Village of Westchester December 2021 Newsletter by Village of Westchester, IL

Village of

Westchester DECEMBER, 2021

pOLICE DEpaRTMENT

pUBLIC WORKS

fIRE DEpaRTMENT

LIBRaRY

9 From the Desk of President Frank Perry

SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOY SCOUTS

SpOTLIgHT ON SENIORS

As the Holidays are upon us, I would like to take this time to wish you and your families a Happy, Healthy and Safe Holiday Season! In the coming days and weeks, I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful display of lights put on by our Public Works Department or participate in one of the holiday events in town. On Wednesday, December 1st the Westchester Park District and the Village of Westchester are partnering together to present the Winter Wonderland Walk at Community Center,

which will be an evening filled with festivities including the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus, a tree lighting ceremony, ice skating, live reindeer, holiday entertainment and many other holiday treats! On December 17th the Westchester Park District and the Village of Westchester will be hosting a holiday home decorating contest with Trolly tours around the Village that will take residents to view some of the impressive Holiday decorations around town. Rumor has it that Santa may be making another appearance on the Fire Truck again this year! The Village of

Westchester and the Board of Trustees are also coordinating a Secret Santa program again this year to assist residents who may need a little extra assistance this year. If you find that you need a little extra assistance, or if you would like to participate in this program as a donor, please email secretsanta@westchester-il.org. All participant information will remain confidential. Financial Overview: At the end of October, we completed the first 6 months of our 2022 Fiscal Year, giving us the opportunity to look at our

CONTINUED ON pagE 16

DECEMBER 2021

P olice D e partment

2021 is almost gone ...

DECEMBER, 2021

Hard to believe that 2021 is almost gone and the bad thing tax time is just around the corner again…!!! The last two years have been truly rough on everyone and 2022 is not looking much brighter. These troubled times can truly challenge a person’s faith at times but through love we will always find our way in this world. Being this is the end of the year I wanted to recap on some safety concerns that truly can make a difference but residents seem to disregard and become victims to crimes. Please, when you are out at any business always keep your wallet, purse, personal belongings on your possession at all times. There are certain individuals that will hours within a business waiting for that certain person to become distracted for a second at any time and they will take your belongings and use your credit cards. Do not leave any purses or wallets in your vehicle as you get gas especially personal items in your vehicles overnight including garage door openers. Keep vehicles locked at all times. Invest in cameras and ringtone cameras that alert you when someone is at your door. Never ever, let anyone into your home no matter what they tell you regarding why they need to enter your home! Example (They are working on your neighbor’s water tank and they need to check your water tank for proper water pressure) “Do not let the fox into the hen house” Always have a contact list for emergencies on your refrigerator on whom you want contacted to secure your home or property in cases of an emergency for fire or police personnel to make contact with love Sincerely Chief Daniel Babich

POLICE BLOTTER 1) AT 5:39am on October 22, 2021 a Criminal Damage to Auto was reported on the 1000 block of Cromwell. The vehicle owner reported a BB struck their front window of the vehicle sometime during the past evening. 2) At 12:13pm on October 23, 2021 a Criminal Damage to Property was reported on the 800 Block of Hull. Graffiti was reportedly found on the garage apron. 3) At 1:36pm on October 29, 2021 a Theft was reported from the Panera Bread located at 11215 Cermak Road. A customer reported that 3 credit cards and drivers license was removed from their purse while eating. Offenders used the cards in attempts to purchase over $1000 in merchandise at local establishments immediately after taking the cards. 4) At 11:56am on November 3, 2021 a Theft was reported on the 10900 block of Lancaster. A package that was delivered to the

residence on October 13, 2021 as reported by UPS tracking, however the package was never located. 5) At 5:34am on November 4, 2021 a Vehicle Theft was reported on the 1400 block of Balmoral. The vehicle owner reported that their 2019 Toyota was taken from the driveway sometime during the previous evening. 6) At 7:44am on November 5, 2021 a Criminal Damage to Auto was reported on the 1300 block of Heidorn. The vehicle owner reported the rear drivers side window was broken sometime in the early morning hours. 7) At 11:46am on November 6, 2021 a Burglary to Motor Vehicle was reported on the 1100 block of Manchester. The resident advised that both of their vehicles were entered and items taken from both sometime during the previous evening.

