West Cook News

Village of Western Springs President and Board of Trustees met May 6

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

President Heidi Rudolph, Presiding 

Call to Order, 7:00 p.m. 

Village Clerk Edward Tymick 

Board Members Present 

Amy Avakian 

Nicole Chen 

Alan Fink 

Scott Lewis 

James Tyrrell 

Absent: Phil Nawrocki 

Ellen Baer, Village Manager Casey Biernacki, Deputy Village Manager Sean Gilhooley, Director of LES Matt Supert, Director of Mun Svcs John Mastandona, Director of Finance Heather Valone, Director of Comm Dev Mike Kelly, Director of Fire & EMS Daisy Chavez, Asst. to Vlg. Mgr. 

Electronic Attendance: None 

Elaine Haeske, Deputy Vlg. Clerk Michael Jurusik, Village Attorney 

CALL TO ORDER 

The meeting opened at 7:00 p.m. 

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 

President Rudolph led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

ROLL CALL 

Roll call as noted above. 

CITIZEN COMMENTS 

President Rudolph welcomed Scout Troop 12 to the meeting. They were in attendance working on their Citizenship badge. She thanked them for joining us and encouraged them to stay and ask questions should they have any.

Resident Chris Pieszko, a 30-year resident of Western Springs, whose home back-ups to the LT South Campus addressed the Board and said he thinks these addition and renovation plans are good for the school overall and they always support any actions that improve educating our neighborhood children. There only concerns have been with the noise and appearance of the existing cooling towers and now the proposed addition of a third cooling tower. Mr. Pieszko stated that we have gone from one cooling tower with completely screened and shielded from the noise to two towers with no noise shielding and very little screening. Mr. Pieszko thanked Village staff and especially Director of Community Development Heather Valone who has received his voicemails and emails and the Plan Commission members for listening to his and his wife's concerns and recommending changes to LT's original proposal at their meeting in March. He continued saying that they appreciate that changes that have been made since then and what was proposed with included very minimal noise mitigation and screening. He said that he hoped the Board could understand that the issue of sound, noise, decibels, EPA limits, the Village Code, etc. are difficult to understand and follow to anyone unfamiliar with those areas. He asked that the Board please understand that these issues are and will affect them and that they take this very seriously. 

For these reasons they hired a certified sound engineer to review these matters and he did propose changes to what LT proposed. Since then, LT made significant changes to the proposal and Mr. Piezsko said he had some questions on it and the process going forward. Mr. Piezsko said he discussed the landscape plan with the Village's landscape design consultant Tom King this morning and said that he was very helpful. He added that Mr. King said he would review the final details of the LT landscape plan once it was complete. Mr. Pieszko asked if residents would have the chance to see that design as well before the final approval is considered. Mr. Piezsko said he also had questions on the noise impact study performed by Soundscape Engineering which seemed very thorough. Mr. Piezsko added that he did have one question but he had not heard back from them, was the modeling based on sound readings taken and the actual physical structure, why did they not recommend covering all the intake and exhaust ports on all of the cooling towers, and are there periodic maintenance and requirements and the eventual replacement of these dampers in order for them to continue to be effective. If so, how can we be sure that all that happens properly, will that be in the ordinance. Mr. Pieszko said he understands that some of these items will be answered when the contractor presents. Mr. Pieszko just wants to understand the process that the Village is going to use when they hire their own sound engineering firm, and will residents have a chance to see that when that is done. 

President Rudolph thanked him for his comments and said we will have an update tonight. 

NEW BUSINESS 

There was none. 

OLD BUSINESS 

There was none. 

CONSIDERATION OF AGENDA ITEMS DURING THE WORKSHOP PORTION OF THE COMBINED MEETING 

1) FINANCE - TRUSTEE CHEN 

No report. 

2) GENERAL GOVERNMENT - TRUSTEE TYRRELL 

A) Code Amendment - Ordinance Amending Title 1 (Administration), Chapter 13 

(Contracts, Purchases And Financial Regulations) Of The Western Springs Municipal Code Relative To The Purchasing Authority Of The Purchasing Agent And The Competitive Bid Threshold For Contracts 

Trustee Tyrrell reported that the General Government Committee meeting scheduled for earlier this evening was postponed due to a lack of quorum so there will be no report tonight. 

