Town of Cicero Discusses New Agreement With District 99, Upcoming Projects and Approved Funds Usage
The Town of Cicero trustees during their bi-weekly board meeting on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2022. April Alonso for Cicero Independiente.
By Luis Velazquez
The Town of Cicero Board of Trustees and President Larry Dominick met twice in November to approve several ordinances and resolutions. The meetings began with roll call and Dominick leading the pledge of allegiance.
The approved items included a new agreement between District 99 and the Town of Cicero, the purchase of multiple cars, and much more.
The November 9 and 22 board meetings have been condensed into one recap. Full video recordings of the meetings can be found below or on our youtube channel.
Here’s a summary of the approved items:
Ordinances
The board began by approving an ordinance to dispose of obsolete technology that belonged to various departments of the Town. This included a printer, two copiers, sorters and a keyboard.
They proceed to discuss an intergovernmental agreement between Cicero Public School District 99 and the Town of Cicero. This ordinance is to support President Dominick’s Literacy Program and reading literacy for the students in District 99. The agreement allows the Town of Cicero to use eight school buildings, which include Unity, Cicero West and Goodwin, to conduct and continue the Reading Club. According to the ordinance, the town will be paying the district $25,000.
The town board then discussed an ordinance that allowed the purchase of vehicles for the Cicero Police Department and the town. Four vehicles were purchased for the Cicero Police Department at a total of $170,594.48. They were purchased from two different vendors, two cars from each vendor. The vendors include Hawk Ford in Oak Lawn and Gillespie Ford in Gurnee.
The town also approved spending $536,930.35 to purchase 13 additional vehicles for the Town of Cicero. The average vehicle cost was $30,000.
Resolutions
A few of the resolutions that were discussed in both meetings in November include a plan that was approved to use American Rescue Plan funds to fund different projects in the Town of Cicero. One of the plans included fixing the L strip parking lot. According to the resolution, $42,885,000 in funds will be used to support the different projects.
An application for grant funding from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity was also up for discussion. They plan on using these funds to replace the Fire Department’s Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (“SCBA”) units.. The town is requesting $150,000 in partial funding to complete the project.
At the November 22, town board meeting, another grant application was discussed. The Town is requesting $150,000 from the Illinois Secretary of State to fund the Cicero Police Department. The funds will be used to cover the costs of equipment, such as cameras, speed signs and medical kits.
The town plans to spend $75,000 on cyber security insurance because they “are committed to protecting against damages from cyberattack.“ They selected a company named Westchester for this purpose, which offers different forms of insurance to customers.
A resolution authorizing and approving the settlement of litigation in the case of Jaime Zermeno V. Town of Cicero was discussed during the meeting that took place on November 22. The case consists of alleged injuries and damages due to Jaime Zermano’s arrest by Cicero police. officers on September 18, 2020.
The settlement includes the following:
The town agrees to pay $35,500 to Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s counsel, which are Michael D Robbins and Jaime Zermeno.
The plaintiff agrees to take necessary steps to have the lawsuit dismissed
And the plaintiff further represents and warrants that no lawsuit, charge or other complaint remains pending with any local, state or federal court or administrative agency other than the lawsuit against the defendants and the released parties.
Citizen Comments
Berwyn resident Esteban Rodriguez requested additional support from the Town of Cicero to Corazon Community Services.
Rodriguez invited the Town board to an event that took place on November 30 at their location.
Permits
Three permits submitted by different organizations, such as Mary Queen of Heaven, Seguin and Stainless Machinez, were approved.
Mary Queen of Heaven requested a permit for their Marian Council Christmas Dinner community event that took place on December 4. They sold alcohol at the event.
Seguin requested a permit to hold activities each weekend, from November 27, 2022 to November 27, 2023 at their parking lot located at the Central/Ogden & 31st Streets and their warehouse at 3150 S. Central Ave.
Stainless Machinez requested to have an event located in the parking lot at 35 St and Laramie on November 26. The event was a bikers rally to raise toys for the children of Cicero.
Watch the full recorded meetings below:
November 9, 2022:
November 22, 2022:
Luis Velazquez is the part-time editor of Cicero Independiente. He recently earned his M.S. in Journalism at the University of Illinois. You can reach him at reporter@ciceroindependiente.com.
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