123 Madison Street  
Oak Park, Illinois 60302  
www.oak-park.us  
Village of Oak Park  
Meeting Minutes  
President and Board of Trustees  
Monday, June 13, 2022  
7:00 PM  
Remote  
I. Call to Order  
Village President Scaman called the meeting to order at 7:29 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  
7 -  
Present:  
Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village  
Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village  
Trustee Walker-Peddakotla  
0
Absent:  
III. Agenda Approval  
It was moved by Village Trustee Parakkat, seconded by Village Trustee  
Buchanan, to approve the Agenda. The motion was approved. The roll call on  
the vote was as follows:  
7 -  
AYES:  
Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village  
Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village  
Trustee Walker-Peddakotla  
0
0
NAYS:  
ABSENT:  
IV. Non-Agenda Public Comment  
There were no Non-Agenda Public Comments.  
V. Regular Agenda  
ID 22-170  
A.  
Presentation and Discussion of the Environment and Energy Commission’s  
Recommendation to Amend the Village Code Regarding Gasoline Powered  
Leaf Blowers  
The following persons spoke their Public Comment aloud:  
Matthew Gnabasik : Matthew Gnabasik spoke their public comment in  
support of a gas powered leaf blower ban. He has started an online petition  
asking the Trustees of Oak Park and River Forest to phase out gas  
powered blowers in favor of electric blowers. They also do not believe a  
feasibility study is needed as there is already a tremendous amount of data  
publicly available to draw from.  
Scott McAdam : Scott McAdam, President of McAdam Landscaping,  
spoke their public comment regarding the impact of mandating the end of  
gas powered landscaping equipment. They support a reduction of  
emissions but do not believe there are products currently available that  
could handle the capacity that they need to do their landscaping jobs at this  
time - the technology needs to be there in order for success to be  
achieved.  
Pamela Tate: Pamela Tate spoke their public comment in support of a  
gas powered leaf blower ban, and believes that the blowers concentrate  
their pollutants in a neighborhood and are extremely toxic for the people  
that use them and everyone around them. It is time to take action.  
Clerk Waters read the following public comments aloud:  
Barb Jenig: Barb Jenig submitted their public comment in support of a  
gas powered leaf blower ban. They feel gas leaf blowers are pollution  
bombs and they are dirty and fuel inefficient. Climate change is one of the  
most pressing social issues in the world at the moment, and getting rid of  
these gas bombs is a small step in the direction of cleaner air.  
Mike Cosgrove: Mike Cosgrove submitted their public comment in  
support of a gas powered leaf blower ban, for the sake of the climate  
impacts on our children, for the sake of workers’ and residents’ health, and  
for the sake of being able to hear the sounds of nature that make Oak Park  
such a wonderful place to live.  
Chris Pinc: Chris Pinc submitted their public comment in support of a gas  
powered leaf blower ban. They feel the evidence to support a gas-powered  
leaf blower ban is clear: they are loud, a health hazard to the people who  
use them and surprisingly large source of greenhouse gas emissions. We  
don’t need a feasibility study. We just need to move straight to putting a  
ban in place!  
Village Manager Kevin Jackson introduced the Item.  
Ahmad Zayyad, Deputy Village Manager, gave an overview of the Item. He  
then introduced Laura Derks, Chair of the Environment and Energy  
Commission (EEC), and Marcella Bondie Keenan, Sustainability  
Coordinator, who then gave a presentation and recommendations from the  
EEC and staff.  
Village Manager Jackson commented a feasibility study is something that  
would be done with any new policy or new program to analyze how it would  
impact the village financially and the impact to staff, how it would impact the  
community, and how it would impact the stakeholders. It would help inform  
the policy and make sure we are bringing something that can work and be  
implemented successfully.  
Village President Scaman requested clarification on the timeline if the  
Board is approving a feasibility study.  
Village Manager Jackson the goal would be to complete the analysis and  
prepare recommendations for the Board to review during the budget  
process, with implementation next season.  
John Wielebnicki, Director of Public Works, then gave an overview of the  
current village ordinance regarding leaf blowers.  
Village Trustee Taglia expressed concern on how to communicate to the  
landscaping companies any new policy or direction when the village does  
not know who they are or how to contact them.  
Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification when would an Ordinance  
come to the Board for consideration.  
Village Manager Jackson responded the goal would be to bring the  
Ordinance to the Board prior to the adoption of the budget in November,  
with implementation next spring.  
Village Trustee Parakkat would like to see some quantifiable data as it  
relates to the issue, a stakeholder impact analysis as to how this would  
impact all the stakeholders, and a better plan for how this policy would be  
enforced.  
Village Trustee Robinson expressed concern over the social justice  
implications of a ban to the smaller minority owned landscaping  
companies. Regarding enforcement, there should be some accountability  
to homeowners who are agreeing to live according to the village ordinance  
and are the ones benefiting from the hired service.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla commented this leaf blower issue has  
been talked about for a long time. Now is the time for actual  
implementation They expressed their support of an ordinance that  
transitions out gas powered blowers in a year or two, as well as providing  
financial assistance to those businesses that need help to make the  
transition to electric equipment.  
Village Trustee Buchanan agreed this is not a time for incremental change.  
They expressed several concerns and urged the Board to pass an  
Ordinance now to take effect next spring, and use the time in between to  
work out all the details to ensure this program is implemented successfully.  
Village Trustee Parakkat reiterated the need for additional analysis, not to  
stall the process, but to make sure the Board is moving the village in the  
right direction and to understand its full impact.  
Village President Scaman they are not hearing a lot of disagreement, and  
staff is looking for direction from the Board to move this forward  
successfully.  
Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla commented they are hearing a  
dichotomy of urgency between the Trustees. They feel there is plenty data  
and analysis available to draw from to enact good policy. She supports  
staff focusing on how to implement this successfully rather than working on  
further analysis and studies.  
Village Trustee Parakkat reiterated he still would like more analysis as to  
the impact this will have financially and to all stakeholders, which he is not  
seeing right now.  
Village Trustee Enyia thanked the EEC for their hard work on this issue. He  
is hearing that everyone is trying to bring down emissions and figure out the  
best way to do that - and this seems like a good way to do it. He  
questioned how the village could continue to ensure the safety of the  
workers in the meantime until any actual policy is enacted. He requested  
clarification on if a feasibility study is always part of the policy making  
process.  
Village Manager Jackson responded it is just a fundamental policy analysis  
with any new initiative or program that needs to occur in order to protect the  
Board's interest in its previous investments and investments that are being  
contemplated with the new initiative. In most instances when you develop a  
policy, you want the policy to be responsive to all the questions, equity  
included, and you want it to actually respect what our position is from a  
system, financial, and staffing standpoint.  
Village Trustee Buchanan reminded the community they are talking about  
removing leaves from our yards and to keep that in mind when discussing  
the complexity or stakeholder or financial effects of the issue.  
Village President Scaman advised staff to move forward with bringing an  
Ordinance to the Board for consideration.  
VI. Adjourn  
It was moved by Village Trustee Robinson, seconded by Village Trustee  
Parakkat, to Adjourn. The motion was approved. The Meeting adjourned at 8:59  
P.M., Monday, June 13, 2022.  
Respectfully Submitted,  
Deputy Clerk DeViller  
7 -  
AYES:  
Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village  
Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village  
Trustee Walker-Peddakotla  
0
0
NAYS:  
ABSENT: