A communication from newly-elected Lakewood Village Trustee Paul Serwatka:

Hello everyone,

On Tuesday, May 26th, the village board held it’s regularly scheduled meeting. There were four agenda items up for discussion and vote.

The first, was an ordinance to allow residents in the Gates area to add a parking pad adjacent to the street. I spoke of this ordinance in my previous email. It was voted unanimously to approve the ordinance allowing residents to add a parking pad adjacent to the street and allowing them to use brick pavers or specific types of gravel.

The second item was to approve an amendment to the 2014-2015 budget thereby increasing the budget by $41,331 above the original projection. While many administrative and operational costs were lower than projected, of note were two expenditures that were substantially higher, including:

•  “Unbudgeted consulting fees” – $64,580
•  “Unbudgeted legal fees” – $73,020

This original budget covered the year prior to my serving on the board.  [The supporting memo says, “As a reminder, however, all of the costs related to the creation of the TIF District and review of development proposals are eligible for reimbursement from the TIF District.]

Being that I was not on the board during this time, and having no knowledge of the consulting and legal work that was originally anticipated or actually provided, I elected to NOT vote on this budget amendment.

New Lakewood Village Board.

I do know that the consulting and legal services rendered were related to the creation of the TIF district which I do NOT support.

Trustees Santowski, Iden, Thomas and Furey along with village president Smith all voted in favor of the amendment.

The third item was the purchase of a replacement bunker rake/lawn mower for the golf course at a price of $16,180 vs. a three-year payment on the equipment. Purchasing outright would ultimately save $2,400 in interest over the life of the lease. This was unanimously voted in the affirmative.

The final item was sale of the village owned (I believe 16-year old) lawn mower/rake at a price of $200. This, too was unanimously voted in the affirmative.

Attached, you will find the entire board packet as provided to me, including all supporting documents and other misc. memos.

I am currently working with staff on having this same packet, in it’s entirety, available online PRIOR to scheduled meetings.

Incidentally, the next board meeting scheduled for June 9th has been cancelled due to an apparent lack of a quorum.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any thoughts, questions or concerns.

Working for better government,

Paul Serwatka