Special Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees and Community Relations Committee

Village of Lombard Village Hall 255 East Wilson Ave. Lombard, IL 60148 villageoflombard.org Minutes Thursday, February 2, 2017 6:00 PM Lorraine G. Gerhardt Community Room Special Meeting of the Village Board of Trustees and Community Relations President Keith Giagnorio, Committee Clerk Sharon Kuderna, Trustees Dan Whittington, Mike Fugiel, Reid Foltyniewicz, Bill Johnston, Robyn Pike and Bill Ware Community Relations Members Pam Bedard, Jenelle Hardtke, Sharon Vish, Ahmed Ali, Barbara Ware, Gladys Piper, Michael Ledonne and Anthony Pacilli Special Meeting of the Village Board Minutes February 2, 2017 of Trustees and Community Relations Committee I Call to Order The Special Joint Meeting of the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Lombard and the Community Relations Committee held on Thursday, February 2, 2017 in the Community Room of the Lombard Village Hall was called to order by Village President Keith Giagnorio at 6:00 pm. II Pledge of Allegiance Director of Public Works Carl Goldsmith led the Pledge of Allegiance. III Roll Call Present 9 - Keith Giagnorio, Sharon Kuderna, Dan Whittington, Mike Fugiel, Reid Foltyniewicz, Robyn Pike, Jenelle Hardtke, Ahmed Ali, and Anthony Pacilli Absent 7 - Bill Johnston, Bill Ware, Pamela Bedard, Sharon Vish, Barbara Ware, Gladys Piper, and Michael Ledonne Staff Present: Village Manager Scott Niehaus Director of Finance Tim Sexton Assistant Director of Finance Jamie Cunnningham Director of Community Development Bill Heniff Director of Public Works Carl Goldsmith Chief of Police Ray Byrne Fire Chief Richard Sander Assistant Village Manager Nicole Aranas Communications Coordinator Avis Meade Executive Coordinator Carol Bauer Michael Ledonne arrived at 6:07 p.m. Trustee Bill Johnston arrived at 6:45 p.m. IV Public Participation V Agenda 150372 National Citizens Survey The NCS Livability Report to be presented in a joint workshop between the Village Board of Trustees and Community Relations Committee. Trustee Robyn Pike, Chairperson of the Community Relations Committee, thanked the committee and Board for attending the Village of Lombard Page 1 Special Meeting of the Village Board Minutes February 2, 2017 of Trustees and Community Relations Committee workshop. She provided an overview to the National Citizens Survey undertaken by the Village of Lombard. The survey was recommended by the Community Relations Committee to assess community perceptions of the Village and government services. NCS mailed 3,000 surveys randomly to Lombard residents. NCS than reviewed the data and did benchmarking to rate the Village of Lombard compared to other neighboring communities with similar demographics. All residents were eligible to participate even if they did not receive a copy of the survey in the mail. NCS compared data and did a national benchmark comparison. An overview was provided on the various benchmarks including national benchmarks and custom benchmarks. Assistant Village Manager Nicole Aranas highlighted the following: Community livability is based on three pillars: (1) community characteristics; (2) governance; and (3) participation. The eight facets of community livability included: safety, mobility, economy, recreation and wellness, natural environment, built environment, education and enrichment and community engagement. Of the 3,000 surveys that were mailed, 1,043 surveys were returned which provided a 36% response rate. All residences were eligible to participate including multi-family housing which was over-sampled due to the traditionally low response rate. Lombard versus the national benchmarks: results from 112 aspects of livability; 9 aspects received higher ratings; 79 aspects rated as "similar" to national benchmarks; and 3 aspects received lower ratings. Above average national benchmarks - Lombard is higher than national and additional benchmark comparison data in: paths and riding trails, travel by bicycle, used public transportation, affordable quality housing, housing options, shopping opportunities, health care and child care/preschool. Custom benchmark comparisons: the benchmark data includes jurisdictions in the North Central U.S. Region with populations of 20,000-60,000; custom benchmarks also included several Illinois/nearby municipalities: Orland Park, Elmhurst, St. Charles, Glenview, Highland Park, Gurnee, Oak Park, Vernon Hills, Village of Roselle, Libertyville, Algonquin and Crystal Lake. Lombard vs. custom benchmarks: results from 112 aspects of livability; higher (1) availability of paths/riding trails, and (2) use of public transportation instead of driving. Lower (1) not experiencing