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16 | February 1, 2018 | The New Lenox Patriot News newlenoxpatriot.com FROM THE TI<strong>NL</strong>EY JUNCTION New $200 million TIF district introduced in Tinley Park A new tax increment financing district that would replace the Main Street South TIF with an anticipated total cost of approximately $200 million has been introduced by the Village of Tinley Park. Village officials unveiled the Redevelopment Project Area plan during a public hearing Jan. 25 for the downtown corridor generally bounded by 172nd Street on the north, 179th Street on the south, 67th Avenue and 66th Court on the east, and 69th Avenue on the west. The New Bremen TIF Redevelopment Plan and Project Area includes commercial, residential, government/institutional, mixed-use, railroad and right-of-way land uses, with 275 tax parcels representing 224 parcels of land that encompasses 89 total acres. Of the 224 parcels, 62 percent of them contain one or more primary buildings, while the remaining parcels are vacant. The Main Street South RPA TIF exists much in the same area of the new district. The Village adopted that RPA in 2003, expanded it in 2007 and further amended the map to remove some parcels in 2015. It is scheduled to terminate in 2026 but can be dissolved earlier by adoption of the New Bremen TIF. Officials said there is insufficient time left on the Main Street South TIF to finance redevelopment proposals, including a mixeduse apartment project with ground floor retail space proposed for the area south of the train station between South Street and 174th Street. Reporting by Cody Mroczka, Editor. For more, visit TinleyJunction.com. FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION Murphy Real Estate Group continues to serve clients in 20th year Years ago, when Jim Murphy first decided to open a real estate firm in Frankfort, he knew he had to do business in his hometown. “When I looking at where to open an office, I felt that the Frankfort market was in the most need for a quality brokerage — somebody that is a little bit more driven towards the custom home market,” he said. “The market had a void for that kind of broker, and I felt like that would continue for a long time, which it has. So, we filled a nice niche at the right time.” Murphy Real Estate Group has reached a milestone this year and is celebrating its 20th anniversary. “For me, when I look at business in general, I think when you achieve even the one-year mark and then the five-year mark and then the 10-year mark and so on, as a business owner, you take a lot of pride in being able to make it through the hard times and prosper in the good times,” Murphy said. “Looking back, you say, ‘Wow, you know, 20 years, that’s pretty darn good.’ So, it brings me a lot of joy.” Typically, when beginning brokers look for employment in the industry, they will obtain their license and go on to learn the chops working for someone else’s company. Murphy had something else in mind. “I got my license, and I opened an office, and I had a staff immediately, and we hit the ground as a brokerage,” he said. “I’ve never worked for anybody else in real estate.” Reporting by Megann Horstead, Freelance Reporter. For more, visit FrankfortStation. com. FROM THE MOKENA MESSENGER Residential development talks tabled for future discussion A public hearing on a proposed 2.7-acre residential development was held Jan. 22, during the Village of Mokena Board of Trustees meeting. The Hickory Sage development, brought forth by petitioner Jim Paul, of Alps Enterprises LLC, would be located at 11215 W. First St., at the west end of First Street, near Wolf Road. Paul wants to develop 15 townhome units spread across four buildings, each either one or two stories tall. The redevelopment would include retention and detention ponds. “This will involve the annexation of two properties, which would subsequently be zoned to the R-6 multifamily zoning category,” said Alan Zordan, Mokena’s director of economic and community development, during the public hearing presentation. “Then, the Village would be granting a special use permit for a planned unit development that would apply to these two parcels, plus one more that is already in the village and zoned R-6 multifamily.” During the discussion, Zordan noted that at an October meeting of the Planning Commission, residents and members of the commission were concerned with the traffic impact on Wolf Road during peak travel times. As a remedy to the traffic situation, the Planning Commission suggested adding more “Do not block intersection” signs at the intersection of Wolf Road and First Street, as