Mayor opened the meeting with a prayer to kick the Shiite out of the Iraqi's.
He didn't want to get blamed for raising taxes (yes, he said "You can't blame me"). Not traits of a leader I was hoping for.
Lots of bickering tonight.
Broken garage door? Garage too full? Hole in garage roof? Apply for a handicapped parking space. Seems to work for your neighbors.
What else did I miss.
Bull from Night Court was there representing Waste Management.
Berwyn can't have merit increases, everyone has to get a 4% pay raise (if you aren't in a union). No one in this fucking town has ever heard of merit pay????
Lot's of other stupid bickering.
Oh, we want to screw over small businesses. Not allow them to put sandwich signs on the side walk. Why? Liability. Or was it because Blue Collar people don't use sandwich signs? Liability or blue collar, standard reasons one and two.
The building director is tired of having to put paper towels in the john. We're hiring a part-time maint guy.
Another crappy display by council.
Oh, just an FYI. They get paid 10k per year. That is $416 per meeting. Don't you feel like you are getting a good value for your tax dollars?
Cheers,
Brian
Ah, but the intrepid entrepreneur will find
a way to get around the sandwich board issue
So, just another night of bickering not a lot accomplished again!!
The sad part is the major dissenters are people from within his own IVB party.
What was the Jessie mural item about in COW?
Some group of comic book people want to paint murals and pay for it by distributing comic books. Oh, minor detail...our tax dollars would fund this.
Personally, for the 12k mentioned last night, I'd rather have a part time blight inspector. We've got enough problems that need to be addressed in this town without diverting money.
Cheers,
Brian
12K for what?? Get more blight inspectors
Lame recap here:
http://www.berwyncommunitynews.com/ (http://www.berwyncommunitynews.com/)
Thanks Scoon and OPS for your recap. Was the end result of the sandwich boards no? Could the size of the boards be limited, never mind that would be too logical.
Almost afraid to ask about the mural/comic. Do we know if these proposed murals will be displayed on sides of buildings? If murals are not done right, it looks like graffiti to me. I try to keep an open mind, must be getting old.
Go ahead, raise my taxes. I want more police!!!!! We'll take the blight inspectors too.
Brian, were the 4% pay raises for cost of living due to a cap on hourly salaries, assuming non-union employees are hourly?
Terri
The 4% was proposed as MERIT increases. All kinds of objections that we can't do that (do we actually need an ordinance saying people can get merit increases??). Reportedly, the HR director has policy's in place for this, but there was disagreement over this proposition as well.
The murals can be anywhere. As I said, spend my tax dollars on fixing some of the damn problems around here.
I'm still ticked that we have a mayor who won't step up and do what is right. Instead, we are going to borrow more money so politicians can say they didn't raise taxes.
Java, you should attend council meetings on a regular basis, and you might understand why Mark feels as he does.
And yes, 10 minutes of preparation/homework probably would have allowed the sandwich board ordinance to pass (it was only for 90 days). Size was one of the questions raised.
Cheers,
Brian
If the aldermen did their homework they would have realized that there is only
one size used in the industry for sidewalk boards
QuoteReportedly, the HR director has policy's in place for this, but there was disagreement over this proposition as well.
The infamous Hr Director has reared her ugly head again. It would seem to me she has a lot of policies in place, but most are counter to any sort of common sense.
which 3 superblock proposals were put forward for consideration?
Denise
One by Gunny Harboe, who restored the Rookery and is an internationally recognized Preservation Architect, one by Joe Artunovich (http://www.antunovich.com/), and one by another developer who claims there is a giant mold problem. Just and FYI, the two previous architects/groups have a large amount of experience renovating historic properties. During their presentations, the did not mention mold other than to say it is something you deal with in older properties and can be addressed.
Harboe is my first choice, then Artunovich. The problem with the Artunovich proposal was that they were suggesting senior housing (age 55+). That was the downside. I was very impressed with their commercial real estate people. A sharp bunch of guys.
I posted more info about Harboe on a different thread about the Berwyn Bank Building.
Cheers,
Brian
Mold problem? I am typing this while laying on the floor in laughter. Of course there is mold
given condition but it is easily abated.
Quote from: Bear on December 14, 2006, 10:15:17 AM
Mold problem? I am typing this while laying on the floor in laughter. Of course there is mold
given condition but it is easily abated.
Precisely Bear.
As the gentleman who presented for Gunny Harboe said, "close your bathroom door for 13 years and lets see what grows in there". Water and bleach will clean things up. And if it is interior space (and it is primarily the bathroom), you can demo the walls and have a nice clean loo.
Cheers,
Brian
Quote from: Bear on December 14, 2006, 10:15:17 AM
I am typing this while laying on the floor in laughter.
There's a visual for you...
Quote from: Bear on December 14, 2006, 10:15:17 AM
Mold problem? I am typing this while laying on the floor in laughter. Of course there is mold
given condition but it is easily abated.
Mrs. Scoon will attest to this. Her allergies kicked up a minute after we got into the place.
(Still picturing Alderman Weiner cleaning up the dead mice.)
Scoon,
You guys walked into a building which the city has neglected to maintain for years. That is not what the completed project will look like.
Cheers,
Brian
Quote from: OakParkSpartan on December 14, 2006, 12:54:56 PM
Scoon,
You guys walked into a building which the city has neglected to maintain for years. That is not what the completed project will look like.
Cheers,
Brian
Oh... thanks for pointing that out. I actually thought they would leave the dead mice and mold. Silly me.
