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Hinsdale officials have not done enough to improve safety outside Fuller’s Car Wash following the tragic death of 14-year-old village resident Sean Richards last summer, according to his parents, Kristi and Brian Richards. During public comment at Tuesday night’s village board meeting, an emotional Kristi Richards criticized trustees’ approval of protective bollards at the site following the accident as an inadequate measure that gives pedestrians “the false sense that they are protected” when walking past the car wash exit...
Hinsdale will have a new Ad Hoc Historic District Design Review team in the next two weeks. Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to amend sections of the Hinsdale Village Code to create the new entity and make other changes to the historic preservation process. “The process is designed to encourage owners of historic homes to preserve their homes,” Village President Tom Cauley told The Hinsdalean Wednesday. “But if a historic home is to be demolished, we want to encourage homeowners to build a new home that is consistent with...
In response to calls for additional village action to discourage the demolition of historic homes, Hinsdale trustees are considering requiring design review meetings for those looking to tear down and build new. At Tuesday night’s village board meeting, Village President Tom Cauley introduced an ordinance to modify the current process overseen by the historic preservation commission, which must issue a nonbinding certificate of appropriateness for a new construction application before demolition can occur in the Robbins Park...
Nov. 12, 2023, is a day the Meltzer family of Hinsdale will long remember. The late autumn Sunday began with a drive to the bike shop for 10-year-old Jacob Meltzer and his dad, Bob, to get Jacob's wheel fixed. Returning home, Jacob hopped out in the driveway and Bob proceeded into the garage. But something was off. "When my dad pulled in, he started hitting the garbage can," recounted Jacob, who jokingly admonished his dad to watch where he was going. It quickly became...
The village's approach to managing insects, disease and weeds, which focuses on environmentally sensitive and economically sound practices, is working well. That was the message of John Finnell, forestry and parks superintendent, at the Feb. 20 Hinsdale Village Board meeting, in his annual integrated pest management report. "Every year we get this - just like we go to the dentist," Village President Tom Cauley joked before the presentation. "Hopefully it's not quite as painful...
Hinsdale trustees want to support the Hinsdale Historic Preservation Commission in its work. So next month they will discuss adding steps to the process for homeowners who want to tear down a historic district or landmarked home and build something new in its place. “I think there’s competing interests here for historic preservation on one hand and the right of the homeowner,” Village President Tom Cauley said at Tuesday’s village board meeting. “I do think we have to strike a balance between these two concerns. That said...
The installation of new noise walls as part of the widening of the Central Tri-State won’t happen until after the old ones are removed, contrary to a deal Hinsdale and Illinois Tollway officials worked out several years ago to minimize the impact on residents. Instead, as explained by a Tollway representative at the Feb. 1 village board meeting, a temporary 8-foot wooden fence will be erected along the western side of the highway after the existing noise wall is torn down. “Once the temporary fencing is installed, we ant...
The village of Hinsdale has received more than $70,000 in donations from residents and businesses toward Memorial Building restoration and improvement work. Assistant village manager Andrianna Peterson this week reported the total contributions to date for the Memorial Building Historic Plaza and Roof Railing Campaign to restore the building’s original Chippendale roof railing, which was removed due to deterioration a number of years ago, and renew the patio area on the south side of the building as a venue for events and c...
The Hinsdale Village Board Tuesday agreed to ask the plan commission to look at new regulations for short-term rentals in the village. The proposed ordinance change would set a six-month minimum for rental homes, including those booked through services such as Airbnb or VRBO. As part of its process, the plan commission will hold a public hearing, but a handful of residents spoke out Tuesday night. Michelle Crowe, who lives at 200 S. Bodin St., said some 20 groups rented the house next door through Airbnb between Thanksgiving...
Work on Sixth Street planned for this summer will be postponed until 2025 so residents have more time to determine their options to save their brick street. "We budgeted $4.5 million for the work on Sixth Street," Village President Tom Cauley said at Tuesday night's Hinsdale Village Board meeting. "If we do an all-brick Sixth Street, that would be a $6.5-million project for four blocks. That is a lot of money for the village." Cauley spoke in response to a plea from Sixth...
Community Consolidated Elementary Dist. 181 Board Among other business Monday, board members: • heard a report on the packaging of bids for the estimated $20.7 million in construction projects related to the district’s implementation of full-day kindergarten in the 2025-26 school year. Facilities director Mike Duggan said Oak School was bid separately due to the $5.8 million in work required, while Elm School and The Lane were bid together as smaller projects with a $3.5 million combined cost estimate, as were Madison and...
Following the arrival of 11 busloads of migrants in 11 days in downtown Hinsdale, the village has joined the growing number of suburban communities enacting restrictions on bus companies to prevent the unannounced drop-offs. At a special village board meeting Tuesday, trustees passed an ordinance requiring bus companies to file an application with Hinsdale Police Chief Brian King at least five days before a proposed disembarking date. Failure to do so carries a fine of $750 per passenger and the possible impounding of the...
