Olympia Fields Village Plans Summer Schedule, Wants Funds Saved from Gov. Quinn

The Olympia Fields Village board members planned summer fun in last night's meeting, giving a thumbs-up to a fishing derby and a senior camp, but said a proposed carnival was likely more trouble than it's worth.

The Olympia Fields Park District now has the go-ahead to sponsor a children's fishing derby June 4 at the Metra Pond, as well as permission to use the Olympia Fields conference center for its Senior Camp program. Village Administrator David A. Mekarski said the derby would likely be a success, commenting, "this was actually designed to support aquatic life."

Although the Department of Natural Resources will likely stock the pond, Mother Nature has probably already taken care of it, said Mekarski.

"When herons or other wading birds go through our pond, they carry fish eggs in their mouths," he explained.

However, the board turned down North American Midway Entertainment's request for a public assembly permit to hold a carnival at the Olympia Corners shopping center.  Mekarski said that there was doubt as to whether the carnival would truly help area businesses economically, and added that Police Chief Jeff Chudwin had concerns the event might attract troublemakers from outside the village. A similar event in nearby Matteson ended unhappily when members of two rival gangs came and disrupted a "peaceful" event, said Mekarski.

Mekarski explained that the police's LEADS system would be switched from SouthCom, a joint dispatch center, to CentralCom in East Hazel Crest. While Olympia Fields officers are available around the clock, an officer to update LEADS information is not. The board approved the move.

In other business, Olympia Fields Village Trustees Kelvin Oliver, Carolyn B. Gibson and Susan Kay Ormsby, who ran uncontested for the four-year terms, were sworn in by President Debbie Meyers-Martin. 

Give Us Back LGDF Fund

Olympia Fields Village board members expressed alarm about the state government's plans to withhold monies from the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF), a fund set up to assist Illinois' local governments.  

Some analysts have said Gov. Pat Quinn's proposal will block villlage governments from receiving LGDF funds until at least the end of 2011 if lawmakers don't give his plan to borrow billions the green light.  

For Olympia Fields, losing the LGDF funding translates into a $116,719.20 loss of revenue, said Village President Debra Meyers-Martin.

 That's no small amount, commented Trustee Willis Pennington: "that will wipe out our surplus going into the 2012 budget, and we really don't know what's going to happen."

The LGDF money is calculated in part based upon population, so Park Forest, which has around 23,000 residents, stands to lose half a million dollars, trustees said. The 2010 Census calculated Olympia Fields' population at 4,988 residents, said Meyers-Martin.