Kendall County Times

Village of Oswego Committee of the Whole met March 4.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

CALL TO ORDER

President Ryan Kauffman called the meeting to order at 6:02 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; Curt Cassidy, Incoming Public Works Director; Jennifer Hughes, Public Works Director; Andrea Lamberg, Finance Director; Rod Zenner, Development Services Director; Joe Renzetti, IT/GIS Director; Kevin Leighty, Economic Development Director; Maddie Upham, Assistant to the Village Administrator; Lisset Padilla, Community Relations Specialist; Phil Tartaglia, Deputy Director/Village Engineer; Steve Raasch, Facilities Manager; and Dave Silverman, Village Attorney.

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 Village Parking Deck Discussion

Director Zenner addressed the Board regarding the Village parking deck. The Village Board had requested a discussion regarding the deck, specifically regarding the operation and financing of future maintenance responsibilities of the structure. The Village currently operates a two-level parking structure in the Reserve at Hudson Crossing south building. The structure contains 159 parking spaces on the upper level and 180 spaces on the lower level for a total number of 339 parking spaces. The garage is open to the public and provides free parking for visitors to the downtown.

Usage of the Deck

The deck provides free parking for residents and visitors. Parking spaces are available from 5 a.m. to 2 a.m. for all users. Parking is allowed between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. for those who possess a parking pass from the Village. Parking passes are limited to residents of the Hudson Crossing development, or residential tenants located along Main Street between Jefferson and Washington Street. Other users can purchase daily parking passes for $5/day through an online system. The Village is often asked if we can designate certain parking spaces (or area of the deck) for the residents of the Reserve at Hudson Crossing Building. The TIF Act allows the Village to use TIF revenue to fund public improvements, such as a public parking deck, but expressly prohibits the Village from using funds to pay for private improvements. Dedicating specific spots for exclusive private use could be interpreted as a private improvement. The overnight permit program currently utilized by the Village meets the requirements of the TIF Act as it does not specifically identify spaces reserved for a specific user. In addition, the agreement with Shodeen, states that “the Village will not reserve any parking spaces within the Parking Garage.” Therefore, the Village cannot identify specific parking spaces for residents of the Hudson Crossing building.

Estimated Operational Costs

As the deck is part of the overall southern building, the Village entered into a Covenants, Conditions, Restrictions and Easements (CCR’s) agreement with the developer (Shodeen). The Village and Shodeen split the costs of operating and maintaining the garage based on the responsibility of the item. To determine what the possible long term costs could be for the deck, the Village conducted a survey of communities to estimate an average cost to maintain the parking garage, including the estimated costs for larger items such as resurfacing and/or structural repairs. The Village contacted the communities of Naperville, Libertyville, Geneva, and Aurora. The Village reviewed their capital improvement plans to establish an estimate of the necessary fund level to address both annual and long-term costs. In reviewing these estimates, a target of $100,000 was identified as a goal for the Village to collect annually to provide an escrow balance large enough to accommodate future maintenance needs for the structure.

Fee Discussion

Per the parking licensing agreement with Shodeen, the Village can establish the number of overnight parking permits and the parking fee for residents who park their vehicles overnight in the parking structure. The agreement first established a criteria of 185 parking permits (for the 176 residential units), with the Village offering up to two parking permits per residential unit on a first come, first served basis. The Village has the ability to increase the number of permits above 185 but cannot decrease the number below 185 permits. The agreement also allows the Village to establish the costs of the permits with a maximum rate of $1,000 annually ($83.33 monthly) with an annual inflation factor of 5% or CPI (whichever is less). To date, the Village has not increased parking fees since the opening of the garage in 2021. Using the $100,000 annual goal as a base, the Village established a fee of $50 monthly ($600 annually) for the first permit and $83 monthly ($1,000 annually) for the second permit. The higher rate for the second car was established to encourage the ability of a resident being able to have at least one parking permit as the 185 permits were provided as a first come/first served basis. In addition, the Village and developer agreed that $50-$83/month was a reasonable parking rate for residents to pay and was within market.

