Finance Committee

123 Madison Street Village of Oak Park Oak Park, Illinois 60302 www.oak-park.us Meeting Minutes Finance Committee Monday, September 11, 2023 6:30 PM Room 201 1. Call To Order Village President Vicki Scaman called the Finance Committee Meeting to order 6:33 P.M. 2. Roll Call Present: Trustee Parakkat, Trustee Robinson, Trustee Wesley, President Scaman Also Present: Trustee Buchanan, Trustee Enyia, Trustee Straw 3. Public Comment There was no public comment. 5. New Business A. ID 23-391 Review of the Recommended Five Year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for FY 2024-2028 for the Parking Fund (capital only), Water/Sewer Fund (capital only), Fleet Replacement Fund, Equipment Replacement Fund, Sustainability Fund (capital only), and Funds Previously Obligated in the Madison Street TIF Village Manager Kevin Jackson recommended postponing the review of the sustainability fund. The September 26 meeting will discuss the main CIP, CDBG, Building Improvement Fund, and Sustainability Fund. Staff will review the September 18 agenda to see if there is an opportunity to move the CIP discussion to September 18. The Village hired an interim Finance Director. Management Analyst Arlene Pedraza provided an introduction and Parking Manager Sean Keane presented the Parking Fund. The grant would be fully expended by 2026 and then it would return to using enterprise funds. The Village would charge for 13 electric vehicle (EV) parking spots. Staff would bring forward an ordinance and recommendation for the Board to determine where the fee would go.Trustee Robinson requested a usage report for those 13 EV spots. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 10/11/2023 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes September 11, 2023 President Scaman noted the gas tax is decreasing and she supports charging for the EV spots. Manager Keane said the majority of locations are near multi-family buildings to serve residents who park overnight. Assuming the Village gets the grant, it would return to the every other year model where the Parking Fund funds this infrastructure. The $65K cost this year is due to rising costs of construction. Public Works Director Rob Sproule said Level 3 chargers are four times the cost of Level 2 chargers and not worth the upfront cost. Based on the locations, the Village may want to evaluate if a small portion of the spots should be upgraded to Level 3. Manager Keane confirmed the garage maintenance program is the main contributor for the overall parking outlay going from $1.8M last year to $3.22M. Trustee Parakkat requested a correlation between the increases this year to the increase in outlay on what the Board approved last year. Manager Keane said a condition assessment was done in 2017 and the work was completed in 2021. The Village did a study in 2022 to provide for the next five years. Trustee Straw asked if this deterioration is expected. Manager Keane said the Village relies on the structural engineers to tell us what needs to be done. The plan is to do an assessment every five years. Manager Jackson said staff can follow up regarding Trustee Straw's concern about short-term versus long-term. Manager Keane explained the Village has an intergovernmental agreement with D200 for the OPRF parking garage. D200 owns the land and the Village owns and operates the facility. Trustee Wesley asked what will happen when the lease expires in 2028. Manager Jackson said the Village has been looking at that and wants to be strategic about how that transition occurs. There may be some value with D200 taking ownership of the property so an analysis will be done. Manager Keane said the deferred $200K parking lot regulations signage project could be a Village-wide project in a future year. Trustee Wesley inquired if the Village has a report for all deferred maintenance. Manager Jackson said the Village can look into creating one. The referrals are reviewed on an annual basis during the CIP process. President Scaman asked if there would be a benefit to a Village-wide signage assessment. Manager Jackson noted that many communities invest in wayfinding signage to support tourism and marketing. If the Village chooses to do that, it may be able to include the parking signage. Trustee Straw noted the parking lot regulation signage and on-street regulation signage are different projects. Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 10/11/2023 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes September 11, 2023 Analyst Pedraza said the cash balance would be nearly $5.5M at year end 2023. The Parking Fund projects and operating costs for FY2024 would be a deficit of $2.6M. ARPA funds have not been included for FY2024. The previous year deficit was $1.8M. Director Sproule and Village Engineer Bill McKenna presented the Water and Sewer Fund. Engineer McKenna said the date of the resurfacing project will be set by the City of Chicago. He estimated it will be bid out in November with construction in June. There will be some loss of parking but it will not be a road closure. President Scaman noted there may be an event with the city late spring. Engineer McKenna said there may be ways to coordinate that in the agreement. Trustee Straw requested information about flood mitigation implications anytime sewer projects are discussed. Engineer McKenna said the Village evaluates all sewer projects and will report out on any flood mitigation. The interconnects are no longer favored by the IPA for water quality reasons. The Village has redundant supplies with the city and has been removing them over time. Trustee Parakkat inquired about the 50/40 fund revenue which has increased $200K from last year's estimates. Engineer McKenna said the Village receives Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) funds from the state. The Village will use some of those funds to pay the local share of the street resurfacing project which is 10%. The 50/40 is based on current cost estimates. Engineer McKenna presented the Flood Mitigation Improvement Project. Trustee Robinson said she lives in northeast Oak Park and it is incredibly disheartening to have your basement flood