FS_030118

More documents

Recommendations

Info

4 | March 1, 2018 | The frankfort station news frankfortstation.com Frankfort Village Board Officials approve contract for comprehensive plan update Nuria Mathog, Editor The Frankfort Village Board authorized a professional planning services contract for updates to its comprehensive plan during the Board's Feb. 20 regular meeting. The contract with Teska Associates, which comes with a maximum compensation of $131,500, will fund a comprehensive plan review including six subareas: downtown residential, downtown commercial, Route 30/45 east to 84th Avenue, east Route 30 development from 84th Avenue to Harlem Avenue, I-57 business development and the Laraway Road corridor. "Those items will all be reviewed in the comp plan, and the Village Board, our community development staff and Teska will engage the community as appropriate to develop this updated plan for the future," Trustee Bob Kennedy said. The last update to the Village's comprehensive plan, which reviews and offers recommendations for future land use revisions and community economic development, took place in 2004. Subsections of the plan were amended in 2007 and 2010. The Board also agreed to authorize a memorandum of understanding between the Village and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) for planning technical assistance services. In 2017, the Village submitted multiple grant applications under CMAP's Local Technical Assistance program, and the agency awarded assistance to the Village for plan commissioner training. In other action, the Board approved a plat of easement to accommodate the relocation and installation of a standby generator at the Jackson Creek Lift Station, an expenditure of up to $34,931.00 for the purchase of a 2018 Falcon Asphalt Hot Box that will be used during pothole reparations and an agreement with The Fields on Caton Farm, Inc. for the reforestation of 585 trees in Frankfort that were removed because of Emerald Ash Borer infestation. "What we've done is we're pretty happy with the bid we received," Trustee Dick Trevarthan said. "It's $165,800 for 500- plus tress, 585 trees. The project would start in the spring, but we may do half in the spring and half in the fall." Other items approved during the meeting included a front yard setback variance, side yard setback variance, lot coverage variance and first floor building materials variance for the construction of a new single-family residential home at 140 Walnut Street. The owners and applicants, Keith and Gail McLean, inherited the property and intend to eliminate the onestory structure currently located on the site that contains a significant crack in the foundation. They plan to construct a two-story home on the property in its place. The Plan Commission approved recommendations for the four variances during a Jan. 25 public hearing on the project. The Board also gave the green light to the final plat for the Luoma Resubdivision, which involves consolidating the property at 20700 N. Locust Street with a small parcel located behind the property that the owners, applicants Barbara and Laird Luoma, previously purchased. Board members also agreed to release written Village executive session minutes from 2013-2017 after determining a need for confidentiality regarding the minutes no longer exists. Pursuant to the Open Meetings Act, which allows governmental bodies to destroy closed sessions' verbatim records more than 18 months after the date of the session, the destruction of audio recordings of Village executive session meetings prior to June 30, 2016, was approved. Mayor Jim Holland noted applications for Village of Frankfort committees are currently available at the Village Administration Building or at the Village website at www.villageoffrankfort.com. The applications must be submitted to the Village by 4 p.m. Friday, March 30. "We make these appointments to be effective at the beginning of May," he said. "They're made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the trustees. Public participation in this government is very important to this Board, and we have these committees specifically to help with that purpose." Holland added he wanted to thank Village staff for assisting the residents of Frankfort with the excess water that struck the area. "We had a lot of rain today and some very warm temperatures and a significant amount of melting snow," he said. "There was a lot of water around Frankfort, water just about everywhere. And it's really remarkable how well our storm management programs do work in this community. Certainly, there are occasions of leaves that plug up different storm drains and if the residents don't clear those out, our staff certainly will." He also took a moment to thank Frankfort's police officers and their families for their contributions to the community and encouraged residents to report "suspicious activities that might lead to violence" to the police. "The murder in the commander in Chicago last week reminds all of us about the dangers that our police face," Holland said. "And while this police killing was surely on the minds of every one of our Frankfort officers last week, we had them making extra patrols of every one of our schools after a school shooting in Florida that resulted in the deaths of so many students. There are just too many shootings in our society. We need to do more to prevent criminals from obtaining guns and to prevent people whose purpose is to unlawfully harm others from obtaining guns." Election 2018 Park District referendum proposes sale of undeveloped land Nuria Mathog, Editor Voters will decide in March whether to authorize the Frankfort Park District to sell a piece of undeveloped land at the northwest corner of La Grange and Laraway roads, a site the District purchased in 2014 as a potential location for a proposed community center. According to District officials, the District issued non-referendum bonds to buy the land for $725,000 with no tax increase. The purchase was made pursuant to the Park District's comprehensive plan. A 2016 mail survey conducted by the Park District found District residents did not support a tax increase for the construction of the proposed