Administrator who helped shape Round Lake Beach stepping down after 28 years
Round Lake Beach has changed considerably since 1993, but Dave Kilbane's guidance as village administrator has been constant.
Through boom and bust, Kilbane left his mark as he and the village grew up together. On Friday, after nearly 28 years with the village, he's calling it a career.
"We've got a lot of stuff to do around the house," he said. "Get some family time. Travel. Recharge the batteries."
The soft-spoken Waukegan native has been honored by the village board for being instrumental in expanding the village's commercial district, developing the Round Lake Beach Cultural & Civic Center, and improving services and infrastructure.
Initiatives often were pursued in tandem with former longtime Mayor Rich Hill, whose tenure paralleled Kilbane's. Hill joined the board as a trustee in 1995, was elected mayor in 2001 and served until retiring Sept. 30.
"The only person who can come close is Rich Hill," Mayor Scott Nickles said of Kilbane's influence on the community. "A lot of this village is owed to Dave and Rich."
Hill describes Kilbane as a catalyst who transformed Round Lake Beach into a better community.
"It started with creating a solid budget that put our money where it was most needed - infrastructure," Hill said. "Our roads were crumbling and our water mains were breaking."
Kilbane also devised a funding plan that allowed millions of dollars in projects to be completed in the older section of town, Hill said.
"We're going to do an exhaustive search to fill the needs," Nickles said. "It will be hard to replace Dave."
Out of college, with a degree in parks and recreation management, Kilbane began his career coordinating and supervising athletics for his hometown park district.
After earning a master's degree in public administration, he applied to Round Lake Beach, where a change in elected leadership had created an opening.
At the time, farm animals still roamed along what would become a familiar commercial corridor north of Rollins Road. The village hall at Clarendon Drive and Cedar Lake Road was "like an old wood clubhouse," Kilbane recalled.
It also was in an established neighborhood at the then center of town. But that began to change with the opening in 1996 of the North Central Metra station near Route 83 and Hook Drive.
The commuter station was the first building in a municipal campus developed in cooperation with other agencies. It grew to include the village hall, police station, Civic Center, a post office and the Round Lake Area Park District sports center.
Kilbane said expanding the commercial base, updating the comprehensive plan, adding open space, upgrading infrastructure and modernizing utilities to keep pace with a flurry of new homes were priorities on his initial to-do list.
Growth came fast but stopped on a dime, Kilbane recalled. In 2007, the village had 104 full-time employees. That dropped to 70 during the Great Recession and, like in other towns, the challenge was to maintain services with fewer resources.
"The good thing was we got pretty well built out," he said. "The bad thing was we were hit with the foreclosures."
An ongoing village program to address those issues has resulted in the acquisition and demolition or rehab of about 100 properties.
Kilbane said he is proud of the development of the Civic Center and municipal complex, but he said the expansion of Lakefront Park near the original village hall is among his favorite achievements. The village secured about $2 million in grants for the work, which included a walking bridge connection.
"We actually doubled the size of the park through the acquisition of 53 parcels of property," he said. "It was important because you have all these people here and not a lot of open space."
The village has contracted with GovTempsUSA LLC for an interim village administrator through July 23, but the deal can be extended in two-week increments until Oct. 22. The cost is $4,480 per week.