EVERGREEN PARK
Village agrees to hire 5 more police officers
Evergreen Park will add five patrol officers later this year.
The Village Board this week approved hiring the officers at an annual cost of $45,583 each, in part because two former officers retired and one left the department earlier than expected.
The department is also hiring two officers for new positions to help meet growing demands for street patrol, resource officers in school, and the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, Deputy Chief Dennis O’Dowd said.
“More and more demands on the street level” are being seen, O’Dowd said.
The officers will be chosen from a list of about 35.
Also at the meeting, the board authorized the $111,000 purchase of a new advanced life-support ambulance. The last advanced life-support ambulance was bought in 1997, Fire Chief Ron Kleinhaus said.
The department got $50,000 toward the purchase from the Illinois Department of Human Services at the behest of state Sen. Edward Maloney (D-Chicago).
— Janice Neumann
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HOMER GLEN
Fines are approved for unmowed lawns
Property owners in Homer Glen will be fined if they let grass and weeds on their lots grow more than 8 inches tall.
The Village Board unanimously passed an ordinance this week for fining residential and business property owners who fail to mow their lawns.
Village Manager Paula Wallrich said owners first will get a notice to maintain their property. If they fail to comply with established standards, they could be fined between $50 and $750. The village may also remove weeds or grass and charge the owner.
Wallrich said the village had a similar ordinance already on the books, but it did not apply to properties larger than one acre and commercial land.
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— Sheila Burt