Rolling Meadows council declines recommended studies

The Rolling Meadows City Council would rather save money in the short-term and wants to forgo studies that may inform about future spending.

The council twice on Tuesday voted against studies recommended by city staff members - one about road conditions and one about the old public works buildings - in votes that will save the city $33,050, according to city documents.

One of the recommendations was for a $19,200 contract with Christopher B. Burke Engineering to update a field study of the conditions of the city's 250 public streets. The most recent pavement condition study was done in 2010 and Public Works Director Fred Vogt said the study would be helpful to make sure the city's cost estimates for improvements are accurate.

Staff recommended the study after the council asked for an updated estimate how much the costs of fixing the city's streets would total during a recent committee of the whole meeting, but by Tuesday's meeting several aldermen had changed their minds.

"I think we knew in general how bad our streets are," said Alderman Mike Cannon.

"To pay someone to tell us these streets are bad is irrelevant," Alderman Brad Judd said, until the council decided how to find the money to fix them.

After a vote, the council was tied at 3-3, but Mayor Tom Rooney was unable to break the tie because it involved spending city money, so the resolution failed.

"If we don't have updated cost information, I fear that we are going to be running into the same thing we did last year, finding out that the costs are higher than we anticipated," Vogt said.

The other staff recommendation would have awarded a contract for $13,850 to TRIA Architecture of to do a building assessment on the old public works facility at 3200 Central Road.

A report on the status of the out-of-date building was also done in 2010 and staff said little work has been done since then.

"I don't think another report is going to give us any more information than what we already know," Cannon said. "Anybody who walks down there doesn't have to be in the building industry to know that the building is in bad, bad shape and only getting worse."

Vogt said the city is waiting to hear about a grant that could help put money toward maintaining the public works building while officials decide what to do with it and that the recommended study would be helpful to decide how to spend that money.

Rooney said that a lot can change in five years, and that the sequencing of what needs to be fixed when may have changed in that time.

But, a vote for the study failed 2-4.

"In fairness to the people who prepare these documents for us, they don't do things for no reason," Rooney said.