Route 53: Fear and Loathing Part 2

October 28, 2015angie

Members of the Long Grove Village Board at the October 27, 2015 meeting.

I have never used my gavel more times in a meeting to maintain order and civility than I did last night. Things never truly got out of control, but emotions were high in the capacity crowd of Rt. 53 objectors. The mood of the room prevailed as the Trustees voted 5 to 1 in favor of a resolution declaring formal opposition to the extension of Route 53 by the Village of Long Grove. The Illinois Tollway Board is set to make a decision in December on whether or not to move forward with further engineering studies for this project. Time will tell if this action of taking a stand by Long Grove will have any effect.

For those of you who are interested, below is a link to the letter written to our Village Board from Lake County Chairman Aaron Lawlor, concerning the informational meeting held last week about Route 53. This was read aloud last night by our Village Clerk and entered into the public record. The letter also contains an additional link that takes you to the Route 53 website which features video, maps, and additional details on the project.

Letter from Chairman Lawlor

Route 53: Fear and Loathing Part 1

October 27, 2015October 27, 2015angie

Elected officials in attendance at the October 20th Route 53 Informational Meeting include (L to R) Long Grove Village President Angie Underwood, Lake County Treasurer David Stolman, Lake County Board President Aaron Lawlor, Lake County Board Representative Sid Mathias, and Hawthorn Woods Mayor Joe Mancino.

Last week our Village Board hosted a public meeting to discuss the proposed extension of Route 53. An initiative of Trustees Stan Borys and Mike Sarlitto, this meeting was billed as “neither pro nor con” on the issue, but simply a presentation of facts to better inform our residents. I don’t think anyone walked out of the meeting feeling that it was a neutral discussion. I am on the record as having objected to the last-minute timing and organization of this meeting, and the Village Board as a whole had limited opportunity to vet or approve the materials being presented.

Since last Tuesday, the fallout from the meeting has been significant. County officials who were in attendance to observe (they were specifically asked not to present by Borys and Sarlitto) were treated in an unprofessional manner and have responded with a letter to “correct the false and/or misleading information that was shared in the official presentation.” Chairman Lawlor’s letter will be read tonight at our Village Board meeting and I will reprint it in my next blog entry (Route 53: Fear and Loathing Part 2).

Our communication and working relationships with County officials whom Long Grove is dependent on for critical services such as police and road maintenance (think Diamond Lake Road) are now strained.

My inbox has been filled with impassioned emails from residents opposing the project, many of whom live in the proposed path of the road. A few of these included threats.

Trustees Borys, Sarlitto, and Jacob have as of Friday, forced on to our agenda tonight a vote for our Village to take an official position opposing the Route 53 extension. This short-circuited the normal open process of having two weeks of public awareness in between a Board discussion and a Board vote. This process is in place to ensure consistency, fairness, and transparency. I will write tomorrow on the results of tonight’s meeting, to which we are expecting a large crowd (perhaps brandishing a few pitchforks and flaming torches?)

To better clarify my position on the matter, my opening remarks from the Oct. 20th meeting are reprinted below. Following that is the article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune describing the meeting.

I first learned of the proposed Rt. 53 extension 18 years ago when my husband and I were looking for a home in Long Grove. Over the years this project has surfaced again and again for study and debate, never advancing to fruition due to lack of funds and consensus. I have never been in favor of this project. If it were all up to me, I would preserve our beautiful open spaces and natural areas as they are today, and this road would never be built. However, I am also aware that many residents do support this project. I don’t believe that I was elected to advocate for my personal point of view, but rather to be a representative for ALL Long Grove residents.

Shortly after I took office, I was asked to participate in committees to further study the Route 53/120 Extension. In the past two years, I have attended over 15 of these meetings and I have witnessed firsthand the strong support this project has within both the County and State. At this time, the decision whether or not to advance the Route 53/120 extension rests with the Tollway and our State legislatures. If the road is eventually constructed, it will be dependent on many future decisions of which Long Grove’s active involvement will be crucial, particularly in safeguarding our environmental concerns.

