[0:24] Okay, we're going to get started with
the Committee of the Whole meeting.
[0:31] Okay, good evening. It's 6:57 p.m. on
Monday, August 10th, 2026. I'd like to
[0:35] call to order the Village of Brookfield
Committee of the Whole meeting.
[0:38] Mike, will you roll call for the
committee, please?
[0:40] » Trustee Katchmar.
>> Here.
[0:41] » Trustee Whitehead.
>> Here.
[0:43] » Trustee Hendricks.
>> Here.
[0:44] » Trustee Nerematsu. Trustee Gilhooley.
>> Here.
[0:47] » Trustee Kalo.
>> Here.
[0:48] » President Garvey.
>> Here.
[0:49] » Thank you, Mike. Okay, well, we have one
item up to discuss under regular
[0:52] business, a discussion concerning
November referendum to finance a 25-year
[0:56] bond improvement program.
Um, this has been an obviously ongoing
[1:00] discussion. The board previously
approved the language for the ballot
[1:02] question.
Um,
[1:06] had a very very good conversation at the
previous Committee of the Whole meeting
[1:09] about um, what steps can be taken going
forward if if the referendum pass, and
[1:15] there's some talk about the education
campaign. We have a very detailed memo,
[1:19] and uh I'm going to Tim, you want to
take the lead? I'm going to turn it over
[1:22] to Tim to kind of
let us know what's happened information
[1:25] since the last board meeting, what's uh
what the next steps recommended for the
[1:28] board are.
>> Thank you, President Garvey. As as
[1:31] you've said, we've had a lot of
discussion about the referendum program,
[1:34] and a lot of progress. We have a
question that's been filed
[1:38] to be put on the ballot for the
referendum has been filed with the
[1:40] county. So, we're all set in that
regard. We are ready to work with Mek
[1:44] first strategies to start. We've already
started a little bit of the public
[1:47] education campaign, but I would like to
finish that, and then then obviously
[1:52] continue with that as we lead up to
November.
[1:55] Um,
it really
[1:58] the lion's share of the money for this
referendum is going to be for roads. We
[2:02] we all know that and and that's I think
clearly understood.
[2:06] Where we've had a lot of discussion and
a lot of good lively debate is should we
[2:10] include an alley program with that? The
challenge is we don't know what the
[2:14] alley program is going to consist of
yet. And clearly staff, we don't know
[2:18] yet. We we don't know what it should or
would consist of. The board is I think
[2:21] grappling with that. And so I understand
that and it's logical that at this point
[2:26] in time
that's that's that's the reality of
[2:30] where we are.
So we've met. Staff has met since last
[2:34] board meeting with our consultants. And
it is our collective recommendation to
[2:39] at this point
start the public education campaign.
[2:43] Focus on where the lion's share of the
money is going and that is the roadway.
[2:46] And talk about
the what we're how we're going to
[2:50] maintain the road in a 25-year road
program. How that is going to be funded
[2:55] consistently through this funding source
without raising properties taxes on our
[3:00] residents.
Um
[3:03] and then in the public education
campaign say that if the referendum
[3:06] passes, we commit and the village board
commits to holding uh public workshops,
[3:11] public meetings, and having more
discussion about what and how should our
[3:16] alley program consist of as we move
forward. And uh we can lay out all the
[3:20] options there. We can have more
uh comments, more analysis much as we'd
[3:25] like. Um at least we'll know then if we
have this money available, it won't be
[3:29] all the cut-offs and what-ifs and
should-ofs. It'll be this is the money
[3:33] we have. This is the best way to spend
it. And then we'll come back after these
[3:36] workshops, come back to the village
board, we'll have further discussions
[3:39] about that.
So campaign, focus on the road program,
[3:43] alley program
we commit to having more public
[3:47] discussion about it and then public
input coming back to the board for a
[3:50] final call on that.
Okay. Questions or comments from the
[3:55] board?
[3:58] » I I know there was a I know this has
been in the works for quite a while and
[4:02] I know there's a
kind of an education campaign and
[4:05] strategy, um which I think was already I
know it's already started with the basic
[4:09] uh first post and email.
Um
[4:14] I assume there's a like a regular
schedule or information we're going to
[4:17] get out that include I mean and I know
staff does a good job of as the board
[4:21] has anticipating frequently asked
questions and those are things that
[4:24] you'll be able to address in the
materials.
[4:27] » Yeah, this is the uh the same slide we
showed a couple meetings ago, the our
[4:31] intended public outreach schedule.
Uh we're going to focus the rest of the
[4:35] summer into the September on additional
website updates, social media posts.
[4:41] Uh
we were going to host uh pop-up events
[4:44] at probably the farmers market and
identify other suitable events as well,
[4:48] but farmers market seems to be the most
logical place to do this.
