[0:00] Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Village of Pills Park Council meeting

[0:04] for Monday, August 24, 2026. Madame Clerk, would you please call the

[0:09] role? >> Yes. Commissioner Patan

[0:11] » here. >> Commissioner Vincent

[0:12] » here. >> Commissioner Wade,

[0:14] » here. >> Commissioner Pope,

[0:15] » yep. >> Madame Mayor,

[0:17] » yes, I am here present. >> We have a We do have a quorum.

[0:22] » Excellent. Let's stand for the pledge of allegiance.

[0:26] I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:31] republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:38] justice for all. >> Excellent. Next item on the agenda is

[0:43] approval of the regular council meeting minutes from August 10, 2026. If there

[0:47] are no changes or corrections, I seek a motion to approve.

[0:52] » So moved. >> Second. Hearing a motion second. Madame

[0:55] clerk, would you please call the role? >> Yes. Commissioner Patan,

[0:59] » yes. >> Commissioner Wade,

[1:00] » yes. >> Commissioner Vincent,

[1:02] » yes. >> Commissioner Pulk,

[1:04] » Mayor Malovich Walters, >> yes. Uh, next on the agenda is

[1:08] recognition, proclamations, and appointments. And we have one item to

[1:12] proclaim September 17th through the 23rd Constitution Week in the Village Apples

[1:16] Park. It's a short proclamation, so I'm going to read it. Whereas it is the

[1:20] privilege and duty of the American people to commemorate September 17, 2026

[1:26] as the 238th anniversary of the drafting of the

[1:30] Constitution of the United States of America with appropriate ceremonies and

[1:34] articles. And whereas public law 915 guarantees the issuing of a proclamation

[1:41] each year by the President of the United States of America designating September

[1:45] 17 through 23rd as Constitution Week. >> [snorts]

[1:49] » And therefore, I, Nicole Milvich Walters, by virtue of the authority

[1:53] vested in me as mayor of the village Pale Park, do hereby proclaim the week

[1:56] of September 17 through 23rd as Constitution Week and urge all citizens

[2:02] to study the Constitution and reflect on the privilege of being an American

[2:06] citizen with all the rights and responsibilities which that privilege

[2:10] involves. All right,

[2:14] consent agenda. Since there are no hearings, we'll move right on to that.

[2:18] All items on the consent agenda are routine or been brought forward at the

[2:21] direction of the board of commissioners and will be enacted with one motion. If

[2:25] discussion is desired, that item will be removed from the consent agenda and

[2:28] considered separately. A to approve payment of invoices on the warrant list

[2:31] dated August 24, 2026 in the amount of $159,16828.

[2:39] I seek a motion to approve the consent agenda.

[2:42] » So moved. >> Second.

[2:43] » Hearing a motion is second. Clerk Williams, would you please call the

[2:47] role? Yes. Commissioner Patan. >> Yes.

[2:50] » Commissioner Wade. >> Yes.

[2:51] » Commissioner Vincent. >> Yes.

[2:53] » Commissioner Poke. >> Yes.

[2:54] » Mayor Malovich Walters. >> Yes. Uh there are no items of old

[2:59] business and no board commission committee recommendations. So we'll move

[3:02] on from to information and updates public works and streets and recreation

[3:06] report. Commissioner Patan. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh two items um this

[3:11] evening for council's consideration. Um, the first item is um to adopt an

[3:18] ordinance. Um, let me get

[3:24] Where am I at here? I'm sorry. Here we go.

[3:29] No, wait a minute. Sorry, guys. I thought I had it.

[3:36] Um, is to approve a proposed sewer rates for properties without water. I did have

[3:43] it. So, back at the June 8th, 2026 village council meeting, the council

[3:50] approved the new water and sewer rates as proposed in the Baxter and Woodman

[3:55] water and sewer rates study. The new rate rates were were put in ordinance

[4:02] form and adopted at the June 22nd, 2026 council meeting with staff concentrating

[4:10] on volutric rates. The recommendation to adjust the rates for the 29 residents

[4:16] who have sewer but not water was not included. These residents pay a set fee

[4:23] per month. The study recommended adjusting the monthly set fee to reflect

[4:28] rising costs. The change adjustments the rates yearly in conjunction with the

[4:33] volume biometric water and sewer rates. The rate also includes the new

[4:38] infrastructure and maintenance fee. So staff recommends that the village

[4:43] council amend section 1040-27

[4:48] of the village code to reflect the new 5-year adjustment to monthly sewer

[4:54] charge for each property that has sewer but no water.

