OAK PARK
Village to allow sale of retail space
The Village Board has cleared the way for RSC & Associates to sell the commercial portion of its new 1120 Club development before the formal completion.
The building, at 1120 Lake St., has a mix of retail and residential uses and is 99 percent finished, Village Atty. Ray Heise told the board on Monday. Regulations require final completion of work before a building is sold.
But Brandenburg Properties of California has expressed interest in buying the commercial section of the building, which includes Bar Louie, Lane Bryant and a fitness center. If Brandenburg is forced to wait for completion, the sale could be delayed several months.
Instead of holding up the sale, the board approved an amendment to its agreement with RSC & Associates allowing the early transaction in exchange for a $500,000 letter of credit to ensure that all final details on the building are completed. The details include fencing around the mechanical systems on the roof and improvements to a walkway from Lake Street to the Holley Court garage.
Victoria Pierce
WHEATON
5 on commission resign in protest
Five members of a city commission, including a paralyzed Iraq war veteran, publicly resigned Monday night in the wake of the new mayor’s ouster of the commission’s chairwoman.
The resigning members of the Community Relations Commission said Mayor Michael Gresk’s decision not to reappoint Michelle Senatore was based on her leadership of a citizens group that is battling the school district. Gresk denied the assertion.
“If we cannot be on the CRC without expressing a different opinion on any issues separate from CRC business, then we cannot in good faith serve our great city of Wheaton under your leadership,” the commission’s secretary, Carl Alston, said at the public comment portion of the City Council meeting.
Senatore is chairwoman of Educate 200, which has been involved in a conflict with the Wheaton Warrenville District 200 school board over its decision to close Hubble Middle School and pursue a new school site. Gresk, who took office last month, said Senatore’s work with Educate 200 did not factor into his decision.
He said he met with her recently and asked whether she had enough time to devote to the commission. Gresk said Senatore replied that she did not, so he didn’t reappoint her.
On Tuesday, Senatore offered a different account.
“He told me you have to agree to never speak again at a public podium again regarding the Hubble Middle School, never again send out a press release about it, and not be involved in any referendum activities,” she said.
Among those who resigned is former Army Sgt. Joel Gomez, who is paralyzed from the neck down from an accident in Iraq in 2004.
When Senatore met Gomez and heard about his extensive physical rehabilitation, she spearheaded a drive to build a house that would accommodate him. Last June, Gomez became one of 12 members of the Community Relations Commission, which is charged with promoting volunteerism.
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Clifford Ward
CLARENDON HILLS
Emergency dispatch talks encouraged
Clarendon Hills’ fire and police chiefs should continue working with their counterparts in neighboring towns to try to consolidate emergency dispatch operations, village officials said Monday night.
“They are in no way dissatisfied with the service we have,” Trustee Diane Robertson said of Police Chief Patrick Anderson and Fire Chief Brian Leahy, who have been active in discussions of a proposed South DuPage Consolidated Dispatch Center.
Leahy said he and other fire and police chiefs were exploring consolidation of dispatch operations in part because revenues for 9-1-1 dispatch are declining as consumers drop traditional land line telephones in favor of cell phones.
Village Manager Rob Bahan said the trustees’ endorsement of Anderson’s and Leahy’s efforts would make it easier for proponents of a new consolidated dispatch center to request start-up funding from DuPage County’s emergency telephone system board.
Christine Martin