Andy Skoog appointed to Utica Planning Commission

A familiar face is joining the Utica Planning Commission.

On Wednesday, Mayor David Stewart appointed Andy Skoog to fill the eighth seat on the commission. Skoog comes with extensive civic experience, having served as a village trustee [under the late Mayor Fred Esmond], a La Salle County Circuit Clerk and a state representative.

“It’s good to be back in Utica,” Skoog said after taking the oath of office.

Separately, the village is expected to increase its tax rate next month, but only by a tiny percent.

Director of Village Affairs Jamie Turczyn reported the village’s tax base slid by about $200,000, which means a correspondingly small increase in the tax rate.

Action won’t be taken until December; but most homeowners would pay only a few cents more to the village. Stewart, who last year paid the village $61.02 (on a total tax bill of $3,027), would next year pay $61.30 based on current projections.

“We’re proud that we can maintain our current tax levy,” Stewart said, noting the village still will have the second-lowest tax rate in La Salle County.

Also, the board agreed to allow regulated cannabis businesses in the village, but only in an area well north of downtown.

The board voted 5-0 to require such businesses to obtain special uses before opening and to require businesses to be located north of U.S. 6, a region currently zoned C-3.

Trustees Nate Holland and Mary Pawlak said they polled villagers and the consensus was the cannabis could be permitted provided they weren’t located downtown. There would be no objections to locating them near Interstate 80.

Finally, the board observed two moments of silence for Gerald “Jerry” Nanouski and Monsignor James Swaner.

Nanouski, the village’s longtime K-9 officer, died suddenly on Nov. 2. He was 65. Though a resident of Naplate, Nanouski had worked many years for the Utica Police Department and was handler for K-9′s Bart and Fjolle. Police Chief Rod Damron lauded Nanouski for his long service to Utica.

Swaner had been pastor of St. Mary Church in Utica and shepherded the village through the 2004 tornado and the lengthy recovery. He died Nov. 8 at 85.

“He helped a lot of people through a lot of difficult times,” Stewart said.

In other matters, the board:

• Rescheduled the monthly Committee of the Whole to Monday, Nov. 29
• Agreed to demolish a small building located near the wastewater treatment plant at a cost not to exceed $6,500
• Announced Christmas in the Village will be Nov. 27-28