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 Monday, February 28, 2022 7:00 PM Remote I. Call to Order Village President Scaman called the meeting to order at 7:02 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 Present: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla Absent: 0 III. Agenda Approval It was moved by Village Trustee Robinson, seconded by Village Trustee Buchanan, to approve the 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 Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 IV. Non-Agenda Public Comment President Scaman asked for a moment of silence in solidarity for our friends and neighbors of Ukraine. Village Clerk Christina Waters then read the following Non-Agenda Public Comments aloud: Camile Lindsay Kumi: Camile Lindsay Kumi submitted their public comment expressing their opposition to the use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs), and hopes the board reviews this issue through a racial equity lens. Village of Oak Park Page 1 Printed on 3/8/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes February 28, 2022 Michael Pajonk: Michael Pajonk submitted their public comment expressing their concern at the rise in crime in southwest Oak Park and urged the Board to implement license plate readers and to fully staff the police department to help curb the crime. April Johnson: April Johnson submitted their public comment expressing their concern in the uptick in crime and reckless driving in southwest Oak Park and supports measures to both curb crime and limit/ slow traffic. V. Regular Agenda A. ID 22-71 Public Health Update by Dr. Theresa Chapple-McGruder, Public Health Director Interim Village Manager Lisa Shelley introduced the Item. She then introduced Dr. Chapple-McGrudder to give her updates. Village Clerk Waters then read the following public comments aloud: Ashley Goulden-Kiefer: Ashley Goulden-Kiefer submitted their public comment expressing their gratitude for the critical contributions of Dr. Chapple-McGrudder during this phase of the COVID pandemic and in the face of public vitriol against public health professionals. They urged the community to follow her leadership and trust her expertise as we consider how to best move forward. Brynne Hovde: Brynne Hovde submitted their public comment expressing their gratitude to the entire health department and Dr. Chapple-McGrudder for the nuanced and difficult work trying to fullfill their core goal to prevent the spread of preventable illness. Kat Tanaka Okopnik: Kat Tanaka Okopnik submitted their public comment thanking Dr. Chapple-McGrudder for their efforts on behalf of the community and is grateful for Dr. Chapple-McGrudder's voice. Shaina Knepler: Shaina Knepler submitted their public comment expressing their thanks for the hard work of Dr. Chapple-McGrudder and the health department, adding we should continue to focus on implementing equitable protections that do not ignore or disregard the immunocompromised, high risk, and those who are unable for vaccination. Stephanie Hartman: Stephanie Hartman submitted their public comment thanking Dr. Chapple-McGrudder for the work she has done in establishing and upholding COVID mitigations in the schools. Jenna Leving Jacobson: Jenna Leving Jacobson submitted their public Village of Oak Park Page 2 Printed on 3/8/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes February 28, 2022 comment in support of Dr. Chapple-McGrudder's leadership and her efforts. They hope that we continue to follow her guidance when it comes to public health decisions for our community. Robin Kalish: Robin Kalish submitted their public comment asking to continue to support the guidance of the Oak Park Public Health Department and Dr. Chapple, who has been working tirelessly to keep our community healthy. We need to continue to protect the vulnerable members of our community, including those who are too young to be vaccinated. Shannon Straw: Shannon Straw submitted their public comment expressing their gratitude for Dr. Chapple and the health department. Our community is safer and healthier because of their tireless work during the pandemic. Public health is about our community and caring for our neighbors - those who are immunocompromised or otherwise at greater risk for severe disease, and those who are too young to be vaccinated. Dr. Theresa Chapple-McGrudder then gave a public health update. The CDC came out with guidelines last week which the village has implemented. The health department is working on some additional recommendations to further encourage the protection of the community as a whole. Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification if the governor renewed the emergency orders. Interim Village Manager Shelley responded staff was still waiting to see what he decides regarding the renewal of the emergency order. Village Attorney Paul Stephanides added the governor removed the mask mandate for the state; the emergency proclamation regarding remote meetings will be announced next week. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla commented even though the mask mandate has been lifted, people may still choose to wear masks to protect their health and we should encourage that. Village Trustee Enyia requested clarification if there is still an opportunity for the community to receive masks from the village. Dr. Chapple-McGrudder responded they are finishing up the delivery of masks that were requested. The village has spent approximately $10,000 on obtaining and distributing the masks, which is the cap on the funding allocated for this. Village Trustee Walker-Peddkotla requested clarification on advice for parents of children who are unable to get vaccinated. Dr. Chapple-McGrudder responded the best we can do to continue to Village of Oak Park Page 3 Printed on 3/8/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes February 28, 2022 protect our children is to continue to mask, ensure we are vaccinated, and ensure social distancing when possible. B. ID 22-49 Discussion of the Issuance of a Request for Proposals for a Sustainability Incubator Feasibility Study Interim Village Manager Shelley introduced the Item. She then introduced Tammie Grossman, the Director for Development Customer Services. Director Grossman then gave an overview of the draft RFP (request for proposal). President Scaman then introduced Darnell Johnson, the President of Urban Efficiency Group, for his input on the RFP. Village Trustee Parakkat gave an overview of the evolution of the Sustainability Incubator Project and expressed concerns over the divisiveness around the project. Darnell Johnson then gave his input on the RFP. Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on if the $10,000 would be to cover both a sustainable business incubator study and a green jobs training program study. Director Grossman responded in the affirmative. Village Trustee Robinson commented perhaps flushing out similar work being done in peer communities could help address concerns made by the Trustees. She also agreed with Mr. Johnson's points on how we are defining equity and supports understanding what the equity goals are for this incubator. She then asked for clarification as to why community affordability and community safety Board goals were included as part of the RFP. Deputy Village Manager Ahmad Zayyad responded staff can always narrow or expand the focus based on direction from the Board. Director Grossman added this was an attempt to enable responders to look at the Board goals and be able to respond to them if appropriate. It is an outline of the pieces that the respondents should look at when putting together their response. There are aspects of all the Board goals that could fit in to this study. Darnell Johnson commented everything in the RFP falls under sustainability as a complete system and contributes to a sustainable community. It is important to be clear on what is being asked for in the RFP regarding equity, diversity and inclusion as it can become very ambiguous in terms of what is being asked and what the expectations are. Village of Oak Park Page 4 Printed on 3/8/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes February 28, 2022 Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on how they are defining sustainability - is it just environmental or has it now grown into something bigger. Village Trustee Enyia commented the RFP should be a little more refined (less broad) into what the request is to make it easier to those who are responding. Village Trustee Parakkat then clarified the definition of sustainability stating it is an umbrella term for the concept of ultimately realigning the local economy towards a clean energy future. It can include creating green jobs and training for them, attracting businesses which will diversify the tax base, and changing the culture of the community towards sustainability. This is just a study to see if this is viable. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla sees this RFP as a first step to better understanding if this project is even possible, with the hope of providing more data and information for the Board to make an informed decision. It can help identify the components that would need to be consider for a sustainability incubator to happen, and may help assess if OakPark is the best community for this project. Village Trustee Robinson reiterated her recommendation to flesh out the peer community concern to ensure we are not working at cross purposes with any neighboring communities that may be doing similar efforts, to identifying opportunities to potentially partner and be supportive, and that equity should not be limited to racial equity. C. ID 22-65 Presentation and Discussion of the Draft 2020 Community Greenhouse Gas Inventory for the Village of Oak Park Interim Village Manager Shelley introduced the Item. Deputy Village Manager Zayyad gave a brief overview of the Item and introduced Marcella Bondie Keenan. Marcella Bondie Keenan then gave a brief update on the Climate Action Plan and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory. John Carter, Senior Engineer for Eastern Research Group (ERG), then gave an overview presentation of the draft 2020 Community Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla requested the data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a comparison to the data the utility companies are providing. Village of Oak Park Page 5 Printed on 3/8/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes February 28, 2022 Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on how Oak Park's metric ton usage for CO2 in 2020 compares with other communities of the same size without industry. John Carter responded he has not looked at those metrics of the overall per capita use, but the breakdown of where the emissions are coming from in the chart are somewhat consistent with what he has seen. Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on how to calculate for carbon neutrality. John Carter responded carbon neutrality and net zero emissions are similar but do not imply zero emissions; it implies some amount of emissions with corresponding offsets or renewable energy credits to make it net zero. D. ID 22-48 Report on Status of Community Gardens and Pollinator Gardens Interim Village Manager Shelley introduced the Item. Public Works Director John Wielebnicki then provided an update on the community gardens. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla expressed their support for the village to develop recommendations for residents who are interested in creating a native or vegetable garden on the public parkways. Grant Jones, the Forestry Superintendent, gave an update on the pollinator gardens. Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on what steps would need to be taken to encourage residents to plant in the parkways. Director Wielebnicki responded it would require a code change to the village code. Staff will work on presenting an updated code to the Board for review. Village Trustee Buchanan requested clarification on if the village decides on the plants in the big planters around the village and if the plants are natives or pollinators. Grant Jones responded he was not sure if all the plants in the big planters are pollinators. The plants are selected for their diversity so that they flower throughout the season, which benefits insects that could be using the plants for pollen or to collect nectar. Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla commented River Forest has a parkway pollinator initiative with Deep Roots Project and asked if the village could take part of something similar to facilitate homeowners in establishing native and pollinator gardens in the parkways. Village of Oak Park Page 6 Printed on 3/8/2022 President and Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes February 28, 2022 Director Wielebnicki responded staff will look into that program and report back to the Board. VI. Adjourn It was moved by Village Trustee Robinson, seconded by Village Trustee Enyia, to adjourn. The motion was approved. The Meeting adjourned at 9:34 P.M., Monday, February 28, 2022. Respectfully Submitted, Deputy Clerk DeViller AYES: 7- Village President Scaman, Village Trustee Buchanan, Village Trustee Enyia, Village Trustee Parakkat, Village Trustee Robinson, Village Trustee Taglia, and Village Trustee Walker-Peddakotla NAYS: 0 ABSENT: 0 Village of Oak Park Page 7 Printed on 3/8/2022