Whether they’re printing the money, borrowing it or just plain taxing us for it, we’re glad to see the state of Illinois come through on long-made promises to our small burg.
As we reported online and today in print, three state grants have now been released from the long limbo state of the Rauner years. These grants have been on ice since 2014.
Money is coming down the pike to fund reconstruction of the village-owned parking lot near the CTA Blue Line station. That’s a $550,000 fix. There is $250,000 coming to install a backup generator at the south water pumping station. (We’ll give you a clue, it is within the footprint of the park.) Through the feds and the county, there is $120,000 for street repaving on the south end of town.
Most positively to us is news that $750,000 has been unlocked to pay for demolition of derelict buildings at the village-owned property at the Altenheim. Not only do these buildings really need to come down, but we hope it will finally get Mayor Rory Hoskins and village government off the dime in planning the future of this fabulous site.
As recently as last week, Hoskins was reluctant to start planning until the state money was available and demolition underway. We don’t get the reluctance to plan and we expect that having demolition on the calendar will spark a healthy discussion on what is next for this green space.
