Board hears year in review for 2012
By Michael S. Hoey
CORRESPONDENT
Combining police and recreation services with the City of Delavan and planning for a new Village Hall and fire station are among the highlights of 2012 for the Village of Darien.
Village Administrator Diana Dykstra wrote a year in review, which Board President Evelyn Etten presented to the board Jan. 21. Dykstra could not attend the meeting because of a family emergency.
“The last 12 months in the Village of Darien have been exciting to say the least,” Dykstra wrote. “In such a short amount of time we have had enough accomplishments, I felt it important to take a moment and reflect on them.”
The village entered two intergovernmental agreements with the City of Delavan. One also includes the Town of Darien as the three communities agreed to share park and recreation services to provide residents with additional recreation opportunities and showcase village park facilities.
Dykstra said the village also successfully entered into an agreement with the city for the city to provide 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week police service to the village while maintaining a local department for village residents. Dykstra said the agreement is a model for other small communities around the state.
Etten said the Delavan Police Department has provided good and very visible coverage since taking over village police services Jan. 1, and she has heard only positive comments from her neighbors so far.
Capt. Jim Hansen, a Darien resident, said that was the department’s goal.
“Darien is not an afterthought,” he said. “We want to provide excellent service here and in the city.”
Hansen said the transition from the village providing its own police department to the city providing the services has been seamless.
“Everything has been going very well so far in making sure we have been getting up and down every street saying hi to people, handling complaints, and trying to solve problems in a confident, caring, and compassionate way,” Hansen said.
Hansen said the city has been working very well with the Walworth County Sheriff’s Department, and he encouraged anyone on the board to contact him if they feel the police department can do anything better.
Hansen said more focus will be placed on abandoned vehicles in the village with a focus on compliance with village ordinances rather than enforcement.
Dykstra said the village received a Community Development Block Grant to demolish the Protect-All buildings next to Village Hall and secure U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development funding to help finance the construction of a new village hall. Dykstra reported that she expects developments on those projects soon.
The village approved waiving impact fees for a year in an effort to spur residential development. Dykstra reported that two new single-family-home permits were issued as a result.
Dykstra also mentioned in her memo that the village created an ad hoc fire station committee to study building a new fire station for the village and town. The village and town also adopted updated fire and emergency medical services ordinances.
Fee schedules were reviewed and credit card processing was initiated for processing fees, taxes, citations, or reservations of village parks or facilities, Dykstra wrote. Union contracts were negotiated, the employee handbook was updated and post-retirement benefits were itemized to be planned for.
The village also took ownership by donation of the Chaney Tire Building, which Dykstra said will serve many purposes for the village that will be discussed at upcoming meetings.
Other business
The board amended its ordinance regarding business licenses and regulations to include a provision to allow the village to collect forfeitures for underage drinking violations. The village had already been collecting those fines but Municipal Judge Roger Farnsworth recently discovered the village had no specific ordinance allowing it. Without one, the forfeitures should have been going to the state.
The board approved payment former police officer Jonathon Strohm $943 for costs related to his police academy tuition at Blackhawk Technical College. Strohm had an agreement in place with former Police Chief Hunter Gilmore to have his tuition reimbursed, but that agreement ended Dec. 31 when the village police department ceased operations.
Strohm was seeking to have the village pay his entire tuition. Etten said the police committee recommended only paying part of the cost and noted the village was not obligated to pay any of it.
Etten appointed Trustee Ken Truckey to serve as the village’s ex-officio member on the city’s General Operations Committee regarding any issues that involve policing of the village. The appointment was part of the agreement with the city to provide police services. The village will no longer have its own police committee.
