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CC_2024_04_01_MINUTESThe City of Lake Forest CITY COUNCIL MEETING Proceedings of the Monday, April 1, 2024 City Council Meeting – City Council Chambers 220 E Deerpath, Lake Forest, IL 60045 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL: Honorable Mayor Tack called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m., and City Clerk Margaret Boyer called the roll of Council members. Present: Honorable Mayor Tack, Alderman Novit, Alderman Powers, Alderman Notz, Alderman Preschlack, Alderman Goshgarin, Alderman Weber, and Alderman Walther. Absent: Alderman Waldeck. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was recited by all. REPORTS OF CITY OFFICERS COMMENTS BY MAYOR Mayor Tack reminded residents about upcoming Ward meeting dates, time, and locations. A. Arbor Day Proclamation Mayor Tack read the Proclamation declaring Friday, April 26 as Arbor Day and urged all citizens to support efforts to protect our trees and woodlands, to support our City’s forestry program, to plant trees on this day, and to join in the celebration ceremonies. COMMENTS BY CITY MANAGER A. Forest Park Boardwalk Construction Update - Byron Kutz, P.E., Superintendent of Engineering Byron Kutz, P.E., Superintendent of Engineering gave a detailed update on the Forest Park Board Walk project, including reasons for schedule changes. These schedule changes give the City Council two options and considerations for staff direction. Option one is to start late May and work through beach season with a ribbon cutting late summer. Option two is to wait and start the work after Lake Forest Day to include Saturdays with a ribbon cutting in October. The City Council had lengthy discussion of both options, preferences of the programing at the beach, kayak rentals, the work area, and boating in general. Cost of adding Saturday work to option one. City Manager Wicha summarized the discussion stating there was clear concurrence of the Council to begin the work sooner than later (option 1) and agreed to Saturday work. OPPORTUNITY FOR CITIZENS TO ADDRESS THE CITY COUNCIL None this evening COMMITTEE REPORTS Proceedings of the Monday, April 1, 2024 City Council Meeting ITEMS FOR OMNIBUS VOTE CONSIDERATION 1. Approval of March 18, 2024, City Council Meeting Minutes 2. Approval of the Check Register for the Period of February 24 – March 22, 2024 3. Approval of a Resolution Reallocating 2024 Volume Cap to the Village of Buffalo Grove, Illinois 4. Request to Waive Bid Process and Consider Approval to Purchase a Replacement Core Data Switch, Installation Services, and Maintenance from Heartland Business Systems in the amount of $38,897.43 5. Request to Waive Bid Process and Consider Approval of a Three-Year Agreement with GovernmentJobs.com for NeoGov Human Resources Management System Software Maintenance in the amount of $105,804.65. 6. Request to Waive Bid Process and Consider Approval of the purchase of new Cisco UCS Blades for Virtual Machine Computing from Heartland Business Systems in the amount of $34,938.90. 7. Approval to Award a One-Year Contract for Recreation Department Program Bussing Services to Safeway. 8. Approval of the Annual Tree Purchasing for FY2025 for an Amount Not to Exceed $100,000. 9. Approval of a Recommendation from the Parks & Recreation Board to authorize the City Manager to enter into a contract with Sundance Lawncare for City-Wide Grounds Maintenance Services in the Parks FY2025 Budget, for an Amount Not to Exceed $203,000. 10. Consideration of a Waiver of Permit Fees Associated with the Deerpath Park Athletic Turf Fields Project at 115 W. Deerpath in the Amount of $34,081.64. (Approval by Motion) 11. Consideration of an Ordinance Approving a Recommendation from the Building Review Board for 766 Highview Terrace. (First Reading, and if Desired by the City Council, Final Approval) Mayor Tack asked members of the City Council if there were any items that they would like removed or taken separately. Seeing none, he asked for a motion. Alderman Goshgarian made a motion to approve the eleven (11) Omnibus items as presented, seconded by Alderman Powers. The following voted “Aye”: Alderman Novit, Notz, Powers, Preschlack, Goshgarian, Weber, and Walther. The following voted “Nay”: none. 7-Ayes, 0-Nays, motion carried. Information such as Purpose and Action Requested, Background/Discussion, Budget/Fiscal Impact, Council Action and a Staff Contact as it relates to the Omnibus items can be found on the agenda. OLD BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS Proceedings of the Monday, April 1, 2024 City Council Meeting 1. Consideration of an Appeal of a Decision of the Historic Preservation Commission Granting a Certificate of Appropriateness Approving the Design Aspects of a Replacement Outdoor Terrace at the Northwest Corner of the Gorton Center at 400 Illinois Road. (Action by Motion) Mayor Tack reported that the Council will be considering an appeal of a decision of the Historic Preservation Commission to approve a certificate of appropriateness for a replacement outdoor terrace at the Gorton Center building. Since the Council does not often hear appeals, he wanted to be sure that all on the Council as well as the residents who filed this Appeal, and all other interested parties understand what is before the Council for consideration and importantly, what is not before the City Council. Additionally, Council is not conducting a public hearing on this appeal, that work has already been done by the HPC. The City Council is not receiving new evidence in this matter, as explained in the City’s Guidelines for Appeals which are included in the City Council packet for tonight’s meeting. Mayor Tack went on to say Council will be considering whether to uphold or overturn the HPC’s approval of a certificate of appropriateness for the replacement outdoor terrace at the Gorton Center based on the standards contained in the City Code as those standards are applied in the context of the Council’s other duties and responsibilities to the City. Alternatively, the Council could remand the matter back to the HPC for further proceedings. City Attorney, Julie Tappendorf gave a summary of the City Code related to the City Council authority in the matter and the appeal guidelines. She recapped the role