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    Council Committees Meeting Preview

    Four council committees meet this morning:


    Aviation: There are two ordinances on the Aviation agenda related to car use at O’Hare Airport. The first ordinance introduced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel would create a new premium parking service program that lets travelers reserve a parking spot for an additional $10 a day fee added to the normal parking price. Users would also get amenities like a car wash or detail. All parking providers within airport boundaries would have to enter into concession agreements with the Commissioner of Aviation. Parking companies would have to pay a fee that is 10% of revenue. Companies that fail to file a concession agreement will be fined up to $2,000 a day.


    The other agenda item is an updated concession agreement with Simply Wheelz, LLC, the company that operates Advantage Rent-A-Car. Simply Wheelz filed for bankruptcy in 2013 and was recently acquired by a private equity firm based in Toronto, The Catalyst Group. The ordinance updates the concession agreement to include the rental car company’s new owner.

    Budget: There are three items on the agenda, including an ordinance requiring owners of buildings with four or more residential units to pay for trash collection. The ordinance is a response to a March report from Inspector General Joe Ferguson that says the city is spending millions providing free trash collection to hundreds of these buildings. The ordinance has 29 co-sponsors.


    An amendment to the Metersave Program also spawned from an IG’s investigation that found buildings were benefiting from free water because meters had not yet been installed. The ordinance mimics the IG guidelines, requiring all new buildings to install meters as soon as the building is connected to the city’s sewer system. A clarification in the ordinance says the Commissioner of Water Management would oversee the program.


    The committee is also slated to vote on an approval of an additional $77,000 grant from the federal government to the Department of Public Health for the Morbidity and Risk Behavior Surveillance Program.


    License & Consumer Protection: Among several routine items, the Committee will discuss an ordinance amending the cutoff date of the crane operator’s license examination from September 1, 2015 to March 1, 2016. The ordinance was posted online Monday and will be directly introduced into committee today.


    Workforce Development: The only item on the agenda is an ordinance updating the Municipal Code that requires all officers and employees of the city be Chicago residents. Anyone currently employed who fails to comply will be terminated, but the ordinance adds an exception for new employees, who would be given 90 days to establish residency, and employees who cannot move in that time frame due to “extraordinary circumstances.” In order to be exempt from the requirement, the employee would have to file for a waiver with the Commissioner of Human Resources.

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