What’s ahead for the northwest suburbs in 1999? Nobody knows, of course, but some village presidents have a pretty good idea of what’s in the cards, and you can bet that their prognostications are always full of good cheer and plenty of optimism.
Here’s what some see in their rose-colored crystal balls:
Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins is happy that her town will have its lowest tax levy in 17 years. Also on the horizon: a new Metra station, three new police officers and money in the budget for five new firefighters.
But she has to wonder why developers aren’t exactly flocking to downtown Palatine, as there seems to be no shortage of projects in neighboring communities.
“We want the world to know that we are interested in residential and commercial developments,” she said. “We would like to position ourselves between Arlington Heights and Barrington; not as many as the one, but more than the other.”
This, it seems, has been on Palatine’s wish list for quite a while now.
“I don’t know why it is taking so long,” Mullins said. “We just haven’t gotten the right mix yet. It certainly isn’t because we aren’t willing. But we are confident it will happen.”
When Rolling Meadows Mayor Tom Menzel gazes into the new year, he sees the kind of development that most mayors would like to see: the revitalization of the moribund Meadows Town Mall into a Sam’s Club and a Wal-Mart, the expansion of the new 3Com Corp. campus, and a “couple projects downtown that are still in the conceptual stage.”
But on a more entertaining level, Menzel thinks it’s time that Rolling Meadows residents start having more fun in their own hometown. He wants to start planning community events that will focus on the newly revitalized downtown area in 1999.
“We now have an identifiable downtown that we can be proud of,” he said. “We want to build on that, develop a stronger sense of Rolling Meadows and get some enjoyment out of what we’ve done.”
Ideas include concerts in the park around the bell tower and more activities that focus on local clubs and civic groups, such as the classic car club that meets in Rolling Meadows.
“We’re thinking about some kind of ’50s-’60s `hop’ that will feature the cars as well as food and music from those eras,” Menzel said.
He added that his town plans to keep pressure on Commonwealth Edison Co. and has set up a telephone hot line for residents to report power outages so that “we have statistics we can show them when they claim they don’t know of any problems.”
Des Plaines Mayor Paul Jung looks back on 1998 as a crossroads year for his city.
“We had to decide whether to die or take some bold steps,” he said.
And although some of those steps were “politically risky,” as Jung put it, and bitterly contested, the city will see some results from that municipal Heimlich maneuver in the coming year.
“We will see a new library downtown in 1999, and that is a very big deal for this city,” Jung said. “We will also see our new downtown business area take shape.”
Jung also said 1999 will be the year that Des Plaines starts setting some long-term goals and develops a city “vision statement.”
“We have already taken an opinion survey among residents on where we need to go as a city, and the results of that will be incorporated into our planning,” he said.
Hoffman Estates Mayor Mike O’Malley said his village is aiming to please several different age groups in the coming year.
Sure to be a hit is a planned active adult community on the west end of town. Village planners say it’s too early to say who the builder will be.
Also, an assisted living complex for seniors will go up on Golf Road next year for less-active older citizens.
“I get lots of letters from seniors who tell me they love it here in Hoffman and don’t want to move,” O’Malley said.
But there’s also a nugget for the younger generations: Northern Illinois University should break ground for its new campus in 1999.
“I’m very happy about that,” O’Malley said, “because of the opportunity it provides for young people in this area who might not have had a chance to go to college otherwise.”
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