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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 1/26/1994 - Public Works Committee (2) � PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE MEETING 7:30 PM - JANUARY 26, 1994 ALDERMEN'S CONFERENCE ROOM In Attendance: Alderman Bolger and Alderman Locke. Alderman Lawson was absent due to a meeting at his workplace. Also in attendance: Public Works Director, Fred Batt; City Administrator, Jerry Peterson; Mayor Cuda; Building & Zoning Director, John Lobaito; Roger Gerstad, Gerstad Builders and Dave Backhaus. The meeting was called to order at 7:33 PM. Alderman Bates left a letter with Chairman Bolger requesting that the Parks Committee meet with Roger Gerstad also. Roger Gerstad of Gerstad Builders requested this meeting to determine the philosophy behind � Baxter & Woodman's requirement for an 18" sanitary sewer to serve properties to the west of the Backhaus development. It is apparent, Gerstad stated, that there is confusion with the master plan and the engineer. Bolger asked what is the residential zoning of the Gerstad property. The response was RS-3 under rezoning, downsized to RS-2. Batt asked what portion of the 18" sewer is needed to serve the Backhaus development. Gerstad replied the maximum would be a 10" pipe. � Gerstad stated the area to the west that it would serve is 690 acres in size. If the area to the west was developed with RS-1 zoning, Batt responded, there would be about 600 units on that �- property. The property is not going to develop except with sanitary sewers as soil is not suitable. A portion of the 690 acres to the west is in McHenry FPA and a portion is in the Bull Valley FPA. Bolger askeci Gerstad what diameter sewer main he would plan to extend. Gerstad said originally he had not ��lanned on one. Bolger wanted to know why this would have to be installed at this time. Locke stated, he doesn't know what the future will hold and we need to upsize from 10" to 18". Peterson stated the other issue is serving the property to the south. The owners have no intention of developing that properly. Batt said that in order to advise the Committee properly we need to further talk to Ba�cter & Woodman and determine why they sized the sewer as they did. Without all the information we can't give a definitive answer to Gerstad. Peterson stated, we build to ultimate design capacity. Bolger suggested we lay it in the hands of Shamrock Farms. Batt said we could do a recapture. Locke stated that if we don't go to capacity now, it will cause more problems down the line. Gerstad said he can appreciate planning, growth and development for the future. This Council has always been fair. Feels the developer has paid their way -- asking them to pay for the future is a hardship. Peterson asked if staff would recommend the Council enter into a recapture agreement. Gerstad said this is not an acceptable solution. Gerstad would like to get an additional contract from the � City that would give them something in return; i.e., interest rates, longevity, renewability. '� Gerstad asked if the City has an interest in selling bonds to finance oversizing. Gerstad is willing to pay their own way, but to burden this project with an 18" pipe that might be used someday is a financial hardship. Batt asked what the difference in cost is between 18" and 10". Gerstad replied $250,000. Batt stated that considering the cost -- it is worth asking Baxter & Woodman how they arrived at the conclusion an 18" pipe is needed. Peterson asked how the pipesize varies in the west property is zoned E-1, RS-1 or RS-2. Gerstad replied: E-1 = 455 units, RS-1 = 570 and RS-2 = 1820. There are additional complications because of the flatness of the property and ground water. It was decided to review Baxter and Woodman's assumptions with Gersta.d and Backhaus. The next item discussed was storm water detention in the Boone Creek conidor. Gerstad suggested using City owned open space for a portion of the detention. He further suggested this would be a good area to develop a portion of a bike path system on a berm from Dartmoor to the edge of the property. Gerstad was asked how deep the detention basin would be. Gerstad responded, minimal slope to three (3) feet of depth, about 220 feet wide with low maintenance plants. Mayor Cuda asked if there was any discussion regarding open space and bike paths being donated without any strings attached in the annexation agreement. Gerstad stated that they are not asking for something for nothing. Gerstad wants to develop this property and use this area as detention for � storm water. Mayor Cuda asked what is the cost for that and Gerstad responded that he doesn't