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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 10/25/1995 - City Council SPECIAL MEETING OCTOBER 25, 1995 A Special Meeting of the McHenry City Council was called to order by Mayor Cuda on Wednesday, October 25, 1995 at 7:35 P.M. in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Center. At roll call the following Aldermen were present: Bolger, Locke, Lawson, Baird. Bates arrived at 7:40 P.M. Absent: None. City Staff in attendance were Deputy Clerk Marth, Director of Building and Zoning Lobaito. Absent: City Administrator Peterson, City Clerk Althoff, Director of Public Works Batt, Director of Parks & Recreation Merkel, Chief of Police Joyce and City Attorney McArdle. Also in attendance were representatives of Northern Illinois Medical Center, and Centegra Health System, of which NIMC is a part, including NIMC Attorney, Jeff Ladd; NIMC Chief Executive Officer, Barry Finn; Centegra Executive Vice-President, Jim Redding; Scott Harganon (Attorney Ladd's partner) and Bob Teska of Teska and Associates. Before commencing the meeting, Mayor Cuda asked for a moment of silence for "our friends and neighbors" in Fox River Grove and Cary who suffered a terrible loss because of the train/school bus collision. Mayor Cuda announced that this Special Meeting was called to consider Centegra's request for the establishment of a Healthcare Zoning District on NIMC's property. At the Council's May 17, 1995 meeting, authorization was given for the drafting of a proposed healthcare zoning ordinance which was to be presented at a joint meeting of the Plan Commission and Zoning Board before Council consideration. Centegra has requested Council's review of the draft ordinance prior to seeking Plan Commission and Zoning Board comments and the official public hearing before the Zoning Board of Appeals. Mayor Cuda then turned the meeting over to Director of Building &Zoning John Lobaito who has been working directly with the hospital staff. Lobaito stated that he had met with several staff members of the hospital to develop the ordinance but -- because of the time-consuming east of the river annexations, did not have an opportunity to work on the draft and had asked the hospital to do all the work for the City staff to review. Lobaito reported that the proposed ordinance looked to be well thought out and could be incorporated in our existing zoning ordinance as a separate zoning district classification which has some elements of the City's Business Park and Office Park zoning requirements. Lobaito gave a brief overview of the ordinance, which included 42 permitted uses and 2 conditional uses in the proposed healthcare district on the hospital's 115 acres. He said there were some staff concerns and recommendations that would need to be addressed before the final draft would be presented and they included: - recommendation that all residential uses be conditional as opposed to permitted uses; - street access points to Bull Valley Road and State Route 31 be identified and not subject to change after City approval; - an overall internal street configuration, including traffic studies, be considered as part of the process. ,.,,. Responding to a question from Alderman Bates, Lobaito said that staff did not look at other hospital zoning district ordinances to see how or if they worked in other municipalities and thought that Attorney Ladd might have some insight regarding the question. Locke had some questions on stormwater detention/retention areas since there was no campus plan from the hospital to show these areas, how could the City plan for off-sight regional stormwater detention/retention areas. Lobaito said the hospital would have to prove to the City that if they eliminated any stormwater detention area from the hospital site, the run-off from the hospital could be accommodated by the regional stormwater detention/retention ponds. Wednesday, October 25, 1995 Special Meeting Page 2. Attorney Ladd responding to Alderman Locke's concerns on stormwater detention areas stated that the hospital has created temporary detention areas in order to participate with the City, not only in water control but monetarily, in creating a regional detention pond. NIMC's engineers have told him that the next project of any size out there will require a permanent solution. Ladd stated that NIMC cannot wait much longer. They will soon need answers from the City and Pacini as to whether there will be a regional detention pond or the hospital will have to create an overall on- site solution for the hospital's property. Ladd stated that the ordinance was created after several meetings with City staff and is the result of reaching a consensus in addressing the concerns of the staff. Ladd believes that the ordinance provides for higher standards than what is now required. In order to meet the future challenges of healthcare and compete in the rapidly evolving industry, Ladd said the hospital must make sure they can expand quickly. As the City's ordinances now stand, it takes three to six months to plan and zone a project in addition to securing a certificate of need from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, which could take an additional three to six months after the Planning Board is assured of the likelihood of zoning . The proposed ordinance would allow a more rapid expansion in creating their healthcare campus. Ladd told the Council that the hospital was asking the City to place trust in the hospital's commitment to the community by allowing them to deviate from the Subdivision Control Ordinance requirements in construction of additional buildings without subdividing the