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Antioch hires Mark Janek as contracted community development director; administrator reports insurance savings, IDOT permitting and tech initiatives
Summary
The board approved a contract for Mark Janek to serve as contracted community development director. Village Administrator Jim Moran reported about IDOT permitting for the marketplace project, a roughly $400,000 swing in insurance premiums saved by switching carriers, and IT cost-savings tied to the police department body-camera service.
The Village of Antioch board approved a contract for Mark Janek to serve as a contracted community development director, and Administrator Jim Moran used the meeting to report a series of updates on economic development, insurance savings and information-technology initiatives.
Mayor Gardner introduced Janek and the mayor and administrator praised his municipal experience in places including Niles and Winnetka. "So, he is stepping into the role as a contracted community development director," the mayor said. The board approved the contract during the meeting.
In his administrator's report, Jim Moran said the village obtained an IDOT permit for the marketplace project after outreach that included a meeting with State Senator Edley Allen; he said the approvals were a major procedural hold-up that was resolved when permits were approved. Moran also reported on the village's TIF joint review board meetings, saying the sessions went about a half-hour across three meetings and that staff answered school-district questions without issue.
Moran told the board the village will see a roughly 10% reduction in employee health-insurance premiums compared with last year's rates after switching carriers, and he said that represents "roughly $400,000 in savings" compared with a potential increase under the previous carrier. "Blue Cross would have been a 17% increase, and our total savings in premiums from what it could have been to what we're actually going to be spending, is roughly $400,000 in savings," Moran said.
On technology, Moran said the IT department negotiated credit from Verizon for the police department's Cradlepoint modem deployment that supports the Axon body-camera system, securing about eight months' worth of cell-service credit for the cameras. He said the village has also signed an agreement with Gov AI, a government-focused AI platform that the village will use to process internal data while keeping it siloed for local-government use.
Moran closed by previewing upcoming downtown marketing and a business roundtable the village plans to convene to support merchants during the holiday season and beyond.
The board did not take additional formal action on most of the items Moran raised during the report; staff were directed to circulate TIF meeting audio and to provide summaries on request.
