Labor Day – What Does It Mean To You?

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend. Many of us take Labor Day for granted. It’s that long weekend that traditionally marks the end of summer and students returning to school.

Labor Day

Legal Holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September in the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, and the Virgin Islands. The celebration of Labor Day, in honor of the working class, was initiated in 1882 by the Knights of Labor, who held a large parade in New York City.

The Labor movement in this country was a bloody and dangerous time in our history. The fight for workers to unionize came with a great deal of opposition from business owners. The Industrial Revolution – began in Great Britain about 1760. The movement spread to the United States about 1820. At the time of the Civil War, the avearge number of hours worked per week was 72 in agriculture and 64 hours per week in industry and commerce. The 8 hour work day became law in 1886 by an Act of Congress. An important factor influencing the trend toward the shorter workday was the accumulation of evidence that productivity tended to increase when working hours were shortened. The 5-Day Week – In 1933, as part of the New Deal legislation under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the federal National Recovery Administration (NRA) was enacted. The act reduced the hours of work in many industries setting them at 8 hours. In 1938 the federal government established a 40-hour work week. These changes did not come easily. Many workers died fighting for these “rights” that we enjoy today.

During these difficult economic times let’s not forget that many people would like to be working who currently are not. Wages have not kept pace with rising prices of many items we depend upon, such as gasoline, food, medical care, clothing and housing. Also we need to reverse the trend of sending American jobs to other countries. We ALL want a better future. That’s what binds us all together in a common purpose. This great country was built on the blood, sweat and tears of those who have come before us. It’s our duty to continue to strive for that American Dream. Enjoy the Weekend – Remembering what Labor Day means to all of us!

“TIF” Forum – State of the Village Address

I’ve had some requests for the Village to hold an informational form on Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Districts. I have asked our Village Manager to help set up such a forum for the public to attend. We will be meeting on this matter in the next week or so, to decide how this will take place. I will keep you posted as to the Date and Time. It most likely will be held at Village Hall in the Village board room. Check back for more details.

I also will be delivering the State of the Village Address in the next coming weeks. I delivered the first State of the Village Address last year and I believe this is a very good way to get out to the public the progress being made in our Village. After last year’s address I received many comments from the public on how much the Village had accomplished since 2005. We have much more to do. Keep watching for the Time and Date of this upcoming event. This address will most likely be given after the two major political party conventions have been concluded. A mid-September date would seem to be an appropriate time to hold this update on the Village’s progress. Perhaps we could hold the TIF Forum the same evening as the State of the Village Address.

New Policy

Okay – We were the victim of an attack by a “Troll”. For those who are not familiar with the term troll, that’s a person who fakes someone else’s identity to cause mischief and disharmony on a blog. From now on, if I receive any comments from anyone who looks suspicious, I will not post the comment.

I have subsequently [deleted] ALL the comments that were posted on the last thread.

Bonnie Dundee Golf Course – Safe Until 2011

As promised, I did attend the Dundee Township Park District meeting Wednesday, evening, at the Randall Oaks Golf Course Club House. I was a bit late in getting there due to a truck break down on the Main Street hill in Carpentersville. That had traffic backed up for quite awhile. When I did arrive at the meeting [20 minutes late], the vote had already taken place, on the matter of Bonnie Dundee, it was an item that had been placed on the Consent Agenda. Governmental bodies use the Consent Agenda for routine matters, that usually don’t require any discussion or debate. I was a bit surprised to learn that it had been on the Consent Agenda, rather than an item on the agenda that could have been discussed before the vote was taken. Two of the Park District board members were not present, the absent members were Erin Peterson and Craig Rakow. Tom Mammoser, the Executive Director of the Dundee Township Park District was just wrapping up his Director’s report when I sat down. Frank Scarpelli, then gave his President’s report and while doing so noticed me in the seats, [I may have been the only non-staff person there]. Mr. Scarpelli obviously realized why I was there, then informed me that they had passed a resolution to not consider mining gravel at Bonnie Dundee Golf Course. The resolution did include a section that would permit the Park District to consider some change in the use of the Bonnie Dundee Golf Course after 2011. It was explained that there was an option, if needed, to convert the Golf Course into a Park or use it for Soccer Fields. There was little business to discuss and at approximately 7:45 pm they went into Executive Session, which is NOT OPEN to the public. At that point I left. I welcome any comments on this development.

The Bridge

As you may or may not know, I’m a voting member of the Longmeadow Parkway/Bolz Road Bridge Committee. Myself and Village Manager, Craig Anderson, along with our Kane County Board Members are teamed up with the Mayors and Managers from ALL of our neighboring communities. Also serving as non-voting members are representatives from Kane County and McHenry County.

