VILLAGE OF NORTH AURORA
SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
DECEMBER 17, 2018
CALL TO ORDER
Trustee Gaffino called the meeting to order.
ROLL CALL
In attendance: Trustee Mark Gaffino, Trustee Tao Martinez, Trustee Mike Lowery, Public Works Director John Laskowski, Village Administrator Steve Bosco, Street Superintendent Brian Richter.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS – None
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. Approval of the Services Committee Minutes dated November 19, 2018
Motion for approval made by Trustee Lowery and seconded by Trustee Martinez. All in favor. Motion approved.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Village Mowing Policy
The Village currently mows around welcome signs, medians, for homeowners associations under the SSAs and medians around the area of Orchard Gateway. Staff has found that there are some inconsistencies within the contract in areas where there are rights-of-ways adjacent to residential and commercial areas.
On the east side of the village along Randall Road, there is a wooden fence that runs from the Seventh Day Adventist Church to the shopping center where the Oak Street restaurant is located. This 7-8 foot fence prevents sound from going into the backyards of residents. This is an example of a residential row that the village would mow. A right-of-way in front of any resident’s house is the property owner’s responsibility to mow. In areas where there are fences or obstructions, it is not always the case. Staff is looking to put this into the SSA to have the homeowners pay for the mowing service through the SSA. The reason for doing this is to maintain consistency throughout the village.
For the Randall Road corridor on the west side the right-of-way is adjacent to commercial property. The lots that have been developed such as CVS and the business owners pay to have that right-of-way mowed.
Village Administrator Steve Bosco said that last year the Village combined the contract for mowing. There used to be properties that the Village would maintain through contract and then there would also be SSAs. When the Village went out to bid last year, those services were combined into one contract. When going out to bid again after the year, when looking at the properties that had been included historically, there were questions that came up as to why the village was cutting some properties that appeared to be on private property. Last year’s lawn maintenance contract was $40,000. It was determined that when taking the SSAs out, the village’s portion of the contract was about $25,000. Of that, 50% is village properties and the other 50% is properties that were maintained for aesthetic reasons. Staff was in the process of putting together public works policies and felt that it was a good thing to set the policy on what the standard is for mowing is. Staff proposed including SSAs, welcome signs, median and village owned properties, governmental agencies, public utility company properties, residential properties and undeveloped commercial properties along major corridors such as Randall, Orchard Gateway and Oak Street. Staff asked for feedback from the committee to determine if there is a good case that the Village continue to cut properties that in other cases should have been maintained by the property owner. The village can either continue doing what is currently being done or tell the property owner that they are required to do this.
Trustee Lowery said that uniformity across the board is important. Trustee Gaffino agreed, adding that the village should inform the property owners what will be required. When mowing one’s property, they would be required to mow to the street.
Bosco said he would take the feedback and change the policy: Taking out all commercial properties that are not typically the responsibility of the village and putting it back on the property owners to mow to the curb. The ordinance would mimic the City of Geneva’s ordinance that requires people to mow to the adjacent curbs of their property.
Bosco said that staff would also identify all of the commercial and agricultural undeveloped properties and discuss grass or vegetation height/depth requirements.
Staff will prepare an ordinance and bring it back to the Committee of the Whole for further discussion.
OLD BUSINESS – None
OTHER INFORMATION – None
TRUSTEE COMMENTS – None
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn made by Trustee Lowery and seconded by Trustee Martinez. All in favor. Motion approved.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori J. Murray
Village Clerk
