Board of Trustees - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I would like to welcome all of you. We have a big group tonight to the February 12th village board meeting for the village of Indian Head Park. Thank you so much for coming and thank you all for being on channel 6 if you're joining us remotely or on YouTube channel. So if any of you want to replay this meeting, you can see all of you tonight uh after this. you can replay it uh and send it to all your relatives for all of our people here tonight for our swearing in and our awards presentation. So without further ado, can we please have a roll call? Trusty. Trusty Sana

here. Trusty Eck here. Trusty Gazis here. Trusty Donnersburgger. Trusty Zetka. And President Amy Joe Whittenberg here. Can we please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

Thank you. One of the wonderful things we get to do as a village board is to swear in uh new officers to our police department. We are so pleased to have great staff in our police department and patrol officers. So without further ado, we're going to do that first, followed by the presentation of a life-saving award to Corporal Marty Mileus. And that is also something that doesn't happen very much. And we are absolutely thrilled to have Corporal Mileus here with his family to give him the um respect and the um gratitude for him in in saving somebody's life. So with uh with that, I'll turn it over to Chief Walsh. A little bit about Max. He's a proud graduate of St. Lawrence High School. He went to attended Indiana Wesleyan University where he obtained a criminal justice degree. He was working full-time from Prairie State College

while working part time here. Fortunately, we were able to get him as a lateral transfer and Max has been working with us and doing a great job and we're going to get him sworn in now on camera. Raise your right hand. I'll get the chief. There you go. My honor, I have my honor. I will never betray my badge. I will never betray my badge. My integrity My integrity for the community I serve. for the community I serve. I will always hold myself I always hold myself and others and others accountable for our actions. accountable for our actions. I will always uphold the Constitution. I always uphold the Constitution. The laws of the state of Illinois the laws of the state of Illinois. And the ordinances of the village of Inart

and the ordinances of the village of Inart. I will faithfully discharge my duties as a police officer. I will faithfully discharge my duties as a police officer to the village of Minne Park. For the village park,

bring them up. Come on, guys. Bring them on up. This is my mom Tina, my brother Connor, my dad Don. It's my wife Michaela.

Why don't you guys get some pictures as a family? Okay. No, no, it's all right. You guys, you want to see yourselves? got some other interoper Come on.

Right.

We're all family. All right, here we go.

Perfect.

Just get the family. Thank you so much for coming. Can Can you get him the microphone? Hey, Chief, can you use the microphone, please? When you're doing the When you Yeah.

Yeah. So, you can read Marty's. Thank you for that. Now, we're going to do the presentation of the life-saving award for Corporal Marty Mileus. Thank you.

Okay. I'll end up breaking it. Breaking it yet. Okay, Marty, you want to come up here? This award is proudly presented to Corporal Martin Mileus in recognition of extraordinary courage, swift action, and unwavering commitment to the preservation of human life. On January 17th, 2026, Corporal Mileus demonstrated exception exceptional presence of mind and selfless dedication by swiftly responding to a victim of a motor vehicle crash near I294 in Wolf Road. At approximately 3:00 a.m., Officer Malamus located a single vehicle crash where the driver was ejected from the wreckage. Corporal Mileus rushed to the scene and identified that the semic-conscious victim's head was submerged underwater. Corporal Mileus waited into the near freezing water and if you remember how cold it was back then into the near freezing water and to lift the person's head up until the fire department arrived and rendered aid. His decite his decis decisive actions reflect the highest ideals of the Indian Head Park Police Department and serve as a inspiring example of bravery and compassion. With deep gratitude and respect, we honor your heroic efforts. Mark, he did a great job. uh watching the video. It was freezing. It was absolutely freezing out. Uh Marty without thought just jumped into the water, saw the guy was head was submerged, lifted his head till the fire department got there. So congratulations, Marty. Great job. Thank you.

Anything first? You want to get some pictures or um Thank you. Marty's not.

Come on. I'll make sure. Thank you so much. Absolutely. I'll send them to you now because then you'll never know. I'll get the picture. I'll make sure you get it. real quick.

All right. Vantage points be a little lower than Curs. It's good. Thank you.

Thank you. It's for everything. Thank you for coming. Nice meeting you. Threequarters of the audience with you. Yeah.

