TP_031518

tinleyjunction.com News
The tinley junction | March 15, 2018 | 5
Village of Tinley Park Board of Trustees
As raffle prizes rise, Board looks to amend maximum limit
Cody Mroczka, Editor
As the popularity of Queen
of Hearts raffles grow, with
prizes to over $1 million in
some Illinois towns, the Village
of Tinley Park is looking
to increase its maximum
allowed prize.
The agenda item first
discussed at the Feb. 27
Administration and Legal
Committee meeting was
unanimously approved for
a first reading on March 6
with a second and final reading
expected at the March 20
Board meeting. Trustee Michael
Glotz was absent.
The proposed ordinance
amendment to Chapter 132
of the municipal code would
raise the maximum retail
value of raffle prizes conducted
by non-profit organizations
from the current cap
of $75,000.
“It’s more a policy issue
than a legal issue,” Trustee
Michael Pannitto said.
On Feb. 27, officials
learned that the Bremen
VFW Post 2791’s Queen
of Hearts raffle prize had
exceeded the cap by more
than $25,000, which could
put the prospective winner
in violation of the code. Village
Attorney Patrick Connelly
proposed changing the
cap to $500,000, but Board
members said they were
uncomfortable raising the
maximum by such a large
amount.
“I think you want to set
it high enough so you don’t
have to keep coming back to
it,” Connelly said.
A representative of the
Bremen VFW said the
non-profit was seeking a
maximum limit of at least
$250,000, which the Board
agreed was reasonable and
directed Connelly to amend
$500,000 to $250,000 in his
proposal.
“If we get more than that
we won’t be able to fit them
in the hall,” the representative
said.
Emergency purchase
approved
In other Village news, the
Feb. 20 rainstorm appears
to have created quite a mess
in the area of 167th Street
and Normandy Drive. The
Board approved a waiver of
the normal bidding process
to allow for the payment of
emergency repairs not to exceed
$90,000 that occurred
in late February and early
March.
Following the storm, a
resident notified the Public
Works Department of
a “possible (water) main
break” that was actually
determined to be a 14-inch
pressurized sanitary sewer
main fail. The resulting failure
created a large cavity
beneath the southern lane of
167th Street that left a portion
of the roadway unsupported.
The related sanitary sewer
lift station was rerouted
to allow for immediate repairs.
Public Works crews
are currently cleaning the
downstream sanitary sewer
line to remove soil and sentiment
that had washed out in
connection with the break.
The failed line has already
been replaced and the site
backfilled with stone while
a temporary concrete patch
has been replaced for the
Round it up
A brief recap of Tinley Park Board of Trustees action and
discussion March 6:
• A contract between the Village of Tinley Park and
the Tinley Park Convention Center for the “Discover
Tinley” event was approved for an estimated total of
$21,433.49
• The 2018-2019 Village of Tinley Park annual budget
process has begun, Village Manager David Niemeyer
said. Staff was expected to meet on March 12 and
possibly again on March 13.
• Police Chief Steve Neubauer said the department
has hired a new police officer expected to be sworn in
at the next meeting on March 20. An Andrew graduate,
the new hire is currently finishing up requirements at a
police academy.
• The new WoodSpring Suites Hotel located at 18636
West Creek Drive passed all permit inspections and
opened on March 9 with a ribbon cutting ceremony
scheduled for April 18.
roadway.
budgeted, there are funds
Village officials said although
the repairs were not Fund to pay for the
available in the Emergency
costs.
Anniversary
From Page 3
ley, because it was a bigger
challenge.”
The first edition, and subsequent
ones under Coughlin’s
tenure, featured prominent
stories about the Lane
Bryant murders that took
place Feb. 2, 2008; discussions
on the former Tinley
Park Mental Health Center
property; and other news
items that still remain in the
headlines today.
Throughout the years,
the amphitheater has been
renamed from the Tweeter
Center to First Midwest
Bank to Hollywood Casino,
the convention center added
a 120,000-square-foot
addition, and numerous
storefronts have changed
locations while shopping
centers expanded. In 2009,
Businessweek named the
Village the best place to
raise a family, while a report
in 2017 considered it
one of the 50 safest places
to live in the United States.
“I remember that being
a big source of pride for
people, especially for the
school districts, and rightly
so,” Coughlin said.
Longtime former Mayor
Ed Zabrocki, former Police
Chief Michael O’Connell,
Vogt Visual Arts Center
Director Julie Dekker and
resident Lynn Gory, whose
family used to arrange a
holiday inflatable Frosty
the Snowman hunt throughout
town, as well as former
assistant editor Jamie
Lynn Ferguson, are people
Coughlin is reminded of
when it comes to impactful
contributions throughout
the last decade.
“I think we were able
to make an impact pretty
quickly, which is tough for
a free publication, and we
found that in other communities,
but Tinley really responded
to us for 10 years
now — wow,” Coughlin
said. “We’ve become the
hometown paper of Tinley
Park, and that’s not something
we take lightly. We’ll
always be here for the residents,
a voice for the voiceless,
the eyes and ears of
the community, and that’s
what we stand for. So, I’m
glad Tinley has embraced
that.”
Embedding himself in
community life, Coughlin
visit us online at www.tinleyjunction.com
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realized his preconceptions
about the Village
were separate from the reality.
He credited Village
officials who were open to
and respected the duties
of the press, and citizens
who were invested in their
neighborhoods, schools and
government, and also willing
to share their stories to
the paper’s readers.
“Tinley is a very diverse
— and I mean diverse in
every aspect of that great
word — place,” Coughlin
said. “It has a really robust
arts community. It has great
schools. The people were
just wonderful throughout
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my time. There was always
news, because people always
cared. I feel like the
residents care about their
community. They’re invested
in their tax dollars and
schools, so they’re justifiably
vocal about it, and that
makes for a good newspaper.”
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