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8 | August 24, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger news mokenamessenger.com Mokena Village Board Wolf Road emergency repairs on the way Jon DePaolis Freelance Reporter The Village of Mokena Board of Trustees voted 6-0 Monday, Aug. 14, to approve emergency repairs to part of Wolf Road after an early July incident in which the road buckled because of extreme heat. “Wolf Road buckled near the Ken Heim Maintenance Facility, just north of Marley Creek [on July 6],” said Mark Detloff, assistant public works director, during the meeting. “A contractor was engaged on an emergency basis that day to complete some temporary repairs and to make the street safe for motorists. In order to prevent any further faults from occurring, permanent repairs must be completed as soon as possible to remove inconsistencies in the roadway.” Detloff said three bids were secured by staff for the work, with Davis Concrete Construction Company submitting the lowest bid at $43,500. “Over the years, Davis has completed a substantial amount of work in Mokena with positive results, including similar patching work on Wolf Road,” Detloff said. Trustees voted unanimously to approve the Davis Concrete Construction Company bid. According to the staff report, the money to pay for the emergency repairs would be taken from the Village’s capital road repair fund. Staff noted in the report that the Village’s capital project bids are currently $115,220 less than the budgeted amount. Craft beer store making headway During the work session later in the evening, trustees heard a request from the co-owners of Crafted Bottle Shop, who are seeking a special use permit to open a liquor store with a tasting area at 19200 S. LaGrange Road in Mokena. The coowners, Daniel Rusnak and Denver Worker, plan to open the 1,500-square-foot craft beer store inside the Meridian Centre commercial development. “It focuses on local breweries and suppliers, offering products that are not normally available at liquor stores,” Mokena Director of Economic and Community Development Alan Zordan said during his presentation to the board. “It has a tasting area, where you can sample the product, which is regularly rotating. They do not sell hard liquor, wine or tobacco products, which sets it apart from the other liquor stores in the area.” Zordan said a similar concept is The Open Bottle, located in Tinley Park. The proposed hours would be: noon-6 p.m. Sundays; closed on Mondays; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Zordan said the store would be given, if approved, a Class H liquor license, which would be a newly created class of liquor license that was developed by staff on the board’s direction. The new liquor license, which would need to be approved by the board at a future meeting, would allow for packaged sale of liquor and a tasting area, but Round it up A brief recap of action from the Aug. 14 meeting of the Mokena Village Board. •In addition to the request from Seventh Day Adventist, other consent agenda items that were approved by one, 5-1 vote were: a special event assistance request from Mokena VFW Post 725 to use Village property for overflow parking during its Cruise Night Car Show on Friday, Aug. 25; a solicitation request from the Lincoln- Way Community High School District 210 music boosters for door-to-door sales of its yearly SIAM Discount Book, from Aug. 20-27; and minutes from meetings on July 17 and 24 meetings. •During the work session after the board meeting, trustees heard a request for a special use permit to expand the GymKinetics building, located at 19220 Ridge Road. The addition would be 6,733 square feet, and it would include construction of a parking lot. Trustees expressed their support for the project, and no objections were raised. It will come before the board for approval at a future meeting. •Also during the work session, trustees heard from staff on the potential creation of three new liquor license categories: Class G, which is for a craft brewery; Class H, which is for a craft packaged sales with sampling; and Class I, which is for a one-day special event retail license. The discussion also included amending certain existing licenses to allow for things such as hours of operation flexibility on certain dates, such at St. Patrick’s Day. There were no objections by the trustees, and this will be brought back before the board for approval at a later date. would prohibit video gaming terminals and the sale of hard alcohol and tobacco. During the discussion, Rusnak spoke to the trustees about Crafted’s business plan. “Basically, we are in the business of promoting craft beer,” Rusnak said. “We’re looking to offer customers a unique experience. We want them to be able to come in and try things that are maybe hard to find or something that you may not find at a traditional liquor store or grocery store.” Rusnak said Crafted is not a bar or tavern. “The [hours] are retail hours; we’re not going to be open until 2 a.m.,” he said. “We’re not going to have loud music, and we might not even have TVs. At most, we might have one. So, we’re not going to have gameday specials or anything like that. That’s not our niche market.” He also said Crafted won’t be carrying beer such as Budweiser or Miller. “The typical beer drinker is probably not coming to our store,” Rusnak said. “Our typical customer, we call them beer enthusiasts, usually has a higher income and education level. It doesn’t mean other customers don’t, but that is typical. In this area, they are typically married and they basically don’t have time to be at a bar. They don’t have time to go search out unique beer, so we’re there to bring it to them.” Rusnak said a typical visit lasts 20 to 40 minutes, and most of the time is spent perusing the shelves and asking staff which beer matches flavor profiles they enjoy. He also said most customers average one to two tasting pours. No objections were raised by the trustees, and the item will be brought before the board for approval at a later date. Parking issue raised for proposed church office space Earlier in the evening, the meeting started off in an unusual way, with a split vote on the consent agenda items. It began when Trustee Joseph Budzyn expressed concerns about one of the items on the consent agenda, regarding parking lot, site, landscape and photometric plans, light fixtures, and building elevation review for a proposed office space for Seventhday Adventist Church at 19860 S. LaGrange Road. Budzyn’s concerns focused on parking. Typically, when a trustee expresses a concern with an item on the consent agenda, it is removed and voted on separately. However, the item was kept on the consent agenda, resulting in a 5-1 vote, with Budzyn casting the dissenting ballot. During the discussion, Budzyn asked why the staff report on the item listed the building as being 10,704 square feet, which would determine the parking as mandated by Village Code, and why other documents not included in the staff report listed the net square footage of 8,488 feet. “Since parking requirements are determined by square footage, I’d like some clarification, because the staff report indicates that even at that square footage there is not adequate parking,” Budzyn said. Zordan said many communities utilize a net square footage for calculating parking, which explains the 8,488 feet number. “But Mokena’s code is based off gross square footage,” Zordan said. “That is what the other number in staff report reflects. That’s why that document wasn’t included, because it would create confusion. Though the staff report speaks to our ordinance, these numbers speak to what other communities have as a format. If you follow the net square footage, they have plenty of capacity.” “Well, our ordinance requires gross square footage,” Budzyn replied. “That’s correct,” Zordan said. “Well, then don’t talk to me about net square footage,” Budzyn said. “As far as the parking goes, we are under … by one [space]. Are we looking for a variance on that?” Zordan said the plaza the church would be located in is set up for shared parking, so to “overflow” one or two spaces is not an issue.
