Put Arlington Heights police station on hold, fix flooding
On Tuesday, Jan. 19, the Arlington Heights village board approved the issuance of $32.9 million of general obligation bonds for the purpose of financing the construction of a new police station.
On Wednesday, Jan. 20, the village board informed residents there was no funding available for the $11 million to $15 million necessary to partially fix the chronic flooding problems in our village.
To summarize, there is funding for a new police station but no funding for chronic flooding problems.
Quoting from an engineering study commissioned by the village board, Mr. Dan Lau of CDM Smith Engineering explained village flooding solutions. But, quickly following that presentation, the residents were informed that the village has no "funding mechanism in place" to implement any of those solutions.
Flooding anywhere in the village is a major health hazard and adversely affects all village property values. Therefore, a new police station is not needed at this time. In my opinion, the village board needs to re-evaluate their priorities. In other words, put the new police station on hold, and fix the flooding in Arlington Heights with the new bond issue.
Keith A. Moens
Arlington Heights