Funds Collected

The Village offers a series of permit fees for overnight parking. A summary of the permit fees for 2024 are as follows:

One Car

∙ Daily – 214 permits - $1,080

∙ 7 day – 59 permits - $2,065

∙ 1 month – 679 permits - $39,300

∙ 3 month – 18 permits - $2,700

∙ 6-month – 38 permits - $11,400

∙ Yearly – 32 permits - $19,200

∙ Total – 1040 permits - $75,745

Two Car

∙ Monthly – 103 permits - $17,732

∙ 3 month – 5 permits - $2,000

∙ 6 month – 4 permits - $3,066

∙ 2nd permit monthly – 29 permits - $2,384

∙ 2nd permit 3 months – 3 permits - $550

∙ Total – 144 permits - $25,732

The difference between the monthly fee for 2 cars and the 2nd permit fee is that some residents purchase the 2-car monthly pass together while some buy the second car separately.

∙ Overall Total Funds from Permits - $101,477

∙ Fines collected for tickets issued - $9,435

∙ Overall Total funds collected for 2024 - $110,912

⮚ Goes into the Parking Fund

The current balance in the Parking Fund is $317,367.89. In addition to annual maintenance, the Parking Fund has been used to fund other projects such as striping ($40,000) and planned cameras and counters on the second parking deck ($80,000 in the 2025 Budget).

Deck Capacity

The Village conducts an annual parking usage analysis of the downtown broken down by blocks based on an hourly count from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm. The counts are done on a typical Friday, in good weather in the summer, to gain a typical day of usage. Based on the 2024 data, the average usage of the deck is 32% with the lowest usage of 29% at 1:00pm and 2:00pm, and a peak usage of 37% at 7:00pm.

Future Deck

Shodeen plans on starting construction of the north building for the Reserve at Hudson Crossing project this spring. The project will contain 104 residential units with 116 parking spaces in a two-level parking structure. When this structure nears completion, the Village and Shodeen will amend the CCR’s and Licensing agreement to include this new structure. The amendments will include the number of parking spaces to be allocated for overnight permits and the financial responsibility for maintenance of the new structure.

Use of Funds

While permit revenues from The Reserve parking deck are the main revenue source in the Parking Fund, expenditures are not restricted to the parking decks. The Board can direct that these funds be used for other parking projects such as resurfacing the Harrison and Washington Street parking lot (budgeted for $96,500 in the CY25 CIP) or adding temporary parking in the Village-owned lots at 6 and 12 Van Buren.

Board and staff discussed: The Village pays for gas and electric utilities; staff has been monitoring the utility usage and budgeting accordingly; can’t keep the fees the same when costs are going up; striping the parking lots and an improved parking counter system; consultant reviews the deck every 3-5 years; should increase the permit fee by 3%; staff is not asking for an increase, but we cannot decrease the fee; striping the lot is a significant cost; up to the Board to raise the fee; staff looked at what other communities were doing before coming up with the $100,000 maintenance goal amount; our parking deck is heated; it was the best estimate at the time; need an assessment of the parking deck; have to plan for the future; it’s not going to get cheaper; if the permit fee was raised by 5%, it would be $52.50; defeats the purpose to spend funds on doing other projects; whether the Board wants us to use funds for other projects; re-evaluate when the second parking structure is built; can only raise the cost of the second parking permit by 5% or CPI; second building completed in 18 months; do the increase in 2026; if there is a number we want to hit in the next 10 years; concerns with not funding; whether there is a specific issue we should plan for; don’t know if concrete will fail; need consultant to determine whether there are issues; not opposed to an increase; need to be protected; need a more concrete number; whether to use some of the funds to get more parking; use funds for 6 & 12 Van Buren and make it into a parking lot in the most cost effective way; possible 15-20 more spaces; paving and detention costs for 6 & 12 Van Buren would be around $200,000; if doing only gravel, it would be around $50,000, but it could not be plowed and it would kick-up dust on vehicles; should hold onto the funds for just the parking deck; don’t want to spend until we know the longtime costs; not sure if 6 & 12 Van Buren should be paved because we want the property to be developed; study being done on building #2 (south), but will ask consultant to include a study for building #1(north); parking deck was paid for with bonds/taxpayers money; residents are paying so they can park there; we allow for daily permit parking; residents are paying for maintenance through the permit fees; difference between a permanent solution versus a temporary solution; parking study says we have enough parking; parking deck funds should be for the parking deck; we can do an increase at any time; study on building #2 should be done in a couple months; will ask for projections on building #1; different casting in building #2; can bring back consultant findings and have a discussion on downtown parking; re-visit and let the residents know where to park; people may not be aware of the other areas to park; add information into weekly newsletter or a social media blast; handicapped spots were added on Van Buren and on each block; staff to provide a map of handicap and short term parking spaces; will be four additional ADA spots in the parking deck; study will take into effect the pre-cast and differences between both. There was no further discussion.

