Kendall County Times

Village of Oswego Committee of the Whole met Jan. 9.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

CALL TO ORDER

President Ryan Kauffman called the meeting to order at 6:04 p.m.

ROLL CALL

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

Staff Physically Present: Dan Di Santo, Village Administrator; Jean Bueche, Asst. Village Administrator; Tina Touchette, Village Clerk; Jason Bastin, Police Chief; Jennifer Hughes, Public Works Director; Andrea Lamberg, Finance Director; Joe Renzetti, IT Director; Bridget Bittman, Community Relations Manager- Marketing; Kevin Leighty, Economic Development Director; Madeleine Trinco, Management Analyst; Rachel Riemenschneider, Planner; and Jim Murphy, Village Attorney.

PUBLIC FORUM

Public Forum was opened at 6:04 p.m.

James Marter II addressed the Board regarding video gaming; there has been no actual action on video gaming; there has been more discussion on video gaming than any other items; discussion has been ceremonial than actual solution; irrelevant ideas; Tap House in Plainfield closed abruptly; they could have benefited from gaming; talked to Harry Benton about gaming and how Plainfield is losing revenue and lost businesses coming in because of no gaming; decision needs to be made on gaming; it is taking a toll on staff and causing taxpayers money. He will be sending an email to the Village Board.

Parth Patel addressed the Board regarding the video gaming process; he purchased the property at Plainfield and Woolley Road to build a gas station; he will be adding a Dunkin Donuts and Subway; investing $3-5 million; video gaming would be beneficial; it would not be a gaming café; will be 7,000 sqft; 100,000 gallons in gas; $1.2 million for Dunkin Donut business; Oswego is best community for him.

There was no one else who requested to speak. The public forum was closed at 6:12 p.m. NEW BUSINESS

F.1 2023 Community Survey Results

Administrator Di Santo addressed the Board regarding the 2023 community survey. This is the first time a survey has been done since 2018; survey was sent to random sample homes. Jason Morado, representative with ETC Institute, attended the meeting via Zoom as his flight was canceled due to the weather in Kansas. This is the third time he’s done a survey for the Village of Oswego.

Board and staff discussion focused on whether Oswego stands out in comparison to the rest of the Country when it comes to general increase in satisfaction; national trend depicts ratings going down; Oswego is trending in a good way; place to retire, visit and work rated lower in the last survey; 28% of residents feel involved in public decision making; neutral responses; whether there is a communication gap with the residents; residents feel informed but not involved in decision making; would be more alarming if all responses were a significantly lower percentage; could be the timing of the survey; need to think about the context of what is going on in the public; getting more people involved on the commissions; increasing the number of commission members to be more involved; whether the mailing of the survey or online survey was used more; 40% by mail and 60% online; only those who completed the survey were included in the results; only 13 people completed it online; survey was never on the Village’s website; it was on ETC’s website; where Oswego ranks against other towns with regards to question Q.2 about the quality of new development; this question is not one that can be compared to other communities; percentage comparisons for the 2016, 2018 and 2023 surveys; number of completed surveys that would reflect the population; 400 is typical for community of our size; would cost significantly more to add 200-300 more surveys; it would not change the results; exceeded the goal with 527 surveys completed; 12-15% is a typical response rate; whether anything stands out from last survey to this survey; top five positive responses: 311 app, how well issues handled, overall responsiveness, water pressure, Village communications; top five decreases: quality of new development, availability of affordable housing, overall flow of traffic and congestion, traffic flow on major Village streets, availability of transportation options; Village is moving in the right direction; services that should receive the most emphasis in the next two years; age demographics for those completing the survey was evenly distributed from under 35 to 65+; years living in the Village ranged from 13% for 11-15 years and more than 30 years to 25% for those living in the Village 21-30 years. There was no further discussion.

OLD BUSINESS

G.1 Video Gaming Follow-up Discussion

Item was moved to the January 9, 2024 Regular Board meeting; Staff Reports.

CLOSED SESSION

There was no closed session.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 6:59 p.m.

https://www.oswegoil.org/home/showpublisheddocument/6603/638428131332300000