Village of Northbrook Board of Trustees Committee of the Whole met Oct. 13.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
IMPORTANT NOTICE: VILLAGE BOARD MEETING - VIA WEBEX
VIDEO CONFERENCE CALL
1. ROLL CALL
| Attendee Name | Title | Status | Arrived |
| Sandra Frum | Village President | Absent | |
| Kathryn Ciesla | Trustee | Present | |
| Bob Israel | Trustee | Present | |
| Muriel Collison | Trustee | Present | |
| Heather Ross | Trustee | Present | |
| Johannah Hebl | Trustee | Late | 6:20 PM |
| Dan Pepoon | Trustee | Present |
A. Board of Trustees - Committee of the Whole - Sep 22, 2020 6:00 PM
RESULT: ACCEPTED [5 TO 0]
MOVER: Dan Pepoon, Trustee
SECONDER: Muriel Collison, Trustee
AYES: Ciesla, Israel, Collison, Ross, Pepoon
ABSENT: Frum
AWAY: Hebl
3. PUBLIC COMMENT TIME
4. DISCUSSION TOPICS
A. Presentation of Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and Management Letter for Fiscal Year Ending April 30, 2020
President pro tem Ciesla asked if there were any questions in regard to the audit. Materials were included in the packet. Ann Van Vooren, from the Village’s audit firm Lauterbach & Amen, was present to answer any questions from the Trustees. There were no questions. Deputy CFO Petryszak provided the following presentation:
FY 2019/20 Audit Numbers as Compared to Original Budget show total revenues are within.34% as compared to the original budget. Total expenses came in under budget at 1.8%. Ending fund balance is within $7,000 of what was originally budgeted. Fund balance as a percentage of revenue is 50.1%, and $4.3 million above our policy to maintain reserves of 40% of revenues.
A slide presented showed FY 2019/20 final expenses by class as compared to amended budget. Three categories had variances that were larger than other categories; Contractual services because climate and downtown studies will be done in the current fiscal year, lower than anticipated maintenance costs, and the Shermer Road bike path invoice will be paid in the current year. Commodities were $200,000 under the Amended budget due to mainly to lower than expected purchases of salt. Capital expenses were $300,000 below the Amended Budget due to deferral of masonry projects and tower ladder refurbishment to the current year.
Historical Data FY 2019/20 Total Revenues as Compared to FY 2018/19 show revenues are $1.6 million more. The reason is $2.8 million in bond proceeds in FY 2019/20. There were no bond proceeds in FY 2018/19. Bond proceeds were offset by lower permit revenue of approximately $250,000 and lower sales tax.
Actual sales tax by month for FY 2019/20 show sales tax receipts for March were $350,000 less than what was budgeted. This is due to COVID.
When FY 2018/19 total expenses were adjusted for the Grainger purchase, total expenses are.8% under FY 2018/19 and that is with the $240,000 in COVID expenses in FY 2019/20.
President pro tem Ciesla asked if there were any questions. Trustee Hebl noted that sales tax figures were up in July. Trustee Hebl asked when will there be more analysis on sales tax figures. President pro tem Ciesla answered that on October 27, 2020 the Board will have discussion on the quarterly numbers. The tax levy will be addressed on November 10, 2020. The November 17, 2020 COW will be an administration and finance meeting offering public comment, staff comments and Board comments on budget priorities for next year.
Trustee Pepoon asked for clarification on Page 5 in the packet under General Corporate Fund/equity transfer. Deputy CFO Petryszak explained that this is a dedicated transfer to the police and fire pension fund. It comes from a portion of the ambulance fees.
General Fund Revenue Composition by Different Revenue Sources shows that most categories are comparable except miscellaneous, due primarily to the bond proceeds.
General Fund Expenditures by Department show that Public Safety counts for over 60% of General Fund expenditures.
President pro tem Ciesla asked if there were any questions. There were no questions.
Sustainablity Master Plan Update
Director Poupard began by stating in June 2020 the Board authorized staff to work with the consulting firm, paleBLUEdot (PBD), on the preparation of a local climate action plan and identified the Village’s environmental footprint. Data was gathered. Some data gathered was unique to Northbrook. Other data came from the surrounding areas. PBD presented a community survey to help gauge the community attitudes on climate change. It was important that all voices on the topic be heard. Results showed that the vast majority of respondents were concerned, but some were not at all concerned. The Village had the highest percentage of citizens in the community participate. However, the number was still not statistically significant.
Ted Redmond of PBD noted that the survey will be closed soon so the results can be reported. Headed that responses were validated against the Yale National Survey. A report will be put together within the next 1.5 weeks. Community listening sessions were also offered by Go Green Northbrook and St. Norbert.
Five reports were issued.
