Briefs
The village board passed an ordinance Monday night that lifted a limit it once placed on the number of licenses that taxicab companies and their drivers could receive annually.
A 2002 village ordinance capped the number of annual licenses it issued at 150, but Monday night’s amendment removes any limit.
According to Village Clerk Vanessa Moritz, larger cab companies like Blue Cab acquire the lion’s share of the licenses, which makes it difficult for smaller companies to obtain them.
In a letter to village council members, Moritz noted that Blue Cab applied for 115 of the available licenses this year. By contrast, People’s Cab applied for 30, which means that only one license is available for the other smaller, independent companies.
“Every year it was an issue,” said Daniel Quijano, a former cab driver who was at Monday night’s village council meeting to act as a spokesperson for several other drivers, in reference to the number of available licenses.
The ordinance passed unanimously and it took effect immediately.
FEMA to reimburse the village for February blizzard
Mayor Anthony Calderone announced Monday night that the village will receive nearly $60,000 in federal dollars to reimburse the labor costs it incurred responding to February’s blizzard.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved the village as eligible for the reimbursement subsequent to Calderone declaring Forest Park a disaster zone after the storm hit.
A report of what the village spent cleaning up the snow was not available at press time.
