The March 10 meeting of the Huntley Village board was a mixture of a hail and farewell, bill paying, fireworks, the repurposing of a fire station, asphalt, UV light disinfection and liquor licenses.
Huntley Police Chief Robert Porter introduced three new Huntley Police officers to the board. The first was Adam Danowski.
“He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice. He joined the Crystal Lake Police Department in 2012 and comes to Huntley with eight-year experience as a Patrol Officer,” announced Porter.
Next, Porter introduced “Nicholas Orsolini who is an Air Force veteran having served in Afghanistan in 2013. He has been a Police Officer since 2016 and comes to Huntley after serving with the Hampshire Police Department.”
“Zachary Swigart is a Navy veteran,” said Porter introducing the third officer. “He studied Law Enforcement at the College of DuPage. He has joined the Huntley Police after serving with the Chicago Heights department for two and a half years.”
Mayor Hoeft recognized Paul Ostrander for his 33 years of service with the Huntley Park District. Hoeft pointed out that “Paul joined the Park District in 1989 and has served as the Director of Parks and Facilities.”
The board then approved the payment of $300,747 in bills. Of note was $40,310 for snow removal; $29,750 for sludge hauling and $10,172 to Patrick Engineering for Phase 1 engineering on the Kreutzer Road project.
An Ordinance for the establishment of a Special Service Area (SSA) for the 43-acre, 180 home D. H. Horton Cider Grove subdivision extension was approved. The Ordinance provides for Village services if the Home Owners Association (HOA) for the subdivision fails to provide them.
An Agreement authorizing the Huntley Park District’s July 4 fireworks display was approved.
General RV received approval for the amendment of its existing Special Use Permit for the building of a 19,558 square foot addition to its existing 12,332 square foot service building. The new addition will accommodate 14 additional drive-in service bays.
FIRE STATION ONE IS SOLD
The board approved three separate Ordinances that allowed for the purchase, resale and remodeling of the old Fire Station One at 11808 Coral Street. Billitteri Enterprises planned conversion includes a street level restaurant and multiple rental apartments on the upper floors.
WOODSTOCK STREET PARKING
Village Manager David Johnson reviewed plans for a Woodstock Street parking lot and additional on-street parking in the downtown area. Johnson said that “The parking lot would be on the north side of the Post Office” and would serve the renovated Fire Station building. The plans for additional on-street parking on the west side of Woodstock Street were cancelled. The board did authorize requests for bids for the parking lot.
SUN CITY BOULEVARD PARKING SIGNAGE
A discussion for proposed additional informational parking signage on Sun City Blvd was tabled since the two Village Trustees that reside in Sun City were absent from the meeting. The proposal will be added to the March 24 agenda.
WASTE WATER TREATMENT REPLACEMENT
Tim Farrell, the Director of Public Works and Engineering, presented a resolution to replace the existing Waste Water Ultra-Violet Disinfection System in the East Treatment Plant with new, state-of-the-art equipment. According to Farrell, “the existing 20-year-old system is beyond its useful life and is increasingly more difficult to repair and maintain.”
Bids were solicited and five were received. “The lowest responsible bidder for the project was Manusos General Contracting with a bid of $524,000” reported Farrell. He also indicated that “funding for the project was included in the FY22 Village budget.”
Farrell also advised the board that “a grant of approximately $23,200 might be secured from ComEd as part of ComEd’s Energy Efficiency projects for municipalities.” This would be as a result of the energy saved by the new UV system as compared to the 20-year-old technology currently in use.
An additional contract for $24,664 for construction engineering services was awarded to Engineering Enterprises, Inc. (EEI). This contract effectively makes EEI the “eyes and ears” of the Village to oversee and monitor the treatment plant project.
STREET IMPROVEMENTS
Farrell presented two resolutions for the Village’s 2022 Street Improvement Program. He stated that the program “targets the resurfacing of segments of roadways comprised of approximately 60,000 square yards along approximately 2.5 miles of roadway.”
He listed “Haligus Road, Ruth Road, Reed Road, and Old Reed Road” as scheduled to be resurfaced, along with “91 curb ramps that would be upgraded in Sun City.”
Sun City neighborhoods 10, 13, 19, 23 and 38 would be getting ADA approved curb ramps along with spot repairs to curb and gutters.
Geske and Sons, Inc’s bid of $1,946875.26 was the lowest of six bidders for the project. Farrell indicated that there are expectations of “IDOT approving $1,500,000 in Motor Fuel Tax funds” for use in the project.
According to Farrell, “the FY22 Budget includes $660,000 for engineering and partial construction costs” that would be applied to the project.
He believes that “work is anticipated to begin starting in Sun City in April with a project completion date of mid-August.”
In addition to the costs of the road work, the Board approved a $140,000 contract for Professional Construction Engineering Services to the Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd. company. Burke would oversee the project on behalf of the Village.
DRIVE AND DRINK?
“I’m against it” said Trustee Mary Holzkopf in expressing her disapproval of the sale of packaged beer and wine in gas stations during the discussion of a new “D-1” liquor license in the Village.
“There are ample places in our Village where people can purchase alcohol,” she continued. “We’re taught ‘don’t drink and drive’ our whole lives,” she concluded.
The board voted 4 to 1 to approve the new D-1 license.
Lisa Armour, the Deputy Village Manager, stated that the new license would allow the “retail sale of beer and wine in the sealed original package” at gas stations.
She also pointed out that “the license has a $1,500 cost” and that “Class D licensed premises shall not be allowed to operate between the hours of 2 a.m. and 7 a.m.”
Armour said that a survey of the Village gas stations indicated that 3 of the 4 would likely apply for the new Class D-1 license.
