Sangamon Sun

Village of La Grange Board of Fire and Police met Sept. 10.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

A meeting of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners (BOFPC) of the Village of La Grange was held on September 10, 2019 in the lower level conference room of the Village Hall and was called to order at 5:01 p.m.

PRESENT: (and constituting a quorum): Chairman Hoffenberg, Commissioner Boersma and Commissioner Levato.

ABSENT: None

ALSO PRESENT: Andrianna Peterson, Village Manager, Terrence Vavra, Fire Chief, and Kurt Bluder, Police Chief.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES- AUGUST 27, 2019

The minutes of the August 27, 2019 meeting were presented for approval. After consideration, it was moved by Commissioner Levato and seconded by Chairman Hoffenberg that the minutes be approved. Motion carried.

3. BUSINESS AT HAND

A. Request of Waiver – Police Officer Final Eligibility List – Chief Bluder reported to the Commission that the last person on the current Police Officer Eligibility List, Anthony Sanchez, has requested a waiver of further testing. Due to his work schedule as a probationary Police Officer, Candidate Sanchez was unable to attend the oral interview on September 10, 2019. Candidate Sanchez requested a waiver to Chief Bluder in writing on September 4, 2019.

A motion to approve Candidate Anthony Sanchez’s request for waiver was moved by Chairman Hoffenberg, and seconded by Commissioner Levato. Motion Carried. The Commissioners decided that in order to accommodate Candidate Sanchez’s schedule, a meeting has been tentatively scheduled for Friday, September 27 at 9:00 a.m. for an Oral Interview. It should be noted that if Candidate Sanchez cannot make the interview, he will be disqualified from the current Police Officer Eligibility Register.

B. Amendments – Police Officer Final Eligibility List – Chief Bluder provided an update to the Commission regarding three candidates on the current eligibility register (Birholtz, Jablonski, Leon) who have either declined additional consideration in the hiring process for Police Officer, or have been determined to be ineligible to continue in the hiring process.

After consideration, a motion was made by Chairman Hoffenberg and seconded by Commissioner Levato to strike the three candidates from the Police Officer Final Eligibility Register. Motion carried.

C. Amendments – Police Officer Final Eligibility List – Chief Bluder provided an update to the commission regarding one candidate on the current eligibility register (Quinones) who has either declined additional consideration in the hiring for Police Officer, or has been determined to be ineligible to continue in the hiring process.

After consideration, a motion was made by Commissioner Levato and seconded by Chairman Hoffenberg to strike the candidate from the Police Officer Final Eligibility Register. Motion carried.

D. Call for Examinations – Police Officer Final Eligibility List – Chief Bluder reported to the Commission that the current Police Officer eligibility list will be exhausted in the very near future. In anticipation of this occurring, Chief Bluder recommended that the BOFPC initiate a new eligibility list process. As the Village has used I/O Solutions in the past with good results, Chief Bluder recommended that we contract for the same services again.

Saturday, November 2 at 8:00 a.m. at Lyons Township South High School has been reserved for the orientation and proctoring of the written exam. Applications for the written exam will open Thursday, September 12, and the deadline will be Thursday, October 10. Staff is recommending that the minimum passing score be determined as 70% which is the same percentage score that was considered as passing during the last examination process.

After consideration, a motion was made by Commissioner Boersma and seconded by Commissioner Levato that the Police Department initiate the Call for Examination process with I/O Solutions and that the minimum score for the written exam be 70%. Motion carried.

E. Approval – Firefighter/Paramedic Initial Eligibility Register – Chief Vavra reported to the Commission that the Initial Eligibility Register for Firefighter/Paramedic is on the agenda for approval. 53 candidates signed up to take the written examination. The written examination comprises 60% of an applicants combined score and the Written Subjective Examination comprises the remaining 40% of the score. An applicant must pass the Written Examination with a 70% to continue. 29 candidates passed the written examination. The applicants who have met the passing score were ranked on a scale of 70 to 100 using standard deviation (an industry standard). The approval of the Initial Eligibility Register triggers a 10-day period where the candidates are allowed to request preference points (Veteran, Education, and Experience) as provided in Section 5 of the Rules and Regulations. I/O Solutions will be coordinating the preference point review process.

After consideration, a motion to approve the Firefighter/Paramedic Initial Eligibility Register was made by Commissioner Boeresma and seconded by Commissioner Levato. Motion carried.

F. Oral Interviews – Police Officer – Oral Interviews for the position of Police Officer were held.

4. OLD BUSINESS

5. NEW BUSINESS

A. Next Meeting Date – The next meeting date for the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners will be Friday, September 27 at 9:00 a.m.

B. Police Sergeant Promotion Update – The deadline for eligible candidates to submit letters of intent for the position of Sergeant was Monday, September 9. Nine of the eligible sixteen candidates have submitted their letter of intent to Chief Bluder.

6. PUBLIC COMMENT 

None.

7. CLOSED SESSION 

None 

8. ADJOURNMENT

Since there was no further business before the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, it was moved by Commissioner Boersma and seconded by Commissioner Levato that the meeting was adjourned at 6:20 p.m.

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