NORTHBROOK
Cracking down on unkempt properties
Several calls about unkempt, vacant properties have convinced Northbrook officials to spruce up the village’s policy for handling such complaints.
“With the number of foreclosures out there, there are a number of property management issues,” Village Manager Richard Nahrstadt told the Board of Trustees Tuesday.
The idea is to speed up the cleanup. For years, the village sent up to three notices to property owners before taking the owner to court for noncompliance, said Dan Kaup, assistant to the village manager.
Now, the village will send only one warning before the case goes to court.
A title company also would help the village locate property owners. During the housing crisis, identifying property owners has been one of the biggest challenges for the village, Kaup said.
In some cases, he said, an owner has abandoned a foreclosed property, but a bank has not yet acquired it. Such cases are increasingly common, and challenging.
Nahrstadt said the village could form a committee with members from several departments to review complaints, which help the village get information to the people complaining and the violators.
Kaup added that the village has also changed its policy on tall grass complaints. Staff members no longer mail several notices when a resident’s grass is more than 10 inches tall.
— Jeff Danna
BARRINGTON DISTRICT 220
Strike may delay pre-K center opening
Barrington Middle School-Prairie Campus, which is supposed to open its doors to pre-kindergarten students on Aug. 30, might have to push that date back because of a strike by Operating Engineers Local 150 and the Laborers District Council that is affecting construction projects around the Chicago region.
The new Barrington District 220 Early Learning Center is about 85 percent complete, and before the strike was on schedule and within the budget, school officials said.
A new completion date for the center is uncertain, but if construction and preparations aren’t finished in time for the Aug. 30 opening, students and staff will begin where pre-kindergarten programs have operated for the last several years: Woodland School in Carpentersville.
Once the strike ends and the building is completed, students and staff will relocate to the Early Learning Center. If work stoppage is not resolved soon, a contingency timeline for the transition will take effect.
Plans before the strike were to have supplies and materials moved into the new addition to the Prairie Campus on East Dundee Road by Aug. 23.
— Staff report
ANTIOCH
Rail crossings to be closed for repairs
The Canadian National rail crossings at North Avenue and at Illinois Highway 83/Main Street in Antioch will be closed for repairs from 7 a.m. Thursday to about 5 p.m. Monday.
North Avenue is already closed to through traffic for reconstruction, and the same detour will apply to the rail crossing closing: North Avenue to Deep Lake Road to Illinois Highway 173. Residential traffic to North Avenue will be allowed through a separate detour with signs posted.
The detour route for Highway 83 traffic will use County Highway C in Salem, Wis.; U.S. Highway 45; and Illinois Highway 173.
As part of the repair, the crossing at Highway 83 will be widened in anticipation of a road widening there.
— Staff report
