[0:21] >>> >>president scaman: welcome. It is 7:01 pm.
[0:24] I call this regular meeting of the village board to order. Clerk waters, please take the
[0:27] role. >>clerk waters: trustee eder, here, trustee enyia, here,
[0:30] trustee leving-jacobson, here, trustee straw, here, trustee taglia, here, trustee wesley -
[0:42] president scaman. >>president scaman: here. We do have quorum present.
[0:50] entertain a motion to approve the agenda as has been presented.
[0:52] >>speaker: moved. >>speaker: second. >>president scaman: motion by
[0:56] trustee eder and second by trustee straw. All in favor?
[0:59] (multiple speakers) aye. Ms.
[1:01] >>president scaman: okay, moving forward to non-agenda public comment this evening.
[1:05] hello, please - and if you will bear with me for just oe second - do we have loretta
[1:29] ragsdale here? Jane miller? Rosario?
[1:58] please, would you join us? Right up here at the microphone and you have three minutes,
[2:05] sir. Thank you for joining us. >>speaker: I have been a
[2:10] resident of oak park for 63 years. I live in a building that I was
[2:16] born in. And my parents - in the last year or two I have had a
[2:22] considerable problem with parking in my driveway. Parkway driveways are 11 and a
[2:28] there is not a car that is produced today that are shorter than 11 and a half feet long.
[2:35] I've got probably 50 or 60 tickets in my driveway for parking over the curb line and
[2:39] parking over the sidewalk line. When I did a (name) of the village I am the only person
[2:48] last time I received tickets he they were on the driveway and I have a vehicle which I
[2:59] explained to parking enforcement will not pass eissions and I have a covered
[3:02] and they continue to give me tickets and I cannot move you and I cannot pass emissions.
[3:10] I get tickets for having plates and not having plates on the vehicle.
[3:18] a girl driving excessively slammed into the cars on my parkway both of which were
[3:25] total. The village was out there an hour and and a half later for
[3:28] my tickets being stuck in the street and being in the street. I argued about those and
[3:32] received those tickets. Every morning I walk my dog. Here's a car less than a block
[3:39] away completely parking on the sidewalk. Here's another one on the
[3:42] sidewalk ad here's another one - and I have gotten for having for more than the vehicle than
[3:51] that on the sidewalk. Here's another one. Here's another one.
[3:54] completely blocking the sidewalk. This is the way that I parked
[3:59] there I a mailbox at the y. Corner and I always shovel during wintertime and there is
[4:05] more than enough path for people to go on the driveway, this was my suburban that was
[4:14] total that I got tickets for having plates on it and then not having plates on it and
[4:18] having expired plates and this was pushed out industry and an hour and and a half later there
[4:21] were four officers that gave me nine tickets and three for this one, two or three or four for
[4:26] another vehicle that was in my driveway. There is plenty of space to
[4:29] walk on and it is not an issue. I have to have three more tickets now - these are also
[4:37] pictures that I have taken a vehicles in the street. None of them get tickets.
[4:41] I seem to be singled out. I have kind of had enough of it.
[4:55] licensed attorney and I will have to proceed to court if I cannot get this issue resolved.
[4:58] I've heard all types of different stories from parking enforcement about how if it
[5:02] sticks over the street they have the right to do it - every car sticks over the street that
[5:06] is parked in the driveway. They are just simply too short for a modern vehicle.
[5:09] some part of a vehicle will be either sticking over on a sidewalk or over the curb.
[5:12] and I think they really need to review this law or these ordinances, because it is
[5:16] expensive and you cannot comply - if you prking a driveway perpendicular or horizontal,
[5:20] your vehicle is going to stick out onto the sidewalk or onto the street and I don't know why
[5:24] I'm being singled out, but there is a lot of other people that are not getting tickets
[5:29] and blocking substantially more of the sidewalk or way further in the street than I.
[5:35] >>president scaman: thank you for sharing. I do have your contact
[5:39] information. So, I'll share that with staff contact. Ask for additional
[5:43] thank you for being here. Melanie. >>melanie: hello, I am melanie
[5:58] weiss and I live at 215 clinton avenue in oak park. I am here, because I feel like
[6:02] it is my responsibility to keep this and the board and the village 's year which is that I
[6:07] know that we did get rid of the flock camera system and I believe it was december 2025, I
[6:17] could be wrong. But, there was an incident in front of my house where the
[6:23] person who did battery to a ups driver making a delivery to my home and also was spending the
[6:29] whole day waiting in front of my house for a delivery that he was trying to steal from my
[6:35] house that the ups driver was incredible and he yelled out the license plate of this man
[6:41] who was trying to mace him and hurt him to steal this package in front of my house and this
[6:47] happened on december 18, 2024 and I happen to be like looking outside my window washing this
[6:52] whole thing happened which was crazy. And the ups driver had the
[6:56] foresight to call in the license plate right away and this person was caught driving
[7:00] away in the village ad he had a long rap sheet and I had a hard time - I had fraud in my
[7:10] account from him and he stole my credit card information and it was a lot of problems that I
[7:14] had and I am just explaining to you one situation that was resolved very quickly and
[7:20] successfully because of flock and I understand that there are problems, but I would hope that
[7:26] with the way things are much more sophisticated now both with criminals and technology
[7:30] that there is another way that the village cn look at having some type of license plate
[7:39] reader or some type of technology to support the police, because I'm just
[7:42] telling you one story, but for me it was a really big deal. And it was really important and
[7:48] this person needed to be caught and he was only caught because of the flock camera system.
[7:52] and I hope that the village does put that seriously on their priority list to look at
[7:55] other ways that they can support the police and give them license plate reader
[8:01] technology and other technologies to help, because this person was very scary and
[8:06] dangerous in our village. And was only caught because of flock.
[8:09] thank you. >>president scaman: thank you. All right.
[8:23] maybe I don't even need that - okay, so - (name)? No?
[8:42] okay. We do have a copy of her public comment for the record that I
[8:45] can share with staff. Special education transit contractors repeatedly failed
[8:49] t provide federally mndated bus aids for my son who has autism and seizure disorders.
[8:56] I will share this along with the parking public comment. Is there anyone else here for
[9:07] non-agenda public comment this evening? Frank and then frank and I
[9:12] don't know who would like to go first. >>speaker: (away from mic).
[9:23] >>frank: my name is frank v. You guys know me well because I am always here - I am always
[9:37] here giving my position on single-family, the elimination of single-family zoning.
[9:44] but, tonight want to talk about something else that is very important to me.
[9:47] before I start, though, I would like us to remember that we lost to great american today.
[9:51] someone who many people thought was a hick and a right-wing and was a hoagie and that person
[9:59] would be dolly parton. Mrs. Parton gave many hours and many millions of dollars to
[10:07] support progressive causes to include the fight against covid and for the vaccine.
[10:14] as a musician, I feel great sadness, because I did not always like music, but she was
[10:22] a great musician and a great american. To you about my concern about
[10:33] what is happening with policing in oak park. By the way, I am pro police.
[10:36] if you ever see me by a police car it is because I'm walking up and saying thank you to that
[10:41] officer for what they do. If it were not for them, I don't believe that I would live
[10:45] here. My neighborhood would be dangerous without the police.
[10:49] despite their best efforts, I have had a break-in where I a second break-in where I had ,
[11:01] home damage, but luckily the guy was scared of my dog so he did not take anything and I had
[11:04] my garage broken into, lost two cars, bicycles and tools. But, still, the fact was that
[11:13] the police were there and they helped us and as a matter of fact it was a police officer
[11:17] that told me I had been broken into. Safety when I see those blue
[11:23] and white cars. I appreciate them. The police department and even
[11:30] when I get pulled over I appreciate them. Maybe - I am hispanic but also
[11:35] an old guy - they think they should give me a break - but, every time that I have been
[11:42] pulled over I have been wrong and every time I was wrongly pulled over I was educated.
[11:46] and by the way, I am a better driver now. Now, this does not mean that I
[11:55] do not have criticism of our police force. Force that respects the law and
[11:59] are citizens and human rights. Wrong, we need to intervene,
[12:07] because a law will not have respect if we do not have the log respecting us.
[12:13] when I was a commissioner on the crc I brought up an issue where one of my fellow
[12:17] commissioners had been harassed by oak park police and my chairman was too much of a suck
[12:33] up, pardon my speech and after there was a death because of a really hard for us to hold
[12:40] hearings and we were told that we could not because of the open meetings act law and
[12:44] luckily the police and dan haley were able to do wat we could not.
[12:51] >>president scaman: frank, we are at three minutes if you are able to come to a close.
[12:59] >>frank: the thing I want to ask - one, why is it that police cars are not patrolling
[13:03] anymore? I just see them sitting by the roads.
[13:06] two, I have not seen anything in the local papers about something that scared the crap
[13:10] out of me. On a saturday night, sunday morning there were at least 100
[13:15] kids running down my block. I read in the paper what happened where there was a
[13:22] problem in chicago and they moved here and they took over the shell station and luckily
[13:25] the state police, forest park moved them out and then chicago and nine suburbs including our
[13:32] own got these people out of my neighborhood. I was in my house afraid.
[13:38] I cannot leave my own house. If we talk about getting rid of police or cutting back police
[13:44] or not getting respectable police, those of us who are in an area with a potential for
[13:51] high crime - who was going to protect us? I do not own a weapon.
[13:59] >>president scaman: I will keep yours with everyone else's so that I can share your contact
[14:04] information with frank. Thank you again for joining us. And the other frank.
[14:06] and then mr. Donovan. >>frank: frank s. The scottish poet robert burns left two
[14:15] lines to us that have stuck with me since high school and they go like this - without god
[14:25] the gifted deist to see ourselves as others see us? And I'm here tonight to give
[14:30] you a gift that god did not. I have three things I want to say.
[14:34] first is to those board members who others see as bound and determined to put through the
[14:42] proposals for the zoning changes. I would like to concentrate on
[14:49] a remark that ever used several times. And that is that we have been
[14:54] working on this for years. Something that is probably different than what it was
[15:02] intended to, because I think it ties into something that I find to be a common and if not
[15:10] universal human trait. And that is that the longer that we are set in the past
[15:14] that we have chosen to walk down, the harder it is to step back and re-examine our
[15:22] thinking. Where we correct? It through?
[15:30] reason for doubt? Particularly we are good people of will approaching problems
[15:37] with conviction, ideological, moral, well-intentioned, noble and desirable goals.
[15:45] inertia can in my opinion make people blind to plain facts and in this case I would say clear
[15:57] economic loss and render an inability to reconsider evidence and new reasoning.
[16:00] and just mind you, potentially to the fact that this whole idea just will not work for the
[16:06] goals at wich it was intended and has the potential to make things worse.
[16:11] I hope I am wrong. I hope that you are not in the tunnel or that you have come
[16:18] out or will come out, but that is how I feel that a great many people see.
[16:28] the second thing was for trustee wesley, but since he is not here, I can shorten this.
[16:32] the third thing is to trustee taglia - to those of us who see you as a hero and a model of
[16:43] prudence, caution, sound analysis and based on sound economics, I wish that I were
[16:50] able to bring in mail sacks full of mail and dumped them on the floor like in the miracle
[16:58] on 34th street with the letters that prove chris crinkle is santa claus.
[17:03] and not like the letters dumped in the well of the senate in mr. Smith goes to washington,
[17:10] because those were all written up by the opposition and if you want to know how that ended,
[17:17] you will have to watch the movie again. But, to me - the fact is that
[17:24] we truly - I hope others will join you. And with that I will be abroad
[17:31] for a while and so no one will be able to tell me what I look like to others which I am not
[17:38] entirely sure I want to know, but I will be back. >>president scaman: thank you.
[17:44] mr. Donovan? >>speaker: hello, my name is chris donovan, 373 s. Elmwood,
[17:57] ridgeland and van buren and it has been great progress for safety reasons and instead of
[18:04] having those we trust you signs that have you stop and intersection there putting up
[18:07] those lights making it easier and safer for people and myself and especially schoolchildren
[18:11] school.ack and forth longfellow so, that is great. However yesterday I was coming
[18:18] up ridgeland avenue coming north and I found about both directions they put in
[18:22] something where there can be no left turns off of ridgeland onto van buren which I think
[18:33] may have been a little bit of an overkill, but more than that if it is driving people down to
[18:37] the lights to make a left turn at either harrison or at jackson - traffic congestion at
[18:46] those intersections trying to make a left-hand turn is really difficult.
[18:50] look like at this time temporary diversions are going to be permanent, can there be a
[18:57] left-hand turn signal install both at jackson and at harrison to make a left turn their
[19:05] easier and safer. You for your time and look forward to hearing your
[19:15] consideration. >>president scaman: thank you. Any other non-agenda public
[19:18] comment today? Please. Thank you.
[19:27] >>speaker: hello, joseph b, oak park resident for the last seven years and I did not
[19:33] prepare anything today and I have not for the last two times to speak about the same issue
[19:38] which is zoning and I am here on the record that I would like the board to slow down and
[19:44] think about what the ramifications of and would be of this change.
[19:49] I know now that we have six information sessions crammed into roughly 30 or so days
[19:57] before there is maybe sme more public comment followed by a decision in october which is
[20:02] less than two months away. I would encourage the board to look for other solutions to
[20:10] this issue. I think a lot of them have been raised at the last few meetings
[20:13] that I have attended and I would love to see some of those ideas be thought of as
[20:21] alternatives to a wide sweeping change that I think the community is largely against
[20:28] and I think you know we are going to find out the reaction if this passes and I hope the
[20:34] board will take everyone 's comments under advisement and I hope that the board will attend
[20:39] these six information sessions and really listen to what people have to say and I think
[20:46] the gentleman appear before about not having television on this is going to be what is
[20:50] best for the community. Thank you. >>president scaman: thank you.
[20:57] any other non-agenda public comment? All right, excellent.
[21:01] thank you for joining us again. Proclamation or women's
[21:08] equality annually on the 26th of august. Entertain a motion, please.
[21:15] >>speaker: moved. >>speaker: second. >>president scaman: motion by
[21:21] trustee leving-jacobson and second by trustee straw and typically I do spread this out
[21:25] amongst the women on the board and so my apologies, but I will share it and appreciate all of
[21:32] the women leaders in our community, particularly those in service.
[21:38] equality day, observed annually on august 26, commemorates the certification of the
[21:42] nineteenth amendment to the united states constitution, a landmark
[21:47] achievement that affirmed women's legal right to vote and transformed the american
[21:53] electorate; and whereas, this day honors the courageous women-organizers,
[21:58] trailblazers, and everyday citizens-who, despite exclusion and injustice, stood
[22:01] up and spoke out to claim their place in democracy. We also recognize that for many women,
[22:07] especially women of color, indigenous women, and immigrant women, full access to the vote
[22:12] and equal participation in civic life came only after generations of continued
[22:20] whereas, while some women gained the right to vote in 1920, native american women
[22:26] were not recognized as citizens until 1924, chinese american women until 1943, japanese and
[22:36] other asian american women until 1952, and black women faced ongoing suppression until
[22:43] the passage of the voting rights act in 1965. These milestones
[22:48] reflect both the resilience of women and the persistent need to
[22:54] defend equity in every generation; and whereas, women's equality day
[22:58] challenges us to reflect not only on the victories of the past but also on the
[23:05] pressing work ahead - to ensure that all women, including transgender
[23:10] and women of all races, lities, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, are fully included
[23:23] in our civic, social, and economic life; and whereas, we further recognize
[23:26] and thank the women in public service roles - elected officials, municipal leaders,
[23:30] and government staff - whose leadership, vision, and dedication
[23:33] shape policy, advocate for justice, and ensure inclusive governance at all levels; and
[23:37] whereas, oak park's history of progress and commitment to equity is strengthened
[23:42] every day by women who organize, speak up, run for office, lunch businesses, lead
[23:47] families, and reimagine the future. We reaffirm our belief that every
[23:51] girl and woman deserves the opportunity to thrive, lead, and live free from
[23:56] discrimination or limitation now therefore, I, vicki scaman, president of the village of oak
[24:03] park and board of hereby proclaim august 26, 2026, as women's equality day
[24:09] in the village of oak park. We invite all residents to reflect on the sacrifices
[24:14] made by those who came before us, celebrate the women leading in
[24:18] our community today, and recommit t a future where equality
[24:21] is not just a value, but a lived reality - for all women. Thank you.
[24:35] all in favor? (multiple speakers)
[24:37] aye. >>president scaman: wonderful. Thank you.
[24:40] and we will move to the village manager report. I do think that I have some
[24:45] public comment here, as well. Public comment first? >>manager jackson: yes, sure.
[24:54] >>president scaman: very good. Mary reynolds. >>manager jackson: I will go
[25:00] ahead and introduce it and then to the public comment. So, we have mary reynolds,
[25:05] director from the early childhood collaboration doing a presentation on our updated iga
[25:11] agreement between the village of oak park and district 297. The board of the early
[25:25] collaboration for childhood consists of representatives of each of the jurisdictions and
[25:28] representing the village of oak park is president scaman, trustee and myself and there
[25:34] was a working group that was formed and over the last year that will be sort of looking at
[25:38] the outcome that is presented tonight with this updated iga. And I think that will pause
[25:44] right there and do public comment and then we will invite mary up to the podium to
[25:53] provide an overview of the iga and also by the way the iga, the updated iga appears on the
[25:57] consent agenda as item I. >>president scaman: ecellent. I have doctor catherine eason.
[26:11] everyone. I am doctor kaplan -- catherine eason.
[26:18] thank you for this opportunity to speak on behalf of the iga and I hail from chicago on the
[26:29] south side and if we had anything similar to what the village has here in oak park,
[26:33] we would be a phenomenal city, right? The collaboration has been a
[26:39] great part in my trajectory and I cannot imagine along with your help to continue the
[26:48] longevity and the services that we offer here in oak park is a privilege to be here to speak
[26:53] to you and also on behalf and collaboration of work. The support is definitely
[27:02] needed. Early childhood education is the foundation of everything
[27:08] that we hold dear. If we do not support those efforts, I don't know where our
[27:13] children would be and that is why I am happy to speak and ask that you cntinue to support
[27:19] the collaboration and mary reynolds and what it is that they do for the village of oak
[27:26] park and the families of the oak park area. I want to say thank you also
[27:29] for the emergency loan that you provided for the nursery, it has put us in a positive spot
[27:35] and in a great position to partner with the organization that may be able to offer more
[27:42] services. So, again I ask again that you continue to support the
[27:45] collaboration of oak park and early childhood education. Thank you.
[27:52] >>president scaman: thank you. And mr. Donovan, are you speaking on this one or later
[28:07] that consent? The early childhood collaboration - no?
[28:24] okay. (name)? I have been in oak park
[28:26] resident for four years when my husband and I moved here I was a new mom arriving in a city
[28:29] where I knew no one and was hours away from my village. When I found the collaboration
[28:32] it was such a lifeline and my four month old signed up for the partnering and parents
[28:36] program and was able to get the sound information and the support that I needed as a
[28:42] first-time parent with a million questions and in every step of my mother journey so
[28:45] far I have been able to find an advocate into collaboration ad attended programs, massage,
[28:54] potty training, cpr, joined neighborhood play dates, completed developmental
[29:00] screenings and even a parent leadership training that helped me to see that I have not lost
[29:04] any of the dreams that I had before I became a parent. With every program I have
[29:10] attended I have built the community I was missing. The collaboration helps me find
[29:14] my footing as a parent and I'm asking the village to continue to invest in family and
[29:18] community by investing in the work of the collaboration for early childhood.
[29:21] glenn brewer? Good evening, my name is glenn, a member of the collaboration
[29:30] for early childhood board of directors. I was on the village board in
[29:33] 2013 when we first signed the intergovernmental agreement that formalized the village 's
[29:41] relationship with the collaboration and I supported it then because I believed
[29:44] investing in young children was one of the smartest things a community could do.
