Lake County mayors look ahead to 2021
The Daily Herald asked Lake County mayors and village presidents to look ahead to 2021 and identify the most important thing they hope their community can accomplish in the coming year. Here's what they said ...
Antioch
Mayor Larry Hanson
Most important thing we can accomplish in the coming year is going to be a continued revitalization of our community. We look forward to getting back to a "normal" everyday life. Children back in school, parades, special events in our downtown, being able to open our pool and, most of all, connecting with our neighbors face to face in person.
Fox Lake
Mayor Donny Schmit
In 2021, Fox Lake will continue working with our partners to help combat COVID-19. We will also focus on local roads and continuing to grow our business community.
Grayslake
Mayor Rhett Taylor
Sustaining and growing our strong local economy through retention of our current businesses, especially those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and attracting new businesses to the economy. Grayslake is well positioned to grow its economy with the 2020 opening of the 600-acre Cornerstone business park on Peterson Road, available development sites and low building vacancies. Ongoing recruitment efforts will add jobs and create tax base providing the opportunity for lower property tax rates.
Green Oaks
Mayor Bernard Wysocki
Hope is what defines Green Oaks, giving us the will and determination to find ways to achieve our goals. The village expects to invest $2.5 million on its local roadway and infrastructure improvements. The village will continue to see economic growth in 2021 through additional land acquisitions, redevelopment projects and additional sales tax revenue.
Gurnee
Mayor Kristina Kovarik
2021 will be more challenging with reduced revenues to fund public services, businesses on the brink of closing and many residents facing eviction or foreclosure when the moratoriums expire. Our primary goal will be to keep essential services funded and operational. A major accomplishment will be no cut in services or service response times.
Hainesville
Mayor Gerry Daley
The goal remains the same. We want to maintain and improve our infrastructure and, to that end, we have nearly $1 million in proposed projects entering the budgeting process. This includes road repaving, water tower and reservoir upgrades, and developing a new well.
Hawthorn Woods
Mayor Dominick DiMaggio
The most important thing we want to accomplish in the coming year, aside from getting back to normal after COVID, is to attract commercial developers in our village to provide our residents with entertainment and recreational opportunities close to home and increase sources of tax revenue so as to relieve some of the burden from our citizens.
Kildeer
Mayor Nandia P. Black
Keep everyone safe and put the coronavirus threat behind us so residents can once again enjoy the company of friends and neighbors without fear of contamination. A return to restaurant dining and shopping will be a welcome accomplishment for the entire community.
Lake Villa
Mayor Jim McDonald
The village will focus on completion of various economic development projects such as two new medical office buildings, a new downtown brewery, a senior assisted living facility, and a mixed use commercial and residential project. The village will also focus on helping businesses and residents return to normal as the COVID-19 vaccine begins to become available.
Lake Zurich
Mayor Tom Poynton
Resiliency, adaptability and a hopeful return of some semblance of normalcy. These are the key words for 2021 amid the unpredictably of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our immediate priorities are to keep our residents safe and our businesses in business through 2021 and beyond, while making continued progress toward making our community better.
Libertyville
Mayor Terry Weppler
The most important thing we can accomplish in 2021 is to make sure all of our businesses survive the pandemic and get information to all of our residents on supporting businesses and how to get the vaccine so we can go back to our normal activities by late spring. Planning our annual activities will be very important, as people have the need to get together again after being distanced for so long.
Lincolnshire
Mayor Elizabeth Brandt
In 2021, we look forward to seeing progress with The St. James athletic complex; completion of the multiphase Crosstown Water Main project to increase water delivery capacity and system reliability throughout Lincolnshire; and a villagewide effort to continue supporting our business community (and hoping to return to pre-pandemic activity).
Lindenhurst
Mayor Dominic Marturano
We will continue to look at opportunities to help our residents and businesses get through this pandemic (our 2020 property tax levy determination included a 0% inflationary increase), and we will be reviewing our consultant's analysis on the feasibility of establishing a TIF district in our Grand Avenue corridor.
Long Grove
Mayor Bill Jacob
Successfully launching a newly established TIF district north of Menards at Lake-Cook Road and Route 53. Attracting economic development to grow sales tax receipts remains a top priority since the village does not levy a real estate tax, and due to ongoing financial impacts resulting from the pandemic.
Mettawa
Mayor Casey Urlacher
The village plans to complete the purchase of an additional 114 acres to maintain as open space. With the addition of these properties, the village will own over 200 acres of open space property. We will continue enhance the properties with additional trees, native restoration, and maintain some as actively farmed property.
Mundelein
Mayor Steve Lentz
We hope to quickly recover from the financial impact of the pandemic and refocus our attention on 1) enhancing technology at the village hall with a new financial software system, which will allow us to better serve the public and, 2) continuing the downtown transformation by completing redevelopment agreements with builders.
Round Lake
Mayor Daniel MacGillis
As calendar year 2021 approaches, the village will meet the pandemic challenges again by offering the same level of services as before the pandemic. Village hall remains open, police and public works are fully staffed.
Round Lake Beach
Mayor Scott Nickels
Bringing new commercial development to our entire retail corridor. Enhancing our infrastructure capital plan focusing on fair project distribution as it's key to a healthy community and property value protection. Raising the quality of life of our residents through improvements to the Lakefront Park/natural areas and increased community inclusion programs. This has been a challenging year, but 2021 is encouraging for the village.
Round Lake Heights
Mayor Terrance Lumpkins
Looking forward as a community, I hope we can put COVID-19 in the past. Health and safety is important, and I would like to celebrate all that we have put on hold. We had to postpone the village's 60th year festival (in 2020). This year, we will have a BIG celebration for our 61st anniversary. It's going to be a great celebration and a great year for the village.
Round Lake Park
Mayor Linda Lucassen
We will continue to maintain a balanced budget with surplus; continue to recruit new businesses; our residents and staffs safety will remain our highest priority.
Vernon Hills
Mayor Roger L. Byrne
I am not alone in hoping 2021 brings good health and recovery from the pandemic. May we all - individuals, businesses, organizations and communities - find renewed strength, resiliency, gratitude and success in the year ahead.
Volo
Mayor Stephen Henley
We hope to begin construction on two major capital improvement projects: a second water main linking the north and south portions of the village; the extension of Ellis Drive from Gilmer Road to Route 12.
Wauconda
Mayor Lincoln F. Knight
Looking forward to 2021, we look to keep improving with economic development for the village. We work within a balanced budget and continue to find new avenues for savings while maintaining village services that our residents and businesses expect and deserve.