VILLAGE OF NORTH AURORA
COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING MINUTES
Monday, September 16, 2024
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Gaffino called the meeting to order.
ROLL CALL
In attendance: Mayor Mark Gaffino, Trustee Jason Christiansen, Trustee Laura Curtis, Trustee Mark Guethle, Trustee Mike Lowery, Trustee Todd Niedzwiedz, Trustee Carolyn Salazar
Staff in attendance: Village Administrator Steve Bosco, Finance Director Jason Paprocki, Community Development Director Nathan Darga, Village Attorney Kevin Drendel, Public Works Director Brian Richter, Village Engineer/Assistant Public Works Director Brandon Tonarelli, Police Chief Joe DeLeo.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS – Resident Geno Dobelman of 1417 Fieldside Lane, North Aurora spoke about agenda item number 4. As a resident of the Oak Hill Subdivision, Mr. Dobelman wanted to express his thoughts on the agenda item, stating that his preference for the SSA payback by residents would be the greatest length allowed, preferably 20 years for the repairs to the water detention basin. Mr. Dobelman cited financial hardships experienced by some due to the effects of covid, for the request.
TRUSTEE COMMENTS – None
DISCUSSION
- Class D Liquor License for MP’s Liquor & Wine
Administrator Bosco stated that MP’s Liquors, located at 905 Oak Street, was changing ownership. He explained that Liquor Licenses were not transferable to new ownership, therefore the new owner of MP’s would need to go through the process of licensing.
The Village Board was in favor of the license.
- Special Use for Little Ducklings Daycare
Administrator Bosco stated that Little Ducklings Daycare was proposing a daycare facility at 581 Sullivan Road.
Community Development Director Darga stated that 581 Sullivan was in the Office Research District. The building was currently divided into two units, Suite A to the North had office tenants in it, and Little Ducklings would be taking Suite B which is approximately 2,200 square feet. The previous tenant was a medical tenant that had high traffic turnover, it was believed that the daycare traffic would be on par with that. Little Ducklings would improve the southern half of the building with office space, kitchen, storage closet, dedicated infant area, dedicated toddler area, and three bathrooms. They are planning on having 28 children total, made up of 17 toddlers and 11 infants. The hours of operation would be 6am to 6pm. Per the code, there are enough parking spaces, the Plan Commission discussion focused on which parking spaces would be dedicated to the pick-up and drop-off of children.
The Village Board was in favor of the concept.
- Purchasing Policy Update
Administrator Bosco reminded the Board that the Purchasing Policy had been discussed at the previous Committee of the Whole meeting to specifically talk about change orders, especially with the construction of the Public Works Building in the near future, where there is a design contingency built into the budget that had just been approved, specifically for change orders. Bosco explained that these types of change orders might need to be done on a very quick basis, otherwise construction has to be halted.
Finance director Paprocki explained that since the Village Administrator’s spending authority was already up to $25,000, the language in the policy should be updated to reflect change orders over $25,000. The updated language would now read “In certain situations where it is impractical to delay a project while waiting for Village Board approval in order to prevent additional costs, extensive time delays, or impacts on adjacent properties, the Village Administrator may at his discretion approve change orders over $25,000, upon concurrence from the Mayor and notification to the Village Board, with formal Village Board approval to follow at the next regular or special meeting.”
Paprocki stated that it was modeled after the emergency purchase section to where staff had some leeway when time is of the essence and a situation demands that it be acted upon immediately.
Paprocki presented a new section that had not been previously spoken about, the new language included pertaining to projects with contingency funds would read, “The Village Administrator may approve change orders within the available contingency and allowances funds included as part of the approved contracts, provided that the change orders are required to complete the scope of work as presented and previously approved by the Village Board, and do not increase the total approved contract amount.” Paprocki explained that if it is over his authority but the Village was still well within the contract, the Administrator can use some of that contingency money to keep the project going, rather than holding up progress for incidental changes.
Paprocki presented additional minor changes.
The Village Board was in favor of the changes.
