Kendall County Times

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

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, 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; Curt Cassidy, Incoming Public Works Director; Andrea Lamberg, 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 Dave Silverman, Village Attorney.

PUBLIC FORUM

Public Forum was opened at 6:00 p.m.

Hrushi Vora addressed the Board regarding a $50 late fee he received for his water bill; he pays his water bill by autopay; he didn’t know his credit card expired; he received a letter on his front door; he is a senior citizen and requested a one-time waiver of the $50 fee. There was no consensus from the Board to grant the waiver.

There was no one else who requested to speak. The public forum was closed at 6:03 p.m.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

NEW BUSINESS

F.1 SD308 Report and Presentation on Development

Village Administrator Di Santo addressed the Board regarding SD308’s report regarding development. A few months ago, Village President Kauffman asked SD308 to come and speak about development and the affects on the school district.

Members of the school Board present: LaTonya Simelton, Board President; Dominick Cirone, Board Member; and Jared Ploger, Board Secretary.

The following individuals presented the report:

Dr. Khelghati, Superintendent of SD308

Dr. Kincaid, Deputy Superintendent of SD308

Rob Schwarz, CEO of RSP & Associates

Dr. Khelghati stated it is an exciting time to be in SD308. Oswego is a striving community. The SD308 Board tasked him with developing a process and plan on development.

Rob Schwarz discussed how RSP and SD308 uses the data that the Village provides. Director Zenner provides them with information on the timing of development projects that puts into motion the effects on the school district.

Board and staff discussion focused on projection observation; high school decreasing, junior high increasing, and elementary up a little; timeline is five years; with all the development coming in, there will be 200 less students, but it will become stable; things are emerging quicker; what the yield rate is for apartments; yield rate is .28/unit for single family and .13/unit for multi-family; age and value of inventory; lack of single family homes; Wolfs Crossing corridor; will need to discuss Long Beach and Southbury; looking at attendance areas and other schools; current outgoing high school class is 700+; naturally losing 300-400 high school students each year; junior high is stabilizing; SD308 strategic plan should be completed in March 2025; comprehensive analysis, strengths, master facility planning, and process & assessment; still room for an increase in growth; how the schools are using the spaces; in mid-winter, will be looking at student assigning process for each building; what the hopes are for the community; are the facilities prepared; how to assign students; will engage staff, students and the community; last strategic plan was in the middle of COVID; need a new approach; a master facility plan has not been done before; buildings are aging out; roofs are at the 20 year mark; current incoming classes are the smallest in history; perspective of the district versus others that are built out; whether there are ebbs and flows in a built out community; consistent level to be managed; lowering the extremes of the curves; each subdivision has their own life cycle; interest rates; value of the home and rent rates create turnovers; affordable housing; diversity of housing drives a healthy life cycle; healthy means stability; not in extreme highs or lows, but we are declining; capacity of SD308; each school is fluid; knowing what the conditions of each building are sets in motion what is best; transportation costs; infrastructure considerations; coordination with the Village; needing to hear from our partners; capacity exceeds 20,000; early learning needs; where programs are located; max students in class depends on the grade level; mid 20’s to low 30’s per class; facility plan process; no new facilities planned in the next five years; changes within the existing buildings; education looks different now than 10 years ago; no additions to the buildings; some buildings are 20-30 years old; want all schools to be of excellence; whether they need to look at redistricting; how many years before it goes back to normal; how do we utilize our inventory in the next 20-40 years; transportation and neighborhood schools; education delivery; student assigned planning; staffing at each school; teacher elite resident program; can attend future school Board meetings regarding the assessments and strategic plan. The Village Board thanked SD308 for coming and presenting; happy to partner with them; feedback in information will be provided to the residents; SD308 leadership has been wonderful; appreciate all of you.

Dr. Khelghati spoke about the recent deaths of teacher, Aaron Dudley; student, Sean Fader; and alumni, Javion MaGee. Condolences to the family and friends; we are thinking of them. 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/7283/638636503849262485