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, May 14, 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 6:36 P.M. Trustee Enyia joined the meeting at 7:44 P.M. 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 III. Consideration of Motion to Adjourn to Executive Session to Discuss Litigation and Collective Bargaining It was moved by Trustee Robinson, seconded by Trustee Straw, 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 Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, and Village Trustee Straw NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 2- Village Trustee Enyia, and Village Trustee Wesley V. Reconvene to Regular Meeting in Council Chambers and Call to Order The Regular Meeting reconvened at 8:02 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 Robinson, seconded by Trustee Enyia, to approve the Agenda. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 6/5/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 14, 2024 VIII. Minutes A. MOT 24-169 A Motion to Approve Minutes from the April 30, 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 There was no non-agenda public comment. X. Proclamation B. MOT 24-163 A Motion to Approve a Proclamation Recognizing May 19-25, 2024 as National Public Works Week Trustee Enyia read the Proclamation into the record. Public Works Director Rob Sproule expressed his gratitude to the Village Board for their support and acknowledged the hard work the Public Works Department does for the community every day. 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. C. MOT 24-170 A Motion to Approve a Proclamation Recognizing Move with the Mayor In the Village of Oak Park President Scaman read the Proclamation into the record and shared a personal story in connection to mental health. She highlighted free programs by National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) West Suburban, including Family-to-Family and Living Room. NAMI is hosting a Celebration of Hope this Saturday at the Nineteenth Century Club. It was moved by Trustee Wesley, seconded by Trustee Straw, that this Motion be approved. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. XII. Village Board Committees & Trustee Liaison Commission Reports Trustee Buchanan reported that the Environment & Energy Commission is looking into the feasibility of an electric shuttle around the village. President Scaman thanked the commission for their initiative and investment. XIII. Citizen Commission Vacancies E. ID 24-280 Board & Commission Vacancy Report for May 14, 2024 There were no comments. XIV. Citizen Commission Appointments, Reappointments and Chair Appointments Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 6/5/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 14, 2024 XV. Consent Agenda Approval of the Consent Agenda It was moved by Trustee Robinson and seconded by Trustee Wesley 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 24-154 A Motion to Approve the Bills in the Amount of $3,888,041.60 from April 1, 2024, through April 26, 2024 This Motion was approved. G. MOT 24-161 A Motion to Approve an Updated Organizational Chart for the Public Works Department This Motion was approved. H. ORD 24-122 An Ordinance Granting a Second Extension of the Waiver and Suspension of the Right of Way Obstruction Permit Fee and Parking Obstruction Fee for the Planned Development at 7 Van Buren Street Through December 31, 2024 This Ordinance was adopted. I. RES 24-190 A Resolution Approving a Community Development Block Grant Subrecipient Grant Agreement with Housing Forward and Authorizing its Execution This Resolution was adopted. J. RES 24-200 A Resolution Authorizing the Use of Motor Fuel Tax Funds in the Amount of $1,207,199.00 for the Maintenance of Streets in the Village of Oak Park for Fiscal Year 2023 This Resolution was adopted. K. RES 24-201 A Resolution Authorizing the Use of Motor Fuel Tax Funds in the Amount of $1,550,204.00 for the Maintenance of Streets in the Village of Oak Park for Fiscal Year 2024 This Resolution was adopted. L. RES 24-203 A Resolution Authorizing the Submission of a Grant Application to the U.S. Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 6/5/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 14, 2024 Department of Energy (DOE) Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP) Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program in a Requested Funding Amount of $114,770 This Resolution was adopted. M. RES 24-204 A Resolution Approving an Independent Contractor Agreement with NG Plumbing, Inc. for Project 24-121, CDBG Water Service Line Replacement Program, in an Amount Not to Exceed $100,000.00 and Authorizing its Execution This Resolution was adopted. XI. Village Manager Reports D. ID 24-279 Review of the Updated Village Board Meeting Calendar for May, June, July and August 2024 Village Manager Kevin Jackson presented the Village Board calendars. He noted the Housing Center presentation scheduled for June 4 could be moved to a special meeting on June 25. He also noted President Scaman will be out of town on June 18 so the Pete's Fresh Market Item may need to be moved as well to either June 25 or July 9. Trustee Parakkat requested the August 6 meeting be moved to the last week in August. Trustee Wesley agreed later in August works better. Trustee Straw noted he is not available June 20. Manager Jackson noted the June 28 special meeting will start at 5:00 P.M. in Village Hall. XVI. Regular Agenda N. ID 24-157 