2/10/2009 City Council Meeting

[Ted]

  This is a summary of the city council meeting that occured on February 10, 2009.  Alderman Erickson was absent.  Alderman Chapman lost her voice so through out the meeting she would whisper to Alderman Ramos and he would state what she said.

  It was a very nice, low key meeting tonight.  No drama at all.  Here are the highlights:

1. Vince Bertucca rehired as insurance provider - The city council voted to extend the city's contract with Berwyn Insurance and Financial to be the city's insurance procurer. The vote was 7 AYEs and no NAYs.


2. Sign on seafood restaurant - A sign that is scheduled to be put on on a seafood restaurant at 6516 Cermak was deemed to not pass city law on signs. The owner claimed that Berwyn Main Street approved the sign and that the city then denied the sign. The Main Street director claimed he never approved the sign.  Alderman Phelan made a motion to allow the sign for 6 months until the owner could get another sign, possibly with TIF funds (the sign cost $3,000).

  Alderman Ramos stated he was against this because there was a similar incident in the 2nd ward and that owner was denied. Alderman Chapman asked (via Alderman Ramos) why do we have a sign ordinance if we do not enforce it.  The council voted to deny the sign by a vote of 5 NAYs and 2 AYEs (Aldermen Phelan and Day voted AYE).

  Alderman Skryd suggested that all further business about the sign should be handled through the Main Street program. Alderman Phelan responded that the city was sending mixed messages to business owners as to who to deal with because of the various layers of bureacracy involved..


3. New McDonalds at Harlem & Roosevelt - The council approved the demolition of the McDonalds at 7135 W Roosevelt Road to make way for the construction of a new state of the art McDonalds. One interesting thing about this is that the Berwyn Historical Preservation Commission had to approve the demolition. Alderman Phelan asked why a 1970s style McDonalds would need such an approval. The city attorney expressed concern that the approval by the Berwyn Historical Preservation Commission  occurred by email rather than written letter. In the end the demolition was approved with the stipulation that the city get a written letter from the Berwyn Historical Preservation Commission rather than just an email.


4. Paving of East avenue - The city approved a project to re-pave East Avenue. Alderman Ramos asked that the memo to the engineers be modified to add a bike route as part of the re-surfacing. The question was asked when East avenue was last re-paved and the response was that it was in the 1990s and that the re-pavement back then involved widening the street and taking down trees.


5. Dispose of the two vehicles - The city council approved the disposal of the two vehicles that in previous city council meetings some council members had asked to see the maintenance history of the vehicle.


6. Videos and awards - Two videos were shown tonight - One about National Night Out and another about the Berwyn Centenniel.  Awards were given to Carl Reina, Dawn Rinehart and Jean-Marie Hajer for their work on the Centenniel (which made a profit of $5,000) and Chief Kushner also received an award from the Association of Illinois Chiefs of Police.


7. Oak Park Childrens' School mobile units - The issue of approving the installation of mobile units at Oak Park Childrens' School at St. Mary of Celle was deferred for two weeks.


8. Crime Statistics for 2008 - Chief Kushner presented crime statistics for the year 2008:

+ Serious crime in general went down by 4.7%
+ Homicides went down from 5 to 0
+ Arson cases went up from 7 to 21. 4 arrests were made in arson cases.
+ The number of robbery cases went up by 25% and arrests in those robbery cases went up by 67%
+ The number of sexual assault case calls went up but the number of prosecutions went down because it often involved family members who did not want to prosecute.
+ The burgerly rate went down
+ Auto theft cases went up by 8%.


9. Next city council meeting - The next city council meeting will be on Wednesday, February 25 because Tuesday, February is election day.

[lawndale]

Ted, what would happen if O'Connor looses the primary, would he still be the mayor till April?  (Doubt this will happen in the primary, the general is another story though.)

[Ted]

Ted, what would happen if O'Connor looses the primary, would he still be the mayor till April?  (Doubt this will happen in the primary, the general is another story though.)

  O'Connor would be mayor until the first city council meeting in May.  In the first city council meeting, I believe, that the old council and mayor handle all business up to May 1 and then the new mayor and council are sworn in and handle all business after May 1.

  In 2005, there was an uproar because the old regime had started handing out contracts to lawyers etcetera while they were lame ducks in April of 2005.

Ted

[lawndale]

That's right Ted.  I remember being at the inauguration and having to wait on 26th St. till the hand off meeting was complete inside city hall.  Ah, the memories!

[Bonster]

Fantastic - that McD's is falling apart...white paint is no substitute for tuck pointing.

The owner claimed that Berwyn Main Street approved the sign and that the city then denied the sign. The Main Street director claimed he never approved the sign.

Well, shit.  I thought the Spanish speaking abilities of the new director would help ... aww, nevermind.  What a crock.


...and the best (rebolded for proper emphasis):
1. Vince Bertucca rehired as insurance provider - The city council voted to extend the city's contract with Berwyn Insurance and Financial to be the city's insurance procurer. The vote was 7 AYEs and no NAYs.

It Pays to Pay to Play, ay?

[Ted]

...and the best (rebolded for proper emphasis):
1. Vince Bertucca rehired as insurance provider - The city council voted to extend the city's contract with Berwyn Insurance and Financial to be the city's insurance procurer. The vote was 7 AYEs and no NAYs.

It Pays to Pay to Play, ay?

  Alderman Lovero made a statement saying something to the effect that Mr. Bertucca had spoken to the city council at the COW meeting and that it made sense to the city council members to extend his contract.

  I had thought about 6 months ago, the city council had agreed to put out to bid the insurance procurer contract?  Did that fall by the wayside?  I guess that never happened.

  Ted

[OakParkSpartan]

...and the best (rebolded for proper emphasis):
1. Vince Bertucca rehired as insurance provider - The city council voted to extend the city's contract with Berwyn Insurance and Financial to be the city's insurance procurer. The vote was 7 AYEs and no NAYs.

It Pays to Pay to Play, ay?

  Alderman Lovero made a statement saying something to the effect that Mr. Bertucca had spoken to the city council at the COW meeting and that it made sense to the city council members to extend his contract.

  I had thought about 6 months ago, the city council had agreed to put out to bid the insurance procurer contract?  Did that fall by the wayside?  I guess that never happened.

  Ted

I recall that as well.  I still don't get it.

I do get that this is "Professional Services" so it doesn't need to go out for bid.

[Terri]

...and the best (rebolded for proper emphasis):
1. Vince Bertucca rehired as insurance provider - The city council voted to extend the city's contract with Berwyn Insurance and Financial to be the city's insurance procurer. The vote was 7 AYEs and no NAYs.

It Pays to Pay to Play, ay?

  Alderman Lovero made a statement saying something to the effect that Mr. Bertucca had spoken to the city council at the COW meeting and that it made sense to the city council members to extend his contract.

  I had thought about 6 months ago, the city council had agreed to put out to bid the insurance procurer contract?  Did that fall by the wayside?  I guess that never happened.

  Ted

I recall that as well.  I still don't get it.

I do get that this is "Professional Services" so it doesn't need to go out for bid.

I thought I saw a request for RFP's on the city website, I'm sure I did.  Could a vote to keep the current broker mean there were no bids submitted or his were the best compared to the others?