Landscape Beautification Committee Agendas & Minutes

LANDSCAPE BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES June 28, 2012 Administration Building Room 218 Present: Trustee Louella Preston, Chair Absent: Chuck Ostman Susan Bus - Purchasing Bob Pilat – Public Services Cathy Spadoni – Secretary I. Call to Order Trustee Preston called the meeting to order at 9:03 a.m. II. Old Business - Review of Ives/Ryan Plan for Phase 2 Trustee Preston led a review of emails and the individual sites. Bob Pilat reported on the Fitness Center. Fitness Center John Ryan developed the plans. The plans were sent to KGI. KGI gave a price. A purchase order in the amount of $2,257 was mailed to KGI yesterday. There is no start date yet. The plans include the planter in front and the “little area” by the swimming pool door. They are going to leave the front flowers for now; they are only going to put in the back plantings. When Trustee Preston, Trustee Palicki, Chuck Ostman and Susan Bus walked around the Administration building and the Human Services/Fitness Center, they were all in agreement as to what was going on. They did not talk much about the Post Office, but just looked at if from across the street. Susan Bus stated that after the walk around, she put together a list of things that needed to be fixed, such as broken cement. She thanked Bob Pilat and Public Services for doing a great job fixing the items on the list within the next two days. Trustee Preston thanked Susan for putting the list together. She stated that it is not her job to interfere with the day-to-day operations of the Village, i.e., provide task lists to Village personnel; it is her job to arrive at an end product. Page 1 of 6 Landscape Beautification Committee June 28, 2012 Village Hall Susan Bus commented that Trustee Rosemary Palicki had suggested moving the annuals that are by the Oakton entrance door (in the front of Village Hall) and putting them on the Waukegan side in the flower bed in front of the bushes, where the flowers just stop as if we ran out of flowers. She wondered if the annuals can be transplanted at this time or if that would destroy the plants. John Ryan thought they possible could. Committee member thought that transplanting anything now would be a shock to the plants. Now is not a good time. KGI Trustee Preston referred to Susan Bus’ email of June 15, 2012 and Chuck Ostman’s June 22, 2012 response regarding perennials. Details from KGI:  The cost of perennial plants varies between $15 and $50: $15 for simple plants such as ground cover and geraniums, and $50 for plants such as roses.  Annual plants are approximately $3 to $6 per plant.  These estimates include plant costs, transportation, and labor to plant them. The committee had previously discussed reducing the number of annuals to a bare minimum in order to reduce our annual cost. Bob Pilat noted that next year we will most likely have to go out to bid again on the maintenance contract. This is KGI’s first year and they can have three more extensions. However, Bob Pilat feels that they did not fully understand the size and scope of the project, and Susan Bus feels that KGI did not anticipate all the work involved in maintaining all the properties. Bob Pilat continued that there was a wide range of maintenance costs – from $40,000 to $140,000 – submitted from other bidders. He would be surprised if KGI would want to renew the contract at the current rate, so we will probably be going out to bid and will restructure the contract so that all the items will be “ala carte” in the bid spec for fertilization, weed control, annuals, etc. Then we’ll have a better idea of what each element costs. We can also include a mandatory walk-through. On the current contract, the annuals are a required item and therefore weren’t listed separately. The mulching was an option and was therefore presented with separate pricing. In the future, we can restructure the contract to be more specific. Post Office Trustee Preston reported that even though there are not many annuals at the Post Office, landscaping is still labor-intensive, particularly with the weeds. There is a difference between walking it and seeing it on paper. She believes that KGI doesn’t realize how labor-intensive it is. The committee agreed that annuals will be kept to a minimum in Phase II. Bob Pilat stated that all of the annuals that are additional in Phase II are at the Senior/Fitness Center, and there are not that many. Page 2 of 6 Landscape Beautification Committee June 28, 2012 Trustee Preston noted that there are some trees still on the plan that have been removed, and there are some that were supposed to have been removed that still are standing. Trustee Preston summarized her walk-through with John Ryan. Using the plans, she reviewed Public Works and Fire Station 2 facilities. Public Works Touhy Avenue Building Entrance Trustee Preston discussed the “natural path” at the entrance to the building on Touhy Avenue where the plans show that flowers are to be planted. After observing the use of the path, she and John Ryan decided not to plant flowers where people will naturally walk. They propose moving the six flagstones currently installed at the flagpoles to this spot to create a real path. This proposal would fill an unattractive