Based on some comments I’ve read on other blogs, I would like to invite FULL participation from the residents on this issue. This is the time to let YOUR voices be heard. These meetings are OPEN to the public. Please don’t wait until a final decision has been made and then complain that YOUR view was NOT represented. The public must be heard on this important issue. I do want to know how YOU feel. I can’t represent this community if YOU don’t let me know YOUR feelings. Also feel free to comment on this issue on this blog. But YOUR attendance at the meetings will carry much more weight. If you do attend, then it’s NOT only me hearing you, but the entire committee.

By the way, these are some questions I’ve heard so far. Is the Longmeadow Parkway/Bolz Road Bridge going to be I-Pass friendly? The answer is YES that’s the plan. Who is going to pay for the Bridge? It will be a joint endeavor coming from funding from the sale of bonds that will be paid for with the revenue generated from the tolls. An estamated 60-75 million dollars is what has been discussed as the projected cost to complete this project. Will a Toll Bridge work to relieve the traffic from the other roadways? That’s another comment or question I’ve heard. The answer is that as the price of the tolls increase, obviously the amount of vehicles that will use the bridge decreases. The major purpose of building this bridge is to ease congestion, already at, or very near capacity, on the existing bridges in the area. The projected use of the bridge of approximately 16,000 vehicles is less than what most of us were lead to believe would be the impact. So, those estimates were disappointing to hear. This most likely will be a two lane bridge. Solving traffic congestion is not easy. Wherever you “dump” cars is going to bring with it, its own bottleneck. So, there needs to be adequate planning before this bridge is built. The roadways must be able to handle the additional traffic. We need a really thoughtfully well planned traffic study done on this entire region. The bridge is just one piece to the much bigger issue of better traffic flow throughout Northern Kane County and Southern McHenry County. This area has been neglected for far too long. Some major federal money is needed in this region. These are difficult issues and there are NO easy answers to the problems.

More Good News!

2 NEW Entryway Signs Go Up:

Some more good news to report in Carpentersville. Today, two more of our entryway signs were placed. One is at John “Jack” Hill Park along the westside of the Fox River on Lincoln Avenue. The other is on Randall Road near Binnie Road. If you get a chance check them out they look terrific! The landscaping of ALL (5) of the signs will also begin shortly. We have budgeted for one additional sign, that one is waiting for the reconfiguration of Huntley Road.

Mark Your Calendar:

Attention Classic Car Enthusiasts, Sport Car Racing Fans, History Buffs and Nature Lovers – Mark Your Calendar For The Meadowdale International Raceway 50th Anniversary Celebration

When: Saturday, September 13th – 10AM – 6PM
Sunday, September 14th – 10AM – 6PM

Where: Raceway Woods, Huntley Road [Entrance] West of Route 31, Carpentersville, IL

See the cars and meet the drivers who raced at Meadowdale Racetrack from 1958 until 1969. See video and photo displays of many of the era’s most famous racers and their cars. The area is now open space with hiking trails and beautiful natuaral areas to explore.

There will be FREE hayrack rides around the track, children’s activities, and live music. Bring your appetite, food vendors will be onsite.

For more information go to: www.meadowdaleraceway.homestead.com

European Bicycle Event – Oktober Fest

Coming on October 19th will be two events. Carpenter Park will be the site for the Chicago Cyclocross Event. This is the fourth year that this event will be held in Carpentersville. It is becoming a tradition. I encourage ALL to come and enjoy the fun.

Also Oktober Fest will be held that same day. This event was first held last year. It is sponsored by the Village of Carpentersville’s Parks Committee. There will be fun for ALL at this event. There will be live music, three bands have been booked for this event, games for the kids will include a moon walk and a climbing wall. Several food vendors will be there to provide a variety of good things to eat and drink. A beer garden is also under consideration at this time. Come out and enjoy. Watch this space for more information.

Update: Bonnie Dundee Golf Course/Gravel Pit

GOOD NEWS - I’m very pleased to report that it seems that the Dundee Township Park District has had a change of heart. They sent a news release on Friday, not even two days after I had attended their board meeting on Wednesday evening, August 6th, at which time I strongly objected to the idea of them mining gravel at the Bonnie Dundee Golf Course. This abrupt about face by the Park District is welcome news! But it’s not over! It seems like around here it’s never really over. We have dodged a bullet. But, the battle wages on.

There are unanswered questions that remain. Why is it that the news media did not report the 4-1 vote by the Park District Board to allow tests to be taken on the Golf Course property? This information was made public by Billita Jacobsen, a member of the Carpentersville Parks Committee, on this blog site in the form of a comment to another post. Where was the media on this story?

