123 Madison Street  
Oak Park, Illinois 60302  
www.oak-park.us  
Village of Oak Park  
Meeting Minutes  
Finance Committee  
Monday, September 12, 2022  
6:30 PM  
Remote  
1. Call To Order  
Village President Scaman called the meeting to order at 6:33 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.  
2. Roll Call  
Trustee Enyia arrived at 6:34 P.M.  
Present: Village Trustees Enyia, Parakkat, and Taglia; Village President Scaman  
Absent: None  
3. Public Comment  
There were no Public Comments.  
4. Approval of Minutes  
ID 22-287  
A.  
Minutes from the October 25, 2021 Meeting of the Finance Committee  
It was moved by Village Trustee Parakkat, seconded by Village Trustee Taglia, to  
approve the Minutes. The motion was approved. The roll call on the vote was as  
follows:  
AYES: 4 - Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee  
Parakkat, and Village Trustee Taglia  
NAYS: 0  
ABSENT: 0  
5. New Business  
ID 22-137  
B.  
Review of the Recommended Five Year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)  
2023-2027 for the Parking Fund (capital only), Water and Sewer Fund  
(capital only), Fleet Replacement Fund, Equipment Replacement Fund,  
Sustainability Fund (capital only), and Madison Street TIF Fund  
Village Manager Kevin Jackson introduced the Item.  
Chief Financial Officer Steve Drazner gave an overview of the Capital  
Improvement Project (CIP) Ranking.  
Tammie Grossman, Director of Development Customer Services, and  
Sean Keane, Parking and Mobility Manager, then gave an overview of the  
capital needs for the village's parking structures, which is based on a study  
the village did to put together a 5-year capital program for the garages as  
they continue to need maintenance.  
CFO Drazner added the total amount for the parking projects for next year  
total around $2.8 Million; fortunately because of the ARPA Fund loss  
revenue transfers there is enough to fund these projects.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on why the parking vehicle  
replacement and maintenance items are not covered under the fleet  
maintenance and replacement fund.  
CFO Drazner responded the enterprise funds are supposed to be run  
more or less like a business, so for capital projects they are budgeted  
within the enterprise fund and not within one of the other CIP funds.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification if the estimates for maintenance  
factor in any inflationary or supply chain issues.  
Manager Keane responded the structural engineer consultant did the 2017  
study and staff found their budget estimates were on target in terms of that  
5-year plan. Staff feels confident in their numbers.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on how the village is planning for  
the growth of electric vehicle charging stations.  
Director Grossman responded the village has followed an every-other year  
of investing in stations, and staff is not proposing anything for 2023. Staff is  
recommending to use 2023 as a year to see where we are at and will be  
working with the Sustainability Coordinator for recommendations in 2024  
as far as how many vehicle charging stations are needed.  
Trustee Taglia requested additional details for what is covered for the $1.4  
Million parking structure maintenance program.  
Director Grossman will provide the Board with a memo outlining the details  
of the various repairs for the 3 garages over the five-year lifespan.  
Trustee Taglia requested clarification on if $300,000 to demolish the two  
bridges is worthwhile if the bridges are structurally sound.  
Director Grossman responded previous attempts at repairing them have  
not resolved the water issue. Staff needs more time looking at it with the  
consultant.  
Trustee Taglia requested clarification on the garage count sign  
improvements.  
Director Grossman responded the budget item was for all the garage  
signs, not just the count signs. There have been some improvements made  
to the signs, but there are continual problems with them.  
Trustee Taglia requested more information on the snow melt trailer idea.  
Manager Keane will get more details to the Board.  
Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on what the proposed increase to  
charging stations is for the Avenue Garage.  
Manager Keane responded there will be an increase from two to four  
stations, which will be an increase from four to eight ports.  
Trustee Buchanan requested clarification to the reference of staff looking at  
the feasibility and opportunity in transitioning to EV's - she would prefer that  
being an absolute.  
Director Grossman responded that question would be best directed to  
Director Sproule as part of the fleet conversation.  
