Village of Oswego President and Board of Trustees met Sept. 3.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
President Ryan Kauffman called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. Alejandro Hardaway led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.
Alejandro served six years in the United States Air Force as a (1Alpha4) Airborne Operations Specialist. He is an Oswego resident, who after completing his MBA, worked for the private sector and the Village of Oak Park. Last Monday, Alejandro began working as the Public Works’ Management Analyst. He will be responsible for implementing the Village’s strategic objective of managing our infrastructure while assisting the department with purchasing.
President Kauffman thanked him for his service.
ROLL CALL
Board Members Physically Present: President Ryan Kauffman; Trustees Tom Guist, Kit Kuhrt, Karin McCarthy-Lange, Karen Novy, and Andrew Torres.
Board Members Absent: Trustee Jennifer Jones Sinnott.
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; Rod Zenner, Development Services Director; Joe Renzetti, IT Director; Kevin Leighty, Economic Development Director; Phil Tartaglia, Public Works Deputy Director/Engineer; Bridget Bittman, Communications Manager; Maddie Upham, Management Analyst; Alejandro Hardaway, Management Analyst; and Dave Silverman, Village Attorney.
RECOGNITIONS/APPOINTMENTS
D.1 Employee Service Awards
a) Mary Ellen Bliss- 5 Years of Service (Development Services Department)
She could not attend. President Kauffman thanked her for her service.
b) Amy Scheleski- 5 Years of Service (Building & Permits Department)
She could not attend. President Kauffman thanked her for her service.
c) Zachary Townsend- 5 Years of Service (Police Department)
He could not attend. President Kauffman thanked him for his service.
d) Stephen Bailey- 20 Years of Service (Police Department)
President Kauffman asked Officer Bailey and Chief Bastin to come to the front. Chief briefly talked about his monumental service on the department; he is an accident reconstructionist and the head of the OCPAAA for many years; hope he stays on the department longer.
Officer Bailey thanked the Village Board, Chief Bastin, Command staff, fellow officers, God and his parents. His parents were in attendance. The Village has always been great to me; need to treat the community first.
President Kauffman presented him with a certificate and thanked him for his service. Pictures were taken.
D.2 Proclamation- National Finance and Accounting Appreciation Week
President Kauffman asked Andrea Lamberg to come up to the front. He read the proclamation and presented her with a copy. Pictures were taken.
PUBLIC FORUM
Public Forum was opened at 7:21 p.m. There was no one who requested to speak. The public forum was closed at 7:21 p.m.
STAFF REPORTS
F.1 Cultural Arts Commission Mural Proposal and New Site Location
Community Relations Manager, Bridget Bittman briefly spoke about the new mural project on the silos, on Adams Street, owned by Brad Smith.
Board, staff and Chairperson discussion focused on mural reflects identity and history of Oswego; Jason Watts is the artist; $273.28 is needed to complete the project; would be great to have the mural done this year; Cultural Arts received $15,000 for the 2024 budget year and used some of the funds for the banner program; the commission fundraised at Wine on the Fox; whether we can borrow a boom from a fellow taxing body; artist spoke to the boom company and is already getting 50% off for the rental; will be renting the boom for four weeks; mural will only be facing the river and the street; it will not be all the way around the silos; the amount visible is pretty accurate; could add to the silos in next year’s budget; staff to look into the cost for having the mural all the way around the silos; art will be expandable on the silos; commend the commission on finding an alternative location; looks good; like the location. Board provided direction to move forward and thanked the commission and Mr. Smith. There was no further discussion.
Director Hughes introduced Alejandro Hardaway as the new Management Analyst for Public Works. He previously worked at Oak Park, is an Air Force Veteran, and lives in Oswego. There were really good candidates for his position and are excited to have him. Alejandro briefly introduced himself; he thanked everyone for the opportunity; excited to be here and excited about development. If we need anything, reach out to him. The Village Board welcomed him.
CONSENT AGENDA
G.1 August 20, 2024 Committee of the Whole Minutes
G.2 August 20, 2024 Regular Village Board Minutes
G.3 Resolution Authorizing a Contract with Advanced Rehabilitation Technology, LTD for the Penn Court Lift Station Rehabilitation Project in an Amount Not to Exceed $140,593.75.
G.4 Resolution Authorizing the Execution of a Joint Funding Agreement for Federally Funded Construction with the State of Illinois and Appropriation of $538,000.00 for the Replacement of the Minkler Road Bridge at Morgan Creek; Section No.: 21-00053-00-BR; Job No.: C-93-124-24; Project No.: Q1IV(172).
