A recent inquiry to Village of Willow Springs Administrator Bill Murray in regard to the Safe Routes to School Sidewalk Grant has yielded no response. That is pretty much par for the course over there.
We continue to hear rumblings throughout the community that mayor Alan Nowaczyk and village board members Annette Kaptur, Mario Imbaratto, Kathy Stanphill and George Bartik intend to turn down the $400,000 in grant money they were awarded to build sidewalks to Willow Springs School and Pleasantdale Elementary School.
Yeah, you heard right, they don't want the money. They don't want to put in sidewalks so kids can walk to school. The safety of children is just not a priority in the Village of Willow Springs.
We asked Administrator Murray why there is no mention on the village web site of being awarded $400,000 to build sidewalks so that kids can safely walk to school. We would think this would garner more attention than local teen, Kirby Kaptur being named to a swim team. Again, we got no response. Seems like their priorities are a bit mixed up.
This grant will benefit the entire community, both north and south of the river, so we are curious as to why it is not mentioned on the village web site. Will this grant award be mentioned in the next village newsletter that is due out soon? Probably not.
For what it is worth, Pleasantdale School District 107 made no mention of the awarding of this grant in any of their Friday packets or on the district web site. They never even reached out to the Village of Willow Springs when they heard this grant was awarded and they were a direct beneficiary. Guess they really don't care about the safety of kids either or maybe their priorities are mixed up too.
In April, U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski came out to School Street to discuss funding roadwork and safety measures there. The Village applied for federal stimulus assistance to fund a full reconstruction of the School Street. Lipinski was photographed along with principal Matt Vandercar, mayor Nowaczyk and trustees Katur and Bartik. It is funny that the two staunchest opponents of the sidewalk grant and repairing School Street, Kaptur and Bartik , are in this photo. Why wasn't former trustee Mesec there? After all, he was the biggest supporter and the only trustee to get the ball rolling on this grant application. It seems odd that the Village would apply for federal stimulus assistance yet not take advantage of the FREE grant money that it was awarded to construct sidewalks so the neighborhood children can walk to school.
We continue to receive inquiries in regard to the construction of sidewalks that were awarded to our community in the Safe Routes to School Grant program and we would like to be able to give people some answers.
So tell us, Mayor Nowaczyk, what is going on with the sidewalk grant?
An email we received:
Gina,
Thank you for the info concerning the sidewalk grant. Your letter was very concise and accurate. It is very aggravating that this Village being in a state of financial difficulty can not take advantage of monies that will benefit the safety of the children in Willow Springs. To compromise their welfare is ludicrous. A Mayor and a Village Board that can not realize the importance of this grant is certainly not looking out for the betterment of the community. The attitude that the Mayor is taking towards the sidewalk grant program is not serving his constituents as he should. To brush this under the table as if it never existed is not serving the tax payer of Willow Springs and is doing an unjust to those who will benefit from the sidewalk program.
This grant program is separate from the stimulus program in which, the village probably have not received any funds for as of today.
It is my understanding that duration of the grant is a three year period, why in the world would they not want to move forward on this program? Is it the work involved in implementing the process of the grant? Everything was put in place for the village to move forward on this worthwhile program.
When this was proposed to the Mayor and the Board all were in agreement in moving in a direction to secure the funds available for the sidewalk program. A directive was given to staff to move forward and put the grant together and send it on to the state.
Why should the children's safety of Willow Springs be put in jeopardy? Is it to much work? Is there a political hidden agenda for some reason for not moving on this program?
The Administrator of Willow Springs should act now and forward the letter of intent to the state so the residents of Willow Springs can receive grant money for the sidewalk program. A copy of the letter of intent should be inserted in the next newsletter for residents to share. This is a three year program and there is no reason why the village can not initiate these grant funds from the state. A community that has excessive financial problems should use all resources at their disposal to bring in all available funds necessary that will enhance the improvement of the community.
The SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL GRANT PROGRAM is necessary for the safety of the children in Willow Springs and should not be discarded due to lack of village management.
James Chevalier,
Former Director of Public Works of Willow Springs
Saturday, October 10, 2009
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6 comments:
Reading through this blog has been seriously disturbing, negative and downright hateful. For what purpose or end, there is no clear goal or evidence of solutions - just blatant nastiness. Obviously those involved have nothing better to do than "BITCH". How about embracing the people who are working in these organizations and asking the question, "WHAT CAN I DO TO HELP, PROMOTE, ASSIST AND/OR WORK" for the good of these entities? Squeeky wheels don't always get the oil, they get ignored and tossed into the junk pile. Your own low self-esteem, lack of direction and no purpose in life truly is reflected.
