Sangamon Sun

Village of La Grange Board of Trustees met Oct. 25.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 

The Board of Trustees of the Village of La Grange meeting was called to order at 6:02 p.m. by President Kuchler. On roll call, as read by Village Clerk Paul Saladino, the following were: 

PRESENT: Trustees Augustine, Gale, Kotynek (arrived at 6:42 p.m.), McGee, O'Brien and Peterson 

ABSENT: None 

OTHERS: Village Manager Andrianna Peterson 

Finance Director Lou Cipparrone 

Community Development Director Charity Jones 

Fire Chief Terry Vavra Interim 

Police Chief Jason Cates Deputy 

Police Chief Robert Wardlaw 

Public Works Director Richard Colby 

Executive Assistant Maureen Rush 

Facilitator, Greg Kuhn, NIU Governmental Studies 

2. PUBLIC COMMENT 

None 

VILLAGE BOARD PLANNING SESSION 

President Kuchler provided opening remarks and introduced facilitator Greg Kuhn. Mr. Kuhn reviewed the agenda for the strategic planning process and results of the Strategic Planning Session of 2019. He stated that one of the most important functions that Village Boards undertake is strategic planning. He stated that effective Boards are able to state the mission and hold the organization accountable. Given limited resources and competing ideas, the strategic planning session reflects the Board's choices and direction for the next two years and beyond. As a first exercise, he asked the Village Board what they would expect to see if they were to leave La Grange and return several years from now. He also reviewed the SWOT exercise completed in 2019 and asked the Village Board if there were any significant changes to the Village's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Finally, the Village Board was asked to review and affirm the Village's foundational elements and overarching objective of enhancing and preserving the quality of life in La Grange. 

Village Manager Peterson was asked by President Kuchler to review the status of the 2019 goals. President Kuchler asked Finance Director Cipparrone to provide a presentation regarding capital improvement needs and available funding options. President Kuchler asked Community Development Director Jones to provide a presentation regarding parklets, post COVID outdoor dining and parking considerations, and the Community Center. 

Mr. Kuhn asked the Village Board to identify short term and long term goals. Matters discussed included: south basin flood relief; digitizing code / preservation of historical records; post COVID outdoor dining; connectivity with business districts south of 47th Street; ARPA funding uses; railroad pedestrian underpass; timeline for capital funding option: potential bond issuance; meetings with commercial realtors regarding vacant/underutilized spaces, police accreditation; implementation of a funding plan for infrastructure replacement; comprehensive plan; implementation of new technology; succession planning; and employee retention. 

President Kuchler thanked the Village Board, staff and facilitator. As a next step, staff was asked to develop a draft summary of the comments for the Village Board and staff's review, before finalizing the plan. 

CLOSED SESSION 

None 

ADJOURNMENT 

A motion to adjourn at 9:54 p.m. was made by Trustee Kotynek and seconded by Trustee Gale. 

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