West Peoria News
By Sharon McBride | 14th August 2008
There will be a Mass offered for the West Peoria Community on Sunday, August 10, 2008, 10:30 a.m. at the Immaculate Conception Convent, 2408 W. Heading Avenue.
The West Peoria Fire Department will begin charging for ambulance calls beginning October 1st pending completion of billing procedures. A combination of factors leads to the decision by the Fire Protection District Board of Trustees. The rising costs of medical equipment, supplies, and operating costs figured into the decision.
“In order to maintain the high quality of service to West Peorians, we unfortunately found it necessary to begin charging for ambulance calls,” stated Fire Chief Robert Stecher. “The ambulance service has dramatically changed over the last thirty plus years. There have been many life-saving medical and technological advances and we’ve been able to keep pace, but equipping and maintaining an ambulance today is far more costly.”
Another change is each volunteer will be paid a nominal amount per call. This is a deviation from past practices but has been necessitated by the changing dynamics in EMS services locally. “We are one of the last area departments to offer a free ambulance service,” Stecher said. “We found ourselves training emergency medical technicians only to lose them to area ambulance services and other departments that pay their crews. We want to continue to provide the high quality of service at the most affordable means we can, but we cannot continue to do so if we are a training ground for paid services. We anticipate the charges to be less than what Advanced Medical Transport charges,” Stecher stated, “and we are normally much quicker in our response because the ambulance is right here rather than summoning an outside agency to respond to our call.” The free ambulance service was added to the fire department in 1975 to be able to quickly respond to West Peoria residents in emergency situations. Until the change to a fee structure, the ambulance has been funded through tax dollars, memorials and donations as well as fundraisers. Switching to a user-fee structure will free up a portion of the other funding sources to address the fire department’s budgetary needs as well as the ambulance. For more information, please feel free to contact Chief Robert Stecher at the West Peoria Fire Department’s non-emergency number: 674-6615.
The 2008 4th of July parade and flag raising was another huge success. Over 80 different service organizations, churches, clubs, political groups, businesses, fire departments and military/veterans groups participated in this year’s parade. This year’s Grand Marshal was Jeff Reagan. Jeff has been the garbage collector since the initial contract with Waste Management eleven years ago. Jeff provides excellent service. Additionally, he has a very friendly manner and has maintained countless friendships with West Peoria residents. The residents know he is dependable and always willing to “go the extra mile” for his clients. Jeff officially became a West Peoria resident when he purchased a home this past year on Kenwood. Jeff works very hard to keep West Peoria clean.
This year’s winners of trophies at the parade were as follows: Best of Show- The Cross Baptist Church with a large Noah’s Ark float. This trophy was donated by South Side Bank. The Most Patriotic- Red Hot Flutterbye’s/Red Hat Society who sported several elaborately decorated cars and trucks in a red/white/blue theme. This trophy was donated by West Peoria Lions Club. The Best Youth Group- Kuk Sool Won of Peoria- a youth group who performs martial arts tricks. This trophy was donated by West Peoria Residents Association. The Best Service Organization- POW/MIA float- which is a nicely done float that honors all wars the USA has fought. Dennis Pickles has done a excellent job with this float. It is a float worth stopping by the flag raising ceremony to really understand and enjoy. This trophy was donated by West Peoria Fire Department Women Auxiliary. Mark Wrhel, this year’s parade chair, extends special thanks to the following individuals, who helped with the parade: Block captains- Kim, Cindy, Linda, and Erika, Terry for the sound system at the church, Carol for the invocation, Henry for the parking signs and barricades, Troop and Pack 11 and the Eagle Scouts for the color guard and flag raising ceremony, Peoria County Sheriff’s Department for crowd control. Parade judges: Ann, Pat, and Bobby, Gary and Matt from Jim McComb Chevrolet, West Peoria Fire Department, and Mayor Jim Dillon. He states that “all those that I may have missed I could not have done any of this without your willingness to give a couple of hours of your time on the 4th. Thank You.”
American flags need to be displayed properly. If you have a flag that is worn and needs to be replaced, please do so. Call Bob DeSutter, 674-6668, and the Boy Scouts will dispose of these flags properly.
Many tires have turned up in West Peoria. Waste Management will not take tires. You need to dispose of them because they cause potential health problems with mosquitoes and rodents. Call West Peoria Township, 674-0462, and for $3.00 a tire they will take care of them for you. .
The next West Peoria Neighborhood Watch meeting will be held at City Hall on August 21st at 6 p.m. Deputy Sheriff Chris Watkins will up-date on criminal activity in West Peoria. The West Peoria Residents’ Association meeting will be held at City Hall on August 21st at 6:30 p.m. following the Neighborhood Watch meeting. Guest speaker will be Darin LaHood, Republican candidate for Peoria County States Attorney. Darin who lives in the West Bluff area, is an attorney with ten years experience. One of his major campaign themes is to work with neighborhoods to reduce crime. The public is invited.
The West Peoria Neighborhood Watch “Night Out Against Crime” which is usually held the first Tuesday in August has been changed to Friday, September 5th from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Franciscan Park in West Peoria. The change was made due to the extremely hot weather usually experienced that time in August. The public is invited.
Please make sure you have the building permit that is required before erecting a fence, building a deck, installing a swimming pool, etc. All Permit Applications are available at City Hall or on the City Website: www.cityofwestpeoria.com. The City of West Peoria has established a Paint Program for residential property owners. If you are interested in this program, please pick up your application at West Peoria City Hall or online at: www.cityofwestpeoria.com. The Paint Program offers reimbursement of paint costs to residents who wish to paint the exterior of their homes or accessory structures (sheds, storage units, or garages). Reimbursement will be granted for exterior paint only. Participants who purchase paint in the City of West Peoria will receive reimbursement of 50% of total paint costs, up to a maximum of $250. If the paint is not purchased in West Peoria, the maximum amount reimbursed will be 30% of total paint costs, also up to $250. Paint is available in West Peoria at Ace Hardware at 2504 W Rohmann Avenue and Farmington Road Hardware at 2600 W Farmington Road. Reimbursement of receipts will be received upon completion of project. There is a new ordinance defining and restricting garages sales. Residents are advised that all public works projects are impossible to reschedule and will proceed as planned, regardless of garage sales. It is recommended that residents check with City Hall about planned Public Works Projects before scheduling a garage sale.
The City of West Peoria helps fund a sidewalk improvement program. Please call the City of West Peoria or go to http://www.cityofwestpeoria.com/sidewalk_program.asp for program guidelines and to get a petition. The deadline to have your sidewalks redone in 2009 is September 30, 2008.
West Peoria received a $10,000 state grant to help replace hundreds of its stop and yield signs. The grant will initially go toward paying for about 200 new stop and yield signs which cost approximately $48/each. State Senator David Koehler, D-Peoria, was helpful in securing this grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
West Peoria Fire Department will celebrate Family Day on September 28th from noon until 3:00 p.m. at the fire station located at 406 N. Waverly Avenue. A full slate of activities for all ages is planned for the day. Mark your calendar and plan on attending.
The West Peoria Fire Department recently honored Ross Garman as Firefighter of the Year for 2007 and Amanda Olsta as Emergency Medical Technician of the Year for 2007. The awards were presented at the annual firefighter appreciation dinner. Once again, it comes to my mind how extremely valuable these volunteers are to our quality of life in West Peoria. Many of us and members of our families owe much to the willingness of our volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians. My thanks and respect to all.
Mr. Gene Pratt was recently appointed as the new planning and community development coordinator. He is filling the position recently vacated by Mical McFarland, who very recently moved to North Carolina. Michal worked approximately 2 ½ years for the City.