Tonight, I only have one item for the for my mayor's report this evening. One of the items I hear frequently from residents about is our vehicle sticker program and specifically the need to improve compliance and enforcement. Over the next few weeks, some residents will receive a letter from the village because our records indicate that one or more vehicles registered to their address may not have a current vehicle sticker. We recently received an updated vehicle registration information from the Illinois Secretary of State and cross-cheed it against our vehicle sticker sales records. Based on that review, we have an estimated list of approximately 700 vehicles registered to Indian Head Park addresses that may not have a current sticker. For context, during the 2025 sticker season, the village sold 2739 stickers. generating more than $178,000 in revenue. Based on our preliminary review, the number of potentially non-compliant vehicles is in excess of 25% and we believe it is necessary to conduct this review process to improve compliance and also ensure our records are accurate. We understand that records are not always perfect. Vehicles may have been sold, moved, or no longer to registered to an Indian Head Park address, or maybe you have purchased a new vehicle. The letter will list the vehicle or vehicles in question. If the information is inaccurate, residents can contact Village Hall so we can update our records. If the vehicle is still registered to the address and does not have a current sticker, residents will have until March 16th to purchase a vehicle sticker for $65 and pay the $65 late fee. If

residents do not comply in the April time frame, you will receive an administrative fine of $65. And at that point, the total due will include the fine, the late fee, and the vehicle sticker purchase. I also want to take a moment to remind everyone why this program matters. V vehicle sticker revenue helps support the village's ability to maintain our internal residential streets, repairs, resurfacing, snow operations, and preventative maintenance. While major roads like Wolf Road, Planefield Road, and Joliet Road are not maintained by Indian Head Park, they are maintained by other agencies. The village is responsible for our neighborhood local streets. At this time, the village has identified high priority local roadway needs totaling more than $6 million, including planned work on Pontiac Drive and Kiaak next spring, which totals $1 million. Additional projects will need to be proactively funded, scheduled, bid, and completed to keep our streets in the condition that our residents expect. We will continue pursuing grants, industry, free loans, and other funding opportunities, but vehicle sticker revenue remains an important local funding source. If anyone has any questions, the letter will include, if you receive one, detailed instructions. You can always call us at Village Hall or email us at admin headparkyil.gov. Thank you. Can I please for item four, the consent agenda, get a motion to approve?

Move approval of the consent agenda. Second.

Any questions or comments about the consent agenda items? A through F. I see. Can I have a financial report, Treasurer? Yes, ma'am. The financial summary for the month ending January 2026, January 31st, our cash on hand at December 31st, 2025 was 2,341,59016. Payments for the January of 2026 amounted to $454,1128. Our total revenues for January 2026 were $517,4163, bringing us to an ending bank balance at January 31st, 2026 of 2,44,951. Uh Gavin on that 2 million3 uh had we received our uh taxes uh real estate taxes that we had not yet received that roughly 2 million4 would be uh closer to 3 million but not quite.

We have uh since uh January we have received 522,000 in taxes. So we have uh just about caught up. So that 2 million4 you'd add 500,000 to that. So that'd be 2,ion9. Yeah. Roughly. Yes. Okay. Thank you. There are no other questions. Um can we please get a roll call vote? Trusty Sana I. Trusty act. I. Trusty Gazes. I. Motion passes 30.

Moving along to new business. Move approval of resolution 20264 suspending the purchasing rules and ratifying the purchase of a 2025 Ford Explorer for the village of Indian Head Park Police Department. Second.

Okay. This was a time-sensitive vehicle purchase. We had a uh opportunity to buy this from uh the provider of our uh upfitting um our aftermarket additions to the police vehicles and it's a sole source purchase which is why the rules need to be suspended. Um this is authorized under the Illinois Municipal Code um to set aside the competitive bidding requirements with a twothirds vote. Um this purchase was approved by the president and the finance trustee under village code authority. Uh we have completed the purchase and what we're asking for tonight is formal ratification um for compliance and transparency.

Any questions on this? How much was it for? Chief, do you remember how much it was? I don't have the memo right in front of me. The amount's in your memo. Yeah. But the public does send no. Ah, you want the public to know. 47 47 47,800. Thank you. Any other questions? Hearing none, may we please have a roll call vote. Trusty Sana. I. Trusty A. I. Trusty Gazis. I. Motion passes 30.

Great. Moving along to item H. Move approval of resolution 2026-05 authorizing the village president to execute a professional services agreement with vicarious multimedia for village communication services. Second.

