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, August 26, 2019 7:00 PM Village Hall I. Call to Order Village President Abu-Taleb called the Meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. II. Roll Call Present: 7- Village President Abu-Taleb, Village Trustee Andrews, Village Trustee Boutet, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Moroney, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla Absent: 0 III. Agenda Approval It was moved by Village Trustee Moroney, seconded by Village Trustee Boutet, that this be approved. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. IV. Non-Agenda Public Comment Sandy Pederson. Ms. Pederson spoke about rat sightings around her home and the extensive measures taken at her own expense to control them. She expressed concern that construction on Madison Street will escalate this problem and asked how the Village plans on assisting residents. V. Regular Agenda ID 19-255 Preliminary Discussion with Department Directors Regarding Proposed FY 2020 Budget Priorities Deputy Village Manager Shelley commented that this is a preliminary discussion with the department directors, one of the steps in the annual budget process. They will be discussing their priorities for the coming year. Brian Crawford, representing Bike Walk Oak Park. Mr. Crawford asked the Board to invest in an equitable transportation system that promotes safe routes to school for kids, is more walkable and accessible for people with disabilities and seniors and safer streets overall for pedestrians and all other modes of transportation. David Gentry. Mr. Gentry gave a critique of the budget document being presented tonight. He expressed particular concern that costs are not attached to the items and gave suggestions for improvement. In response to Mr. Gentry's commentary, Village President Abu-Taleb stated that the Board is aware that one year affects the next and always go through costs when making decisions. He respectfully disagreed with his comments. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 9/4/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes August 26, 2019 Village Trustee Moroney stated that CFO Drazner had presented the Board with a more detailed summary that is still in progress. He referred to the targeted three percent tax levy increase and noted that with just the proposed additional contributions to police and fire pensions and salary increases negotiated into union contracts, the tax levy increase would rise to five percent. Village Trustee Moroney added that there are a lot of trustee goals and department requests in this priority document. The CIP is higher than any year he has seen and TIFs are expiring. He believes that the Village is looking at a significant deficit going into this process and there are going to have to be tradeoffs and sacrifices and deferring implementation of certain expenditures. The strategy used last year to keep the increase at three percent is not an option this year. Village Trustee Boutet thinks this is a good preliminary document but would like to see the costs associated with what staff is proposing and the projected outcomes. Village Trustee Andrews agreed with Village Trustee Boutet. He acknowledged that the Board is more aware of what the budget includes. However, this is a transparency issue in terms of information available to the public. Deputy Village Manager Shelley gave an overview of the budget process. The draft budget document will have more details but reminded the Board that this is just a preliminary discussion. Communications Director David Powers discussed his core services. He has some upcoming challenges that are out of his control. The server that hosts the website, as well as the content management system, are at end-of-life. These need to be upgraded just to keep the website operational. He estimates these costs to be $17,000. It is possible to migrate to a cloud based server, which cost approximately $2,500 per year including support. However, the website is currently over six years old. It might be worth considering spending $50,000 for a new website within the next few years. Finance CFO Steve Drazner listed core services of his department. Priorities for 2020 include working with consultants to seek the most desirable rates for new debt issuance, review cash flows and allocate liquid funds to maximize returns, work with HR to improve efficiencies, apply for budget awards, improve quarterly report based on feedback by the trustees, continue staff training, assist other departments with RFP process and comply with new IRS requirements related to fines collected by municipalities. Human Resources New HR Director Kira Tchang was introduced. Deputy Village Manager Shelley discussed core services of HR. For FY20, they are looking into additional opportunities for employee training, to convert paper processes to online, increase diversity of employment opportunities and outreach, enhance Employee Wellness Team initiatives and develop employee racial equity training. Village Trustees Walker-Peddakotla and Boutet commented that GARE provides racial equity training; joining GARE is one of the Board goals. Information Technology Director Alvin Nepomuceno spoke about core services of IT. Priorities for 2020 include to continue upgrading the Village's fiber network that connects 12 Village facilities, continue to upgrade outdated computer equipment on a four-year cycle, upgrade server and Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 9/4/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes August 26, 2019 software security, perform core address data maintenance and assist vendors and operating departments in updates and enhancement of services. