That seemed to be the big question last night when council came to accepting the TCD3 documents.  When the consultants Houseal & Lavigne announced at the conclusion of  TCD3 that the main outcome that was needed is Neighborhood Community Networks to facilitate better communications between village and village government, a lot of participants were left scratching their heads.

Apparently so were council members.  The motion last night was to accept the report and pass it on the Human Services Commission. Council seemed ready to accept the report, but no council member seemed sure about the rest.

Staff proposals and council member reactions after the break.

Staff proposed four steps to evaluate information in the report and appendix:

• First is that the report be accepted by council.  This allows the report to be designated as an official village document without requiring action on anything in the report — just acceptance and inclusion in the files.
• Second is to refer the document, more specifically the “Neighborhood Community Network” (formerly “Neighborhood Group” or “Neighborhood Organization”) concept to the Human Services Commission as a way to investigate/evaluate in a public setting this proposal (see pages 5-7 of the Summary Report).  A report and recommendation from the HSC would come back to council, who would then talk over how HSC thinks it could be implemented.
• Third would be further consideration of certain topics as part of the Comprehensive Plan update.  TCD3 was intended in part to feed the Comp Plan effort, especially in the areas of zoning and economic development.  There’s plenty of meat in TCD3 for that.
• Last would be identifying “other opportunities for consideration by the Village Council as part of the 2011 Strategic Plan process or by other Board and Commissions – Items in the report or appendix that are deemed worthy of further consideration, but are not being addressed in steps 2 or 3 (that) can be brought forward and discussed either by the Village Council or a designated Board/Commission.“

Council viewed the TCD3 documents, the HSC’s involvement with the TCD3 documents and the Comp Plan update effort with more questions, indicating a council unready to simply plow ahead when they were still scratching their heads about NCNs, about what they would be and why they would be.

Commissioner Marilyn Schnell wanted to see a larger discussion from the HSC about group types that would become Neighborhood Community Networks, and look at the broader picture of communication and engagement with the community, based wider than just, say, elementary school areas with one group representing a physical area.

Commissioner Bruce Beckman opened up the discussion with the observation that resident groups tend to dissolve and drift away, and wondered if the NCN groups would do that too.  Groups tend to dissolve after a goal has been met or dealt with (successfully or unsuccessfully), so he would like to see the HSC look into how to make the NCNs a long term device.   His  concerns were repeated with additional perspective by the most of council.

Commissioner Bill Waldack wanted to see NCNs as a possible subset of already existing community organizations that had continuous existence.  He also raised the prospect of farming out TCD3 items to more than one committee or commission, to spread the work load among more resident volunteers and make better use of existing boards and commissions.

One of Commissioner Geoff Neustadt’s concerns was staff time for the HSC meeting prep.  NCN were interesting but he zeroed in on the conclusion being brought to DG by the facilitators rather than the participants themselves coming up with a big hitter physical need like a hospital or sidewalks, as previous TCDs had done.  He felt the HSC should be given free reign to work with the report, and that groups that spoke at the meeting could serve as examples of NCNs that could be made up of existing community groups.

Commissioner Bob Barnett (lean into the mic a little more, Bob) suggested he might be a contrarian, but underlined Neustadt’s concern that the recommendation for NCNs came from the consultants and not the TCD3 participants themselves, and that trying to create new groups of residents might not be the best action to take with the limited time and staff assets.  He felt the groups that wanted to be heard were heard, and that any new groups created by the village might simply fade away in a couple years.

Mayor Ron Sandack reminded council the first step is to simply accept the report and that ought to be done given all the work the entire village put into it.  What comes next is the tripping point because of the lack of that singular new need.  We’re pretty set, mature, good schools, the whole nine yards, and what comes next is a big deal.  The Comp Plan is an implementation item to follow from TCD3, but when it came to handing off the report to the HSC, Sandack agreed with the consensus; he couldn’t come up with a hard, nail-it-down charge for them on what to do with it.

Sandack asked council to vote to accept the report and to discuss next week on what the charge should be.  So there’s a first meeting benefit of the new format; instead of waiting two weeks to re-workshop, it’ll get discussed next week, maybe.

Staff time is a big concern.  None on council wants staff burning up a lot of unnecessary time on this; they have enough on their plates.  So next week Village Manager Fieldman will bring the acceptance of the TCD3 report forward and take a bit more time before coming back to council with a plan on what the Human Services Commission will be asked to do with it.

