Island Lake village hall, police lights could go green

Light fixtures at Island Lake's village hall and police station are set to get an environmentally friendly upgrade that should save the village thousands of dollars annually.

Officials plan to install modern, energy-efficient fixtures in the 58-year-old village compound on Greenleaf Avenue, which houses the police station, village offices, a gymnasium and the Creative Playtime preschool.

The project is expected to cost more than $25,000, but nearly $12,000 of that sum will be covered by a newly approved grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation, an independent group founded by ComEd to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Officials are applying for an additional grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity that could pay for most of the remaining bill, Public Works Director Willie Kootstra said.

A study of the village's electricity usage indicated more-efficient lighting could save the village coffers more than $5,000 annually, officials said.

“It's fantastic,” Trustee Shannon Fox said. “I love the idea of being able to make improvements that benefit the bottom line and the environment.”

The few hundred dollars village officials expect to pay for the work should be recouped in as few as three months, Kootstra said.

More than 180 fixtures would be replaced if the project progresses as planned, Fox said. Lights in private and public spaces have been targeted, she said.

Officials said they don't yet know what type of lights would be installed. The project is in the early stages, Kootstra said.

If the second grant doesn't come through, the project will be scaled back, Fox said.

“We will use that $11,000 and change (from the first grant) to perform upgrades within the complex,” she said.

The building opened in 1953 as the Island Lake Grade School. Part of Wauconda School District 118, it closed in the late 1970s because of declining enrollment, village Trustee Connie Mascillino recalled.

The village bought the site in the mid-1980s and converted it into a village hall and police station.

Aside from the installation of recycling bins, the project likely is the first green-themed improvement effort at the village complex, Fox said.

Planning for the project should begin within the next few weeks, Kootstra said. The work could be completed next summer.

“I think we should all be proud of it,” Kootstra said of the effort. “We should all be good stewards of the environment.”