This uh item will give us professional communications support. We've been um this has been a goal of ours to develop a communications plan and a communications strategy that's uh more uh holistic than we had uh when I arrived. And um the contract would be with Vicarious Media and it would there would be an initial retainer of $2,000 to get us up and going to have her come in and do an analysis of of our communications needs and identifying uh strategies for communication. And um then it would be an ongoing $3,500 a month after that. Um she has an entire team that will take care of our social media, all of our communications efforts. We're talking to her about uh she will work with us and Civic Plus to update our website which hasn't been updated in a number of years um and make it more user friendly all and uh more communicative and more um helpful. It'll have all of the information in one place. It'll be easy to navigate. It will be um provide a much improved customer service uh um angle for our residents. Um the goal of overall of the whole communications uh program would be to strengthen transparency, improve consistency and provide professional communications support beyond what our internal staff has a capacity to take on right now. And um we did review some other um providers and felt like her um understanding of our position. She's worked with a lot of small communities. She's worked uh she works very closely with a lot of um municipalities that are involved with ILCMA, the Illinois uh

city county management association. So um she really understands the perspective of villages, particularly small villages. Um, and we're also talking to them about taking over our our uh paper newsletter that we send out the village voice to everybody so that um that will become uh more standardized and and a smoother, more efficient process. And tonight, what I'm asking is that you give us authority to approve uh the base agreement and sign that and get started planning with her. and the the um costs are included in the proposed budget for FY27 which will come to you in March and April.

Is there a maximum on this uh expected? It's not to exceed the 3500 a month uh going forward. So um is there a term limit beyond the is there a term limit on this? Then we will have uh the ability to leave the agreement with a 30 days notice at any time. So there is no term limit and it's 3500 a month. So this could go on forever and ever or if the board directs us to stop doing it, we could stop doing it within 30 days. Yes.

Can you speak briefly, Gavin, to um the functionality we're going to be getting from this agreement and how that function how those functions are currently being performed? Briefly.

Yes. Um so we it would start with uh weekly content coordination and departmental communication. So she would meet with all of our department heads and uh senior staff to uh develop u a plan for the next week, the next few weeks um to these are the things that we're going to communicate. This is the information we have. It'll not only be about things that are that are upcoming, but it'll also be uh putting out a lot of information about what we are doing, what accomplishments we're making, what projects we're uh doing, what public works is doing, how public works operates. You know, this could include a video tour of the pump house, uh for example, and it'll be a professional level. It'll help people understand how we're using the tax dollars that we take in, the grant money, the money from property taxes, and uh the money from our uh vehicle stickers. All of that. It's a way of helping everybody understand, you know, what's going on because a lot of what we do is behind the scenes. Um and nobody notices until something's broke. Um but we keep things from breaking. So that message getting that message out so people understand what how their investment um in this community is is turning out. She would also develop a content calendar um and that would be continuously maintained and updated uh through regular meetings with us. Um, there's the social media management where they create, schedule, and publish uh all of our social media content for Facebook, Instagram, and Next Door. We're going to start using Next Door a lot more. Right now, um, how social media is happening is something

something comes up and if somebody is available, we ask them, could you put this up on on Facebook right now? Now, with the police department, it's a whole different story. We have somebody who uh spends uh a lot of time and energy on keeping the police uh Facebook up to date and full of helpful information, but on the admin side, we're a little less uh we have a little less time to to get that done. Um she will also or their team will also develop an e-newsletter that will come out um on a monthly basis. She'll do the content creation, graphic design, format, and distribution of that. that will develop a a monthly blog. Uh one thing, one need that we've seen is is the need for a lot of information uh particularly helpful for seniors and and people uh relatives of seniors, people who work with seniors to have information in in a specific place whether it's about uh fraud prevention or there may be information about fall prevention or um things that are and and our senior lunchon programs, things that are particularly targeted towards senior And we feel like if we house those all in one place like a blog, um people who will take advantage of those services or people that are related will be able to to find those all in one place. Again, I mentioned the website content. Not only will she help us redevelop our website, but she'll keep it up to date and and keep it going. Um and then again, as I mentioned, we're talking about uh adding a village newsletter, the printed newsletter that we put out quarterly. um to those t

and currently currently all those tasks are being performed by staff by staff and our volunteer elected officials. Understood. And um but it's it's kind of a hit or miss really uh process. We've wanted to take it on and make it more strategic and more coordinated, but it's just something that gets set on the back burner a lot and it's it really should be a higher priority than we are able to make it because we have a lot going on. So So at 3500 a month, that's 42,000 a year. That's equivalent to uh a half full-time person, a third full-time person. Less than half, I'd say. less that they have

because when you add in benefits and and uh taxes, it a full-time staff would be probably $100,000. This is a whole team of professionals. So, and that'll be sufficient to accomplish all the things that you went through there. That's that I was reading from her scope of work. So, um and all those things that were listed we expect to have completed within the first year. Absolutely. Okay. Yeah. The only thing that's extra is if she does village voice, right? Yes, I will.