[4:52] A big push and a big uh obvious
our one piece of of written information
[4:57] that gets mailed out, the only piece
that gets mailed out to every home in
[5:02] and every property owner in Brookfield
is the is the Brookfielder. That's
[5:06] coming out in the fall. We would have a
an article in the next edition of that.
[5:10] And then in October
uh our idea is to host an open house
[5:14] here in this room. Uh be available, have
the key individuals available for
[5:18] questions and answers.
Again, another website update in
[5:22] October. Um and then in middle to late
October, we're going to be sending out
[5:27] an information pamphlet every home in
every property owner in Brookfield.
[5:32] And then obviously the referendum then
is November 2nd. Or I'm sorry, the
[5:36] referendum is November 3rd, Tuesday.
That's the schedule that we talked about
[5:40] in the past.
>> Okay.
[5:44] All right. I mean, that so staff's
recommendation and you know, the last
[5:47] meeting there was a lot of conversation
about this and I think it was
[5:51] clear from the board there wasn't a
clear-cut decision made, but I also
[5:54] thought there was a clear direction from
the board that
[5:57] we would need more public input on any
decision on any what an alley paving
[6:02] program would look like in terms of
funding and cost match or anything like
[6:05] that. And I think
thought there was a kind of consensus
[6:09] that that really couldn't be worked out
or agreed in this period of time and
[6:12] couldn't be done without I mean, I
envision that being a pretty large
[6:16] public input, maybe a special meeting or
a special committee of the whole item
[6:20] where it's advertised that we're talking
about that dedicate a lot of time to
[6:23] taking public input on any program going
forward. So
[6:27] » Yeah, I agree. I I know we've heard
consistently from staff that it's the
[6:30] the number one issue that they hear
about from residents. And I know we've
[6:33] gotten a few public comments at our
board meeting discussions, but
[6:37] um certainly not, you know, the level of
comment that I think is represented of
[6:41] the community as a whole. So I feel like
if we're going to
[6:44] before we can make uh
decisions about the specific structure
[6:47] of the program and the cost share, I
feel like we need to hear more from
[6:50] residents, particularly if our if our
goal is to ultimately get more alleys
[6:54] paved. We want to know how they feel
about uh you know, residents taking on
[6:59] portion of the cost and the the
associated timeline or the village's
[7:02] role. Um so I I think this is the
the right approach in terms of uh the
[7:08] high-level messaging on the alleys and
if the referendum were to pass
[7:12] um to work out the details
collaboratively with residents.
[7:16] » Uh I I agree. I I like the approach of
taking more time and getting more
[7:20] village um property owner input. We have
seen only two submissions to the current
[7:27] program in quite a while. So that either
says either people don't want their
[7:32] alleys paved or they that program isn't
working for them. So clearly we need
[7:36] some other options and it would be great
to hear from people and see which way
[7:42] they're leaning um and any other ideas.
I know we have also a lot of creative
[7:47] people and and talented professionals in
the community that I'm sure have some
[7:53] some ideas to share or maybe they've
lived in other communities that have
[7:57] had other solutions. So I'd I'd love to
hear more from the people.
[8:04] » I would agree with all that's been said.
But adding on to that, I think we have
[8:10] to
put our focus on
[8:14] the referendum passing and what that's
about because that's about the streets.
[8:19] Um
[8:24] You know, when we in 2016,
we we went to referendum for the series
[8:29] of bonds that were issued. Those bonds
are expiring now.
[8:33] There is no continuing source of revenue
for streets after these bonds are little
[8:39] the bonds
I think it was over what? Two uh
[8:43] six years that we issued them two years
apart. Three issues so that you know,
[8:48] the
the payments gradually went up and the
[8:51] payments are gradually coming down.
This would take the place of that. If if
[8:56] we do not do this, there isn't a funding
source for continuous street
[8:59] improvements.
I think that has to be the largest part
[9:03] of our education cuz if you simply read
the question that's being put out there
[9:07] to the voters,
it's pretty hard to understand what that
[9:11] means. And I mean, we explained it with
the you know, the question and answer
[9:15] and that. We got to keep putting that
out there time after time after time
[9:19] explaining what the question is, what
it's about. Um
[9:24] you know, the idea that your taxes will
not go up with this, that's key to it. I
[9:28] mean, that this is taking the place of
paying off the bonds.
[9:31] That should be our chief focus with
this.
[9:34] Uh the other thing I mentioned,
President Garvey mentioned at the last
[9:36] meeting, looking at the dates of the
postings in that, do we remember the
[9:41] early voting?
So, I don't know if that's 30 days prior
[9:45] to that,
but some of these things might be a moot
[9:49] point
if it's coming out, you know, the day
[9:52] before election day, cuz people been
voting for a month.