bare spot and would re-use materials we already have. Bob Pilat offered two different viewpoints: 1) It is a natural path that people want to use to create the shortest distance between two points, and 2) It is not recommended that people walk through an uneven path area to get to their bus, but should stay on the even sidewalk and not trample the landscaping. Trustee Preston suggested that Bob Pilat and Scott Jochim discuss the matter and decide which way to go. John Ryan must be informed of the decision so he can mark the plans accordingly. Trustee Preston stated that John Ryan suggested that the flagstones at the flagpoles be moved whether or not they are used at the entrance because there is no real purpose to them at the flagpoles. Bob Pilat pointed out that the flagstones are there to stand on when the flags are raised and lowered. So we will not be moving them. If Bob and Scott decide that there should be a path at the entrance, then we will have to buy stones to place there. There are lights at the base of the flagpoles. John Ryan plans to put flowers in front of them so as not to see the black head of the lights. Gas Pump By the gas pump (an area used by the bus drivers), there are some dead ferns. Trustee Preston and John Ryan discussed tearing it out and either sodding or mulching the area. Bob Pilat suggested that mulch or some type of stone would be better options. He will talk to John to determine which would be the best, low-cost solution. Southwest Corner At the southwest corner of the facility, bushes are to be planted to continue the break in the bushes. Currently, this area is “ugly.” Bob Pilat stated when the facility was first built, we wanted to provide a park for nearby residents. There was playground equipment there on our property but, because it wasn’t used, it was moved to another location – most likely to a Park District location. He likes to refer to the area as Stonehenge. Trustee Preston continued that the area is depressed, like a pit. It is appalling that this is in such close proximity to the single family residents living behind and across the street from the property. Trustee Preston suggested taking the stones out and making it a flat surface would look better. Page 3 of 6 Landscape Beautification Committee June 28, 2012 Because this area is not used for anything, we don’t want to spend a lot of money on it unless there is an alternative use for it. Trustee Preston saw two big planters in the back, probably leftover from the waterfall – 1950 vintage with stone on the outside. Bob Pilat does not recommend using them because they have a tendency to fall apart when moved. Susan Bus suggested, because this area used to be a park, moving the Marcheschi Memorial Park rock to this location. It was also suggested that we put grass in the area, place the rock and plant a few flowers around it. Or the rock could be placed on the pea gravel that is already there. Trustee Preston summarized that putting the rock at this location serves many criteria:  It is on Village property  It is in a residential area  It is at the Public Services facility  The area used to be a park  No one uses the space  It is a large enough area to accommodate the rock The committee recommends investigating this site as a location for the Marcheschi Memorial Park rock. Bob Pilat will talk to Scott Jochim about the feasibility of this project. Courtyard Trustee Preston stated that the courtyard – the Public Works picnic area – has an empty planter that is full of cigarette butts. Bob Pilat confirmed that this area is mostly used by smokers. Trustee Preston said that John Ryan is working on this area. Some of it will be replanted and the “big ashtray” will be planted. The Serviceberry trees will stay. The area is going to look lovely. Northwest Corner Trustee Preston stated that because there are four Ash trees that need to be removed from the NW corner of the Public Services property (on Touhy Avenue by the sign), John Ryan should not do any landscaping or make changes to the landscaping until we have a definite answer about the replacement of Ash trees. The Ash trees are large and provide shade, so John needs to base his landscaping on the fact that replacement trees will not provide the same shade. Trustee Preston proposed postponing removal of these Ash trees and dealing with this area in Phase III instead of Phase II. Bob Pilat recommends removing the trees now and replacing them with new trees and other appropriate plantings. The new trees will not be all the same kind; we try to mix it up as much as possible to avoid blight. We can schedule this removal, which will be done by either our Public Works personnel or the contractor, to coincide with the improvement. Bob Pilat will have the Ash trees removed. He will talk to John about what type of trees he would like to plant there and what will work with what he’s planning. The tree removal and replanting would have to happen before John can install new landscaping. Ash Trees Bob Pilat stated that we received a grant to do a tree inventory throughout the Village up to a certain amount of money – not enough to do all the Village, but the majority of it, specifically Page 4 of 6 Landscape Beautification Committee June 28, 2012 parkway areas and Village properties. Any