[5:00] Um, and if there's any no questions or uh discussion, I move to approve

[5:05] ordinance 2026-10, an ordinance amending part 10, title 4,

[5:13] chapter 1040, section 1040.27 of the Palace Park Village Code in

[5:19] regard to water and sewer rates. >> I'll second that.

[5:25] » Does anybody have any questions? If not, hearing a motion and second. Madame

[5:29] Clerk, would you please call the role? >> Commissioner Patan,

[5:32] » yes. >> Commissioner Wade,

[5:33] » yes. >> Commissioner Vincent,

[5:35] » yes. >> Commissioner Poke,

[5:37] » y >> Mayor Malovich Walters,

[5:39] » yes. >> Thank you. The second item on this

[5:42] evening's agenda is a change order for the Vizu Sewer contract. Um, back on

[5:49] June 8th of 2026, village council awarded Vizu Sewart the contract in the

[5:56] amount of $38,35 to make sanitary sewer repairs in the

[6:03] common subdivision. The proposed repairs were based on televising the village did

[6:10] in 2020 2016. As part of their contract, Vizuer cleaned and then televised each

[6:18] section of pipe where the work was proposed.

[6:21] In the section covered by item two in their contract, they found additional

[6:27] cracks and holes in the pipe. Based on the current condition of the pipe, cured

[6:34] in place short liners will not correct all of the problems. As an alternative,

[6:40] they are proposing to line this entire section of pipe

[6:44] with the change order. The current item number two is $3,635.

[6:54] That will be eliminated and replaced by the liner price of an increase now being

[7:00] $14,500. This will result in a net increase of

[7:05] $10,865 in the contract. Public works has

[7:10] received the has reviewed the video and concurs that the sewer should be lined.

[7:16] Public works put 80,000 in this year's budget for these repairs.

[7:22] Um, so I am moving to approve the change order from Vizuer, eliminating the

[7:28] current item two cost of $3,635,

[7:33] replacing it with a new cost of $14,500. Again, increasing the contract now by

[7:40] $10,865.

[7:44] If there's any questions, there's the attached invoice. Take a look at

[7:50] that.

[7:53] If there's no questions, looking for a second.

[7:55] » I'll second that. >> All right. Hearing a motion in a second.

[7:59] Madame clerk, would you please call the role?

[8:01] » Yes. Commissioner Patan, >> yes.

[8:04] » Commissioner Wade, >> yes.

[8:05] » Commissioner Vincent, >> yes.

[8:07] » Commissioner Poke, >> yes.

[8:08] » Mayor Milovich Walters, >> yes.

[8:11] » Thank you. Uh, moving on to announcements and updates. Um, Chipper

[8:16] is out this week. Um it's starting on the west side of the village. So um it's

[8:23] a cut side facing the street and no more than four feet in length, please. So get

[8:28] your branches out there. Um concert in the park. The final one was last

[8:32] Thursday. It was wonderful. I want to thank everyone for coming out and

[8:36] listening to some really wonderful music. Um it was a great evening. Return

[8:40] to soul played. They did a fabulous job. Got everyone out dancing. The weather

[8:44] was fabulous. And we must have had over 200 people, right? I think the count was

[8:48] 2 or 250. So, it was it was a lovely event.

[8:50] » Great turn out. >> Yeah. And thank you for staff for, you

[8:53] know, getting that all set up. [snorts] >> Um the fall recreation guide is live,

[8:59] you know, so check out our programming for early childhood, you youth, adult,

[9:04] and seniors. Um our recreation fall special events are including Autumn in

[9:10] the Park, which is September 18th and 19th. We have the spooky shuffle um on

[9:16] Saturday, October 17th, and a Halloween party and trick-or-treating is Friday,

[9:21] October 23rd. So, start getting those dates on your calendar and and join us

[9:26] for all those events. Also, 55 and Better Club is back from recess this

[9:32] summer. So, join us on Monday, September 14th from 2, I'm sorry, 12:00 p.m. to

[9:39] 2:15 p.m. Um, doors open at 11:00. There will be a presentation by Kurlin Walsh

[9:46] Law um on the six essential documents everyone should have in place and lunch

[9:52] is catered by Papa Joe's. So, sign up for that, please, and come join us. And

[9:58] that concludes my announcements. Well, thank you, Commissioner Patan. All

[10:03] right. Well, we'll move on to building and public property report. Commissioner

[10:07] Vincent, >> thank you. Um, just an update on permits

[10:10] and uh building permit inspections um for this uh period. The building

[10:14] department processed 11 permits from August 5th through August 19th of this

[10:18] year, resulting in $4,263.75 for a total of $56,184.95

[10:26] in permit fees for the fiscal year ending 2027.

