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 Tuesday, March 19, 2024 6:30 PM Village Hall I. Call to Order Village President Vicki Scaman called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. II. Roll Call Trustee Wesley joined the Meeting at 6:39 P.M. Trustee Straw joined the Meeting at 6:51 P.M. Present: 5- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, and Village Trustee Robinson Absent: 2- Village Trustee Straw, and Village Trustee Wesley III. Consideration of Motion to Adjourn to Executive Session to Discuss Collective Bargaining and Pending Litigation It was moved by Trustee Buchanan, seconded by Trustee Enyia, to adjourn into Executive Session. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as follows: AYES: 5- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, and Village Trustee Robinson NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 2- Village Trustee Straw, and Village Trustee Wesley V. Reconvene to Regular Meeting in Council Chambers and Call to Order The Regular Meeting reconvened at 7:34 P.M. VI. Roll Call Present: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Straw, and Village Trustee Wesley Absent: 0 VII. Agenda Approval It was moved by Trustee Enyia, seconded by Trustee Robinson, to approve the Agenda. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 4/10/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 19, 2024 VIII. Minutes A. MOT 24-139 A Motion to Approve Minutes from the March 5, 2024 Regular Meeting and March 11, 2024 Special Meeting of the Village Board It was moved by Trustee Robinson, seconded by Trustee Wesley, to approve the Minutes. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. IX. Non-Agenda Public Comment Betty Alzamora, on behalf of Oak Park Resettlement Task Force: Requesting assistance with legal services for a particular individual and to allow her to work with the contracted lawyers to coordinate logistics. Village Manager Kevin Jackson noted deportation defense is not included in the Village’s contracted services. Chief DEI Officer Dr. Danielle Walker said the services included are change of venue and applying for asylum and work authorization. She encouraged Ms. Alzamora to contact her. President Scaman acknowledged Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Executive Director Neil James who was in attendance. X. Proclamation B. MOT 24-130 A Motion to Approve a Proclamation to Proclaim April 2024 as Earth Month Trustee Buchanan read the Proclamation into the record. Public Works Director Rob Sproule highlighted the Earth Month events and acknowledged partners OPCAN, Oak Park Library, and our Village Clerk. It was moved by Trustee Robinson, seconded by Trustee Wesley, that this Motion be approved. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. C. MOT 24-138 A Motion to Approve a Proclamation for National Public Health Week April 1-7, 2024 Trustee Straw read the Proclamation into the record. Health Director Dr. Theresa Chapple encouraged the community to visit the website, newsletter, and Facebook for ways to be involved in public health. It was moved by Trustee Straw, seconded by Trustee Wesley, that this Motion be approved. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. XII. Village Board Committees & Trustee Liaison Commission Reports There were no comments. XIII. Citizen Commission Vacancies There were no comments. Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 4/10/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 19, 2024 D. ID 24-209 Board & Commission Vacancy Report for March 19, 2024 XIV. Citizen Commission Appointments, Reappointments and Chair Appointments E. MOT 24-141 A Motion to Consent to the Village President’s Appointment of: Civic Information Systems Commission - Sharon Newton, Reappoint as Member It was moved by Trustee Wesley, seconded by Village Trustee Straw, to approve the Appointment. 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 Straw, and Village Trustee Wesley NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 XV. Consent Agenda Approval of the Consent Agenda It was moved by Trustee Robinson, seconded by Trustee Enyia, to approve the items under the Consent 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 Straw, and Village Trustee Wesley NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 F. MOT 24-123 A Motion to Approve the Bills in the Amount of $7,548,253.56 from January 29, 2024, through February 29, 2024 This Motion was approved. G. MOT 24-131 A Motion to Concur with the Transportation Commission’s Recommendations for Traffic Calming on the 900 and 1000 Blocks of N. Humphrey Avenue and at the Intersection of Berkshire Street with N. Humphrey Avenue This Motion was approved. H. ORD 24-109 An Ordinance Authorizing the Sale of Surplus Vehicles and Equipment Owned by the Village of Oak Park This Ordinance was adopted. Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 4/10/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 19, 2024 I. RES 24-146 A Resolution Approving a Task Order for Professional Engineering Services with TranSystems Corporation for a Feasibility Study of Bike Lanes on Ridgeland Avenue in an Amount Not to Exceed $86,309, Authorizing its Execution and Directing Staff to Prepare the Necessary Budget Amendment This Resolution was adopted. J. RES 24-139 A Resolution Approving a Funding Grant Agreement Between Housing Forward and the Village of Oak Park in the Amount of $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds and Authorizing Its Execution This Resolution was adopted. K. RES 24-151 A Resolution Approving the Renewal of the Annual Software License and Support Maintenance Agreement dated December 15, 2014, with CityView, a Division of N. Harris Computer Corporation, for the Village’s Permitting, Licensing and Inspection Services in an Amount Not to Exceed $208,464.30 and Authorizing its Execution This Resolution was adopted. L. RES 24-153 A Resolution Approving an Independent Contractor Agreement with Midwest Services and Development Corp. for the Main Fire Station HVAC Replacement Project in an Amount Not to Exceed $94,500.00 and Authorizing its Execution This Resolution was adopted. M. RES 24-154 A Resolution Approving the Replacement of Three Salter Bodies on Village Dump Trucks Through the Purchase and Installation of Certain Equipment from Lindco Equipment Sales, a Division of Viking-Cives, Through the Sourcewell Joint Purchasing Program in an Amount Not to Exceed $147,483.00 and Waiving the Village’s Bid Process for the Purchase This Resolution was adopted. N. RES 24-155 A Resolution Approving the Rebuilding of One Dump Truck Through the Purchase and Installation of Certain Equipment from Lindco Equipment Sales, a Division of Viking-Cives, through the Sourcewell Joint Purchasing Program in an Amount Not to Exceed $88,587.00 and Waiving the Village’s Bid Process for the Purchase This Resolution was adopted. O. RES 24-159 A Resolution Authorizing the Submission of a United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Application for a Public Health Associate to Assist the Village’s Public Health Department with Violence and Injury Prevention Programs, HIV Surveillance Based Services, and other Health Education Projects from October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2026 Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 4/10/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 19, 2024 This Resolution was adopted. P. RES 24-160 A Resolution Approving a Contract with Triggi Construction, Inc. for Project 24-4, Alley Improvements, in an Amount Not to Exceed $2,318,347, Authorizing its Execution and Directing Staff to Prepare the Necessary Budget Amendment This Resolution was adopted. Q. RES 24-161 A Resolution Approving a Contract with J. Nardulli Concrete, Inc. for Project 24-18, Alley Improvements, in an Amount not to Exceed $730,000 and Authorizing its Execution This Resolution was adopted. R. RES 24-166 A Resolution Authorizing the Execution of a Settlement Agreement in Workers’ Compensation Case Number 2021 WC 34500 This Resolution was adopted. S. RES 24-168 A Resolution Approving the Work Plan of the Village of Oak Park’s Citizen Involvement Commission for 2024 This Resolution was adopted. XVI. Regular Agenda T. ID 24-160 A Presentation by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Regarding the Comprehensive Housing Study Update to the Homes for a Changing Region Report Ralph Lee, representing Diversity Oak Park: Concerned with the lack of intentionality and investment in the racial and economic diversity of our community. Outlined core values they believe should be at the heart of the efforts to address housing and neighborhoods. Rob Breymaier, member of Diversity Oak Park: Asked the Village Board to recommit and reinvest to our community's integration strategy and take the threat of segregation and its many negative consequences for our community seriously. Paul Sakol, member of Diversity Oak Park: Recommends revising the multi-family incentives program to provide incentives for property owners to engage in integration efforts through partnership with the regional housing center. Read statement on behalf of Burcy Hines. Henry Fulkerson, member of Diversity Oak Park: Much-needed changes to the IHO must be combined with other affordable housing strategies, a comprehensive racial equity assessment, and intentional integration plan. Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 4/10/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 19, 2024 John Duffy, member of Diversity Oak Park: Village racial equity work demands the permanence of a racial equity ordinance designed in collaboration with the community. Manager Jackson and Village Planner Craig Failor introduced the Item. Metropolitan Mayors Caucus (MMC) Housing and Community Development Associate Ben Schnelle presented an overview of the 2024 Housing Study. Development Services Deputy Director Brandon Crawford highlighted the next steps toward implementation. Trustee Robinson inquired if the recommendation is to increase the number of units that are provided at affordable rental price points or if the term affordable housing as determined by the area median income (AMI) in our ordinance. Associate Schnelle said the terminology is to increase the supply of affordable rental housing which is defined through a measurement as the number of rental options that are affordable for households earning 60% of the area median income. She asked if it is possible to break down MMC's assessment of affordability between commercially-owned buildings and multi-unit rental properties. Associate Schnelle said unfortunately that data is not available. She said it would be desirable to have it if it can collected. Manager Jackson said staff can look into that. Planner Failor added that the Village has a rental registry we can look at. She said she is in favor of adopting the study with a few exceptions. She referenced recommendation #4. Associate Schnelle said their recommendation is to go through that goal-setting process and then consider revenue options, to be decided by the Board. She said she would like to consider removing the housing authority grant funding from the Housing Trust Fund. She referenced the recommendation to revise the parking requirements. Associate Schnelle said the first part is focused on the onsite requirements. Parking is focusing on both multi-family and missing middle. She said she is not in favor of making an adjustment to the overnight parking ban and she likes the ability to grant parking variances and use that to encourage the kind of development that we want to see. She said she fully supports looking at the IZO, considering adjusting the fee in lieu, and she thinks the map should be expanded. She said she agrees with the homeownership focus and would like to see a restructure of our partner agency relationships and look for partners that can prioritize homeownership opportunities. She noted the lack of rental Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 4/10/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 19, 2024 stock that is unsuitable for families. Manager Jackson said he looks forward to those conversations. Trustee Robinson added she will no longer support housing programs or partners that do not have language access considerations. Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on the definition of affordable. Associate Schnelle said the rationale behind that being identified as a challenge and a goal was the input that they received through community engagement. The challenge of rental affordability was by far the top theme they heard through community input. Oak Park is outperforming many of your peers in terms of the percentage of housing that is affordable. They also heard a desire to continue that and expand on the supply of affordable rental housing. She asked if he agreed that the way to approach the overall housing shortage is to build more units. He said there are very good arguments for the simple supply and demand idea. Increasing supply overall is helpful and creates less competition and increasing affordable housing specifically is helpful. She noted the distinction between subsidized housing that might be luxury units and building smaller units. He said there are great examples of both strategies working well here in Oak Park. She said she is interested in the issue of changing the zoning and asked if developers would come in and build them. He said you could ask that to small-scale missing middle housing developers directly because a lot of it depends on the site. She asked how staff chose the three out of the nine recommendations. Director Crawford said staff wanted to prioritize based on how far-reaching we thought those initiatives could be. She said she would love to see a plan and timeline for all nine of them. Regarding the climate goals for housing, she said she would not be in favor of alternative compliance pathways but finding ways to make it affordable because we know these retrofits are going to be expensive. She said she supports all of these and would be ready to discuss getting rid of the overnight parking ban. She said as elected officials, we experience a lot of push back against development and construction and she said you cannot say you care about affordable housing and then protest against density. Trustee Enyia said affordability is something that cripples a lot of Oak Parkers and we want to figure out how we can adapt this housing stock to truly accommodate everyone. He noted seniors are a substantial growing demographic and the need to put affordability as an actual thought and not an afterthought. Village of Oak Park Page 7 Printed on 4/10/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 19, 2024 Trustee Parakkat said he thinks affordability is important for diversity. He said he is skeptical in how we can achieve housing affordability in the context of making this community more desirable. He noted the tension between sustainability, affordability, and equity and he said he thinks sustainability has to be prioritized because it has generational impact into the future. He requested staff to provide a way to manage that