Village of Bartlett Committee of the Whole met Sept. 3.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
President Wallace called the Committee of the Whole meeting to order at 7:25 p.m.
PRESENT: Chairmen Camerer, Deyne, Gabrenya, Hopkins, Reinke and President Wallace
ABSENT: Chairman Carbonaro
ALSO PRESENT: Village Administrator Paula Schumacher, Assistant Village Administrator Scott Skrycki, Economic Development Coordinator Tony Fradin, Senior Management Analyst Samuel Hughes, Management Analyst Joey Dienberg, Finance Director Todd Dowden, Planning and Development Services Director Roberta Grill, Public Works Director Dan Dinges, Public Works Engineer Bob Allen, Village Forester Sarah Christensen, Building Director Brian Goralski, Food and Beverage Manager Paul Petersen, Police Chief Patrick Ullrich, Deputy Chief Geoff Pretkelis, Village Attorney Bryan Mraz and Village Clerk Lorna Giless.
COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, CHAIRMAN GABREYNA
Streets of Bartlett BEDA
Chairman Camerer recused himself from the discussion on the Streets of Bartlett BEDA.
Economic Development Coordinator Tony Fradin stated that this is Manny Rafidia’s second BEDA application. He was here late last year for his first BEDA. There has been quite a bit of work done over the past year and staff has been working with him for about two years. Staff used the BEDA program when it was new about a year ago in an effort to attract Mr. Rafidia to do this type of project. This is the largest redevelopment project in the downtown for quite a few years. It is in excess of $2 million dollars of investment on top of purchasing the property. Staff has been working with Mr. Rafidia in attracting new businesses to the center and he has secured four new leases of which are all sales tax producing businesses. Additionally, he is working closely will current tenants. In the packet are contracts totaling $1.1 million dollars which mostly pertain to the facade redevelopment and does not include the buildout costs. Mr. Rafida had requested $250,000 in both of his BEDA requests and staff informed him that $50,000 is the maximum allowed. The Streets of Bartlett is comprised of two separate and distinct pins, one for the “L” shaped building and a separate for the building that includes the former grocery store space. That space is close to being divided into four separate units. Some future improvements include the parking lot and new lighting. He stated that Manny and his son Jeremy are in the audience to answer any questions.
Chairman Deyne asked what is going on with the out lot adjacent to the CVS, it looks like some concrete has been laid.
Jeremy Rafidia stated that initially, it was there to get the ball rolling on a potential ice skating area in the winter or an electronic fire pit with a seating area. Nothing has been developed yet, it was just an idea.
Chairman Deyne stated he thought they have done a fantastic job so far. He asked if there has been any interest in a grocery store.
Mr. Rafidia stated that they have been approached by a large national tenant that has come by the site twice now to check out the renovations and the acquisition of new tenants. They hope to have more meetings with them and get them here.
Chairman Gabreyna asked what the large section of the old grocery store will be.
Mr. Rafidia stated that they are in talks with a large national fitness facility to take up a portion of that.
Chairman Gabreyna asked about the family entertainment center.
Mr. Rafidia stated that there would be 8,000 sq.ft. left over for something of that nature if it comes up. He stated they have been working in three parts to improve the center. Renovations, acquiring new tenants and maintaining the current tenants are the three main objectives they are working on. They have installed two new signs off of Devon Ave. and they have finished 90% of the facade so far. Most of the landscaping has been completed and they have installed 70-80 trees and shrubs. The facade is going to include goose necks that hang down and new lighting under the walkway. They will have 14 downtown style lights in the parking lot as well. They have acquired 4,500 sq.ft. of new leased space by Armanetti’s which should be ready to open October 1st. Delicious Crepes and Roti is moving into a 2,600 sq.ft. space and hopes to be open on November 1st. There is also an ice cream shop that is going to go in a 1,200 sq.ft. space. Lastly, they have a new restaurant called One Taco Dos Tequila’s which will be part of the new three units facing Devon. It will be occupying 4,000 sq.ft. and is currently in the permit process, hoping to be up and running in December. In addition, they are going to be resealing the lot and fixing some of the bumps. They are very happy with the progress so far.
Chairman Deyne asked what date they foresee as completion.
Mr. Rafidia stated that they hope to have the renovations done by the end of the year and the acquisition of new tenants is targeted to be complete and the center filled by the end of 2020.
Chairman Hopkins asked if an out building would need to be built in order to get a grocery store.
Mr. Rafidia said as of now, that is what they are looking at.
The item was forwarded on to the Village Board for a vote.