[10:30] um building permit inspections. 21 inspections were completed during this

[10:33] time. Um there's a on the back of this is a more detailed uh report on those

[10:38] exact inspections. And just as a friendly reminder on a couple of things,

[10:42] the uh weather's going to be getting cold here and we're just reminding folks

[10:45] to change their uh furnace filters, maybe schedule a chimney sweep, um

[10:50] replace batteries and smoke detectors. I think all of us have had our uh backup

[10:54] generators tested in recent weeks, so there probably no reason to do that

[10:58] except maybe make an oil change um and uh inspecting clean gutters. So that's

[11:02] it. Thanks, Mayor. >> Thank you. All right, moving on to

[11:06] public health and safety report. Commissioner Pulk.

[11:08] » Thank you, Mayor Bill Walters. We'll start with the police activity report

[11:12] from the 10th of August through the 23rd of August 2026.

[11:17] 2,297 calls for service.

[11:20] keeps increasing. An additional 16 citizen assists, wrote 13 case reports,

[11:26] unfortunately, eight accident reports, arrested neither any adults nor

[11:31] juveniles, [clears throat] excuse me. Made 174 traffic stops, and

[11:37] [clears throat] issued 31 moving violations, an additional 46

[11:41] adjudication tickets, and 143 speeding tickets. So, uh, that's what your Tales

[11:49] Park Police Department's been up to for the last couple [clears throat] of weeks

[11:52] and then a couple of quick uh, announcements reminders.

[11:56] Uh, let's start with this one. So, show and tell. Uh, the POS Park

[12:04] Police Department is commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States

[12:08] of America with a special commemorative badge. We tried to get a NASCAR or an

[12:12] Indie race, but it didn't work out. Um uh the badge was designed by members of

[12:17] the Palis Park Police Department to honor our nation's founding and to

[12:21] recognize the enduring principles of liberty, service, and public trust. Uh

[12:25] the Palis Park Police Department personnel purchase these commemorative

[12:29] badges with their own funds and might be wearing it in place of a department

[12:33] issued badge. So if you see somebody with one of these, stop and take a look

[12:37] at it. They're really pretty cool. All right. Um uh back to school. So uh

[12:45] you may have noticed that uh school is back in session. So um we want to remind

[12:50] people that uh you should be aware of the fact that there are children going

[12:55] to school. So be careful about slowing down in school zones. Watch out for

[13:00] crossing guards um and stop for school buses. It is the law.

[13:06] Let's see what else I got. Somewhat useful.

[13:12] Um, we got a Labor Day holiday coming up.

[13:16] So, again, road safety is paramount for the Pales Park Police Department. Uh,

[13:21] every driver has the power to make a responsible choice behind the wheel. Uh,

[13:25] so if you're attending a holiday event, designate a driver if you're planning to

[13:30] drink. Um, stay alert and if you're going out and hitting the road, make

[13:35] sure that you uh have your car in reasonable condition. check your spare.

[13:40] Uh, it's interesting. I checked my spare the other day and I think the last time

[13:43] I checked it was when I bought the car. Um, so it doesn't work too well if it's

[13:48] not full. Um, so uh, pay attention to, uh, people traveling. And then, uh, it's

[13:56] starting to get dark earlier, so you might want to start doing your property

[14:00] checks a little bit earlier because I know everybody does the 900 p. p.m.

