What Did They Do Now?

Snow, Snow, Snow

Once again snow interfered with the meetings of the Board of Trustees (BOT) on February 23^rd.  Both the work session and the legislative meeting moved to Zoom and two items – the swearing in of new police officers and promotees and the Fire Department presentation on 2025 activity were postponed until March.  Members of the BOT and senior staff thanked Village employees for their work during the blizzard.

Village Manager Gets New Contract

The BOT approved a new contract for Village Manager Kathleen Gill (see HERE). They also approved a 5% salary increase retroactive to the anniversary of her start date (December 9^th).  This brings Gill’s salary to $236,250.  A notable aspect of the contract is that Gill may not engage in outside employment without the express agreement from the BOT.  This contrasts with a prior Village Manager who took on substantial outside responsibilities.

New Professionals for Land Use Boards

The technical aspects of land use applications frequently require expert assistance, and the Village has engaged a outside consultants for years.  These consultants provide technical assistance to the land use boards at their direction, but the costs are paid for by the applicants through the escrow process.   Before any application requiring review by a land use board is put on any agenda, the applicant must deposit funds in an escrow account from which the Village pays the consultants.

Due to the recent departure of Kellard Sessions (see HERE), the BOT approved a new contract (see HERE) with H2M who was chosen after a process that involved both a Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Proposals (RFP).  H2M is also working with the Village on various capital projects.

Improving Communication with the Public

After launching a new monthly newsletter, Village Manager Kathleen Gill proposed additional initiatives to communicate more effectively with the public.  Since the part-time employee who had been working on such tasks left months ago, Jason Pinto, Superintendent of Recreation, has been filling in.  However, Pinto has a full-time job, and Gill thinks the position should be full-time as she would like to expand communication into social media, include summaries of BOT meetings, showcase Village departments and regularly refresh the new website (expected in May).  The BOT approved upgrading the position to full-time.  Gill announced that there is a civil service list now available with potential applicants, and she expected the salary to be in the $70,000-75,000 range.  The new employee will report to Pinto.