Village of Lombard Legistar System

Upon Roll Call by Village Clerk, Suzan L. Kramer, the following were Present: President

Mueller, Trustees DeStephano, Tross, Koenig, Sebby, Florey and Soderstrom.

Quorum Present

Appointed Officials Present:

Village Manager William T. Lichter

Assistant to the Village Manager Ellen Balsamo

Village Attorney Tom Bayer

Assistant Village Attorney George Wagner

Finance Director Leonard Flood

Director of Community Development David Hulseberg

Police Chief Ray Byrne

Fie Chief Ed Seagraves

Deputy Fire Chief Jerry Tonne

Village Engineer Dave Dratnol

Director of Public Works Stan Rickard

Assistant Director of Public Works John Burg

Deputy Village Clerk Barbara Johnson

President Mueller stated that Clarence Berger had passed away this week. He said that

Clarence was our friend as well as the Village's representative to Waste Management.

His wife had said that he worked with other communities, but he loved Lombard. A

comment was included in his eulogy that he never failed to say thank you. President

Mueller said that we should remember to say thank you to all who help us. The

President then asked for a moment of silent prayer and offered condolences to his wife

Lois and to his family.

Trustee DeStephano said that Clarence Berger had been at the last meeting of the

Environmental Concerns Committee and had always made a great contribution to their

efforts and will be missed. She gave details of the materials handled at the Recycling

Extravaganza. The event drew 488 cars and collected 49.5 tons of recyclable goods

including 38 tons of lumber, 8 tons of metal, 128 cell phones, 402 pair of eyeglasses and

4 hearing aids. She said the Committee had set the goal of 600 cars and 75 tons of

materials for next year's Extravaganza. She thanked various volunteers who helped.

She said that the appointment of Gary Brennimen is on the agenda.

Trustee Tross spoke as a member of Municipal Officer's Electoral Board, stating that the

Board did not interpret Election Law to reach their decision. He said that as a signer of

the petition he feels very perplexed and concerned that the referendum will not be on

the November ballot, and the Village Board chose not to put the question on the ballot.

He explained that the Electoral Board had followed the law and did not just make a

decision. He wanted the public to understand that each of them did what the law

required them to do. He reminded the public that either side, either for or against the

referendum, had the right to go before a judge to interpret the law. He said he hopes

that people will let the subject of the Theater go and leave the decision to the Elected

Officials. President Mueller said that as Elected officials and in serving on the Electoral

Board, they are charged, by our Oath of office, with upholding the law. He said that

when he leaves office he wants to know that he upheld the ordinances and laws.

Pete Kramer 272 E. Taylor, spoke to say that there has recently been some rancor and

this week he watched a television feature on the Statue of Liberty. He likened the

history of the Statue to the DuPage Theater as it was gift from France, it was

controversial in the beginning and no one wanted to fund it in hard times. He noted that

the monument was called grandiose and Americans would not contribute the needed

quarter of a million dollars. They raised the money through the efforts of Joseph Pulitzer

and it opened in 1886. The people who had done so little to help were pleased to attend

the unveiling and called the Statue a wonder of the world. He thinks that the subject of

the Theater has also been treated with skepticism. He asked what the nation would be

like without the Statue and said that the DuPage is equally the symbol of Lombard. He

said that it cost seventy million to restore the Statue and now terrorists want to destroy it

because it is the symbol of our Freedom. He said that the DuPage Theater is more

important to Lombard than the Statue of Liberty is to America and the world.

Trustee Sebby commented that the ad hoc Committee is to be commended for their

dedication. He said that he has heard comparison of the demise of the Theater to the

Statue of Liberty, the collapse of the twin towers and the leaning Tower of Pizza. He

finds these comments offensive. He said that we are here to represent the citizens.

There is no one on the Board who can say that they know the majority opinion, so to go

ahead and spend money on this project, which the Board has not approved, does not

make sense.

Trustee Sebby also said that all the money was originally set aside to use for the

architect if the project goes forward. The roof is in disrepair, and to look into phasing on

a building that has not been approved is astonishing. He said that a better use would be

to repair the roof. He quoted Abraham Lincoln saying "Public sentiment is everything.

With Public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. He said the

Board can't know what the public sentiment is, the citizens own the building and our

obligation is to represent our citizens, he said therefore he can't support any money

being spent on the project.

President Mueller explained that we can't use the DCCA Grant money for the roof, to

repair or build. He said that looking into phasing would give the Village Board as much

information as possible to help them in their decision. He said that they had asked staff

to check what needed to be done to secure the building for winter.

Trustee Tross clarified that the money is left over from the DCCA and can't be used on

repairs, only for architectural services. Trustee Florey confirmed that and said if we

don't use the money, we loose it.

Trustee Tross asked about the turn around time Trustee Florey said that they hoped the

information would be ready by the next Board meeting.

Enactment No: 611 W. St. Charles R

611 W. St. Charles Road (Crossroads Community Church) Continued

Director of Community Development David Hulseberg gave a presentation of the

petitioners' request

Scott Nichols, 36 S. Columbine, spoke as pastor of the Crossroads Community Church.

He gave a history of the church saying that they have renovated the facility and are

serving the needs of the members and the community with divorce care, food

assistance, rent assistance and Bible Studies. He said that the changeable copy of the

proposed sign would allow them to communicate their varying programs and schedule.

He likened the sign to that at Glenbard East because it is in a residential neighborhood.

He said that their situation is unique compared to other churches as the corner of Route

53 and St. Charles is a high traffic area and he said that it would not set a precedent.

Phil Lobdell, 1134 Kenilworth, spoke requesting approval of the sign as there are many

activities going on and their schedule of events is ever changing. He said the sign would

be a benefit to the church and to the community. He pointed out that the sign wouldn't

scroll or flash. He said that the Church has great programs and kids programs. He said

that he would like to get the skate park kids in and they would forget about the skate

park. He said that he is involved with the youth and they have a lot of fun and teach

good values which would benefit the community. He asked the Board to look favorably

upon their request.

Joseph Voss, stated that he is a Lisle resident with a Law office in Lombard, as well as

a member of Crossroads Community Church. He felt that the sign would be of value to

the community as the time and temperature features would be a landmark to Lombard,

especially that area of Lombard. He said that the church is on a unique property, most

churches in the area would not find it cost effective to install such a costly sign unless

they were in a high traffic area. He said that the neighbors seem to favor the sign. He

said that the Church has been a great asset to the community.

Trustee DeStephano said the congregation has done a wonderful job rebuilding the

Church. Her concerns are the size of the sign and the changeable nature of the sign,

the precedent, and the drivers being distracted, causing accidents.