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Village Newsletter - Fall 2021

Greetings!

I’ve now served as Mayor of Round Lake for a little over 5 months and what a whirlwind of excitement that last 150 days have been. As a member of the Round Lake Village Board for three terms and holding various government positions over the past 40 years, I feel confident those years of experience have prepared me to meet the challenges I will face as Mayor.

The Village Trustees and I encourage resident participation in the local government process, and attending a Village Board meeting is one way to do that. If you have questions or concerns, attending a Village Board meeting is the best way to have your voice heard. Regular Board meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of each month in the Council Chambers at Round Lake Village Hall beginning at 7:00 pm. Committee of the Whole meetings (work sessions) often follow the Regular Board meeting and offer in-depth explanation and discussion of topics facing the Village.

The Village Board is often faced with making decisions under challenging circumstances with time pressures, constraints, a great deal of uncertainty, highly visible outcomes, and within changing conditions. For example, I was recently faced with a situation concerning a food truck vendor. I believe there are places/events where food truck vendors work as a great complement to existing businesses and can create a positive experience for citizens and visitors. However, I have also seen situations where food truck vendors clash with adjacent businesses and detract from small business owners that have invested a lot of money. I will fight to protect the business owners that have invested their hard-earned dollars and time into our community.

Public opinion is an important part of the decision-making process and there are many ways to let the Village Board know your thoughts about a subject. Please email me at rskraly@roundlakeil.gov and I will direct your request to the appropriate Village department(s) to gather facts and information.

Enjoy the fall season! Winter is right around the corner….and remember to continue to support our local businesses!

If you have any comments, questions, or ideas you would like to see included in the e-newsletter, please email me at rskraly@roundlakeil.gov.

Sincerely,

Mayor Russ Kraly

Keep Up To Date With What's Going On!

Trick-or-Treat in Round Lake

Trick-or-Treating in Round Lake will be Sunday, October 31st from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

We encourage our community to continue following the safety guidelines from public health agencies, including the following safety tips from the Round Lake Police Department:

Always walk on sidewalks or paths.
Cross the streets at corners, use crosswalks.
Put down the electronic devices and make eye contact with vehicle drivers before crossing.
Make sure your children are accompanied by an adult.
Trick-or-Treat in well-lighted areas
Use flashlights and glow sticks for visibility.
Don’t accept candy that isn’t commercially wrapped.
Parents exam candy before allowing your children to eat it.
If you see something suspicious dial 9-1-1.

Senior Rebate Discontinued

Annually, the Village offered a senior citizen utility tax rebate to qualified residents. Due to a significant decline in utility tax revenues to support annual debt payments, the Village will be discontinuing the rebate program.

The Village has rebated nearly $200,000 since the program started providing assistance to our senior residents. The Village continues to offer seniors over the age of 65 a discount on their monthly utility bills. To sign up, please contact the Administration Dept. at 847-546-5400, option 2.

Police Officer Lateral Hire

In October of 2021, the Round Lake Police Department began accepting applications for the position of lateral entry police officer. These applicants must be state-certified police officers with a minimum of two years of full-time law enforcement experience.

Prior to this, the Board of Fire and Police Commissioner rules only allowed appointments for police officers as “new hires.” Under the new rules, the Board may now choose to appoint police officers from either a “new hire” list or a lateral entry list. This new rule allows the Police Department to seek qualified, experienced police officers for hire under a more streamlined process. It saves time, money, and resources while providing the community the benefit of seasoned officers ready for patrol much sooner than a new applicant who is not certified.

The police department is excited about this change and is currently in the process of hiring its first lateral entry police applicants.

Village Board Approves Cannabis Regulations

The State of Illinois enacted the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act, Public Act 101-0027 (Act), which pertains to the possession, use, cultivation, transportation, and dispensing of adult-use cannabis on June 25, 2019. The Act allows State residents over the age of 21 to possess up to 30 grams of cannabis and personal cannabis use is allowed in most private residences, but not in prohibited areas including any public place or in close physical proximity to underage persons.

The State Department of Agriculture and the State Department of Financial and Professional Regulation oversees and issue licenses for all cannabis businesses. There are very strict rules to follow on who can apply.