- Oak Hill Detention Basin Erosion Assessment
(Please note, Trustee Niedzwiedz recused himself from the discussion to avoid a conflict of interest, due to his proximity to the agenda item at 7:34pm)
Administrator Bosco reminded the Village Board that the Oak Hill HOA had dissolved, upon the dissolution, the common areas were then deeded to the Village, and this included the pond located within the subdivision. The Village maintains a Special Service Area (SSA) on the land. Up until this year, the homeowners were paying HOA fees that covered the common areas maintenance, as well as the SSA which was being collected to pay for an investigation and assessment of the pond area as well as future maintenance. With the HOA dissolved, the Village levies from the subdivision residents $15,000 a year for the pond and $10,000 for the additional common areas. Residents no longer have HOA fees but receive a tax bill with the SSA fees. The pond in the subdivision is fed by a creek that run into it and then the pond runs into the wetlands to the south of the subdivision. Residents had expressed concern about erosion prior to the Village inheriting maintenance of the property. The Village hired V3, an engineering and construction company as well as wet land experts, to assess the pond. They assessed the perimeter of the pond and determined that 600 linear feet, of the 2,650 linear foot perimeter, had been deemed high priority for repairs. They determined that 1,355 linear feet were medium and 695 linear feet were low priority. V3 made two recommendations for the high and medium priority shoreline, shoreline smoothing and stone toe protection. The estimates provided for the high priority areas, for a combination of both the shoreline smoothing and stone toe protection was $100,000 and the medium priority areas was $273,000. The total to repair all of the high and medium priority areas would be close to $375,000. Staff was looking for guidance on whether the repairs should be done all at once or in stages, with the high priority areas addressed now and medium priority addressed later.
The cost of the repairs would be paid by the Village and then recouped through the SSA at an approximate cost of $4,000 per household. This would mean a levy increase for each household in the subdivision. Staff suggested collecting these funds over a length of time, 10, 15 or 20 years, as opposed to all at once. Staff was looking for guidance as to what that length of time should be.
Administrator Bosco broke down the payments per year, on top of the average $270 per household, per year SSA payment, the additional payment would be approximately $200 for the 20 year payment, $270 for the 15 year payback, and approximately $400 per year for a 10 year payback.
Trustee Curtis asked what the homeowners had been paying for their HOA fees, Administrator Bosco stated that they had been paying approximately $200 annually. There was clarification discussion regarding this.
Trustee Guethle suggested repairing both the high and medium priority shoreline at a 20 year repayment term.
Trustee Christiansen asked why the Village would not charge interest for the repayment of the repairs. Trustee Curtis suggested going with a 15 year term and not charging interest. There was additional discussion regarding these suggestions.
Trustee Curtis asked how long the repairs would last, Administrator Bosco explained that the normal SSA that was collected annually would assist in maintaining the repairs and vegetation vital for the repairs.
There was further discussion about the legality of charging interest for the repayment of the repairs.
Trustee Christiansen stated that he would like to see the Village treat this situation as a learning experience, as there are many subdivisions within the Village with ponds. There was discussion regarding this and the standards to which a pond must meet.
Upon polling of the Trustees, the majority stated that they would like to see both the high and medium priority shoreline addressed at a 20 repayment term for the Oak Hill residents.
Administrator Bosco stated that he would investigate any grant opportunities.
Trustee Niedzwiedz returned to the dais at 8:03pm
- New Central Water Tower Construction
Administrator Bosco explained that the Village’s central tower, next to the west treatment plant was no longer in use and would be replaced. There are four different types of elevated towers, water spheroids, composite tower, the multi-leg, and fluted.
There are six companies within the United States that can construct one of these four standard designs, of those six, only three companies identified can build a 1 million gallon or larger tower. The tower that the Village was seeking to construct would be a minimum of 1 million gallons.
