LOCKPORT
Commuter lot to get updated pay system
The Lockport City Council this week paved the way for high-tech upgrades at the city’s commuter rail station.
The council approved a $62,603 contract to buy new electronic pay boxes for the park-and-ride program.
Currently, commuters slide dollar bills into slots on an old-fashioned board to pay their daily parking fare.
The four new boxes accept credit and debit cards and cash. They also print receipts.
Mike Greenan, director of city services, said city staff met with Lemont officials, who have recently installed similar technology.
“They are very happy with them. There is a period of about two months to educate commuters about how the new system works, but after that people are happy they don’t have to jam wads of dollar bills into those small holes anymore,” Greenan said.
The pay stations are expected to be operational in about two months.
— Jeff Borgardt
ROMEOVILLE
Panel members to get pay increase
The Romeoville Village Board this week rewarded members of the village’s boards, commissions and committees with a raise to $40 per meeting from $25.
The board agreed with a recent review that found the current compensation was not appropriate for the amount of time and work put forth by members. The pay hikes don’t apply to the Village Board.
“Although these positions are volunteer, members need to hire baby-sitters and drive to and from the meetings, and they should at least break even for their effort,” said Mayor Fred Dewald.
Also at a Tuesday night board meeting, trustees proclaimed May 13-19 as Police Week to honor the village’s officers. May 15 is Peace Officers’ Memorial Day in honor of those who lost their lives or became disabled in the line of duty.
— Joseph Hillenmeyer
TINLEY PARK
Homes being taken off flood-plain map
Homes in the Barrett Brothers subdivision in Tinley Park are being taken off the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood-plain map, which will allow owners to drop expensive flood insurance on their homeowner’s policies.
About 550 homes were placed in the flood plain when FEMA remapped the southern part of Cook County in the 1990s. As a result, homeowners were forced to pay, on average, an extra $1,000 a year to cover the cost of flood insurance.
In 1999, residents asked for the village’s help. Two years later, officials began work on a $5 million flood-mitigation project and built two detention ponds on both sides of Sayre Avenue at 178th Street.
A new storm sewer system also serves that area. Construction costs totaled $4 million, while land acquisition alone cost an additional $1 million, said Village Manager Scott Niehaus.
This week, FEMA notified the village that they had approved a flood-plain map revision. Homeowners will get a letter this week, which they can forward to their insurance agency and mortgage companies.
The homes in question never flooded, Niehaus said, but the streets would fill with rainwater during a storm.
“So, imagine their frustration when they had to pay this insurance and they never had a problem,” Niehaus said.
The total of roughly $550,000 that residents will save could eventually go back into the community by increased valuations on the homes.
“We figure it is going to pay for itself in 10 years,” Niehaus said.
— Patricia Trebe
WILL COUNTY
Highway agency vehicles getting old
Will County Board Member Ron Svara likes to point out that one of the Highway Department’s vehicles has been driven 200,000 miles. “Another 39,000 miles and that truck could be on the moon,” Svara (R-Homer Glen) said Thursday.
Svara, who chairs the County Board’s Budget Review Committee, used the analogy to underscore the need to put more money into county vehicles, roads and buildings.
Committee members endorsed Svara’s proposal to put half of all new revenue aside for capital expenses, with the rest going to operating expenses.
County officials last year opted not to replace Highway Department and sheriff’s office vehicles as a short-term way to keep the 2007 budget in the black.
But that has stretched the lives of their vehicles beyond the normal length. Three Highway Department trucks have more than 150,000 miles on the odometer.
“In the long term, you can’t continue to ignore your capital expense,” Svara said.
Capital expenses also include jail expansion bonds and a new courthouse complex.
Svara also suggested cutting current costs by not replacing retiring employees and moving county employees from rental offices to county-owned property.
The county now pays $1 million a year to rent offices.
— Dennis Sullivan
