Public Safety & Transportation Committee

Village of Lombard Village Hall 255 East Wilson Ave. Lombard, IL 60148 villageoflombard.org Minutes Monday, August 7, 2017 6:00 PM Lorraine G. Gerhardt Community Room Public Safety & Transportation Committee Trustee Dan Whittington, Chairperson Trustee Mike Fugiel, Alternate Chairperson Jennifer Perkins, Michael Corso, John Larkin, John Schwarz, Robert Corbino, Gary Cation, Jerry Schaefer and John Mullins Public Safety & Transportation Minutes August 7, 2017 Committee 1.0 Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Whittington at 6:00 PM. 2.0 Roll Call Present 8 - Dan Whittington, Jennifer Perkins, Michael Corso, John Larkin Jr., John Schwarz, Gary Cation, Jerry Shaefer, and John Mullins Absent 1 - Bob Corbino Others Present: Nicole Aranas, Asst. Village Manager Jamie Cunningham, Asst. Finance Director Chief Sander, Fire Department Asst. Chief Howell, Fire Department Lt. Gallione, Fire Department Lt. Ekhart, Fire Department FF/PM Elvery, Fire Department FF/PM Kaforski, Fire Department Deputy Chief Wirsing, Police Department Sgt. Grage, Police Department 3.0 Public Participation Bonnie Rudolf, Oakview Estates Condominiums 4.0 Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Gary Cation, seconded by Jerry Schaefer, that the minutes of the June 5, 2017 meeting be approved. The motion carried unanimously. 5.0 Unfinished Business 170247 Request for Overnight Parking Ordinance Modification A request from Oakview Estates Condominium Association to allow overnight parking on St. Charles Place for condominium residents. (DISTRICT #5) Ms. Rudolf explained that up until now they have been parking overflow vehicles in the parking lot next to them. The property sold on June 30th and the Village anticipates construction after the summer, but because they own the property they can tell us at any time to stop parking there. Oakview Estates hired a civil engineer to map out how many spots we Village of Lombard Page 1 Public Safety & Transportation Minutes August 7, 2017 Committee can get on our property. We have been in contact with Jana Bryant as well. There are roughly 10-15 cars parked there every night. The Park District said we could not use the Park District parking lot, but maybe after the pool season it might be different. We are potentially looking at parking on St. Charles Place since there are no houses and it appears to be wide enough. We're looking for help with potential solutions. DC Wirsing asked if it's during construction that they are looking to park these vehicles. Ms. Rudolf answered yes, it is, but they are not sure when the construction will start. Perkins asked if each unit has one garage space and one outdoor parking spot. Ms. Rudolf answered that they do not, each unit has one space. When the condo building was built, it was supposed to be two buildings, but the second lot was foreclosed on. The issue is, you may have a three bedroom unit, two cars, but only one parking spot. Perkins asked if when people bought in the building they knew they only had one space. Ms. Rudolf replied yes, but they were also incorrectly told that there was extra parking. Perkins asked if there were parking spaces inside. Ms. Rudolf answered that there are 36 spaces under the building, 12 in the garages and 8 in front of the building and in addition to that the 12-15 cars. Perkins asked if each unit gets one space in the underground garage. Ms. Rudolf replied that they do, but there's 40 units and only 36 spaces. Cation asked if by temporary, they mean while they're looking for another solution. Ms. Rudolf responded that the Civil Engineer has mapped out 19 parking spots on the property, so temporary, but we don't know when we're going to get built. Cation clarified that temporary could be 6 months or 2 years. Ms. Rudolf answered yes, but they're hoping for closer to 5 months. Chairperson Whittington asked what time they are looking for the parking. Ms. Rudolf responded that the issue is overnight parking. DC Wirsing explained to the committee that St. Charles Place is no parking on both sides. Schaefer asked where the association is with funding for the project. Ms. Rudolf answered that they haven't taken out a loan yet. With the sale of 400 they have deeded property to Oakview Estates, but we have not received that yet. Chairperson Whittington commented that it seems like a lot of loose ends. Schaefer added that it's pretty open-ended. DC Wirsing asked if they have indicated any construction timeline to Oakview Estates. Ms. Rudolf answered that they have not. Schaefer asked if the association has approached Johnny Dog and the hobby shop. Ms. Rudolf replied that Johnny Dog is owned by the hobby shop, but they are doing extended hours and they would only have 5 or 6 spots. DC Wirsing stated that the only other issue is how the residents are going to get from St. Charles Place to the building. They probably won't Village of Lombard Page 2 Public Safety & Transportation Minutes August 7, 2017 Committee walk to the crosswalk at Grace. Cation added that another problem would be snow plowing. A motion was made by John Larkin, Jr., seconded by Jerry Schaefer, that this Request be denied and that the requesters return to the committee when they have more information. The motion passed by an unanimous vote. 6.0 New Business 170323 Request for 15 Minute Parking, 14 W. St. Charles Road A request from Balkan Bakery for one parking space to be signed "15 Minute Parking". (DISTRICT #1) Sgt. Grage reviewed the item. There are existing allowances in the downtown area. Looking at it from an operational standpoint, however, we could get requests from other businesses and it would be hard to turn them away. There are also businesses moving in and out. At what point do you stop allowing it? Schwarz commented that he understands the Police Department's frustration with enforcement, but we should support our businesses and their efforts to improve their customer base. Cation added that he understands that, but then Lom Ling may say we have carry out, so we need a space. Does it make sense to designate two or three 15 minute parking spots someplace central? Chairperson Whittington suggested a space could be designated for 15 minute general use on N. Park. That might work to accomodate the four businesses that have carry out. DC Wirsing added that would also satisfy the issue of the Village catering to one business, but enforcement would be difficult. General discussion ensued regarding enforcement. Police Department staff will bring a recommendation for a couple of spots to be signed to the next meeting. 