z - Retired - Administration Committee

approved 1­7­2016 Administration Committee­ Meeting Minutes July 23, 2015 CALL TO ORDER: 4 ​:31 by Trustee Liddle ROLL CALL:​Chair/Trustee Liddle, Mayor Gunter, Clerk Szymski, Trustee Addington, Trustee Barker, Manager May, Director Parker, Director McIntyre, Director Crane, Chief Weiss, Director Ziegler, Director Forssberg, Chief Mulhearn(4:46p), Trustee Guzzo(4:55p), Trustee Barry(5:18p), Liljeberg (5:35p),Trustee Nero(5:40p), Guests Julia Cohen PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE APPROVAL OF MINUTES:​May 28, 2015 regular meeting ­ 1st Addington 2nd Gunter/all ayes UNFINISHED BUSINESS​ : None NEW BUSINESS ‘Happy Hour’ Legislation​ ­ Discussion was postponed till later in the meeting. Special Event ­ Permit Process​ was added to the agenda by Manager May so that the committee can review the process, cost, and evaluation process of the events. To take one event in particular, the Taste of Westmont this year had a lot of issues with the closure of the streets and set ups. This is a disruption of the neighborhood sooner and for many days in a row. It is not well received. The Street Fair is a weekly event that only disrupts the neighborhood for a few hours and is very well received. The ideas that are out there is that the Street Fair should be encouraged as it is well received, the Taste is not well received many residents are not happy with this ongoing disruption. This brings us to what should we be requiring from groups that have a permit for an event after the fact? There are issues that often need to be discussed to be resolved: how do we debrief event committees on what worked and what didn’t. Do we move the Taste out of downtown or combine it with something else? In looking at the Taste you need to give feedback right away because they start planning the next year right away. Manager May commented that more complaints from various directions were received this year than he remembers in years past. The committee is being asked to decide; what is desired from a group after the fact? What type of feedback do you want? A meeting or the financials of the event? What would the committee like to see Taste of Westmont become? Something bigger not in the downtown area? Combine it with something else? Just let the WSEC concentrate on the Street Fair? Mayor Gunter commented that Trustee Barry felt that the Taste of Westmont needs to be looked at as it takes a lot of our services compared to the Street Fair. The volunteers that are a part of the WSEC have stated that it takes a lot of volunteer hours to run the event and there are not enough volunteers so they are getting burned out. Manager May said that this ties into the next item as well, we do need to meet with other organizations that we support. WSEC is going over the Taste now, so Board imput would be appreciated at this time, not later. Mayor Gunter stated that Trustee Barry believes that the Taste of Westmont puts a large strain on the downtown businesses and the residence around the downtown area. Communications Director McIntyre believes that the negative feedback this year is only because we closed the downtown a day earlier. He feels that It’s disappointing and understandable that the businesses were not happy this year. Mr. McIntyre will be putting out the resident survey that is done every year, usually 100­200 responses are received, and this year maybe it could be tailored to address the concerns that the Manager and Mayor are bringing up. It can also be sent to the businesses, then we can have data to go into the WSEC/Trustee meeting to review. Clerk Szymski talked about the letter that residents receive from WSEC and making sure her new neighbor read it. Trustee Guzzo asked if the neighbor had any comments after the Taste? Clerk Szymski said none that she received, she just wanted to make sure that the information was understood in advance. Mayor Gunter said that decisions to the fate of the events were not to be decided right now, it is brought up to prepare for the joint meeting. Trustee Barker stated that there was nowhere else that you could hold the Taste than downtown. Mayor Gunter said that you could modify it and combine it with the 4th of July or another celebration at Ty Warner Park. It might be a mini­Taste but you could have the music and close the streets for the carnivals. Trustee Addington felt that you would run into problems with vendors already having contracts for that weekend so you could not have tents and the carnival. He stated that he has heard the same complaints, people would like it off the street and it all comes from the same people. He believes that the complaints are less than ever before, it’s only once a year. Trustee Addington believes that the Taste is well liked from a public standpoint, people come and enjoy themselves; there are always nice sized crowds. The problem is that it has consistently been losing big money the last few years, it needs to be on a financial footing. Trustee Addington would like to sit down with the committee and give them the benefit of his years of experience and see if there is something else that can do to turn it around. It is a great event, and businesses that use to complain about the street fair and Taste are now participants. Other towns are cancelling these events and we are not. Mayor Gunter said that cancelling discussion is from the volunteers are no longer interested. That’s often what the other towns are facing as well, participation. Trustee Addington said that he would rather the Lions have a larger role in the event and not sell corn if that would keep it alive. Trustee Barker said that he loves the event but doing a 4 day event was very taxing, and maybe to abbreviate the four day to two would assist in the success of the event. Director McIntyre