Rebuilding Carpentersville

As promised, here’s a report of what’s been worked on in the Village this summer and what’s in process …

First of all, the Walgreens at Randall and Binnie finally opened this week. And, also as I was driving down Huntley Rd, I noticed a new place — Van’s Frozen Custard — opened on the North side of Huntley Rd, just west of Spring Hill Mall. I’ll have to check it out.

Also … the Fresh Market (in the “Old Jewel store”) is expected to open in December.  Just driving by you can tell they are putting a lot of work into making that a great store for the East side, and one that will hopefully attract residents from the West side and neighboring towns as well!  White Castle (slyders anyone?!) is expected to open soon also.

So … what about those roads and sidewalks, etc projects that have been happening in the Village.

Well, let’s see:

• For those that don’t know, Williams Rd is open again after the torrential rains on Aug 23rd washed out part of the roadway. Though I expected the “several weeks” to be more like a month or two, I was pleasantly surprised to find it re-opened already. Nice work!
• The “stacking lane” at Liberty Elementary along Miller Rd was completed before the start of school, and appears to be working out!
• Adobe Circle, Pecos Circle, San Juan Rd. from Ensenada to Alameda, Tulsa Ct., and Spring Hill Drive paving is set to begin this week.
• Pavement has been/will be resurfaced on:
  • Lincoln Ave (North)
  • Wisconsin Ave
  • Williams Rd
  • Delaware
  • Navajo
  • Papoose & Chippewa Intersection
  • Cleveland Ave
  • Wren Rd
  • Ball Ave
  • Fairway Rd
  • Golfview Ln
  • Harrison St.
  • Garfield Dr.
  • Hampton
  • Wakefield Dr.
• On Navajo, Sioux, Siesta, Siesta Ct, Tomahawk Ct, Ensenada, and Granada, water main improvements are nearly completed and pavement and sidewalk restoration will be completed thereafter.
• Springacres Hills subdivision will get a sealer coat on their streets to help prolong the life of the roads.
• Sleepy Hollow Rd reconstruction was completed this summer
• Maple Avenue repairs are moving along well and the road may open again by the end of next week.
• In the 2008 construction season, work is being planned and already includes some of the following improvements:
  • Areas of Cardinal, Robin, Thrush, Wren and Sparrow will have utilities, roadway, curb and gutter and sidewalk improvement/replacement.
  • Ravine Ln, Ravine Dr, Northlake, Center, Bunker, Valley, and Plainview will get new pavement, curbs, gutters and storm sewers

As you can see, there’s been a lot of things going on.  Years of neglect have caused a need to, as President Sarto said in an earlier comment, “rebuild Carpentersville”.  These are the kinds of shots in the arm that I believe will serve this Village well for years to come … provided it is properly maintained, as maintenance of infrastructure is a lot cheaper than complete reconstruction.  If only it would have been done sooner.  If only it would have been on some one’s radar under previous Board’s…  But, it’s getting done under this Village President and Board — with a big amount of thanks and appreciation due to Village staff, too!

Truly “no room for negative in Sarto’s speech”

With about 50 people gathered in the Village Hall Board Room to listen, including the Trustees (with exception of Paul Humpfer), State Senator Michael Noland, Kane County Board Member Hollie Kissane, Kane County Board Member and Dundee Township Republican Chairman, John Noverini, Dundee Township Democratic Chairman, Judge Robert Steffen, and a handful of Village staff members, Carpentersville Village President Bill Sarto gave the first State of the Village address in anyone’s memory on Tuesday night.

Illinois statutes allow municipal leaders to give an annual address, but few seem to take advantage of it. With all the negative attention focused on Carpentersville in the past year, it was good that Sarto took the time to highlight the numerous accomplishments in the Village over the past 2 years, since he took office.

When first announced, there was concern by some that only the positive would be addressed in the speech, but in reality there truly was no room for negatives in the 38-minute address. Some might even say that the positive atmosphere in the Village Board room was refreshing. One can hope that it will carry over to next week’s meeting of the Village Board.

At approximately 7:02pm, with Village Trustees Ritter, Hinz and Ramirez-Sliwinski settled in their seats at various places around the Board room, Sarto began. Trustee Sigwalt arrived about 4 minutes into the address, followed by Trustee Teeter about 5 minutes later, each taking a seat in the back row.

As your Village President, I come before you this evening to report that the State of the Village of Carpentersville is strong and moving forward.

Though stumbling on his words a few times, Sarto provided details of the achievements of the various Village departments, including the areas of Public Safety, Economic Development/Planning, Public Works, Engineering, Finance, Information Technology and Volunteer Comittees and Commissions. Rather than attribute these things to any one person or department in the Village, Sarto spread the love. This felt far from a “look what I have done for you” speech.

Our success and future success can only happen with dedicated hard work and with a concerted team effort…

No one person, acting alone, can get this Village where it ought to be.

