Monday, October 28, 2013

10/14 Council

I attended Council on 10/14, and here's what I saw.

Ms. Busam, new Tax Administrator.  Welcome to Patti - she'll be a great add to the Village.

Mayor addition to ARB.  I think the ARB ought to be an independent body, and this setup will hurt this.  I am fine w a member of Council (similar to Economic development).  Adding the Mayor, though, will further concentrate power.  I believe this is bad for the Village.

Zoning Change.  I struggled with this decision. I was a No during the 2010 vote for Phases 2 and 3 (Madisonville Rd) because of their height vs their neighbors.  Quality & Character were obviously no issue, but height was a deal breaker for me.  Fast-forward nearly 4 years, and the neighborhood has changed tremendously.  The "weighted average" height is now much taller than before.  And there are 100-200 residents who would say move forward.  And Phase 4 is more isolated than any of the others.  So I voted Yes.  Did I get it right?

Shared Drive for Phase 2 & 4.  I strongly support fully utilizing infrastructure like pavement.  In this case, a shared drive is a much better utilization of "ugly" pavement vs a suburban model of inefficient duplication.  A traffic study should obviously be performed, but we should share pavement, not let it proliferate.

No Treasurer on the Ballot.  This is unfortunate, and I believe we haven't done enough to canvas the Village for a replacement.  I oppose any effort to consolidate the roles.  While we have a fine Clerk in Tony B, the separation of responsibility is a smart and prudent Internal Controls design for those who come later.  We must find a new Treasurer and not change our structure to collapse both into 1 person.

I voted in the affirmative on all votes except 1, as all were procedural in nature except:  Residence B to Residence D for Phase 4 Condos.  I voted no on the conditional zoning change for the empty lot next to Mios.  Approving a change with no hint of a plan is irresponsible.


Cortney
ICRCTV.COM

Monday, October 14, 2013

Council 9/23

I attended Council on 9/23, and here's what I saw.

Loss of Town Crier Mr. Kleinfeldt.  I was sad to hear of his passing but am thankful for all the years of service in so many capacities to the Village.

1x monthly council meetings.  In a normal Village/City environment, I think this is wise:  saves cost, makes the job more appealing to would-be public officials leery of time commitment.  However, in the last 4 years I have found a very troubling imbalance between the Mayor and the Council.  The Mayor routinely oversteps his boundaries and makes decisions for the Council (see stop sign installation in my previous post or note the garbage survey sent out in Mayor's Bulletin when Health and Rec Committee is designated by Law to manage Trash).  This imbalance will be exacerbated when Council meets less often.  I don't support 1x monthly meetings with the current Mayor.

Website confusion.  I don't believe Mr. Wendel intends to confuse, and I'm sure there is an easy resolution to this issue.  I would say, however, alternatives to the narratives relayed by the Mayor's Bulletin are welcome and helpful to the Village.

Buying hard copy books.  I think this is shortsighted for 4 reasons:  cost, lack of space in the building, no legal requirement, "stale" information risk before the books are even delivered.  In this day and age, we should be sourcing information exclusively online, where permitted by law.

I voted in the affirmative on all votes as all were procedural in nature.

Cortney
ICRCTV.COM

Safety Committee 9/23

I attended the Safety meeting on 9/23 and here's what I saw.

Stop Sign at Haines.  I was informed there hadn't been an accident as we were originally led to believe.  However, I was told there have been near misses, and the neighbors are supportive.  Further, I agree with Joe's suggestion of a comprehensive project vs piece meal work.

I was dismayed to hear the Mayor had already ordered the sign to be installed - it was in place w/ a garbage bag BEFORE the Committee even met to discuss.  This is a great example of the imbalance the Village faces, and the lack of boundaries exhibited by the Mayor on a daily basis.  Regardless of our Committee's recommendation, this installation was wholly inappropriate.

While I hate additional signage and the clutter it adds, and I object to the pre-installation of the sign, I think it's warranted.  I support the additional sign.

Cortney