Village of Crete Board of Trustees met March 27.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
President Michael Einhorn called to order the regular board meeting of the President and the Board of Trustees of the Village of Crete on Monday, March 27, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. and led those assembled in the Village of Crete Municipal Building, 524 W. Exchange St, Crete, Illinois in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
On a roll call by Deputy Village Clerk Sue Peterson the following were present in the municipal building: Trustees Stephen Johnson, Holly Milburn, John Phelan, Katrina Seifert, Mark Wiater and President Michael Einhorn. Trustee Steve Bruns was absent. A quorum was present.
Also in attendance: Administrator Michael Smith, Plan Commission Chairperson Karen Tellef, Media Consultant Nick Borrell, Ed Paesel and Diane Moeller from Robinson Engineering.
CITIZEN’S SPEAK
Visitors are always welcome to all public meetings of the President and Board of Trustees of the Village of Crete. Interested parties wishing to speak should identify their intent to speak, they then may give their name and where they reside if they so choose and then make their comment. Persons may also provide their address privately to the Village Clerk if they so choose; persons are advised that addresses are considered private information under the Freedom of Information Act and thus are exempt from disclosure pursuant to any Freedom of Information Act request. However, to give proper consideration to all items on the agenda, the President has the authority to limit participants in debates and will close repetitive or abusive remarks. In addition, public comment rules are posted in the board room.
• Sam Wortel and his friend from Park Forest who currently owns chickens addressed the board. They answered questions presented to Sam in a previous board meeting regarding placement of chicken coop, electrical service, insulation, rodents, other animals and composting. The Board will make a decision at a future meeting.
Special orders
Unanimous Consent Agenda
All items on the Consent Agenda are considered to be routine in nature and will be enacted in one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a board member so requests, in which event, the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and will be considered separately.
• Approval of Minutes : Regular Board Meeting – March 13, 2023
• Approval of Bills March 13 to March 24th, 2023
• Ratification of Payroll - Bi-weekly payroll ending March 22, 2023
In accordance with an opinion from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, President Einhorn read aloud the items as listed for approval prior to action being taken on the Consent Agenda with brief explanations.
Motion and Vote for the Unanimous Consent Agenda:
A motion was made to approve the Unanimous Consent Agenda
Motion: Trustee Johnson Second: Trustee Wiater
ON ROLL CALL:
Ayes (6) Trustees Johnson, Milburn, Phelan, Seifert, Wiater and President Einhorn
Nays (0) none
Absent (1) Trustee Bruns
Abstain (0) none
Motion declared carried.
REPORTS: PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES:
Public Health – Trustee
Katrina Seifert – no report
Water Department – Trustee
Stephen Johnson – no report
Road and Bridge – Trustee
Steve Bruns – absent; no report
Building and Grounds – Trustee John Phelan
• Fifteen bags of weeds were removed at the Crete Park Embankment, mulch and flowering plants will be placed there. The Post Office corner will be planted in the next couple of weeks. Rose bushes will be trimmed and flowers added at Fire Station #2. Mr. and Mrs. John Phelan along with Justin from DPW have determined the Pollination Garden will be placed by the big rock at DPW. Work will start as soon as weather permits.
• President Einhorn asked the group to look at the flowers by the bubbler at Village Hall and the South side of Premier Fitness. John agreed to look but couldn’t promise they would accomplish anything this year.
Finance, License and Ordinance – Trustee Mark Wiater
• Trustee Wiater stated he and Trustee Milburn, Mayor Michael Einhorn and Police Chief Scott Pieritz hope to have the signed police contracts ready to present at the next board meeting. Public Safety – Trustee Holly Milburn
• Police officer has been approved for hire and will be attending the Decatur Academy in May.
REPORTS: PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES continued:
President Michael Einhorn -
• Need to start looking at a water rate increase. Last increase was in 2016.
• Iron removal waiting on equipment inspector from CA. He had a health issue arise, scheduled to be here on April 10, 2023.
• Asked board members to look at and familiarize themselves with the TIF spreadsheet. A work shop maybe held at a later date.
• Strongly suggested everyone reads the information provided by IML regarding proposed legislation. Municipalities are expected to cover costs with no revenue to do so.
• Trustee Phelan asked the Mayor about the airport legislation. Mayor said no one will be willing to do anything if there is no money to be made.
COMMITTEE AND DEPARTMENT REPORTS:
Village Administrator – Michael Smith
• Received (5) bids for EMA surplus 2005 Ford Explorer. Bids ranged from $1,000.00 to $3,663.00, awarded to the highest bidder.
• Requested that the board take action to extend the life of the (3) TIF’s by (12) years.
• Annual questionnaire received from Marshall Stevens requesting the Village to update information for insurance carrier IRMA.
Police Department – Chief of Police Scott Pieritz – absent; report submitted
• Recruit Update: Three recruits are still in the academy, one officer released from field training to solo patrol and one in field training should be released to solo patrol soon. There will be a swearing in of one new officer in the near future, pending medical test results.
