Board - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone. At this time, I'll call to order the regularly scheduled board meeting for the village of Lotheian, Wednesday, December 10th, 2025 at 7 p.m. Roll call, please. Clerk must Trusty Brevette here. Trusty Cwley here. Trusty Hilly. Trusty Jed here. Trusty Johnson here. Trusty Killer Lee. Mayor Luru here. You have a question, sir. Thank you, sir. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. Remain stand for a moment of silence for our fall.

I pledge 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.

Before we move on to tonight's meeting, uh we have the pleasure of swearing in Michael Golden as a Mealthian Fire Department engineer. Michael, you hope you're here. Oh,

raise your right hand and repeat after me. I I state your name. Michael Golden. Having been appointed Having been appointed to the position of engineer to the position of engineer of the fire department of the fire department in the village of Mloian in the village of Mloian in the county of Cook in the county of Cook a foresight do solemnly swear I foreset do solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of the United States that I will support the constitution of the United States the constitution of the state of Illinois the constitution of the state of Illinois and the ordinances of the village of Mlotheian and the ordinances of the village of and that I will faithfully discharge the duties and I will faithfully discharge the duties of the position of engineer. of the position of engineer according to the best of my ability. according to the best of my abilities. CONGRATULATIONS.

Before you leave, I believe uh when you're finished with my wife. Oh, my daughter. My daughter and my my son. Do you have the bed? No.

Stand. Good job. I believe Chief Reed has something to read.

Just a real quick good evening everyone. Today we gather to recognize and celebrate one of our own as he takes a well-earned step forward. Michael Golden, you were pinned with a badge of engineer, a rank that carries new responsibility, new authority, and the trust of every person who rides behind you on that apparatus. For more than 5 years, Mike has shown up every shift with the same quiet professionalism he learned in the military. Respectful, honest, and steady under pressure. He's the guy who always is in a good mood, even at 3:00 a.m. on the third call of the night. Truth be told, he makes me feel like a comedian because it doesn't take much to get him to laugh.

But what truly sets Mike apart is deeper than that ready smile. It's his work ethic, his kindness, and the rare common sense approach that cuts through the noise and gets the job done. He leads by doing. He teaches without preaching. and he treats every patient, every proby, and every officer with the same level of respect. Mike, we're proud of you. We're grateful for you. And today, we're excited for you. This promotion engineer is in the finish line. It's the first rung on a ladder we all know you're built to climb. Got it.

Okay.

Congratulations, Engineer Gordon. So, as I always say, after one of these swearing in, you're not obligated to stay. You're welcome to stay, but uh you'd like to leave. to trust me.

All right, at this time we will move on to public comment. I will open the floor to public comment. Is there any public comments? Hello.

Uh I'm going to try to take this out. I'm going to try to say what I need to say uh in as few words as possible. Uh I live here in Mlotheian and I take the metro every single day uh up to the city for school. And uh right now I do not own a car and it is not possible for me to own a car right now. So I've typically relied on riding my bike uh down 147th Street to the metro station every single day. Um, now with the recent snow, it has been impossible to try to bike. Uh, especially on the portions near like Kenton, uh, where the sidewalk is directly up to the road. Uh, the snow and ice just packs up and is so rough, it it's hard to even walk on, let alone ride a bike. Um, and then even past that, uh, when the sidewalk is off from the easement, it's just a sheet of ice on on those sidewalks. And um I've slid a few times. I've haven't fallen yet, thank God. But uh I've slid a few times and um so what I think about with the snow just not it it just sits there. The library, they always clear their sidewalk, but everything else just sits there. Uh what I think about is if I can't ride a bike on the sidewalk, how is someone going to ride a wheelchair on the sidewalk? How is someone going to use a a a walking stick, a cane, a walker? Um, and then where there is ice, uh, you know, like I said, I haven't fallen yet, but if I fell, I mean, I my body is young. My body can take a fall. There are people whose body cannot take falls. Uh, I knew someone personally who fell on ice and for the last four years of her life never walked again without a walker or a cane. Um, and so I I printed out the ordinance here under title nine of the village code regarding snow removal on sidewalks. And uh it it reads that the the property owner or the tenant of the

