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player ready...Orland Park Mayor Jim Dodge touted upcoming retail developments and increased police staffing during his first year in office Tuesday at the annual state of the village address.
Dodge, elected last year to replace former Mayor Keith Pekau, highlighted development approvals including a Dick’s Sporting Goods House of Sports concept to replace Sears at Orland Square and an Amazon retail center concept at the busy 159th Street and LaGrange Road intersection.
Priorities remaining this year include boosting community engagement through surveys and website additions, developing strategic plans for village parks and recreation facilities and seeking funding for infrastructure improvements, Dodge said.
“We’ve obviously come a long way as a town, and we like to describe it as a great suburb on the way toward a much better status,” Dodge said.
Speaking to an estimated 240 elected officials, business leaders and residents, Dodge said his administration worked quickly to cut about $10 million in expenses through changing the employee health insurance plan, redesigning a roundabout at 153rd Street and Ravinia Avenue, and adjusting the downtown Orland Park tax increment financing agreement.
That money was for mostly spent on new hires, Dodge said, with the village gaining 25 full-time employees and 40 part-time employees.
More police officers and a switch from officers working 8-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts helped increase enforcement of aggravated speeding, or driving more than 21 mph over the speed limit, and loud mufflers, he said.
“The number one concern we’re hearing from residents are speeders and loud cars,” Dodge said.
The village reported issuing 47 citations to people for loud mufflers so far this year compared to seven at the same point last year, as well as 74 citations for aggravated speeding compared to nine last year, he said.
Several state representatives and senators who represent parts of the village attended, along with Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon, who said during a question-and-answer period that Dodge is doing a phenomenal job.
Gordon said the county hopes to partner with the village to buy a mobile voting unit to ensure all residents are able to cast their ballots in case of emergencies, such as severe weather.
“One of the things we’re worried about is the flooding,” Gordon said. “We want people to be able to vote no matter what happens, so let’s work together.”
Orland Park Chamber of Commerce President Daniel McMillan, who was emcee, said the organization has worked more closely with the village since Dodge’s administration took over.
“We didn’t have a great relationship with the village, but it all changed when Mr. Dodge became mayor, so the walls came down,” McMillan said.
Dodge said the village is working to improve finances by studying how best to use large facilities such as Centennial Park West, and is considering acquiring the former Riviera Country Club for an athletic field house or other facility. He is also interested in bringing a performing arts center or a children’s museum to the village to cater to young families.
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“With all of that, it’s going to feed into that broader strategic plan — what do we want to be when we grow up?” Dodge said. “We’re 134 years old as a town, but we still have a lot of room to grow, a lot of things we could do.”