Village of
Westchester From the desk of Village Manager Paul Nosek
FEBRUARY, 2022
PUBLIC WORKS
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POLICE DEPARTMENT
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FIRE DEPARTMENT
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LIBRARY
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SCHOOL DISTRICT
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PARK DISTRICT
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SPOTLIGHT ON SENIORS
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As the calendar year closed on 2021 the Village looks back at successful results on many different fronts while working on the projects that you, the residents, approved. The bond referendum that was passed in November 2020 authorized the Village to issue bonds up to $42 million for streets/sewers and infrastructure projects, including flood mitigation for the town. The Village issued the first set of bonds for approximately $18 million to cover the first 2 years of projects, rather than issuing bonds for the full amount. This was done so that we were not paying interest on debt that we weren’t going to use for several years. This Village will be issuing more debt most likely early in 2023. Utilizing the funds mentioned above, the Village accomplished the following; Budgeted Amount Actual Amount Over/(Under) Budget Street Program $3,325,000 $3,022,575 ($302,425) Sewer Lining $3,200,000 $2.789,127 ($410,873) Green Alley’s $1,100,000 $548,318 ($551,682) In House Paving $250,000 $176,921 ($73,079) Asa result of the savings obtained with the street pricing, we were able to add 2 more streets. We were also successful in obtaining much better pricing for the sewer lining which allowed us to complete all of the sewer lining that we were going to do over a 5 year period in just this year. The Green Alley Project came in significantly under budget because we were able to obtain Grants for part of the project. The in-house paving that our Public Works is able to complete saves us about 2/3 of the cost of outsourcing. Overall cost savings mentioned above total over $1.3 million. Below you can see the map of the various projects and their locations.
The second part of the projects that the Village completed were funded from Motor Fuel tax funds that we received as a grant last year. Budgeted Amount Actual Amount Over/(Under) Budget Microsurfacing $200,000 $182,055 ($17,945) As of this writing, the Public Works department is getting ready to go out to bid for the 2022 Calendar Year projects and we will be publishing a list of those when finalized in March or April. On the Economic Development front, the Roosevelt Rd. TIF which was established in 2020 is starting to come to fruition with Letters of Intent being signed by a major Coffee shop and a major sandwich shop and with another 2 fast casual restaurants in the works. The first two mentioned we expect to have the signed leases in place prior to April 1, 2022 as we already have letters of intent and agreed upon sigte plans. They will be along Mannheim road just north of Roosevelt Rd. along with another fast casual restaurant and one more fast casual restaurant that will be located on the site next to the Village hall that is currently an empty lot. We anticipate issuing permits for construction for this development towards the end of this summer with construction to be completed by Spring of 2023. The current Village Hall property will be vacated this summer and demolished to make way for a national grocery store which has already given the Village a letter of intent. They are doing their due diligence and awaiting our departure and the demolition of the Village Hall property and post office. We are currently working with the post office to help them relocate along Roosevelt Rd. to a smaller retail location. We are also working with the County to obtain a piece of property in Westchester to relocate the fire department. We expect that the Grocery store will be up and running by summer of 2024 and we anticipate filling the out lot with another restaurant where the post office is located. All of these projects are privately funded with no money coming from the General Fund of the Village. We are actually cost neutral on the sale of the Village Hall property and purchase of the new location at 2315 and 2305 Enterprise Drive. The remodeling of that property is going on now and we anticipate being moved in by mid-summer 2022. That project was funded with a grant secured last year working with the Speaker of the House, our own Chris Welch. He was able to obtain $2 million in funds for the remodeling. The primary reason for the move was so that the Village could generate more revenue by attracting new retail operations on what vacant land and our Village Hall. We recognized that the traffic that goes past Roosevelt and Mannheim would be very attractive to a retailer. We were correct in our assumptions and our current projections are that when it is fully developed by 2024 we will be generating close to $500,000 in additional sales tax and $500,000 in additional property tax. That is just the beginning of the development of the Roosevelt Rd. corridor, we Continued on Page 3
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FEBRUARY, 2022
PUBLIC WORKS Tree trimming by Sinnott Tree Service will begin this month. Branch and yard waste collection will resume in April 2022. Restoration of parkways that have been damaged by sewer/ water excavations and snow plow damage will resume this spring, as weather permits. The Public Works Department has been filling potholes with cold patch throughout the winter months, weather permitting. Please call Public Works at 708-345-0041 to report a pothole.
