Trustee Kettner was recently appointed to lead a committee of the mayor on the Village Hall Expansion Project, to reduce the scope so that it would come within the bonded budget and presented a progress report at the last Village Board meeting. The last few times the project went out to bid, all of the bids came in higher than the bonded amount. The bond was increased once, but still failed to cover the bills proposed by those bidding. Also at the meeting, the trustees debated a payment for the engagement of Ward Associates to make presentations on their proposals for St. Paul's Open Space.

Trustee Bruce Torino requested the removal from the Consent Calendar of the payment to Ward Associates for $1,500 to prepare and give public presentations on their open space proposals. Torino questioned the expense saying that even if they had a rate of $100 an hour for work, how could they justify charging $1,500 for preparing slides. Recreation Supervisor Paul Blake commented that Ward listed the price to cover the preparation of slides and other visual aides and said that he would call Dick Ward and ask him to break down the costs further.

Torino said that there were "too many cases" where consultants were charging large sums for work that did not seem to warrant such an expense. Trustee Kettner asked how the presentation by Ward that was made recently to the Joint Conference Committee and directors of the POAs was financed. Blake explained that Ward was initially paid a lump sum for their services in drafting the proposal and have been in several times to consult with the Village staff and officials and their first presentation was part of this.

Blake added that Ward has a good track record with the Village. Trustee Bee suggested paying Ward a reduced amount until the itemization could be obtained and indicated that while he appreciates the need to look for accountability in government finances, there is an established relationship with Ward and in these kinds of dealings a certain level of flexibility usually exists. Torino noted that there has been a record of problems with projects throughout the Village and said, "We went down this road already," indicating his strong belief that tighter reigns on consultants need to be employed and itemized bills should be requested of all of them.

Trustee Asselta suggested on a recommendation from Village Administrator Schoelle that the Recreation Commission be authorized to approve the amount after they review a more detailed proposal explaining the costs and reasons behind them. Torino agreed to a motion to authorize the Recreation Commission to engage Ward Associates for presentations subject to their approval and this motion was passed by the Board. Mayor Hecken noted, "We have been burned on much larger amounts and it's about time we get more specific information on what we're paying for."

Blake reported that Ward Asssociates would not be ready to make public presentations until the middle or end of January. Forums for these presentations have not been decided yet, but consideration for providing space for large crowds will be made. A Village Facts on the Ward proposals will not go out until the Village and POAs meet.

Trustee Kettner reported that the committee to scale back the Village Hall Expansion Project has met and worked with the construction manager to look at ways to reduce the costs. Kettner said he was "pleased to say" that they have "identified cost reductions" that currently add up to over $600,000 in savings. He said that they still "need to do more work" and will meet next week to do some more accurate and detailed cost analysis.

He emphasized that the $600,000 figure is before any redrawing of the plans has been done and expenses incurred from having architects redesign the project. Kettner did say that some of the cost cutting ideas are reducing the overall space of the expansion and changing the method of heating and air conditioning the building. It is his hope that there will be more definitive reports for the next meeting, scheduled for Jan. 13 and action may be taken at that time.