Trustees block land study for new public works site

Carpentersville trustees Tuesday night blocked a land-use study for the proposed site of the new public works facility, a decision the village president said could cost the village hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue.

Village President Bill Sarto argued the study was needed to determine the best location for the facility on the 28.5-acre site at Wilmette and Cleveland avenues -- known as Tamarac Crossing.

That determination is critical, Sarto said, since a buyer is interested in up to 3 acres at $100,000 per acre.

"Since we haven't made a determination of where the facility would go, we can't sell the 2 to 3 acres," Sarto said. "I think we have lost the opportunity to make $250,000 off the land to do other projects with."

The study also would include remodeling concepts of existing facilities to meet the needs of the police department and village hall.

However, four trustees voted to delay the $49,200 study by Williams Associates Architects of Carol Stream, since the funds were not accounted for in the current budget.

Trustees also said they were unaware of a possible land sale prior to Tuesday.

"We don't have the money," Trustee Keith Hinz said. "It's another example of robbing Peter to pay Paul. They want to take money from one budget and put it in another for this study."

Finance Director Lisa Happ said there is a possibility the current budget could absorb the cost of the study.

"We do have revenue accounts that are coming in higher than we expected," Happ said. "But to say 100 percent of those revenues are readily available is not exactly correct."

But Trustee Paul Humpfer, who voted against postponing the item in hopes of killing it outright, said the study and land sale are unrelated.

"Why do we need to do a study before we sell the land?" Humpfer said. "Let them take what they want. Let them pick a spot, whatever they want. We can put the public works facility wherever we want on that land."

Humpfer said the village received work papers and land studies when it bought the land from Lombard-based developer Town and Country last December.

"We are trying to be fiscally responsible with the village's money and not bring in another consultant to do a study on a parcel of land we probably should not have purchased in the first place," Humpfer said.

The Tamarac Crossing site has been a source of contention among board members since the village agreed to pay $2.4 million for the site in December.

At that time, trustees voted 4 to 3 to purchase the land-- ending two years of litigation against Town and Country and blocking a high density development from moving into the center of the village.