OAK PARK
No staff cuts set in school budget
Oak Park Elementary School District 97 on Tuesday adopted its 2008 school budget, a $56.3 million spending plan that for the first time in years does not include staff cuts to shore up the bottom line.
Expenses for special education are expected to increase by 5 percent this year, contributing to an overall rise in instructional costs. The district is projected to get $57.2 million in revenue this year, which will include a one-time infusion of $2.3 million from the sale and lease-back of the system’s administrative center to the village. The district will continue to trim costs to hold the line on expenses. An estimated $500,000 will be trimmed this year, including spending reductions in supplies, materials and energy usage.
Deborah Kadin
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ITASCA
Ice cream shop to open downtown
Itasca’s plans to begin redevelopment of its downtown moved forward Tuesday night, after officials unanimously approved a four-year lease between the village and local residents Michael and Vittoria Carey, who will operate an ice cream shop in the front part of the old Village Hall building.
Officials have sought a tenant for the property for two years. Issues have ranged from deals that fell through to environmental problems and regulations imposed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“Because the old Village Hall is located in a flood plain area, we can’t tear it down and redevelop it,” said Village Administrator David Williams.
Williams said that the rear portion of the old Village Hall and the second floor remain unoccupied, and that other business uses, including a possible restaurant, are still under discussion.
David Sharos
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HINSDALE
Zoning chief’s fate to be discussed
Hinsdale trustees voted 4-2 Tuesday night to hold a public hearing to decide whether retired attorney Tom Nelson should be relieved of his duties as chairman of the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
Village President Michael Woerner said a hearing date would be announced later this week.
Nelson first sparked controversy when he and the Zoning Board claimed jurisdiction to hear an appeal of the village’s April 2007 approval of a 20-acre hotel, retail and condominium complex known as the Hinsdale Club.
The village won a court injunction against the Zoning Board in September, but only after angering dozens of Hinsdale residents named as defendants in the case because they had asked the Zoning Board to rule on the Hinsdale Club proposal.
Tuesday night, Woerner said Nelson could be dismissed for failing to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request made by Foxford LLC, developer of the Hinsdale Club, and because procedures adopted by the Zoning Board violate the Hinsdale zoning code.
Woerner said he called for Nelson’s resignation only as a “last resort” after Nelson had rebuffed attempts to reach him.
Trustees Michael Smith and Thomas Cauley voted against holding the public hearing. Smith said there could be “plausible defenses” to the Freedom of Information Act allegations. He also said a public hearing to remove Nelson would discourage other volunteers from public service.
Cauley said a public hearing would cost money that the village could better use for roads and other infrastructure.
Nelson, who did not attend Tuesday’s meeting, did not return telephone calls placed to his home Sunday evening and Wednesday morning.
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Christine Martin
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ELMHURST
City Council backs green initiative
The Elmhurst City Council this week backed Mayor Thomas Marcucci’s decision to sign the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.
A grass-roots coalition of community groups spearheaded by the Elmhurst League of Women Voters sought the city’s support in the non-binding greenhouse-gas emission reduction Cool Cities’ Initiative.
Marcucci said city officials would look to lower carbon emissions by using more-efficient products, such as energy-saving lighting. Municipalities signing the pact agree to consider alternative-fuel vehicles and smart-energy methods to cut down their carbon outputs.
The initiative seeks 7-percent reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020 when compared with 1990 levels, league member Jan Vanek said at a meeting with two council committees last week.
Formed by the Sierra Club, the non-profit Cool Cities Initiative encourages community leaders to pledge to make lower carbon emissions a priority.
In other business Monday, the council approved a drive-through bank near the York Street train station. Opponents of the measure argued that the facility would increase congestion and interfere with pedestrians crossing the nearby alley.
Steve Brosinski
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BENSENVILLE
Measure fine-tunes building code law
Bensenville village trustees this week unanimously approved an ordinance amending the village code for property maintenance by expanding language to cover more than property deemed a public nuisance, according to officials.
Village Administrator Jim Johnson said the new ordinance includes “willful and wanton defacing of buildings and personal property.” He said that aside from the O’Hare Airport expansion, the “condition of property in the village is probably the second biggest area of concern we have here.”
Johnson said that about 20 properties involving possible code violations were reviewed last month, a number that officials hope won’t become a trend.
Code violations carry a ticket and fine of $75 for the first offense, up to $150 for a second violation and a maximum penalty for additional violations of $750.
David Sharos