Village of Oswego Committee of the Whole met Jan. 20

Village of Oswego Committee of the Whole met Jan. 20.

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 Jac Cooper, Rachelle Koenig, Karin McCarthy-Lange, Karen Novy, and Andrew Torres.

Board Members Absent: Trustee Jennifer Hughes

Staff Physically Present: Dan Di Santo, Village Administrator; Jean Bueche, Asst. Village Administrator; Tina Touchette, Village Clerk; Jason Bastin, Police Chief; Andrea Lamberg, Finance Director; Curt Cassidy, Public Works Director; Rachel Riemenschneider, Asst. Development Services Director; Kevin Leighty, Economic Development Director; Maddie Upham, Asst. to the Village Administrator; Lisset Padilla, Communications Manager; and James Murphy, Village Attorney.

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

President Kauffman noted that Trustee Hughes would like to electronically attend tonight’s Committee of the Whole meeting. She submitted the necessary documents to the Village Clerk.

A motion was made by Trustee Koenig and seconded by Trustee McCarthy-Lange to approve Trustee Jennifer Hughes to electronically attend the January 20, 2026 Committee of the Whole Meeting.

Aye: Jac Cooper    Rachelle Koenig

Karin McCarthy-     Lange Karen Novy

Andrew Torres

Nay: None

Absent: Jennifer Hughes

The motion was declared carried by a roll call vote with five (5) aye votes and zero (0) nay votes. Trustee Jennifer Hughes attended electronically at 6:03 p.m.

PUBLIC FORUM 

Public Forum was opened at 6:03 p.m. There was no one 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 Discuss Provisions to Amend Municipal Code to Include a $750.00 Admin Fee for Fleeing or Attempting to Elude

Chief Bastin addressed the Board regarding an admin fee for fleeing or eluding. The Oswego Police Department (OPD) has seen a rise in motorists fleeing and attempting to elude the police during traffic stops. Since 2020, there have been thirty-three instances in which a motorist fled from the police during the initiation of a traffic stop. The OPD has a restrictive pursuit policy to ensure the safety of the public. Since 2020, there have only been three pursuits initiated by Oswego Police Officers. While the pursuit policy ensures safety, the mere act of a vehicle fleeing without being pursued creates an unnecessary danger to the public.

There is a financial impact to investigating these incidents after they have occurred. The table below shows the approximate cost to the Village for investigating a fleeing and eluding incident. It includes the time an officer spends initiating a traffic stop, subsequent reporting, investigative work, and time spent testifying in court to secure a conviction. This is the minimum amount of time, at current pay rates, for cases in which there are leads. When there are no leads, we are reliant on the registered owner to provide us with information. As you may speculate, the registered owners of the vehicles never cooperate or provide information on who was driving the vehicle when it fled from the police.

Chief Bastin recommended amending Municipal Code Sec. 6-1-12. “Administrative Booking Fee” to an “Administrative Fee” and adding a $750.00 fee for Fleeing or Attempting to Elude. $750.00 is based on the time and resources required to prosecute these cases. Instituting this measure will help advance the goal of improving roadway safety.

Additional discussion included: fleeing and eluding is happening nationally; many departments have adopted pursuit policies; mindset is that people think the police will not chase them; pursuits not expected to stay low; anything we can do to prevent fleeing and eluding; admin fee is an added layer of prevention; can proceed without knowing who the owner is; what happens when you go to the registered owner and they say they don’t know who was driving; the owner has to be willing to take ownership; what defines fleeing; officer discretion; officer takes actions of the driver into consideration; what happens if the car is stolen; owner of the stolen vehicle does not get the fee; took the policy from Naperville; Naperville started the policy in 2023/2024; policy is not common; intent is to prevent and recoup costs; why other communities are not doing this; there is a big split about pursuit policies; pursuit policy weighs the risks to the public; high probability the offending driver will crash; purpose is for safety; hoping once more communities adopt the policy, fleeing and eluding may decrease; administrative process is separate from the criminal process; admin fee information will be available to the public; whether there is a cost to the Village when the fee payment goes past 30 days; collection agency will take over and keep 30% of the fee payment; whether the admin fee should be increased due to late payment; attorney is involved through the adjudication process; attorney is already contracted as part of adjudication; in the adjudication process, an additional fee is accessed if found liable; unsure how many are repeat offenders; straight $750 fee; it is not a fine; don’t know why there was a spike in the number of incidents in 2024; have been increasing traffic enforcement; this is not a tactic to make money; this is to protect the public; currently have an admin impound fee; try not to impound vehicles; $750 is not going to make money for the Village; fee transfers to the person signing the affidavit; many eluding incidents result in innocent people being injured or dying; insurance companies are cracking down; cause and effect; a lot of towns are watching these types of policies; will see more communities doing this; have a higher amount of traffic; crashes are going up year after year; want officers out making roads safer; policy only applies to vehicles that need to be registered.

Chief was directed to:

1) Look into late fees

2) look into whether the incidents are from Village residents or residents of other communities There was no further discussion.

CLOSED SESSION 

There was no closed session.

ADJOURNMENT 

The meeting adjourned at 6:32 p.m.

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