On Monday, June 25, 2001 and Tuesday, June 26, 2001, the Combined Plan Commission and Zoning Board ("the Plan Commission") met pursuant to required notice for the purpose of completing the public hearing, continued from September 21, 2000, on Neumann Homes' revised petition for a Special Use for a Planned Unit Development, as well as for the purpose of conducting a public hearing on the proposed settlement of litigation in the case of Bill Anest, et al. v. Village of Antioch, Case No. 01 CH 137, now pending in the Circuit Court of Lake County, Illinois. Having reviewed the submittals of petitioner, staff, and interested members of the public, having heard and duly considered the verbal and visual presentations of the petitioner, the reports and recommendations of staff, the comments and questions of members of the public and the responses of the petitioner and staff to such questions and comments, and having had the opportunity to raise questions, receive answers to such questions, and engage in due deliberation concerning the petition and proposed settlement, the Plan Commission, by majority vote of the Commissioners present and voting, respectfully makes the following recommendation to the Village of Antioch Board of Trustees: That the petition of Neumann Homes and the proposed settlement agreement be DENIED. This recommendations is based on the following rationale, as asserted in the Motion to Deny: 1) The impact on the Village and surrounding communities, involving hardships including the creating of a severe traffic overload, serious overloading of the school districts, and possible economic hardship to the schools and community; 2) The relative gain to the public in denying the petition outweighs the hardship imposed on the petitioner, Neumann Homes.

Mike Haley, Assistant Village Administrator, stated that the Department of Community Development previously distributed to the Board of Trustees their letter of recommendation regarding car pool parking. Also included in the letter of recommendation was a brief summary of events concerning the comprehensive parking plan which was adopted in 1996. The Department of Community Development's recommendation concerning car pool parking in the downtown area is as follows: We do not feel the municipal lots would be a proper area for car poolers for the reasons listed below. The proximity of the downtown municipal lots to the metra lot could create an uncontrollable parking situation concerning car pool parkers. The Village would have a very difficult time monitoring who is genuinely a car pool parker. If a village sticker is used as a means of identification, what would prohibit a high school student or metra commuter with a village sticker from using the designated space in the downtown? Many special events are held in the municipal parking lots and it would be inconvenient to continually move and contact parkers to relocate them. To use valuable customer parking, that directly results in sales tax revenue would be potentially harmful to our local economy. Our comprehensive parking plan has solved the many problems that once existed. It is therefore our recommendation that the downtown area is not suitable for a car pool parking area. The Village does make available a parking area in the metra lot at $1.50 per day for anyone wishing to park there for the day. We also felt if our car poolers are residents, why wouldn't they pick one another up?

Mr. Jack Fields asked the Mayor and Board of Trustees if they would be interested in participating in some of the scheduled Fourth of July activities such as the hog calling contest.

A motion was made by Trustee Hanson, seconded by Trustee Pierce to authorize the purchase of a police dog for the Antioch Police Department K-9 unit, in the amount of $11,475.00 with the program cost of $4,575.00 for the following year being placed in the budget. The purchase will be funded through the drug-seizure account. On roll call, the vote was:
YES: 6; Pierce, Larson, Caulfield, Foresta, Porch and Hanson.
NO: 0.
THE MOTION CARRIED.