several feet of water every time it rains for more than two hours. Residents lose major appliances, have mold and structural issues, and spend thousands in repairs. She said she would like to see the flood mitigation priority codes increased to As. Director Sproule clarified that the $200K Rain Ready grant program does not fit into A because it is not critical infrastructure that requires immediate attention. Trustee Robinson recommended extending the sewer grant program to include homeowners that want to change their configuration. Engineer McKenna said the Village can look into that and offered to speak to Trustee Robinson about her particular plumbing issues. President Scaman said she had a similar problem and inquired if residents can request the Village to come out to assess their challenges and make recommendations. Engineer McKenna said that is the intent of the grant program which has been suspended due to lack of staffing and consultant Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 10/11/2023 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes September 11, 2023 support. The Village wants to restart the program in 2024. Trustee Buchanan noted that climate change is the cause and is leading to increasing mitigation costs. She recommended the Village match the amount it dedicates to this mitigation to lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Engineer McKenna said the sewer model estimates the number of homes that would be improved. This project will not solve sewer back-ups in that entire region but it will get the system to a base level of protection for those homes. Trustee Parakkat said he is in favor of increasing the priority but noted it will be for naught if residents are still in the same situation. Engineer McKenna said a benefit-to-cost analysis is part of the model and is how the Village prioritizes projects. Director Sproule noted there is value to solving some if not all of the problems. He suggested re-evaluating that program to determine if additional funds should be allocated and including it in the rate study. Engineer McKenna said this project would increase capacity for the water to flow out and increase holding capacity. Alley improvements are not considered flood mitigation because they only impact one or two blocks. Trustee Robinson recommended prioritizing alleys in that section of Oak Park. Engineer McKenna responded that alleys do not always solve backyard flooding and newer alleys that channel water quicker may cause more sewer back-ups. President Scaman requested an explanation of how the Village receives grants from MWRD to support green alleys. Engineer McKenna confirmed the Village prioritizes grant applications in areas with sandy soils, which can accommodate rainwater much faster than the clay-based soils in the majority of the Village. A north-south concrete alley costs $175K and a green alley in sandy soil is comparable. A green alley in clay-based soil would be $250K-$275K. President Scaman said she supports prioritizing the mitigations and she supports Trustee Buchanan's comments. Trustee Wesley said he has also heard about flooding in northeast Oak Park and he supports the mitigations. Engineer McKenna presented the Madison Redevelopment Streetscape Project. The project has been designed and will be ready to go out for bid in the next couple weeks. Trustee Straw recommended that the Village consider climate readiness with every street project. Engineer McKenna said the project features hardscape parkways and softscape landscape parkways. The Madison redevelopments had to follow the MWRD storm water retention requirements which creates a significant storm water benefit to that area. Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 10/11/2023 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes September 11, 2023 Trustee Parakkat asked if the remaining portion is $375K. Engineer McKenna responded that it is $1.125M for the water main work and just over $4M for the streetscape project, primarily in 2024. Whatever is not spent in 2023 will be carried forward into 2024. Trustee Parakkat noted these carryovers do not add up to the $600K CIP plan deficit. Engineer McKenna responded that the carryovers change the time of the expense. Trustee Parakkat noted the Village is not allocating anything new, which Engineer McKenna confirmed. Engineer McKenna said the Oak Park Avenue Streetscape Project has a $6.5M water and sewer component for 2025 construction. The Village will present the concepts and budget for this project at the October 26 meeting. Engineer McKenna presented the annual water and sewer improvement projects throughout the Village. The South Boulevard project will be most impactful to the community and will have road closures. The Village will engage with business districts and bid out the project this fall with an estimated two-month construction starting in early spring. The Village will present the design contract at the October 18 meeting. Director Sproule presented the lead service line replacement plan. Manager Jackson noted there will be a study session on this plan because it is a key project. Director Sproule said the Village will look at where there have been water breaks on the Village's side and recommend those be replaced in 2024. President Scaman requested an understanding of the implementation of the Climate Ready Oak Park (CROP) Plan. Manager Jackson said the Village is committed to and is moving forward on the CROP Plan. The priorities will be reflected in the CIP program and budget and in the Village's operating proposal. He said the Village can compile all of the CROP Plan priorities in a memo to the Board. Trustee Parakkat requested a list of potential deferments. Engineer McKenna presented the TIFF projects. Analyst Pedraza said the total requested for Fleet projects is $1.2M. Director Sproule presented the Fleet projects. 6. Adjournment It was moved by Trustee Robinson, seconded by Trustee Wesley to Adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 8:24 P.M., Monday, September 11, 2023. Respectfully submitted, Deputy Clerk Hansen Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 10/11/2023