A group of residents stopped by the Sept. 28 Beecher Village Board meeting in hopes the village can sink its teeth into a dog issue that’s been a problem for most of the year.
Denise Niksic of Woodward Street started off the parade of concerns, saying there are vicious dogs in her neighborhood that are attacking people and other animals and that these dogs are not on leashes.
“It is a law,” Niksic said. “They cannot be outside unleashed. No resident should feel unsafe walking through the neighborhood and enjoying our own property.”
Others chimed in with tales of woe and misery that the dogs have caused, and some added that the dogs’ owners have threatened them.
While the disgruntled group had plenty of stories to tell about these dogs, Police Chief John Galvin said there has only been one official complaint. He said he issued seven citations and the dogs were impounded by Will Country animal control but were released back to their owners.
“By their ordinance, they have a right to do that,” Galvin said of Will County’s decision. “I’m not saying I agree with it, but they are in the right per the ordinance to do that.”
Mayor Marcy Meyer said that if the village is able to get involved, residents need to report each incident to the police.
“You want to be respectful to your neighbors and not have conflicts with them but if we don’t have a report of it…” she said.
“I know it’s difficult, but you have to call the police when it happens. Even if you are not injured, you have to call and report it, and we can have it on record so that we can say we have eight or 10 different incidents and it give us more to go on.”
Contracts approved
After an executive session, the board approved contracts for two village staff members.
Village Administrator Charity Mitchell and Public Works Superintendent Matt Conner were awarded contracts from Oct. 1 through April 30, 2029.
Damage costs
The board approved a pair of proposals to fix some items damaged by the recent storms.
The board awarded ASSA Abloy Door Systems a $5,985 bid to repair a fence gate at the police station that was damaged by the storms.
It also approved a $50,949 bid from Austgen Electric of Griffith, Indiana, for the replacement of broken streetlight poles in the Nantucket Cove subdivision as they, too, were damaged by heavy wind in August.
Beecher bits
- The Oct. 12 meeting is being moved to Oct. 13 due to the Columbus Day holiday.
- Trick-or-treat hours in the village have been set from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.