Beecher Board Discusses School Referendum

By Jeff Vorva

The nice and neighborly thing for the Village of Beecher’s Board of Trustees to do is throw its support to School District 200U and its referendum.

But, legally, the village’s hands could be tied.

During its Feb. 27 meeting, the board kicked around the idea of public support for the school district’s request for a 5.35 percent rate to help put the district back into the black.

A similar referendum was rejected by the voters in June. Now the district is trying it again on April 4.

Mayor Marcy Meyer brought it up toward the end of the village meeting as a discussion item.

“We are trying to stay on the right side of what’s proper,” she said. “We were asked if we would go on record with some kind of resolution to show our support of the school referendum.”

She said property values are higher when a community has a strong school district and it could entice more people to move to Beecher.

Some trustees believe that if sports and other activities are cut if the referendum fails, some student would be roaming the street and there would be an opportunity for them to get into trouble.  

On the other side of the argument, some on the board are uncomfortable supporting any type of referendum without everyone knowing all of the issues.

Village administrator Robert Barber said it’s tricky.

“What if another taxing body comes to us with a more controversial referendum and wants our support?” he said. “That’s not our job.”

He added that the village can help in other ways.

“We can supply the school district with access to our platforms for information and to get the word out without supporting it,” he said. “People can make their own decision.”

The board kicked around the idea of providing a link for the referendum on the village’s Facebook page, but balked at putting it on the village website.

Barber said that while most of the board agrees with helping out the district, there are hurdles.

“There is a distinct legal difference of an individual saying, ‘we support the referendum’ as opposed to a corporate entity,” Barber said. “There is a vast difference. I’m sure any one of us can make an individual statement claiming support. But saying it as a corporate entity is different and I don’t know if that’s a road you want to go down.”

Meyer said she would investigate the matter with the village lawyers.

“We will look into if this is legal for us to do even if we want to do it,” she said.

Firing up

While it wasn’t set in stone, the board was trying to set up a March 8 meeting with members of the fire district board on its inspection program.

Meyer and other board members have been meeting with a few fire board members and the hope is to get everyone together for a meeting before the village decides if it wants to rescind an intergovernmental agreement with the fire department.

At issue is philosophical clarification of some of the inspections being done by an independent inspector that has caused some concern.

“I’ve had multiple meetings in the past where this seems to keep going south,” Meyer said.

She hopes that a meeting with everyone present will help advance the process.

Beecher bits

–The village will purchase a red Ford Escape from Terry’s Ford of Peotone for $29,936 for the Fourth of July raffle.

–Project Pickle is getting rolling and the board voted for American Sealcoating of Bridgeview to install the pickleball, basketball and futsal courts on Beecher High School property for $68,205.

–There will be a meeting for residents and business owners Penfield Street at 7 p.m. March 14 at the Washington Township Center (30200 Town Center Road) to discuss the coming construction and how it will affect their driveways.

–Kelly Phipps has been named to the Youth Board Commission.