OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Committee of the Whole Meeting - April 21, 2026: Capital, Commercial, and Residential Project Updates

Village Board & Commissions — Tuesday, April 21, 2026
BodyOswego, Illinois
SessionVillage Board & Commissions
DateTuesday, April 21, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 36:47

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

All right.

0:01

Welcome to our committee of the whole.

0:02

Roll call, please.

0:04

President Kaufman.

0:06

Here.

0:07

Trustee Hughes.

0:08

Here.

0:08

Trustee Coneg.

0:10

Here.

0:10

Trustee McCarthy Lang.

0:12

Here.

0:13

Trustee Novi here.

0:15

Trustee Torres.

0:16

Here.

0:17

Trustee Cooper, absent.

0:19

All right.

0:20

First up, we're going to open the public forum.

0:22

If there's anyone wishing to address the board, please feel free to come forward now.

0:34

Seeing nobody, we're going to close the public forum and move on to new business.

0:37

Under new business, we have item F1.

0:40

Rod.

0:41

Or Kurt and Kevin, whoever would like to take it.

0:44

I'll start the presentation.

0:47

Good evening.

0:48

At the February 17th Village Board meeting, Trustee Hughes requested a presentation highlighting projects that residents can expect to see in the upcoming construction season.

1:00

For my portion, I'll walk you through the Capitol projects organized by the CIP categories, facilities, public improvements, water and sewer, and other.35 miles east to the south leg of Douglas Road, and approximately 500 feet north and south of the roundabout.

3:38

This segment will continue the widening of Wolf's Crossing with the addition of the roundabout at Douglas intersection.

3:46

The complete roadway will include a five-foot sidewalk along the south side of Wolf's Crossing and an eight-foot multi-use path along the north side.

3:58

There will be three full accesses, one at Piper Glen Avenue, one at Bluegrass Parkway, and one at the south leg of Douglas Road, with one right in, right out access for Aventera at Blackbird Street.

4:14

The construction contract is just under 11 million dollars with a federal grant to fund 80% of the project.

4:22

The contractors begin stripping topsoil and plans to start water main installation here in the next couple of weeks.

4:30

Kurt, is there anything we can do to prevent cut-through traffic on Bluegrass Parkway or Southbury while this project's going on?

4:39

Yeah, so we have asked the contractor to put up some signage that just says no con or no through traffic.

4:48

Outside of that uh targeted enforcement.

4:52

I mean it's public street.

4:53

Sure.

4:54

So uh we're kind of limited on what we can do, but we did request no through traffic.

5:00

Thank you.

5:00

Yes, ma'am.

5:08

The annual road maintenance project is the village's annual investment in street maintenance.

5:13

Repairs with this program can include asphalt resurfacing, full depth patching, concrete curb, sidewalk repairs, ADA ramp upgrades, and drainage improvements.

5:25

This year's program includes the following streets, and bear with me.

5:30

Amherst, Ashgrove, Bayberry, Bower, Carnation, Century, Chestnut, Durham, Fairfield, Lennox, Lincoln Station, Lombardy, Mill Road, Northampton, Northgate, Nottingham, Ogden Falls, Old Post, Paradise, Plainfield Road, Spruce, Victoria, Wembley, Yokum, and York.

6:00

The limits and type of improvement for each street can be found on the village website by viewing the interactive map for the 2026 road resurfacing program.

6:10

Construction actually began yesterday.

6:13

That was another revision I had to make because we thought it was going to start on May 4th, but it started yesterday and will be completed by fall of this year.

6:55

Budgeted construction costs are at 1.93 million dollars.

7:07

As part of our annual program to rehabilitate our sanitary sewers, we have selected the highlighted area to clean, televise, make any necessary point repairs, and line the sewers as needed for the sanitary sewer and manhole rehab project.

7:24

This work is being completed ahead of the main street water main project, which is also in the same highlighted area.

7:35

And on the back side of the handout I provided this evening, you'll see a different graphic that provides two different phases to give you an idea of what the phasing looks like for the main street water main project.

7:49

The main street water main project consists of two phases to replace existing four and six-inch water lines, some of which are almost a hundred years old with new eight-inch ductal iron water mains.

8:02

Due to the large area of the replacement, this project was split into two phases.

8:07

Phase one includes Main Street, Madison, Douglas, Maple, and Judson, and will be completed this year.

8:16

Phase two will include Wilson Place, Benton, Tyler, and Van Buren, and is expected to be completed in 2027.

8:25

The apparent low bid was $3.4 million, and the recommendation is on the regular village board agenda for this evening.

