Peotone to Launch Community Survey, Vision Session as Officials Address Facility Issues

By Andrea Arens

Peotone village officials are preparing to roll out a community-wide survey and host a visioning session later this month as part of ongoing strategic planning efforts, Village Administrator Nick Palmer announced during the Feb. 9 village board meeting.

Palmer said the village will hold a vision session on Monday, Feb. 23, prior to the regular board meeting, and the community survey was released this week. The survey was shared on the village website, social media, and through direct outreach to encourage resident participation.

“We’re going to be releasing the community survey hopefully this week, and I’ll put that out on the village website, social media, and send it out to all of you to encourage others to participate,” Palmer said. “There’s lots more to come on that.”

Palmer also updated trustees on recent legislative outreach, noting that he and Mayor Chris Vieaux attended meetings with the Will County Board and state legislators, including legislative breakfasts aimed at discussing issues currently under consideration in Springfield. Palmer said village officials are working to schedule additional meetings with local lawmakers.

On the economic development front, Palmer said the village continues to meet with interested prospects and realtors. He reminded the board that a proposed overlay district will be the subject of a formal public hearing at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 18. If recommended, the matter would then move forward to the village board for consideration.

Palmer also addressed ongoing facility concerns at Village Hall and the police station, following a recent space needs and facility assessment that identified multiple structural and infrastructure issues. He said heating problems throughout the buildings have persisted during the winter months, prompting additional costs.

“We know we’re going through a historically cold winter, but both the police station and Village Hall were pretty cold some days,” Palmer said. “It just seemed like the system wasn’t working the way it was supposed to.”

Kulacz and Sons Heating & Cooling installed the mini split system a few years back for $25,000. The Village Board then waived competitive bidding to award the contract to local based Kulacz.

Palmer said repairs may require additional expenditures and that more information will be brought to the board at a future meeting.