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CITY COUNCIL 9-18-03 council agendaTHE CITY OF LAKE FOREST COUNCIL AGENDA Thursday, September 18, 2003 7:30 p.m. City Council Chambers CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 7:30 p.m. Honorable John E. Preschlack, Mayor Tom Swarthout, Alderman First Ward Roger J. Mohr, Alderman Third Ward John A. Andersen, Alderman First Ward Timm Reynolds, Alderman Third Ward Michael J. Burns, Alderman Second Ward James J. Cowhey, Jr., Alderman Fourth Ward S. Michael Rummel, Alderman Second Ward Kimberly G. Moss, Alderman Fourth Ward PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 7:30 p.m. REPORTS OF CITY OFFICERS 7:35 p.m. 1. Comments by Mayor A. Proclamation for 2003 United Way Campaign Kick-Off A copy of the proclamation is attached beginning on page 7. 2. Comments by City Manager 3. Comments by Council Members 4. Council Committee Reports Planning and Preservation Committee Ad Hoc Housing Committee OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC TO ADDRESS THE CITY COUNCIL 8:00 p.m. CONSENT AGENDA 8:05 p.m. Approval of the Minutes of the September 8, 2003 Regular City Council Meetings: The minutes are attached beginning on page 9. Recommended Action: Approval of the Consent Agenda items as presented. ORDINANCES Consideration of a Report and Recommendation from the Zoning Board of Appeals for a Special Use Permit to Allow a Restaurant to locate in the renovated Knauz building located at 1044 N. Western Avenue. (Final Approval) 8:10 p.m. PRESENTED BY DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CATHERINE CZERNIAK (615-4299) At the September 8, 2003 meeting, the Council approved first reading of an ordinance granting a Special Use Permit to allow a restaurant to locate in the former Knauz building, within 150’ of a residential zoning district. The Council directed that the following issues be addressed prior to final approval of the Special Use Permit. Roof top equipment: Addition of a condition requiring screening of the roof top mechanical equipment to the extent possible. Hours of operation: Modification of the hours of operation to make them more similar to the hours of other restaurants in Lake Forest. Parking: Clarification on the amount of parking spaces required by the restaurant during peak times of operation. A matrix reviewing the parking requirements for other uses proposed for the building. Clarification on the location of existing and proposed parking spaces. North elevation of the building: Demonstration of how the Laurel Avenue side of the building with the sidewalk, pavers, diagonal parking, and street trees will look. The conditions of approval of the Special Use Permit have been modified to address the roof top and hours of operation. Some additional information on parking and the north elevation of the building is included in this packet. Detailed information on these issues will be presented at the City Council meeting. The Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously recommended approval of the Special Use Permit subject to conditions of approval. The revised ordinance including the conditions of approval and site plan is attached as a separate packet. A color site plan is attached separately. Recommended Action: Grant final approval of an ordinance authorizing a Special Use Permit for a restaurant subject to conditions of approval. Consideration of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 4 “Alcoholic Beverages”, of the City Code to Allow for an Additional Class D Annual Liquor License (Final Approval) 8:30 p.m. PRESENTED BY DEPUTY CITY CLERK BETH MARQUEZ (615-4269) The City Clerk’s Office has received an application for a Class D liquor license from the restaurant “The Grille on Laurel” at 1044 N. Western Avenue. A Class D license authorizes the restaurant to sell liquor for consumption on the premises by customers. The sale of liquor will be exclusively with the ordering and serving of a complete meal to such customer in the public dining room of the restaurant, between 11:00 A.M. and 12:00 midnight; and the retail sale of liquor for consumption in the public and private rooms of the restaurant for privately sponsored parties, lunches, dinners, receptions and similar gatherings where attendance is limited to invited guests, between 11:00 A.M. and 12:00 midnight. To allow for an additional Class D liquor license, an amendment to the City Code is required, allowing a total of 6 Class D/D1 licenses in the City. The Police Department has completed and approved the fingerprinting and background checks required of the two managers of the restaurant, James and Kathryn Govas. A copy of the ordinance and other materials are included in the packet beginning on page 16. First reading of the ordinance was granted at