Trustee Buchanan commented they hope that an increase to the parking  
meter fees is being considered.  
Director Grossman responded in the affirmative.  
Trustee Robinson requested to add some explanation as to where the  
excess melted snow would be diverted to, and consideration to keep it  
away from residential areas that already have existing flooding issues.  
CFO Drazner then introduced the Water & Sewer Fund.  
Rob Sproule, Public Works Director, and Bill McKenna, Village Engineer,  
then gave an overview of the Water and Sewer capital projects.  
Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on the state of the village's water  
usage.  
Director Sproule responded he misspoke when he indicated an increase in  
usage; reports are showing a decrease with an importation of 2% less than  
last year. Most of the changes that are driving the water main replacement  
are associated with the age of the infrastructure and the need to replace it.  
Village Engineer McKenna added ensuring adequate fire flows for  
firefighting, looking at the conditions of the pipes, or water quality - these  
are what is driving the improvements in the system.  
Trustee Buchanan requested clarification for the request for permanent  
generators for the fire station.  
Director Sproule responded the impact of climate change is the potential  
severity of storm events when they occur. While the village can operate with  
two of the three stations, it is not ideal - the intent was to look at providing  
permanent power at those locations in order to provide the necessary  
power to run all the systems in case of an emergency.  
Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on the $550,000 for the leak  
detection system and if the village would be renting the system.  
Director Sproule responded when they came to the Board last year, staff  
proposed moving forward with the purchase of half of the system, following  
up with the other half in 2023. After some initial conversations, they were  
not comfortable with moving forward with that significant of an expense  
based on the information they had about the value of the devices at that  
time. Staff is proposing a six-month pilot program where they rent the  
devices for evaluation. If it shows to be of value then staff would move  
forward with the purchase in a future year.  
Trustee Buchanan requested clarification if the $550,00 was in case the  
pilot goes well and they want to purchase the devices.  
Director Sproule responded in the affirmative.  
Trustee Taglia requested clarification on how the advanced metering item  
would reduce non-revenue water loss for the village.  
Director Sproule responded the benefit is it would allow the village to  
measure total usage on a daily basis, and measure it against the master  
meters to give an idea if there are losses in the system. Another benefit is  
providing the residents with information associated with their water usage  
and could assist them in detecting any potential leaks, as well as the  
potential to go to a monthly billing system if the village would like to go in  
that direction.  
Trustee Taglia requested clarification on the expected rollout of the meters.  
Director Sproule responded they have one on order that should arrive any  
day and is proposed to be placed on top of the Vantage building. There is  
a six month delay on the equipment, so staff will go forward with ordering  
the equipment which should arrive in April.  
Trustee Taglia commented he went to a water loss conference a few years  
ago where Evanston reported great success with data loggers. He  
questioned why staff considers them experimental.  
Director Sproule responded they have seen just as many communities  
have great success with the data loggers as those that haven't. Staff felt an  
appropriate approach would be to evaluate the system for six months  
before moving forward with such a large purchase, especially given the fact  
that they would be able to purchase the system at a discount should it prove  
successful.  
Trustee Robinson requested clarification regarding the location of the  
heated sidewalks in downtown Oak Park.  
Village Engineer McKenna responded the heated sidewalk system is North  
Boulevard to Lake Street, then Westgate from Marion to the cul-de-sac.  
The system does not exist anywhere else - there have been failures of a  
couple of zones and the repair costs are prohibitive.  
Trustee Robinson commented some of the description for the scope was  
cut off.  
Village Engineer McKenna responded it should read to eliminate some of  
the blue stone at a section near the Lake Street corner. They are trying to  
bring that project to a lower-cost level, and focus on traditional materials  
that would be more inline with the core infrastructure improvement projects.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on the drawing down of the  
reserves and why it is an optimal strategy.  
CFO Drazner responded it centers around the timing of the larger capital  
projects. A few projects were deferred a couple of years to try to save on  
our cash until the next water rate study, in an effort to build up the reserves.  