The 4-1 vote by the Dundee Township Park District members to move ahead with the gravel mining was a very important piece of information that neither the Daily Herald or the Courier-News reported. By the way, the ONLY member of the Park District Board to vote NO to this very bad idea was Commissioner, Craig Rakow. I believe he deserves a special thank you for his ability to see that this was NOT a good idea.

I also must ask where were the other members of Carpentersville’s Village board. Only one trustee, Linda Ramirez Sliwinski, attended this meeting of the Park District. Also there at the Park District meeting protesting the mining of gravel at Bonnie Dundee was David Reece, who lives in Dundee Township. Here was an excellent opportunity for our Trustee’s to do something positive for our community and they were NO SHOWS. I think this says a lot about their true commitment to the health and vitality of our community. If this plan to mine gravel at Bonnie Dundee would have happened, it would have had a devastating effect on the east side of Carpentersville. It would have killed our chances of redevelopment along the Rt. 25 corridor. This of course would have had a huge impact on the overall well being and financial health of our entire community. This was one of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard of. Yet, our trustees, with the lone exception of Trustee Sliwinski, did not find it worth their while to even show up to make a statement concerning this critical situation. That is a shame! Where were Trustees, Kay Teeter, Ed Ritter, Keith Hinz, Judy Sigwalt and Paul Humpfer? Where were YOU? You were informed of the Park District meeting the night before and still NONE of you came. WHY? Where were your supporters that come to ALL of our Village Board meetings? They didn’t show either. What do any of you really stand for? Is it just politics with ALL of YOU? I think I know the answer.

The Dundee Township Park District stated in their news release that they plan on putting an item on their next meeting’s agenda that will end any future talks about mining gravel at the Bonnie Dundee Golf Course. We can all breathe a bit easier now, but we must keep an eye on this situation. We do not ever want to be taken by surprise like this again. The problem with these small local government boards is, that very few people attend their meetings. The decisions they are making have far reaching effects on all of us. Therefore, they can get some very important things past us, if the media also does not cover the meetings and do not inform the residents of what is going on.

For now at least this bad idea of mining gravel at Bonnie Dundee Golf Course seems to have been beaten back. We must pledge, however, to never again take anything for granted. I must say that I had heard rumors about this for sometime. I just never believed that anyone would truly do anything so foolish. Well, we can now all see how close this actually came to happening. This would have been another colossal mistake.

Park District Looking For Gravel In All The Wrong Places

Last Night – I attended the Dundee Township Park District meeting to find out what is up with this talk about turning Bonnie Dundee Golf Course into a gravel pit.

After asking questions and making some statements, I left there not knowing much more than I did when I arrived. I did learn that the Park District President, Frank Scarpelli has floated the idea of the Park District mining gravel at the Bonnie Dundee Golf Course and that idea is still alive.

I expressed to the Dundee Township Park District board members my strong objection to this idea. Telling them that if they go forward with such a bad idea it would have a very negative impact on any future development/redevelopment of the Rt. 25 corridor in both East Dundee and Carpentersville. Commissioner Craig Rakow, confirmed that the Park District has not been open about these plans. He admitted that it has not been handled well by the Park District. This idea was first presented by Frank Scarpelli to the previous board and it went no where. This new Park District board made up of Frank Scarpelli, Board President, Erin Peterson, Secretary [who is the daughter of East Dundee Village President, Dan O'Leary], Jim Bonkoski, Vice President; John Meschewski, Treasurer and former Park District President, now Commissioner, Craig Rakow, seem to think it’s an idea worth exploring. Only Craig Rakow voiced his objection to the idea. The Park District suggested that Bonnie Dundee Golf Course is “losing money”. But, it was interesting to hear the report on both of the Park District owned Golf Courses, Randall Oaks and Bonnie Dundee. The report seemed to indicate part of the problem has been weather related. Both Golf Courses are selling more food and beverages than in the past. Green’s fees are slightly down [5%] at both Golf Courses as are they in general at all Golf Courses in our area due in large part to the bad spring weather and rainy summer we are experiencing. Also the talk around town about the possible closing of Bonnie Dundee has caused some players to look for a new Golf Course. It was suggested by the Park District, Executive Director, Tom Mammoser that it would be beneficial to end this type of speculation. I agree with Mr. Mammoser. We need to nip this very bad idea in the bud and allow Golfers to continue to use Bonnie Dundee Golf Course well into the foreseeable future. If at some point in time a change is needed, well, then a regional park would look very good at that location. Let’s not allow bad thinking to continue to undermine our area. We have had too much of that in the past. Let’s learn from our errors and not make more mistakes.