PLANNING AND ZONING TRUSTEE NAWROCKI 

A) Lyons Township High School District 204 South Campus, 4900 and 4940 Willow Springs Road - Amendment to Conditional Use Permit and Fence Height Variation for Building Addition and Renovations to Allow Cafeteria and Educational Facilities Expansion - Update 

Trustee Tyrrell reported on behalf of Trustee Nawrocki, who was absent this evening. At the last workshop meeting on March 11, 2024, the Board reviewed the application from Lyons Township High School for modifications to the conditional use permit related to renovation. The high school has been working on their plans to screen and address the acoustical impacts of the proposed cooling towers. The application was scheduled to be reviewed at the April 8, 2024, workshop meeting but Lyons Township High School had not finalized the screening and the acoustical supplemental materials which is why we are reviewing this tonight. Director Valone is here to provide an overview of the supplemental materials and representatives from the Lyons Township High School are here to answer questions. 

Director Valone gave an overview of the submitted information and said the high school representative, Mr. Brad Drake, and their architect from DLA would then address the Board. After that, Director Valone could answer some additional questions and go through the items that were brought up in public comment. Included in the agenda packet tonight, is a submittal from LT with several revised documents. The first was their staging and fencing proposal. This would be their construction plan, the areas that they are going to use while they have equipment in the area and to do staging. As indicated in the draft ordinance that is also included in the packet, this will need to be finalized and then provided to the Village before we will issue a permit. If it is substantially conforming to the plan that is included in the approved ordinance, then it will just be a reviewed by Village staff. Any substantial changes would require a re-review by the Plan Commission and potentially the Village Board. 

Also, Lyons Township High School submitted an updated landscaping plan for the proposed cooling towers. That information is located on page two of the memo provided by Director Valone, the one with the trees and the Star Power juniper on it. The items marked in black are the original proposal from the high school. They were going to screen the area directly adjacent to the fence and the cooling towers with star power junipers which are included in the exhibit, and they were going to include some feather reed grass that was also included directly adjacent to that fence. They were also proposing four (4) maple trees just under halfway between the cooling towers themselves and the residential properties that front on Rugeley. The Village's consultant landscape architect reviewed the plan and made some changes based on the conversations that were had at Plan Commission, committee, and workshop. The Village's consultant is proposing the items shown in red on the exhibit in the memo. They are proposing two eliminate the feather reed grass as it may propose issues with debris getting into the cooling towers and then some additional star juniper on the south side of the area. They are also proposing a staggered row of fast-growing, large-scale evergreen trees such as Norway spruces or white pine that would be almost directly on the property line to the south, the closest area for those residents that front on Rugeley. They are proposing this to ensure that there is year-round screening as the maple trees that were proposed by the high school would drop their leaves during the winter month. Also, the staggering of them is to also provide additional buffering visually and from a noise perspective. The goal that Hitchcock was given, to review this, was to make sure that it was maintenance friendly, that it was going to screen it visually as much as possible and to minimize noise as much as it could. 

Director Valone added that the high school also engaged Soundscape Engineering to do a review of the proposed plans and to make recommendations to ensure that the noise generated from cooling towers 2 and 3 do not exceed the Village's code. As you can see, on the third page of the memo, Soundscape Engineering is proposing silencers on the discharge and intake for cooling towers 2 and 3. These are the cooling towers that can generate the most noise and are the ones that have been of most concern to potentially increase the noise. Cooling tower 1 they reviewed based on distance and the additional items did not need the intakes. 

Director Valone mentioned that the draft ordinance included in the agenda packet does include having the Village have the sound engineering report, once the towers are installed reviewed and improved before we would complete any permit for the high school. That would mean that the high school, after they install the cooling towers, the landscaping and the silencers would need to produce a report back to the Village showing that they are meeting the noise standards, and our consulting sound engineer would review it and ensure that their findings are correct before we would complete any final inspection for the permit. Director Valone told the Board that the two representatives from the high school were at the meeting if the Board had any questions or requested more information. 