8:39

Lake Michigan receiving stations.

8:41

As part of the village's transition from groundwater to Lake Michigan water delivered by the DuPage Water Commission, three receiving stations must be constructed at designated connection points.

8:54

These connection points or receiving stations will be at Ogden Falls, Cole Avenue, and Tuscany Trails.

9:01

The Ogden Falls receiving station is currently under construction, and the Coal Avenue and Tuscany Trail Stations are expected to start construction later this year.

9:12

The construction contract for this project is 9.5 million dollars.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████████████████24%
Land Use Planning█████████████████████21%
Procedural████████████12%
Industrial Development████████████12%
Water And Wastewater Management█████████9%
Economic Development█████████9%
Public Engagement████████8%
Parks and Recreation█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Committee of the Whole Meeting - April 21, 2026: Capital, Commercial, and Residential Project Updates

The Committee of the Whole met on April 21, 2026, at 6:00 PM at Oswego Village Hall. The meeting focused on presentations updating the Village Board on capital infrastructure projects, commercial development, and residential construction. No members of the public addressed the Board during the Public Forum.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made.

Discussion Items

Capital Project Updates

  • Wolf's Crossing Road Improvements (Douglas Road roundabout): Construction contract just under $11 million, with 80% federal funding. Work includes widening, sidewalk/multi-use path, and three full accesses. Topsoil stripping and water main installation beginning shortly. Trustee Hughes inquired about preventing cut-through traffic on Bluegrass Parkway; staff noted signage and limited enforcement options.
  • Annual Road Maintenance Program: $1.93 million program covering 26 streets (e.g., Amherst, Ashgrove, Chestnut, etc.). Construction began April 20 (earlier than planned) and will be completed by fall 2026.
  • Sanitary Sewer Rehab: Cleaning, lining, and point repairs in the Main Street area, coordinated ahead of the Main Street water main project.
  • Main Street Water Main Replacement (Phase 1): Replacing old 4- and 6-inch lines with 8-inch ductile iron on Main, Madison, Douglas, Maple, Judson. Apparent low bid of $3.4 million; recommendation on the regular board agenda for approval. Phase 2 (Wilson, Benton, Tyler, Van Buren) planned for 2027.
  • Lake Michigan Receiving Stations: Three stations (Ogden Falls, Cole Avenue, Tuscany Trails) at total construction contract of $9.5 million. Ogden Falls under construction; others expected to start later in 2026.
  • Pump Station Security Upgrades: 8-foot no-climb fence at 10 sites, beginning summer 2026.
  • Waterlink Project (Lake Michigan water to Oswego, Montgomery, Yorkville): Total estimated cost $351 million, split into eight segments. Segment 1 (Book Road) under construction; Segment 2 awarded but start date uncertain; Segments 3 and 4 could start June 2026. Most pipework in ComEd easements, minimizing road closures. Staff noted cooperation from Oswego East High School (allowing crossing on their property) and Naperville (road closure saving $20 million).
  • Happy Tales Dog Park (Phase 2): 2-acre park off Cole Avenue, designed in-house, $120,000 estimated cost. Construction will wait until after Waterlink Segment 6 completion to avoid conflict.
  • Bike Path Seal Coating: 8.5 miles of bike paths, $11,000, starting July 2026.
  • Village Hall Improvements: Parking lot mill/overlay and ADA concrete work, $274,000.

Commercial Development Updates

  • Recent and Ongoing Projects: Over $8.7 million in new construction in 2025 (excluding Reserve at Hudson Crossing North Building, which would bring total over $13 million). Key underway projects include:
    • Trader Joe's: 12,500 sq ft grocery plus up to 10,000 sq ft additional retail, developed by Benderson Development. Opening expected later in 2026.
    • Dutch Bros: 1,200 sq ft drive-through (with walk-up) at Route 34, approved at last board meeting, construction later in 2026, late 2026 completion hoped.
    • Home Goods: 25,000 sq ft retail space on Route 34; final approval on tonight's agenda; construction anticipated May 2026, opening late 2026 or early 2027.
    • Harrison Street Square (Downtown): Incubator retail shops (similar to Batavia Boardwalk), food truck alley, green space, concurrent with Harrison Street reconstruction. A board member noted that Batavia's boardwalk shops resulted in 75% of tenants moving to permanent brick-and-mortar locations.
    • Orchard Woods: 10,000 sq ft retail at Lewis & Orchard Road; site prep underway.
  • Staff emphasized strong commercial demand driven by residential growth.

