Village of Oswego Committee of the Whole met Aug. 7.
Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:
CALL TO ORDER
President Gail E. Johnson called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Physically Present: President Gail Johnson and Trustees Ryan Kauffman, Pam Parr, Luis Perez and Judy Sollinger.
Absent: Trustees Karin McCarthy-Lange and Joe West.
Staff Present: Dan Di Santo, Village Administrator; Tina Touchette, Village Clerk; James Jensen,
Deputy Chief; Jennifer Hughes, Public Works Director; Mark Horton, Finance Director; Rod Zenner,
Community Development Director; Christina Burns, AVA/HR Director; Jay Hoover, B&Z Manager;
Corinna Cole, Economic Development Director; Jenette Sturges, Community Engagement
Coordinator- Marketing; Tim Zasada, Asst. Public Works Director- Utilities; Abigail Cain, Intern;
Carri Parker, Purchasing Manager; David Silverman, Village Attorney; and Marron Mahoney,
Village Attorney.
CONSIDERATION OF AND POSSIBLE ACTIONS ON ANY REQUESTS FOR ELECTRONIC PARTICIPATION IN MEETING
There was no one who participated electronically.
PUBLIC FORUM
Public Forum was opened at 6:03 p.m.
Gerald Sternberg addressed the Board regarding building regulations; snow on sidewalks; and cutting of curbs.
There was no one else who requested to speak; the Public Forum was closed at 6:07 p.m.
OLD BUSINESS
E.1. 2017-2020 Strategic Plan Semi-Annual Update
Director Burns addressed the Board regarding the progress of the 2017-2020 Strategic Plan. The adopted Strategic Plan document defines five strategic priorities:
• Financial Stability
• Infrastructure Maintenance and Expansion
• Community Engagement
• Effective Growth and Development
• Productive and Engaged Workforce
Financial Sustainability
Target Status:
• Revenues exceed expenditures in General Fund: $800,000 surplus for FY18.
• Sales tax maintained at 35% of total revenue: Sales tax was 29% of total revenues for FY18.
• Funding options identified for megaprojects by 2020: Project ongoing.
Strategic Initiatives:
• Conduct analysis of megaprojects: Analysis under way; on target for 2020.
• Create a revenue strategy: New revenues adopted in 2017. COMPLETE
• Analyze programs for cost-effectiveness: On track for completion in 2018.
Infrastructure Maintenance and Expansion
Target Status:
• Sustainable water source connected by 2026: Lake Michigan connection analysis under way; project timeline revised to December 2018. Overall goal connecting to a sustainable water source by 2026 remains on target.
• Secure $14 million in funding for Section 1 of Wolf’s Crossing by 2020: Phase 1 engineering to be completed in October in preparation to apply for CMAQ funding in December 2018 and STP funding in January of 2019.
• Metra expansion to Oswego is included as a high priority project by 2018: Staff has participated in public meetings regarding the CMAP ON TO 2050 plan. Oswego’s Metra extension is not listed as a high priority project in the current ON TO 2050 draft, but is listed as the most feasible extension under consideration. Staff continues to lobby for this project with CMAP and state and federal legislators. We are currently awaiting Metra’s Phase I study. We originally anticipated this study to be completed in December 2018; it is more likely this study will not be completed until the end of 2019 due to delays from Metra.
• CIP funding in place to meet current needs: Staff annually reviews and updates the CIP to prioritize projects. Updates to be discussed and updated in conjunction with the FY2019 budget.
Community Engagement
• The previous outcome stated “Well-attended events that enhance community connectedness.”
Staff proposes separating the two key elements of this idea into “Enhanced community connectedness” and “Successful events.”
• In January, staff was concerned with how things were measured; revised portion of the strategic plan
• Goals remain the same
• Staff continues to evaluate the Target of X% report feeling connected as we currently have no good way to measure.
• Staff also proposes seeking a 5% increase in the number of residents getting their information from e-mail or social media.
• Completing 50 business retention visits per year as a target also integrates the business community into the Village’s goal of connectedness.
Effective Growth and Development
Target Status:
• =/>Two ground breakings by July 2019 in TIF District: On pace to achieve with 59 S. Adams and 63 Washington. The Village also received interest in the old Village Hall block.