170324 Speed Modification Request, 500 Block S. Fairfield Avenue A resident request to reduce the speed limit to 25 mph. (DISTRICT #5) Sgt. Grage reviewed the request. The resident pointed out that south of him the speed limit is 25 mph, but that is a different roadway. Sgt. Grage added that he did conduct a speed study and it did not show that it should be 25 mph and cars are not speeding on a regular basis. There is a local resident that he felt is speeding and talking on their cell phone. She was the only person stopped during a directed patrol. A motion was made by John Larkin, Jr., seconded by John Schwarz, that this Request be denied. The motion passed by an unanimous vote. 7.0 Other Business 170328 Overview of the Restructuring Agreement Village of Lombard Page 3 Public Safety & Transportation Minutes August 7, 2017 Committee Aranas gave a presentation. Corso asked if the LPFC has any employees and if so where do they operate out of. Aranas answered that the LPFC is a board. The employees are Marriott's per their contract to run and operate the hotel. Cation asked if the $3m is a lump sum payment or spread out. Aranas replied that it is one payment. Corso asked what the Village's credit rating is currently. Cunningham answered that it is BBB. Aranas added that prior to this it was A. Corso asked what the original projection was for an overnight stay. Aranas answered that the room rate was $200/night and the occupancy is about 70%. She added that the occupancy rate is an average rate. Schaefer asked if this is something that is going to go on for an extended period. Aranas replied that it's the opposite, the semi annual ask was indefinite, but with the releases those asks will now stop. Larkin asked when the hotel will be rebranded. Aranas answered that there are no plans to rename it. Corso asked if there would be any impact on Harry Caray's. Aranas replied that the hotel is releasing information that it's business as usual there. Shaefer asked how much debt there is right now. Aranas replied that the original was $170+m, but it has accrued to over $200+m. The bond holders are agreeing to a restructured debt amount, but don't have that number. General discussion ensued regarding the 70% of bond holders and who is party to the agreement. Schwarz asked if there is a plan to then pay off the $200+m debt. Aranas clarified that it would be restructured to a different amount. Schwarz asked if this will effect property values. Cunningham answered that it will not. Whittington reminded the committee that it is LPFC that owns this, not the village. Corso pointed out that maybe the restructuring doesn't impact our taxes, but the bad credit rating impacts us. General discussion ensued regarding the cost of a bad credit rating. Cunningham commented that we're doing better than going out for bonds right now by using IEPA loans for water and sewer projects, and we've Village of Lombard Page 4 Public Safety & Transportation Minutes August 7, 2017 Committee worked with a local bank instead of going out for the money to do improvements. This is a good thing to increase our credit rating. 8.0 Information Only 170329 FY2018 Proposed Ambulance Billing Rate Presentation Cunningham gave a presentation regarding ambulance billing. Cunningham explained that many residents ask why, if they live in Lombard, do they have to pay for the ambulance. When people use the ambulance it's for personal use, so it is a user fee that pays for equipment and time. Yes, property taxes help pay for the services, but we do charge a fee for the services you personally use as well. Chief Sander explained the difference between an ALS and BLS ambulance and reviewed several slides. General Demographics - 75% of Lombard's emergency calls are for ambulance service and that trend continues to rise. Insurance Demographics - With Medicare and Medicaid we can only collect what they allow. They have a set fee which is pretty low. A lot of transports are Medicare, so we're stuck with what we get for reimbursement. With insurance companies we're able to recover more of the billing amount. Comparable Call Volume - Lombard may not be the biggest, but we are the second busiest. Comparable Rates - Our rates are lower than any of our neighbors and anyone in DuPage County. Lombard hasn't raised rates since 2009. Rate Model Options - We are seeing a trend in the industry that instead of having different rates for ALS vs. BLS, it's the same rate across the board. For every call we send an engine and five people. If you compare it to a an x-ray, it's the same cost whether your ankle is sprained or broken. We looked at overall costs and compared to what would be reimbursed if we went to a flat rate. We're currently only collecting about 70% of the cost of our calls. We came up with three models; aggressive, moderate and conservative. Naperville just went to a flat rate not to long ago and they don't do any balance billing. Cunningham explained that the proposed recommendation by the Finance Committee for future rate increases is to try to cover 100% of the ambulance personnel costs as well as eliminate the fee differential, since there's not much of a cost difference. The resident rate would be $1600, non-resident $1900. Finance does not want to balance bill residents, but continue to balance bill non-residents. Village of Lombard Page 5 Public Safety & Transportation Minutes August 7, 2017 Committee Cunningham reviewed the implementation plan, which is hoped to be implemented by October 1, 2017. The committee concurred. 150468 Fire Department Reports/Information 150469 Police Department Reports/Information Adjournment 9.0 A motion was made by John Larkin, Jr., seconded by Jerry Schaefer, to adjourn the meeting at 7:10 P.M. The motion carried unanimously. Village of Lombard Page 6