By Steve Metsch
The village of Lyons stands to benefit greatly from a new state law that allows non-home rule communities to charge higher annual fees for the gaming terminal licensing fee.
The state previously had a cap of $25 on the fee, Mayor Christopher Getty said. That’s been boosted to $250.
At its March 1 meeting, the village board unanimously approved increasing the fee to $250 per machine per year.
With the current 123 gaming machines in the village, Lyons will collect $30,750 fees instead of the previous $3,075 each year.
Getty noted that some home-rule towns charge as much as $1,500, much more than the “modest” fee approved by the village board.
In other business, the board approved a resolution approving an application by the village for a Community Development Block Grant from Cook County worth $350,000.
“This would be for street improvements of Fern Avenue from Ogden Avenue going north to 40th Street,” Getty said. “We are optimistic we’ll get the CDBG grant again.”
After the meeting, Getty said “it’s always tough” to get those grants, noting communities compete with each other.
During the meeting, Tito Rodriguez was sworn in as acting interim Public Works Director by Village Clerk Irma Quintero.
Village Manager Tom Sheahan said Rodriguez “has done a wonderful job” leading the department with “some really rough snowstorms” in February.
“I took a peek at some of our neighboring towns and none of them were anything close to the streets here in Lyons,” Sheahan said.
Rodriguez, who had been deputy director, has been in charge of public works since former director Ryan Grace left to become village administration in Willow Springs.
Getty said he plans to write a letter of support for the Oak Park Visitors Bureau. “They’ll include the village of Lyons’ businesses in their advertising,” he said.