There has been another delay in presenting architectural and financing plans for a new Oak Park police station and the large-scale renovation of village hall.
This delay, likely until well into the summer, will push the discussion past the term of the currently constituted village board and leave it to the next village board (beginning the first week of May) to evaluate and decide.
Plans had been for the current board, which has been working on this project for two years, to have an opportunity to discuss the latest incarnation of the work before they leave office.
With that goal in mind, a meeting was set for March 18, which was delayed until April 30. Around the time residents expected to be able to view that meeting’s agenda last Friday afternoon, the village announced that the meeting had been cancelled and that the proposal won’t come up for board review for multiple months.
When plans are eventually presented, the board will see three different proposals for the police station and village hall, all with different price tags.
According to Village President Vicki Scaman, the least expensive proposal will likely end up projected around $75 million, a mid-level option projected at about $100 million, and the costliest option at roughly $120 million.
The final project will likely include elements from all three proposals, she said.
Village Manager Kevin Jackson said village staff is still working with JLK to get a final proposal that reflects the village’s priorities for the project, both in terms of financial and design concepts.
“It’s not a linear process where the consultants do the work and we just take it and say, ‘Here you go board.’ That’s why you have experts here on staff — to evaluate, opine and adjust,” Jackson told Wednesday Journal. “Our staff of experts are doing our due diligence on the analysis of the work produced so far by our consultant. They’ve done admirable, yeoman’s work; it’s just that we work together as a team. We’ve asked them to do certain things in terms of scope of work and then we go back-and-forth as we analyze it until we get a complete product.”
A gap in analysis over how the different proposals would impact taxes in the village was a key factor that delayed the March 18 meeting, he said.
“We were working on an accelerated schedule to try to get back with preliminary design options,” Jackson said. “There was a specific question regarding the property tax levy so we were taking a look at that as well in the context of finalizing the work around the options.”
Scaman said it is for the best that the meeting wasn’t rushed, and that the board evaluates a set of proposals that have been properly vetted by the village staff.
“Nothing has changed about where we’re going,” she said. “We’re looking for a solution that’s going to be sustainable, that won’t just be a Band-Aid, that is financially responsible for our residents and that is able to serve our residents in the way that they expect.”
Issues long expected to be addressed by the architect’s proposals include how will village hall be made more accessible to people with disabilities, how will parking at the facility be impacted, to what extent will the building be renovated as opposed to reconstructed, and how can the village balance modernizing village hall while preserving its historical character.
“We’re really looking forward to what creative solutions come out of this, defining this idea of what open government looks like here for the next 50 years,” she said. “The issues on which they’re trying to creatively problem-solve haven’t really changed — they’ve been big problems.
“I trust that the seven members of the board are going to take what are continuing to be ingenious, creative ideas to solve that problem.”
Debates over the funding and scope of the village hall project became a central issue in the village presidential election this spring, as Scaman and challenger Ravi Parakkat presented dramatically different pictures of what the construction project would cost the village.
Scaman held through the campaign that it’s been her priority and the will of the entire board that the total cost of the project, including both police station and village hall renovation, be kept as close to $100 million as possible. Sitting trustee Parakkat contended that the project would balloon to at least $140 million if continued under Scaman’s leadership.
Parakkat said Tuesday that he was surprised to learn he wouldn’t get the chance to vote on the project’s future but hopes the village will proceed with the project responsibly.
“I was more surprised than disappointed. We’ve all spent a lot of time to having this discussion, so it would’ve been good for the community to have that discussion with this board,” he said. “The process has already been delayed for two years and now it looks like it’ll be delayed until the summer. I just hope that we get to the right decision.”
Scaman said she wants the board to approve a plan that reflects the expertise of the architects and the village’s staff, and the wishes of residents.
“I’m actually quite proud of how closely they’re listening and responding to the diversity of voices that they’ve heard on the project,” she said. “They’re making sure we’re not going to have a meeting just to have a meeting.”