Village Engineer McKenna added when the water and sewer rates were  
set a number of years ago, that was predicated on the planned capital  
improvement projects, the large expense driving some of those rates was  
the future sewer relief project on Lombard Avenue that was originally  
intended to be constructed around a 2024 time frame. Construction costs  
have greatly outpaced what were estimated at the time; staff will be looking  
at the water and sewer rates again in 2024 when programming out the  
capital projects, and are planning on deferring some of the projects to stay  
with a solvent fund balance in the water and sewer fund.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification if there are any significant  
changes to assumptions made last year when discussing the CIP for the  
water and sewer fund.  
Village Engineer McKenna responded there were no large changes  
planned for 2023; the cost of doing the projects has gone up as compared  
to where they were last year, but the scope has stayed substantially the  
same.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on the implications of the capital  
cost going up over the next couple of years and where the funding is for the  
increase.  
Village Engineer McKenna responded the cost of construction has  
increased for the same level of improvements, which is what is driving the  
dollar amount. They anticipate some of the work being deferred to maintain  
a better fund balance. As far as funding sources, there are opportunities for  
replacing water mains and lead water services.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on what those funding sources  
are.  
Village Engineer McKenna responded once they get a good handle on the  
number of lead services within the system, that will determine the timeline  
the village has for the state laws for replacing those services. That will then  
help define what future expense may be, which will help identify funding  
sources as certain funding sources have requirements associated with  
them.  
Director Sproule added the lead line replacement is not set to be  
mandated by the state until 2027. The village is currently trying to establish  
their inventory, and is meeting with an engineering consultant who will help  
the village apply for grants as they become available.  
CFO Drazner then introduced the Fleet Replacement Fund.  
Director Sproule then presented on the Fleet Replacement, with Fire Chief  
Kobyleski and Interim Police Chief Shatonya Johnson speaking to their  
respective department's vehicle replacement requests.  
Trustee Taglia requested clarification on if it would be possible to stagger  
the purchase of the two fire pump vehicles since they are both costly.  
Chief Kobyleski responded they should be able to stagger them but the  
delivery times are what is setting the schedule off.  
CFO Drazner then introduced the Equipment Replacement Fund.  
Erik Jacobsen, Interim Director of Communications, then gave an overview  
of the Communications Department's equipment replacement requests.  
Fire Chief Kobyleski then gave an overview of the Fire Department's  
equipment replacement request.  
Alvin Nepomuceno, Director of Information Technology, then gave an  
overview of the network infrastructure equipment replacement requests.  
Interim Police Chief Johnson then gave an overview of the Police  
Department's mobile technology equipment replacement requests.  
Trustee Taglia requested clarification if Interim Chief Johnson had any  
concerns regarding pushing the record management system (RMS)  
request out to 2024.  
Interim Chief Johnson responded it is a concern, but the department also  
needs to work with WestCom to replace the CAD system as well. It is a  
long process but they want to ensure they do it right and get the right  
technology to meet the needs of the department.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on the low number for the RMS  
system, based on BerryDunn's assessment.  
Interim Chief Johnson responded the number does not include the CAD  
system. Combined with the RMS system they are estimating approximately  
$2 Million.  
Director Sproule then gave an overview of the Customer Service Request  
Management System.  
Deputy Village Manager Lisa Shelley then gave an overview of the Lead  
Paint XRF Equipment request.  
Trustee Buchanan requested clarification if the cost for the XRF equipment  
was for one piece or more.  
Deputy Village Manager Shelley responded she was not sure, but staff  
would go through the bid process to ensure they are getting the lowest  
possible price.  
The meeting went into recess at 9:00 P.M.  
The meeting returned to session at 9:06 P.M.  
CFO Drazner then introduced the Sustainability Fund requests.  
Deputy Village Manager Ahmad Zayyad and Sustainability Coordinator  
Marcella Bondie Keenan then gave an overview of the Sustainability Fund  
requests.  