mokenamessenger.com News the Mokena Messenger | August 24, 2017 | 9 Police Reports Police: Underage trio charged with stealing booze Marco J. Walker, 20, of 227 Alleghany St. in Park Forest was charged with retail theft, possession of stolen property and having an in-state warrant on Aug. 3. Sian D. Clayton, 19, and Noah B. Clayton, 18, both of 127 Algonquin St. in Park Forest were each charged with possession of stolen property in the same incident, which took place in the 11300 block of West Lincoln Highway. According to police reports, an officer was dispatched to the West Lincoln Highway location for a possible robbery in progress. While en route to the location, the officer was advised that the suspects had fled the parking lot of the store in a small, green Honda. Witnesses reportedly told police that they observed two suspects enter the store while a third waited in the car. Upon attempting to leave the store, witnesses said security alarms went off and the suspects fled in the Honda. Frankfort police soon after spotted the vehicle and detained the suspects until Mokena police could arrive. Police allege that the suspects were found with 12 bottles of alcohol in the trunk of the vehicle, and another eight bottles were allegedly discovered under a coat in the backseat of the car after the suspects were taken in custody. Aug. 10 • Dingane M. Nkosi, 64, of 999 Stuyvesant, New Jersey, was charged with having an in-state warrant after police reportedly found Nkosi asleep in his vehicle shortly after 10 p.m. in the 10800 block of West 187th Street. According to police reports, a patrol officer discovered the warrant, which was issued for Bond County, after he ran Nkosi’s driver’s license as part of a routine check. Aug. 12 • David W. Bachar, 36, of 10924 Front St. in Mokena was charged with having an in-state warrant after Bachar reportedly tried to seek help for a drug addiction through Mokena Police Department’s participation in the Safe Passage program. According to police reports, Bachar entered the Mokena Police Department in the 10900 block of Front Street and asked to be taken into the Safe Passage program, which is a program that finds assistance for addicts who voluntarily come to police stations seeking help. As part of the process, police reportedly discovered the warrant and informed Bachar that he would only be eligible for the program once the warrant was settled. Safe Passage is offered in three Will County police departments — Lemont, Lockport and Mokena. EDITOR’S NOTE: The Mokena Messenger’s police reports come from the Mokena Police Department. Anyone listed in these reports is considered to be innocent of all charges until proven guilty in a court of law. VENDORS WANTED toppen From Page 3 selves — we didn’t really understand the full scope of the deployments,” Steichen said. “Even if a soldier doesn’t get wounded, they’re still away from their family for nine months. The stories that these guys would tell us when we were oneon-one with them changed us. It is humbling and so inspiring. It propels us to keep doing this.” Mike Cozzi, of Joliet — who works with the nonprofit Caring Patriots — came to the event with his son, Mike Cozzi, Jr., to remember Toppen and all of the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives in service to this country. “Aaron was a 19-year-old from the Mokena area that put forth his life to defend the freedoms that my little one and I — and everybody else — can enjoy every day,” Chris Cooper takes a moment to reflect on the lives of fallen soldiers at the Memorial Wall. The wall has become a staple fixture for the Toppen Run. Laurie Fanelli/22nd Century Media Cozzi said. Frankfort resident and Midwest BBQ for the Brave co-founder Gayla Smith is a champion of the idea that communities can — and should — come together to support veterans. “It’s our responsibility to take care of the veterans and any service member in need after they’ve served our country,” Smith said. “It’s up to us as a community to make sure they don’t go hungry and that they have adequate housing. That’s what we do.” Music from Mason Rivers, popcorn from Boy Scout Troop 49 and a variety of vender booths added to the fun of the event, but it was the memory of Toppen that truly made it a day to remember. As Cozzi said: “In the end, it’s all about coming forth, remembering and making sure that those sacrifices are never forgotten.” Vendors are needed to offer seniors and baby boomers everything they need to know about health and wellness, fitness, financial planning, shopping and entertainment, assisted living, real estate, travel and more for the 3rd annual Active Aging—An Expo for Ages 50+. DATE: Saturday, October 21 TIME: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. PLACE: Tinley Park Convention Center Space is limited — DEADLINE: Oct. 4 For More Information Call: 708.326.9170 ext. 16 Email: h.warthen@22ndcenturymedia.com Visit us online at www.mokenamessenger.com
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