Village of Crete President and Board of Trustees met Jan. 26.
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, January 26, 2026, 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, Jamie Healy, Stephen Johnson, Holly Milburn, Keith Miller and Katrina Seifert. A quorum was present.
Also in attendance: Administrator Michael Smith, Fire Chief Neal Haemker, DPW Superintendent Justin Pancrazio, Media Consultant Nick Borrell, and Planning & Zoning Chairman Brett Millsap.
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.
· New Business Item #1 (presentation of Annual Financial Statement) was discussed at the beginning of Citizen’s Speak. See New Business Item #1 for details.
· No one from the public asked to speak.
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 12, 2026
· Approval of Bills: January 12, 2026 thru January 23, 2026
· Ratification of Payroll – Bi-weekly payroll ending January 21, 2026
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 as presented
Motion: Trustee Milburn Second: Trustee Healy
ON ROLL CALL:
Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Johnson, Milburn, Miller, and Seifert
Nays (0) none Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried REPORTS: PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES:
Finance, License and Ordinance – Trustee Katrina Seifert
· She is still working with Ryan Allison and Will County about the stray animal situation. Will be submitting for grants and a possible IGA with the County regarding facilities to hold strays. Monee is also working towards an IGA with the County.
· Reported on the Food Bank Truck event January 15. She thanked EMA for their help with traffic, the Mayor and Trustee Healy for helping, and the high school students who volunteered. She said the event was a “huge success” with cars lined up 2 hrs before the start, but that it was both “humbling and sad” to witness the need, with it being obvious that some people were living in their vehicles. She thinks that 90% of the vehicles had Crete village stickers.
Water Department – Trustee Stephen Johnson
· Electric sign is up and working, and staff has been trained on how to add info. Need to establish procedures for what entities can post on the screen.
Road and Bridge – Trustee Steve Bruns
· He, Wiater and Smith met with Earthrise Solar, who will do road inspections before and after moving their equipment on the roads. All their solar generated power will be fed to the Crete power plant and may involve future annexations of land. Plans most likely will have to go thru Planning & Zoning.
Public Health – Trustee Jamie Healy
· She has been working with State Legislators to submit language for a Bill involving police-related FOIA matters, assigned as House Bill 4409
Building and Grounds – Trustee Keith Miller – no report
Public Safety – Trustee Holly Milburn
· LCC’s budget meeting is January 29, and she and Fire Chief Haemker will be voting. The budget “shouldn’t be a problem” this year.
· Police & Fire Commission had a meeting last Wednesday, will be reviewing their general operations. The two officers in academy are doing well.
President – Mark Wiater
· Explained the Earthrise Solar project in detail, especially in terms of future annexations.
Village Clerk – Karen Tellef
· Pointed out that agendas were not being posted timely by the IT firm, and she printed out a list showing the dates posted. Milburn and Seifert will contact the firm to see how this can be remedied.
COMMITTEE AND DEPARTMENT REPORTS:
Village Administrator – Michael Smith
· There were 2 projects within the Enterprise Zone (Fire Service and NutriSciences’ solar project), and the Village will receive a refund of some costs.
Police Department – Chief Scott Pieritz – no report
Fire Department – Administrator Neal Haemker – no report (was called away during meeting)
Superintendent of Public Works – Justin Pancrazio – report submitted
Building Department – Building Inspector Mike Smith – no report
Code Enforcement – Supervisor Ryan Allison – no report
Fire & Police Commission – Jim McPhee – no report
EMA – Ryan Allison – no report
Animal Control/Code Enforcement Officer – Katelyn Tieri – no report
Planning Commission – Brett Millsap – no report
Heritage & Architecture Commission – Phyllis Monks – no report
Media Consultant – Nick Borrell
· Is working on a recruitment video with EMA.
· Did a video of the food truck event, but will not show recipients or license plates.
COMMUNICATIONS:
· No communications
OLD BUSINESS:
None
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Presentation of the Annual Financial Statement for the year ended April 30, 2025
Jennifer Doss of the firm Groskreutz Abraham Eshleman & Gerretse described highlights from the documents submitted to the board for the audit of the 2025 Annual Financial Statements. Nate Pasbrig said the good news summary is that “the Village had positive revenue over expenditures”. Wiater thanked both of them for their work which was their first year since losing previous finance director; he
Motion made to accept the audits as presented.
Motion: Trustee Miller Second: Trustee Milburn
ON ROLL CALL:
Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Johnson, Milburn, Miller, and Seifert
Nays (0) none Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried
2. Resolution No. 2026-764: Authorizing the sale of surplus property, to wit: 2008 Chevrolet Impala, VIN #2G1WS553181334728, mileage 140373, retired Police Department vehicle
Motion made to approve the resolution.
Motion: Trustee Milburn Second: Trustee Bruns
Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Johnson, Milburn, Miller, and Seifert
Nays (0) none Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried
3. Resolution No. 2026-765: Authorizing the sale of surplus property, to wit: 2008 Ford Explorer, VIN #1FMEU73848UA88880, mileage 122015, retired Fire Department vehicle.
Motion made to approve the resolution.
Motion: Trustee Milburn Second: Trustee Miller
Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Johnson, Milburn, Miller, and Seifert
Nays (0) none Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried
4. Discussion of Statewide EMA Mutual Aid Agreement for manpower and equipment
Several trustees had questions about the submitted agreement. Decision made to table this until the next meeting. EMA director Ryan Allison will be asked for clarification of the document.
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
None
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 Milburn Second: Trustee Bruns
Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Johnson, Milburn, Miller, and Seifert
Nays (0) none Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried
Agendas & Minutes
