Oswego Committee of the Whole Meeting - May 26, 2026
Oswego Committee of the Whole Meeting - May 26, 2026
The Oswego Village Board Committee of the Whole met on May 26, 2026 at 6:00 PM to discuss downtown overnight parking permit fees and receive a first quarter financial update for 2026. The meeting began with public comments from two residents.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Chris Kearns, Commander of the Swego American Legion, announced the Legion’s plans to rebuild and relocate from its current century-old building. They are seeking land and possibly village assistance to construct a new facility with a minimum 250-person banquet hall. They are also modernizing operations with a point-of-sale system and credit card acceptance.
- Anthony Bridges, a resident of Southbury, raised concerns about the condition of Lynchfield Way, stating that the promised top coating had not been applied and the street is deteriorationg. Village staff (Public Works Director Kirk Cassidy) agreed to speak with him after the meeting.
Discussion Items
- Downtown Overnight Parking Permits (F.1): Staff presented an analysis of parking fees for the Hudson Crossing parking garages. The first building (176 units, 333 spaces) opened in 2021 with first-permit fees at $50/month (vs. a potential $83.33) and second-permit fees at $83.33. A second building (104 units, 118 spaces) recently opened. A consultant’s 20-year maintenance study projected $6.2 million in costs over 20 years, with $1.3 million needed in the next five years (2027–2031). Staff recommended increasing the total permits to 300 across both buildings and raising the first-permit fee to a range of $60–$81/month. After discusion, the board leaned toward setting the first permit at $60/month (a $10 increase) and increasing the second permit incrementally each year by CPI or 5% (whichever is less) until it reaches $87/month, then holding it there. The board agreed that the general fund should cover about one-third of the maintenance costs (roughly $87,000/year) reflecting the public use of the garage. The fee structure would be reviewed again in five years. Staff will bring back a formal ordinance at a future meeting.
- CY26 First Quarter Financial Update (E.1): Finance Director Andrea provided an overview of the village’s fiscal position. The general fund ended 2025 with an unresticted balance of $33 million; after transfers for the public works project, the balance is projected at $15.7 million (far above the $8.2 million target). First quarter results showed revenues at 26% of budget and expenditures at 21%, indicating strong performance. Sales tax and income tax are outperforming. The water and sewer fund has $8.7 million in unresticted net assets (target $4.6 million). The village is proceeding with financing for the Lake Michigan connection: a WiFi loan closing in June/July, a bond sale in late July, and a line of credit to fund the second DuPage Water Commission payment. The grocery tax rebate provided $100,000 to over 12,000 residents. The parking fund has $347,000 net position, adequate for 2–3 years. Development-related water tap-on fees have already exceeded the annual budget. Risks include rising fuel and electricity costs.
Key Outcomes
- The board reached consensus on a parking fee structure: first permit at $60/month, second permit to increase incrementally to $87/month, with a five-year review cycle. Staff will draft an ordinance.
- The board acknowledged the strong financial condition and will continue monitoring fuel and energy costs.
- A resident’s road concerns were referred to Public Works for follow-up.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome to our committee of the whole meeting. Roll call, please. President Coppin. Here. Trusty Cooper. Here. Trustee Hughes. Here. Trustee McCarthy Lang. Here. Trustee Novi. Here. Trustee Torres. Here. Trustee Koenig, absent. All right. First up, we're going to open the public forum. If there's anyone wishing to address the board in the public, please feel free to come forward now. Good evening. You gotta press the button, you're not on. There you go. Good evening for those that don't know. My name is Chris Kearns. I'm the commander of the Swego American Legion. Um I just wanted to take a few minutes of your time this evening to make sure that you heard from me and not anything that may eventually be coming out. But the Legion is looking to rebuild and relocate. We've been at the current facility for 79 years, but the building is over a hundred years old and it's really just not working out anymore. Obviously, Oswego is in our name, so we are not planning on leaving the village, but we know we're not going to be able to stay downtown. So we uh recently opened up uh an account for a new building fund. We're gonna start working on some fundraising. Um, but I wanted to make sure that as a resident and a partner here in Oswego, the Legion wanted to make sure that you guys heard it from us first because we definitely think that there's something that the village would be able to to help out with at some point and continue the partnerships that we've had for so long, um, whether it's working with your development people and helping us try to find some land. Um, our ultimate goal in the new facility would have a minimum of a 250 person banquet hall. That way we can keep some of the business that we've seen going outside of the village in the village, and within that would have a divider wall so that we could also then break it down into two rentable units at 125, which we have been researching a lot and finding that a lot of wedding venues and things like that or conference venues, 250 to 300 is about a norm. So we're thinking that depending on cost-wise, if we could do a 250 to up to a 300-person venue hall, um, it would not only benefit the Legion, but it would also benefit our community and not have some of the activities leave our village. Um so that's where we're at right now, very preliminary. Um, really just getting started. We have been making some serious changes with the new officer board that we have at the Legion. Um in the next couple weeks, we'll be going to a point of sale system, which for most people that should have been done in the 19th century. Um, but we're trying our best to get things up to the 21st century. Um in the next 30 to 60 days, we will also start taking credit card, which still blows my mind that up to this point we've maintained being cash only. So there are definitely some changes already taking place, and that's really about it. All right, awesome. Thank you very much, Chris. Appreciate that. All right, is there anyone else wishing to address the board? Sir, please. Oh, no problem at all. Just please uh state your name. My name is Anthony Bridges. I think you gotta hit the button to get the red light.
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