June was a busy and productive month for the Village of Carpentersville. We were notified that we had received grant money to help us with gang crime and we were notified that our gang task force was earmarked by the federal government to possibly receive $400,000 in additional funding sometime next year. This earmark is just beginning the total process, but at least we are in the game. We also were notified that we had received $40,000 in state grant funds to help with street lighting on the Eastside of the Village.
Our street program continues to move ahead and more and more streets are being milled and resurfaced. These improvements will continue throughout the season. The Village will be doing some substantial patching work on Alameda. This was a change in our original plans, but after taking a look at that street it was determined that it makes sense to do some repairs there this year. If you are looking for the complete list of streets to be done this season that information can be found by clicking on the Village of Carpentersville site on my blogroll.
We also had a productive meeting/tour of the Rt. 25 corridor with State Senator, Michael Noland and staff from the Governor’s Office and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). More on this meeting will be shared at a later time. Some of our requests included the Beautification of the Illinois Route 25 Corridor: Which would include uniform fencing along each side of the road – The removal of the current concrete median strip and replacement with landscaping and additional street lighting. We also discussed the possiblity of a sidewalk to run along side Bonnie Dundee Golf Course on Rt. 68. This sidewalk would be paid for by the Dundee Park District.
I’m sure all of you have seen the new entryway signs by now. These were a welcome addition during the month of June. There are three left to be placed. We have budgeted for six (6) total signs and we have three (3) installed. The lanscaping is still left to be done.
Some long awaited repairs are in the works for Fire Station #2 on Lake Marian Road. This fire station has been in need of repair for several years. This year after many years of discussion, it will be done. Also, I’m pleased to report that still moving forward are plans to build a new Public Works Facility. This is another project that has been needed and talked about for many years. It is getting closer to becoming a reality. This facility is long past due. We have approximately 2 million dollars of equipment sitting outside currently because we have no place to garage this equipment inside. That is unaceptable. This shortens the life of this valuable equipment and it delays the effecincy of our Public Works Department. This must be addressed this year.
