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News
Montgomery OKs own tickets for overweight trucks : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisMontgomery OKs own tickets for overweight trucks
| Compliance tickets expected to generate additional revenue for village
| by John Etheredge
| 2/11/2010
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Truckers ticketed by Montgomery Police for driving overweight vehicles in the village should be a source of additional revenue for the village as a result of action taken Monday evening by the village board.
In a 5-0 ballot board members voted to amend a village ordinance adding overweight truck violations to the village's compliance ticket system.
In voting to amend the ordinance, the board acted upon the recommendations of its attorneys and Police Chief Dennis Schmidt.
Steve Andersson, one of the village's attorneys, advised the board in December that they could add overweight truck violations to its compliance ticket system, based on previous court rulings.
Village police already issue compliance tickets for such violations as parking during snow removal and street cleaning, unnecessary noise, inoperable motor vehicles and selected other vehicle-offenses.
Upon conviction, the village-not the circuit court-collects the proceeds from those fines.
Schmidt said until now village police have issued regular traffic tickets to truckers found driving overweight vehicles. He said police can still issue regular tickets for the offense, but will now have the option to issue a village compliance ticket instead.
"The driver would then post the required bond like he does now-whatever the dollar amount is-with the village," Schmidt said. "He would then have 30 days to decide what to do."
Schmidt continued, "The main thing is we want to protect everyone's rights. So in that 30 day (period), the driver or the owner of the company could say they want the case to go to court and the money that was posted with the village as bond would be transferred to the circuit court along with the compliance ticket. If in that 30 days they would rather settle the case-and that's what we would be doing, offering a settlement to the compliance tickets-they could then sign a document and they would receive 20 percent of the bond money back and the remaining 80 percent would be transferred to the village's general fund and they would not have to appear in court."
Schmidt added, "That's what this ordinance (amendment) does. It allows the system we are using every day to continue, but it also gives the officer a second option and another way to process overweight truck enforcement violations."
Prior to the board's vote, board member Denny Lee noted that adding the overweight truck violations to the compliance ticket system would likely prove convenient for out-of-state truckers who would choose not to contest their tickets.
Lee, however, questioned whether state officials have attempted to challenge the law that allows local municipalities to add the tickets to their compliance ticket systems.
"Not at this point," said Peter Wilson, an attorney for the village.
Absent from Monday's meeting and the board vote was board member Robert Watermann.
Urge pothole repair
on Seasons Ridge Blvd.
In other business Monday evening:
_Board member Pete Heinz reported noticing several large potholes on Seasons Ridge Boulevard near Lakeside Drive.
Heinz asked Mike Pubentz, the village's director of public works, to have them filled as soon as possible.
_In a split 4-1 ballot, board members approved a professional services agreement with Engineering Enterprises, Inc. (EEI) to complete engineering design, bidding and construction services for improvement to the electrical system on the village's well No. 8. The pump and motor at the well have been removed for inspection due to an electrical surge that caused the motor connections to fail, according to a memo presented to the board by Pubentz.
Pubentz noted, "Once plans, specifications and the project manual are completed, the electrical work will be bid in accordance with village requirements."
EEI will be paid $22,900 for it services under terms of the agreement.
Board member Andy Kaczmarek cast the lone negative vote on the motion to approve the agreement.
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