Police & Pubs: Romeoville Village Board Meeting Highlights

ROMEOVILLE, IL — The first Village Board meeting of the new decade was a busy one. In the span of about an hour on Wednesday Jan. 15, the Board covered everything from D.A.R.E. essays to Daddy-Daughter dances. Here were five of the most memorable moments for village residents unable to attend.

• Board Recognition
  • The Board recognized four distinct local parties for their achievements in and alleged contributions to Romeoville. First up were student cheerleaders from the Romeoville Youth Football & Cheerleading program. Multiple levels of the Competitive Cheer teams were congratulated for their successes over the past year, including state championships won by the Widget and Peewee levels.
  • Next, several fifth-graders from area schools received awards for essays they wrote as part of the D.A.R.E. - Drug Abuse Resistance Education - program. D.A.R.E. is a nationwide anti-drug, police-led effort that attempts to teach schoolchildren how to avoid drugs and addiction. Despite criticism that the program is propagandistic, and evidence that it can be ineffective at preventing drug use, D.A.R.E. remains popular in schools across the country. This is in part due to a more interactive, kid-focused re-conceptualization of the program in the early 2010s. At the conclusion of the program, students are asked to write an essay describing what they have learned and how they will use that knowledge in the future. Those deemed to have the best essays in a class sometimes win a prize of some kind. In the Romeoville students' case, that prize was a medallion, a photo with Mayor John Noak, and a full-ride ticket to RomeoFest 2020.
  • Two local police officers, Nicholas Clesceri and David Rench, were promoted to the rank of Sergeant in front of the Board and their friends and family. Village Clerk Dr. Bernice Holloway swore the two officers in to their new rank with an oath of office that included a promise not join any revolutionary groups (really). Clesceri and Rench both expressed gratitude to the assembled village for their new positions, save for the fact they both are now apparently working the graveyard shift.

• Finally, petrochemical corporation Citgo was lauded by the Village Board for its refinery's presence in Romeoville (and Lemont), and the boon to jobs and local economy that come with it. A spokeswoman for the company said that Romeoville should "be grateful" for the local refinery; that it was "the safest and most environmentally-friendly refinery in the country." Patch could not find any independent evidence to verify these two separate claims, though Citgo refineries as a whole have won safety awards from the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. Patch also found several incidents that challenge the Citgo refinery's claims of safety or environmental-friendliness.

• A Solid Economic Report Card
  • Village Finance Director Kirk Openchowski gave the Board a summary of Romeoville's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ending on April 30, 2019. In not so many words, Openchowski said that things looked relatively good. The village received $1.4 million more in non-property taxes than predicted, the general corporate fund and enterprise funds both ended the year with a surplus, and general government expenditures were under budget by about $1.8 million. "We had a very good year financially," he said. "We're in sound financial shape."

• A New (Old) Commissioner
  • A man named Ken Burgess was appointed by the Board to the Village Police and Fire Commission. In this role, Burgess will help oversee the testing and hiring of future Romeoville police officers and firefighters. Burgess was already on the Romeoville Police and Fire Commission from 2007 to 2013, so he knows what the work entails. He said he left the job after becoming a trustee of DuPage Township and finding that he could not manage both positions in his schedule. He said he was looking to return the job after deciding not to run for re-election as a DuPage Township trustee this year.

• So Many Resolutions
  • The Board approved a long laundry list of resolutions in one fell swoop; none were discussed individually. Passed resolutions included, but were not limited to:
    • A Resolution establishing a development security for the public, stormwater and erosion control improvements at the future solar panel array site at Lewis University
    • A Resolution waiving the public bidding process and authorizing the purchase of one (1) traffic speed-reader machine from Kustom Signals
    • A Resolution to waive the bid process and accept the price quote for the installation of a new fueling station at the Public Works facility improvement site.
    • A Resoultion to waive the bidding requirements and accept the price quote for the purchase of a water main repair vehicle
    • A resolution to waive the bidding requirements and utilize the State Bid Contract for the purchase of two Ford F150 and two Ford F250 pickup trucks

• Plugs for Upcoming Village Events
  • To close out the evening, several village trustees took a moment to advertise upcoming events and programs on the village calendar. These included Wildfest, the Daddy-Daughter Ball, and the Citizens' Police Academy

To download the complete meeting agenda, please visit the Romeoville village website. The meeting minutes will also be made available on the same site. The next Village Board meeting is set for Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. The meeting will be held at Romeoville Village Hall at 1050 W. Romeo Road.