• TIF EAV growth is greater than overall Oswego EAV: The Village’s EAV increased 5.05% in the most recent year, while the TIF’s EAV decreased 0.6% due to some properties being removed from the boundary. This metric is most important at the end of the strategic planning period as developments come online.
• =/>100 new residential units under permit/year: 2017 did not hit the target, but the Village will exceed this benchmark in 2018 and anticipates doing so in 2019 in large part due to The Springs multifamily development, along with additional single-family home starts and proposed future multi-family developments.
Productive and Engaged Workforce
Target Status:
• Develop a long-term projection for service delivery and staffing: Continued work with shared service ideas, as well as preparing for upcoming retirements is under way. Staff will be more closely evaluating staffing needs over the next year in order to prioritize needs. Long term plan.
• 50% or > of non-entry-level positions filled from within: The Village is not currently on target. In 2017 the Village hired 9 employees; 3 of which were not considered entry level. So far in 2018, we have hired 7 employees, 3 of which were not considered entry level. In no instance was an internal candidate selected for the non-entry level positions. One factor is the need for a single individual within an organization with a specialized skill set, however staff will be looking into this topic further to identify barriers and to promote greater leadership development and succession planning.
Strategic Initiatives:
• Create leadership development program: Growing Together Leadership Development program framework established. Launching in November 2018; doing this Fall.
Board and staff discussion focused on relying on engineering studies; Metra has taken longer than anticipated; 139 permits issued so a far this year; have not met the 50% or > of non-entry-level positions filled from within target; how the bandwidth is for the Springs development; discussing staffing internally; will bring back analysis on workload at a future meeting; ERP is taking up an incredible amount of staff time; will be a time benefit once implemented; with development comes impact fees; The Springs one time impact fee= $500,000 and will go towards CIP; growth will bring in more sales revenue; shared positions helping to save costs for personnel; cost to grow; ERP will be fully implemented in January 2020; sales tax revenue; excited about the leadership program. There was no further discussion.
NEW BUSINESS
F.1. Water System Update
Asst. Public Works Director Zasada addressed the Board regarding Oswego’s water system. The Village of Oswego’s water system consists of five water towers, eight wells, five pressure reducing stations, one booster station, and the pipe distribution network all located within four pressure zones
Water Towers:
• Orchard Road
• Fox Chase
• Town Center
• Hunt Club
• Ogden Falls
Water Zones:
• High zone
➢ Ogden Falls water tower; 1,500,000 gallons
➢ Well 7
✓ Ogden Falls
✓ Built in 1997
✓ Last service 2011
✓ Design 1,000 gpm
✓ July 2018 603 gpm
✓ Declining at large rate
✓ Recommend lowering 100 feet
✓ Pumping data- rapid decline; 40% loss in production
➢ Well 9 with pressure reducing valves to Middle zone
✓ Ogden Falls
✓ Built in 2004
✓ Original pump
✓ Design 1,200 gpm
✓ Drawdown data- rehab needed
✓ Pumping data- down 39% in efficiency
• Central zone
➢ Downtown
➢ Well 3
✓ 346 S. Madison St.
✓ Built in 1957
✓ Last service 2012
✓ Lowered in 2013
✓ Design 700 gpm
✓ July 2018 544 gpm
✓ Oldest well
✓ Well production down
✓ Pumping data is stable
➢ Town Center water tower 500,000 gallons
➢ 5 pressure reducing valve stations
• West zone
➢ Everything west of the Fox River
➢ Well 6
✓ Fox Chase subdivision
✓ Built in 1992
✓ Last service 2010
✓ Design 1,000 gpm
✓ July 2018 890 gpm
✓ Drawdown data is stable
✓ Pumping date is good; at 80% efficiency
✓ Needs repairs
➢ Well 11
✓ Blackberry Knoll
✓ Built in 2009
✓ Original equipment; pump and motor
✓ Design 1,200 gpm
✓ Drawdown data-stable
✓ Pumping data- 97% efficient
✓ Will continue to monitor
➢ Orchard Road water tower 1,500,000 gallons
➢ Fox Chase water tower 300,000 gallons
• Middle Zone
➢ Hunt Club water tower; 1,500,000 gallons
➢ Well 4
✓ Rt. 34 & IL 71
✓ Built in 1964
✓ Last service 2015
✓ Design 650 gpm
✓ July 2018 392 gpm
✓ Steady decline
✓ Possible hole or needs repairs
✓ Every five years it needs repairs
✓ Drawdown date looks good
✓ Pumping data- at 40% efficiency
➢ Well 8
✓ Prairie Point
✓ Built in 2001
✓ Last service 2017
✓ Design 1,000 gpm
✓ Stable
✓ Drawdown data is steady
✓ Pumping data- even pumpage; variable frequency; drive needs to be replaces or removed
➢ Well 10
✓ Built in 2005
✓ Last service in Spring 2018; due to design flaw
✓ Design 1,200 gpm
✓ Lowering 60 feet in Spring 2019
✓ Drawdown data- stable; lowering will make it better
➢ Everywhere else
Well Maintenance Schedule:
• Well 8- WRT media change
➢ September 2018
• Well 6- WRT media change
➢ October 2018
• Well 7- pull, inspect, repair
➢ October 2018
• Well 4- pull, inspect, repair
➢ November 2018
• Well 10- lower
➢ December 2018
• Well 9- pull, inspect, repair
➢ May 2019
All maintenance needs to be completed by Spring 2019.
