Rockford Sun

City of Carlyle Police Committee met May 13.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Bruce Hilmes on Monday, May 13, 2024, at 6:02 p.m. a Case Halstead Library located at 550 6th Street, Carlyle, IL 62231. Committee members present included Bruce Hilmes, Scott Diekemper, and Jeremy Weh. Others present included Jim McClaren, Mike Jansen, John Hodapp, Chief Mark Pingsterhaus, Brad Myers, Mayor Judy Smith, and Rita Jurgensmeyer.

Approval of Minutes

A motion was made by Alderman Scott Diekemper to approve the minutes from April 8, 2024. The motion was seconded by Alderman Jeremy Weh, and it was approved by voice vote.

Stop Signs at Lakeside Liquor & Gas

Chief of Police Mark Pingsterhaus said that Mayor Smith has come to him with an issue at Lakeshore Liquor and Gas. People are coming out of the parking lot and not stopping before turning on Governor’s Drive. She asked if Lakeshore Liquor and Gas or the city could put up stop signs. Chief Pingsterhaus said that if a crash occurs and there isn’t an ordinance for a stop sign there, they cannot issue any tickets. Chief Pingsterhaus talked to City Attorney Joe Heiligenstein, and he said yes, there is a way of doing it. Mayor Smith said that she would talk to the owner of Lakeshore Liquor and Gas, Sunny Tut. Mayor Smith said the managers are on board with putting up stop signs because they see the problem. Mayor Smith said that several residents at Governor’s Run have asked about this. They are concerned about walking and cars not stopping. Chief Pingsterhaus said that Wal-Mart has placed their own stop signs and since there isn’t an ordinance he can’t do anything about anyone running the stop signs. Chief Pingsterhaus asked for a motion to take to council to have City Attorney Joe Heiligenstein draw up an ordinance to place stop signs at Lakeshore Liquor and Gas. Alderman Jeremy Weh made a motion to send to council placing stop signs at Lakeshore Liquor and Gas. Alderman Scott Diekemper seconded the motion, and it was approved by voice vote.

School Resource Officer

Chief of Police Mark Pingsterhaus told the committee that he, Mayor Smith, School Superintendent Annie Gray, and all the principals at the schools met and discussed the school resource officer. He said it went very well. He gave them a copy of the memorandum of understanding between the school and the city. He used the memorandum from the City of Maryville. They have the same position as Carlyle, one officer and three schools. He tweaked it a little bit and gave it to the school with the understanding that they would have to have their attorney look it over. Chief Pingsterhaus said that the school’s attorney has already looked at it and sent their version of it. He said there were some things that he wasn’t happy with, but others that he was very happy with. Chief Pingsterhaus and Mayor Smith have talked about the hours the officer would be working. Maryville has their officer at all school events. That leads to a lot of overtime hours. He read what the school sent him today and he had asked them for 20 percent of the wages along with 20 percent of the health insurance benefits and 20 percent of the employers share of IMRF. He said he came up with $25,000.00 for the school’s share and the school had no problem with that. He added that one of the things they asked for was for the agreement to last for three years. He said that wouldn’t happen, he wants year to year because this officer is being paid by a grant and he doesn’t know how long the city can do this at this rate. He said that it also says that if the school requests the SRO to work greater than eight hours per day the district will compensate the SRO for any overtime hours and 1.5 times the agreed upon pay. Chief Pingsterhaus said City Attorney Joe Heiligenstein has the memorandum of understanding from Maryville and he will be looking it over. Chief Pingsterhaus would like to see this started with the next school year. Landon Smith will finish the police academy in August and Ben Useni, the new part time officer, has been working out fantastically. He has all the training, and he wants to work here. He said that Landon will need about three months of field training. Alderman Jeremy Weh asked if Mark Taylor would be the SRO and if he would he be ok with the overtime. Chief Pingsterhaus said he talked to Mark Taylor, and Taylor would be willing to do the overtime as straight time. Chief Pingsterhaus said that there are a lot of sporting events and that he had talked to Annie Gray, and she said that they may only need him at some of the sporting events, not all of them. Alderman John Hodapp asked if Taylor must have special training to be an SRO. Chief Pingsterhaus said that by state statute they have a 40-hour course and Mark Taylor took it two weeks ago. Chief Pingsterhaus said that officers already stop in at sporting events. Chief Pingsterhaus said all the officers have a juvenile certification. In the state of Illinois an officer can’t deal with a juvenile unless they have the certification. Chief Pingsterhaus said that if anyone has any questions to let him know. He also said that the school is excited about it, and they don’t think they will have any problems with the school board approving it.

Unfinished Business

There was no unfinished business.

New Business

There was no new business.

Any Other Comments

Chief Pingsterhaus said there is a new radio system going in the whole county. They had the license put in the police department’s radio the other day and they probably won’t be ready for another year. They have been upgrading the equipment and every new squad has updated radios. They are doing this gradually, so they aren’t hit all at one time.

Public Comments

There were no public comments.

Executive Session

The Committee did not enter executive session.

Adjournment

At 6:18 p.m. a motion to adjourn was made by Alderman Jeremy Weh. The motion was seconded by Alderman Scott Diekemper and was approved by voice vote.

https://go.boarddocs.com/il/carlyle/Board.nsf/Public#