Chatham Police to explore K-9 unit; CWLP
serves big rate hike
By Joe Pritchett
Clarion Editor
There were several items discussed at the Village of Chatham's committee meetings held
Tuesday night. The evening's agenda adjourned after 65 minutes.
•Chatham Police Chief John Holm talked to the committee about his department exploring the
creation of a K-9 unit. Officer James Richards has spearheaded the research, and costs to the
Village are projected to be a fraction of what is considered normal.
The dog would be used for drug busts and related matters, but not for rescues, Holm stated.
Holm added that the dog would be a great public relations tool for the department in working with the
school district and community.
The CPD has an 18-month-old Dutch Shepherd dog on its radar. The dog has already undergone
some training, and with six weeks of state police training, it would be ready to hit the streets.
Through grants, discounts and various available resources, Holm put the start-up costs to get a K-
9 unit in Chatham at under $1,000. Normally, such costs can reach $10,000, he said.
Holm and Village Manager Del McCord sought feedback from the board, and the response was
positive. Discussions will continue.
If the board agrees to implement the program, a CPD officer would be assigned to the dog, and it
would be kennelled at that officer's home.
•Chief Fiscal Officer Sherry Dierking and McCord informed the committee that Springfield CWLP
recently sent in its "annual" increase in water rates to the Village. This year's figure represents a
14.24 percent increase over last year. That's on top of double digit percentage increases each of the
last two years, putting CWLP's water rate increases to the Village at over 40 percent the past three
years alone.
Village officials, however, anticipated the increase, though it was a bit higher than expected.
"It's not a surprise," trustee Chuck Herr stated. "We knew the rates were going up."
McCord added that the working relationship between Chatham and CWLP is "good. We thank
them for preparing us for these numbers, they didn't have to do that."
•On the water project front, McCord said the SSWC and Prairie Rivers Network have reached a
tentative agreement. Having the support of that local environmental group is a key step in moving
forward in the process, he added.
•McCord and Dierking talked to the committee about raising the telecommunications tax in the
Village. Currently, the tax is five percent; the maximum allowable is six percent. If the Village wants to
implement the increased tax starting in January 2011, paperwork would have to be started this
September.
The extra income would amount to an estimated $65,000 annually for the Village. Residents
would see a one percent hike per month on their bills (any telecommunications device, such as
landline phones, cell phones, etc.). For a $50.00 bill, that's 50 cents; and for a $100 bill, that's $1. No
decision on increasing the tax was made.
•There was some brief discussion about the proposed tent ordinance, which is expected to be
voted on next Tuesday. Mike and Rhona Hall were in attendance, with Mike Hall again reiterating that
the structure in question in his yard "is a garage and that's what we use it for. There's a lot of other
people in town with these types of structures. You will also be eliminating things like greenhouse
gardens. You might be doing more damage than good here, guys," he told the committee.
Herr reiterated that the ordinance will not just cover tents, but fabric, canvas and plastic outdoor
structures.
•Sherri Winters, Director of the Miss Chatham Glenwood Scholarship Program, talked to the
committee about a fundraiser her group is planning. A Fun Run Walk is scheduled for Labor Day,
Sept. 6, in the morning. The 1K/5K event would start near Community Park and will take on the same
route as the recent Titan Trek for Tech.
Village officials gave their blessing, and Winters will work with local volunteers and police to
facilitate the event. Contact Winters at 483-2843 or teach abunch@aol.com for more information.
More info will be included in upcoming editions of the Clarion.
•As reported last week, village officials have applied for a grant to widen Mansion Road from Route
4 to the village limits to the west, a stretch of over a mile. If approved, the road would be widened to
five lanes with curbs, sidewalks and storm drainage. The grant would be a 90-10 matching grant.
•A planned power outage Tuesday morning affected a couple of subdivisions in town, including
residents in Kings Point, Oakbrook Estates and Wellington Estates. About 800 homes were switched
over to the new electric substation on the north side of town, taking a major load off of the original
substation on south Route 4. The outage lasted 75 minutes.
•Also, village residents were asked to conserve water for a couple of days last week as work on
the water plant project was done near the storage tank at I-55. Village officials stated that the
conservation measures were asked for emergency and precautionary purposes only.
•Finally, Village GIS Coordinator Patrick McCarthy told the board he is working with Sangamon
County officials to get them a list of all addresses with pre-annexation agreements with the Village.
The move will assist dispatchers in calling the proper agency to dispatch out to a service call, such as
a 911 emergency.