[14:04] property check is that's what we've asked you to do. Uh, one of the things

[14:08] that, uh, we'd like to remind you of is you should probably think about removing

[14:13] your valuables from your car rather than hiding them. And the one that we find is

[14:18] the most typical offender is your garage door opener. So, if your car is broken

[14:24] into and your garage door opener is in your car or built into your car, make

[14:29] sure you lock your back doors because once they get into your garage, many

[14:34] people don't lock the door that's between the garage and the rest of your

[14:38] house. And then you're susceptible to whatever it is that they find. So,

[14:42] again, um uh if you're out at night, make sure that uh you are visible. So,

[14:48] either with reflective uh clothing or lights that you're carrying because you

[14:55] may have noticed it's getting darker in the park and it is really dark out there

[15:00] in some places. And then a first reminder, our uh autumn in the park

[15:06] festival will be uh starting the third weekend in September and the parade will

[15:12] be September 19th. So, as typically happens, McCarthy Road will be closed

[15:17] between 9600 West and 80th Avenue to the east. Uh, the parade has moved a little

[15:25] bit later. It started that last year. We're going to keep it that way this

[15:28] year. So, the streets will be closed from 11:30 in the morning until 300 p.m.

[15:34] The parade itself starts at 1. Uh, and then it'll end up on the village green.

[15:40] So, uh, if you got issues or concerns or you need some help, uh, give us a

[15:45] holler. Dulk dpkalispark.org.

[15:50] Uh, Chief Miller has the same suffix to his email, but it's J Miller

[15:55] palispark.org. We'd be happy to help you out.

[15:59] Uh, then I got a couple one more that's important. So, we've had another scam

[16:06] problem in the in the uh, village. We're currently working with a senior who

[16:11] purportedly thought uh was receiving a call from the Palis Park PD police chief

[16:20] Miller. So, it's easy for scammers to spoof things. So, they can spoof the

[16:26] telephone number. They can put whatever it is that they want to in the telephone

[16:30] number. And the senior citizen was involved in what was thought to be

[16:35] suspected money laundering. and was told over the phone that she had to pay up a

[16:42] fine or she was going to be arrested. >> So, a

[16:46] you done something against the law, we ain't going to call you. We there'll be

[16:50] us one of us at the door. Knock knock knock. We need to talk. Uh, second, we

[16:56] don't ask people to send us money over the phone. We don't ask people to send

[17:00] us money, period. So, if it sounds a little funky, hang up the phone, give us

[17:06] a call. Chief Miller's, you can text the Chief Miller 24 hours a day, seven days

[17:12] a week. Um, so if you're getting an unexpected call, a text or an email

[17:17] about unpaid citations or warrants, I would check that first because that's

[17:22] not the way we do business in Palis Park. You want to add something, Chief

[17:26] Miller? >> Just a simple rule of thumb. The state

[17:29] of Illinois two years ago eliminated cash bail. So, no one arrested host any

[17:35] type of cash bail in the state of Illinois unless it's something more

[17:40] serious that would go to the criminal courts. But there is no cash bail in

[17:43] Illinois. That's gone forever. >> There you have it.

[17:48] » So, unless you like just giving your money away, I wouldn't respond to those

[17:52] sorts of things. So, anytime um we have people in the Pales Park Police

[17:57] Department who are experts at scam detection and those sorts of things,

[18:03] you're paying us. Reach out to us. Use us. That's we like working. It's a good

[18:07] thing. Um Chief, you have anything else you want to add?

[18:11] » Thank you for your service, sir. That concludes my report team.

[18:14] » All right. Thank you, Commissioner Pulk. Um, I just wanted to, uh, we were

[18:19] talking before the meeting, you know, our police department did an amazing

[18:22] job. You heard the numbers these last two weeks of the tickets they've been

[18:25] writing. Wanted to remind everyone, you know, a couple months ago, I met with

[18:29] Sheriff Dart. And after that meeting, you know, they made a concerted effort

[18:34] to make sure that the county sheriff as well as the Forest Preserve Police were

[18:38] also present on the Graange Road making stops. And looking at the types of

[18:45] tickets they're writing, they are writing tons of speeding tickets and

[18:48] aggravated speeding, but they're also writing um no headlight tickets. Lots of

[18:54] those. People drive around without their headlights on at night, which is so

[18:56] bizarre because it's dark out here. So, you'd think you would notice if your

[19:00] headlights weren't on. And the other one was um a lot of equipment violation. So,

[19:07] that would be the loud mufflers and things like that. So, um they they

[19:12] worked all of July writing lots of tickets, but then we had a special uh

[19:17] arrive alive on 5 on 45. [laughter] Um that went from 87th all the way uh

[19:25] down past 131st and uh all the communities participated. So, lots of

[19:31] tickets were written then. And then there was another special initiative on

[19:35] July 22nd where they were concentrating um on writing tickets for people making

[19:42] violations. So just to be aware that you know we all are working together the

[19:47] county the forest preserves and the village of pales park police department

[19:51] doing an amazing job really trying to get people to to deter them from

[19:57] speeding to deter the violations to begin with and just to get people to

[20:02] follow the rules. So thank you if you are one of those people that follows the

[20:07] rules out there. I appreciate it. Um all right, moving on. Accounts and

[20:12] finances. Commissioner Wade, >> believe it or not, I do not have a

[20:16] report this evening, so no news is good news, right, Allison?