The TCD3 Report is here.

The TCD3 Appendix is here.

That doesn’t begin to describe the problems the village has had this summer with construction companies following code, following safety and tree requirements, and generally following the rules.

The summer construction season of discontent begins on May 12, 2009, when PW Director Newlon, staff. and Village Forester Kirsten von der Heide seek changes to an August, 1996 amendment to the Municipal Code that  improved upon requirements for public parkway tree protection.  Those improvements directly result in dramatically increasing the survival of parkway trees in the path of construction projects.  The Parkway Tree Protection ordinance is beefed up even more in August 2007, by requiring fencing around trees, instead of orange plastic,  to be six-foot high chain link on all four side, with size requirements. This provides very good protection for parkway trees, but staff finds that “strict enforcement of the Code may not be necessary in some situations.”

Staff recommends three-sided tree fence protections for lighter projects, specifically:

Examples of public projects where tree protection would be warranted include watermain replacement with new roundway keystops and domestic service box installations, new or replacement storm sewers, and projects that widen roads which in turn decrease the parkway soil volume around public parkway trees. Public projects where this level of tree protection would not be warranted include pavement resurfacing, pavement patching, and watermain replacement within the pavement., like driveways and existing street resurfacing that three sided fencing will be fine.

At the same workshop council discusses Consent C awarding $626,000 to Swallow Construction, Downers Grove, IL, for the Rogers Street Water Main Replacement Project (CIP Project WA-031),  and Consent D to award a $544,175 contract to Archon Construction Company Inc of Chicago, IL for the 59th Street Water Main Replacement Project (CIP Project WA-030).  Both streets will then be resurfaced and parkway restoration work will be completed funded by the 2009 Roadway Resurfacing Project.

Council talks about the need for protections, the reasons why less protection may be acceptable, and seems favorable to proposed ordinance change.  That discussion can be found here in the meeting minutes.

Rather than the clear delineation or warranted and unwarranted project types, the proposed ordinance, curiously, leaves it to the discretion of the Forester as to when three sides of fencing are allowable:

(b) In some circumstances, with the approval of the Village Forester, the required fencing need not be continuous, but may have three (3) sides with the opening facing away from the area where the activity for which the fence is required is occurring.

Both water main projects are approved at the May 18th regular Council meeting, but Active B has vanished, replaced with an Unclaimed Finds ordinance.  The revised tree protections have vanished, and Section 24 of the Municipal Code remains unchanged.  Regardless, all that follows features the lesser three sided fencing, of the type staff recommended not being used for water main replacement with new roundway keystops and domestic service box installations-the work being performed.

North parkway Rogers Street July 6, 2009.

In June, residents including myself begin to report that Swallow Construction of Downers Grove, IL is not following parkway tree protections.  Fencing is being applied to three sides only, and materials and water jugs are being stored inside the fencing.  In some severe cases, pallets are piled up against trees, and heavy stones and supplies are dumped on the ground near tree trunks.  The Portable is left under the shade of a parkway tree.  Detour signage is left laying on private property.

Fencing wrapped back around tree.

Fences are all three sided, and most along the street where the water main is going in are down.  The water main and stubs are the reason for the fences being moved during the day.  Swallow Construction leaves them down.

Residents also report similar shoddy adherence to code in the 400 blocks of Wilson and Gierz.  Water main replacement has caused work in the parkway of almost every house and much of the protective tree fencing is down on two of the four sides.

Public Works goes out, inspects the sites, requests the fences be put back up and materials and portajohns be moved.

On August 9th, 59th Street undergoes the same dismantling of parkway tree protections.  Eight trees are left unprotected.

A week later, the same violations remain unfixed.

In an email to staff I suggest this and documented laxness at Rogers Street should be of some concern, as contractors seem to be treating the parkway tree protections ordinance as optional.

The next week another wrinkle is added to the mix, six foot deep holes with piping criss-crossing a foot off the bottom, left open so people can fall in and sue the village for negligence.  Similar holes in the street are covered with heavy metal plating.

Luckily, no child falls into one of the several holes that cross the sidewalks.

Yep. No danger there...

Archon Construction fills the holes back in when they are done.

On August 16 residents show pictures to staff regarding trees that have had their root structure simply ripped open.  Best practices that the village goes over with prospective contractors includes the need to use a sharp

Worst practices.

saw to cut the root structure cleanly, enhancing the trees ability to survive the root trauma.  Prairie Street is mainly an IDOT funded project that has been delayed.  It’s from before the required use of metal fences, and there is no root cutting.  Instead, the ground and the root structure are clawed away.