Report 1 - Vulnerability assessment
Report 2 - Greenhouse gas inventory
Report 3 - Analysis of trees within the community Report 4 - Climate action and baseline assessment
Report 5 - Potential strategy goal recommendations
President pro tem Ciesla stated that a Climate Action Planning Team (CAPT) will be formed and will meet monthly for the next 4-5 months. Trustees Israel and Ross will both represent the Board and act as co-chairs.
Tom Poupard stated that the CAPT will review the five reports and make recommendations for actionable steps by the Village. The CAPT will help to promote broad-based community understanding for the approach that will be taken. The report should be completed in April and will be presented to the Board for action. The committee is diverse and will represent a cross section of the community. It is recommended that two members be from the Environmental Quality Commission. Individuals from the taxing districts, residents at large, youths, Go Green Northbrook, members of special groups, clergy are all invited to participate. Trustees Israel and Ross will co-chair the committee and will represent the Village Board.
Trustee Ross asked if a representative from Advanced Disposal should be a part of the group. Director Poupard answered that Advance Disposal should be invited to be a subject matter expert, but not a voting member. Director Poupard shared that he has not talked with the Forest Preserve or the Water Reclamation District.
President pro tem Ciesla suggests sending the survey to the high school and asked how we can foster stewardship in our kids. Trustee Israel supported the idea and suggested utilizing the Youth Commission. Director Poupard will talk with the consultants.
Ted Redmond on behalf of PBD provided a presentation that included feedback on the survey analysis and future climate change projections. The survey report will be presented to the Board within the next two weeks. From the 415 responses, 78% are extremely concerned about climate change, 84.7% agree with the idea that change is important for Northbrook to take action on climate. In Northbrook, 92.3% observed climate change signs and 83% personally were impacted by climate change. The survey will be closed out next week.
Future climate change projection models show that the Midwest will see climate that is hotter, more drought-prone, but with more heavy rain episodes. There is a greater opportunity for surface erosion. Temperatures will rise. At the end of the century, it is predicted average temperature will increase 9-12 degrees and that there will be 55 days with above 95 degree temperatures and weather vulnerability. The models show that seasons will change. Mr. Redmond provided an example by suggesting that we think of moving the Village of Northbrook 14 miles south every year. This is how our climate will change.
PBD suggests prioritizing and identifying the risks and the change. A community vulnerability risk assessment includes looking at extreme heat, flooding (damage), air quality impacts, and nutrition insecurity. Infrastructure insecurity includes looking at the need for increased air conditioning and insulation, transportation systems (our roads), and energy systems.
Greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere 200 years plus. Greenhouses gases obscure heat leaving the planet. Emissions can be reduced. The consultant looked at Village numbers for the past ten years, 2010-2018. Village greenhouse gas emission dropped 21%. GDP has gone up 13%; employment has gone up 3.4%. The energy sector over the past ten years has dropped 27%. The energy grid is getting cleaner, some of it due to renewable energy. Transportation emissions have gone up. Solid waste emission has gone up significantly due to organics collections. Wastewater and water decreased.
Trustee Israel asked if data provided is granular to Northbrook or extracted to Northbrook. The answer was that it is a little bit of both. Utility data and water sales are very precise. Transportation data is from CMAP. Solid waste, wastewater are high confidence.
Northbrook is doing better than average. We are in the 46th percentile for per capita emissions. There may be opportunities for the Village to make changes in the community regarding emissions. Changes to Village operations may include streetlights, transportation systems, solid waste handling, water and wastewater distribution systems.
The Tree survey includes tree canopy, grass, shrub, concrete open water coverage. Trees reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They are crucial to climate change. Impervious surfaces have a multiplying effect. The Village has 37% tree canopy, 25% grass and shrub coverage, 8.9% overall service coverage, 26.7% dark surfaces (heat island). Identification of long-term goals and prioritization were presented. A formula needs to be identified on the number of trees that need to be planted each year to reach a goal of 40.8% by 2040. Green roof strategies and impervious paver systems are also important to consider in action plans.
The Solar PV potential study shows that Northbrook is above average as compared to the state of Illinois. Northbrook’s share is.26% of the population; our share of solar installations is.54%. Northbrook is twice the number of installations as compared to the total number of State installations. More potential are roof tops.
Mitigation and adaptation goal suggestions that are compatible with the 2015 Paris agreement state that GHD emission initial reduction goals should be 30% below the 2018 level by the year 2030, 80% below the 2018 level by the year 2040.
President pro tem Ciesla stated that the next step is to assemble the planning team as outlined. President pro tem Ciesla asked the Trustees if they had any questions. There were no questions.
REMARKS FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER
None
CLOSED SESSION ADJOURN
On a motion made by Trustee Pepoon and seconded by Trustee Israel the COW meeting was adjourned at 7:32 p.m.
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