Village Board of Trustees - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everybody. Welcome. This is the Village Board of Arlington Heights. Today's date is September 22nd, 2026. And I'd like to call this meeting to order. Our first order of business is the Pledge of Allegiance. So if you could all please rise and join the board.

Thank you, everybody. Maggie, if you can call the roll, please.

Here. Thank you, Maggie. We do have a couple of meeting minutes that we need to go through and approve quickly. The first one is the minutes from 9-8-26. Are there any members of the board that wish to offer corrections or changes on the minutes? Or anybody need to pass for attendance purposes on those minutes? Seeing none, is there anyone in the audience that needs to or wishes to have something corrected or changed? Seeing no hands, I'm looking for a motion to approve the 9-8-26 meeting minutes.

I will move approval of the September 8th, 2026 Village Board meeting minutes.

Motion made by Trustee Manganiello, seconded by Trustee Santamaria. Any final questions or thoughts? If not, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. And then the next one is the 7-20-26 closed session minutes. Are there any changes or corrections from anyone on the board? Anyone need to pass? Seeing none, is there a motion to approve? I'll move approval of 7-20-26 closed session minutes.

Motion made by Trustee Zik, seconded by Trustee Dunnington. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. And now we have the approval of the accounts payable for the warrant register dated 9-15-26, and I call on Trustee Bertucci.

Thank you, Mayor. I'll move approval of the warrant register for the check dated 9-15-26 in the amount of $2,398,292.77. Second.

Motion made by Trustee Bertucci, seconded by Trustee Schwingbeck. Are there any questions or comments from anyone on the board? Seeing none, is there anything that, from the audience, questions, comments on it? Seeing none, this is a roll call vote. Maggie?

Yes, motion carries. And now into recognitions and communications, and tonight is a very special night for at least two occasions, and the first being the presentation of the 2026 Kenneth Hood Senior Service Award. And I know there's a lot of folks here representing, so if I could have the chairman up and give us an introduction here.

They have their whole life ahead of them.

I think you need the microphone now, Mark. Thank you.

Yeah. It's all yours. Because if you don't, there's about 100 people here that would do it for you. Go for it.

Mark, would you be so kind as to come up here and take a photograph with the board?

He made me emotional while he was speaking. And I can speak from experience, too. I had four children, and all four of them went through the program at Hersey with Mark. And I know that he is a true gentleman and a true champion for all the kids that do all these things. And everybody loved him. Everybody loved him. So great job. We're going to, oh, yep, go ahead, Trustee Gilbert.

Now I have the microphone. So I couldn't pass it up. This is an incredible moment for you, sir. And for me, you were an amazing teacher, still are. And for some of the things that weren't highlighted was his exceptional football career for the state champion Huskies, which wasn't mentioned but needs to be. So way to go. Coach was my freshman B baseball coach, and I can say it was probably one of the most fun baseball seasons I've ever had in my entire life. And service over self at Hersey had an incredible impact on me as I was a student. And so I was there with Will Kozlowski days, but the fa

All right, so before we all end up in tears, we're going to move on to Item B in Recognitions and Communications, and that is the Abilities Celebration Announcement by the Commission for Citizens with Disabilities. And who will be doing the speaking for that? It is our illustrious Seth Gopar.

Well done, Seth. Thank you for being here. Fabulous. And so I don't want to hold everybody back. There's a couple more business items, but you're welcome to stay if you'd like. It won't be as exciting as what we've just gone through. So if you want to take a minute and exit, you're all welcome to do that. Thank you very much for being here supporting these great programs. So for those who are sticking around, the next item is citizens to be heard. And I do have two blue cards here. Anybody else who wanted to speak, please feel free to raise your hand. Donald Mearsman, are you here? Come on up,

Next is Keith Boones. Keith, come on up.

Thank you, Mr. Moons. Is there anyone else in the audience that did not fill out a blue card that would like to be recognized? Just go ahead and raise your hand and I'll call on you. Seeing none, we're gonna move on. And the next item is the consent agenda. And the consent agenda is, for those who have been here before, they know that it is a list of items that will be voted on with one vote. And tonight's vote will take care of items A through K. So is there anyone on the board that wishes to vote no or pass on any of the consent items? Is there anyone, any trustee that wants to remove a cons

Second made by Trustee Santamaria. Any final discussion from anyone in the audience or anyone on the board? Seeing none, this is a roll call vote. Maggie, please.

Yes. And I will call on Trustee Zik for his comment.

Okay, thank you, Mayor. This actually has to do with A, which was the International Code adoption to the 2024 edition as approved by the Building Code Review Board. And all I really want to do right now is, I was honored to be a part of this particular board when we went over these items. And when we first went into this meeting, there were 45 items. on there for for for us to review um i just wanted to to to call out and and thank and just tell you how fantastic this board was they did not there was not one that was rubber stamped you know you've got alex king and rob weber here who who were

Well said, Trustee Zick. Good job, men. Nicely done. I know it was a departmental thing. You guys all worked hard, so appreciate your effort. Randy, it's a reflection on you and your staff for these kinds of things that get done. I know you're going to say it's their, they did it all, but you definitely set the motion here for them to do the great job that they do.

