Silver Lake appoints police and fire commission

By Gail Peckler-Dziki
Correspondent

The Silver Lake Village Board approved appointments to the Police and Fire Commission made by Village President Bruce Nopenz at its Jan. 4 meeting.

The five-member committee has two from the Town of Salem area, and was tabled from the previous meeting, when there was a question on the length of appointments.

Currently, the appointments are staggered at one, two, three, four and five years.

However, after the Jan. 4 meeting, there will only be one renewal, or new appointment every year.

Mike Stark, a Silver Lake resident and former village fire chief, received a one-year appointment.

Former Wilmot Fire Chief Tom Robinson, who also served as firefighter of Great Lakes, was appointed for a two-year term.

Former Town of Salem Chairwoman Shirley Boening is appointed for the three-year term.

Nopenz noted Boening’s experience within Town of Salem government as the primary reason for her appointment.

Nopenz commented that while “Shirley doesn’t have any fire experience, she has the governance experience and she was chair when the consolidation of the Salem volunteer fire departments took place.”

Chris Dreyer, of Silver Lake, received a four-year appointment, and spent 30 years as a Fox Lake, Ill., firefighter while serving as a volunteer at Silver Lake.

The first five-year appointment is Greg Galich, Silver Lake, who spent 35 years as a Kenosha firefighter, departing as a captain.

Galich also served on the Silver Lake Volunteer Fire Department.

“The commission is a little heavy on the fire side since we do have a contract with the Kenosha County Sheriff Department and work with that agency,” Nopenz said in a telephone interview.

The commission will have oversight over hiring, firing and other issues regarding the fire department and work closely with Town of Salem Fire Chief Mike Slover.

This replaces the current Police and Fire Commission, which, according to Nopenz, had to be done to follow state law.

“I wanted to make sure we had representation from the Salem area on the commission,” he said.


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