Lombard hopes lobbyist will secure salt dome funding

If Lombard’s newly hired lobbying firm achieves its goal, the village effectively will be spending $8,000 to receive $500,000.

Village Manager David Hulseberg authorized a two-month contract with Springfield-based Roger C. Marquardt & Company to ensure that $500,000 in state funding originally promised for road resurfacing can be used instead for construction of a salt dome.

While all that’s needed is a change in wording of the legislation that granted the funding, village officials say they find it worthwhile to have a professional lobbyist representing their interests in Springfield.

“They work with members of the legislature to push initiatives that are important to the community,” Hulseberg said. “We are expecting the wording to change.”

Permission to use the funding for a project other than Main Street resurfacing, which was completed in the fall, would allow the village to build a salt dome sooner rather than later, public works director Carl Goldsmith said. Current salt storage does not hold the amount needed each winter and is not entirely safe for employees, Goldsmith said.

“We do not have a salt dome. We have a small, tarped structure located at the village hall complex,” he said.

Under current budget constraints, construction of a $1.4 million salt dome on North Garfield Street won’t begin until 2012 or 2013, Goldsmith said. But with $500,000 from the state, he said the project could begin in the next fiscal year, which runs from June 1 to May 31, 2012.

The village also plans to put $300,000 in state funding designated for any infrastructure project toward the salt dome, Hulseberg said.

State legislators who represent Lombard say lobbyists help create results by presenting information and working to ensure the administrative processes of state government run smoothly.

Funding agreements — like money promised to Lombard as “member initiative dollars” for this fall’s Main Street resurfacing project — sometimes do not receive the administrative approvals they need to be paid, state Rep. Chris Nybo, an Elmhurst Republican, said.

“It’s probably more the administrative side of things that some of the municipalities are having problems with,” Nybo said. “Capital commitments that were made years ago have never been filled.”

Good lobbyists, Nybo said, understand the administrative processes and can make sure their client’s requests get all necessary approvals.

Lombard’s $8,000 contract with Marquardt & Company lasts through February, Hulseberg said. He checks in with representatives of the company weekly to see what progress has been made.

Scott Marquardt, a lobbyist with the firm, said his goal in this case is to communicate Lombard’s need for the salt dome.

“I’m trying to help the village help the legislators, make them aware of the need for the project and the big value to Lombard of the project,” Marquardt said. “With me being down here on a day-to-day basis, it’s easier to interact on a daily basis and help Lombard push its agenda.”