New Sugar Grove Village President Jen Konen sworn in

New Sugar Grove Village President Jen Konen thanked the residents of Sugar Grove for their confidence in her at the voting booth before quickly segueing into how she’s getting down to business as she was sworn in during the May 4 board meeting.

“(I want to) thank the residents of Sugar Grove for electing me, trusting me and allowing me to get to work on their behalf; I’m excited to do that,” she said. “I think it shows in the simple sentiment that we have four board meetings in May so we are starting off right. This board is committed and I thank you for that.”

Konen’s ready to get at it.

“Sometimes you can look at me and say ‘Four meetings?’ but we have a lot of work to do and a lot of catching up to do,” she said. “We have a newer board, myself included, so we do have some things we want to get done and get figured out, and so I thank you for your time and effort in moving forward with those four meetings.”

Former Sugar Grove Village President Sean Michels was recognized for his dedication and commitment to the village of Sugar Grove as Konen recited a lengthy list of accomplishments during Michels’ 21-year tenure.

“What really hit home was the paving of Municipal Drive out front because it brings back a lot of memories and stuff,” Michels said.

Michels thanked the staff, co-workers, board members, residents and his family.

“I’ve always been honored to represent all the employees of the village. It’s been a great honor,” he said. “The past and present board members, especially Mari Johnson and the late Bob Bohler. I’ve always appreciated the various lives that board members came from and they brought that variety and experience to the board, and it all helped shape the decisions in Sugar Grove.”

Konen praised Michels.

“He did right by the village,” she said. “He served us for many years, probably more than most would ever even dream of serving, and he did it well and we thank him for that.”

Michels offered some words of wisdom and shared his best wishes to the new board.

“As a leader you have to be able to look yourself in the mirror and make sure to tell yourself you made the right decision despite what everybody else says,” he said. “I wish the best of the future board and thank the residents for giving me the privilege to represent Sugar Grove for the last 21 years.”

The Village Board approved the purchase of LED street light retrofit kits in the amount of $17,889.98. The final cost for the replacement of the kits with the ComEd Incentive of $5,286.40 is $12,603.58.

Anthony Speciale, director of Public Works for the village of Sugar Grove, explained that staff applied for the ComEd Energy Efficient Program Incentive to convert all the street lights to LED within Windsor Point.

“It’s a total of 59 street lights,” Speciale said. “The grant covers replacing the existing 59 cobra style street light fixtures with LED light fixtures.”

Speciale noted that in addition to a 65% decrease in energy consumption and lighting maintenance costs the village will see savings in a longer light lifespan. The new fixtures are estimated to last approximately 20 years compared to the current fixtures, which require replacement around every five years.

The National Prescription Drug Take Back Initiative was appreciated by many according to Pat Rollins, chief of police for the village of Sugar Grove. Rollins said that 27 pounds of prescription drugs were collected during the April 24 event.

“It’s pretty amazing when you look at a pill bottle and think of the weight of those pills and the volume is pretty impressive,” Rollins said. “And for those that don’t know, we have a prescription take back mailbox in the front lobby and when we last collected we had close to 143 pounds.”

Rollins reported that thanks to those two collections, close to 170 pounds of prescription drugs were transported from Sugar Grove to a designed DEA drop off location for disposal.