BRIDGEVIEW
Village doubles part-time police
Officials are beefing up the town’s auxiliary force of part-time police officers to patrol Chicago Fire soccer games and other events at Toyota Park this summer.
This week the village swore in 16 officers, doubling the force of part-time cops who help police control crowds and manage parking at the soccer stadium near 71st Street and Harlem Avenue.
The auxiliary police carry no weapons.
“They have the same arrest powers as private citizens,” Police Chief Tim Callahan said after a swearing-in ceremony at Wednesday’s Village Board meeting.
Callahan was pleased there were no major incidents involving the part-time officers during the Chicago Fire’s first season at Toyota Park last year.
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The officers also patrol residential neighborhoods to the south of the park and are deployed during other communitywide events throughout the year.
“They’re very community-oriented,” Callahan said.
— Carmen Greco Jr.
JOLIET
Bed-and-breakfast OKd, but opposed
Despite the presence of dozens of opponents, the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday voted in favor of allowing a bed-and-breakfast in the historic Cathedral District.
The 5-2 vote clears the way for Dennis and Terry Yohnka to open a four-bedroom operation on the 900 block of Western Avenue. But it does not end the acrimonious attitudes of opponents, who had posted signs around the neighborhood.
The approval limits the variance to one year, with the opportunity for the business’ operators to renew the variance annually. The operators also must provide a business plan and they can prepare only hot breakfasts and serve them only to people who spend the night. It also requires at least one of the operators to live at the residence and forbids operators from providing alcohol.
Bridget Garavalia of the 1000 block of Western Avenue, representing the foes, said the overall sense of the neighborhood is the bed-and-breakfast is overwhelmingly unwelcome. She argued that it should be located nearer to entertainment and shopping areas.
Garavalia also cited trends in bed-and-breakfast operations that show a high failure rate and reduced property values in other states.
Attorney Carl Buck, representing the Yohnkas, countered that zoning ordinances never take into account the viability of a business. “That’s never been the standard,” he said.
Buck repeated previous assertions that bed-and-breakfast operations in Illinois have been linked to increased values of adjacent properties.
Opponents had mustered more than 100 signatures on a petition to the Zoning Board last month.
— Dennis Sullivan
OAK LAWN
District to rehire fired support staff
In the wake of voter approval of a revenue-increasing referendum issue, Oak Lawn Community High School officials said they can reinstate athletic, extracurricular and maintenance positions they had agreed to cut in February to stem a $2.1 million deficit.
The school board for Oak Lawn District 229 on Wednesday night unanimously approved reinstatement of 34 coaching and activity sponsors, clubs and maintenance staff.”We’re not losing any clubs or activities,” Supt. Jim Briscoe said.
The 22-cent increase in the education tax fund rate, which passed last month, means that the owner of a $200,000 home will have about $102 added to property tax bills. Annual school revenues should increase by about $2 million, officials said.
The district also can rehire 20 custodial and maintenance staffers, though they will take a salary freeze for one year. That action saves the district about $42,200, said Assistant Supt. Rick Hendricks.
Instead of eliminating $250,000 from the athletic budget, which covered stipends for teachers, umpires, referees and some student activities, the district will cut $100,000.
The district plans to eliminate 22 extracurricular positions, rather than the 56 originally planned. Those positions include assistant coaches for soccer, badminton, and football and assistants in some clubs, such as Mathletes and yearbook. General and technology fees will be $275, rather than the $375 students were charged last year. Fees had gone up after several failed referendums.
“We’re still in a preliminary place of putting the budget together,” Hendricks said. “We will definitely have a surplus next year.”
— Janice Neumann
ROMEOVILLE
High schoolers sit in on Village Board
Those really were fresh faces on the Village Board during a Wednesday night meeting.
Romeoville High School students took part in Student Government Day by sitting in the seats of village staff, reading the agenda and asking questions regarding proposed ordinances, while their adult counterparts sat in the audience section.
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“We would like to thank the Village Board for this opportunity,” said student mayor Claudia Villarreal, a junior. “The whole day was exciting from the ‘$100 tour’ to the free lunch.”
As part of its binding business, the board hired Flexible Pavement Inc. to complete the Romeoville Bike Path from Belmont Drive to Illinois Highway 53.
Mayor Fred Dewald said the project, expected to be finished by the end of summer, will allow “safe transportation for students commuting to the new junior high school and Romeoville High School as well as provide a great place to get some exercise.”
Joseph Hillenmeyer
WORTH
Village swears in new police chief
The village formally greeted its new police chief this week.
“I am a man of my word, and I will never let you down,” pledged John M. Carpino, 54, at his swearing-in at a Tuesday night board meeting.
Six candidates interviewed for the job. Trustee Becky Alcala, who oversees the village Police and Fire Commission, said Carpino’s credentials stood out. He is a former acting chief in Oak Brook and has held numerous positions during his 33-year career in law enforcement. He currently teaches courses in the criminal justice program at Lewis University in Romeoville.
He formally begins his new duties on Monday, replacing Patrick O’Connor, who resigned to take over as chief of police at Moraine Valley Community College.
— Barbara Dargis