Economic Development Committee

1 APPROVED 2 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK 3 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION 4 5 Village Hall Terrace Room 6 July 9, 2014 7 8 Members Present: Chairman James Kahan, Karen Roloff, Harley Korman, Tensley Garris, Richard 9 Rushkewicz, Mike Gold, Edwin Feld, Paul Zima, Sally Larmore, Ken Spero, Cathy 10 Lauria, Hillary Siena and Judy Hughes. 11 12 Others Present: Sandra Frum. 13 14 Staff Present: Mike Strong, David Schoon and Colleen Brunner. 15 16 17 Call to Order & Introductions 18 19 EDC Chairman Kahan called the meeting to order in the Board Room of Village Hall at 7:30 a.m. 20 21 Review of Minutes: 22 23 On a motion made and seconded, the minutes from the April 30, 2014 EDC meeting were approved as 24 presented. 25 26 Public Comment- Hear from the Audience 27 28 None 29 30 Update Regarding Development Activity in the Community 31 32 Schoon provided updates regarding the following development projects: 1) the Board approved the 33 North Shore 770 project and they are in for building permits. Site work will start in a month or so; 2) 430 34 Dundee redevelopment parties still working on land swap details. The Village is interested in gaining 35 ROW for Dundee intersection improvements; 3) 1000 Skokie interest in possible multiple uses for the 36 site; 4) Waterway Car wash on Waukegan – the Plan Commission is divided on the project; 5) Village 37 Green Center expansion- proposed retail and apartments will go before the Board next week, 6) 38 Walters/Lorenz mixed use development- no updates; 7) proposed cell tower at 2705 Techny is yet to go 39 before the Plan Commission and cell tower at 4350 Walters was approved by the Board, 8) 2775 Dundee 40 proposed Dunkin Donuts drive through submitted a preliminary application to the Board; 9) 2990 41 Dundee- proposed office building- text amendments to the zoning code are necessary for project to 42 move forward; 10) 60 Revere Dr. office building wants to rezone from industrial to office district; 11) 43 2121 Shermer is a vacant building that is proposing a self-storage facility. This will require a text 44 amendment; 12) Lurie Children’s is proposing an outpatient facility at 1131 Techny, 13) Board reviewed 45 and directed staff to prepare the documents approving the proposed Timbers Edge-21 unit PUD on 46 Dundee; 14) Anets property at Waukegan/Voltz has selected Edward R. James Homes as the builder. It 47 is zoned R4 and could have 40-60 single family homes; 15) Unincorporated Mission Hills-development 48 from 9 hole golf course to single family and townhomes is being discussed at the county level, 16) many  EDC Meeting Minutes July 9, 2014 1 relocations and new tenant occupancies are occurring within Village Square Shopping Center; 17) 2 Property owners have been working together to market 7 homes along Shermer Rd.- known as the C1 3 properties; 18) Downtown campus- Village is working with a consultant on concept and stormwater 4 detention concerns for the area adjacent to the Village Hall. Village to consider conducting market 5 study and parking study in the downtown area; 19) The Board did approve a 6b application for 1880 6 Holste; 20) the Waukegan/Willow intersection should be open by late September 7 8 Discuss Role of Economic Development Commission 9 10 To facilitate the conversation, Schoon directed the committee to refer to the Village’s Strategic Plan for 11 Economic Development as a framework to guide the discussion. Chairman Kahan threw out some 12 general questions to get the conversation started. President Frum feels the role of the commission is for 13 information sharing among the taxing districts on issues and projects that may affect other tax distircts. 14 Member Korman sees this commission as more informational and the ICDC as a decision making body. 15 Member Feld thought perhaps both commissions could be more intertwined. He does get a lot of 16 feedback and information at these meetings. Perhaps residents could be invited but not certain on how 17 to handle that component. Member Sienna values the informations heard from the taxing bodies which 18 then is considered when the school district is making decisions. She sees the EDC role as informational 19 and not making business decisions. The schools have attended Chamber meetings and special events. 20 Member Roloff stated she has served on the commission a long time and she likes the idea of meeting 21 quarterly so each tax body can have a mutual understanding of each other. She is not sure the ICDC & 22 EDC have an understanding of what each commission’s role is. Member Spero questioned if the name of 23 the EDC commission is incorrect if the goal is sharing of information. He doesn’t feel we do what is 24 stated in the mission statement. Member Rushkewicz stated that it would be useful if the EDC 25 commission could get an ICDC agenda, link or perhaps attend a meeting. Member Lauria stated that she 26 reaches out to Schoon for economic information which helps plan their budget. Being on this 27 committee has opened that door. Member Kahan recapped what he has heard, there is a focus on the 28 revenue and expense side of each taxing body and how new ventures affect the tax payers and districts. 29 He would like to see the EDC help the public get educated on how a tax bill becomes a tax bill. Member 30 Hughes notated the action steps on page 8. Our tax bills are lower than surrounding areas but 31 businesses do have difficulties dealing with Cook County. In conclusions, President Frum stated that the 32 Village does look closely at the issue of increasing taxes and how it will impact the residents and 33 businesses in the community before making a decision. 34 35 Update from Each Taxing District 36 37 School District #225- concerns with tax rates and pensions. Demographer working on boundary studies 38 as GBS/GBN enrollment fluctuating. This affects the number of state mandated teachers required and 39 special education services that need to be provided. GBS won the national debate title. Roof 40 construction on the GBN field house is $1.5 million. 41 42 School District #28- There were 500+ students who participated in summer school and park district 43 programs. Westmoor school renovation is progressing and being paid out of fund balance. 44 45 Park District- Committee meetings have occurred in regard to purchasing the Five Seasons property. 46 Four designs have been presented and they are honing in on one. District will receive a feasibility study 47 July 29th. They will need to make a decision by Aug. 4 with a filing date of Aug. 18 to get the referendum  EDC Meeting Minutes July 9, 2014 1 on the ballot. This also includes repairs to pools and other park facilities. The average cost to 2 homeowners would be $8-9 per month for a median value home of $550,000. The park district is 3 currently experiencing capacity issues for its programs. It has to utilize school gyms and rent space. 4 Constructing a new facility at Anetsberger property was considered but they felt the Five Seasons 5 property was a better option. The EDC Commission stated that the Park District needs to present to the 6 public what the new constructions costs would be in order to justify their decision. 7 8 School District #31- District is working with District #225 and Allstate on refunds. There is 1 ½ years left 9 on bond debt services. Enrollment is stable. They are working on reorganizing buildings to accommodate 10 various programs. They will be going to full day kindergarten this fall. 11 12 School District #27- District is financially stable but concerns are tax rates, pensions and insurance costs. 13 Recently signed a 3-year extension for teacher’s contract. Buildings are in good shape, enrollment is 14 steady and conducting emergency preparedness planning (NIMMS). 15 16 Old Business - None 17 18 New Business- Next scheduled meeting is October 15, 2014. 19 20 Adjourn - 21 On motion made and seconded, the joint meeting was adjourned at 9:05 a.m. 22 23 Respectfully Submitted – 24 Colleen Brunner