NEW LENOX
FEMA offers funds for storm losses
FEMA field specialist Jim Woodard knocked on 250 doors in New Lenox this week and spoke to residents whose basements had been flooded and homes damaged by heavy winds seven weeks ago.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is dishing out funds to help people recoup losses caused by the torrential rainstorm that swept through the region Aug. 23.
New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann said the village would also inform residents whose homes or property were damaged that they may qualify for federal grants and low interest loans.
Renters are eligible for up to $40,000 in assistance, homeowners up to $200,000 and small-business owners up to $1.5 million in federal funds.
President Bush officially declared the six-county area a disaster zone Sept. 25. The deadline to apply for FEMA property damage assistance is Nov. 26. Federal assistance is available for property damage relief as well as for those harmed because the storms caused a downturn in business, Woodard said.
More Top Picks Best Hand Warmers
— Jeff Borgardt
OAK FOREST
City helps to pay for mall upgrades
As part of an ongoing effort to spruce up businesses, the Oak Forest City Council this week approved reimbursing a local builder for improvements he made to his strip mall.
The council agreed to pay Malecky Builders of Oak Forest $7,914 for improvements to the strip mall he owns at 15534-42 S. Cicero Ave. The changes included tuckpointing, the reconstruction of an exterior staircase and work on siding and gutters. The strip mall is one building and includes a bar, an insurance company and several stores.
“It looks 100 percent better,” said Ald. Anthony Chinino.
The city’s facade-improvement program, which was started about three years ago, offers business owners reimbursements to cover 33 percent of the cost, up to $10,000. The total cost of Malecky’s work was $23,982.
— Janice Neumann
OAK FOREST
Disaster-funds deal is approved
To help prepare for a natural or man-made disaster, Oak Forest has entered into an agreement with Cook County to receive U.S. Department of Homeland Security funds.
The agreement, approved this week by the City Council, means the city has access to traffic management equipment worth more than $34,000, such as solar-powered message boards and plastic cones and wooden horses used to direct traffic.
Eighteen Cook County municipalities, including Broadview, Park Forest, South Holland and Tinley Park, are partnering in the program.
“The county’s philosophy is to pre-position this kind of equipment throughout Cook County,” said Daniel Coughlin, executive director of the Judicial Advisory Council, a county agency, which is helping coordinate the effort. “If we sprinkle it around the county, it’s easier to get out and it’s less likely to be destroyed in one or two incidents,” Coughlin said.
The funding is designated for first responders in Oak Forest, including the Police, Fire, Public Health and Public Works Departments.
— Janice Neumann
OAK LAWN
Civil service hiring system eliminated
The Oak Lawn Village Board voted 4-2 this week to dismantle its Civil Service Commission in favor of a system that will give department heads more say in hiring.
Under the Civil Service Commission, applicants took an exam, then were placed on a list. They were hired for positions as their names came to the top of the list, said Human Resources Director Dan Omiecinski.
The change will allow people to apply for specific positions. Also, department heads will have some input into who they think is most qualified for the job.
Two trustees voted against the proposal, citing concerns about the potential for patronage hiring without having the more objective Civil Service Commission in place.
Omiecinski said many Illinois municipalities have abolished their Civil Service Commissions. He also noted that the final hiring decisions will be made by the village manager.
Nearly all of the village employees are working under union contracts. Those contracts, which include grievance procedures, will not be affected by the change in the hiring system, Omiecinski said.
— Victoria Pierce
MOKENA
Village authorizes train-whistle study
Mokena residents annoyed by nightly train whistles may get a break if a study shows that silencing them won’t jeopardize public safety.
More Top Picks Best Self Propelled Lawn Mowers
The Village Board this week agreed to kick in $18,000 for a joint study with neighboring Tinley Park to find out if a “quiet zone” could be established along the Rock Island District commuter line.
Assistant Village Administrator Kirk Zoellner said town officials “get feedback from residents regarding train whistles.”
Federal regulations require that warning whistles be sounded at street-level railroad crossings, but towns can qualify for a “quiet zone,” he said.
Zoellner said the $33,000 study to be conducted by Robinson Engineering originally called for studying three villages — Tinley Park, Mokena and New Lenox — but New Lenox bowed out because there is only one street-level railroad crossing in the town.
Mokena has five crossings, and Tinley Park has four, he said.
The study will include traffic counts at the railroad crossings, a determination of the risk of allowing a “quiet zone” and estimates of the cost of needed crossing improvements, he said.
The study does not obligate the village to take any further action, Zoellner said, but “it should provide a basis for the Village Board to have further policy discussions.”
— Pat Harper