Peoria Standard

City of Highwood Committee of the Whole met Jan. 7.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

CALL TO ORDER by Mayor Pecaro at 6:02 P.M.

1. Roll Call

Present: Mayor Pecaro, Aldermen: Falberg, Hospodarsky, Levi, Peterson, Slavin

Absent: Alderman Fiore

Also Present: City Manager Coren, City Attorney Jablecki, City Clerk Baruffi, Administrative Assistant Litjens

2. Public Hearing - None

3. Review of Minutes to be Approved

3.1. City Council: December 17 , 2019

3.2. Committee of the Whole: December 17 , 2019

Both sets of minutes will be approved at the Regular City Council Meeting.

4. Appointments (Mayor Pecaro)

5. Review of Bill Warrant List

5.1. 01/07/2020 AP Warrant List

The IGA Fire & Emergency January – March 2020 services are being paid, in the amount of $167,797.08.

The GIS Services for the month January is also being paid out on the warrant list in the amount of $1744.99.

City Manager Coren relayed the valve report will be reviewed at a future meeting.

6. Unfinished Business

7. New Business

7.1 Consideration of an Ordinance Granting a Special Use Permit for a Planned Unit Development and Approving a Preliminary Plat for Planned Unit Development at 440 Green Bay Road.

The changes are to broaden the lobby and the height of the base brick. City Manager Coren stated some the aspects of the building will be reviewed by the Appearance Review Committee rather than the Planning and Zoning Commission. The current plan is to remove the ComEd poles. Discussion ensured. The Council’s approval is that the poles will be buried.

7.2 Consideration of a Motion Authorizing the City Manager to Deliver Written Notice of Termination to the Regional Emergency Dispatch (RED) Center Effective May 1, 2020.

The written notice needs to be provided at least 90 days prior to cancellation. The City’s target date for discontinuing dispatch with RED Center for the fire alarm system is May 1, 2020. Notice will be provided to the current users of the fires alarm system.

7.3 Consideration of an Ordinance Amending the Highwood City Code to Add Assisted Living Facility Licenses.

This ordinance will be more in line with the City of Highland Park. The impact fee of $5,000.00 would be imposed if the yearly calls are more than the number of beds at the facility.

Note: at this point the Council went into executive session as one of the presenters of the library was detained elsewhere.

7.4 A Discussion with the Library on the Shared Facility Plan.

Carmen Patlan and Lucy Hospodarsky presented the current stance of the library with new programming, it is felt by the library board that they have outgrown their current space. The plan is now to exclude City Hall and the Police Department from future renovation plans.

The library had an architect draw up the pro-bono plans for the expansion of the library without the city and police moving to their building. The estimated cost of their plan is 1 to 1.3 million dollars, with expansion up to the front sidewalk. They went on to explain they will have a capital campaign, have a grant from the county for handicapped accessibility, and wants to continue receiving the tax levy monies from the city on a yearly basis.

Andy Hamilton, Friends of the Library, stated he does not see any issues with raising the 1 to 1.5 million dollars. He stated he did not want to share library space with a police department.

Laurie Lenzini, library board member stated their decision as a board to either have the library stay as is, or move forward. Their vote was to move forward. She did state she loved the idea of a municipality building.

Discussion ensued. The concern of the potential of cost overruns and increased overall operational costs was discussed.

The City cannot fund the library with future costs of the buildout if the city has to move elsewhere.

8. Executive Session (If Necessary) Moved by Alderman Peterson, seconded by Alderman Levi to go into Executive Session to discuss 2C5 & 2C11. All present voting aye, motion carried.

Vote:

Yes: Aldermen: Peterson, Levi, Falberg, Hospodarsky, Slavin

Absent: Alderman Fiore

Mayor Pecaro opened Executive Session at 6:21 P.M.

9. Any Action Necessary Coming Out of Executive Session

Moved by Alderman Peterson, seconded by Alderman Falberg to end Executive Session. All present voting aye, by voice vote, motion carried. Mayor Pecaro ended Executive Session at 6:34 P.M. and the minutes will be sealed until no longer sensitive.

Moved by Alderman Levi, seconded by Alderman Slavin to reconvene the Committee of the Whole

Meeting. All present voting aye, by voice mail, motion carried. Mayor Pecaro reconvened the meeting at 6:36 P.M.

10. Adjournment

Moved by Alderman Hospodarsky, seconded by Alderman Peterson to adjourn the meeting. All present voting aye, by voice vote, motion carried. Mayor Pecaro adjourned the meeting at 7:32 P.M.

https://www.cityofhighwood.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01072020-727