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New year, new sets of goals for Libertyville
Google Inc. is selling the 84-acre campus of Motorola Mobility in Libertyville. The company announced it will move Libertyville employees to the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. Motorola Mobility had 3,000 workers in Libertyville, but Google is cutting 750. The property has four connected buildings with a day care center, cafeteria, gym and parking for 3,400 cars. | Ryan Pagelow~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 18, 2013 1:17AM
LIBERTYVILLE – You may have resolved to lose weight or spend more time with your family this year.
Governments make resolutions, too.
The Libertyville Village Board refers to them as goals, and there is a whole slew of them they would like to accomplish in 2013 and 2014; 16 things to be exact and more could be added.
Village President Terry Weppler said the goal-setting process isn’t something formalized, but it’s done every year to make sure the board isn’t letting things fall by the wayside.
Like your list of resolutions, some items stay on for years at a time while others are swiftly dealt with.
A few long-standing goals that remain in place for 2013 are redevelopment of vacant property and annexation of property that would be added to the village.
The latter refers to the Roppelt farm property, currently in an unincorporated area at Peterson and Midlothian roads.
The property measures over 100 acres and abuts Libertyville, Mundelein and Grayslake.
Libertyville Director of Community Development John Spoden said that regardless of who ultimately annexes the land, Libertyville has an interest in determining what its use will be. The village’s plan calls for it to be industrial, but time will tell how it will ultimately be designated.
Spoden also said Lake County recently was awarded a grant from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) to study land use along Route 53. The Roppelt property figures into those deliberations, and Libertyville will participate in the process.
The soon to be vacated Motorola campus also figures prominently into the village’s goal to redevelop property. Village officials have met with Motorola and its broker for the property. The village will be closely involved in what the property’s future will be.
One thing on the 2013 goal list that Weppler would particularly like to see accomplished is the establishment of a condominium ordinance, which would govern the process of turning an apartment building into a condo building,
“That, to me, is something I want to make sure gets done,” Weppler said. “That’s my area of expertise in the law.”
The concern is that when a developer converts apartments into condos, there is a lot of cosmetic work done, but possibly not the heavy-duty maintenance like a new roof or an updated HVAC system. A low assessment is set for the initial sale, but it quickly skyrockets when costs to fix major building components are added in.
This then makes the condos difficult to sell, and the owners are stuck.
Weppler said he has represented buyers in more than one such purchase, which then turned sour a few years down the line.
“I cautioned them, but they said it was a good deal,” he said.
Among other goals, the village will continue to work on selling or leasing the Golf Learning Center and Family Entertainment Center, selling the Bolander Park property, making improvements to the downtown parking along the east side of Milwaukee Avenue, developing a village communications strategy and reviewing the level of service for village parks.
