BOLINGBROOK
Village OKs proposal for senior housing
Plans for a senior living center have been approved by the Village Board.
The center, which would be on nearly 6 acres at 370 N. Weber Rd., will have 160 residences split between assisted-and independent-living styles.
“We see a real need for this project as the population continues to age,” said Timothy Hedges of Groundwork LLC, the company developing the Sunrise Senior Living center. Groundwork has about 450 facilities worldwide, he said.
The independent living units would be much like apartments ranging from 500 to more than 1,000 square feet. The assisted living units would be like master bedroom suites, Hedges said.
He said he expected construction to begin later this year.
— Alicia Fabbre
– – –
JUSTICE
Apartment sites set to get new entrances
New entrances to three apartment complexes near Cork Avenue and 83rd Street are being planned after firefighters were blocked access to the apartments during a March 8 blaze that destroyed three units.
More than 650 units in the Sunset Lake, Candlewood and Laurels complexes have only one entrance for vehicles. During the fire, that entrance was blocked by a stalled vehicle and firefighters were slowed in their response, Village Trustee Jeff Kranig said this week.
“We predicted this was going to happen years ago,” he said. Previously, there were more entrances, but they were closed because street lights were desired in that area. However, funding for the lights could only be secured if certain traffic flow figures were met, and closing the extra entrances created the proper flow.
Mayor Krzystof Wasowicz said the lack of entrances creates regular headaches for motorists.
— Jeff Borgardt
– – –
ROMEOVILLE
$60,000 to be used for cleanup at site
The Village Board recently approved a development agreement to pay for environmental cleanup near Illinois Highway 53 and Greenwood Avenue.
The property, formerly the site of Danny Boy’s restaurant and Romeoville Liquor, has been contaminated by leakage from underground storage tanks at a nearby gas station.
Under the agreement, the village would pay $60,000 for cleanup and another $10,000 to demolish the buildings, which are vacant. Village officials expect to recoup part of the $60,000 from the developer of the site. The $10,000 for demolition would not be repaid.
— Alicia Fabbre
– – –
TINLEY PARK
1st vehicle sticker fee increase in 26 years
For the first time in 26 years, Tinley Park has increased vehicle sticker prices.
Trustees this week raised the sticker fee on cars from $15 to $25, on trucks from $24 to $35 and on motorcycles from $4.50 to $10.
Senior citizens continue to pay only $1.50 for one car but the full sticker price for additional vehicles. The increase is effective with new stickers, which go on sale Tuesday.
Trustee Patrick Rea, who recommended the sticker increase to supplement Tinley Park’s share of state motor fuel taxes, said the village hasn’t increased sticker prices since 1982, and infrastructure costs “are not going to go down.”
Trustee Mike Bettenhausen estimated the fee increase would generate $250,000 a year for road maintenance and improvement costs.
Tinley Park’s streets represent an “$88 million asset,” Bettenhausen said. “The value of infrastructure is returned in higher property values.”
Area automobile sticker prices range from $14 in Mokena to $40 in Park Forest, according to a Tinley Park survey.
— Dennis Sullivan