I am ever mindful that what is done and said in the name of Long Grove has and will have consequences, good and bad. My role as Village President is to lead our residents into the years ahead maintaining the best quality of life possible. If that future must include a toll road, then my responsibility is to preserve Long Grove’s seat at the table, and work with other State and County officials to make sure our voice is heard. It is my belief that the best possible outcome for all can be achieved by collaboration and respect. –Angie Underwood, Long Grove Village President

Audience “gangs up” on County Board Chair during Route 53 Meeting by Ronnie Wachter, Pioneer Press/Chicago Tribune

No new information–but a lot of old emotions–came out of Long Grove’s open-house meeting to discuss the possible extension of Illinois Route 53. Lake County Board President Aaron Lawlor responded to criticism by saying he would not be treated like a “punching bag,” and Long Grove Village President Angie Underwood asked the crowd to stop berating him. Two other members of the Long Grove Village Board spent about 90 minutes on Tuesday skewering aspects of the Illinois Tollway’s plan to extend Route 53 from its current terminus at Lake Cook Road up to Illinois Route 120 in Grayslake. The project would build an entirely new, likely four-lane highway near or through wetlands and neighborhoods. The 12 miles of new pavement, currently estimated to cost about $2.5 billion, would then join a renovated Route 120 in an attempt to ease traffic and spur economic development. In a recently published public-opinion survey that Long Grove Village Hall funded, 53 percent of respondents opposed the project, while 47 percent favored it. Only three members of the Village Board spoke at the session–Stan Borys, Michael Sarlitto, and Underwood. All three identified themselves as against the extension. Underwood said she wanted to keep an open mind to its possibilities, but Sarlitto and Borys spoke frankly about the flaws they see. “If there are any residents here who support this, I dare you to come up here and explain something positive about it,” Sarlitto told the audience of about 200. No one in the standing-room-only audience answered that challenge. At several points, crowd members called for Chairman Lawlor to answer questions, which he stood up and responded. Lawlor challenged nearly everything Sarlitto and Borys put into their presentation. No new information on the project itself came from the gathering. Lawlor said Long Grove invited him on the premise that he would not be asked to make a presentation. “I’m not going to be here, at a meeting that I was explicitly told I wouldn’t be speaking at, just to be a punching bag,” Lawlor told the crowd. Underwood admonished the visitors to respect Lake County’s top elected official. “This is not a meeting for everyone to gang up on Chairman Lawlor,” she said. But Sarlitto said some of Long Grove appears to be misinformed, saying that the 47 percent of survey respondents who want Route 53 needed to know what he knew. “If you had the facts that have been crammed up in this little noggin in the last month, it would be a hell of a lot higher opposition,” Sarlitto said. “Long Grove is Ground Zero for this project,” Sarlitto said. “It starts right here, in this gym.”

Slumdog Millionaires

October 15, 2015angie

Collapsed sewer pipe at Cuba Road and Old McHenry Road

The recent warm Indian Summer days have been lovely, and it has been such a treat to be able to open the windows and enjoy the fresh autumn breezes that we all know are quickly going to turn cold. Unless of course, you live on Cuba Road. Residents in these million-dollar homes have had to close their windows as of late, in an effort to keep from invoking images of “the slums of a third-world country,” as was described to me by one resident. Slums, in Long Grove? Well, it only smells that way.

On the night of September 18th, a sanitary sewer owned and maintained by the Village of Lake Zurich collapsed on East Cuba Road in Long Grove, leaving a large hole in the pavement over the open sewer pipe. Originally thought to be a week or two of repairs, the problem has been found to be more extensive and a much larger section of pipe needs to be replaced. Final costs are still not in, but Lake Zurich has recently authorized an ordinance to issue up to $1.5 million in bonds to pay for the work, which could take as long as six weeks.