A recent emergency situation where a City of Springfield policeman was sent to a house on Old
Indian Trail that was within Village limits was termed a clerical error.
serves big rate hike
By Joe Pritchett
Clarion Editor
There were several items discussed at the Village of Chatham's committee meetings held
Tuesday night. The evening's agenda adjourned after 65 minutes.
•Chatham Police Chief John Holm talked to the committee about his department exploring the
creation of a K-9 unit. Officer James Richards has spearheaded the research, and costs to the
Village are projected to be a fraction of what is considered normal.
The dog would be used for drug busts and related matters, but not for rescues, Holm stated.
Holm added that the dog would be a great public relations tool for the department in working with the
school district and community.
The CPD has an 18-month-old Dutch Shepherd dog on its radar. The dog has already undergone
some training, and with six weeks of state police training, it would be ready to hit the streets.
Through grants, discounts and various available resources, Holm put the start-up costs to get a K-
9 unit in Chatham at under $1,000. Normally, such costs can reach $10,000, he said.
Holm and Village Manager Del McCord sought feedback from the board, and the response was
positive. Discussions will continue.
If the board agrees to implement the program, a CPD officer would be assigned to the dog, and it
would be kennelled at that officer's home.
•Chief Fiscal Officer Sherry Dierking and McCord informed the committee that Springfield CWLP
recently sent in its "annual" increase in water rates to the Village. This year's figure represents a
14.24 percent increase over last year. That's on top of double digit percentage increases each of the
last two years, putting CWLP's water rate increases to the Village at over 40 percent the past three
years alone.
Village officials, however, anticipated the increase, though it was a bit higher than expected.
"It's not a surprise," trustee Chuck Herr stated. "We knew the rates were going up."
McCord added that the working relationship between Chatham and CWLP is "good. We thank
them for preparing us for these numbers, they didn't have to do that."
•On the water project front, McCord said the SSWC and Prairie Rivers Network have reached a
tentative agreement. Having the support of that local environmental group is a key step in moving
forward in the process, he added.
•McCord and Dierking talked to the committee about raising the telecommunications tax in the
Village. Currently, the tax is five percent; the maximum allowable is six percent. If the Village wants to
implement the increased tax starting in January 2011, paperwork would have to be started this
September.
The extra income would amount to an estimated $65,000 annually for the Village. Residents
would see a one percent hike per month on their bills (any telecommunications device, such as
landline phones, cell phones, etc.). For a $50.00 bill, that's 50 cents; and for a $100 bill, that's $1. No
decision on increasing the tax was made.
•There was some brief discussion about the proposed tent ordinance, which is expected to be
voted on next Tuesday. Mike and Rhona Hall were in attendance, with Mike Hall again reiterating that
the structure in question in his yard "is a garage and that's what we use it for. There's a lot of other
people in town with these types of structures. You will also be eliminating things like greenhouse
gardens. You might be doing more damage than good here, guys," he told the committee.
Herr reiterated that the ordinance will not just cover tents, but fabric, canvas and plastic outdoor
structures.
•Sherri Winters, Director of the Miss Chatham Glenwood Scholarship Program, talked to the
committee about a fundraiser her group is planning. A Fun Run Walk is scheduled for Labor Day,
Sept. 6, in the morning. The 1K/5K event would start near Community Park and will take on the same
route as the recent Titan Trek for Tech.
Village officials gave their blessing, and Winters will work with local volunteers and police to
facilitate the event. Contact Winters at 483-2843 or teach abunch@aol.com for more information.
More info will be included in upcoming editions of the Clarion.
•As reported last week, village officials have applied for a grant to widen Mansion Road from Route
4 to the village limits to the west, a stretch of over a mile. If approved, the road would be widened to
five lanes with curbs, sidewalks and storm drainage. The grant would be a 90-10 matching grant.
•A planned power outage Tuesday morning affected a couple of subdivisions in town, including
residents in Kings Point, Oakbrook Estates and Wellington Estates. About 800 homes were switched
over to the new electric substation on the north side of town, taking a major load off of the original
substation on south Route 4. The outage lasted 75 minutes.
•Also, village residents were asked to conserve water for a couple of days last week as work on
the water plant project was done near the storage tank at I-55. Village officials stated that the
conservation measures were asked for emergency and precautionary purposes only.
•Finally, Village GIS Coordinator Patrick McCarthy told the board he is working with Sangamon
County officials to get them a list of all addresses with pre-annexation agreements with the Village.
The move will assist dispatchers in calling the proper agency to dispatch out to a service call, such as
a 911 emergency.
A recent emergency situation where a City of Springfield policeman was sent to a house on Old
Indian Trail that was within Village limits was termed a clerical error.
Chatham Clarion
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Issue Date: Aug. 5, 2010