Hey Arlington Heights, watch your spending, says resident

Now is not the time for government to spend any more money than absolutely necessary, said Arlington Heights resident Phillip Walter at Monday's village board meeting.

Especially on a parking lot, he said.

Walter took issue with an expenditure on the board's consent agenda - paying $28,270 to landscape and irrigate a parking lot along Sigwalt Street, just south of the village hall. Plans also include some shade trees.

"In these touch economic times, it's fiscally irresponsible," Walter said. "It seems like an awful lot of money just to meet code."

However, trustees said the parking lot needed to be fixed up - if only to set a good example.

"If we say we can't afford this, what will everyone else do?" said Trustee Norm Breyer. "We're not doing anything here we wouldn't expect of private citizens."

Walter also said the money for the landscaping shouldn't come out of a fund generally reserved for road repair. Village officials said that fund also includes a line for beatification.

You can't recycle your recycling bin: Even the most environmentally aware can only take their cause so far.

Recycling bins are made from recycled material and can't be recycled again. So when they're damaged they have to be thrown out like the rest of the trash. Arlington Heights residents with missing recycling bins can have a new bin delivered to their home. This offer is limited to single-family homes served by Groot Recycling & Waste and it's only for replacing damaged or missing bins. If you want to buy extra bins, they are available for $6 on the first level of Village Hall, 33 S. Arlington Heights Road.

Call the Health Department at (847) 368-5782 for more information. They'll deliver the new bins on Nov. 16 and 17.

Gold medalist coming to town: Kristin Armstrong, an Olympic cyclist, will be at Runners High 'N Tri at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Armstrong, an Idaho native, won a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics games in Beijing.

At 17 years old, the Idaho native was a Junior Olympian in swimming. Armstrong especially took a liking to triathlons, and eventually spent a year at the U.S. Olympic Training Center as a triathlete. She went on to compete in the 1999 Hawaii Ironman and 2000 Olympic Triathlon Trials. But after being examined for chronic hip pain in 2001, it was determined Armstrong had developed osteoarthritis. The doctor said cycling could prove therapeutic. Turns out she was pretty good at the sport as well.

Runners High 'N Tri is located at 121 W. Campbell St. in downtown Arlington Heights. The event is free and open to the public, said Mark Rouse, the store's co-owner.

Grocery store gets liquor license: The Song Do Mart, a grocery store in the International Plaza, was given a liquor license to sell beer, wine and some liquors at Monday's village board meeting. The Korean grocery store opened a few years ago, according to village officials.

• Sheila Ahern covers Arlington Heights. She can be reached at (847) 427-4563 or via e-mail at sahern@dailyherald.com.