SAUK VILLAGE - DO NOT LET MONEY GO DOWN THE TOILET

Don’t let your money go down the toilet!  Literally!

Steve LaRock- Editor-in-Chief

Did you know that a running toilet can waste 2 gallons per minute, but a silent toilet can literally leak 200 gallons of water per day or 6,000 gallons of water per month or 12,000 gallons before you get the water bill?  If you live in Sauk Village, one leaky toilet could cost you about $107 and your money literally would be going down the drain!

So what can you do to check if you have a leaky toilet? 

For illustration purposes may not look

like your meter.

TEST #1:  Before going to bed check your water meter reading (it’s like a little odometer reading); write down the numbers you see.  If you see that the numbers had changed, then you may have a leak (of course if you have a water softener and it decided to regenerate in the middle of the night, then be sure to repeat the test the next night to rule that out as the culprit).   If the numbers did not change you may not have a leak but be sure to recheck this using this method periodically if you suspect a leak.  Also if all of your water fixtures are shut off the dial should not be moving at all, if it is you may have a leak.

TEST #2:  Remove the toilet tank lid carefully, drop 10 drops of food coloring into the water, and put the lid back on.  DO NOT FLUSH, wait 15 minutes, and then look into the bowl if you see colored water you have a leak.  HERE IS A VIDEO SHOWING HOW THIS IS DONE (Note Sauk Village does not have the dye packs just use food coloring it's the same thing):  CLICK HERE

We hope that this tip will help you identify whether you have a leak that is costing you money unnecessarily. 

CATASTROPHIC FAILURE BY THIS ADMINISTRATION

OPINION EDITORIAL
by Joseph Wiszowaty

Why is it that communications between the public and Sauk Village officials has completely broken down?  This weekend was a great example of the catastrophic failure of this administration!

A catastrophic failure in the Village's water infrastructure caused a water outage for Candlelight Village mobile home park, Carlisle Estates, YRC and ABF Trucking Terminals on Friday from 4pm until late Saturday afternoon. 

By 9:15am, Village officials had posted nothing on the Village's official website, nor had any e-mails from any Village officials had gone out.  I emailed Mayor David Hanks and Village Clerk Debbie Williams at 9:15am Saturday asking "Is there any official announcement with respect to the water outage"?  Williams response received at 11am:  "Contact the Police Department.  I have no information regarding a water outage.  If I am given information a eblast is sent."  Hanks never responded to my email.  First of all, why would anyone want to contact the Police Department to get an official statement on a water outage? 

38 minutes after Williams send me her email response she put out an email alert:  "Sauk Village Public Works crews are currently working on a water main break that is affecting residents in Candlelight Village, Carlisle Estates.  ABF and YRC are also being impacted.  Water may come on and go back off as these repairs are made.  Residents will receive more updates as soon as possible"

Clearly these Village officials are disconnected from what is going on in the Village!  My phone was blowing up at 4pm Friday afternoon and didn't stop all night into Saturday morning.  People had no answers, came home from work all nasty and wanted to shower, had plans on Saturday morning where showers were necessary to start their day.  These are peoples' lives and NO OFFICIAL WORD FROM VILLAGE HALL?  Why did the Village not put out something when they shut off hundreds of water users to let them know what was going on?

The first "Official Word" from this administration came 11:38am, 19 hours and 38 minutes after hundreds of water users was shut off.  That should not be acceptable by any standard!  This is not like losing your power as some would argue.  People can generally function for several days without electricity (except during winter when heat is necessary to sustain life).  Water is needed to live!

The first "official" communication from the Water Department came in order to make it all sound good came at 4:55pm, 24 hours after the water had been cut off: 

"Due to the emergency upgrade of our distribution system infrastructure, the water will be shut down for; Candlelight Village, Roadway Trucking, and ABF Trucking  Therefore the Water Department has issued a Boil Order, November 1, 2014.  Residents should boil their water for drinking and cooking for at least 3 minutes prior to use.  The Boil Order will remain in effect until Bacteriological check samples clear with our lab..."

Now David Hanks said nobody is giving him any ideas.  Here's one for you David.... Stop lying to the people!  "Emergency upgrade of our distribution system"... How about telling the truth!  This was a catastrophic failure of the distribution system and a catastrophic failure of this administration!

I want to first and foremost say that Public Works employees did the best job they could with what they had to work with.  They did get the water turned back on in a timely fashion.  This has no reflection on the job they do.  This is clearly a failure of this administration!  