Frank Scarpelli seems to believe that Bonnie Dundee Golf Course should be mined and the revenue generated by the sale of the gravel should be used to buy more land and to possibly build a NEW Recreational Center on the West side of the Township. We currently have fewer Park District recreational sites on the East side. Bonnie Dundee is a very good Golf Course that serves many people during the Golf season. I have not heard one person [outside of the park district] support this idea to turn the Golf Course into a gravel pit. Just to the east of Bonnie Dundee is a former gravel pit that is now owned by a developer who is having a very difficult time coming up with a workable plan to develope that site. The obstacle to that site is the large hole in the property. This is a terrible idea for our community. It was briefly mentioned that a special meeting should be called to get feedback from the community on what to do with Bonnie Dundee Golf Course. That would help to end this foolish talk. I will keep you posted as to [if or when] that meeting is scheduled. I also suggested that the meeting be held at the Rec. Center accross the street from the Golf Course. Don’t believe for a moment this is NOT going to happen. I know it seems too far out and crazy to think it would happen, but history has proven that some pretty strange things find ways of happening around here.
If you agree that this is a bad idea, I encourage you to call the Park District – voice your opposition to this very goofy and destructive idea. Their phone number is (847) 428-7131.

Improving Carpentersville – Part II

My last two posts have been widely read and widely commented upon. I appreciate the exchange of ideas. This blog is meant for constructive public comments. I believe that for the most part that is what we are getting. Thank you for taking an interest in your community.

As you know, Carpentersville is the largest Village/Municipality in Northern Kane County, not counting Elgin of course, we are by far the largest. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I believe that it’s high time that Carpentersville become the leader of the area that we should have been for many years. Frankly, I’m tired of playing second fiddle to our much smaller neighbors. We’ve all heard the snide comments made about Carpentersville by those who live in other towns. Worst of all, I’ve heard them from those who live in Carpentersville. Civic pride is very important to every community. Being proud of your town just doesn’t happen, it happens over time. It happens because you are doing things right. To truly have civic pride there must be reason to be proud of your community.

We’ve discussed many topics, so far, now it’s time to face the music. The truth is that Carpentersville has much to do to improve our image. I recently wrote of the fact that we have many unsightly areas in the Village that need some serious attention. I suggested that we begin a Parks & Recreation Department to work on these areas. There are many improvements that could and should be made without spending much money. There is no reason we should not be planting flowers in many areas of the Village on Village owned land. There is no reason that our beautiful “award winning bridge” should not have some stylish banners on the light polls or some hanging pots of flowers. These are little things that make a BIG difference in the general overall feel of a community.

We all know we need much more economic development in Carpentersville. To attract new business is something that encompasses many tangible and intangible aspects of the community. As I continue to stress the importance of events to a thriving community, it’s those type of things that cause resident’s to feel pride in their community as well. Special events have the transformative power to change a “mere place” into your “hometown”. Think about that for a moment. Where do we have parades? They are not in Carpentersville. Where do we have events? They are not happening in Carpentersville. Last year we had our first parade in many years, I was told 47 years to be exact, but some resident claimed it was only 30 something since our last parade. Regardless, I think we’ll all agree, that’s way too long between parades. Last year we had two events. So far this year, we have had one event. That’s not nearly enough for a Village/City our size. What is so important about events and parades? They bring a community together and bring other people to the community. That helps business and that helps to build civic pride. Why are flowers planted around town important? They not only dress up the drab areas, but they also give you a feel of home. These are the intangibles that make a difference. They help to make those visiting the community feel WELCOME!I think most of us would agree that we would likely return to place that has these type of amenities as opposed to those places that don’t. Let’s face it men, most of our trips are planned by our wives or the women in our lives. Women do like these things. It may not be that big of a deal to us guys, but our wives and the women in our lives enjoy them. Let me ask you this: Who does the bulk of the shopping men or women? I rest my case.

I do know something about marketing. My major was in Marketing while in College. Granted my College years are a distant memory, but certain things never change.

I would like to conclude this thread by saying that we must do the little things right, as well as the big things, if we are going to have any chance of landing the types of businesses that we must have to sustain ourselves into the future. I previously pointed out that tax money should always be reinvested back into the community, either in the form of more efficient productivity or in the form of capital improvement investment. I’m going to say this again. Our goal should be to reduce our real estate tax burden over time on our residents and businesses by increasing the worth and value of our community. That is how a well run efficient government is supposed to work.