$676,500 home for Elgin cop? Plan for near-west side carries big cost

Elgin leaders all agree that community policing is very important.

But a $676,500 price tag to buy and rehabilitate a near-west side home for a community police officer to live in as part of the department's heralded 19-year-old Resident Officer Program of Elgin, or ROPE, raised some eyebrows Wednesday night.

"We're certainly happy to have a ROPE officer in our neighborhood," said Chuck Keysor, president of the Near West Neighbors Association. "It's really unfortunate there's such a high cost."

In February 2009, just before the spring election that led to three new council members, the council spent $222,500 to buy an 1846 cobblestone home at 302 W. Chicago St. that had undergone several additions.

Wednesday, city officials outlined a $225,709 first phase of the project to rehabilitate the home, which was cut up into five apartments and the site of frequent nuisance calls in the neighborhood.

The overall plan will run about $454,000, but that doesn't include some $50,000 in grants the city has lined up to make the home energy efficient and LEED certified. Officials also are seeking in-kind donations.

"I'm a little floored at $450,000. I don't know how to get over that," Councilman John Prigge said.

The city also plans to sell the current ROPE house at 110 N. Union St., which RuthAnne Hall, the city's management analyst, said was appraised at $180,000 in March 2009.

Council members will likely sign off on the first rehab phase at their July 28 meeting as the matter received a unanimous recommendation Wednesday night.

Mayor Ed Schock also noted the city likely would have paid $120.000 in grants for the building owner to revert the apartments to a single-family home as well.

Architect Eric Pepa said the home suffered from "substantial neglect" and was in "poor condition structurally," and a primary support beam had shifted.

"It's very important historically," Pepa said. "This was built by the Kimballs, who were one of the founding families of Elgin."

City Manager Sean Stegall said the Chicago Street home was a blight on the neighborhood and council members were aware a rehabilitation could be costly.

"The city council acted swiftly to solve that problem," he said. "It's important to remember the size of the problem that was solved."