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RESIDENTS LEFT WITH NO WATER AND NO ANSWERS

by Joseph Wiszowaty
SAUK VILLAGE |  A watermain break near the CN Railroad on the Village's north side have left Candlelight Village residents and the YRC Trucking Terminal without water since 4pm Friday, October 31st.

Residents in the Candlelight Village mobile home park which is in Sauk Village have begun complaining of lack of toilet facilities and showers.  "We don't drink the water so that's not an issue but we have heard nothing from the Village" a resident said.

There was no estimated time for the repair to this major water outage given by the Village on the Village's official website and no email from village officials as of 9am Saturday.

There was no announcement of any village wide boil order which will take place since such a large portion of the Village's water infrastructure has been without water as the pipes have sat empty with no pressure in them.  Contamination can grow in pipes which have lost pressure for sometime and typically communities will have a boil order, however, no "official" word on the Village's website nor email alerts have been given.

As of the time of the publication of this report, there has been no official response from Mayor David Hanks or Village Clerk Debbie Williams.

Beware of Politicians Bearing Gifts at Election Time... especially $4.8 million

OPINION EDITORIAL
by Joseph Wiszowaty

SAUK VILLAGE | Governor Pat Quinn came to Sauk Village at election time to announce a $4.8 million grant as part of his multi-billion dollar clean water initiative Saturday afternoon.  Quinn is in for the race of his political life this November and every vote counts which is why some question the timing of this announcement!  Gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner, who just picked up the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune and Crains Chicago Business, has been doing well in polling.  Polls show Rauner with a slight advantage while other show a dead heat. 

No doubt Sauk Village needs the money!  After all, coincidentally, they have a $4.8 million loan which could be paid off with the money saving the Village $287,000 per year in payments over the next 20 years.  Or they could use the funds to repair and update the 50 year old infrastructure buried in the ground.  But the devil will be in the details as they say!  What can the Village actually use this new found money for,  that will be revealed soon enough.

What I’m skeptical about, can this grant vanish if let’s say a new governor gets in office?  Can this grant get cancelled if Quinn gets re-elected and let’s say the state falls short in revenue and all of a sudden the grant goes bye-bye!  Some say no but I say... we'll see. 

Here’s the question virtually everyone I had spoken to Saturday afternoon was asking?  Why didn’t Quinn come bearing gifts during the water crisis in 2012?  Some even go further saying the reason they come bearing gifts is because they feel the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency allowed the residents to drink contaminated water and now is culpable to such an environmental disaster.  My quick answer…. It’s election time and Quinn needs some votes and he is out in Sauk Village and other areas where he never had to campaign before trying to scare up votes.

Watch for those devils in the details!  They will reveal themselves  showing what this grant can and cannot be used!  Stay tuned Sauk Village, there's more to come.

Speaking of election time, couldn’t help but notice that a certain politician has already begun circulating his petitions for Village Trustee at Village Hall no less and the in the sacrosanct Senior Center Saturday afternoon.  No surprise that Gary Holcomb, who serves as Chairman of the Housing Commission had his nomination petitions out on display during the spaghetti dinner Saturday afternoon.  This is the same Holcomb who published a woman's state I.D. and her son's social security card on a Village social media page.  Let's not forget of course Holcomb is the center of the Watergate scandal where funds have been moved around to pay for lawn mowing Gary Holcomb and his commissioners hired but had no money to pay them!  Now Holcomb wants to be your Trustee.... is this the kind of Trustee you can "trust"?

 

Now another candidate who was getting signatures Tuesday night outside in a corridor at Village Hall was scolded by Village Clerk Debbie Williams for circulating petitions.  I guess we see what is backing who!  Shame on you Gary for exploiting an event for your own aggrandizement to have your petitions signed, very tacky! 

 

Don't worry Sauk Village I'll be looking for all those rascally details and keeping an eye on these politicians here in Sauk Village too!

IT'S THE WATER STUPID... HOW DO YOU LIKE PAYING FOR IT?

"The Village Clerk" Debbie Williams

OPINION EDITORIAL
By Joseph Wiszowaty

It took everything in me to not burst in to laughter during the point where Village Clerk Debbie Williams got up to speak during Trustee Derrick Burgess’ Town Hall Meeting Thursday night.  First off I have to say she has some nerve, arrogant and exudes a smell of "entitlement" or whatever that was.  They shut you down after three minutes at Village Hall but she wants to take up the residents time to push their political agenda!