(Read with sarcasm, and lot's of it. I realize that the building had been neglected, but that's no excuse for the city to not send someone thru to clean it up a bit before the special COW meeting that opened it up for public viewing. And I'm not talking about mold. I'm talking about pigeon feces and dead rodent carcasses.
Especially if their intent was to garner support for saving it. I was all for saving it until I saw first hand and realized that it's a HUGE undertaking and to do so that might prevent any development at all.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. I want something, nay ANYTHING to happen at that corner. If we save it great. If we tear it down great. I could care less either way. I'm simply tired of that eyesore sitting there untouched.
It's an embarASSment to BerWIN.
I'm not some asshat talking sh*t. I'm a resident who lives approx. 7 blocks down the street from that thing who has to answer questions about it from out-of-towners coming to visit who pass by it on the way to my house. Don't lump me in with them because I share what I saw there.
I'm on your side... but the truth needs to be put out there.)
(That might be the longest parenthetical statement ever on this board.)
I think it was disgraceful as well. I couldn't see opening a building up like that for tours, and not cleaning up the pigeon shit and dead rodents. Some folks around here are just a little too comfortable with conditions like that. But I don't want to blame anyone...
One thing which the Harboe group said is that they were ready to take immediate steps to stabilize the building ie. stop water infiltration etc.
I wonder why the people we trusted with OUR property didn't see fit do some maintenance? Thirteen years is a long time to ignore a property.
Cheers,
Brian
I hope the council moves quickly and decisively on this... but I have serious doubts that they could agree on toppings for a pizza.
Assuming that they could agree to have pizza in the first place.
This is the biggest deal to come along in many moons,
I just hope the city does not FUBAR
Quote from: scoon on December 14, 2006, 01:30:39 PM
Quote from: OakParkSpartan on December 14, 2006, 12:54:56 PM
Scoon,
You guys walked into a building which the city has neglected to maintain for years. That is not what the completed project will look like.
Cheers,
Brian
Oh... thanks for pointing that out. I actually thought they would leave the dead mice and mold. Silly me.
(Read with sarcasm, and lot's of it. I realize that the building had been neglected, but that's no excuse for the city to not send someone thru to clean it up a bit before the special COW meeting that opened it up for public viewing. And I'm not talking about mold. I'm talking about pigeon feces and dead rodent carcasses.
Especially if their intent was to garner support for saving it. I was all for saving it until I saw first hand and realized that it's a HUGE undertaking and to do so that might prevent any development at all.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. I want something, nay ANYTHING to happen at that corner. If we save it great. If we tear it down great. I could care less either way. I'm simply tired of that eyesore sitting there untouched.
It's an embarASSment to BerWIN.
I'm not some asshat talking sh*t. I'm a resident who lives approx. 7 blocks down the street from that thing who has to answer questions about it from out-of-towners coming to visit who pass by it on the way to my house. Don't lump me in with them because I share what I saw there.
I'm on your side... but the truth needs to be put out there.)
(That might be the longest parenthetical statement ever on this board.)
Yeah, I think it was.
Quote from: OakParkSpartan on December 14, 2006, 02:45:54 PM
I think it was disgraceful as well. I couldn't see opening a building up like that for tours, and not cleaning up the pigeon shit and dead rodents. Some folks around here are just a little too comfortable with conditions like that. But I don't want to blame anyone...
One thing which the Harboe group said is that they were ready to take immediate steps to stabilize the building ie. stop water infiltration etc.
I wonder why the people we trusted with OUR property didn't see fit do some maintenance? Thirteen years is a long time to ignore a property.
Cheers,
Brian
In my opinion they were trying to make it look as bad as possible, to justify tearing it down. Same reason they never maintained it, everyone thought it would be torn down.
Quote from: OakParkSpartan on December 14, 2006, 02:45:54 PM
I wonder why the people we trusted with OUR property didn't see fit do some maintenance? Thirteen years is a long time to ignore a property.
LMFAO!
They can't even perform blight inspections on HOUSES, much less that pile!
QuoteQuote from: dukesdad on December 14, 2006, 03:54:19 PM
Quote from: OakParkSpartan on December 14, 2006, 02:45:54 PM
I think it was disgraceful as well. I couldn't see opening a building up like that for tours, and not cleaning up the pigeon shit and dead rodents. Some folks around here are just a little too comfortable with conditions like that. But I don't want to blame anyone...
One thing which the Harboe group said is that they were ready to take immediate steps to stabilize the building ie. stop water infiltration etc.
I wonder why the people we trusted with OUR property didn't see fit do some maintenance? Thirteen years is a long time to ignore a property.
Cheers,
Brian
In my opinion they were trying to make it look as bad as possible, to justify tearing it down. Same reason they never maintained it, everyone thought it would be torn down.
Precisely. Sole reason I was curious as to why J.Stillo took the time to submit a proposal on behalf of Skydan.
Terri
He was hoping the citizens had a short memory?
Again, what part or is there no part that the Health Dept. comes into play with empty buildings such as this or El Centro? There is someone to blame for deploring conditions such as dead animals, feces and rodents, but who's problem does it become? Or do we the tax payer accept these conditions in our city, while we wait years for decisions to be made?
Talk to the folks that voted into office a do-nothing Township Administrator or whatever his title is (Mr. Pechous).
Do they do health inspections of restaurants?
Brian,
I don't think that Pechous was running against anyone else.
Quote from: OakParkSpartan on December 14, 2006, 02:45:54 PM
I wonder why the people we trusted with OUR property didn't see fit do some maintenance? Thirteen years is a long time to ignore a property.
The city has not owned the building for 13 years. It was privately owned for over 20 years. The owner was not able to sell it so the city bought the property a few years ago. I think the city has owned the building for less than 5 years.