Village of Bartlett Committee met June 5.
Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:
President Wallace called the Committee of the Whole meeting to order at 7:28 p.m.
Present: Chairmen Camerer, Carbonaro, Deyne, Gabrenya, Hopkins, Reinke, and President Wallace
Absent: None
Also Present: Village Administrator Paula Schumacher, Assistant Village Administrator Scott Skrycki, Human Resources Director Janelle Terrance, Management Analyst Sam Hughes, Management Analyst Tyler Isham, Finance Director Todd Dowden, Community Development Director Jim Plonczynski, Assistant Community Development Director Roberta Grill, Public Works Director Dan Dinges, Public Works Engineer Bob Allen, Water Supervisor Tom Ruzicka, Building Director Brian Goralski, Head Golf Professional Phil Lenz, Grounds Superintendent Kevin DeRoo, Chief Patrick Ullrich, Deputy Chief Geoff Pretkelis, Deputy Chief Chuck Snider, Village Attorney Bryan Mraz and Village Clerk Lorna Giless.
Building & Zoning, Chairman Hopkins:
Galleria of Bartlett-
Chairman Hopkins asked the Community Development Director to proceed.
Community Development Director Jim Plonczynski stated that the petitioner is requesting annexation, rezoning upon annexation from the ER-1 (estate residence) to the B-3 (neighborhood shopping) Zoning District, Site Plan Review, Special Use Permits to allow a drive through establishment, to serve alcohol, to allow outdoor seating. Also, Variations to include a thirty foot reduction from the required fifty foot front yard to allow for parking, a twelve foot reduction from the required twenty foot side yard to allow for parking, a twelve foot reduction from the required twenty foot side yard to allow for parking, and a seventeen foot reduction from the required thirty foot rear yard to allow for parking.
The Galleria is a nice looking building. They have some potential restaurants interested in the site. According to the current bike path map, Wayne Township and the Village have shown a bike path connection east from Route 59 through the Galleria property in the hope that the developer will continue that path system. They are asking for one-way circulation around the drive through or better access and vehicle movement. Everyone that has a drive through has a one-way circulation and we are asking them to do the same thing. The site identifies eighty two parking stalls including for handicapped. They will provide a buffer to the north with a wooden fence.
Trustee Camerer asked what restaurants are interested in the site?
Ron DeRosa stated that he is the developer of the project. The primary business and focus is retail development and they own and develop approximately thirty-two developments. They have signed commitments from a restaurant called Beef Schack which is owned by the Rosati Group as well as a chiropractor.
Trustee Hopkins stated that this would go before the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Plan Commission.
President Wallace stated that this seems like a long process and asked staff to expedite any of these stages if possible.
Mr. Plonczynski stated that it could be moved to the Board for a final vote and skip the second Committee meeting. There was a consensus of the Board to skip the second Committee of the Whole meeting and bring the matter back to the Village Board for a final vote after the conclusion of the public hearings before the ZBA, the Plan Commission and the Village Board.
Community & Economic Development, Chairman Gabrenya:
Video Gaming Discussion-
Chairman Gabrenya stated that the Board has asked staff for a review on the current status of video gaming. The Village has a total of twelve locations and fifty-three machines within these locations. Total revenue for the Village since November, 2012 is $669,779.79. April, 2018 was the last recorded month of revenue for video gaming and the total was $17,282.20.
Assistant Village Administrator Scott Skrycki provided a memo that showed revenues from video gaming which included restaurants and gaming cafés.
Village Attorney Bryan Mraz stated that the Board had a desire to look at further ways of restricting video gaming and he was not talking about any particular applicant or petitioner. He stated that Trustee Camerer has been consistent about his objection to video gaming since day one from a moral standpoint. This Board inherited the decision to allow video gaming in Bartlett from a prior Board shortly after the Video Gaming Act was passed. When the Video Gaming Act was passed, it created the State Gaming Board and administrative rules and a process. There is some argument as to whether the issuance of video gaming licenses is the sole jurisdiction of the Gaming Board or whether municipalities have concurrent jurisdiction as well. There is a process where the State looks at applicants and checks the criminal background of applicants and other statutory prerequisites. Under the Act an applicant has to have a State liquor license and a local liquor license for a sit-down facility where alcohol is served on the premises. The Act also provides for truck stops to get video gaming licenses, but that is not relevant for this discussion.
