On Tuesday council will again visit the next garbage contract.  DGreport readers already know the options, but now staff has weighed in, recommending the existing program be kept in place for another three years.  This is a first reading (workshop) of that motion, and council is expected to vote next week on how to proceed.

The village survey made it crystal clear residents didn’t see anything broken, and didn’t want anything changed.  Massaging out the senior citizen responses from the survey did nothing to change that overwhelming response.

How will council vote?  Commissioner William Waldack has been clear from the start he will vote to keep the current system, and Commissioner Sean Durkin has been clear from the start he wants to see carts only.  While Mayor Sandack has repeatedly mentioned the fixed costs that must be addressed, he and the rest of council know the contract to extend the current system (with price hikes) covers those fixed costs and is profitable for Republic Services, Inc.

This week’s discussion should make the expected vote clearer.

The Motion is here.

The 45-member club has been scrambling to put the smaller, more local festival together, with some members working as many as 30 hours a week on the endeavor, said Keith Hoffman of Rotary.

The club took on the gargantuan effort this spring following the Village Council’s decision to eliminate Heritage Fest due to budget concerns.

With opening set for 6 p.m. tonight, all systems are go and on budget, Hoffman said. “Certain areas are under budget, certain areas are a little over. We should be coming in very close to budget.”

The club decided to add another police officer for restaurant security, he said. “The Fraternal Order of Police is doing it at a discounted rate.”

Others also have pitched in to make the event happen. Jim Provenzale from Fast Forward Design developed the website, flyers, posters and pamphlets, Hoffman said.

The club also was successful in attracting volunteers. “It’s been great,” he said, adding that Mayor Ron Sandack and commissioners Bob Barnett, Marilyn Schnell and Geoff Neustadt are among those who stepped forward. Some teen groups, such as the Kyle Braid Leadership group, also are pitching in.

Local restaurants, entertainers and not-for-profits also are participating.

The Rotary is already looking forward to continuing the event next year, following an evaluation of the event’s financial feasibility.  “We’re hoping to raise money. It’s a costly thing to put together and we need it to be successful,” Hoffman said.

Now it all depends on the residents, who clamored for a summer festival by the thousands after Heritage Fest was cut. The Rotary is putting a lot of police and fire personnel on the streets, as required by the village.  “We have worked with the village to determine how many we need,” Hoffman said.

And in addition to the crowds, the club is hoping for great weather, Hoffman said. “It should be warm for the weekend, which means a lot of not-for-profits will be selling lots of water and pop.”

UPDATE:

Rotary's Keith Hoffman.

Friday went well.  Kieth Hoffman and the Rotary folks were smiling. The  biggest beef was how come I can’t take a second beer back to the table for the spouse/girlfriend/whatever.  Come on out Saturday and Sunday!

The area steadily filled up throughout the day. No problems reported by police. No drunks.

The bands were better than expected,

Beer tent volunteers.

although it was somewhat disturbing Mayor Sandack could name not one but two Judas Priest hits…(/kidding).

Check back here to discuss the first annual GroveFest on Monday.

After the break, some other ideas that might help the village budget: 

Pay for the Ogden TIF preamble agreement with District 58 using Ogden TIF funds and report them in the annual TIF report. All taxing bodies had their chance to enter an agreement; it’s a requirement of TIF creation that other taxing bodies be notified of the intent, and they would have negotiated to enter into an agreement before the district formed just like 58.   In 2009 the annual required payment of $131,000 for the TIF district generated revenue-sharing was paid for out of the Real Estate Fund (226) a non-TIF fund.  The dollars will go up every year.  It’s long past time this annually repeating expense came off the General Fund ledger and goes into the TIF ledger where it properly belongs.  Amend or rider the agreement so that the payments come from the TIF district funds rather than general funds.

This could be a repeating annual savings starting at about $135,000 for FY2011 if the village does this.

The village has been paying this since 2001.  Those funds should be paid back; from the TIF increment back into the general fund.  Those ten years of payments total about $400,000 as a one-time revenue source.

Bill the CBD TIF for every penny spent from the General Fund. Some monies have been returned; there may still be General Obligation debt payments paid via Real Estate taxes that have not been properly restored to the general fund.  This includes re-combing the records for originating bond fees, early stage P&I payments that were budgeted from RE taxes, and employee expenses that were billed to the village that should have been billed to the TIF District.  Examples of employee expenses might include village time spent on the AOTG agreement, time spent by public works employees working inside the TIF district, and any other employee expenses directly related to CBD or Ogden Ave TIF District functions.