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla asked Mr. Nepomuceno if he thought it was appropriate to keep Village data related to Passport Parking or other outside vendors on their server rather than on ours or on a cloud based server. Mr. Nepomuceno stated that in a case like that, data hosting depends of the service provider. While IT provides access to the data, it us up to the operating department to make that decision. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla asked what the cost is to the Village to host data on their own servers, how much data does the Village host versus third party vendors and does he see that cost going up as the use of third party vendors increases. Mr. Nepomuceno commented that the cost is in their budget. Depending on the technology, the cost can go down, but it is difficult to foresee. Village Trustee Boutet asked for the rationale behind a four-year cycle regarding computer equipment. Mr. Nepomuceno stated that it is standard practice, but it has been extended at times. It also depends on whether the hardware can support a newer operating system. Law Village Attorney Paul Stephanides listed core services of the Law Department. His 2020 priorities are to continue efforts to defend and prosecute civil litigation and workers' compensation matters brought against the Village, negotiate and review contracts and agreements and update the Village Code on an as needed basis. The overall priority is to save the Village money as much as possible in terms of litigation work. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla referred to the core service "Manage the Village's compliance with the Freedom of Information Act" and the FY19 priority "Archive historical documents in the Village's new electronic filing system, Laserfiche". She was under the impression that those items fell under the role of the Clerk. Mr. Stephanides commented that he works very closely with the Clerk regarding FOIAs; the archiving is regarding contracts and forms for all departments to make them easily accessible. Village Trustee Boutet agreed that those items belong with the Clerk's Office. She added that a key service of the Law Department should be reducing risk. Village Manager's Office Deputy Village Manager Shelley discussed her department's core services. Priorities for 2020 include racial equity training, sustainability initiatives, a customer service request portal for residents, address issues identified in police facility space needs analysis report, further development of a 5-year operating budget concept and 5-year pension contribution plan and identify a strategy for any new initiatives identified in the updated Board Goals. Village Trustee Buchanan commented that the Board has already approved what the Sustainability Fund will be used for. She asked if the solar panels for the Village Hall parking lot and Public Works will be in the 2020 budget. Mr. Drazner commented that he does not know but will provide that information. Village Trustee Buchanan would like to know what the delay is if it is not in next year's budget. She also asked why the Sustainability Coordinator position is under the Village Manager and not its own entity. Deputy Village Manager Shelley gave an explanation. She stated that a followup to the Sustainability Fund project would be provided. Village Clerk's Office Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 9/4/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes August 26, 2019 Village Clerk Vicki Scaman gave an explanation of the role of the Clerk. One of her priorities for 2020 is to ensure records of Village proceedings are accurately recorded without bias. She stated that in 2017, she asked that management of records disposal be returned to her department. Soon to be a Certified Municipal Clerk, she will be certified in FOIA, records management and the Open Meetings Act and has consistently asked that those tasks be returned to the purview of the Clerk. Another priority is assisting the public with access to information through FOIA and outreach. Her intention is to work with the Citizen Involvement Commission to better identify how various groups in the community receive their information and work to engage them in order to grow trust in local government and a sense of ownership as members of the community. She discussed her role in the FOIA process and commented that a review of the new procedure is overdue. Village Clerk Scaman would like her role more clearly defined, as well as having the resources she needs such as full access to the information in order to assist requesters when they contact her. Her next priority is to assist the public with navigating Village processes. As the single elected official who is accessible to the public at Village Hall, she assists many residents who have challenges with various issues. This usually results in directing them to the appropriate staff member, the Village Manager, the Board or other agencies in the Village. Her final priorities are to increase voter registration outreach and support Census 2020 initiatives. In conclusion, Village Clerk Scaman stated that she would like to have a discussion about her role as the Open Meetings Act Officer and improving communication and collaboration with staff regarding that. She spoke about softwares available to help make tasks more efficient and noted that funds for Gov QA, a FOIA software, has been included in her budget for several years now. Village Trustee Boutet asked for clarification regarding a review of the FOIA process. Village Clerk Scaman noted that the Resolution naming her Chief FOIA Officer states that there would be a review in May or June of 2019, which did no occur. Village Trustee Boutet asked how Gov QA would enhance the FOIA process. Village Clerk Scaman stated that it is user intuitive with open portal, and stores FOIAs online for public viewing, as well as FAQ's for FOIA. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla added that residents have asked for FOIAs to be available on the website. She requested that the FOIA review be put on an agenda. She also asked if the Clerk's Office has been excluded from the Census 2020 initiatives and the Census Task Force. Village Clerk Scaman stated that she believes that a task force has been created but they have not met yet. Village Trustee Andrews asked if there is a document called a "Use Case" in Gov QA. He would like to get a better idea how Gov QA communicates with Laserfiche. Adjudication Director Robert Anderson discussed core services of his department. His FY20 priorities include reducing paper records by storing documents electronically and promoting use of online services and increase completion of community service by juveniles by increasing communication with them and their parents as well as community service providers. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla asked how many young adults fail to complete their service. Mr. Anderson stated it is approximately 70 percent complete. Village Trustee Boutet asked for clarification regarding his FY19 priority that involves integrating the ordinance compliance process into CityView. Mr. Anderson stated that the database currently used for that process, Access, will be expiring at the end of the year. Thus, the records need to be moved into another database. Deputy Village Manager Shelley confirmed that the Access license will not be renewed. Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 9/4/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes August 26, 2019 Community Relations Director Cedric Melton listed his core services. His first priority for FY20 is to develop and provide tenant's rights workshops for current and prospective tenants. Mr. Melton gave examples of tenant/landlord conflicts that warrant education for tenants. His other priority is to improve resident/customer referral experiences through followup and increased coordination with local resource service providers. This is to avoid customers falling through the cracks. Village Trustee Taglia commended Community Relations regarding graffiti removal. However, he would like more of an effort made to include businesses in the program. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla commented that the priority from FY19 regarding racial equity should be carried over to FY20. Development Customer Services Director Tammie Grossman gave an overview of her department. Their priorities for 2020 include completion of the 2020 census effort, complete implementation of the Parking Pilot Program, continue facilitation and implementation of the Commercial Facade Improvement Program, continue roll-out of the Aging-In-Place strategies, streamline the departments' utilization of the Village's adjudication program by training staff and upgrading standard operating procedures, improve utilization of online services, report on the progress of the Comprehensive Plan, continue to manage all development and redevelopment projects for the Village and complete the North Avenue Plan. Village Trustee Andrews asked if the report for North Avenue is completed. Ms. Grossman stated that it is and she would provide a copy. Village Trustee Andrews also asked that a bike share program be looked at and perhaps coordinate with the Forest Preserve District. Village Trustee Boutet commented that the census initiative should be as collaborative as possible and that Village Clerk Scaman is a valuable resource. Ms. Grossman gave an update on what has been done to date. Village Trustee Boutet also discussed the Parking Pilot Program and would like some adjustments made. She also asked for clarification on the training of staff in terms of the adjudication process. Ms. Grossman explained that instead of relying on voluntary compliance regarding code enforcement, her department will begin to go through the adjudication system after multiple attempts at voluntary compliance. Village President Abu-Taleb commented that for every constituent not counted in the census, the Village loses $1,800 in grants. He noted that all Board members know the community and will assist as needed. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla agreed that the Clerk should be part of the Census Task Force. She asked what is still pending in terms of the North Avenue Plan. Ms. Grossman provided next steps, such as streetscape and looking at funding. Fire Department Fire Chief Tom Ebsen discussed core duties of the Fire Department. Priorities for 2020 include support of the Fire Department's Apparatus Replacement Program (which includes replacement of a fire engine and ambulance in 2020), remodeling of the South Fire Station, replacement of cardiac monitors, mobile date computers on fire apparatus, self-contained breathing apparatus and rescue/extrication tools, purchase of traffic control preemption equipment, continuing development of the EMS/Fire Explorer Program, Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 9/4/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes August 26, 2019 continuing work with the Union on the implementation of annual physical evaluation standards, develop negotiation strategies and goals for the IAFF Firefighter Union contract expiring on 12-31-20, develop a 5-year strategic plan for operations, determine adequate staffing levels due to increasing ambulance calls and to continue applying for grants to offset costs. Village Trustee Boutet hopes outreach to minorities is included in the EMS/Fire Explorer Program. She also requested that the Board be informed of the useful life of all equipment purchased. Chief Ebsen explained the traffic control preemption program at the request of Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla and the annual physical evaluation standards at the request of Village Trustee Boutet. Department of Public Health Director Mike Charley summarized the core services of his department. Priorities for FY20 include working with the Early Childhood Collaboration to get the Village's Family Case Management Program up and running, continue focusing on measurable objectives to address public health priorities identified in the Community Health Needs Assessment, begin the IPLAN Community Health Needs Assessment process, and participate in the Illinois State-wide mass dispensing full-scale exercise as required by the State. This exercise involves "vaccinating" 54,00 people in 24 hours and requires collaboration with both staff and external stakeholders such as hospitals, schools, etc. Village President Abu-Taleb referred to the public commenter who spoke about rats. He asked if major construction is a cause for concern regarding rat infestation. Mr. Charley commented that staff had surveyed properties near five or six major projects this year and didn't find any activity. If there is a problem, staff would work with the developer to provide pest control prior to breaking ground. Village President Abu-Taleb asked Mr. Charley to be vigilant during upcoming construction projects. Village Trustee Boutet asked for updates of the IPLAN. Police Department Police Chief La Don Reynolds gave an overview of core services. He stated that his priorities for 2020 include implementation of their web based policy and procedure manual, implementation of an electronic citation system with the Cook County Court System, implementation of a police staff wellness check program, launch of the Citizen Police Academy, enhancement of succession capabilities by implementing a career development program and enhancing training programs for all levels of command and frontline staff. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla asked Chief Reynolds how many new hires he anticipates in 2020. Chief Reynolds replied that there are currently five police officers in the academy, two officers in the field training program and another seven officers will be sworn in on September 6. In addition, they are at the beginning stages of a sergeant test and patrol officer test. He hopes to hire a Deputy Chief within the next year and will need two more commanders if that person is promoted internally. Public Works Director John Wielebnicki discussed core services of the department. Priorities for 2020 include design and manage the FY2020 Capital Improvement Plan project consultants and contractors, continue working with private developers and contractors for public right of way improvements, continue the replacement of residential street lights with LED Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 9/4/2019 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes August 26, 2019 lamps, continue their focus on water loss, complete tree pruning in the area between Chicago/Madison/Harlem/Austin, continue to evaluate opportunities for additional alternate fuel vehicles to add to the Village fleet, manage year four of five of the solid waste, recycling and yard waste collection program and continue promoting the related programs, implement a Department Professional Development and Succession Plan and hire an Assistant Public Works Director. Deputy Village Manager Shelley indicated that the CIP will be addressed in detail at a Finance Committee Meeting, but noted to the Board that the information is included with their package. Village Trustee Buchanan asked if the Village still has lead water mains. Mr. Wielebnicki stated that when water mains are replaced, only the Village portion of the service is replaced not the private side service. He estimates that approximately 10,000 to 12,000 services are all or partial lead. He summarized how private service replacement is done. VI. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Andrews, seconded by Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla, to adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 9:34 P.M., Monday, August 26, 2019. Respectfully Submitted, MaryAnn Schoenneman Deputy Village Clerk Village of Oak Park Page 7 Printed on 9/4/2019