Voting Meeting: Bond Refinancing to Save Village $200,000

The refinancing of nearly $4,000,000 in general obligation refunding bonds on Monday will save the Village of Western Springs a nominal and sum total of more than $200,000 over the lifespan of the three bond series, the Board of Trustees announced at their Monday meeting.

The three series—Utility Tax Alternate Revenue Source, Waterworks and an unspecified limited-refunding “C” series—have been newly underwritten by Edward D. Jones & Co. of St. Louis, MO. The bond series run through 2017, 2020 and 2016, respectively.

“In layman’s terms, what we did is took some high-interest bonds and replaced them with low-interest bonds,” explained Finance Committee Chair James Horvath.

A representative for consulting firm Speer Financial, Brenda Housten, appeared before the Board to discuss the details of the purchase, which was approved by the Board at the same meeting. Housten said the net savings were about $30,000 more than expected.

The bonds are available for residents or others to purchase (through their own brokers) if they wish.

Liquor/alcohol code change proposals

Proposals for three changes in the Village’s liquor codes came before the Board at the Monday meeting. All three would add slight relaxations to the fairly strict regulations.

The first proposed change would allow for repeat applicants for identical liquor licenses to bypass the Village Liquor Commission, streamlining the process for organizations that apply each year. (Licenses would still be reviewed by the General Government committee and approved by the Board.)

Second, it has been proposed that outdoor liquor service hours be extended to 11:00 p.m. Sun-Thu, and midnight on Friday and Saturday, one hour earlier than the current restrictions. A temporary license for this had previously been issued to Mécénat and met without known incident or complaint.

Finally, a new proposal from Mécénat owner Jack Hogan would bring wine tasting events to the outdoor French Market once or twice a month as advertisement for local businesses; this could include others besides Mécénat.

All three suggestions have been remanded to the Liquor Commission for further discussion.

Other measures passed

The following additional ordinances were also passed at the meeting:

• An ordinance approving temporary water-use restrictions for the 2012 year, as previously discussed, in order to preserve a water supply diminished by the reverse osmosis water plant project.
• An ordinance increasing the number of locations in the Village where fences can be built as high as eight feet (the ordinary maximum being six.)
• Awarding of the 2012 Woodland Avenue reconstruction bid to G&M Cement Construction Company of Addison for approximately $1,464,800.
• $20,000 for purchase of road salt and $20,000 for sidewalk repairs (the use of the Village’s gas-tax [MRT] allotment.)

“Potential danger to safety”

Following ordinary meeting procedures, the Board recessed to executive session “for the purpose of discussing security procedures and the use of personnel and equipment to respond to an actual, or threatened, or a reasonably potential danger to the safety of employers, staff, the public or public property.”