Town of Cicero Receives Grant Money For Homelessness Prevention, Housing Rehabilitation And Inclusive Park
The Town of Cicero trustees during their bi-weekly board meeting on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. April Alonso/Cicero Independiente
By Leslie Hurtado
The Town of Cicero Board of Trustees and President Larry Dominick met twice in July 2024 to discuss various ordinances and resolutions.
In July, the board discussed several projects and initiatives. The Roosevelt Group, a lobbying organization, provided a brief update on their work in Cicero, including legislative advocacy and securing funds for important town projects. They discussed the creation of a regional flood district, an effort to address widespread flooding issues affecting Cicero and neighboring communities. The project is currently being negotiated, with hopes of passing legislation. Additionally, efforts to eliminate the sub-minimum wage are ongoing, with support from the One Fair Wage Coalition. The town has also secured over $1.7 million in funding for various infrastructure projects, including an inclusive playground, located on 1834-1940 S. Laramie Avenue.
You can access the documents shown in this recap by clicking on these links: July 9 and July 23. For live streams of these meetings, visit our Facebook page.
PERMITS
The Town of Cicero approved several block parties and back-to-school events received two event permit requests. Inner City Impact held a back-to-school event on August 9th from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m., with 500 guests and blocked 23rd Place. Our Lady of Charity Parish requested a permit for their festival on August 24 and 25, blocking 30th Street for food sales and live music, with no parking signs in place.
RESOLUTIONS
The Town approved a new ordinance to install stop signs at the intersection of 24th Street and 61st Court. This decision created stop signs for eastbound and westbound traffic on 24th Street, alongside the existing sign for northbound traffic on 61st Court. Residents sent a letter to President Larry Dominick requesting the stop signs due to safety concerns in a busy area near Our Lady of Mount Church. The ordinance went into effect on July 19.
The Town of Cicero passed an ordinance, amending Chapter 94, Section 94-136 of its Code of Ordinances to require that all future public alley reconstruction projects incorporate green infrastructure as a stormwater mitigation measure. The ordinance mandates that alleys be restricted to local use only, with a speed limit of ten miles per hour. Additionally, any public alley requiring reconstruction within the town's corporate limits must be constructed using green infrastructure elements. This initiative is part of a broader infrastructure effort called the Green Alley Paving Project.
LULAC of Cicero announced 50 scholarships for District 201 students in celebration of their 30th anniversary, supported by the town. The $25,000 in scholarships were made possible by contributions from local businesses and individuals, including Judge David Cerda, the first Latino judge in Illinois and on the Illinois Appellate Court, as well as grocery stores like Food Market La Chiquita and Cermak Fresh Market.
TOWN SPENDING
Cicero has approved a new collective bargaining agreement with the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council/Cicero Lodge No. 2, which represents the town's police sergeants. The agreement is effective from January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2025, and includes wage increases over the five-year period, starting with a base salary of $114,920 in 2021, increasing to $133,224 by 2025. The agreement also covers terms related to hours and other conditions of employment, including allowing sergeants to choose shifts annually based on seniority. Overtime is paid at 1.5 times the regular rate, and court attendance outside regular hours is compensated.
Cicero approved the 2024 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Plan, allocating $630,000 for projects like Housing Rehabilitation and $147,433 for homelessness prevention. Another $3.2 million was set aside for building Inclusion Park at 1844 S Laramie Avenue. The plan was open for public comment and discussed in a public hearing on July 10, 2024, before being presented to the Town Board for approval on July 23, 2024. The final submission was sent to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on August 15, 2024.
COMMENTS
Frank Kraut, a Cicero resident, urged the town to help alleviate flooding by registering for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's Overflow Action Alerts. These alerts notify residents of potential heavy rainfall and encourage them to reduce wastewater production. With 840,000 people in the district producing an estimated 33.6 million gallons of wastewater daily, cutting back on flooding.
"If every individual were to reduce their wastewater, it would help alleviate the flooding," he said.
Leslie Hurtado is a contributing reporter with Cicero Independiente. She graduated with a B.A. in Communications at Northeastern Illinois University. She worked at several news rooms including WBEZ, WTTW, Telemundo and City Bureau.
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