Kendall County Times

Village of Oswego Committee of the Whole met Aug. 5.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

CALL TO ORDER

President Ryan Kauffman called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL

Board Members Physically Present: President Ryan Kauffman; Trustees Tom Guist, Kit Kuhrt, Karin McCarthy Lange, Karen Novy (attended at 6:02 p.m.), and Jennifer Jones Sinnott.

Board Members Attending Electronically: Trustee 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; Billie Robinson, Asst. Finance Director; Rod Zenner, Development Services Director; Joe Renzetti, IT Director; Kevin Leighty,

Economic Development Director; Bridget Bittman, Communications Manager; Maddie Upham, Management Analyst; and James Murphy, Village Attorney.

CONSIDERATION OF AND POSSIBLE ACTIONS ON ANY REQUESTS FOR ELECTRONIC PARTICIPATION IN MEETING

President Kauffman noted that Trustee Torres would like to electronically attend tonight’s meeting. Trustee Torres submitted the necessary documents to the Village Clerk.

A motion was made by Trustee Jones Sinnott and seconded by Trustee McCarthy-Lange to approve Trustee Andrew Torres to electronically attend the August 5, 2024 Committee of the Whole Meeting.

Aye: Tom Guist Kit Kuhrt

Karin McCarthy-Lange Jennifer Jones Sinnott

Nay: None

Absent: Karen Novy and Andrew Torres

The motion was declared carried by a roll call vote with four (4) aye votes and zero (0) nay votes. Trustee Andrew Torres attended electronically at 6:01 p.m.

PUBLIC FORUM

Public Forum was opened at 6:02 p.m. There was no one who requested to speak. The public forum was closed at 6:02 p.m.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS

F.1 Voluntary Action Center Kendall Area Transit Presentation

Asst. Village Administrator Bueche addressed the Board regarding the presentation by Voluntary Action Center (VAC) Kendall Area Transit (KAT). Since 2015, the Village has contracted with the Voluntary Action Center of

DeKalb County for the demand-response transportation through Kendall Area Transit. This service provides scheduled transportation services to any individual with a focus on seniors, individuals with disabilities and those otherwise unable to transport themselves. The service area includes all of Kendall County and designated locations outside the County, including, but not limited to, Aurora, Joliet, Plainfield, and Sandwich. One leg of the trip must begin or end in Kendall County. To participate, riders must first register with KAT. Riders pay $3.00 for each curb-to-curb service, with $2.00 for limited out-of-county destinations. Seniors receive $1.00 off all fares. The service operates 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday (except holidays). From 2015 to 2017, ridership steadily increased year over year. In 2018 and 2019, ridership remained stagnant with approximately 9,000 riders each year. Due to COVID-19, in 2020 and 2021, ridership dropped significantly to approximately 4,900 annually. Since 2021, ridership has increased. From July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, there have been 7,902 pick-ups and 7,603 drop offs in Oswego.

KAT is funded through state and federal grants and local contributions (county and municipal contributions). The Agreement with VAC was set to expire on June 30, 2024. VAC requested to increase the costs for a successor agreement. VAC agreed to a service extension through the end of the calendar year (December 31, 2024) at the current rate. In the past, the Village’s contribution to VAC was $47,000 annually. VAC is proposing to renew their agreement for another three-year term as in the past, increasing the Village’s annual fee for the service to approximately $72,000 or $96,900.

Nate Kloster, CEO of VAC, Jennifer Karales, Budget and Financial Analyst for Kendall County, and Val Miller, Operations Manager for Kendall County presented the following:

• Kendall County is the recipient of State and Federal funding

• Two transit programs: Yorkville and Sycamore

• Two nutrition programs in Kendall, LaSalle, and Putnum

⮚ 250,000 meals annually through Meals on Wheels

• Separate grants for each program

⮚ Funds do not overlap with expenses submitted separately

• Serving seniors and those with disabilities

• Door to door service for pick-ups and drop-offs

• Back to pre-pandemic volumes

• Uptick in general public rides

• Has been $3 million for a long time

• Can only utilize approximately $1 million

• State pays 65% of expenses

• 35% must come from Federal and Local money

• $55.70 is the ride cost

• Routes are not a fixed route

• At liberty of where people want to go

• Oswego and Yorkville are the largest pick-ups

• Approximately 3,200 pick-ups and drop-offs within Oswego

• $47,000 established in 2010

• Driven off of census data

• Annual operating factor of $1.55

• Have been operating for 13 years under these numbers

• Inflation factor

• $94,100 is a typo

• Should have been looking at the funding every three years versus 13 years later

• Can offer 2,500 additional rides with an increase in funding

• Need funds to maintain the program

• IDOT supplies vehicles

• IDOT is several years behind with getting vehicles

• Haven’t seen a new vehicle since 2019

• In a difficult position with vehicles

• Trying to make the vehicles last longer

• Want to be prepared for assisting Baby Boomers

• Using local funding to buy vehicles

• Can’t use DOAP money to buy vehicles

• Average of 115 turn-aways in the year

• Green depicts those who are giving funding to the program

• Kendall County pays up to $60,000

Board and staff discussion focused on want to try and increase local funding; demand is going to increase; went back to RTA for more money; looking everywhere they can for additional money; grateful for all the help the Village can give; looking at number of rides and average of rides instead of population; ride data is pick-up and drop-off; whether 32,000 is the total number of rides for the fiscal year; rides for the entire county; what the total number of rides for this year will be; easier if using miles; should just use pick-up numbers; great service; want to support; making sure others are doing their parts; have approached Yorkville and Plano; every municipality has needs and that’s why a range increase was provided; can’t say it will be proportionately shared; should be a County program; great program, but confused on the number by city; data is inconsistent; can go back and look at the Yorkville numbers; 65/35 split has always been this way and will not change; have not come close to using $3 million; concerns with them taking the $3 million away; DeKalb gets $1.3 million; can lobby the State for more; IDOT provides vehicles through capital allocation; they pick and choose how much everyone gets; asked for $12 million on a new facility and they got $4 million; cost to build a facility is more; divey out money from a pool of money; vehicle situation is a big concern; compounding issues with vehicles due to transmissions, engines and the floors; 23 vehicles currently in the fleet; 7 vehicles purchased last year; how much is budgeted; cost of ride is $3.00 curb to curb; $2.00 more if out of the County; $3.00 is one-way; fare revenue is just under $50,000; it benefits the State and not VAC; getting everyone in the room to have an intergovernmental discussion on VAC; Kendall County Mayors and Managers meeting is scheduled for August 22nd; Administrator Di Santo can facilitate with adding a VAC discussion to the meeting; in-house facility, for vehicle repairs, is in Sycamore; have a hard time finding a mechanic; just found a company for vehicle repairs; whether the Village and other communities can donate vehicles; whether to do an intergovernmental agreement that includes an annual escalator; Village Board and staff to discuss more at the budget workshop in November; Administrator Di Santo will ask for an agenda item to be added to the County’s agenda. There was no further discussion.

CLOSED SESSION

There was no closed session.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 6:52 p.m.

https://www.oswegoil.org/home/showpublisheddocument/7161/638603680018400000