Trustee Tyrrell asked, after the permit is granted and the sound silencers come in and everything is running, are their procedural safeguards or an apparatus that the Village can monitor these cooling towers to make sure that they are still compliant. Director Valone said that anything that is included in the planned development ordinance they are held to for the length of the time that the improvement is there so the cooling towers, hypothetically, if there was some type of natural disaster event that maybe impacted the silencers, or the landscaping, they would be required to restore it to be the approved plans that are included in their permit and then also in their ordinance. 

Attorney Jurusik stated that we have a catchall provision, subsection F in the ordinance, that states that the owners shall take all commercially reasonable actions in conformance with the various attachments. The different sound reports and the manufacturer specifications on the cooling units and the muffler systems so they are going to take all commercially reasonable efforts to comply and install the sound dampening improvements. In addition, the chain link fencing, landscaping buffering, is part of these improvements and this will apply going forward. They must comply with the State law sound requirements, Village Code requirements and there is no timetable. This agreement lives going forward if these units are operating, they are going to be obligated to comply with applicable codes and regulations. The commercially reasonable actions language is important and means that they must do what it takes from a legal standpoint to spend whatever money is necessary to make sure that they are complying with this sound and the buffering and landscape requirements. 

Trustee Tyrrell said that if five (5) years from now these things are very loud, we do have the ability to go to the school district and direct the school to fix this on their dime. Village Attorney Jurusik added that if in five (5) years from now the landscaping has not been maintained and needs to be upgraded or replaced or the muffler systems have exceeded their useful life and need to be replaced, this Section F, the catchall provision, will be the "velvet hammer" that the Village can say to the school that they have to make these improvements, they have to redress these things, in order to continue to operate these units. 

Director Valone said that the question was posed that if additional plans will need to be reviewed. All the plans, as they are currently proposed, the Hitchcock design, the sound engineer, the plans provided by the high school, all of those will be included in the ordinance. If they are substantially met, no significant changes that change the type or the character or anything of that nature, then it just requires a review by Village staff. If they make significant changes, anything that would change the character or no longer meet the code requirements, they will have to come back again before potentially the Plan Commission, but at least the Village Board. Trustee Avakian said she assumes that all these safeguards are what would make the neighbors happy, the dampers and such. 

President Rudolph said the landscaping plan looks sufficient and is a nice enhancement over what we saw before and understanding that things grow as fast as they are going to grow but that these have been selected as ones that would specifically be faster growers. This would be a natural screen which she understands can be a great natural screen and is a great update to the original plan. Trustee Chen said as a mother of several LT students who experienced some hot days at South Campus this will be a welcome upgrade. She added that she grew up on the corner of Harvey and Rugeley, so she spent a lot of her life riding her bike by the old cooling system. She asked how much capacity this would be building in. 

Don Morowski from DLA Architects said that after cooling tower 3 is installed, not including the gymnasium, 80% of LT South Campus will be cooled. This will handle all the new unit plans, the cafeteria, and the music space. The field house and aquatic center are separate cooling towers. 

Director Valone said next steps are that staff and the Village Attorney will finalize the ordinance and put this item on the May 20, 2024 omnibus agenda for Board consideration of approval. 

PROPERTIES AND RECREATION - TRUSTEE AVAKIAN 

4) Cloudpoint Geospatial Services Agreement 

Trustee Avakian presented a request from the Properties and Recreation Committee to approve a renewal of the professional services contract for Cloudpoint Geospatial for Geographic Information System (GIS) services. Cloudpoint has been working with the Village since 2019 for data management and development of the Village's GIS date. The current contract will expire at the end of June of this year. Director Supert stated that the professional services include the management of the Village's cloud geospatial data and the development of internal and external management tools for the Village. Cloudpoint's staff developed and assisted Village staff with the ArcGIS tools for the Village's stormwater utility fee and Capital Infrastructure Plan. Trustee Avakian said that the contract renewal proposes an increase from $2,500 to $2,800 for a 3-year contract. The committee recommended approval of a 3-year renewal. This item will be included on the May 20, 2024, omnibus vote list. 

B) Flooring Replacement Bid - DeSitter Flooring 

On April 4, 2024, the Village issued a Request for Bids (RFB) for Flooring Replacement. An optional pre-submittal meeting was held in person on April 12, 2024. Interested bidders were provided an overview of the contract document and encouraged to ask questions. On April 23, 2024, the Village received a total of five (5) bids for the flooring replacement contract. 