[9:56] » Yeah, I thought that early voting is
important because I I don't know all the
[10:00] exact numbers, but I know this is in
general the Village of Brookfield
[10:05] site for early voting is one of the more
popular ones in the
[10:10] suburbs, and if people are going to if
more Brookfield residents are going to
[10:13] take advantage of that, um
it does change the timetable and
[10:17] schedule in terms of getting
the message out. I mean, we've dealt
[10:21] with this over the years in, you know,
local elections and things you the whole
[10:25] the whole timetable changed a little bit
with early voting, and when you have an
[10:28] early voting site that's convenient and
accessible,
[10:32] um I know there's still people that like
to vote on election day, and I'm one
[10:36] that tends to do that. I think I voted
early voting last year for
[10:40] due to a schedule conflict, but there's
a lot of people that like to vote on
[10:43] election day, but there are also a lot
of people that vote early, and they've
[10:46] already obviously voted and made up
their mind before some of this has come
[10:50] out, so that's why I, you know, raised
the issue, and I think that's an
[10:53] important part of the education campaign
is to get [clears throat] the
[10:55] information out there
as early as possible and maybe expedite
[11:00] the schedule and the dot in terms of the
key pieces getting out there and
[11:03] continue all the way through to election
day in terms of getting the education
[11:07] materials out there.
And again, just to echo Trustee
[11:10] Ketchmark's point, I mean,
you were on the board I think you were
[11:14] president in 2016, so he he was
something in 2016.
[11:19] He was sitting in he was sitting in this
seat. He's
[11:23] He's been something for a long time.
>> [laughter]
[11:31] [snorts]
>> But we, you know, and I was I was on the
[11:34] board also and and we did talk about
that that that that referendum was
[11:38] necessary
to and Barb you've been around too. You
[11:41] this was to this was we portrayed it and
it was true at the time. This was at
[11:45] that point we were doing a catch-up from
years of not funding streets properly.
[11:49] So this large bond issue was needed to
get the streets to a level
[11:54] um that they should be at and we did
live up to that commitment
[11:59] and um
did what we said we were going to do
[12:02] with the bond money and we did improve
the streets but staff was very clear and
[12:06] Derek from Hancock Engineering and Dan
have been very clear that
[12:10] the streets have a useful life and we do
maintain them. We do take good care of
[12:15] them
but they don't last forever. It's it's
[12:18] like owning a house when you replace the
roof, you know,
[12:21] you hope you don't have to replace it
again for however how many years but you
[12:25] know at some point if you're going to be
around long enough and
[12:28] Barb I hope none of us get hit by a bus
and I hope a lot of us serve around.
[12:33] I'd like to be around to see some
streets get done too. So uh
[12:36] but it's our obligation to plan for the
future even if some of us might not be
[12:40] around.
We can't just say, well, we got us
[12:43] through this you know, 20-year period.
We got the streets fixed over 20 years
[12:46] and now
whoever's in next figure it out how to
[12:49] do it. We do have to give them
a source of revenue to do this and Barb
[12:54] I know you look at your tax bill and I
look at my tax bill and you could say
[12:57] how much your village
tax bill went up over the years and I
[13:01] don't doubt your numbers and figures but
other taxing bodies their their rates
[13:06] have gone up also and what you get out
of your village taxes, I know you're a
[13:12] very careful person who looks at things
and watches things but you know that
[13:15] that line item for your property tax
bill for the Village of Brookfield go
[13:18] they're going to add
more tax dollars to other things but
[13:23] I am certain that we need these funds
from the referendum to keep the streets
[13:29] at the level that we have them now and
improve them over the next, you know,
[13:32] the the plan we have to improve them
over the next 25 years is what we need
[13:35] to do to be responsible.
I think the easiest thing in the world
[13:39] for some of us to do is say, "Look, we
got us to this point. Let's just step
[13:42] back and forget it. Let the next group
figure it out."
[13:44] That's not how this board has worked and
that's not how the staff has worked. We
[13:48] plan for the future and this is part of
our planning for the future. We're going
[13:51] to try and educate the residents and put
out the best information we can and
[13:55] we're going to explain
if it passes, this what's going to
[13:57] happen. We will also be very honest and
say if it doesn't pass, that this is the
[14:01] problem and this is what's going to
happen. Streets will not be able to be
[14:04] maintained at the level recommended
going forward and then,
[14:08] you know, there might have to be cuts in
other areas or different things. I'm
[14:12] never going to be able to come up with
an additional $2 million
[14:15] um that we need to do the streets. We'll
do the best we can, um but it's just the
[14:19] streets aren't going to be maintained
the proper way without some other cuts
[14:23] or other significant changes. So,
I think that's what this is all about.