stated that going to the Thursday night was necessary for the carnival to be able to make money, and adding the extra day is an insurance policy against losing a day due to rain. The carnival is the consistent money maker, beer sales over the last few years have dropped. And on Thursdays, it is really only the carnival and not a “taste”. Director McIntyre said that the time commitment of Village Staff/Public Works goes on for days before the event. WSEC had a meeting on Monday and there was enthusiasm. Director McIntyre brought before the 15 member WSEC board that we need to quantify the number of hours that some of us are spending on the event. The 15 member board is a range of personalities and of availability to do work. Using Robin Gardner as an example, she takes her vacation that week to be able to work the Taste 10­12 hour days. If it had rained all weekend, we would have lost money; this conversation would have been easier to have as to the fate of the event due to financial restrictions. Trustee Liddle said that the meeting of the WSEC Board was very open and candid, a lot of people had ideas. There was no group consensus to kill the event, more of a wish to find extra bodies to pull the weight. A survey out, in the next two weeks, to the businesses and Village people to see the interest as to where and when an event would work and what it should look like going forward would let us know what we have to work with. Mayor Gunter stated that the Village was instrumental in keeping the Taste going. Mayor Rahn had the Village put up the money for it and assigned Larry as the liaison for the event as a contractual employee to make sure it kept going. The Village has jumpstarted the funds for quite a few years until WSEC had the funds keep it going. It is an event that showcases the community. However, people on the committee are saying it was too much. Trustee Liddle said that while it is going on everyone gets caught up in it and feels it’s too much but after it’s over you are ready to regroup and go again. If some people will just let go of doing it all and let others step forward there might be less burnout. Mayor Gunter said that the discussion of the future of the Taste started months before the event this year. He agrees that there are people during the event that complain and then are ready to go again a week after the event. Trustee Liddle asked that there be a meeting between both boards after the results of the survey are in. Trustee Addington said that he did an impromptu survey of the food vendors and all were happy and had made money. No one is making the money that they use to but there are a lot of factors in that. It is a great event, the schools are involved, businesses and the Library, too. The event can’t be lost, it would be a shame to see it go away. Manager May stated that the discussion doesn’t necessarily just look at does the event need to be cancelled; it can be moved, find it a new home. Mayor Gunter replied that Trustee Barry requested that this be discussed. Should we close Cass for 5 days to have the Taste of Westmont? If we agree with that, then the rest should be left up to WSEC. Clerk Szymski and Trustee Addington discussed the various changes of location over the years. Trustee Guzzo said that this year there was no garbage all over the neighborhood, the only issue is people refusing to obey the traffic pattern, speed, and signage. Pulling in to her driveway was an accident waiting to happen. Her neighbors are willing to put up with it, it’s only four days. Discussion of poor drivers ensued. The Mayor asked for staff opinion. Manager May stated that the traffic complaints were higher than in past years. Chief Mulhearn said that the east side of Cass complaints were usual, however this year the west side had more complaints than ever before. Trustee Addington would like to have a joint meeting with all the entities in town, Lions and Rotary and WSEC earlier rather than later to see if a solution can be found. Mayor Gunter said that by this discussion it doesn’t seem to be than anyone would like it to end. Trustee Liddle asked Larry to get a survey out this week giving people a week to respond. Manager May stated that the item was the actual special event permit process. We discussed the Taste and the meeting will be set up, there is usually one annually and it was missed last year so having the joint meeting is a good thing however the process was the action item on the agenda. Is there any interest in having an after meeting for organizations that have special events? Trustee Addington said that the RWBBQ was more of a Park District drain than to the Village, and the Mayor said that the 4th of July was a Park District/Village event so there was no need to require a meeting with the Village to follow up, staff can evaluate it. Manager May discussed joint meetings with the Board and other entities. Manager May asked the Mayor how often the Park Board and the Village Board had met in the past? Mayor Gunter felt it should be every couple of years so that the joint items could be reviewed. Joint Meeting (interagency) Scheduling: a. Westmont Park District ­ schedule every two years and have it held after the elections. b. Trustee Addington feels that D60 and CUSD 201 should have a schedule as well. The others don’t need to be included. c. Planning & Zoning ­ we have done that not too long ago to make sure everyone is on the same page. Trustee Addington said that should be annually as it is an education for the Board to learn what they have done. d. Westmont Special Events Corp. ­ Trustee Liddle asked if we should schedule it now with WSEC? Manager May said that could be done when we had notice of schedules and the survey was done, it can be confirmed by email. e. Westmont Library ­ This might be a good one to have