Village of Stickney Board of Trustees met December 19.
Here is the minutes provided by the Board:
The Board of Trustees of the Village of Stickney met in regular session on Tuesday, December 19, 2017, at 7:04 p.m. in the Stickney Village Hall, 6533 W. Pershing Road, Stickney, Illinois.
Upon the roll call, the following Trustees were present:
Trustees Hrejsa, Kapolnek, Milenkovic, Savopoulos, Torres and White
Trustee Milenkovic moved, duly seconded by Trustee Savopoulos to approve the minutes of the previous regular session on Tuesday, December 5, 2017.
Upon the roll call, the following Trustees voted:
Ayes: Trustee Hrejsa, Kapolnek, Milenkovic, Savopoulos, Torres and White
Nays: None
Absent: None
Mayor Walik declared the motion carried.
Trustee White moved, duly seconded by Trustee Torres that the bills, approved by the various committees of the Board, be approved for payment, and to approve warrants which authorize the Village Treasurer to draw checks to pay the bills, to be signed by the authorized signers, as provided for by the Ordinances of the Village of Stickney.
Prior to the vote, Trustee White amended the warrant to remove Crowley Sheppard Asphalt for $20,000, Schaefges Brothers Inc. for $28,525.50 and NiCor Gas for an estimated bill for the Recreation Center for $339.48. We had the gas turned off there. I don’t want to pay this. We could have a difficult time getting it back.
Jeff White moved, duly seconded by Trustee Savopoulos to remove those items from the warrant.
Upon the roll call, the following Trustees voted:
Ayes: Trustee Hrejsa, Kapolnek, Milenkovic, Savopoulos, Torres and White
Nays: None
Absent: None
Mayor Walik declared the motion carried.
Corporate Fund: $127,373.44
Motor Fuel Tax Fund: $0
Badge Fund: $0
Water Fund: $173,831.22
Police Pension Fund: $3,542.00 911
Account: $15,326.61 1505
Account: $0
Family Day: $0
Police Revenue Sharing: $0
Capital Projects Fund: $37,417.40
Bond & Interest Fund: $0
Subtotal: $342,164.06
General Fund Payroll: $191,195.25
Water Fund Payroll: $14,984.06
Subtotal: $206,179.31
Total to be approved by Village Trustees: $548,343.37
Upon the roll call, the following Trustees voted:
Ayes: Trustee Hrejsa, Kapolnek, Milenkovic, Savopoulos, Torres and White
Nays: None
Absent: None
Mayor Walik declared the motion carried.
Trustee Kapolnek, moved, duly seconded by Trustee Torres to Pass and Approve Ordinance 2017-30, “An Ordinance Amending Chapter 46, Section 31, of the Village of Stickney regarding Police Sergeants.”
Upon the roll call, the following Trustees voted:
Ayes: Trustee Hrejsa, Kapolnek, Milenkovic, Savopoulos, Torres and White
Nays: None
Absent: None
Mayor Walik declared the motion carried.
Trustee White moved, duly seconded by Trustee Savopoulos to Pass and Approve Ordinance 2017-31, “An Ordinance Amending Chapter 7 of the Personnel Manual Regarding Sexual Harassment for the Village of Stickney”
Upon the roll call, the following Trustees voted:
Ayes: Trustee Hrejsa, Kapolnek, Milenkovic, Savopoulos, Torres and White
Nays: None
Absent: None
Mayor Walik declared the motion carried.
Prior to the vote Village Attorney Jessica Fese explained that this Ordinance is in relation to a public act that was passed by the state government making all units of municipal government to strengthen their sexual harassment policies. They have required us by law to do so. We have updated Stickney’s Personnel Policy Manual to comply.
Mayor’s Report: Mayor Walik stated that he can’t wait for 2018. It is going to be bigger and better than 2017. He then gave holiday greetings. He asked people to be safe and thanked people for coming out tonight.
Clerk’s Report: Clerk McAdams gave season greetings. She reminded people that the next board meeting will be January 2.
Trustee Reports: Trustee Hrejsa reported on the Christmas parties. There were approximately 50 seniors as the senior luncheon. Trustee Savopoulos made a delicious dinner for everyone. Police Chief Babich treated everyone to Weber bakery. There were approximately 100 children at the children’s party. Each child got a gift and had pizza. She then thanked each volunteer for helping for the entire day from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. She also mentioned that the Village is looking beautiful with their pretty decorations. She then gave holiday greetings.
Trustee Kapolnek gave greetings to everyone and wished that 2018 to good for everyone.
Trustee Torres mentioned that she has been working with Trustee Milenkovic collecting items for the troops. Her husband and Ed Bartunek will be delivering the donations to the warehouse on Thursday morning. She also spoke about the blight inspections. They are finishing up with all the houses that have been written up. There have been a lot of improvements and court cases. There will be a little break right now and we’ll probably concentrate on garbage. In the spring we will go into writing more blight. She then gave her holiday greetings.
Trustee Milenkovic thanked everyone that has donated items to the Operation Support our Troops and especially to Trustee Torres for her help. The Tree Committee is working on the schedule for 2018. There is some thought to the days and times to accommodate people.
Trustee Savopoulos wished everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Trustee White gave his greetings to everyone and a better 2018.
Department Reports:
Public Works Supervisor Joe Lopez reminded people that they will be off on Friday and Monday. Pick-ups will be delayed. Christmas trees will be picked up until February.
Fire Chief Boyajian gave his greetings to everyone.
Treasurer Paul Nosek announced that he received the accounting software. “It will be up and running for the New Year.” The auditors should be giving me their numbers. We will be reporting on that in January. We will be starting the budgeting process in January. Holiday greetings were given.
Police Chief Babich announced that we received the 2018 Chevy Tahoe with four- wheel drive. We will put new low-key graphics on it. He explained that the four- wheel drive is needed when and if we have serious snow and we need to help people. He then addressed a situation at 4033 Home Avenue. It is a two-story house that was boarded up by his officers, the mayor and the building department. There were people hanging out in the house. These people were from DuPage County and were using the house as a safe haven to do drugs and a hideout from law enforcement. One of the guys they took out of there was wanted out of Coal City. He was their number one guy they were looking for. We took two other guys out of there too. We boarded it up and shut it down so no one could go in there. We are working with the owners trying to rectify this. The chief told us that he has seen other places that took months to shut down. This was a hazard with the criminals and also a fire hazard. In addition, we were told that on December 22nd, 23rd and 24th officers will be doing walk throughs at the Jewel Grocery Store due to heavy shopping traffic to prevent criminal activity. Lastly, we were told that since May of 2017 until December 19, 2017 traffic and parking arrests have tripled and crime has been down thanks to all the officers and dispatchers who serve this great community. We were given an update on the four ladies that attended the last board meeting. All their complaints have been resolved. They were very happy that we came personally to their houses. We covered everything.
Chief Babich explained, “I have been hiding the star from the mayor. The Mayor has been looking for this star for a month. The Chief said, “I wanted to present it to him as the mayor.” “He and I know that in our lives when you do the right thing there are a lot of people who don’t want you to do the right thing. Sometimes they set you up for failure. He was not promoted on two Sergeant Exams just like what happened to me. The chief continued, sometimes it is hard to keep going and do the right thing when people keep constantly throwing logs in your way. You take a hit along the way because you are trying to do the right thing. I am glad to say that he has made it to the highest level as an official, even above the Chief of Police by being the Mayor of this Village that he worked for. I am honored to give this to him. He truly earned it. It is a beautiful star. He earned it. A lot of times you could count all your friends on one hand. It is a struggle to be a police officer or in any type of political capacity and make everybody happy. But you keep giving your heart and your soul to try to do the right thing for everybody across the board. Sometimes you want to give up because you are tired of taking the beating. A lot of people don’t see behind the scenes. He admitted he himself felt that he was tired of putting out fires. He then thanked the Mayor.”
Finally, greetings were given.
There being no further business, Trustee White moved, duly seconded by Trustee Milenkovic that the meeting be adjourned. Upon which the Board adopted the motion at 7:21 p.m.
http://www.villageofstickney.com/wp-content/uploads/minutes/2017/minutes-12-19-17.pdf
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