of the HPC in conducting a public hearing and stated it is a decision-making body. She reiterated that the guideline prohibiting the introduction of new evidence. And she reviewed the Councils’ motion options. Mayor Tack invited the appellant, Mary Sanders, to step forward, asking her to adhere to the allotted time. Ms. Sanders began her presentation and noted it was April Fool’s day, she compared it to Thanksgiving time to reflect what we're thankful for. She asked the question, on days like this, April Fool’s day - how fallible are we? She stated they were not infallible in their appeal for the HPC's approval. She stated that they are asking for a remand, not to show that HPC is wrong, or they failed or they made a mistake, but to note this situation is unique. She went on to say that the developer is not an ordinary private developer or an ordinary citizen. The developer is the owner, is the landlord, is the petitioner, is the approver of the ordinances, the provider of the findings, and in support of this is an unusual situation, and the developer in and of itself, all in this chamber this is the developers chamber. Ms. Sanders went on to speak about two books, the story line and how they relate to Lake Forest in her perception. Ms. Sanders noted the proximity of the terrace to the homes, streetscapes and ravine location. Chris Draska offered additional comments in support of the appeal based on liquor consumption and noise being issues. Mayor Tack offered clarity to Ms. Sanders by the Mayor for no “proxy vote” i.e., reading a letter from Ms. Winnett. Lana Winnett also offered comments in support of the appeal noting she moved to Lake Forest for the peace and she was not looking for all that noise outside her window. Mayor Tack reported that the HPC will be represented by Catherine Czerniak, Director of Community Development. Ms. Czerniak reviewed the HPC considerations that included design aspects that included Visual Compatibility to Historic Gorton Building, Architectural Detailing, Materials, that there are no variances involved and compliance with 17 Standards. She went on to detail the twelve conditions that were established. Those included height, directional expression, proportions, scale, solids to voids, walls of continuity spacing on street rhythm, materials, compatibility, textures, and preservation. Ms. Czerniak stated that the Historic Preservation Commission’s decision voted 6 to 0 to grant a Certificate of Appropriateness. She reviewed the Councils’ motion options. Mayor Tack offered the opportunity for public comment. There was none. Proceedings of the Monday, April 1, 2024 City Council Meeting Mayor Tack stated, at this point, we will bring this matter back to Council for any questions Council members might have of the Appellants, the HPC Designee or any other parties before the Council discusses and takes action on the appeal. The City Council had lengthy discussion on the use of the terrace including furniture, seasonal use, music, alcohol. Gorton’s recent update to its Special Use Permit was discussed and noted that takes into consideration for passive use, not active use and the conditions of the approval such as the doors remaining closed from the Stuart and Nagel rooms and onsite monitoring. Based on no further discussion, Mayor Tack asked the Council for a motion to uphold, remand or reject the matter. COUNCIL ACTION: Options for Council motions are offered below. 1. Deny the appeal and uphold the Historic Preservation Commission’s decision to grant a Certificate of Appropriateness approving a replacement terrace at the northwest corner of the Gorton Center. OR 2. Grant the appeal and overturn the Historic Preservation Commission’s decision and direct that written findings in support of the City Council’s decision be prepared and presented to the Council for final action at the next meeting. OR 3. Remand the matter to the Historic Preservation Commission for further consideration, public testimony, and action. If the City Council desires to remand the matter back to the HPC, it should provide direction to the HPC on specific issues it should consider on remand. Alderman Goshgarian made a motion to deny the appeal and uphold the Historic Preservation Commission’s decision to grant a Certificate of Appropriateness approving a replacement terrace at the northwest corner of the Gorton Center, seconded by Alderman Powers. The following voted “Aye”: Alderman Novit, Notz, Powers, Preschlack, Goshgarian, Weber, and Walther. The following voted “Nay”: none. 7-Ayes, 0-Nays, motion carried. ADDITIONAL ITEMS FOR COUNCIL DISCUSSION/COMMENTS BY COUNCIL MEMBERS Mayor Tack noted there will be no further business following executive session, he then asked for a motion to adjourn into EXECUTIVE SESSION pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2 (c)(1), Personnel, and (5), Purchase or lease of real property for the use of the public body, and (6), Disposition of property and the consideration for the sale or lease of property owned by the Public Body. Alderman Weber made a motion to adjourn into executive session pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2 (c)(1), Personnel, and (5), Purchase or lease of real property for the use of the public body, and (6), Disposition of property and the consideration for the sale or lease of property owned by the Public Body, seconded by Alderman Novit. The following voted “Aye”: Alderman Novit, Notz, Powers, Preschlack, Goshgarian, Weber, and Walther. The following voted “Nay”: none. 7-Ayes, 0-Nays, motion carried. Adjournment into Executive Session at 7:35 pm. Reconvened into Regular Session at 8:10 pm. ADJOURNMENT Proceedings of the Monday, April 1, 2024 City Council Meeting There being no further business Mayor Tack asked for a motion to adjourn. Alderman Weber made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Preschlack. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote at 8:11 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Margaret Boyer, City Clerk A video of the City Council meeting is available for viewing at the Lake Forest Library and on file in the Clerk’s office at City Hall. You can also view it on the website by visiting www.cityoflakeforest.com. Click on I Want To, then click on View, then choose Archived Meetings Videos.