Peotone residents can look forward to new opportunities to offer input in the planning of their community after the board unanimously voted to engage CP2 Consulting at its board meeting on January 26.
After an introduction from Village Administrator Nick Palmer, Cory Poris Plasch, founder of CP2 Consulting, gave the board a brief overview of the strategic planning services and how a strategic plan can benefit a community.
Palmer indicated he had seen Poris Plasch’s presentations and had spoken with other communities, such as Lockport, that have used her services.
Poris Plasch briefly shared her background and explained she is a “small town specialist,” having lived in and worked with small towns. In her overview, she explained she facilitates conversations with various stakeholders, ranging from high school students to business owners and residents, as well as the village board and staff.
“[We] talk about what’s really important for the community and then prioritize those things. A lot of times, we don’t really have a chance to have those conversations. It’s a chance to kind of get everybody on the bus and headed in the same direction,” Porish Plasch said.
She added that it gives developers insight into what the board and community want and where.
In all, the process takes about four-to-six months, but Poris Plasch said she checks in and stays connected with the communities she works with after the plan is completed to ensure they stay on the right path.
“What about other taxing bodies and the public? Walk me through what you do because we honestly suffer from a lot of apathy,” Trustee Pat Bowden asked during the presentation, with Trustee Gary Hudson also looking for answers on how Poris Plasch would engage the community.
She would facilitate the meetings and gave an example of going to the high school’s government class and engaging students from there. There also would be specific messaging and focus groups to address different audiences in the community, such as business owners, taxing bodies, churches, and residents. Online surveys are also a way they try to connect with people, Poris Plasch explained.
The goal is to create a report that can be referenced as the village moves forward with projects.
“You’ll have a very pretty report when it’s done, but also how will we be reporting progress as we go through? Because that’s the other important part of this, too, right? It’s not just about having a plan, but what’s being done with the plan. So going ahead and working with Nick and staff on having periodic progress reports,” Poris Plasch said.
At the culmination of the presentation, Palmer asked the board for their thoughts and whether they’d like to move forward. Overall, the board was very candid but honest in their feedback.
“I’m skeptical of plans because we do a lot of plans,” Trustee Todd Sandberg said before elaborating.
“We don’t do anything with them. But this, we’re not doing anything anyway. So maybe a plan, some sort of plan, is better than no plan, because we’re really not moving forward with anything right now,” he added, indicating his support for the consultant.
Hudson shared when he first learned of possibly working with a consultant, he was also hesitant.
“When this first came up, I’m like, ehh, we’ve done that before. We can do it by ourselves. And I started digging into it. I’m like, no, we can’t do it right [by ourselves],” Hudson said.
Bowden said he spoke with the reference from Geneva and asked whether the explanation of how CP2 works would be the same for Peotone. Poris Plasch said it would.
“I started looking at it, and that kind of brings everybody together with a goal. I think it’s a good idea,” Hudson said. He asked Mayor Chris Vieaux to weigh in.
“I think this is something that would really help the business opportunities presented to us who actually want to come here,” Vieaux said.
“If they have something in their hands or on their screen that they can visualize what Peotone is and what it wants to be, I think it’s quite informational for them. I think it’ll be a great idea,” Vieaux added.
At that point, the board voted to engage CP2, with the exception of Trustee Jackie Richards, who was absent from the meeting.
In other news, Vieaux reported on the past year’s accomplishments since he’s been in office. Highlights included renegotiating the garbage contract, extending and approving contracts for the police chief and village administrator, demolishing the dilapidated Schroeder building, road and sidewalk improvements, adding flock cameras, and welcoming several new businesses.
“I think we accomplished a good deal of things so far,” Vieaux said.
Palmer reviewed the village’s Capital Improvement Plan and the major purchases identified for the next five years – from the general fund, two police squad cars (none were purchased in the previous year), and public works vehicles and equipment.
Palmer addressed some questions that had come up in committee regarding the need for the public works vehicles and equipment, which ultimately came down to a need to get as much done around the village with a limited staff and with replacing old equipment.
“Our oldest plow truck is from 1995. So, it’s got a few years on it. We’ve kept it going, and I mentioned at the committee that it breaks down, or there’s pieces that we can fix, but as time goes on, we’ll spend more time maintaining it, maybe, than operating it. So, that’s why we need to build that in, but those are larger costs,” Palmer said.
In addition, the village is planning for some major stormwater projects.
Continued sidewalk replacement and paving projects are included in the CIP. Those are also partially funded by the motor fuel tax and the two-cent-per-gallon tax collected from the Travel Center.
Ultimately, project prioritization is still pending, but those amounts will inform the budget and subsequent ordinance.
Peotone Police Chief David DeMik reported year-end totals on crime, highlighting that crimes against individuals were down, though burglaries were up. He did note there were seven burglaries in one night, which skewed the numbers, though.
Public Works Supervisor Bob Hennke joked, “My report is snow,” but added that crews have been working to clear the streets. Hennke explained although some streets remain covered, it is not for a lack of salting — the low temperatures prevent the salt from working effectively.
The Peotone Travel Center will be expanding its food court by adding Rosati’s and Mela Indian Restaurant.
Vieaux inquired how the businesses would operate with the shared kitchen and two completely unique food preparations; Sehul Patel, one of the business owners, explained though it is a shared kitchen, there would not be cross-contamination. For example, the pizza oven would only cook pizzas.
The board unanimously approved the additions. The UPS Store, which was recently added to the Travel Center, is expected to open in February.