tension. He said he sees tension between home ownership versus rental and the amount of available dollars that we have and its efficiency and use against that. He said he would like to see what the give and take is around that in terms of the metrics. He said he is in support of keeping the overnight parking ban based on what's available at this point unless there is a compelling metric on certain parts of the community where it's needed. Regarding the IZO, he said he is willing to look at what comes back. Trustee Straw said he broadly supports adoption of the report with the understanding that several recommendations call for fleshing out with additional detail through further study with staff and Board. He appreciates the report reflects the complex and interrelated nature of so many policy areas. When we're requiring mandatory minimum parking onsite, it reduces the number of units we're going to develop, which plays into the need to examine the overnight parking ban. He said he hopes staff looks at how density bonuses are going to play into the missing middle zoning issues. Regarding the recommendation to revise the IZO, he said he hopes that as we analyze this, we are thoughtful about where we want to set that minimum for where the inclusionary housing ordinance applies. He said he would support the IHO covering all of Oak Park as a necessary starting point. He asked how the AMI for Oak Park is determined. Associate Schnelle said the AMI is for the Chicago region. The area median income in 2022 was roughly $85K. Trustee Straw noted that the median unit we're selling now is $230K than would be affordable under that calculation and that is why this missing middle strategy makes so much sense and he is interested in aggressively moving forward on that. It was moved by Trustee Straw, seconded by Trustee Wesley, to extend the meeting past 10:00 P.M. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Trustee Wesley said he would like to see a recommendation to build more units and sets a target for the number of units over a 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year period. Building more units correlates positively with more affordable housing in our village. He referenced the Illinois Housing Development Association's ratings of municipalities on the percentage of affordable housing. He noted that prior to 1939, Oak Park had 14,566 housing units. Today Oak Park has 24,708 housing units. Village of Oak Park Page 8 Printed on 4/10/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 19, 2024 He said he supports all of the recommendations. He said he would like to see the option that missing middle is a by right feature of the zoning code and not something that has to go through an approval process or deployed in very specific areas of the village. He'd like to view the village in its entirety and not in specific districts. He said he thinks we need to set the baseline of why this happened in order to reverse it. He said he is supportive of an IHO and does not want to see one that prevents us from adding more units. He read a statement from 46th Ward Alderman James Cappleman and said studies showed that building more units increased affordable housing. He said prices are higher here because Oak Park is so desirable. We won't ever be able to catch up with the naturally occurring affordable housing that we built 100 years ago. People wanting to move here will rent naturally occurring affordable housing which will drive out people with lower incomes from our community which makes it a less diverse place which decreases the equity. He suggested we take the things that we know work and do those things here. Trustee Straw noted that Oak Park is less dense than we were 50 and 80 years ago. Since the advent of single-family zoning, we have seen duplexes and three-flats being down-converted to single-family housing zoning. The historical character of Oak Park neighborhoods has always included multi-family housing. Missing middle is not new; it is talking about restoring the historical character of our neighborhoods. Trustee Parakkat noted the density comparisons from the average household in the U.S. included more kids. People at $70K to $150K also need housing they can afford. People are stretching themselves too much to buy a house and some are buying lower because that's what's available. That takes supply out of the market and creates a problem in affordable housing. A lot of these affordability programs are on the back of that middle. They do not have appropriate housing and are overburdened in their housing commitments and lack of support. He said he wants us to consider broadening that to make appropriate housing for different income levels so our affordable housing stock is protected for truly affordable housing needs. Trustee Wesley said he heard "build more." Trustee Parakkat said "thoughtful development." President Scaman said she agrees and as we work to identify our more specific goals around how we are going to use our Housing Trust Fund and its guidelines and choose projects and development that