the September 8, 2003 meeting. Recommended Action: Grant final approval to an ordinance amending Chapter 4 of the City Code, allowing an additional Class D liquor license. Consideration of a Report and Recommendation from the Zoning Board of Appeals for approval of an amendment to the Special Use Permit for the Lake Forest Club, located at 554 N. Westmoreland Road. (First Reading and Final Approval) 8:35 p.m. PRESENTED BY PLANNER SUZANNE GERMANN (615-4587) On August 25, 2003 the Zoning Board of Appeals held a public hearing to consider a request for an amendment to the Special Use Permit for the Lake Forest Club, located at 554 N. Westmoreland Road. The purpose of the amendment is to allow demolition of the existing Bathhouse and construction of a new Bathhouse at the same location. The new Bathhouse will be very close to the same size as the existing structure, but will have a roof top terrace. Much of the new building footprint will overlap the existing building footprint. The Lake Forest Club currently has numerous Special Use Permits granted over the years as the Club has developed and uses have changed. No new use is proposed as part of this Special Use Permit. This request provides an opportunity to consolidate the existing Special Use Permits into one, and provide an up-to-date site plan as an exhibit to the Special Use Permit. The Zoning Board voted unanimously to approve the amendment to and updating of the Special Use Permit. The site plan, findings, and conditions of approval are included in this packet beginning on page 17. Recommended Action: Waive first reading and grant final approval of an ordinance amending the Special Use Permit for the Lake Forest Club allowing for the demolition of the existing Bathhouse and construction of a new Bathhouse at the same location. NEW BUSINESS Consideration of a Report and Recommendation from the Zoning Board of Appeals for a Variance from the Rear Yard Setback Requirements for property located at 955 Melody Road. 9:00 p.m. PRESENTED BY PLANNER SUZANNE GERMANN (615-4587) This matter was tabled at the September 8, 2003 City Council meeting. On July 28, 2003 the Zoning Board of Appeals held a public hearing on a request for a setback variance for the property at 955 Melody Road to allow construction of a shed. The petitioner is proposing to construct an 8’ x 12’ shed at the rear of the property. The proposed shed is located 4’ from the rear property line. The required rear yard setback for an accessory structure in the R-3 Zoning District is 10’. The petitioner began construction of the shed without a permit. Work was stopped by the City pending consideration of the variance request by the Zoning Board of Appeals and the issuance of the appropriate building permits. At the July meeting, the Board continued the petition to allow the petitioner time to explore alternative locations for the shed on the property. The Board encouraged considering locations that would not require a variance. On August 28, 2003, the petitioner returned to the Board and reviewed alternative locations. The petitioner found that none of the alternatives achieves his goals. After reviewing the alternative locations, hearing public comment in opposition to the location proposed for the shed, and discussing the lack of demonstration of a hardship, the Board voted unanimously to recommend denial of the request for a variance. This is not an appeal of the Board’s decision. This matter is before the City Council because the Code requires that in the case of a variance, the Board’s recommendation, whether to approve or deny a request, must be acted on by the City Council. To approve a variance that did not receive a favorable recommendation from the Zoning Board of Appeals, a favorable vote by two-thirds of the City Council is required. The site plan, findings, alternatives studied, and the minutes from the Board’s discussion are included in this packet beginning on page 35. Recommended Action: Accept the recommendation of the Zoning Board of Appeals to deny the request for a variance. Consideration of a resolution establishing procedures to govern appeals to the City Council of decisions made by City Boards and Commissions 9:15 p.m. PRESENTED BY CITY ATTORNEY VIC FILIPPINI (312-263-3600) The City Council has in practice followed informal written guidelines intended to streamline the hearing of appeals from decisions of City Boards and Commissions to the City Council. This resolution formalizes these guidelines and establishes them as appeal procedures that will govern appeals where such appeals are provided for in the City Code.  