DECEMBER 2021

PUBLIC WORKS

2021 Christmas & New Year’s Day Holiday Garbage Schedule There will be no change to the garbage collection schedule. Waste Management – 1-800-796-9696

• If your garbage or recycling was not picked up on your regular day, please call Waste Management directly. • If you would like to request a new garbage or recycling receptacle, please call Waste Management directly. • If you have large items that will not fit in you receptacle (i.e. couch, chairs, tables, etc.,) please call Waste Management directly and request a special collection. The Waste Management’s “At Your Door Special Collection” service will pick up unwanted-potentially hazardous and hard-to-recycle items from your home. That number is 1-800-449-7587. The full list of items may be found at www.wmatyourdoor.com/residential. VILLAGE SNOW RESTRICTIONS Public Works crews keep our streets free of snow and ice during the winter months. Please assist us by observing the following: • Place garbage cans and bins behind the curb line- do not place them in the street. • Do not throw or blow snow back into the cleared streets. • Please observe the “NO PARKING SNOW ROUTE” signs. The snow portion of the signs will be enforced after 2 inches of snow have fallen between December 1st and March 31st. If you reside on a Primary designated SNOW ROUTE, after 2 inches of snowfall you must remove all vehicles from the snow route. Vehicles must stay off the street until the streets are cleared thoroughly by the plows by Public Works. If the snowfall is continuing, the restriction is in place until Public Works completes the plowing for the day. Please check the signs at the corners of your block. If you reside on a Secondary route, there is no parking Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday on the even numbered house side and no parking Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday on the odd numbered house side after 2 inches of snowfall. Please check the signs at the corners and center of your block for guidance. (This includes ALL side streets not designated a Primary snow route.)

If you have a Fire Hydrant on your parkway, please help keep the hydrant clear of snow so that the Fire Department may easily access the hydrant in case of an emergency, and so that the snow plows may quickly identify the hydrants while plowing. 50/50 Shared Cost Parkway Tree Program

The Village offers a 50/50 shared cost program that includes the purchase and planting of a new parkway tree. Residents who have registered will be sent a list of trees indigenous to the area to choose from, as well as pictures and a general description. The trees will be planted in Spring & Fall 2022. Please call Public Works at 708.345.0041 to register or for more information.

As always, residents are asked to call Public Works at 708.345.0041 or the Police (after 3:30pm M-F & on weekends) if an unusual amount of water is visible in the street or parkway. This could be a main break or water leak that requires our immediate attention. Starting Spring of 2022 Concrete Alleys Street Street From Street To Street Bristol Ave. Gardner Rd. Kitchner St. Gladstone St. Bristol Ave. Gardner Rd. Gladstone St. Devonshire St. Bristol Ave. Gardner Rd. Devonshire St. N. Roosevelt Alley Manchester Ave . Bristol Ave. Devonshire St. N. Roosevelt Alley Manchester Ave. Bristol Ave. N. Roosevelt Alley Norfolk Ave. Manchester Ave. Wedgewood Dr. Kitchner St. Norfolk Ave. Manchester Ave. Kitchner St. Gladstone St. Norfolk Ave. Manchester Ave. Gladstone St. Devonshire St. Norfolk Ave. Manchester Ave. Devonshire St. N. Roosevelt Alley Norfolk Ave. Manchester Ave. N. Roosevelt Alley Suffolk Ave. Norfolk Ave. Wedgewood Dr. Kitchner St. Suffolk Ave. Norfolk Ave. Kitchner St. Gladstone st. Hull Ave. Newcastle Ave. Dickens St. Chaucer St. Newcastle Ave. Portsmouth Ave. Dickent St. Chaucer St. Portsmouth Ave. Suffolk Ave. Cermak Alley Total Reconstruction Street From Street To Street Suffolk Ave. Canterbury St. Dickens St. Portsmouth Ave. Canterbury St. Dickens St. Hawthorne Ave. Canterbury St. Dorchester Ave. Grind & Overlay Street From Street Heidorn Ave. Roosevelt Rd. Boeger Ave. Roosevelt Rd. High Ridge Pkwy. Roosevelt Rd. Mandel Ave. Roosevelt Rd. Haase Ave. Toosevelt Rd. Dickens St. Wolf Rd. Canterbury St. Mannheim Rd.