Williams wanted to “correct” Trustee Burgess on what she believed was “not true” about the water rate increase.  Boy if that wasn’t the pot calling the kettle black!!  So I decided to get her OH-SO-HOLY minutes out of moth balls shake them off and here is truth as this woman has told us in public.  By the way her minutes are atrocious in my opinion:

 

Excerpt from Village Minutes

OCTOBER 16, 2012:

“RCAP representative Bud Mason stated the rate of $7.50 (water rate increase enacted in 2012 from $3.50) was based on affordability and the ability of the residents to repay the $7 million dollar loan. The loan includes approximately $2 million dollars that will address infrastructure improvements needed to bring Sauk Village closer to the goal of less than the 8% water loss required by the IDNR but does not address the infrastructure required to bring Lake Michigan water to the Village.”  NOTE: Village only received a loan of $4.8 million not $7million!

Oh and here’s a good one:

                September 18, 2012:

"The February 2013 increase to $7.50 per 1,000 gallons should be sufficient to repay the IEPA loan and cover the current and future operation and maintenance needs of air strippers at wells 1, 2 and 3 and new iron removal facilities and system upgrades to the two water treatment plants at wells 1 and 2 and to get well 3 open.

Approximately $2.2 million dollars will remain to be used for distribution system improvements, such as, replacing mains, valves and meters and flushing the system. Additional repairs to the distribution system may be needed to get Lake Michigan water ready. The Lake Michigan water project will take several years.”  NOTE: The Village only received a loan of $4.8 million not $7 million!

And this CLASSIC….

August 7, 2012:

Bud Mason’s “Recommendation: Raise water rates $2.00 now to take care of the deficit and $2.00 in six months to start making upgrades to the system. Reevaluate project costs every six months in order to determine additional rate increases.”

Upgrades include updating hydrants, meters and mains. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources will not give Sauk Village a water allocation until 20% of the infrastructure is replaced.”

Ok so the Village didn’t borrow $7 million only $4.8 million.  So quiz me this public, who is paying these outrageous water rates, why is the rate at $7.50 per 1000 gallons to cover debt service on $7 million when you’re only paying $4.8 million in a loan?  Where is all the money going?  More important… why aren’t you mad as hell about paying outrageous bills?

In June, David Hanks stole $7,660 out of the water fund to pay for grass cutting without even so much as telling his board of trustees!  Let’s go back to just last month’s budget review where Mayor David Hanks budgeted $300,000 from the water fund to balance the Village’s budget.  Not for the water department but for other village functions! 

So they shove a huge water rate increase down your throat, you swallow it, pay the bills, go home close your curtains, turn on your outside lights (because your street light has been out) stick your head in the sand and let them squander your money away on things it was never intended?  Where is the outrage?   How do you like paying a huge water bill so that David Hanks can balance his budget?  Talk about a TAX INCREASE that you didn't see coming!

I know there’s a silent majority and a “sleeping giant” out there which has been communicating with me.  Here is but a few of the MANY I have received:

·         “I’m afraid to post anything on this page because some of my friends will see it and get mad.  I want to thank you for everything you do.  Thank you for helping bring the truth to light.  I read your page all the time as it is the only place we can get news about what is going on”- A Senior Citizen

·          “Keep up the good job.  Thank you for fighting for us”- A 15 year resident

·         “I can’t post on your page because I will probably get fired.  Keep up the good work!  A lot of us appreciate what you’re doing!  We have got to stop this, it’s just like having Lewis Towers and Henrietta Turner still in office” – A Village employee

·         “I know how they play and I can’t post anything because I know David and his followers will attack me”- 45 year resident

By the way Madam Clerk…. Since you have time to play politics, how about doing your job! Where is my information I’d requested on your “personal trip” to Washington D.C.?  The People of the Village of Sauk Village and the Attorney General wants to know too!

VILLAGE FACES $1.3 MILLION PROBLEM

DAVID HANKS, Mayor of Sauk Village

©2014 Sauk Villager News

By Joseph Wiszowaty

SAUK VILLAGE |  Rumors of village vendors not being paid for months and the village not being able to purchase the necessary equipment it needs to keep the village functioning have led to yet another Freedom of Information Act Request(FOIA).  The Village is currently delinquent on paying its vendors to the tune of $724,352.39 according to the FOIA request received on Friday morning.  With the village’s recent borrowing, the Village is currently more than $1.3 million short in funds to pay its bills; $500,000 more than when Lewis Towers left office in November, 2012. 

