MM_011917

4 | January 19, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger News
mokenamessenger.com
VILLAGE
From Page 3
ing quarter-mile [time] or do
burnouts,” Swann said. “We
test drive in neighborhoods
around Oak Forest. The responsibility
to make sure
that we test within the laws
of those streets is the police
department in Oak Forest
… and you will find not one
single complaint about any
test drives. We test drive
within the laws of the road.”
Swann also claimed the
residents at his Oak Forest
location are closer than the
residents in Mokena. He
said noise complaints have
never been an issue. He said
his business does not operate
on weekends or on holidays,
but that he may do non-auto
repair work past the hours of
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays
or on weekends. Swann also
invited the board members
and the residents to visit his
business to check out noise
levels.
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“To put a restriction on us
from working those hours
when our neighbors attached
… can work 24 hours a day
… frankly, that’s un-American,”
Swann said.
Marty Nagle, one of the
neighbors concerned about
the business, said he was
“not opposed to the business
coming to Mokena,” but said
is the wrong location.
He said the residents will
be able to see parked cars,
because they all have elevated
decks.
“What you are doing by
allowing this business to
come into this area is putting
us in the position to where
we have to call the police
[about potential violations],”
Nagle said.
Trustee Jim Richmond
said he thought long about
the request. He said he
would take up Swann on his
offer to check out the noise
level, offering to spend his
day working from the location
to see for himself. Ultimately,
he said he was in favor
of approving the special
use permit.
Trustee Debbie Engler
also said she was in favor
of moving forward with the
request.
Trustee John Mazzorana
said he visited the business,
and he doesn’t believe it will
have an impact on the nearby
neighborhood. He was in
favor of the request, as well.
Fleischer mentioned
Trustee Joseph Budzyn —
who was absent — relayed
to him that he also was in
favor of approval.
Trustee George Metanias
said he wanted to visit the
location first to make sure
the noise levels will not add
to the residents’ problems in
that area. He said he would
be in favor of the request if
the noise levels didn’t impact
residents.
Trustee Joseph Siwinski,
however, said he would not
support the request. He said
the business should have
tried to garner compromise
with the residents, and that
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short of that, he would not
vote to approve it.
“When our residents have
a problem, it is imperative
that you work with them, because
that is why we have a
special use,” Siwinski said.
Swann suggested later in
the meeting changing the
hours of operation for the
business away from 8 a.m.-5
p.m., but the board members
said those were what was
originally proposed.
“I’m going to pay the
same property tax as the
guy next door, and he can
use his building 24 hours a
day, so I wonder if you’re
going to entertain a refund
in the property taxes because
you’re restricting the
use of the building,” Swann
asked. “Secondly, there’s
also things that we do that
don’t [make] any noise; for
example, me working on my
accounts, marketing or answering
our phones. What
exactly can we not do? Because
I think it is unfair to
restrict us to business hours
where, within a stone’s
throw, there are people
working 24 hours a day.”
Attorney Carl Buck said
the reason the special use
permit process is in place is
because the Village Board
has determined an automotive
repair shop has a potential
impact on residents.
“So, it is not only appropriate,
but it is 100 percent
correct to consider these
types of variables with respect
to how this business
may or may not be used,”
Buck said. “So, comments
related to a rebate on taxes
are not appropriate.”
Fleischer, who said he
doesn’t have a vote, said if
residents had concerns about
the project, they should have
been at the October meeting
to voice them. He said by not
doing so, the business owner
invested time and money
into the location.
Fleischer directed staff to
have the permit draft ready
to be voted on by the next
Village Board meeting.
Pioneer Cemetery earns
commemorative plaque
Jon DePaolis
Freelance Reporter
The Village of Mokena
Board of Trustees voted 5-0
Jan. 9 to accept a donation
from Will County for the
cemetery located off Wolf
Road, between LaPorte
Road and Front Street.
Trustee Joseph Budzyn was
absent.
Mokena’s Pioneer Cemetery
was designated a Will
County Historic Landmark
in November by the Will
County Historic Preservation
Commission and the
Will County Board.
“This cemetery was
nominated for this designation
by Matt Galik, who
is a local historian here in
Mokena and also a member
of the Historic Preservation
Committee of the [Mokena]
board,” said Kirk Zoellner,
assistant village administrator,
during the meeting.
Representatives from the
Will County Historic Preservation
Commission were
on hand to present a commemorative
plaque to the
Village, to be placed at the
cemetery. In order to accept
the donation, Zoellner said
the Village had to agree to
the plaque’s location on the
cemetery grounds, as well
as to pay for any maintenance
or mounting of the
plaque.
Galik presented the
plaque to Mayor Frank
Fleischer and thanked the
mayor and the trustees for
their work to get the designation.
“It’s a very worthy landmark,
and we were glad we
were able to be involved,”
Galik said.
Fleischer thanked Galik
for his work on the project.
“I remember when you
were younger and you’d
come up and give reports
and stories on the Village
of Mokena, and I appreciate
the time and effort you put
into this,” Fleischer said.
Later in the meeting, during
the work session, trustees
also heard a request
from a new chapter of the
Daughters of the American
Revolution. The Founders
Crossing DAR requested
hosting a rededication ceremony
at the gravesite of
Charles Denny, an American
Revolution veteran, at
Pioneer Cemetery.
During his presentation of
the proposal to the trustees,
Zoellner said the last time
the gravesite was rededicated
was in 1939.
Christina Bannon, the regent
of the DAR’s Founders
Crossing chapter, said
it serves communities like
Mokena, Frankfort, New
Lenox, Homer Glen, Orland
Park and Lemont.
“One of the biggest things
that the DAR does is recognize
areas of historical
preservation,” Bannon said.
“I believe Charles Denny
may have been the first one
in that cemetery. He was a
Revolutionary War patriot,
who served in Dutchess
County, New York, in the
militia. One of the things
the DAR likes to do is recognize
anything historical.
We are hoping to do a rededication
sometime in the
summer.”
Trustee John Mazzorana
said he thought the board
should be supporting it
wholeheartedly.
“I think we need to be
doing whatever we can to
facilitate this,” Mazzorana
said.
Other trustees seemed in
support of the proposal, as
well.