Rotary Clock
The next item on our agenda is the Rotary Club of Bartlett Clock. The Rotary Club would like to purchase and install a four faced street clock on a portion of village owned Town Center property. The club had previously purchased a water fountain for this same site. The clubs committee has selected a classic design that is congruent with the development approach the village has followed for the Town Center. They have selected a desired location and wish to begin the second phase of fundraising for the clock project having already dedicated $20,000 to the project, they seek to raise an additional $25,000 to $30,000 to fund the purchase, installation and landscaping around the base. Bartlett Rotary is seeking to work with the village to draft an agreement that will address the installation and maintenance parameters in reference to the clock.
Village Administrator Paula Schumacher stated that Suzie Sias is in attendance tonight and she is a member of the clock committee. This is a project that the Rotary Club has been working on for many years. They have got the seed money and before they further their efforts in fund raising, they want the villages approval since we own that property.
Chairman Reinke asked what site they are looking at.
Ms. Schumacher stated that it is a little bit in front of the water fountain.
Chairman Gabreyna asked Ms. Sias to comment on this Rotary tradition.
Ms. Sias said that it is a tradition and the manufacturer they are working with designs these clocks for Rotary Clubs and they are about 12’ high, four faced clocks.
Chairman Gabreyna asked what the process to move this forward would be.
Ms. Schumacher stated that they will come up with a specific site map, how it’s being fed with electricity, where the landscaping is going to be and how it will be cared for.
Chairman Hopkins asked what type of warranty comes with a clock like this and is the village going to be responsible for maintenance.
Ms. Sias stated that it will need to be worked out, they wanted to make sure you wanted a clock before going into the details.
Ms. Schumacher stated that she has noticed them in other communities and they are front and center in their downtowns providing a nice gathering spot.
Chairman Deyne stated that he thought since the Rotary Club is donating the clock to the village he thought the village should maintain the clock.
Ms. Schumacher stated that there is a specific maintenance plan the clock maker recommends so we can see what that would entail.
POLICE & HEALTH, CHAIRMAN CARBONARO
Use of Hanover Township Emergency Services Agency
Police Chief Patrick Ullrich stated that back in September of last year, he brought up the potential use of Hanover Township Emergency Services to assist the police department with emergency situations. During the last year, the police department has used them a total of 7 times, all of them for traffic control and portable lights for an event in July. That is valuable to the police department because they don’t have to be tied up with traffic and are able to answer other calls, conduct evacuations if required and reduces the number of officers that need to be called in from home. His experience dealing with the emergency services over the last year has been positive, they are response, and they always send a supervisor so if we have issues, we discuss with the supervisor and they take care of it. Since that time, a question has come up regarding whether we need a mutual aid agreement. After reviewing the Act, staff feels it would be safer from a liability standpoint to have a mutual aid agreement.
Chairman Reinke thought it makes sense to have an agreement.
Chairman Hopkins asked how long their emergency services department has been around.
Assistant Emergency Services Director Caleb Hanson stated that they are celebrating their 10th year this year.
Chairman Hopkins stated that he disagrees with Hanover Township Emergency Services and thinks the police and fire departments can handle the situations. He sees a separate line item on his tax bill for the department. He stated it always starts out small then keeps growing. He would hate to see ten years from now more counties and cities using their services, the department hiring more full-time people and before you know it, they are up there with the village and fire departments on the tax bill.
Chairman Reinke asked if Bartlett Police Department needs more resources.
Chief Ullrich stated that all the other departments that use the township use them for the same thing and some use them for special events as well. Staff interprets the Act to say that we can only use them for emergency services. The services that they offer, using volunteers and being there to have them quickly really suits our needs. In discussions with other communities, they have found them to be very helpful in those types of situations.
Village Attorney Bryan Mraz stated that it is his opinion that it is advisable to have a mutual aid agreement because of the way the statue is written. In the seven instances outlined by the Chief, you would be calling in officers and paying them time and a half. Not all emergencies are the same scope and they might not be enough always.
Chairman Hopkins asked if we were only going to use them in Cook County.
Mr. Mraz, stated that it would be anywhere in the village boundaries. The Act allows us to use them for emergencies in both counties.
Chairman Hopkins asked if there are any other emergency services groups in DuPage County.
Chief Ullrich stated that he was not aware of any.
Chairman Hopkins stated that it looks like they may be keeping their budgets down.
PUBLIC WORKS, CHAIRMAN CAMERER
Tree Survey Results
Public Works Director Dan Dinges stated that the village received a grant to do the tree inventory. It was recently completed and he is asked Village Forester Sarah Christensen to review it.
Ms. Christensen presented the (attached) tree presentation.
They collected a number of parameters on each tree. The first is tree status, active tree means there was a tree in that location, planting space means there was an appropriate place for a tree to be planted, but there wasn’t one there and stump means there was a tree that was cut down but the stump wasn’t removed yet. They put the address for all of the locations then if there was an active tree they would collect all the information on page two of the presentation. They consider DBH (Diameter at Breast Height) is roughly 4.5 feet off the ground.