[14:27] Trustee Catchmark keeps hitting on it
and I think
[14:30] the board agrees, it's an education
campaign. We're going to make our case.
[14:34] This is why it's needed. This is what
it's needed for.
[14:37] And what we said back in 2016, we lived
up to and we meant it.
[14:42] A lot of things have changed in the
world in 2000 since 2016. There's been a
[14:46] lot of things that have changed the
financial impact and cost for everyone.
[14:51] And I know homeowners face large
increased costs and large increased tax
[14:55] bills and
more money at the pumps and more money
[14:57] at the grocery stores, but we as a
village with your money face the same
[15:01] things. Our vehicles cost more. Our gas
for those vehicles cost more.
[15:06] Our employee, we have to pay our
employees to keep them. Those Those
[15:11] costs also go up for the village. We
kind of
[15:13] we treat the village like you treat your
family budget. We have to do the same
[15:17] thing. We have to keep up. So, as costs
have increased for everyone, we've tried
[15:21] to do the best we can to be responsible,
so
[15:25] we'll do the best we can with the
education campaign and let the voters
[15:28] decide.
[15:30] » On the education campaign, I I feel like
um
[15:34] in particular the article in the
Brookfield err and the direct mail piece
[15:38] to residents will be critical in terms
of informing folks.
[15:42] I know we have social media in here and
I know there's always online chatter
[15:45] about ideas like this, but I think we
need to keep in mind that that's a
[15:48] really limited audience the people who
are engaging with this content on
[15:53] on social media.
Um so I I I trust we'll be putting
[15:57] proper attention and resources into the
direct mail piece and the Brookfield err
[16:01] article and I hope that we as a board, I
don't know if it's in one of our
[16:04] September meetings, have an opportunity
to provide input maybe on the direct
[16:08] mail piece. I understand we're not going
to be advocating for voting uh one way
[16:13] or another, but as as Trustee Ketchmark
and and others have said the referendum
[16:17] question itself is
not self-explanatory, right? So we need
[16:22] to make sure um that residents
understand what they're voting on and I
[16:27] think in particular the direct mail
piece and the Brookfield err article um
[16:31] will be critical to achieving that goal.
[16:36] » And I I hope people understand, we've
said this several times,
[16:39] we didn't choose that language on the
ballot by choice. We didn't get to write
[16:42] our own language. That's what's required
by state statute and it's it we admit
[16:47] that it's confusing, but we didn't
choose that language to confuse anyone.
[16:50] We could have put it a lot simpler, but
uh
[16:54] when lawyers and legislators get
involved, things get messy. I mean, we
[16:57] could we if we chose the language we
wanted, I think it would be a lot
[17:00] clearer what what the vote's about, so I
hope people I hope the residents
[17:03] understand that.
[17:07] Other questions or comments from the
board?
[17:11] Okay.
Well, thank you for the informational
[17:14] update. I think there's a clear
con- consensus on the direction. I You
[17:19] know, as the you know, information about
the you know, education campaign goes
[17:23] forward, information that can and should
be shared with the board, please do so.
[17:28] Um
I I know we have consultants and I know
[17:30] we have very knowledgeable staff,
but we also have board members up here
[17:34] who are familiar with the community and
familiar with uh
[17:37] and I think they could give some good
input. So, uh if there's any
[17:41] opportunity for input from the board, uh
please reach out to the board and give
[17:45] them the opportunity to do that. So.
And I know there's been a lot of time
[17:49] spent on this already and I know there's
going to be a lot of time spent on it
[17:52] going forward. So, thank you.
All right. Anything else from anybody on
[17:56] this topic?
Okay.
[17:59] Um that's the only item we had up for
discussion tonight. I'm going to once
[18:03] again open it up to public comment. I'm
going to switch. First time, anybody on
[18:06] this side?
[18:08] Anybody on this side?
Okay, hearing no public comment. Tim, is
[18:12] there need for executive session?
>> No.
[18:14] » Okay.
At 7:16 p.m. I'd entertain a motion to
[18:18] adjourn the committee of the whole
meeting.
[18:21] » So moved.
>> So, it's Trustee who was
[18:27] Trustee Klusena and then who was Trustee
Nerematsu or Trustee Katchmar? Motion by
[18:31] Trustee Klusena, second by Trustee
Katchmar. Roll call, please.
[18:35] Trustee Katchmar.
>> Aye.
[18:37] » Trustee Whitehead.
>> Aye.
[18:38] » Trustee Hendricks.
>> Aye.
[18:39] » Trustee Nerematsu.
>> Aye.
[18:41] » Trustee Kahoun.
>> Aye.
[18:42] » Trustee Klusena.
>> Aye.
[18:43] » Motion carries. Okay, we're adjourned at
7:16 p.m. Thank you for coming.