Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen’s plans for 2024 include bringing in more tech, replacing lead pipes, and introducing electric vehicles to the village of Skokie’s fleet.
Preventing floods
To mitigate the problem of flooding in Skokie, Van Dusen said the village would take a different approach to handling stormwater. He said the village hired an engineering firm to put together a report on the issue in 2024.
Van Dusen said it could cost the village $80 million, conservatively, to improve the village’s stormwater system, calling the expense “dramatic.”
He said the effects of climate change are necessitating action.
“We have 100-year storms happening every 10 years,” he said. In April 2023, streets and basements were flooded during a storm that affected parts of Skokie, Niles, Park Ridge and Morton Grove.
Lead Pipes
Van Dusen said that 2024 will be the year Skokie starts to get serious about replacing lead service lines, which are the pipes that bring water from the village’s water main into residential homes. According to the village’s website, lead was a common material used in manufacturing water service lines until it was banned in 1987.
Van Dusen said the village’s Public Works Department will begin replacing the lead pipes. The village has received a $2 million grant from U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, with Van Dusen hoping that the state and federal government can do more to help cover the cost of the water service line replacements.
Illinois Science + Technology Park
Time magazine featured Skokie-based carbon recycler LanzaTech, which has its offices in the Illinois Science + Technology Park, twice in 2023, listing it among the 100 most influential companies and naming CEO Jennifer Holmgren to the TIME Climate 100 list.
Mayor Van Dusen said the village hopes to bring more innovators to the Illinois Science + Technology Park, located near the intersection of Oakton Street and Skokie Boulevard. According to the park’s website, the campus has nine tenants including LanzaTech, Northwestern University and NorthShore University HealthSystem. The campus currently has four buildings and a parking lot, with the capacity to build more.
Van Dusen said he hopes the village can facilitate bringing in one or two more tenants in 2024.
Roads
Van Dusen said the following roads are slated to get improvements in 2024.
Crawford Avenue between Oakton Street and Old Orchard Road
Old Orchard Road Bridge over I-94
Oakton Street Bridge over I-94
Affordable Housing
Skokie’s proposed ordinance for inclusionary zoning that would mandate developers to provide some affordable housing units failed to pass the Village Board, but something similar could emerge in 2024.
Trustee Khem Khoeun initially voted against the ordinance, but noted at the Jan. 2 meeting that she has since gathered more information on the topic, and raised the possibility of proposing a new ordinance with different requirements for real estate developers.
“The times and values are shifting where having an inclusionary ordinance is pertinent and will set the expectations for developers who want to build in Skokie,” she said. Khoeun added that she also had individual conversations with Van Dusen and trustees since the original ordinance failed.
Van Dusen suggested the ordinance could come back to the Village Board sometime in February.
Sustainability, Electric Vehicles
Van Dusen said the village is in the process of converting its vehicles, such as public works vehicles and police cars, to electric power. He said there is more demand than supply for electric vehicles at the moment but that the village will replace nonelectric vehicles as they age out with new electric vehicles when it becomes affordable.