well as adding white striping to the pavement of the intersection. After the public hearing was closed, the Village Board members voted 3-0 to table action until a future meeting. Reporting by Jon DePaolis, Freelance Reporter. For more, visit MokenaMessenger.com. FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND Officials vote to not renew D92 superintendent’s contract The Will County School District 92 Board of Education decided to not renew Superintendent Pete Sullivan’s contract at its Jan. 23 special meeting. In a 5-2 vote, officials opted to sever their ties. The special meeting drew in a number of people seeking answers as to why Sullivan’s contract will not be renewed. Members of the board and the administration have chosen to remain mum on the subject to date. Several people on hand for the meeting expressed support for Sullivan and shared that the community feels concerned by the process in which the superintendent’s contract is being handled. “Shame on us the community for not coming out here to the board meetings [in the past], but as it’s been pointed out, I think if this had been brought to the community’s attention, you would have had a showing even larger than this at that point in time,” said Mike Peetz, a parent and volunteer for District 92’s strategic planning session in the summer of 2016. Peetz questioned the district’s direction and said up until this point, reciprocal communication between the community and the district is an objective they have failed to meet. “The overall confidence and trust is gone,” said Mary Creek, a teacher for District 92, referring to conversations shared with fellow colleagues since learning the superintendent’s contract is to not be renewed. “The morale is terrible, and I’ve been around a long time. It makes me sick to my stomach.” Reporting by Megann Horstead, Freelance Reporter. For more, visit LockportLegend. com. FROM THE HOMER HORIZON VIP Nails & Spa III the first new business of 2018 in Homer Glen Lockport resident April Tran and her husband, Leo Chen, opened VIP Nails & Spa III Jan. 3 in Homer Glen, becoming the first new business in the Village in 2018. Tran has been a nail technician for more than 10 years and said she is happy to become a part of the Homer Glen community. Members of the Village and Homer Glen Area Chamber of Commerce gathered Jan. 24 for an official ribbon cutting ceremony at VIP Nails & Spa III. As soon as customers walk through the business’ doors, large chandeliers are hung on the ceiling in both rooms of the building. Relaxing music is played through the speakers in the salon to add to the comfortable environment that Tran said best describes her business. “I feel like I’ve been working for someone a long time, so it’s very nice to have my own,” Tran said. “I feel comfortable at my own place and run things the way I want.” Reporting by Jacquelyn Schlabach, Assistant Editor. For more, visit HomerHorizon.com. FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE D135: Short-term plan for next school year addresses growing enrollment In the 2018-2019 school year, Orland School District 135 plans to make a series of small changes to its operations to accommodate growing enrollment. At the School Board’s Jan. 22 regular meeting, board members voted 6-0 to approve a short-term plan for 2018-2019 to move thirdgraders from Prairie School to Liberty School, cap class sizes at their recommended levels, work with building administration to determine the location of related services and enroll late-coming students to schools where possible. Board Member Michael Maratea was absent. Superintendent DJ Skogsberg said the district has some flexibility with its transportation for late registration students, allowing them to be placed at a school where more space is available, though it may not be the school closest to their homes. He said he hopes that practice will not become the rule, but some schools — particularly ones with smaller square footage — are nearing their maximum classroom capacity. Lynn Zeder, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, added that the district has to look at class sizes on a case-by-case basis. Skogsberg said the administration would have a recommendation for a plan for the 2019-2020 school year and beyond in the fall of this year. He said the district needs to continue working with enrollment trends and make predictions on future enrollment. The district is working with the Village to monitor development and is to continue renovations at Park School, as the school has not been updated since 1998. Reporting by Meredith Dobes, Freelance Reporter. For more, visit OPPrairie.com.
