Vavra goes out a winner

This is the time of year when we hear about coaching changes.

                We hear about coaches whose team did not perform.

                We hear about coaches who were not leaders.

                We hear about coaches who had poor judgment.

                What we don’t hear

Terry Vavra addresses well-wishers
 at a reception honoring him
on his retirement

about are those coaches who go out as winners.

                We did on Friday we did.  And it wasn’t the coach of a football, basketball, hockey or baseball team.

                It was the coach, if you will, of a Fire Department.

                Friday was Terry Vavra’s last day as Buffalo Grove Fire Chief, a post he held for seven years.  The retirement, announced Feb. 9 in a corporate-flavored press release on its web site, the village cited Vavra for his service including, notes the press release, “...negotiate two labor agreements, instituted a Battalion Chiefs testing process and served on the Lake County Fire Chiefs Board for the last five years, most recently as President in 2014 …”

                The release includes the gratuitous quotes from Village Manager Dane Bragg (“…Terry has been a steadfast public safety executive showing his capabilities in leading the fire service..” ) and from Village Board President Jeff Braiman (“…“Terry has been a dedicated chief who has served the Village of Buffalo Grove with a commitment to excellence. He has managed his department to treat all citizens with dignity and respect while carrying on their duties in a professional and courteous manner…”). 

Terry Vavra gets a warm send off

                Interestingly, there does not seem to be a Village Hall-based reception or proclamation planned for Vavra as there has been for other retirees.  Read into it what you want.

                What was held was a reception Friday afternoon at the Fire Station on Highland Grove that was sponsored by the Buffalo Grove Fire Department and, not interestingly enough, by the village.

                But my guess is Vavra liked it that way.

                His 35-plus years as a fire fighter (he was with Lisle Woodridge for 28 years before coming to Buffalo Grove) made him more than a chief; he was clearly one of the men and women in the department.

Village Clerk Jan Sirabian shares a moment
with Terry Vavra

                As a coach, he had the respect in the locker room – and in the community.  Bragg cited that in the press release noting that “…“His service to the community and his care for the operation is second to none…” 

                And to the professionals on his staff.  As I scrambled in to the reception, I caught most of Vavra’s comments to the crowd at Friday’s reception.  And one of the most telling things he said, typical of Vavra, was that Buffalo Grove’s fire fighters don’t just “care for people; they care about people.”

                And where does a sentiment like that start?  At the top. With the coach.

                Vavra professionalism was reflected in not only the fire department operated, but how represented the department. Whenever the Fire Department or one of its professionals were honored by the Village Board – which happened many times – Vavra beamed with pride, not because he was the chief, but because of what the men and women in the department had achieved.

                Vavra’s was quiet about his future plans, saying only that (pub aside) he had some things in the fire.

                Which does not surprise me.

                No matter what, odds are he’ll step up and build another winning team.

                Because that’s what good coaches do.

                And Terry Vavra did it well for Buffalo Grove.

Snow makes some chicken out

At first I thought it was a snow creature.

                It sounded like someone was shivering.

                But then I realized what it was.

                It was a frozen chicken so large that Frank Perdue would have been envious.

                It was Chicken Little.

                I could not imagine why he was out in the snow and cold this past weekend, but as always he had an explanation.

                “When I heard about the cold, rain and snow, I wanted to be grateful and not

Chicken Little examines the snow situation

dead, so I got my stuff, put it in the back of the chicken coupe and was ready to flee the coop before the sky fell in.”

                So why didn’t you?

                “Well I tried, but I the coupe couldn’t garner up enough traction to get out of Dodge.”

                I asked him if it was a case of bad tires.

                “Nope, more like bad planning.”

                Ah, so you should have planned to have left earlier.

                “Hardly, unlike Pete Carroll, I stick to my plan.” 

                So you were in a rush, but decided to pass on your plans?

                “Nope.  My plan was good, but the village’s wasn’t.”

                Not that it takes a lot, I told him, but I’m confused – how does the village factor into your plans?

                “Simple, I was planning to head south on Sunday, but the snow hit and I couldn’t make it out of my driveway,” he clucked.

                So you’re saying the streets were still snow covered and you couldn’t drive anywhere.

                “Exactly,” he clucked.

                Sounds familiar.  Seems as though the village’s new plan for snow removal had a hiccup, if not an upset stomach.

                The plan, which is in its first year, was designed to make maximum use of equipment and more efficient cycle times based on the routes.  But as Pete Carroll found out on Sunday, as did some folks at Village Hall, even the best plans don’t always materialize.

                Needless to say, Village Hall, despite the efforts of Public Works to keep up with nearly 20 inches of snow, was besieged with phone calls, emails, not to mention postings on social media, by people who were ::ahem:: more than a little upset by what they deemed was an unacceptable plan.

                Heavy snows do that. It’s the tangible items that make folks storm the Bastille.

                “You bet,” Chicken Little said.

                As luck would have it, the Village Board met Monday night and heard from village staff who addressed the situation.  My guess is they felt like Pete Carroll addressing the people in Seattle.

                The Board was told that the plan will be re-examined (probably a good idea) to avoid a similar situation when the village gets dumped on.

                “So what did the governing fathers and mothers have to say?” C.L. asked.

                Most said what you thought they’d say.  The village needs to do a better job by decreasing the time between cycles (the time the plows do streets) and more efficient use equipment.  One trustee, Mike Terson, seemed satisfied that the village had done a decent job, saying he thought the snow removal process went better than the storm in 2011. 

                There was concern by trustees Andy Stein and Beverly Sussman about residual snow left after the plows went by making it difficult for residents to get out of their driveways.  Public Works Director Mike Reynolds indicated that keeping snow away from residents’ driveways is a difficult thing to do, especially given the thousands of driveways there are in the village.

                Resident Leon Gopon said residents should know that different agencies handled the snow removal on some roads and suggested signs indicated what agency maintains what street.  Interestingly enough, that information is available on the village’s web site by simply entering your address under “property search” on the lower left side of the web page.  In addition to information about crime rates, flood plains and construction project, there’s a spot marked “outside agency snow plowing service areas” and with one click, you can find out who handles every street in the village.

                “That’s all fine and dandy” C.L. said, “but I think we need more trucks, snow plows, salt spreaders.”

                That’s a key part of the plan, I told my fine-feathered fowl.  The village uses a variety of equipment from pick-up trucks to one-ton trucks. Reynolds noted that the village had 18 pieces of equipment on the streets at the peak of the storm.

                So while it may not be completely back to the drawing board, a revised plan is more than probably.

                “I have an idea,” C.L. said.

                I had to ask what it was.

                “Well I only have one suggestion for the Board,” he noted.  “Consider getting some 16-ton trucks.”

                Seriously?

                “Well, maybe, but it probably wouldn’t work, especially once they were placed into service.”

                And why is that?

                “Well, they’d be another day older and we’d be deeper in debt.”

                Are you saying there’s a Ford in your future?

                “Only if it’s part of a revised plan,” he said.

                Ford or not, they key will be the effectiveness of the revisions.