Finance Committee

123 Madison Street Village of Oak Park Oak Park, Illinois 60302 www.oak-park.us Meeting Minutes Finance Committee Monday, September 27, 2021 6:30 PM Remote 1. Call To Order Village President Scaman called the meeting to order at 6:34 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 Present: Village Trustees Enyia, Parakkat, and Taglia; Village President Scaman Absent: None 3. Public Comment There were no Public Comments. 4. Approval of Minutes A. ID 21-298 Minutes from the September 13, 2021 Meeting of the Finance Committee It was moved by Village Trustee Parakkat, seconded by Village Trustee Enyia, 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 B. ID 21-273 Review of the Recommended Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for the Years 2022-2026 for Certain Funds Village President Scaman gave an overview of the role of the Finance Committee and their process. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 10/14/2021 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes September 27, 2021 Interim Village Manager Lisa Shelley introduced the Item. She summarized this is the second Finance Committee meeting, with the third meeting being the full board scheduled for Thursday September 30. Tonight is a review of the water, parking, sustainability and CDBG funds which all have their own funding source. Village Trustee Parakkat requested to streamline the process by presenting the projects by pricing categories, and requested in the future to move to a model which includes the size and scale of each project. Village Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Steve Drazner began the discussion starting from page 66 of the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) document. Mindy Agnew, the Sustainability Coordinator gave an overview on the sustainability requests for the Solar Projects, indicating the amendments in the amount of $495,000 were mainly for the solar rebate program. John Wielebnicki, Director of Public Works, then gave an overview of the Slow Streets Pilot Program, Residential Lighting, the Bicycle Boulevard Improvements, the Park District of Oak Park Net Zero Grant Project, and resurfacing of various streets and parking lots. Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on the ad hoc group's sustainability projects approved by the Board are not showing on the CIP - is this because they are not capital improvements? Mindy Agnew responded in the affirmative. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification on the run rate for single-use bag fee and aggregation revenue collected each month. CFO Drazner responded the single use bag fee is approximately $14-15,000 a month and the aggregation fee is approximately $33,000 a month. Village Trustee Robinson asked if an application is required for the CDBG fund. Director Wielebnicki responded they are a part of the allocation the village receives as a community. Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on the solar programs. Mindy Agnew responded the $495,000 represents the budget adjustment of $225,000 additional funding for solar rebates for residents, and the $270,000 represents funds the previous Board committed for community solar projects, which was a carry over from 2020. Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 10/14/2021 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes September 27, 2021 VillageTrustee Buchanan asked if it is common to budget money towards something that is not tied to a specific plan or project. Interim Village Manager Shelley responded it can be done if it was directed specifically by the previous Board from a prior study session - it may transfer over. VillageTrustee Buchanan favors not budgeting these items until there is a plan and leave the Sustainability Fund untouched until the Board approves use of the funds. CFO Drazner added these funds can be seen as a place holder, setting aside the appropriation of the funds, with the Board still needing to approve anything over $25,000. It is at the Board's discretion on how to budget this. Village Trustee Taglia added it would be easier to leave it in the CIP budget; the budget amendment process can take some time, and if time becomes an issue (in the approval of allocating a budget amendment) it is simpler to leave the line item in the long run. Village President Scaman agreed with Trustee Buchanan that it should be removed until there is a specific plan for the funds. Trustee Robinson agrees that it is not clear that these funds are a placeholder; it appears as a direct allocation and not just a placeholder. Village President Scaman asked that Interim Village Manager Shelley provide more information for Thursday’s meeting on the items on page 68. Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on Page 70 as to why the aggregation revenues lower. CFO Drazner said the $100,000 is not supposed to reflect the full amount, only to balance it out to net zero. Trustee Buchanan disagrees with using the Sustainability Fund for street resurfacing projects on Page 74, preferring to use sustainable funds in specific ways that show proven reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Village Trustees Enyia, Taglia and Parakkat agreed. Village Trustee Buchanan added she sent an advocacy email to the Board about the Greenways project. Village Trustee Buchanan requested that a pilot of protected bikeways be considered in support of having a safe way to bicycle around the village. Public Works Director Wielebnicki and Village Engineer Bill McKenna then provided a brief overview of each of the projects under the water and sewer fund. Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 10/14/2021 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes September 27, 2021 Interim Village Manager added the water capital fund is one of the areas that will see the most significant investment in the Board goals which includes the five year planning commitment for these programs. Village Trustee Taglia spoke of his appreciation of investing in infrastructure and great technology like smart water meters and data loggers which gives home owners the ability to identify if a leak has occurred to help mitigate their water loss. He would be in support of moving to a monthly water billing schedule, giving the home owner another way to closely monitor their usage and identify any leak or water issues earlier. CFO Drazner gave a high level overview of the Parking Fund. Tammie Grossman, Director of Development Customer Services, introduced the Parking Fund discussion. Director Grossman stated the parking fund accumulated a surplus in anticipation of having to pay debt that was issued for the parking garages at Emerson and Lake/Forest, Holley Court, and Avenue Garage. Part of the strategic plan was to closely monitor expenses and pay off this debt with the surplus. There has not been a parking rate increase in some time. Sean Keane, Parking Services Manager, then gave an overview of the parking fund projects, including electrical vehicle charging stations, garage maintenance and improvements, lot resurfacing and maintenance, and on-street pay stations. Village Trustee Parakkat asked if any results came out of the parking pilot program that would have any implications to the CIP. Manager Keane responded that the program, which has been ongoing since 2019, is still in place, but there are no recommendations at this time due to the impact on parking from Covid. Currently, staff has issued a community survey - based on the results of the survey, the Transportation Commission and staff will bring forward recommendations for expanding the pilot program to the Board. Village Trustee Parakkat asked if the parking garages could be privatized. Director Grossman responded the village did send out an RFP to privatize the three garages. Unfortunately, due to the amount of debt to cover the cost of building the structures, there is still debt associated with the structures. Until we can pay down the debt on the structures it is not financially feasible for a private entity to purchase the garages and operate them. Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 10/14/2021 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes September 27, 2021 Village Trustee Robinson requested clarification on why the high school's garage falls under the village's budget and not the high school's budget. Director Grossman responded the village owns the structure. It was part of a downtown TIF conversation. The village agreed to build the garage for the high school and maintain it. There is a long-term agreement with the high school that can be provided to the Board. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification on the request for a new generator for the Holley Court Garage. Manager Keane responded the generators power the gating system and one of the elevators. The request would add the second elevator to a generator as well as add an alerting system for when the power goes down. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification if there has been any additional discussion on the lighting or interior improvements for Holley Court Garage. Manager Keane responded at this time there are no plans, other than improving the overall appearance and safety. Director Grossman added it is part of the study staff is recommending. Holley Court had some improvements done in 2019 (including lighting); the study should indicate what additional repairs or enhancements are needed to be made to the garages. Village Trustee Taglia requested clarification on how staff determines the vehicle replacement schedule. Director Wielebnicki responded it is based on when the cost for maintaining the vehicle goes up versus the value for the vehicle as it depreciates. There is a 16 point scale that helps rank the vehicle including the overall condition, age, mileage and maintenance costs. Once a vehicle hits 11 or more points, it is recommended to replace the vehicle. Village Trustee Buchanan commented on the budget deficit. As parking in downtown Oak Park is relatively cheap, she could support an increase in parking fees. Village President Scaman supported Trustee Buchanan's comment. Director Wielebnicki gave an update on engineering staffing at Public Works; full staffing is important to the implementation of the capital improvement projects being planned. Interim Village Manager Shelley gave an overview of the funding options for the main CIP (the main CIP items are those that were discussed at the previous meeting, not the items reviewed at this meeting). Funding options include approximately $4.5 million in dedicated revenue, Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 10/14/2021 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes September 27, 2021 $4.7 in grants, and $3.9 in bonds. Staff is recommending allocating $4 million from the American Rescue Plan (ARPA) funds for the remaining lost revenue. CFO Drazner then gave a review of the funding options, including an estimated financing schedule should the Board decided to finance the $4 million rather than use ARPA funds, and the debt payment schedule. Village Trustee Parakkat requested clarification on the water and sewer fund balancing and if there would be any allocation of ARPA funds for this. CFO Drazner responded the budget presented did not include any ARPA funding. There are budgeting deficits for the current year and the next year. There are enough in the reserves to cover the deficits and leave a few million dollars in the reserves. This fund works in that you want to build up the fund knowing you will be drawing it down in futures years to fund the expensive capital projects. Village Trustee Taglia commented regarding the $4 million in ARPA funds; we are playing catch up this year and it is important to invest strategically and also with frequency in our infrastructure. The Board should consider a transfer from the general fund if we can get this work done using federal funds without burdening the residents with additional taxes . Interim Village Manager Shelley then reviewed next steps in the process. 6. Adjournment It was moved by Village Trustee Taglia, seconded by Village Trustee Enyia to adjourn. The Motion was approved. The meeting adjourned at 8:59 P.M., Monday, September 27, 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 Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 10/14/2021