[29:47] the research has been clear for decades, public investment in early childhood returns between
[29:52] four and nine dollars for every dollar spent through long-term and even multigenerational
[29:59] impact. When children have access to high-quality early childhood
[30:01] programming we see higher employment, lower incarceration rates and a stronger families
[30:05] both now and when those children grew up and become parents themselves.
[30:11] I stay convinced from a distance and I also joined the board of directors because the
[30:18] collaboration has earned that involvement. It operates with transparency
[30:22] and efficiency, execute with excellence and stays genuinely responsive to what children,
[30:32] families and early childhood professionals in this community need.
[30:34] I see this again and again at the board table. Oak park has long prided itself
[30:37] on putting its values into practice and refreshing disagreement is one of those
[30:41] moments. A positive impact and well-developed and
[30:44] wll-documented and community tested and I urge your continued support.
[30:50] okay, is there any other public comment on early childhood collaboration?
[30:59] moses? Please do - >>moses: how is everyone?
[31:11] good evening president scaman, village trustees - village manager jackson.
[31:22] my name is moses valdes and I am a business owner in the hemingway district, president
[31:26] of the hemingway district board and a lifelong oak park resident.
[31:29] and I'm here tonight in support of the collaboration for early childhood.
[31:35] I will be honest that I did not always think of early childhood as a business issue, but over
[31:39] the years I have seen firsthand what happens when families with welcome in a neighborhood and
[31:44] it has changed the way I think about community investment. The collaboration has been an
[31:48] incredible partner and asset to the hemingway district from the recent construction block party
[31:54] to the annual fall family fun fest, they bring hundreds of families into our neighborhood,
[32:00] including the very youngest oak parkers and this translates into business and families who
[32:10] feel connected and want to put down roots here like my family did in 1978.
[32:17] the collaboration does not only bring families to the hemingway district, they draw all of the
[32:21] big things in town like oktoberfest and the kids edition of thursday 's night
[32:28] out. They do this really cute thing where they put crochet pigs and
[32:30] the windows of stores and they make a treasure hunt for kids to find the pigs in the
[32:35] windows. And they do this in different business districts which I have
[32:41] seen in the arts district and pleasant district and downtown oak park and of course
[32:45] hemingway district. The youngest kids at each of these events are tomorrow 's
[32:50] neighbors, employees, customers, and maybe even future business owners in our
[32:58] community. Supporting children, families, and the community that
[33:02] surrounds them, the collaboration helps build the kind of place where people want
[33:05] to be. And that is good for everyone, including those of us running
[33:08] businesses in this community. Oak park has always understood that investing in people pays
[33:13] off. And there is no finer example of this than our community 's
[33:19] long-term ivestment in early childhood. I am asking the board to
[33:24] continue to put your support for the collaboration for early childhood.
[33:27] thank you. >>president scaman: thank you for joining us.
[33:30] village manager jackson. >>manager jackson: thank you president scaman and as we
[33:34] introduce mary I want to aknowledge the good work from our staff, jack malik and help
[33:42] from kevin w and always grateful for the work that the collaboration is doing and a
[33:48] product of the head start program myself and I am super excited about the work that we
[33:52] continue to do in community. And I will turn it over to mary.
[33:57] >>mary: mary reynolds, thank you so much for having me. Thank you - at the
[34:05] collaboration for early childhood. I love any chance I get to talk
[34:08] about the partnership between the collaboration in the village and so thank you for
[34:11] having me for a few moments. Just to ground our conversation I am here to talk about - it is
[34:17] a mouthful, the intergovernmental agreement pertaining to the purchase of
[34:21] early childhood services. Between district 200, 97 and you all at the village of oak
[34:29] park, that iga led your three parties to enter into the contract for early childhood
[34:33] services with us at the collaboration. As you probably know that is a
[34:36] really innovative approach and a very meaningful way for the village to reach out into the
[34:39] community and shape the experiences of our very any chance I get I also like to
[34:45] name early childhood education as essential community infrastructure.
[34:51] the early care and education sector employs more than 600 people across oak park and
[34:55] river forest and that enables workforce participation for parents and caregivers and that
[35:01] allows children to have enriching learning experiences and when that sector is strong,
[35:05] families stay put, businesses thrive and our community grows. And also a lovely moment to
[35:11] pause and say thank you. The village is just an incredible partner -- this sets
[35:42] them up for success as both students and as neighbors and helps us build a oak park where
[35:47] people of all background can thrive. There you are.
[35:51] the village board, you're all set really ambitious goals for the community and when I look
[35:57] at those goals you know I am biased about this, but I see early childhood throughout.
[36:02] community health and safety we know starts well before kindergarten.
[36:05] we know that advantage and disadvantage accumulate over time and that the early years
[36:11] are when we have a wonderful and amazing opportunity that can move us towards a more
[36:20] racially equitable society. The vibrant connected neighborhoods that are a part
[36:23] of your board goals happen when your family still rooted and supported and challenged with
[36:27] access to affordable high-quality education are families that can afford to
[36:31] stay in thrive here. We have the collaboration to work with our families and
[36:41] especially those who start life furthest from opportunity so they have access to the kind of
[36:44] experience is that set them up for success in direct service of your village goals.
[36:48] now she cannot do two things - answer before I jump into the iga refresh, it is a good thing
[36:57] to take a look at what our partnership looks like in practice peer over the years
[37:01] we've had the chance to work alongside village staff and elected officials in so many
[37:04] ways and some of the community events that you see here and on shared priorities and the
[37:10] neighborhoods where families live and we are very proud of that relationship and grateful
[37:14] for that relationship and excited to continue building on that.
[37:16] and so as village manager jackson mentioned with the foundation in mind in the
[37:22] spring of 2025 at a iga governing board meeting, all three parties agreed that it
[37:26] was time to take a fresh look at the agreement which was originally signed in 2013.
[37:29] there were some things in a document that were not working as well as they should and some
[37:34] other good faith issues that had built up over time that needed to be addressed.
[37:38] and so the parties formed a ad hoc working group and this slide captures how they framed
[37:42] the purpose of that. There were also financial aspect of the agreement that
[37:52] needed updating including that the funding had unintentionally leveled out and then been flat
[37:57] since 2017. To add a little bit of further context, between 2017 when the
[38:07] contract amount leveled and 2020, the collaboration actually still was not billing
[38:10] to the full amount available to us. As I said, this is a pretty
[38:14] innovative experience and a unique approach to early childhood work and work models
[38:20] and other communities that we can look to to say what is the staffing structure look like?
[38:27] how do you build up this kind of data infrastructure? We are functioning in many ways
[38:31] as a start up and developing the staffing pattern and standing up the home visiting
[38:36] and data partnership ad growing into the model. The first several years there
[38:39] were lots of things to figure out which led to under billing and at those funds that were
[38:42] under billed were put into a reserve account that you will hear a little bit more about in
[38:46] a bit. By 2020 we were billing the full contract amount, but we
[38:53] have been able to bridge the gap between what the contract covers and what the work
[38:57] atually costs through arpa funds administered by you at the vllage of oak park and
[39:01] those funds and december 31 of this year. So, the workgroup addressed
[39:10] both the administrative pain points and the financial structure in their work
[39:14] together over the last year. On the governance side they have recommended simple changes
[39:19] that will make a practical difference and one is moving from a single tear into cochair
[39:23] which allows for continuity and rotating the hosting responsibility every two years
[39:27] instead of every year which again allows for some continuity.
[39:29] the workgroup also updated language throughout the agreement to better reflect the
[39:36] party 's deep agreement to equity, replacing deficit -based framing for children and
[39:41] families and with language that is more accurate and aligned with shared values.
[39:44] and the workgroup also made three significant financial recommendations and I will go
[39:48] through each of those individually. So, the first is contribution
[39:55] ratios or how the cost of the contract is divided across the three parties.
[39:59] to make a fair comparison across the village budget and a school district budget, the
[40:03] parties looked at each entity operating fund and for the village that is the general
[40:07] fund and for the school district that is the education fund.
[40:10] and then staff, including kevin b who is a joy to work with as person, I do not say that nce
[40:19] lightly. Reviewed and compared looking at things like police and fire
[40:25] pensions which schools do not have. And figuring out which costs to
[40:32] back out of the total budget of each entity so that we were looking comparing like for like
[40:35] in terms of the total budget and so that those budgets would be as comparable as possible.
[40:43] and we call those what you see here as adjusted primary funds. You see the amount that those
[40:49] primary funds were in 2012 and the adjusted primary funds and how the budgets have grown
[40:53] since then, especially noting that the 97 has had operating referendum and the size of the
[40:57] budget relative to one another have also shifted. And the way the workgroup
[41:01] recommends the cost is distributed be shifted to match those new ratios of budget
[41:08] comparisons. The scond financial component of this is looking at adjusting
[41:17] the contract amount so that we do not find ourselves back here with a big gap to cover with
[41:22] year-over-year flat which is better for everyone from a planning and balancing the many
[41:27] priorities that you have perspective. Built into the agreement is a
[41:32] formula which is very similar to how school districts budgets grow over time and it uses a 4%
[41:42] cap instead of 5% as also a review so everyone has time to plan and balance the many
[41:51] priorities that they have. And the third part of this is resetting the contribution
[41:56] amounts. So, the original agreement with the primary adjusted - the
[42:01] adjusted primary funds that we just looked at, the original agreement with the
[42:07] collaboration was that each party was contributing .85% of that adjusted primary fund.
[42:16] that began dropping as the party 's budgets grew and it is currently at about .53% of
[42:19] those adjusted primary funds. So, the workgroup looked at one time reset to address this with
[42:25] scenarios ranging from .75% back up to the .85% that was originally in the agreement and
[42:33] they ultimately agreed on .8% based on analysis by cfos as well as asked andy
[42:42] collaboration with the working budget on the ongoing fundraising efforts.
[42:46] the workgroup also looked at the iga rserve account which I mentioned which was the account
[42:50] where understanding was held and we smoothed these increases over the next several years, 10
[43:07] years with no increase is a big job and the reserve account gives us a way to phase those
[43:11] increases in to reduce the party 's payment amount as we get back up to that.8%.
[43:17] so, this is also president scaman o the slide wich is just a - this is the iga reset
[43:28] in a nutshell. This work really stabilizes the foundation that we have built
[43:35] together over more than a decade. And I want to say that we do
[43:38] not take that partnership for granted. We are so grateful for the
[43:45] work. Your work is well recognized beyond oak park and some of you
[43:47] know last summer that we hosted the staff team for early learning funding equity which
[43:50] is a national funding organization that consults on equity and early childhood and
[43:57] they came to here in oak park specifically to learn about this model and approach to
[44:00] local support of early childhood. I am very regularly asked by
[44:06] early childhood leaders what magically worked in oak park and I get to say that we are
[44:10] fortunate to work with partners including the village who understand that the conditions
[44:14] that children experience in their first five years of life shape everything that comes
[44:24] after and investing in those years is one of the most community can do and we are
[44:28] very grateful for that. And with that I will move us away from vicki looking cute in
[44:33] costumes and welcome your >>mary: would you like me to go back to vicki looking cute?
[44:45] >>president scaman: no, no, no! Thank you, though. I always love doing it!
[44:48] there was a time where my granddaughter like hit the nose of - the big pig - all right.
[44:58] questions and discussions? Also, I did think of the law firm and all of the work that
[45:05] they put into it, greg smith and missing him today, but brooke, welcome.
[45:11] thank you. Questions, comments? Brian?
[45:23] don't have a question, but thank you to you and of the early childhood andy
[45:26] collaboration for early childhood. I was saying to you earlier
[45:30] that you guys are they under told success story of oak park and I am constantly in awe with
[45:55] what the founders of the collaboration was able to do because it is not easy starting
[45:58] something like this and across multiple governing is entities and it is something
[46:03] that I know folks aound the country are able to see. And at the same time it is
[46:13] under told success stories of progressive governance in oak park.
[46:18] and I am proud that we get to vote to continue to support it today and I think that this is
[46:28] something that I always view as a model for what we should be figuring out and how we can
[46:44] move forward. Eder: I also don't have a question, just commentary.
[46:48] I said as was mentioned I sit on the iga board and the working group for the
[46:53] collaborative and I've seen up cose firsthand just all of the amazing work you do and how
[46:57] accountable and transparent and joyful all the work that you do is and I'm extremely happy to
[47:05] be a part of it and I did not know that I would be on it when I joined this board, but I'm
[47:08] very grateful that I am. It is very rewarding work. And it is also a great
[47:12] opportunity to work with our colleagues as was mentioned at the district, as well.
[47:15] in addition to all of the amazing programs that the collaborative does, I also just
[47:20] want to give a shout out to something that I think is also a under told story which is the
[47:25] data aspect of things which sorry, I am the data guy, but it is truly - from a selfish
[47:35] perspective, it is a resource that I think a lot of other communities and other
[47:40] decision-making bodies get to have access to and you are tracking student outcomes from
[47:45] very early age, birth all the way to adulthood and it is very rare to be able to see that
[47:51] kind of high-fidelity information and actually use it as a way to measure the
[47:57] outcomes of the policies that we are trying to pass here at the board.
[48:00] so, we can actually use this information to help see whether or not the policies that we
[48:05] have are having an impact that we want thanks to this data. And it is really a benefit to
[48:10] the village and we are getting our money's worth for sure in many dimensions.
[48:17] but, I just wanted to call that one out in particular. Again, very spportive and
[48:21] looking forward to continuing the collaboration. >>president scaman: thank you.
[48:30] trustee enyia? >>trustee enyia: I will try to think about things to say - I'm
[48:37] kidding, I'm kidding! I could not. I honestly could not.
[48:38] you kow I am biased and I have advantage of some of the ke programs and I look at my son
[48:46] and I see it every day. And knowing those things gets me - when I - I was like do not
[48:57] look directly at them you will get choked up thinking about the stuff, but when you know
[49:01] that it has an impact on people's everyday lves, the person or the people that they
[49:04] can end up being because they have opportunity as the doctor was saying you know I worked on
[49:13] the south side and I worked on the west side and managed eight different buildings for cps and
[49:19] I see children everyday that are impacted and some negative ways because they don't have
[49:23] enough funding to do positive programming to keep kids on the right track, but also to catch
[49:29] them to say hey like my son with a speech impediment, finding out that there are
[49:37] with that could be a detriment later in life. So, I am just very very
[49:45] grateful every time I get to see you and the work that you continue to do and I just don't
[49:49] think our community knows enough about it because had my wife not been that person going
[49:56] through all of the things and figuring out that there was help we can get for our kid.
[50:00] we would not know. So, I am just very thankful and I have nothing to say but good
[50:07] things. >>president scaman: trustee wesley.
[50:12] >>trustee wesley: quite frankly just some of the best money we have spent.
[50:21] a couple things - I also don't have any questions or anything - and the first thing I want to
[50:39] say is that this is a great example of cross government collaboration and it shows that
[50:42] it is possible to do this successfully in oak park and to do it well him to do it in a
[50:47] way that benefits the entire village and to do it in a way where it works so seamlessly
[50:56] that no one ever hears about it! Like that is just an amazing
[51:03] thing. And so I just would ask anyone when we talk about or think
[51:08] about cross governmental collaboration, look at the collaboration.
[51:13] because, we can do it here and it has been successful for the entire village.
[51:23] the last thing I want to do is read a small couple sentences from your website and I may
[51:26] have done this the last time you were here. But, I just think that this is
[51:29] so cool and not a lot of people know - inspired by the collaboration 's model, state
[51:36] senator don harmon originated legislation that established the illinois early learning
[51:40] council. Later, as a former state senator, president obama
[51:45] proposed a national early learning council based on the one in illinois.
[51:48] so, this thing that w are talking about here made it all the way to dc.
[51:54] that is amazing. That shows what this village can do.
[52:01] we had this opportunity and I just felt like that neded to be elevated.
[52:07] thank you for all of the work that you do. And I am very happy to vote yes
[52:10] taglia: I actually have some questions. And I'm afraid if I will be
[52:24] asked to participate in the parade at some point during halloween that I may be asked
[52:35] to dress up as the scrooges! But, thank you for all of your work and your exchanges and it
[52:39] has been very helpful and tucker and others and thank you for filling in a lot of the
[52:47] information questions that I had and I can see some of the luminaries of the collaboration
[52:51] and bob and gordon, of course for many years, treasurer. I have no issue and really this
[53:04] is a internal issue and questions on the issue - but, I have no issue with the work and
[53:08] strongly in support of the collaboration and I have been on the board for several years
[53:11] of course and I do have some questions on the funding. And based on the information
[53:15] and the schedule, here comes kevin - >>mary: thank goodness!
[53:29] >>trustee taglia: this is really a village question - and so although the amount we are
[53:32] contribute in, the percentage is going to decline, the amount is going to increase and kevin
[53:35] can tell you if you look at the first four years that the first year is $90,000 and if you add
[53:39] it up over four years it is a 40% increase and I am just asking how are we going to pay
[53:48] for that? Where is the money coming from, the extra money, the 600,000
[53:52] and again, you can look at the numbers and just tally them up - that is what it is.
[53:59] and I'm just saying how we do that? Are going to get the money. We
[54:03] >>speaker: cfo for the village of oak park, kevin b, this has been budgeted in the general
[54:11] fund since the inception. There was some relief during the pandemic due to arpa
[54:22] funding as was mentioned in the presentation, that funding is ending december 31 and as we
[54:30] move forward - it will move back to the general fund as a baseline service at the village
[54:34] so, we will continue as of 2027 budget is proposed, that line item you know these expenditure
[54:44] investments will be included in te general fund as a baseline operating expense.
[54:50] in terms of then how and where the funding is coming from, obviously anything that is
[54:58] coming into the general fund is supported by the top 25 major revenues including sales tax,
[55:04] income tax, tax levy itself and because this has been a part of the baseline budget, we have
[55:12] not outlined the separate expenditures and it is similar to how we are budgeting for any
[55:18] other department that the village has. And we are not necessarily
[55:29] outlining that funding specifically for one line item, it is just included in all of
[55:32] the different revenues that we are getting and coming into the general fund.
[55:37] time, the 2027 budget is going to be including this updated amount and that is including
[55:50] you know the general fund as you pointed out and our conversation is coming up
[55:53] during the budget conversation once we get to the operating side.
[55:56] it is one of the reasons why we and I appreciate the collaboration including this
[55:59] information in their was that we wanted to make sure that in march, early in our fiscal year
[56:03] that we have a window if you will to look into what that increase is going to look like
[56:08] so we can adjust the budget meaning if the board 's position is that we are not
[56:14] going to increase the levy by 3%, that expenditure needs to be accounted for just as any
[56:22] other department. So, it is a long-winded answer to say this is included in the
[56:27] baseline and it will be included in the baseline 2027 budget which is supported by
[56:35] the tax levy and sales tax, income tax and all of the other fees that are going into the
[56:39] general fund. >>trustee taglia: thank you. And this is no reflection on
[56:44] low collaboration, this is a village issue which we really have to keep that in mind as we
[56:50] approach our budget, we have many demands put on us and this is an additional demand that we
[56:56] will have to figure out a way to pay for this and in a way that we were nt doing
[57:00] previously. Investment and we strongly believe that and thank you for
[57:06] all that you have done. And we will work it out and w will have to figure it out.
[57:14] thank you. >>president scaman: thank you. Any other comments?
[57:18] >>trustee leving-jacobson: I will echo the support and gratitude.
[57:22] very grateful also for the public comments that echo just the range of impact that the
[57:33] collaboration 's work has in the community and I think that was really valuable to hear
[57:37] from the perspective and I am a big fan, as well and partnering with the early childhood
[57:41] collaboration and joining this board around public safety topics and gun violence in
[57:47] prevention and I appreciated the slide how you pointed out our investment in this
[57:51] partnership reflects our commitment to those goals. So, I'll not take too much
[57:58] time, but I agree with what my colleagues have said and I am very grateful for staff as well
[58:02] inputting the work - the real work in the agreement. So, yes.
