President and Board of Trustees

123 Madison Street Village of Oak Park Oak Park, Illinois 60302 www.oak-park.us Meeting Minutes President and Board of Trustees Monday, May 9, 2016 7:00 PM Village Hall I. Call to Order Village President Abu-Taleb called the meeting to order at 7:03 P.M. II. Roll Call Present: 5- Village Trustee Barber, Village Trustee Brewer, Village Trustee Button Ott, Village Trustee Lueck, and Village President Abu-Taleb Absent: 2- Village Trustee Salzman, and Village Trustee Tucker III. Agenda Approval It was moved by Village Trustee Button Ott, seconded by Village Trustee Brewer, to approve the agenda. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. IV. Public Comment Mark Burger. Mr. Burger recommended that the Village and State consider the large scale implementation of solar power systems that can be installed throughout the reconstruction. Chris Donovan. Mr. Donovan stated that the Board has met eight times for public discussion of the Eisenhower reconstruction but has not provided similar opportunities in regards to the Madison Street Road Diet. Rick Kuner. Mr. Kuner noted that the CSX right-of-way is a high priority topic. He spoke about a sustainability report that IDOT completed in 2010 and Partnership For Sustainable Communities, which is a partnership between three Federal agencies. He also recommended other reports that IDOT can refer to regarding reconstruction. V. Regular Agenda ID 16-155 Discussion Regarding Right-of-Way within the I-290 Corridor Related to the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) Reconstruction Project and the Evaluation of Expanded Bridge Decking. Village Manager Pavlicek noted that this is the eight Study Session on the subject of the Eisenhower. Tonight's meeting will focus on determining optimal use of the right-of-way (ROW) ditch shared by the CSX Railroad, the CTA and IDOT. Urban stitching, or expanded bridge decking, as well as some sustainability issues will also be discussed . Pete Harmet from IDOT presented the ROW evaluation. IDOT has been in discussions with CSX for quite some time. CSX is an active line and serves a customer. They have stated that there isn't any ROW available for rearranging what is in the Eisenhower Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 5/17/2016 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 9, 2016 corridor. However, CSX has been working with IDOT to coordinate bridge clearances in an effort not to raise the bridges. Another meeting between IDOT and CSX is scheduled next week to continue this discussion. IDOT has also been working with CTA to determine if there is an opportunity to use some of their excess ROW to widen the shoulders of the I-290. The recommendation is to utilize 10 feet of CTA ROW, which will not affect their planned improvements for stations and platforms. IDOT plans to continue discussions with CTA as well. Mr. Harmet stated that sustainability in regards to a transportation project is typically referred to as the triple bottom line. This addresses current and future social, economic and environmental issues. Environmental issues include stakeholder participation, technical evaluation on items such as noise and air quality, and expanded public spaces that include green space. Expanded public space in the ROW, including expanded bridges, will be 5 acres from Harlem to Austin. LED lighting, plantings, solar panels and permeable pavements are some of the ideas that have been discussed for these areas. In terms of economics, regional and local travel time will improve with the managed lane and delays will be reduced on Harlem and Austin. Flooding will also be addressed. In terms of social factors, the project will be supporting Oak Park and other communities, offering additional travel choices such as an east-west path for non-motorized and pedestrian travel. Improving congestion along the interchanges and expressway will provide better access to jobs. Improvements to overhead bridges will improve access to transit and those wider sidewalks will help strengthen community connections. These and other elements of the project will continue to be discussed and refined throughout construction. Village Trustee Brewer asked who will be providing financing for the various components of the project. Mr. Harmet replied that this has been an ongoing topic during the meetings that IDOT has held with the Village. There should be answers by the time they reach the presentation stage. Village Manager Pavlicek commented that staff is in the process of developing charts for presentation at the May 23 Study Session where all these elements will be put into what the cost sharing arrangement will be. Some items will be paid for 100% by IDOT, some 100% by the Village. She added that areas will be identified where grants or partnering with other communities may offset some of the costs. Mr. Harmet answered additional questions from the Board. Village Manager Pavlicek referred to the slides provided by IDOT of expanded bridge decking and described urban stitching as a sense of creating a connectivity that is not necessarily vehicular driven over the expressway. One design was for Oak Park Avenue and the other for East Avenue to present a sense of size as well as related costs. Regarding Oak Park Avenue, the structure is estimated at approximately $7.5 million and an estimated $16.5 million for the cap portion. The East Avenue design is a much larger footprint and will cost $21 million for the sub structures and approximately $46 million for the decking. She also discussed the slide of the Home Avenue pedestrian bridge design. They are advocating for putting green space on top of that, which will be a smaller scale of urban stitching but not expanded bridge decking. She wanted the Board to be aware of these concepts, as within a few weeks they will have to decide if they want to keep that opportunity at the Letter of Intent stage. There were comments from Trustees. Village Trustee Brewer suggested that public input regarding the bridge decking be sought before completing the Letter of Intent. Village Manager Pavlicek stated that there are options that staff can come up with to make that happen. Village Trustee Barber commented that this is a large expense that he and most taxpayers would have trouble supporting. He stated that he hopes that future generations of this Board will be open to those discussions but in terms of the current Board, they are other challenges financially to address. Village Trustee Lueck agreed. The current Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 5/17/2016 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 9, 2016 concern is about the sub structrue and if the Village wants to commit to that cost. She added that public input is critical but she felt that the Village didn't have enough information to know what they should be asking residents. Village Trustee Button Ott stated that having the public give their input about a project they may or may not want to pay for, at a time unspecific, will not be as effective as it could be if done in the future. Village President Abu-Taleb noted that this would cost almost $15 million per acre. To put some perspective on it, he asked if there were any ideas about other ways they would use that money to benefit the community if it was readily available. VI. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Barber, seconded by Village Trustee Brewer, to adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 8:09 P.M., Monday, May 9, 2016. Respecfully Submitted, MaryAnn Schoenneman Deputy Village Clerk Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 5/17/2016