The morning of September 1, almost two months after reported tree protection problems began, residents noticed the village arborist talking to ComEd personnel and walk over to ask her what was being done to protect the trees on Prairie between Main and Forest during the construction to widen the intersection.  According to one resident:

Her response was to make a sad face after which she proceeded to explain the following.

Of the three trees on the north side of the street, the middle tree has been too damaged by the road work to be saved.  The arborist has spoken to the homeowners to advise them that the middle tree will be removed.

When I questioned the status of the mature maples on the north side of Prairie, I was told that, unfortunately, those trees could not be saved and will be removed in two weeks.  The arborist explained that this was not in the original plan but, unfortunately, these trees will interfere with the new ComEd posts and wiring and so much of the trees need to be removed that they would become unstable.  Therefore, two additional mature trees that were not included in the original plan, will be sacrificed for the widening of the Prairie and Main intersection.

I mentioned to the arborist that we, as residents, were extremely unhappy about the transformation in a residential neighborhood from a gracious, tree-lined street to a sterile commercial intersection.  This change is completely transforming the character of our community and the neighbors are unhappy about it.  Ours is a tight-knit community of families who value a safe, beautiful and peaceful place to live. Many of our neighbors are gardeners who particularly value the beauty and benefits of stately, mature trees.

The arborist was very sympathetic but, of course, her hands are tied.  This situation is very distressing and another sign of the village’s lack of interest in the concerns of the residents.  I thought in important to share this update with you.

This is a power line pole offset, patented in 1998.

That same night at the village council meeting, several residents speak to the frustrations, including one living on the corner of Forest and Prairie that has been flatly told her large sycamore, located on private property and long a land mark and haven for tree climbing neighborhood kids, will be severely shorn because power lines, now relocated further back due to a wider street, need clearance from the tree.

The clearly state village goal of shady parkways with trees arching over streets plays no part in the last two months of parkway tree abuse.

Charlie Smart, who lives right there at Prairie and Main:

I had a visit this morning from Com Ed about accessing our yard for tree trimming due to moving poles to accomodate the work on Prairie, which is fine, in passing, he mentioned trimming the two large Maples on the south side of Prairie immediately west of Main Street. His position is that they will probably just take down the trees altogether, along with a couple more trees on the north side of Prairie.  His logic was that they are on the parkway, and belong to the Village, so it is no big deal.  Let me repeat.  ”The trees on the parkway belong to the Village, so cutting them down is no big deal.”

I and others documented and forwarded parkway tree protection abuses along Rogers, 59th, and Prairie since early July.

Staff will follow up as to the trees in question and will continue to monitor the project to make certain compliance with all applicable construction and other related rules.

But while the village staff and public works have responded to the information and photographic evidence presented, the contractors have not stopped abusing our parkway trees.

This last occurrence along Prairie is very unfortunate in that after this had specifically been brought to the village’s attention on August 17, the village two weeks later decides it’s a lost cause.   This tree will take 60+ years to replace; longer probably.

There’s no reason this was not a known factor at the beginning of the project rather than an unpleasant surprise near the end.  This was a breakdown in project supervision.  There was, is, no effort to top the utility poles with a header that would have placed the wires roughly where they existed before, sparing those trees.

Can this icon survive?

Work is now beginning around the Eastern Cottonwood on Rogers, the largest tree in our Village, and potentially in all of Chicagoland.  The protections being employed are minimal.  I had asked Public works to consider carefully constructing a curb bump out to provide future protection for this tree, but now I have my sincere doubts if it will survive the street project.  If it does not, it will take years to become apparent it was killed.

What steps are being taken to make certain this tree survives?  The normal steps?  I’ve been documenting this summer that the normal steps are not working.

The lower the bar is allowed to go, the less heed contractors will pay.

So what’s the problem?

Each mature tree does a couple key things for Downers Grove:

Trees reduce stormwater. They act as giant sponges that absorb 660 gallons of water in the first 24 hours of a rain event.  Our 23,000 mature parkway trees absorb over 15 million gallons of initial rainfall.

