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Minutes - 08/22/2005 - Committee of the Whole1. 7 3. MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 22, 2005 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING OF THE PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF OAK BROOK APPROVED AS WRITTEN BY VILLAGE BOARD ON OCTOBER 11, 2005. CALL TO ORDER: The Committee of the Whole Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees was called to order by President Quinlan in the Samuel E. Dean Board Room of the Butler Government Center at 7:30 p.m. ROLL CALL: Village Clerk Linda Gonnella called the roll with the following persons PRESENT: President Kevin M. Quinlan, Trustees Stelios Aktipis, Jeffrey Kennedy, John Craig, Kathryn Manofsky, Robert Sanford and Asif Yusuf. ABSENT: None. IN ATTENDANCE: Richard B. Boehm, Village Manager; Darrell J. Langlois, Finance Director; Michael J. Meranda, Public Works Director; Jeffrey P. Moline, Assistant Village Manager and Nelson Patras, Interim Bath & Tennis Club Manager. BEAUTIFICATION: Village Manager Boehm reminded the Board that in March of this year they had authorized an RFQ to be issued for a Village -wide Beautification Project in which in April three submittal were received and then reviewed by Richard B. Boehm, Village Manager; Michael J. Meranda, Public Works Director and Robert L. Kallien, Jr.,. Director of Community Development. Presentation by Hitchcock Design Group Mr. Rick Hitchcock summarized the interview that he had with Village staff in June. He indicated that Creating Better Places was a trademark of their firm that they felt was extremely important. Their philosophy was not just creating prettier places, but making places that are genuinely better to ' work, live, play, shop and dine. He added that the firm was celebrating their 25th anniversary. He believed that the reason the Board was pursuing this project was that this community was the place that everybody looked to set the standards as it developed. But since that time, growth has happened everywhere else while Oak Brook matured, as much of the infrastructure is thirty years old. Development patterns have changed and he believes the Board is attempting to decide whether to plant a few plantings to make it a little prettier or to do something that makes a statement about the community. COMMITTEE -OF- THE -WHOLE Minutes Page 1 of 8 AUGUST 22, 2005 3. Mr. Hitchcock presented his company's approach to taking on a project of this nature as they have worked with many municipalities. They believe that there are five big pieces to their approach: understanding the issues, recognizing the opportunities, managing the process along with the budget and staying on schedule. He began by asking what the Board felt was wrong although he felt there was not a lot wrong. He indicated that they had worked in many communities that had far bigger problems than Oak Brook but he recognized that, as he was growing up, he looked at Oak Brook as a shopping center not a village. He added that there were fabulous homes, great corporate icons and there was always an aura about the community. He suggested as a result of how it was developed, there was not a traditional downtown or town square. Although there are public parks and recreation fields that have led to an abundance of open space in the community, it has made it different than traditional public space in downtown areas. He questioned what corporate citizens look at as a center place in Oak Brook if there is one. He suggested that there was an issue of scale even though there are fabulous bicycle trails, great walking trails but the reality is most of what is seen of Oak Brook is seen from the windshield of a car. He indicated that there were important issues about ownership such as the distinction between public and private places but ownership also needs to be explored in terms of this initiative. He has explored the reasons of this initiative and ownership distinction between capital and maintenance improvements. He added that maintenance matters and that there is a maintenance price tag that goes along with a project of this nature. He suggested that projects begin because of an opportunity window, such as a construction project, major infrastructure project, new development or a change in leadership. It is important to go with the momentum so that once there is an idea it is nurtured, get it going and maintain a schedule. Mr. Hitchcock pointed out that another critical piece of the approach was building consensus as to whether there is a need and how is it perceived by the Board, the corporate community and residents in the community. He added that the objectives need to be determined such as is the goal to make the community a showplace, to keep it looking good or do you compare it to other communities and how they look. He added that building consensus on concepts is something that his firm does particularly well. They listen carefully to what their clients and the community is trying to tell them. They blend all of those issues together and discover what opportunities there are to do something that is terrific and meet everyone's objectives including managing the budget, etc. He offered that there are a number of opportunities. He