And video like you know her video production because we can also use David that we have our station manager as well. So we didn't want to pay for that if we're going to use David. He's been doing some for us. So um we'll have an option to do that. it would be an add-on, but we didn't want to make a commitment on Village Voice yet until we figure out what we're actually going to do with that. Okay. I just wanted to summarize the benefits and costs. That's all. Thank you. Thank you. If there are no other questions, uh, can we please have a roll call vote?

Trusty Sana. I. Trusty E. I. Trusty Gazis. Hi. President Amy Joe Whittenberg. I. Moving on to item I move approval of resolution 2026-06 authorizing the village president to execute a professional services agreement with SB Freedman to provide development advisory services.

Second. So this would be for a market and redevelopment feasibility analysis for the triangle area where we now have a tiff district and a business development district. Uh and this is something um that will uh benefit that area. It's something it's an investment in the tiff district so that we can uh understand what makes sense there. What's a reasonable expectation for development there and how do we get that development to happen? U both those parts of it. Um what the economic development committee looked at was the the full contract which was um which I've shared with you and it's not to exceed $81,000. Um their recommendation also um was to take out the portion that was for hospital to look at uh a hospitality and entertainment use. Um when we look at the area around us, there is a lot of hospitality and a lot of it is um some of it is closing down. Um there's a lot of competition um in probably better locations. So we the economic development committee's thinking was that maybe we don't want to spend the money for that portion of it but the rest of it has value. Um and again this would um enhance what the staff is able to take on with this analysis. So it'll be a professional level uh market analysis and feasibility study. Um this these expenses would be eligible for future tiff and business district reimbursement and it would position the village for informed redevelopment decisions and it would guide our efforts to make that development happen. So

any questions on the SB Freedman? Yeah, you you mentioned TIFF reimbursement. So this could be utilized as part of the uh uh overall plan for the uh uh the triangle uh development area.

Absolutely. Once we start getting those revenues um in in the tiff account, we will would be able to reimburse ourselves for that. And just to summarize for people that haven't been keeping up with the process, the first part of the process of redevelopment for the corner, which we get a lot of feedback that it looks horrible, it needs to be updated. It's an eyesore. All the various comments we get about it, what's going on with it, all of that. So, we spent the last eight months establishing a tax increment financing district and a business development district, which SB Freriedman did all of the work on to get us to qualify for that, which has to be done in a very prescribed manner um that we just finished. So, that was just approved in January. So this is the second piece of it to now take it forward and see what is market um focused. What are we going to do with it? What's the best use of it? How are we going to market it and get it developed and hopefully um be able to make it a success? Um, I always remind people this is not a 100% going to happen potentially. Like there's always that we're in that phase right now that's very critical to see what can go there and then we have to bring it to developers and see what they want to do with it, what value it has to them. So everybody will say, "Oh, there's a development plan." Well, it's called a redevelopment plan, but it doesn't actually have a developer yet identified. And that's a confusing part. I get a lot of questions about that. So this will be the step to identify the best use from an economic standpoint, a market analysis standpoint. So we can go out and seek developers or developer or developers for that area. So everybody knows what we're doing now. So this is that really important part. And yes, it's a lot of money, but we feel like we've never been

able to do this. This is our chance to make it look really great. And um we will be keeping you all involved in the process and I think it was four months or three months for this part. April, April did they say? Yeah.

So we'll be back to you in late spring with an update on and they will SB Friedman will come and do a presentation of their findings for everybody to hear. And uh just one thing to add it, this level of investment in this will also show future developers that we are serious about uh redeveloping this area in a way that uh that matches the community but also will benefit um have other benefits outside of that. April was ambitious. It looks like it's going to be four to five months or more June July.

