Oak Brook Board of Trustees Meeting of July 14, 2009

The meeting was called to order at 7:30PM. The video podcast of the entire meeting is available at http://www.oakbrooktv.org/ . Trustee Carson was absent and President Craig and Trustee Zannis were late. Trustee Aktipis was elected acting President. The first item on the agenda was Resolution of Appreciation for Susan Templeton whose two-year term at the Police Pension Fund was not renewed. Trustee Aktipis then noted that about a month ago he had told the Village Manager to cut the 2010 budget by $1.5M. The closed session would consider $1.1M of cuts, but they were not yet enough. Trustee Saiyed pointed out that the previous board had already made over $1.2M worth of cuts starting a year ago. Next came visitor comments. Terry O’Malley supported the appointment of Fred Cappetta to the Police and Fire Board. Barbara Benerza spoke against privatizing the library. Cathy Giangrasse complained that transparency was claimed during the campaign but disappeared after the election. The latest example is the appointment of new members to six boards and commissions. A procedure had been developed four years ago and confirmed two years ago by unanimous vote of the trustees for the shared selection of best candidates from whom the President would make his nomination. This insured through vetting of candidates and no surprises with complete transparency. The incumbent trustees were not informed of the nominees until a few days before this meeting and had not met them. Acting President Aktipis admonished Harry Peters not to repeat arguments that had been presented. Peters praised the Taste of Oak Brook and the fireworks. He then noted the awarding of athlete of the year to Katy Truedson and Doug Rybar. He noted that while the Citizens Finance Advisory Committee had just been created and had only one meeting, some board members were demanding an immediate $1.5M cut in employees. He suggested that to retain the highest level of village services, the village needed to retain outstanding employees. President Craig arrived during Peters’ comments. Trustee Aktipis responded to Peters’ comments stating the CFCA was created to suggest long-term budget plans and improve budget transparency. The budget crisis required immediate drastic action. Anne Vekich spoke in support of the library. Trustee Wolin responded that he also supported the library. The consultants on the library began their study. All of the village departments were being cut, not just the library. The last resident to comment was Joan Mullins. She commented on the lack of transparency in the appointment system in that no names of nominees were included in the public agenda. She commented on the appearance of bias in favor of Chief Sheahan on the part of Mr. Cappetta and on the disregard for the village ordinance limiting temporary appointments to 90 days. The next agenda item was approval of minutes for May 26. Trustee Zannis moved to table. The consent agenda included referral to Plan or Zoning for a medical office building to be built at 1800 York Rd., driveway gates at 44 Windsor, and a new store in the Promenade. It also included the ordinances for Planned Unit Development and a PUD Commission. President Craig removed the Promenade item from the consent agenda and moved to table it. The consent agenda was approved without the Promenade item, which was tabled. President Craig then took up Board and Commission appointments. He appointed Trustees Moy and Carson to work on a more expedient way of dealing with appointments than the procedure that had been agreed to by the previous two boards. He said he would tell them one on one what he was proposing. Next on the agenda was the B&T outsourcing. Trustee Zannis introduced Kathy Manofsky who reviewed the history of the B&T Clubhouse and urged outsourcing it to Calihan Catering. Nash and Lee Calihan then gave a presentation on Calihan Catering. Trustee Zannis then moved that the village attorney be authorized to draw up a contract with Calihan Catering to be approved by the board at their next meeting. Next was Appointments to Boards and Commissions. There were six boards and commissions on the agenda, but President Craig moved to table all of them except for the appointment of Fred Cappetta to the Fire and Police Commission. Mr. Cappetta had been through the appointments procedure two years ago. Trustee Wolin said that although he had voted against Mr. Cappetta two years ago, Mr. Cappetta had done a good job under his temporary appointment and had earned his support now. Unanimous approval. Next Trustee Wolin presented a resolution opposing modification of the Graue Mill dam. This passed. Then a bond refunding passed that saved $100,000 this year and over $80,000 in future years. Then an ordinance adding alcohol conviction to the prohibitions for taxi license passed. The 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report has been placed on public file. An option to electronically pay water bills through the Illinois State Treasurer was approved. The bids for an RFP to upgrade the village’s wireless network were all too high so none were accepted. Trustee Wolin updated the status of the proposal for upgraded streetlights along 22nd Street. There is nothing to vote on, but this must be worked on because the state now is going to rebuild 22nd street and that will be the best time to upgrade these streetlights. After comments thanking people for help with Taste of Oak Brook and staff efforts on personnel cuts, the board moved to closed session to discuss personnel cuts and other matters. The Doings article on this is at http://www.pioneerlocal.com/oakbrook/news/1678448,oak-brook-fired-072109-s1.article/