described an entry into the Village off of the Tri -State that indicates there are areas that may deserve a different kind of look. He offered there are a number of places that offer interesting opportunities COMMITTEE -OF- THE -WHOLE Minutes Page 2 of 8 AUGUST 22, 2005 K to create an image such as gateways, intersections, districts, easements, ROWs and medians. He indicated that there were locations that offered unusual situations to set the character. Mr. Hitchcock offered ideas for landscaping, sign graphics, lighting, sidewalks, paths, storm water management, bridges, sculpture, enhanced maintenance and rehabilitation. He also offered that there were many products that could be used to improve existing buildings, treatments that would unify sign graphics and make the area hospitable to pedestrian traffic. Mr. Hitchcock went on to describe how they might manage the process. During phase one his company would look at what is going on with each of the site pieces, what is happening with the regulatory information, with preferences from the community, corporations, different users and owners of property. They could host community -wide workshops to bring people together to show them images, existing site conditions and attempt to gauge what areas of the community are beloved and which areas need to be improved. They would gather the information and develop those ideas with community leaders to work out priorities that need the greatest attention. He went on to explain that once all the planning work is done the decisions need to be made as to what are the priority pieces that can be done right away that would have the largest impact, the biggest bang for the buck and get them designed and help get them constructed. He added that part of the management is managing the budget. There are several pieces that need to be discussed such as sources of money including the opportunity for grant money that would need to be pursued quickly. Timing is important as the new Transportation Act projects are being financed and Hitchcock Designs has many tools and data to rely on this. In addition, his company has relationships with contractors and professionals in order to receive up -to -date information on costs. He asked that the Board remember above all else, that his company respects Oak Brook and the Village's resources. They have pride and authorship in their work but they also recognize, when it is time to move off an issue and make sure that they are doing the right thing for their client. Mr. Hitchcock offered a hypothetical schedule going through the phases with a planting date of next fall. He described the resources of their company. They are celebrating their 25th anniversary with two locations and fifty people creating better places. He described that they have five market center teams in urban design, real estate development, education, health services and park and recreation. He added that he would lead the urban design team which would be the team for this project. He emphasized that they work with municipalities to develop streetscapes, river fronts, downtown redevelopment and shopping center site redevelopment. He added that the COMMITTEE -OF- THE -WHOLE Minutes Page 3 of 8 AUGUST 22, 2005 3. project would be run by senior leadership with vested interests. He went on to say they have great professional relationships so that if the project needs engineering, architecture, graphics, etc. they could bring those professionals into the mix. He emphasized their clients and many comparable communities that they have worked with including Naperville, Northbrook, Skokie, Geneva, Champaign and Wilmette. President Quinlan asked if Mr. Hitchcock was prepared to provide a price for the project. Village Manager Boehm responded that the reason for the presentation was to have a consensus from the Board as to whether staff was moving in the right direction. Mr. Hitchcock also responded that it was a fair question and he recommended a three phase process. The first phase is discovery, with a reasonable and modest fee, to determine what the Board would want to do. When that is determined, they would quote lump sum fees for segments of the project. Discussion ensued as to how the revitalization project and the beautification project could work together. Trustee Manofsky asked whether they would do the prioritization or the focus groups prioritize the wants, needs and desires of the community. Mr. Hitchcock responded that his company would listen to the community, rank what is suggested but that it ultimately becomes the role of the elected leadership to sort through he real priorities and where the biggest investment in the community is needed. Trustee Manofsky offered that this project had been intended as a tree replacement project. Mr. Hitchcock responded that during initial discussions that had been the focus along with some median enhancements. However he suggested that as one begins to look at the project, one begins to see opportunities community -wide and determine where are the important priorities and what needs attention. Trustee Manofsky expressed her feeling that the community needs to have a common feel. Discussion ensued relative to how the project became expanded beyond just a tree replacement project and the funding that has been budgeted for the project. Village Manager Boehm responded that staff was looking for input from the Board and residents as to how the project should proceed. He added that there have been opportunities that the commercial sector has offered to add gateway enhancements in whatever fashion the Board would like to see. Trustees Sanford and Yusuf commented that this was a good enhancement to the Village. 