Trees reduce energy bills. They provide 133 square feet of canopy coverage.  That seemed like a small area until I was told that represents solid coverage.  In real life, that canopy spreads over a much larger area, but it’s not a 100% solid canopy, and it doesn’t represent the crown volume, just the canopy top.  Underneath a tree it’s a couple degrees cooler in the summer, and a couple degrees warmer in the winter. Properly placed trees can reduce summer cooling costs by as much as 30%.

Trees increase air quality. They sequester 48 pounds of carbon dioxide each year, enough to offset the amount produced by driving a car 26,000 miles.  That same tree produces enough oxygen f in a season as 2 people inhale in a year.

Trees increase property values. Most studies say mature trees increase comparable home prices roughly 15%.  Some developers claim that clear cutting reduces construction costs, but they ignore cost reductions that can be realized by preserving existing mature trees.  What builder is against adding 15% to the value of a new home by not doing something?

The key word here is mature.  A tree takes 20+ years to mature, and none of these benefits kick in until it is a mature tree.  The 1,147 trees the village planted in the last two and a half years won’t “come on-line” until around 2027.

We’re going to lose our ash trees, too.  Two years ago the village made the decision to take out approximately 4,100 ash trees from our public parkways over the next 5-10 years, about 18% of our total parkway tree inventory doomed by the Emerald Ash Borer.

The net result on paper will be that the village, since it is planting trees faster than they are being removed, is okay.  The problem is, “trees-in/trees-out” is a false metric.  It doesn’t accurately assess and address that the “trees-in” don’t come on-line for twenty years, and the “trees-out” immediately reduce the village benefits.

For a council and staff facing budget problems, and looking at being forced to raise taxes, this is a huge problem, and here’s why.

By 2017, if the village makes good on plans to aggressively address EAB, we will have lost 5,000 mature trees from the public parkways.  Add in only the total of ash tree loss in Downers Grove, and we lose over 1,000,000 square feet of canopy coverage.  That’s one million square feet of solid coverage; about 20 football fields of total shade stripped bare, needing more cooling, more energy use. Of course, trees aren’t solid, so the area effected is, in reality, much larger.

Back to just the 5,000 parkway trees.  120 tons of CO2 not sequestered.  Oxygen for 10,000 people not produced.  Home value growth, real estate tax growth, stunted.  And that’s the minor impact to the village.

Those 5,000 trees?  Where does the water go?  each one sponges up 660 gallons in the first 24 hours of a rain event.  that’s 3,300,000 gallons of water, or about 10.25 foot/acres of water looking for basements and back yards.

I did some math on Washington Park.  Engineering, design, construction, interest and principal on the bonds, change orders (so far): it’s a $4.3 million dollar project that will hold 8.7 foot/acres of water.

$4.3 million to hold 8.7 foot/acres.  By 2017, 10.25 foot/acres of additional water in the village with no place to go.  And that’s not counting trees removed from park land, school land, and private property.  We’re not running fast enough to stay on the treadmill, but we are creating the necessity of another big expensive water retention project to help stay even.  Not to get ahead of the problem, just to tread water.

Flooding was a recurring issue in TCD3, and it’s been a recurring issue for many years.  The village committed to an initial borrowing of $25 million to address stormwater issues, with plenty more to come.  There’s talk of a stormwater tax to fund the improvements.  But if we immediately build the problem back in right along with the solutions, we don’t move forward; we just spend a lot of money for things to seem to stay the same.

We do know some things for certain.  No one wants to pay more taxes if they don’t have to.  Paying more for the same apparent services is frustrating.  Mature trees save money, now and in the future, whether they are on parkways, private property, parks, or by schools.  They create higher real estate property values, in turn creating higher tax revenues.  People have less issue with paying more if they get more, and trees get us more value for our homes.

In three weeks the final TCD3 report will be published.  It’s already been talked over that the key outcome is a need for better communications, and neighborhood groups have been discussed as a mechanism for that better communication.  That doesn’t seem to apply directly to this type of issue, but this issue is a critical lever in any new comprehensive village plan.  In the village stats, the tree problem is being addressed; more trees are being planted than are being removed.  In the real world, we still need a proper set of metrics so we can make accurate informed decisions about what we need to be doing.  By the metrics of water absorption, carbon sequestration, energy costs, and oxygen production, we’re failing.

