09/21/1999 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 9/21/99 Jim Burns, 3978 Dover Center Road, noted that in 1997 the administration and Council '~ placed a bond issue for a new library on the ballot. The issue failed by approximately 1%. Since that time, the library has continued to outgrow itself, interest rates have gone up 'h% and construction costs have increased. He asked that Council place this project back on the front burner and reconsider it because the library system is one of the most important assets that the city has. Mayor Musial said the city is contemplating putting plans for a new fire station #2 on the ballot and also considering the library. Mr. Gareau said he agreed with Mr. Burns. He does have a concern with going to the voters with a number of issues at the same time. He believes the school system is contemplating putting forth a proposal and the city does need to expand recreational facilities. He believes a list of priorities should be drawn up and discussed before proceeding. Mr. Burns said one thing to keep in mind is that the library bond issue would not impact the borrowing capacity of the city. It would not adversely affect the revenue stream of the city. Although it would be an increase in property taxes, he believes the proposal in 1997 would have raised taxes $27 a year. Ed Calwell, 3333 W. 231 Street, expressed his thanks for the new street. However, there are now problems with speeders, especially since it is acut-through street. He would like to have more police patrols. On another matter, Mr. Calwell said he wished to review Mr. Baker's (his father-in-law) problems with Manor Care. Mr. Baker lives on Mildred next to Manor Care. Mr. Calwell and Mr. Baker have spoken about this issue many times. The lights from Manor Care still shine brightly into Mr. Baker's windows, and Manor Care has not planted the trees that were in their landscaping plans. Mr. Gareau noted that he has spoken to Mr. Baker and Mr. Calwell on numerous occasions about this problem. It is his understanding that, with regard to the lighting, it is the city's position that the present lighting scheme is in conformity with the recommendations of the boards and commissions at the time the project was approved. He agrees that the trees have not been planted, and it has been almost two years. Recently Council has introduced numerous pieces of legislation addressing lighting and addressing deviations from approved plans in an effort to avoid situations such as this. There is a shortcoming in how plans are approved and how they are followed up. He will be happy to revisit the tree issue and try to get them planted before the first frost. Mr. Calwell said a year ago the city made Manor Care turn off the lights and they complied for a period of time. When they turned them back on, the Law Department got involved and were five minutes away from filing a lawsuit. Meanwhile, Manor Care put in a change of light format which was approved by Council and the lawsuit was dropped. However, they never changed anything. They put up one homemade shield on one light, and that is no longer there. The shield didn't block the light anyway. He wants Council to be aware that this lighting situation has been discussed on many occasions, and Manor Care was going to do many different things. Nothing has changed, and now the city says it is okay even though a year ago everyone agreed changes needed to be made. Law Director Gareau said that the only reason the city did not file suit is that the Building Department said that Manor Care was in compliance. He would urge the Safety Department to send inspectors out to see if anything has changed. The only thing he would have to do to revive the lawsuit is change the date. Mr. Calwell said he was bringing this to everyone's attention because a minor change format was approved and nothing was ever done and now the 10 ~ r