I was recently interviewed by Phil Rockrohr of the Pioneer Press about this road collapse and the resulting odors. Answering reporter’s questions is something that initially made me very nervous when I became Village President. With some experience behind me now, it has gotten easier not to be so tongue-tied. An excerpt from Phil’s article posted on October 12th describes how we are dealing with the stinking situation:

Lake Zurich officials have worked closely with Long Grove officials to address complaints of foul smells emanating from the hole created by the sewer collapse, according to Mayor Tom Poynton of Lake Zurich and Long Grove Village President Angie Underwood. Long Grove residents complained about the road closure caused by the hole and about the smell, Underwood said. “The residents that I’ve talked to and that I’m aware have called the Village seem to realize that it is a bigger situation than originally thought and that it’s going to take some time,” Underwood said. “We can all be patient about fixing the road, but when you’re dealing with a horrible smell day in and day out, that is a different level of inconvenience.” Several Long Grove residents complained to Village Hall staff, trustees, and Underwood about the smell, she said. Long Grove Village Manager David Lothspeich has conferred with Lake Zurich officials about the issue, and Underwood personally contacted Poynton, she said. “It was a very good conversation,” Underwood said of calling Poynton. “Long Grove and Lake Zurich have good working relationships between the two of us. We’re working together to get the best temporary situation in place for residents until it gets resolved.” In response to Underwood’s call, Lake Zurich officials spread deodorant blocks along the stretch of Cuba affected by the smell and placed a tarp over the hole, Poynton said. The tarp was sealed with sand bags, Underwood said. “I heard from one resident who said the situation was much better, “Underwood said. “There was some improvement. Hopefully, they will continue to monitor things, and everybody is keeping their fingers crossed they can get it fixed as quickly as possible and get back to normal.”

Yes, back to the sweet Long Grove smells of autumn bonfires and apple cider donuts. ASAP!

Circling The Drain

July 25, 2015angie

Sinkhole and collapse of Diamond Lake Road in Long Grove.

Heavy rains last week caused some localized neighborhood flooding in Long Grove, and more dramatically, a sinkhole and collapse of a portion of Diamond Lake Road. The drainage pipe running under the road at Indian Creek was old and failing, and storm water pushed through a rotted hole and washed out supporting gravel around the pipe. As the water levels receded, gravel further slid out of place and fell back into the tunnel, causing the pavement to collapse and leaving a crater several feet wide. Thankfully, the problem was detected immediately by nearby neighbors, and no one was hurt in the incident. Lake County is responsible for Diamond Lake Road, and this repair was previously scheduled for August of 2016. Mother Nature has accelerated this plan to August of this year, with repairs anticipated to be completed by early September.

This illustrates the fragile health of our infrastructure. And this problem is not limited to Long Grove, but is a concern to our County, State, and Federal road systems as well. When money is short and budgets constrained, one of the areas that can be susceptible to underfunding is infrastructure maintenance. The cost of repairs to our aging road systems has escalated over the years. Our Village budget revenues have not kept pace with the rate of infrastructure repairs that are needed on an annual basis. The Village Board has for many years engaged a series of discussions, town hall meetings, focus groups, and a referendum question in an attempt to address this growing problem. Sometimes amid a controversy, we can overlook why a change is really needed. Big events like a road collapse capture everyone’s attention for the moment. And if we pay attention, before the moment drains away….maybe there is something here to be learned?

Tapping Into the Future–Part 1

July 15, 2015October 13, 2016angie

Village Board Members at work on July 14, 2015

Village Hall is undergoing some minor renovations this month, and our Engineering Firm, Gewalt Hamilton and Associates, was kind enough to host the Village Board meeting last night. One major piece of business we accomplished was the approval of an engineering proposal from GHA for the design of the extension of our village public water system. Currently, the village-owned deep well near Sunset Foods only serves the businesses in Sunset Grove Plaza, and last night’s action set into motion the ability for that system to serve the entire historic downtown. Work is also progressing towards a connection to Lake Michigan water through the Northwest Water Commission, which will have the capacity to be delivered through this downtown watermain loop. Expansion of our municipal water system is key to opening the flow of economic development in our downtown, and the Village is working hard to enable several new opportunities to develop.

