Glencoe village trustees have approved a series of agreements with separate governmental bodies both within and outside the village.
In July and August, the Village Board updated ongoing arrangements with the Glencoe Park District and Glencoe School District 35, and joined several neighboring communities in a pact for fire training.
“They are intergovernmental agreements that underscore our commitment in seeking ways not only to save money and time but to build and maintain relationships with our partner governments,” Village President Howard Roin said at the Aug. 15 board meeting.
With the Park District, the village is renewing an arrangement dating back to 2013. The current pact indicates the Public Works Department will manage vehicles for both the village and Park District, and the village assists with tree maintenance. The Park District will tend to public lawns, including weed removal.
“They do our vehicles and we do their mowing.” Lisa Sheppard, of the Park District, explained at an Aug. 20 meeting where park commissioners approved the new deal.
The new agreement runs from Sept. 1, 2024 through Aug. 31, 2027.
Under the updated agreement, a shared tree nursery set to provide trees for public parts of the community will be cared for by both the village and the Park District.
The Village Board approved the agreement at its Aug. 15 meeting.
At the same meeting, trustees also approved a shared use of a regional fire training manager with the neighboring towns of Northfield, Wilmette and Winnetka in an overall agreement with the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy to provide fire training to local personnel.
The new agreement is set to run two years.
Deputy Village Manager Nikki Larson said the cost to Glencoe would be $34,020, the same amount paid by each of the four municipalities. Next year it will go down to $32,267.
In a third shared services agreement, the Glencoe Village Board approved an updated agreement with District 35 that divides the cost of providing crossing guard services. The original agreement went into effect in 2018.
Under the new pact, the village pays $79,000 this year and the school district will pay $15,000 for the crossing guards — who are hired by an outside firm.
“The current agreement required the District (35) to pay at least $12,500 but no more than $15,000 per year to cover a portion of the cost for crossing guard services, while the new agreement requires an amount equal to 25 percent of the Village’s actual cost to provide services to the District,” Public Safety Director Sean Loughran wrote in a memo to the board. “While the percentage share of the cost is similar to that of the current agreement, the new agreement will index with any future increases imposed by the vendor.”
Before this agreement went into effect, public safety officers at times had to be used to escort children across the street, which the previous public safety director felt was not the best use of their time.
The District 35 board signed off on the contract at its August meeting.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelancer.