VILLAGE OF NORTH AURORA
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES
APRIL 15, 2019
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Berman called the meeting to order.
ROLL CALL
In attendance: Mayor Dale Berman, Trustee Mark Gaffino, Trustee Mike Lowery, Trustee Laura Curtis, Trustee Tao Martinez, Trustee Mark Carroll, Trustee Mark Guethle, Village Clerk Lori Murray.
Staff in attendance: Village Attorney Kevin Drendel, Village Administrator Steve Bosco, Finance Director Bill Hannah, Community & Economic Development Director Mike Toth, IT Manager Dave Arndt, Public Works Director John Laskowski, Police Chief David Fisher.
DISCUSSION
1. 361 Sullivan Veterinary Dental Clinic – (removed from agenda)
2. Forest Ridge Townhome Concept Plan
The proposal is for luxury 2-3 bedroom townhomes ranging in size from 2,000 – 3,000 s.f. The townhomes will have 2-car garages and private driveways. There will also be an HOA for the development.
Trustee Curtis said that since these homes will be marketed as luxury, that she would like to see more brick on the façade. Curtis asked about the price point of the townhomes. The developer said they would do market research to determine the price and that it could be $200,000 – $300,000 depending on the size. Mike Toth said that through the PUD, if that is something desired by the Village Board, it can be memorialized in the agreement. Trustee Carroll asked what the Comprehensive Plan says for this property. Toth said it calls for townhomes and multi-family development. The actual eastern portion of the properties is for medium higher density residential to support commercial off of Orchard Road. Trustee Gaffino said he did not like the straight road going into the development. The developer said that the property is so narrow and the plan calls for the road to go all the way through from north to south. Toth said we may be able to augment the placement of the home foundations.
Mayor Berman said his concern was parking and then asked if there will be parking allowed on the street. Berman asked about the width of the street. Toth said it would be a standard right of way for a minor arterial, so 30 feet from back of curb. The developer said that 2-car garages and private drives would mitigate parking issues. The developer was agreeable to widening the driveways and staggering the home foundations if the Board desired.
Trustee Lowery asked who owns the property to the west, adjacent to Woodmans. Mayor Berman said that is owned by the Tanner family. Toth said he is not aware of any future plans for that property at this time. Carroll asked if there will be any rental restrictions built into the HOA. The developer said they have not discussed it and it is not the plan to rent out the townhomes.
The committee decided that the proposal was a nice concept.
Toth said that the next step would be a full public hearing with the Plan Commission at which time the developer will submit architectural renderings and landscape plans.
Toth noted that there is a cell tower located on the southwest corner of the property. The zoning ordinance requires a 150-foot setback from the height of the tower and that has been accommodated on the south side of the property.
3. Phone System Discussion
Dave Arndt, IT Manager for the Village, gave a presentation for a new phone system. The current phone system is outdated. The plan is to create one network instead of different companies as is currently in place. Quotes were provided by Metronet and Comcast. The phones would be $50,000 – $75,000 and by choosing one of these companies, the phones would be provided free of charge. The goal was to improve the communication, reliability, efficiency and to move to a single vendor.
This project covers more than just a phone system. It covers the Wide Area Network and internet connection. Currently the Village uses Comcast for Internet at most of the facilities, AT&T provides internet at the public works facility, Call One provides PRI (phone service) and B&B for support for the technologies.
Cost: Metronet $4,023.30/mo
Comcast $3,737.90/mo
Currently the Village pays: $3,685.73/mo
Comcast can provide the WAN, internet fiber coaxial based, phone system with the hardware and the phone system on top of that. Metronet is able to provide the same with the exception that they only provide fiber optic service.
The Village currently uses a 1.5 MB T1 line which is very outdated and very slow.
Staff was in favor of choosing Metronet since they will better serve the Village’s needs.
Trustee Carroll asked if the minimum contract term was 5 years. Arndt said he could ask if Metronet would agree to a 3-year contract.
Arndt noted that Comcast contacted him after the operations committee meeting to offer a lower bid for their services. It would result in $280 less than Metronet. However, Staff did not contact Metronet to provide feedback as to whether they could lower their price.
Carroll said he was in favor of Metronet and was in favor of going back to Metronet for a better price.
Lowery supported the decision for Metronet despite the extra cost.
Bosco said Staff would work on this and bring the final proposal back to the Village Board.
4. FY 2019-20 Budget Discussion
Finance Director Bill Hannah noted some of the changes to the budget:
Allocations for Riverfront Park will be $375,000 instead of $250,000.
Long Term Capital Projects
-Annual Long Term Road Project: $1.87 million
-Central Water Tower: $2 million
-Well 8 on Randall Road: $1.2 million
-Well 9 on Feltes Lane: $1.2 million
-LED Street Lighting – $125,000 for led light replacement and $80,000 for pole replacement.
-Annual Water Main Projects – $300,000 a year on average.
-Route 31 Water Main Replacement Phase 1 – $1.2 million.
-Fox River Dam Removal – not an active project at this time. Estimated to be a $3 million project in total.
-Silo Site – renovation and lighting budgeted at $320,000.
-Riverfront Park – $375,000 for next year.
-Intersection of Airport Road/Route 31 (geometric improvements) – estimated at $530,000.
-Backyard Watermain Project – estimated at $2.2 million. Under discussion for a future year.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn made by Trustee Guethle and seconded by Trustee Carroll. All in favor. Motion approved.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori J. Murray
Village Clerk
