Naperville groups vie for piece of pie

Naper Settlement and Naperville's public works and public utilities departments added their capital requests to the city's mix Tuesday.

The groups detailed their proposed projects for the next five years at a city council workshop just a week after other departments presented their wish lists.

In total, about $394 million in projects are on the table over the next five years.

However, groups are looking for ways to cut costs. Among Naper Settlement's proposed improvements is an expansion of its stormwater management system to support future site developments and officials have been talking with Naperville Unit District 203 about partnering on the issue.

If the school district's referendum to renovate facilities is approved on Feb. 5, neighboring Naperville Central High School will undergo large-scale improvements that will also require a larger stormwater system.

"We have done the calculation ... and determined we can solve over 50 percent of our future stormwater needs by sharing with the high school," said Chris Birck, president of the Naperville Heritage Society.

The settlement is asking the city for $14,500 to start engineering work on the project.

But not all proposals got the green light, at least not for the upcoming year. The settlement's proposal to use concrete pavers for its roadways was pushed back a year.

Some councilmen said concrete, which would be four times more expensive than asphalt, is not a justifiable cost.

"At some point in time we have to say what is good enough," Councilman James Boyajian said.

Peggy Frank, executive director of the settlement, said she would also be comfortable waiting another year to on a plan to relocate the historic building at 28 W. Chicago Ave. into the settlement for restoration.

In public works, director Dave Van Vooren gave the council an update on construction of its new $30.5 million public works service center at Jefferson Avenue and Fort Hill Drive. The work is about 33 percent complete, he said, and the city has received a $100,000 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design grant to help fund the project.

In addition to housing the public works department, the center will include storage space for the fire department and Naper Settlement and an impound lot for the police department. Construction should be complete by Oct. 31.

Another upcoming public works project will be stairway replacement at the Chicago Avenue parking deck for about $120,000.

"I was hoping you would have torn the building down before we had to replace the stairs ... but the deck has at least another five years of life, maybe longer," Van Vooren said.

Meanwhile the department of public utilities is proposing a variety of upgrades to equipment to improve both electric and water services.

The meeting was the second of two capital improvement workshops this year. Last week the council tackled projects from the transportation, engineering and development department, Riverwalk Commission and police and fire departments.

The council will still have to give final approval to capital projects at a future city council meeting.