4. DISCUSSION OF SPORTS CORE FOOD & BEVERAGE OPERATIONS: Village Manager Boehm explained that Trustee Manofsky had asked for this item to be placed on the agenda for discussion and that she had information to share with the COMMITTEE -OF- THE -WHOLE Minutes Page 4 of 8 AUGUST 225 2005 4. Board. Trustee Manofsky thanked Finance Director Langlois for providing the Sports Core restaurant profit and loss statement which she had asked for with very short notice. She distributed the statement to the Board. She commented that this statement provided a recap of the whole Sports Core operation since 1996. She explained that what prompted this review was the June 30 statement the Board had received and she had budget and revenue questions as a result. She interpreted the information to the extent that the Village was spending about $500,000 and losing $100,000 in the restaurant portion of the Sports Core. She expressed frustration with this and began discussions about the issue with other Trustees and determined that the Village needed a mission statement in relation to this operation. Trustee Manofsky recounted that historically the attitude had been to consider the Sports Core as a whole and as long as the grand total line was positive that this was good. She stated that she does not share that philosophy and felt that it was time to have a change in attitude rather than allowing the restaurant to keep losing money, the Village needed to pull together for the common good to at least bring it close to break even. She reviewed the marketing plan that the previous Board had directed and questioned how much money the Village was willing to lose to provide civic events with small number of guests that probably runs at a loss. She asked if there was a dollar amount available that provides a break even amount for small groups. President Quinlan responded that the break even cost for small groups was $19.28 per person. Trustee Manofsky felt that over the long run it was costing the Village money to provide for these groups. She stated that this was a new era and that the philosophy should be changed by providing a minimum requirement for opening the facility for civic groups. She set forth that the Village should (a) define the purpose of this restaurant; (b) provide a mission statement and (c) discuss how much the Board was willing to lose. She realized that this was an amenity that residents have enjoyed and that staff has utilized as a meeting place but she felt that it was time for a change. President Quinlan responded that if Village departments or related organizations use the facility, they are not funded by the Sports Core but out of the budgets of those departments or the organizations that use the facility. Trustee Sanford reported that he had little knowledge of the facility but when this topic was to be discussed, he visited the facility and spent time with Bath & Tennis Club Manager Nelson Patras. He expressed that he has similar concerns that Trustee Manofsky had and felt that the Board needed to optimize the income of that facility and keep it as viable an operation as possible. He added that he was amazed that there had been over 230 events with over half of them being civic events which he did not believe many of them were break even events. He noticed several things that the Board should COMMITTEE -OF- THE -WHOLE Minutes Page 5 of 8 AUGUST 22, 2005 3. be reviewing one of which is that the actual number of events is short of budget. He felt that an issue that discourages use of the facility for weddings, banquet type functions, etc. is that prospective clients could not be sure of the future of the facility. He felt that the Board must make it clear that Bath & Tennis Club will go forward as a viable operation. He also was surprised that the advertising budget was not being utilized because of the indecisiveness that the direction the Board was planning to take. He felt that it would be helpful to have staff put together how they felt the operation should be run and have the Board refine it. He emphasized it was important to make the decision that it was going to remain open and that the Village was planning to go forward with the operation and make everyone aware of it. Trustee Aktipis commented that over the years this same discussion has taken place. He commented that there have been attempts, some of them very successful, to improve the operation however, it appears to be a perennial problem and he feels that there has been enough discussion. He suggested it is time to move forward to take whatever steps are necessary to make the operation successful. Trustee Yusuf felt that the membership campaign went well although revenue did not increase; the facility served the needs of more residents. If the facility is unable to make money, at least the Village is providing a service that is widely