Moylan: Des Plaines to focus on infrastructure improvements in 2012

Infrastructure improvements will be the focus of Des Plaines’ efforts in 2012, said Mayor Marty Moylan during his yearly address to the business community Thursday.

Moylan highlighted the city’s accomplishments in 2011 and outlined upcoming projects during the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s annual mayor’s breakfast at Manzo’s Banquets.

Among the infrastructure projects planned for 2012 are a possible pedestrian underpass at the Northwest Highway S-curve and a design proposal for a Rand Road sidewalk from Golf Road to River Road. Also, a new sidewalk and path will be installed along Ballard Road between Bender Road and Good Avenue.

Officials also plan to build a pedestrian median along Miner Street in downtown allowing for a safer walkway between the Metropolitan Square parking garage, condominiums, businesses and the Metra train station. The marked-off area in the middle of the four-lane street would basically be a safety zone for pedestrians who don’t use the crosswalks.

Other planned improvements include the installation of bike racks in the downtown area and along Oakton Street.

The city will partner with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County to design a canoe launch that can be accessed from Campground Road.

Also this year, officials will complete the design work on segments of the High Ridge Knolls Trail to provide safer pedestrian connections between Des Plaines and Mount Prospect park, and complete studies to standardize signage and identify a regional bicycle corridor connecting the suburbs to downtown Chicago.

“This is the third year we are spending more than $1 million on improvements in downtown,” Moylan said. “We also put in more money for our business incentive program.”

The city has allocated $100,000 in the 2012 budget toward facade rehabilitation, awning replacement and business incentive grants.

Moylan recognized local efforts to retain 600 factory jobs at suitmaker Hart Schaffner & Marx, which fended off possible closure.

“By the way, that’s where the president buys his suits and today that’s what I have on,” Moylan added.

The biggest coup for Des Plaines in 2011 was likely the opening of the Rivers Casino, which added nearly 1,200 jobs to the area and generated $10.8 million in gambling and admissions tax revenue for the city in its first six months of operation.

“The monetary success of Rivers has been significant with $33 million being generated in adjusted gross receipts in December 2011, just $1.1 million less than August 2011, the casino’s most profitable month,” Moylan said.

Per the deal that landed Des Plaines the 10th riverboat casino license, the city is required to pay the state $10 million yearly for 30 years with 40 percent of the remaining revenues generated from adjusted gross receipts distributed among 10 disadvantaged communities.

“I have contended that this agreement no longer applies,” Moylan said. “With new gaming legislation proposed, Rivers will most likely not be the state’s final casino. The city deserves a more significant portion of generated revenues. I, along with the city’s lobbyists, will continue to petition Governor (Pat) Quinn and Illinois lawmakers to renegotiate a better deal for Des Plaines.”

Moylan also pledged to reinvest casino revenues into the city’s infrastructure “to improve streets and sewers and for flood control projects.”

Moylan lauded city staff and the council for approving zero percent increases to the city’s portion of the property tax levy for the past three years in comparison to a 4 percent increase on average between 2002 and 2008, before he took office as mayor.

He also congratulated the Des Plaines Public Library board for decreasing its levy request by 4 percent for each of the past three years.

As a result of that and other cost-cutting measures, the city’s reserve fund balance has grown from $1 million in 2009 to $19 million currently available, Moylan said.

“We actually shrunk the size of our government by 17 percent,” Moylan said. “When positions do become available, the city strives to hire and maintain a quality workforce.”

In response to an audience question, Moylan commented on what the city is doing about vacancies at Metropolitan Square — the crown jewel of Des Plaines’ downtown redevelopment, which has been under threat of foreclosure after repeated defaults on a $17.6 million bank loan.

Moylan said the debt on the development has been sold to a new company and the city has been trying to get the management to lower rents to attract new businesses.

At last year’s mayoral address, Moylan said the city was working with a developer interested in building a velodrome — a 24-hour professional cycling arena with a 250-meter indoor track for training and competition.

Officials were considering three possible locations where such an arena could be built: the ACE Rent-A-Car site off Mannheim and Higgins roads; the former Littelfuse site along Northwest Highway; and land off Golf Road west of River Road south of Holy Family Medical Center, which used to be home to a junkyard.

That project never materialized due to lack of funding, but Moylan hasn’t given up hope.

“We still have the proposal on the books,” Moylan said Thursday. “We’re waiting for funding. The city is not going to fund it.”

Officials have estimated the arena could cost between $15 million and $20 million.