The village probably did not bill every hour into the TIF District budget, but it should have, to accurately account for the true cost of the district.  Council and staff set the precedent last year of billing hours to specific purposes.  The village might consider exploring budgeting and billing the TIF Districts for hours spent on the TIF’s.  This is tying costs to the source, and accounting accurately the cost of the TIF Districts.

Also in 2009 there was a one-time transfer of $200,000 from the Real Estate Fund (226).  That $200,000 can be restored to the General Fund at some point in time.

Will this force an extension of the CBD TIF District?  The current debt structure already guaranteed years ago that the CBD TIF would need to be extended when it expires.  There may be prohibitions against this; the Illinois TIF Statutes make clear only that all expenses have to be accounted for, it does not provide categories of acceptable or  unacceptable expenses, nor does it appear to prohibit correcting past accounting oversights.  It also provides that any surplus be redistributed to the various taxing bodies (65 ILCS 5/11-74.4-7).

Combine reserve funds. The Parking Fund currently projects a cash balance of $500,000.  The Real Estate Fund has a cash balance of around $250,000.  There’s more fiunds and more cash reserves.  The village now knows exactly what a “rainy day” looks like.  Run the numbers for separate reserve funds, create a new General Reserve Fund in the budget, roll them in at an appropriate level.  No policy change about using reserves, just combine them into one reserve fund.

There might be $200,000-250,000 freed up one time by doing this.

Continuation of the Municipal Buildings Fund as a pay forward construction fund for a new civic center. A new civic center will not happen unless budgeting is as tight as a drumhead.  One way is to forward-fund a percentage of the project to offset interest costs on the debt balance borrowed.  Every dollar saved up front directly reduces TIC by 40 cents on the dollar.

Painful?  Yes.

The village will have to make do with existing facilities for several years?  Yes.

Use the opportunity to show the shared pain with taxpayers.  Everyone gives in hard times.  The conventional wisdom is spread the cost over the life of the project by borrowing.  Fire Station #2 showed there were significant savings to be had by saving money up front, and also by already owning the land, both of which eliminated substantial interest payments.  A new civic center needs costs blunted as much as is practical.

Sharing common cost across multiple jurisdictions. John Schofield President of Downers Grove Coalition for Managed Redevelopment, forwarded the concept of cross-jurisdictional cost cooperation.  Vehicle maintenance is one just one example.

This is already beginning.  Westmont and DG will soon share Ops Center expenses and personnel.  DG went to the cheaper suburban FIAT rather than going it alone with a dedicated SWAT team.  We now share one Fire Station coverage area with Woodridge-Darien.  Exploring shared use of like purposes provides savings via economy of scale.  If all your kids eat the same cereal, do you buy them each a box of the same cereal, or one bigger cheaper box?  If everyone buys paper, and one body uses so much they get a better deal, why not share that savings?

The unions have to help. There are two key labor contracts coming in 2011: fire and police, the two biggest personnel expenses.  Consider the concept of using dollars instead of percentages in the two union contract negotiations coming up, and try to peg those dollars uniformly across the ranks.  A $500 raise instead of a 1% raise saves several thousands by avoiding higher salaries triggering higher increases.  Freezing the size of the steps is imperative for sustainability without excessive downsizing.  Consider opening the books to the unions and asking them to help find the money-it isn’t there, and sometimes that is best discovered by all parties.  Keeping jobs is better than eliminating them to make ends meet.

Some of these might work, none of these might work, but it’s certainly worth looking at them all.  If any council member wants, they can  respond   with   their own suggestions and ideas.  Any email responses from elected officials will go up as a comment.

On Monday, May 17, the board will meet in closed session to winnow the field to three candidates.  It remains to be seen whether the names of the three finalists or the entire field of applicants will be revealed by the board.

Keeping that information confidential would be a departure from the practice of other local boards which have appointed new members to vacancies in recent years.

Within the past five years, the village council, the D58 school board and the park board all have had vacancies:

• The 2003 resignation of park board member Susan Dunlap in September 2003; Bob Gelwicks was appointed to the seat the following March.