get us to those goals, we are going to have to be intentional and she would like to see those projects that allow us to maintain some level of ability to track whether we're accomplishing what we want to do. She said she supports Village of Oak Park Page 9 Printed on 4/10/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 19, 2024 the report and looks forward to hosting the conversations, identifying more revenue sources for the trust fund, reviewing zoning, and she is interested in the parking ban. Manager Jackson said staff will reflect on the feedback heard tonight and bring the report back for the Board to adopt. Trustee Straw requested any redline changes on the report, which Manager Jackson confirmed. U. ID 24-193 Public Safety Annual Report It was moved by Trustee Straw, seconded by Trustee Robinson, that this Report be tabled. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. V. ORD 24-110 An Ordinance Amending the Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Budget Interim CFO Donna Gayden presented the Item. Trustee Buchanan inquired if the public health grant is all grant funding, which CFO Gayden confirmed. Trustee Parakkat inquired if the 2025 budget is based off of the 2024 revised carry forward number. CFO Gayden said the 2023 carry forward are projects that were not completed in 2023 and are moving to 2024. The 2025 budget will only be based on the budget that was done for 2024. A budget is never created based on carry over. It was moved by Trustee Wesley, seconded by Trustee Straw, that this Ordinance be adopted. 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 Straw, and Village Trustee Wesley NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 XVII. Call to Board and Clerk Clerk Waters said early voting ended yesterday. The final count for early voting was 2,502 voters in comparison to last year was 1,407. She thanked the staff at Village Hall and Public Works. Recycle yard signs in the Public Works lobby, 201 South Blvd., weekdays March 19-April 2 from 7:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. For more info, contact 708-358-5700. She thanked her mother who was an election judge this year. Trustee Enyia expressed his gratitude for the ability to be able to vote and to everyone who makes it possible. He acknowledged the accessibility issues of the current Village Hall building. Trustee Robinson thanked Trustees Buchanan, Wesley, and Parakkat for Village of Oak Park Page 10 Printed on 4/10/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes March 19, 2024 elevating her concerns and questions in the meetings she had to miss. Trustee Parakkat wished the community a Happy Holi, which is March 25. He thanked Dr. Walker and her team for working on Holi-related programming on April 14. President Scaman announced the Village will host a Women in Leadership Symposium at the CRC this Saturday at 10:00 A.M. She will serve on a panel with Trustees Buchanan and Robinson, Community Mental Health Board Executive Director Cheryl Potts, and D97 Superintendent Dr. Ushma Shah. She participated in a Wednesday Journal interview with River Forest Village President Cathy Adduci, Police Chief Shatonya Johnson, and Oak Park postmaster Kenya Thomas. She said as she reflects on her experience as a woman in her position as Village President, she emphasized that we are all here to work for the people of this community. She is resilient and powerful and leads with empathy and compassion. She works hard to center the best interests of our residents and her service is to the community and not about her, which helps her not internalize criticism and learn from a differing perspective. She said she needs to be careful to not say or do anything that could hurt the reputation of Oak Park. She does not accept interviews with media that have the intent of taking sound bites out of context. She works hard to listen to her duly elected colleagues and bring those voices together. She encourages Trustees to do the same and be unapologetically themselves. She has to work to create a safe space for all perspectives and she thinks she has been successful at that. She is grateful for this Board. She takes seriously her responsibility to shut down abusive, bullying behavior that is unproductive, violates our values and guidelines as a Board, and interferes with our work, even if that means adjourning a meeting, as has recently been the case. She is restorative justice trained and works to understand why bullying behavior leads to an individual changing facts to suit their own agenda. A letter to the editor has been printed that does not represent the facts consistent with the intention to repair harm. This has been an extremely challenging time for herself and her family and she will rely on her skills to work to ensure this Board can focus on our important work and shared goals. XVIII. Adjourn It was moved by Trustee Enyia, seconded by Trustee Wesley, to Adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Respectfully submitted, Deputy Clerk Hansen Village of Oak Park Page 11 Printed on 4/10/2024