The village has 117 different species of trees and the group that conducted the survey said based on that, we could become an accredited level two arboretum, so staff is going to be looking into that in the future.
On page four of the presentation, the bell curve shows that we have more trees in the “average” range then what would be expected in town and below the normal amount of “below average” and “poor” trees. No trees above 8” or smaller were rated anything better than average because they are too young to be accurately determined.
On page five is a breakdown of the average age classes of the tree population. We have a young group of trees because of the Emerald Ash Borer a few years ago. Based on the assumption that trees grow about 1/2” in diameter per year, this means that 1/3 of the population is 15 years old or younger. 1/3 is only about 20-25 years old and only 1/3 of the population are over 25 years old and considered mature. She thought that the village should be putting a lot of our focus into the smaller trees so that they become larger mature trees.
On page six, it shows that of the 15,000 trees, 11,000 of them were rated as cyclical prune which means they need the basic every 3-5 year maintenance prune. There wasn’t anything dangerous or a large amount of deadwood or anything of that nature. There were also 66 trees that are labeled hazardous prune which means a portion of the tree needs to be removed, but once it is, the rest of it will be okay to keep growing. Public Works is currently working on taking care of those. In the hazard remove category, there were 10 trees but those have been removed since the report was made.
On page 7, Ms. Christensen explained that while it was good that we have 117 different species, the village still has a lot of work to do. The industry standard for diversity is something called the 20-10-5 rule which means in any town, there should be no more than 20% of a family of plant, no more than 10% of a genus of plant and no more than 5% a species of plant. Unfortunately, the maples are one species, so they are way above the 5% threshold. Through our replacement program, it will be important to add a lot more species then just Maples, Honey Locusts and Lindens. Finally, the village will need to continue to prioritize the younger trees so they become mature later on and increasing the diversity through the replacement program. Overall, things look really good with our tree population.
President Wallace asked if all of Ash trees have been removed.
Ms. Christensen stated that they were. 167 remain, but they have been treated by the residents who opted to treat them. There are also a few that might need to be removed, but at the time we went through that area they were looking okay. There are two types of Ash trees, green and white. The beatles went after green first, then the white, so they didn’t show the affects quite as soon as the green ashes did.
Chairman Deyne asked if the treatment of the Ash trees work.
Ms. Christensen stated that it is working. You are signing yourself up for a treatment every two or three years that is not cheap, but it works.
Chairman Camerer asked about some of the underrepresented species that the village offers.
Ms. Christensen stated that our program is going on right now and we have some of those on there right now. One is called the Tulip tree which does great in parkways. Another one is the Kentucky Coffee tree. If you drive on West Bartlett Road into town on an area that gets pelted with salt and has very cold weather, you will see them and they are doing very well.
Chairman Camerer asked if Oaks, Hickory’s, Black Cherries etc. are too big to put on a parkway.
Ms. Christensen stated that Black Cherries are not great because of salt spray and soil compaction. Oaks can do okay but they are kind of marginal to be in the parkway, but the village does plant them. Staff does their best to manage diversity and keep in mind where it’s located, pedestrian and vehicle traffic, etc.
Chairman Camerer stated that he remembers the discussion from a year or two ago about trying to keep the local species of trees without bringing these species that are not native. The native trees are used to our climate so they should thrive as long as they can withstand the salt spray.
Chairman Reinke asked what we are doing to encourage residents to use that 50/50 tree replacement program.
Ms. Christensen stated that it is posted on the village website and social media. Any time a tree gets removed, staff informs the resident that there is a replacement program. Something that staff is considering doing with the information we have is to send a letter to the 2,900 planting locations that are available and informing the residents of the program.
President Wallace stated that he thought it would be helpful for when the trees are replaced, it would be good to have a note informing residents on how to care for their trees.
Ms. Christensen stated that every home that gets a parkway tree replaced gets a letter from her that talks about watering and mulching because we rely on the residents to water and care for the trees.
Chairman Gabreyna asked if there was a possibility of a grant to help decrease the cost of filling those 2,900 spaces.
Ms. Christensen stated that the grant the village received is broke up into three separate categories, we applied for the tree inventory category. There is also a category for planting so staff believes that we could apply for the planting portion of the grant in the future.
Chairman Reinke thought it would be good for us to get the level #2 arboretum. President Wallace thanked Ms. Christensen for the information.
President Wallace moved to adjourn the Committee of the Whole Meeting. That motion was moved by Chairman Camerer and seconded by Chairman Deyne.
ROLL CALL VOTE TO ADJOURN THE MEETING
AYES: Chairman Camerer, Deyne, Gabrenya, Hopkins, Reinke
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Chairman Carbonaro
MOTION CARRIED
The meeting adjourned at 8:07 p.m.
https://www.village.bartlett.il.us/Home/ShowDocument?id=10524
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