OAK PARK
Farmers market to open 2 weeks early
Oak Park’s farmers market will open May 24, two weeks earlier than in past years.
Market organizers opted for the May opening after getting requests from patrons.
For the first two weeks, market hours will be 8 a.m. to noon. Beginning June 7, the market will be open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. until the last Saturday in October.
Although not all produce will be ready for harvest this early in the season, there will be early seasonal crops of fresh fruits and vegetables, dried and cut flowers, plants and other products.
The market’s popular fresh homemade doughnuts also will be available beginning May 24.
The market is held each Saturday in the parking lot of Pilgrim Congregational Church at Lake Street and Elmwood Avenue, a block west of Ridgeland Avenue. More information is available by calling 708-358-5780 or online at www.oak-park.us/farmersmarket.
— Victoria Pierce
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WESTERN SPRINGS
Red-light cameras to go up on Wolf Road
Village President Jack Lynch broke a tie vote Monday night to allow the village to install cameras to help catch motorists who run red lights at two intersections along Wolf Road in Western Springs.
Trustees Janet Dahl, Roger Hendrick and James Maragos voted against the plan to install cameras along Wolf at 55th Street and at Ogden Avenue. Trustees John Madell, William Rodeghier and Marcia Buell voted for it.
Dahl said the cameras will divert traffic to other streets and might cause more accidents if drivers stop suddenly at the intersections, causing motorists behind them to hit them.
Hendrick urged that the camera installations be revisited in six months to see if they had in fact reduced accidents.
Police Chief Pam Church said after Monday night’s Village Board meeting that it will be several months before the cameras are installed, in part because it will take Lombard-based RedSpeed Illinois that long to get state permits for the cameras.
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— Christine Martin
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ROSELLE
Storm-control tank to be installed
Roselle officials Monday night approved spending nearly $2.8 million for a new equalization tank to be used for excess water in case of floods and heavy rain.
Gaskill & Walton Construction Co. of Sauk Village will build a 2.8 million-gallon flow equalization tank at the Devlin Wastewater Treatment Facility, which will allow the village to treat excess water after storms have subsided.
The tank catches excess water that comes into the sewer system during a storm and holds it, allowing the processing plant to catch up.
“This project is part of an ongoing process as we continue to look at how we’re treating waste water in the village,” said Village Administrator Jeff O’Dell.
O’Dell said the money used was part of the village’s five-year capital improvement program. Officials were happy to get a bid that was less than the $3 million that had been budgeted for the project. Seven bids were submitted.
The project is expected to begin in June after the construction company demolishes a garage on the site where the tank will be built.
— David Sharos
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BLOOMINGDALE
Football program’s new upgrades are approved
A concession area, restroom, press box and electric scoreboard may soon be built at Circle Park in Bloomingdale, after the Village Board on Monday approved an amendment for a special-use permit to allow construction at the site.
The Park District sought the change to allow the Bears Athletic Club, formerly the Bloomingdale Athletic Club, to build the additions for the growing football program at the site.
Park District Director Steve Scholten said that the private sports club has been discussing plans for the additions for five years, and that plans accelerated over the last 18 months after board member Brian Marino began getting architects and engineers together to help move the project along.
Scholten said there will be no cost to the Park District.
“The entire project is going to be privately funded through fundraising activities to individual donations,” Scholten said. “The goal is to have the press box done in time for the 2008 season, and the rest of the project completed the following year.”
Scholten said the sharing of Circle Park with the Park District’s soccer program also forced some of the changes at the facility.
— David Sharos
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CICERO
Cops, firefighters gain perks to live in town
A new ordinance that gives Cicero police officers and firefighters more incentives to live in town was unanimously approved at Tuesday’s board of trustees meeting.
The perks will include free garbage collection, free vehicle stickers and no cost for home sewer services. They also will get a 10 percent discount on home water bills.
There currently is no Cicero ordinance requiring police officers or firefighters to live in town. Cicero officials said police officers and firefighters who live in town can create a safer community and ensure adequate response times if a major emergency should arise.
“When a cop lives on the block and the neighborhood knows about it, that does help keep things safer,” said Cicero spokesman Dan Proft.
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He said 80 percent of the town’s 148 police officers and about two-thirds of its 70 firefighters live outside of town.
— Joseph Ruzich