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| This week’s update includes our latest board meeting, reaction and thoughts on Governor’s Pritzker’s statements, and an introduction of Orland Park’s re-opening plan. At the Committee of the Whole we denied annexation of a development in the northeast part of town because it failed to meet village code. The Planning Commission unanimously rejected this and the board concurred with this rejection on a vote of 5 to 1. (Trustee Fenton is at home recovering from a non-Covid illness and Trustee Dodge dissented). The board agreed that if the developer meets our codes, we would be happy to revisit this decision. At the main board meeting, we approved LaGrange Square which will be replacing the Toys R’ Us building with 3 buildings (4 restaurants – BJ’s Brew Pub, Raising Canes, Chipotle and Panera plus one more tenant yet to be named). This is great news for Orland Park to see redevelopment on that corner, even during this time. Our understanding is that Whole Foods will likely expand into the Chipotle location. We are unsure of what will happen with the Panera at this time. The other big news at the board meeting is that we approved the new Ethics Ordinance the Ethics Commission has been working on for 11 months. I asked them to develop an ordinance that would be the model for other government entities in the state. They did just that. This ordinance demands the highest ethical conduct while protecting the constitutional rights of the accuser and the accused. My deepest thanks go out to Bill Healy, Sean Kampas, Carole Ruzich, Ed Schussler and Kevin Scanlan for their efforts during the last year! Also, over the past weekend there has been a lot of commentary, good and bad, about our summer concert and event announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmKAAKX1U9Y&t=3s. I addressed the comments and explained our decision making in this video last week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAekvaINVYo&t=17s. As decisions go, this really was a no-brainer. Based on the contracts, if we cancel today, we pay out $214K and likely get blackballed by artists in the future. On the other hand, if we keep planning, we leave our options open. If we end up needing to cancel because of COVID 19, then we will only be out our marketing dollars ($70K or less). However, as an optimist, I am hoping that we can still hold these popular community events and we will be prepared to do so. Worst case scenario, delaying the decision to cancel saves us $140K – as I said, a no-brainer. Governor Pritzker extended his stay at home order to May 30th. As part of this he also is opening some businesses on May 1st. On April 10th, 4 other mayors and I sent a letter to the governor asking that some businesses be opened: file:///C:/Users/Authorized%20User/Downloads/Letter%20to%20Gov%20Pritzker%204-10-2020.pdf. While he has not responded, apparently he listened, because every business we asked to be opened was opened in some way. Governor Pritzker also stated that wearing masks in public settings where social distancing is impossible is now mandatory. Over the past week I have received several emails and social media posts that we make masks mandatory like Tinley Park did. Orland Park has not taken this action and will not enforce the governor’s action because we question the legality of such an action. Governor Pritzker appears to be receiving the same legal advice because he also said, “We are not encouraging police officers to stop people and arrest them or take drastic action … People should wear a mask and they should be reminded if they’re not.” As I have said several times, the Constitution was written for times like this. It should not be discarded or ignored because we have a health crisis on our hands. All my decisions will first and foremost keep this in mind. With all of that said, the CDC recommends the wearing of a mask if you cannot maintain 6’ social distancing. I strongly advise everyone to follow that recommendation. Here is my response to the Governor’s order via a WGN TV interview on Thursday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxeXJ6n6AKk&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR2dGZwZaH7Oz6u8_Yxi7JBUmsTpbK3z4IeYLXwc2sz8ulb5plbmiYW5FV4. Additionally, the village has been working hard on a recovery plan. We were doing so because we had not received any guidance from the state, and with the stay at home order potentially expiring on April 30th it was prudent to plan for a potential opening. We decided that even though the stay at home order was extended, it is important to make our plan public so that businesses and residents can begin to prepare. We worked with health professionals, businesses and other government bodies to develop this plan, which you can find on the village’s coronavirus website page on Monday. Additionally, we sent our plan to the state and we are hopeful they will take our thoughts and recommendations into consideration. The video and presentation explaining our plan can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XnoGWK7wbA&t=8s. I cannot overemphasize that this is a PLAN. It is not written in stone and will be adapted/adjusted as we receive additional guidance from experts. FAILURE to PLAN is PLANNING to FAIL! At some point the economy will re-open and we need to do so in a measured and responsible way. This plan does just that. While “no plan survives contact with the enemy,” it gives us a starting point from which we can make adjustments. In the meantime, please stay safe, get outside and get exercise as the weather gets nicer, and follow the CDC’s current recommendations. Together we will get through this! |
