Village of Crete Board of Trustees met Aug. 14.
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, August 14, 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 Village Clerk Deborah Bachert the following were present in the municipal building: Trustees Steve Bruns, Stephen Johnson, Holly Milburn, John Phelan, Katrina Seifert, Mark Wiater and President Michael Einhorn. A quorum was present.
Also in attendance: Administrator Michael Smith, Fire Administrator JP Muirhead, and Media Consultant Nick Borrell.
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.
• Keith Miller, a resident of the Enterprise Subdivision (East Avenue), asked the Village Board to address the drainage issues in certain spots in which have apparently been an issue for several years. There is also a fallen tree that is causing an issue in that area. President Einhorn will speak with Supt Pancrazio to work on this issue. On another issue, Mr. Miller stated he is not in favor of allowing residents in the Village to own chickens.
• Sam, a supporter of allowing residents to own chickens within the village limits spoke on his purpose of the eggs production for his family. Currently there is a proposed ordinance addressing this request which will be discussed in a zoning hearing in the near future.
• Jaime Healy questioned how the proposed chicken ordinance will be successfully enforced.
• A resident of Williamsburg Subdivision asked for an update on the Flock Cameras. President Einhorn answered there are sixteen cameras installed and have proven to be very successful.
Citizens’ Speak concluded at 7:45 pm.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA:
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 – July 24, 2023
• Approval of Bills July 28 thru August 11, 2023
• Ratification of Payroll - Bi-weekly payroll ending August 9, 2023
A motion was made to move New Business Item # 1: Ordinance No. 2023-08: An Ordinance approving the first amendment to the TIF Redevelopment Agreement between the Village of Crete and Crete, LLC. and New Business #2: Resolution No. 2023- 719: A resolution authorizing the purchase of two (2) vehicles (fire and building departments) and to enter into a four (4) year loan transaction for each vehicle to the consent agenda:
Motion: Trustee Mark Wiater Second: Trustee Steve Bruns
Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Johnson, Milburn, Phelan, Seifert, Wiater
Nays (0) none Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried.
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 as listed above. Motion: Trustee Mark Wiater Second: Trustee Holly Milburn
ON ROLL CALL:
Ayes (7) Trustees Bruns, Johnson, Milburn, Phelan, Seifert, Wiater and President Einhorn Nays (0) none Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried.
REPORTS: PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES:
Public Health – Trustee Katrina Seifert
• Working on the garbage contract finalization.
• The electronic Recycle event was successful. Thank you to Barb Dorman for organizing the event.
Water Department – Trustee Stephen Johnson – no report
Road and Bridge – Trustee Steve Bruns
• Reported the Crete Road improvement project is progressing.
• The IL Route 1 road project handled by the State is currently at a standstill.
Building and Grounds – Trustee John Phelan
• Submitted a detailed report on the landscaping that has been completed through the Village.
• Asked for IDOT to be contacted concerning the replacement of trees in the parkway on Route 1.
Finance, License and Ordinance – Trustee Mark Wiater
• Announced Sue Peterson, who has worked in the Village office for three years, has decided to take a new job and will be leaving within the month. Best of luck Sue. Applications and a job description are available at the Village Hall front office during business hours.
Public Safety – Trustee Holly Milburn
• Website construction continues and the site is improving.
• Don’t forget BINGO at Smokey Jo’s on Tuesday evening, August 15th.
President Michael Einhorn
• Received a call on Friday from DCEO informing him that the Village will be receiving a $100K infrastructure grant.
• Stated another lead service line mailing will be coming out very soon requesting residents report on their water service piping in their house. It is hopeful to receive more unanswered questions from when the first mailing went out.
• The recent cleaning of all the water towers has been completed and the amount of sediment is significantly less than in years past.
• Crete has the lowest water rates in the entire area, and with more water main work to be completed, he proposed a 25 cent per thousand water rate increase. The Village attorney will draft the ordinance change for next meeting.
