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Environment Committee
Minutes of the Meeting on
February 2, 2026
Village of Homer Glen
14240 W 151st Street, Homer Glen, IL 60491
Board Room

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Environment Committee Minutes February 2, 2026
1. Call to Order.
The meeting was called to order at 5:31pm by Chair Udarbe.
2. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
3. Roll Call.
Members present were Chair Taylor Udarbe, Chris Chiappetta, Bea Hiznay, Andy
Panelli, Fran Perveiler, Sharon Sweas and ex officio Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike,
Trustee Schaller and Planning Director Gruba were also present at this meeting.
Quorum was established at the start of the meeting. Member Joe Turrise arrived after
roll call, around 5:38pm.
Also present from the public was Lombard resident Cynthia Rataj, C.A.R.E group’s
Jenifer Garlitz, and Homer Glen resident Mike McGee.
4. Approval of Amendments to the Agenda.
Chair Udarbe made a motion to move up New Business Items before Old Business
since Jenifer from C.A.R.E was present for the Data Center Item. Ex officio Mayor
Neitzke-Troike seconded the motion and the amendment passed.
5. Minutes.
Member Panelli made a motion to approve the November 4, 2025 Minutes and
Member Perveiler seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Member Panelli motioned to approve the January 5, 2026 Minutes and Member
Chiappetta seconded the motion. The motion passed with Member Sweas making note
that she was not present at the meeting.
6. Public Comment.
Cynthia Rataj from Lombard addressed the Environment Committee on the
applicability of the Tree Preservation Ordinance for the Legacy Development on 159th
Street (Arya). She saw this project was recently on the Board agenda and wanted to
note that the tree ordinance should be in effect for the entire property not only the
half with the trees since they already cleared around 7.5 acres and restitution should
take this into account.
Jenifer Garlitz from Citizens Against Ruining the Environment (CARE) introduced
herself and said she was at the meeting to discuss Data Centers. Ex officio Neitzke-
Troike let her know that since her item is on the agenda, they will call her up to
discuss this item during discussion item.
Resident Mike McGee reiterated to the committee that folks are very interested in
this ordinance amendment and he hopes something more can happen.
Member Sharon Sweas read a public comment letter from resident Margaret Sabo
into the record: “Dear Mayor, Members and Staff: It seems that the very reason Homer
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Environment Committee Minutes February 2, 2026
Glen is so sought after is because of its environment and especially what makes it
important are the trees. Yet, the village without realizing the problem allows without
restraint the action of big tree cutting and clear cutting. This takes away its attractive
appeal and makes loss of resources to become sterile. It is more than a decade since
the Environment Committee has tried to improve the tree ordinance. When I was a
trustee and chairman of the Environment Committee, the committee attempted to
improve and bring up to date the Tree ordinance. The keeping of trees does not prevent
the owner or developer from selling his property. Empty lots without trees are more
available and plentiful. Updating it has been difficult. Other communities revere their
natural gifts and want to save them we have to strive to keep up. It is unproductive
to even think that chopping down trees will bring a higher price or even sell an empty
lot over one with trees. This has proven not to work. Vacant lots can be found
everywhere. I know of many properties where the owner has clear cut their property
to sell it and it is still for sale. All of us have driven by these properties for years. At
one time, Homer Glen was a leader among other towns in setting environmental
standards. Other towns realized their own resources as something to protect. Homer
Glen is now lagging behind. If we think of the many benefits that trees offer, we also
know it takes a very long time for a tree to grow to maturity. Homer Glen is a town
with easy access to transportation, easy access to other locals, like Chicago, while
providing an inviting atmosphere of semi-rural quality with easy reach to amenities
and larger properties. HG has been attracting people to locate here from their dense
and crowded places. There is not a town that provides these opportunities that is so
convenient as Homer Glen. In order for HG to continue to appeal, it must revere and
protect what it has now. Amending the Tree Ordinance to benefit the property owner
and the community is a positive move toward advancing the community’s assets. Best
wishes, Margaret”
7. New Business
Chair Udarbe explained to Member Turrise, who arrived during public comments,
that we have moved up New Business to discuss Data Centers since Jenifer from
CARE was present.