To Street Dickens St. Canterbury St. Canterbury St. Canterbury St. Canterbury St. Haase Ave. Haase Ave.

F ire D e partment DECEMBER 2021

DECEMBER 2021

L ibrary DECEMBER 2021

L ib r ary 10

DECEMBER 2021

W estc h est e r

P h otos : V eterans D ay R un DECEMBER 2021 13

S ch o o l D i st r ic t 14

DECEMBER 2021

S chool D istrict DECEMBER 2021

DECEMBER 2021

CONTINUED from page 1

ARPA grant.

financial performance for the first 6 months, which looks to be very healthy. The Village’s General Fund is showing revenues over expenditures of roughly $700 thousand. Total revenues are nearly right on pace through the first half of the year and expenditures are slightly less than budgeted amounts.

The Roosevelt Road TIF Fund has generated its initial incremental real estate tax revenues with the second installment of the 2021 tax collections. This has amounted to over $317,000 and will be used for development costs of the TIF area and the purchase and relocation of the new Village Hall building.

Due to an inadvertent overbilling of garbage services that took place during 2017-2019, the Village is correcting this error on the October and December billings. Many residents will see a decreased utility bill for October due in November. The balance of the credit will be applied on the December bill that is due in January. Garbage fees are collected in the Village’s General Fund.

Through October, the Village has spent $5.254 million on road and sewer improvements. These projects have been funded with the proceeds from the 2021 General Obligation Bonds. The bonds will be repaid from real estate taxes levied on the property owners of the Village over twenty years.

The Village received almost $1.1 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money in September. The Village’s plan is to use these funds for the replacement of residential water meters throughout the Village. Another $1.1 million is expected to be collected next year to complete the projected $2.2 million in total of the

Fire Department Update: All three shifts completed their 4th Quarter live fire training at the Elmhurst Fire Department Training Center. Training Evolutions focused on high rise operations, basement fires, lead outs, and search and rescue. Live fire training is critical to keeping skills sharp to maintain readiness in emergency situations. Fire personnel also completed driver

simulations in the DRIVE simulator through the Illinois Fire Service Institute. This training is free and covered under the Cornerstone Grant program allotted to IFSI. This training allows us to maintain emergency driver skills and throw things at our drivers that we would not want them practicing with real fire trucks, which helps us reduce risk and improve safety. On November 9, 10, and 11, several Westchester firefighters and police officers attended active shooter response training at the Community Church in Westchester. The course was taught by instructors from Louisiana State University from across the country. A huge thank you to Pastor Joe Mills for his support and hospitality in allowing us to use the church. Our Fire Department is continuing to flush and flow test fire hydrants before the cold weather sets in and the process is shut down until spring. Police Department Update: The Police Department will be hosting our annual Shop with A Cop!! At this time, the Department is seeking out 8-10 children ages 5-12 deserving of a Christmas that they would otherwise never have. The children will come from families who may be suffering from a medical or financial hardship. The event will take place on Saturday, December 11th at the Village Hall. Please contact Ofc. Cristian Aguirre at caguirre@westchesterpolice.com with any questions. Westchester PD officers assisted the Westchester Park District with their annual Veteran’s Day Run which took place on Sunday November 14th. Officers led the run with the ATV and bicycle units as well as assisted with traffic control for the event. Westchester officers participated in an extensive threeday training in early November in conjunction with the Westchester Fire Department and the Academy of Counter-Terrorism. This course focused on the police and fire department responding together to an active shooter incident through the utilization of contact teams and rescue task forces. Department investigators participated in numerous vehicular hijacking (carjacking) task force operations throughout the last few months. This is to combat the rise in carjacking incidents in the entire metropolitan Chicago area. An update from our Public Works Department: With the completion on the storm sewer mains in the High Ridge section of town crews moved onto the

