Carpentersville using reserves to fix roads

A Carpentersville commission has approved spending $750,000 to cover repairs on three roads officials say bore the brunt of the damage this past winter.

Earlier this month, the audit and finance commission approved spending the money out of the village's cash reserves for improvements to Miller and Binnie roads as well as Grandview Drive.

The village does not make a regular practice of dipping into its reserve fund and has only done it twice within the last six years, Village President Ed Ritter said.

"Going into your reserve fund to take care of an emergency is a big thing," Ritter said. "We don't use reserve funds for anything except an emergency or to avoid debt."

A portion of Binnie Road runs through Dundee Township and West Dundee, and Carpentersville officials will seek an intergovernmental agreement with the other two parties to pay for that road together, Ritter said.

Binnie Road is the worst of the bunch and was bad even before winter hit, Ritter said.

"It's not a highly traveled road but it's traveled enough so we just have to take care of it," Ritter said.

Grandview might be the best of the worst, but officials would rather not wait another winter before giving it some extra attention, especially if the next winter is as brutal as the one we just had.

"It would be a mistake to wait," he said.

The village board won't approve the road projects until it hires a construction firm to do the work, which could start as soon as the summer.