ALSIP
School expansion costs are covered
A building project that is expected to add classroom space to each of the four schools in Alsip, Hazelgreen and Oak Lawn Elementary School District 126 will not cost taxpayers.
Schools Supt. Robert Berger said a bond and interest rate that was slated to pay off a 1998 debt has recently been paid off, meaning it will go toward the $8 million debt for the expansion project.
The project comes as interest rates and the cost of building supplies are low and contractors are eager for work, Berger said during this week’s Alsip Village Board meeting.
The school board approved the building expansion plan in June. Bonds were sold shortly after that at a 3 percent interest rate, Berger said.
“We’re feeling really good about all of this,” he said.
The district has a student population of 1,700, and all schools are west of Pulaski Avenue.
Construction has begun at Stony Creek Elementary School, which will gain 12,000 square feet. Prairie Junior High School will gain 10,000 square feet.
In addition to adding classrooms for art and technology, the project will expand multipurpose rooms.
A preschool program will be added to each of the elementary buildings.
Lane Elementary School and Hazelgreen Elementary School will each gain 6,000 square feet.
The expanded buildings will better accommodate the new full-day kindergarten program that serves 170 children.
The targeted completion date for all schools is February 2010.
— Barbara Dargis
EVERGREEN PARK
Waste-handling costs are going up
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The Village Board this week voted to increase rates for waste hauling, recycling and hazardous-waste removal.
Waste hauling and recycling rates will go up by 5 percent effective Jan. 1 to $49.80 per meter and increase to $52.05 in 2010 and $54.42 in 2011. Each meter will initially be billed $49.80 every three months, officials said.
The charge for emergency cleanup of hazardous materials will increase about $50 to $250 an hour for the cost of using any equipment or ambulances and to $150 an hour for other motor vehicles, Mayor Jim Sexton said.
The waste-hauling and recycling rate increases were negotiated in the city’s contract with Land and Lakes Disposal in Matteson. The increase in emergency cleanup rates is to cover the cost to the city.
“Our firemen and hazmat guys have to go in and clean it up and haul it away,” trustee Jerry Bosch said.
— Janice Neumann
JOLIET
City to spend more to fix intersection
The city will pay more for its share of renovations at Interstate Highway 55 and Illinois Highway 59.
City Council members this week approved spending $846,000 more for Joliet’s share of the state project. City officials said bids for the work came in higher than estimated. The city had planned to spend $2 million.
State crews have begun renovations to Frontage Road, said Jim Trizna, the city’s director of public works.
The project includes adding traffic signals and raising the intersection of Illinois 59 and Seil Road. Trizna said the work is needed to allow for other proposed renovations, including a planned bridge over I-55, needed for a proposed mall near I-55 and Interstate Highway 80.
— Alicia Fabbre
TINLEY PARK
As revenue dries up, cut in budget eyed
Faced with declining revenue sources, village officials this week discussed cutting $2.7 million from the $35 million budget.
“We can maintain all services, but it’s going to be a pretty tight ship,” trustee Patrick Rea told members of the Village Board’s Finance and Economic Development Committee, of which she is chairwoman.
Treasurer Brad Bettenhausen unveiled revenue projections that anticipate sharp drops — particularly retail sales and motor vehicle fuel tax revenue — through 2010.
Rea, calling for immediate action, said at least $1 million must be cut by April 1, with additional $1.7 million soon after.
Although the committee can only recommend action, the meeting drew the active participation of four of the six trustees, Mayor Ed Zabrocki and Village Clerk Frank “Bill” German.
— Dennis Sullivan