Fox Lake trustees reject no-bid contract

Fox Lake officials who voted against funding the fireworks Monday said they would vote in favor of holding the celebration but that village leaders need to follow their own rules.

Trustee Nancy Koske said she voted to abstain against waiving a $25,000 bid to Mad Bomber Fireworks Productions during the bi-weekly meeting Tuesday to force Mayor Cindy Irwin to follow the rules she creates.

But, Irwin said she tried to waive the bid process because of the special nature of the fireworks show.

"It's a specialty item," she said. "The committee took nine proposals before deciding on Mad Bomber."

Koske, who voted to abstain along with trustees Noel Working and Ed Bender, said Irwin has routinely told them trustees should not try to waive the bid processes in future meetings.

But, Koske said, when it comes to what the mayor wants, Irwin routinely tries to waive the process to get her initiatives passed.

"I'm not against the fireworks or the fireworks committee, but I was trying to prove a point," Koske said. "This is about politics."

This is the second time in 15 months Irwin has tried to waive a bid process for the fireworks.

Under state law, village boards must seek bids for any expenditure that is over $10,000. However, the bid process can be waived if a board votes and approves to bypass the process by a two-thirds vote.

Because the three trustees voted to abstain and not cast a votes, the two-thirds majority was not reached and the contract was not approved.

Koske said she would approve the contract when the vote comes up again in two weeks.

Last year, Irwin tried to waive the bid process and approve a $40,000 contract to the same company to hold the fireworks. However, trustees rallied to keep the fireworks with longtime organizer Pete Jakstas Sr. of the Mineola Marina and Lounge and voted her attempts down.

Since then, Jakstas announced he will retire from doing the fireworks and has left it up to the village to put on the show.

The village has moved the show off the Chain O' Lakes and onto land.

Trustee Noel Working, however, asked how the village intends to fund the show. Currently, the village is looking to gain the money through fundraisers, but has only collected about $3,500 at this point to fund the show.

The contract for the Independence Day fireworks is $25,000.

"We are pinching pennies all over the village," Working said. "And I understand we are trying to raise the money, but what happens if we don't raise the $25,000? Where does the money come from?"