• The 2005 resignation of  Sue McConnell from the village council; Sean Durkin was appointed to the seat.

• The 2005 resignation of Penny Greenwood from the D58 board; Rich Samonte was appointed to the seat.

• The 2009 resignation of Tom Cunningham from the D58 board; John Miller was appointed to the seat.

• The 2009 resignations of  Park Board commissioners Kathryn Engel-Accetura and Ron Smith; Fred Gusel and Matthew Cushing were appointed to the seats.

Each body has handled the process slightly differently. The village council devised a questionnaire for applicants which can be read by clicking on the photo at right. Seventeen residents completed applications and eight were interviewed by the council. The names of the eight finalists were included in notices for the executive session meetings at which the interviews were conducted.

D58 provided the DGreport with a copy of the application completed by applicants for the seat vacated by Cunningham last September. The board interviewed all nine applicants for the seat in closed sessions over two evenings and called back two for a second interview before making the appointment in open session. The names of the applicants were released by the district.

The park board eschewed a formal application when filling its two open seats. It appointed Fred Gusel, the third-place finisher in the 2009 park board election to Engel-Accetura’s seat and invited resumes and cover letters from applicants for the seat vacated by Smith in December.

The park board received nine applications for the seat and chose to interview four candidates after receiving their materials.  All interviews were conducted in executive session the same evening, with the decision made the same night. The names of these applicants were also released to the public.

The village has added a page to its website explaining its share of residents’ property tax bills and linking to tax bill information presented by Assistant Village Manager Mike Baker at the May 4 council meeting.

The village also uploaded a video of Baker’s presentation to YouTube, which can be accessed by clicking here:  2009 Property Tax Bill Presentation

While the village has provided tax levy information in the past, this is the most extensive effort, said Doug Kozlowski, director of community relations.  “The tax bill presentation is “a continuation of the overall transparency we’ve tried to maintain as part of the long-range financial planning process.”

The village levies a specific dollar amount as opposed to a rate,  Kozlowski said. It accounts for about 10 percent of local property tax bills.

“We wanted to let people know that the decisions that impacted the tax bill were  made in a very strategic process and to let people know about the long-range financial planning recommendations that resulted in what they are seeing on their tax bill now,” he said. In addition to raising about $500,000 in new taxes, the village cut expenditures by $2.2 million, tapped reserves and took other strategic steps bridge its shortfall.

The club, which has hosted annual Oktoberfest celebrations and also operated the Heritage Fest Beer Garden for the past five  years, is confident in its ability to pull off Grove Fest, said President Barb Wysocki. The three-day event is scheduled for July 15-18.

“We’ve taken a hard look at this,” Wysocki told the DGreport. “We know the risks involved, but we feel if we run it effectively, we will be able to make a profit.”

Rotary will be responsible for covering all expenses relating to the festival, including those incurred by police, fire, public works and senior village staff. The club is required to pay $25,600 two weeks before the festival and also to furnish another $30,720 in cash or letter of credit to cover any overruns.

When the item was discussed at last week’s workshop meeting, commissioners repeatedly emphasized that all costs associated with the festival will be born by Rotary.

Concerns were also expressed regarding Rotary’s attendance estimate of 25,000, which some commissioners considered too low. If more people come than can be accommodated in the entertainment garden, they will be encouraged to visit local shops and restaurants, Wysocki said. Police will be on hand to help with crowd control.

With public safety its chief concern and responsibility, the village reserves the right to cancel or shutdown the festival at any time. “They want us to execute perfectly,” Wysocki said.

Realizing that crowd control could be an issue, the Rotary purposely conceived GroveFest as a much smaller event than previous village-run festivals. There will be about a dozen amusement rides for all ages, a single stage featuring local bands and other homegrown talent, and an “entertainment garden” that will serve beer and food provided by local restaurants.

“This will be a total community event,” Wysocki said. “There won’t be lots of vendors from other cities or states.”

The site will be the library parking lot and nearby commuter parking lot along the south side of the train tracks. Main and Curtiss streets will remain open.

Wysocki said GroveFest will be marketed only to Downers Grove and neighboring communities in an attempt to keep attendance within bounds. Heritage Fest typically attracted more than 100,000 attendees.

