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Arlington Hts. outlines $118 million in projects over 5 years

Over the next five years Arlington Heights may need to spend $118.3 million on capital improvements, according to a plan discussed by the village board on Monday.

The 2015-2019 Capital Improvement Program doesn't commit the village to any expenses right now but outlines predicted costs for projects in the next few years, Village Mayor Tom Hayes said.

The projects include street resurfacing, replacing operating equipment such as fire trucks and police cars, replacing damaged or aged sidewalks and curbs, maintaining roofs and lighting on village buildings and streets, and dealing with issues such as a new police station, emerald ash borer and flooding problems.

"The five-year Capital Improvement Program is extensive, but one of the greatest financial pressures the village is currently facing is the ability to continue to sustain a high level of repair and replacement of our capital infrastructure into the future," Interim Village Manager Diana Mikula said.

The village board approved the five-year plan on Monday with a 6-1 vote acting as a committee of the whole, and the board will again vote on it next week. Trustees Joe Farwell and Jim Tinaglia were absent on Monday.

Trustee Bert Rosenberg voted against the plan because it included a proposal to spend about $130,000 to put a new roof on the now-closed Arlington Heights teen center.

"We need to talk about the viability of spending $130,000 on that building," Rosenberg said.

The plan also includes money allocated for the new police station, which is the subject of an outside study to look at the possibility and costs of rebuilding on the station's current location. Costs for that project will be more definite after the study, Finance Director Tom Kuehne said.

"There are a lot of beginning steps that still need to be taken," he said.

The outline includes a change to the fiscal year, approved recently by the village board. May 2015 to December 2015 will be a shortened year and in January 2016 the village will move to a calendar year fiscal system.

While the village has ways to pay for many of the projects in the next few years, Kuehne said there will need to be a discussion about how to raise more money sometime soon.

"We have a few years before things get really bad," Kuehne said. "But we will need to find some additional funding in the fairly near future."

The full plan can be found online at http://www.vah.com/assets/1/finance_department/00_2015B-2019_CIP_Executive_Summary.pdf

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