F.2 Downtown EDIA Program Discussion

Director Leighty addressed the Board regarding the downtown grant program. The Economic Development Incentive Award (EDIA) program was established to provide financial assistance to new or expanding businesses within the Village of Oswego. The general purpose of the program is to aid in property improvements which enhance Oswego’s downtown business district. Up until this year, $40,000 had been budgeted annually for highly desirable projects that use funds for permanent building improvements. Due to a significant increase of interest in the grant program, an additional $40,000 was requested during the CY2025 Budget Workshop and subsequently approved at the November 19, 2024, Village Board meeting. Within the first two months of 2025, the Village received and approved two qualified grant applications which left $1,398 remaining in the fund for the remainder of the year. These applications were for:

∙ 76-78 Main Street: $39,930 in January 2025 for siding installation, brick tuckpointing, and various building renovations to the roof, awning, soffit, gutter, and downspouts.

∙ 19 E. Jackson Street: $38,672 in February 2025 for the complete separation of a common sanitary sewer hookup that the property shares with 25 E. Jackson.

After approval of the second grant application at the February 4, 2025 Village Board meeting, Trustee Guist asked for a Committee of the Whole discussion on making additional grant funding available for future applicants. Staff was directed to prepare information on what the Village’s options are and how they could be funded.

Staff has identified two options for considering future grant applications and two options for funding sources:

Grant Applications

1) Evaluate additional applications on a case-by-case basis which would be approved and funded based on the individual application’s merits.

2) Budget additional funds through a mid-year budget amendment which would be made available to future applicants, including applicants in 2026 and beyond. As a result, the Board would be committing the funds even if they are not used this year.

Funding Sources

1) CY25 Budget Surplus

2) Excess fund balance

Based on internal staff discussions, it is being recommended that any changes made to the EDIA program still allows the program to remain flexible and easy to administer. The first grant application process promotes the most flexibility to future applicants while also affording staff the ability to more accurately forecast future funding sources in which to pull from. While it’s likely that the Village will have a surplus upon the completion of this budget cycle, approving applications as they’re received will be much better for determining where the money will come from prior to the year’s end.

For Additional Consideration

Freddie’s Off the Chain received a $20,000 grant back in January 2021 to help offset the costs to extend the Village’s watermain to the property. While the award was approved by the Village Board, it was never paid out as Freddie’s was required to obtain a full certificate of occupancy and open for business by June 1, 2021. Due to extenuating circumstances, Freddie’s now has a planned opening on April 1, 2025 and is requesting that the Village Board amend the grant agreement to allow the reimbursement. She may be looking for $40,000.

Board and staff discussed: whether Freddie’s Off the Chain wants $20,000 or $40,000; owner was approved for $20,000, but she’s going to ask for another $20,000; cost share for water improvements; Village paid for the majority of the water main because it was an improvement for the whole block; the unbudgeted improvement was paid through the TIF Fund; bring back Freddie’s Off the Chain’s RDA to be amended; $20,000 would need to be added to the EDIA fund; where are the funds coming from; funds were replenished in January 2025; add funds for the rest of 2025 for the downtown; don’t think we have enough information on granting the other $20,000 for Freddie’s Off the Chain; we have more buildings that need work; whether $100,000 is a realistic number for the fund; we want the downtown to thrive; EDIA is a huge help when attracting businesses; there are several downtown spaces and prospective tenants; keeping cap at $40,000; whether to increase the fund to $120,000; whether to stipulate the funds have to go to improvements that can be seen; return on investment; generating sales tax revenue; requests for funds still need to go to the Board for approval; add $100,00 for this year, but current businesses would need to wait until next budget year; will need to do a budget amendment for the $100,000; there is $20 million in the excess account; whether grant money is more enticing; options available varies by space; grant agreements; only $200,000 in the loan program fund, but it gets replenished every month; interested businesses don’t usually provide information on what is going into a specific space; sales tax sharing; will talk about how much to budget for the EDIA fund during this year’s budget meetings; if funds are not used, we follow internal policies and rollover the amount to the following year; there are eleven spaces available in the downtown; $100,000 is not going to go far. Village Board agreed to adding $100,000 to the EDIA Fund ($80,000 plus $20,000 for Freddie’s Off the Chain). There was no further discussion.

CLOSED SESSION

There was no closed session.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.

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