The Future Of Carpentersville

We have discussed a variety of subjects over the past several months. There has been over 15,000 views of those subjects. Many have posted comments as well. This is how a true democracy really works.

I’ve requested a meeting be set up with Village staff, myself and the Besinger family.  The purpose of this meeting will be to negotiate an agreement to tear down the Shopping Center along Rt. 25 and rebuild a new Shopping Center Complex. This old worn out structure is obsolete, if we have any hope at all of revitalizing the east side of the Village; It’s no longer feasible to use a band-aid approach to this old tired venue. I’m also going to suggest that the building at the corner of Rt. 25 and Lake Marian Road (Instant Replay) also be demolished. This is a prime site. It must be put to much better use. The site across the street ( The Old Kentucky Fried Chicken Building) that is currently closed, I will also seek to have that torn down and something much better placed there. We do have people who are willing to invest in Carpentersville. I will be in touch with them to get their input.

It’s time for the Village to get serious about doing positive things. I hope this will be a constructive meeting. It’s a meeting long over-due. We need to put in place a serious plan to provide better police protection for the Village. We need better over all cooperation between the departments. Economic development must have a universal approach or it’s not going to work. That means cooperation from every department. We need to stop the gang activities, in short, make this Village a place where people feel safe and want to live and a place where business wants to develop and thrive. We must have much better code enforcement. We all need to be pulling in the same direction. We must TIF certain key areas to improve them. No department should consider this to be criticism aimed at them. What we will be doing is following the advice of those consultants we have paid to provide us with a plan. Now it’s time to implement that plan. We spent the money to get very good advice, now we must move ahead with those plans.

Our image was hurt badly for two years while we allowed our Village to be held hostage by mostly outsider’s who came to Village Hall to rail against illegal immigration, when in fact, they knew that there was nothing local government could do to stop illegal immigration. This was a waste of valuable time and precious energy.

This was a travesty. It should never have happened. It hurt our Village. It all could have been avoided by staff doing their jobs. Staff should have pointed out the folly in wasting this time on something that was not in our power as a local government to accomplish. We on the Village board deserve the largest amount of blame. It was proposed by two members of the Village board. It was obvious that the board was out of control. This is when staff should have stepped in to act professionally. That didn’t happen. We lost two years to this unnecessary distraction.

That is behind us now. It’s time to look ahead. To look to the future. I’m not going to look back anymore. There will be NO retaliation against anyone.  What happened, happened, it’s over. The same is true of the relationship with the Besinger family and the Village of Carpentersville. The slate is wiped clean. We  start fresh to begin to create a better Village. This meeting is meant to serve as a bridge to the future of Carpentersville. The Besinger family is a very large stake holder in this Village. Whatever it takes to improve this Village is what I’m interested in doing. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. It’s time to stop making excuses.

Raceway Celebration A Big Hit!

Yesterday was a terrific day, the sun was shinning and the old Raceway Track was loaded with vintage race cars from the past and some of the top drivers who had raced at the Meadowdale International Raceway. Many people were there to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Opening of the Raceway in 1958.

Raceway Woods as it’s now known is a spectacular location for those who love the outdoors. It’s a large open space that is co-owned by Dundee Township, The Dundee Township Park District and the Kane County Forest Preserve.

It was fun to be out there yesterday to see all those wonderful cars and talk to those who owned them. They all had some very interesting stories to tell. I ran into some friends that I had not known were race car drivers in the past. The weather could not have been better. Many members of Leonard W. Besinger’s family were in attendance. The Meadowdale Raceway was the dream and creation of Leonard W. Besinger. The race track was an idea born in Europe and brought here to Carpentersville by Mr. Besinger.

It was good to hear the history of the Raceway. On its opening day September 13, 1958, many dignitaries came for the opening, including the Governor of Illinois and many Mayor’s from around the area. Yesterday, once again, as 50 years ago, there were many political office holders in attendance as well. Too many to name here. I do want to give a special Big THANK YOU to Jack and Donna Redmer for all the work they have done to make this place so special again. I know without their dedication and hard work this event would not have happened. It took many people to put this event on, but the Redmer’s deserve special thanks for coordinating the efforts of so many. Thanks Jack. Thanks Donna. It was a BIG HIT! Let’s do it again next year

Reminder: Raceway’s 50th Anniversary!