housing cost stress; and (2) reading or watching local news; The workshop was to focus on the key findings of the survey. Key finding 1 - Lombard residents enjoy a positive quality of life and feel Lombard is an excellent place to live. Key finding 2 - safety and economy considered important and rated high. Village of Lombard Page 2 Special Meeting of the Village Board Minutes February 2, 2017 of Trustees and Community Relations Committee Key finding 3 - residents are pleased with ease of travel. Special Topics included 7 customized special-interest questions: (1) how much of a source do you consider each of the following to be for obtaining information about the Village of Lombard government and its activities, events and services: Village Pride Newsletter, Word of mouth, Village website, the Lombardian, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Iinstagram, etc.), Village weekly e-mail newsletter, the Daily Herald, local cable channel and Suburban Life newspaper. (2) what is your top news source for Village news: Village Pride Newsletter, Village website, Lombardian, word of mouth, Village social media accounts, Village e-mail newsletter, Daily Herald newspaper, Village TV station and Suburban Life newspaper. (3) perception of property tax: about 40% of residents thought the Village received higher than 6-8% of resident property taxes. (4) quality of services (Lombard vs. the State): Lombard ranked very high in percentages for quality of services compared to the State. (5) tax approval rating: 88% of residents felt the services provided by the Village for the taxes paid were either excellent, good or fair. (6) approachability of the Village: 58% of residents felt very likely to approach the Village, while 30% felt somewhat likely. (7) perception of Lombard Police Officers' attitudes and behavior: 87% of resident felt the professional conduct of the Lombard Police Officers was excellent or good; 85% felt the attitude or preception of attitude of the Lombard Police Officers was excellent to good; 84% of the residents felt the cultural sensitivity of Lombard Police officers was excellent to good. The survey conclusions resulted in: Lombard residents enjoy a high quality of life; safety and economy are highly rated and important to residents; Lombard's National Citizen Survey results show that Lombard performs similarly to national and regional benchmarks in the majority of topics. What is next: data shared as part of the State of the Village; survey data is posted publicly on the Village website; presentations of select data shared with Village Committees; share data with other agencies including other government entities, civic groups (Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, LTC) and real estate professionals. How will the data be used: (1) to support Village initiatives such as economic development, public safety, bike/ped plan, and downtown initiatives; (2) communications efforts - Pride article encouraging visits to the website, social media initial blast, ongoing use of data on social media, monthly department spotlights for next four to six months, and weekly e-news did You Know?. National Citizen Survey Future Considerations: consider repeating the survey in future years; areas of focus as a result of this survey, new areas of focus for future surveys, and Community Relations Committee further review of communications initiatives and oversee Village of Lombard Page 3 Special Meeting of the Village Board Minutes February 2, 2017 of Trustees and Community Relations Committee future initiatives. Overall comments: no huge red flags came out of the survey; residents will be able to view results; results will be used for the State of the Village Address; overall Lombard received very positive results; survey cost was $15,000 which included sending out 3,000 surveys versus 1,500 and including custom questions related to the Police Accreditation thus saving the Village money on having to do an additional CALEA survey; Hotel/Motel funds were used to pay for the survey; staff and Board pleased with results; information getting to employees that they are doing a great job; committee and staff thanked for their hard work. VI Adjournment A motion was made by Trustee Dan Whittington, seconded by Trustee Reid Foltyniewicz, that the Special Meeting of the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Lombard and the Community Relations Committee held on Thursday, February 2, 2017 in the Community Room of the Lombard Village Hall be adjourned at 6:51 p.m. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 5- Dan Whittington, Mike Fugiel, Reid Foltyniewicz, Bill Johnston, and Robyn Pike Absent: 1- Bill Ware Village of Lombard Page 4