Mayor David Hanks has transferred so much money from the Water and other Village Funds to pay employee payroll, the Village cannot make the necessary payments to the Water Department's vendors.  As a result, some vendors have stopped extending credit to the Village until consistent payments can be made, making it virtually impossible for Public Works to perform any normal maintenance or critical repairs.  Because Sauk Village is now on a "cash and carry only" status with many of its vendors, the Water Department cannot purchase the critical parts needed to make needed repairs to fire hydrants and buffalo boxes, according to one vendor.  

Of course, Hanks has pledged, with insistence from the Village Board, to repay the $600,000 owed to the Village's other funds by the end of March 2014.  This deficit was not planned as a contingency in the 2013-14 budget process and as a result has unbalanced the Village's General Fund entirely.

The cash strapped village has been hemorrhaging money since Hanks became interim Mayor in November 2012 and has not offered any recommendation or plan to curtail spending.  Hanks touted in his 2013 campaign bid for mayor, that as interim mayor, he had successfully reduced the amount of outstanding bills owed to vendors to just $300,000.  However, since the election, that number has skyrocketed yet again and this time Hanks need only look in the mirror to assign blame. Hanks has doled out raises retroactive to 2011 to some employees, increased payroll and fringe benefits expenses to the general fund despite the warning from former Village Manager Richard Dieterich in 2011 to not do so without "corresponding increases in revenue to offset" these payroll expenses. 

With his abacus battery on the blink, Hanks has been continuously transferring money from various village accounts including the water fund just to meet payroll.  To date, the Village's water fund has been depleted by several hundred thousand dollars which contributes to much needed water related repairs to go undone. Hanks has also hired a lobbyist, unlike any of the neighboring towns, costing the village an additional $36,000 per year.  "Generally, the mayor of the community serves as the lobbyist in Springfield when they need something done" said Gene Williams Mayor of Lynwood at the recent Economic Forum hosted by Sauk Village.

Hanks' unabated overspending has added tremendously to an already strained budget and growing deficit. Yet Hanks failed to acknowledge the Village's true picture in his recent State of the Village press release painting a less than rosy picture “The village is currently averaging three months behind in payment to our vendors; however, we have reduced that from the average of five months in the past. The village remains in debt but we are currently working on ways to reduce increased debt and searching for ways to address that which has already occurred.”   The facts are that some vendors get paid much quicker than others, while others go unpaid for several months beyond the 90 days Hanks acknowledged in his press release. 

Hanks stated several weeks ago that now he and the entire Board of Trustees will have to make “tough decisions” on how to manage the Village's mounting debt and inter-fund borrowing practices now that the Village's financial crisis of 2009 has returned with a vengeance!

HERE IS A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE VILLAGE’S FINANCIAL WOES:

• ·       The Village is currently 60 days delinquent in paying for the lobbyist Alfred G. Ronan, Limited, that Hanks wanted and put on the payroll this summer to the tune of $36,000 per year

• ·       delinquent in paying legal bills for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission actions brought by employees to the tune of $27,929.00 from as far back as July, 2012. 

• ·       The Police Department vendor, John’s Arrow Transmission shop  is owed $6,802.44 for work it did on three police vehicles going back as far as September, 2012 according to the FOIA request.   

• ·       The Police Department Brackman & Company is owed $4,465.78 in repairs on the Village’s police squad fleet.  

• ·       delinquent in its membership dues to the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association to the tune of $3,778.00 which was billed in September, 2013.

• ·       The South Suburban Emergency Response Team membership dues of $1000 invoiced to the Village in July, 2013.

• ·       $137,872.50 is due to Robinson Engineering.  It is expected that this vendor will be paid from the IEPA low interest loan the Village just received.  The loan is to be repaid over the next 20 years. 

• ·       The biggest single vendor who has not been paid since June, 2013 is the Village’s law firm Odelson and Sterk, LTD.  Invoices show the village is delinquent to the law firm to the tune $226,674.27, however, these do not include services for December and January which could likely balloon the bill to near $310,000 for 7 months service.  Hanks and the Village Board only budgeted $500,000 and the Village is likely to exceed this amount despite the fact that the litigation with the village has decreased since Lewis Towers left office.  

