'Speeders' Lands on Village Board Agenda

The curtain rises on a new year as the Oak Lawn Village Board meets for the first time in 2013. Today (Tuesday, Jan. 8) also would have been Elvis’s 78th birthday.

This group hasn’t gotten together since Dec. 11. Since then, much has transpired: another federal criminal subpoena, gunfire outside of Chuck E. Cheese’s, a trustee’s announcement that he would not be seeking another term and the battening down of village board races.

See the attached pdf of the Jan. 8 Elvis memorial village board agenda.

If the last village board meeting is any indication, audiences in the board chamber are starting to get larger for the latest installments of “Village Board Kabuki Theater” as we ramp up toward the April 9 election.

Here’s what we’ll be watching:

Consent Agenda: There are 21 resolutions, requests and ordinances on tonight’s consent agenda and you can be sure that a bunch will yanked off for discussion. (For some unexplained reason, the consent agenda has switched to a numeric rather than alpha ordering system.) Water rates and charges, a three-lot subdivision at 9614 and 9616 S. 52nd Ave.; a new fitness facility at 9546 Southwest Highway; a “no right turn sign” between 4 and 7 p.m. at the eastbound entrance to 96th Street and Central Ave. (except for local traffic); a $1.2 million sanitary sewer rehabilitation project; and the 2013 sidewalk repair program ring in a new year of municipal government.

'Speeders Fight Back': Also on the agenda, the forgettable, TruTV Speeders Fight Back that put Oak Lawn on the map back in 2008. Mayoral challenger Sandra Bury’s expose alleging that Mayor Dave Heilmann was personally paid up to $33,000 while using village resources. She also presented documentation obtained through a freedom of information act request showing that taxpayers paid $4,000 in overtime costs to employees who had to make up work after serving as extras on the show. It will certainly make for interesting discussion, if it gets that far.

Village President’s Report: Mayor Heilmann will put on his liquor commissioner’s hat and request approval for Class F and Class I liquor licenses for two new establishments, Penny’s Place at 6346 W. 96th St. and Sip! at 4911 W. 95th St. We don’t know what else will come up.

What’s not on the agenda:

Chuck E. Cheese’s: It’s not on the agenda but someone is likely to bring it up tonight after a shooting in the parking lot by alleged gang members on Dec. 22. Fortunately, no one was hurt. We heard that a meeting between village officials and representatives from CEC Entertainment, the company that franchises the Chuck E. Cheese brand, may have taken place. The restaurant and family entertainment center’s business and liquor license are up for renewal on April 30.

Federal Criminal Subpoena: The village is under a criminal investigation concerning possible bid tampering for a roofing job that was awarded to a company where Trustee Bob Streit’s (Dist. 3) brother is employed as an estimator. On Dec. 13, the FBI requested all documents and email correspondence (including that from personal email addresses) related to the bid specifications to fix the public works building’s roof. According to the mayor, this is the second time in as many years that the Village of Oak Lawn has fallen under the scrutiny of the feds. The village was subpoenaed in June 2011 for all records concerning the hiring of Querrey and Harrow, the firm hired to replace the former village attorneys in 2009. While federal subpoenas get served all the time, it’s not certain if the feds send out a postcard informing those served that they’re off the hook. So far, the village has not received such a postcard.

The Oak Lawn Village Board meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, at Village Hall, 9466 S. Raymond Ave. Village board meetings take place every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. The meetings are free and open to the public.

Sign up for the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and follow us on Facebook.