Village Board Discusses Consolidating Election Districts, Four New Local Laws

Village Board trustees debated consolidating the village's election districts into one central district with one polling station, and discussed four new local laws at Thursday night's briefing session at .

A village election is scheduled for June 21, and trustees discussed combining the village's election districts to save money. The consolidation could save the village, "up to 40 percent," according to Trustee Ed Oppenheimer, and Trustee David Krasula noted that, "it's the way to go."

According to Mayor Mary Bossart, the election two years ago cost the village between $18,000-$20,000. The village needed to pay for machines, inspectors and the delivery of the voting booths, Bossart explained, and through consolidation, the village could cut down on the 22 machines and nearly 90 inspectors needed to run an election in the current format.

"I think it's the time to do it," Deputy Mayor Chuck Joyce said. 

The idea floated was that the village could host the June 21 election at the recreation center. Trustees have to make the decision on whether to consolidate at least 120 days before the election, which would be by Feb. 21.

Trustees also debated four new local laws, two which dealt with alterations to village planning codes (setbacks and building heights). One of the other proposed laws would change the time construction could be done at residential and commercial properties  — it would change to 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. — and prep time for the worksite could not get underway earlier than 7:30 a.m.

The other local law dealt with the village charging residents a fee if they hired an independent contractor to remove snow from their property, and that snow was dumped onto village property. According to Village Attorney Tom Levin, that situation occurred during December's snow storm and the village was forced to re-plow areas.

No action was taken on any of these proposed laws, as the village will have to host public hearings before they can take action on it. The next board meeting is on Jan. 10 at 8:15 p.m. at Village Hall.