• ·       The Village is also delinquent to Municipal Code Corporation for codification of the Village’s Municipal Code book in May, 2013.  Municipal Code Corporation is owed $7,118,76 which was suppose to come from money set aside and earmarked when Winpak reimbursed the village for expenses in 2012. 

• ·       Kane McKenna and Associates, who has helped David Hanks with his Economic Development is owed $13,437.75 for their services since the summer of 2013.

One of the village’s vendors is not happy with the way the Village is paying its bills.  “In Sauk Village if you get a water bill and don't pay they will shut off your water right? ‘AHHH We will pay them later’.  Now 30 days goes by and still nothing” the frustrated vendor said.

HERE IS THE LINK TO ALL VILLAGE VENDORS NOT PAID:  ***CLICK HERE***

Original material, and photographs, copyright 2014 Sauk Villager News; all rights reserved.

 

VILLAGE GOING $4.8 MILLION MORE IN DEBT

By Joseph Wiszowaty

SAUK VILLAGE |  The Village will soon be getting a $4.8 million loan from the State of Illinois to install air strippers to treat the contaminated drinking water.

Well # 3 on the village’s north side of town adjacent to the YRC (Roadway) property has been shut down since 2009 when a known carcinogen vinyl chloride was detected in the village’s drinking water at well #3.  This prompted action by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and litigation brought by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office to force the village to take action to clean up the drinking water and get well #3 back up and running or connect to another source.

Mayor David Hanks announced during his report Tuesday night that the village “signed all the paperwork Friday” for a loan of $4.868,900 in the form of a loan from the State of Illinois at a fixed rate of 1.9%.  The Village will proceed with the contract which has already been awarded for $4.1 million within 60 days according to Village Engineer Jim Czarnik of Robinson Engineering.  

Village Trustee Lynda Washington, who was once an advocate for Lake Michigan water,  was so excited about the $4.1 million dollar loan she began clapping stating “when I borrow money from people I want what I want right there” prompting Trustee Derrick Burgess to remind Washington “you’ve got to pay the money back though” eliciting some chuckles. 

After well #3 is complete the village will complete the installation of the permanent air stripping towers and new iron removal system for wells #1 and #2 at the location on Sauk Trail according to Czarnik.

In other business the residents learned there has been more money moving around village hall after Burgess questioned Hanks on the matter.  Residents discovered that Hanks authorized borrowing  borrowed an additional $140,000-$150,000 from either the “water fund or other funds” so that the Village could make payroll according to Hanks.  There was no action by the Village Board on the transferring and borrowing of the funds and Hanks was not clear on the exact amount or which funds these were borrowed.   According to Hanks the Village will repay these funds in addition to the $449,000 previously borrowed when tax revenues come in sometime in March.

Burgess also advised the Village Board that he had spoken with United State Senator Dick Durbin during his visit that the Village needed some financial assistance with the water situation.  Burgess reminded Durbin that former Congressman Jesse Jackson obtained federal funds funds for neighboring Ford Heights to obtain Lake Michigan water and they were not facing a contamination threat to their drinking water.  Durbin remained noncommittal according to Burgess but was well aware of the Village’s water plight because of news media reports.

EDITORIAL NOTE:  This would be the village’s largest water improvement project since 1988 when the Village installed the Iron Removal System and issued bonds for a total of $1.2 million (about $2.3 million in today's dollars when adjusted for inflation) following a referendum which passed November 4,  1986, by  1010 yes to 470 no.

In March, 2012 the residents of Sauk Village went to the polls and voted to abandon the 55 year old wells in favor of bringing Lake Michigan Water to the Village by 740 yes and 670 no.  In fact 1410 voters came out to the polls that day, only 50 more voted in the 2013 mayoral race in Sauk Village.

The residents of Sauk Village did not approve any referendum on Hanks’ water improvement plan and whether it should have included a upgrade to the iron removal system.  The plan was presented to Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office who agreed with it but stated that the Village needs to find a long-term alternative to their well water in the Consent Decree.

According to Robinson Engineering’s leak detection study,  the water loss has decreased from nearly 50% to some 20% according to Czarnik during a previous village board meeting.

Some residents have privately filed a class action lawsuit against YRC(Roadway) for contaminating the Village’s water supply.  A similar lawsuit filed against the Village of Sauk Village was dismissed in 2013.


Original material copyright 2014 Sauk Villager News; all rights reserved.