Village of Tower Lakes

Board Meeting

Date:  December 15, 2008

Time: 7:30 pm

Location: Village Hall

 

1)      Roll Call, Pledge and Sign-In: Attendance: President Leitner, Trustees Bolger, Rolfs, Parro, deVries (7:40). Absent: Tr. Baggett and Merkle.

Treasurer Rolfs, Building Inspector Cantieri, Village Clerk Parro, Chief Sinacore, ZBA Chair Gold. A list of other attendees is attached.

2)      Administration and Legal:  David Coglianese was sworn in as police officer.

3)      Building and Zoning: i) ZBA Chairman Gold presented a zoning variance request by the petitioner Jeff Kershner, Silver Leaf Homes LLC, 732 Circle Dr., Tower Lakes who are seeking to construct a new house at 606 E Lake Shore Dr. after tearing down the existing house that has been unoccupied for many years. Three variances were requested. First is to Section 10-3-1 relating to minimum lot size of 20,000 sq ft (residential) in A-2 zoning district. The lot size is 14,808 sq ft. Second is to Section 10-6-3 (B1) relating to rear yard setback. With an average depth of 141.1 ft and 20% requirement for rear yard setback, setback requirement is 28.2 ft. The new house will be 12.00 ft. from the rear (North) property line, encroaching 16.5 feet (the existing house is 8.75 ft from the north property line). Third is to Section 10-6-5 (1) relating to building height of 27 ft maximum in A-2 zoning district. The request is 29.43 ft. or 2.43 ft. over the maximum allowed. The existing ranch-style house was built in 1930 and has 2 or 3BD/1.5BA with 1,520 sq ft and an unfinished basement. The new 3-car garage house will have 4BD/ 4BA in two stories of 2,778 sq ft and finished portion of basement of 1,092 sq ft. A new drip irrigation septic system will consist of a 1,500 gallon septic tank, 1,000 gallon lift station and mound field. The discussion on minimum lot size recognized that most lots in A-2 are non-conforming and so the focus was on compliance with the new lot coverage ratio ordinance which the proposal does comply with for its lot size. The discussion on the height variance was that the extra height is reasonable and does not change the view of any neighbors. On the north setback the new house will improve the existing situation but not comply with current zoning. Trustees asked about the feasibility of shifting the house further south but the petitioner stated that there would not be sufficient spacing for the new septic system. The discussion then turned to issues raised by neighbors. The neighbor to the west objected to the new house being 3 ft closer to his property line. The petitioner had no objection to moving the entire footprint 3 ft east and this does not create a setback violation on the east side of the property. Neighbors at 601 and 603 E Lake Shore Dr. were concerned about potential increases in storm water run off. The petitioner agreed to incorporate landscaping and site modifications to direct water flow to existing catch basins. A motion to accept the recommendation of the ZBA in the matter of Silver Leaf Homes LLC was made by Tr. Parro and seconded by Tr. Bolger followed by unanimous vote. Then, a motion to adopt a zoning variation ordinance relative to the property of Silver Leaf Homes LLC at 606 E Lake Shore Dr. granting the three above mentioned variances with the modifications that a) move the proposed house 3 feet east so the westerly setback is the same as the existing house and b) incorporate landscaping and site modifications to direct water flow to existing catch basins, was made by Tr. Rolfs and seconded by Tr. deVries followed by unanimous vote. ii) Chairman Gold presented a variation request by Michael and Susan Boyce, 301 Melrose Dr. to construct an addition to their house. A variance to Section 10-3-1 was requested relating to minimum lot size of 20,000 Sq Ft (residential) in A-2 zoning district. The lot size is 18,500 Sq Ft. The discussion on minimum lot site recognized that the proposed addition does comply with the new lot coverage ratio. A motion to accept the ZBA recommendation in the matter of Michael and Susan Boyce, 301 Melrose Dr was made by Tr. Bolger and seconded by Tr. Rolfs followed by unanimous vote. Then, a motion to adopt a zoning variation ordinance relative to the property at 301 Melrose Dr as presented was made by Tr. deVries and seconded by Tr. Bolger and followed by unanimous vote.

4)      Intergovernmental: A presentation of the proposed BACOG 2009 Legislative Platform was made by Janet Agnoletti, Executive Director of Barrington Area Council of Governments. 

5)      Police and Public Safety: i) Red Light cameras are on indefinite hold due to poor contract terms. ii) Tornado siren the Village will go to ZBA for height and use variance even though site may end up in ROW. iii) Police report is on file. Some discussion took place about the incident at 25876 Rt. 59 in which a buried dump truck and dumpster were dug up. iv) Emergency Mgmt Agency’s public education plan is in the draft phase.

6)      Stormwater Management: Trustee Bolger reported that negotiations are ongoing with resident on East Tower.

7)      Health and Sanitation: Contract with Waste Mgmt is still under negotiation

8)      Approval of Minutes: A motion to approve the November 2008 minutes was made by Tr. Parro and seconded by Tr. Bolger followed by unanimous vote.

9)      Treasurer’s Report and Payment of Bills: i) A motion to approve the payment of monthly bills was made by Tr. Parro and seconded by Tr. Rolfs and followed by unanimous vote. ii)Treasurer Rolfs wired $300,000 from IL Funds to Barr Bank and Trust into CD Paying 2.4%..

10)  Administration/ Legal/Outside i) TL as been notified that we are a creditor and therefore subject to new privacy protection laws under the Fair and Accurate Transactions Act. This is happening because Water Co bills can be paid by credit card. Tr. Parro suggested that we seek to amend the water operators contract to include the necessary compliance provisions and then we won’t need a compliance ordinance until such time in the future as we start accepting credit card payments for other things. ii) Insurance was renewed and water tank and building values were updated resulting in higher rates.

11)  Utilities: No report

12)  Urban Forestry: Tree City re-certification is in progress and the Tree Commission is studying ordinance changes.

13)   Roads: i) December 9th snow storm disrupted garbage pickup. Residents with comments or concerns about snow and ice removal are encouraged to go to the web site cubaroads.com and click on Winter Service and fill out the request form. ii) The annual price escalation for the contract with Cuba Township went into effect this month at 4.5% based on government cost index.

14)  Grounds: No report

15)  Old Business: No report

16)  New Business: No report

 

A motion to adjourn at 10:34 pm was made by Tr. Rolfs and seconded by Tr. deVries and followed by unanimous vote.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Marilyn Parro, Village Clerk