All right, everyone calm down.
The awarded grant sounds great and all on its face. And I along with just about everyone else in our area would love to see sidewalks connect Willow Springs to the park district and both of the schools. The unfortunate part of this is that this area consists of Cook County unincorporated, Burr Ridge, and Willow Springs all together. Cooperation from all would be required to accomplish this.
Second, the state of Illinois has put on hold just about every payment coming out of Springfield. Even the easy ones like Medicare to Retirement communities and hospitals are now at least 6 months behind.
If Willow Springs trumpeted this grant on their website, and Pleasantdale School put it in the Friday packet, it may not ever happen because this money is not getting down to where it needs to go. And Willow Springs, like every village and city is in dire straits currently with dropping revenues. The last thing it needs is a promised grant that never is distributed and a bunch of bills to pay from the sidewalk contractors.
The Illinois saferoutes news has towns questioning if the grants awarded from 2008 will even be funded by the State of Illinois.
http://www.dot.il.gov/saferoutes/DisplayNews.aspx
Not to be contrarian on this, but it is important that all parties involved in this grant are somewhat assured that the reimbursement is coming. At this time in Springfield, there are no assurances of anything. So, grant is awarded, lets wait and see what if anything is distributed to gauge if this grant will get distributed and not jump the gun and get stuck holding the bag.
Edmund,
Here is some clarification about the Safe Routes to School grant. It is not for sidewalks to connect Willow Springs to the park district and both of the schools. It is solely to provide sidewalks on the routes to school in Willow Springs at both Pleasantdale Elementary and Willow Springs School. It has nothing to do with Burr Ridge so their cooperation is unneeded and unnecessary. In addition, Cook County has already given the green light for this project. It was a necessary step in order to even be considered for funding.
In September, the Safe Routes to School funds were subject to federal rescissions, where the federal government asks states to return a portion of their program funds. The current federal transportation bill, SAFTEA-LU, expired at the end of September. Congress was expected to pass an 18 month continuing resolution to fund programs during the time between the expiration of SAFTEA-LU and the implementation of the next transportation bill. The state of Illinois will use a portion of these funds to make up the difference between our apportioned amount and the money returned in the rescission, fully funding all of the 2008 SRTS projects. According to the Megan Holt, Safe Routes to School coordinator for the Illinois Department of Transportation, it’s not so much a question of if the money will be available but when. She has instructed all awardees to be patient and consider this a small bump in the process.
You are correct when you say it is important that all parties involved in this grant are somewhat assured that the reimbursement is coming and not jump the gun and get stuck holding the bag. Maybe you should start attending park board meetings to offer this advice. They just forged ahead on a project that they presently can’t afford and have now learned that money they were counting on will not be available for up to 18 months. There is no doubt that the village of Willow Springs is in dire straits but they only has themselves to blame for it. Poor choices and mismanagement only add to the hemorrhaging of funds over there. There are many checks and balances in the SRTS grant and it is up to Willow Springs to be cautious with their contracts and spending on this grant.
So, yes, while caution is important, we believe this grant, which will provide a measure of safety for our children, is something that should be trumpeted and celebrated rather than swept under the rug and hidden from the public.
Mom22,
So they forge ahead with a grant funding project(pleasantdale park district) and they are wrong. They stall on a grant program(sidewalk grant program) and they are wrong. Someday, somewhere, someone will do something right, or at least neutral. Its easy to throw stones, its hard to build them into something great.
Ed,
The point of the original post was to find out what was happening with the grant and to ask why there was no celebrating or talking about the award. Just curious, what have you done for your community? What have you built into something great? Do you go to board meetings and get involved or just coach from the armchair?
Anonymous,
It is good to be curious. It is the former. The only area I am not involved in at all and I will say I am armchair on at this point is the pleasantdale park district. But now with the modifications to the Chalet and all the prior 6 months of fireworks, maybe I should get involved. I have met many of these posters and probably have worked with them as well.
The point of the original post as I see it is to throw crap on both Willow Springs and the pleasantdale school district for not jumping up and down for a grant that is not coming down the pipe at this point. How silly do all these people look when they all come out and say, "hey here come the sidewalks!!!" Then the state says, "Guess what, no reimbursement for 2 years or maybe never". Then the residents of Willow Springs get the pitchforks out and start marching the streets.
Village and School officials should only promise what they can keep.
So I still contend that on this issue, Willow Springs does not have their priorities mixed up.
And let me get this straight, this is on this issue only.
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