The club plans to recruit and train as many as 200 volunteers to staff the festival, Wysocki said. Members are also carving out an opportunity for up to 20 local non-profit organizations to participate. The groups have in the past relied on Heritage Fest for fundraising.

The council also encouraged Rotary to work with the Downers Grove Arts Council, which also had a festival proposal in the works. The arts council was looking to create an event that would allow local arts groups to recoup some of the financial support lost as a result of the 2010 village budget cuts.

Wysocki said the Rotary and the arts council had discussed working together on a festival, however philosophical differences made the difficult. The arts council wanted to use an events company to produce the festival, while Rotarians wanted to handle it themselves, Wysocki said.

“We respectfully and cordially decided (a partnership) wouldn’t work,” she said.

The arts council submitted its proposal to the village on April 8. Given that it had taken several weeks of discussion to bring the Rotary proposal up to village standards, commissioners decided time is too short to fully vet the arts council’s submission.

Rotary has also made contact with the teen organizers of the “Bring Back the 2010 Downers Grove Heritage Fest” page on Facebook, which has more than 6,000 members.

“We will be looking for volunteers if any of those individuals would like to help out and volunteer for service hours,” Wysocki said.  “We’re going to need people to clean up tables and perform other tasks and we will be reaching out through Facebook.”

Now that the council has approved the proposal, work can swing into high gear with less than three months until opening day. Wysocki said the organization is confident its 44 member professionals — ” a lot of smart people capable of planning and executing events” — are up to the task.

And “we’re crossing our fingers that we have great weather.”

Monday, April 19
D99 School Board, 7:30 p.m., Administrative Service Center, 6301 Springside Ave. Agenda

Tuesday, April 20
Village Council, 7 p.m., Village Hall, 801 Burlington, Agenda

Thursday, April 22
Architectural Design Review Board — Cancelled.

The council was unanimous in its approval of the question of whether the General Assembly and governor should immediately undertake  “meaningful” pension reform.

Commissioner William Waldack cast the lone vote against the question on consolidation of services provided by townships and special districts after his  motion for an alternative wording of the question died for want of a second.

Waldack had suggested the question be framed as “shall the Illinois General Assembly have the governor take immediate steps to review the services being provided by townships and special districts and consider consolidation of these services with other units of government” rather than other units of local government.

The proposed change would remove the pejorative language and removes the misinterpretation that the services could be consolidated with local governments, he said.

The third question, concerning term limits for the mayor and commissioners, was approved 5-2, with Waldack and Commissioner Marilyn Schnell, the council’s longest serving member at five terms, voting against.

“I’ve been urged by many phone calls to vote against this by many people who don’t feel it’s necessary for a referendum,” she said.

While term limits can make sense on a federal and state level,  local elected officials are closer to their constituents, she said.  “Every four  years there’s a vote to see if you’re doing a good job.”

Commissioner Bruce Beckman shared that viewpoint.  “I believe we do have term limits and that’s the election,” he said. “Personally, I believe  it does not function in best interests of our community. ..various elected bodies have trouble finding sufficient quality candidates.”

However, he said he would vote in support of the question “because the resolution deals with whether to submit it to a public referendum.”

Waldack, who  said he had no problem putting the question to the public despite his personal opposition to term limits, was more concerned about circumventing the possibility of any future referendum questions being added to the November ballot.

“We only have limit of three items.” he said.  He suggested holding off on submitting the referenda questions for term limits and government consolidation until August 1 “to leave space for any possible referendum that may come up from public.”

Resident Gordon Goodman also urged the council to postpone submitting the questions to county authorities for certification.

Sandack responded by citing the “pretty vast record on these items.”

He had put the questions to his colleagues on February 1 as “questions perfectly appropriate for public opinion,” Sandack said. “What the public wants trumps what any one of  seven of us want. “

Photo credit: Todd McDaniel

Updated: 9 a.m. April 9 with bank account information.

Aid efforts are underway for displaced residents

Fire Chief Jim Jackson told a breath-taking story of courage and cooperation as he recounted for the village council April 6 the department’s mammoth effort against the three-alarm fire that devastated a west-side apartment building in the early morning hours of April 5.

In all, 100 firefighters representing 25 departments and 45 companies battled the fire, which investigators have determined broke out in the attic of the 16-unit Downers Belmont Apartments at 4901 Belmont Ave.  The preliminary investigation was not able to pinpoint the cause due to the building’s precarious and unsafe condition, Jackson told the DGreport.