property is legally obligated to clear the sidewalks within what is it 3 hours since the snow has fallen or accumulated if it's in the day. And on a Sunday or at night the following morning. Uh and today the the snow and ice is gone because it was warmer out. But for a week and a half the snow never moved. And uh even worse, the plows seem to love pushing all the snow into big mounds at the end of every sidewalk on driveways. So, I'd have to go in the street and walk around those. Basically, what I'm asking uh to sum this all up is a, what are the penalties for a property owner or tenant who does not clear their sidewalk? And b, how can the village make sure that this ordinance is enforced because they have not been? Uh, we have to look into the act exact orders and what the penalties are, but I I know for a fact that our public works department does get out there as soon as they're humanly possible with the Bobcat to clear the sidewalks on 147. We hear you. We understand you. Uh, our goal is to make a better place to bike and walk safer. Um, so we'll have to keep an eye on that. our our other uh issue that we have in Bloian and I think you probably know and you probably know that 147 is a state road we have no control over how they they plow or don't plow same with a county road same with the county county so um I I don't we'll have to look through the ordinance and superintendent Swanson I I've seen you guys out there clearing I know it took a little bit but you were guys were trying to get the streets cleared first so any input to sidewalks on 47 Yeah, we're we're slowly clearing them all away. Uh we try to do the heavily traffked areas first and then work out from there.

But uh we did clear by cutting everything. And then uh is there anything extra that can be done to ensure that property owners are clearing their sidewalk or is that again something you have to just look into to see what exactly says? Well, from the building department standpoint of our code enforcement property maintenance officer get subsidy. Okay. Bring them up to date on our work and see that they can take care of that in the future. All right. All right. Thank you.

Appreciate you coming up and talk to us. Uh I today's day world, but today's world I would actually like to have our legal team look into the uh legalities of forcing people to I know there's been lawsuits of slip and falls after they've been cleared. Um, so you know, it's good good point you brought up that we can hopefully do something all together to make this better for for everyone. So, thank you. Thank you.

Any Okay. All right. Then I'll close the floor with public comment and move on to tonight's consent agenda. Number one, approval of the ordinance number 2180, an ordinance providing for the levying and assessment of the taxes for fiscal year beginning May 1st, 2025 and ending April 30th, 2026. Number two, approval of Ordinance 2181, an ordinance amending title 4, chapters 3, 23, and 24, Municipal Code of Village in Cook County, Illinois. Number three, approval to enter a professional service agreement with Hera Property Registry LLC for the property registry registration services for the villages foreclosure and vacant property registration. Number four, approval of the resolution 251210A, a resolution of the village in Cook County, Illinois, authorizing reimbursement of redevelopment project costs for 14440 Pilaski, otherwise known as Mealthian Plaza. Number five, approval of resolution number 251210B, a resolution of the village of Mealthy and Cook County, Illinois, authorizing reimbursement of redevelopment project cost for 4042 147th Street with for mixed use. Number six, approve of the wave the property lean in the amount of $1,387.89 for the 14730 Costner Avenue. Number seven, approval of Chief Rita to roll over one week of vacation by his anniversary date. Number eight, approval of the building department monthly report, October 2025 monthly report. Number nine, approval of the November 12th, 2025 board meeting minutes. Number 10, approval of the November 19th, 2025 committee meeting minutes. Number 11, approval of the November 19th, 2025 close session meeting minutes. Number 12, approval of the November 26th, 2025 board meeting minutes. And number 13,

approval of the list of bills. Is there any item any trustee would like offer tonight's consent agenda? Hearing no dension. I'm looking for a motion to approve tonight's consent consent agenda as read. I'll make the motion. I'll second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Gordon Mos. Trusty Cwley. I. Trustee Johnson. I. Trusty Burbette. I. Trusty Jed. I. Motion carries. Thank you, sir. Moving on to trusty business. Trusty Johnson.

Uh, thank you, mayor. Um, tonight I just wanted to remind the board that we do have five Wednesdays this month. So, please be aware that, um, invoices received after today will not be paid until January. Um, Ivonne sent all the department heads an email on December 2nd outlining the dates of when invoices are due, when they'll be approved, when they'll be processed. So, just wanted to make everybody aware with the holidays and the fifth Wednesday things needed to be in by today if you're looking for payment before the first of the year. And that's all I have tonight. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Trusty Bourbon. Thank you, sir. Trusty J. I have nothing tonight, sir. Thank you, ma'am. Trusty Corral.