a) Memorial Tree
Chair Udarbe explained the applicant, Debra Urbonas, is proposing a Redbud
tree and plaque for Culver Park. She explained she is looking for a consensus
that the Environment Committee is okay with the application. There were no
objections but Member Sweas wanted clarification on the location as it related
to the natural near the fishing pond and wanted to make sure fishing lines do
not snag on the tree. Chair Udarbe said she will finalize the location with Parks
and Recreation but explained Parks had a grant to restore the native plants so
she likely would not recommend the tree too close to the pond.
b) Data Centers
Chair Udarbe explained this item was requested to be on this agenda by
Member Turrise but made a PowerPoint slide so she could review snippets of
the Village’s Zoning Code. She explained Data Centers require a special use
permit in the C-5 and the I-1 Districts, which are not a very common districts
so they are not just permitted in the Village by-right.
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Environment Committee Minutes February 2, 2026
Jenifer Garlitz from CARE spoke to the committee on the environmental
impacts of Data Center developments: use of large quantities of clean treated
water which is reclaimed and clarified after being used to cool systems which
is very energy intensive; large energy consumption which is largely from
nonrenewable energy sources, and; increase energy costs to cover the necessary
infrastructure updates to support data centers. Jenifer explained she included
a handout for this item which included her information references.
Member Turrise explained a gigawatt will power around 750,000 homes, for
reference, and said that Mark Zuckerberg’s data centers will use up enough
energy to power 5 million homes. He said the amount of energy and water data
center use is huge.
Chair Udarbe reiterated to the committee that staff had fairly recently passed
a code amendment to address data center uses. Director Gruba confirmed that
the code, as written, makes it difficult to develop data centers in Homer Glen.
Ex officio Neitzke-Troike told the committee the Village has seen a few
proposed data centers projects which had not even made it forward to the
Board. She said they understand their concerns and she agrees with them.
Member Panelli asked Jenifer what CARE’s opinion is on the solution. He
offered a partial solution would be to push renewable energy sources since it
may be difficult to actually slow down the demand for data centers. Jenifer
agreed that required renewable energy could be a solution but there would be
a lot to consider. They should also consider installing solar panels on roofs, but
was not sure how to get around the water usage.
8. Old Business.
a) Update from Staff – Committee of the Whole on Tree Ordinance amendments
Director Gruba said it had been a while but explained that they had some
feedback from the last Committee of the Whole meeting on our current
regulations, how they are older and all over the place, and that these
regulations are difficult to interpret and implement. He said they realize they
should at least revise this ordinance to be easier to understand.
Feedback from the Committee of the Whole indicated that the proposed
restriction and mitigation requirements were too high and that these numbers
needed to be revised to make it more palatable to the Board. He explained he
proposed new numbers as a response to that feedback and presented this in an
excel showing the existing ordinance, what was proposed last year, and what
is being proposed now.
He explained that what he had proposed was a final draft of an ordinance that
works and the guts of the ordinance are good, but they need to work on these
numbers to get to a middle ground and determine what this compromise could
be.
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Environment Committee Minutes February 2, 2026
Ex officio Neitzke-Troike asked for clarification on what was being proposed.
Director Gruba explained the new proposed costs are actually going lower than
what our code currently offers because the new ordinance is first bringing down
the threshold for applicability.
Ex officio Neitzke-Troike explained that in 2021, the previous board had denied
a previous text amendment to lower the lot sizing threshold from 5 acres to 2.5
acres. She said she thought that the Board may not have known exactly what
they were voting for but said that if this committee can reduce the acres, that
would be a quick win.