every other year since you do not always know who is on this board. f. other ­ Mayor Gunter discussed the practice that Mayor Rahn had of having a governmental roundtable 3 times a year. A representative from all the entities would meet at Village Hall to talk about what is going on for each group. Manager May said that wouldn’t be a public meeting. Mayor Gunter stated that it would just be a sharing of information between entities. Not full board participation, just representatives from the various entities meeting a couple of times a year. It fell by the wayside in his last years. ‘Happy Hour’ Legislation​ ­ Chief Mulhearn presented the changes on the Happy Hour Law changes: drink specials can be presented just during happy hour and not all day long, the restrictions are that the happy hour prices need to be posted 7 days in advance (website or signage), they can only do 4 hours a day (any hours) up to 15 hours a week. Reviewing area establishments following of the regulations will be an added item for the Deputy Liquor Commissioner. Discussion of the current regulations the Village of Westmont has that will no longer be enforceable compared with the new laws ensued. Chief Mulhearn stated that he would be giving a presentation to the Chamber members and to other municipalities through DMMC. The Mayor asked if WSEC could do a happy hour during the Taste. Chief Mulhearn replied that as long as it was advertised 7 days in advance. Chief Mulhearn remarked that the businesses on Cass Avenue are already doing all day specials during the Taste to compete with the beer tent sales. Mayor Gunter asked if this new state law was enforceable by the Village or if the State was going to enforce this? Chief Mulhearn replied that while it is a State law the Village enforces it. Trustee Guzzo asked if this had been discussed with any of the businesses yet? Chief Mulhearn remarked that the State has notified the businesses through the IL Liquor Commission website. Chief stated that the Chamber meeting is August 4th to present the information on Happy Hour. Mayor Gunter asked if the Video Gaming review would be at the same time? Community Development Director Ziegler replied that Executive Director Forssberg felt that it would be beneficial to have both topics covered. Manager May asked about the new ordinance in the Village of Woodridge and the limits being placed on the video gaming; both Community Development Director Ziegler and Chief Mulhearn remarked that they were still doing research on the possible controls that are allowed. REPORTS Chairperson Liddle​ ­ Nothing Village Manager​ ­ An update on the sign projects: informational at South Fire and Library, and the gateway signs. The Village desire to have the design of these match will create a change order to the amount of funds from the Village’s half of the costs. The Library will not be paying for the costs of the Village to have all the Village’s signs match. Clerk’s Office ­​Nothing Communications ­​TEKO event was successful and Communications Director McIntyre wanted to personally thank Steve Golembiewski for his assistance in make this event a success. EIC meeting dates for the next 3 months are being moved to accommodate presentations to the group. The strategic plan meetings went really well and a special thanks to Sweet & Savory along with Papa Passero's for the food for that event. Communications Director McIntyre then reviewed all the press releases he has posted on the website in the past few weeks. The Village of Westmont has 586 facebook subscribers; this has doubled in the last year and a half. This is a very valuable communication tool. The website banners have been changed and the construction pages along with the finance pages have been updated. Human Resources​ ­ Trustee Liddle congratulates Human Resource Director Crane on her new grandchild, as Trustee Addington comments. Human Resource Director Crane discussed the review of Occupational Health Clinics and announces that Midwest Orthopedics at Rush in Westchester has been selected by Chief/Deputy Chiefs review, hopefully we will have an agreement soon. Positive reference checks so far so the agreement should come before the board soon. Information Technology​ ­ Board room update is complete, just ironing out bugs. The community room will have large screens for overflow and the two rooms will be connected. The firewall was updated. The new sound system was used for the first time at the 4th of July and the feedback has been very positive. Trustee Barker discussed the url for all the areas of the Village being together with quick links; Village site would be more user friendly and it would have the Westmont committee/department information all together for groups such as Westmont First, Economic Development and such. Information Technology Manager Liljeberg reviewed the quick links on the website for the Trustees and reminded everyone that at the end of the year we would be reviewing the site for redesign, the redesign was part of the contract to be done after 4 years published. Communications Director McIntyre said that branding of events might not want to be all incorporated into the Village’s website such as the Park District. Trustee Liddle let Information Technology Manager Liljeberg know how appreciative she is of his emails with Google Tips and Techniques. Misc: ​Mayor Gunter stated that while everyone worked the 4th of July, Information Technology Manager Liljeberg went above and beyond. He was there all day and worked the sound but in addition he pre­recorded messages with his daughter to be aired as needed. It was wonderful, the Mayor has received a lot of positive feedback and he wanted to thank Glen personally. MOTION TO ADJOURN​5:44pm 1st Trustee Addington and 2nd Trustee Barker; all ayes. (next meeting scheduled October 1, 2015)