Will County Gazette

Village of Crete President and Board of Trustees met Jan. 13.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Clerk Bachert opened the meeting on January 13, 2025 with the Roll Call at 7:01 p.m.

The following were present in the municipal building: Trustees Steve Bruns, Stephen Johnson, Holly Milburn, John Phelan, Katrina Seifert and Mark Wiater. President Michael Einhorn was absent. A quorum was present.

Also in attendance: Administrator Michael Smith, Police Chief Scott Pieritz, Fire Administrator Neal Haemker and Superintendent of Public Works Justin Pancrazio.

A motion was made to appoint Mark Wiater as President Pro Tem for the board meeting.

Motion: Trustee Holly Milburn

Second: Trustee Stephen Johnson

Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Johnson, Milburn, Phelan, Seifert and Wiater

Nays (0) none

Absent (1) President Einhorn

Abstain (0) none

Motion declared carried.

REGULAR BOARD MEETING:

President Pro Tem Mark Wiater called to order the regular board meeting of the President and the Board of Trustees of the Village of Crete on Monday, January 13, 2025, at 7:02 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.

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.

Jamie Healy, representing the Chamber, thanked the board and all Village employees involved in helping with the weekend of Crete Country Christmas.

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 - December 09, 2024

Approval of Bills December 09, 2024 thru January 10, 2025

Ratification of Payroll - Bi-weekly payrolls ending November 27, 2024, December 11, 2024, December 25, 2024 and January 8, 2025.

In accordance with an opinion from the Illinois Attorney General's Office, President Pro Tem Mark 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 Burns

ON ROLL CALL:

Second: Trustee Steve Bruns

Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Johnson, Milburn, Phelan, Seifert and Wiater

Nays (0) none

Absent (1) President Einhorn

Abstain (0) none

Motion declared carried.

PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES REPORTS:

Public Health - Trustee Katrina Seifert

Reported receiving positive feedback through the Chamber and Park District on the newsletter recently sent out. The newsletter is a joint effort between Crete Township, Village of Crete, Crete Park District, Crete Area Chamber of Commerce, Crete Public Library and the CM School District 201U and will be published quarterly.

Water Department - Trustee Stephen Johnson

The "Santa Train" went through the streets of the Village on December 9th and 10th collecting donations of toys for Angels on Assignment and food for the Crete Pantry. Children were able to see and speak with Santa!

Road and Bridge - Trustee Steve Bruns - no report

Building and Grounds - Trustee John Phelan - no report Finance, License and Ordinance - Trustee Mark Wiater

Jen Becker resigned from her position in the front office effective December 25th. The job opening has been posted and has generated interest. Interviews will take place soon.

Congratulations to Michael Smith for his 28 years of service to the Village. President Einhorn sends out a big thank you to Mike Smith for his dedicated work.

Public Safety - Trustee Holly Milburn - no report

President Michael Einhorn - absent; no report

COMMITTEE AND DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

Village Administrator - Michael Smith

The UPS systems for the Village will be serviced on Wednesday, January 15th. Problems were experienced in December when a partial power outage was experienced throughout the town. Police Department - Chief Scott Pieritz - Report Submitted

Officer Kahlin Niemeyer graduated from Macon County Law Enforcement Training Center (academy) on December 20th. He has started field training.

Currently six officers are on light duty status which greatly affects our manpower.

Flock Camera system has been instrumental in helping to locate and prosecute offenders. Police Administrator Amanda Swanson applied for and received a $10,000.00 body camera grant from insurance carrier, IRMA.

STEP grants continue, including two recent programs completed.

The Special Olympics Unified Basketball Game (Police vs Fire) is scheduled for February 25th, 2025. (more details to come)

The Special Olympics Polar Plunge will be March 1, 2025. Details forthcoming. Fire Department - Administrator Neal Haemker

There were 1954 runs in the year of 2024.

Mike Dula has graduated as an EMT Cadet. Congratulations.

Building Department - Building Inspector Mike Smith - Report submitted

Code Enforcement - Code Enforcement Supervisor Ryan Allison - absent; no report

Fire & Police Commission - Jim McPhee - absent; no report

EMA - Ryan Allison - absent; no report

Animal Control/Code Enforcement Officer - Katelyn Tieri – absent; no report

Planning Commission - Karen Tellef - absent; no report

Heritage & Architecture Commission - Phyllis Monks - absent; no report

Media Consultant - Nick Borrell

Has been taking winter photos of Crete and the snow.

Will have information to offer on live streaming under Old Business.

No filing for the April 1, 2025 election was received for position of Village Clerk. This is an open position as Clerk Bachert will not seek reelection after serving 16 years as clerk.

OLD BUSINESS:

1. Consideration/discussion on the possibility of creating a subcommittee to explore the feasibility of Live Streaming and recording the Village Board meetings. Board action may be taken.

The Trustees had a lengthy discussion on the pros and cons of video recording and live streaming the village board meetings. There was concern about the legal requirements if video recording is implemented. Trustee John Phelan motioned to create a committee to explore the feasibility. The motion failed for a lack of a second.

NEW BUSINESS: none discussed.

EXECUTIVE SESSION: No session was held.

ADJOURNMENT:

As there was no further business to come before the board, a motion was made to declare the meeting adjourned at 7:49 p.m.

Motion: Trustee Holly Milburn

Second: Trustee Stephen Johnson

Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Johnson, Milburn, Phelan, Seifert and Wiater

Nays (0) none

Abstain (0) none

Absent (1) President Einhorn

Motion declared carried.

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