Waste Management – 1-800-7969696 • If your garbage or recycling was not picked up on your regular day, please call Waste Management directly. • If you would like to request a new garbage or recycling receptacle, please call Waste Management directly. • If you have large items that
will not fit in you receptacle (i.e. couch, chairs, tables, etc.,) please call Waste Management directly and request a special collection. The Waste Management’s “At Your Door Special Collection” service will pick up unwanted-potentially hazardous and hard-to-recycle items from your home. That number is 1-800-449-7587. The full list of items may be found at www.wmatyourdoor.com/residential.
50/50 Shared Cost Parkway Tree Program The Village offers a 50/50 shared cost program that includes the purchase and planting of a new parkway tree. Residents who have registered will be sent a list of trees indigenous to the area to choose from, as well as pictures and a general description. The first round of planting will be in Spring 2022. Please call Public Works at 708.345.0041 to register or for more information.
VILLAGE SNOW RESTRICTIONS
Public Works crews work continually to keep our streets free of snow and ice during the winter months. Please assist us by observing the following: • Place garbage cans and bins 3 feet behind the curb line- do not place them in the street. • Do not throw or blow snow back into the cleared streets. • Please observe the “NO PARKING SNOW ROUTE” signs. The snow portion of the signs will be enforced after 2 inches of snow have fallen between December 1st and March 31st. If you reside on a Primary designated SNOW ROUTE, after 2 inches of snowfall you must remove all of vehicles from the street. All vehicles must stay off the street until the streets are cleaned thoroughly by the plows by Public Works. If the snowfall is continuing, the restriction is in place until Public Works completes the plowing for the day. Please check the signs at the corners of your block. If you reside on a secondary route, after 2 inches of snow, there is no
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parking Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday on the even numbered house side and no parking Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday on the odd numbered house side. Please check the signs at the corners and center of your block for guidance. (This includes ALL side streets not designated a Primary snow route) Adopt a fire hydrant this winter season! Help keep the hydrant clear of snow so that the fire department can easily access the hydrant in case of an emergency and so that the snow plows can easily identify the hydrants while plowing. Public Works crews work hard to keep the Village streets clear and safe during these long winter months. We appreciate your cooperation & please drive carefully! As always, residents are asked to call Public Works at 708.345.0041 or the Police (after 3:30pm M-F & on weekends) if an unusual amount of water is visible in the street or parkway. This could be a main break or water leak that requires our immediate attention.
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a sports and education facility much like Connect 44 in the Village of Lombard. The sportsplex and educational facility would be selffunded and take up approximately 5 acres of the 30-acre site. It would face Cermak Rd and would be a tremendous asset to the Village. Behind the sports and education facility would be a light industrial property. This would bring significant property tax dollars to the Village that it hasn’t had since St. Joe’s was established. We are looking at a 2 to 3 year timeline for these projects. The Village has also taken steps to implement some new senior programs with more to be in place this upcoming spring and summer. The Village has already taken several trips to the casino with another outing being planned for March or April, and an outing to Drury Lane for lunch and a show. The Village also has implemented a snow shoveling program this winter for seniors and disabled and so far 56 residents have taken advantage of it. Now that we have a good estimate as to how many people would participate, we’re hoping next year to bring the price down. We will be offering grass cutting service as well for seniors and disabled. Please look to our web page for more details. Once the senior center is open, we will
be offering more programs and with greater frequency. We are also going to have a PACE bus program including discounted rides for seniors and disabled residents. On the Police department side, the Village was able to purchase body cams before they were mandated by the State of Illinois. Our Officers were thrilled that the Village invested the money into the technology and our Officers continue their training for all events. This year we were able to add 2 new officers to the force to increase our overall headcount. We also placed one officer in a specialized drug unit with the FBI, DEA and several other communities. This type of opportunity not only helps the officer by expanding their capabilities and training but any seizures that are made, the Village is able to participate financially. It also gives our officers another career path that they wouldn’t get at other police departments our size. The other officer that we were able to add is because we assigned an officer to Semi-Truck duty. What that means is that he is responsible for making sure semitrucks that travel through our town are not overweight for our roads which puts undo wear and tear causing potholes
and disrepair. This officer has already generated enough revenue to cover his salary and benefits for the next 2 years. Not only does it make our streets safer, it generates revenue through fines and fees. Through some excellent work by several of our officers we were able to utilize a virtual reality training simulator to help our Officers by putting them in simulated dangerous situations. It allowed them to sharpen their decision making skills which hopefully will translate to their work in the field and avoid any unfortunate situations. The Fire department has seen some improvements as well over the year with a new ambulance being purchased and a new air tank system, allowing for our Firefighters to fill their air tanks much more efficiently. A new ordinance was also passed allowing the Village to collect the highest possible amount from Medicare, which is a large part of the calls that they receive. They’ve also been able to do a significant amount of training including live burn trainings, which haven’t been done in years prior to Chief Mavrogeorge coming on board. The Village is also in the process of negotiating for a new location for the fire department and consolidating them into one new building centrally
located in the Village and according to a study done several years ago, in the best spot possible. We are hoping to be able to announce that in the summer this year and then it would take a few years to design and build. On the administration side, we’ve been re-writing the personnel policy and cleaning up much of the old policies and procedures to streamline process and educate our employees and get them back to work quicker after injuries. We’ve also been working more towards electronic billing and direct payment of utility bills in order to streamline the process of getting the bills out timely. The Village also was able to refund over $500,000 in overbilled garbage fees that happened in 2018. On our financial front, the Village is completing its FYE 2021 audit and for the third year in a row the projections are showing a nice surplus. The prior 5 years had shown excess expenditures over revenue. We’ve come a long way but we still have work to do. The plans that President Perry put into place are showing tremendous success and with the continuation of those plans and some new ones coming up, the future of the Village of Westchester is looking up and we’re excited to continue on our journey.
