 A couple of members stated their support of the policy and another member stated that should the 38 Village consider granting renewals it should consider the long term impacts of granting them. 39 40 It was asked if litigation is possible for not renewing the Class 6b. Staff Liaison Schoon responded that 41 County program is very clear regarding the steps necessary for an applicant to receive renewal of the 42 Class 6b. 43 44 Report from Taxing Districts Regarding Impact of State Government’s Action/Inaction on Local Taxing 45 Districts 46  Joint EDC&ICDC Meeting Minutes January 13, 2016 1 Park District – The Park District is in a strong financial position; however, a two-year property tax freeze 2 being discussed at the State level would be a concern. 3 4 District 27 – State inaction is having an impact in the following areas. The uncertainty makes it difficult 5 to negotiate longer term teacher contracts. There are concerns about the impacts of a property tax 6 freeze, shifting of pension obligations, etc. 7 8 Library – The Library is moving out of the construction phase with the completion of the renovations. 9 The next project is to create a new plan for the future of the library. The Library is financially sound. 10 There is a concern about the State and Library funds. 11 12 District 30 – District 30 continues to have good reserves. There are concerns about property tax freeze 13 and shift of pensions, etc. Just completed a 10-year life safety review. 14 15 District 28 – District 28 is also concerned about property tax freeze and shift of pension obligations. 16 Half-day kindergarten is still being considered. 17 18 In response to a question, Member Hewitt highlighted the potential impacts of shifting the pension 19 obligations to local school districts. The impact could be $1 million per year. 20 21 In response to a question regarding if consolidating school districts would help save money, Member 22 Hewitt stated that consolidating school districts does not necessarily result in savings. 23 24 Village - President Frum provided an update regarding the funding status of the Village’s three pensions. 25 She stated the proposed property tax freeze by the state would impact the Village, though there has 26 been discussions regarding the freeze not applying to public safety items. She also discussed how a 27 property tax freeze would impact the Village’s ability to issue general obligations bonds to fund capital 28 projects, thus having to use more expensive revenue bonds to fund them. State continues to discuss 29 sweeping the distributive fund, which would reduce the amount of funds the Village receives from the 30 State. The State’s inaction is leading to a lot of uncertainty. President Frum finished by discussing the 31 $10 million Wescott Park stormwater project 32 33 Old Business 34 Staff Liaison Schoon updated everyone on last night’s Board Meeting regarding Class 6bs and discussion 35 regarding the Anets Woods planned development project. An update on the project at 1000 Skokie 36 Boulevard was also shared. It was asked what the update is on the gas station at Dundee Road and 37 Skokie Boulevard. Staff Liaison Schoon advised the two parties are getting closer to a deal; President 38 Frum stated this has not yet come to the Board. Another member asked about Dunkin’ Donuts. Staff 39 Liaison Schoon advised staff is waiting to issue the permit. It was stated the topic of the townhome 40 development on Shermer is still with the Plan Commission; President Frum stated that the Board is in 41 favor of a residential project on this site. 42 43 Chairman Kahan discussed the EDC’s discussion at its last meeting and the decision to continue to meet. 44 45 New Business 46 A Business After Hours event for the Chamber of Commerce will occur on January 21, 2016. 47  Joint EDC&ICDC Meeting Minutes January 13, 2016 1 A State of the Village address by President Frum at Pinstripes will take place on January 27, 2016. 2 3 Next scheduled ICDC meeting will be Tuesday, January 26, 2016. The next scheduled EDC Meeting will 4 be Wednesday, April 13, 2016. 5 6 Adjourn 7 A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 p.m. On a voice vote, the motion 8 carried unanimously. 9 10 11 Respectfully Submitted, 12 13 Gale Cerabona