Harbor Chase Senior Living is set to begin demolition soon of the old Midwest Bank building, and completion of this development is planned for February of 2017. They will be a major user of the newly expanded water system, and are contributing towards the cost of installation. In addition, this development will bring much needed revenue into the TIF district. The costs of the expansion are being born by the developers and users, not the residents. The Village expects to close soon on the sale of the Archer building pads, and the expected development of these lots will be for restaurant use, which is heavily dependent on water. Our existing downtown businesses and restaurants will be able to connect to the new water lines, bringing better quality. And most exciting to consider is the opportunity that a resident is exploring, to relocate a well-established craft beer brewery from the city of Chicago to Long Grove. The revitalization that this new addition to our downtown could bring is significant, and the Board is collaborating to help make this a reality. In addition to spurring economic development, our enhanced water system will provide added capacity for fire fighting. The stage is set for our downtown taps to soon be able to dispense higher quality deep well water, eventual Lake Michigan water, and craft beer brewed locally in our historic downtown. If these goals can all be accomplished, a flood of new possibilities for Long Grove awaits.

And The Survey Says…

June 1, 2015angie

Richard Dawson, host of TV’s “Family Feud”

In my younger days, staying home from school on a sick day meant catching up on the daytime game shows that I never had a chance to watch. Wow, I’m really dating myself here, because this was even before we could record shows on the Betamax! Well anyway, my favorite game show was “Family Feud,” hosted by TV star Richard Dawson (who remembers “Hogan’s Heroes”?) I loved the idea that they could survey groups of people on various questions, and make a game about guessing the most popular answers. Anyone who uses social media today knows that surveys are still popular, and we’ve probably all had our email inbox invaded by a “survey monkey” at one time or another. The Village hopes that your enthusiasm for participating in surveys is not a thing of the past, because we are getting ready to mail out an important set of questions in the next week. As much fun as it was on the show to watch contestants guess the answers, the Village Board would prefer to KNOW your opinions on current issues in Long Grove.

This summer, the Trustees will be making some very significant decisions and I hope that you will add your voice to the process. We have just finalized a resident survey that will be sent to all Long Grove households. The goal of this survey is to help inform the Board of the feelings of the residents regarding various aspects of community character and values that will be reflected in the update of our Long Grove Comprehensive Plan. This plan is similar to a “blueprint” and helps guide staff and elected officials in the ongoing shaping of our Village, especially in regards to zoning, open space, commercial development, infrastructure maintenance and capital improvements. The Village Board would like to know your thoughts on these important topics, so please take the time to fill out and return the survey when you receive it. While we won’t have the excitement of a TV host dramatically revealing the answers to us…”And the Survey Says….”we will have a valuable prize instead–community participation.

Building Bridges

April 23, 2015February 12, 2017angie

The Long Grove Covered Bridge, photographed in March, 2015

Our Village faces a number of challenges in the months ahead, and two of them involve building bridges. In the literal sense, we are weighing options and facts regarding the decision to either replace our iconic covered bridge as is, or expand it to two lanes. Metaphorically speaking, our Village needs to heal and find a way to work together after the arguments and accusations of the recent contentious election. Both challenges are going to require a lot of work, a lot of patience and listening to others, a lot of putting aside of ego to do what is in the best interest of all the residents, and a lot of trust.

Trust needs a firm foundation on which to be built, as does a bridge. And in the case of trust, that foundation starts with respect. It takes a big person to put aside divisive rhetoric, forgive, and in turn respect someone who has criticized you publicly. Every member of the Village Board is going to have to be that person.

In the case of our covered bridge repairs, the Board will need to keep listening to our Village engineers as they evaluate costs and details, particularly as they relate to the use of federal funds. But more importantly, we need to seek a better understanding from our residents on what they truly value. A member of the Historical Society told me recently that she loves the one-lane aspect of the bridge because visitors crossing into our town, “get a moment to pause, take a breath, and realize that they are entering someplace special.” Is monetary cost the only consideration?