storm laterals located on Mandel Ave, Boeger Ave and Heidorn Ave. The storm laterals are pipes that connect the inlets to the catch basins and also the catch basins to the storm main. With these streets scheduled to be resurfaced in 2022 the Public Works Department needed to assess the conditions of the laterals by using a push camera. Any areas of concerns will be addressed during the project. Crews cleaned and televised 1,120 feet of laterals which completed all three streets. All other streets scheduled in the 2022 street program were cleaned and televised earlier in the year. The Public Works Department completed 4 street openings around the village which were from 2 main breaks, a manhole adjustment and a sanitary repair. Crews removed 8 inches of the old roadway and replaced with 6 inches of concrete and 2 inches of asphalt. Phase two of the 2021 sewer lining program began in November with National Power Roding cleaning and televising the sanitary lines in the Reliance Section (Canterbury to Cermak, Burns to Mandel). During the process they discovered 7 locations where the 10inch sanitary lines had collapsed. In order to complete the lining through the old lines these sections needed to be dug up and replaced with PVC pipe. In order to save money, the Village decided that these repairs would be completed using in-house personal. All locations have since been completed by Public Works and at a fraction of the cost had the Village outsourced this work. The Public Works Department also began picking up leaves located in the curb lines. This is done with a push broom that is hooked up to a truck so all leaves can be pushed into intersections. The leaves are being picked up with a tractor and a front-end loader which loads them into trucks that haul the leaves to the Public Works yard. Both sides of every street in town were completed this past month. All Christmas lights have been completed at Crestwood and Mannheim Rd, as well as at Village Hall, and are really a beautiful sight to see! I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year!

S couts DECEMBER 2021

Boy Scout Troop #73 News Troop #73 has been keeping quite busy these past several weeks. Jimmy Milas, a senior at Montini Catholic High School celebrated his achievement of earning the rank of Eagle Scout with a formal ceremony and reception at Westchester Community Church. Jimmy became the Troop’s 56th Eagle recipient last fall, but due to Covid had to postpone his formal ceremony. The celebration was attended by current and former Troop #73 scouts and leaders, as well as family and friends. At the ceremony Jimmy was presented his Eagle Scout neckerchief, Eagle badge and award. For his Eagle project, he created a Cancer Awareness Courtyard at St. Joseph High School.

several merit badges and scout skills at their weekly meetings. Last month they held Troop elections, where Aiden Laurie was voted in as the new Senior Patrol Leader and Vincente Delgado as the new Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. Congratulations boys!

November was also a time for giving back to the community. The Troop participated and helped organize the Scouting for Food Drive. The food drive was a huge success, collecting 1200 bags and boxes of food and cleaning supplies to help local food pantries and families in need. The boys also raked leaves for Westchester residents, as part of their 8th annual Rake-a-thon. Thank you to everyone that supported the Troop with their Rake-a-thon and the food drive. We look forward to doing both again next year. The Troop has also been working on

Troop #73/Pack #73 Food Drive - A Huge Success The Westchester Boy Scout Troop #73 and Cub Scout Pack #73 held their annual Scouting for Food Drive on Saturday, October 23rd. Scouts and their families passed out flyers to each residence in Westchester the week before. On October 23rd, scouts collected 1200 bags or boxes of food and household supplies from homes in Westchester. All donations were passed on to the Westchester Food Pantry, Divine Infant Parish Pantry, and the food cupboards of the Westchester Community Church for families in crisis. The Troop collected over 624 pairs of eye glasses for the Lions Club, and countless bags of flags to retire in a flag retirement ceremony in the spring. Troop #73 and Pack #73 are grateful for our partnerships with these local organizations, working together to help our neighbors in need. Thanks to all Pack #73 and Troop #73 parents, families, leaders and scouts. Many thanks to the continued support from Pastor Joe Mills and staff at the Westchester Community Church, our Pack and Troop #73 charter organization.

A huge thank you to Paul at Minuteman Press here in Westchester, who helped with the printing of the flyers. Please see him for all your printing needs. And last but not least.... a huge thanks to the residents of Westchester who donated to the food drive. The food drive would not have been as successful as it was, without their generosity and support. We are Westchester Proud.

S en i o r s 18

DECEMBER 2021

S eniors DECEMBER 2021 19

S en i o r s 20

DECEMBER 2021

S eniors DECEMBER 2021

S en i o r s 22

DECEMBER 2021

S eniors DECEMBER 2021

DECEMBER 2021

New Business Grand Opening

Krazy Grapes 9838 W. Roosevelt Road Suite 1C Westchester, IL 60154

DECEMBER 2021