Village Hall |
255 East Wilson Ave. |
Lombard, IL 60148 |
villageoflombard.org |
Trustee Steve Sebby-Chairperson |
Trustee Richard Tross-Alternate Chairperson |
John Schwarz, Nancy Sherretz, Paul Larkin, |
Arthur Kuehl, Thomas Murphy, Robert DiFino |
Staff Liaisons: Deputy Chief Dane Cuny, Patrol Division, Police, |
Vice Chairperson Trustee Steven D. Sebby, John Schwarz, Thomas Murphy, |
Arthur Kuehl and Paul Larkin |
Others Present: |
Wes Anderson, Director of Public Works |
Dave Hulseberg, Director of Community Development |
Barbara Johnson, Deputy Village Clerk |
Yuri Shapiro, AAA Universal Taxi |
Terri Simic, AAA Universal Taxi |
Mr. Livorsi, 649 N. Joyce |
Mr. Fetterhoff, 645 N. Joyce |
Ms. Steben, 1146 S. Church |
Mr. Livorsi spoke regarding an issue with excessive traffic in the Lombard Lagoon area. |
Since the driveway was put in for Casey's going out to Joyce now people are cutting |
through the neighborhood. One concern is there are alcoholic beverages served there |
and there are a lot of families with kids. Also, the delivery drivers for Papa John's are |
cutting through. At the intersection of Joyce and Marcus there is no stop sign. Deputy |
Chief Cuny explained that they did monitor the area, but he has not yet received the |
report. Once results are received, they will see what they can do. Mr. Livorsi asked |
about the possibility of installing stop signs. Chairperson Sebby explained that traffic |
counts, etc. would be required. Mr. Fetterhoff stated that several times vehicles have |
ended up in his yard, it seems that they follow the paving lines. Deputy Chief Cuny said |
that he will request counts if necessary once they see where the traffic is going. |
It was moved by Schwarz, seconded by Murphy, to approve the Minutes of the |
March 7, 2005, meeting. The motion carried by a voice vote |
Gembala reviewed the traffic issue at Jackson Middle School. She is meeting with |
school district staff tomorrow. |
South Highland Avenue Parking |
Hulseberg reviewed the item. Adjacent property owners are in support of No Parking |
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. There are vehicles leaking oil and unregistered vehicles |
parking there. Staff would also sign properties south of the area with restricted parking |
so the problem doesn't move south. Staff has worked with Trustee Florey on this. It is a |
result of the businesses in the immediate area of St. Charles Road. Murphy asked if |
parking is available at the businesses. Hulseberg responded that there is. What makes |
it more difficult is where the vehicles park obstructs people crossing Highland on the |
Great Western Trail. Deputy Chief Cuny explained that this came to the Police |
Departments attention a couple months ago. They contacted the used car dealer and |
since then the unregistered vehicles have not been on the street. After conversation |
with Trustee Florey they looked at sight lines. The vehicles are not causing a sight |
obstruction. Hulseberg added that all five property owners are in support of it. He |
further added that in regard to the limited restriction, there hasn't been a problem there, |
we just don't want to move the problem south. Two hours is sufficient time |
Monday-Friday. Chairperson Sebby stated that he would like to review the item at the |
next committee meeting to give the committee time to drive and look at this area at |
different times and days. |
It was moved by Schwarz, seconded by Kuehl, that this matter be tabled. The |
motion carried by a voice vote |
O. Recommendation of Transportation and Safety Committee - Morris Avenue |
and Church Avenue |
Recommendation from the Transportation & Safety Committee to deny a request for |
traffic control at the intersection of Morris Avenue and Church Avenue. (DISTRICT #6) |
Ms. Steben explained that the original reason for the request is there are at least 20 kids |
on the block and a school across the street. On Morris from Luther to Westmore the lots |
are short, cars go very fast. She stated that her concern is not about car accidents, she |
is concerned about a kid getting hit. Since they are such short blocks, you have to be |
accelerating pretty fast to get to 33 mph at Church. That's not enough time to react to a |
kid crossing the street. There is no point to putting a stop sign on Church. She asked if |
there's a chance to still consider a stop sign being put on Morris and reiterated that any |
slowing down of vehicles would help. |
Gembala reviewed the memo. Chairperson Sebby asked if the access is already |
restricted in the area. Gembala responded that Church is one way southbound from |
Roosevelt to about 200' north. She further explained that you always stop the road with |
less traffic. The traffic will have a comfort level if they know they have the right of way. |
Right now no one has the right of way and they yield. Murphy explained to Ms. Steben |
that studies have proven that by putting a stop sign in it usually increases the speed. |
Gembala explained that if they have to stop they will speed up to the stop sign, stop, |
