President and Board of Trustees

123 Madison Street Village of Oak Park Oak Park, Illinois 60302 www.oak-park.us Meeting Minutes President and Board of Trustees Monday, March 12, 2018 7:00 PM Village Hall I. Call to Order Village President Abu-Taleb called the Meeting to order at 7:07 P.M. II. Roll Call Present: 7- Village Trustee Button, Village Trustee Taglia, Village President Abu-Taleb, Village Trustee Tucker, Village Trustee Moroney, Village Trustee Boutet, and Village Trustee Andrews Absent: 0 Village Trustee Button joined the Meeting at 7:17 P.M. III. Agenda Approval It was moved by Village Trustee Tucker, seconded by Village Trustee Moroney, to approve the Agenda. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. IV. Public Comment Chris Donovan. Mr. Donovan discussed the tax sale published in the Sun-Times, noting that there are approximately 125 tax delinquent properties in Oak Park for tax year 2016. He discussed specific properties on Madison Street within the TIF District. V. Regular Agenda A. ID 18-830 Review and Discuss the existing Village of Oak Park Endorsement of the Paris Agreement, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Greenest Region Compact2 (GRC2), the Chicago Climate Charter and the Global Covenant of Mayors Commitment along with related Inventory, Target and Planning work Village Manager Pavlicek introduced Sustainability Coordinantor Mindy Agnew and Edith Makra, Director of Environmental Initiatives for the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. Ms. Makra gave an overview of how a municipality gets involved in Climate Action and described the multiple organized networks of municipalities that have established sustainability groups. The Village is a signatory to the Chicago Climate Charter, working within the guidelines of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy and part of the We Are Still In Pledge, which supports the Paris Agreement. She discussed Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 3/20/2018 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 12, 2018 greenhouse gas inventory and target setting, which requires a lot of data gathering and analysis at a local level. The Greenest Region Compact is based on what practical measures all members are currently doing for sustainability as well as every sustainability plan these municipalities have ever written. This has been endorsed by municipal resolution by sixty-seven municipalities within the region. Ms. Makra referred to a chart of what sustainability actions communities have been doing regionally and to what extent. She commented that Oak Park has been a leader in sustainabiltiy and discussed some of the Village's achievements. She answered questions from the Board. The goal of this discussion is to persuade the Village to participate in the Greenest Region Compact 2. Ms. Agnew stated that the Village's data is somewhat dated and needs an update. The Greenest Region 2 Compact will provide a great tool in accomplishing collaborate goals with other communities in the region. She answered questions from the Board. Support was expressed by Village Trustees Boutet and Taglia and Village President Abu-Taleb. Village Manager Pavlicek stated that the Resolution to participate in the Greenest Region Compact 2 would be on the next Agenda. The Board expressed consensus. B. ID 18-818 Review and Discuss recommended options for Renewable Energy Projects in conjunction with the Village’s Community Choice Electrical Aggregation Program Village Manager Pavlicek stated that Ms. Agnew and Mark Pruitt of the Illinois Energy Choice Aggregation Network have been working together on recommended options for renewable energy projects Subject to the consensus of the Board, staff will complete a detailed review and analysis which will be brought back to the Board for a final decision shortly after Memorial Day. Ms. Agnew gave an overview of the program goals and stated that she has received good feedback from the community and the Environment and Energy Commission. Mr. Pruitt discussed the Future Energy Jobs Act, a new law in Illinois, that creates a new set of renewable portfolio standard objectives and funding streams for the development of renewable energy. He stated that they have looked at what broad channels might be available to the Village to pursue renewable energy using solar energy here in Oak Park. He explained why the Village as a public entity would not be eligible for Federal tax incentives if they installed and owned the solar panels. However, one way to get the solar panels and have full utilization of the Federal incentives is to work with a private contractor and not buy the panels but enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA) and purchase the electricity that comes from those panels. The State incentives are the purchase of the solar renewable energy credits, which is a receipt or statement that renewable energy installation has generated a certain amount of renewable energy over time. The Future Energy Jobs Act requires that the utilities enter into agreements with developers and owners of solar assets that connect to their distribution systems. The utility is obligated to purchase the solar renewable energy credits from the asset for a 15-year period at a set price. He also explained another incentive from the utility and answered questions from the Board. Mr. Pruitt stated that using the PPA strategy will maximize the incentives for the Village. He described four recommendations. The first option, Distributed Generation at Village Facilities, requires the Village to engage a private developer to install solar panels on Village facilities to offset utility costs. The second option, Community Solar Installation at Village Hall, requires the Village to engage a private developer to install solar panels on Village Hall to which residents can subscribe to through the electrical aggregation program. The third option, Community Solar Subscriptions for Village Facilities, will Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 3/20/2018 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 12, 2018 require private developers engaged by the Village to secure community solar subscriptions for Village accounts. The last option, Credit Enhancement for Local Rooftop Solar Installations, would require the Village to use the Local Energy Project Fund to provide credit enhancement