A Presentation and Discussion Regarding the Establishment of a User Fee for Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Owned and Operated by the Village of Oak Park Development Services Director Emily Egan and Parking & Mobility Services Manager Sean Keane presented the Item. Staff's recommendation for EV charging stations is 25 cents per kilowatt hours. Other alternatives proposed are 10 cents or 15 cents per kilowatt hours. Trustee Buchanan said she thought the Village's electricity was free. Manager Keane said for revenue-generating facilities including parking lots, the Village is required to pay electricity. Trustee Robinson inquired about using a set rate versus the Glencoe model of a market rate. Manager Keane said Glencoe's Village Code Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 6/5/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 14, 2024 allows them to fluctuate their rate. We recommend starting with a set standard fee. Director Egan said this is new so we want the communications to be as clear as possible and the market rate may not allow us to do that. Trustee Parakkat inquired about the difference between the hourly versus kilowatt hour rates. Manager Keane said all of our stations are power sharing so staff felt that charging a per kilowatt hour fee is more equitable for the user as opposed to a time-based fee. Trustee Parakkat inquired the reasoning behind 25 cents as opposed to 50 cents. Director Egan said the number is based off peer communities. Trustee Straw said he wouldn't want to do 50 cents because we are trying to incentivize electric cars so not charging well above market rates makes sense. He inquired about Skokie's model of a slightly below market rate fee and a fee for use beyond two hours. Manager Keane said he would have to inquire about Skokie's rationale. Oak Park's infrastructure has different utilization patterns. We will have to look at how pricing impacts utilization, regardless of the fee. Director Egan said she imagines some of Skokie's rationale is to encourage turnover in key locations. Trustee Straw said he would be in favor of that. President Scaman asked if we charge for parking in these locations. Manager Keane said all of our locations except for the four ports at Village Hall require payment. Trustee Wesley said he thinks we are pricing this way too low. He said he would be open to a 30-minute to 1-hour grace period with a per hour fee between $5-$10 afterwards. With the current price of gas, he doesn't see any equity or regressive tax issues with charging EVs. Trustee Buchanan asked if charging by time would be affected by whether the charging station is a Level 2 or 3. Manager Keane said all of our stations are currently Level 2. They are also power-sharing so if one car is plugged in and another car plugs in, the first car's per kilowatt hour output lowers. Trustee Buchanan asked if the Village is receiving complaints about cars taking up charging spots for hours. Manager Keane said the Village periodically gets complaints though it is not a huge issue. Some spaces currently have time restrictions which can be enforced. Trustee Buchanan noted renters do not have garages with charging stations so it sounds inequitable that they would be required to pay for both parking and charging. She inquired how long it takes to fully charge an EV. Trustee Straw said his Chevy Bolt is 7-8 hours on a Level 2. She said we may have to revisit this frequently. Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 6/5/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 14, 2024 Trustee Wesley said charging in his garage costs $40-$57 per month. He asked if the Village has data to determine how many EVs are registered to multi-unit buildings because that might sway his decision. Director Egan said in 2018, there was a total of 830 registered EVs in Oak Park. She said she can get updated data. Trustee Parakkat said he would like to see a range of options. Trustee Straw said he would prefer to add a per hour after a certain number of hours instead of setting a time limit on spots and ticketing. Trustee Robinson said she likes Trustee Wesley's model of 30 minutes fee and then a flat fee. This is an opportunity to spread this out between residents and non-residents. Trustee Wesley asked if the Village can install EV chargers in multi-unit buildings. Manager Jackson said staff can explore that. Manager Keane added that we are looking to expand EV chargers in our municipal lots. President Scaman wondered if they might reduce their permit fee if they have an EV car, which could potentially address our equity concerns. She noted the Park District currently charges 25 cents which would be consistent, and the gas tax is decreasing. Trustee Straw asked if it would be possible to have the hourly rate only be during peak use hours, like 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. Trustee Parakkat noted EV density will increase, the cost of per kilowatt hour will decrease, and cost of EVs will decrease. He said he is okay with the current 25 cents recommendation and having a more robust conversation about pricing in a future budget cycle. Manager Jackson said he is comfortable analyzing tonight's feedback and updating staff's recommendation. Trustee Wesley said this is an opportunity to offset the decreasing gas tax and this would go into the negative parking fund. Manager Keane presented staff's recommendation for Alternative 1, to dedicate the revenue from any user