Director Gruba agreed and explained that if the acreage was brought down,
then this new ordinance would now apply to more properties off the bat. It
would seem the Village may collect less money from the ordinance but it would
affect more properties. Ex officio Neitzke-Troike asked how many people or
businesses complain about our current ordinance. Director Gruba said this
current ordinance really only applies to larger developments, and Chair
Udarbe said tree surveys are typically included in the rest of the site plans and
surveys. Chair Udarbe added that it is mostly the single-family homeowners
that may freak out when they see they need a tree survey but Director Gruba
added that due to the 50% threshold before the ordinance even applies, most
of the time staff can eyeball that development is not affecting close to that
threshold. He added that the ordinance very rarely in those cases is even
activated.
Ex officio Neitzke-Troike asked if they have examples from ordinances in other
communities and was worried about what Margaret Sabo said about our
community falling to the wayside. She wanted to make sure our ordinance is
just as strong or stronger.
Member Panelli said that Chair Udarbe had pulled other community examples
in the past and asked if she could put it on the screen though they did not need
to go over it now.
Ex officio Neitzke-Troike said she remembers these were comparable from last
time and Member Turrise said that a lot of northern suburbs have strong tree
ordinances. He also noted that a lot of people are moving out of Illinois and
communities need to offer unique feature to attract peoples, like Homer Glen’s
large wooded lots.
Director Gruba said while he was working with Frankfort their ordinance was
always active and explained briefly how their code works. He said this
committee could move forward with a few options: they can look at the
ordinance they drafted in April 2025 and play with numbers or they could just
adopt and tweak Frankfort’s Ordinance. Ex officio Neitzke-Troike noted that
Homer Glen’s existing ordinance is too confusing and asked if the committee
should look at other ordinances.
Member Perveiler asked if Frankfort’s Ordinance is clear. Director Gruba said
it was and said what the Village has now is multiple ordinances that need to
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Environment Committee Minutes February 2, 2026
be repealed and replaced. This could be much simpler going down a new route.
He wanted to go through some of the main discussion points to get notes to
move forward: minimum lot size applicability, minimum tree size, and if they
wanted to only work on residential or also nonresidential.
Ex officio Neitzke-Troike said 5 acres is too large but though 1 acre may be too
small. She said she would be okay with 2 acres, and thinks the Board would
not go down to 1 acre. The committee said they were pretty set on asking for
1.5 acres and Ex officio Neitzke-Troike said this number sounded good and
encouraged the committee to present this, though the Board may think it is too
big of a jump but we should see what they say. Member Chiappetta said
showing examples to the Board to illustrate the importance would be useful.
Director Gruba also mentioned there has been discussion on codifying the
building footprint area to allow single-family homes to have some allowance or
no restriction in that area, but trees removed outside of that area would be
penalized.
Ex officio Neitzke-Troike asked Trustee Schaller what he thought. Trustee
Schaller said he knows this has been going on a long time and said he has done
his own research and had a draft that he developed as well. He said he agreed
with the Mayor’s and Director Gruba’s description of the current code, in that
it is too complex for staff to enforce and for people to understand. Trustee
Schaller continued and explained they can always change the ordinance again
but they cannot be so punitive with a strict code and punishments with high
bills for water, utilities and taxes right now. He said they need something they
can get approved at the Board level.
Member Turrise agreed the code is complex. He said he wants all properties to
be subject to this ordinance but wants the code to be written to so nobody can
clear cut properties. He explained he is okay with a few trees being removed
for a pool installation but he does not want people to cut down all trees.
Trustee Schaller said he thinks this could be a blanket requirement for the
whole town, with the exception of easements and utility easements but
reiterated it needs to be simple and easy to administer.
Member Panelli added that the committee has been cognizant of the ability to
enforce and ordinance. He said they should look into longer term goals or a 5-
year outlook, where they have an end goal of all lots but maybe start at 1.5
acres for now. Member Panelli said a big goal and objective of the ordinance
was to discourage clear cutting and also removal of heritage trees. He
suggested maybe all lots are subject to Heritage Tree removal mitigation. He
added this all needs work because they were getting into onerous fines.
