Village of Crete President and Board of Trustees met Nov. 24.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
REGULAR BOARD MEETING:
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, November 24, 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, Jamie Healy, Stephen Johnson, Holly Milburn, Keith Miller and Katrina Seifert. A quorum was present.
Also in attendance: Administrator Michael Smith, EMA Director Ryan Allison, and Media Consultant Nick Borrell.
Before Citizen’s Speak, EMA Director Ryan Allison spoke about the new UTV acquired through a grant and invited everyone to come outside to view the UTV. Attached to the UTV was the light tower acquired last year with a grant, which was also demonstrated.
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.
· Several residents from Williamsburg Place were in attendance. They wanted to make sure the village knew that when they speak at meetings, they are not representing subdivision ownership, but rather speaking just as residents. They were assured the board was aware of that, and has been working with them for concerns over village-owned property in that area. Ownership has had attorney letters sent to some residents accusing them of misrepresenting.
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 – November 10, 2025
· Approval of Bills: November 10, 2025 thru November 21, 2025
· Ratification of Payroll – Bi-weekly payroll ending November 12, 2025
A motion was made to move the following item to the Unanimous Consent Agenda: New Business Item #2 Resolution No. 2025-763: A Resolution Authorizing the Purchase of Certain Property in the Village of Crete, Will County, Illinois (Crete Market Place).
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
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 Milburn Second: Trustee Bruns
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 gathering contributions for the next Crete combined-bodies newsletter
Water Department – Trustee Stephen Johnson
· The new format full-page water bill is being sent out this week
· The new mixer has been installed at water tower on Richton Rd
· He and Trustee Healy will miss the December 8 board meeting because of participating in the Santa parade
Road and Bridge – Trustee Steve Bruns – no report
Public Health – Trustee Jamie Healy – no report
Building and Grounds – Trustee Keith Miller – no report
Public Safety – Trustee Holly Milburn
· Police & Fire Commission had a meeting last week. In December, a new police officer will be sworn in. There is one more opening.
· Discussed the Will County budget recently passed, which will create a shortfall of $2.8 million. In particular this might affect the Laraway Communications Center and their ability to respond to calls if dispatchers are not paid.
· Officers were dispatched to the fatal accident November 14, 2025 at Exchange and Crete Rd. The IL State Police was also dispatched, and praised our EMA for their help, saying it had the capabilities of “a village 10 times your size”.
President – Mark Wiater
· He, Mike Smith and Kim Adams are heavily involved in the audit, “very time consuming”
Village Clerk – Karen Tellef
· Will be on vacation from December 4 – 7. Will attend the December 8 meeting, but may want to move up packet preparation to Wednesday Dec 3 due to Deputy Clerk working Country Christmas.
COMMITTEE AND DEPARTMENT REPORTS:
Village Administrator – Michael Smith
· The village already gets solar credits from NIMEC on their water pumps, but the discount will increase to 20% in 2027.
· Received a $23,000 grant from Will County Storm Water Committee towards Sangamon culvert.
Police Department – Chief Scott Pieritz – report submitted
Fire Department – Administrator Neal Haemker – no report
Superintendent of Public Works – Justin Pancrazio – report submitted
Building Department – Building Inspector Mike Smith
· Walls are now up at Fire Service. Gas N Wash is about to start concrete work, moving rapidly.
Code Enforcement – Supervisor Ryan Allison – no report
Fire & Police Commission – Rick Bustos – no report
EMA – Ryan Allison
· Demonstration of the new UTV at the start of the meeting
Animal Control/Code Enforcement Officer – Katelyn Tieri
· Ryan Allison informed us about the ongoing issues handling stray animal reports. There is a lack of holding facilities, and he and Katelyn will be spearheading an appeal to State officials for funding, alongside other villages in our area. He’s been in contact with the Monee AC officer and we may be able to use some of their holding space.
Planning Commission – Brett Millsap – no report
Heritage & Architecture Commission – Phyllis Monks – no report
Media Consultant – Nick Borrell
· Produced a video about the new water bill with 4,000 views and a construction update video with 18,000 views. Santa Sleigh GPS tracker has been tested.
COMMUNICATIONS:
WARRANTS:
Excise (Telecom. Tax) – (Col. Sept) 2025-$ 11,856.89 2024-$ 8,798.92
Sales Tax – (Col. Sept ) 2025-$ 130,453.39 2024-$ 102,780.15
Sales Tax of ½ percent – (Col. Sept) 2025-$ 50,305.57 2024-$ 39,153.42
Income Tax – (Col. Nov) 2025-$ 93,405.78 2024-$ 94,970.66
Local Use – (Col. Nov ) 2025-$ 7,206.56 2024-$ 23,707.16
MFT Allotment – (Col.) 2025-$ 2024-$
Pers. Prop. Rep. Tax–(Col. ) 2025-$ 2024-$
ComEd Utility Tax (Col.) 2025-$ 2024-$
Nicor Utility Tax (Col. Nov) 2025-$ 6,829.82 2024-$ 5,859.77
Video Gaming Report (Col. Sept) 2025-$ 29,196.30 2024-$ 27,903.98
· REMINDER: Crete Country Christmas will be celebrated throughout the Village from Friday, December 5 to Tuesday, December 9. For more information, go to their website at: https://www.cretecountrychristmas.com And, follow Crete Country Christmas on Facebook
OLD BUSINESS:
· Trustee Healy reports that the Chamber of Commerce is working on holding a TIF seminar for business owners.
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Discussion regarding Village participation, along with other taxing bodies, in a community food truck distribution in partnership with the Crete Public Library through the Northern Illinois Food Bank. The program provides a semi-truck of groceries, including frozen meat, fresh produce, nutritious non-perishable items, with an optional expanded distribution including eggs and milk for $2,100.
Trustee Seifert has been working with Library Director Dave Sieffert to bring a semi-truck to Crete. After a rush of food donations during the holidays, pantries empty out in January and February. With the Park Forest pantry building being shut down, need will be greater. Will County will donate half the cost, with Library and Village donating $525 each. It would be a drive-through event at Heritage Park, with no date announced. Trustee Bruns felt that taxpayer money shouldn’t be used, and would prefer that private donations are made.
A motion was made to approve a contribution of $525 towards food truck costs.
Motion: Trustee Seifert Second: Trustee Healy
ROLL CALL:
Ayes (5) Trustees Healy, Johnson, Miller, Milburn, Seifert
Nays (1) Trustee Bruns Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried.
2. Resolution No. 2025-763: A Resolution Authorizing the Purchase of Certain Property in the Village of Crete, Will County, Illinois (Crete Market Place).
This item was moved to the Unanimous Consent Agenda
EXECUTIVE SESSION:
A motion was made to close the regular session of the board meeting at 8:07pm and move to Closed Session Planning for the purpose of:
1. The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1)
Motion: Trustee Milburn Second: Trustee Johnson
ROLL CALL:
Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Johnson, Milburn, Miller, Seifert
Nays (0) none Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried.
ADJOURNMENT:
The board returned from the Closed Session at 8:44pm and a motion was made to reopen the Regular session of the board meeting.
Motion: Trustee Milburn Second: Trustee Bruns
Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Johnson, Milburn, Miller, Seifert
Nays (0) none Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried.
As there was no further business to come before the board, a motion was made to declare the meeting adjourned at 8:44 p.m.
Motion: Trustee Milburn Second: Trustee Miller
Ayes (6) Trustees Bruns, Healy, Johnson, Milburn, Miller, Seifert
Nays (0) none Absent (0) none Abstain (0) none Motion declared carried.
