Village of Lombard Legistar System

President Mueller read a Proclamation for Lorraine G. Gerhardt Day. Many family

members and friends joined in congratulating Lorraine on her 80th birthday. Special

guests Carol Penning, President of Illinois Municipal Clerks, and Eileene Nystrom

President of DuPage Municipal Clerks presented gifts to honor Lorraine.They

commented on Lorraine's mentoring role to the organization over the last 20 years.

Lorraine Introduced her daughter Susie Gerhardt Bredfeldt, who said that their family

had grown up with the "Soul of Lombard" and that her Mom has always had the Village

and people in the center of her heart and endeavored to do the best for the Village.

Susie said we love her and mentioned that Lorraine has certainly helped the population.

Lorraine's son Steve Gerhardt talked about how it was growing up with his mom whom

he described as "dead honest", saying she knew the Police Chief, the Fire Chief and

everybody else and they always got caught in everything and Mom punished us and all

of our friends along with us. In conclusion, Steve said they are all very proud to have

her as their Mom. He wished Lorraine a Happy 80th Birthday from the whole family.

A proclamation was read by Clerk Gerhardt for Illinois State Championship Montini

Broncos won at Augustana College. February 29 Montini Broncos Day.

President Mueller commented on the excellent sports teams, basketball, pompons and

wrestling that Lombard has had this year.

Donald Geiger, 406 W. St. Charles Road spoke of recent activities regarding Special

Assessment 213. At the December 29th Public Works meeting the Village stated that

they wanted to start the sewer and water work on West Road. The residents also had

submitted requests regarding the heavily wooded area of the project. In a court hearing

it was agreed that the Village could commence work on the water and sewer project and

a continuance date was set for April 10. He said that Monday at the Board of Local

Improvements Meeting there was no reply to the list of requests such as changes in

sidewalk locations, trees or how wide the road would be. Instead the Village wants to

abandon everything south of Woodland,make that portion 213b and the rest 213a and

start the work. He said that the problem is that there are 3 objectors who live north of

Woodland. He said they feel the Village has abandoned their requests and they are

confused as to why the step was taken. He mentioned that they still need sewers, water

lines and sidewalks on one side of the street, for safety reasons, but they do not want

sidewalks on both sides of the street. He requested that the Board listen to their

concerns. He expressed concerns about sewers from Eugenia to St. Charles Road.

Annette Marie Hintz, 508 W. Woodland spoke to support the objectors of the West Road

Woodland Street project in their concerns. She stated that she moved there for the

land in the belief that the Lilac Village would appreciate the value of plants. She told of

the loss of trees and the impact on the appeal of her street and home. Her concerns, in

addition to trees and the inconvenience, were the lack of written or verbal notice and

destruction of plantings on their property.

Marymae Meyer,414 W. Windsor, mentioned that their notification experience was

opposite. They have had flyers and workers notify them. She did say that they have

had some damage and the Engineer has said that when all is done it will all be taken

care of. She continued saying that when SA 213 was approved she assumed that the

Village could move ahead with the project, that they would have to tolerate some

inconvenience in order to end up with the expected results. She made two

observations, that this situation could be considered funny starting with residents

claiming how the Village would not bend and satisfy and now there is a different camp

out there hearing the same people complaining they don't get the same treatment as

everyone else. She also wondered exactly how many days work have been lost during

this project due to the objections. She asserted that it is not just a project for West Road

but also a project affecting West Windsor. She wondered if these days of delay

regarding a portion of West Road could be measured so people will know how much

other residents have been put through, and who should apologize for their

inconvenience. She requested that no private property be improved with the tax payers

money. She wants the project to please move forward and said the Village should buy

the properties in question or close it off.

John Visick, 123 West Road, said that concerned residents wanted to be involved in the

design plans for the project. He thought that would have happened as they have

attempted to negotiate with the Village since the Court Order to continue with the

project. He said the residents' compromise proposal was presented to the Village. He

negated the safety of sidewalks and that he preferred the narrowing of West Road. He

felt that the postponement of part of the project made no sense. He felt that homework

before the project began would have avoided the problems and that a comprehensive

plan for the entire area should be developed.

President Mueller asked Attorney Bayer to comment on The status.

Attorney Thomas Bayer said objectors referred to ownership on the West side of West

Road, but the problem deals also with the some properties of non objectors to the

project so more needs to be done about all the parcels in question before the project

proceeds in that area.

Lorraine Gerhardt as President of the Board of Local Improvements commented that

Board voted to accept the staff recommendation and that they have asked that the

Board of Trustees accept the recommendation to abandon a portion of the project. In

order to comply with State Statute we must use the correct term "abandon". After the

engineering was done it was discovered that some properties which were dedicated

many years ago had descriptions which are very different than the way deeds are

written today. Little "fingers" of land are sticking out into the street that do not belong to

the Village. Previously to that we were unaware that portions of the street were not the

property of the Village. She said also that these issues will have to be worked out

before this project proceeds in the abandoned area, but they must proceed with the

balance of the project in order to keep the Bid Contract. We can proceed with the 213b

section when the objections and ownership issues have been resolved. Ms. Gerhardt

said that there is the possibility that the entire job could be done within the construction

season depending on how long the easement issues take. She assured the residents

that the Board of Local Improvements feels badly and the Board of Trustees feels badly

about this situation.

President Mueller asked Mr. Lichter to have staff work to answer the questions that had

been raised tonight by residents involving the project. He asked that staff include

telephone numbers on the flyers to make sure residents know where to call. He

commented about the speeding concerns and reminded the residents that when North

Avenue is completed West Road will no longer be a thoroughfare off of North Avenue.

He also reminded the residents that now there are "no left turn" restrictions off of

Highway 53 at Woodland and Meadow during rush hours, which eliminates a good bit of

traffic from the neighborhood.

Trustee Tross said that there had been no meeting but pointed to an item on agenda

amending Taxi licensing which is on for a waiver of first so that staff can get the program

ready for kick off of the new Fiscal Year. He commented that the biggest difference is

the lifting of monthly restrictions on coupons for legitimate reasons. The program is

estimated to cost an additional $4,000 per year. Trustee Tross told staff the he hopes

they will get information about the new program out to the Seniors. Administrative

Assistant Ellen Balsamo said that not only would a brochure be prepared for distribution,

but visits to Senior housing and organizations would also be made.

President Mueller complimented staff on the job they did and pointed out that they had

surveyed and communicated with the senior residents extensively during consideration

of these changes.