As you all know the Raceway 50th Anniversary Celebration was rained out and the new date is September 27th. This of course will be a very bright sunny day I want to encourage everyone to stop by between the hours of 10 AM until 6 PM and take part in this great event. Many people have put much time and effort into this event and it promises to be well worth your while to see all that will be there. Come out and have some fun with your neighbors and witness the thrill of those hay days when those race cars would speed along that unique race track. There will be something there for everyone to enjoy. It’s Celebration Time – Come On! I hope to see YOU there.

ComEd Meets With Village

Well – It seems as if we will soon be seeing some much needed improvements made to the appearance of the ComEd Substation at Rt. 25 and Hazard.

Yesterday, Friday, September 12th, ComEd officials met with officials from the Village of Carpentersville to discuss the planting of shrubbery to screen the “ugly” Substation at the corner of Rt. 25 and Hazard Road. This project should be underway sometime next month. In addition to the shrubbery will be some serviceberry trees at the corner of the location. Overall, this should make a very substantial improvement to this location. Working with ComEd the Village will plant the bushes and trees that will be provided by ComEd. This meeting was the result of communications between myself and Sylvia Rogowski the ComEd Field Representative for our area. Those officials representing the Village of Carpentersville were Myself, Village Manager, Craig Anderson, Public Works Director, Bob Cole and Economic Development and Special Projects Coordinator, Janice Murphy. This was a very positive meeting. These are the type of improvements that will in the long run, help us develop and redevelop the Rt. 25 corridor. Each improvement made is one more step toward a better Carpentersville.

In addition, ComEd also discussed and agreed to allow improvements to be made on the Substation at the corner of Washington and Spring Streets in Old Town. Tom Roeser, President of OTTO Engineering has been kind enough to do a planting of a burm on that corner and NOW Mr. Roeser is considering paying for the additional landscaping of the ComEd Substation in Old Town. Both Tom Roeser, and his father Jack Roeser, have made huge improvements to the Old Town section of the Village. They continue to want to see more improvements made and are willing to put their own money up to help make it happen. My hat’s off to both of them.

September Is Save A Life Month!

September is Save A Life Month. At the Village board meeting on September 2, 2008, a proclamation will be read by me proclaiming the month of September as Save A Life month in Carpentersville, Illinois.

This is significant for many very good reasons. 1. By proclaiming September as Save A Life month this draws attention to the Save A Life program that will be unveiled soon in Carpentersville. This life saving program is very near ready to proceed in School District 300. Working with the leadership of School District 300, the Carpentersville Fire Department and Save A Life Foundation we are ready for a fall roll out of this program. Students will soon be trained in life saving techniques. This program is scheduled to begin in Carpentersville Middle School this year. The program will be taught by our own Carpentersville Firefighters (EMTs). This program will be paid for by donations from local businesses. There will be no cost to the taxpayers for this valuable life saving training. 2. The benifits of this program go well beyond the training itself. Young students will learn that life is important enough to save. This training could very well cause a young person to think twice about joining a gang or getting involved with the wrong people. When LIFE is recognized as being important and worth saving it most likely will have a profound effect on the lives of those young people who take these classes. That’s a lesson that will well serve these students and all that they come in contact with for the rest of their lives. These young people will be trained as first responders, who will know what to do in emergency situations to help save lives until the professional EMTs arrive. Can you imagine a community with so many who will be trained to control bleeding and provide critical life saving first aid to keep a person alive until help can get to the victim of an accident or some other life threatening health situation.

Carpentersville will be the first community in Kane County to establish this life saving program. This is the type of trail blazing effort that I’m proud to say we initiated. We will be teaming up with Save A Life Foundation to provide this training to our youngsters for many years to come. I hope also to expand this program in the coming years to include ALL of our students from K-12.