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newlenoxpatriot.com NEWS
the New Lenox Patriot | September 27, 2018 | 7
D210
From Page 6
DEVELOPMENT
From Page 4
industrial site, but since it
is not zoned industrial the
Village has leaned against
changing it.
“I think the Village is
sensitive to the fact that
aesthetically that exit ramp
right there is their first view
of New Lenox, especially
if they are brand new to the
town,” Dye said. “My understanding
is that it is going to
stay commercial and we are
very confident at some point
a commercial development
will come in there.”
Like Baldermann, Dye
said the I-80 interchange is
going to play a key role in
developing that area of town.
“That whole interchange
is going to have a facelift,
accommodate the traffic and
bring a new development
into the K-Mart site,” Dye
said. “People are looking at
it. It’s just a matter of the
ments or questions raised
regarding the budget. The
first preview of the budget
was given on Aug. 2 during
a workshop, and has since
been discussed briefly in
meetings.
During board discussion
before the vote, Board Member
Christopher Lucchetti
pointed out that $600,000
was set aside in the Capital
Outlay budget line of the
Operations and Maintenance
Fund, when it would make
more sense to keep that extra
money in the more accessible
capital projects fund.
A motion was made to make
this amendment and adopt
this budget.
“I don’t know why we
would keep in a restricted
funds $600,000 that have already
been allocated to capital
budgets,” Lucchetti said.
“At the time we made the
decision as a board to spend
$3.6 million on capital projects,
it should all come out
of that same fund.”
Roughly $1.8 million has
already been expended from
the capital funds, according
to Assistant Superintendent
of Business Brad Cauffman,
since the budget begins in
July even if it is not passed
until September.
“Most of the major projects
are already done, it’s
just a matter of getting walkthroughs
and bills finalized.
From a practical perspective,
I’d say about 90 percent of
that fund is already spent,”
Cauffman said.
One step forward, another
back in TAWs
The district paid of its
outstanding tax anticipation
warrant’s balance of $7.95
million this month, and,
upon the next budget approval,
prepares to borrow
more for expenses going into
the FY 2019 year. The resolution
that was unanimously
passed states that the district
can borrow up to $20 million
right person coming in the
revamp that site.”
In August, New Lenox
Board of Trustees approved
a $735,000 purchase agreement
to buy the Papa Joe’s
property on Maple Street,
which had been vacant for
several years. Baldermann
said that the next development
will help spark redevelopment
on the West side of
town.
“That’s why we got involved
with Papa’s Joe’s old
site purchase,” Baldermann
said. “We’re working on a
few other areas for redevelopment
now, too. The goal is
always, as you’re developing
your community, to have everything
people need so they
don’t want to leave the town
if they don’t have to.”
Maintaining the established,
yet small town feel
Baldermann said that development
and spaces, like
the Commons are what sets
in TAWs in anticipation of
taxes levied for the FY 2018
year, but it only expect to
borrow roughly $18 million.
“Based on the estimated
cash flows, the district is expected
to be roughly $18.5
million short from being able
to provide its own monthly
cash flow, since the district
gets 76 percent of its funds
to maintain that in June and
September [from taxes],”
Cauffman said.
At the prior board meeting,
the board asked for
Cauffman to reach out to
other quotes for TAWs.
When doing that, administration
reached out to five
other banks. Four of them
declined to provide TAW estimates
due to the district’s
credit rating. The only bank
that responded was PNC
Bank. After comparison, it
was decided that Old Second
Bank was the lowest fixed
rate at 2.7 percent, which
was cheaper than PNC
Bank. The board decided to
move forward with Old Second
National for its TAWs.
New Lenox apart and attracts
visitors. Last year the village
had people from more than
60 communities dropp letters
in Santa’s mailbox during
the holiday season.
“Those are just the ones
that wrote letters,” Baldermann
said. “We didn’t see a
significant impact because
they got off I-80, maybe
stopped and got something
to eat, got gas and did shopping,
but the residential areas
are not adversely impacted
by that kind of volume of
people.”
Baldermann said that part
of balancing the small town
feel with the feel of an established
town starts with community
outreach.
“There’s a strong connection
here with our residents,
who are proud of their community,”
Baldermann said.
“We do continue to grow,
but we’re still able to foster
that small town community
spirit.”
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