community center, and the District subsequently decided not to move forward with a referendum vote proposing a tax increase to fund the project, and the property in question has remained undeveloped. District officials have expressed interest in selling the land, as as the District currently holds debt certificates for the site with annual payments of $96,000 through 2025, leaving less money available for operating funds to finance projects Ballot language Shall the Frankfort Park District sell the following described real estate: that property identified as Permanent Index Number 19-09- 29-400- 013-0000 and commonly known as 10840 Laraway Road, Frankfort, IL? such as parking lot repairs, playground improvements and roof replacements. Illinois Park District code requires a majority of voters to approve the sale of land exceeding three acres through a referendum. If the referendum is approved, the District intends to sell the land via a competitive bidding process allowing the District to specify the sale's terms, including the power to deny any and all bids and relist the property. If the land is not sold within a 12-month period following the initial sale, a second referendum must be authorized for its sale. Money from the sale would go toward paying off the debt certificate, and proceeds would be placed in the corporate fund.
frankfortstation.com news the frankfort station | March 1, 2018 | 5 Frankfort school D157-C Board of Education District officials hear curriculum proposal, recognize teachers Nuria Mathog, Editor Students in Frankfort School District 157-C will have earlier access to handson education in STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics, under a curriculum proposal presented by Director of Curriculum and Instruction Janet McClarence during the 157-C Board of Education's Feb. 21 regular meeting. "If you remember last year, we wrote a grant through Illinois Math and Science Academy, and we were selected ... what we will be doing, what we're asking for is to add one grade level each year," Mc- Clarence said. "So, next coming school year, we'll be bumping that down to fifth grade, so fifth through eighth grade would have an IMSA fusion STEM program as one of their ENCORE rotations, and then the following school year, we'd be adding fourth grade." The Board of Education also took the time to recognize two Hickory Creek Middle School teachers for their recent professional accomplishments: sixth-grade teacher Rebecca Schumacher, who was granted the title of National Board Certified Teacher through the (left to right) Hickory Creek Middle School Principal Will Seidelmann, sixth-grade teacher Rebecca Schumacher, seventhgrade teacher and coach Mitch Stein, and Frankfort School District 157-C Superintendent Maura Zinni pose for a photo during the Feb. 21 D157-C Board of Education meeting. photo submitted national Board for Professional Teacher Standards, and Mitch Stein, a seventhgrade teacher and girls softball and track and field coach who was named one of four Illinois Elementary School Association Coaches of the Year by the Illinois Coaches Association. Superintendent Maura Zinni commented that both Schumacher and Stein "do a lot more in addition to what they do as teachers." "Thank you for giving back to our kids and our staff," she said. "You are certainly making a difference here in 157-C and we appreciate that." During the meeting, the Board approved a second reading of multiple Board of Education policies, including policies related to safety, school wellness and attendance and truancy, but opted to table action on a policy pertaining to administering medicine to students. In other action, the Board approved the employment of several District staff members, a staff member's request for unpaid leave of absence, the Buncee Creative Club for Chelsea Intermediate School thirdand fourth-graders and an agreement with Bill's Landscaping and Lawn Maintenance, Inc. for lawn maintenance and landscaping services from 2018-2020 for $4,900 per month. Approved items on the Board's consent agenda included hiring approval for three seasonal/summer workers, approving Sentinel Technologies as 157-C's contractor to replace uninterruptible power supply units at Chelsea and switching hardware at Grand Prairie Elementary School and to move forward with the Empowerment program in an effort to improve the Skyward software system's operations. As part of the consent agenda, the Board also agreed to certify ongoing compliance with the Children's Internet Protection Act. The District manages and reviews school computer activity and uses internet filtering software and lists of restricted sites to prevent students from accessing inappropriate materials through its computers. Frankfort Fire Protection District Board of Trustees Expenditures approved for gear, ambulance work Broker - Management Team Nuria Mathog, Editor The Frankfort Fire Protection District Board of Trustees on Feb. 20 gave the green light to two purchase orders: a $184,815 purchase for the rechassis of a 2008 international ambulance and an $8,160 purchase of four sets of gear. The Board also approved an updated intergovernmental agreement. "We have an (intergovernmental agreement) that we joined with the Laraway Communications Center," Deputy Chief Sean Fierce said. "This is mirroring what we did in 2008 with the five Lincoln-Way agencies. Because we are a fire district, we can not collect funds for monitoring fire alarms." Through the agreement, the dispatch center receives money to offset costs, he said. “10”
Page 1 and 2: Making changes Frankfort Village Bo
Page 3: said Franciscan Health Senior Brand
Page 7 and 8: frankfortstation.com frankfort the
Page 9 and 10: ® frankfortstation.com news the fr
Page 11 and 12: frankfortstation.com news the frank
Page 17 and 18: frankfortstation.com sound off the
Page 19 and 20: the frankfort station | March 1, 20
Page 21 and 22: frankfortstation.com life & arts th
Page 27 and 28: frankfortstation.com dining out the
Page 31 and 32: frankfortstation.com real estate th
Page 33 and 34: frankfortstation.com classifieds th
Page 43 and 44: frankfortstation.com sports the fra

FS_030118

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?