Elburn lacks authority to impose larger fines for distracted driving

ELBURN – Elburn’s attempt to put bigger teeth in the law against distracted driving was cut short when officials approached the Kane County Circuit Clerk to get advice on how to communicate the larger fines to residents.

The clerk informed them the municipality didn’t “have the authority” to go above the “maximum fine” in the state statute.

Elburn Village President Jeff Walter and Trustee Chris Hansen began the drive to create the village ordinance with high enough fines to get motorists’ attention for the unsafe practices of talking on the phone at the ear and texting while driving.

Reacting to the number of tragic accidents in and around the village in recent years, village officials created an ordinance with fines of $250 for a first offense, $500 for a second offense and $750 for a third or more offenses.

The maximum fine, according to the state statute, is $75 for the first offense, $100 for the second offense, $125 for the third offense and $150 for the fourth and more offenses. The conduct that is prohibited will not change, but the Elburn Police Department will be limited to the fines as defined in the Illinois statute.

“I’m disappointed,” Hansen said. “Here we’re trying to make our community safer and we’re being told we can’t do it.”

Walter expressed his disappointment, saying he doesn’t feel the state penalties are “really impactful.”

Walter said he will be lobbying state legislators to increase the penalties outlined in the state statute and he encourages others concerned about the safety of motorists to do the same.

New police station updates

Police Chief Nick Sikora will give regular updates on the effort to construct a new police station at the twice-monthly Committee of the Whole meetings that take place after the Village Board meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month.

“People are interested in knowing,” Walter said. “Everything we do is in the meeting minutes, but not everyone reads the minutes. This way it keeps the board informed and it’s a way for the public to find out what’s happening if they’re interested.”

In the first update, Sikora said the board has not yet approved the budget for the new facility and they don’t have an architect or a contractor so the budget numbers identified so far are considered “placeholders.”

The amount in the capital budget for the facility, $2.9 million, is an estimate of the costs for the architect and the amount of construction costs for the fiscal 2024-25 budget between May 1, 2024, and April 30, 2025.

Sikora said that after discussions with a contractor, he has decided to go with a construction management format instead of a design-build format. He said the construction management format means the outside contractor is responsible for the processes, bids and ordering and keeping the project on track and on time. He said the design-build format is more appropriate for larger departments that typically have a facilities manager.