Village of Manteno Public Safety Committee met May 8.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
Attendance
| Committee Members: | |
| Timothy Nugent, Mayor | X |
| Timothy Boyce, Trustee | X |
| Todd Crockett, Trustee | |
| Diane Dole, Trustee | X |
| Joel Gesky, Trustee | X |
| Sam Martin, Trustee | X |
| Wendell Phillips, Trustee | X |
| Other attendees: | |
| Chris LaRocque, Village Administrator | X |
| Jim Hanley, Supt of Public Works | X |
| Al Swinford, Chief of Police | X |
| Ryan Marion, Building Official | X |
| Sarah Marion, Event Coordinator | |
| Sheila Martin, Treasurer | X |
| Geoff Aggen, Tyson Engineering | |
| Darla Hurley, Deputy Village Clerk |
A motion was made by Mayor Nugent, seconded by Trustee Dole, to approve the minutes of the April 10, 2019 as presented; motion carried by voice vote. All ayes, no nays.
No public participation
Items for Discussion:
• Personnel Updates – Chief Swinford announced that Officer Casey is expected to return to work on May 14th. Chief Swinford stated that the new hire process is winding down with the top person on the list as Thomas Ritter, who is currently with the Kankakee City Police Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s in cyber security. He is already a resident of Manteno. The background check is complete. After Mr. Ritter completes a ride along, a conditional offer of employment will then be issued pending the successful completion of the physical, physiological and polygraph tests.
• Park Ranger – Chief Swinford stated that there are three (3) current park rangers trained. Several more have taken applications, but only three have completed the training and are working. There have been a few kids that have been banned due to bad language and rough housing. The park rangers are maintaining a log of those who are banned for the year. Chief Swinford would like to see some sort of age restriction on who can be on the jumping pillow. Most of the complaints involve teenagers who are older and bigger in size. Mayor Nugent would like to see a recommendation from the Park Rangers on who they are seeing where the problems arise from. Mr. LaRocque stated that two (2) more cameras are being installed at the Square on Second. The damage to the jumping pillow is still being investigated.
• Golf Cart Trailers – Chief Swinford had a question concerning the registering of a trailer that can be hooked to a golf cart. The Village Code does not address this item. There was one trailer registered last year and this year a second trailer has requested registration. The first trailer was for transporting people. The second trailer is more for hauling debris or items. After discussing the pros and cons of these types of trailers, the consensus of the committee was to have an ordinance prepared that would ban the usage of any type of trailers for golf carts.
• Marijuana Ordinance - Chief Swinford stated that the State of Illinois is proposing legalization of recreational use of marijuana. Chief Swinford attended a meeting with Pledge for Life and they are asking villages to pass an ordinance that would still make recreational use of marijuana within village limits illegal. Chief Swinford stated that he has been told that if a municipality wishes to do this, they must pass the ordinance prior to the state’s approval of legalization and then the village would be grandfathered in. Chief Swinford has contacted our Village Attorney to check the legality of this move.
Chief Swinford also attended a panel discussion session with members of law enforcement and medical field from California and Colorado where use of recreational marijuana is legal. All panelists stated that the state should not do the legalization. The marijuana is much more potent than years ago and problems have continued.
Chief Swinford will check with our village attorney about the legality of having an ordinance making recreational use of marijuana illegal within village limits. If this is something that municipalities can do, an ordinance will be prepared for consideration. Chief Swinford stated that in the future if the village sees no problems with legalization of recreational use, the village can always take our ordinance off the books, but if problems do arise the village cannot enact an ordinance after the State has made it legal.
• Misc.
o Mr. LaRocque will also check with Village Attorney about whether smoking can be prohibited in our parks.
A motion by Trustee Dole and seconded by Mayor Nugent, to adjourn the meeting at 7:27 a.m. Voice vote – all ayes.
https://www.villageofmanteno.com/administrator/components/com_vom_agendas_and_minutes/uploads/minute/7920321817973ad01e883df6f4e0dca1-Minutes-5.08.19.pdf
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