The first chart on the right shows DG Sales Tax Revenues for 2008 broken down by category.  If you click on the image you will get a larger easier to read version.  1 out of every 4 sales tax dollars comes from either car sales, or gas sales.  You’ve seen the difference along Ogden Avenue this year.  Luxury Motors south lot, once jammed with sales tax revenue producing autos, had one lonely car when I drove by yesterday.  A planned expansion and redevelopment for the used car dealer on the west side is on hold.  Some of the dealers look to be doing fine, and Zielger is ramping up their operations, so not all is bleak.

We have tough competition from Woodridge’s Seven Bridges developments, and from the Promenade Bolingbrook Town Center, and from Lombard’s aggressive expansion at Yorktown.  Compare those to two DG retail centers on the northeast and northwest corner of 75th and Highland (Main), and you get the idea.  Our neighbors might not draw DG shoppers away, but they’re keeping more of their own shoppers at home with newer, nicer shopping areas.

There’s constant talk of how ratty 63rd and Woodward looks, but the sales tax potential for DG is at 75th & Highland, along Butterfield Road., and along Ogden Avenue.  It’s a matter of scale and size.  Our big retail areas could use some refreshing, updated layout, all kinds of thing that just need money and a good economy to do.  The village staff, the EDC and the COC are working on it.

This shows where the hurt is.  Our sales tax revenues have slipped back to 1995 levels.  As our neighbors have ramped up efforts to modernize and develop new shopping, the results are having an impact.  Our main areas that generate sales tax revenue are behind the times, and as you can see, behind the curve.

Bolingbrook in particular has been very aggressive and successful in bringing in mega-box retailers.  Along Weber Road they have a Builder’s Square and a Lowe’s within spitting distance of each other (and a Menard’s on 53).  Along Boughton is the Ikea.  Lombard has revamped and built out Yorktown, adding a restaurant centric mix of stores along with a new Hyatt that, when I drove by a couple night ago, looks as empty as Building #3 at Acadia on the Green (which I hear is selling).

This graph was not in the EDC report.  Comparative sale tax numbers tell the story.  Everyone felt the slowdown last year, with Bolingbrook’s rapid expansion over the last five years leaving them way ahead on revenues.  Lombard added a “Yorktown Tax” near the end of 2007 that’s valid to include.  the dashed line shows that revenue subtracted.  Woodridge has incremental growth, as Seven Bridges’ build out slow-down starting in 2008, flattening their revenue growth curve.

Can the EDC, the Village, the Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Management bend the curve back up?  Bedalov’s presentation contained the classic SWOT analysis that sorted out the situation, and he touched on some areas that the village may want to consider moving forward, which would give DG a wider choice of options to deploy when marketing the village to the commercial and manufacturing sectors:

Business Enterprise Zones (BEZ): Begun in 1982, the lllinois Enterprise Zone Program, like a TIF District, is designed to stimulate economic growth and neighborhood revitalization in economically depressed areas of the state.  Unlike a TIF District, the mechanisms are state and local tax incentives, regulatory relief, and improved governmental services. There aren’t any in DuPage County. Ellsworth Business Park might be an area that could benefit from becoming a BEZ, making it more attractive to new business, and helping existing concerns already located there.

Business Improvement Districts (BID): In one sense we already have a BID, and that’s the DMG.  The Downtown Management Group and the Village cooperate to collect funds, and a Board of Directors direct activities to enhance and improve the District, like the marketing efforts DMG Director Linda Kunze works on with Bedalov to attract business to the CBD, and the first central garbage collection area built this year.  The BID is a very flexible tool and could be used to tackle areas like the Hines Lumberyard, Rogers along the tracks from Pershing to Fairview, and the aforementioned south side shopping centers at 75th and Highland.

Facilitated property acquisition and transfer: This would emphatically not be anything like the sucker-punch the village took  over AOTG.  The village can continue to deploy it’s Bond Cap Authority to help create some risk-free source funding for private businesses to the tune of about $4 million each year, and the EDC is already ramping into a full court press finding takers for open space, and putting together incentives in coordination with village staff.  The two new grocers coming to town are an example of that creative process.

Greg Bedalov, EDC President, chalks up another win for DG, announcing today that the Harold Zeigler Automotive Group, founded in 1975 and listed as one of the top automotive groups in the country by Ward’s Dealer Business, will be opening a brand new Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealership in Downers Grove, Illinois.

“We’re excited to be putting a new facility in Downers Grove and serve the customers in that area,” said Aaron Zeigler, President of the Zeigler Automotive Group.  “With a dealership already established in Schaumburg, the opportunity to add a dealership in the greater Chicago region fit very well with our strategy and we know that Downers Grove and the surrounding communities are a great place to do business.”

