Economic Development Committee

1 Approved 2 MINUTES OF THE NORTHBROOK ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE 3 Village Hall Terrace Room 4 July 13, 2016 5 Members Present: Chairman James Kahan, Carol Currie, Dale Falk, Tensley Garris, Jay Glaubinger, R. J. 6 Gravel, Edwin Feld, Sandra Frum, Mike Gold, Kate Hall, Larry Hewitt, Judy Hughes, Harley Korman, Cathy 7 Lauria, Karen Roloff, Richard Rushkewicz, Ken Slepicka, Vicki Tarver, Joel Taub, and Brian Wegley. 8 Staff Present: David Schoon 9 Recorder: S. Anetsberger 10 Call to Order & Introductions: 11 ECD Chairman Kahan called the meeting to order in the Terrace Room of Village Hall at 7:30 a.m. 12 Everyone introduced themselves. 13 Brian Wegley, Superintendent of Northbrook/Glenview School District 30 welcomed Mr. Dale Falk as 14 new Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, replacing Chris Young who is retiring after 21 15 years of service. 16 Review of Minutes: 17 On a motion made and seconded, the minutes from the April 13, 2016 meeting were approved by voice 18 vote. 19 Public Comment-Hear from the Audience - None 20 Community Planning & Economic Development Coordinator Report 21 David Schoon, Village Staff Liaison provided updates regarding the following Developments: Northeast 22 Northbrook (1) NorthShore 770 - one third of the residential units have received occupancy permits; (2) 23 the Marathon at Dundee & Skokie property owner’s attorneys continue work on filing paperwork for 24 redevelopment of parcels; (3) 1000 Skokie Life Time Fitness Mixed Use project in for final engineering 25 and final plat approval; (4) Lock Up Self Storage on Skokie Highway and Sunset Ridge - construction 26 continues; (5) AMC Theaters - undergoing a major renovation that will reduce seating by 65%; (6) North 27 Shore Place at 1000 Sunset Ridge Assisted Living Facility - Asking for approval to construct 32 additional 28 parking spaces for visitors; (7) Applicant seeks Zoning Text Amendment and Special Permit for a Sober 29 Living Facility at 1620 Voltz Rd to create supportive environment for individuals staying for 3-12 months; 30 (8) Green Acres Country Club - discussed options with staff in connection with financial issues; 31 Northwest Northbrook (9) Timber's Edge by KZF - 21 unit single family development was issued 3 or 4 32 building permits to construct homes; (10) Dunkin Donuts at Dundee and Pfingsten is under construction; 33 (11) Proposed psychiatric hospital at Lake Cook and Sanders - no further discussions have taken place 34 since the Board of Trustees preliminary review of the project; Downtown Area/South Central 35 Northbrook (12) Village Green Center at 1310-1348 Shermer continues to move forward on the three- 36 story building and ten apartment units on upper floors; (13) Jacob's Townhomes on Shermer - received  1 Board concept plan approval for 68 units, working on submitting application for final plan approval; (14) 2 Joint meeting with Board and Plan Commission - work continues on some of the amendments for 3 downtown in Form-Based Zoning Code approach; (15) Truck repair at Shermer and Old Willow is not 4 moving forward; (16) Hanover Apartments at Shermer and Stanley - Board reviewed the preliminary 5 application, had issues with how many rental units the community can support; (17) Memory Care 6 Facility at Techny and Shermer - preliminary review for new facility investor, 105 units of assisted living, 7 applicant is moving forward with formal application; (18) Ultimo Motor Sports - Board agreed to sales 8 tax sharing agreement, up to $1.5 million or ten years; (19) CrossFit on Janke Rd. - request for rezoning 9 of property in South Shermer Corridor to allow sports training facility; South East Northbrook (19) Anets 10 Woods, Edward James - in for final plan approval; (20) ICDC business visits continue. Feedback from 11 business visits reveal employers having trouble attracting new employees within all areas of Northbrook. 12 Working with Pace to place a bus shelter in Sky Harbor Industrial Park. Hosted HR Managers within the 13 retail work force and will continue with hosting employers of manufacturers/trades and professional 14 businesses to identify what challenges the businesses face. Will hold internal discussions on what the 15 Village and Chamber of Commerce can do to assist the businesses with finding and retaining employees. 16 President Frum stated that the repaving of Dundee Road would continue throughout the summer. 17 Member Garris inquired about the staging at 1000 Skokie Blvd. Liaison Schoon replied that Phase 1 18 includes Life Time Fitness and a child care facility. Phase 2 includes the apartment building. 19 Updates from Each Taxing District 20 Library - The Library has an open Board position and is soliciting applications. A new Assistant Library 21 Director was hired. The Library received from the State of Illinois a per capita grant check in the amount 22 of $22,000. 23 Park District - A new executive director of the park district has been named. The Park District has an 24 open Board position and is soliciting applications. The Park District continues work on the strategic plan 25 and hopes to have the document ready by November 2016. 26 District #27 - Student performance and financial position are both strong. Balance reserve is at the 27 targeted number of 65%. Continue to pursue cost containment measures. Modest renovations will be 28 made at Hickory School. 29 District #28 - The State of Illinois passed the education funding level portion of the budget. The 30 Governor announced a School Funding Commission. PARCC test has been removed in favor of the SAT at 31 the high school level. The District should be aligning on the elementary level. New website called 32 SharpSchool is being unveiled in August. Certain asphalt areas will be replaced at Meadowbrook and 33 Greenbriar schools. 