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Voters in the Village of Summit will see two advisory questions on the April 1 Consolidated Election ballot asking residents for their input on alleys and parks.
One question will be: “Shall the Village of Summit issue bonds to obtain sufficient funds to repave all alleys in the village?”
The other will be: “Shall the Village of Summit manage all parks and recreation centers in the village?”
“These are key issues that Mayor Sergio Rodriguez and the Board of Trustees hear, and we would like to hear how residents feel about this,” said Summit Village Administrator Jerry Hurckes.
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The response will tell village officials how residents feel and if they should move forward with selling the bonds and beginning talks to merge with the park district.
If village officials decide to move ahead with acquiring the park district, there would be a binding vote taken in the future to see if voters agree.
As for repaving the alleys, if approved, the village would borrow the money and then pay it back over a series of years.
Hurckes explained that it’s different than taking out a loan as one would to buy a home.
“There has to be a funding source,” he said. “They will ask you how you plan to pay it back, such as using gaming, marijuana or gas taxes. It has to be a specific funding source.”
The bond payments would be spread out over a span of about 10 years.
Alley paving has been underway in Summit since 2004, but there are still plenty of alleys that need to be done.
The village has received grant money for repaving alleys in the past, but that only goes so far, Hurckes said.
Grant money has come from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and Cook County every two or three years, but to get them all done, much more is needed, he said.
It’s a huge expense for each alley, and the cost to finish all of them would be in the ballpark of $8 million, he said.
In order to keep “politics” out of which alleys get chosen to be done, the village engineer from Novotny Engineering takes a look at them to see which are the worst, and suggests which ones should be done next, Hurckes said.
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Some alleys that have a tendency to flood may be replaced through the Green Alley Program, which uses bricks that allow rainwater to drain into the ground.
“A normal street alley costs about $350,000,” said Hurckes. “And that’s gone up in the last couple of years. They need to be cleaned out, repaired, and any damages, such as fixing aprons, has to be done after the alley is complete.”
He said that if the village gets $1 million a year in grant money, they can possibly do three or four alleys, but many residents have voiced concern that they’re not getting done fast enough and they would like to see all of them paved.
As far as the question of running the parks and recreation centers, Hurckes said the village board “hears from families that have young children, and some say the parks could be better utilized.”
“These questions on the April ballot are just looking for the opinions of residents at this time,” added Hurckes.
“It’s non-binding to see what the community would want. We’ve done this in the past with marijuana, for example. We are hoping for a couple thousand responses.If it goes further, there may be a binding referendum down the road.”
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