(A) The public hearing shall be held no sooner than 90 days from the date of filing and shall not commence any later than 120 days from the date of filing. The public hearing shall be at such times and places as is convenient for the public generally but shall be conducted so as to comply with the statutory requirement that the village render a decision prior to the 180th day from the date of filing, and accounting for the 30 day period for written comment following the close of the public hearing, with due time for the corporate authorities to deliberate and render a decision. The Administrator shall determine the date(s), time(s) and location(s) for the public hearing as soon as is practical but in no event later than 30 days after the date of filing.
(B) The presence of any two members of the corporate authorities, i.e., including the Board of Trustees and the Mayor, shall constitute a quorum for purposes of the hearing.
(C) Once determined by the Administrator, the Administrator shall notify the applicant of the date, time and location of the public hearing and shall request that the applicant cause notice of the public hearing to be made as follows:
(1) Publish two legal notices in a newspaper of general circulation published in the village or Cook County. The first such notice shall be published no sooner than 50 days from the date of filing and no later than 60 days from the date of filing; the second such notice shall be published no sooner than 65 days from the date of filing nor later than 75 days from the date of filing. Said notices, which may be in lower case, shall consist of the following:
(a) The name and address of the applicant;
(b) The owners of the site and, if ownership is in a land trust, the names of the beneficiaries of said trust;
(c) Legal descriptions of the property and the facility boundary, with each depicted on a plat of survey;
(d) The street address of the property and, if there is no street address for the property, a description of the site with reference to location, ownership or occupancy or in some other manner that will reasonably identify the property to the residents of the neighborhood;
(e) The nature and size of the proposed facility;
(f) The date of filing and the time and date of the public hearing;
(g) The location of the public hearing; and
(h) A statement that the application with all required information is available in electronic format from the Village Clerk's office and further that all witness lists and copies of reports and other evidence must, absent good cause, be filed with the Village Clerk and all counsel of record no later than the 80th day from the date of filing.
(2) Certified mail to all members of the Illinois General Assembly from the district in which the proposed site is located.
(3) Certified mail to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
(4) Certified mail to Cook County and all municipalities or townships within one and one-half miles of the proposed facility.
(5) Public hearing notice in a newspaper of general circulation in Cook County published as a display at least once during the week preceding the public hearing. Such notice shall consist of all items described in division (B)(1) above except for item (B)(1)(c) of this section.
(D) Hearing procedures.
(1) The Mayor shall appoint a Hearing Officer to preside over the public hearing and the Hearing Officer shall make any decisions concerning the admission of evidence and the manner in which the hearing is conducted, subject to this chapter. The Hearing Officer shall make all decisions and rulings in accordance with fundamental fairness. The Hearing Officer may exclude irrelevant, immaterial, incompetent or unduly repetitious testimony or other evidence. All testimony and all public meetings concerning the petition shall be in the presence of a certified court reporter who shall report all proceedings regarding consideration of the petition. The Hearing Officer shall have the following powers or duties:
(a) Administer oaths and affirmations;
(b) Conduct a public meeting, prior to the start of the public hearings, to explain the public hearing procedure and site location review process.
(c) Arrange for the presence of a certified court reporter to attend and transcribe the conduct of all public hearings for the public record.
(d) Regulate the course of the hearing, including, but not limited to, controlling the order of proceedings, consistent with this chapter, and to grant recesses for good cause shown. For example, good cause may be found when issues, facts, data or other pieces of evidence arise in the course of the hearing that were not reasonably foreseeable to the party requesting the recess. No recess may extend past five days except due to the availability of a suitable forum for the hearing.
(e) Require a witness or person presenting unsworn public comment to state his or her position either for, against, or undecided with respect to the proposed facility.
(f) Examine a witness and direct a witness to testify.
(g) Establish reasonable limits on the duration of public hearing consistent with the Act and this chapter, including but not limited to the reasonable limitation of sworn testimony, unsworn oral comment, direct and cross-examination of any witnesses, and the limitation of repetitive or cumulative testimony and questioning.
(h) Rule upon objections and evidentiary questions, with the understanding that such rulings must be consistent with fundamental fairness, but need not be in strict compliance with the Illinois Supreme Court, Illinois Code of Civil Procedure, or any local rules of evidence governing a civil judicial trial in the State of Illinois.
(i) Allow the introduction of late-filed evidence, be it written or testimonial, on behalf of any participant, provided good cause is shown for the late-filing, the evidence is offered in and is relevant to the rebuttal portion of the applicant's or participant's case, and evidence was filed with the Village Clerk at least one day before the public hearing at which it is offered, and fundamental fairness to all parties will be preserved.
