Palos Heights council talks wall of tributes

By Jeff Vorva

Tributes were the talk on Tuesday.

The Palos Heights City Council meeting featured a discussion on building a wall to honor volunteers in town and kicked ideas around to honor former aldermen Dolores Kramarski, who died in November, and Alan Fulkerson, who died in 2020.

The council unanimously voted to foot a $5,846 bill to the StoryWall Company for a wall to be placed in Village Hall that will pay tribute to those who help the city.

“I believe that the foundation on our city over the years is the volunteers that we’ve had,” Mayor Bob Straz said. “They have all kicked in and have helped out.

“Whether it be the Car Classic or the farmer’s market, the Women’s Club…we’ve had so many of them. I thought about ways to honor those people for what they do for the city.”

With the help of Palos Park resident Maria Sunta, the idea took off and the wall will be displayed in the foyer of City Hall, and it will likely be completed in 2023.

Alderman Robert Basso read a letter from a resident asking for Kramarski to be honored in some way.

The council talked about the possibility of Kramarski and Fulkerson receiving honorary streets in their names but did not come up with official action.

Other business

• The budget for 2023 was passed and a levy of $10,290,940 will be assessed. The board voted to proportionately reduce all levies except city corporate, library corporate and police pension.
• More than $80,000 was approved to various companies for various water and sewer projects.
• Straz announced the winners of the village’s tree decorating contest with Little Learner’s Children’s Academy taking first, Girl Scout Troop 56104 taking second and Girl Scout Troop 56159 claiming third.
• The council appointed Tara Oosterbaan to the Public Arts Commission for a three-year term.
• Alderman Jeffrey Key reported that an estimated 5,000 people showed up to last weekend’s Kris Kringle Market. He said restaurants in the downtown area were packed on Friday and Saturday.
• Praise all around the room was heaped on Alderman Heather Begley for her role in organizing Saturday’s parade. The parade has grown since 2020 when it had just a few entrants and was meant to be small scale during the height of the pandemic.