FS_030118

4 | March 1, 2018 | The frankfort station news
frankfortstation.com
Frankfort Village Board
Officials approve contract for comprehensive plan update
Nuria Mathog, Editor
The Frankfort Village
Board authorized a professional
planning services
contract for updates to its
comprehensive plan during
the Board's Feb. 20 regular
meeting.
The contract with Teska
Associates, which comes
with a maximum compensation
of $131,500, will
fund a comprehensive plan
review including six subareas:
downtown residential,
downtown commercial,
Route 30/45 east to 84th
Avenue, east Route 30 development
from 84th Avenue
to Harlem Avenue, I-57
business development and
the Laraway Road corridor.
"Those items will all be
reviewed in the comp plan,
and the Village Board, our
community development
staff and Teska will engage
the community as appropriate
to develop this updated
plan for the future," Trustee
Bob Kennedy said.
The last update to the Village's
comprehensive plan,
which reviews and offers
recommendations for future
land use revisions and community
economic development,
took place in 2004.
Subsections of the plan
were amended in 2007 and
2010.
The Board also agreed to
authorize a memorandum
of understanding between
the Village and the Chicago
Metropolitan Agency
for Planning (CMAP) for
planning technical assistance
services. In 2017, the
Village submitted multiple
grant applications under
CMAP's Local Technical
Assistance program, and the
agency awarded assistance
to the Village for plan commissioner
training.
In other action, the Board
approved a plat of easement
to accommodate the
relocation and installation
of a standby generator at
the Jackson Creek Lift Station,
an expenditure of up to
$34,931.00 for the purchase
of a 2018 Falcon Asphalt
Hot Box that will be used
during pothole reparations
and an agreement with The
Fields on Caton Farm, Inc.
for the reforestation of 585
trees in Frankfort that were
removed because of Emerald
Ash Borer infestation.
"What we've done is
we're pretty happy with the
bid we received," Trustee
Dick Trevarthan said.
"It's $165,800 for 500-
plus tress, 585 trees. The
project would start in the
spring, but we may do half
in the spring and half in
the fall."
Other items approved
during the meeting included
a front yard setback variance,
side yard setback
variance, lot coverage variance
and first floor building
materials variance for
the construction of a new
single-family residential
home at 140 Walnut Street.
The owners and applicants,
Keith and Gail McLean,
inherited the property and
intend to eliminate the onestory
structure currently
located on the site that contains
a significant crack in
the foundation. They plan
to construct a two-story
home on the property in
its place.
The Plan Commission approved
recommendations
for the four variances during
a Jan. 25 public hearing
on the project.
The Board also gave the
green light to the final plat
for the Luoma Resubdivision,
which involves consolidating
the property at
20700 N. Locust Street with
a small parcel located behind
the property that the
owners, applicants Barbara
and Laird Luoma, previously
purchased.
Board members also
agreed to release written
Village executive session
minutes from 2013-2017
after determining a need
for confidentiality regarding
the minutes no longer
exists. Pursuant to the Open
Meetings Act, which allows
governmental bodies to destroy
closed sessions' verbatim
records more than 18
months after the date of the
session, the destruction of
audio recordings of Village
executive session meetings
prior to June 30, 2016, was
approved.
Mayor Jim Holland noted
applications for Village
of Frankfort committees
are currently available at
the Village Administration
Building or at the Village
website at www.villageoffrankfort.com.
The applications
must be submitted to
the Village by 4 p.m. Friday,
March 30.
"We make these appointments
to be effective at the
beginning of May," he said.
"They're made by the mayor
with the advice and consent
of the trustees. Public
participation in this government
is very important
to this Board, and we have
these committees specifically
to help with that purpose."
Holland added he wanted
to thank Village staff for
assisting the residents of
Frankfort with the excess
water that struck the area.
"We had a lot of rain today
and some very warm temperatures
and a significant
amount of melting snow,"
he said. "There was a lot of
water around Frankfort, water
just about everywhere.
And it's really remarkable
how well our storm management
programs do work
in this community. Certainly,
there are occasions
of leaves that plug up different
storm drains and if
the residents don't clear
those out, our staff certainly
will."
He also took a moment to
thank Frankfort's police officers
and their families for
their contributions to the
community and encouraged
residents to report "suspicious
activities that might
lead to violence" to the police.
"The murder in the commander
in Chicago last
week reminds all of us about
the dangers that our police
face," Holland said. "And
while this police killing was
surely on the minds of every
one of our Frankfort officers
last week, we had them
making extra patrols of every
one of our schools after
a school shooting in Florida
that resulted in the deaths of
so many students. There are
just too many shootings in
our society. We need to do
more to prevent criminals
from obtaining guns and
to prevent people whose
purpose is to unlawfully
harm others from obtaining
guns."
Election 2018
Park District referendum proposes sale of undeveloped land
Nuria Mathog, Editor
Voters will decide in
March whether to authorize
the Frankfort Park District to
sell a piece of undeveloped
land at the northwest corner
of La Grange and Laraway
roads, a site the District purchased
in 2014 as a potential
location for a proposed community
center.
According to District officials,
the District issued
non-referendum bonds to
buy the land for $725,000
with no tax increase. The
purchase was made pursuant
to the Park District's
comprehensive plan.
A 2016 mail survey conducted
by the Park District
found District residents did
not support a tax increase
for the construction of the
proposed community center,
and the District subsequently
decided not to
move forward with a referendum
vote proposing a tax
increase to fund the project,
and the property in question
has remained undeveloped.
District officials have expressed
interest in selling
the land, as as the District
currently holds debt certificates
for the site with annual
payments of $96,000
through 2025, leaving less
money available for operating
funds to finance projects
Ballot language
Shall the Frankfort Park District sell the following
described real estate: that property identified as
Permanent Index Number 19-09- 29-400- 013-0000
and commonly known as 10840 Laraway Road,
Frankfort, IL?
such as parking lot repairs,
playground improvements
and roof replacements.
Illinois Park District code
requires a majority of voters
to approve the sale of
land exceeding three acres
through a referendum. If the
referendum is approved, the
District intends to sell the
land via a competitive bidding
process allowing the
District to specify the sale's
terms, including the power
to deny any and all bids and
relist the property.
If the land is not sold
within a 12-month period
following the initial sale, a
second referendum must be
authorized for its sale.
Money from the sale
would go toward paying
off the debt certificate, and
proceeds would be placed in
the corporate fund.