Fire hookup too costly for condos
Recently the village of Lisle adopted a life safety code mandate that will require all multiple family dwellings within the village to be directly hooked up to the local fire department.
The safety of all residents within our village is a commendable goal ȢȢ‚ˆ¬Ãƒˆ¢Ã¢â€šˆ¬Ã…“ until you begin to examine the costs associated with this project.
One of my questions is, was any evaluation on the cost factor done before this mandate was put in place? As a resident of Chelsea Condominiums, our board of directors has carefully researched the cost:
Installation of this type of system ranges from $350,000 to $500,000, with a yearly radio monitoring cost of $60,000.
With my concerns I decided to contact our mayor, our five village trustees and the fire chief. In fact, I have made several attempts ȢȢ‚ˆ¬Ãƒˆ¢Ã¢â€šˆ¬Ã…“ unfortunately I have not heard a word from anyone. Very disappointing.
My hopes are that they read the newspaper and if they do, my questions are:
Why no grandfather clause for buildings that meet current safety standards?
What concessions can be made to assist in lowering our costs?
Why would you want to bankrupt a condo association and put a financial strain on longtime village residents?
With an increasing credit crunch, where does the money come from? And finally, why publish phone numbers and e-mail addresses if no one replies?
Marilyn Sahs
Lisle