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player ready...Oak Lawn officials celebrated Tuesday progress on the construction of a stormwater detention basin near Polaris Intermediate School while raising concerns about a Nicor gas main replacement project that’s also underway.
The Village Board approved another $45,000 for the Polaris flood control project Tuesday, for a more expensive soil mixture meant for athletic fields.
Officials at District 218, which agreed to the construction at 107th and Kilpatrick Avenue in 2023, said they were concerned about safety of players on the fields if a limestone additive was used instead of an infield soil mix.
Board members said they were pleased with the work done on the now $15 million project, the majority of which is expected to wrap up by the end of November so the athletic fields can reopen by June 2027. The cost is being split between the village and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.
After storms tore through the area Monday, with tornadoes confirmed in Hazel Crest, Harvey, Homewood, Lansing and Orland Park, the unfinished detention basin “worked exactly how it’s supposed to work,” said District 6 Village Trustee Ralph Soch.
“It was its first test,” Soch said. “I got calls and lots of videos from people in the neighborhood, and I’m like, ‘This is exactly what it’s supposed to do. This is what it will look like in an event like this.'”
Soch and project manager Tim Carter said the park was filled to about half capacity on Monday and drained in about seven hours. When the basin completely fills, it will take between one and two days to drain, they said.
Nicor gas issues
In contrast, village officials say Nicor Gas has failed to provide updates regarding an ongoing natural gas main replacement project by the utility south of West 87th Street and north of West 92nd Street.
Residents have complained to the village that Nicor failed to notify them before beginning work outside of their homes, according to District 2 Village Trustee Alex Olejniczak.
“We’ve got ample information that shows you didn’t do your job,” including multiple unanswered emails from the village asking for updates on the project, Olejniczak said. “We’re not getting the communication.”
Patricia Eaves-Heard, regional community affairs manager for Nicor, said the company mailed notices to residents within the project area ahead of time and she has only received six emails from residents over the project’s duration.
“I want to make sure that you know there is transparency of sending out those letters.” Eaves-Heard said. “We’re thinking everybody has it, right? But we don’t know if they don’t have it until they tell us.”
Nicor aims to complete meter replacement by the end of August, with the project under the purview of the state of Illinois.
Until then, Mayor Terry Vorderer demanded the company “work better with our village staff and with our residents.”
“We do have the ultimate authority, I assume, by issuing permits,” Vorderer said. “We don’t have to issue if you’re not doing the job to our standards.”
Home buying project
Three months after District 1 Trustee Timothy Desmond resigned to enter into a contract with the village to restore dilapidated properties, the first home built under the partnership is nearly complete.
Meanwhile, the board waited until Tuesday to approve a $480,000 agreement with Desmond’s company, Leeside Builders, to complete construction on the single-family home.
Neighbors to the property at 9347 S. 55th Ave. questioned the program during the board meeting, expressing concerns about a lack of transparency.
“This house is already under a roof — they’re doing drywall right now,” Robert Hodorowicz said. “Why is this just coming on the agenda today?”
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Village Manager Thomas Phelan said financing mechanisms and contractor payments had to be put through the system following the approval of the contract in April. He said staff are working on a website providing details about the program and were waiting to see how the sale of the first home went before approving more projects.
The contract between the village and Leeside Builders states the company is eligible to receive up to 40% of any profit made from the sale of homes it constructs. The village will hold on to the remaining 60%, and whoever buys the home will receive property tax breaks for 10 years, though Phelan could not specify the size of the discount on Tuesday.
Hodorowicz’s wife, Suzanne Hodorowicz, said she was confused why a tax incentive was being offered to someone who could afford a home worth $480,000.
“I thought it was going to be mid- to lower-income, which would have been giving somebody a chance to get a home, which I would have rather had,” she said.