The top administrator in Lincolnshire recently received a salary raise and bonus nearly a year after village officials increased his annual salary by roughly $8,700.
Lincolnshire Village Board members pointed to a busy and, sometimes, tumultuous year as reasons why Village Manager Brad Burke deserved the pay bump this year. Officials also extended Burke’s original contract with Lincolnshire, which officials have renewed each year since Burke started as village manager in 2012.
During a recent board meeting, trustees voted to increase Burke’s annual salary of $183,000 to $194,000 for the next 12 months and also approved a $7,500 bonus. Last October, board members approved a 5-percent raise to Burke’s annual salary, raising it to $183,000.
Mayor Liz Brandt said Burke often logs long hours to tackle a variety of issues facing the village.
“The board is completely behind him,” Brandt said. “We’ve given him a lot of extra work and at 5 o’clock, he’s not going home and stopping.”
In the past year, village officials have had to deal with numerous unexpected events, including record flooding in July that damaged homes and businesses near the Des Plaines River.
The following month in August, a water main break near Lincolnshire Drive, by the Des Plaines River, forced officials to issue a boil water advisory that spanned nearly two days, causing Stevenson High School to cancel classes early for a day and local businesses to offer bottled water to customers.
Lincolnshire police also assisted with a manhunt in September for three suspects accused of restraining an employee inside a Buffalo Grove business and stealing keyless remotes before fleeing inside a U-Haul and crashing it in Lincolnshire.
Village administrators and officials issued safety alerts to the community throughout the search for the suspects, Brandt said. Authorities ultimately charged three individuals in the incident.
“There’s just been amazing amounts of extraordinary events,” Brandt said.
Officials also have tackled a variety of development proposals in the past year. Going forward into the new year, village staff will be busy trying to develop parcels around the Fresh Market grocery story and welcoming restaurant chains Buona Beef and Culver’s, Burke said.
Both businesses have been constructing two new locations in the village. Burke said the coming year will be one of the busiest yet for Lincolnshire.
“It was rewarding to receive the feedback that the village board provided – and humbling,” Burke said of the salary raise. “We’ve had a lot of atypical things happen in 2017.”