Trustee Taglia expressed his concern that the aggregation fund, which had  
previously contributed a lot of funds for sustainability, has pretty much dried  
up and the Board needs to focus on how these projects will be funded in  
the future.  
Trustee Robinson requested clarification if what was presented for the  
Sustainability Fund this evening was for the entirety of the budget, or just  
the capital projects.  
CFO Drazner responded what was presented tonight was strictly the  
capital portion of the budget.  
Trustee Robinson requested clarification why there are additional feasibility  
studies being proposed - were these not covered under the scope of work  
with GRAEF?  
Marcella Bondie Keenan responded GRAEF's work was primarily to get a  
baseline of the greenhouse gas inventory, to determine the scenarios for  
the types of projects needed to reduce the emissions and rolling in the  
community engagement priorities. These additional feasibility studies are  
site specific and more engineering-based.  
Trustee Robinson requested clarification what the feasibility study grant  
money would cover.  
Marcella Bondie Keenan responded the District Energy Grant would cover  
the study phase and the construction phase. They are still needing to  
identify a funding source for the Climate Resiliency Hub but there may be  
hazard mitigation opportunities for that.  
Trustee Robinson requested clarification if grant money is received, are we  
able to funnel any unspent allocated money back into the fund itself to  
spend on other sustainability projects.  
Marcella Bondie Keenan responded in the affirmative.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on how much of our energy needs  
will be satisfied by geothermal.  
Marcella Bondie Keenan responded they need to identify where there is  
space or what buildings they can use before they can give an answer to  
that.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on where the $1.6 Million is  
coming from.  
Marcella Bondie Keenan responded that was pulled from the grant itself.  
They are offering up to $10 Million in grant money but it requires a 10%  
cost share for the deployment. The $1.6 Million is with the cost share,  
assuming we receive the full grant amount.  
Deputy Village Manager Ahmad Zayyad added they will be coming back to  
the Board on September 19th with more details on the particular grants that  
they are referring to.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification regarding the reasoning to have a  
micro-grid.  
Marcella Bondie Keenan responded similar to the emergency generator  
discussions earlier, this would be serving a number of community members  
or emergency responders in the event the power gets knocked out. It is  
essentially a hazard planning response to things that could potentially  
happen in the future. It is listed as Priority B in the 2024 budget; the plan is  
to work with the Health Department in 2023 to identify grants and the scope  
of the project, and then they will have a better idea on how to go forward for  
the 2024 budget.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on why the Sustainability Incubator  
is not listed here.  
Marcella Bondie Keenan responded that is in DCS's operations budget.  
Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on if light pollution was a high  
priority.  
Marcella Bondie Keenan responded it can be deferred depending on what  
approach the Board wants to take.  
Trustee Buchanan commented they would like to see the budget three  
times the size that it is, including an increase in the department's staff and  
the use of a marketing firm to advertise the housing retrofit program. They  
agree with Trustee Taglia with the need to talk about revenue to sustain this  
fund, and suggested an increase in vehicle sticker fees for gas powered  
vehicles.  
Village Engineer McKenna then gave an overview of the Madison Street  
TIF.  
Trustee Taglia clarified he would like more information on the economic  
case of purchasing the melt trailer so he can see the overall picture of the  
request.  
Village Manager Jackson thanked staff for not only following through on the  
routine process as it relates to capital improvements, but also working to  
ensure that we are making a good faith effort to integrate sustainability  
throughout the CIP process. Staff will be coming back to the Board in a few  
weeks to talk about the main capital building improvements as well as  
CDBG funding.  
6. Adjournment  
It was moved by Village Trustee Taglia, seconded by Village Trustee Parakkat, to  
adjourn. The Motion was approved. The meeting adjourned at 9:43 P.M.,  
Monday, September 12, 2021.  
Respectfully Submitted,  
Deputy Clerk DeViller  
AYES: 4 - Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee  
Parakkat, and Village Trustee Taglia  
NAYS: 0  
ABSENT: 0