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Minutes of the Mill Creek Special Services Advisory BodyApril 14, 2010

The meeting of the Mill Creek Special Services Advisory Body was held on Wednesday,April 14, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the 4th Floor Conference Room at the Kane CountyGovernment Center. The following members were in attendance:Mark Ruby Brian Grinstead Sandra Rolnicki Karen KosogJackie Forbes (arrived later)Also, in attendance:Jennie Gatske, Program Manager, Staff CoordinatorMary Anne Hoye, Administrative OfficerBill Earle, Mill Creek residentBrian Borkowicz, Mill Creek ResidentScott Slagle, Mill Creek Resident

Minutes (February 10, 2010)

The minutes of the February 10, 2010 meeting were approved unanimously.

Public Comment

Bill Earle stated that there is a tree at the NE corner of Fabyan Parkway and N. MillCreek Drive that needs replacing. It came down last year and is right on the path alongFabyan.Scott Slagle asked where the SSA gets the streetsigns. Ms. Gatske stated that the SSAhas an intergovernmental agreement with Blackberry Township as contractor for signreplacement. Mr. Slagle presented some pictures showing an aerial of neighborhood “O”and some areas for sidewalk replacement. He also asked if there were any plans for abike path along Prairie Clover Drive. Ms. Gatske stated that the west side of PrairieClover was being transferred title to the Forest Preserve and she would inquire about anybike path plans. Finally, Mr. Slagle asked what could be done about parking alongPrairie Clover Drive by patrons of the park. He said that the street parking situationcreates a potentially unsafe environment for the other drivers. Ms. Gatske stated that shewould address the question to the Geneva Township Highway Department to see if theyhad any plans for additional parking signage.Brian Borkowicz asked about plans that the SSA had for dealing with Emerald AshBorer. Ms. Gatske stated that they were looking at a combination of treatment optionsand removal.

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Landscaping & Maintenance

Jennie Gatske distributed maps of the Landscaping Locations. She pointed out a coupleof new areas, such as the addition of portions of larger wildflower areas in neighborhood“O” and “Q”. She stated that the developer will be conducting the maintenance on theremaining areas and the SSA will be assuming responsibility for those areas after fall2010.Ms. Gatske stated that because of the early snow thaw, additional clean up was requestedprior to the beginning of the contract date of April 1

. She stated that the SSA contractedout the new landscaper, Forever Green, to do a one-time pick up the week before. Thisincluded garbage pick-up and debris, such as tree limbs and branches.Ms. Gatske stated that Forever Green was currently working on the spring clean-up andworking on quotes for the annual flowers and mulch. She stated that planting of theannuals would be scheduled for May.Member Grinstead asked about the utility easement at Haladay Lane and S. Mill Creek Drive. There are only utilities on the site and the MCWRD does not maintain it. Ms.Gatske stated that she believes that Shodeen maintains the grass there, but she will check.

New Maintenance Areas and Requests

Jennie Gatske stated that the SSA had a drive through with Shodeen in mid-March todiscuss potential new areas for enhancement. The main requests were:

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E. end of Dobson Bridge – placement of a bench and planting area at the end of the sidewalk

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Traffic circle at Herrington, west of the church – seating area and planting area toenhance the unfinished portion

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Gazebo and sitting area at McQuire Place and Prairie Clover Drive – currentlyowned and maintained by the Forest Preserve. The SSA would have to obtain aneasement agreement with the FP for any enhancements.

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Reimbursement of costs associated with initial furniture purchased by thedeveloper for the commercial areas of the Village Center.

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Reimbursement of costs associated with parking lot lights (electrical service) andsnow removal services since 2006 for the parking lots throughout the VillageCenter.Ms. Gatske distributed a copy of a response by Kane County on behalf of the Mill Creek SSA stating that we would consider the requests and will work together with Shodeen toreach an agreement. Ms. Gatske stated that the SSA will meet with the Forest Preserve todetermine what kinds of plans they already had for the areas in question. Mr. Slaglestated that some kind of bike path would be more desirable in Oakmont than a gazeboand asked if one was planned. Ms. Gatske stated that she would ask the Forest Preserve

DRAFTwhat their plans were for a bike path connection in that area. She stated that she knowsof several residents’ concerns that the paths don’t connect and said that she would ask them about it when they meet.

Emerald Ash Borer solutions

Jennie Gatske distributed the EAB treatment proposal from Wayne White, Emerald TreeCare. She stated that Staff had met with Mr. White in March to discuss his plans for thetrees he had inventoried. In his visits, he had discovered approximately 302 ash trees,some of which were quite infected already. His treatment program involves a deep rootapplication and then a trunk injection. He would inspect the trees after the rootapplication to see how the trees reacted to the treatment and then determine if a trunk injection would also be beneficial, or if the tree was too far gone and would need to beremoved.Mr. Borkowicz stated that many different companies have different treatment programs;for instance, his company, Davey Tree Experts, does not do the trunk injections becauseof possible injury to the bark layers. He did agree, however, that there are a lot of different opinions on what is the best solution to the EAB infestation. He recommendedlooking at each tree individually and determining the best course of action on a case bycase basis.A motion was made to proceed with the initial treatment as proposed by Wayne White,with the understanding that the SSA would take a look at individual trees throughout theseason and make a decision on future treatments at the end of the year. Motion carried.

Parkway Tree Planting Program

Jennie Gatske stated that the response for the Parkway Tree Planting Program was betterthan expected and had over 40 reservations so far. She stated that the planting wasscheduled for June 1

. She also stated that Staff was looking into using St. Aubin’s foradditional tree installations throughout Mill Creek in the common areas.

Wildflowers

Ms. Gatske distributed a proposal from Tallgrass Restoration for the new floristic studyto be done for 2010. She stated that it has been 3 years since we first hired them to do aninventory of our wildflowers and it is time to update the list and see our progress. Thecontractors will be conducting the first half of the study in the spring, with the remaininginventory in the fall.Ms. Gatske also stated that Tallgrass was planning on some controlled burning either thisfall or next spring for select areas to be determined.