ELK GROVE VILLAGE
Rental house landlords must register, pay fee
Owners of rental houses in Elk Grove Village will be required this fall to register with the village and pay $20 for an annual license under rules approved Tuesday by the Village Board.
The ordinance is meant to improve communication among owners of the estimated 450 single-family rental houses, their tenants and neighbors.
Beginning in September, landlords will be required to fill out a registration form that includes their name and address, the name of their management company, if any, and the name of the tenant, Trustee Samuel Lissner said.
Officials said neighbors sometimes complain about tenants or the condition of properties and don’t know how to reach the owner.
Lissner said Arlington Heights, Mt. Prospect, Schaumburg and Streamwood have similar ordinances.
Other types of rental properties — including apartment buildings, condos and town homes that are leased — are exempt from the ordinance.
— Ken Manson
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NILES
More Top Picks Vanity Mirrors
Tickets OKd for parents who leave kids alone
The Niles Village Board has approved an ordinance allowing police to ticket parents who leave children 10 or younger alone in vehicles.
The offense would carry a fine of $50.
Officials drafted the ordinance after an incident in October when a police officer responded to a report of a young child left alone in a vehicle with the windows shut in hot weather in a shopping center parking lot.
The officer found a parent in a store and wanted to write a ticket, but couldn’t because the village had no rules against leaving children alone in cars, officials said.
“The issue is not the fine,” Village Atty. Joe Annunzio told board members Tuesday. “We want to let parents know it’s not a good idea to be doing this. If it is appropriate, family counseling could be suggested in these cases as well.”
Sgt. Tom Davis said the new ordinance would allow officers to issue tickets rather than arresting someone on criminal charges.
“This is a way of correcting bad behavior, just like parking tickets,” Davis said.
— Jeff Borgardt
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ARLINGTON HEIGHTS
After August deluge, flooding study is OKd
Arlington Heights plans to spend $51,900 on an engineering study to find remedies for flooding in the area of White Oak Street and Vail Avenue.
A storm in late August flooded basements and left the intersection impassable, even by emergency vehicles.
“We’re glad that you see there’s a problem, and we’re glad you’re taking some action,” homeowner Sean O’Mara told Village Board members at a committee meeting Monday.
O’Mara, of the 100 block of White Oak Street, said there was 5 feet of water in his basement after the storm.
Trustees voiced support for the study during the committee meeting and are expected to approve a contract Monday with Brown and Caldwell, an environmental engineering and consulting firm based in Walnut Creek, Calif., with an office in Chicago.
“They’ll begin by mid-March and have a draft report for staff review by mid-May, and a final report around July 1,” said Scott Shirley, public works director for Arlington Heights.
— Graydon Megan