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I really wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the eclipse Monday — until I realized my 1:30 p.m. interview at village hall about Restaurant Week (insert shameless plug here — see story on Page 17) would end at just about the right time for me to join the Hinsdale Public Library’s viewing party on the front lawn of the Memorial Building. So I headed outside, picked up an Eclipse Shade (all the actual glasses were gone already) and took a peek at the sun. It was pretty cool to...
Community Consolidated District 181 Board Among other action Monday, board members: • voted unanimously to adopt new science resources, choosing Mystery Science for elementary schools at a cost of $238,850 and Elevate Science for middle schools at a cost of $335,298. Costs include online access, science kits, lab materials and professional development. The resources were piloted this year and are within the $600,000 budget. • agreed to lease 420 iPads for kindergartners and 440 iPads for third-graders as part of the iPad refr...
This is the time of year when every outlet publishes its “best of” lists. The Hinsdalean wanted to get in on the action, with a local twist. So here are the favorite books, performances and TV shows as recommended by folks who live and work in our favorite town. “The best book I read in 2023 is one that actually came out in 2022 — ‘An Immense World’ by Ed Yong. I’m always looking for books — whether fiction or nonfiction — that will transform how I think about the world a...
Hinsdale Village Board Among other business at their Dec. 14 meeting, trustees: • voted 5-0 to approve a 2023 tax levy of $15.6 million, including the library’s portion of $3,67 million, and $3.2 million in abatements for debt that will be paid back with revenue other than property taxes, leaving a net village levy of $8.7 million • unanimously adopted the 2024 annual budget, which includes $21.2 million in general fund expenses, $3.9 million in capital expenses and $7.3 million in infrastructure projects • voted 5-0 to appr...
Higher than anticipated revenues in 2023 and rising revenues in 2024 will allow the village to invest more in master infrastructure plan and capital projects. Permit revenue and interest income have outperformed budget projections this year, village manager Kathleen Gargano wrote in a memo to trustees for their Nov. 21 meeting. That, combined with lower employee salary costs due to long-term vacancies not being filled and decreased overtime costs, will leave the 2023 budget with a projected operating fund balance, after...
Hinsdale officials and residents are continuing to monitor noise from planes using Midway Airport. Noise complaints for the first quarter of 2023 were down 12 percent compared to the first quarter of 2023, despite a 24 percent increase in operations, Ryan Anderson reported at the April 27 meeting of the Midway Noise Compatibility Commission. Anderson is the managing consultant at Landrum & Brown, an aviation consulting firm. Hinsdale generated 191 of the 686 total complaints f...
Hinsdale’s first international celebrity just happened to be a woman. Loie Fuller, born in 1862 in the midst of a bitterly cold January, did not take long to discover her love of being on stage. “After Loie was able to walk, her parents took her with them to several presentations of the Chicago Progressive Lyceum, that early movement toward culture which few of the living still can remember,” Hugh Dugan wrote in “Village on the County Line.” “On one of these occasions, when Loie was two and a half, she slipped away from h...
"I remember putting on the uniform for the first time and looking in the mirror. And I was proud," assistant village manager/director of public safety Brad Bloom told Hinsdale trustees Tuesday, reflecting on nearly four decades of village employment that began as a patrol officer. "These 38 years have gone by like that," he said, snapping his fingers. Bloom, who is retiring Friday, was honored by the village board at its meeting with a proclamation lauding a career that...
Reports of a settlement agreement between the village of Hinsdale and Trinity Sober Living were based on a document that has not been finalized, Hinsdale village manager Kathleen Gargano told The Hinsdalean. “The village will comment when we have signed agreements,” she said. The legal battle has been going on for three years between the village, Trinity and the U.S. Department of Justice over the right to convert a single-family residence into a living unit for those recovering from substance use disorder. Trinity pur...
Stronger than expected revenues in 2022 have created an opportunity for the village to bolster its capital improvement and master infrastructure work in 2023. “The revenues are coming in really well,” village manager Kathleen Gargano told trustees at a Nov. 30 committee of the whole meeting, which also was attended by members of the village’s finance commission. “The CIP could use a little bit of a boost of funds based on the projects that we have slated for next year and moving forward.” Staff is recommending a $2 million tr...
The three-year legal battle continues between the village of Hinsdale and the U.S. Department of Justice and Trinity Sober Living over the right to convert a single-family residence into a living unit for those recovering from substance use disorder. A mediation session between the parties is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 5, village manager Kathleen Gargano reported. Reached for comment this week, Trinity founder and executive director Michael Owens said he’s willing to go to trial if necessary. “Absolutely we’re prepa...
Hinsdale village clerk Chris Bruton took her seat at the board room dais for the final time Tuesday night. Bruton will retire Dec. 2 after 16 years in the post, having taken minutes at more than 340 village board meetings, answered countless calls from residents and processed more than 5,500 Freedom of Information Act requests during her tenure. “Believe me, that is the worst part of her job,” Cauley said of the FOIA responses, eliciting laughter. Village officials spoke in tribute to Bruton at the start of the meeting. “No...
