West Cook News

Village of Stickney Board of Trustees met Dec. 3

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Upon the roll call, the following Trustees were present: 

Trustees White, Savopoulos, Milenkovic, Torres, Kapolnek and Hrejsa 

Trustee Milenkovic moved, duly seconded by Trustee Kapolnek, to approve the minutes of the regular board meeting held on Tuesday, November 19, 2024. 

Upon the roll call, the following Trustees voted: 

Ayes: Trustees White, Savopoulos, Milenkovic, Torres, Kapolnek and Hrejsa

Nays: None 

Absent: None 

Mayor Walik declared the motion carried. 

Trustee White moved, duly seconded by Trustee Savopoulos 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.   

Upon the roll call, the following Trustees voted: 

Ayes: Trustees White, Savopoulos, Milenkovic, Torres, Kapolnek and Hrejsa

Nays: None 

Absent: None 

Mayor Walik declared the motion carried. 

Trustee Torres moved, duly seconded by Trustee Hrejsa to Approve the Request to Consent and Approve to hire Two (2) Probationary Police Officers to Fill Vacancies Created by the Retirement of One Officer and the Resignation of Another from the Stickney Police Department 

Upon the roll call, the following Trustees voted: 

Ayes: Trustees White, Savopoulos, Milenkovic, Torres, Kapolnek and Hrejsa

Nays: None 

Absent: None 

Mayor Walik declared the motion carried. 

Trustee Hrejsa moved, duly seconded by Trustee Kapolnek to Grant Permission to the Stickney-Forest View Lions Club to Conduct the Queen of Hearts Raffle that  Includes a Request for a Waiver of the Fee 

Upon the roll call, the following Trustees voted: 

Ayes: Trustees Savopoulos, Milenkovic, Torres, Kapolnek and Hrejsa

Present: Trustee White 

Nays: None

Absent: None 

Mayor Walik declared the motion carried. 

Prior to the vote, the clerk explained to the students in attendance that Trustee White voted present because he is a Lions Club member and if he voted for this motion, it would be a conflict of interest. 

Trustee Kapolnek moved, duly seconded by Trustee Hrejsa to consider a Waiver of the Fidelity Bond Requirement to the Stickney-Forest View Lions Club for their Queen of Hearts Raffle. 

Upon the roll call, the following Trustees voted: 

Ayes: Trustees Savopoulos, Milenkovic, Torres, Kapolnek and Hrejsa

Present: Trustee White 

Nays: None 

Absent: None 

Mayor Walik declared the motion carried. 

MAYOR’S REPORT:  The mayor welcomed the students to our meeting. He reminded  people that this Saturday is Pictures with Your Pets and Santa Claus from 1:00 to  3:00. There will be give-a-ways and treats. He also reminded people that the Senior Christmas Luncheon will be on December 14, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Saint Pius. The kids Christmas party is December 14, 2024, at Saint Pius, from 1:00 to  3:00. Santa will be there to take pictures with each person. There will be pizza, candy, and gifts. He then thanked all the trustees and department heads for their hard work. Everything is going great. We will be having a meeting before the end of the year. 

CLERK’S REPORT:   

a. Trustee Hrejsa moved, duly seconded by Trustee Savopoulos to approve the 2025 Regular Board Meeting Schedule 

Upon the roll call, the following Trustee voted: 

Ayes: Trustees White, Savopoulos, Milenkovic, Torres, Kapolnek and Hrejsa

Nays: None 

Absent: None 

Mayor Walik declared the motion carried. 

b. Trustee Savopoulos moved, duly seconded by Trustee Hrejsa to approve the 2025 Village of Stickney Holiday Schedule 

Upon the roll call, the following Trustee voted:  

Ayes: Trustees White, Savopoulos, Milenkovic, Torres, Kapolnek and Hrejsa 

Nays: None 

Absent: None 

Mayor Walik declared the motion carried. 

In addition: The clerk gave some statistics from the November Presidential Election. She thought it would be interesting for the visiting  Government Class students. In Stickney Township, there were  6,278 votes for Harris; there were  6,747 votes for Trump; resulting in Trump receiving 51.7% of the votes.

TRUSTEE REPORTS:    

Trustee Hrejsa: Suggested people stay warm. 

Trustee Torres: She reminded people about the kids Christmas party on December 14th at Saint Pius. They will have Santa, games, pizza, and pictures with Santa. Trustee Milenkovic: The summary for the Support our Troops was given. We gather items in the front lobby. We then take it to a warehouse and then they will ship it around the world. Some items collected are medicine, food, and toiletries. This year there was 218 pounds. Last year we had 154 pounds.  

In addition, he read the report from our tree lottery from Public Works Director Joe Lopez. There were eighteen trees planted from the lottery where residents requested a tree for their front parkway. The Village purchases the trees, and the resident agrees to maintain the tree. Tom Kadolph, of Cedar Path Nurseries, donated three trees. A list of the variety of trees planted was given. The mayor thanked him for his  efforts. 

Trustee Savopoulos:  He remarked that the sidewalks are ready for the snow and ice. Trustee White: He informed the students that any Board member could sign their assignment sheets. 

DEPARTMENT REPORTS:   

Public Works Director Joe Lopez:  The leaf season is over. Although, they can take  care of situations where people still have leaves. He gave a lesson on the catch basins on the streets. This drain collects leaves and debris. Public Works will be cleaning all the catch basins. We will be switching over the trucks to prepare them for the snow. We have enough salt for the winter. 

Fire Chief Jeff Boyajian: A slide-show presentation was given showing the progress of the building of the Quint Firetruck. It is in the eighth week of progress. They are projecting that it will be finished by the end of January. The cab has been painted. They body has been fabricated and should be painted this week. Soon it will be placed on the chassis. The wiring is quite tedious. He then thanked the Board for  allowing us to purchase this. The old one broke down. It has been a two-and-a-half year process. It has airbags in it and other safety measures. He plans to go there at the  end of the month and take more pictures. The factory is in Appleton, Wisconsin. They build 4100 trucks per year. Currently, the wait process is three-and-a-half years. The cost of our new truck is $1.4 million. There is a website where you can observe all the trucks in the process of being built.  

There  being no further  business, Trustee White moved, duly seconded by Trustee Savopoulos that the meeting be adjourned. Upon which the Board adopted the motion to adjourn at 7:29 p.m.

https://www.villageofstickney.com/getattachment/c18eaabb-4bce-41ad-8b0e-f703812dcdf5/Board-of-Trustees-Meeting-December-3,-2024.aspx