[58:10] >>president scaman: okay, so - just real briefly, trustee taglia did mentioned bob s and
[58:22] gordon and nora are here and you have a platform if there is anything that you would like us
[58:26] to know next. No? Okay.
[58:36] that one! Bob s has always got like okay, but remember we have got more
[58:40] to do. So, I am very grateful for his investment and life investment
[58:51] in this work as well as gordon, you've been the treasurer I think since the beginning.
[58:54] a little one - okay. Thank you. Appreciate.
[59:03] so, a pleasure to work with everybody, obviously there is a cost, but it is an investment
[59:09] as was said and in investment that pays off very well. It goes to the goals that we
[59:14] have that we all have to live and thrive and especially following covid - when our
[59:25] babies were not seeing people speak for the first several years of their lives, speech
[59:34] and other occupational therapy type challenges and increased greatly and you know here in
[59:40] oak park we know that all of our - things to the early childhood collaboration,
[59:48] daycare and early childhood facilities have the support all of those children in a very
[59:56] loving and inclusive way. So, thank you. All right.
[1:00:08] then - the actual vote of that agreement is on the consent agenda as village manager
[1:00:24] jackson mentioned. And we also have as a village manager report just a space
[1:00:29] holder for the calendar. Share on that?
[1:00:32] >>manager jackson: just really quick. We did publish the calendar for
[1:00:36] september, october, november, but I would like to represent the calendars next week at the
[1:00:41] meeting next weekend I did notice that there ae a couple of missions from the calendar
[1:00:44] that I would like to address and republish, but the ones that we have already published
[1:00:48] if there are any questions about any of the items there, certainly happy to answer any
[1:00:52] questions and I know that we have items on the agenda tonight -
[1:01:03] scaman: I was just noting the september one is on the previous agenda if anybody
[1:01:06] wants to pull that up. Just had a couple of things e that were not there that I
[1:01:13] wanted to be there and I would like to represent it next week if that is okay.
[1:01:19] >>president scaman: of course. So, anyone who is keeping track of our regular schedule, in
[1:01:28] september we are taking the eighth off for the labor day holiday, is that correct?
[1:01:32] >>manager jackson: that is correct. >>president scaman: it looks
[1:01:39] like we have a full schedule on all of the other tuesdays as well as the hispanic heritage
[1:01:43] celebration of september 26 and committee meetings. So, we will look for more
[1:01:52] information next week. >>manager jackson: yes. All of that will be on the
[1:01:56] calendar next week! Thank you. >>speaker: (away from mic).
[1:02:12] >>president scaman: I get the power to do a recess - oh, like a actual vacation!
[1:02:15] no, you blew that one! Village board committee reports - anyone have any - any
[1:02:34] comments on village - okay, moving forward. We have a vacancy report that
[1:02:37] is provided by the village clerk 's office and anyone interested in serving on a
[1:02:40] village board or commission can please email clerk waters at clerk@oak-park.us.
[1:02:43] we are now moving forward to the consent agenda and before I take a motion I will invite mr.
[1:02:49] chris donovan - I'm sorry, that goes back to when I was clerk - >>speaker: good evening, chris
[1:02:58] donovan, 733 s. Elmwood. At my checkered employment history I managed various
[1:03:09] programs for homebuying, first-time homebuyer programs and home loans to assist
[1:03:14] people. City of berwyn, county of lepage, brief time in benton
[1:03:22] harbor, michigan. And the one thing that all of those places and others had in
[1:03:25] common was that those loans for first-time homebuyers or home-improvement assistants
[1:03:32] were interest-free and the payments were delayed until the time the house was sold.
[1:03:39] great. The agenda and I saw these two addresses and then I discovered
[1:03:45] that these homeowners have been there 25, 30 years and have been making payments on all the
[1:03:55] time and while the payments are low as they have aged, these payments are difficult for them
[1:03:59] because of reduced incomes and circumstances. So, why is this on there?
[1:04:06] so, I would suggest that you consider tabling these two line items in the consent agenda and
[1:04:15] suspending payments currently and postponing or rewriting the loans so that they become liens
[1:04:24] on the property, interest-free liens, no payments until the house is sold.
[1:04:28] now, over the years, these people have developed equity in those houses and so depending
[1:04:34] on the amount of equity, these small amounts owed will not be a burden on their future
[1:04:40] success because of the equity that they ever earned in the 25 or 30 years and I would like
[1:04:48] you to do that and consider that and one other item regarding one of these loans,
[1:04:52] 522 south taylor - there was a release of mortgage filed on that loan into thousand 24.
[1:05:07] make payments because right there in the document it says the debt secured by this
[1:05:11] mortgage has been paid in full. So, that should have stopped in 2024.
[1:05:16] what is going on now? Again, table this tonight and straighten those things out and
[1:05:20] put it on the agenda for next time to recast this as a lien for payment at the sale of the
[1:05:26] house. And I would also recommend that you look at the whole portfolio
[1:05:32] and do the same with all of those. Thank you for your time.
[1:05:38] >>president scaman: village manager jackson? >>manager jackson: yes,
[1:05:41] president scaman, appreciate the feedback mr. Dnovan. I would take the opportunity to
[1:05:45] remind the border where we left off with the loan forgiveness program and process and
[1:05:53] certainly always interested with any additional direction, but it is a good idea to
[1:05:56] actually just articulate where we currently stand today and how we got here with these
[1:05:59] items on the agenda and so jonathan burch from the program can explain that.
[1:06:08] >>jonathan burch: as you may recall back in october 2024, staff brought forward the loan
[1:06:11] forgiveness policy and the board had no process to even consider the possibility of
[1:06:16] loan forgiveness for folks who were paying loans to us for the long term.
[1:06:21] at that time, the board adopted a policy and and since then we portfolio of loans looking for
[1:06:28] those that have been delinquent over a long period of time to be able to come current or if
[1:06:35] necessary, apply for loan forgiveness which is the case for these two loans.
[1:06:39] where after working with those homeowners in one case going all the way back to 2021, the
[1:06:46] other since 2024 when those loans were due at the time considering other alternatives,
[1:06:53] they apply to us in the spring hvac for consideration.ess with one of the loans is a little
[1:07:00] confusing because there were two amounts that were given back in 2001 and back to back,
[1:07:04] one was given as an fully paid off and one was was given as an interest-free loan
[1:07:10] that was then do years later or at the time of sale into thousand 24 and the one that
[1:07:23] mr. Donovan is speaking of is the one that had interest related to it and it was paid
[1:07:27] in full, but the other loan given to two individuals in the same household, two individuals
[1:07:31] living in the same unit, the other one was not paid off at that time.
[1:07:35] and because it was all due out once rather than the interest payment over a long period of
[1:07:42] time, over 20 years. >>president scaman: okay. So if there remains the
[1:07:57] interest of my colleagues and these are both forgiving these loans tonight - potentially a
[1:08:02] discussion for a policy change - is that of interest? >>trustee straw: I am certainly
[1:08:13] iterested in having further discussion about the policy change and I think that we
[1:08:18] should proceed with the recommended action on these loans, but I do think they are
[1:08:25] part of a broader policy discussion. >>president scaman: as long as
[1:08:30] there is at least four of us we could review the opportunity for what we are hearing from
[1:08:34] mr. Donovan or the payback at the end that the sale of the house.
[1:08:46] >>jonathan burch: currently all of the rehab loans, these are 20 years later.
[1:08:50] before that point we had many more and one of these as you can see is from a buyer loan
[1:08:55] that goes all the way back to the early 1990s and those all had interest associated with
[1:09:00] them for a long period of time. Almost all of those loans are out of our portfolio and there
[1:09:07] is just a couple left at this point in a part of what we are doing here is housecleaning and
[1:09:10] mr. Donovan as recommended to go down this road. Good.sident scaman: okay, very
[1:09:18] well, thank you. So, we will look forward to that additional conversation at
[1:09:22] a later date. And we will at this point, this is the arrangement you have
[1:09:31] made with the homeowners. Okay, I will - since I had a very brief discussion with mr.
[1:09:41] donovan, I understand another point that he is making is that allowing us to free up some of
[1:09:44] the cash so that we can provide that loan to another person and postponing that - when it
[1:09:54] finally is pale back at the sale of the home. >>jonathan burch: exactly and
[1:09:59] that is what the funds related to these - that they are given interned to future folks to
[1:10:03] help them fixing up their home and we have been doing that going back to the early 1980s.
[1:10:10] >>president scaman: and the funding sources, the cdbg is exactly for this purpose.
[1:10:19] >>jonathan burch: correct. >>president scaman: thank you. And if I do not have any other
[1:10:31] public comment on consent agenda I entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as
[1:10:34] has been presented. >>speaker: move. >>speaker: second.
[1:10:38] >>president scaman: motion by trustee straw and second by trustee eder.
[1:10:41] click waters, please take the role. >>clerk waters: trustee straw,
[1:10:44] yes, trustee eder, yes, trustee enyia, yes, trustee leving-jacobson, yes, trustee
[1:10:47] taglia, yes, trustee wesley, yes and president scaman. >>president scaman: yes.
[1:10:54] thank you for the further explanation. Regular agenda.
[1:11:00] first we have a resolution adopting the biodiversity and green infrastructure plan.
[1:11:06] village manager jackson. >>manager jackson: we have lindsay, chief of
[1:11:11] >>lindsay: we are very excited tonight to present the results of the biodiversity and green
[1:11:22] infrastructure plan. We did this because of the crop land commitment that commits
[1:11:26] the village to establishing 30% of village land as green infrastructure or enhanced
[1:11:33] management. So, to work towards that goal we determined we needed a
[1:11:36] baseline and we needed to have a better understanding of what exactly the goal meant to that
[1:11:40] purpose we hired green print partners last year in september and this board heard in
[1:11:46] february on part of the definitions of the framework that we would be using for the
[1:11:52] study and tonight is the result of that. So, I am excited to introduce
[1:12:00] citibank herein and we also have our sustainability officer as well.
[1:12:10] sidney? Evening, thank you for having me.
[1:12:20] so, I am here to go over quickly the overview of the plan itself and the
[1:12:25] recommendations that were proposed. So, this work is really a
[1:12:31] culmination of the entire planning process and the framework that was previously
[1:12:35] mentioned that we spoke about earlier is included as well as a baseline conditions and
[1:12:40] opportunities. We have recommendations sections and implementation
[1:12:44] roadmap that brings it all together. I will go over each of these at
[1:12:48] ahigh level. So, first we needed to set those definitions and
[1:12:51] infrastructure and enhance management by 2030 could mean a lot.
[1:12:56] we needed to anchor in these clear definitions of biodiversity as diversity of
[1:13:03] life in oak park, green infrastructure is the kind of spatial metric and surface
[1:13:06] areas of open spaces designed to mimic ecological functions and mitigate stormwater runoff
[1:13:14] and improve air and water quality and enhance management was really the social piece of
[1:13:20] how folks are caring for the land and actions related to the care and maintenance of those
[1:13:24] open spaces that are intended to support biodiversity and ecological health and function.
[1:13:33] so, tweaks to the 30 x 30 vision allows us to provide a little bit more clarity on what
[1:13:37] this looks like and how it has been accomplished and saw four key elements arose and one is
[1:13:44] public land and that is 30% of public land is established or managed by green infrastructure
[1:13:50] and 100% of assets are managed with enhanced management practices.
[1:13:54] tree canopy - and of recognizing the existing tree canopy is a success already
[1:13:59] passed 30% and so this goal recognizes maintenance and continued care at the 36%
[1:14:07] coverage currently. Resident participation is measuring kind of 30% of oak
[1:14:12] park residents who have integrated or are practicing enhanced management or have
[1:14:20] installed green infrastructure on their private properties and then can activities around
[1:14:24] making sure that some of the core and natural areas have linear connections to other
[1:14:28] core areas and there is a continuous network that can be really traveled through and
[1:14:36] connected throughout the village. So, with those more specific
[1:14:43] goals in mind, the baseline analysis looks at each of those where we are now and what
[1:14:47] opportunities are there to fill in the gaps. So, for public land, we
[1:14:51] calculated that 9% of land in oak park is currently established as or managed by
[1:14:59] green infrastructure ad one 1% gap to the 30% goal. And a major opportunity area
[1:15:05] here with such a built-up community are those alleys and kind of urban core doors and
[1:15:10] public right of ways in public land opportunities or minimizing that goal and
[1:15:19] reaching that 30%. Minimizing that gap, excuse me. For enhanced management the
[1:15:24] vllage and partners are already doing so much on public land and at 90% of the assets
[1:15:27] are already managed with enhanced management practices and those are in part because
[1:15:37] of schools not being contributed to that goal with the inconsistent management
[1:15:45] practices and there are plenty of great things that are happening, they are just not
[1:15:49] necessarily defined in the same way across schools. And that is an area to really
[1:15:53] quickly bridge that gap. As I mentioned earlier the tree canopy goal has already been
[1:16:01] 30% and so great work there.d in the urban forest management plan has already set a 38% goal
[1:16:11] for 2043. So, this really tees up continued work towards the next
[1:16:16] target that oak park already has. Participation - this baseline
[1:16:28] analysis calculated 4% of property owners are applying enhanced management and a 26%
[1:16:32] gap to the 30% goal and however this is probably a undercounting and there are
[1:16:35] certainly folks who are practicing tese management steps that are not being
[1:16:44] captured currently in the way that we are tracking this data. And the way to quickly I think
[1:16:48] see these numbers grow is from continued measurement and continued engagement around
[1:16:54] folks recognizing that they are actually already doing these things and reporting that out
[1:16:57] so folks can see themselves in this goal. For connectivity, this looks at
[1:17:07] again like I mentioned before the core natural areas and these are from the park
[1:17:12] district recreation data layers and those larger kind of cores are represented there and the
[1:17:16] kind of more distributed green infrastructure is not specifically connecting any of
[1:17:26] those cores and we do see a 0% metric for the baseline there, but there are several adjacent
[1:17:30] opportunities to start connecting those core doors and create a little bit more of
[1:17:33] those core door networks throughout oak park. So, from the baseline and
[1:17:42] opportunities assessment we put together a series of recommendations and this table
[1:17:46] is too small to see on the slide, but it is in the report and hopefully you've had a
[1:17:53] chance to take a look, but it really does organized the strategies and recommendations
[1:17:59] across those subgoals of public land entry canopy resident participation and connectivity.
[1:18:03] and also orients them to these kind of buckets o policies, programs, education and
[1:18:08] coordination. And I will go through kind of those buckets briefly.
[1:18:20] so, for the policies, this is getting at the reporting using the dashboard that is currently
[1:18:24] existing to report on the progress and success that are to come on achieving these
[1:18:31] goals and aligning implementation with existing initiatives including vision
[1:18:35] zero, resurfacing projects and the urban forest management plan.
[1:18:39] developing policies to advance biodiversity, including bird friendly design ordinance, dark
[1:18:45] sky policy amongst others. And doing a kind of green infrastructure focused review
[1:18:50] of municipal code and looking at particular at green infrastructure guidelines for
[1:18:54] new development. For programs, this is elevating both the public and private
[1:19:05] program opportunities and continuing to advance retrofit programs, because we know
[1:19:11] private property involvement is key to the success of this vision.
[1:19:14] and also looking at additional programming for the village to develop additional green
[1:19:23] infrastructure projects on village owned properties both through initial programming as
[1:19:28] well as existing programs such as the green alleys program. And also discussing what a
[1:19:34] potential green schoolyard program may look like going forward.
[1:19:39] on the education and outreach side, this is really focusing on those key stakeholders and
[1:19:48] populations that would be really helpful to engage with around this vision and built by
[1:20:01] buy-in and students and youth and engaging all of those folks I measuring progress and
[1:20:07] including them in citizen science projects and data collection for the village.
[1:20:17] and the coordination bundle is really looking at those cross agency partnerships both within
[1:20:24] the village departments, sister agencies, as well as external partnerships amongst local
[1:20:30] groups and property owners and then also regionally with additional planning agencies
[1:20:37] and other municipalities. Just also on this point on this one, ongoing coordination with
[1:20:43] c4 and the introduction group and building off of the success of the longfellow pollinator
[1:20:53] garden and we are already seeing some implementation all success from this plan and the
[1:20:57] rush oak park property is needing landscaping into the parking lot expansion because
[1:21:04] of their involvement in the working group and we are really excited to see already interest
[1:21:08] and buy-in on these ideas and implementation towards this shared vision.
[1:21:18] in the implementation roadmap, construction costs for some of the scenarios that would be
[1:21:24] required in order to achieve this 30% - these 30% goals. And so there are some you know
[1:21:31] ballpark figures here on some of the scenarios and I think the main point to elevate
[1:21:37] tonight is the sufficient funding and staff capacity are needed to meet this goal.
[1:21:40] and so the exploration of the feasibility of a flat green introductory fee in 2027 is a
[1:21:47] recommendation to allow for a dedicated funding stream to be able to fund the investment
[1:21:53] that this vision requires and the benefits that will come of it, as well.
[1:22:06] so, a kind of summary and next steps to - well there are a few specific next steps on the next
[1:22:15] slide, but this one really mapped out all of the recommendations across the next
[1:22:18] four years and it is not vry much time until 2030 and so suggesting some coupling and
[1:22:21] phasing in of these recommendations to first start with building capacity and
[1:22:26] alignment and then move into strengthening partnerships and programs, both old and new.
[1:22:32] and really rolling into implementation across the board and continuing to roll out as
[1:22:39] many projects as possible ahead of the 2030 goal. So, specific next steps,
[1:22:49] recommended to continue to convene the stakeholders that were in the planning process
[1:22:53] and to conduct that study to explore the viability of a green infrastructure c.
[1:22:58] allocating resources for expanding existing residential retrofit programs and also
[1:23:06] continuing to develop public awareness and education campaigns and some of those
[1:23:09] collaborations and partnerships that are already in existence. And then review the municipal
[1:23:15] code to identify existing barriers to green introductory and opportunities and pathways
[1:23:21] to increase and the design and contraction of additional projects on village property.
[1:23:29] so, I think with that, that is good of the overall summary of the plan and thank you very
[1:23:36] much. >>president scaman: okay. Very good, anything else?
[1:23:48] open for discussion. Very good, derek, thank you. >>trustee eder: happy to take
[1:23:51] the lead on this one. Thank you for this work and I know that you came here a
[1:23:59] couple maybe three or four months ago to give a little bit of an update and it is great to
[1:24:03] see all of the progress that is made. Thank you staff for all the
[1:24:05] work on this. I'll try to be efficient and I have like a lot of questions
[1:24:08] with different aspects of it - and first of all I would just highlight te good stuff.
[1:24:18] we are to meet one of the four subgoals like tree canopy, yes, but down is kind of obvious,
[1:24:21] just look around oak park and it is like yes, we have a tree canopy and I'm glad to see that
[1:24:25] we are aways striving to do more and we will keep upping awesome.that is great and
[1:24:30] looking at some of these other items were we not meeting the gap yet, curious, some of these
[1:24:36] questions may require staff input and I think it looks like from the green infrastructure
[1:24:42] side of things like an obvious place to look at is the green alleyway.
[1:24:45] and I noted that in the report like quite a lot of opportunity and I guess it is many alleys
[1:24:51] that could be turned into green alleyways and I understand that there is additional cost
[1:24:56] associated with that and I'm curious about the scope and scale of things and how many of
[1:25:01] those do we do every year and what is the delta and could we do more?
[1:25:04] I am just curious what that looks like - yes, rob, thank you.
[1:25:10] >>rob sproul: good evening, rob sproul, public works director. I do not have the specifics of
[1:25:18] that and I can speak in general - bill mechanical really the village engineer would be
[1:25:22] better poised to answer this question, but to turn any alley or any roadway into what we
[1:25:39] call a green alley or roadway - there is a significant cost difference based on what the
[1:25:43] underlying soils are, associated with that space. And so we have through a
[1:25:48] portion of town a spat of soil where we can access this directly during construction
[1:25:56] and we can allow for that, that infiltration to happen directly through a green alley.
[1:26:05] where we do not have that - we have to build that capacity as part of the infrastructure
[1:26:16] would we build in that alley in order to turn it into a green alley and there is a
[1:26:19] significant cost increase associated with that. And we can get you that number,
[1:26:22] but off the top of my head, I would tell you that you would money when you start looking
[1:26:27] outside of where we can directly access those sandy soils, it is probably not worth
[1:26:32] the money to turn those alleys green. You would be better spending
[1:26:37] off that money with other green infrastructure projects. I can get those numbers for you
[1:26:47] so you can see the delta, but it is pretty significant because the capacity you need
[1:26:51] to build for that storm water that you are taking off the alley and the potential
[1:26:54] properties that are around it is significant and to build that capacity is expensive.
[1:26:58] >>trustee eder: understood. Also my guest and this may be another bill question, but
[1:27:10] parts that dn't have access, those are the areas that may need a green alley more because
[1:27:14] I imagine it is not draining water as well under current conditions and is that a fair -
[1:27:31] >>rob sproul: our sewer system really manages much of our water issue, but to that point.
[1:27:34] yes, if you are looking to try to manage stormwater across the community the areas where it is
[1:27:40] more challenging are the areas that need it the most and again I would go back to there are
[1:27:44] probably things that we could do around bio swales were we can get a lot more bang for our
[1:27:56] buck then the infrastructure excavation needed for a green alley specifically.
[1:28:03] >>trustee eder: okay. That is surely helpful and the reason I'm asking this question
[1:28:06] is because the number is great and who does that help and I am thinking about how this will
[1:28:15] actually impact our residents and who needs it and where should we be prioritizing that
[1:28:20] funding? So, thank you. I appreciate that.
[1:28:24] just moving on to the resident participation aspect of things, you kind of answered the
[1:28:29] question I had and 4%, that is not very high and in our house we have a native garden, but I
[1:28:37] don't know if it is registered, because it did not drop in one of the categories that was
[1:28:41] listed there. And do we have an idea or plan to fully measure that and what
[1:28:50] could we do? Or biking - thank you! >>speaker: malcolm,
[1:28:58] sustainability coordinator, great question and sydney pointed out that a lot of these
[1:29:02] questions are what you're pointing out is that there is a lot of undercounting and is
[1:29:08] partially why we talk about education and developing those metrics in better ways of
[1:29:15] reaching out and communicating this goal through education and through engagement with some of
[1:29:24] our partners that are already doing a lot of this work within oak park and tapping into that
[1:29:30] and finding opportunities to get folks mre involved and find the information, not just
[1:29:37] obtain, but celebrate it which I think is a major component to all of this.
[1:29:41] there is a reason to celebrate what folks are doing on the properties and we want to be
[1:29:46] able to find ways to emphasize that. A lot of that is teased out in
[1:29:49] the education bucket so to speak. >>trustee eder: I think
[1:29:53] education is always great and I have mentioned this before, but we do send folks around to go
[1:30:01] like site people and their garages and you know having like chipped paint, can they
[1:30:06] also while there walking around just count the native guardians and do something passive that
[1:30:12] does not require proactive like you were never going to reach everyone and it would be great
[1:30:19] if we could measure it without having everyone know about this program and trying to reach
[1:30:26] these goals. And so I could just keep mentioning this every time I
[1:30:34] can. Okay, onto the connectivity stuff, this is the most tough
[1:30:40] thing to think of because it is zero and I guess I just wonder - is this an achievable goal?
[1:30:44] and my first question is pockets of built-up community and there is only so much that
[1:30:50] you can change over that period of time - is this even a achievable goal?
[1:30:58] I guess this is a question that I have and if not and are there other communities that have
[1:31:07] reached that and can we point to them? And if tis is achievable, can
[1:31:13] we maybe reassess a look at a goal that is achievable? And also I was talking to
[1:31:18] someone in the oak prk action climate network and what we mean by connectivity?
[1:31:27] connectivity for what kinds of life? Are we talking about like
[1:31:33] connecting different monarch like what are we talking about when we say connectivity?
[1:31:36] it is not just one thing - do we have more specifics that we can dive into?
[1:31:43] >>speaker: that is a great question and one that we talk a lot about and especially in oak
[1:31:47] park for example and we are not talking about large herding animals, it is a lot of
[1:31:54] pollinators and things of that nature and when we were looking into exactly how to achieve
[1:32:02] cnnectivity across the central core areas, we really focused in on how can we develop our
[1:32:08] streets and parkways in particular with seem to be the greatest opportunity area in
[1:32:12] this space and the report teases this out a lot more which is how can we continue to
[1:32:18] encourage residents to naturalized their parkways and what are other opportunities
[1:32:24] that we have is a village to pull some levers and help those residents come forth with that?
[1:32:29] and this also helps us to be able to track which parkways are naturalized and this gets
[1:32:33] back to your original question about undercounting some of the data.
[1:32:37] of folks at residence who are implementing these measures on the parkways and naturalizing
[1:32:45] them and we don't need every parkway on the street to be naturalized to achieve what we
[1:32:48] would call like ecologically beneficial connectivity, but we do need at least 30% so they
[1:32:57] are providing at least you know within 100 feet of natural areas and space for those
[1:33:03] pollinators to be able to travel or those birds to be able to travel and find
[1:33:07] additional food sources from one core natural area to the other.
[1:33:11] and I do think that the plan speaks to this a little bit more and it is again not
[1:33:17] looking at every street like we need to completely naturalize it, but can we get it to a
[1:33:24] point where it becomes ecologically beneficial to pollinate on some of the
[1:33:27] smaller fauna that we have in this community. >>trustee eder: I think a -
[1:33:33] moving on to the goals section, I think definitely jumped out at me the alignment with
[1:33:40] existing plans and what is this - are we collaborating? We are to have lots of
[1:33:46] relationships with all of our partners, but for example like the school district and park
[1:33:49] district, do they have similar goals? Are we trying to aign their
[1:33:54] goals and are they a part of that working group? How are they factored in to
[1:33:58] what those goals could look like? >>malcolm: that is absolutely
[1:34:04] correct, we are involved with through the cross sustainability exchange group
[1:34:09] and we are working with district 97 and district 200 and this is managed by seven
[1:34:13] generations ahead and we are working on not just green infrastructure as a part of
[1:34:17] this initiative, this is the sustainability you know using this opportunity to coordinate
[1:34:24] all of this in a similar direction - would you have a green in professional working
[1:34:27] and as a part of that green print we did a green schools assessment looking at every
[1:34:34] property in district 97 and district 200 and taking a look at their existing
[1:34:41] infrastructure assets and then identifying opportunities to expand.
[1:34:43] and we use that work to inform this. And through that green
[1:34:51] infrastructure working group we are continuing conversations on where we can coordinate as a
[1:34:55] village with district 97 since there is so much opportunity across those properties.
[1:34:58] >>trustee eder: okay, great. You mentioned the schools, township, library, are we
[1:35:04] talking to them? >>malcolm: yes, as a part of the stakeholder interviews and
[1:35:07] some of the focus groups that sidney mentioned, we have been engaged with our district and
[1:35:13] obsolete they are responsible for the largest percentage of our green infra structure and
[1:35:20] they are doing great work and they serve as a leader in the space.
[1:35:23] all of their properties are meeting those enhanced management standards that we
[1:35:27] mention and so really our focus some of the connectivity issues and also some of the education
[1:35:36] engagement and tapping it in partnering with tem to utilize the various strengths to help
[1:35:40] elevate some of this work that we want to be happening village wide.
[1:35:47] >>trustee eder: great, awesome. What is the green infrastructure fee?
[1:35:53] do we know? Is tis just for a later time? I'm just very curious what that
[1:35:57] is and also like maybe most importantly like who is paying that?
[1:36:03] >>malcolm: we are going to investigate this in 2027 to look at the viability of that
[1:36:06] and what is a equitable and impactful fee and something that we want to take a little
[1:36:11] bit more time to study and investigate. >>trustee eder: okay, great.
[1:36:17] tbd. Okay. I think my last thoughts here
[1:36:23] just around obviously the slide with the dollar amounts, some of those dollar amounts are
[1:36:31] pretty large, right? In particular. And so for our benefit I think
[1:36:34] it would be helpful as we start to consider some of these things and I would really love
[1:36:37] to get into some of the details and just learned about - the numbers are great and I love
[1:36:43] numbers and I love kpis and whatever like it makes the complex city achievable and
[1:36:54] understandable. But, ultimately we need to prioritize how this is actually
[1:36:57] we are obviously trying to do what we can and do our part you know for mitigating all of the
[1:37:01] climate change that is happening in our community, but it also needs to impact the
[1:37:05] residence and I want to prioritize helping those who need the most help, right?
[1:37:09] so, as we start to look at those items I want to make sure that that is - those factors
[1:37:13] are included in how we are actually deciding where those dollars go, just because it is
[1:37:21] the easiest thing does not always mean that it will achieve those goals for the
[1:37:25] folks who needed the most. And so just want to make sure that that is like a factor as
[1:37:28] we are putting this plan into action. Sorry for taking so long -
[1:37:33] >>president scaman: thank you. Brian? >>trustee straw: I want to say
[1:37:39] thank you guys for the work that you put in on this. It has maybe become somewhat of
[1:37:47] a running joke, but I would ask everyone who was watching to actually take a look and read
[1:37:57] this 80 page report and one of the things that often times there will be hot button issues
[1:38:07] that come up in front of the board where people pay attention to the work being
[1:38:13] done, but we so frequently receive very detailed and very thoughtful reports where a ton
[1:38:21] of work has gone into it and community does not necessarily dig into it.
[1:38:27] so, we have a detailed 80 page report and there is meaningful work and it is impactful.
[1:38:41] so, thank you. I do want to talk a little bit about the scary budget numbers
[1:38:52] that trustee eder referenced earlier. And first for staff, this is a
[1:39:01] motion to approve this report and approving this report is not us directing staff to spend
[1:39:11] $40 billion on connectivity - that is one of the listed numbers - just want to confirm
[1:39:20] that that is the case. Staff would understand that to be the direction?
[1:39:26] >>manager jackson: that is correct. >>trustee straw: 40 billion is
[1:39:31] one of the connectivity numbers it is the outside estimate, it is 200 million up to 40 billion
[1:39:44] - I wanted to confirm that, because it is important for the community to understand we are
[1:39:48] not saying that we are going to be spending that number or 588 million on creating vegetated
[1:39:59] bump outs immediately. These are just construction costs of if we did all of these
[1:40:06] things imediately, here is what this would cost. So - what would you see as the
[1:40:19] most impactful steps that we could be taking? What are the biggest bang for
[1:40:25] our buck steps out of these recommendations? >>malcolm: maybe sydney also
[1:40:33] has some additional insight on this and one from our perspective I think I mentioned
[1:40:40] this earlier the parkways represent like a massive portion - a massive
[1:40:50] opportunity. And this was analyzed through some of the scenario and
[1:40:52] opportunity analysis which was also included in the plan in the appendices.
[1:40:55] so, if you're interested in addition to the 80 page plan, there is -
[1:41:01] >>trustee straw: 120 pages of appendices which I also commend you to review!
[1:41:04] >>malcolm: but, they do show that has some of the greatest opportunity area at a
[1:41:12] relatively lower cost and has similar impacts due to their benefits that native plants
[1:41:22] have on stormwater, air quality and all of these issues. We do have our parkway planting
[1:41:27] ordinance that we recently several years ago past to allow adjacent property owners to
[1:41:35] naturalize those parkways within certain guidelines and we would really want to explore
[1:41:40] opportunities to educate residents on that and we still have a lot of work to do to let
[1:41:43] folks know that this is an opportunity and this is an area o growth, literally.
[1:41:50] but, then also look at opportunities and program and assistance to help those who
[1:41:56] maybe do not know where to start to be able to naturalize those spaces.
[1:42:01] so, that is one area where I think there is a lot of cost-efficient opportunity.
[1:42:14] >>trustee straw: I think that is an area where I would love to see us continue to push
[1:42:18] forward. It is as noted in the chart - hundreds of thousands of
[1:42:24] dollars, minimal cost in the village. And I think it does present an
[1:42:32] we have had pioneers in this community who were naturalizing the parkways before we passed
[1:42:38] the ordinance allowing that to happen and I'm grateful that we fixed that ordinance and
[1:42:44] definitely I think that providing the additional education makes it simple like
[1:42:51] here's what it looks like to do that and sort of we can provide you with an easy pathway to get
[1:43:01] there. And it makes a difference and creates those opportunities for
[1:43:13] connectivity. Rob, can you speak to the bump outs and the cost to a
[1:43:21] vegetated bump out and what about as we do them now are? >>rob sproul: maybe not - no
[1:43:41] (chuckle) all of the permanent installed bump outs that we do now are vegetated.
[1:43:50] >>trustee straw: I believe the vegetated bump outs, we are talking about bio swale vs. -
[1:43:58] grassy bump outs. Sproul: I can see. No.
[1:44:01] I mean I don't think - I am not sure that will costs calculated for like improved bio swale
[1:44:13] bump outs. That is something I could probably get back to you and we
[1:44:17] are doing some improved planter beds that are bio soils and we probably do have some recent
[1:44:24] numbers on what those could look like, but I would probably need to talk to the team about
[1:44:31] the scale and cost per square footage and things like that. >>malcolm: we do have some
[1:44:38] numbers for van buren and scoville and I don't know the difference, but we have
[1:44:46] incorporated that into the implementation. >>trustee straw: it talks about
[1:44:53] 260,000 per intersection for a bio swale bump out and I don't know what a traditional grass -
[1:45:01] >>rob sproul: I don't know off the top of my head. That is a big number in the
[1:45:07] presentation, 588 million if we did the bio swale vegetated bump outs.
[1:45:15] but, it may be one of those things where where we are already doing bump outs - if
[1:45:24] the cost difference is somewhat marginal, it may present an opportunity for us as a village
[1:45:36] and that is one other place - I think part of the reason these numbers are so big is that it
[1:45:48] imagines us doing it right now and I'm definitely interested as we continue studying how to
[1:45:52] implement this, where we can make those mrginal changes where you know every year we
[1:45:58] are doing repaving projects and we are looking at where permanent bump out make sense
[1:46:07] and how can we harness those as little bit further at a reduced marginal cost, because we are
[1:46:18] already spending 70% of the cost, because we are doing the bump outs anyway.
[1:46:24] sproul: the plan account for basically every intersection in the village in that huge
[1:46:28] number. To, there is no ability for the village to do them all at once.
[1:46:33] and anything that we did in terms of that would be a phased-in plan that we would do
[1:46:40] as a part of our resurfacing plan because that is the time that we really look at
[1:46:43] adjusting curb line and so we are already as you said accounting for any
[1:46:47] recommendations in division zero plan where bump outs would be appropriate.
[1:46:53] and we could look at what the cost delta is between an enhanced bio swale treatment at
[1:47:01] those intersections vs. A traditional sod and get the information for you and present
[1:47:08] as a part of a research project so you can see the cost and make a determination on whether
[1:47:12] or not you want to include it. >>trustee straw: that would be valuable especially as we are
[1:47:22] going into budget season and talking about cip and how we can integrate some of these
[1:47:26] ideas and what that marginal cost actually looks like. >>rob sproul: the only other
[1:47:36] item I would want to bring up is that in addition to the installation cost, there is a
[1:47:39] potential maintenance cost that goes along with that. With the current treatment of
[1:47:48] sod, that expectation on maintenance is passed back to the adjacent property owner.
[1:47:52] I do not know if we could have that same expectation on property owners if we are
[1:47:57] putting them in a situation where they're being asked to maintain and enhance landscape
[1:48:01] treatment so then we would have to look out what that continuing cost would be for
[1:48:05] the village as we make those changes, as well. >>trustee straw: thank you.
[1:48:15] concluding - this is an awesome plan and there is a lot of detail.
[1:48:17] there are big scary numbers and so we have to do the hard work of figuring out where we can
[1:48:25] get the most bang for our buck and how we can integrate into existing planning processes and
[1:48:34] sort o marginal cost that create outsize impacts. >>president scaman: kind of the
[1:48:44] point of the plan. >>manager jackson: thank you, president scaman if I could
[1:48:51] briefly - these are all really good point and I think the good news is that we are speaking
[1:48:58] directly to integration, collaboration and prioritization and all of this
[1:49:05] is conceptualized by the climate ready open -- oak park plan and we are doing a good
[1:49:19] job and we are building up a lot of momentum and accelerating these programs and
[1:49:26] master plans and now we are talking green infrastructure and a number of things we put
[1:49:30] into place and at some point there may be a need to look at climate ready oak park as we
[1:49:34] have learned more over the last few years in terms of what we can realistically take on.
[1:49:39] but, the good news is that we have been working together and planning together and cross
[1:49:49] jurisdictional boundaries and it is translating it into doing it together.
[1:49:53] and we are seeing some real outcomes. But, climate rady oak park is
[1:49:58] talked about in 2022, hat we revisiting some of the expectations around, but it
[1:50:05] does not hurt us to stretch as we go through the budget cycles and so forth.
[1:50:12] >>president scaman: excellent comments from trustee eder and chibikue -- and straw and I
[1:50:20] welcome additional, but I would like to move towards adopting. Thank you.
[1:50:29] >>trustee wesley: take you, president scaman and thank you guys for this great plan and
[1:50:33] I've got a few comments on it. All positive and questions I think maybe.
[1:50:40] first I want to echo trustee straw 's anyway that we can combine things, that is
[1:50:45] awesome. I saw it was mentioned on slide 15 and not given in my opinion
[1:50:51] as much maybe elevation as I would want to see as the public parking lot ad the items
[1:50:57] second from the bottom - I think right now like all of the public parking lots are
[1:51:04] concrete or asphalt? Could they be something else? Yes, yes - like lot 10, yes.
[1:51:15] >>malcolm: absolutely. It is something that we have included in the plan and we
[1:51:20] took a look at this several years ago through another process just looking at parking
[1:51:27] lots as an opportunity and we incorporated that into this plan and it is certainly
[1:51:34] something that is somewhat similar to the green alleyway to manage stormwater where it
[1:51:44] falls and a lot of the grant funding opportunities - you know we obtain a portion of the
[1:51:50] funding for the green alleyways through mwrd and this is an avenue that we can look into as
[1:51:58] well as those opportunities arising. >>trustee wesley: I would love
[1:52:10] to see none of our parking lots just be straight asphalt. There is a mention in here and
[1:52:14] you didn't think that you would slip this one pass me - parking converted to permanent - did
[1:52:19] you really think that you would slide that would buy? What about we just get rid of
[1:52:24] it altogether? Mentioned you know there was a actual article on me mentioning
[1:52:33] shrinking the streets. Like I have never - I have said a lot of things that does board
[1:52:39] table and I did not think that one was the most controversial that I've ever seen.
[1:52:43] a colorful page article. I was crazy. Anyway -
[1:52:45] >>president scaman: you are not the first. >>trustee wesley: okay, anyway
[1:52:53] - like what we are talking about, 30% of our streets being converted to permeable lanes,
[1:52:57] maybe we should think about those streets being more narrow instead of a permeable lane,
[1:53:01] baby return to green space in general. Mobility -
[1:53:14] >>malcolm: we can take a look at and of course it comes back to the conversation about cost
[1:53:18] and the reason we look at the permeable parking lanes inputting for that number of
[1:53:22] one lane, because that would allow us to effectively manage the stormwater of the entire
[1:53:28] street effectively if we are able to correct it. And just trying to think costs
[1:53:34] to be cost-efficient with these opportunities and these are opportunities for bio swales as
[1:53:40] we were mentioning previously and we can take a look at those opportunities as they come
[1:53:51] across. Absolutely. You just shrink the history and
[1:53:54] you save the money and get the green space and it is a win-win and I like win-win.