used in regard to swimming and tennis. He suggested that he had a few ideas to improve the restaurant operation but felt that Bath & Tennis Club Manager Patras should come up with the game plan on how to go forward and make a commitment to booking in the long run. He agreed that functions should be charged at the real incremental costs. He felt that cost cutting in the facility had been very successful. Trustee Kennedy commented that previous Trustees had said most of the things that were on his mind. He agreed that a mission statement was needed and he recognized that there had been much discussion over the years as to whether it should be considered an amenity without concern about breaking even or whether it should be an enterprise stand alone operation. He felt it needed a mission statement so that staff would know that the Board was committed to a particular course and would follow it. He stated that personally he felt it was a very valuable asset to the community and felt that it is the only thing in town that brings the community together. He cited that there is no downtown or central focus to the Village and this comes as close to this as possible. He offered that this is where the Village has its functions such as civic associations and homeowners' association meetings and police liaison meetings. He feels that it is the social center of the Village that is no where else in the Village. In that sense he believed that it was an amenity that the Village government could use and that homeowners' associations may use. He does believe that the Village should strive to make it break even but be prepared to regard a certain number of dollars per year as an appropriate subsidy to maintain it as an amenity to the Village. He did provide a number, he was not sure what the number should be, but he did not agree that it entirely needed to be a break even operation. He would be willing to accept some subsidy to preserve it as the COMMITTEE -OF- THE -WHOLE Minutes Page 6 of 8 AUGUST 22, 2005 4. community center. Trustee Craig, Board liaison to the Sports Core, asserted that the food business in itself was a very difficult area to make money. He felt that the present staff had done an admirable job and suggested enhancements were needed to draw the large banquet events such as weddings, etc. He also agreed that advertising was an integral part of drawing business. President Quinlan again commended Bath & Tennis Club Manager Patras for his work and summarized that the Board was providing an endorsement to continue with the belief that it could be profitable and that the Board was willing to take some loss. He suggested that Manager Patras move forward with a marketing plan and budget to bring to the Board. Trustee Manofsky added that, in her opinion, the facility should close during the months of January, February and March. She felt this would be a way to preserve resources and save money. She suggested that the few civic groups that used the facility in those months could contact the Park District and the Library for their meetings. Trustee Manofsky asked what became of the plans that had been presented to the previous Board. Manager Patras responded that the Board did not respond to the ideas but that the menu changes and pricing had been implemented. He added that another segment of the plan was to rename the facility. Trustee Manofsky suggested that the current Board read all of the materials and review at it again. President Quinlan suggested that ideas and suggestions and mission statement ideas be processed through Trustee Craig, the liaison to the Bath & Tennis Club, in order to work with staff to prepare an agenda presentation. Trustee Manofsky asked for this to be brought back to the Board within the next four weeks. President Quinlan suggested that may be too soon but that it would move forward. Trustee Aktipis suggested that the mission statement should not include the picture as far as the profitability or lack of profitability of the Club in a way that will obscure how the Club operates. He felt that as a Board they could set aside a budget that could be used to supplement affairs as the Board chose. President Quinlan expressed concern that if a specific amount was set aside and the need was greater than that amount, how would it be determined who receives the supplement. Trustee Manofsky emphasized her conviction that accepting a loss for civic groups is wrong. COMMITTEE -OF- THE -WHOLE Minutes Page 7 of 8 AUGUST 22, 2005 4. Discussion ensued with ideas being expressed as to how to accommodate civic groups. President Quinlan summarized that the challenge was given to Bath & Tennis Club Manager Patras to develop a marketing plan including ideas for pricing, name change, etc. Trustee Sanford wanted to reiterate for the viewing public that the discussion about the Bath & Tennis Club is of refining it, improving the facility but that it is open for business and will be around for awhile. 5. ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Trustee Craig, seconded by Trustee Kennedy; to adjourn the Committee -of- the -Whole Meeting at 9:00 p.m. VOICE VOTE: Motion carried. ATTEST: s /Linda K. Gonnella Linda K. Gonnella, CMC Village Clerk COMMITTEE -OF- THE -WHOLE Minutes Page 8 of 8 AUGUST 22, 2005