The Zeigler Auto Group is one of only a few organizations in the country that was able to increase their sales over the past year.  They plan to begin immediately on a development project to build a new state-of-the art dealership at 2311 W Ogden Avenue replacing an old dealership facility where Downers Grove Dodge once operated.  They will serve customers in the existing facility until construction is complete next spring. The new dealership, Zeigler Chrysler Dodge Jeep of Downers Grove, will create 75  new jobs within the first year of opening, along with generating hundreds of thousands in sales tax revenue for the city every year.

“My Council colleagues and I are thrilled to welcome the Zeigler Automotive Group to Downers Grove and look forward to a successful partnership in our community,” said Downers Grove Mayor, Ron Sandack.  “Having the Zeigler Group select Downers Grove as the location for their next dealership is especially rewarding given these challenging economic times and their new business endeavors serve as a reminder of our community’s strong commitment to business development and growth.”

“Our strategy of growth and our commitment to our customers have never changed, even as the economic environment has evolved over the past year,” commented Zeigler.  “Our philosophy is simple:, be fair and take care of the customer and good things will happen.  Keeping with this has allowed us to grow in Schaumburg and now will give us the opportunity to serve the customer in Downers Grove.”

There’s no down sides here.  Jobs, sales tax revenue, a well financed car sales company that is growing, and a redevelopment of an old dealership site that has remained essentially unchanged since the 70′s.  Plans petitions and expected permits for the site redevelopment should be forthcoming in the next few months.

Bulk annexation

175 homes, 424 people.

One tool for revenue enhancement staff showed council is bulk annexation of five areas currently unincorporated, starting with the unincorporated northeast side of Downers Grove.  This is an area already residential zoned that would bring net extra tax revenue to the village, to the tune of about $155,000 a year.

Currently, it’s a mix of higher end homes and older more modest homes that, in a better economy, would be tear down fodder. Increased services to residents such as police, fire, streets, snow plowing, would be offset by village getting a share of an real estate taxes and fees driven by an area EAV in excess of $34.6 million.

This is part of what staff termed a “Grow the Base” strategy.  The five areas that are currently unincorporated might be annexed into the village whole rather than the current piecemeal one lot at a time approach.  These areas are contiguous to the village, and in some cases almost totally withing village boundaries.

Fire Department

Expect some union push back on this but Chief Ruscetti is doing what councils past and present have asked him to: figure out how to do more with less.

NOTE: Rob Pekelder, the Secretary of the Downers Grove Professional Firefighters Association (DGPFA) has written that the union has  taken no official position in support of or opposition to this proposal. HT to Mr. Pekelder for the information.

In this case, the FD staff has asked council to consider exploring sharing a facility and crew with the Woodridge-Darien Fire Protection District.  Their Station #2 covered for our Station #2 at Main and 55th while it was being built.  The net result would be a 5 man crew at the DWFPD station on Hobson, with both an ambulance and an engine.

Save money, cover better .

The FD staff says they would still meet all response time criteria, and by having both vehicles at the station on call, enhance service to both communities.  Staff estimated a savings of about $200,000 a year with the above changes.

By eliminating the Fire Station facility in Ellsworth Business Park, the village could use that land for a new Police Station Facility and avoid land acquisition costs,  helping reduce costs for that facility.

Stormwater Utility

Rain, rain, go away...

Staff estimates the village currently spends almost $900,000 a year on maintaining a system that is incomplete, and that has almost $37 million in capital costs scheduled over the next five years.  That adds up to an annual need of about $8 million each year.

Not every budget response considered is expense reduction, and a Stormwater Utility Tax Fee Cost Thingy has been an item brought forward every year as a possible way to pay for expensive stormwater projects.  It proposes creating a Stormwater Utility Cost Thingy as a business organization like the Water Utility or an Electric Utility.  Subject to special government regulation or contained within an existing department like Public Works, it would charge residents on their tax bill for their use of the Stormwater System.

The saying goes: Talk is cheap; whiskey costs money.

This might provide a financial incentive for on-site mitigation such as rain gardens, rain barrels, use of permeable paving materials, and other means to limit run-off and mitigate on-site stormwater.

Most people will associate a stormwater utility fee with a tax, especially as it would show up on your tax bill.  It would also have costs for getting it up and running, and on-going additional staff would be needed for administrative and customer service functions.