I have confidence that with thoughtful input from our residents and engineers, the new Board will be able to realize the best direction to take on the re-building of our covered bridge. I also believe that it is possible to reconcile, collaborate, and support one another as members of a team who solve problems, get things accomplished, and respect one another. Being born and raised in a small, mid-western farming town means that I am not afraid of a challenge, adversity, or hard work. This spring and summer, I am planning to roll up my sleeves and build some bridges. And I truly hope that the residents of Long Grove will be right there, too.

State of the Village of Long Grove

January 27, 2015February 4, 2015angie

Happy New Year! I hope that your 2015 is off to a great start. I’d like to take a moment of your time to recap some of the significant things that happened on the Village Board in the past 12 months, and give you a peek ahead to what is on the agenda for Long Grove in the coming year.

GOALS ACHIEVED

Every two years, as new Village officials are elected, the new Board spends a workshop day identifying goals for the months ahead. 2014 saw the realization of several of those goals, and significant work was achieved on many goals that are ongoing. Goals that were achieved include: the replacement of street signs throughout the Village, update and expansion of the permitted uses in the downtown historic district, lease of the Village soccer fields, and determining the specifics of a road maintenance funding referendum, which was held this past March. One goal that is ongoing is to “identify sustainable long-term funding sources for needed infrastructure repair and replacement.” Following the failure of the referendum, this goal became a high priority. A series of infrastructure workshops was held over the summer and fall months, with the 4th and final workshop planned for January 20th. Members of the community were invited to work with the Board of Trustees in exploring funding options aided by the guidance and advice of consultants in the fields of strategic planning, engineering, economic development, and finance. As an outcome of these workshops, the Board expects to have a consensus on direction with regard to funding our current and future infrastructure needs. The completion of a long-range Capital Improvement Plan that provides a comprehensive view of the Village’s capital needs is another goal that is ongoing, and has been a topic of this workshop series.

ADDITIONAL 2014 ACTIONS

Several new issues were brought before the Board this year, two of which resulted in large attendance at public hearings and Village Board meetings. Video Gambling was approved by the Board on a six month temporary basis, and is currently available at four locations in the historic downtown. The decision on establishing this on a permanent basis will come before the Board this coming April. Two new Senior Living & Memory Care developments have been approved in the Village, one near the intersection of Routes 53 and 83, another near the intersection of Rt. 53 and Long Grove Road. Construction is expected to start on both of these projects in the coming months.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2015

On April 7th, you will be asked to participate in the future direction of our Village as three of the Trustee positions will be up for election. Six candidates are running in the race, and your vote will be important. Our Village Clerk position is uncontested.

One of the first goals that the Board will be addressing in 2015 is an update of the Comprehensive Plan. It has been many years since the previous update, and the time has come to take the pulse of the current residents to make sure that our policies and guiding principles accurately reflect those of the majority. To assist with this, the Village is hiring a professional survey organization to conduct a Village-wide survey this winter. If you are called to participate, please let us know your opinion.

In the coming year we expect to make progress on the extension of our Village pathway system, finalizing a connection between the south Schaeffer Road path and the Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve. A decision on the renovation or replacement of our covered bridge will be made, and steps will be taken to get this work underway. Our Village water system will be extended from the municipal well at Sunset Plaza into the downtown crossroads. This will bring higher quality water into the shops and restaurants in our historic business district and be an important factor in attracting new development and encouraging improvements to existing properties. Speaking of new development, many of the properties in the historic downtown have recently come under new ownership, with several more expected in the next few months. The Board is looking forward to working with these new owners in 2015, as new shops and restaurants are opened. We will be assisting with efforts to attract new businesses by forming an Economic Development Commission, and will be taking a more active role in outreach.

Many goals are yet to be achieved. But your Village Board has the willingness to work hard, and with your support much can be accomplished in the year ahead.

Life in Long Grove

by Angie Underwood

infrastructure