Uh, just a couple things tonight. First, I put on the agenda um I gave everybody the information regarding um the new the position that will be available for the police department. Um, I wanted to make sure everybody uh saw the need for job descriptions and the salary. There is no additional impact to the budget, but I just wanted to make everybody aware of that. Um, next on my agenda, um, I have the discussion regarding uh the new camera in the police department that we need to add. The total cost is not to exceed 1,00 I'm sorry, $3,190. Um, and that's for the software the licensing and the equipment. Just wondering if anybody had any questions.

Okay. If not, um I will put that on my agenda for approval for next week. That's all I have to say. Thank you, ma'am. Moving on to department head chief.

Uh I just add one thing, mayor. U extension of what we had talked about a couple weeks ago with the ZO leasing program. Um, I I did want to let the board know that the prices do go up starting January 2026. Um, if it's something that you would like for me to work on with Trustee Ellie um for the 17th meeting approval, I can do that. Um, I also have a a small presentation if you guys were willing to hear it um on that date as well. Um, and also the the ZO representative could be available if for any questions too. Um I we went over this plan. A lot of um departments around us are using this leasing program because of the price of the cardiac EKGs are going through the roof.

I guess the main questions are are are these do we need this do we need this equipment? Yeah, we have aging EKG equipment at you know 13 years old. Um so we would probably need to replace three of them in the next two years. uh being a total of if we were just buy them outright 200,000. Um this leasing program allows you to pay um $40,000 annually for 10 years. Uh it also comes with a maintenance program. Um so I think it's a really good deal that also other suburban fire departments have taken advantage of and it's easier to kind of budget for these. um if something does happen, you don't have to replace a 607 $70,000 unit all at once.

So, you believe this is the way to go? I think this is the way to go based on your research and talking to other fire chiefs in the area. Yeah. And since you'll be doing the budgets for the fire department, I think you're staring at me like I'm lying. Uh I I would think if if you could just send the packet to each board email and then we'll be ready to to vote next week. Okay. Does anyone have any questions? I just have a question. So for the 10-year lease, what's the percentage the interest rate? 10-year lease. There's there's no percentage of interest. It's just 40,535 annually and then broken down in 12 months.

Okay. And chief, is that already currently budgeted for or would you be starting this in the next fiscal year? It would have to Yeah, it's not currently budgeted. Okay, you sir. Thank you, Chief Delaney. Okay.

Yes, sir. Uh, just one thing. Um, like to recognize the owner of RB's Towing, Rob Lions, for his act of kindness. Earlier this week, um, the officers were out with a mom and her three children um, in the inclement weather. The kids were definitely underdressed for um the weather at the time. She was trying to make it home to some family in Chicago. Um we gave her a ride to the metro station and the owner RBs was kind enough uh to give her enough cash to not only get herself and the children down there but then some. So I'd like to thank him for his act of kindness and uh the woman certainly appreciate it. That's all I have sir. Thank you. Uh Superintendent Surf. Uh, nothing this evening, sir.

Sir, superintendent Swanson. Uh, nothing this evening, sir. Thank you, sir. Uh, thank you, Mayor. I just want to give the board an update. Um, the contractor who's doing the demolition at 3831 147th Street, um, we were on a schedule for him to be out the week of December 22nd to start work. And that project should only be four or five working days. Hopefully within those next two weeks before and after Christmas. That's all I have. Thank you, sir. What' you say, Trusty Crowley? Christmas miracle. Christmas miracle. Thank you, sir. Director Redmond. Nothing tonight, sir. Thank you, ma'am. Attorney Castau, no report.

Thank you, sir. Uh, following up with what uh Trustee Johnson said, there will be no board meeting in two weeks on December 24th. So any trustee have anything pertinent for December, please try to get it on the agenda for next week's committee meeting. Uh we do have the option uh if something comes up in emergency, we could do a special meeting. Um but we need to make sure that uh court Moscow is made aware of that in a timely fashion so they can be posted in agenda. So there's no that's all I have clerk. I have nothing tonight, sir. Thank you, sir. Then, seeing as no further business come for the board, I'm looking for a motion to adjurnn. I'll make the motion. I'll second.

All in favor? I opposed.