After analysis of the bids, it was determined that DeSitter Flooring is the most responsive, lowest cost bidder. The Village has previous experience working with DeSitter Flooring. The Village has $22,000 budgeted for this project. The committee met on April 30, 2024, and recommended an award of contract to DeSitter Flooring for the 2024 Flooring Replacement Project in an amount not to exceed $18,500. With no objection from the Board, this matter was added to the May 20, 2024, omnibus vote list. 

C) Material Storage Weather Protection and Salt Dome Rebuild 

Trustee Avakian reported on this item. During the Tollway construction project, the Village had to move the above ground fuel system and the tank was relocated to the west end of the property where Public Works Division previously stored some constructions materials such as stone, asphalt, and dirt. Those materials were relocated to the southern side of the Public Works Yard, adjacent to the BNSF Rail embankment to allow for greater access and visibility for loading and unloading of materials. 

The committee reviewed two proposals from ClearSpan in an amount of $151,082.74 utilizing the Sourcewell Purchasing Cooperative contract #071223- CSS and recommended approval of a contract for the 2024 Material Storage Weather Protection and Salt Dome Rebuild Project. Sourcewell is a public procurement and purchasing cooperative for local governments nationwide. Consideration of approval will be on the May 20, 2024, omnibus vote list. 

5) PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY - TRUSTEE LEWIS 

A) Proclamation - Police Week 

Trustee Lewis read the National Police Week Proclamation into the record. The Board proclaimed the week of May 15 - May 21, 2024, as Police Week in the Village of Western Springs. 

B) Proclamation - EMS Week 

Trustee Lewis read the Emergency Medical Services Week Proclamation into the record. The Board proclaimed the week of May 19 - May 25, 2024, as EMS Week in the Village of Western Springs. This is also the 50th anniversary of  National EMS Week. 

C) Intergovernmental Agreement with Lyons Township for a Summer Intern 

Trustee Lewis provided an update on this agreement, which was discussed at the April 8, 2024, Board Workshop meeting. Chief Kelly is planning to have the Western Springs Fire Department participate in the Lyons Township Summer Intern Program. 

The Township requires that Program Partners enter into this agreement that outlines the responsibilities of the Township and the Program Partner. The Township will be responsible for the payment of all wages for these individuals. The individuals will be selected will be assigned to the various Program partners and be under the supervision of that municipal entity. As a Program Partner, the Fire Department would be responsible to assign tasks, supervise the intern and supply the Township with weekly records of assigned tasks, attendance and hours. worked. Attorney Jurusik has reviewed the intergovernmental agreement, including additional language from Lyons Township Approval of this agreement will be considered later this evening in the Special Meeting portion of the Combined Board Meeting. 

6) PUBLIC WORKS AND WATER - TRUSTEE FINK 

 A) Hampton Avenue STP LAFO Resurfacing Project - Construction Agreements & MFT Resolution 

a. MFT Resolution BLR 09110 

b. Construction Agreement with IDOT BLR 05310C 

c. Construction Engineering Agreement with V3 Companies BLR 05530 

Trustee Fink reported on the Hampton Avenue Resurfacing Project which entails. resurfacing Hampton from Ogden Avenue to Hillgrove Avenue. Planning has been a long process. Village staff applied for a grant in 2022 to resurface Hampton Avenue and did not receive the grant but we were placed on a contingency list. Last year, we were told that if the project was "shovel ready" we were more likely to get the Surface Transportation Program (STP) funds from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) redistributive fund, so Baxter & Woodman completed the engineering on this project last year. Trustee Fink said that this year, the Village received the grant, which is fantastic news. It is an 80/20% grant meaning that the Village contributes 20% to the total project cost. The grant will pay approximately $925,000 and the Village's portion (local) match) will be approximately $231,200. This project has been budgeted. Because this is an IDOT project, we must follow IDOT procedures for how it will happen. 

First, we had a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to perform construction. engineering services for the project. A review team for this RFQ was formed and they found that the most qualified firm was V3 Engineering Companies to complete the construction engineering services for the project. IDOT requires the engineering agreement to utilize a standard IDOT form BLR 05530. The total fee is proposed as a note to exceed $123,602. The Village will receive STP funds to cover 80% of these engineering costs. The Village's portion will be $24,800. 

