After three votes and lengthy deliberation the Riverside Village Board voted 4-2 Monday night to charge developers $15,000 for every parking space they are short of village requirements in the central business district. This payment in lieu of parking fee will be the second highest in Illinois according to a handout prepared by village consultants.
Only four Illinois municipalities in Illinois-Lake Forest, Hinsdale, Barrington, and Geneva-charge such a fee and only Lake Forest's fee, $22,000 a space is higher than the $15,000 per space Riverside adopted Monday night.
The Riverside Plan Commission had recommended that the village adopt a lesser fee of $5,000 per space for the first five spaces short of village requirements and $8,000 per space for subsequent shortfalls.
But that proposal garnered only the vote of village board member Thomas Shields and was defeated by a 5-1 vote Monday night.
Trustee Ben Sells proposed a fee of $15,000 for the first five spaces short of village requirements and then $25,000 for each additional space. The trustees split 3-3 on Sells's motion with trustees Kevin Smith and Jean Sussman joining Sells voting in favor of it and trustees Candice Grace, John Scully, and Shields voting against it.
The stage was set for Village President Jack Wiaduck to cast the deciding vote.
But Wiaduck didn't want to cast the deciding vote and ultimately decided to abstain from voting and allowed the motion to die.
"I don't think I should decide," said Wiaduck. "I think there should be more of a consensus on this. I would be inclined to send this back to the Plan Commission for further discussion."
However Scully had another idea. He then made a motion calling for a flat fee of $15,000 a space. His motion carried by a vote of 4-2 with Shields joining Grace, Sells, and Scully voting in favor of it. Only Smith and Sussman voted against the $15,000 a space fee.
Even though Shields had earlier in the evening argued for a smaller increase he voted in favor of the $15,000 fee.
"I also was in favor of increasing it in recognition of the recommendation of the Plan Commission," said Shields after the vote. "If we didn't increase it to their level at least we should increase and the consensus seemed to be forming around what we adopted so I was prepared to go along with it."
Shields didn't agree with Wiaduck that further discussion was needed.
"We had discussed this several times and it seemed to me that it was more important to get something accomplished rather than to continue to talk about it because all the issues have been expressed and I don't think positions were going to change."
Vehicle stickers jump $20 for '08
The Riverside village board voted Monday to raise vehicle sticker fees and garbage pickup fees.
In 2008 vehicle stickers will cost Riverside car owners $65 up from $45 this year. Trustee Kevin Smith was the only village board member to vote against the fee increase. He argued that the fee increase wasn't targeted for a specific purpose. The increased fees will result in approximately $120,000 in increased village revenue which will be used in the public works street and bridges account according to a village document.
Stickers for Class C vehicle, 8,000 pounds or less, will rise to $70 and Class T stickers, for vehicles weighing more than 8,000 pounds, will now cost $95. Class M stickers for motorcycles and motor bikes will go up to $65 from $45.
Garbage pickup fees will increase 3.3 percent next month. The fee increase is established by a contract the village has with its garbage hauler, Allied Waste Disposal. The contract calls for annual fee increases to match the increase of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The cost for curbside garbage and recycling pickup will jump to $21.05 per month from the current $20.38. Back door pickup will now cost $29.20 a month up from $28.26. The new fees will go into effect Dec. 1 and remain in effect until Nov. 30, 2008.