Bosco explained that engineering began in 2016 on the project, the original tower was going to be 750,000 gallons. However, per the recent water study, water needs for the Village exceed that capacity. The project had an estimated cost of $2.78 million, the first bid went out in July 2021, the Village received one bid for $1 million over the estimate, and they also did not meet the Joint Apprenticeship Program requirements. That bid was rejected. A second bid went out in November 2021 for the same size tower, there was an alternate composite tank bid and zero bids were received. A third bid done in the late winter/spring of 2022, one bid was received after the Village Board exempted the general contractor from having to comply with the Joint Apprenticeship Program requirements. A bid was received from CB&I for a water spheroid tower for $4.119 million, which was later adjusted to $4.374 million when it was determined that some subcontractors were apprenticeship eligible. There was an alternate tower bid for a composite tower was received for $5.737 million.
Administrator Bosco explained that the Village had identified that the best choice would be a water spheroid and spent some time explaining why staff believed this.
Staff, along with EEI have determined that a minimum of 1.25 million gallon tower was needed, however the Village was putting it out as an alternate bid because of pricing. A 1 million gallon tank bid would go out as well. Staff would like an early October bid as it takes a year and a half to two years to construct a tower and staff foresees multiple municipalities who are switching to Lake Michigan water seeking to add water towers.
Staff was concerned that if the Village puts out a fourth bid and it was rejected, that companies may determine it was not worth their time to submit a bid. Staff along with EEI determined that it would be in the Village’s best interest to include in the bid a more detailed table required to be completed by the bidder as a part of the Apprenticeship and Training Program Certification within the bid documents, which would help in providing more clarity to potential bidders for compliance with Village requirements.
There was discussion that the only contractor that can meet the apprenticeship program qualifications was Chicago Bridge & Iron (CB&I) and a concern that they may not bid on the project leaving the Village in a challenging predicament.
Mayor Gaffino suggested negotiating directly with CB&I, Administrator Bosco stated that that would be an option. There was additional discussion regarding this option.
There was discussion that the Village should put the bid out there with the detailed table of requirements, should there not be a bidder, and the Village could then negotiate with CB&I. However, it was suggested that the Village may then lose their leverage to negotiate.
There was discussion regarding negotiation versus putting the job out to bid.
Michelle Piotrowski of EEII was on hand to answer questions. She was in agreement that putting the bid out and receiving no bids, then going to negotiation would be a disadvantage.
The discussion then turned to the time frame for putting the project out to bid, or going straight to negotiations.
There was discussion regarding whether or not the water storage amount was going to be adequate.
The Board was in favor of going straight to negotiations with CB&I for a 1.25 million gallon tank.
- Text Amendments to Village’s Zoning Ordinance for Permitted and Special Uses
Administrator Bosco reminded the Village Board that Director Darga had been going through the zoning uses in the zoning classifications. The last discussion at the Committee of the Whole meeting on August 19th in part focused on home occupations.
Director Darga stated that there were a few minor tweaks to the home occupation standards to ensure things such as renters having permission from landlords and commercial vehicle rules need to be followed. The biggest change was the addition of prohibited uses. Darga explained that the list made the Zoning Ordinances easier to enforce.
The Village Board was in agreement with the changes.
EXECUTIVE SESSION – Property Acquisition
ADJOURNMENT TO EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion to adjourn to Executive Session made by Trustee Guethle and seconded by Trustee Salazar. All in favor. Motion approved.
RETURN FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Gaffino called the meeting to order.
ROLL CALL
In attendance: Mayor Mark Gaffino, Trustee Jason Christiansen, Trustee Laura Curtis, Trustee Mark Guethle, Trustee Mike Lowery, Trustee Todd Niedzwiedz, Trustee Carolyn Salazar
Staff in attendance: Village Administrator Steve Bosco, Finance Director Jason Paprocki, Community Development Director Nathan Darga, Village Attorney Kevin Drendel, Public Works Director Brian Richter, Village Engineer/Assistant Public Works Director Brandon Tonarelli, Police Chief Joe DeLeo.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn made by Trustee Guethle and seconded by Trustee Niedzwiedz. All in favor. Motion approved.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jessi Watkins
Village Clerk