We'll see. So if there are no you have any more questions uh board. All righty. Hearing none. Can we please have a roll call vote? Trusty Salana I. Trusty I. Trusty Gazus I. President Amy Joe Whittenberg I. 40. Motion carries. I believe item J is not unneeded. Is that true? Say withdrawn. Correct. It's with We need to remove that. Um the application has been withdrawn. And how do you would like the withdrawal handled? No action taken.

No action. Okay. Just taken off the agenda. Okay. Do I need a vote to do that? No. Okay. All righty. So, we will move on to a motion for item K then. Move to receive and file the zoning commission fence regulation report. Second.

Just to clarify that um this is not adopting an ordinance tonight. This is just uh a motion and a second to receive and file uh the planning and zoning commission's report on fences. Um that includes um a recommendation um to allow fences along the property line adjacent to um some of the major roads in town, Wolf, Joliet, Planefield, Willow Springs, and 65th Street. And um that was their recommendation. Uh there was no other recommendation. But one thing we are seeking from the board is direction on the scope. Which roadways is it just those? Are there others? Um standards like height, materials, openness and design and any additional conditions or review process such as enclosing any yards. Um once we have direction from the board, we will consult with engineers and code experts on technical issues and develop a proposed ordinance for your consideration. We could bring that ordinance as early as March um or April at the latest.

Madame President, I I would like to uh first of all thank the plan and zoning uh committee. They worked uh for many months uh after um we presented them with um data that was analyzed by our wonderful intern Brendan Fleer and Gavin and Andress um who you know let out this questionnaires to the residents, collected the data, presented it to the commission so they could be informed and be able to consider what we have requested of them. And at this point we have some we have a report and I would like to in order for us to move forward and be able to draft the correct ordinance that we think will be the best for our residents for all the residents of Indian her park. I would like to request that our uh staff move forward in engaging an engineering company to draft specifications for all fences design location functionality restrictions and setback requirements in consideration of the recommendations and beyond. Um and with that once the engineering company comes back which with best practices um and it doesn't have to be just an engineering company I think that we can engage uh people that do this for a living people that have uh sir RFPs before in small towns that understand the different requirements and needs of the different residents and and and this town um including architects or you know landscape experts etc. that after that comes back uh that uh I am asking that the staff drafts the ordinance resulting from all this recommendations, data and specs so it can be presented to the board on and around a specific board date that I am now going to ask Gavin

what is the best um expectation for that to happen like when could we possibly see an ordinance after you engage the experts? I think April is the most realistic early date that will be a goal to April but if it's after that if the conversations you know go extremely well and we get all the information back and responses back we compile that quickly it could be March but I I would rather say April.

Okay. So we will have a draft ordinance or possibly something that is ready to be voted on um via an agenda item and we can discuss it at that time and maybe just dissect it and agree or amend it etc. And I guess I would add to Trusty Sana's uh having been the liaison for the planning and zoning uh commission and the board. Uh again, they did you know uh they went through a lot of the of the process and gathering the data and all the minations and we do appreciate their work. Uh we would like to specifically direct staff to also include uh enclosed fencing on those major road uh lots that above abut uh Willow Springs, Joliet, and Wolf Road. In addition to analyzing our current uh I believe it's 4215 um dog runs in addition to the fencing, there is some language in the current uh statute. 4214 and 15 is what covers fences and um enclosures to housing domestic animals. Those are pretty restrictive. Now, I think if we're going to uh reddraft the ordinance, those are two items I think that staff could address. I know data has been out there what the other municipalities have done, you know, 13, 14, 15 municipalities that are all around us. Um this is not withstanding the PUDS and the HOAs. We have 13 HOAs HOAs in the in the village that have their own guidelines and their own freedoms in terms of uh these issues. Uh so those would also those the village would not be infringing on you know those existing um PUDS and HOA uh rules regulations etc. Um anything else Charlie?

Nothing to add. Oh, I I would like because I don't know if we mentioned it, but I would like to make it very clear that we will have the uh permit process very well um established in that ordinance so people cannot be confused about the fact that they have to ask for a permit before they build a fence or a dog run. It has to be made very clear and therefore they have to maintain it properly. And if they don't, especially a dog run or a dog kennel or whatever, that the penalties are outlined there for um for us to be able to enforce maintenance of their You're asking us to provide public information like public education.