Ex officio Neitzke-Troike asked for a 5-year plan to be codified so landowners
are not shocked when over time all properties are eventually subject to this
code.
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Environment Committee Minutes February 2, 2026
Member Turrise said they have tried to do this many times and they do try to
compromise as to not shock the Village Board, and lot sizing has never reduced
as recently as 2021.
Director Gruba wanted to go through a few more points including: minimum
lot size applicability, minimum tree size, residential or also nonresidential;
cost or replacement per inch removed, fines for trees removed without
approval. He asked the committee if they liked how Frankfort protects 12 tree
species. Ex officio Neitzke-Troike said that can maybe be part of the 5-year
plan where they can start with 12 species and then go up to all trees that are
not invasive. Director Gruba said they could do this.
Director Gruba directed the committee to look at the examples. Member Sweas
said she did not like this new ordinance as proposed, using the Dunkin’ project
as an example. The committee discussed that currently with a 75% threshold,
the ordinance is not strong enough but as proposed in April 2025, the fees were
way too high for tree removal. Trustee Schaller said they should explore a cap
for this ordinance and it could be, for example, proportionate to lot sizing.
Member Panelli said they can use Director Gruba’s calculator as a tool to model
some different scenarios because their goal for fees should be to have a balance
for people to plant new trees rather than pay into the tree fund. Director Gruba
confirmed that was the goal of the numbers being presented now.
Member Panelli asked if there was a path forward where they can meet to
discuss this outside of a regular meeting. Ex officio Neitzke-Troike liked that
idea and suggest they meet next week and every week to get it done. Member
Panelli said they would be committed to finishing the ordinance and said they
have a few paths to move forward with.
Director Gruba told the committee he will email out this calculator but that it
is also on the screen. They can play with it and see how numbers shake out.
Staff confirmed they can call special meetings but they just have to follow the
Open Meetings Act.
Director Gruba said if they can answer the big questions, staff can prepare new
examples and new codes.
Member Turrise noted that most committee members are retired so they could
plan something during office hours so staff did not have to stay late.
Ex officio Neitzke-Troike had to leave the meeting around 6:30 pm. She wanted
to let the committee members know they can contact her directly over the
phone or pop into the Village Hall if they have anything they want to speak
with her on and it does not have to only be through public comments. She also
explained that not every committee has a trustee but that she is technically on
the committee as ex-officio and Trustee Schaller has expressed interest in the
committee as well. She said Chair Udarbe is doing a fine job and the committee
agreed, but the committee members were very pleased that a trustee could
represent them. Ex officio Neitzke-Troike told the committee they also should
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Environment Committee Minutes February 2, 2026
look to ComEd as they seem very open to planting trees on their property
especially along the bike path.
Member Turrise wanted to note they should put language in the ordinance
because of the residents that live near utility properties or with easements and
if language can be added to help them out.
Ex officio Neitzke-Troike wanted the record to also note to look into the 15 vs.
7 acres for applicability for the Arya project before she left.
Director Gruba asked if they wanted to continue the discussion or if they had
enough feedback to move forward. Member Panelli said he was not in a hurry
to get out of the meeting and offered to stay and continue the discussion. Chair
Udarbe offered that the staff compile the discussion topics and feedback and
send it out to the committee so they could have more background materials in
front of them for the next discussion.
Trustee Schaller said he also wanted to share his rough draft with staff to
review as well.
Member Turrise said last year, the biggest stumbling blocks was the tree
survey as Homer Glen only requires 1 survey. He asked Trustee Schaller what
he thought about how Hawthorne Woods required 1 survey before and 1 after
and said that it is a big cost. Trustee Schaller said tree surveys are the best
way to ensure there is a clean and fair review every time. Member Turrise
asked if the Village had just 1 arborist to hire for all survey for a cheaper price
to residents. Trustee Schaller said they could discuss this.