Firefighters arrived at the scene within four minutes of receiving the 12:15 a.m. call to find heavy smoke at the roof line and a fire already engulfing the center portion of the building.

There was no alarm notification inside the two-story, 16-unit building, Jackson told commissioners. “It was a true life-and-death situation.”

Five people were assisted out of the first floor and six people from the second floor, he said. At that point, a partial ceiling collapse cut off the firefighters’ exit and threatened an imminent flashover or simultaneous ignition of all combustible material.

Earlier, firefighters had heard a rumbling  in the second-floor ceiling, which indicated the fire had already had a “great head start,” Jackson said.

“We found fire from one end to the other of the attic, which is an indication we need to get out,” he said. He likened the trusses in the 165-foot by 60-foot attic to “a lumber yard.”

“We found a second way out and went into a defensive attack from the outside to control the fire to the building of origin, Jackson said. The roof of the structure collapsed within 20 minutes and the interior pancaked, leaving the exterior walls with no support.

It took firefighters more than three hours to tamp down the fire and more than 15 hours to entirely extinguish it, said Jackson, who praised the work of village fire, police and public works departments, the mutual aid companies, and Commissioner Geoff Neustadt, a District 58 employee, who arrived to open Henry Puffer Elementary School to the building’s evacuated residents.

He also commended the residents who assisted the first engine company in getting the heavy hoses to some of the five hydrants used to douse the fire. “They wanted to do something to help,” Jackson said. “It was a great thing.”

The fact that there were no lives lost and no injuries suffered, “is a true account of our firefighters,” he said. The building was less than half-occupied, which made the rescuers’ task less daunting.

The fire is the third major residential fire in five months and the first apartment fire in a decade, Jackson said.

Now comes the aftermath.

Rev. Mark Moore of Belmont Baptist Church, 5430 Belmont Road,  is coordinating the aid effort. Immediate needs are for clothing, bedding, towels, sheets, toiletries and non-perishable groceries, particularly items that can be made quickly and easily.  Grocery and big-box store gift cards would also be appreciated. However, none of the residents is settled yet, so furniture needs have not yet been determined.

One of the displaced families has eight children ranging in age from toddlers to teens, so girls’ and boys’ clothing of all sizes is needed, Moore said. Toys and books, preferably new,  also would be appreciated.

“My understanding is they lost it all,” Moore said of the residents, who escaped with only their lives.

Local residents who wish to donate can bring items to the church between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily through the next  or call (630)963-2230 for an appointment.

More good news

Todd McDaniel, principal of Henry Puffer school is also working closely with the displaced families who have children at the school.

Both his school community and others — including a Pierce Downer mother who arrived first thing Tuesday morning with four new backpacks — have sprung into action, McDaniel said.

The school is collecting clothing for the six children affected by the fire, while staff members brought the families groceries and pizza for dinner last night.

“There’s been a steady stream of people bringing in small appliances, linens and bedding,” McDaniel said. “It’s really unbelievable. This is when a community’s true integrity is tested.”

Businesses have also been quick to help. One of the families lost their car keys in the fire and were concerned how to gain access to their older automobile. Bob Carter Auto Body not only found a used steering column and keys, but also offered to donate all labor for the repair, McDaniel said.

O’Hare Towing, another local company stepped up to tow the car into Carter’s — again at no charge.

Meanwhile, McDaniel met Mike Busse, president of the Community Bank of Downers Grove, to establish a fund to help with rent, utilities,  food, medication and other necessities for the three Puffer school families who lost their homes.

Checks made payable to  “Puffer Elementary Fire Fund” can be dropped off or mailed to Community Bank of Downers Grove, Attn: Jeanine Sorn, 1111 Warren Avenue, Downers Grove, IL  60515

I’ll take him at his word — and offer a few of my thoughts later in this post (and invite you to do the same). But first a little background.

Sandack  introduced the possibility of limiting mayoral terms during his 2007 campaign. “I want to be a citizen mayor — not a career politician,” he wrote at the time.

“This village is full of competent people whose expertise can be invaluable to our community and with an ethics ordinance prohibiting non-stop campaigning, qualified residents needn’t worry about raising obscene funds in order to run for office. Correspondingly, the next council should seriously consider limiting the office of mayor to two consecutive terms assuring the residents of fresh ideas and new leadership opportunities.”