There were concerns raised by the prior Board that they did not want Bartlett to be a mini Las Vegas. Certain loopholes in the Act have been closed by existing amendments to the requirements of the Bartlett Liquor Control Ordinance where applicants for a liquor license must disclose whether they intend to apply for video gaming. The Board has considered requiring a commercial kitchen to avoid the types of businesses where meals amount to prepackaged items heated up in a microwave oven, and have video gaming. Like any other regulations, the Board has to treat existing businesses the same as it treats a new business that comes into town. There were some existing bars with liquor licenses, and many of them applied for video gaming licenses from the State and the Village. The extra revenue has helped businesses that were struggling. Once a business has a liquor license, the requisite zoning, and State and local video gaming licenses, it has vested rights in those licenses that cannot be taken away without affording the licensee Due Process, subjecting the Village to liability for damages. The Village has been diligent in the issuance and cancellation of liquor licenses so if a licensee closes, its liquor license is surrendered and that license is eliminated. If the Board feels there is a problem with the amount of video gaming licenses, other towns have amended their ordinance to provide that there cannot be an undue concentration of video gaming licenses within certain areas of their town. That standard alone would be too ambiguous without some administrative rules or regulations to spell out what is an undue concentration. Sometimes the devil is in the details. For example, a requirement that there cannot be two within one or two thousand feet of each other. Lastly, the Board could require a prospective licensee to have the Village liquor license for one year before it would be eligible to get a local video gaming license. He stated that he would expect that there would be some pushback from prospective video gaming applicants. Such a requirement would apply not only to video cafes, but if adopted would apply to all bars and restaurants in town.
Village Administrator Paula Schumacher stated that over the seven years that they have had video gaming, there have been no concerns with police calls, crime, or complaints from the neighbors. She thought it would be beneficial to monitor these factors as video gaming facilities expand. She stated that the number of terminals we have in Bartlett are right in the middle and in perspective with surrounding towns. She thought they were doing a good job balancing between our restaurants, bars, and existing businesses who use this as another revenue source.
President Wallace asked if they knew the guideline that the terminal owner/managers have about pulling machines that are not performing?
Ms. Schumacher stated that they have had one instance (Tokyo Steakhouse), where machines were removed because they were underperforming.
President Wallace suggested a quick straw pull with the Board. The question is: Are you interested in pursuing changes to the video gaming ordinance?
In favor of further restrictions on video gaming and further amendments to the current video gaming regulations: Trustees Camerer, Carbonaro, Deyne
Opposed to further restrictions on video gaming and amending the current video gaming regulations: Gabrenya, Hopkins, Reinke, President Wallace
Trustee Reinke stated that he feels like they have invested a lot of attorney time on this and have the same discussion time and time again. He does think it is important to evaluate this periodically but if we are going to do it again we should have some specific things for the Board to consider.
President Wallace concurred that it is a very difficult topic because it was hard to imagine how desirable this product is in communities. His objective is to see upscale establishments that apply for video gaming licenses.
Trustee Gabrenya disagreed with his comment and felt that this was a difficult topic that the residents are concerned about. She felt it was useful for residents to know that there have not been any complaints or any police involvement and she thought the residents really needed to hear that. If the Village is developing revenue from these machines, so are the business owners. As a business owner herself, she knows that it is hard, as a small business, to stay afloat. If we can have that opportunity and not cause trouble for the neighbors, she felt it was something to discuss and appreciated staff for helping them go through this.
President Wallace stated that he agreed with Trustee Gabrenya.
Trustee Carbonaro stated that the reason he voted “yes” was because the conversations that they had were reserving our right to limit the amount of permits and that is why he was going with that. These establishments are not causing any problems and are creating revenue for the Village, do we want to have a thousand of them in town? He would like to see some restrictions as far as how many of the establishments are allowed.
Attorney Mraz stated that a municipality does not have the right to limit video gaming licenses per se because it cannot put a limit on them; however, a municipality can do so indirectly by limiting the number of local on premises liquor licenses that are available.