Well done. Thanks. Okay, we're going to move on to the final order of business, and that is new business. And we have the same individuals here. We're going to bring it up. I guess we'll hand it back off to you, Manager Reklaus.

Very well, thank you, Melissa. Any questions from anyone on the board? Trustee Dunnington.

Thank you, Mayor. Melissa, thank you so much for the presentation. And thank you to the interdepartmental team that obviously spent a lot of time working on this whole process across many departments. So thank you. I think that it's really great that we're updating this to simplify it, modernize it, collect fees earlier, you mentioned, and more fees up front. I think it's just really well done, so thank you. My question is about solar panels. I noticed that under commercial it says what the plan review fee and the permit fees are for existing buildings only. What would the fees be for new buil

Sure, I can tell you what page it's on. Thank you. It's A8. And it says solar panel, existing building only. And it's $75 for plan review and 1.5% of construction costs for the permit fee.

Okay, great. One reason I wanted to clarify that is because I would like the Village Board to consider strategically lowering the cost of the permitting fee. So halving it from 1.5% to 0.75%, since we know this isn't about raising revenue or getting all of our costs back. I think that if we do that, it aligns with our sustainability plan. Under the section that's energy for our sustainability plan, One of the items, it's E14A, it says adopt codes and permitting practices that support renewable energy systems in the community. And so I think that if we lower that cost and just make solar panels

So if I understand, if the project comes in with solar panels as part of the construction, you're advocating reducing the cost of the review? If it doesn't have solar panels, it would stay at the 1.5 or 1.54? Correct. Okay. So I understand. Is there a response that staff wants to make on that, or do you want to think about it a little bit, or?

Well, maybe I can jump in for them. How about if tonight we move forward with as we have it, but ask staff to do a little bit of double checking of what are the other options like heat pumps in the ground for cool water and warm water for heating the home. There's a number of different programs that A lot of people would like to try to do, but it is expensive to do these things. And if we're getting asked them to look down those roads, maybe it's a good idea that some of the fees go down a little bit. So it's something you could come back with information on that. We could have a separate vote

Anybody on the board have thoughts on that particular item? Trustee Schwingbeck?

Yeah, Randy, I guess my initial thought is rather than reducing the entire construction project, maybe take a look at somebody that wants to put in some green initiatives and not necessarily change the fee for all construction costs. But if they're going to do a few certain things, maybe look at restructuring just that portion of the project. So if we're going to encourage solar panels or encourage other forms of green, we can reduce maybe the fees for those specific things that we're trying to encourage rather than dropping the entire construction project that may not have anything to do with

Yeah, I would say I like the idea of getting the implementation approved and then having staff come back to us. I like all the ideas that have been presented and I like the fact that Wendy brought it forward, but then it was expounded upon by both the village manager and and you the mayor um to say well you know what about other things like heat pumps and you know there's a lot of other things out there um and of course you know being having a financial background i want to make sure that melissa gets a chance to weigh in on this too And, you know, talk about, you know, let's make sure that, y

Great job on all of this. I think, staff, you guys did an amazing job. Thanks for looking at this stuff. You know, we're proud, I'm gonna speak for all of us, we're proud when these things come up and we're making these changes and it's really great. It's a point of pride for everybody. In terms of what Trustee Dunnington said, I think we should look at, I think the implementation is the first thing that kind of makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up because I would want to make sure that if somebody was bringing these designs forward that they were actually going to follow through wit

So that's it. I think that's an excellent point. Oftentimes, eyes are big, ideas are wide. And then when the budgets come in, it's like, well, I think we're going to skip that idea. So well said, Trustee Gilbert. Trustee Zik, Trustee Manganara, who's next?

All right, thank you. I have a few questions. First of all, generally I support the idea of doing things to make it more affordable to reducing fees for things that are going to achieve our strategic objectives. The first question I have is solar is the one that is called out. And I think that's why Trustee Dunnington hit upon it. I don't at a glance see anything else that's specifically green initiative related. And I don't see a reason we necessarily should wait to take some action that we can take while we look at everything else that we might add, which I definitely believe we should do. A

this if I may this is not scheduled to appear as a program until January 1st which is October November December three months away so it's not a race so we have some time to make sure we get it right and so I would be an advocate of hearing from staff and making sure that we have whatever concerns covered if it's going to be discounts or rebates or nothing at all I prefer not to not to rush into it because there's really no reason to Trustee Zik?

I have a couple more questions. The other thing related specifically to solar, are these typically done in isolation as part of larger projects when we're talking about existing construction?

Okay, thank you, Director Weber. And I'm going to ask you to stay there for a second because the next question I have kind of relates to that or is probably in your wheelhouse as well. And I think generally I agree with the way we're going. We approve what you've put in front of us tonight with a request to come back with some additional opportunities. And the other one I would like to look at, and this is why I requested the information from you on demolition, is making sure that demolition permits support a couple of our other priorities, which are affordability, attainability, and historic

And that's what I'm asking, is it the construction cost, that's the reconstruction of the property that we're basing that on?

