EVERGREEN PARK
Retiring schools chief hailed for achievements
Retiring Supt. James Gallagher was honored this week for his contributions to Evergreen Park Community High School and the community.
The Village Board and Mayor James Sexton gave him a plaque outlining his accomplishments and proclaimed June 30 as Dr. James Gallagher Day.
“I watched with marvel at all the good and hard work he did at Evergreen Park High School,” Sexton said.
Gallagher, 60, of Orland Park, became superintendent in 2001.
He has spent 39 years in education, including a stint as assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction at Bremen Community High School District 228.
“He turned [Evergreen High] around when it comes to the curriculum, finances, the building, students and the community,” said Michael Knieps, board president of Evergreen Park Community High School District 231.
As superintendent, Gallagher, helped adopt a referendum measure, oversaw extensive renovations to buildings and grounds, created a long-term curriculum and assessment plan and started a comprehensive residency policy.
Beth Hart, assistant superintendent and principal, will take over as superintendent.
— Janice Neumann
FRANKFORT
Emergency dispatch center is approved
The Village Board approved an intergovernmental agreement this week to set up an emergency dispatch center for all police and fire calls in the Lincoln-Way area.
For 30 years, Frankfort, Mokena and New Lenox operated a combined police dispatch center in the basement of New Lenox Village Hall, but paramedic and fire emergency calls were transferred to the fire protection districts, trustee Cindy Heath said.
The new center will handle calls from the original three towns and Manhattan, as well as the Frankfort, Mokena, New Lenox, Manhattan and East Joliet Fire Districts.
The center will be in the new Frankfort Township Office to be built on U.S. Highway 30 east of Wolf Road, trustee Todd Morgan said.
The combined effort will be “a more convenient and efficient way of handling emergencies in these towns,” Heath said.
— Pat Harper
ORLAND PARK
Population expected to pass 60,000 mark
The village’s population should officially reach more than 60,000 following a federal census being conducted in the village this summer, officials said.
The census, Orland Park’s second in eight years, should mean at least $543,000 in additional state revenue for road projects and other initiatives.
“We estimate a significant increase in population because of the number of new homes constructed in the village since our last partial census in 2004,” said trustee Edwin Schussler, chairman of the Village Board’s finance committee.
The partial census will count residents who have moved into new subdivisions that are sprouting up mostly in the western part of Orland Park, officials said.
The partial census in 2004 counted 5,799 new residents. This year’s census is expected to count at least 4,000 additional residents.
— Carmen Greco Jr.
