The Palos Heights City Council welcomed a new sergeant to its police department during last week’s city council meeting.
Sgt. Michael Mathis was officially sworn in by City Clerk Shannon Harvey during the July 1 council meeting.
Mayor Bob Straz offered a few personal words after the ceremony. “It’s a pleasure when we’re able to do things like this,” Straz said. “I’ve known Mike for a long time. He’s a great guy, and now sergeant, congratulations, Mike.”
Mathis, who has spent years with the police department, thanked city officials and the community for the opportunity. “I want to say thank you to everybody for coming out. Thank you to the city for the opportunity,” Mathis said.
“I have many years of experience here, so hopefully I can pass it on to all the younger people. It’s a great place to work. The department’s fantastic. Great leaders and great bosses have shown me the way that I wanted to lead as a supervisor, so hopefully it works out, and I’m able to provide the leadership they provided to me and pass it on to everybody else.”
Straz also noted that recent issues with phone service at City Hall have been addressed.
“People have been calling and getting voice mail,” Straz said. “The part was delivered today and should be put in tomorrow. I apologize for the inconvenience.”
City Treasurer James Daemicke said the city’s general fund began the month with $6.2 million and ended with approximately $5.8 million. Across all city funds, the balance decreased from $29.3 million to $28.4 million.
Payments were approved for several ongoing public works projects and maintenance.
The invoice list included a payment of $64,649 to Calumet City Plumbing for the water meter replacement program. Approval of $244,754 to Era Valdivia Contractors for exterior overcoat rehabilitation in the Misty Meadow subdivision, $21,300 to Dixon Engineering for work on the 250,000-gallon spheroid tank, $58,815 to Lockwood, $14,018 to RJN Group for sanitary sewer rehab and (on-call infrastructure services), and finally a $14,466 payment to Strand Associates for water main lining and related engineering work along College Drive.
The next scheduled Palos Height meeting is Tuesday, July 15.
