The Year that was-- 2005

2005 was the year of the Rooster, and here in Round Lake we have plenty to crow over. We have two new Trustee's Brian Brubaker and Bob Del Prato a new Police Chief in Cliff Metaxa and a new Director of Public Works Davis Clark. Some of the other highlights are:

• We finally adopted a new human resources plan that encompasses employee reviews, job descriptions a fair an equitable pay plan.
• Restructuring of the Police Department is well under way, with a modern efficient and more effective police department starting to emerge.
  
• We are moving full speed ahead on the Downtown Development Project and hope to have it done by 2008 (our 100th anniversary)
  
• We have familiar faces in new places with Terre Eyzk moving up into the Chair of the Planning Commission (my old seat), Hans Zigmund moving up into the Chair of the Architectural Review Committee (ARC) and Steve Skinner moving from the ARC to the Planning and Zoning Commission, former trustee Dale Multerer is now the president of the Police Board.
• Sean Gillette led a wonderful group of people who planned and organized the second annual Streets of Summer festival this summer. Lonnie Brooks headlined and 1,000's attended!
• New commercial development is coming online at the Centerville Commons on Route 60 and Cedar Lake Road, Curran Commons at 120 and Curran, and more development at the corner of 134 and Fairfield to go along with the CVS Pharmacy. More will be happening in 2006 as well.
  
• The construction of a new $7 million 35,000 square foot Police and Public Works Station on the corner of Bacon and Townline road. This facility is big enough for our current population and for our future needs. It was designed and built so it can and could expand if needed in the future.
• Many of the housing projects that we have been hearing about for sometime are finally complete or nearly so, with Valley Lakes, Madrona, Lakewood Homes, Bradford Place, and Silver Leaf Glen reaching that point.
  

On a personal note I am thankful for the opportunity you gave me in April 2005 to lead the village for another four years. Serving as Mayor is the single most rewarding thing I have ever done in my professional life, and I thank you for your support. I aim to make Round Lake the best possible place it can be.

Police and Public Works Complex-- Chapter 1

Many of you have read some of the recent newspaper articles about the Police and Public Works complex. I think its time to give a chronology of what actually went on. I have broken down my posts into 5 chapters. Chapter 1 is how we aquired the land. Chapter 2 will be on how we decided on the building design. Chapter 3 will cover how we bid the building out. Chapter 4 will cover the planning and construction of the project. Chapter 5 will discuss some of the recent events. When there are points of contention in the process, and there are, I will link to the relevant minutes of the board meetings so you can verify for yourself what went on.

Chapter 1
When I was elected it was quickly apparent that we needed a bigger police station and a public works building. Over time the board became comfortable with the concept and we started looking for land. It was difficult to locate a land parcel inside the village boundaries that matched our needs. However we settled on the parcel at the SE corner of Bacon and Townline road. It was a 39 acre parcel owned by the Crowne family. We approached the Crowne Real Estate people and were able to determine a price that met both our needs. The Crowne people eventually sold the 39 acres to us for $30,000 an acre or $1,170,000.

The land was for five central uses:

1. To provide an adequate home for a combined police and public works facility that could be expanded to meet future demands.
2. To facilitate the construction of the extension of Cedar Lake road northwards to Townline road.
3. To bring future Fire District service south of 120 for our residents and recoup some of the land expenses through the sale of the land to the fire department.
4. Provide land for a future maintenance facility for the Round Lake Area Park Districtand recoup some of the land expenses through the sale of the land to the park district.
5. Future sale of 7-9 acres of commercial frontage along the newly extended Cedar Lake Road.

At a similar time the village was deciding to move ahead on three fronts for bonding to accomplish three strategic goals for the village. Goal one was the construction of the Police and Public Works Department, goal two was to bring Sewer and Water to the corner of 120 and Wilson Road and upgrade sewer in some of older areas of the village, and lastly to purchase vacant land in our downtown area to facilitate our transit oriented development program.

To this end we bonded $3 million for the sewer and water projects, $1.5 million for land acquisition for the downtown project, and $6.5 million for the construction of the Police and Public Works facility. In other words we bonded $10.5 million for these projects. We were intending to bond $1 million more for the building construction but when the first pass at the costs by Riley Construction and the Architects Sente Rubel Bosman and Lee came in we were at $6.4 million dollars. More on this in a later chapter. As an aside, the money for the sewer and water bonding will be paid back over time as parcels connect to the sewer and water services. The payback will be in the form of recapture. The money for the land in the downtown will return to the village in the form of a cultural arts center, a new train station and a spectacular downtown along with cash.

At around the same time we were looking at what is now the Bradford Place development with is 170 senior oriented homes at the corner of Curran and 120 by Pulte. I insisted that there be 5 acres of land dedicated to be commercial and that the land be deeded to the village upon annexation. The project was approved and we subsequently resold the land for just under $800,000 or roughly $155,000 an acre. We took that money and applied it towards the purchase of the 39 acre parcel.

Over time the 39 acre parcel will generate the following:

• 39 acres times $30,000 is $1,170,000
• Sale of 5 acres from Bradford Place $790,000 leaves $380,000.
• Sale of 5 acres to Fire District at $30,000 leaves $230,000.
• The sale of the land to the Park District fell apart. (more on that later)
  
• Future sale of commercial land 7-9 acres at "what the market will bear"
• We will still own 10-15 acres for future growth of the police and public work facility.
  

All in all your Board of Trustees and your Mayor did an excellent job acquiring the land for the facility. Even if nothing happens on the 9 acres of commercial we have effectively bought 34 acres of land for $7,000 an acre. When and if we sell the 9 acres we will hopefully have made a profit on the whole land acquisition project and left the village with quite a few benefits. Plus we have 5 acres of commercial at 120 and Curran, that will benefit consumers and the village with tax revenue.

Please note that the prices and costs are close approximations for clarity.

Ground Breaking at Curran Commons (Curran and 120)

This post could also be entitled. "People with large heads should not wear large hats! At leaast in my case! There was a ground breaking today for Curran Commons which is on the Southeast side of 120 and Curran.

In the first picture I was talking (... its a rare thing!), surely the first thing you thought was what pearls of wisdom was the Mayor dispensing? Well I was illustrating how the village board insisted on Pulte Homes deeding the 5 acres of land to the village in the Bradford Place Subdivision PUD. The subsequent resale of the Curran Commons land netted us just over $740,000 which we used to pay off the $1,070,000 dollars we spent on the 39 acre site where our Police and Public Works site that is now being built. Since then we have now sold approximately 5 acres of the 39 to the Round Lake Area Fire District for $150,000 for a fire station. We have basically bought 39 acres of land for $190,000. Of course I paraphrase because I talked much longer then that!

In the second picture Trustee's Bob Del Prato, Don Newby, Pat Blauvelt, Brian Brubaker, Village Clerk Jeanne Kristan, Finance Director Maggie Molidor, Police Chief Cliff Metaxa and me all dig in to get the project underway!