and speed up again. Ms. Steben commented that she didn't think if they had to stop |
they would get to 33 mph. |
It was moved by Schwarz, seconded by Kuehl, that this matter be recommended |
to the Board of Trustees for denial , to continue to monitor the area and not install |
traffic control at time. The motion carried by a voice vote |
Residential Traffic Speed and Enforcement |
Deputy Chief Cuny reviewed the reports. There was a slight increase overall over a 6 |
month period for speed. He informed the committee that the Police Department will be |
purchasing a better speed trailer and they are also looking at speed signs. Murphy |
commented that there is a speed sign at Fairview and 75th by the school and it's only |
activated when school is in session. Schwarz asked if there was any talk about photo |
enforcement in Lombard. Deputy Chief Cuny explained that it is driven by statute. |
When things happen impersonally, right away you conjure up some feelings of hostility. |
Overall a lot of those are for monetary reasons, we're in it for traffic safety. Murphy |
interjected that in Chicago it's running up huge costs in court because they're being |
challenged because there are no faces on the photos. Deputy Chief Cuny added that |
Woodale also had a lot of trouble with that. Judges in Du Page County threw out a lot of |
those cases. At this time nobody in Du Page County is using that, and statute doesn't |
really allow it. |
M. Recommendation of Transportation and Safety Committee - Fairview Avenue |
& Morris Court |
Recommendation from the Transportation & Safety Committee to deny a request for |
traffic control at the intersection of Fairview Avenue and Morris Court. (DISTRICT #6) |
It was moved by Murphy, seconded by Kuehl, that this matter be recommended |
to the Board of Trustees for denial. The motion carried by a voice vote |
N. Recommendation of Transportation and Safety Committee - 16th Street and |
Highland Avenue |
Recommendation from the Transportation & Safety Committee to deny a request for "No |
Parking" on 16th Street at Highland Avenue. (DISTRICT #3) |
It was moved by Schwarz, seconded by Larkin, that this matter be recommended |
to the Board of Trustees for denial , and to continue monitoring the area with no |
parking restrictions at this time. The motion carried by a voice vote |
M. Recomendation of Transportation and Safety Committee - Washington |
Boulevard (Ordinance on Second Reading) |
Recommendation from the Transportation & Safety Committee to install "No Parking" |
signage on the north side of Washington Boulevard from the west curb line of |
Westmore-Meyers Road to a point 110 feet west. (DISTRICT #5) |
Gembala reviewed the item. Schwarz stated that he would rather see it on the south |
side where the traffic signal detection is. Anderson explained that if you're trying to |
reduce the accidents on Meyers, you want to get the traffic off of there, so you would |
want the north side unrestricted. Murphy agreed that the westbound lane should be |
open for the left-turners. |
It was moved by Murphy, seconded by Schwarz, that this matter be |
recommended to the Board of Trustees for approval of Staff recommendation to |
restrict parking on the north side of Washington Boulevard from the west curb |
line of Westmore-Meyers Road to a point 110 feet west. The motion carried by a |
voice vote |
N. Recommendation of Transportation and Safety Committee - Joyce Avenue |
and Berkshire Street (Ordinance on Second Reading) |
Recommendation from the Transportation & Safety Committee to convert the |
northbound and southbound "Yield" signs to "Stop" signs on Joyce Avenue at Berkshire |
Street. (DISTRICT #4) |
It was moved by Kuehl, seconded by Larkin, that this matter be recommended to |
the Board of Trustees for approval of Staff recommendation to convert the |
northbound and southbound "Yield" signs to "Stop" signs on Joyce Avenue at |
Berkshire Street. The motion carried by a voice vote |
Performance Hearing - AAA Universal Taxi, Inc. |
Ms. Simic introduced herself and explained that she has been working with Barb |
Johnson on issues regarding the subsidized program. She stated that they do not |
overlook complaints, they have looked into all of them. In the last six months the |
company has updated their operations. They have 100 cabs throughout Du Page and |
Kane counties. They have a garage facility where cabs are inspected thoroughly |
monthly, they make sure drivers have all their papers insurance, etc. and for any |
complaints received they have weekly meetings, penalize drivers and get back to the |
customers. Currently they only have company vehicles. Before they had |
owner-operators which was a huge problem. They did not adhere to regulations. She |
further stated that the company does try to work with villages and law enforcement. |
They have also improved security and safety; when we hire these drivers we perform a |
better criminal background check, they are trained for a number of days, and they do |
random drug screening for drivers. There is no tolerance for drugs, for drivers or office |
