Village of Plainfield Committee of the Whole met April 22.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
Mayor Collins called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Board Present: Mayor Collins, Trustee O' Rourke, Trustee Wojowski, Trustee Bonuchi, Trustee Lamb, Trustee Larson, and Trustee Newton.
Others present: Brian Murphy, Administrator; Michelle Gibas, Village Clerk; Jon Proulx, Planning Director; Allen Persons, Public Works Director; Ken Goska, Building Official; and Anthony Novak,
Police Commander.
There were approximately 35 persons in the audience.
Trustee Bonuchi moved to approve the Minutes of the Special Meeting and Committee of the Whole Workshop held on April 8, 2019. Second by Trustee Larson. Voice Vote. All in favor, 0 opposed. Motion carried.
PRESIDENTIAL COMMENTS
Mayor Collins presented a plaque to Trustee Bill Lamb recognizing him for his years of service to the Village of Plainfield.
TRUSTEE COMMENTS
Trustee Lamb congratulated the winners of the Consolidated Election. Trustee Larson thanked Trustee Lamb for his service. Trustee O' Rourke thanked Trustee Lamb for his service. Trustee Wojowski thanked Trustee Lamb for his service. Trustee Newton thanked Trustee Lamb for his service.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
No Comments.
WORKSHOP
1) LOWER DUPAGE RIVER WATERSHED COALITION
Ms. Jennifer Hammer, Land Conservation& Watershed Specialist for The Conservation Foundation, gave a presentation on the Lower DuPage River Watershed Coalition' s recent accomplishments and upcoming plan. Ms. Hammer reviewed the watershed boundaries, mission, objectives, NPDES Permit, coalition activities, outreach and involvement, winter deicing workshops, Bioassessment Program, Stressor Analysis, dissolved oxygen monitoring, Special Condition Language, Hammel Woods Dam Removal, partners, and financial leveraging. Ms. Hammer thanked the Village for its continued support.
Mayor Collins thanked Ms. Hammer for the presentation.
Trustee Lamb pointed out that this evening is his last meeting and stated:
After 13 plus years on the Village Board, I would like to share a few observations of why I am proud to have been involved with the Village of Plainfield for so many years.
To understand my views, it is important to understand that I believe the Village of Plainfield is a business, charged with delivering services efficiently. As I have mentioned many times in recent years, the Village is a very well run business these days. Our services are reliable, our expenses are controlled to ensure maximum value for every dollar spent, and we plan effectively for the future. This does not happen by accident.
It has been a great pleasure to see the Village of Plainfield mature over the last 13 years. Back in 2005, the Village business was out of control in a number of ways, largely because of the huge number of new homes every year. One big advantage of that era, beyond impact fees bringing in 4M a year, was our ability to have developers create the necessary infrastructure for large developments at their expense.
Things changed very rapidly when the housing bubble burst in 2008. Overnight we lost$ 4M in revenue. The Village quickly found expenses well in excess of revenue. Fortunately, the Village early recognized the challenge of continuing to provide high quality and reliable services while drastically reducing expenses and took painful but necessary action.
The slow economic and revenue recovery enabled the Village Staff to step back and plan for the future. During this period, we developed the single family design standards that will ensure attractive exteriors for future housing developments. As a result, over the next 50 years, Plainfield residents will be able to enjoy the appearance of their subdivisions. In this quiet period, we also took a good look at the Comprehensive Plan and updated it in 2012.
I would like to highlight the people I feel are behind making Plainfield a very special place to call home.
First, Brian Murphy, your Village Administrator. In his interview for the Administrator position, he was head and shoulders above all the other candidates we saw. Over the almost 10 years he has been with us, our decision to hire him has really paid off. As proof, I submit that In May 2010, Village Cash Assets totaled $4.55M. In Sept. 2018, our cash assets reached $49. 1M. This impressive financial growth has enabled us to tackle a number of major capital projects that were previously considered to be impossible.
Traci Pleckham, Management Service Director & financial expert. Over the years Traci has brought reporting on the Village' s financial condition to an art form. What we see monthly clearly spells out what is going on in the Village. Our audits and annual financial reports are winning awards every year for good reason. The conservative budget process that Traci and Brian developed has turned out to be a very effective way to understand what we can afford to do. The State of Illinois could learn a lot from Traci and Brian
Allen Person, Public Works Director. Allen has been winning, well deserved, awards for his performance in running the Village Public Works operations. These include getting grants for major road projects, staying on top of the road resurfacing needs around the Village, providing Lake Michigan water efficiently to Village residents, and taking care of waste disposal so well that people rarely realize this facility is in the middle of our town. As an engineer, I have been particularly impressed with the fact the sophisticated waste disposal facility operates around the clock and continues to meet tough EPA standards with only 5 technicians.
Chief Konopek runs the Police Department and Emergency Management Agency in a very impressive manner. Police training is exceptional and they consistently play a leadership role in our community and region. In addition, crime reporting statistics have been very good and are getting better.
Jonathon Proulx, Planning Director and his staff have a major role in bringing future residential and economic growth to Plainfield. The Plan Commission works in conjunction with staff to get developer plans in order. Where improvements seem desirable, the Planning Staff has been effective in negotiating with developers to make sure that Village Board and Plan Commission recommendations are incorporated into the final approved plans.
Ken Goska, Building Director. Ken quietly runs an organization that daily delivers benefits to Plainfield homeowners and businesses. Ken and his team understand construction, building codes and routinely perform a building inspection service that is both responsive and efficient.
Amy De Boni, Community Relations Director. Amy has been doing a great job of representing the Village as long as I have been involved. Her communications with the public have been consistently informative and help to create a very positive Village image among residents.
Michelle Gibas, Village Clerk. In my opinion, Michelle has been a great resource in keeping the Village Board on track over the years and she has been responsive when interacting with the public. Over the years, it has been a real pleasure for me to work with her.
Mayor Mike Collins and the Village Board deserve special recognition as well. Under the Mayor' s guidance, policy issues that need to be addressed are handled in a respectful manner and the Board stands behind its decisions even if they are not unanimous..
Some parting requests from me to the new Village Board:
Support your Plan Commission, Historic Preservation Committee, and your Economic Development committees. Communicate to them what you expect to see in the recommendations that they submit to the Village Board. Don' t make them try to guess what the Village Board wants.
As far back as I can remember, addressing transportation and economic development issues have always been the top priority for Plainfield residents. It is worth noting that solving transportation problems takes real money, usually more than the Village can provide.
Economic development is quite different. It requires companies or individuals willing to risk their money to make a profit in Plainfield. Making Plainfield look inviting to them is the challenge. And remember that the elected Village Board represents all Plainfield Residents.
Mayor Collins read the reminders.
On a motion from Trustee Lamb and second by Trustee Bonuchi, the meeting adjourned at 7:41 p.m.
https://public.plainfield-il.org/WebLink/PDF/4m0tbrspg1mp31dq2fghmmja/1/04-22-2019%20COW%20Minutes.pdf
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