Politics & Government
South Chicago Heights Village Employees Get Long-Awaited Pay Raise
The Board of Trustees approved a 1.5 percent increase for all non-union trustees. At the same meeting, ongoing problems at an unfinished church parking area were discussed.
South Chicago Heights Village employees got a pay bump thanks to board action Monday night.
The Village Board approved a 1.5 percent pay increase for all non-union Village employees during its July 5 meeting.
“I wish it could be more,” Mayor David L. Owen said. “These people (employees) have not had an increase in two years.”
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Moreover, during that time period the Village has required furlough days of its employees to save money. “The village has really been in a bind (financially),” Owen added. “I really wish (the increase) was more.”
Troublesome Church Lot
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Also during the July 5 meeting, the Board revisited the long contentious issue of what to do about the unfinished parking area at Cornerstone Church, which is connected to Foursquare Christian School at 2919 Chicago Road.
Several neighbors of the church appeared before the board last month to complain that the parking area is a public safety hazard, being that it is unfenced and filled with water.
The church has been asked to grade the area, fence it and treat it for mosquitoes, Village Building and Code Department director Lou Bednarek said.
The board agreed those conditions had to be met during their last meeting. The church purchased and tore down six houses to make way for a new parking lot; they need to buy one or two more to complete the project, Bednarek added.
But the church has had more than enough time, Trustee Terry Matthews said Monday night. “(The improvements) should have been done a year ago.”
Church officials have postponed any work on drainage issues because of the expense involved. Run-off from the site must be routed into a nearby creek, and the church wants to wait until the financing and additional land purchases are in place.
But the church cleared the site of trees and vegetation before it was ready to improve it, Matthews said. “If they’d left (the site) alone, there’d be no problem.”
The improvements the Board has asked for require a start date and a time table, board members ultimately decided. Village Attorney Parker Johnson was asked to write a letter informing the church of the need for a plan.
