Kendall County Times

Village of Oswego Committee of the Whole met Oct. 17.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

CALL TO ORDER 

President Ryan Kauffman called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. ROLL CALL

Board Members Physically Present: President Ryan Kauffman; Trustees Kit Kuhrt, Karin McCarthy-Lange, Karen Novy, Jennifer Jones Sinnott, and Andrew Torres. 

Board Members Absent: Trustee Tom Guist 

Staff Physically Present: Dan Di Santo, Village Administrator; Tina Touchette, Village Clerk; Jennifer Hughes, Public Works Director; Shane Yackley, Deputy Chief; Rod Zenner, Community Development Services Director; Andrea Lamberg, Finance Director; Joe Renzetti, IT Director; Bridget Bittman, Community Relations ManagerMarketing; Kevin Leighty, Economic Development Director; Kerry Behr, Project Engineer; Madeleine Trinco, Management Analyst; and David Silverman, Village Attorney. 

PUBLIC FORUM 

Public Forum was opened at 6:01 p.m. 

James Marter II addressed the Board regarding the water source; why there wasn’t more addressed by the previous Boards to prepare for the water source; real estate transfer tax was implemented to off-set the costs; misinformation; governing with transparency; need to find solutions on how to pay for the water source. 

Wayne Harshberger addressed the Board regarding the Board’s Economic Development Commission appointment at tonight’s regular Village Board meeting; Raphael Obafemi is the new CFO for the school district; potential liability; does the Board want someone who has had a lapse of judgement serving on the Economic Development Commission. He provided the Board with a handout on the operational services for the school district. There was no one else who requested to speak. The public forum was closed at 6:07 p.m. 

OLD BUSINESS 

E.1 Continuing Discussion of Proposed Water and Sewer Rates Staff and representatives from Baxter & Woodman (Carolyn Grieves and Tim Chan) provided four scenarios to cover the cost of water transmission. 

Staff needs direction to bring back an ordinance for approval at the next Board meeting. A lot of work was done behind the scenes to set better equitable rates. 

Board and staff discussion focused on alternative rate structures; rates will carry on for many decades; impact fees apply to all; tried to be conservative; when the change to impact fees takes affect; whether to grandfather certain developments; can re-allocate; concept plans are not locked in developments; Board will still need to make a decision; need clear direction for drafting an ordinance; largest meter size is 4”; what size the school district meters are; larger meter doesn’t mean they use the most water; schools use a lot of water; concerned with the schools having larger water bills; sample bills are customized to Oswego; no standard formula; comes down to specific users; bi-monthly billing; need information on monthly billing; can look at changing to monthly billing when we implement increases; advantage of getting an adjustment when irrigating in the summer; looked at every bill processed through the Village; revenue difference between each tier; deficit towards end of timeline; can adjust as we go along; 2-3 person household= average of 8,000 gallons bi-monthly; whether water rates go down in FY28; unsure if there will be a reduction in the rate; DWC still negotiating with Chicago; rates could go down in 2030 and beyond; planning for the worst. 

Discussion will resume under Staff Reports at the October 17, Regular Village Board meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

There was no new business.

CLOSED SESSION

There was no closed session.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 7:06 p.m.

https://www.oswegoil.org/home/showpublisheddocument/6360/638350338440530000