Heights News: July 2024 Roundup
The Peoria Heights Village Board amended its noise ordinance at its July 16 meeting to allow for the regulation of loud music that “disturb(s) the peace, quiet and comfort of the neighboring inhabitants.”
The amendment, which also changed the window for live entertainment from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., follows multiple citizen complaints regarding excessive music volume at local concerts.
“We’re trying to really walk a balance between the business community and our residents here in the Heights to make sure everyone has a livable community,” said Trustee Matt Wigginton.
What followed was a significant amount of back and forth about whether the ordinance would accomplish the intended result.
Trustee Brandon Wisenburg said he had heard from many residents on this issue since first being elected in 2018. “They’re not necessarily against the music … What bothers them is when they’re sitting in their home where they pay a significant amount of property taxes and they can’t even watch their television. That is the problem. It’s the volume, not the existence of music.”
Wisenburg noted a significant increase in his property tax bill over the last several years: “If I had to sit in my living room and listen to Taylor Swift covers writing that check, I would not be happy.”
Wisenburg then proceeded to play a tape of the music that he said was 1,600 feet from the establishment where it originated. (The ordinance itself establishes 50 feet as the official distance at which noise may be considered a nuisance between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., though that is a holdover from the days when car stereos were the primary problem, not live entertainment.)
“If that’s not a problem and quality of life issue, I don’t know what is,” he said.
“The volume is a consistent complaint,” he added. “The attitude I get from the citizens is that no one cares, that apparently a sales tax dollar is more important than a property tax dollar.”
Wisenburg advocated for including a defined decibel limit in the ordinance.
But Village Administrator and Police Chief Dustin Sutton raised enforcement questions and noted that equipping every police officer with a decibel meter would be yet another expense in a very tight budget. Meanwhile, Trustee Jeff Goett argued that sending police officers out on noise duty would not be a productive use of their time.
Trustee Sarah DeVore said that the noise is not an everyday or even every-weekend problem. She said she has lived on Sciota for 10 years and could recall only one incident in that time where she was “sitting in the living room with windows and doors shut, air conditioner running, and I could sing along with it.” Meanwhile, the sounds coming from Peoria Stadium, which is outside the Village, have been louder, she said. “What do we do about that situation?”
While residents may be contacting their trustees, by and large they are not notifying the police department, said Sutton.
“Why do they feel there’s no relief when they don’t call?” he asked. Police officers are willing to shut concerts down, and fines for continued non-compliance have doubled in the past year, Sutton said. Mayor Michael Phelan noted that liquor licenses are “a privilege,” and that could be another way to deal with repeat offenders.
Ultimately, “we will do whatever the Board would like us to do,” said Sutton, adding that mostly, the police department just needs direction. “We (the Board and administration) discussed it in ’21. We discussed it in ’23.”
Ultimately, the Board voted 5-0 with Trustee Jennifer Reichert absent to approve the amendment.
“Let’s see how this dog barks, see if does the job,” said Goett, who indicated the issue can be brought back to the Board for more fine-tuning if the problem persists.
In other action or discussion:
The Board hired Hanson Professional Services to do Phase 1 engineering for the reconstruction and reinvention of Prospect Avenue from Tower Park to War Memorial Drive at a cost just short of $2.4 million.
The Village’s share of the project is $500,000, with half of that set aside in this year’s budget. Another $2 million is coming from a U.S. House grant secured by the office of Congressman Darin LaHood.
“Ninety percent of the major design decisions will be made in Phase 1,” said Hanson Vice President Kurt Bialobreski. Hanson will work directly with the Illinois Department of Transportation, which is administering the federal grant. Hanson also is doing the environmental analysis and will assist the Village with grant applications to secure additional funding. Phase 1 should take the better part of two years to complete.
“I’m very happy with the amount of work we’re getting performed for this,” said Community Development Director Wayne Aldrich. “I’ve worked with Hanson Professional Services probably most of my career. I’m really happy and excited to get started with this project.”
The Board learned that the Village’s waste hauler, Elmwood-based G&O
Disposal, is being sold to GFL Environmental, which will complete the remainder of G&O’s contract that expires in 2028.
Eric Shangraw, government contract manager at GFL, assured the board that “nothing will change during the course of the contract,” including the pricing.
“Our plan is to treat you all just like you’re being treated now with Gary’s employees,” said Shangraw. “We’re going to continue to take everything people put at the curb ... Please don’t abuse us, that’s all I ask.”
GFL has contracts in about 80 communities, with Peoria being the largest and Washington and Morton among its clients.
Trustee Wigginton noted that Peoria Heights has been “spoiled with G&O,” whose owner, Peoria Heights native Gary Maness, is retiring after 44 years. The board unanimously provided its consent to the transfer of the garbage pickup contract.
Heights Fire Chief Dan Decker updated the Village Board on the status of efforts to hire three full-time firefighters, noting that the department had received about 20 applications for the open position. Three of those came from current Heights volunteer firefighters.
That “may not sound like a lot,” but it’s a different environment today than it was when he first hired on as a firefighter decades ago, Decker said. Meanwhile, there are a lot of hoops to jump through, “completely governed by state statute,” he said, which include intensive face-to-face interviews, a civil service exam and extensive background checks.
Meanwhile, the department has between 23 and 25 active volunteers, and there has been a noticeable drop in the number of “t-shirt volunteers,” those who like to be called a firefighter but don’t show up for calls, said Decker. He added that the department gets good responses on serious calls such as an active fire or vehicle wreck, which constitute about 10 percent of all calls, not so much on less urgent matters such as a nursing home visit.
“I really want to build the people coming in behind” what will become the professional staff, he said. One possibility is rejuvenating the firefighter Explorer program, he said.
The Village currently pays a stipend to the two firefighters who go out on all engines, he said. Those stipends will go from two to one once the three hires are in place. Decker said he hopes to have a list of finalists by September with offers going out by October.
Trustee DeVore said that she would like to have a representative of the fire department in attendance at all future Village Board meetings.
The Village Board took up the matter of whether to install a stop sign at the intersection of Frances Avenue and Glen Elm Drive, the latter of which Sutton labeled the “heaviest traveled cut-through in Peoria Heights.”
The discussion was prompted by citizen complaints regarding speeding along the roadway. “It’s just outrageous,” said one.
The potential for a lighted or flashing stop sign was brought up, though Public Works Superintendent Chris Chandler reminded the board that those “are not free.”
Residents of the neighborhood were encouraged to pass a petition requesting a stop sign and then return to the Board for future action.
