Junk Removal in Burr Ridge, IL

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge is seeking more information about a proposed industrial development on a 110-acre site in town.

A week ago, the Burr Ridge Plan Commission held its first meeting on the plan for seven buildings on the old CNH Industrial site at 6900 Veterans Boulevard.

On Friday, Janine Farrell, the village's community development director, wrote to the developer, Bridge Industrial, about a long list of areas where she said Burr Ridge needs more information.

Atop the list is the truck loading docks, a big concern of neighbors. The village wants to know the "anticipated full utilization" of the docks.

"It is recommended to reduce the number of loading docks," Farrell said.

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Farrell also said the commission wants to know the effects of the development on air quality, crime, property values, local infrastructure and traffic.

The village also asked Bridge to identify potential tenants. It requested the company provide a list of comparable developments, so the commission and staff can visit them.

Bridge should also include information on the tenants in the other developments, the truck traffic generated and the closeness to uses such as residential, Farrell said.

The village wants the information by Feb. 17. The next meeting on the development is set for March 17.

Bridge has said the seven commercial buildings would not be a trucking hub or a big box store. The project, the company said, would make investments to improve traffic flow, strengthen infrastructure, create new public spaces, improve flood control, reduce noise pollution and bring millions in taxpayer savings.

As for traffic, Bridge said it would pay for a Veterans Boulevard extension and make $5 million in improvements to ease traffic flow and lessen disruptions.

The firm also said 20 acres of the 110-acre site would be for new open space and walking trails.

Additionally, Bridge said it would contribute to the construction of a new public works building for the village. Doing so, Bridge said, would save Burr Ridge taxpayers $12 million in construction costs in addition to the land donation.

Some residents want to avoid the village's taxes and regulations.

Patch Staff

|Updated Tue, Jan 21, 2025 at 9:11 am CT

BURR RIDGE, IL – The owners of three properties outside of Burr Ridge's limits asked to be annexed last week, but they drew the opposition of their neighbors.

At a meeting last week, the Village Board ultimately favored annexation.

At issue is Normandee Court. The southernmost Normandee plots were already in Burr Ridge. The three properties in question are just north of them.

Earlier this month, the owners of four other Normandee properties signed a petition arguing against the request. They said if the village approved it, the rest of the properties would eventually fall victim to "forced annexation."

They said being outside municipal control was a big reason they moved there.

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"The properties requesting annexation into Burr Ridge undermines the original understanding and sets a dangerous precedent for all landowners in the area," they said.

They said they did not want to become subject to Burr Ridge's taxes, services and regulations.

One of the opponents, Shaila Karim, said Normandee would be split under the county's and village's control – an arrangement she described as "silly."

"At some point, forced annexation is inevitable because half a street doesn't make sense," he said.

Mayor Gary Grasso said Karim and others were essentially asking for a "veto" over their neighbors' request, which he said he didn't think was fair.

"I think you're asking to have too much power over your neighbor's property," he said.

Karim replied that they were opposed because it would impact them.

Grasso said the village generally avoids forced annexations.

"There is no ulterior motive or nothing here you should lose sleep at night that we're going to force annex you," the mayor told Karim.

Trustee Russell Smith said it was his "dream" to see all of Normandee Court become part of Burr Ridge.

"We have three owners who want to join the village. I'm not going to stop that," he said.

The board's vote for annexation was unanimous.

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BURR RIDGE, IL – A Burr Ridge trustee last week suggested penalties for any trustee who releases information about "confidential" matters during closed meetings.

He said it's been a problem before, referring to the board's frustrations with then-Trustee Zach Mottl.

During a Village Board meeting last Monday, Trustee Guy Franzese did not say what type of penalty he would like to see.

"(Trustees) should not be able to divulge confidential information discussed during the meetings without some sort of penalty," he said.

In recent weeks, Patch has reported on the Lyons Township High School board's closed meetings from 2022 and 2023. In those sessions, the board spoke for hours about a possible land deal that the attorney general ruled should have been discussed in public.

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Last year, the Burr Ridge Park District board was found to have violated state law by speaking about a proposed commercial development behind closed doors.

In an email, Patch asked Franzese whether members of those boards would have had a right to speak publicly about the matters discussed, given that the boards had run afoul of the Open Meetings Act.

Franzese declined to speak about those boards, but he said that if their members see violations, they have a right to go to the attorney general to report them.

"Reporting (Open Meetings Act) violations are not what I am suggesting a rule for," he said. "The rule would penalize an elected official or a Staff member who reveals confidential information discussed during closed session meetings."

During last week's meeting, other trustees seemed open to Franzese's idea. A draft policy may later go to the board.

In 2020, Mottl angered his colleagues when he publicly brought up controversial texts by the village's incoming administrator, Evan Walter.

They were also upset when he spoke about the employment situation of the village's then-finance director, Jerry Sapp. The trustees were looking to quietly ease out Sapp. They failed.