We have to make sure that the public is educated about this and that they understand that, you know, they have a responsibility to maintain the property which all residents of Indian hair park do. It's a nice place. Uh but still it needs to be we have to have the possibility of issuing penalties for not maintaining the property correctly. And um if it's possible um make sure that you engage now our new wait hold on vicarious multimedia for the communication of all of these changes and um use our social media maybe the newsletter etc and solicit uh feedback uh from the residents during this time that you're going to be writing that ordinance.

Okay. I forgot to mention that that provide crisis communication too. Yes. But you know, we we do have to leverage the fact that we're going to have this new service to make sure that people understand what is it that we're doing and what we're asking them and that if they if we I don't want to ever see another, oh, I built uh I built a pool and nobody ever came to check and now I can't take it out. So, you know, I don't want that to ever happen again. So, if they're going to build a fence, it needs to be per uh perfectly permitted or else. Perfect comments.

Any other comments before we approve the receive and file of the recommendations from planning and zoning hearing? None. Can we please have a roll call vote? Trusty Sana I. Trusty E. I. Trusty Gazes I 30. The motion carries. Thank you. Now we are um here to take any public comments that we may have either in the room. Please come to the podium.

It should be on I believe. But we'll help you if it's not. I'm confused. So has the recommend recommendation been made that fences will be allowed? No. No. We they received and filed. So that means the board has received a report from the planning and zoning commission. The planning and zoning commission made the recommendation that they supported fences on busy roads. On busy roads. Correct. Okay.

And they did. They answered our five questions that we we gave them five questions which they answered in the receive and file in their report that have to do with that. Now um it will come to the board and now we will have further deliberation on that. Okay. I was getting a little fished as we call that's okay. Well no if you have any questions about the process. So you know hypothetically we will be discussing this now again and we will be because they only gave us general framework right so now we will be filling in the blanks with all of the details relating to the fences

so they gave us preferences on architectural aluminum black you know um I believe in certain very fundamental things the height the materials and all of that and then we can fill in the blanks and And if there's something in the in the um vision of the board that can that can be added, right? So if there's something that we want to be different, we can also the board can vote on that. Okay. I appreciate that. Thank you very much for if you have any questions, just call Gavin or us and we'll answer your questions.

Thank you. Are there any other comments from people here tonight? Did we receive anything on email this this day that we must Yes, we received a public comment by email. Um it is in all your binders um for to have that. Uh and uh I will read that into the record now. Thank you.

Um this is from Dale Homequist. Uh and this is what the uh she had sent in the email. It says, "In response to ICE and homeland security activities in Broadview, neighboring cities and nationally, we are asking the village to adopt an ordinance or resolution declaring IHPA welcoming community and prohibit the use of village property, personnel, or resources for civil immigration enforcement operations by any federal agency. Communicate with our residents on immigration topics through the villages newsletter and website. share information on relevant topics regarding preparedness, resources, and knowing your rights. Other local governments have adopted welcoming community ordinances, most recently in Lraange. Some villages have prohibited the use of village property for immigration enforcement activities as well. They are Wilmet, Betavia, Berwin, Carpentersville, Evston, Skoi, Oak Park, Downers Grove, and Lraange. These actions would not be groundbreaking, but proact proactive for resident safety. It is anticipated that ICE activities will resume in Illinois this spring. Can an ordinance be adopted and implemented here soon? Thank you, Dale Homequest. Great. Thank you for the feedback. Any other feedback that you received? All righty. Hearing none, we'll now move on to reports. Trusty Gazis,

no report. Trusty Egg, no report. Trusty Sana, no report. Village Council, no report.

Then we will move over to let's talk. We audited the treasurer. How about village clerk? Just a brief one. Um it is we have started getting permits in. So as we were talking about with you know fences eventually, but it is starting to become permit season. So if there's anyone out there that is thinking about doing work, please reach out to us. Um we have our new permit process through BSNA that we are um becoming more familiar with and staff has been cross-trained with which adds uh speed and efficiency on our pro our side of the process effectiveness but also allows for online payments um for our residents and contractors as well. So um expect uh if you come in you know please come in please talk to us about permits and also we expect to be getting more busy with that soon. So that's all I have for right now. Just just a thank you to our staff. As you all have probably heard, we integrated a new system um BSNA and part of that system, it's mostly for accounting, but it also has a module for for building permits. So, we will be are in the process of optimizing building permits. So, as Andre said, we're taking one step at a time. So, um, residents and contractors can pay online with BSNA and, um, we'll be making other improvements with that as well, but for right now, that's one of the steps that we've taken with building permits. So, we're coming off of a very somewhat archaic system and moving it all on to a much more modernized system. So, thank you for all your hard work on that. Andre, uh, how about public works? Thank you. Uh just a couple things. Uh we have a bid opening for our chlorine room at the pump house. Uh this will be our second bid opening as we didn't receive any on the first round. Uh

