Will County Gazette

The Homer Glen Village Board of Trustees recently voted to delay the Veterans Memorial project yet again.

The Village has been planning to create a Veterans Memorial in their community for over a year now, a a recent report from Patch said. The Parks and Recreation Committee approved the project in April of 2022. In early March of this year, the Village board voted to approve a contract for the planning, design and construction of the memorial, minus the statues that would be installed separately. After the vote, previous Homer Glen Mayor George Yukich vetoed the project.

The board, which now includes the newly elected mayor and board members, was set to vote to override the previous mayor’s veto at the April 26 Village board meeting. The veto would require at least four votes.

The contract comes to a total cost of $345,798. Several veterans from the local community attended the meeting to ask the board to reconsider the project, which would cost even more with the statues and installation. The veterans said that they want a memorial but would prefer one that is more appropriate and affordable. They felt it was inappropriate to spend such a large amount of money on a memorial when there are veterans who are homeless, in the hospital or struggling to pay their bills.

Trustee Jennifer Consolino spoke on the misinformation that has been spread around the community regarding the project. She explained that the project has received and lost several grants because of bad timing, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three trustees—Consolino, Dan Fialko and Rose Reynders—voted to move forward with overriding the veto and awarding the contract for the park, but it was not enough votes to move forward with the project. Trustees Sue Steilen, Curtis Mason and Craig McNaughton voted to uphold the veto.

"This process has not taken place overnight," Fialko said in the meeting. "This process with the Veterans Memorial has taken its course over a year, a year and a couple of months. This has gone through Parks Committee. That was why we have those committees is to get input from that committee. ... Now, I know there's a few veterans in here that had some things to say, and that's great. But to be completely informed instead of partially informed is the key to success here with anything we do in the village."

The board will revisit the plans for the memorial at a later date and attempt to revise the plan to better suit the community.