[1:53:57] we can also use these for the slow streets and bringing those back would not necessarily be a
[1:54:10] bad thing. We don't have any in the village, but I have seen green
[1:54:15] little roundabouts and we have got a lot of four way stops that may be beneficial to be
[1:54:20] converted to a roundabout. And again just throwing it out there and if you have tarred
[1:54:32] about it before I would love to hear about here - >>rob sproul: we have looked at
[1:54:40] the ability to install and the ability of tight constraints and based on just the tightness
[1:54:53] of our streets, they would need to be rather small so they become very challenging to
[1:54:57] maintain from a landscaping perspective. And then once you get rd of
[1:55:02] the landscaping, they often just become a driven over more of like a speedbump, right?
[1:55:10] the value in going to the traffic circles or the roundabouts over the bump outs
[1:55:18] at the curb, because it is really one or the other based on the restrictions that we
[1:55:22] have and we see a lot more value with shrinking and bringing those curves out and
[1:55:26] drinking the travel lanes then going to a traffic circle in the middle.
[1:55:31] >>trustee wesley: awesome, love it, I appreciate that. Any thoughts on prioritizing
[1:55:36] this infrastructure in northeast oak park where we see a lot of flooding and how that
[1:55:47] could potentially mitigate some of that? >>malcolm: I'm glad you brought
[1:55:50] that up and I think trustee eder, you were mentioning prioritizing where we expand
[1:55:55] green infrastructure. This is a priority area for climate ready which we want to
[1:56:01] continue that program providing large native trees to properties in north, east and
[1:56:05] south oak park and according to vulnerabilities and according to the flood susceptibility
[1:56:14] risk and the tree canopy numbers. This is also something that we
[1:56:18] have incorporated and continue to incorporate into the updated version of the rain skate,
[1:56:24] climate ready rains gate program and so identifying those areas as high priority
[1:56:28] areas where we can see outsized impact for the support of installing rain gardens and
[1:56:35] other infrastructure for residents. >>trustee wesley: awesome.
[1:56:42] I appreciate that. I love the trees, always have to mention that.
[1:56:48] we have a lot of them. They are amazing. Multipurpose infrastructure,
[1:56:54] right? They call the earth and they clean the air and slow down
[1:57:02] traffic and there is a lot of bang for your buck for a tree. And I think it just bears
[1:57:06] I know, right?ry time. We still could do more, derek! >>president scaman: I love the
[1:57:18] energy on this agenda item, but I - >>trustee wesley: I'm almost
[1:57:21] done. Any thought to density bonuses for green space during
[1:57:31] development? We are talking about a lot of zoning reform and one of the
[1:57:34] things in there was a bonus for affordable housing and maybe a bonus for green infrastructure
[1:57:42] wouldn't be a bad idea as well. Any thoughts on getting folks to sponsor this?
[1:57:56] could we get mcdonald's to sponsor a bump out or I don't know, just throwing it out and
[1:58:00] I've seen this in other places where infrastructure gets sponsored by corporations who
[1:58:05] then pay for the bid to exist and I'm perfectly happy taking the check for smebody to build
[1:58:10] a bump out. As long as I is tasteful. >>trustee straw: we can have
[1:58:24] the culver's bump out - >>trustee wesley: yes, burger wars!
[1:58:33] that is all I have, thanks a lot. >>president scaman: are the
[1:58:39] rest of us good? Thumbs up, chibikue. Okay, may I have a motion to
[1:58:53] accept this adopting the bow diversity and green introductory plan?
[1:58:56] >>speaker: moved. >>speaker: second. >>president scaman: motion by
[1:59:00] trustee eder and second by trustee leving-jacobson, clerk waters, please take the role.
[1:59:03] >>clerk waters: trustee eder, yes, trustee leving-jacobson, yes, trustee enyia, yes,
[1:59:08] trustee straw, yes, trustee taglia, yes, trustee wesley, yes and president scaman.
[1:59:15] >>president scaman: yes. Entertain a motion to advance the police department cmponent
[1:59:20] of the oak park municipal campus project to design development and direct
[1:59:23] staff to negotiate a professional services agreement with
[1:59:26] johnson, lasky & kindelin architects, incorporated for preparation
[1:59:29] and delivery of the required construction documents. Motion, please.
[1:59:33] >>speaker: moved. >>speaker: second. >>president scaman: motion by
[1:59:41] trustee wesley and second by trustee enyia. - motion by trustee enyia and
[1:59:49] second by trustee straw. >>manager jackson: yes, I'm
[1:59:54] turning this oer to rob sproul, public works director. Just want to acknowledge that
[2:00:07] you know tis step in the stage of the project, completion of schematic design is a
[2:00:14] substantial milestone in the journey of this product over the last several years and a
[2:00:18] cumulatively all of the work that has gone into this effort to this point even prior to the
[2:00:23] last few years. So, it is I think a significant moment and I think that we are
[2:00:29] excited to present the outcome of the schematic design and also seeking direction to move
[2:00:36] the police station to full design development. And I know that there are
[2:00:45] several other steps that are left that remain in this process, but I just thought
[2:00:48] that it was important as we teed this up that we acknowledge that there has been
[2:00:52] a significant amount of work that has gone into this process to get to this point including
[2:00:59] staff, the board, and the community and our other partners here that will be
[2:01:04] presenting tonight. So, just want to take a moment to just contextualize that and
[2:01:10] I will turn it over to rob and he will explain what we are asking for and introduced the
[2:01:17] guests. >>rob sproul: good evening, rob sproul, public works director,
[2:01:20] thank you village manager jackson. The jl k team along with
[2:01:25] dewberry and other consultants have been working since the board gave authorization in
[2:01:30] february to complete schematic design for the multi site oak park municipal campus.
[2:01:37] are here tonight to present those documents. We are going to go through a
[2:01:42] high level presentation that shows you just a little bit of the work that has gone into
[2:01:47] that today. You have received quite a bit more information in the aic
[2:01:52] packet associated with this. And I will even say that there is work for the security
[2:02:00] reasons or for security reasons around building police stations, there is a level of
[2:02:03] information that we are not presenting publicly as it relates to the layout of that
[2:02:11] facility. So, there is actually even more work that has gone into it
[2:02:14] beyond what we are showing tonight just simply not showing because of the security
[2:02:19] reasons. If the board really had a desire to see them and that
[2:02:21] level of detail in those plans, we can set up a time for you guys to see those plans
[2:02:24] privately and so you can have an understanding and we are at what we typically call
[2:02:31] schematic design which is about 30% plan delivery. So, we will be delivering those
[2:02:37] documents and having a conversation about where we are.
[2:02:40] and then based on the prior village board feedback, we do have an understanding that the
[2:02:49] priority for this larger scale project is to accelerate the police station side of the
[2:02:53] project. What we are asking for tonight is for authorization to begin
[2:02:57] negotiating the professional services with this architectural and engineering
[2:03:03] team to deliver those documents through completion so that we can kind of continue to advance
[2:03:10] this project. In addition, earlier this last month, we got authorization I
[2:03:21] tink it was last month or maybe a couple months ago, got authorization from this board
[2:03:24] to start the selection process for construction manager associated with this project
[2:03:28] and that process is ongoing peer we have an expectation that we will be delivering a
[2:03:32] recommended contract to the board in early october on a construction manager for this
[2:03:36] project if we get the authorization to kind of continue to take this project
[2:03:39] forward tonight. So, we have multiple avenues that we are continuing
[2:03:44] associated with this project and we are very confident that if we continue to advance this
[2:03:48] project forward on the schedule a position to begin hould be in construction at some point in
[2:03:57] 2027 on this project. With that I will turn it over to may k who is the project
[2:04:04] lead and we all know meg, she has had a number of conversations with us and she
[2:04:11] will show you all the pretty photos and everything that we have been working on and finish
[2:04:14] up on cost estimates and where w are at and then we will open it up for any questions that
[2:04:19] you may have throughout the process. >>meg: thank you, rob.
[2:04:25] and thank you for the opportunity to present and talk about this wonderful project
[2:04:29] with you. We are really excited to be working with you and we have
[2:04:31] been working hand-in-hand here and here we are. Thank you.
[2:04:35] so, just to turn our eyes to the screens here, we will go over as rob said, a pretty high
[2:04:42] level discussion tonight and then I know that you have questions and comments that we
[2:04:46] will get to as well. So, moving in - we always return our questions, our work
[2:04:51] and just want to take a moment and remind ourselves of the metrics of success for this
[2:04:59] project that we established at the very beginning of our working together.
[2:05:02] of these projects being a place of pride and being mindful of cost and mindful stewards of
[2:05:06] the public money and the police department and the respect it deserves and a sense of
[2:05:14] inclusion, security and safety being paramount and solving and recognizing parking issues and
[2:05:19] sustainability and of course being involved with the community and police department
[2:05:23] and the village hall for that matter, they are both community buildings and these are
[2:05:28] community services. Turning for a moment to the village hall and a site plan
[2:05:31] and the work we have been doing as we advance this through schematic design - we took to
[2:05:35] heart this idea that as you may recall, these two projects were together on the village hall
[2:05:39] site for quite some time and that is where the idea of the municipal campus came from and
[2:05:46] it is kind of a little bit of history here. So, as we have separated the
[2:05:48] two buildings and the components, the work on the site plan and the village hall
[2:06:00] site continued and here we have the rudimentary and very schematic level site plan here
[2:06:03] showing the existing village hall and the location of the new addition which pursued the
[2:06:07] east side kind of public access way and we have parking shown here and the green lawn of
[2:06:14] course still remains in this image and we have some public plaza and the south end of the
[2:06:21] building is celebrated as the main entrance and the new addition provides a new secure
[2:06:28] cuncil chamber and entrance. Loking first at the lower level - here we see that the
[2:06:35] lower-level hlf of it shows the blank space where the police station has been removed
[2:06:41] and that section there is open for future use by the village hall or other community groups.
[2:06:52] it is kind of a whitespace in this plan. The northern part of the plan
[2:06:55] have it and news facilities and requirement for the vllage hall staff.
[2:07:01] I will move pretty rapidly through this. The eastern spine here is shown
[2:07:05] with the new council chamber and room 101 remaining as a public use room.
[2:07:11] the courtyard open up to the eastern spine and the more protected and private areas
[2:07:14] kind of the remainder being a secure zone for the work of the village hall to have or to meet
[2:07:23] modern requirements for security, privacy, etc. On the upper level, the mezzanine also
[2:07:33] devoted to the work of the offices are clustered around r the exterior and we see the
[2:07:46] upper level of the new council chamber and the old in this plan, as well.
[2:07:49] a couple of design concepts and disk idea of the public plaza was very important to welcome
[2:07:53] the community into the building and really look at where the south has a drop off and that
[2:07:59] is the entrance that most people are using for the village hall and also keeping
[2:08:02] the courtyard entrance open with two additional doors.
[2:08:14] looking back to see some stairs ramping up to really celebrate that so people know where they
[2:08:18] are supposed to enter and looking at the council chamber, very important to provide
[2:08:21] looking at the materials in a way that was discussed with you and the building committee
[2:08:27] early and this idea of more materials and more environment and a sense of transparency and
[2:08:31] built on the idea of transparent government. That is really important to
[2:08:34] bring forward to the idea of the council chamber. When we look at the addition,
[2:08:37] this is the look of the building and this building has a very strong architecture
[2:08:48] statement to say the least when we are looking at how we complement something like this
[2:08:51] we thought it should be a using major angles or another kind of over strong expression
[2:09:02] of geometry which is the instead we took one gesture d which is this kind of ramp that
[2:09:08] we have outside and the layered effects of these vertical elements and said what if we
[2:09:12] talked about that and we arrange them mostly so there is a sense of transparency and the
[2:09:16] new council chamber abuts the back and it is kind of celebrated incredibly oma's to
[2:09:26] what the building is all about and one side of that window would be a place for the public
[2:09:29] to have small meetings and it is a conference room and will still be used on the other side
[2:09:34] would be the council chamber with the public in this community speak so loudly and
[2:09:37] boldly and it is a nice area there. The transparency of government
[2:09:40] is the other idea that we are looking at with having those vertical elements and you can
[2:09:45] kind of see straight through here and we can control the view for other ideas of
[2:09:53] security, but really having really important.sparency was have a view of the ramp going
[2:09:57] up and up main stairs and function space with a clear box in the front and the council
[2:10:04] chamber to the right. Here is another view of that and this is what the new
[2:10:07] council chamber would look like from one area it is very protected and you cannot cnn
[2:10:14] from the other it is completely transparent and you can see right through it.
[2:10:17] that is the general idea of the village hall project and of course this also includes in
[2:10:27] the numbers, rehabilitation systems and other items related to the project.
[2:10:30] turning to the police department - a moment here when the police department decided
[2:10:34] to go to the other property and what we are looking at here is the idea of the municipal court
[2:10:37] order and all of these facilities we think that that is really exciting and perhaps
[2:10:44] there are some residents between substrate furniture and other ideas between areas which
[2:10:50] would be quite compelling. As we look at how we address the police department and
[2:10:58] looking at we have the existing building and it is very high-level and just moving very
[2:11:02] quickly through the existing building which we are working with we have the addition and
[2:11:08] those two areas comprise the spaces for the program for the police department and then of
[2:11:15] course we have the parking garage. The public realm is very
[2:11:17] important and the building is really sitting tight to the sidewalk and looking at how can
[2:11:20] that public be embraced with paving or greenery and trees etc. And it does become a vry
[2:11:30] large imposing building and looking at how we can use material to in some ways break
[2:11:35] up a little bit of that fac and looking at materiality and looking at strong, durable,
[2:11:44] safe materials for the police station and also the glass for the transparent areas and then
[2:11:49] the parking garage which is at the west end and looking at ways that that needs to be
[2:11:56] strong and protect the users at the same time. These floorplans I will just go
[2:12:04] through as rob has mentioned for safety sake we do not go through everything a portion of
[2:12:07] this, but all of this to say we have the parking and the blue and gray areas at the center
[2:12:14] for a back of house private area and the green area at the corner there to the upper
[2:12:23] right-hand corner which is the community room public space where the community is welcomed
[2:12:27] into this building. We had some good discussions about how this is a community
[2:12:30] building and a oak park community building and not police station that the
[2:12:34] community can come into. And on the roof level we see some certain spaces and on the
[2:12:41] second level, this is all police and private areas and I go into that with the public
[2:12:48] record and I will mention that the offices and conference areas are to the east and the
[2:12:52] more private areas may be to the back into the west. We had some good discussions
[2:13:02] with village manager jackson and president scaman as well trying to see revisiting what
[2:13:08] we had discussed in the initial design and what really makes this a oak park police
[2:13:20] department. And first of all the sense of community and we wanted this
[2:13:23] idea of a welcoming front porch that the community is really welcomed into this building and
[2:13:27] it is a community building. Second was a theme of honor and respect to the history and
[2:13:32] service and what it takes to be a police officer and to have an attitude of honor and respect
[2:13:43] for the profession. And an idea of welcoming that the police here are welcoming
[2:13:46] and that spirit of we are here for you as the community policing and also an exciting
[2:13:53] moment bringing forward the idea of art in the community and that being a way to express
[2:14:00] the personality and essence of oak park and there is so much public art here that that would
[2:14:07] be a desirable way to bring that into the fac building in a meaningful way.
[2:14:17] of community and making a strong corner presence, this is where the glass part of the
[2:14:20] first floor would be the community room and there is office functions up above and
[2:14:24] you can see the diagram on the upper left-hand corner. The idea that this is the
[2:14:29] corner point and the threshold if you will and the easternmost area of oak park and moving
[2:14:39] forward thinking about this moment of honor, we are looking at the welcome desk and the
[2:14:42] entry area as being a place where there would be a moment of honor or respect for the
[2:14:50] police right at the entrance and that could be incorporated into some art exhibits as well
[2:14:54] as we look at how this functions. And then thinking about the
[2:14:58] whole fac course could be incorporated. So that way you kind of have
[2:15:03] that sense of it being a welcoming presence along madison street there.
[2:15:08] and kind of making sure that it is a lively and welcoming place in the evening as well as
[2:15:15] during the day. And then thinking also about these ideas of public art and
[2:15:19] presenting a moment perhaps where there is working with a muralist or various muralists
[2:15:36] or just a semblance that art would come into the building and the artwork would define
[2:15:39] the public realm and come into the building so that you are really welcomed into this idea
[2:15:42] of oak park community. We are happy to answer any questions about the design
[2:15:49] specifically and we will move have been shared, as well.which so, as we turn our hand or turn
[2:15:56] our minds and eyes to village hall and where the estimated construction costs are falling,
[2:16:02] we have here and sorry, my eyes are bad and I will lean over and squint a little bit and
[2:16:10] looking at the basic renovation in addition coming in at the 27 million of the maintenance
[2:16:16] items which include a lot of exterior work and just obvious conditions and the envelope
[2:16:25] windows in the building, the l courtyard windows and others a total of $33 million.
[2:16:36] there is the ad alternates which are listed there if those would be chosen and then be
[2:16:44] included of course some ideas about escalation and about how this is the nature of money and
[2:16:48] time and construction costs. We do have more itemized breakdowns here kind of looking
[2:16:55] at the envelope improvements and there was a request last time and there were buckets of
[2:17:00] money that were more itemized and we included them this year for conversation and where the
[2:17:08] exterior improvements and the maintenance side and renovations fall and also shows
[2:17:16] the subtotals about the construction cost and where they are for things like
[2:17:20] escalation and general conditions and other contractor fees and contingencies on this
[2:17:24] page. And we do get a sense of where the mechanical systems are and
[2:17:30] speaking of which - you are very quiet efficient systems! And where the mechanicals and
[2:17:41] the electrical etc. And where all of these line items come into contribute to the final
[2:17:46] cost. And turning to the police department we have separated
[2:17:52] the two sections of the renovated existing building and the addition into the 44.6
[2:17:58] million and the secure police parking garage at 10.5 million and the various site
[2:18:04] developments allowing the project to go forward at 2.3 that comes to the 57.5 million.
[2:18:12] and again we can see the alternates just one alternate here and then the price of
[2:18:19] delay which is the escalations that come along with that. As far as breakdown, these two
[2:18:27] you can see more detailed breakdown for site development and the police department and
[2:18:36] the parking garage, as well.n and so we see these numbers right here.
[2:18:44] and with that if there are any questions that we can answer, we are happy to do so.
[2:18:49] >>rob sproul: just one point of clarification, the delivery on schematic design was for the
[2:19:08] village hall project as well as the police station. What you have before you
[2:19:11] tonight is a motion to advance the police station component of this project.
[2:19:14] that does not mean that staff is abandoning the rest of the work that has occurred at
[2:19:17] village hall. I do think that we want to work with the architectural team to
[2:19:25] evaluate how that project can be further phased in more meaningful ways over time and
[2:19:29] maybe that work continues on more through our capital plan and is acknowledged through
[2:19:31] that process in a meaningful fashion. So, the focus tonight is on the
[2:19:40] police station, but it is not the intent here to abandon the rest of the work that has
[2:19:44] occurred. There is a lot of good work and recommendations for improvement
[2:19:49] that can happen here even on a incremental level that we would continue to advance forward.
[2:19:55] but, if the board has a different perspective on that we would be happy to hear that
[2:19:58] tonight, as well and can make any adjustments necessary as it relates to that.
[2:20:04] >>president scaman: who would like to start us off? >>trustee wesley: I appreciate
[2:20:14] the presentation as always, meg. Great detail.
[2:20:22] the number one question I have goes back to one of the questions I had last time we
[2:20:31] talked about this is that we have these exclusions, but there is no quantification
[2:20:34] around them and I don't know how to value them. >>meg: I will speak into this,
[2:20:37] that has to do with the construction manager is going to be hired as well and some of
[2:20:44] those would be kind of fine-tuned related to their contract and their approach.