The first resolution, the MFT resolution, BLR09110, is approval to use Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) monies to pay for this. The other two agreements are with V3 to complete the engineering for the project. These three items will be considered for approval on omnibus on May 20, 2024. Discussion about timing of this project which is scheduled to start in June of 2025 followed. 

B) Production Meter Replacement 

The Village Board has approved in the 2024 budget the replacement of the Well #3 a Well #4 meter, both of which are approximately 35 years old. In May, the Water Plant staff will begin the process of contacting contractors and getting quotes for these replacements. Each meter is budgeted at $20,000 for a total project cost of $40,000. 

Village staff are requesting a waiver of the bidding process in lieu of multiple proposals due to the specialty nature of the work and the differences in meter requirements for pipefitting for the installation. 

The committee discussed this approach at their April 30, 2024, committee meeting and recommended moving forward with this approach. Approval will be considered on the May 20, 2024, omnibus vote list. 

C) Vehicle Surplus 

Trustee Fink reported on this matter. Replacement vehicles for certain vehicles which were targeted for replacement and staff is requesting permission to declare the vehicles as surplus. The vehicles are one (1) 1999 Oshkosh Heavy Duty Dump Truck with 23,908 miles and 3,400 hours of service and one (1) 2008 Ford F-350 Heavy Duty Pick-up with 77,032 miles and 6,800 hours of service. Approval of disposal of these vehicles will be on the May 20, 2024, omnibus vote list with a recommendation from the committee to approve. 

D) Sidewalk Replacement Bid 

Trustee Fink reported that the committee recommended accepting the bid from Nardulli Construction Company for the 2024 Sidewalk, Curb and Gutter Replacement project as the lowest cost, qualified and responsive bidder. The project approval is not to exceed $110,000 and will be added to the May 20, 2024, agenda. 

CONSIDERATION OF AND ACTION ON AGENDA ITEMS DURING THE SPECIAL MEETING PORTION OF THE COMBINED WORKSHOP AND SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA 

1) *RESOLUTION NO. 24-2802 RESOLUTION APPROVING AND 

AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE VILLAGE OF WESTERN SPRINGS AND TOWNSHIP OF LYONS REGARDING VILLAGE PARTICIPATION IN THE TOWNSHIP'S INTERNSHIP PROGRAM 

Trustee Lewis moved, seconded by Tyrrell to approve Resolution No. 24-2802 

Approving And Authorizing The Execution Of An Intergovernmental Agreement Between The Village Of Western Springs And Township Of Lyons Regarding Village Participation In The Township's Internship Program. 

The motion passed on a roll call vote. 

Voting aye: Trustees Avakian, Chen, Fink, Lewis, Tyrrell, and President Rudolph. Voting nay: None. 

REPORTS 

1) VILLAGE PRESIDENT RUDOLPH 

No report. 

2) VILLAGE MANAGER BAER 

Village Manager Baer reported that the Village of Western Springs is in the process of updated its adopted building code amendments. Village staff including Director Valone will host an open house on Friday, May 10, 2024, at 3:00 p.m. at Village Hall to discuss the proposed changes. It is anticipated that the updated codes and local amendments will be considered by the Village Board this summer. Everyone is welcome to attend the open house to talk to staff about the building codes. Additional information is available on the Village website. 

Cook County is working on their Multijurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. It is the Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security, and they are hosting three (3) public information and planning sessions to gather input from Cook County residents regarding potential natural hazards and disasters that could impact the County. These listening sessions are open to anyone that lives in Cook County, and we have something on our Facebook page and on our News Flash section on the Village website including a QR code that residents can use to fill out a survey for them in the event one cannot attend the sessions. Village staff has been working with Cook County on this, but residents are also encouraged to view and comment. 

3) VILLAGE ATTORNEY JURUSIK 

No report. 

ADJOURN 

Trustee Tyrrell moved, seconded by Chen, to adjourn the Board meeting. The motion passed on a unanimous voice vote. 

The meeting adjourned at 7:38 p.m. 

https://www.wsprings.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_05062024-1645