34 District #30 - District is working on implementing comprehensive plan process that identified two goals; 35 a preschool child learning center and a facility goal.  1 District #31 - Bonds were issued last year for capital improvements for HVAC replacement at Winkelman 2 School. Interior changes are being made in the Library area. A new principal, Ms. Dana Tamez was hired 3 for Winkelman School. Professional Learning Committees are in their second year. 4 District #225 - R. J. Gravel, Assistant Superintendent for Business, announced that the District is in the 5 middle of the budget process. Two principals finished their first year at GBN and GBS. Student capacity is 6 being monitored at both schools. The Innovation Project partners students working with manufacturing 7 businesses and allows students to create inventions that will be brought to fruition upon graduation. 8 The District is monitoring health care costs, the pension process and the State's inability to release funds 9 due the District. Bond refinancing is being pursued to take advantage of low tax rates. Life Safety Bonds 10 will be issued. The goal is that all projects will be completed in 3-5 years. 11 Member Rushkewicz questioned corporate tax appeals. The District replied that an aggressive stance is 12 taken as that funding is part of the operating budget. 13 Village of Northbrook - The 7.5 million gallon detention project at Western and Farnsworth is just about 14 finished. 15 Member Garris inquired how the Wescott Storm Water Facility works. President Frum stated that the 16 Village, the Park District and District 30 all came together for the greater good. The storm water 17 chamber includes a rainwater harvesting system, enabling the Village and the Park District to reuse 18 water captured during rain storms. The lawn irrigation system for Wescott Park uses the storm water, 19 and is able to pump storm water into truck-mounted tanks for watering new parkway trees and cleaning 20 streets. The project is a combined effort of the Village of Northbrook, the Northbrook Park District, and 21 the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. 22 Praise was given to the Northbrook Park District from District 31 for their help in making landscape 23 improvements. 24 Praise was given to President Frum for her storm water presentation to first graders at Wescott School. 25 Discussion Regarding Promoting Investment in Industrial Areas 26 Chairman Kahan began by stating that by promoting investment in industrial areas, the non residential 27 tax base is an asset and thereby, the economic burden is reduced for residents. The non residential tax 28 base used to be one-half of the total sum but is now 40%. Chairman Kahan is concerned that the trend is 29 moving in an unfriendly way. He questions if residential teardowns and rebuilds are an indicator of a 30 higher Equalized Assessment Value, why do we not see this renewal of activity in the industrial areas? Is 31 it a property tax differential? EAV is a tool to measure non residential asset base that produces revenue 32 for the community and is spent by the tax bodies. He questions what the long term future is for Sky 33 Harbor and other industrial areas. Are their identifiable trends that measure economic and physical 34 obsolescence? What kind of facilities are growing businesses looking for? Are we facing a never ending 35 need to find businesses to occupy these structures? We need to gain an understanding about what may 36 happen in the near term future and understand how policy can make the effect more desirable rather 37 than less desirable. President Frum stated that the assessed valuation in Northbrook for those  1 properties mentioned have decreased faster than the residential since the recession. Other reasons for 2 the 40/60 change is and the difficulty of getting businesses in Northbrook are; 1) Northbrook is located 3 on the border of Lake County and there is a large property tax differential. 2) There is a change in the tax 4 giving that communities are doing. Northbrook only has two sales tax rebates in town. 3) Our industrial 5 parks are aging, infrastructure does not meet current industry standard needs. How does the Village 6 respond to that? 4) How do we bring in workers? Businesses are having a hard time attracting new 7 employees. Our hub and spoke system of transportation is not ideal. 8 Member Garris stated that there is less small ownership. There is no longer the allegiance to a 9 community. There is no longer the need to want to have your business close to your home. 10 Member Hall asked if the Village tracks businesses leaving the area with exit surveys. Liaison Schoon 11 responded that the Village of Northbrook makes checks on local businesses and their current intentions, 12 but that it reaches only a small number of the 3,000 businesses located within the area. 13 Member Feld raised the question how EDC can help. Chairman Kahan stated that there is a need to 14 gather and share information on trends and tap into that information. President Frum stated that the 15 sharing of information is important. Member Garris stated that real estate professionals could provide 16 hard data. There is a need to find out if people are making investments in industrial buildings. 17 Member Hughes asked for a list of Chairman Kahan's points and President Frum's points be sent to 18 membership. 19 Old Business 20 None 21 New Business 22 None 23 Adjourn 24 On motion made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 a.m. 25 Respectfully Submitted - Sue Anetsberger 26