HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 05/11/2010 - Board of Trustees (2)Village of Oak Brook Closed Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 2 May 11, 2010
MINUTES OF THE MAY 11, 2010 CLOSED MEETING OF THE
PRESIDENT AND BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF OAK
BROOK REVIEWED BY VILLAGE BOARD ON
1.CALL TO ORDER
The Closed Meeting of May 11, 2010 of the Village Board of Trustees was called to order by
President Craig in the Upper Level Conference Room of the Butler Government Center at 9:30
p.m.
2.ROLL CALL:
The Village Clerk Charlotte Pruss called the roll with the following persons
PRESENT: President John Craig, Trustee Stelios Aktipis, Trustee James Carson, Trustee
Mark Moy, Trustee Moin Saiyed, Trustee Gerald Wolin and Trustee Elaine
Zannis
ABSENT: None
IN ATTENDANCE: Village Manager David Niemeyer, Village Attorney Mark Sterk and
Assistant Village Manager Blaine Wing, Finance Director Sharon Dangles
3.TO DISCUSS COLLECTIVE NEGOTIATING MATTERS BETWEEN THE PUBLIC BODY AND
ITS EMPLOYEES OR THEIR REPRESENTATIVES, OR DELIBERATIONS CONCERNING
SALARY SCHEDULES FOR ONE OR MORE CLASSES OF EMPLOYEES (2C2)
Police Union: Police Chief Thomas Sheahan enters the meeting. Assistant Village Manager
Wing stated that the union representatives felt that two health insurance related changes to the
proposal would help them get a majority of their members to vote to approve the contract. He
stated that the first item involves the smoking and spousal surcharges; the second item they
requested was a postponement of six months of the insurance increase. He stated that he
believes they are very close to a settlement if the Village concedes these items above.
Discussion ensued regarding these issues. Assistant Village Manager Wing stated that if
agreed to, this proposal would be retroactive to January, 2009 and cover through 2011.
President Craig asked for an indication of how the Trustees felt about the proposal and there
was a consensus in favor of the proposal to the union. Chief Sheahan exits the meeting.
Fire Union: Fire Chief Thomas McEllin enters the meeting. Assistant Village Manager Wing
stated that after meeting with the Fire Union representatives regarding the minimum staffing
issue in relation to the resignation recently of a firefighter/paramedic. He stated that a proposal
from the union is expected in mid-June. Assistant Village Manager Wing requested from the
Board the authority to direct the Village Manager to authorize filling the vacancy to avoid
incurring additional potential legal liability due to the complement of full-time
firefighter/paramedics being now down below minimum staffing; he stated that this would enable
the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners (BFPC) the authority at their meeting next week to
start screening the top ranked candidate on the eligibility list. Assistant Village Manager Wing
stated that staff is seeking direction to form a part-time firefighter program to send a clear
message to the union; he stated that this would require a full-time/part-time list so that the BFPC
would equally-qualified individuals to choose from. Village Manager Niemeyer stated that the
clear goal is to move off the minimum staffing requirement so that contractual personnel can be
utilized at a lower cost. He stated that starting the process to form a part-time program sends a
message to the union that the Village has other options; he stated that it would take several
months to complete the process. Attorney Sterk explained that contract employees are
addressed in the contract, but not part-time personnel. He urged the Board to authorize the
BFPC to start the process of filling the vacancy to avoid a grievance. President Craig requested
a poll of Board and there was a consensus.
Library Union: Attorney Sterk stated that the Library withdrew their petition to form a union.
Village of Oak Brook Closed Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 2 May 11, 2010
4. Finance Outsourcing:
Village Manager Niemeyer stated that he and Finance Director Dangles discussed outsourcing
finance functions; he stated that they identified the one accountant position as a position that
would make the most sense. After analyzing the position in three ways: keeping things the
same, outsourcing it or making it a part-time position, the latter would provide the greatest
savings – about $45,000 annually. He discussed the pros and cons of this. Finance Director
Dangles discussed the higher costs of outsourcing the accountant position as well as the
accounts payable clerk and water billing clerk positions; she stated making the accountant
position into a part-time (approximately thirty hours per week) postion and shifting some of the
duties of the accountant over to the two clerical positions would be more cost-effective. She
stated that with the Assistant Finance Director position vacant and the increased Freedom of
Information Act requests as well as requests from the Citizens Advisory Finance Committee,
there is more pressure on the Finance Department. Discussion ensued regarding this position
in regard to performance issues and having a trial period of sixty to ninety days of performing
accounting tasks instead of clerical tasks and documenting the performance. Consensus to
allow the staff the trial period as discussed.
5. ADJOURNMENT
Motion by Trustee Wolin, seconded by Trustee Saiyed, to adjourn the Closed Meeting and
Reconvene the Regular Board of Trustees Meeting. VOICE VOTE: Motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 10:05 p.m.
ATTEST:
Charlotte K. Pruss
Village Clerk