newlenoxpatriot.com Sound Off the New Lenox Patriot | February 1, 2018 | 17 Social snapshot Top Web Stories From NewLenoxPatriot.com as of Monday, Jan. 29 From the Editor Simple ways to keep your 1. Police: Intoxicated man urinates on patrons at movie theater 2. Girls Gymnastics: LW co-op wins conference once again; eyes regional, sectional next 3. Boys Bowling: Warriors, Knights take advantage of home sectional 4. Standout Student: Bobby Valiska, Lincoln-Way West senior 5. Wrestling: Warriors’ depth leads to fourth-place conference Become a member: NewLenoxPatriot.com/plus New Lenox School District 122 posted this Jan. 24: “Mrs. Oster’s first-graders had fun at the ‘Oster Arcade’ celebrating the last day of Pinball Mania! The children spent two weeks learning all about the tools needed to created their very own pinball machines. Each student worked collaboratively with his/her partner to add various components to their playing fields. In the end, each team had fun creating in and playing in the ‘Oster Arcade.’ Like The New Lenox Patriot: facebook.com/TheNewLenoxPatriot “Check out the write up on the SWSC Science Competition! Great job again to Mrs. Horn and all of our students who represented the Warriors!” @LWWestWarriors on Jan. 24 Follow The New Lenox Patriot: @The<strong>NL</strong>Patriot car safe from burglars James Sanchez james@newlenoxpatriot.com There is a simple preventative measure that you could do in order to keep your car safe from potential thieves — just lock it. About every time I receive the police reports from the New Lenox Police Department, there is at least one incident of burglary to an unlocked vehicle. More often than not, there are multiple reports each time I receive them, and even times, like recently, when I saw as many as nine in a two-day span. A large majority of car thefts across the nation are done to cars that are unlocked. New Lenox seems like a hotbed for these occurrences because there are two major highways that run through New Lenox — Interstate 355 and Interstate 80 — that criminals can take off on after scouring the neighborhoods. It’s an easy way to steal items. These criminals simply just go around each neighborhood, check the door handles, and move on to the next house. In addition to locking your car, make sure that you bring all valuables with you in your home, or put them in the trunk. If your car is locked, but they notice your laptop, purse, wallet or any other valuable in there, they could just break in and take it. For further preventative measures of car theft, you could get a car alarm, which ranges between $30 to more than $100 (without installation). You could also get security cameras Sound Off Policy Editorials and columns are the opinions of the author. Pieces from 22nd Century Media are the thoughts of the company as a whole. The New Lenox Patriot encourages readers to write letters to Sound Off. All letters must be signed, and names and hometowns will be published. We also ask that writers include their address and phone number for verification, not publication. Letters should be limited to 400 words. The New Lenox Patriot reserves the right to edit letters. Letters become property of The New Lenox Patriot. Letters that are published do not reflect the thoughts and views of The New Lenox Patriot. Letters can be mailed to: The New Lenox Patriot, 11516 West 183rd Street, Unit SW Office Condo #3, Orland Park, Illinois, 60467. Fax letters to (708) 326-9179 or e-mail to james@newlenoxpatriot.com. www.newlenoxpatriot.com. for your front porch, which can be pricey if you want to buy multiple cameras to catch other angles of the house. Or a cheaper route could be getting motionsensor lights for the front porch to scare them away if they go anywhere near the house or car. Car theft, obviously, could happen away from home, as well. So, if you feel locking your car isn’t enough while parked at a store, eatery or any other establishment, make sure to park in well-lit areas. Another idea is to park where your car is visible, and also, if you own a smaller car, it might be best not to park between larger vehicles because it might keep the criminal from being spotted when trying to break in. New Lenox is a nice, seemingly safe area, but don’t let your surroundings fool you. Car thefts could happen anywhere. Vote & Win a vacation for 2 to Cancun! Jan. 18- feb. 12 Choose your favorite local businesses in Beauty, Dining, Education, Fitness & Recreation, Health, Pets, Services, Shopping and Vehicles. Complete at least 50 categories and be eligible for 22nd Century Media’s Southwest Choice Awards prize — one three-night trip for two (2) adults to Riu Caribe in Cancun, Mexico, courtesy of Apple Vacations. Look for the ballot in the center of this newspaper or vote online at 22ndcenturymedia.com/swchoice starting Jan. 18. Calling all PET BOUTIQUES • WALKERS GROOMERS • BOARDERS & MORE! DOES YOUR BUSINESS PAMPER PETS? Contact the Classified Department 708-326-9170 22ndcenturymedia.com
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