The state of the water reservoir under the Howard Mohr Community Center has been a hot topic of conversation among village commissioners and staff for over a year now. As the vessel that holds the village’s drinking water is deteriorating and needs to be replaced, officials are looking at locations for new reservoirs and are choosing between the village-owned CTA Blue Line parking lot and the Altenheim.
Following a presentation by the village’s engineering firm, Christopher B. Burke Engineering, at a council meeting last month to show renderings of what the reservoirs would look like on both lots, commissioners voiced their frustration with a lack of discussion about future development of the Altenheim property – a conversation that would influence where to build new reservoirs.
Commissioners gathered for a special, workshop-style meeting on May 22 to talk all things village-owned Altenheim property, including whether to build a bike path, future use of the Grove open space north of the Altenheim building and where to put the water reservoirs. Though recommendations from commissioners were split on the latter, Village Administrator Rachell Entler later told the Review that she was given direction to work towards putting a submerged water reservoir and pump station at the village-owned Altenheim property.
Commissioners seemed to agree to stop pursuing a new bike path on the east side of the Altenheim property after acknowledging that the village can’t afford to spend nearly $500,000 on it right now.
The village received a $250,000 Invest in Cook grant for the bike path in 2020. After an extension, the grant will expire on Dec. 1 of this year. Officials said they don’t think they’ll be ready to build by then, since they would have to enter an easement agreement with ComEd for them to bury the power poles where the bike path would go. Jim Amelio, group lead at Christopher Burke Engineering, said at the May 22 meeting that he thinks it will be hard to get that done by December.
The project has stalled among land swap agreements with the Altenheim retirement home, which owns a small portion of the land the bike path would traverse. Entler said a buyback agreement with the Altenheim has yet to be resolved.
“I love the idea of a bike path,” Commissioner Ryan Nero said during the meeting. “I just don’t think the time is right for Forest Park. I think we have other priorities, quite frankly.”
“I agree with Commissioner Nero. If we’re on the hook for two, three, $400,000 that we don’t have earmarked somewhere, it might be time to pump the breaks,” said Commissioner Jessica Voogd.
“This is not the time for us to be looking at extras in the village when we simply can’t afford it,” said Commissioner Maria Maxham. She added that the village is projected to end the year with a $1.9 million deficit in its general fund, plus $1.2 million the village owes itself after borrowing from its TIF fund. “It’s a no-go right now,” she said of the bike path.
Entler said an official vote on the bike path would likely come before the village council within the next month. Mayor Rory Hoskins asked Entler to contact the county to see if the village could extend its grant again.
While plans for a bike path remain stalled for now, Entler said the Grove area on the north side of the Altenheim property has been approved for use by Opportunity Knocks’ farm and garden. The group is approved to use the property through August, and the village council will vote on a long-term agreement with them at a future meeting.
Water reservoirs on the Altenheim
At the May 22 meeting on the Altenheim, six Forest Parkers gave public comment. Two preferred the CTA parking lot, one preferred the Altenheim, and three said they think the village council is having good conversations, respect the effort they’re putting in and want the reservoirs underground.
As commissioners voiced their preferences on where to design the water reservoirs, Nero and Maxham want to build at the CTA parking lot, while Melin-Rogovin, Voogd and Hoskins are leaning toward the Altenheim.
Nero advocated for water reservoirs at the village-owned CTA parking lot, since it’s been underutilized for the last decade.
“When I first moved into the neighborhood, every [parking] spot was taken,” he said of the lot. “That’s not the case now.” He proposed building the reservoirs above ground to save money. Nero added that installing the reservoirs on over an acre of land at the Altenheim would have substantial impact on the future of development there.
“An underutilized parking lot is a far better use than eating up marketable real estate for a developer,” Nero said. “I think it would be slightly irresponsible to select the Altenheim because the marketable value of that land would decrease by 1.5 acres.”
Maxham agreed: “My gut says put it on the parking lot because we’ve been sitting on the Altenheim for a long time … and we have a parking lot that we’re not using,” she said.
Maxham also asked, if the village designed the reservoirs underground, then didn’t get anticipated funding, how difficult would it be to pivot to installing the reservoirs at another location. Amelio answered that only a small portion of the cost would be impacted by changing the reservoirs’ design from above ground to below or vice versa.
Voogd said she thinks the water reservoirs would be better buried and incorporated into the open space at the Altenheim, as construction at the CTA lot would decrease the amount of parking spaces there – impacting potential revenue the village could get. She added that building at the Altenheim would also be cheaper.
Constructing the reservoirs above ground would cost $10 million at the Altenheim, compared to $11 million at the CTA lot, while partial burial would respectively cost $11 million versus $13 million, and full underground burial would cost $13 million instead of $15 million.
“If we’re going to spend that extra million, maybe we should bury it [at the Altenheim] and create a park where people can actually be utilizing it,” Voogd said.
Entler said that, in order for Forest Park to receive up to $15 million in funding from the United States Army Corp of Engineers’ Water Resources Development Act, the village needs to propose a design-ready project. Entler said officials have met with both the Army Corp. and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis’s office about how to access that funding. She added that all steps of that project would come before the village council for a vote, from approving money from the WRDA to an engineering proposal.
Melin-Rogovin said she also wants to pursue burying the water reservoirs at the Altenheim.
“It would improve the quality of life for residents,” she said, as opposed to building them above ground and affecting the view of those who live at the Altenheim and the Grove condominiums and townhomes next door. “The design would impact the enjoyment of the space.”
Hoskins also proposed submerging the reservoirs at the Altenheim.
“I’ve seen how recreational space is maintained over water storage, and I’m not comfortable digging up a perfectly good parking lot,” Hoskins said.