Sarto showcased the many ways the Village is working to address the concerns of residents; concerns that some feel can only be addressed by establishing illegal immigration ordinances (which he never mentioned at all, even in passing). In each case, Sarto offered a number of examples of the good that Village staff is doing for residents.

Looking to the future with hope, based on what has been accomplished in the past 2 years with the effort and determination of everyone, Sarto concluded his address by saying:

Our future is up to you and me. It’s up to us. We can make a difference.

[It would probably be wishful thinking to say the bolded and underlined “can” was a subtle homage to this blog … 😉 Continuing on…]

My hope for Carpentersville is the same as yours. We must never stop dreaming with the enduring confidence of the ages knowing that through hard work and perseverance that dreams do come true.

Provided that the Board can work together on these items, it seems that Carpentersville is in a good place. Perhaps this Board, with Sarto sitting in the President’s seat, isn’t as bad as the one issue that has been continually gnawing at everyone in the town. Hopefully businesses will see the significant improvements in the Village — although admittedly much work remains — and will see the opportunities there.

[Read the 2007 State of the Village]

I’ll probably have some more analysis of the content tomorrow …

[Wednesday A.M. UPDATE: Links to Newspaper reports ….]

Courier-News: Sarto says state of C’ville is ‘strong’

Daily Herald: Sarto emphasizes positive in Village

Of course, it should come as no surprise, especially to those that have ever attended a Board meeting, that Trustee Sigwalt was the only one to speak in the negative. Sounded like sour grapes to me. It might have been good for Sarto to mention some of those others … but he sent the right message, and had a large number of examples to back it up, so it wasn’t all just a “feel-good”. That was the focus. And, it was to emphasize that much more work needs to get done — these good things need to continue.

I’m sure Sigwalt will have to make some complaint about it in her Trustee Report on Tuesday night, though…

Where do you want to go tomorrow?

Happy Monday folks!  Let’s kick off the week with something easy …

Trusteees Sigwalt and Humpfer, President Sarto and illegal immigration were all in the papers this weekend.

But, there was one big question on my mind as I read through all of them that I would like folks to answer:

What’s next for Carpentersville after passing various ordinances and resolutions to get the Hispanics out of town? In other words, what is the end goal of getting 40%+ of a city’s population to leave?  What do you think it is/should be?

None of the trustees seem to have a plan — or, at least they ain’t tellin’ (either this blog or the papers).

What’s your answer to the questions above?  Do you have any ideas for what to do with an East side that’s all but deserted?

BTW, today marks Day 7 of Border Patrol Ad Watch in which someone in the Village offices think its a good idea to get people out of Carpentersville. Probably a member of the “All-American Anti-Hispanic Team”.  Get the Hispanics out, get the U.S. citizens out.  Now there’s a plan for you.

Trustees appear to have no plan

As was mentioned in an entry last Tuesday, an email was sent to all the members of the Village Board, requesting a few brief comments about their plans and ideas for the future of Carpentersville. Of the trustees, only Trustee Ritter responded. His response was less than favorable.

Here is his reply:

Hi,

I am sorry, but I do not respond to unsigned emails. Please provide a name and phone number and I will be glad to contribute.

Ed Ritter

Now, I will not quibble with the fact that my email was, basically, unsigned. A level of anonymity was established for this blog from the outset. It was setup this way for two reasons, 1) to focus on the information and not the person(s) contributing to this blog; this is also why anonymous comments are allowed on this blog; and, 2) to prevent reprisals against those associated with the blog or bloggers. Based on the track record of Carpentersville politics, the need for #2 should be understandable. While this would appear to some as allowing for freedom to bash officials and those who disagree with us, we realized that doing so would also impugn our credibility. Every effort has been, and will be, made to keep from intentionally slandering someone — except when they really deserve it. 🙂

Next, referring to the response — or lack of it — received from the trustees. First, let me say that I can understand some hesitation in responding to an email from someone you cannot determine the identity of. That said, however, the information requested should not have been, nor did it need to be, of a sensitive nature. In fact, it was initially thought that trustees would jump at the chance to share some of their vision with residents, visitors and those with interests in Carpentersville.

Apparently, though, they consider such things “privileged information.” Or, perhaps the information requested is not something they have thought much about. And, “oppose whatever the other side proposes” doesn’t seem like it would be positive PR for their career. In either case, they should take some of the ideas presented here and work on them. I would be much better for all of us.

If any of the trustees or those who communicate directly with them are reading this (and there is some relative certainty that they are reading), let me just say that they should consider the invitation sent via email to be “open”, and should they choose to reconsider their position, their replies are still welcome.

One will notice that I have not mentioned President Sarto in this entry, but have only referred to the Trustees. That is because President Sarto responded, and provided actual information. The content of his reply will be published in a later entry.