Last week’s committee of the whole and board meeting covered a lot of ground, much of it routine.
At the committee of the whole, we dealt with several items that we have uncovered from the past. The first was cleaning up language regulating water discharges. Our code did not separate our storm and sanitary sewer systems which are, in fact, separate systems. The new language clearly delineates that storm water discharges need to go into the storm system because we never want the sanitary system to have breeches, for obvious sanitation and health reasons.
We also had to approve a parking deck agreement with the University of Chicago. Though the deck and agreement were first put in place in 2015 and the agreement was supposed to be approved in 2016, it never was. We approved reimbursing U of C for costs that the village was responsible for from the agreement that was never put in place. We were able to negotiate a much lower rate than the unsigned agreement and approve an agreement going forward. Unfortunately, this cost us $171,050. We continue to find issues like this (remember the $250K for mold remediation under the garage?) that were hidden and “kicked down the road” prior to my first election. Subsequently, they were never identified by staff and our new directors keep uncovering issues like this throughout the village. As this happens, we address them as soon as possible and continue to be transparent.
Another one of these issues that I have talked about before is the Tinley Creek stabilization. This project is a creek stabilization project for a creek that is owned by private homeowners. The erosion is endangering those homes and others downstream. In 2014, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) committed to do the project (and pay for it). Some homeowners refused to grant an easement (they would still own property) and the village did not address the issue, again “kicking the can down the road.” Of course, the problem did not go away, it has gotten worse. MWRD informed us of the project and that they would pull funding if we did not start it. Of course, now the project will cost a lot more money. MWRD has agreed to put more money into the project, but now the village will be on the hook for $2.2 million in additional costs. The total cost of the project is approximately $250K per affected property. We are addressing this issue with homeowners so the project can be completed. The vote was 6 to 1 to move forward with this. The one no vote was due to the fact that the homeowners were not putting any money into the project. While none of us are happy about that, the fact is the problem will keep getting worse for downstream properties in the watershed and the cost will increase, so we have agreed to do it while MWRD still plans on funding a large portion of the project.
In committee, we also approved a townhome project on 143rd, though the board required changes that included eliminating a dead-end street so that waste trucks, snow plows, deliveries, etc. could safely access the properties. This also resulted in several more on-street parking spots for the community.
Lastly, the committee, approved re-subdividing a property from 2 lots to 3. All the new lots are conforming to village code so the vote was unanimous.
The main board meeting including approving water tank painting, body camera purchases and replacing large water meters that are reading incorrectly.
We also approved the contract to have a consultant analyze water and sewer rates, which is done every few years to set our rates. Rates are set to break even and cover our water and sewer operations.
There were also two contracts not approved for this year because we only had one bidder. The reason we only had one bidder was due to many contractors being booked for the remainder of the year and being short of employees. We feel that we will get better pricing next year for these items.
I gave an update on COVID that you can watch here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivgtqkhOSKI&t
Lastly, we unanimously passed a resolution opposing the governor’s mandates regarding vaccinations and masking. We asked the state legislature to act and to stop abdicating their responsibilities regarding COVID. My comments can be viewed here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqygm2GQJ7g. The entire conversation can be found in the broadcast of the meeting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTDrGe-F85o.
We also held a ceremony commemorating the 20-year anniversary of the 9/11/2001 attacks. You can watch this here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8IrGjwGuVg. All the speakers did an outstanding job. Thank you to our staff for putting on such a moving ceremony.
Lastly, I want to remind you that my golf event will be held on September 27th. There are still a few foursomes available. In addition, there are many opportunities to sponsor the event and dinner tickets are available. www.keithpekau.com/golf