fee to the Village's Sustainability Fund and transition maintenance and operational costs for the stations, as well as future expansion of stations from the Parking Fund to the Sustainability Fund. Alternative 2 is to dedicate the user fee revenue to the Parking Fund and continue attributing operation and maintenance costs also to the Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 6/5/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 14, 2024 Parking Fund. Alternative 3 is to dedicate the user fee revenue to the Sustainability Fund and continue attributing all costs to the Parking Fund. Trustee Straw said he leans toward staff's recommendation of Alternative 1. He said it might make sense to keep the hard costs in the Parking Fund and the electricity utility cost and fee revenue in the Sustainability Fund. Trustee Buchanan said she supports Alternative 3 because she has never been concerned about the deficit in the Parking Fund and the majority of our greenhouse gases comes from our buildings. She wants any possible unrestricted fees to go to the Sustainability Fund. Trustee Robinson said she supports Alternative 2 because it makes sense to help the Parking Fund recover costs that have already been incurred for this same purpose and the Sustainability Fund is not at a deficit. Trustee Wesley asked what portion of the electric rate is going to the Sustainability Fund. Deputy Village Manager Ahmad Zayyad said revenue is being generated from the electrical aggregation. We were able to enroll more participants into the program. He said he can follow up with the exact amounts. Trustee Wesley said he would support figuring out how else to tack some microscopic fee like that and broaden the base. He said he would like to see this stay with the Parking Fund and see the Sustainability Fund be more sustainable. He said he supports Alternative 2. Trustee Parakkat inquired if the Parking Fund is improving. Manager Keane said the audit for last year is being completed. FY23 ended with a surplus and FY24 budgeted a deficit of just under $100K. Trustee Parakkat inquired about the Sustainability Fund balance. Manager Zayyad said he can follow up with that number. A Board goals is to identify additional revenue sources for the Sustainability Fund to help ensure it is sustainable. Manager Jackson said we are not going to deplete the Sustainability Fund in the next nine months. Trustee Parakkat said he would like to explore if there is a way to split the revenue between the two funds. Manager Zayyad said he thinks we could achieve some type of revenue share between the two funds. Trustee Parakkat supported Alternative 2. Trustee Enyia said he was hoping to use part of the initial fee to cover the Sustainability Fund then using the additional fee to cover the Parking Fund until it is recouped to where it should be. He said he would want to know where those funds are after 3-6 months and reassess where we want that split to be. He said he is more okay moving up the price if it can help to balance out two funds. President Scaman said she would agree. Trustee Straw said when you charge at your own home, you pay the per Village of Oak Park Page 7 Printed on 6/5/2024 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes May 14, 2024 kilowatt hour cost of electricity. If the Village tries to maximize the amount of revenue we can generate from our EV charging stations, people will not use them if it is cheaper for them to charge at home. The only people who are going to use it are those who do not otherwise have access to EV charging and then that does become an equity concern. The Parking Fund has not been in a deficit because of EV charging. If we want to promote it, we should not make it more expensive than market rate. Trustee Wesley clarified that he was recommending charging to address a revenue issue, not a sustainability issue. Trustee Parakkat said he does not view it exclusively as a sustainability issue. This is a revenue opportunity that we should fully analyze and capitalize to the best extent. He agreed that we have been undercharging on parking and noted the cost of EV charging is coming out of the Parking Fund and contributing to its deficit. Increasing the rate does not mean there is no demand. There is also the convenience factor. President Scaman said she supports Alternative 2 and would like to see some profit-sharing down the road to the Sustainability Fund. XVII. Call to Board and Clerk Trustee Enyia sent his thoughts and prayers to the longtime Oak Park Herner family on the loss of their son. Trustee Wesley said he thinks the EV shuttle matters because we do not have functioning internal public transit in Oak Park, which adds to congestion and traffic safety issues. He would like us to be more aggressive and bring this to the Board sooner rather than later. Trustee Straw said his neighbors are excited about the Lindberg Park traffic study and he is excited about Vision Zero. Trustee Parakkat thanked the Public Works team for all of their service. President Scaman said C4 is invited to participate in a cohort grant to identify education and curriculum and programs around green landscape technology. She will be presenting in Toronto. XVIII. Adjourn It was moved by Trustee Straw, seconded by Trustee Robinson, to Adjourn. A voice vote was taken and the motion was approved. Meeting adjourned at 9:46 P.M., Tuesday, May 14, 2024. Respectfully submitted, Deputy Clerk Hansen Village of Oak Park Page 8 Printed on 6/5/2024