HOMER GLEN, IL — A contract for a Veterans Memorial in Heritage Park will not be moving forward, after a motion to override former Mayor George Yukich’s veto of the contract did not pass at Wednesday’s Homer Glen Village Board meeting.
The former mayor had vetoed the contract on March 22. The contract, for $345,798, was originally adopted by the Village Board on March 8. That amount would have paid to design, build, develop and construct the memorial, excluding statues.
The Board would have needed a two-thirds majority, or four votes, to override the mayor’s veto and approve the contract with A Touch of Green.
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Before the vote, Trustee Jennifer Consolino said there is misinformation about the memorial project.
“I took the time to go back through our Village records…I don’t quite understand where this misinformation is coming from, and I’m extremely confused why no one felt any need to bring their concerns or disdain for this project to the board’s attention [until] now, and not last year when this was discussed,” she said.
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She said the proposal was unanimously approved in April 2022 by the parks and recreation committee, and the Village Board was informed of the decision.
“At no point was this proposal and approval at the committee level ever contested, not by any board members and not by any residents,” Consolino said.
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“Nobody is saying that a veterans memorial is not on the horizon,” Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike said before the vote.
“We are going to have a memorial one day,” Neitzke-Troike added. “I think it’s going to be a great asset to a park; I just think that this is not the right memorial.”
During public comment, several residents, including some veterans, spoke against the veterans memorial proposal, with some saying that while they wanted a memorial, this proposal was too expensive.
Trustees Consolino, Dan Fialko and Rose Reynders voted to override the mayoral veto and move forward with the proposal. Trustees Sue Steilen, Curtis Mason and Craig McNaughton voted against overriding the veto.
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