• Suggested the Board wait on the purchase of a new electric message sign for the front of Village Hall with hopes that a better and more visible location for the sign can be found.
• Appointments: A motion was made to approve the appointments as presented by President Einhorn.
Motion: Trustee Mark Wiater Second: Trustee Stephen Johnson
Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Johnson, Milburn, Phelan, Seifert, Wiater
Nays (0) none Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none
Motion declared carried.
Note: The list is attached after the last page of minutes.
COMMITTEE AND DEPARTMENT REPORTS:
Village Administrator – Michael Smith
• Work is stalled on the N Main bridge project due to the need for ComEd to cut off power to the area while piling boring is taking place. This work is currently scheduled for August 24th and should take three days to complete.
• Well # 8 needs a new motor and pump and is currently out of service.
Police Department – Chief of Police Scott Pieritz – Absent; report submitted
Fire Department – Chief James Muirhead – Absent; Report submitted
• The volume and types of calls the department answered in the month of July was 165. Superintendent of Public Works – Justin Pancrazio – Absent; Report submitted Building Department – Building Inspector Mike Smith – Report submitted
Code Enforcement – Code Enforcement Supervisor Marty Braccio - Absent
Fire & Police Commission – Jim McPhee - Absent
EMA – Marty Braccio - Absent
Animal Control/Code Enforcement Officer – Ryan Allison - Absent
Planning Commission – Karen Tellef
Heritage & Architecture Commission – Phyllis Monks - Absent
Media Consultant – Nick Borrel
• Plans to cover the police Lilly fundraiser that will be held on August 15th at Smoky Jo’s
• Will attend the upcoming Crete Clean-up event and Acorn Fest with the Crete Park District
• A video about lead service line identification will be produced.
COMMUNICATIONS:
• Crete Community Policing Bingo event to support Special Olympics Illinois and Lilly, the Crete PD Support Dog will be Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Location: Smokey Jo’s, 475 Burville Rd. beginning at 6 PM.
• Public Hearing Tuesday August 15th at 6:30 p.m. in the Will County Office Building, 302 N. Chicago St., Joliet. Zoning application filed by Abel Bautista Vences for a special use permit for Ancillary Liquor Service in Conjunction with an Approved Agritourism Use.
• A letter was received from Crete Residents Bill & Jeanine Galbraith, Kris & Natalie Reichert, Dean & Tammy Burnham and Sue Burnham objecting to the passing of any type of chicken ordinance in the Village of Crete.
• A letter was received from Crete Resident Jeanine Galbraith objecting to the chicken ordinance.
• South Suburban Humane Society Fundraiser and Adoption Event will be held on Saturday, August 19, 2023, from 5:00PM to 9:00PM at Bottoms Up Bar & Grill. Bottoms Up Bar & Grill is located at 1696 Thornton Lansing Road, Lansing, IL.
• A letter from the Village of Beecher Supt of Public Works Matthew Conner was read. The letter thanked the Crete Public Works department for their help on Monday, July 31, 2023 with clean up in Beecher. A storm had caused moderate tree damage throughout the village. They offered to return the favor if the Village of Crete ever needs it.
• Steve Eberhardt is requesting a street closure on September 16th from 10 am until 8 pm for the annual Jefferson Street Neighborhood Party. Action will be taken at the 8/28/2023 board meeting.
OLD BUSINESS: No Old Business items were discussed.
NEW BUSINESS:
The New Business items were moved to the consent agenda for action.
1. Ordinance No. 2023-08: An Ordinance approving the first amendment to the TIF Redevelopment Agreement between the Village of Crete and Crete, LLC. Board action may be taken.
2. Resolution No. 2023- 719: A resolution authorizing the purchase of two (2) vehicles (fire and building departments) and to enter into a four (4) year loan transaction for each vehicle. Board action may be taken.
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 9:25 p.m.
Motion: Trustee Holly Milburn Second: Trustee Mark Wiater
Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Johnson, Milburn, Phelan, Seifert, Wiater
Nays (0) none Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried
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