Ash tree that is not dead or dying will be dead or dying in a couple of years. Right now, the tree inventory identified approximately 280 trees to be removed; about 50% of those are Ash trees. Ash trees make up about 5% of the number of trees that we have. We have 140 ash trees that are in need of immediate removal. The diameter of these trees ranges from 2” to 39”. We are trying to go out to bid for tree removal. We have the bid specs ready to go, but the State of Illinois has not determined whether or not the work being done is subject to prevailing wage, which makes a huge difference in cost. Landscape maintenance is not subject to prevailing wage; landscaping improvements are subject to prevailing wage. The State of Illinois is getting a lot of pressure from all the municipalities who together have tens of thousands of Ash trees that need to be removed and who would prefer to have it not be subject to prevailing wage. We are still waiting for a decision from the State. In the meantime, the Forestry Department of Public Works is taking down the trees that are at the top of the priority list – those that are already dead or dying. Southeast Corner Trustee Preston reported that there is a strip of landscaping by the wash bay that is not on John Ryan’s plans. Currently, there are a Newport Plum tree and some perennials. She asked Bob Pilat to check his plans to see if he can tell why this area is not on John’s plans. Fire Station 2 Trustee Preston reported that the Fire Station is as drawn.  There will be plantings at the lava rock, which has been there for many years.  There will be plantings around the cement base of the memorial bell.  The sign will be landscaped.  The two shrubs that are manicured around the flagpole will not be touched.  The shrubbery that was supposed to come out to the Blue Boy Museum has been replaced by a privacy fence, which likely hides a vegetable garden. This will not be touched.  The memorial garden in front on the southwest corner of the property will not be touched. Tree Planters Boxes Trustee Preston stated that we need to make a decision about what we need to do on Civic Center Drive with the tree grates, the tree grates that have been concreted over, and the trees that are still there. The basic question is: Is Civic Center Drive going to have trees on it or not? Trustee Preston distributed photos of a variety of tree planters. The committee members discussed the pros and cons of the various options and the following issues:  tree planter boxes versus concrete sidewalks  snow removal  paving materials – concrete, brick pavers, decorative stone Trustee Preston read emails sent by Chuck Ostman, John Ryan and Fred Braun regarding tree planters on Civic Center Drive. Fred Braun does not recommend that we put planter boxes to the curb on the Post Office side. He recommends keeping the planter box off the curb. Instead of going 5’ wide, we should Page 5 of 6 Landscape Beautification Committee June 28, 2012 reduce the width of the box and, instead of planting trees, plant some ornamental greenery that would give a softer look than concrete would give. The bid will go out in July; it will be approved at the August meeting. The Board will be presented with John’s drawings to go out to bid, but on the bid there will be alternate paving options. Susan Bus stated that the bid opening will be August 8. Once we review the documents, Trustee Preston can have the recommendation. Trustee Preston would like to have this material anytime after August 14 so she can get it to the Board anytime before August 21 – possibly in their Friday packets on the August 17. Trustee Preston asked Bob Pilat to talk to John Ryan about providing alternate planter options. III. New Business Benches at the Waterfall/Fountain Plaza Trustee Preston reported that the fountain plan is incomplete: There are ten benches in the plan, but only four are installed. It has been discovered that there are two benches at the Public Works garage. Trustee Preston read an email from Chuck Ostman which states that the benches currently face the fountain. He feels that the benches should have a better appearance and should also face out. One thought is that perhaps businesses would like to donate benches through a donation drive, with a brass plate attached with a quote or message for a veteran, a loved-one, or a business reflecting their contribution. Based on this, the two benches at Public Works should be placed at the fountain. (They were originally there but were removed during the repaving project.) Bob Pilat suggested locations for their placement. Trustee Preston agreed. To comply with the plan, we should purchase four more benches. But the committee decided that, because of all the built-in seating at the fountain, we do not need more benches. IV. Adjournment We will ask John Ryan to send the plans with a summary note indicating what has been amended. Based on what John sends us, we can decide to meet again before it goes out to bid. The next meeting will be at the call of the chair. Trustee Preston entertained a motion to adjourn. Susan Bus moved to adjourn, seconded by Bob Pilat. All approved. The meeting adjourned at 10:31 a.m. Approved August 2, 2012 Page 6 of 6 Landscape Beautification Committee June 28, 2012 Page 7 of 6