Member Panelli asked if it was possible to estimate when an alternative
suggested plan could be brought forward and if they could send dates to review
and discuss and revise, for example, Frankfort’s revised ordinance. Director
Gruba said this was difficult to answer but that he really would like to just
send out Frankfort’s ordinance so they could read it. Member Sweas said she
would want to see what Trustee Schaller had come up with. Trustee Schaller
offered to put both codes in AI and see what comes out and go from there.
Member Panelli asked again about the timeline. Member Turrise asked if staff
had enough time to work on something and Director Gruba said he did not
have a timeline yet but they needed more consensus. Member Panelli
suggested they go through it at this meeting.
Director Gruba asked if there is a consensus on lot size: is it 1.5 acres or 2
acres? Member Turrise again said all lots but Trustee Schaller reminded the
committee they should look at a tiered approach starting at 1.5 or 2 acres.
Member Panelli confirmed the Committee of the Whole agreed at 1.5 acres.
Trustee Schaller told the committee his goal was to have a great standalone
ordinance and was hoping he could send out what he has produced. He said he
could send this out and Chair Udarbe said she will forward along their
contacts.
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Member Perveiler just wanted to note that she is pleased that to have a Trustee
interested in this committee. Trustee Schaller explained his background
dealing with ethaline oxide gas emitting from an industrial building and said
environmental issues are near and dear to his heart especially ones injurious
and harmful to people.
Director Gruba asked to confirm the minimum tree size is 5” and the committee
agree.
He asked if they want this only to apply to residential. The committee
discussed how they wanted all districts, but agreed to compromise by not
changing commercial at this time.
Director Gruba asked for a cost per inch and asked if they had any ideas.
Member Panelli reiterated that they need to look at this to encourage the trees
to be planted instead of just paying the Village.
Director Gruba said he will get out information to Trustee Schaller and we will
come back with another draft before we reconvene.
Member Turrise said for a smaller lot with a large tree, they will need a
combination of planting and payment.
Chair Udarbe said she will send out available dates and times for a special
meeting.
b) Update from Staff – Homer Fest Conservation Event
Staff explained they are working on a conservation event for Homer Fest this
year based on the Environment Committee discussion and Events Director
Waddick and Communication & Engagement Coordinator Blank. She
explained this would be a great opportunity to increase visibility in the
community.
They narrowed down 3 initiates they can take based on recommendation to
present to Homer Fest Committee. Chair Udarbe provided details for water
refill station rentals in order to reduce the need for single-use water bottles
along with a reusable souvenir cup. She explained she is proposing the
Environment Committee cover the costs of the water refill station but cost
share with Homer Fest for the cups. Chair Udarbe also presented the options
for plastic-free utensils for vendors where everyone interested would get a fixed
number of utensils for an Environment Committee sponsored day.
Chair Udarbe explained their budget currently includes $7,500 for
conservation events which includes spending the full amount on the Paper
Shredding event or the Household Hazardous Waste and Electronic Recycling
event, with those switching every other year. She explained for their Homer
Fest event, she is requesting an increase to this budget by $7,500 to cover the
water refill station, utensils and reusable cups.
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Environment Committee Minutes February 2, 2026
Member Sweas noted that they should not go for the plastic cups since they are
looking to reduce plastic. Chair Udarbe agreed and said she did want to present
both options for the plastic cups and the aluminum cups since there is a bit of
a cost difference.
Member Turrise asked if instead of a cup they have an air-conditioned water
fountain but Chair Udarbe was not sure where they could have an air-
conditioned area for Homer Fest.
Member Panelli liked the idea of setting up multiple stations in separate areas
for the fest and said people could still reuse the cups or bottles they purchase
from vendors for other drinks. Chair Udarbe explained that because of the
potable water source in the park, they are limited to either a 50 foot or 100 -
foot radius from that course but they could look into splitting them up into a
few locations if they go with the water bars. Member Panelli asked about
looking into a larger size water tank that would not need to be hooked up.
Chair Udarbe explained those usually are for purchase only and would need to
be filled throughout the day which may be difficult logistically.
Member Chiappetta liked this idea and said putting it near the food area is
perfect.