[2:20:49] some things like is this nightwork or is it not and are they accelerating some of that
[2:20:55] stuff and how they approach the project that will come out in those kind of figures related
[2:20:59] to the manner in which the work is done and we can present the design and work with our cost
[2:21:12] estimator to say like how much will this cost and then when it comes down to it, the
[2:21:15] construction manager will determine if you want it fast like this and how - the how and
[2:21:21] methodologies. So, those exclusions are accommodated by the c mark.
[2:21:31] >>trustee wesley: this is a question that is more for you, rob or maybe kevin, can we get
[2:21:40] a small, medium, large estimate around the exclusions so we can estimated all in cost to the l
[2:21:49] project? Because, we still don't really have that.
[2:21:54] that is better than what we had last time and we can incrementally move forward in a
[2:21:57] more granular and better estimate and I do appreciate that and I do appreciate that
[2:22:02] the number also looks better, but I do not know how much better without knowing how to
[2:22:10] quantify the amount of these exclusions. >>rob sproul: we can talk
[2:22:16] off-line with the team about trying to get you some understanding with that number.
[2:22:22] change and even through the process, because things like design contingency and
[2:22:26] construction contingency, as you continue to develop the design and move through that
[2:22:31] process, those numbers actually go down because the risk associated with the design goes
[2:22:36] down. So, there is a lot of fluctuation that happens
[2:22:40] through the process as we continue to advance through the numbers.
[2:22:45] and we can talk about maybe what a percentage increase looks like over that.
[2:22:51] and I mean just I will leave it there. >>trustee wesley: I appreciate
[2:22:57] that. And I'm always fine with numbers going down.
[2:23:06] if you give me a high number and you come back later and you can say hey, guess what, the
[2:23:10] number changed and it went down, I would say thank you. >>rob sproul: and that is
[2:23:13] always - we understand that that is the expectation through the process and the design
[2:23:17] process you always want to be more conservative and as you continue to refine that design,
[2:23:22] you typically have opportunities to reduce costs when possible and we have been
[2:23:32] going through the c-mar process and there are ecstatic contractors and they are very
[2:23:39] excited to be able to see how early they are getting involved and they are very confident
[2:23:42] that they would bring a lot of value to the project and understand again the board 's
[2:23:47] desire to find opportunities. >>trustee wesley: I definitely appreciate that.
[2:23:57] and I would say the sooner the better on that and obviously based on what you just said, as
[2:24:05] well. That is really honestly - I will not belabor the point on
[2:24:12] this one. This is just really mostly what I had.
[2:24:16] I would like to be able to know what like the maximum number that we are going to spend on
[2:24:23] this is and I would say that this is going to cost $75 million or less, right?
[2:24:34] and I can say when pople ask what does it cost? $75 million or less or whatever
[2:24:37] the number is. And that - >>rob sproul: are you okay with
[2:24:42] 200 million or less? >>trustee wesley: 40 billion is what I just heard!
[2:24:46] >>rob sproul: that is a good point and a reminder tonight we are not signing any contracts,
[2:24:51] the intent is to return to the board with those contracts and that is something that we can
[2:24:54] have by the time we returned with the contract for jlk and the construction manager to be
[2:24:58] able to give you that level of information. >>trustee wesley: perfect.
[2:25:03] I appreciate that. >>president scaman: jim? >>trustee taglia: thank you for
[2:25:10] the work. It is very pleasant looking complex or campus that you are
[2:25:16] working on. I appreciate that. There is a lot of good thoughts
[2:25:20] here just a quick question on the underlying police station numbers that we have today so
[2:25:24] far based upon these - can you tell me how it compares with the last look just a few months
[2:25:31] ago? Is there much in the way of differences?
[2:25:33] that we can quantify just so we can understand what direction we are headed at least?
[2:25:48] >>meg: so, we, yes, thank you very much. Thank you for pointing this
[2:25:58] out. We had a previous cost of 63.7 that was the previous concept
[2:26:06] phase plan and price for this. And tat has come down and we have done some value
[2:26:10] engineering and trying to figure out how we can be even at schematic design level
[2:26:16] trying to be clever with how we ae using space or selecting materials, etc. So, it has come
[2:26:24] down and we are at the point where we are scraping kind of where we need and what we
[2:26:30] really need to spend to have a police facility that is durable, proper, adhering to
[2:26:38] proper standards for police because they deserve a building that protects them as they
[2:26:43] protect you and so we have to have certain things in this building for the idea of a
[2:26:48] police station. And we are being prudent and I mean we do - I don't know 95%
[2:26:58] pblic work at jlk and dewberry and we are good stewards and we tried to provide public with a
[2:27:01] good value. And I think that accepting the challenge of like how prudent
[2:27:08] can you be or how careful can you be and we take that to heart.
[2:27:11] so, we accepted the challenge and we did get it down and this is a $200 million building or
[2:27:23] however - >>trustee taglia: the last update is a reduction.
[2:27:25] is this a reduction? >>meg: this is a reduction again.
[2:27:31] >>trustee taglia: that is great. I appreciate that.
[2:27:34] may I ask about the village hall portion? And rob, I just want to get a
[2:27:42] little bit more background in this is the first I've heard of this where I am stepping back a
[2:27:48] little bit and I just want to understand this a little bit more.
[2:27:51] what is the reasoning behind this? Is this too much to bite off?
[2:28:02] >>manager jackson: we just want to make sure that as we move forward, the project
[2:28:05] encompasses everything that we are doing that we are contemplating financially with
[2:28:11] the introduction project and large ones and there is an opportunity for wicked phase
[2:28:17] this in and not saying that is what we should do, but we just want to make sure that we have
[2:28:21] that option and pathway that is available and what it may look like.
[2:28:24] >>trustee taglia: and why would that be beneficial as opposed to doing it as asingular
[2:28:34] project? >>manager jackson: I think you would be beneficial in the
[2:28:37] context of what the board 's ultimate preferences are and how they want - the financial
[2:28:42] commitments that they want to make and a variety of projects that they have in front of us.
[2:28:48] we have talked to the finance committee and the board has adopted a framework for
[2:28:54] financing the village hall in its entirety. So, we understand that that is
[2:29:01] a possibility and that we could do this in a responsible manner and ultimately save a lot of
[2:29:12] money over time because of phasing it will be more expensive, but from a
[2:29:15] decision-making standpoint - the board wants to focus on the police station first.
[2:29:20] and then we shift to having a more thoughtful conversation about the village hall and I
[2:29:26] think the idea is to really make sure that we fully vet this for the different possible
[2:29:32] pathways. So, we can do this all at once and that still may yet be the
[2:29:38] board 's choice or if you wanted to phase this end, this is what it would look like and
[2:29:42] they would be trade-offs that you would have to consider as part of phasing it in.
[2:29:45] >>trustee taglia: a little bit of capacity concern, but that is not a bad thing.
[2:29:52] >>manager jackson: I think it is just due diligence. >>rob sproul: and there is an
[2:30:00] understanding that a lot of the work that will happen in village hall is predicated on
[2:30:03] the police moving out of the basement. So, there is time, right?
[2:30:06] so, w were to try to honor the board 's preference to accelerate the police station
[2:30:11] project understanding that we had time to deal with village hall on kind of a different
[2:30:23] timeline then the police station. >>trustee taglia: very good.
[2:30:26] thank you. Scaman: this has not actually changed - we have always said
[2:30:29] from the very beginning that the police department was the priority.
[2:30:32] but that we also wanted to understand all of what was our responsibility and what all of
[2:30:36] our needs are and on day one - I say that you pull it police station out of the basement and
[2:30:39] you are going to need to address that. So, we have been looking for
[2:30:46] all of the iformation from day one. And it has been said at every
[2:30:48] step of the way that it will become at some point our choice to at what rate we do that.
[2:30:53] and we have always said the police station is the priority, but it is not going to end
[2:31:02] there. And so nothing is changed. Just an order of events.
[2:31:10] (chuckle). >>trustee taglia: I am done, sorry.
[2:31:20] >>trustee eder: I will go next. Thank you. At all of the work.
[2:31:24] and I echo trustee wesley 's comments, the number going down is good.
[2:31:31] I - I did see the number go up recollection?all - is this my I think I remember it was the
[2:31:39] 26 million range and now it is up to 33, did I - >>meg: we had a couple of
[2:31:47] different versions and ways of dealing with village hall and at one point the council
[2:31:53] chamber was larger and elsewhere and it was moving around.
[2:31:57] places.smaller in different and this is where after kind of moving the design through the
[2:32:06] various iterations we had shared, selecting one and further developing it and
[2:32:09] looking at how things need to change in between to actually work and get the elevator in an
[2:32:13] all of the pieces and parts in place appropriately so that the council chamber was right sized
[2:32:20] so that we had the pre-function space that was adequate to make that ada and accessible in full
[2:32:30] public entrance appropriate. And just today as I was walking from the west you know I wanted
[2:32:36] to take a picture of the ada it should not be - and so which tweaking this building to get
[2:32:45] it where it needs to be to respect the public and the and business changes that need
[2:32:51] to be made with the project. >>trustee eder: and we are not approving that tonight and so
[2:33:00] there is still more time to potentially refine - >>meg: and at risk to just
[2:33:08] further explain - with an existing building there is always the work that comes in
[2:33:11] the beginning and the low hanging fruit if there is some window work or masonry work or
[2:33:16] maintenance items that are a part of a larger scope of work, there comes a time where the
[2:33:19] changes to the mechanical systems really need to be made in tandem with changes to any
[2:33:24] plans that you're making so that you get the benefit of getting all of your work done.
[2:33:29] so, there comes a moment where that is very appropriate, but we achieve that, it is just how
[2:33:35] that by step-by-step and analyzing and again - that is with existing structures where
[2:33:47] you like how you say peck away at the bigger issue and then you get to the point where
[2:33:53] eventually there is the bigger moment. But, there is lots of steps
[2:33:55] before that. >>trustee eder: got it. Thank you.
[2:33:59] I know that we are pretty far down the road and 63 - 57, that is good.
[2:34:07] I am also really interested in seeing the ways that we can reduce that even further
[2:34:10] because as we are talking about this at the finance committee and the budget and the debt
[2:34:17] that this village is going to have to take on with bonds to pay for this in the debt
[2:34:21] service that we are going to have to pay over 30 years to pay this off - anything that we
[2:34:27] can do now to reduce this large ticket item even though it is a one-time expense, that will
[2:34:32] affect the amount of money that we have t stand over 30 years. And so I'm really curious if
[2:34:37] there is any other areas that you think potentially could be additional savings and
[2:34:44] particularly interested in the parking garage and it just seems massive.
[2:34:47] like it is a double-decker and I know there is probably needs for secure parking and things
[2:34:54] like that, but $10 million for a parking garage - I mean please explain how that is so
[2:34:59] needed and the scale of it and need all of those parking we spaces and I'm very curious
[2:35:07] what we can do there. >>meg: bills are the number of parking spaces required for the
[2:35:14] program and I think there is not enough parking spaces right now and there needs to be
[2:35:17] adequate parking spaces for patrol change for the necessary vehicles and then protecting
[2:35:26] again like that is a very station when people are olice arriving by car with shift
[2:35:30] change and whatnot and we can always look at everything if there is a more efficient
[2:35:35] fiscally responsible way to do that and again we have been doing serious value engineering
[2:35:38] in this process, as well. Think the one thing that stands out is stepping back even from
[2:35:47] that - construction always just gets more expensive. And these numbers are for a
[2:35:57] 2027 dart and everything escalates if you move to 2028 and that is the thing that you
[2:36:00] can do to not make that more expensive and do it sooner. That is the only thing that I
[2:36:05] bring to that. Everything will just get more expensive.
[2:36:10] >>rob sproul: it is important to note that the intent of the parking garage is to serve all
[2:36:14] of the police squad vehicles and all of the vehicles that the village owns plus all of
[2:36:19] the officers 's private vehicles which we do not provide that level of you know
[2:36:25] just parking on the street. And we have to account for I think it is the afternoon shift
[2:36:30] change where you actually have basically almost everybody and all three shifts converging at
[2:36:36] the same time and this motion that is on and a shift that is coming off and there vehicles
[2:36:42] are there as well and you have the new shift coming on and you need to account for all of
[2:36:46] those spots and it is a lot of parking, but if you want to provide secure safe parking for
[2:36:51] the police officers, you have to account for all of that parking just for that window in
[2:36:56] those couple windows of time each day. >>trustee eder: I would still
[2:37:06] love to see it come down if possible. Any other areas that you see as
[2:37:10] opportunities for reduction in cost and other parts of the build out?
[2:37:18] >>rob sproul: from my perspective the biggest opportunity is when we get the
[2:37:22] construction manager on and they're able to work directly with the engineering and
[2:37:25] architecture team t talk through some of the design decisions that they have been
[2:37:29] making and maybe opportunities to change the construction method that may be they had
[2:37:34] assumed or change timelines on how quickly things can get done or you know opportunities to
[2:37:44] purchase materials sooner. Think that there are some opportunities and there is also
[2:37:47] quite a bit of - I should not say quite a bit and I don't know exactly what that means,
[2:37:52] but there is contingency related to the structure of the existing building and we have
[2:37:59] not been able to get as much information about the existing building as we want and so we
[2:38:02] have had to kind of worst-case scenario that situation and if things are not worst-case
[2:38:12] scenario, there may be potential for cost savings there as we can refine the
[2:38:15] design based on the actual circumstances that exist. I don't think that we are going
[2:38:19] to see huge reductions, but I think that we all and I think everyone here and even the
[2:38:25] construction managers that we were talking to all understand the importance of finding
[2:38:28] additional value savings with the project and everybody knows that it's kind of one of the
[2:38:34] primary drivers of moving this project forward. >>trustee eder: and I
[2:38:41] appreciate all you've done so far to reduce it and I'll keep repeating myself t hammer that
[2:38:44] home. Last question I think - is the cost of acquiring the building,
[2:38:50] the bank building included in this? Additional 2.6 or something,
[2:38:57] right? >>rob sproul: the number has not been determined.
[2:39:00] >>trustee eder: not determine. Something in the ballpark. I think those are all of the
[2:39:10] questions I had and I appreciate the work and any opportunities would be greatly
[2:39:15] appreciated by everyone in the community. Straw: we have talked a lot
[2:39:23] about the cost has gone down and that is great. I actually want to zoom out on
[2:39:30] that point a little bit, because we have talked about the $6 million in savings from
[2:39:35] last time you were here, but I think as important context when we started having these
[2:39:41] conversations back in 2024, the estimate of building a new police station on a separate
[2:39:53] site and making renovations and improvements to village hall was $140 million.
[2:40:01] and so the combined number that we are down to now of building a new police station off site
[2:40:09] and renovating and improving village hall is a combined about $90 million.
[2:40:17] so, through this process and through your diligent work and through the advocacy of full,
[2:40:26] board and the work of staff, we have reduced the sticker price by $50 million.
[2:40:36] and that is no small achievement. So, I am incredibly grateful
[2:40:40] for all of the work that everyone has put in on this over the last two years.
[2:40:51] I do think - the design for the police department, it makes sense and obviously if we can
[2:41:05] save more money you know I agree that would be lovely. I want to reiterate that.
[2:41:16] when do you expect that on the village hall side that you would be coming back with what
[2:41:23] the timeline and the phasing approach that you want to discuss with us would be so
[2:41:30] that we - when would you expect that we would be making decisions on that?
[2:41:39] >>manager jackson: cfo b reminds me about the financing plan and we have adopted
[2:41:53] financial framework to initiate construction of the village hall improvements in 2028 first
[2:41:58] quarter. And this means you know and maybe we can put this in a more
[2:42:07] specific timeframe to be able to really drill down on it and we kow that the conversation
[2:42:12] about village hall, once we move this project once we move this along into design and into
[2:42:21] construction in 2027, at least by early 2027 we need to start talking about the village hall
[2:42:28] in anticipation of initiating the project in 2028. >>rob sproul: I would just say
[2:42:33] in advance about you may see and speaking of the low hanging fruit, there are some things
[2:42:39] that we think even within 2027 we should start to tackle in terms of the maintenance and we
[2:42:44] have a million-dollar grant to help assist with replacing all of the glazing around council
[2:42:52] chambers or not council chambers, but the courtyard and you may see even those projects
[2:42:55] come in advance of that recession because the opportunity exists and the work
[2:43:01] needs to get done to piece out some of those smaller projects. >>trustee straw: I bring this
[2:43:09] up because one of the things that we have been discussing and certainly one of the things
[2:43:13] that we have seen from the last decade of history in the village is when we delay these
[2:43:19] projects, the costs go up. And we are looking here at the pricing around village hll
[2:43:30] with escalations of 5 1/2, 12 and a half as those costs get delayed.
[2:43:40] and certainly - I want us to be thoughtful about phasing in and be thoughtful about sort of
[2:43:49] obviously we need a place for the police department to go before we start doing work in
[2:43:53] the basement of village hall. These things all make sense. And I don't want us to delay
[2:44:08] unnecessarily, because I cannot even - you know the history so much better than I do of how
[2:44:12] long we have been discussing the ned to do a new police department and I have talked to
[2:44:25] folks who say as long as they have been on the force, there has been talk about a new
[2:44:29] police department. And the cost estimates have gone from - have magnified
[2:44:36] immensely as a result of delays. Things to be in a similar place
[2:44:48] where instead of the incredible cost reductions you have managed to achieve as we have
[2:44:56] value engineered this, now you are looking at the cost increasing as a result of delay
[2:45:02] and the fact that materials and labor all get more expensive over time.
[2:45:11] >>president scaman: excellent. I'll keep doing this and insert a tiny bit so I do not forget
[2:45:20] and I do not think that I have to keep defending some of this, I think we are largely together
[2:45:24] and of the community is with us. But, we never actually voted
[2:45:29] yes on $140 million and I know that you did not say that - I am just putting it out there -
[2:45:35] what we voted yes on was to continue moving forward and every step of the way said can
[2:45:40] you please make it cheaper. And so yes you have done that and you have proven that you
[2:45:47] are constantly thinking about that and I will say that I have gone ahead and encourage my
[2:45:56] colleagues if that is what is still on your mind you can go ahead and keep saying this.
[2:46:00] but, I also want to give credit as you are also here and hopefully you hear this loud
[2:46:06] and clear, that obviously you have been dligent and listening.
[2:46:11] okay. Who would like to go next? All right, I'll just keep -
[2:46:19] >>trustee leving-jacobson: okay. I will echo the gratitude for
[2:46:24] the value engineering that is happening. I guess my question is like two
[2:46:31] parts or if I am assuming the answer to the first - I know that there is a lot of
[2:46:41] contingencies or factors keeping us from understanding costs related to whoever gets
[2:46:45] put on as the project manager or construction manager. But, is there a ballpark that
[2:46:51] we know like 2027 budget and 2028 budget would mean for this part of the municipal campus?
[2:47:02] >>rob sproul: yes, I think so. I mean 2027 - yes. By the time that we are coming
[2:47:05] back with these contracts we have the construction manager we will be able to give you an
[2:47:14] idea of the completion on an order of magnitude scale. But, I think we should be able
[2:47:20] to get that information to yu before the end of the year. >>trustee leving-jacobson: for
[2:47:27] 27 and 28? >>rob sproul: the completion of the police station project.
[2:47:33] and as we kind of talk, there are those projects that we will probably start inserting into
[2:47:42] the capital plan that we are maintenance projects associated with village hall so you get an
[2:47:46] understanding of those and then we kind of circle back with staff and village manager and
[2:47:49] we can probably be looking at q1, q2 two for a larger village hall and costs associated with
[2:48:00] that. >>trustee leving-jacobson: so, what you think 2027 is going to
[2:48:03] be - >>rob sproul: primarily design. And we hope that we will be in
[2:48:09] a position to break ground at some point during the year. There is going to be some costs
[2:48:12] associated with material purchase from the contractor to kind of start up, but the
[2:48:16] majority of the cost associated with construction is going to come in 28 and 29.