to residents seeking to install rooftop solar panels. He spoke about the benefits of each option. He answered additional questions from the Board and discussed how he would proceed with research and cost analysis. Mark Burger, representing Seven Generations Ahead. Mr. Burger commented that the timing of this project is good and discussed the Village's leveraging ability as well as other options available to them. He spoke about his organization's initiatives and answered questions from the Board. He noted that 500 square feet of solar panels will supply a year's worth of electricity to one average sized house at a cost of approximately $15,000 before incentives. He expects rates for renewable energy to be more competitive over time. Village Manager Pavlicek discussed the budget for the project and sources of revenue. In addition, the contract with the current aggregation supplier will be expiring and the Board needs to decide whether they want to continue with this supplier or another, as well as retaining the fee or not. Village Trustee Moroney commented that it might be worthwhile to transfer some funds every year from the sustainability fund to go towards LED streetlights. The Board expressed agreement. Village Trustee Taglia asked what other municipalities in Illinois are doing. Mr. Pruitt commented that fewer than five are taking a fee from aggregation to fund other projects. He discussed what some municipalities in other parts of the county have done. Village Trustee Button stated that she feels it is important to continue with the fee in order to continue to invest in energy efficiency. Village Trustee Tucker agreed and would like to consider $100,000 per year for streetlights from this fund. He would like to see the Village get the most for their money and discussed the value of having something visible. Village Trustee Andrews asked about the impact of solar on greenhouse gas. Village Manager Pavlicek stated that she would email him a link on the website describing that. Village Trustee Boutet agreed with Village Trustee Tucker regarding the lighting and the Village getting the most for their money. She also would like to look at options for homeowners to reduce their usage. Village Trustee Moroney asked to hear more about what Mr. Burger discussed regarding a large off-site community solar project and would like information as to why it was not part of the original options. Jim Babcock. Mr. Babcock spoke about Seven Generations Ahead and PlanItGreen being a driving force in the sustainability area. He spoke about some of their goals and initiatives and suggested that the Village work together with them. Village President Abu-Taleb thanked Mac Robinet for initiating the conversation for the electric aggregation and the previous board for approving that. He discussed a utility scale solar project. If the Village does this, it needs to be built outside of Oak Park where there is land to do it. A developer would build the system and the Village would deliver the Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 3/20/2018 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 12, 2018 subscribers to them. The Village would have an agreement to be using that for the next 20 years. This would put Oak Park on the map for doing something on a large scale instead of piecemealing. He was not in favor of credit enhancement for local rooftop solar installations. He was in favor of a solar panel on Village Hall, He was still undecided about the other options. He would like to discuss the utility scale solar project in depth the next time they meet. C. ID 18-829 Retail Single-Use Bag Program Update Ms. Agnew gave an overview of the Single Use Bag Fee Program. There are 20 businesses that are impacted by this. The Village has received approximately $10,000 for the first month, representing about 200,000 bags. She commented that the City of Chicago experienced a 43% reduction in single bag use when they implemented their program. Village Trustee Tucker hoped to get that revenue generation down to zero. Village Trustee Moroney asked if there is a baseline number as to how many bags were used before. Ms. Agnew stated that a survey was done by the Environment and Energy Commission a while ago and that number was 7 million bags. In addition, 50% of residents were already using their own bags. Staff has had conversations with almost all of the businesses and they reported that they have not purchased any new bags this year since the program launched. Village Trustee Button asked what the general feedback from the businesses has been. Ms. Agnew stated that the general feedback has been confusion with the Chicago bag tax, which is structured differently. Most of the businesses did not give numbers but they have all said they haven't had to buy bags. Fees they are collecting are invested in renewable bags to offer customers. Village Trustee Button commented that there needs to be more outreach and education to the public. Ms. Agnew discussed other incentives done by various retailers in and out of Oak Park. Village Trustee Taglia commented that he would prefer to see any excess collected by the Village to go towards a sustainability effort rather than reducing garbage collection fees. Village Manager Pavlicek stated that the Environmental Services Fund is completely supported by garbage collections fees. There is a transfer of $150,000 from that fund into the Sustainability Fund and staff was looking to reduce this transfer, which allows the Village to maintain the garbage collection fees rather than inflating them in order to transfer into the Sustainability Fund. Village Trustee Andrews is happy about the data. However, he feels that this can be viewed as regressive and wants to make sure that some of this money is reinvested in reusable bags. Village President Abu-Taleb thanked the Environment and Energy Commission and staff for their work, as well as the businesses and the community. VI. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Moroney, seconded by Village Trustee Boutet, to adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 8:51 P.M., Monday, March 12, 2018. Respectfully Submitted, Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 3/20/2018 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 12, 2018 MaryAnn Schoenneman, Deputy Village Clerk Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 3/20/2018