staff. Hearings for complaints are held on Wednesdays; they are either fined, |
suspended, put on probation or fired. A lot of the problem has been the subsidized |
coupons. The subsidy participants are complaining because the coupons are not being |
accepted. We held a mandatory driver meeting this afternoon because we don't |
understand what the problem is. A lot of the confusion is the photo ID cards, the seniors |
are not providing them. The drivers feel they are pushed to accept the coupons, but |
when they come in the office they don't have any information because the seniors are |
not providing their ID card, so they don't get paid. A lot of the coupons are not |
redeemed. She suggested that perhaps a newsletter could be sent reminding people |
that they have to have their photo ID. Chairperson Sebby suggested that when |
somebody calls in, the dispatcher could ask if they are going to be using the coupons |
and have the dispatcher remind them that they need to have their photo ID and have the |
drivers ask as soon as they pick them up. Ms. Simic suggested that they could put it on |
the hold message. |
Chairperson Sebby pointed out that from March 2005 to June 2005 there were quite a |
few incident reports. Ms. Simic responded that there were review hearings, |
unfortunately the drivers are there to make money. Chairperson Sebby agreed that they |
are there to make money and we are here to provide a service to our residents. He |
reiterated that there are quite a few incidents reported. Murphy pointed out that there |
are two other companies that operate in Lombard and there have been no complaints. |
He further stated that he understands that seniors may forget their ID's sometimes, but |
no other company has these problems. There have been 31 incidents since you've |
started this new program in March. Johnson stated that there are four other cab |
companies that operate in Lombard. Murphy reiterated that his concern is no other |
company has had these problems. It doesn't seem to be a problem with the coupon |
system because nobody else is getting complaints. Ms. Simic responded that they're |
hiring process is firm right now, they have fired a lot of drivers. She further stated she |
was appalled by some of these complaints and can not make excuses. Murphy agreed |
that they are making great strides, however, the concern is that we're not getting the |
same complaints from the other companies. Ms. Simic added that they also just recently |
put a full page regarding the Lombard subsidy program in the manual because they felt |
something was not being explained properly. Chairperson Sebby stated that there are |
seven items from January 2005, some of this stuff is downright ridiculous, it's criminal. |
Ms. Simic responded that they are trying to get to the bottom of these, they were never |
able to find the order within the system about picking up in a family car, that could not |
have been Universal. They would have had to have a radio in their car because all |
vehicles have radio dispatches. |
Schwarz asked how many fares a day are in Lombard. Mr. Shapiro answered |
approximately 50-60 a day, whereas, City Suburban has around 20. Not using that as |
an excuse if we're doing something wrong, but that may be part of the explanation. |
Schwarz asked who has the most pick ups. Johnson responded that American does. |
Chairperson Sebby asked for clarification on independent contractors versus |
employees. Ms. Simic explained that the company owns the cars and contracts with the |
drivers. Murphy asked who provides the insurance. Ms. Simic explained that the |
company does. |
Schwarz asked how many complaints have been received for American. Johnson |
responded one complaint in two years. Schwarz explained that all the committee has to |
compare this to is the other companies. |
Chairperson Sebby told Ms. Simic that Universal will be under tremendous scrutiny with |
Lombard if we choose to go forward. His personal opinion would be to recommend to |
allow a tremendous amount of oversight and maintain the license for 3 months. |
Schwarz agreed that he would entertain some type of probationary period. Chairperson |
Sebby reiterated that he doesn't want to pull anybodies license, but he has no qualms |
about doing it . Murphy agreed that he liked the three month idea. |
Johnson stated that she agreed with the recommendation because she does see that an |
effort is being made and wants to provide the most options to all of the citizens of |
Lombard. |
It was moved by Murphy, seconded by Larkin, that this matter be tabled pending |
a three month probationary period with zero tolerance as to driver negligence. |
The motion carried by the following vote: |
There was general discussion regarding speed bumps and humps. |
Next meeting bring for committee review: Insurance requirements for Taxis and records |
of how much each company operating in Lombard is being paid for subsidies. |
Miscellaneous Information |
It was moved by Kuehl, seconded by Murphy, to adjourn the meeting at 8:50 p.m. |
The motion carried by a voice vote |