Illness necessitates Bohler to step down

Sugar Grove Trustee Bob Bohler has seen the village nearly triple in population since he began serving on the village board in 1997.

Because he is terminally ill with cancer, Bohler said he decided to resign Tuesday.

"Really, I want to spend it (his remaining days) with my wife (and family)," he said Wednesday.

Bohler, 64, has lived in Sugar Grove 27 years. Before that, he lived in Aurora. He grew up in Batavia.

Sugar Grove exploded with residential growth during his time on the board.

"A lot of the processes we went through nobody had gone through before. It was quite an undertaking to get things right. You only get one chance to get it right," he said.

One of the tougher matters the board dealt with, he said, was the issue of bad drainage in the Mallard Point subdivision. Residents of the subdivision were angry with village officials over the quality of construction of the drainage system and its inadequacies, which left them with flooded basements and sump pumps that ran nearly constantly, even when it hadn't rained much.

He is particularly proud of the development of the shopping center at Route 47 and Galena Boulevard that contains a Jewel-Osco store, a McDonald's restaurant, banks and the recently-opened Ace Hardware.

"I think we have seen a lot of things come down that are positive for the village," he said.