Village officials Monday rewrote job descriptions”and amended the village code”to smooth the hiring of a new staffer with the title Director of Public Health and Safety. The new post replaces one titled Community Development Director which was held, until her resignation, by Nancy Hill.

The council approved the hiring of Michael G. Boyle for the newly formulated post.

According to the amendment, the new position will be responsible for the “operation of the Code Hearing Department … conducting plan reviews, performing inspections, enforcing the village’s building codes [and] ensuring compliance with all construction activity.”

Boyle will also be directing the Department of Public Health and Safety, assisting in zoning enforcement and health inspections, as well as serving as a conduit for community development.

Boyle was chosen from among a field of 10 candidates and comes to Forest Park after managing the Village of Wheeling’s public health division, wrote Village Administrator Michael Sturino and Commissioner Mark Hosty in a memo to the council.

“Boyle has a demonstrated track record of progressive responsibilities in the code enforcement arena,” they wrote. “He brings with him experience in managing inspection staff to ensure enforcement of a variety of health, housing and property standards regulations.”

Boyle has a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Health from Northern Illinois University and is from the North Side of Chicago. He will begin work June 30.

Meetings now on cable TV

The meeting Monday marked the beginning of Comcast Cable’s broadcasts of village council meetings, which can now be viewed on Friday’s at noon on channel six cable access.

The first televised meeting was cordial, marked with unanimous votes, except for an amendment to the residency requirements for village employees, which passed with a four to one vote.

Commissioner Patrick Doolin delivered the vote against the amendment, which changes the village code’s requirement that department heads for the village live within a 10 mile radius of the village.

The amendment removes this requirement completely requiring that a director only be a resident of the State of Illinois.

“I still feel these positions”these are the highest level positions, it is where the greatest effect on an individual is,” Doolin said. “I think it is selling the town short to say we can’t find anyone to fill these spots because we are requiring that people live in Forest Park.”

The amendment also cleans up an area of the code that dealt with residency requirements for police officers.

Another topic of discussion was the waiving of the bid process and the acceptance of a proposal from Mike Lyons Roofing of Forest Park to repair the roof at the village’s pump station.

The waiver of the bid process, said village attorney Michael Durkin, is necessary because of an emergency situation.

According to a memo from Sturino to the council, the roof at the Jackson Street Pumping Station has become severely deteriorated and “this matter became an emergency when Village Clerk [Vanessa] Moritz discovered that documents stored inside the station were damaged because of leakage.”

Public Property Department Head Bob Kutak obtained three bids for the project, with the lowest proposal coming in at $47,640 and the highest at $81,525.

“The roof is over 50 years old and needs to be completely redone,” wrote Kutak. “Every time it rains the inside of the records room is getting damaged.”

Currently the village is required to go through a bid process for any public property project that will exceed $10,000, but can waive the process.

“I think we could take some criticism for allowing it to get to this point,” Doolin said, adding he felt confident that Kutak had made every effort to get a good price.

During the meeting, the council also reappointed Tim Condon to the Plan Commission for a five year term expiring in 2010 and received, for first reading, the proposed Historic Preservation Ordinance.