Trustee Gabrenya stated that at some point they will become self-remedying. At some point there will not be enough business to support them.
Attorney Mraz stated that there was a “run” on video gaming establishments initially, including a number of video cafés. Some of the measures he is talking about have another side to them and the applicants could challenge them. It could involve the Village being a party to litigation. The Board at any particular point in time cannot just limit the number of video gaming licenses, but the Board can limit the number of consumption on premises liquor licenses, and the Local Liquor Commissioner has limited discretion as to whether or not to issue a liquor license, which is necessary to get both a State and a local video gaming license.
Rana Pasta Incentive Request-
Chairman Gabrenya stated that Rana Pasta is expanding their facility and investing a significant amount in this new expansion.
Village Administrator Paula Schumacher stated that they are requesting a $50,000 reduction in the building permit fee for their expansion building located west of the existing facility located at 550 Spitzer Road in the Brewster Creek Business Park. This is different from the incentive program of which they are not eligible since they are in a TIF district. The existing building permit fees is in excess of $250,000. The expansion building is 326,000 s.f. and is where Rana will produce its fresh lasagna and related products. Rana has estimated that the cost of construction, purchasing and installing the equipment and set up cost to prepare the pasta and related products will cost in excess of $50 million. They are asking the Village to waive the base permit fee. It is a very reasonable request and still have plans to continue in the park and expand that business.
President Wallace stated that they are also building another building for cold storage. They are also moving their corporate offices from Oak Brook to Bartlett.
Finance & Golf, Chairman Deyne:
Presentation of Responses to Requests for Proposals for Broker/Consultant Services for the Village’s Health, Dental and Life Insurance
Chairman Deyne stated that they have three brokers to present this evening.
Human Resources Director Janelle Terrance stated that the first presentation is from the Horton Group.
Horton Group, Sr. Vice President Michael Wojcik stated that they are a privately held company headquartered out of Orland Park, Illinois and have been in existence for 46 years. He stated that today they are one of the top fifty brokers in the country. They have a very prominent involvement in public sector practice. They are a multi-line shop and also do commercial, personal, auto and home. They grew from twelve employees in 1989 to over four hundred today. The attached presentation was made to the Board.
GCG Financial, Vice President Benefits Consulting, Catherine Loney stated that she has been in the industry for twenty-five years. She spoke about employee engagement and strategies to keep the same level of benefits for the employees. Her firm does the analysis, wellness screenings, affordable care act and most importantly, getting to know the employees. Also, making sure that doctors continue to practice medicine, making sure employees are being taken care of and there is a cost-effective plan when you have engagement.
President Wallace asked for examples of incentive programs they have used.
Ms. Loney stated that they started out with a deductible credit, whereby you raise the deductible but if you participate in the screening you get a deductible credit; Another approach is a $25 check that is handed out; Another group takes a pot of money and has a competition amongst the departments where the highest level of participation splits the pot; another gets one day paid time off. The attached brochure was presented to the Board.
Arachas Group, President Kevin Lesch stated that the Arachas Group is the result of a merger of two long time Bartlett companies (Sullivan Insurance and Bartlett Insurance Group). He and his business partner Bill Sullivan were raised in Bartlett, attended U-46 Schools and their wives and children have done the same. They insure many local businesses in Bartlett as well as many residents. They are a vested part of the Village and they want the Village to thrive and grow. For over thirty years they have provided the Village with options on how to improve the plan and respond to the needs of the employees. Attached are his notes that were distributed to the Board.
President Wallace stated that the Board will be moving into Executive Session pursuant to Section 2(c)6 of the Open Meetings Act to discuss setting of price for sale of Village owned properties.
Trustee Deyne moved to adjourn to Executive Session pursuant to Section 2(c)6 of the Open Meetings Act to discuss setting of price for sale of village owned properties, and that motion was seconded by Trustee Hopkins.
Roll Call Vote To Adjourn To Executive Session
Ayes: Trustees Camerer, Carbonaro, Deyne, Gabrenya, Hopkins, Reinke
Nays: None
Absent: None
Motion Carried
The Board adjourned to Executive Session at 8:55 p.m. The meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m.
http://www.village.bartlett.il.us/Home/ShowDocument?id=9765
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