The Round Lake Village Board took a cautionary wait-and-see approach to the cannabis business for the first year of legalization. The Board wanted to see how the State handled issuing licenses, inspections, and enforcement. The Board wanted to see what demand there was for cannabis-based businesses and products. Most importantly, the Village Board wanted to see how other communities handle the new businesses and what impacts positive or negative that occurred in the community. The Village Board recently revisited the restriction on all cannabis businesses.

Village Staff did research and talked with other communities that have cannabis businesses to see what impact these businesses have had on the communities. The complaints and concerns have been minimal.

The Village of Round Lake Planning and Zoning Commission conducted a public hearing on August 31, 2021, and recommended changes to Title 17, Zoning Ordinance. The Village Board agreed with the Planning and Zoning Commission and passed an ordinance that allows for cannabis-based businesses with a special use permit.

The code language allows cannabis businesses through a special use permit. This will ensure that all the State and Village regulations are met. The Act requires dispensaries to be 1,500 feet apart from each other and the Village added distance requirements of 500 feet from daycares and schools. Each business will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. No onsite consumption will be permitted.

Village Receives First Allotment of ARPA Funds

In March 2021, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) economic stimulus bill was signed into law to provide funding for economic recovery. Of that money, $19.53 billion was allocated to non-entitlement units of local government, based on population. Round Lake was allotted a total of $2.4 million, which will be paid in two allotments.

The Village received the first allotment of $1,230,295 in early October.

As with any program involving the distribution of federal funds, the U.S. Treasury has outlined a number of categories for which the funds could be used, including to offset revenue losses, economic recovery, provide premium pay for essential workers, and invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.

Village Staff will complete its internal review and discussion of potential uses for the funds and will provide a thorough and complete recommendation to the Village Board as part of the FY2023 budget discussion.

Cedar Lake Road Realignment

The Cedar Lake Road alignment through the Round Lake downtown area has been discussed and engineered for some time. It is a complex project involving Lake County, Village of Round Lake, Metra, and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). Other stakeholders include Round Lake businesses, the Round Lake Library, and Round Lake Area Schools Community Unit School District 116.

As part of the process, a number of different alignments have been discussed to effectively improve traffic conditions and safety at the Metra tracks and in the Village’s downtown area. The Village continue to work with Lake County, the project lead, and other entities to finalize a preferred alignment through our downtown area that will improve safety and foster economic development in our downtown area.

For additional information: https://cedarlakeroadrealignment.org/.

Regional 9-1-1 Consolidation

The Village continues to support the County-wide 9-1-1 regional consolidation. The Village, along with a number of other entities approved an Intergovernmental Agreement with Lake County in 2018 that was recently amended to provide additional time for the 9-1-1 consortium to work together on the consolidation process.

Those involved in the process believed a more detailed examination was needed to determine what service enhancements, operational efficiencies, and financial savings can be achieved through the regional consolidation of dispatch centers. There are many potential benefits of dispatch consolidation, some of which include reduced call transferring; more consistent and effective service delivery; better data sharing between agencies and responders in the field, enhanced interoperability, and the ability to share information across jurisdictions.

Bees in the Trees

Or more likely – wasps! Though related, bees and wasps differ in important ways. Most wasps have a narrow “waistline” where the front portion of the abdomen tapers to become a small tube as it attaches to the middle body section, the thorax. Bees do not have this narrowing of the abdomen. Another difference is that bees feed nectar and pollen to their young (larvae), while wasps feed their larvae insects and spiders. Yellowjackets and hornets also scavenge food including fruit, sweets, meats, and carrion. More information can be found on the University of Illinois Extension website here: http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=1035

Honey bees are pollinators and an important part of our ecosystem. Honeybees pollinate many of the plants which produce the food consumed by humankind. Examples of plants pollinated by honeybees include almonds, apples, blueberries, cucumbers, melons, and pumpkins. If possible, they should be left alone or relocated by a trained professional. More information can be found on the Illinois Dept. of Agriculture website here: https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/agr/Insects/Bees/Pages/default.aspx

Bees and wasps can be quite active in fall as they work to prepare their hives or nests for the winter. If you notice a bee or wasp nest in a parkway tree, please contact the Public Works Department, at 847-546-0962 they can remove it.

Street Lights

With the onset of fall, the days are growing shorter and evening is setting in sooner. The Village owns and maintains the decorative street lights throughout most of the subdivisions and the downtown area. The remainder of the street lights are owned and maintained by ComEd.

The Public Works Department does periodic night checks of our street lights but if you notice one is out or flickering, it’s very helpful if you report it to us at 847-546-0962 or pwdept@roundlakeil.gov.

Fall Back - Change Your Clock & Batteries

Fall Back- Change Your Clock and Your Batteries

Daylight Saving Time ends on November 7, 2021, so we’ll “fall back” and return to Standard time. Don’t forget to turn your clocks back an hour before bed on Saturday, November 6th.

As this date approaches, the Village would like to remind all residents to change the batteries in their smoke alarms when they turn their clocks back. Changing the batteries in your smoke alarm is a simple task that can save lives.

Statistics from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

In 2012-2016, smoke alarms sounded in more than half (53%) of the home fires reported to U.S. fire departments.
Almost three of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms (40%) or no working smoke alarms (17%).
No smoke alarms were present in two out of every five (40%) home fire deaths.
The death rate per 1,000 reported home fires was more than twice as high in homes that did not have any working smoke alarms compared to the rate in homes with working smoke alarms (12.3 deaths vs. 5.7 deaths per 1,000 fires).
In fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate, more than two of every five (43%) of the smoke alarms had missing or disconnected batteries.
Dead batteries caused one-quarter (25%) of the smoke alarm failures.

For more information on smoke alarm safety, please visit the NFPA website

Holiday Light Decorating Contest

Register your home, business, or block to participate in the 2021 Holiday Lights Decorating Contest and help us spread holiday cheer! Show off your jolliest decorating skills to create the magic of the season.

The Village will compile a listing of all entries to post on the Village website to share the holiday joy.

Details of the contest will be posted on the Village website in November. You must register by December 6 to be included in the contest.

Small Business Saturday

As you start to make your holiday shopping lists, please remember to shop local. Shopping locally creates jobs, fills shopping centers with stores, keeps money in town, provides you with unique gifts, and maintains the local economy. Make the holiday season, and every day, bright by shopping at your Round Lake businesses. Your community depends on you to make it thrive.

Shop Small was started by American Express in 2010 in an effort to support local shops that make our communities strong.

Business owners are encouraged to search “Shop Small” for more ideas on promoting your business.

Convenient Payment Options

Did you know that you can manage your Village utility account, including paying your bill, online?

Create an online account to receive e-notifications of new bills, view billing and consumption history, schedule payments using your bank or credit card account, sign up for paperless billing, and much more!

Setting up your online account is easy! All you need is your utility bill showing your account number. To manage your utility account online, visit: www.roundlakeil.gov

Code Enforcement FAQ's

Q) Can I burn the leaves that are on my property?

A) Village Code allows the open burning of leaves and twigs only, generated from vegetation on the property, between the hours of 8:00 am and sunset. The burning cannot create a nuisance or hazard to the neighbors or drivers.

Q) How do I keep my house warm and safe in the winter?

A) The best and most economical way to heat your home is to make sure your furnace has been inspected and cleaned by a reputable HVAC contractor so that it is operating safely and at peak efficiency.

Portable space heaters are allowed but must be used as designed by the manufacturer. Must be plugged (if electric) directly into an outlet (extension cords are not allowed) and be placed at least three feet from anything that can catch fire. Kerosene or propane heaters are not designed or recommended to be used inside due to the fumes and flammable fuel used. If you have a fireplace, chimneys need to be cleaned and inspected on a regular basis to check for a build-up of creosote or blockages which can cause fires. And just as important, check that all smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are working properly.

Q) Who is responsible for shoveling the sidewalk in front of my house?

A) The occupant of the house is responsible by village code which states:

12.04.070 "The person occupying the ground floor of any building, the user of any lot without a structure thereon, and the owner of any vacant building or other premises shall remove the snow and ice accumulating on the abutting sidewalks within twenty-four (24) hours after any snowfall has ceased. If snow or ice cannot be removed the surface shall be sanded or otherwise treated to lessen the hazard for pedestrians until the climate permits removal." Please be sure fire hydrants are clear of snow as well.

News And Announcements

NEW BUSINESSES! The Village encourages everyone to support our local businesses. The Village would like to welcome the following new businesses to Round Lake: