President and Board of Trustees

123 Madison Street Village of Oak Park Oak Park, Illinois 60302 www.oak-park.us Meeting Minutes President and Board of Trustees Monday, January 26, 2015 7:00 PM Village Hall I. Call to Order President Pro Tem Lueck called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. II. Roll Call Present: 6- Village Trustee Barber, Village Trustee Brewer, Village Trustee Lueck, Village Trustee Ott, Village Trustee Salzman, and Village Trustee Tucker Absent: 1- Village President Abu-Taleb III. Consideration of Motion to Adjourn to Executive Session at 6:00 p.m. to Discuss Personnel in Room 130. It was moved by Trustee Brewer and seconded by Trustee Tucker to enter into Executive Session pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) - discussion of personnel, in Room 130. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. V. Reconvene to Regular Meeting in Council Chambers at 7:00 p.m. and Call to Order The Special Meeting reconvened at 7:10 P.M. in Council Chambers. VI. Roll Call Present: 6- Village Trustee Barber, Village Trustee Brewer, Village Trustee Lueck, Village Trustee Ott, Village Trustee Salzman, and Village Trustee Tucker Absent: 1- Village President Abu-Taleb VII. Agenda Approval It was moved by Village Trustee Barber, seconded by Village Trustee Brewer, that the agenda be approved. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. VIII. Non-Agenda Public Comment There was no Non-Agenda Public Comment. IX. Regular Agenda A. ID 15-038 Presentations by the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Chicago Transit Authority Regarding the Eisenhower Expressway (I-290) Environmental Impact Study. Illinois State Representative Camille Lilly. Representative Lilly stated that she Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 2/19/2015 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 26, 2015 was in attendance as a concerned citizen and to hear about the process and some of the public's concern regarding this project.She thanked the Board for allowing the public to be part of the process. Rick Kuner. Mr. Kuner spoke about the flaws in IDOT's designs but noted that the CTA's planning and conceptual design work is thorough and thoughtful. Dave Manuele. Mr. Manuele discussed the temporary and permanent repercussions of the proposed construction on the community. Andrea Green. Ms. Green spoke about the negative impact this project will have on the environment and the quality of life in Oak Park. Reginald Arkell, Community Planner, Federal Transit Administration. Mr. Arkell stated that his agency provides planning oversight for state departments of transportation to ensure compliance with Federal regulations. He explained how a benefit cost analysis is completed and noted that had this been done with today's methods when the Eisenhower was initially built, the results would be very different. It would be prudent to conduct benefit cost analysis to consider alternatives that include lane reductions, removal from downtown to the Tri-State, expansion of the Blue Line and creation of a green corridor for non-motorized transport in the footprint. Michele Gurgas, representing SEOPCO. Ms. Gurgas noted that pedestrian safety issues at the expressway crossings need to be addressed during and after construction. She also expressed concern about the proposed right lane exit ramps and reduced Blue Line service. David Moehring. Mr. Moehring resides near the expressway. He expressed concern that the character of his neighborhood will be lost. He also spoke about the resulting noise and felt that the proposed sound wall will be detrimental to the community. Jim Kelly. Mr. Kelly expressed concern that no environmental studies have been done in regards to the impact of construction. However, he was pleased that the CTA was addressing issues with the Blue Line. Erik Wise. Mr. Wise discussed increasing safety on the pedestrian bridges. Emily Dougherty. Ms. Dougherty stated that the community needs to view the Eisenhower as not just a corridor from the western suburbs to downtown; it is also the community's route to O'Hare and many other places. She also called attention to the many components of the expressway that are in disrepair; construction is inevitable. Ed Pacer. Mr. Pacer spoke about accident and safety statistics and Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 2/19/2015 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 26, 2015 discussed expansion of the Blue Line. Peter Harmet with the Illinois Department of Transportation gave an overview of progress made thus far in the planning process. They are in the third evaluation round; they are hoping to get to the Preferred Alternative phase by fall and wrap up the study in early 2016. He reviewed the five alternatives carried forward. Information and broad ideas resulting form discussions between IDOT, CTA, the Village and other stakeholders will be translated into specific items over the next six months. This will require additional discussion and technical analysis. Michael McLaughlin with the Chicago Transit Authority stated that the Blue Line needs to be torn down, rebuilt and improved upon. He clarified that expanding to the west will not happen any time in the near future. He discussed plans for rehabbing and improving various stations, many of which will make them more pedestrian friendly. They have also had conversations with Forest Park regarding better use of land for parking facilities. He stated that they continue to evaluate funding opportunities, as the CTA is under-funded in regards to their capital