The Town of Cicero Approves Invoices For Electrical Repairs and Updates To Parking and Towing Enforcement
The Town of Cicero trustees during their bi-weekly board meeting on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2022. April Alonso for Cicero Independiente.
By Efraín Soriano
The Town of Cicero board of Trustees and President Larry Dominick met on January 10, 2023 for the first board meeting of the year.
The agenda items approved included an $890,000 loan to the Consolidated Emergency Response Center of Cook County, invoices for electrical service line repairs, and various changes to the town code of ordinances regarding parking enforcement and towing.
You can access all the documents used for this recap here.
Here is a summary of the approved items:
Parking Enforcement and Towing
To accommodate parishioners of the Gethsemane Lutheran Church, the town approved an ordinance that affects parking regulations on Sunday mornings from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The new regulation went into effect on January 20, 2023 and states the following:
When signs are erected giving notice thereof, no person shall park any vehicle on a Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the north side of West 21st Street between South 50th Avenue and the first alley to the East; and (3) where official town signage is erected as permit parking only except persons who have a town-issued vehicle hang tag, permit or sticker identifying the vehicle as being permitted to park within such area, properly displayed in the parked vehicle.
The town also approved several amendments to the town code of ordinances regarding towing and impounding vehicles. Here are some of the new amendments that would allow for vehicle seizure and impoundment:
When the driver or any other person in possession of a motor vehicle uses or abandons a vehicle in an attempt to flee or elude arrest, the motor vehicle shall be subject to seizure and impoundment under this article.
Any motor vehicle which is operated by a driver while his or her driver's license, permit or privilege to operate a motor vehicle is suspended or revoked, pursuant to the Illinois Compiled Statutes (625 ILCS 5/6-303) or is suspended or revoked for any other reason and the vehicle is being operated in violation of 625 ILCS 5/6-303.
Any motor vehicle which is operated by a driver without a valid driver's license pursuant to Illinois Compiled Statutes (625 ILCS 5/6-101).
Any vehicle being operated or having been operated while the operator or occupants of the vehicle are in the commission of or fleeing from the commission of a crime constituting a charge of a felony.
Permits
The town board began by approving a permit for a representative from Sam’s Club to host events to provide information and offers on Sam's Club memberships to town employees and interested community members. These events will take place from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on the following dates:
January 17th
February 14th
March 14th
April 13th
The following agenda item approved was a permit for SERCO, an organization that manages the Southwest Suburban Cook County American Job Center, to assist low-income adults, dislocated workers, and youth ages 16-24 who may be interested in employment or training opportunities. Although there are no specific dates, the agreement allows SERCO to be at the Town of Cicero, located at 4949 W Cermak Rd, on Thursday mornings from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Town Projects and Spending
The town agreed to enter an intergovernmental agreement with the Consolidated Emergency Response Center of Cook County. This agreement authorized the town to loan the CERCCC $890,395 to pay for services and equipment necessary to update the existing radio systems used by Cicero and Stickney public safety agencies, such as the fire and police departments.
The town claims that the current radio systems used by Cicero and Stickney fire departments are antiquated and cannot be repaired or updated. The loan agreement also contains a payment schedule which requires the CERCCC to make two payments of about $100,000 a year for the next five years.
In May of 2022, the board approved the use of $750,000 from American Rescue Plan funding for a project involving the “L Strip” lots located just north of Cermak Rd, from Austin Blvd to Central Ave. You can read the full details of that resolution here.
With agenda item 8A, the board has officially dedicated this strip, also known as 21st Place, as a public right of way (ROW). This means that the public has the right to travel unhindered over this plot of land. The strip, now a public ROW, allows the town to construct things. Examples include roads or sidewalks to fulfill the public's right to use this space. Construction and repavement in these lots are set to begin in Spring 2023. Stay on the lookout for any signage or construction occurring in the L strip in the coming months.
The board approved a quote from Rydin Decal in the amount of $20,207.13 for the production of the 2023/2024 vehicle stickers. The final invoice will be provided to the town once the job has been completed.
The final agenda item approved was a $117,843.18 invoice from Lyons Electric Company for emergency electric service repairs to the Town Annex and Public Works buildings after they suffered a complete power outage on September 8th, 2022. An investigation led by LEC found the electrical explosion caused the outage and severely damaged the service lines to three town buildings in this lot. The investigation, and full repair of these service lines, came to a close early in December.
Efrain Soriano is a contributing reporter for Cicero Independiente.
Want to read more stories like this? Consider making a donation to support our work. Your money goes directly towards paying journalists of color to report on local news.
SUBSCRIBE
Bringing you news from the 60804
We respect your privacy and will only use your information to send you our latest posts.