Residential Development Updates

  • Active Projects (East to West): Rod Zenner provided an overview of over a dozen residential developments, including Hudson Point 2, Sonoma Trails, Polo Crossings, Jada States, Hummel Trails (Neighborhoods 10, 12, 13, 14), Harvest Gate, Windgate, Piper Glen, Deer Path Trails, Trailer States, Reserve at Hudson Crossing North Building (just opened), Parksmith Run (concept plan), Pine Ridge Club, and Tuscany Station.
  • Housing Composition Discussion: A board member, referencing confirmed data, reported that of homes currently in the pipeline: 2,352 single-family homes (53%), 1,302 townhomes (29%), 100 duplexes (2%), and 709 multifamily units (16%). The member highlighted the shortage of apartment options, noting that almost all multifamily units are either pre‑leased or not yet built, leaving very few rental options in town. This context was presented to explain the board's support for multifamily projects.
  • Growth and Demand: Other board members commented that the volume of development demonstrates Oswego's desirability, and that commercial developers are eager to locate in the community because of the residential base.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken during the Committee of the Whole meeting.
  • Items scheduled for action at the regular Village Board meeting that evening (April 21, 2026) include: final approval for the Home Goods project, and the recommendation to award the Main Street water main contract.
  • The Board unanimously voted to enter Closed Session for pending litigation, personnel, collective bargaining, and property acquisition matters.
  • The next steps for capital projects and developments were outlined; most construction is occurring or starting in the 2026 season.

Meeting Transcript

All right. Welcome to our committee of the whole. Roll call, please. President Kaufman. Here. Trustee Hughes. Here. Trustee Coneg. Here. Trustee McCarthy Lang. Here. Trustee Novi here. Trustee Torres. Here. Trustee Cooper, absent. All right. First up, we're going to open the public forum. If there's anyone wishing to address the board, please feel free to come forward now. Seeing nobody, we're going to close the public forum and move on to new business. Under new business, we have item F1. Rod. Or Kurt and Kevin, whoever would like to take it. I'll start the presentation. Good evening. At the February 17th Village Board meeting, Trustee Hughes requested a presentation highlighting projects that residents can expect to see in the upcoming construction season. For my portion, I'll walk you through the Capitol projects organized by the CIP categories, facilities, public improvements, water and sewer, and other.35 miles east to the south leg of Douglas Road, and approximately 500 feet north and south of the roundabout. This segment will continue the widening of Wolf's Crossing with the addition of the roundabout at Douglas intersection. The complete roadway will include a five-foot sidewalk along the south side of Wolf's Crossing and an eight-foot multi-use path along the north side. There will be three full accesses, one at Piper Glen Avenue, one at Bluegrass Parkway, and one at the south leg of Douglas Road, with one right in, right out access for Aventera at Blackbird Street. The construction contract is just under 11 million dollars with a federal grant to fund 80% of the project. The contractors begin stripping topsoil and plans to start water main installation here in the next couple of weeks. Kurt, is there anything we can do to prevent cut-through traffic on Bluegrass Parkway or Southbury while this project's going on? Yeah, so we have asked the contractor to put up some signage that just says no con or no through traffic. Outside of that uh targeted enforcement. I mean it's public street. Sure. So uh we're kind of limited on what we can do, but we did request no through traffic. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. The annual road maintenance project is the village's annual investment in street maintenance. Repairs with this program can include asphalt resurfacing, full depth patching, concrete curb, sidewalk repairs, ADA ramp upgrades, and drainage improvements. This year's program includes the following streets, and bear with me. Amherst, Ashgrove, Bayberry, Bower, Carnation, Century, Chestnut, Durham, Fairfield, Lennox, Lincoln Station, Lombardy, Mill Road, Northampton, Northgate, Nottingham, Ogden Falls, Old Post, Paradise, Plainfield Road, Spruce, Victoria, Wembley, Yokum, and York. The limits and type of improvement for each street can be found on the village website by viewing the interactive map for the 2026 road resurfacing program. Construction actually began yesterday. That was another revision I had to make because we thought it was going to start on May 4th, but it started yesterday and will be completed by fall of this year. Budgeted construction costs are at 1.93 million dollars. As part of our annual program to rehabilitate our sanitary sewers, we have selected the highlighted area to clean, televise, make any necessary point repairs, and line the sewers as needed for the sanitary sewer and manhole rehab project. This work is being completed ahead of the main street water main project, which is also in the same highlighted area. And on the back side of the handout I provided this evening, you'll see a different graphic that provides two different phases to give you an idea of what the phasing looks like for the main street water main project.

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