Tuesday, February 24th, we have a bid opening and from what I understand, we have had a couple companies pull the uh specs. So, it's looking like we'll get some bids this time around. Uh another project that we've been working on is the louvers uh for the public works building. Um, I've been soliciting vendors as the plans for that have been completed as well. So, we're trying to get some uh some numbers for that project as well. Uh, another thing that we've been working on is our uh urban forestry management plan. Uh, we we've been working with Pinh High Solutions and uh they came up with a very nice uh management plan for us and uh when we received it, we had to tweak some of it a little bit just to for cost purposes. So it'll be uh budget friendly for us. So as of today uh had we have a a final uh vision of this and I need to discuss with Gavin um how we're going to go forward with this. Um and then once we get that determined at the next um landscape committee meeting uh we'll present it to them and then we'll uh hopefully have it in place so that we can have adopt the plan. Um, other than that, uh, we just started taking our first salt orders of the year. Uh, we ordered 300 ton for the season and we just took our first 75 ton. So, um, that's where we're at. Thank you,

Chief. I'm going to meet with uh Chief Clem from Countryside on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of them housing our prisoners for overnight guests. Uh also we're in the contract negotiation prep, the mayor, the village manager, and uh Brandy from accounting. We've been working trying to get uh come up with a salary plan and different things to get ahead of the game because like I said to the to the mayor the other day, we're way ahead of the game comparatively speaking. I've been with departments that have it's dragged on for a couple of years. We don't want that. We don't want back pay. We don't want things like that. So, I think we we got a pretty good base going and I think that it should should knock on wood go smoothly. And Lee Zetland, who was a part-timer here for 22 years and 43 years at Brookfield Zoo, has a retirement party at the stadium club at the Max in Makook on 4740 Vernon Avenue. If anybody wants information on it, just get a hold of me. It should be really well attended because he's well respected officer for years and years and basically a great ambassador as I said before. So hopefully people can make it. I plan I plan on being there myself. Thank you.

Did I miss anybody? Oh, the village administrator. Sorry about that. Most important person I missed. Look at that. Wow. most important best for last

um exact on the dis in front of you and I emailed this um is the uh village of Indian Head Park board calendar um it's this is the board calendar plus um legal requirements and deadlines so that you see the rhythm of a a municipal year all in one snapshot. Uh it includes the timing for the budget, the timing for the levy, the timing for the audit and other deadlines. If you have any questions or want in do I if I need to make anything um clarify anything, let me know and I'll work with you on that. Um, we I got tonight as we sat down to start I got the draft p project use program use agreement for the regional dis disposal program that we're participating in as part of the new waste hauling franchise agreement. I will review that um and share that at uh probably the March meeting. And we are will also bring amendments to our village code, the municipal code uh related to waste hauling so that everything is aligned with the new franchise agreement that you all have approved and we've discussed. Um I have finalized that uh per your uh authorization and direction at the last meeting and um I have sent that to Sean Flood. We got it back uh this week and we're ready to go as of May 1st with the new program. And another thing we are expecting still is um a draft of their public education materials about the new program, about composting, about um the recycling program and all the changes. and uh we'll get that and turn it around and get it back to them and uh get that

out to the public as soon as we possibly can cuz I know that we're getting a lot of questions. We are informing people as they come in this week. We've had several people come in to buy uh garbage stickers. We've informed them just buy enough to get you through April because as of uh May 1st we're going to not need stickers for any any of our garbage. Um the uh the budget is on a path to be before you uh at the March meeting for the tenative budget and then the April meeting for the final approval of the budget. Uh we've been working closely with the finance committee on that going uh department by department and we'll uh they'll have an opportunity to go over it one more time in March before the board meets and uh that should be a nicely put together package by then.

Do you have anything else? Is that it? Wow. Thank you. Well, I I think that I appreciate all of your time this evening. It's been a great meeting. Very well put together. Thank you for all your hard work, Gavin. And hearing there are no other um items on our agenda, I would like to adjourn. Do I have a second? Second. Second. All in favor? I The meeting is adjourned. Thank you.