Incumbents sweep in Lisle

Lisle's three village board incumbents appear to have retained their seats for four more years.

With all 27 precincts reporting, unofficial results show incumbents Cathy Cawiezel with 1,150 votes, Mark Boyle with 1,124 votes and Robert Mandel with 935 votes. Challenger Kristy Grau, a 36-year-old substitute teacher, received 917 votes.

For Boyle, a business consultant, this would be his third term since first being elected in 2007. Mandel, a chief financial officer, was appointed to the board in July 2013. Cawiezel, an accountant, is heading into her second full term since being elected to the board in 2009.

All three incumbents agreed that Lisle is at a pivotal point in its downtown redevelopment and they all wanted to be a part of it.

"I want to continue to be diligent about carefully considering the developmental opportunities that avail themselves to us, particularly downtown and the Ogden Avenue corridor," said Cawiezel, the race's highest vote getter. "I also hope to respect the codes that protect the character and nature of our neighborhoods in regards to density and good quality retail and service venues."

More than a dozen years after the village razed the old village hall at Main Street and Burlington Avenue, a developer has come forward with a proposal to buy the land and erect two apartment buildings some say would inject some life into the area.

Supporters say bringing new residents within walking distance of downtown restaurants and shops will boost the financial health of those businesses and the town. Detractors argue that more retail and services - not more residences - will draw consumers downtown.