Will County Gazette

Village of Crete President and Board of Trustees met June 9.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

President Mark Wiater called to order the regular board meeting of the President and the Board of Trustees of the Village of Crete on Monday, June 9th, 2025, 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.

The following were present in the municipal building upon roll call: Trustees Steve Bruns, Holly Milburn, Katrina Seifert, Jamie Healy and Keith Miller. Trustee Stephen Johnson was absent. A quorum was present.

Also in attendance: Administrator Michael Smith, Planning & Zoning Chairperson Karen Tellef, Supt. Of Public Works Justin Pancrazio, Police Chief Scott Pieritz, Fire Chief Neal Haemker

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.

• Lauren Struthers from The Pointe at Crete invited all to their grand opening celebration June 18th starting at 4 PM. The new facility will offer assisted living and memory care.

• Daniel Rohwedder a resident asked Crete to consider a proclamation or resolution in support of individuals that identify as LGBTQ+ and to show inclusion for all citizens.

• Jim Molek a resident had questions about Republic Services Contract specifically questions on bulk pickup and garbage pick up not in the cans. He also asked about Heritage Park.

President Wiater moved New Business Item # 2 Appointment and oath of office for the Village Clerk to Citizens Speak portion of the agenda. President Wiater appointed Karen Tellef to the position of Village Clerk and asked for board concurrence.

A motion was made to appoint Karen Tellef to the positon of Village Clerk Motion: Trustee Holly Milburn

Second: Trustee Steve Bruns

Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Miller, Milburn, Seifert, President Wiater

Nays (0) none

Absent (1) Trustee Johnson

Abstain (0) none

APPROVAL OF AGENDA:

Special orders

Motion declared carried.

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 - May 12, 2025

• Approval of Bills April 28, 2025 thru June 6, 2025

• Ratification of Payroll - Bi-weekly payrolls ending April 30th, May 14th and May 28th, 2025.

• Resolution No. 2025-750: A resolution honoring and thanking Michael S. Einhorn for his distinguished service to the Village of Crete. This resolution was read aloud at the May 12, 2025 Village Board Meeting. Board action is anticipated.

Trustee Milburn approved the bills for Trustee Johnson, Water.

A motion was made to move Old Business Item # 1 Ratification of the phone poll taken the week of May 12, 2025 allowing bills to be paid on time due to the cancellation of the May 26th board meeting, Item #2 Ratification of phone poll taken the week of May 12th, 2025 waiving the bid process and authorizing emergency repairs to Well 9, and New Business Item # 1 Resolution No. 2025 -751: A Resolution designating signatory authorization for Old Plank Trail Community Bank.

Motion: Trustee Holly Milburn

Second: Trustee Jamie Healy

Ayes (5) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Miller, Milburn, Seifert

Nays (0) none

Absent (1) Trustee Johnson

Abstain (0) none

Motion declared carried.

In accordance with an opinion from the Illinois Attorney General's Office, President 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 with additions.

Motion: Trustee Holly Milburn

ON ROLL CALL:

Second: Trustee Katrina Seifert

Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Miller, Milburn, Seifert, and President Wiater

Nays (0) none

Absent (1) Trustee Johnson

Abstain (0) none

Motion declared carried.

REPORTS: PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES:

Public Health - Trustee Jamie Healy

• Thanked everyone for their time and service with the parade and Memorial Day Service

Water Department - Trustee Stephen Johnson - Absent

Road and Bridge - Trustee Steve Bruns -no report

Building and Grounds - Trustee Keith Miller – no report

Finance, License and Ordinance - Trustee Katrina Seifert

• Thanked everyone for making the Memorial Day service and parade a success- stated how she loves how all the departments make it look easy and run smoothly

Public Safety Trustee Holly Milburn - no report

President Mark Wiater -

• Gallagher is working on the Exchange St project they are thinking it will be closed closer to the 4th of July

• Still working on the Metro contract

• Budget meetings have started with all the department heads. Once those are done he will give everything to the board

COMMITTEE AND DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

Village Administrator - Michael Smith

• The gas station is open now on the corner of Main & Exchange St. They still have some stuff to get finished but they are up and running

• A big thank you to all the volunteers, donors and participants who helped with Memorial Day. Without them none of it would be possible

Police Department - Chief Scott Pieritz - Report submitted; a summary is listed below

• Congratulations to Sgt. Juan Garcia for completing Northwestern's School of Police Staff and Command (SPSC) hosted at Homewood Police Department. SPSC is a (10) week law enforcement leadership and management education program. Students study a wide range of topics including problem analysis, management situations, project management, grant funding, mitigating legal exposure, budgeting, contemporary police issues, and many more. Students are assigned homework, complete papers, and a final research project/paper.

