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Village of Kenilworth Finance Committee 1 April 30, 2026 VILLAGE OF 1 2 KENILWORTH, IL 3 Finance Committee 4 Special Meeting Minutes of 5 April 30, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. 6 7 I. CALL TO ORDER 8 Chair Gottschall called to order the Special Meeting of the Finance Committee of the Kenilworth 9 Village Board in the Kenilworth Village Hall, Kenilworth, Illinois at 4:05 p.m. on April 30, 2026. 10 11 ROLL CALL 12 Chair Gottschall requested that Management Analyst Jordan Schmidt call the roll: 13 14 Members: 15 Trustee Joe Vitu Present 16 Trustee Tim Ransford Present (Arrived at 4:11 p.m.) 17 Chair John Gottschall Present 18 President Cecily Kaz Present 19 20 Members not present: 21 None 22 23 A quorum was present. 24 25 Others Recorded as in Attendance: 26 Village Officials and Staff: 27 Kathy Thake Village Manager 28 Heather McFarland Assistant to the Village Manager 29 Donald Leicht Public Works Superintedent 30 Jordan Schmidt Management Analyst 31 Kathleen Morley Lauterbach & Amen, Village Accountant 32 33 Public Signing-in 34 Allen Rauth (Ezee Fiber) 35 Gregory Thomas (Ezee Fiber) 36 37 Village of Kenilworth Finance Committee 2 April 30, 2026 II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 38 39 Chair Gottchall asked if there were any questions or comments regarding the following minutes: 40 41 A. Finance Committee – August 14, 2025 42 43 Hearing no such request, Trustee Vitu made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. Chair 44 Gottschall offered a second to the motion. 45 46 A roll call vote was taken as follows: 47 48 For: Gottschall, Vitu 49 Opposed: None 50 Absent: Ransford 51 52 The roll call tally was two votes in favor, and none opposed. Chair Gottschall declared the 53 minutes were approved. 54 55 III. REGULAR SCHEDULED BUSINESS 56 57 A. Presentation and Consideration of a Resolution Authorizing the Village Manager to 58 Execute a Right-of-Way License Agreement with Ezee Fiber Texas, LLC, of Houston, Texas 59 for Residential Fiber Installation 60 Village Manager Kathy Thake introduced the item and provided an overview of the request. Ms. 61 Thake explained the license agreement would allow Ezee fiber to install fiber in Village Right-of-62 Ways, providing residents an additional internet provider option. Ms. Thake further explained the 63 plans for equipmenet in the Village, which did not include any large above ground cabinets, but 64 there would be a significant amount of underground vaults. Finally, Ms. Thake explained that as 65 part of the agreement, the Village had secured free fiber for Village facilities, as well as for the Park 66 District and School District. 67 Next, Ms. Thake introduced Allen Rauth and Gregory Thomas, representatives from Ezee Fiber, who 68 provided a presentation on their company and approach. Mr. Thomas provided additional details to 69 the company history, overview of services offered, and communication plan. The Committee 70 members asked questions regarding the location and depth of the cable and number of 71 underground vaults that would be installed. Mr. Thomas provided answers to the questions. The 72 Committee asked additional questions on the appearance of the vaults, and stressed the 73 importance of trees in the Village, and working around parkway trees. 74 The Committee was supportive of fiber in general and allowing a new company in te Village to 75 provide additional alterantives for residents, however was concerned about the frequency and 76 appearance of underground vaults, and what that would look like if additional companies 77 requested to work in the Village as well. The Committee members requested additional information 78 from staff to assist with the discussion when it goes before the Village Board, including information 79 on what providers are available in other nearby communities, areas where installation in the 80 parkway wouldn’t make sense, and information on the appearance and frequency of existing 81 underground vaults in the Village. 82 Village of Kenilworth Finance Committee 3 April 30, 2026 Hearing no additional discussion Trustee Ransford made a motion to recommend approval of the 83 agreement pending additional information from staff on the requested information. Trustee Vitu 84 seconded the motion. 85 A roll call vote was taken as follows: 86 For: Gottschall, Vitu, Ransford 87 Opposed: None 88 89 The roll call tally was three votes in favor, and none opposed. Chair Gottschall declared the 90 motion approved. 91 92 B. Discussion and Recommendation Concerning the Approval of an Agreemenbt with 93 NewGen Strategies & Solutions in the Amount of $24,000 to complete a Water & Sewer 94 Rate Study 95 Management Analyst Jordan Schmidt introduced the next item. Mr. Schmidt explained the need for 96 the study, including ongoing significant water infrastructure projects, and the need to ensure rates 97 are able to fund those projects and maintain ongoing operating expenses. Mr. Schmidt next 98 explained the proposal process, and how NewGen was identified as the preferred firm. Finally Mr. 99 Schmidt explained the timeline of the project, including how it is anticipated to be completed in 100 time for consideration during the budget process. 101 The Committee asked clairifying questions on the scope of the project. Mr. Schmidt provided 102 responses. Hearing no additional discussion Trustee Vitu made a motion to recommend approval of 103 the agreement. Trustee Ransford seconded the motion. 104 A roll call vote was taken as follows: 105 For: Gottschall, Vitu, Ransford 106 Opposed: None 107 108 The roll call tally was three votes in favor, and none opposed. Chair Gottschall declared the 109 motion approved. 110 BUSINESS FROM THE PUBLIC 111 Chair Gottschall asked if any members of the public had any questions. With no member of the 112 public posing questions, Chair Gottschall called the next item on the agenda. 113 114 C. ADJOURN 115 116 Chair Gottschall asked if there was any further business to discuss. Hearing none, he stated that he 117 would entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Vitu made a motion to adjourn the 118 meeting. Trustee Ransford seconded the motion. 119 120 A voice vote was taken as follows: 121 122 For: All 123 Opposed: None 124 125 Village of Kenilworth Finance Committee 4 April 30, 2026 The roll call tally was three votes in favor, and none opposed. Chair Gottschall declared the 126 meeting adjourned at 5:11 P.M. 127 Respectfully Submitted, 128 129 Jordan Schmidt 130 Management Analyst 131