Village Manager's Message

Halloween in Villa Park is a pretty big deal. As I drive through town looking at Village projects, I see the variety and complexity of the decorations. As I drove home from work on Halloween, I saw the kids dressed up to trick-or-treat. On November 11, the Community F.U.N. Commission will award the best household decorations they saw at our Board of Trustees Meeting. I look forward to seeing the photos.

One of my goals when I took this job was to make the Village of Villa Park an employer of preference. This would retain good employees and attract new ones. Assistant Village Manager (AVM) Suzanne McVey has been working on two key efforts to accomplish this. The first is her leadership on the Classification and Licensing Committee that the Village and the AFSCME Local formed as per the last contract. After a lot of discussion, both formal and informal, a proposal will go before the members of Local 964. This will provide for greater upward mobility and reward the achievement of certain licenses that are valuable to the Village (e.g. CDL Class B license, or a Certified Playground Safety Inspector). She also worked with the Employee Appreciation Committee to create the pumpkin carving and decoration contest that the Public Works Department won. These improvements, both substantive and light-hearted, have helped create what I believe is a better workplace.

Last week we saw an interruption in the Sidewalk Replacement program (50/50 Program) as the contractor, Strada Construction Company, had to return to an emergency at a different worksite. Due to the additional money dedicated to the program by the Board of Trustees, we were able to get nearly 100 households in the program this year. Strada started at the north end of town and is proceeding south. They have about a week’s worth of work remaining, which they should accomplish in one week when they return to Villa Park. We expect them back this week.

Two important pieces of information came from our partnership with the DuPage Sports Authority – part of the DuPage Convention and Visitors Bureau. Windy City Curling will be back in business with a Grand Reopening on Saturday, November 16, from 4:00 to 8:00 pm. We also learned that Willowbrook High School, fresh off their hosting of the Illinois State Flag Football Championships, might be part of the 30th annual Islamic Games. The organizers stressed that the focus of these events is on the participants, not large crowds of spectators, but it would mean many new visitors to Villa Park.

View the full weekly report here.

Matt Harline

Village Manager