How would you spend $42,509?

Lisle School District 202 spent $42,509 for UNICOM-Arc to run Five "Community Engagement" Vision 202 meetings in 2014-2015 School Year.

That's equal to the cost of 177 brand new Dell Chromebooks.  (There are only 25 public computers available at the Lisle Library)

Additional expenditures to Unicom Arc are anticipated to cover the PR consulting for Phase 2 of Vision 202 expected to start in Fall 2015.  Phase 2 will advance the issue of facilities and set the final stage for the tax increase referendum. The overview of the Facilities Master Plan prepared by Perkins & Will Architects was already presented to the Board at their July 20, 2015 Board Meeting. The contract for architectural services for the Facilities Master Plan was approved at the August 17, 2015 Board Meeting. The amount of the architectural Facilities Master Plan contract is not included on the Board agenda. 

•   Was this the best use of $42,509 of public funds? 
•   How much more public money will be spent on PR on a "Winning Before You Start"  PR campaign for a "YES" tax increase referendum? 
•   Is it legal for a gov't entity to expend public funds on a "Yes" tax increase campaign?
•   Do Lisle taxpayers know the strategy that is being used here? 
•   How were the members of the "Facilitating Team" selected? 
•   Why did the District abruptly switch the terminology from "Facilitating Committee" to "Facilitating Team?" Perhaps because under State law all committee meetings are subject to the IL Open Meetings Act? 
•  Were any of the "Facilitating Team" meetings with Unicom Arc open to the public? 
•  Why did Unicom Arc recommend not allowing any time for Q & A at the Community meetings?

Tate Woods School 

2014-2015 Expenditures to Unicom Arc:

Unicom Arc: Paid Approx $27/per each enrolled student in Lisle CUSD 202.

Unicom-Arc: Paid an average per community meeting = $8,500

Unicom Arc:  Paid Avg per attendee, per meeting = $57. 

Unicom Arc:  Assuming the same approx 150 people participated in all 5 meetings, this comes to about $283 cost per participant paid to Unicom Arc paid by taxpayers. 

Invoices Paid

       Date   Amount

   7/8/2014 $ 3,750.00 (july services, billed in advance)
   8/1/2014 $ 3,750.00 (aug services, billed in advance)
   9/1/2014 $ 3,750.00 (sept services, billed in advance)
  10/9/2014 $ 3,750.00 (oct services, billed in advance)
  10/9/2014 $   938.35 (hotels, meals, mileage)
  11/4/2014 $ 3,750.00 (nov services, billed in advance)
 11/10/2014 $   512.56 (hotels, meals, mileage)
  12/3/2014 $ 3,750.00 (dec services, billed in advance)
   1/6/2015 $ 3,750.00 (jan services, billed in advance)
  1/30/2015 $   567.75 (hotels, meals, mileage)
   2/6/2015 $ 3,750.00 (feb services, billed in advance)
   3/1/2015 $   462.62 (hotels, meals, mileage)
   3/1/2015 $ 3,750.00 (march services, billed in advance)
   4/2/2015 $ 3,750.00 (april services, billed in advance)
  5/21/2015 $ 1,598.16 (hotels, meals, mileage)
   7/2/2015 $   930.35 (hotels, meals, mileage)

      TOTAL $ 42,509.75

Lisle CUSD 202 Board approved a contract with Unicom Arc for $37,500, plus expenses at their June 16, 2014 Board Meeting. 

Here is how the Board in place at the time voted: 

• McConville (*) - Yes 
• Tarasewicz (*) - Yes
• Narot (*) - Yes  
• Franklin (**) - Yes 
• Corrigan (**) - Yes 
• Ahlmann (*)  - Yes
• Blaeke (*) - Absent 

(*) Current Board Members. 
(**) Term Ended in May 2015.

The PR contract covers the period July 1, 2014 - April 30, 2015. Per the contract, the District "..has the option of extending this contract on a month-to-month basis for the same monthly payment.."

Expenses for hotels, meals and mileage came to $5,010, so far.

Contract extension for 2015-16 has not yet been formally approved by the Board. 

When we asked Lisle CUSD 202's FOIA officer for a copy of all of the public records that contain the work product of Unicom Arc, we were provided with no documents and were directed to visit the Vision 202 website. 

LINK to CONTRACT Approved by Board June 16, 2014 Minutes
LINK to Lisle 202 FOIA Response  (Communications)

Village: "No Smart Meter, No Water."

Village of Lisle Threatens 260 Families with Water Shut Off 

The Village of Lisle issued 260 "Water shut off" notices to 260 single family residences threatening to shut of water in 10 days if the owner did not allow "mandatory" installation of a new Sensus iPerl Smart Water Meter. 

The threat worked. 

Part of a five-year, $1.5 Million plan to replace all mechanical water meters with Sensus iPerl Smart Water Meters, this first phase included purchase and installation of 950 new residential smart water meters. 

A whopping 27% of the 950 Lisle residents in the Phase 1 Smart Water Meter installation plan received this water shut-off threat letter. 

(click to enlarge)

In announcing the plan, the Village carefully and intentionally avoided the use of the words "smart meter" and instead called the project the "water meter replacement project." or the "water meter change out program." In addition to avoiding the terminology "smart meter" the five-year phasing strategy also was implemented to control opposition. Had the Village attempted to replace all 5000 meters in a single year, there could have been a big push-back with 27%, or over 1300, shut-off threat notices going out at one time. 

The Village expects to recoup the $1.5 Million cost with income from higher water bills. The number of years to recoup the cost have not been provided. There has been no independent financial study done to substantiate this assumption.  

The new meters, which do not require testing by the Village, are allowed to "over charge" by 1.5%. By this time next year, we will be able to compare the old and new bills for the meters replace this year and we will report back on increased revenue from higher bills. 

Many of the 260 property owners who received the Phase 1 water-shut off threat had ignored the first two notices to call and schedule a new smart water meter installation over concerns of higher water bills, privacy, or health. Records provided by the Village show that among those who received a "3rd and final water shut-notice" was Village of Lisle Trustee Brad Hettich (address per DuPage Election Commission)

Some residents have said they were simply too busy to schedule installation on such short notice over the summer or were intentionally trying to stall the installation as long as possible to avoid receiving higher water bills than the rest of the town. 

There have been a number of stories in the mainstream media lately about overcharging and faulty smart meters in Tinley Park and other communities. Lisle has done nothing to address consumer confidence in their smart water meter project. Heck, Lisle is actually avoiding acknowledgement that the new meters are, in fact, "Smart Meters."

The Village of Lisle does not plan to purchase the software for remote real-time data collection until the completion of the 5-year installation plan. Until then, the Village of Lisle will continue to pay DuPage County $34,000 annually for meter reading. The program for real-time remote data collection costs about $800,000 and is not included in the $1.5 Million water meter replacement project costs.

Lisle Watchdog submitted a FOIA to the Village to obtain information.

 - The Village of Lisle has no "opt-out" plan for residents who do not want a smart water meter.

 - The Village of Lisle has no privacy policy regarding the vast amount of "real-time" hourly/daily electronic water use data that these smart meters are capable of collecting and storing. 

 - The Village of Lisle has no testing policy or plan for these new smart water meters for accuracy. 


FOIA Response.