[2:48:22] >>trustee leving-jacobson: and acquisition - >>rob sproul: that is what we
[2:48:26] are planning is associating. >>kevin bueso: kevin bueso, cfo for the village of oak park
[2:48:42] erie so, this will include bond proceeds of $65 billion related to the police station which I
[2:48:50] know is great news. And 2028 as we move the capital again ballpark amounts is on
[2:48:58] the village hall we have at least $26.5 million and so just setting expectations again and
[2:49:13] that does not necessarily align with what you are seeing here, because these are just again
[2:49:18] estimates at this time. But, as we get closer to the actual budget amount, those
[2:49:21] numbers are going to be going up. Abby budget as will be
[2:49:25] presented for 2027 is going to include the bond proceed side on the revenue side on the
[2:49:32] capital and then on the expenditure side it will be more again the numbers that rob
[2:49:41] is talking about. Payout and cash flow, that is a different conversation.
[2:49:44] that is the budget that is purely appropriating those funds and authorizing that we
[2:49:51] are going to use the bond proceeds for that specific project.
[2:49:55] capital plan is going to look a lot larger than what you're used to because of the bond
[2:50:03] issuance is that we are planning for. 2028 as I mentioned, at least
[2:50:07] as things are planned right now is for village hall again as the financing pan is currently
[2:50:16] outlined for q1 and q2 of 2028 and that is going to be budgeted within that fiscal
[2:50:24] year. Answers the question. But, I know that the numbers
[2:50:30] themselves will be a lot larger than we normally see on the capital plan because if you
[2:50:35] look at the budget you assume that all of that cash is going out, basil rob mentioned it
[2:50:42] will be phased depending on when the work is actually done.
[2:50:46] leving-jacobson: thank you. That is very helpful. >>president scaman: and since
[2:50:51] you mentioned, you expect acquisition soon, can we just recap the timeline again?
[2:50:55] >>rob sproul: so, I would say conservatively that we would expect to be breaking ground
[2:51:07] before the end of next year. Think that we probably need to have some conversations with
[2:51:11] the construction manager about logistics and what they would see as the best approach to
[2:51:15] utilizing the site. It is a small site and it is bordered by two very busy
[2:51:22] streets and so some of the assumptions that we have been making during the design phase
[2:51:26] or staff was making about how the project to be phased in may need to be sweet with
[2:51:30] deconstruction manager at risk and conservatively we will break ground before the end of
[2:51:41] the year and if there is a phasing opportunity it could happen sooner assuming that
[2:51:45] acquisition goes as hoped. >>meg: I concur working with the existing building and the
[2:51:57] site, the contractor certainly wanted to get something done this year and whether that is
[2:52:02] breaking new ground or whether that is working with the existing building and do
[2:52:05] utility work, something will happen. I think that is what we want to
[2:52:11] work toward. >>president scaman: okay. Jim?
[2:52:17] >>trustee taglia: the last thing I want to mention about this item at the risk of
[2:52:23] causing upset over my colleagues if push came to shove and if looking for cost
[2:52:30] reduction we can always look at the construction of the new council chambers which we have
[2:52:33] not discussed exactly what the cost, but I know it is not inexpensive and are not trying
[2:52:40] to pick a fight here, I am just suggesting that things change, cost goes up and that is a
[2:52:45] expendable item that we really - it is a want and perhaps there are some safety issues
[2:52:52] that are present, but anyway - >>president scaman: first of all - we never get mad at you,
[2:53:04] jim, but we should never say never - we value your input. Okay?
[2:53:13] value your input. Correct, sometimes. We may have a disagreement, but
[2:53:20] always value your input. Motion to go beyond 10 pm. >>speaker: moved.
[2:53:26] >>speaker: second. >>president scaman: motion by trusted friend a and second by
[2:53:34] trustee taglia. All in favor?
[2:53:35] (multiple speakers) aye. >>president scaman: excellent.
[2:53:38] who is next? You don't have to talk, that is fine, too.
[2:53:42] >>trustee enyia: lower money is better. Obviously we think it is - I'm
[2:53:51] glad that we have been able to bring down the cost and continue to find avenues to
[2:53:55] bring that down. I agree - the easiest way to save more money on this is to
[2:54:03] get this started sooner. So, I really appreciate all of the different avenues and the
[2:54:15] reduction of almost $6 million and I think that we are taking the right steps.
[2:54:21] I hope to hear mre about some of these things and how much that impacts the final number,
[2:54:31] but I really like were it is going. >>president scaman: okay,
[2:54:41] excellent. I just want to echo brian and trustee enyia and confirm
[2:54:48] whether there is other direction to the same point, but I think the sooner the
[2:54:52] better on al the projects. Trustee taglia 's opinion that
[2:55:03] this room does not need to b replicated with the new space, I do disagree.
[2:55:11] I do think that disability access very much matters and is not sufficient in this space or
[2:55:24] access to this building at all. Many of you are aware that I have been caring for my mother
[2:55:28] and she is with a walker now and that ramp that you mentioned access to would not
[2:55:36] be safe for her without two people helping her. And that is something that she
[2:55:48] said, that she would love to come back to illinois so she could see me back here in our
[2:55:52] member bob tucker used to make the same point when he was sitting in this seat.
[2:55:54] and we don't need - we are supposed to be accessible to all.
[2:56:01] and the safety of this and I mean - I will stop repeating myself after this statement,
[2:56:10] but it is ludicrous that we walk through a tube to get into this room.
[2:56:17] I realize that architecturally we love it, sure. But, it is still ludicrous in
[2:56:26] today's day and age for safety of everybody in here that we walk through a tube.
[2:56:40] you are welcome to disagree! And I will still talk to you. (laughter) so, anyway - I do
[2:56:48] think that it is important that we stay on schedule. Accepting here is that there is
[2:56:56] a practical logistics to getting started and the thing that is the priority here and
[2:57:03] then just keep the ball moving. Just keep the ball moving. Okay.
[2:57:09] now, the care for all of our employees and access for all of our residents very much
[2:57:15] mtters. >>trustee eder: you are looking for more direction on this
[2:57:27] additional alternative nmber one the real-time crime center buildout.
[2:57:31] are you looking for direction on that tonight as a part of this item?
[2:57:35] consider this for later? Okay, just wanted to check before we take a look.
[2:57:45] >>president scaman: and I'll not even mentioned the steepness of the stairs going
[2:57:49] down if there was an emergency. Okay, moving on. Okay - we do need a vote on
[2:57:59] this and we have a motion on the table, correct? Okay.
[2:58:02] clerk waters, please take the role. >>clerk waters: yes.
[2:58:11] trustee enyia, yes, trustee straw, yes, trustee eder, trustee leving-jacobson, yes,
[2:58:20] trustee taglia, yes, trustee wesley, yes and president scaman.
[2:58:25] >>president scaman: yes. All right, thank you. Thank you all also for
[2:58:33] listening on those design qualities as well. So, I entertain a motion to
[2:58:45] approve an ordinance amending chapter 20 ("public health") of the oak park
[2:58:49] municipal code by adopting regulations and fees for single-use bags
[2:58:52] at retail establishments. >>speaker: moved. >>speaker: second.
[2:59:00] >>president scaman: motion by trustee straw and second by trustee eder.
[2:59:08] >>speaker: thank you, good evening. So, this item is the ordinance
[2:59:12] in front of you that is based on a recommendation from the environment and energy
[2:59:18] commission that you received back in march and it was included with the packets and I
[2:59:23] could go through the presentation very quickly. Just some quick background this
[2:59:26] went into place in 2018 and aside from a brief pause in collection into thousand 20,
[2:59:33] to it and the eec brought this up last year as a potential way to reduce single use baggies as
[2:59:40] well to maintain revenue into the sustainability fund. And so the results that we have
[2:59:48] seen from the bag policy that has been in place since 2018 is that there has not been a
[2:59:52] significant decrease in the use of bags and in fact baggies now are 39% higher than the use --
[3:00:05] start of the policy and so the eec as a proposal that was to create a policy that would try
[3:00:12] to do both, reduce the single use plastic bag use as well as maintain revenue.
[3:00:19] ordinance in front of you reflects that proposal that we increase the bag fee by five
[3:00:23] cents per year for the next three years until it reaches a cap of $0.29 in 2029.
[3:00:42] ad with the proposed increases we see a reduction in use of the first year of 50% and still
[3:00:50] maintain the revenue that we see today into the sustainability fund and in the
[3:00:57] second year that can be as much as a 65% reduction in the third year and subsequent years as
[3:01:02] much as a 75% reduction in the still maintaining the same e revenue.
[3:01:08] that we have made to the ordinance to put this in place, we added a definition for small
[3:01:14] retail establishments that allows us to apply the plastic bag ban while maintaining fees
[3:01:21] just on the larger retailers. We added a five cent increase annually until 2029.
[3:01:31] and we did add a requirement for signage at the retail establishments where this
[3:01:40] applies and this is consistent with other jurisdictions that have similar fees.
[3:01:44] and then we created the ban are plastic bags as well as requirements for the content of
[3:01:49] the paper bags and added the stipulation that the bags should have handles on the
[3:01:54] recommendation of one of the commissions that we spoke to. This also, this 40% recycled
[3:02:00] content is also consistent with other ordinances that have a plastic bag ban a fee on paper
[3:02:11] bags. So, in the lead up to bringing this ordinance to you, we did a
[3:02:14] significant amount of community input and we did do some survey at the general public and the
[3:02:18] eec put together a survey in 2025 and we have added a few events asking a very civil
[3:02:22] question, yes or no supporting te plastic bag scaman seven and we have gotten overwhelming
[3:02:31] at these events support for the ban. We spoke to the businesses and
[3:02:34] all 17 of the businesses to whom the fee currently applies and give them opportunities for
[3:02:39] input. We heard no significant pushback from those businesses
[3:02:44] and we met with the business association council and also got input from the community
[3:02:50] relations commission, disability access, aging in communities and the farmers
[3:02:54] market which all informed our approach and the ordinance. So, if passed tonight, the next
[3:02:59] step so that we will work with a designer to create a campaign that will help to get more
[3:03:06] interest and excitement in the community for reducing some of those bag uses ad reusable
[3:03:09] bags. It will create reminders and one of the things that we learn
[3:03:12] is that one of the reasons people use the disposable bags is that they have forgotten the
[3:03:17] reusable bags and things that people can use as reminders and create new tote bags that we
[3:03:24] will give away for free as we currently do and we will announce the upcoming changes
[3:03:28] in the village messaging that we have and we will work with the signage requirements and
[3:03:35] help them to meet those requirements and we will consider temporarily expanding
[3:03:40] places where people can come get the free tte bags and have more of a 24 hour access then
[3:03:43] currently exists in village hall. And then in 2027, once this is
[3:03:49] in place, we will increase our messaging around it so people know that the fee has increased
[3:03:53] and we also have taken another suggestion from the commissions to create limited-edition tote
[3:03:59] bags to get some excitement to help also promote other things like age awareness and earth
[3:04:08] months and pride and other events and activities in the village.
[3:04:11] and that is it. I will take any questions. >>president scaman: okay.
[3:04:16] derek? >>trustee eder: I'll be brief. Thank you.
[3:04:22] I know it is late. I appreciate all the work that you've done and staff have done
[3:04:28] and the eec and I know that this was the proposal that eec is working on.
[3:04:30] and I wish that they did not meet on tuesdays, I am always busier tuesdays because I'm
[3:04:35] here. And if you go back a couple slides, we are charging a fee
[3:04:38] for paper bags, as well. Why? >>lindsay: it occurs to all
[3:04:49] retail bags and yes plastic is not biodegradable and it stays in the environment and
[3:04:59] paperbacks also have an environmental impact and so it applies across the board for
[3:05:02] all single use bags. >>trustee eder: but like glass, right?
[3:05:08] much less - >>lindsay: depends on how you look at it, it is a reusable,
[3:05:13] but it is not a single impact, it is generally considered preferable just because of it
[3:05:27] does not have the consistent litter aspect, but it is not a zero environmental impact.
[3:05:32] >>trustee eder: and we are going for zero. >>lindsay: well, you ask for
[3:05:35] the justification of why - >>trustee eder: okay. I guess the second question is
[3:05:39] if - they make biodegradable bags and we use them in our compost bins and that is
[3:05:44] something like - they sort of biodegrade by like 2 and a half years is what some of these
[3:05:51] are. Those also would have a fee associated with them if I tried
[3:05:54] to switch from I like straight up plastic to a biodegradable bag, same fee, correct?
[3:06:02] >>lindsay: correct. The fee applies to all single use bags.
[3:06:04] so, even if it is a powder gettable compostable plastic bag, the fee would apply.
[3:06:10] now, there are jrisdictions that have you know as we have said the content has to be 40%
[3:06:17] recycled materials and there are some jurisdictions that allow for it to be a
[3:06:24] compostable plastic and the fee would still apply, but it would not be a and, necessarily if we
[3:06:29] wanted to go that route, but that is not what we have. >>trustee eder: when I first
[3:06:36] great, I support this and how will we get this to dick and people are always going to
[3:06:42] forget their bags. It is just always going to happen.
[3:06:45] is there a way that we can adjust this so that I think people you know using paper
[3:06:52] bags is a fine alternative and using compostable bags is a fine alternative and I we can
[3:06:56] get - and I will - I just looked on amazon, you can purchase biodegradable bags and
[3:07:03] it is like eight cents per bag and that is on amazon and I'm sure that you can get cheaper
[3:07:06] than that and is there a way that we can maybe rewrite this so that we can actually get and
[3:07:13] encouraged as opposed to - I'm just worried about great - money is coming in and then
[3:07:18] 2030 rolls aound and then all of a sudden like people are not going to want to pull the
[3:07:24] trigger on the band for the money reasons and then also because there will be backlash
[3:07:29] because people get upset about it and I have seen the bags backfire like in the city of
[3:07:40] chicago and is there something that can get us in front of that?
[3:07:44] >>lindsay: one of the things that we are written into this to encourage that sticky
[3:07:48] behavior change is the three yar ramp up fee. That gives an opportunity for a
[3:07:53] little bit more of a pain point every year as people get used to it and it also gives us
[3:08:00] three years to do the education and outreach and communication and help make tat behavior
[3:08:06] change step. And the combination of the fee plus the ban is something that
[3:08:12] is used in a lot of jurisdictions around the country and has had beneficial
[3:08:16] impact. Because, there is still an option if you forget your bag
[3:08:23] that is the paper. >>trustee eder: and you are still paying the fee for it.
[3:08:31] okay. >>lindsay: if you want to direct us to also add that
[3:08:34] compostable plastic would be allowable, that is something that other jurisdictions have
[3:08:39] included that we did not. >>trustee eder: I honestly think I do.
[3:08:46] I'm curious what my colleagues then, but I think that we should give people an easy path
[3:08:49] to do the right thing and outright ban may backfire if we do not offer that pathway.
[3:08:54] and I'm curious what my colleagues think about that. But, I am interested in
[3:08:59] pursuing that. More work for you. (chuckle).
[3:09:09] >>president scaman: is there interest in at least - now, are you asking - are you asking to
[3:09:16] table this agenda item two. >>trustee eder: I would ask for staff 's recommendation on what
[3:09:24] you need to accomplish this? Would you like to take it back? Or what is -
[3:09:27] >>president scaman: approve tis and come back later. >>trustee eder: I am open to
[3:09:33] your suggestion. >>village manager: if the only change is to allow compostable
[3:09:41] plastic bags in addition to paper bags once the ban goes ito effect for the same fee as
[3:09:48] the paper bag, I think that we can make that as a floor amendment prior to his
[3:09:58] execution. >>president scaman: of course. I was just asking if there is
[3:10:01] actual resource -- research - >>trustee eder: it sounds like we have enough examples to
[3:10:09] follow that we could - >>lindsay: I don't know off the top of my head which
[3:10:13] municipalities there are that include this as an option, because it was not something
[3:10:16] that we included. Remember seeing it, but I do not have that like at my
[3:10:22] fingertips. Eder: I want to get it right and if it takes some time to
[3:10:27] come back I am okay with that. >>president scaman: it does not change the immediate action.
[3:10:37] like for the next year. >>trustee eder: sure, yes. Absolutely.
[3:10:39] and I'm fine - I am good with things up to the outright ban.
[3:10:49] three years. >>president scaman: okay. And how do others feel?
[3:10:54] anybody else want to chime in? >>trustee wesley: I am a no on this.
[3:11:03] before I say that, what are we trying to do with this? I would try to raise revenue?
[3:11:08] are we trying to prevent certain types of bags? We trying to save the
[3:11:13] evironment? What is our northstar? >>lindsay: yes.
[3:11:16] and that is the situation that we have found ourselves in with the fee that has been in place
[3:11:23] is that it has been successful raising revenue and not particularly being successful
[3:11:29] in decreasing plastic bag use or single use bag use. Answer based on the research
[3:11:37] that we have done on other communities that have successfully reduced single use
[3:11:41] bag use and with the idea that we have gotten used to having this revenue source and we
[3:11:47] would like to keep it, we have determined that this is a potential path to do both
[3:12:02] things. >>trustee wesley: we are reducing single use bag use for
[3:12:05] what purpose? >>lindsay: in order to reduce plastic use and in order to
[3:12:09] reduce waste and in order to reduce paper and in order to reduce the environmental impact
[3:12:13] of the single-use bags. >>trustee wesley: got it. Okay.
[3:12:16] and so the reason I want to get specific around that is because earlier point about the
[3:12:22] conversation about what is better, plastic or paper, right?
[3:12:24] it takes several more uses of reuses of paper to offset the environmental impact of one
[3:12:34] plastic bag and it takes an order of magnitude more reuses of a canvas bag to offset the
[3:12:40] environmental impact of a plastic bag. And it's so if we are trying to
[3:12:48] offset environmental impact, we are ding it backwards. And I do think that people will
[3:12:58] use the bags, the hundred 50 times or whatever it is that it takes to offset the one plastic
[3:13:07] bag eventually. And I think that is a long kind of road before they get there.
[3:13:15] and I am all in favor of recycling and preventing single use of bags and pretty much
[3:13:25] anything, right? We dumped too much stuff in landfills and I would like to
[3:13:29] stop that. However, there is the alternative and the other side
[3:13:32] of this coin is that to produce those canvas bags is a huge evironmental impact because if
[3:13:39] they are cotton, anyway because there is just a lot that goes into that.
[3:13:44] and then for paper - same thing. And if this is merely revenue -
[3:13:53] just to be clear I'm not voting for increasing the amount regardless, because even though
[3:13:58] it is only a nickel - it feels like it I not the right time to increase costs for people
[3:14:04] shopping for food. And I look at the national scene which I hardly ever do
[3:14:16] when we are talking about items here and I look at the national scene and I see a president
[3:14:20] that is struggling because he did not reduce the price of food in this country for the
[3:14:24] last two years and he said he would overnight. And when I think about adding
[3:14:28] even a nickel to a plastic bag, it is not so much the cost, but the signal and it signals that
[3:14:31] we are told after the struggles of the people on the street and I would like to not send that
[3:14:35] message and I will not vote for that message. Maybe in the future where
[3:14:39] inflation has decreased again towards what it used to be before the pandemic, then that
[3:14:46] would be something that would be something that I would consider.
[3:14:49] but, right now to me it just feels like not a message that I would personally want to stand
[3:14:53] and the environmental impact of this does not motivate me to do it either.
[3:15:03] because, the incentives are closer to the plastic bag then it does with the paper and the
[3:15:10] canvas. So, that is where I am on it. >>lindsay: I would like to
[3:15:13] respond just to the impact of the reusable bags. That is something that is
[3:15:21] absolutely true. The environmental benefit of a reusable bag is only so much as
[3:15:24] it is offsetting the plastic bags and there is a certain number that needs to be offset
[3:15:30] for for it to be better. If you are using reusable bags as if they are disposable, then
[3:15:33] it is far worse then reusing a plastic bag. And that is something that we
[3:15:37] have had a lot of conversations about in my office and what the right approach is for a totebag
[3:15:41] that we are providing and giving out, because we do not want to create a situation
[3:15:45] where people are using them as if they are disposable because we are giving them away for
[3:15:49] free. And that is something that we are trying to balance wth
[3:15:52] making them available to people who you know would rather not pay the fee or the fee is
[3:15:57] onerous to them, have an option that is free to them while also not creating an issue that
[3:16:08] actually makes the environmental issue worse. That is something that we are
[3:16:12] taking into consideration as we are doing this. And I also just will highlight
[3:16:15] the one thing that we are not changing in the ordinance is the exemption for people who
[3:16:21] are using snap benefits or other food assistance programs, they are exempted from the fee
[3:16:24] and I know that that does not capture everyone for whom the cost of groceries is a burden.
[3:16:28] but, that is something that we are continuing to think about in our outreach and the way
[3:16:32] that we are working with their businesses. >>trustee wesley: I appreciate
[3:16:41] you adding the additional contact, because I do largely agree that over the course of I
[3:16:47] guess probably years, the more people we get on reusable bags, the better it is even if it
[3:16:51] takes you know 150 or 30 times, whatever the number is to recoup that environmental
[3:16:59] impact, because if you are using it, then as long as the not fall apart before that,
[3:17:02] then we do eventually realized that environmental impact. And I do appreciate that
[3:17:08] contact and I definitely agree that that is the forward motion.
[3:17:12] I just think because of the length of time that it takes to recoup that in the current
[3:17:19] economic situations and just macroeconomic situations currently that it is too much
[3:17:27] of a long-range perspective for me to justify the near-term impact, even the perception of
[3:17:36] the near-term impact is really what it is. Because, again it is a nickel
[3:17:39] and over the course of the year, it amounts to $30 or $40 for some people maybe if they
[3:17:44] are using them all the time. I don't know what the number is, but it is the perception
[3:17:48] that we don't care that people are struggling and after some people even a nickel they feel
[3:17:55] like too much. And honestly I would rather raise the levy then raise this
[3:18:03] tax and nickel. >>trustee straw: I think cory raises an excellent point on
[3:18:17] the increasing the fee in this moment. I think that one of the things
[3:18:25] that you talk about is working with retailers on signage requirements and I think
[3:18:32] including in that signage, hw free tote bags are available so that we can be making clear to
[3:18:46] folks like we have a free alternative for you that will offset you know where you won't
[3:18:55] have to pay this bag fee ever again. Because we will provide you
[3:19:00] with the tote bags that you will use. I think that if we make sure to
[3:19:11] be very aggressive about communicating that particularly in places where those shoppers
[3:19:22] will see it, that is one way to address it. I also - I would like to adopt
[3:19:34] this as we have it today I think that I would like to sort of see a little bit more
[3:19:42] development around the idea of compostable plastic bags being an option in the same vein as
[3:19:58] the paper bags when the complete ban comes into effect, because I don't know as we sit
[3:20:05] here today sort of what the environmental impact of those two options like how they
[3:20:19] compare. Because, certainly the paper bags have a higher cost to
[3:20:23] environmental cost to produce and transport and on the flipside, they biodegrade and
[3:20:34] they do not create the litter and I often use those paper bags in my house as compostable
[3:20:44] bags for our compost bin. And obviously the compostable bags also would serve that
[3:20:52] purpose. I don't know how paper bags vs. The plastic compostable bags
[3:21:02] compare in how they break down and what the environmental cost of manufacturing r. I was not
[3:21:14] prepared for that research tonight and obviously that was not something that we are
[3:21:20] considering coming in. Worth us talking about sometime between now and 2030 and we can
[3:21:35] adjust this. I may suggest is a memo that t addresses the questions that we
[3:21:43] have heard tonight about composting and somebody can in response to that memo make a
[3:21:53] motion and a second to be on a future agenda. >>trustee eer: and if I can
[3:22:03] just add the behavior change that I'm most interested in is not every resident in the
[3:22:07] village of oak park, it is if we can see the environmental impact of using paper bags or
[3:22:18] compostable bags is way better which I assume it is, then comes the time for the ban if
[3:22:23] they just switch to those, we don't have to make any educational campaign.
[3:22:27] it is just what is there. That is the lever that I want to make sure we are pulling the
[3:22:33] right one to make sure that the businesses make the right choice and then we all benefit
[3:22:39] from that coice. That is where I want to go but I agree.
[3:22:41] the memo idea sounds great. I want to have a fully informed decision and I am okay with
[3:22:50] voting on this as is tonight and bringing the conversation back.
[3:22:57] >>trustee enyia: you probably want to talk to the businesses that are still using plastic,
[3:23:01] because if you can figure out why they don't want t switch, then we will have the data we
[3:23:06] need to get everyone else on board, because I feel like there are tons of people who
[3:23:15] want to move away from the bags, but when the source is giving you the bags -
[3:23:27] >>trustee wesley: really quick. I appreciate that comment, derek.
[3:23:30] and what I would say to that is if our goal is to the northstar goals which is to we want
[3:23:35] plastic bags because paper is biodegradable even though we know the initial construction
[3:23:39] cost is multiples of a plastic bag, but we think the biodegradable part is what we
[3:23:57] want to see then I would be perfectly fine if that is the northstar that we are pursuing.
[3:24:04] I just don't want to increase fees and I want to be clear on what we are trying to do and
[3:24:09] then move the policy in the direction of what we are trying to accomplish.
[3:24:14] >>trustee eder: a lot of things going in that memo. >>president scaman: all right.
[3:24:21] okay. We still have one more agenda item.
[3:24:24] all of the comments that have been made tonight and do you have anything?
[3:24:37] >>trustee taglia: the cost of the paper bag, the bags are paid for by the stores, right?
[3:24:40] the nickel they get does not cover it - so, a paper bag cost a lot more.
[3:24:47] you're putting that burden on the stores. >>lindsay: that is something
[3:24:54] that we heard from the business groups that we spoke to and something that we can consider
[3:25:05] boat ban like what kind of and assistance can we provide or programs can we put to place
[3:25:10] that help alleviate that cost for businesses. >>trustee taglia: whatever gets
[3:25:15] decided you don't understand the business to a neighboring community that does not charge
[3:25:19] you know zero and then it becomes more attractive. I appreciate the desire to
[3:25:32] understand what the potential outcomes could be at this stage because there is a lot of them
[3:25:36] and they are complex, much like zoning, actually - >>president scaman: stop
[3:25:42] mentioning that at this hour, please! Good point again in that
[3:25:50] bringing this back to c4 and I think that we have got more of our neighboring communities to
[3:25:59] participate and that would make all of this easier. I mean honestly - I have been
[3:26:07] noting in other states that are more places where I shop that ask if I want a bag and just as
[3:26:15] soon as do you want a bag, I say you know what, I don't need one, thank you.
[3:26:20] thank you for asking. Granted I carry a very big purse, but - (laughter) okay -
[3:26:38] so. Work on everything all at the same time, right?
[3:26:45] have a motion and second on the table and I'm hearing interest in voting on it as is and memo
[3:26:51] forthcoming and someone can then motion to bring it back if necessary after the memo.
[3:26:58] clerk waters, please take the role. >>clerk waters: trustee eder,
[3:27:04] yes, trustee transects, -- straw, trustee taglia, yes, trustee leving-jacobson, yes,
[3:27:20] trustee enyia, yes, trustee wesley, no. President scaman, yes.
[3:27:34] >>president scaman: okay. A motion by trustee taglia and seconded by trustee enyia to
[3:27:38] discuss the establishment of a tax increment finance (tif)
[3:27:40] district along roosevelt road. Motion, please. This is discussion only so we
[3:27:53] can proceed. >>trustee taglia: I wrote out a little bit and it may take two
[3:27:56] minutes at te most. >>trustee taglia: pass them
[3:28:03] down! We need sugar. Sorry, jim.
[3:28:09] it is perfectly fine. What did I get? I have to read!
[3:28:18] that is not fair. Okay. >>president scaman: we have a
[3:28:26] public comment, is that right? And I don't know if you have been here all night, did you
[3:28:34] have any public comment this evening? >>speaker: (away from mic).
[3:28:46] >>speaker: one last time. 733 s. Elmwood. We already have the motion made
[3:28:55] by trustee taglia entering or. In short it is about time that the village of oak park put a
[3:29:05] tif on roosevelt road. There was a note in the staff memo that there was community
[3:29:09] input there with no committee input given to this item and I don't think that is quite true
[3:29:18] because the community has been inputting on this for years. And that it is a good idea and
[3:29:22] if you want idea how good of an idea it is, just go over to the borough inside which is put
[3:29:27] together a tif for a number of years since 1997 and apparently it has done gangbusters and
[3:29:32] probably the biggest the you could see is toronto read, but the increment that that created
[3:29:38] now had oak park done the same, way back when - we would not be dealing with situations like in
[3:29:49] boston and the resources to deal with the corner of boston and 6100 and 7100 roosevelt
[3:29:55] road to get an idea of what could be done, look at what has been caused not to be done.
[3:30:00] and that is why this should proceed. A friend of mine, jackie, she
[3:30:10] is a resident of oak park and by far the biggest tif expert, nongovernmental or let's say
[3:30:21] consultant. But, she suggests and I think this is great, you're going on
[3:30:24] roosevelt road from boston to harlem. Between mabel and harlem and
[3:30:33] you bring in the moore plan into the same tif. And so give that some thought
[3:30:43] and get behind what they have proposed and move on from there.
[3:30:46] and maybe we will see something in the future or at least in my lifetime.
[3:30:56] thank you. >>president scaman: okay, you have a statement.
[3:30:59] >>trustee taglia: okay, I'll just read it very quickly. I support creating a tax
[3:31:10] implementing financing district for roosevelt road because I believe it is an important tool
[3:31:15] for strengthening the court or in investing in the future and roosevelt road is an important
[3:31:18] gateway to oak park and open to local businesses and serves our residents and neighboring
[3:31:22] communities and has tremendous potential, but realizing the potential requires focus
[3:31:26] long-term investment at a tif would let us invest a portion of the new property tax growth
[3:31:33] generated within the district back into the roosevelt road area.
[3:31:35] those funds can help improve infrastructure, support redevelopment, encourage
[3:31:42] private investment and make the accord or more attractive to businesses and customers.
[3:31:46] recommendations as far back as 2014 and probably before, but that is the one that I can
[3:31:53] recall and craig would probably remember the other study have recommended a tif along
[3:31:59] roosevelt road. But, it was never acted on. I also see this as an
[3:32:03] opportunity to support targeting businesses. Economic development should not
[3:32:09] simply be about bringing something new, it should be about helping the businesses
[3:32:12] that have already invested in our community succeed and grow.
[3:32:18] sidewalks, landscaping, storefronts and other public infrastructure can make
[3:32:21] roosevelt road a more welcoming and vibrant place. A stronger roosevelt road can
[3:32:26] also strengthen oak park 's overall tax based encouraging thoughtful development and
[3:32:32] filling vacant and underused properties that can generate economic activity that benefits
[3:32:36] the entire community for decades to come. Of course ceating a tif should
[3:32:45] come with clear goals and transparency, accountability and careful oersight as to how
[3:32:48] public dollars are spent. Tif spending has been a cause of concern in the past and a
[3:32:55] tif is a tool and the success depends on how responsibly we use it.
[3:32:57] I support a roosevelt road tif because I believe that we should invest strategically in
[3:33:02] this important part of oak park with a thoughtful plan and responsible oversight, we can
[3:33:09] support local businesses, attractive investment, improve the cord work and help
[3:33:13] roosevelt road reach its full potential. Thank you.
[3:33:22] >>trustee enyia: I cannot say it any better than that. Just living in oak park for as
[3:33:27] long as I have, when you look at the different corridors throughout that border of oak
[3:33:33] park you always wonder what more can we be doing to show a better corridor and also bring
[3:33:40] a sense of pride to those that live on the outsides of - right outside these corridors.
[3:33:48] and I consistently talk to neighbors because I live right off of the roosevelt corridor
[3:33:55] and that is what they continuously talk to me about. I could say the accent and
[3:33:59] everything, but they are always asking me, when are we going to get this?
[3:34:05] are we going to see something on our side of the street? All of our neighbors are
[3:34:10] completely fine to walk across the street and go to berlin and do their shopping or whatever,
[3:34:19] but they wonder when it is going to come to their side of the street and knowing that
[3:34:23] there is a way to create a level of investment that brings back to these areas would be
[3:34:29] massive. Road is the poster child for reinvestment into a community
[3:34:37] and when you see what berwyn has done on the other side of the street in such a short
[3:34:45] period of time and how frequently these shops are having patrons come up and
[3:34:54] utilize it is huge and it is a beautiful thing to see on the weekends to see families you
[3:34:57] know utilizing that space and is on the other side of the street where there is not too
[3:35:01] much happening on our side. Not saying that it cannot happen or that what is already
[3:35:05] there that is working - we want to add to that and I think that this gives us the best
[3:35:12] opportunity to do some of those things and I wholeheartedly agree with the same idea about
[3:35:18] stretching to the moore property and including that within that tif.
[3:35:25] and I think that is a tremendous idea and I think the residents would agree to it.
[3:35:29] but, personally it is just something that through conversations with trustee
[3:35:36] taglia and just in the past we have talked about this and no village manager jackson has
[3:35:45] brought it up, as well. I think that it is all something that we would want to
[3:35:47] see and careful oversight to make sure it has been done properly and we execute this
[3:35:53] the right way which is huge here. And I think this is where I can
[3:35:56] see a great opportunity for us as a village. >>trustee straw: I am in
[3:36:05] agreement. And mr. Donovan, when you mentioned rapping in the moore
[3:36:15] property, I think you probably saw corey and I cuckle, because I had said that to cory
[3:36:18] not six hours ago. As we were discussing this. I think that it makes sense
[3:36:28] absolutely to wrap it up to include the moore site and I think the moore site has the
[3:36:39] potential to serve as an anchor for the roosevelt core door in some ways.
[3:36:47] I would say I think that as we do this on our southern border that we should at the same time
[3:36:54] be discussing a similar district on north avenue and I think that we are on both of
[3:37:07] our borders and on roosevelt absolutely we are seeing development and on the borough
[3:37:13] inside outpacing development on the oak parkside and the same is becoming true of our north
[3:37:22] avenue border where development and chicago that does have a tif district on north avenue is
[3:37:31] outstripping development in oak park and obviously there is need for development with a
[3:37:43] couple of buildings that are vacant and in a poor state of disrepair through fire or
[3:37:53] neglect or otherwise. And so I am in support and I think that this is an important
[3:38:01] and effective tool for spurring new development and yes - >>president scaman: village
[3:38:13] manager jackson, anything from your standpoint? I mean my commitments would be
[3:38:18] similar in that and I don't to cut anyone else off and corey - but, I will say really quickly
[3:38:25] that north avenue and the areas of our community are also on my mind, go ahead.
[3:38:34] >trustee wesley: a couple things. One, I fully support tif on
[3:38:38] roosevelt road and the wrapping up of the moore property as long as we also include north
[3:38:46] avenue and I think that those have been discussed in conjunction for the entire time
[3:38:51] I have been paying attention to civic discourse in this village and they have both been under
[3:38:58] invested for the entirety of I think there is - I will tie everything into zoning and I
[3:39:13] will tie it to this intentionality and what I will say is that I think in the past
[3:39:18] the village has been intentional about establishing all of the community and the
[3:39:24] reason for it is the investment in roosevelt road and north avenue because we have treated
[3:39:29] them as barriers between oak park and the city and oak park in our southern neighbors and I
[3:39:36] think even with the establishment of a tif and the intentionality and the
[3:39:43] perspective on how we treat these border areas has to change in order for this to be
[3:39:47] successful. That is all I have. >>president scaman: okay, any
[3:39:52] other comment? >>trustee eder: in support and I live close to roosevelt as
[3:40:01] well couple blocks from my house. I think - rapping in the moore
[3:40:07] property makes sense. I think roosevelt and north - there is some tension in this
[3:40:16] and I do want to call out that there is - there is - this is going to affect if it were to
[3:40:21] be put in place it would affect the tax revenue from our partnering municipality and the
[3:40:30] schools and I think that is just something that we need to conversations with those folks
[3:40:38] so they know what the intentional impact would be. And also if we develop these
[3:40:42] areas, there is an opportunity to put up more housing on those corridors as well which means
[3:40:47] more people and kids go to school and is so there is a virtuous cycle that can happen
[3:40:56] and it is all about the details about how this gets implemented.
[3:40:59] stage, at this hour - generally favorable, but there is obviously a deeper conversation
[3:41:06] that needs to be had before things really take off. >>president scaman: okay, so
[3:41:18] >>manager jackson: I think - understanding what we are trying to accomplish in these
[3:41:28] gratefully accept the challenge to do the tif study and come back with some recommendations
[3:41:36] and so I would just like to say thank you to trustee enyia and taglia and all of you for
[3:41:43] putting this on the table and giving us some direction to move on this and so we are
[3:41:52] excited to come back with the studies and come up with some recommendations.
[3:41:57] >>president saman: right. And I appreciate how you stated it, village manager jackson so
[3:42:03] that w can prioritize as well. Because, we have mentioned roosevelt road and I am hearing
[3:42:10] that as a priority, but we have also been talking about north avenue to trustee wesley 's
[3:42:19] point four may be even longer. And now we are finally seeing - longer than I have been in
[3:42:30] office there was a promise for north avenue that never came to fruition.
[3:42:32] but, now we are finally seeing some early seed money and schematic design in order for
[3:42:39] north avenue. Information that we need I think and to allow staff the
[3:42:48] opportunity to give us all of the information with what is possible so that we can
[3:42:51] prioritize because with more property that has also been mentioned a lot and the need
[3:42:59] for the tif there, there are other directions we can go from the property as well that we
[3:43:06] should contemplate to understand what the end goals are.
[3:43:15] but, staff is hearing roosevelt road, moore and north avenue pretty loudly, right?
[3:43:23] >>manager jackson: yes. >>president scaman: thank you. Then we do not need further
[3:43:30] action on that right now other than we will see that come back to us and called to board and
[3:43:41] clerk. Clerk waters? >>clerk waters: pass.
[3:43:43] >>president scaman: trustee enyia? Trustee wesley?
[3:43:49] wesley: pass. >>trustee straw: pass. >>trustee taglia: pass.
[3:43:54] >>trustee leving-jacobson: okay, so back to school time is upon us and high school goes
[3:44:05] back nd 97 starts tomorrow and it is a good time to remind ourselves about the importance
[3:44:19] of secure firearm storage and this week is actually smart week apart of the smart
[3:44:23] campaign which is public education campaign that is a part of every town for gun
[3:44:27] safety and it reminds parents and caregivers and neighbors if they have a firearm in their
[3:44:35] home to securely store that meaning that it is in a container, inaccessible to
[3:44:40] anybody other than the owner and otherwise if it is in your home or vehicle and the acronym
[3:44:45] s, secure so that means it is securely stored, m, modeling responsible behavior and
[3:44:56] parents and children talking about what to do if they come upon a firearm as a precaution,
[3:44:59] not a guarantee, a is my favorite most important is before a play date or
[3:45:05] revisiting a new home, maybe always ask about the presence of a firearm if they have one
[3:45:10] and how it is stored and r, recognizing the risk of suicide and t, tell each other,
[3:45:18] neighbors, friends etc. To be smart. And have a very sfe school
[3:45:23] year. Thank you. >>trustee eder: rest in peace
[3:45:28] dolly parton. >>president scaman: yes. Thank you.
[3:45:34] wonderful person. A musician. Entertain a motion to adjourn.
[3:45:39] >>speaker: moved. >>speaker: second. >>president scaman: all in
[3:45:45] favor? (multiple speakers)
[3:45:46] aye. >>president scaman: have a good evening.