By Andrea Arens
Those issue like trailers and chicken might finally be addressed now that the Village of Peotone has hired a Building & Zoning Coordinator.
The Village Board hired Henry Walters III for the position at $60,000 annually. Walters background is in security and he’s expected to graduate from the University of Phoenix with a Bachelors in Public Administration. While he has no formal training in building inspection or code, he’s willing to learn at the Village’s expense as they will pay for his training.
Village Administrator Aimee Ingalls said she looked for skills that were “transferable” and while Walters can’t currently complete some of the tasks on his new job description, Safebuilt will still be used for inspections and plan review and the Village will still employ the part-time code enforcement service they hired last year.
Ingalls also receives a stipend for being Zoning Administrator along with her Village Administrator position and will still be involved with planning and zoning despite the full time additional position.
Ingalls said, “The direction we are taking is to staff the building/planning/zoning departments so that it can function more efficiently, consistently, and continually improve customer service.”
Trustee elect Todd Sandberg spoke at the meeting and suggested that any hire for the position be qualified for the position, be able to start assuming duties immediately, and not require any additional expense to the Village or taxpayers. Sandberg was the only one to disagree as the board unanimously approved hiring Walters.
In other board news…
The board also unanimously approved the hiring of two new full time Public Works employees. Public Works was down to three employees after two left to seek employment elsewhere. The two new hires comes at a welcome time just as spring and summer maintenance and projects get under way.
The Village Board also adopted the Illinois Municipal League’s Civility Pledge.
An agreement for IT services with Leading IT. The Village currently spends about $3k a month to manage the networks for all departments. The new agreement will cost about $5k a month but include service, leased hardware, network monitoring, vendor management, and an IT help desk with round the clock access.
Public comments were heard from Katherine Mahn and Jolane Walenga advocating for backyard chickens.
Commentary was also heard from Elwynne Welsh who shared his disdain for backyard chickens among other things. Welsh suggested in his commentary that Trustee Sluis violated code by having foul in her yard.
Welsh then continued and told village trustees that consolidating their lots into one parcel was as easy as going to the county website. The Village does not have an ordinance requiring consolidation of parcels but Township Assessor Virginia Gates-Hamann said it does present a problem in assessing property accurately. Welsh then added, “Problem is, are they paying their full amount of taxes? That’s the problem. Are you being taxed on all your improvements? Is the new homes being taxed at their total value? That’s the problem. We’re being taxed at our full value. Get your business in order. Get it resolved or resign. You have no business representing the people of Peotone.”
When Trustee Sluis questioned what was wrong with owning two parcels and two permits; Welsh countered and suggested an investigation if everything is in code with the new code enforcement officer, unless he isn’t allowed to inspect trustees.
When Sluis countered, Welsh cut her off and said it was 3 minutes. He went on and continued to suggest that if village administration was found not in compliance they should be censured. He then thanked trustees Marevka, Jones, and Bowden for their service although Marevka was not up for reelection this year.
Todd Sandberg is the husband of Editor Andrea Arens. His quotes in this article are not an endorsement of his opinion or policies. The Vedette endorses no candidates or officials.