Piontek resigns; Plym is appointed

Former Seatonville Village President Rick PIontek (left) and current President Zach Plym discuss some paperwork at the Seatonville Village Hall. Plym was appointed to the position July 13. (BCR photo/Barb Kromphardt)

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SEATONVILLE — Twenty-eight years after first taking a seat on the Seatonville Village Board, five-term Village President Rick Piontek has called it a day.

“It had been too long,” Piontek said this week. “I’m burned out, and it was just my time.”

Piontek officially resigned after the July 13 board meeting.

“After running the board meeting, I informed the board that I was resigning for personal reasons,” Piontek said.

The board met after the meeting and unanimously chose Trustee Zach Plym, 33, to take his place for the remainder of the term, which will be in April 2011.

Piontek has talked about leaving the position for quite awhile. In 2005, he decided not to run in April’s election. Unfortunately, so did everyone else in this town of 303 people, so Piontek let the village board appoint him as mayor for another two-year term. In 2007, Piontek again had decided not to run, but changed his mind when, once again, no one else filled out a petition. He ended up running unopposed.

The final straw for Piontek was the loss of his village employee a few months ago over what Piontek referred to as “some issues.”

Although Piontek is no longer village president, he has been working closely with Plym to make for a smooth transition.

“Zach will do a very good job,” Piontek said. “He’s Seatonville-born and raised, which is good, and he’s got a good, young board to work with.”

Plym said he had no intention of ever becoming village president when he was elected to the board.

“I thought Rick would do it forever,” he said with a smile.

Plym was born and raised in Seatonville, and said he recently built a new house in the village.

“I agree with a lot of what Rick has done, and I just hope to continue doing the things that he’s started and go from there,” he said.

One major project Plym will have to deal with is an upgrade to the village’s water plant. Piontek said he’s been working closely with Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, regarding a grant for the project.

“Frank and I have talked, and he told me it (the grant money) is there; it’s just a matter of the paperwork,” Piontek said. “When that comes in, that’s going to be a big benefit for the village because monies are tight, and we don’t have that much income coming in.”

Piontek said the work needed to be done.

“The water plant’s 23, 24 years old, and it’s nit-picking us,” he said. “It’s nit-picking us at $10,000, $20,000 at a time.”

Piontek said Plym’s taking the village president position is the second favor Plym has done. The first was when Plym agreed to run for trustee two years ago at Piontek’s request. In return, Piontek said he’s available whenever Plym needs him.

“I said, ‘I’m a phone call away, I’m a block away, not to be afraid to call me,’” Piontek said. “Over the 28 years, there’s a wealth of knowledge that you learn throughout the town that you’re not going to get in a couple of months.”

Plym said he didn’t know whether he would run for re-election in 2011.

“I can’t say yes or no,” he said. “But I intend on being here, on being a part of Seatonville, until who knows when.”

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