The Village of Bourbonnais board held its regular meeting Nov 16.
The board heard its first reading of the 2015 tax levy, which would raise taxes on Bourbonnais homeowners by 3.89 percent.
President Paul Schore also announced the hiring of Michael Van Mill as the village's new administrator. Van Mill is a prominent local businessman and leader of the Economic Alliance of Kankakee County. He assumed his new post this month.
Trustee Randy King told the board the village will continue its ash tree eradication program by removing the 21 remaining trees before the end of the year. Dave's Trees and Public Works crews will handle the actual removal. Public Works Director Mike Chamness said the trees will not be replaced until the next budget year at the earliest.
Ash trees around the state are being removed to prevent against the threat of the emerald ash borer, an Asian beetle whose larvae feed on the inner bark of ash trees through which most of the water and nutrients a tree takes in are transferred.
With the inner bark interrupted, ash trees struggle to survive.
Chamness also confirmed to the board that his road crews are prepared for a snowy winter season, with plow trucks geared up and a large pile of salt amassed.
The trustees unanimously passed a development agreement between Bourbonnais and Kankakee Valley Montessori. The school wants to begin a set of improvements by adding a sprinkler system to the gym and eventually installing sprinklers throughout the school, if time and funding permit.
Before adjourning, Police Chief Phelps swore in new police officer Javier Czako.
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