(j) The Hearing Officer shall be an attorney, licensed to practice in Illinois. The Hearing Officer shall confer with the Village Board concerning the petition, between the date of filing of the petition and the Board's decision on the petition. Given the Hearing Officer's role of communicating with the Village Board, the Hearing Officer may not confer with the participants (members of the public, applicant and village included) concerning the petition, unless such conference takes place during the public hearing, is through correspondence which is filed with the Village Clerk (and, thus, available for everyone to view), or concerns location, time or other similar scheduling aspects of the public meeting or public hearing, or the notices for same. The only additional exception from this restriction is that the Hearing Officer may confer with the Village Clerk about the upkeep or status of the public record, make a request to review or copy the public record, or confer with the Village Clerk regarding the scheduling or location of the public meeting or hearing, or arrangements for the notices of the public meeting and hearing.
(k) At the conclusion of the public hearing and after consideration of all timely-filed written comments, the Hearing Officer shall submit draft written findings (of law or fact) to the Village Board and file a copy of such findings with the Village Clerk.
(l) The Hearing Officer does not have the right or the power to vote, as a Village Board Member votes, on the petition.
(2) Conduct of the public hearing shall be substantially as follows:
(a) Call to order;
(b) Introduction of the Village Board Members who are present together with the Village Attorney who is acting as counsel for the corporate authorities;
(c) Introduction of the Hearing Officer;
(d) Recognition of the applicant and identification of the petition;
(e) Recognition of fees, notices, and date of filing of the petition;
(f) Recognition of the village staff and special counsel that are present;
(g) Recognition of all other participants who have filed the notice of participation;
(h) Recognition of all reports, exhibits, maps or documents of record;
(i) Applicant, participants represented by counsel, and special counsel for the village staff may then make an opening statement;
(j) The Village Board shall then hear testimony from the applicant and/or any witnesses the applicant may wish to call. Upon the close of the applicant's testimony, participants represented by counsel may present sworn testimony, including any witnesses and evidence they wish to present. Upon the close of all such testimony, the village may present sworn testimony, including witnesses and evidence it may wish to present. The Hearing Officer, in the exercise of his or her discretion, may then permit rebuttal testimony and sur-rebuttal testimony;
(k) All witnesses shall testify under oath and be subject to reasonable questioning as follows: direct examination by counsel; cross-examination by counsel for other participants or the village staff, the Village Board and/or the Hearing Officer (including the use of written questions submitted by the public to the Hearing Officer); redirect examination; re-cross examination;
(l) Following the testimony outlined in division (j) above, any participant not represented by counsel that wishes to provide sworn testimony subject to cross-examination by others may proceed;
(m) Following the testimony, if any, outlined in division (l) above, any participant that has not otherwise presented testimony may provide unsworn testimony or comment, subject to the Hearing Officer's judgment concerning content and duration and consistent with fundamental fairness;
(n) Closing statements, if any, by counsel for the applicant, participants represented by counsel, and counsel for the village staff;
(o) Rebuttal statement, if any, by the applicant, subject to limitations as imposed by the Hearing Officer; and
(p) Hearing declared closed.
(3) Public comment: written and oral:
(a) Any person has the right to file written comment concerning the appropriateness of the proposed facility, or its compliance with the requirements of ILCS Ch. 415, Act 5, § 39.2, with the Village Clerk, at any time after the filing of a petition and within the time limitation provided in division (3)(d), below. Likewise, the applicant, village staff, the Village Attorney and/or any participant may file draft proposed findings of fact within the same time limitation.
(b) The Village Clerk, on behalf of the Village Board, shall receive written comment or draft findings of fact and the Clerk shall date stamp same, shall serve copies of the same on counsel for the applicant and counsel for the village, village staff and counsel of record for all participants; and shall file written comment and the postmarked envelope in which comment is received.
(c) Copies of such written comments shall be made available for public inspection in the offices of the Village Clerk, and members of the public shall be allowed to obtain a copy of any written comment upon payment of actual cost of reproduction.
(d) Any written comment received by the Village Clerk or postmarked not later than 30 days after the date of the last public hearing shall be made part of the record at the public hearing as hereinafter described and the Village Board shall consider any such timely written comments in making its final determination concerning said Petition. In the event that the thirtieth day falls on a Sunday or a Federal holiday, the next day on which mail is delivered shall be considered the thirtieth day for purposes of this subsection.
(e) Any person has the right to provide oral, unsworn comment during the course of the public hearing, upon reasonable notice to the Hearing Officer that the person desires to provide such comment and consistent with the Hearing Officer's judgment concerning the conduct of the hearing. All oral testimony may be submitted in written form if the Hearing Officer so directs. This type of comment, since it is not provided under oath, is not subject to cross-examination.
(E) Ex parte communication prohibited. In recognition of the quasi-judicial role of the Mayor and each Member of the Village Board, and the Village Attorney, ex-parte communications with persons other than the Mayor, Board Members or the Village Attorney concerning the application are prohibited between the date of filing and the date of the final decision of the Village Board (or the 180th day after the date of filing).
(Ord. 10-47, passed 4-28-10)