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, June 13, 2016 7:30 PM Village Hall I. Call to Order Village President Abu-Taleb called the meeting to order at 7:33 P.M. II. Roll Call Present: 6- Village Trustee Brewer, Village Trustee Button Ott, Village Trustee Lueck, Village Trustee Salzman, Village Trustee Tucker, and Village President Abu-Taleb Absent: 1- Village Trustee Barber III. Agenda Approval Village President Abu-Taleb asked for a moment of silence for Orlando, Florida, the victims of the recent shootings and their families. A vigil is scheduled for 6:00 P.M. Wednesday at Scoville Park, weather permitting. It will be moved to First United Church if it rains. It was moved by Village Trustee Brewer, seconded by Village Trustee Button Ott, to approve the agenda. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. V. Regular Agenda A. ID 16-190 Update on the Madison Street Capital Improvement Project Village President Abu-Taleb thanked audience members for attending and the Board and staff for making this meeting possible. He stated that the purpose of the meeting is to provide an update regarding the revitalization of Madison Street and to address various concerns raised by the public. Since the Madison Street TIF was established in 1995, there have been many discussions, meetings and forums but still no significant development of Madison Street. Village President Abu-Taleb reviewed steps taken by the current Board since 2015 regarding the road diet and gave an overview of the project. Two designs have been developed; one that will keep Madison Street straight and another that will give it a slight bend in order to deepen lots. He described the development, which will include retail and residential. Once completed, it is expected to generate over $2.7 million in property and sales taxes. The current properties generate approximately $150,000 per year. He clarified that the Village has invested $2.3 million since 2005, which was used for resurfacing Madison Street, updating traffic lights and installation of the plants and irrigation system in the median. Village President Abu-Taleb noted that over the past five years, the Village Board, Village staff, Plan Commission, business groups and citizen groups have met and given the Board their recommendations. The cost of Phase One of the project is $6.9 million without the bend and an additional $4.8 million with it. However, without the bend, the developer cannot attract the essential retailer that will Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 6/21/2016 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes June 13, 2016 make this a successful venture for them. With the expiration of the TIF in two years, they have to move forward. Village Manager Pavlicek gave a brief timeline of events up to current regarding development of Madison Street. John Mac Manus, one of the principals of Altamanu gave a presentation regarding the benefits of a road diet and discussed studies completed on other lane reduction projects. Altamanu principal Josephine Bellalta described the concept of the project as recommended by the Steering Committee. Village Engineer Bill McKenna discussed the infrastructure improvements as well as traffic impacts from the road diet. He discussed costs and the timeline, noting that construction drawings should be completed by late fall or early winter. Once comfortable with the drawings and pending coordination with the developer, staff will bid the project out and begin building as soon as possible. Mr. McKenna referred to drawings of Madison Street displaying the overall concept of the bend. He added that the scope of the bend is considerably more complex than a traditional street project, as sewer mains and private utilities such as AT&T and Com Ed must be relocated. The road will be completely reconstructed. He indicated the large retail space in the drawing that would be possible with the bend in place. Mr. McKenna spoke about how the road diet would affect other streets, traffic and speed study statistics and accident history. He also discussed traffic signal timing. Director of Development Customer Services Tammie Grossman clarified why the Madison Street Coalition and the Madison Street Streetscape Steering Committee were established and their functions. She also discussed some changes that will be made to the Zoning Code to coincide with this project. Interim CFO Steven Drazner described how a TIF works and gave a financial history of the Madison Street TIF. He also presented a report of annual sales tax received by the Village, broken down by business district. Village Manager Pavlicek commented that materials from tonight's presentation, as well as other Madison Street information, will be available for public viewing on the Village website. IV. Public Comment Marilyn Schlesinger. Ms. Schlesinger, a 30-year resident of the 500 block of South Euclid, noted that Madison Street between Oak Park and Wesley is slowly deteriorating, as opposed to the development in Forest Park. She was in favor of slowing traffic with the road diet but expressed concern regarding traffic shifting to the surrounding streets. Thomas Gallagher. Mr. Gallagher noted that for 30 years, the Village has been trying to revitalize Madison Street but has been told that the lots are too shallow. Lots need to be deeper. He was in favor of the bend, which is the only way to create more land, which in turn, will give the Village bigger retailers. Steve Fruth. Mr. Fruth expressed concern regarding traffic safety. He also noted that the overflow of traffic from the road diet will be using Washington and Jackson through residential areas, and that this needs to be further reviewed. Nancy Norton. Ms. Norton is concerned about safety as a driver sharing the street with bicyclists and having to go across the bike lane to park a car. Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 6/21/2016 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes June 13, 2016 Gary Cuneen. Mr. Cuneen spoke in favor of the project and improvements it will bring regarding aesthetics, safety concerns, economic development and sustainability issues. Jill Mahaney. Ms. Mahaney lives in the house behind where the 50,000 sq. ft. lot will be located. She expressed concern regarding the potential traffic, loading dock traffic and customers of the proposed retail location. Dan McNulty. Mr. McNulty, another resident of the 500 block of Euclid, said it is exciting to see development happen. He added that building cul-de-sacs on both Wesley and Euclid is a huge quality of life issue and urged the Board to make that happen if a large anchor store is added. J. Alan Prechel. Mr. Prechel lives directly across the alley from the proposed development. He was in favor of the redevelopment of Madison, but not the bend. He asked if other alternatives for TIF funds have been discussed. Mary Bowman. Ms. Bowman stated that by decreasing traffic on Madison, traffic will increase 50% on both Jackson and Washington, residential streets. Ann Collins. Ms. Collins believes that spending $11 million for six blocks of street is excessive. She asked what the Village is going to do for the rest of the street. Jason Wulkowicz. Mr. Wulkowicz stated that his grandfather and aunt were struck by a car on Madison, which led to his grandfather's premature death. He himself was recently involved in an accident on Madison which caused the other driver's car to flip over. He also discussed traffic issues on surrounding streets and believes the project will improve safety on that area of Madison. Dr. Heather Claxton. Dr. Claxton discussed data in the Altamanu report and questioned their conclusions. She noted that there is not a lot of research tying urban planning to retail and traffic issues. She also spoke about a survey she did among other working mothers in Oak Park regarding what they would like to see on Madison. Paul Zimmerman. Mr. Zimmerman is a 20-year Oak Park resident and was president of the Roosevelt Road Business Association during the $10 million streetscape project. The TIF on the Berwyn side gave financial incentives for businesses to open. He expressed support for the project, however in order for it to succeed, the Madison TIF should be extended. In response to one of the comments, Village Trustee Brewer requested that the Village Manager clarify what TIF dollars can be spent on. Village Manager Pavlicek stated that these funds can only be spent within the geographical boundaries of the Madison TIF, which runs from Harlem to Austin and one lot back on either side, with some exclusions. It can be spent for redevelopment costs limited to property acquisition, environmental remediation and public infrastructure such as water, streets and sewer. It cannot be used for structure of a private building. She clarified that the $11 million will cover underground infrastructure, street resurfacing and striping for the road diet to create the lane configurations throughout the corridor as well as the main infrastructure improvements between Oak Park Avenue and East Avenue in terms of geometry of the street. Mr. McKenna clarified that the streetscaping will go the entire stretch of Madison. Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 6/21/2016 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes June 13, 2016 Village Trustee Lueck noted that this will go through the normal plan development process and residents will have other opportunities for comment. Village Trustee Tucker commented that staff needs to address concerns about traffic on surrounding streets. Village Trustee Button Ott stated that she is excited about the project but agrees that resident concerns should be addressed. Village Trustee Salzman stated that before a final vote is taken, a written plan needs to be made regarding traffic enforcement unique to Jackson. He discussed why he voted against the South Marion and Oak Park Avenue streetscape projects and noted that this one is different, as it has the prospect of real, not speculative, development attached to it. VI. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Tucker, seconded by Village Trustee Brewer, to adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 9:00 P.M., Monday June 13, 2016. Respectfully Submitted. MaryAnn Schoenneman Deputy Village Clerk Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 6/21/2016