The appeal procedures contained in this resolution are intended to supplement existing appeal procedures within the City Code, and do not supersede any of the appeal procedures already contained within the City Code. A copy of the resolution and guidelines are attached starting on page 49. Recommended Action: Approval of Resolution Consideration of a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Letter of Agreement with Comcast Regarding Franchise Renewal Review and Negotiations 9:30 p.m. PRESENTED BY CABLE ADMINISTRATOR STEVE LAURILA (615-4275) The City received a request to renew the cable television franchise granted in 1988 to U.S. Cable and eventually transferred to Comcast in 2002. The renewal process includes City review of Comcast’s compliance with the franchise, updating the existing franchise agreement to incorporate technological advancements and legal changes, and soliciting public comment on Comcast’s past performance. The renewal has been delayed by the City’s need to find new cable counsel and the transfer of control from AT&T to Comcast. Additional time is needed to complete the renewal with Comcast, as the franchise is due to expire on September 25, 2003. City staff believes it would be in the best interests of the City to extend the term of the Comcast franchise in order to permit the conclusion of the City’s renewal review and negotiations. Attached beginning on page 55 is a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a letter of agreement to extending the term of the cable franchise agreement with Comcast. Recommended Action: Adoption of a resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a letter of agreement with Comcast regarding franchise renewal review and negotiations. Award a Contract for the City’s Telecommunications System (fiber optics component) to Lyons-Pinner Electric, Inc. 9:50 p.m. PRESENTED BY ASSISTANT TO THE CITY MANAGER MARCUS PECCIA (615-4287) AND BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT 3 On July 7, 2003, the City Council hired Broadband Development 3 (BBD 3) to generate three requests for proposals and act as project managers for designing and acquiring a new telecommunications system for the City. The City’s new telecommunications system can be divided into the following three major components: Fiber Optics Private Branch Exchange (PBX, or telephone system) Wireless BBD 3 and City staff reviewed six proposals received for the fiber optic component. As project managers, BBD 3 evaluated the completeness of each proposal to insure that the technical details requested in the RFP were incorporated into their proposals. One contractor, TNC, did not submit the basic requested documentation and therefore was excluded from any further consideration. The results from the six proposals are as follows: CONTRACTOR BID John Burns $281,500 Pirtano $279,681 ACRUX $277,640 TNC $270,295 Henkels & McCoy $243,642 Lyons-Pinner $197,600 BBD 3 met with Lyons-Pinner Electric on September 4, 2003 to review the full Statement of Work and supporting documentation for the project. According to BBD 3, Lyons-Pinner has verified that their proposal is in full compliance of the RFP for the quoted price. Also, three of the six references provided by Lyons-Pinner were contacted to determine how their experience with Lyons-Pinner was, and if there were any problems. The Village of Schaumburg, Illinois Department of Transportation and Gibson Technologies who worked with Lyons-Pinner on a Lake Forest Academy fiber installation project, all stated that Lyons-Pinner was on-time and on budget without any problems. Financing for this component of the Telecommunications Project will come from two sources. The first source is the remaining $18,600 from the $60,000 that was originally budgeted for the replacement of the Public Safety Intercom System, which is now being used to fund the City’s contract with BBD 3 for project management services. The second source is the General Fund, which will be reimbursed from the proceeds of future bond sales after January 1, 2004, that will also fund the remaining two components of the Telecommunications System. Recommended Action: Award a Contract for the City’s Telecommunications System (fiber optics component) to Lyons-Pinner Electric, Inc. in an amount not to exceed $197,600.00. ADDITIONAL ITEMS FOR COUNCIL DISCUSSION 10:15 p.m. EXECUTIVE SESSION ADJOURNMENT 10:15 p.m. Office of the City Manager September 11, 2003 The City of Lake Forest is subject to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Individuals with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who require certain accommodations in order to allow them to observe and/or participate in this meeting, or who have questions regarding the accessibility of the meeting or the facilities, are required to contact City Manager Robert R. Kiely, Jr., at (847) 234-2600 promptly to allow the City to make reasonable accommodations for those persons. September 18, 2003 Agenda Page 6