As staffers finalize the fiscal year 2023 budget for the village of Hinsdale, one important component is the capital improvement plan. The five-year CIP identifies $12.5 million worth of expenses slated for 2023-27. Next year’s budget includes $2.4 million — $958,500 for public services, $550,000 for parks and rec, $484,600 for police, $251,280 for administration/finance/information/technology, $135,000 for economic development and $69,000 for fire. Village manager Kathleen Gargano noted the village does not always spend the...
Periodically we get emails identifying the best and worst cities and states pertaining to a variety of categories — biking, hiking, driving, taxes, etc. One recent missive identified the best states for pioneer women, as if there were tons of females across the country wondering where they should move to grow their own crops, herd their own cattle and heat their bath water on a stove. (In case you are one of those rare women, you should move to Texas and steer clear of Rhode Island.) Another recent email identified the b...
Your table awaits! Hinsdale Restaurant Week kicks off Friday, May 13, running through Sunday, May 22, and the village's eateries are readying to give diners gastronomic experiences they can only enjoy here. The annual event, sponsored by the village and its economic development commission, is an opportunity to let Hinsdale residents and those in the surrounding area experience what the town is serving up. "The restaurant scene in Hinsdale continues to thrive", said Kathleen...
In response to residents’ complaints about increased airplane noise, Hinsdale has joined with other communities in proximity to Chicago’s airports to find ways to address the nuisance. At Tuesday’s village board meeting, Hinsdale trustees approved intergovernmental agreements with the city of Chicago to participate in the advisory noise compatibility commissions for both Midway and O’Hare airports. “Most of the noise complaints we’ve gotten are related to Midway, right?” Village President Tom Cauley asked of village staff. Vi...
Hinsdale President Tom Cauley said last week he wanted to make public a 36-page report completed more than a year ago on the investigation into the death of Nicole Hladik, a 25-year-old village firefighter/paramedic candidate who took her own life in July of 2020. But Hladik’s family and friends made clear at the Jan. 18 village board meeting they don’t accept the legitimacy of the village-led investigation, which Cauley said found that “nothing inappropriate happened” against Hladik, the sole female firefighter on the for...
Hinsdale High School District 86 Board Among other business Dec. 16, board members: • approved a final levy of $89.7 million for operations and $12.2 million to pay off debt. The levy for funds controlled by the tax cap is 2.2 percent higher than it was last year. • approved a revised 2021-22 school calendar that reflects the decision to hold graduation ceremonies for Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South on the same date (May 26, at 7 p.m.) and the finalization of spring testing dates (April 13-14). • listened to an update on...
Dozens of northeast Hinsdale residents whose homes were infiltrated by flood waters in June are being compensated for the damage caused after flooding was blamed on work related to the Central Tri-State Tollway expansion project. A majority of the 61 claimants are on the path to resolution with Walsh Construction, village manager Kathleen Gargano reported Wednesday in response to The Hinsdalean’s inquiry. Walsh, an Illinois Tollway subcontractor, was faulted by the Tollway for work violations that “significantly con...
Hinsdale trustees have signaled their support for an $18.4 million operating budget for 2022. At Tuesday night’s village board meeting, trustees reviewed the draft spending plan for the upcoming year, which is an increase of $623,449, or 3.5 percent, over the 2021 budget. About half of the spending — $9.06 million — goes to staff salary and benefits, according to officials. Village manager Kathleen Gargano said a spate of recent departures pushed up those costs in the short-term. “We’ve had some long-term employees retire, an...
With the intersection of County Line Road and Walnut Street re-opened to traffic earlier this week, attention has turned to what caused unprecedented flooding in the northeast part of town Saturday. "A priority for us was to get out there and do restoration and repairs," said Rocco Zucchero, chief planning officer for the Illinois Tollway. The flooding created several voids under the roadway that had to be stabilized, he said. "Now we're shifting our focus with the village to...
Andrea Lamberg remembers the exact moment that set her on the path toward her new job as Hinsdale's finance director. Lamberg said she was about 10 years old when she became enthralled with the paper that her older sister was using for her homework. The ledger was filled with lines and boxes just waiting to be filled with numbers - numbers about which Lamberg was eager to learn. "I was fascinated. I wanted to do whatever that was," Lamberg said. That early version of a modern...
When village manager Kathleen Gargano shows up for work at village hall each morning, she's never quite sure what her day will hold. And that's her favorite part of the job. "No day is the same, and it is very uncommon that the day I plan actually turns out that way," she said. As village manager, Gargano oversees village operations, including fire, police, public works, parks and recreation, community development and finance. She also must pursue the objectives of village...
Hinsdale Village Board Among other business at Tuesday’s meeting, trustees: • agreed to postpone a discussion on a revised proposal from McNaughton Development for Heather Highlands because the Zoom link printed on the meeting agenda was incorrect. Trustees will hold a special meeting on the 26-home, 19.4-acre plan proposed for the IBLP site on Ogden Avenue on May 26. • unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Illinois Tollway Authority and the village of Western Springs for the construction, maint...
What will summer in Hinsdale look like? It's hard to say. "It's been challenging because we've been planning everything with three scenarios," said Heather Bereckis, superintendent of parks and recreation for the village. The region is currently under Phase 4 restrictions, but Gov. JB Pritzker said Tuesday the state is "making progress" in its coronavirus metrics and could enter the bridge phase of its reopening plan soon - maybe within a week. "Every single event, every...