A trustee suggested the village let its building deteriorate. The mayor disagreed.

Patch Staff

|Updated Thu, Jan 16, 2025 at 1:49 pm CT

BURR RIDGE, IL – Most of the Burr Ridge Village Board this week favored building a new Village Hall.

But one member questioned why the village let the existing building deteriorate. The mayor countered that such a suggestion was an "affront."

Village Administrator Evan Walter said the existing 40-year-old building needs $6 million in work. The village, he said, had $4.8 million in its accounts to help pay for it.

He said he wouldn't recommend this option.

Instead, Walter pushed spending up to $10.5 million for a new Village Hall near the Starbucks at the Village Center shopping complex. He said the Village Center offered free land.

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"I'm excited about getting free land on a developed site. That's not something that comes along too often," he said.

What makes the new building seem more possible, Walter said, is the $2 million that the village received from the state last year – it "fell out of the sky," as the mayor put it.

The money went to the village because a company with a Burr Ridge address hadn't paid sales taxes locally.

The village also hopes to use money from a 1 percent sales tax in the business district that consists of the Village Center, County Line Square and the Marriott.

A few years ago, the village imposed the tax to benefit the district itself with buildings, roads, utilities, demolition of buildings and renovations of existing ones.

Some of Burr Ridge's water department income could also go toward the project because the department would use the building, Walter said.

Trustees generally seemed supportive of the new Village Hall. But Trustee Russell Smith was an exception.

He said a homeowner would be doing a bad job if he did not keep up his property. But he said that's what the village had done with Village Hall. He wondered whether the village would fail to properly maintain a new Village Hall.

"I would think our residents would have a big issue with that," Smith said.

"Big issue with what?" Mayor Gary Grasso asked.

"The way we manage our buildings," Smith responded.

Grasso said the city has prioritized other projects such as fixing water mains.

"We may have Band-Aided (Village Hall) day to day, year to year. You weren't here," Grasso told Smith. "There were other problems to solve, and I take a little affront because what you're saying is that past mayors ... somehow allowed this building to deteriorate and didn't take care of the other problems. We took care of the other problems."

Smith said the village needed to give more specific numbers on what it would take to fix the building.

"I think we need to kind of scratch below the surface," he said.

Trustee Guy Franzese said he appreciated Smith's comments about the cost estimates, saying he, too, wanted more detail.

He also defended the village, saying it placed other items as priorities such as water mains and roadwork.

As for the cost of the new building, Franzese said it was high, working out to $800 a square foot.

"That's a palace that's gold-plated everything," he said. "That number needs to come way down."

Grasso said the number was higher than what the village thinks it would cost. He said it was best to start out high and then come down.

"A decision has to be made, but I don't think it's a very hard decision," he said.

He added that future boards should commit to maintain the building.

The board made no decisions at the meeting.

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One of the main reasons is teachers suffering from health issues, the superintendent said.

Patch Staff

|Updated Thu, Dec 26, 2024 at 7:05 am CT

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge School District 180's teacher absenteeism rate was the highest of the three local districts last school year, according to the Illinois Report Card website.

The state measures the percentage of teachers who are absent for at least 10 days. Patch reviewed the rates in 14 area districts.

Locally, Burr Ridge District 180 reported the highest absenteeism rate last school year, with 38 percent who missed at least 10 days. That is similar to the rates in recent years.

The rates in Gower District 62 and Pleasantdale District 107 were 33 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

Those numbers compare to a statewide rate of 34 percent.

Find out what's happening in Burr Ridgefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

In response to a Patch inquiry, District 180 Superintendent Charles Kyle noted the district's rate of teachers who missed 10 or more days dropped by 2 percentage points from the previous school year.

"Several factors contributed to the 2023-2024 percentage, including a number of teachers facing significant health challenges, a maternity leave, and two leaves of absence during the year," Kyle said in an email. "We continuously monitor attendance data and take proactive steps to ensure that qualified substitute teachers are available when teachers are absent."

Meanwhile, Hinsdale High School District 86 saw a big drop in teachers who missed at least 10 days, which was 24 percent last year, down from nearly 50 percent the previous two years.

At Lyons Township High School, the rate was 27 percent last school year, up from 20 percent.

Under state law, the rate excludes absences for professional development, leave under the Family Medical Leave Act, long-term disability or parental leave.

The U.S. Department of Education sees teacher attendance as a leading indicator of student achievement. Teachers with regular attendance provide continuity of instruction and attention to individual students, according to the Illinois Report Card.

"The National Bureau of Economic Research has shown that when teachers are absent for 10 days or more, student outcomes decrease significantly," the report card said. "Teacher absence results in loss of instruction time for students, as well as financial concerns to the district when substitutes must be employed."

Source: Illinois Report Card, 2023-2024