By Josh Van Dyke
Village Board recognizes officers for years of service, passes ordinance on Public Works prevailing wages
The Wauconda Village Board has recently recognized the service of several members of the Wauconda Police Department.
At its June 15 meeting the Board awarded service medals to several individuals who have been a part of the police department for a decade or more.
The recipients include Officer Karl Gompertz (10 years), Officer Dale Weshinskey (15 years), Officer Thomas Robertson (10 years), Detective Peter Bognar (10 years), Deputy Chief Patrick Yost (20 years), and employee Deborah Gompertz (35 years).
"I was very happy to be part of 27 of her 35 years at the Village of Wauconda. She has been an amazing employee of the police department," said Police Superintendent Daniel Quick.
Four other members of the Wauconda Police Department also received awards at the meeting, but from the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM). Those members include Sergeant Thomas S. Bender, Officer David Musser, Officer Marcelo Candia, and Officer Sean Lewakowski. The certificates of appreciation granted are given annually by AAIM for the diligent enforcement of DUIs, with Bender making the most arrests with a total of 100.
The Board also approved an ordinance that confirmed that the prevailing rate of wages for Public Works workers is the same as the prevailing rate of wages for construction in work in the Lake County area.
The ordinance was made in response to an act of the Illinois state legislature, 820 ILCS 130/0.01, that required the village to determine those prevailing rates for Lake County. A list of the prevailing rates can be found at http://www.state.il.us/agency/idol/rates/EVENMO/LAKE9999.htm.
Trustee John Barbini told the board of lessons he had learned at the most recent meeting of the Finance Committee.
"Did you ever come away from a meeting or event in which you've said to yourself after you thought about it, I wish that could have gone better?" Barbini asked. He noted a need for the Village Board to give more specific requests for information to administrative staff, and also said the village board should make a greater effort to seek recommendations from the administrative staff. As an example he mentioned the debate over the village's policy of allowing worker to take village vehicles home in case they may suddenly need them in their duties.
"Although the current budget has been passed there are still a lot of tough decisions that have to be made as we go along here," Mayor Mark Knigge said after Barbini's report.