The village will have a reserve balance of $6.7 million at the end of 2023. That balance will exceed 25 percent of the village's annual operating expenses, which is the percentage of reserve balance rating agencies require for municipalities to obtain a AAA bond rating. Hinsdale has maintained a AAA bond rating for many years. Only about 15 percent of Illinois municipalities carry a AAA bond rating. Hinsdale takes crime prevention and the apprehension of individuals who...
The time to make a special contribution in support of Hinsdale’s enduring story is quickly running out. In commemoration of the village’s 150th anniversary, officials launched the Memorial Building Historic Plaza & Railing Campaign. Funds collected will go toward restoring the original Chippendale roof railing on the nearly 100-year-old village landmark as well as renewing the outdoor gathering space adorning Hinsdale’s “front lawn” on the south side of the structure. The iconic and treasured symbol of Hinsdale owes its exist...
Several Sixth Street residents said if the village truly is committed to historic preservation, plans to repave their brick street with asphalt should be abandoned. “These plans as presented are a huge disappointment and frankly unacceptable to most of us on the blocks,” said former village trustee and 144 E. Sixth St. resident Bill Haarlow at Tuesday’s Hinsdale Village Board meeting. Haarlow detailed village efforts to encourage homeowners to preserve historic homes in the v...
The Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce's 57th annual Christmas Walk was held Friday night, and in spite of the unfrozen snow, crowds gathered to greet Santa and stroll around the central business district visiting shops and exhibits. Village President Tom Cauley greeted Santa after he arrived on the Hinsdale Fire Department's ladder truck. Hinsdale firefighter/paramedic Chris Swon, Santa and Cauley then lit Hinsdale's new Christmas tree in front of the Memorial Building. Sara...
When Hinsdale's Memorial Building was constructed in 1929 as a tribute to the village's war heroes, its clock tower housed a bell. The bell was replaced by a carillon system in 1973 for the town's centennial but has been inoperable for years. Until now. A new carillon system was recently installed as part of this year's 150th sesquicentennial celebration, and visitors at the Christmas Walk tomorrow, Dec. 1, will be treated to a special unveiling of the new chimes after the 5 p...
Hinsdale Village Board Among other business at their Nov. 21 meeting, trustees: • held a public hearing on the 2023 proposed total property tax levy of $15,577,075, including the library levy and village taxes to repay six bond issues. That almost $3.2 million in debt repayment money will be abated when the board approves the levy at its Tuesday, Dec. 12, meeting. The village’s portion on the tax bill of a $1 million home will be about $1,400, Trustee Matt Posthuma said. No one spoke at the hearing. • voted 4-0 to appro...
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...
Safety bollards installed at Fuller’s Car Wash in the wake of a fatal accident this summer will be concealed under a proposal from the business. At Tuesday’s Hinsdale Village Board meeting, trustees held a first read on Fuller’s plan to enclose the 3-foot-5-inch concrete-filled steel posts in a brick wall to match the building at 102 W. Chicago Ave. The 11 bollards were installed in August, shortly after Hinsdale’s Sean Richards, 14, was struck and killed July 17 when a vehicle exiting the car wash accelerated into the sid...
Community Consolidated District 181 Board Among other business at their Sept. 18 meeting, board members: • heard an update from Kristin Reingruber, director of assessment, instruction and evaluation, on the science pilot under way. Two resources are being piloted at the elementary school level and two at the middle schools, with plans to have new materials in place for the 2024-25 school year. The last science resource pilot and purchase was for the 2018-19 school year. • learned the owner of the building at 133 Ogden Ave...
Hinsdale trustees are poised to approve a three-year extension to the village’s contract with Republic Waste for the collection and disposal of garbage, landscape waste and recyclables when they meet Tuesday, Sept. 19. “Republic Services has been a longstanding provider of this service, dating back to 2007,” Trustee Neale Byrnes said at the Aug. 15 village board meeting, when trustees first discussed the proposal. The last extension was approved in 2018 and runs through Nov. 1. At that time, the standard form of colle...
The HCS Family Services food pantry will move to a new home after Hinsdale trustees Tuesday approved the agency’s plan to take over the old Hinsdale Humane Society facility. The village board voted unanimously in favor of HCS’s relocation from the Memorial Building to the village-owned 22 N. Elm St. under a 10-year, rent-free lease. The one-story, 5,550-square-foot building has sat empty since the Hinsdale Humane Society vacated five years ago. The site was identified a couple of years ago as a solution to space needs for...
The planned relocation of the HCS Family Services food pantry from Memorial Hall to the former Hinsdale Humane Society shelter has prompted safety concerns from residents in the area. At Tuesday night’s village board meeting, Hinsdale trustees held a first read on an ordinance approving HCS move to the one-story, 5,550-square-foot building at 22 N. Elm St. The village and HCS signed a 10-year lease last October for HCS’ rent-free use of the site as a solution to the agency’s need for more space to accommodate food pantr...
Hinsdale trustees on Tuesday referred to the village’s plan commission a proposal to convert the historic former Zion Lutheran School building at 125 S. Vine St. into 12 age-restricted condominiums. “We all agree that we like to see reused buildings, historically significant buildings in town,” Cauley said following a presentation from representatives of Clarendon Hills-based developer Holladay Properties. The action is the latest step in the Vine Street Station concept of changing the 108-year-old two-story structure into co...
