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, May 9, 2022 7:00 PM Remote I. Call to Order Village President Scaman called the meeting to order at 7:02 P.M. She authorized a statement be read providing that the meeting is being held remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines and that it is not prudent to have people present at the Village Board's regular meeting location due to public health concerns related to that pandemic. II. Roll Call Present: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla Absent: 0 III. Agenda Approval It was moved by Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla, seconded by Village Trustee Parakkat, to approve the Agenda. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 IV. Non-Agenda Public Comment The following person spoke their Non-Agenda Public Comment aloud: Alicia Chastain: Alicia Chastain spoke their public comment expressing their concern with the increase in Covid-19 outbreaks in the schools. They urged the Board to empower the Public Health Department to protect the children and collaborate with District 97 to keep the kids safe. V. Regular Agenda A. ID 22-131 Review and Discussion of Current Parking Fees Structure Village Manager Kevin Jackson introduced the Item. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 5/18/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 9, 2022 Tammie Grossman, Director of Development Customer Services, then gave background and an overview of the Item. Sean Keane, Parking and Mobility Services Manager, then gave a presentation of the Item. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification regarding on the out of pocket loss for the village regarding the lease agreement with Calvary Church and parking lot 16. Manager Keane responded it is operating at a loss and staff will report back to the Board with the actual number. Village Trustee Robinson requested clarification if the comparison communities (Forest Park and Evanston) also offer any amount of free parking. Manager Keane responded staff did not look into that for this meeting. Director Grossman added the comparisons were just on parking meters, not garages, but staff can get that information to the Board. Village Trustee Robinson requested clarification if the other parking lot leasing agreements will also be evaluated to determine if they are operating at a loss. Manager Keane responded Lot 16 needed to be addressed immediately, and staff can do further analysis on the other 13 lots. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification regarding what the average operating deficit is during a normal time (outside of the pandemic). Manager Keane responded staff will provide that information during the 2023 budget discussions. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification regarding if the standardization of parking to 8:00 P.M. would be implemented village-wide. Manager Keane responded it would be, with the exceptions for the permitted lots where permit parking begins at 6 P.M. - those lots would be grandfathered in. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification regarding the breakdown of the changes proposed to the parking garages. Manager Keane responded the proposals include reducing the amount of time to park for free as well as increasing the fee from $3 to $4 for parking up to 3.5 hours in the garages. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification regarding if Parking Lot 16 Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 5/18/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 9, 2022 and the Housing Choice Voucher numbers were factored in to the calculations. Manager Keane responded they were not. Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification regarding, if all the assumptions hold true, is it anticipated that this fund will move from a deficit to a surplus in 2023, and how would the ARPA funds play into this as far as covering the lost revenue. Village Manager Keane responded if the assumptions hold true then the fund should see a surplus in 2023 - but the missing piece is the capital funding which staff should have more clarity on going into the budget process. Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification regarding if the goal is for the parking fund to be cost neutral, or is it assumed that other revenues will always have to support the parking fund somewhat. Director Grossman responded the idea has always been that the parking fund should be self-sustaining. Village Trustee Buchanan commented a $25 increase for garage permit holders seems like a lot and requested clarification on how staff came to that proposal versus raising the hourly parking fee to $1.25. Manager Keane responded it was based on Board direction from February 14 and looking at the garage permits and the debt associated with the parking fund. Director Grossman added they have not raised the rates in the garages since 2017. Going forward there should be a conversation about annual rate increases. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla would like to see what the options would be in the future to expand the access to the reduced permit fee program to ensure they are reaching as many people as possible that need that type of assistance. Staff was directed to end the sublease agreement for Lot 16 and to look at the other subleased parking lots for their cost/ loss analysis, moving the parking fee times from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M, to bring back an analysis on reducing the free parking in garages to 60 minutes and 45 minutes, bring back an analysis on raising the garage permit fee to $20 dollars a quarter vs $25 as well as a step increase in the fee structure, and looking at how other community organizations are identifying low income families as a way to expand the parking voucher program in the future. B. ID 22-136 Presentation and Discussion of the Draft 2022 Comprehensive Sustainability, Climate Action, and Resiliency Plan for the Village of Oak Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 5/18/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 9, 2022 Park Village Manager Jackson introduced the Item. Deputy Village Manager Ahmad Zayyad then introduced Marcella Bondie Keenan, the Sustainability Coordinator, and Brianna Fiorillo and Stephanie Hacker, from the consulting group GRAEF, who gave a presentation on the Item and next steps. Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification regarding the ComEd grid renewable energy. Brianna Fiorillo responded they used the ComEd environmental disclosure statement which tells indicates what their energy mix is and the source of their renewable energy. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification on how the village can improve our water figures and water loss performance though the Climate Action Plan beyond what is already being done currently. Marcella Bondie Keenan responded it goes along with general efficiency improvements, regular capital improvement planning and maintenance operations and being proactive about the drinking water infrastructure. You can also perform water benchmarking to help identify when there is an unusual spike and see which buildings are using an unusual amount of water. Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification regarding if they had engaged any of the small businesses or landlords. Marcella Bondie Keenan responded they spoke with the OPRF Chamber of Commerce and are planning on co-hosting a meeting with the small business owners once the draft plan goes out. They have also spoken with ResCorp and David Pope who is assisting with a tenant survey. Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification regarding the cost and funding options and what debt will be incurred. Stephanie Hacker responded the idea is to have a matrix with actions listed in the goal area with the cost range with the funding strategies or funding type listed. Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification regarding if they were looking at the most aggressive path to reach a 60% reduction by 2030? Brianna Fiorillo responded they tried to include a mix of more aggressive and less aggressive options in the draft scenarios which may change as they finalize the draft actions and get a sense of the community and what they are indicating is most appropriate. Village Trustee Robinson suggested creating an incentive program that Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 5/18/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 9, 2022 encourages a switch from gas to electric leaf blowers. They feel a program that creates an incentive and includes an educational component would encourage compliance rather than punishing noncompliance. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla commented in order to really get to a climate plan that reaches everyone in Oak Park it has to be centered on a lens of racial equity and that is not seen in this plan. They also think that it is past time to encourage people to do the right thing and recommended to mandate what needs to be done. Marcella Bondie Keenan responded there is a vulnerability assessment that was not included tonight that looks at factors like poverty level, disability, and limited English proficiency as documented in the census and mapped out against things like tree canopy cover, and the distribution of resources can be guided by the vulnerability assessment. When they publish the public document, they will connect the stats to people to say action here plus vulnerability map here means distribution of resources in a particular manner. VI. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Parakkat, seconded by Village Trustee Robinson, to Adjourn. The motion was approved. The Meeting adjourned at 9:19 P.M., Monday, May 9, 2022. Respectfully Submitted, Deputy Clerk DeViller AYES: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 5/18/2022