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FEBRUARY 2022
Safety tips from the Westchester PD During these uncertain stressful times, we need to be more aware of our surroundings as we move from point A to point B throughout our daily travels. As technology advances around the world, so does the abilities of criminals. We have seen a spike with individuals trying to defraud seniors by calling them on the phone and using a young adult’s voice claiming to be a loved one that’s in need bond money, or they are going to jail. These criminals are able to get plenty of available information regarding your background on the internet to fool innocent people into giving large sums of cash. When I grew up my parents would have said keep him because they are cutting their losses. Another serious problem is criminals possibly following seniors leaving their bank with large amounts of cash as they head home. We never truly know if someone is working inside the bank directing others outside the bank, that you are leaving the bank with a large amount of cash. You should always be with a love one, or another family member when taking out large amounts of cash. Be aware of criminals saying they won the lottery and want you to cash in on their ticket and they will give you a large amount of money in return. In addition, if you live alone we strongly recommend having a ring tonerecording doorbell installed and inside your home and mini recording cameras. These cameras have truly helped the Westchester Police Department solve more crimes and the ability to piece things together through other neighbors and their cameras. Please remember to never, ever leave any doors open, especially garage doors that allow criminals to enter your home catching you off guard. Again, I say this a thousand times please “Do Not” let anyone trick you into coming outside of your home for any reason to look at your roof, driveway, or gutters throwing you off your guard, while another criminal enters your home taking your belongings. (Please Do Not Let The Fox In The Hen House!) Chief Daniel Babich
POLICE BLOTTER 1) At 8:14pm on December 17, 2021 a Retail Theft was reported at the Walgreens located at 10345 Roosevelt Road. A customer was attempting to leave the store without paying for over $400 in liquor. Subject and subjects girlfriend were stopped and placed into custody. 2) At 3:28pm on December 26, 2021, a Criminal Damage to Property was reported on the 1400 Block of Portsmouth. The resident reported that unknown person(s) threw a rock through the front window sometime during the past two days. The rock only struck the outside pane of glass and did not enter the house. 3) At 7:58pm on December 28, 2021, a Retail Theft was reported at Dr. Smoke located at 10354 Roosevelt Road. The clerk advised 5 subjects left the store without paying for $50 in merchandise. 4) At 1:49pm on December 29, 2021 a Theft was reported on the 1600 block of Newcastle. A male subject wearing a green hoodie walked onto the resi-
dents porch and removed a package that was delivered earlier in the day. 5) At 11:45pm on December 29, 2021 a Burglary was discovered by an officer at 11125 Roosevelt Road, European Auto Sales. The officer noticed a damage to the front main office door. Security footage observed two subject outside the business just prior to the discovery. Keys for various vehicles and license plates were taken. 6) At 9:16pm on January 5, 2022 an Armed Robbery was reported at the Circle K Gas Station located at 10200 Roosevelt Road. 2 male subjects entered the building with guns and demanded money from the registers. 7) At 8:05pm on January 13, 2022 a Criminal Trespass to Land was reported at the St. Joseph High School property located at 1840 Mayfair. Officers observed lights on at the building while conducting a building check. A subject was located exiting the building and no damage to the building was observed.
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