He resurfaced the idea at the March 16 council meeting, suggesting that commissioners be limited to three consecutive terms and the mayor held to two consecutive terms. Elected village officials serve for four-year terms.

Sandack acknowledged that the subject of term limits “invokes a decent amount of emotion.”

“Some think elections are term limits. Others feel it’s good succession planning,” he said, emphasizing that it is residents’ opinion, and not his or his fellow council members, that matter.

Sandack also read an e-mail from absent Commissioner Marilyn Schnell, who in 2009 was elected to her sixth council term and is the only sitting commissioner who would be impacted by a term-limits ordinance should she choose to run again.

“I’ve always believed the people of Downers Grove have the right to decide who their elected officials should be,” Schnell said.  “An election is a unique opportunity for the residents to tell their officials how they’re doing and how responsive they have been to the electorate.

“If they want an individual to continue to serve, they will reelect them, if not they will vote them out of office,” Schnell said, adding that she considers it a “plus” for the village council to include both experienced and new members.

“It allows for a unique exchange of ideas which can only benefit the community,” she said. f a referendum on term limits is put before the community, “residents will do what they think is right for the community.”

Whatever the outcome of the proposed referendum, it wouldn’t be the final word on the issue.  That could only come after the community votes in favor of the proposition in a binding referendum.

Resident Gordon Goodman took issue with the potential for two ballots on the same issue.  “If you really want to accomplish something with term limits, put it on as a binding referendum and see how people feel about it,” he told the council.

I agree with Goodman that once would be enough for most voters. Given the amount of time before the August deadline for submitting the question, why not hold a public hearing or two to allow for full discussion and then go ahead with a binding referendum if called for?

Not that I would necessarily be one of those calling for it.  To be sure, there are good reasons to give the matter careful consideration.  Sandack told the DGreport term limits could potentially dial down the political pressure by offering commissioners “a freedom of sorts to vote in a manner that is devoid of any thought of re-election.”

He also said more residents might be encouraged to run for Village Council. “I think there’s an inherent hesitancy for many to challenge incumbents,” he said.

“All of this, I assert, depoliticizes the election and turn-over processes a bit (albeit subtly) and offers opportunities for new residents to serve without some of the perceived baggage. And the goal, I assume, is to encourage talented and interested residents to take time out of their busy lives and serve their village.

“We know we, as a community, have lots of thoughtful and talented people,” Sandack said. “So, why not remove some known barriers to community involvement?”

But if it’s barriers to community involvement that are prompting the discussion on term limits, perhaps we should extend the concept to appointed village offices? Indeed, the number of citizens appointed to village boards and commissioners dwarfs those elected. And many of these appointed officials wield considerable influence, if not power.

The library board, for example, has the authority to set that institution’s budget and tax levy. Among those who have served long years on the board are president Stephen Daniels and trustee Kathy DiCola, who were both recently re-appointed to six-year terms.

Daniels, when I approached him last fall to discuss the board’s budget actions, flatly refused to speak to me. I found this troubling. Yet, as a Downers Grove voter, I have no ability to register my concern at the ballot box.

Term limits, anyone?

Stephens and DiCola are among the many local volunteers who have been appointed again and again to local boards and commissions. In some cases — and I believe the library board is one of them — there aren’t many or any alternative candidates vying for the job.

However, in other cases, residents submit their applications repeatedly before finally getting tapped for a seat at the table. And some never are. Meanwhile, a number of “regulars” serve on multiple commissions concurrently.

I’m not sure whether limiting participation on appointed boards and commissions would work or not. However, I suggest it should be part of any discussion of term limits, if only because so many elected officials begin their involvement in local government in that way.

Schnell started out on the Plan Commission, commissioners Sean Durkin and Bob Barnett served as liquor commissioners (Barnett went on to be appointed to the Stormwater and Flood Plain Oversight Committee) and Geoff Neustadt was a member of the Traffic Advisory and Human Service commissions.

It appears Sandack may agree. “The sentiment certainly seems applicable to our boards and commissions, too,” he said.

“I do not believe there would be a numbers problem, in fact, the village may see more interest from residents with a more organized rotation.”