Judging from their signs, the brick workers are unhappy that they aren’t earning the prevailing wage for their work.

After googling the DuPage County Prevailing Wage for July 2009 I understand completely why they are miffed. If I read it right, the prevailing base wage for brick masons is $38.03. Who in their right mind would take less?

I’m sympathetic because my own field, journalism, has lately seen the collapse of jobs that paid a living though never princely wage in favor of Web work that pays a pittance, if at all. And what is writing but placing one word/brick artfully and precisely next to another?

Grab that $38-plus-overtime as long as you can, boys and girls. I know I would.

On the other hand,  journalism was never a “prevailing wage” kind of gig.  Never once in my career has it worked to say, “The New York Times is paying Maureen Dowd thousands of dollars per column, so that’s what I want, too.”

The answer would be:  “Go get a job at the New York Times.”

It’s called free will and the free market. You want to earn more money? Get good, get going and, if the planets all align, get rewarded.

Of course, this has never been the way unions work and more power to them, I suppose.

But with the economy  faltering and the employment world on its second decade of fundamental change, how long can unions protect their workers from the harsh realities experienced by those in just about every other line of work, including the “professions?”

Realities like working long hours, bringing work home and being available 24/7 to the demands of your employer. Realities like no overtime, no raises and no job security. Realities like furloughs, insurance premium hikes and non-existent retirement benefits.

At hourly rates that, for many white-collar, college-educated workers don’t come close to $38.03.

Clearly, skilled workers deserve to make a living wage if the wheels are to stay on the economy. But whether unions are part of the problem or part of the solution is an open question.

A buddy downstate emailed me this study, noting one other blogger already has written about it.  His point; there’s a temptation to simply do what generates surplus income for the municipality.If Champaign follows the trends illuminated by the study, they will become a city of high end single family home, high end apartments, and national big box stores.

Would a logical pathway for DG see the CBD and Ogden Avenue taken over by national chains, as they generate (downstate, at least) more sales tax surplus per 1,000 square feet than do local businesses?    See Naperville.

There would be less talk of more middle income, affordable, insert-your-favorite-catchphrase-here types of homes, only high end single family homes and downtown apartments.  Surprisingly, attached homes like the high density townhouses currently languishing unsold around DG (especially downtown), would be cut back; they have a net cost instead of providing a net surplus of revenues.

Note to village: Champaign also plans to raise developer fees across the board to help balance their budget.

Pointing out the obvious, the reason high end homes make money for the muni is any given sized family tends to impose the same level of expenses on a muni whether they live in an  expensive $1-million-plus home or a $300 thousand modest home, yet the real estate tax based revenues make the big home owner pay well over three times more.  The cost burden on the library, schools, police, fire, etc. are about the same.

But without that imbalance, DG would be up the creek like every other western ‘burb.  We need our expensive homes with their expensive RE tax bills, and generally speaking, most owners of the big expensive homes can afford the burden.

Staff comes up with another targeted

Sales tax at a grocer is a variable thing; basic foodstuffs have a very low rate, packaged goods and other items have higher rates.  The terms of the sales tax rebate agreement include the following:

Sales taxes from Michael’s Fresh market shall be rebated to the Lemon Tree in the following manner:
1) 37.5% of total sales taxes collected up to $15 million in annual sales
2) 50% of total sales taxes collected in excess of $15 million in annual sales

• Lemon Tree, Inc. agrees to operate a specialty grocery store at the Acadia location which offers, at a minimum: prepared foods, packaged foods, fresh meat, fresh produce, fresh bread, a delicatessen, and an outdoor dining area.
  
• Both Michael’s and the Lemon Tree must remain open at their current location to qualify the Lemon Tree to receive rebate payments
• The duration of the agreement shall be ten years with the option to extend with Village Council approval for two additional consecutive five-year terms.

There is an initial 50% rebate period that will run through December 31st, 2010, that will help with some of the start up costs of getting established and known.

As it stands, there will be parking changes to accommodate loading cars with groceries for those who drive there, although that kind of runs contrary to the idea of a walkable downtown grocer.

The Lemon Tree will take up about 6,000 square feet at the east corner of Mochel and Burlington in AOTG building #3.  It will have, in addition to a full grocery, prepared foods and an outdoor cafe space for people who want to eat there purchase right there.