Chair Udarbe explained to the committee that while they may be questioning
if this water rental is necessary, the Homer Fest staff have said something like
this would be appreciated for attendees. She also explained to the committee
that unfortunately the recycling at this event had not been as efficient as we
had thought so the mindset to reduce plastic to begin with is best. She also
explained that they likely would not have the budget to give everyone a
reusable cup, but that the committee would also push out a bring your own
bottle campaign. She reminded the committee this information will be
presented to the Homer Fest Committee to make sure it is feasible.
c) 2026 Calendar of Events/Activities
1. Free Tree Seedling Grant
2. Mayor’s Monarch Pledge
3. Seedling Event date
4. Spring 2026 Village Newsletter Content
Staff Udarbe wanted to go through a few updates for this item. She told the
committee they have another grant from the National Wildlife Foundation’s
Trees for Wildlife program so they will be doing another free tree seedling
handout. She said she will update the committee when they come in as she will
need help packaging the seedlings.
Chair Udarbe verified the committee wants to do the Monarch pledge again
and they agreed. She explained she will work with Fran for the Milkweed seed
handouts as well.
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Environment Committee Minutes February 2, 2026
Chair Udarbe asked the committee if they were interested in a Dark Sky Week
for 2026, which is the last week of April. Staff recommends they do a
proclamation at the Village Board meeting and extra marketing for
Stargazing.
She told the committee she has looked into the Dark Sky Community signage
in the Village. She explained that Economic Development Director Patch is not
sure about the exact plans for the Bell Road gateway sign, but staff thought
including a Dark Sky Community Sign on the same post as our existing Arbor
Day sign would be a good idea, too. She said she could come back with updates
in the future.
Chair Udarbe explained their packet has both Environment Committee master
schedule and the Village’s event schedule. She explained they need to decide
the Heritage Park’s kids planting dates. They committee decided that May 16th
from 10am to noon is a good day for this year.
Chair Udarbe confirmed that May 22nd and October 16th will be the 2026
Stargazing dates. She told the committee she is working with the Ability
Awareness Committee on adding an hour before the event so their committee
can access to the animals before large crowds arrive. She said the extra costs
could be offset though events or Ability Awareness budgets. She told the
committee that Crosstown Exotics for the Spring and Wings and Talons for the
Fall are up next and there were no objections.
Chair Udarbe explained they are working on Newsletter Content and she had
a few examples from the years prior. Member Hiznay asked about doing a
spring cleanup event. Chair Udarbe said they could look into it but has to make
sure it works with the fiscal year budget. Member Hiznay said spring is an
optimal time as the snowmelt reveals a lot of garbage and there is less
vegetation. Member Turrise said they use to have an Earth Day/Arbor Day
event at Konows but they were not able to get enough volunteers on it.
Member Turrise explained that the Village of Homer Glen has entrance signs
and wants the Dark Sky signs in that area. Staff Udarbe said she could look
into adding signs in a public right-of-way. She said, for example, the one on
151st and Will-Cook Road is sitting low so adding something to that sign would
not be feasible. The committee thought adding them all together would be a
good idea. Chair Udarbe said she could look into this more.
Chair Udarbe asked again if the committee had content for the newsletter. The
committee said they wanted to include Homewood Disposal’s recycling guide,
Dark Sky lighting information and upcoming events. The committee also
discussed the issues with those permanent residential building mounted
lights. Chair Udarbe said she will get this information to Amy for publishing.
Director Gruba told the committee they are looking to tidy up their Lighting
Ordinance as well.
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9. Announcements/Committee Member Communication.
Member Turrise reminded the committee that CARE is having a seed exchange at
White Oak Library this February 7th from 10am-2pm.
Trustee Schaller told the committee that Will South Cook Soil & Water Conservation
District is hosting their online plant and fish sale.
10. Adjournment.
Member Sweas made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:33pm and Member Hiznay
seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted:
Taylor Udarbe
Committee Chair/Senior Planner
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