City of Countryside Economic Development Committee met April 7.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
The virtual ZOOM meeting was called to Order by Chairman John Von Drasek at 5:30 p.m.
Roll Call: City Administrator Paul called the Roll of Members physically present as follows:
PRESENT: Chairman John Von Drasek, Alderman Mark Benson, Alderman John Finn
Also Present: Mayor McDermott, City Administrator Paul, City Clerk Kmet
Electronically Present: Finance Director Dave Schutter, Dragan “Dan” Kovacevic, Mark Tenuta
Public Comment – there was no public comment
APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES
The minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 10, 2021 were previously distributed to the Committee Members. Chairman Von Drasek asked if there were any corrections to be made to said minutes. There being no corrections or additions, motion made to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 10, 2021 as presented.
A motion was made by Alderman Benson, seconded by Alderman Finn, that this matter be APPROVED, as presented. The motion carried by the following vote:
Aye: 3 Chairman Von Drasek, Alderman Benson, Alderman Finn
Nay: 0
COMMITTEE BUSINESS FOR DISCUSSION, CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION
Consideration of a Proposal to Redevelop the old City Hall property
City Administrator Ms. Paul stated that the parties here tonight were present at previous EDC meetings. A committee concern was that no apparent end user was established. Since that time, the team has recruited City Fresh, a specialty grocery store with two locations – one on the north side and one in downtown Chicago. They have prepared three layouts – very preliminary. Ms. Paul and Mr. Fitzgerald are preparing a Plat of Subdivision to address any conflicts with water mains, water meter vault, utilities and pumping station access. If the committee decides to move forward with this proposal, the City requires a general idea of the site plans and further cooperation between the City and the Developer to provide a mutually beneficial outcome. The committee packet provides information re: gross sales and employment that each of the buildings would bring to the City.
Mr. Paul Vukavic and Mr. Vladis Pavlovic are partners in this redevelopment project. They discussed the three preliminary site plans with the Committee – Plan 8, Plan 9 and Plan 10. Each plan displayed alternate placement of the food store building on the lot. Committee members commented on all three designs. All buildings will be razed, per the architect’s recommendation. They plan to erect a 20-25,000 sf. building for the City Fresh market. All parties discussed the pros and cons of each variation. The out building and the gas station will both have drive-through lanes, as depicted in the drawings. The major discussion is placement of the food store.
Mr. Kovacevic engaged a third party to provide demographics re: income levels, ethnicities of shoppers, gross sales projections and operating costs. Preliminary construction costs are also included. Mr. Kovacevic owns three gas stations and provided fuel sales projections plus monthly gross sales for the Convenience store. The final page shows construction costs for the gas station – all preliminary numbers.
Everything is negotiable.
Ms. Paul stated that based upon information received, and using many assumptions, the ball park figure is about $1M in taxes including gasoline, both local tax and state sales tax (MFT), the restaurant tax and state sales tax of 1% on convenience and grocery store plus home rule. This location is in the TIF District – the estimate is about $280K – very rough estimate based on square footage of stores, assume building materials, etc.
Mr. Vukavic stated that preliminary employment figures for the gas station are 4 full-time and 3 part time employees, at $12/hour. The grocery store will employ about 40 full-time and 10 part-time workers – bringing significant employment to the community.
Alderman Finn’s main concern is truck access on 56th Street. He prefers #10 only because it has one access on 56th St. rather than #9 which has two cuts on 56th St. After lengthy discussion regarding alternatives, the committee prefers the #9 plan with one cut on 56th St. Ms. Paul suggested that their architect send the CAD drawings for all three plans so that the City engineer could put the utilities on site. That will provide a better idea – and then work on the access points. The parties agreed.
Mayor McDermott believes that Plan 9 is the traditional layout but having one cut and additional landscaping, fencing and berming along 56th St. Mr. Pavlovic and Mr. Kovacevic stated that there would only be three large truck (53’) deliveries per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Smaller box trucks would deliver goods on the other days. Ms. Paul stated that the Public Works trucks need an entrance on 56th St. if there is ever a problem with the generator, truck access is mandatory. Alderman Von Drasek stated that the plan must accommodate the water mains and utility placements. The City engineer will identify those issues, which will probably steer the necessary adaptations. All agreed.
Alderman Benson asked about the end user for the out building and gas station. Mr. Kovacevic is negotiating with Shell; they are very interested. He is also negotiating with Dunkin Donuts. Further discussions depend on whether they actually get the development. Must IDOT approve the curb cuts. Ms. Paul stated the City has not submitted any documents because nothing is finalized. The City will work with IDOT for conflicts with utilities. IDOT purchased portions of the corner, so that must be incorporated into the plan.
Chairman Von Drasek stated that Ms. Paul has direction -- rework the site plan to accommodate utilities and meet with the City engineer. Ms. Paul stated if these uses are acceptable to the committee, the City will negotiate a TIF Redevelopment Agreement. Alderman Benson agrees that the plan has potential; the City must work out details, make sure residents are not adversely affected and crunch the numbers.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Alderman Benson, seconded by Alderman Finn, to ADJOURN the meeting. The motion carried by the following vote:
Aye: 3 Chairman Von Drasek, Alderman Benson, Alderman Finn
Nay: 0
Chairman Von Drasek declared the meeting adjourned at 5:55 p.m.
https://www.countryside-il.org/agendas-minutes/april-7-2021/
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