FOREST PARK
18-year-old waiters can now serve alcohol
Waiters and waitresses can now be 18 years old and serve alcohol in Forest Park’s bars and restaurants.
The Village Council lowered the age from 21 on Tuesday after getting requests from restaurateurs, Mayor Anthony Calderone said.
Though they may be employed as waiters and waitresses, people under 21 cannot work as bartenders, he said.
The provision allows minors to work in a bar, but Calderone said he expects they will mainly work in restaurants. He said the lowered age for the village’s ordinance now matches the state’s law.
Grocery store employees must still be 21 to check out alcohol purchases, a state law requirement.
Also Tuesday, the Village Council approved plans for a half-acre retail development that would replace the vacant Savant Medical Supply building at 1215 S. Harlem Ave.
The new development could have up to eight stores.
The building, which has been empty for about two years, once made the Tribune’s Top 10 list of ugliest buildings in the metropolitan area. It is expected to be demolished this summer.
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“It’s certainly a great improvement to the area,” Village Administrator Michael Sturino said of the new retail building.
— Victoria Pierce
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BENSENVILLE
Aale of land approved in redevelopment area
Village officials approved the sale of land in the Town Center redevelopment area.
Properties at 210 and 228 W. Irving Park Rd. and 10 W. Brookwood St. were auctioned off a week ago for the village by Inland Auctions of Oak Brook for a total of $265,000.
Village Administrator Jim Johnson said the parcels were the first that developers have bought since the redevelopment plan was launched.
“It’s been difficult to get developers to come into the village of Bensenville, given the O’Hare expansion issues, which is why we’ve had so many TIFs [tax-increment financing districts] and other incentives to get people interested,” he said.
Johnson said the Irving Park properties include a former gas station site and an empty cell phone store. The Brookwood parcel appears to be part of a larger land acquisition the developer is acquiring for office space.
— David Sharos
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WESTERN SPRINGS
Itasca firm to work on 2nd fire station plan
Trustees moved a step closer to building a second fire station by awarding a $12,000 contract Tuesday night to an Itasca firm that will come up with options for the building’s appearance and ways the village could save money on the project.
Sigalos and Associates, a construction management firm, will work with Western Springs officials to identify building materials for the proposed 7,100-square-foot station, said village attorney Michael Jurusik.
He said trustees will decide whether to bid out the project after Sigalos assembles cost information from potential subcontractors.
Western Springs officials decided to build a second fire station at 5501 Grand Ave. after it won a $1 million contribution toward its construction from Dartmoor Homes as part of a 2005 annexation agreement for the Timber Trails development at Wolf and Plainfield Roads.
Bill Nelson, director of municipal services, said in a memo that he wanted to limit the cost of the fire station to about $1.9 million. The village has budgeted $1.5 million this year. The remaining $400,000 would come from the 2009 budget.
— Christine Martin