• Community Policing / Events: Sgt Konvalinka and Detective Lucia attended a career fair at Olivet Nazarene College.
• Crete Police and Fire Departments, along with comfort dog Lilly participated in Closet Collectibles 5th anniversary celebration. A Touch-A-Truck event was held.
• Crime: Police responded to a call where a mailbox was blown up by commercial grade fireworks. Two juveniles were located and arrested.
• Crime: Facebook/Media Release on recent attempted and actual car thefts in Crete.
UPDATE: One vehicle was recovered in Olympia Fields and another in Crete. These vehicles were either Hyundai or Kia. Crete Police are encouraging everyone owning these types of vehicles to install an alarm, keep the vehicle in the garage or purchase a Club type anti-theft device.
• Crime: Facebook/Media Release two juvenile suspects have been identified in the car thefts. Patrol officers, detectives, the community, Flock cameras and Ring security cameras made this possible. A BIG thanks to all involved.
• Union Contracts: Negotiations with patrol officers and sergeants FOP have been successful, it appears an agreement will be reached in the near future. Thanks to everyone involved for making these the best negotiations ever witnessed by the Chief of Police. A special thanks to Trustee Wiater who went above and beyond to make this happen.
Fire Department – Chief James Muirhead – Report submitted
• Number of fire calls for January 2023 is 143 and 136 for February 2023
Superintendent of Public Works – Justin Pancrazio – absent; Report submitted
• Performed various projects including working on equipment, miscellaneous projects at the Village Hall, Fire Department and Police Department, wooden sign for Public Works and Lions Club, various sewers, ponds, creek, beaver dam, picked up garbage, trimmed trees, repaired light poles, etc.
COMMITTEE AND DEPARTMENT REPORTS continued:
Building Department – Building Inspector Mike Smith – no report
Code Enforcement –Supervisor Marty Braccio – absent; no report
Fire & Police Commission – Jim McPhee – absent; no report
EMA – Marty Braccio – absent; no report
Animal Control/Code Enforcement Officer – Ryan Allison – absent; no report
Planning Commission – Karen Tellef – no report
Heritage & Architecture Commission – Phyllis Monks – absent; no report
Media Consultant – Nick Borrell
• Received good response on his Bunny Hop video. He will be participating in other Easter events.
COMMUNICATIONS:
Warrants:
• Received: Falconhead Solar, LLC sent Notice of Development, Special Use Application for a Community Solar Farm on 48.35 acres in the vicinity of Sangamon Street and Old Monee Road in Will County.
• Reminder: Crete Masonic Lodge Pancake Breakfast April 2, 2023 from 8 am to 1 pm.
• Reminder: The Bunny Hop, presented by The Crete Chamber of Commerce will be held April 1st to April 8th at 19-20 local businesses. Patrons need to wear bunny ears to participating businesses to be entered into a drawing for the possibility of winning one of three prizes. More information is forthcoming including a list of participating businesses.
OLD BUSINESS:
1. Results of bids were received for the 2023 Curb and Gutter Replacement Program. Five (5) bids were received ranging in amounts from $84,152.50 to $126,726.00. After discussion it was decided to award the lowest bidder Davis Concrete Construction Company the project in the amount of $84,152.50.
A motion was made to award the 2023 Curb and Gutter Replacement Project to Davis Concrete in the amount of $84,152.50.
Motion: Trustee Wiater Second: Trustee Johnson
Ayes (5) Trustees Johnson, Milburn, Phelan, Seifert and Wiater
Nays (0) none
Absent (1) Trustee Bruns
Abstain (0) none
Motion declared carried
2. Ordinance #2023-03: An Ordinance authorizing the Village of Crete, Will County, Illinois, to borrow funds from the Public Water Supply Loan Program.
Diane Moeller from Robinson Engineering made a presentation to the board regarding the Lead Service Line Replacement Project. The Village is applying for state funding to help cover costs. It is estimated there are (200) full and (100) partial lead services to be replaced. These replacements will be mandated in 2027.
A motion was made to approve Ordinance #2023-03 authorizing the Village to borrow funds for replacement of lead service lines.
Motion: Trustee Wiater Second: Trustee Siefert
Ayes (5) Trustees Johnson, Milburn, Phelan, Seifert and Wiater
Nays (0) none
Absent (1) Trustee Bruns
Abstain (0) none
Motion declared carried.
NEW BUSINESS:
No new business was discussed.
EXECUTIVE SESSION: none held
ADJOURNMENT:
As there was no further business to come before the board, a motion was made to declare the meeting adjourned at 8:09 p.m.
Motion: Trustee Wiater Second: Trustee Siefert
Ayes (5) Trustees Johnson, Milburn, Phelan, Seifert, Wiater
Nays (0) none
Absent (1) Trustee Bruns
Abstain (0) none
Motion declared carried.
https://villageofcrete.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/03-27-2023-Board-Meeting-Minutes.pdf
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