needs. He urged residents to contact their State Senators and Representatives to help make this project a reality. A funding package for both the Blue Line and Eisenhower is needed. As well as being a sound engineering decision, building the two together will result in an extensive cost savings. President Pro Tem Lueck described the Village working group. She stated that the Village needs to establish how residents will be able to have their voices heard and represented by the group as well as how the group reports on what is being discussed and what recommendations are being made. In addition, there is a legally driven timeline and it is important for people to know when an issue is being considered in order to comment or provide information at that time. Trustee Ott stated that the emphasis of tonight's public comment was environmental impact; that topic should be the priority in regards to Board questions and getting more information. President Pro Tem Lueck commented that this is a broad umbrella; the overarching goal is to minimize negative impacts on the Village while having the biggest positive impact on the Village as possible. Trustee Ott noted that the draft environmental impact study is scheduled to be completed by September. She asked how much response time is available before a preferred alternative is chosen. She also asked for the timeline between the draft and final environmental impact studies. Mr. Harmet stated that there is typically a 30 to 45 day comment period before the public hearing plus comments may be made at the hearing. The timeline from the draft to final statement is typically six months. However, there are some major unresolved issues to resolve before they move forward with the Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 2/19/2015 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 26, 2015 draft. Trustee Brewer initiated a discussion regarding where funding will come from. Sources have not yet been determined. Trustee Salzman expressed frustration that the overall high level nature of this presentation did not address any of the concerns that the Village wants to address at this point. He stated that he was expecting more details, with respect to environmental impact. By not giving any kind of detailed analysis, Mr. Harmet has deprived all those present the opportunity to give meaningful input. Trustee Barber expected at least a general idea of what the noise or environmental impact would be based on IDOT's experience and noted that there will inevitably be an impact, as the whole highway is being rebuilt. He stated that they should also be able to give an estimate of what the community's portion of the cost will be. Trustee Tucker appreciated Mr. McLaughlin's honesty regarding expansion of the Blue Line. He also wanted to know what the cost of the project will be and expressed concern regarding the impact to the homes, parks and infrastructure around the Eisenhower during construction. Mr. Harmet commented that they have experience from other projects in terms of dust control and specifications, adding that they did air quality monitoring when working on the Dan Ryan; that can be done for Oak Park as well. In addition, construction can be done in staggered phases in order to avoid blocking access to the community and discussed various construction techniques that can reduce noise and vibrations. President Pro Tem Lueck stated that this conversation is indicative of the challenges ahead. People want information that's not available because it depends upon what the project will look like. However, that can't be decided until certain information is gathered. The first challenge of the working group is to get out of the current communication pattern and establish a process that will work for everyone and restore some level of trust and confidence moving forward that everything that could have been done for Oak Park has been done. Trustee Salzman commented that each of the alternatives can be built upon to arrive at a rough estimate of cost and impacts to give the community an idea of what each one would offer. Trustee Brewer agreed that this type of general information would be preferable to what was presented this evening. Trustee Salzman added that IDOT should at least have some frame of reference, as they are in the business of building highways. President Pro Tem Lueck had an alternate point of view; put what Oak Park Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 2/19/2015 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes January 26, 2015 needs and deserves into the plan and work the financing around that to include as much as possible. Trustee Brewer commented that IDOT has a basic idea of what designs they are suggesting. He requested that they start reporting more details involved based on these suggestions . President Pro Tem Lueck stated that this will be part of the ongoing work of the working group. They will discuss each priority and what it will take to achieve that. They will also get that information out to the public and gather their input. She added that the working group will be meeting regularly beginning in February and will report back on a regular basis. She thanked the representatives from IDOT and CTA for their appearance at the meeting. X. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Tucker, seconded by Village Trustee Ott to adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 8:55 P.M., Monday, January 26, 2015. Respectfully Submitted By: MaryAnn Schoenneman Deputy Village Clerk Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 2/19/2015