A motion was made by Trustee Guist and seconded by Trustee Torres to approve the Consent Agenda; Approving the August 20, 2024 Committee of the Whole Minutes; Approving the August 20, 2024 Regular Village Board Minutes; and Approving the following resolutions:
Resolution No. 24-R-66; Resolution Authorizing a Contract with Advanced Rehabilitation Technology, LTD for the Penn Court Lift Station Rehabilitation Project in an Amount Not to Exceed $140,593.75.
Resolution No. 24-R-67; Resolution Authorizing the Execution of a Joint Funding Agreement for Federally Funded Construction with the State of Illinois and Appropriation of $538,000.00 for the Replacement of the Minkler Road Bridge at Morgan Creek; Section No.: 21-00053-00-BR; Job No.: C-93-124-24; Project No.: Q1IV(172).
Aye: Tom Guist Kit Kuhrt
Karin McCarthy-Lange Karen Novy
Andrew Torres
Nay: None
Absent: Jennifer Jones Sinnott
The motion was declared carried by an omnibus roll call vote with five (5) aye votes and zero (0) nay votes.
BILL LIST
H.1 Approve Bill List Dated September 3, 2024, in the Amount of $4,971,369.76.
A motion was made by Trustee Guist and seconded by Trustee McCarthy-Lange to approve the Bill List Dated September 3, 2024, in the Amount of $4,971,369.76.
Aye: Tom Guist Kit Kuhrt
Karin McCarthy-Lange Karen Novy
Andrew Torres
Nay: None
Absent: Jennifer Jones Sinnott
The motion was declared carried by a roll call vote with five (5) aye votes and zero (0) nay votes.
OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business.
NEW BUSINESS
There was no new business.
TRUSTEE REPORTS
Trustee Guist- welcome Alejandro.
Trustee McCarthy-Lange- hope everyone had a great three-day weekend; looking forward to concerts at the Venue; congratulations to Officer Bailey; welcome Alejandro.
Trustee Torres- great to have staff here; thinking ahead; congratulations to Officer Bailey; hoping to see Dunkin soon; welcome Alejandro; is the bridge construction starting. Staff noted the construction will be starting in the Spring; Minkler Road should be done this Fall.
Trustee Kuhrt- welcome Alejandro; congratulations to those with employee service awards; congratulations to Officer Bailey; hope he stays longer; would like to discuss the speed watch program; not sure how I feel about the program; can we discuss at a future Committee of the Whole meeting; would like more information; could see neighbors spiraling out of control. Administrator Di Santo asked Chief Bastin to come forward to discuss the speed watch program.
Chief Bastin addressed the Board regarding the speed watch program. The police department has a current process for speeding complaints. First, they do a speed study to determine if there is a problem and whether they need to allocate resources. Second, if there is a problem, they will put patrol officers out to abate the problem. People standing in their yards will say motorists are speeding when they may not be speeding. It just appears they are speeding. We still intend on following the current process but are now looking at adding residents into the resources. Residents will need to fill out a form and petition and get seven neighbors to sign the petition. Residents will need to go through training and will only be an observer.
Board and staff discussion focused on the police department may or may not send out letters; it can provide additional data; not meant to replace the current process; augmenting the program; don’t want it causing issues in the neighborhood; have done letters in the past; Citizen Police Academy members deliver the letters; have not had backlash with letters in the past; can adjust if it’s causing issues; only allowed to speed watch on their own property; when talking to other departments, they have had good results; only have one piece of equipment for the speed watch; would only do it for one week; the program has been discussed at the HOA Confederation meeting and received support for the program. There was no further discussion.
Trustee Kuhrt continued his Trustee report- thank you to staff for Sins & Roses and Electric Shock concert; it was awesome; Fleetwood Mac cover band coming this weekend; a lot of concerts coming up.
Trustee Novy- welcome to Alejandro; congratulations to Officer Bailey.
Trustee Jones Sinnott- absent; no report.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Happy Labor Day; welcome to Alejandro; congratulations and thank you to Officer Bailey; congratulations to the other employee service award recipients; Sins & Roses and Electric Shock were a huge success; thank you to staff for their work on this concert event; saw staff and Board at the concert; thank you for bringing up the speed watch program; have been advocating for this program; Oswego is the 12th safest community, in the U.S., for a community of our size; speeding is an issue; hear a lot about speeding from our residents; need to be a part of the solution; need to collect data and/or help residents realize motorists may not be going as fast as they are; love and support the program; it will be a big success; people are excited about it.
CLOSED SESSION
There was no closed session.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Trustee Torres and seconded by Trustee Novy to adjourn the meeting; upon a voice vote with all remaining members present voting aye, the meeting was adjourned at 7:59 p.m.
https://www.oswegoil.org/home/showpublisheddocument/7247/638623535373800000
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