Here is the winter quarterly letter Lakewood Village President sent her constituents:
From the President
Erin Smith
Dear Neighbors:
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we want to extend our very best wishes for a joyous holiday season to each of you and your families.
It is a busy time for all, so I will purposefully keep my remarks brief. However, there are a number of important issues that I want to highlight.
Finances
As this article is being written, there remains a stalemate in Springfield. The State continues to operate without a budget, which has placed a tremendous burden on many vendors and not-for-profit organizations. Units of local government have also been negatively impacted as the state had chosen to withhold the local portion of revenues from Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) and video gaming.
The Village of Lakewood does not utilize MFT revenues for operations (i.e. purchase of salt or snow plow efforts), nor are any capital roadway projects undertaken in anticipation of the receipt of MFT funds. In other words, we budget only what we have set aside. As this newsletter was about to be sent to the printer, the Village received notice that these funds are being restored.
The long term, conservative approach to budgeting that the Village of Lakewood has taken over the past decade continues to serve us well in these uncertain economic times.
This is especially evident by the recent action taken by the Board of Trustees to forego the increase available in the property tax levy and keep the revenues “flat” except to capture new growth.
As we begin to prepare for the start of the budget process after the New Year, please know that we will continue to strive to provide the highest quality services in the most efficient and cost effective manner possible in order to limit the property tax liability to our residents.
Fire Department
At our second meeting in November, the Board of Trustees faced a difficult decision about the provision of fire/rescue and paramedic services to our residents. For decades, these services had been provided by the Crystal Lake Fire Department (CLFD). Five years ago, however, the Woodstock Fire Rescue District (WFRD) stepped forward to provide these services to our residents. Both organizations are professional and more than capable of providing excellent services to our residents.
Crystal Lake Fire Station nearest Lakewood.
For me, the primary differentiation between the contracts was the long term funding of capital expenditures. Under the WRFD contract, the Village would continue to bear the full burden of any future capital expenditures, while the CLFD contract eliminates exposure to these costs.
The Board of Trustees was divided on this issue, but the majority voted to return to the CLFD effective January 1, 2016. A copy of both proposals can be found within the November 24, 2015 packet materials on the website.
We sincerely thank the men and women of the Woodstock Fire Rescue District for their outstanding support and efforts during these past five years.
Special Service Area #1 and #8
Twenty five years ago, a group of residents approached the Village of Lakewood with a request to create a Special Service Area (SSA) to provide for the long term maintenance and care of the Turnberry Lakes. SSA #1 was formed in response to this request, and it has provided a reliable source of revenue for the provision of these services to the Turnberry Lakes.
With SSA #1 expiring this year, many hours were spent researching options for how best to fund and continue providing these services in order to preserve the natural beauty and character of the Turnberry Lakes.
Map of the Turnberry Lakes Special Service Area tax district.
After numerous neighborhood meetings, residents came to a consensus to once again ask the Board of Trustees to create an SSA for the care and maintenance of the Turnberry Lakes. This lengthy process was finalized on November 24 with the creation of SSA #8, which will remain in effect for fifty years. The process was an excellent example of a public private partnership, and we thank all of the residents of the neighborhood for their input and exhaustive efforts to bring about this resolution.
East Side Sanitary Sewer System
During the past year, we have been reporting on the status of the East Side Sanitary Sewer System project that will allow treatment to occur at our wastewater treatment plant on Haligus Road.
The Country Club Additions Subdivision wastewater will be treated at the Village treatment plant when the pipes are reconfigured.
In August of this year, two bids were received for the construction of this project.
The bids ranged from a low of $3,295,758 to a high of $4,041,821.
These figures were substantially more than the Engineer’s Estimate of $2,400,000. Input from contractors resulted in several technical modifications to the plans (most notably moving the lift station further west to reduce the depth of the sewer mains) and a revised timeframe to allow the work to begin in the winter.
With these changes, I am pleased to report that six bids were received, with the low bid being from Merryman Excavation at a cost of $2,117,787.
The Board of Trustees formally awarded the bid at the December 8 meeting, and the project is expected to begin early in 2016. Detailed information will be mailed to residents impacted by the project as soon as a timeline is finalized. Once the project begins, regular updates will be posted on the Village’s website.
2015 Roadway Program
The 2015 Roadway Program, which included repaving and adding bicycle lanes to Lake Avenue (from Huntley Road to the western corporate limits) and Lakewood Road has now been substantially completed. The overall cost of the project was $1,879,500. However, the Village was responsible for only 20% of the cost as the remaining 80% was paid for with federal highway funds. In 2017, Lake Avenue (from Huntley Road to the eastern corporate limits) will be repaved and bicycle lanes added. This project will also be paid for with 80% federal highway funds and 20% local funds.
We extend a thank you to all of the residents and motorists inconvenienced by these projects for your patience throughout the past several months!
While the quarterly newsletter is an important communication tool with our residents, it can not provide the most up-to-date information. In an attempt to address this issue, we have started to post our entire Board packet to our website in advance of each meeting, and I encourage you to read it regularly to gain an understanding of all the actions necessary to maintain our quality life in the Village of Lakewood. As always, please contact me or any of our officials with questions regarding any of the projects highlighted in the newsletter or that you might read about elsewhere.
Sincerely,
Erin
Village President
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Interestingly, there is no mention of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District to which the Woodstock School District is objecting, the high end restaurant proposed to be sited where the Village Hall is located, the SportsPlex or the proposal to build condos at Turnberry Country Club.
Also, note the pc term of “holiday season” with no mention of Christmas and NO mention of the 100 AFFORDABLE housing units in the TIF district!
The village board voted to accept a proposal for fire and ems services from CLFD that will cost the residents more due to the use of a formula incorporating EAV and CPI — essentially basing the cost of services on property tax values and CPI, which has a high likelihood of exponentially increasing throughout the life of the agreement (starting year 2 of the 10 year agreement).
In addition, there is no accounting for actual costs to service the village, so as residents of the village we really don’t know what we are paying for under the new contract with CLFD.
Furthermore, fire and ems services will be shared from the Bard Rd station with the broader areas in which CLFD already services, including CL Rural.
As calls come in for Lakewood there is a higher probability the Bard Rd station will be unavailable to respond as they will already be out on a call, so response times into and around Lakewood from other CLFD fire stations will be longer, creating a higher risk of public safety.
The village board appears to have violated the OMA at the 11//24/15 board meeting.
Agenda Item #5 (a vote on the proposal from WSFD) was never recognized — it was never called for a vote to accept or decline, or to defer and/or waive any decision or discussion.
It was literally skipped over without any mention.
No public discussion or dialogue was allowed prior to the vote of Agenda item #6 (a vote on the proposal from CLFD) yet there is precedence at prior board meetings where public dialogue was allowed (and encouraged) prior to votes on agenda items.
Two trustees specifically stated before the meeting began that there was a plan — with clear intent — to enable public discussion prior to any vote on both agenda items, yet this did not occur.
As a member of the public and village resident who was in attendance at the 11/24/15 board meeting, it was confusing as to what exactly the trustees were voting on given how the agenda was handled.
Last but certainly not least, there were no concrete statements from any trustee as to why they were willing to vote for a fire and ems service agreement that will cost more for actually less support.
In fact, there was no true board discussion about either proposal in a public forum.
They simply mused about the difficulty of a decision.
Who cares how hard it was to reach a decision, tell me WHY and HOW you came to your decision.
FYI: Trustees Iden, Serwatka and Thomas voted in favor of accepting the proposal from CLFD.
Trustee Furey voted no.
Trustee Santowski abstained.
Trustee Davis was absent and did not vote.