have the "hard" dollars at this point. Mayor Cuda asked if Gerstad has any plans that show how often we would find this area with water sitting in it. Gerstad responded that 24 hours would be the maximum and the maximum depth would be 3 feet. Locke pointed out there is a question of liability. Gerstad responded that we already have the liability of Boone Creek. Mayor Cuda asked how Pete Merkel sees the potential use for this property and Gerstad said there is no intended use for this property at this date. Locke wanted to know if Gerstad will maintain it for a number of years. Gerstad replied that he is not prepared to answer the maintenance of this property. Locke said this needs to be developed in a way that's not passive and if the developer agrees to maintain the property it's acceptable to him. Peterson advised that the City is entitled to something in exchange for this. Mayor Cuda asked how wide the access from the subdivision is and Gerstad replied 25/30 feet. Locke would like to see soccer fields or baseball fields built here. Bolger said he liked the idea of a bike path. Mayor Cuda asked for definite plans as to what it would look like. Gerstad replied that he needs to make sure he is on first base before making anymore expenditures. Mayor Cuda explained that it would be easier if there is something definite to show us. It is a lot more difficult to turn down a request when we see some definite plans. Mayor Cuda stated he would not approve this. � � � Gerstad also discussed storm water detention on the north side of the property which is 90% wetlands at tllis time. Mayor Cuda said this is all City property and he wanted to know how we would keep the green slime out of the detention area in the summer. Gerstad responded that he was not sure how this could be done. Mayor Cuda asked what do we get for this concession. Gerstad replied that he will have to feel this one out. Bolger stated that we got nothing, we get nothing. Gerstad is giving up 8 lots to make it larger. Gerstad replied that if there is no agreement to detain water on that property, we would have to work around it. Mayor Cuda was concerned that there would be standing water on the property and that could be a nuisance. He also wasn't sure if this is something we want to get into. Gerstad responded that it is presently a wetland. Peterson said he did not like the idea of a retention pond -- it poses problems. If this is going to be a wetland we should have some control over it and maintain the property. Lobaito asked about the size of this piece of property. He was told about 5 acres. Lobaito stated that experience has shown that if it is maintained as a wet area it is a nightmare. Mayor Cuda said that the least amount of grief would be to leave it alone. He also asked if it would have less water in it five years after development. Gerstad stated that he can't guarantee that. He thinks the area will be moist. Mayor Cuda reiterated that there seems to be a problem � with ponds and the mosquito problem and slime. Gerstad stated that the property is being farmed for sod. The wet area is very definable. Chances are the City will never do anything with it. It will be a wetland. Mayor Cuda responded that this might not be as bad as a pond. Gerstad said it can be designed with a mud bottom. Based on an engineering discussion with Baxter & Woodman, mud bottom ponds are acceptable in some communities. Batt asked where would you mitigate this. Gerstad replied, along the creek. Mayor Cuda stated that Gerstad will have a difficult time with him on this one. There is no benefit to the City of McHenry. It was suggested that Gerstad meet with Parks Committee. Gerstad asked if he will hear back on the 18" sewer. Bolger replied that he will talk to Carl Moon and Shamrock Farms and find out what their plans are. Chairman Bolger mentioned that Alderman Baird suggested the City look into selling water to T. P. Mathews in the summer during times of drought. Bolger stated the City needs the water for its own use and he would rather not deal with T.P. Mathews. Bolger asked if Mathews paid for the damages to the street in McHenry Shores. Batt replied, not to his knowledge. Alderman Locke addressed the issue of the drainage ditch behind Dartmoor. The fence that was installed was good but it does not solve the problem. Jerry Peterson is attempting to work with L� ''� the property owners association regarding cost, etc. and suggested joint participation, but has had no response. It was suggested that we determine when the next board of directors meeting is held. The meeting adjourned at 9:25 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Carol Holian Recording Secretary � �