[20:20] » Excellent. Excellent. Um, well, I have nothing on the mayor's report. Clerk

[20:25] Williams, do you have a report for us this evening?

[20:27] » I have an announcement. >> Thank you.

[20:32] » The Palis Park Library, excuse me, is hosting a fundraiser. It's called

[20:38] Honoring Our History and Funding Our Future. It'll be Saturday, October 3rd

[20:44] at the library from 4:30 until 7 in the evening with light appetizers,

[20:51] entertainment, beer, and wine. Um, a historical

[20:56] presentation, Split the Pot, and raffle prizes. The

[21:01] tickets will be $30, and uh you'll be hearing more about it. So, I hope you

[21:08] hope you'll circle the October 3rd date and join us. Thank you.

[21:13] » Excellent. Thank you, Clerk Williams. Manager Smith, do you have anything for

[21:18] us today? >> I have nothing.

[21:21] » Okay. All right. Well, then I will move on to announcements. The library board

[21:26] will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, August 26 at 5:00 p.m. at the

[21:29] library. The regularly scheduled zoning board of appeals meeting for Wednesday,

[21:34] September 9th is cancelled as there are no agenda items. And just a reminder,

[21:39] the village offices will be closed for the Labor Day holiday on Monday,

[21:42] September 7th, and will reopen on Tuesday, September 8th. And then I just

[21:48] want to also share or invite you to attend the um women in government panel.

[21:57] This is our second annual and this one is called Women Making a Difference.

[22:02] It's a panel discussion on Monday, October 12th at Marine Valley. This

[22:06] year's theme is the power of service in your community. Our keynote speaker is

[22:11] Mariana Sporopoulos who is the clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court. And our

[22:16] panelists are Cook County Circuit Court Judge Bernardet Barrett, Illinois State

[22:21] Representative Nicole Laha, and founder of Sher Your Souls, Mona Perie. Our

[22:27] moderator this year will be Rose Schmidt from uh NBC5 News. She will be our

[22:33] moderator. There is a complimentary lunch served at 11:30 followed by the

[22:37] panel discussion starting at noon. And this year we're going to have a mini

[22:41] symposium immediately following the discussion.

[22:45] This is where local community service organizations will have tables where

[22:49] attendees can learn about volunteer opportunities that interest them. People

[22:53] will leave the discussion feeling inspired and then hopefully they will

[22:56] have an sign up because they'll have an instant opportunity right in front of

[23:00] them to join an organization. The event is free, but registration is required so

[23:04] we know how many lunches to have prepared. You can register online on the

[23:08] village website or call 7086713705.

[23:13] If you have a community service organization in the local area that you

[23:17] think should be represented there and have a table to get more members or more

[23:22] people interested involved, please reach out and we'll get you involved. Uh but

[23:26] look for this and please sign up. And I believe uh now that is all I have. So

[23:33] citizens and visitors comment period. Would anybody like to address the

[23:37] council at this time?

[23:41] I see no takers. Are we recessing to executive session today? Okay. I did not

[23:46] think so. Okay. Well then in that case [laughter]

[23:52] I was like I didn't think that was happening but it was on the agenda. Um,

[23:56] so I will entertain a motion to adjurnn if anybody would like to make one.

[24:00] » I move to adjourn the meeting this evening.

[24:02] » I'll second that. >> Hearing a motion and a second. Madame

[24:05] clerk, would you please call the role? >> Yes. Commissioner Patan?

[24:08] » Yes. >> Commissioner Wade?

[24:10] » Yes. >> Commissioner Vincent?

[24:11] » Yes. >> Commissioner Poke?

[24:12] » Yes. >> Mayor Milovich Walters?

[24:14] » Yes. Thank you and have a good evening everyone.

[24:17] » Be safe out there.

Village Council Meeting - August 24, 2026

Transcript