property into lots and blocks. The hospital however would still meet or exceed the requirements for setbacks, landscaping, water retention and other subdivision controls. Barry Finn next told of the types of fast-paced developments taking place in the healthcare industry and the services that NIMC provides the community, from cancer radiation therapy and a cardiac catherization lab to expanded outpatient surgery and classrooms for community health education. He also talked of the implementation of the successful child day-care center, the accredited rehabilitation therapy system developed at the hospital, the new behavioral health unit and the value of the flight- for-life helicopter which was utilized extensively in the train/school bus accident today in Fox River Grove. Later this month, Finn stated, the hospital will begin developing the Medical Resonance Imaging (MRI) building for addition to the campus which will be in service twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. According to Finn, many of these programs that the hospital provides do not make a profit. They were implemented to serve the needs of the community by a hospital board that is made up of community members who are responsive and responsible to the community. Finn finished his remarks with the report that several healthcare agencies from outside the County want to build medical facilities inside McHenry County and he believes, because these facilities would not be controlled locally, they would not be community assets. Ladd asked if there were any questions on the ordinance and Alderman Baird asked who would be in charge of the permitted retail uses - would they be hospital franchises or independent business owners. Ladd responded that everything the hospital board has said to this point is that they want to control the whole 115 acre parcel. There may be a type of condominium interest developed, say in a physician office building, whereby if a unit is to be sold, the hospital would have right of first refusal on the owner's interest at market value and the hospital would buy it back. The board does not want to see the land split up with 50 different owners. He said they want to keep central control in order to approve what is built there. Lobaito also said there are safety measures and ways to control the sale of land within a district like this, through the proposed ordinance. Alderman Bolger said he felt that the Council should not be having an in-depth discussion on the proposed ordinance. He believed an informational, general outline meeting would be fine but an in-depth technical discussion would be preempting the Zoning Board of Appeals. Attorney Ladd said he would like to make some general comments on the Wednesday, October 25, 1995 Special Meeting Page 3. previously stated staff recommendations. First of all, the hospital has no problem with giving an overall internal street configuration although they would not like to be tied down to exact locations, but will provide a general configuration. As the process develops, the hospital will work with the staff on the access points to the campus. The hospital is willing to make concessions on the retail businesses being turned inward with no curb-cuts on Route 31 or Bull Valley Road, provided the hospital can get the right access into the community, making sure there is no through traffic that isn't hospital related. Ladd said the last item that the hospital seems to have a problem with is that all residential uses be conditional. The hospital is not talking of single-family or multi-family residential units, but medical units that have a medical component, such as a nursing home or assisted living units. Ladd said the hospital is certainly willing to discuss this problem. At this time, Jim Redding presented a short slide presentation on Centegra's positive economic impact in the community and the healthcare programs that have been developed for the delivery of quality healthcare to the community. Alderman Baird suggested a joint meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals and Plan Commission be set for a presentation by the hospital. Mayor Cuda asked John Lobaito to contact the Plan Commission Chairman, the Zoning Board Chairman and the hospital to find a convenient time to set up a joint meeting for the presentation, probably toward the later part of November. Mayor Cuda thanked Centegra for its presentation and called for a five minute recess at 8:45 P.M., before going into Executive Session. The meeting reconvened at 8:50 P.M. with all Aldermen, the Mayor and Deputy Clerk still in attendance. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion by Bates, seconded by Locke, to go into Executive Session at 8:50 P.M. to discuss personnel matters. Voting Aye: Bolger, Locke, Bates, Lawson, Baird. Voting Nay: None. Absent: None. Motion carried. Motion by Baird, seconded by Locke, to go back into Open Session at 9:30 P.M. Voting Aye: Bolger, Locke, Bates, Lawson, Baird. Voting Nay: None. Absent: None. Motion carried. Motion by Baird, seconded by Lawson, to authorize the Mayor and Alderman Lawson to interview public sector executive search firms and come back with a recommendation to hire one of the firms to secure candidates to fill the vacancy of City Administrator. Voting Aye: Bolger, Bates, Lawson, Baird. Voting Nay: None. Abstaining: Locke. Absent: None. Motion carried. Wednesday, October 25, 1995 Special Meeting Page 4. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Bates, seconded by Lawson, to adjourn the meeting at 9:35 P.M. Voting Aye: Bolger, Locke, Bates, Lawson, Baird. Voting Nay: None. Absent: None. Motion carried. EPUTY CLERK ` MAYOR