The Lemon Tree will also be one of two new liquor license businesses, class P-O-2 , that  allows for off-premise sales of all liquor and on-premise consumption of beer and wine at the same location, so you’ll be able to carry out your six pack, or have a bottle of wine to go with the prepared foods eaten there (the mega-Binny’s coming this fall up at the closed Circuit City location is the other P-O-2 license applicant).

Other Michael’s roast chickens, cook up a variety of ethnic dishes, even make fresh sushi, so their cafe could be a very interesting eclectic addition to downtown dining.

As council has already expressed their desire to move this forward, it should sail through to approval.   Anyone know where you can buy those wire roller baskets?

The danger zone.

DuPage County has been seeking the ability to do whatever it wants to when it comes to developing real estate, under the cover of “affordable workforce housing” and “by right” use.

Despite opposition from every community that is aware of it, the county continues to push this potential program towards their goal. On April 21st and 27th, the village council met and wrote up a resolution declaring it’s opposition to the county attempt to create “Affordable Workforce Housing” in unincorporated DuPage County.

There are three components to this attempt to circumvent rational zoning laws:

• Senate Bill 1451, sponsored by State Senator Randy Hultgren (Wheaton) and Senator John J. Millner (Bloomingdale), would permit the county board in counties over 500,000 (excluding Cook) to use county funds to sell, lease, or exchange county property, including but not limited to a partial interest in property and to sell, lease or exchange property at less than fair market value, to achieve any housing need of the county and to benefit the residents of the county.  There are four counties that fit that requirement: DuPage (929,192), Kane (501,021), Lake (710,241), and Will (673,586).  Coincidence that bill sponsors are from DuPage?
• DuPage County’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) pumps a one time federal payment of $5,176,438 into a program designed to “provide funding for the acquisition, rehabilitation, and resale of the many foreclosed homes peppering the neighborhoods of DuPage County.  The county, at it’s discretion, can continue the program past the first year, and put additional funds into the program if it decides to.
• T-01-09-Proposed Amendments to the DuPage County Zoning Ordinance relative to Workforce Development Housing (AWFH) Regulations (Request to Send to ZBA for Public Hearing) covers that zoning changes that council and staff fired off the resolution against.

DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference has also weighed in against some aspects of  this.  T-01-09 itself essentially eliminates one of the fundamental tenets of comprehensive county planning, that being deferring development approval to municipalities for areas that are within 1 mile (some counties 1.5 miles) of the municipal border.  This zoning amendment would eliminate the applications process planners use to look at building projects individually.

How it is now: “We want to do this; take a look, is this okay?  Will you let us?”

How it would be: (silence until bulldozers show up).

That could be an explosive problem in Downers Grove, where we have an unincorporated area on the southwest side that has, like everywhere else, many foreclosures going on that could be future high density developments.  Last year DG successfully used that deferred jurisdictional authority to stop a development project proposed by Pat Trowbridge which consisted of 24 townhouses on 2.75 acres of land.

This is what was called for in the original development the village opposed and prevented.  24 townhouses on 2.75 acres of land.

This is what could be built “by right” on the same property, with no say by the village.  38 townhouses on the same 2.75 acres of land.

Why do that?  Why change the zoning requirements and regulations, in many cases loosening the county’s own rules for things like density, setbacks, stormwater compensation, and required utility hookups?  Why open the door for severely overcrowded development projects being crow-barred into low density residential areas?

Higher density means more units equals more profit potential along with the lower prices.

24 units was too high a density for the village.  Add in an additional 14 units, mix in  T-01-09, and the village has no say.  That would create affordable workforce housing, but it’s also a development that throws the entire area out of kilter, out of density guidelines, and into potential flooding, something we don’t need more of here in DG.  On the plus side, it does allow for cheaper units to be built.  By building so many more of them, the developer can still make a handsome profit.

Naperville is the latest community to wake up to the potential nightmare this county undertaking represents, and they have also responded overwhelmingly in the negative.  In response to all the negative feedback, County Board member Kyle Gilgis (District 3 Downers grove), who has headed up the county effort, said the county will hold weekend informational meetings on the matter.  I could not find any information on the meetings on the County website.

Downers Grove straddles two districts, 2 and 3.  Should you wish to weigh in for or against workforce development housing as currently proposed by DuPage County you can get emails, addresses and phone numbers for all board members here.

Any white areas, even seemingly inside municipalities, are fodder for Affordable Workforce Housing development under proposed county rule changes.