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Politics & Government

Village Board Votes to Delete Properties From Proposed SSA

Boundaries for the proposed Special Service Area are being modified.

The mood at Monday night's Village Board meeting was subdued. This was a big contrast to the previous meeting on Sept. 20, in which the room was filled to near capacity with residents who wanted to voice their opposition to the creation of a new Special Service Area to cover sidewalk snow removal costs for the Clarendon Hills Central Business District.

On Monday, the board approved an ordinance to remove the Burling Court Condo properties at 235-245 Burlington Ave. and a property at 251 Burlington Ave.

Some of the residents who were the most vocal about their opposition to the proposed SSA lived at the Burling Court Condos, including Tom Wich, who was leading a petition drive against it. "I have petitions here signed by many members of our building. We actually represent 33 out of 103 parcels in SSA 16, which means all we need is 19 more signatures by the merchants, and we will defeat this.  We are going to fight this," said Wich at the Sept. 20 village public hearing on the issue.

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At the meeting, no Clarendon Hills residents commented on the modification to the proposed SSA. It is unclear whether the majority of residents knew there would be a vote on the issue Monday night.  The letter regarding the modification to the proposed SSA boundaries was dated Oct. 1, 2010, just three days prior to the meeting.

Under the original SSA boundaries, the village expected to generate an estimated $57,100. Under the modified SSA, only $46,140 is expected.

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The proposed SSA 16 would replace SSA 10, which is due to expire next year. Revenue collected under SSA 16 would be used for sidewalk snow removal in the central business district. Due to dwindling revenues, the village says it can no longer provide this service, which was financed through the village general fund and cost up to $45,000 a year.

If the proposed SSA is not approved, the village would discontinue the service and property owners and businesses within the SSA boundaries would have to provide sidewalk snow removal at their own expense.

If no valid objections to the proposed SSA are filed by Nov. 20, the village will adopt the ordinance establishing the new SSA on Dec. 6.

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