• Congratulations to Deputy Chief Adam Groszek who graduated from the 12 week FBI National Academy (Quantico, VA), on Thursday June 5,2025 (class #294). I was honored to attend the ceremony and am proud of his great achievement. Less than 1% of all police officers get the chance to attend this training. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino was the guest speaker

• Great Job by Detectives Lucia and Kiser:

Trevon L. Gunn, 32, Crete, was arrested on (2) counts of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child (both Class X felonies), (2) counts of Criminal Sexual Assault (both Class 2 Felonies), and (1) count of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse (Class 1 Felony). Detectives worked tirelessly to investigate this case, get an arrest warrant, and track him down for the arrest. This included utilizing the Will County Warrants Team and US Marshals to arrest him in Markham. Trevon will be processed and transported to The Will County Adult Detention Facility on a No Bond detention. With any luck, this piece of garbage will spend the rest of his life behind bar.

• Detective Lucia: This week, Detective Lucia is participating in a highly specialized training course on forensic anthropology (through our membership in the Will County Major Crimes Task Force) at the Body Farm in Tennessee. The Body Farm studies decomposition of human corpses in different death circumstances and assists investigators become proficient in death investigations including time of death, manner, and entomology indicators.

• Sgt. Konvalinka will be attending VR (virtual reality) system training at Olivet Nazarene College this week. The college purchased a new system used to teach their students and allows local police departments to utilize for their training purposes.

• Great Team Work: Police, Fire, DPW, and Animal Control worked together to deliver donations and supplies to a Crete family who lost their home in a fire.

Fire Department - Administrator Neal Haemker

• Thanked Sgt. Konvalinka for the Facebook post and setting up the donation site for the family of the recent house fire.

Superintendent of Public Works - Justin Pancrazio – report submitted.

Building Department - Building Inspector Mike Smith - no report

Code Enforcement - Code Enforcement Supervisor Ryan Allison - report submitted

Fire & Police Commission Jim McPhee

• Starting the process to get a new eligibly list, the ad will go out mid-summer.

EMA - Ryan Allison report submitted

Animal Control/Code Enforcement Officer - Katelyn Tieri - absent

Planning Commission - Karen Tellef - no report

Heritage & Architecture Commission - Phyllis Monks - absent

Media Consultant - Nick Borrell - absent

WARRANTS:

Communications continued:

• Thank you letter received from Clerk Bachert

• Trustee Miller reminded everyone that the Special Olympics games are on June 21st in Normal Illinois

OLD BUSINESS:

Old Business items 1 & 2 were moved to the consent agenda.

1. Ratification of the phone poll taken the week of May 12, 2025 allowing bills to be paid on time due to the cancellation of the May 26th board meeting. Board action is anticipated.

2. Ratification of phone poll taken the week of May 12th, 2025 waiving the bid process and authorizing emergency repairs to Well 9. Board action is anticipated.

NEW BUSINESS:

New Business item 1 was moved to the consent agenda and item 2 moved to Citizen's Speak

1. Resolution No. 2025 - 751: A Resolution designating signatory authorization for Old Plank Trail Community Bank. Board action is anticipated.

2. Appointment and oath of office for the Village Clerk. Board action is anticipated.

3. Appointments for 2025 2026. Board action is anticipated.

A motion was made for the Appointments for 2025 - 2026. Motion: Trustee Keith Miller

Second: Trustee Holly Milburn

Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Milburn, Miller, Seifert, and President Wiater

Nays (0) none

Absent (1) Trustee Johnson

Abstain (0) none

Motion declared carried.

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 7:50 p.m.

Motion: Trustee Holly Milburn

Second: Trustee Steve Bruns

Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Milburn, Miller, Seifert and President Wiater

Nays (0) none

Absent (1) Trustee Johnson

Abstain (0) none

Motion declared carried.

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