Roselle mayor candidates share their infrastructure priorities

Roselle's aging infrastructure is one of the key issues in the village's mayoral race.

Three candidates are seeking to replace Mayor Andy Maglio, who decided not to seek a second term. The candidates are village trustees Wayne D. Domke and David Pileski and newcomer Pete Pellegrino.

During the campaign, Pileski said the village needs to devote more resources to improving its roads and other infrastructure.

Pileski said in a village questionnaire that the village must address maintenance for surface roads, water mains and sewer lines.

“There's a lot of infrastructure that we need to catch up on because we're an aging community coming up on our 100th anniversary,” said Pileski, who has served as a trustee since 2017. “Frankly to me, we need to be putting together a more comprehensive long-term plan for how we're going to keep the streets paved and safer to use.”

Domke, who has been a village trustee since 2011, says the regular maintenance of streets has been a priority.

“As far as sewer and water, we are in the long-term project of repairing our aging infrastructure and water treatment plants,” Domke said in a candidate questionnaire. “Part of this project is required by the Illinois EPA and all towns in our area have future standards for cleaner water on their agenda.”

Domke said deferring maintenance projects is a “last resort” that can end up costing the village more money in the long run.

“The good thing about my tenure on the village board is we've been so proactive at maintaining roads and upgrading aging water lines over the last five years that we are ahead of schedule,” he said.

Pellegrino, a chief financial officer, said the village's 5-year capital improvement plan is recommending roughly $6.5 million in projects in fiscal 2021.

If elected, he said he will meet with village staff to determine the most pressing needs.

“It would be most beneficial for all stakeholders to have these conversations first before determining any new additions or pausing any pending projects,” Pellegrino said.

If it's determined that projects can be deferred, Pellegrino said the money saved would be used to provide tax cuts for residents and or grants to small businesses.