The future of the development in Lake Bluff, stormwater management and civic discourse were some of the topics raised at a recent virtual forum, as candidates look for votes in the remaining days before next month’s election.
Sponsored by the League of Women Voters Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Area, candidates for village president, village board trustee, park district commissioner and library board trustee participated in question-and-answer sessions regarding some of the future subjects facing the government body they hope to be elected to.
The municipal elections are scheduled for April 6 and early voting has started.
In the village president race, Regis Charlot and William Meyer talked about their hopes to find a way for people to discuss matters in calm tones.
“We have a few issues and what I have seen is the louder voice prevailing in the discussion,” Charlot said during the March forum. “This is not acceptable. We need to come together as a group. We love the spirit of Lake Bluff and we need to be together to resolve issues.”
Meyer also pledged to look for avenues toward greater community cohesion.
“The path to bring Lake Bluff together in something that is constructive is inclusion and it is participation,” he said. “There is no better means of that than through our volunteer tradition. I will invite and participate all the citizens who are willing to volunteer even and especially those who have divergent viewpoints. We need this to make progress. If we are all agreeing on everything we will have an echo chamber that gets nothing done.”
Meyer and Charlot are vying to succeed Kathleen O’Hara – who is stepping down after serving two, four-year terms. In addition to the LOWV forum, the two candidates previously spoke with Pioneer Press about other matters ahead for Lake Bluff.
In the race for village board trustee, candidates Susan Rider, Taryn Fisher, Mickey Collins and Kathryn “Kate” Briand are looking to be elected to one of three open seats. Incumbent Aaron Towle, who is seeking his second term on the board, did not participate n the candidate forum.
The trustee candidates spoke on their vision of how to develop or redevelop certain portions of the village.
In terms of commercial development, Briand suggested increased use of the business park and zoning district located on the east side of Waukegan Road.
“We really need to focus on the business park and the L-1 district because there is so much potential out there,” Briand said. “It is a heavy lift, but it has the potential to bring us a lot of revenue. Some of the parcels out there are undeveloped.”
Collins agreed with Briand.
“There is great potential in our light industrial business park,” Collins said. “It could be re-developed as a mixed-use area with residential, offices, restaurants and shops. A hotel could be there – which is actually a great generator of taxes because you can impose a hospitality tax that is not paid by residents, it is paid by visitors.”
Fisher said she wanted to explore potential business opportunities in the village’s northern corridor.
“There is some potential there that is absolutely worth exploring and investigating and having more conversation with those business owners,” Fisher said.
Rider responded to the development questions with hopes there are changes in the types of residential housing offered inside the village.
“We need to be more creative in terms of bringing new types of housing forward. It is part of our fabric, it is part of our community,” she said. “For the people who already live here, it is giving them opportunities to live in their home with the people they would like to live there.”
Another major topic addressed was how the village would address stormwater management, since flooding has been an issue in Lake Bluff in recent years.
The village received results from an initial study in 2019 conducted by an engineering firm which stated that potential costs to correct existing stormwater problems went as high as $37 million.
Among the ideas under consideration by the current Village Board is some type of stormwater management fee.
Collins stated if such fee is implemented it should come with a expiration date.
“That way, we are not continually charging residents for stormwater,” she said.
Fisher labeled the stormwater problems “devastating,” noting that her block frequently floods, and she wants to see the village move forward quickly with some way to ease the problem.
“What I don’t want to see is [the village] pass the buck,” Fisher said. “We need to be proactive right now and sit back on our laurels and wait for the next board or administration to look at.”
Rider cautioned the costs of the stormwater work is going to be “significant.”
“We do need to look at a utility fee in order to fund the stormwater work that needs to be done,” she said.
Rider said issue is that the type of soil in the village does not absorb water quickly, permitting it to stand. She said there is also a large amount of impervious surface in Lake Bluff, and she wants to see that reduced.
Briand said part of the problem is some aging infrastructure. She wants the village to find ways to reduce the flow of excess water and the stress it puts on the system, possibly through use of green spaces and rain gardens, she said.
There was general consensus of frustration regarding the situation with Stonebridge Estate at 136 Green Bay Road.
The estate is sitting idle now, after the most recent proposal to raze it and then construct nearly 100 single-family homes did not materialize. The village and the property owners are now facing off in court: The village wants a fence returned to the property and the property owners are requesting to be released from a development agreement the village believes would not allow the owners to tear down a large portion of the estate.
The Village Board candidates said once the legal disputes are resolved, the property can be viewed as a development opportunity. However, questions on usage and density of any development remain.
In an earlier part of the forum, the six candidates competing for the four open seats on the Lake Bluff Park District board discussed a series of subjects ranging from the future of the Lake Bluff Golf Club, rising Lake Michigan lake levels and erosion on Sunrise Beach and the corresponding bluff.
The current park board received results from a study done by an engineering firm where options to repair the beach were listed – with a potential price tag of several million dollars.
Incumbent park commissioners Niki Walsh and Scott Weber are seeking re-election and are on the ballot with Susan Raymoure, Ann Rieder, Gerard McDermott and Michele Mrachek.
Lake Bluff library board candidates Bonne Shaul, Jenny Graziano and incumbent Matthew Zaute appeared at the beginning of the forum as there are five people seeking four open trustee seats.
They spoke on the future of the library, specifically operations post-COVID-19 pandemic, and enhancing digital programming and e-book offerings.
Incumbent library board trustees Tricia Brockett and William Hayes did not participate.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelancer.