Board and staff discussion focused on creating new water system forms; new switch is $15,000; not sure why the switch is even needed; don’t know the full history of the issues with Well 4 yet; cost to lower the well 100 feet; just need to drop the well; haven’t had this data in the past; costs to pull pumps and repair was added to the budget; much better shape going forward; training employees; needing to come up with another water source; validation that the aquifer is dropping; taking readings monthly instead of annually. There was no further discussion.
F.2. Discussion of Changes to the Economic Development Incentives Application
Director Cole addressed the Board regarding incentives. One of the most frequent calls that staff receives is that they own a business in Oswego and want to know about incentives the Village offers. Staff typically hears that businesses are confused about what is available, why incentives are structured the way they are, and when, or if, they should apply for them. A restructuring of the Village incentive program was a part of the Economic Development Strategic Workplan that the Village Board expressed support for in March of this year. Technical Assistance is the business development support that the Village can offer to new or existing businesses to help them become stronger and more effective businesses. Staff has two items for consideration:
➢ Committee of the Whole item explains the overall change in direction that we are proposing to take Economic Incentives
➢ Regular Village Board meeting item is for the conversion of the façade improvement fund into the Economic Development Incentive Award
Both items are aspects of the same initiative. It has been a long-standing goal to streamline the Village’s incentive programs so there is a single application for all small business incentives, all relevant information is clearly outlined in one location, and the application process serves the dual purpose of requiring businesses to go through the financial vetting process. Abigail Cain, the Clerk’s Office Intern, assisted with this project. She undertook many hours of research on the program documents. Abigail outlined how the resources were created and the specific documents that were changed:
• Started with the Economic Incentive Police of 2014
• Created an accessible and practical way of obtaining the documents
• Several changes made to ensure applicants would completely understand the goals and requirements; as well as the flexibility of the programs
• New process now has a single application
• Created a basic information and narrative application which includes questions that staff can review and have a clear understanding of the business’s goals
• Created an application checklist which includes materials needed from the applicant
• If needed, staff will send the Business Financial spreadsheet requesting the business provide an income statement, balance sheet, sales projections and project cost summary
• Additional documents provided will include:
➢ Business Model Canvas
➢ List of tips for opening a business in the Village and for opening a business in general
The purpose of the documents is to place everyone on a level playing field; providing staff with everything they need upfront. The Village will continue to require applicants to participate in an inperson interview, with staff, after submitting a completed application. It will be up to the Economic Development Director, Finance Director, or the Village Administrator on whether to recommend the application to the Village Board for review and approval. The incentive programs will have a stronger standardized process. The Economic Development Director and the Oswego Library staff will assist businesses that may need additional help in completing the process through Oswegogrow. Material will be available on the Village’s website for easy reference. Even if businesses do not apply for incentives, they are still receiving helpful materials for a financial check-up, or just learning ways to build a stronger business; which will, in turn, create a stronger economic base in Oswego.
Board and staff discussion focused on six different ways; may not need to complete an application; tools developed; how many will complete online or on paper; application will be a fillable PDF; more efficient business consistency for the Board; willing to investigate Lexis Nexis; needing to have flexibility; helps keep process fair and balanced; offer to small and large businesses; cash flow projection. There was no further discussion.
CLOSED SESSION
There was no Closed Session held.
ADJOURNMENT
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