Plaza Island? 3-year Chamber Grant? Attend or Dial in to tonight’s Village Board Meeting. Link below

October surprises from the CH board include over $1.6M budgeted in 2027 for a PLAZA and for PLAZA ISLAND LANDSCAPE (a term which has never been heard before) and a 3-year grant with built-in salary increases for the Chamber of Commerce.

Why would a PLAZA be in the budget when the only elements approved in September’s meeting were said to be “Downtown Improvements” of west side sidewalk repavement, deeper sidewalks (How will pedestrians walk over metal tree grates to dodge Il Mio’s dining tables on those sidewalks? Or will this plan just kill Il Mio’s mature trees and ruin the existing, charming vibe? Why is elimination of our gorgeous raised limestone planter/benches/natural bollards and permanent loss of more storefront parking even acceptable or safe?) with parallel parking (completely unproven from a traffic flow standpoint on our single-lane slip-lane) and screw-in bollard lines (labor -intensive and not proven to keep vehicles out or children in) for events only.

As for the Chamber grant, which has always been a 1-year grant, why is it now suddenly slated to be locked in for 3 years? Residents have asked for some events to be held in parks, but this grant is being funded by Downtown TIF $, so it would require that it be used for events only in the Downtown. Why lock this in for 3 years when four new board members will be elected and seated in early 2027?

ATTEND Tonight: Monday, October 19 @6:30pm at Clarendon Hills Village Hall or DIAL IN as indicated in the blue link on the first page of the agenda link below:

https://www.clarendonhills.us/AgendaCenter#docaccess-7d0f913700986c290299d0e75b76ac35