La Grange seated a new Village Board Monday night, with three trustees being reelected and one new to the board.
Reelected Trustees Beth Augustine, Shawana McGee, and Tim O’Brien took the oath of office along with the newly-elected Glenn Thompson, and the general consensus among them was that Village flooding was the top issue facing the body.
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“I think what everybody’s first priority at this point now is to see what the judge’s ruling brings and then make our decision from there,” Thompson said before being sworn in.
The judge he was referring to was Cook County Judge Neil Cohen, who is presiding over the litigation between the Village and Lehigh Hanson Quarry that has prevented the completion of a storm sewer along 50th Street from Stone Avenue to the quarry.
Thompson is the co-founder of Dry Up La Grange, the citizens group active in the battle to alleviate the flooding problems in several parts of the Village.
While stressing the pressing nature of the issue, Thompson noted the Village had other concerns for the immediate future.
“There are always other issues we have to work with,” he said. “We have to make sure every department is fully staffed and up and running.”
Beth Augustine echoed Thompson’s sentiments about flooding.
“Trying to find ways to solve our flooding problems, both short term and long term have been the most important thing we have discussed,” she said. “It has been the thing I’m most concerned with, but it’s the thing we can do least about because of the litigation.”
Tim O’Brien, first appointed to the Board in 2021 to fill a vacancy, noted that he loved people bringing their problems to the Board.
“I love this job,” he said, noting that he had no future plans to advance beyond the Village Board. “People think I’m crazy, but I love complaints because it’s a reason to do something. It means somebody cares.”
O’Brien agreed with his colleagues that the flooding was the Village Board’s top priority.
“I don’t flood, but many of my friends do, and it kills me to see that,” he said.
Thompson replaces retiring Michael Kotynek, who received high praise from past and present Board members.
“Mike, what can I say,” said Shawana McGee who came on the Board during the COVID-19 pandemic. “As your time as a trustee is ending, its heard to believe my emotions. You were one of the first to persons call me when I got the appointment of trustee, and you know the world was tuned upside down during my appointment. As it’s been said, you were so calming.”
McGee’s current colleagues on the Board all praised Kotynek, as did past trustees like Bill Holder, David McCarty and former village President Tom Livingston.
After the speakers, Kotynek joked that “it was obviously a roast that could have turned out really bad,” before thanking those gathered for the occasion. “When you open your Board book on a Thursday night and see that you’re an agenda item, it’s kind of daunting, but it’s really special; the Village of La Grange is a special place.”
The next Village Board meeting will be 7:30 p.m. May 22 at the La Grange Village Hall, 53 S. La Grange Rd.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.