Panduit Corp. will donate to Tinley Park land the village plans to use for a detention pond.
The donation, approved at Tuesday’s Village Board meeting, could ultimately help the company, which envisions an eventual redevelopment of its former headquarters and manufacturing facility northwest of Ridgeland Avenue and 175th Street.
The 8.3 acres Panduit is donating are at the northwest corner of the intersection, and the village is seeking a permit from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District to build the pond, which is projected to cost about $4 million.
Tinley Park wants the pond to provide off site stormwater detention for future development in and around the Oak Park Avenue business district, including a long-delayed apartment building south of the Oak Park Avenue Metra station and the anticipated development of the former Central Middle School property north of the station.
Changes in stormwater detention requirements — temporarily holding rainwater runoff during storms to lessen flood risks — prompted the idea of carrying away runoff from a number of parcels and storing it at one location. The changes require developers to devote more land for containing stormwater, and the relatively small sizes of the properties would make them less desirable for development if too much of the land had to be set aside for on site detention, according to the village.
Residents at the board meeting questioned why the village would push ahead with the pond project if there is uncertainty about how quickly the developments that would benefit from it will materialize. The board also was questioned about whether those developers would later be required to chip in to cover the village’s costs to build the pond.
Mayor Dave Seaman suggested to the audience that it’s the pond that’s driving the bus, noting the village “can’t manage the downtown development without a place to put the water.”
The entire Panduit property is 57 acres, and the company has 20 acres devoted to a research and development center. The remaining land, apart from what’s being turned over to the village, includes mostly empty manufacturing and warehouse space that would, at some point, be demolished and the property redeveloped, according to the land donation agreement.
The pond would be made large enough to accommodate the village’s detention needs as well as what would be required for the eventual redevelopment of the balance of Panduit’s property. Revenue generated by a tax increment financing district that encompasses the entire Panduit, as well as adjacent homes, could help pay for demolition costs.
Founded in 1955, Panduit’s electrical and network infrastructure products are used by customers to manage and automate communications, computing, power and security systems in a building or other physical location. Privately held, Panduit in 2010, relocated its global headquarters from the 175th and Ridgeland location to a site south of Interstate 80 and east of 80th Avenue in Tinley Park.
The land the company is giving to the village would return to Panduit if the village doesn’t get the required MWRD approval, or if work on the pond doesn’t get underway by June 1 of next year, according to the agreement.
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In other business, the Village Board recognized Robert Nolting, principal at Andrew High School since 2009, who has been named principal of the year for the 2016-2017 school year by the Illinois Principals Association.
A 1991 graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Nolting initially studied business at the University of Wisconsin then later switched to education, according to a proclamation by the board. In 2004, he became
an associate principal at Andrew, then later spent three years as an assistant principal at Sandburg High School in Orland Park before returning to Andrew, according to the proclamation.
The board also approved the 2016 tax levy, for property taxes that will be paid next year, which is unchanged for the fourth year.
The total levy $25.5 million — the village’s portion is $20 million and library $5.5 million. The library’s levy is also unchanged.
The Village Board also approved ordinances abating $6 million from the levy that would have been collected to cover principal and interest on outstanding bond issues.