Will County Gazette

Village of Crete President and Board of Trustees met Jan. 22.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Clerk Bachert called the meeting to order at 7 p.m.

Trustee Milburn nominated Trustee Wiater as President pro-tem for tonight’s meeting. Second by Trustee Seifert.

Voice Vote:

Ayes (5) Trustees Bruns, Johnson, Milburn, Seifert, Wiater

Nays (0) none Absent (2) Trustee Phelan and President Einhorn Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried.

REGULAR BOARD MEETING:

Trustee Mark Wiater led those assembled at 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, Katrina Seifert and Mark Wiater. Trustee John Phelan and President Michael Einhorn were absent. A quorum was present.

Also in attendance: Police Chief Scott Pieritz, Supt of Public Works Justin Pancrazio, Planning and Zoning Chairperson Karen Tellef, and Videographer 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.

• Renee Chavez , Crete Park District requesting a discussion or inquiry on how the Village would prefer the district to move forward on several items

Renee Chavez asked advice from the board on collaboration with the Village to solve some issues that involve both the Village and the Park District. Swiss Valley Park needs renovation and attention as soon as possible (grant money). The flooding issues of Deer Creek affecting Park District land continue to need attention. The Village agreed to work with Engineers and the Park District to solve these problems.

• Jamie Healy stated the Chamber of Commerce meeting will be Wednesday, Jan. 24th at 6:30 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 – January 9th, 2024

• Approval of Bills January 8, 2024 thru January 19, 2024

• Ratification of Payroll - Bi-weekly payroll ending January 17, 2024

Trustee Wiater stated he reviewed the bills of Trustee Phelan, Buildings and Grounds.

In accordance with an opinion from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, Trustee Wiater read aloud the items as listed for approval prior to action being taken on the Consent Agenda with brief explanations.

A motion was made to approve the Unanimous Consent Agenda as presented.

Motion: Trustee Stephen Johnson Second: Trustee Steve Bruns ON ROLL CALL:

Ayes (5) Trustees Bruns, Johnson, Milburn, Seifert, and Wiater

Nays (0) none Absent (2) Trustee Phelan & President Einhorn

Abstain (0) none

Motion declared carried.

Page 3 – January 22, 2024 Minutes

REPORTS: PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES:

Public Health – Trustee Katrina Seifert

• Will be attending a SSMMA meeting on Friday, January 26th

• There is no action being taken on the logo.

• The new slogan will be instituted.

Water Department – Trustee Stephen Johnson – no report

Road and Bridge – Trustee Steve Bruns – no report

Building and Grounds – Trustee John Phelan – no report

Finance, License and Ordinance – Trustee Mark Wiater

• Worked with the Mayor at Village Hall for three hours on Sunday, January 21st. Public Safety – Trustee Holly Milburn

• Expressed dismay about the nasty emails and comments being made about the possible logo changes for the Village. Most comments received by email were from non-residents. This change has been discussed for many months at board meetings. It was very disappointing for people to result to social media attacks rather than coming to the Village Board Meetings or to the individual members to voice their concerns in order to be able to understand the changes being suggested. President Michael Einhorn – no report

COMMITTEE AND DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

Village Administrator – Michael Smith – no report

Police Department – Chief Scott Pieritz –Report Submitted listed below; also reviewed stats aloud. Overview of 2023 Police Department Stats:

The Village of Crete is not immune to crime, but overall remains a very safe and secure community. The police department works very hard to protect and serve the community and investigate and arrest criminals. I pride myself on being transparent with the community and releasing information I believe every resident has the right to know. The police department tracks statistics and data in order to monitor and evaluate changes in our community. This information is used to implement strategies, including proactive enforcement efforts to combat, solve, and deter crime in our village.

January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023:

* 14,139 calls for service (this includes everything we are dispatched to or officers self dispatch/self-initiate)

* 1240 traffic tickets issued

* 552 village sticker tickets issued

* 253 Ordinance/ parking tickets issued

* 202 other ordinance/ adjudication tickets issued

* 335 assist other police department calls

* 736 Assist Crete Fire Department calls

* 360 suspicious vehicle/ person calls

* 4 Robbery calls

* 70 Battery/Assault calls

* 127 Domestic calls

* 32 vehicle/residential burglary calls

* 275 alarm responses

* 68 Theft calls

* 14 Vehicle theft calls

* 196 Animal/at large/found/other calls

* 32 Vandalism/Criminal damage calls

* 22 DUI's

Police Chief’s report continued.

** 2023 compared to 2022

- DUI's, thefts, burglaries, alarms, suspicious persons/vehicles were ALL higher in 2023. - Animal calls, Domestics, assist FD and other police agencies, and traffic accidents were ALL DOWN in 2023

** We more than DOUBLED traffic tickets issued in 2023

(2022 total traffic tickets issued 504 / 1240 issued in 2023)

** Mental Health/wellbeing calls for service have sky rocketed. Proactive police work was increased in 2023 as manpower increased, new officers hitting the street, and new protocol and strategies were implemented. This is reflective in increased traffic tickets, arrests, and stopping of suspicious vehicles/persons.

Fire Department – no report

Superintendent of Public Works – Justin Pancrazio –Report submitted. No additional comments made. Building Department – Building Inspector Mike Smith - no report

Code Enforcement – 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

• The MLK Event was cancelled due to weather. No video made.

• Has submitted a video to be reviewed on the construction project.

COMMUNICATIONS:

Warrants:

• Save the Date: Plan to attend the 35th Annual Spotlight Gala on Saturday, May 11th, 2024 from 6 – 10 pm. Tinley Park Convention Center. Fundraiser supporting the South Suburban Humane Society. Contact Emily at emily@sshspets.ccsend.com

OLD BUSINESS:

1. Ordinance No. 2024-06: An Ordinance amending Chapter 2 (Administration), Article II. (Board of Trustees), Sections 2-26 through 2-31 (Reserved) of the Crete Village Code of Ordinances.

This ordinance was created in the event of emergency action being needed by the Village. It gives the President the authority to take action prior to listing an item in the budget or on the agenda. A motion was made to adopt Ordinance 2024-06: An Ordinance amending Chapter 2 (Administration), Article II. (Board of Trustees), Sections 2-26 through 2-31 (Reserved) of the Crete Village Code of Ordinances.

Motion: Trustee Katrina Seifert Second: Trustee Holly Milburn ON ROLL CALL:

Ayes (5) Trustees Bruns, Johnson, Milburn, Seifert, and Wiater

Nays (0) none Absent (2) Trustee Phelan & President Einhorn

Abstain (0) none

Motion declared carried.

2. Consideration, discussion and possible approval to enter into a service agreement for website maintenance.

A motion was made to authorize signing the three year agreement with InterPeak Technologies for website maintenance.

Motion: Trustee Holly Milburn Second: Trustee Katrina Seifert

Ayes (5) Trustees Bruns, Johnson, Milburn, Seifert, and Wiater

Nays (0) none Absent (2) Trustee Phelan & President Einhorn Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried.

NEW BUSINESS: none 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 7:45 p.m.

Motion: Trustee Holly Milburn Second: Trustee Katrina Seifert

Ayes (5) Trustees Bruns, Johnson, Milburn, Seifert, and Wiater

Nays (0) none Absent (2) Trustee Phelan & President Einhorn Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried.

https://villageofcrete.org/agendas-and-minutes-library/