Town of Cicero Sets a Limit To Electronic Gambling Machines At June Board Meeting
The Town of Cicero trustees during their bi-weekly board meeting on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. April Alonso/Cicero Independiente.
By Efraín Soriano
The Town of Cicero Board of Trustees and President Larry Dominick met twice in June 2023 to discuss several ordinances and resolutions.
The agenda items included changes to the code of ordinances regarding video gaming terminals, approval of a construction project for the stairway to Laramie Avenue bridge, a slew of invoices and a significant increase in spending on the police department.
You can find all the documents used in the writing of this recap by clicking here for June 13 and June 27 or watch the full live stream of the meetings, for the 13 and 27 of June, on our Facebook page.
Here is a summary of the approved items:
The board of trustees started the meeting by amending Chapter 94, Section 94-184 of the code of ordinances, designating 51st Ave as a two-way street between 26th and 25th Street.
An amendment was made to Chapter 10 of the code of ordinances regarding video gaming terminals in the Town of Cicero, which limits the number of establishments that can operate video gaming terminals in Cicero to a maximum of 90.
A video gaming terminal includes different types of electronic gambling machines.
Other regulations around video gaming terminals in Cicero include requiring terminals to be at least 1,000 feet away from a horse racing or riverboat gaming facility and at least 100 feet away from a school or place of worship. Any establishment is allowed a maximum of six gaming terminals per establishment. No one under 21 is allowed in.
Check out our resource guide here If you would like to learn more about problem gambling and what to look out for.
The board also approved an ordinance that authorizes President Dominick to enter into a certain license agreement with the Cicero housing authority for the town. This ordinance provides the Cicero Housing Authority with an office space located at 1634 S Laramie Avenue.
Town Spending
The board entered an agreement with ABC Automotive Electronics to service the Town’s many vehicles for the next year.
The current number of Town vehicles includes 38 marked vehicles and 32 unmarked vehicles.
Marked vehicles have branding, lights, sirens, etc., while unmarked cars do not.
The town will be paying a monthly rate of $18.50 per marked and $13.50 per unmarked vehicle for continued maintenance. An estimated total of $1,135 for a partnership with ABC Automotive Electronics.
On March 13 of this year, the stairway access to the Laramie Bridge was damaged by a car accident. It was deemed unsalvageable and was removed. The board approved a construction project to rebuild this access point to the Laramie bridge that connects two sections of Cicero separated by the BNSF railroad yard on 26th Street.
The town engineer estimates the project would cost a total of $230,000.
New Appointments to Positions
Ron Silva was appointed to the Board of Water Commissioners Patti Day was appointed to the Housing Board.
Settlements of Litigation
The first case was Paula Alvarado v. Town Of Cicero, which regarded a slip and fall incident that occurred on April 8, 2021 at Town of Cicero property. The parties agreed to settle and Alvarado is set to receive $10,000 from the suit.
The second case was Jairo Cardona v. Town Of Cicero, a workers compensation case regarding injuries during a vehicle accident that occurred on April 18, 2022. Cardona is set to receive $17,963.40 in total.
The last case was Jamarie Coleman v. Town of Cicero, another workers compensation case regarding officer Coleman who sustained an injury during a shooting on September 13, 2018. Coleman is set to receive $15,291.69.
Efrain Soriano is a contributing reporter for Cicero Independiente.
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