Got it. Okay, so it's the demolition cost that we're looking at there. Thank you. That's very helpful. I would ask that staff look at means of increasing the specific demolition costs. again, to help preserve the housing stock that we have. I'd love to hear discussion from the rest of the board about that, but I don't wanna make it easier to drive up the cost of new housing than we have to.

Understood. And then lastly, the question of timing, because I know we're about to head into budget season, is it reasonable to have something more on this before the end of the year?

Done? Okay. Trustee Zik? Okay. Thank you, Mayor. First of all, everybody that did work on these fees, thank you very much. I mean, modernizing them getting them you know up to date and all that you know because what a lot of this is is that these expenses are here when for the village when we're doing this permitting and if we don't do the if we don't keep these fees current to what especially other villages are doing that goes on to the property taxpayers back to be able to pay for these. So all we're doing is we're just trying to make sure that the majority of these costs are not going there

Trustee Bertucci. Mayor, I'd like to move to approve the ordinance amending chapter seven, nine, and 14 of the village code for permit, development review, engineering, business license, and related fees effective January 1st, 2027 to update and modernize the village's fees schedule.

Okay, motion is made by Trustee Bertucci, seconded by Trustee Schwingbeck. Further discussion?

Trustee Schwingbeck. Thank you, Mayor. I was just responding to Trustee Dunnington's thoughts earlier, but just a comment and a question. I'm really glad, thank you, Melissa, for the presentation. I'm glad you were thinking about this because even going back to when I was first put on this board in 2019, one of my big concerns was with these large projects and the amount of time that staff puts in to working on these projects, and some have never moved forward. And I really like that when you start working on it, we're getting some type of money to cover a lot of your time and costs. So thank

Yeah, and we've seen some projects here recently where we approve it, shovels are in the ground, the building's up, and everything's going along as smooth as possible. But then there's other ones that we give a year extension and a six-month extension, and they just don't seem to go anywhere. And we've had a lot of year time and money wrapped up in this, and I just think some of these developers need to put something forward that can be... given back when the permitting it you know tacked on to their permitting fees so Appreciate all your work.

Thank you Trustee Santa Maria thanks mayor first. Thank you so much for all your work This was one of the first things that I remember from orientation as a trustee that was discussed so to see that it's here And I'm sure it's a big accomplishment for all of you as well to take you know check that off your your to-do list, but thank you for putting this together. Quick question, Director Weber, do you know how, off the top of your head, I'm not going to hold you to this number, but how many people request permits for solar panels on an annual basis? Are we talking about five or are we talking

I just didn't know if, you know, are we trying to make something work for, I do think, I like what Trustee Dunnington's asking. I think it's a good question. It's a good move, and I think it could be some low-hanging fruit, but I also hear Manager Recklaus about the unintended consequences. So whatever we do, I think we have until the end of the year to think through. Just was curious about what that number was.

Anything else from anyone? All right, we do have a motion from Trustee, oh, I'm sorry, Trustee Donahue, go right ahead.

Just a follow up. Thank you, I appreciate the thoughts about solar panels and I'm comfortable with waiting and getting more information. I just would ask that we would do that by the end of the year since this is gonna go into effect January 1st. And I had one question about the comment you made about the Historic Preservation Committee. Do you envision that the committee would look at homes that are affordable but not historic or would the committee just be looking at homes that are historic? Because I think that there's a difference, and that kind of gets to what Trustee Manganiello was talk

Okay. So I want to ask that while the Historic Preservation Committee is doing their work on what that might look like, that the Village Board has a committee of the whole discussion about homes that are affordable, right? So that we're looking at, like, are there homes that we want to keep affordable in maybe certain neighborhoods or a percentage of homes that we would want to keep affordable? Because since that's separate from the work of the...

Is there anyone in the audience here tonight that wanted to weigh in on this? Come on up, introduce yourself.

Anybody else in the audience? Seeing no hands. And one more time up here. Anybody else? If not, we do have a motion by Trustee Bertucci, seconded by Trustee Schwingbeck. And I think we'll do a roll call vote on this one.

Yes. All right, unanimous approval. Thank you, staff, for putting the time and effort in this to get it done. I'm sure there's more work to do. as we discussed tonight, but this is a great step in the right direction. That is the conclusion of a new business, and I'll hand it back off to Manager Reklaus for the introduction to the closed session.

SECOND. IS THAT TRUSTEE ZICK? MOTION MADE BY TRUSTEE ZICK, SECOND BY TRUSTEE MANGINERO. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION, COMMENTS? SEEING NONE, IT'S A ROLL CALL VOTE, SORRY. GO AHEAD.

Yes. All right. Thank you, everybody. We are entering into a closed session. We'll not be reporting out. Thank you, everyone.