Road repairs still on Winfield president’s to-do list

Winfield Village President Deb Birutis says the town’s roads continue to be a problem and she will seek grant money and donations to repair them after voters rejected a November referendum push.

Despite those challenges, she says her first two years in office have been marked with what she calls a “can-do” attitude and progress on a Riverwalk and development of a Town Center.

“We are making huge progress across many areas and 2011 promises to be very exciting,” Birutis said during her recent State of the Village address. “We can make great things happen. It will require us to maintain a village board that listens and works well together.”

Among her goals for the rest of the year are to maintain a new home development pace that she said places Winfield in the Top 10 of Chicago-area towns for new home permits; to continue to consolidate land downtown for development; and to seek potential growth areas outside downtown.

But for the second straight year, Birutis’ address also mentioned failing roads. She said half of the village’s streets remain in poor to failing condition.

In November, voters rejected two referendum questions that would have paid for road repairs. The first asked voters to let the village borrow $3.3 million for the most damaged road repairs. The second asked for a boost in property taxes for the next 20 years to establish a road repair cycle.

“The repairing of our roads will continue to be a major focus for this administration,” she said.

As far as development, Birutis credited the village’s positive approach with “creating a buzz” that has attracted businesses and developers.

The village welcomed 10 businesses last year and Birutis said a Chicago Street Pizza restaurant and a Pepper Jack’s Grill will arrive soon.

She said the new economic development committee has paid off.

A 48-acre downtown tax increment financed district, Town Center, has been championed by Birutis and village officials, who have said it will be critical to Winfield’s future.

The downtown district extends from the DuPage River on the west to the corner of Jewell and High Lake roads on the east. It also runs north along Winfield Road to Central DuPage Hospital and south past the rail line to Beecher Avenue.

Birutis said in her address that the development will more than double Winfield’s sales tax revenue.

Although Birutis did not offer any specifics, she said development outside of Town Center would be based on several factors, including land availability and potential revenue.