The Homewood village board met in person Tuesday in village hall, voting on a handful of mostly procedural items.
Before the meeting, Mayor Richard Hofeld said “it felt good to get back to normal.” Only Trustee Lauren Roman was absent.
One resident also attended. The meeting was still broadcasted via Zoom.
The biggest item on the agenda was a retainer for Village Attorney Chris Cummings. Homewood will pay him $12,500 per month, which does not include litigation billed at $195 per hour. Whether or how much litigation work is necessary can’t be known.
Cummings’ services include drafting and reviewing economic development incentive agreements, land purchase and sale agreements and TIF district documents. He’s also involved in contract negotiations and staff meetings.
The village believes paying Cummings a fixed retainer is more cost effective than paying for all his work at an hourly rate.
In other business, records from closed sessions held on June 27, 2017; April 24, 2018; June 12, 2018; July 24, 2018; Sept. 11, 2018; Nov. 13, 2018; May 14, 2019; and July 16, 2019, through April 13, 2021, were made available for public inspection.
The destruction of recordings from Oct. 10, 2017; Oct. 13, 2020; Feb. 23, 2021; Nov. 24, 2020; March 9, 2021; Dec. 8, 2020; March 23, 2021; Jan. 12, 2021; and April 13, 2021 was also approved. Written records will remain on file.
Ami Falk was reappointed to the senior advisory committee for a three-year term.