Can East Dundee use a grocery store?

The East Dundee village board will pay a Missouri company $7,000 to conduct a market survey determining whether a grocery store can fill the vacant Dominick's store location near the intersection of routes 25 and 72.

A Savanna, Illinois-based grocery store chain is considering moving into the 63,000-square-foot space in the River Valley Square Mall, but its owner wants some reassurances before committing. There are currently no full-service grocery stores in East Dundee.

"The market study would show us if the area would be able to support a grocery store," Village Administrator Frank Koehler said. "Wherever the owner has expressed interest, he has had the study done and asked the host municipality to foot the bill. He won't move ahead without validation."

Officials declined to identify the interested store.

Trustees voted 5 to 1 in favor of paying for the study, with Trustee James Carlini dissenting. Trustee Kathleen Mahony was absent.

Carlini said the property owner, Lincoln Properties, and Safeway, which owns Dominick's, should pay the expenses.

"It is not a lot of money, but to the village it is money that could have been spent in a different area," Carlini said. "Based on the information we received, I didn't think it was right for the village to pick up the tab when it should have been up to the two principles to rectify the situation."

Village President Dan O'Leary said after much wrangling, Safeway agreed to split the costs once the study is completed, but the property owner declined to participate.

"There is interest there so it is hard to say that we are not going to do the study," said O'Leary, who said the village had been working for the past two years to find a tenant. "It would be like shooting ourselves in the foot."

The study could begin as early as next week, Koehler said.