On Saturday, January 23, thirty-eight residents gathered at the Hilton Hotel for the first-ever Village “Committee of the Whole” meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to begin a resident input process to develop a three-year strategic plan for Mettawa. The Board believes that this plan will help establish a baseline from which decisions and investments over the next three years can be balanced.

Resident Don Joseph graciously volunteered his time to facilitate the three-hour meeting and did an outstanding job of keeping people involved and interested in the process. Those who participated said they really enjoyed the exercises that provided an opportunity to discuss with neighbors “goal” ideas. The Village Board will further evaluate and prioritize these ideas as part of the strategic plan they hope to complete by the end of April, 2010. There were many positive comments from residents to hold this kind of meeting again as they enjoyed the opportunity to meet their neighbors and discuss important issues about our Village. The Board and I really appreciated the participation and enthusiasm shown by all attendees in helping us take the first steps in preparing this important Village document.

The goals COW 1-23-10 __Strategic Planning Goals-FINAL are those that were identified in the meeting and copied from resident input sheets. First, ideas were generated at random by category; then Don used a process to rank the goals for each category so that priorities could be identified. Finally, the last exercise was to identify some “actions” ideas for each category’s top1-2 goal ideas. Some of these goal ideas are repetitious or very close in content, but they represent each resident’s input.

The Board will now evaluate and prioritize these goal ideas as they develop the overall detail of the Strategic Plan.

In the meantime, you are welcome to send me your thoughts about the Village residents’ goal ideas.

Press Release

Village of Mettawa, IL announces conclusion of law-suits surrounding proposed Costco on Riverwoods Road.

Mettawa, Feb 11, 2010:   Village of Mettawa Mayor Jess Ray announced today that two lawsuits which delayed development of a proposed Costco store on Village-owned property at the southwest corner of   I-94 and Route 60 have been resolved.  One lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice by Judge Mitchell Hoffman and was not appealed; the other was settled today by all parties, including the Village.  The resolution of these lawsuits concludes a nearly two year, emotionally charged debate in the Village regarding use of Village lands for a Costco store.

Upon taking office in May 2009, the newly elected Mayor, Jess Ray, and the Board inherited this land management issue. Their goal was to resolve this issue in a manner that would be beneficial for the Village residents, while recognizing that there was already a signed legal contract with Costco, negotiated by the previous Mayor and Board.

Additional legal counsel was hired to review the law suits and previously signed contract with Costco. It was determined following this review that portions of the existing Costco contract should be re-negotiated to give the Village a more positive outcome if the close was to happen. The Board began working with Costco to amend the sales agreement, resulting in improved contract terms for the Village and its residents.

Both Costco and the Village invested many months in legal proceedings and negotiations to bring the two resident lawsuits to conclusion. The Village prevailed on one lawsuit; several concessions were made on the other lawsuit which will better protect Village residents while still clearing the way for the Village-Costco sales contract to proceed. Costco anticipates that they will open their store in November of 2010.  The Costco store is expected to generate over a million dollars annually in sales tax revenue to the Village.

According to Mayor Jess Ray, “While nearly half of our residents were opposed to additional commercial development in Mettawa and strongly disagreed with the way the 22-acre land parcel had been previously managed, the Village had to deal with the duality of a previously signed sales contract with Costco while achieving the best possible outcome for Village residents. Under the circumstances, I believe we have reached a balanced conclusion.  We look forward to Costco’s presence in the Village as a good corporate citizen and partner in preserving the great character and attributes of our Village.”

ComEd Take the Pledge Giveaway

Take the ENERGY STAR^® Change the World Pledge to become more energy efficient and you’ll be entered into the ComEd Take the Pledge Giveaway!  You could win $2,000 towards the purchase of an ENERGY STAR qualified appliance or electronic device, to be selected with the help of the ComEd Energy Doctor. More than 2.3 million Americans have taken the Pledge and saved more than $477 million in energy costs. For ideas and information on energy efficiency incentives, visit www.ComEd.com/SmartIdeas or call 888-806-2273.

$2 discounts on Holiday lights at ComEd’s online store

Make your holidays even brighter this year with beautiful, energy-efficient and long-lasting LED (light emitting diode) holiday lights.  Now through December 31st, shop at ComEd’s Online Store and receive a $2 discount on each LED holiday light set you purchase (while supplies last; discount applied to a maximum of 12 sets per customer).  Made to be durable, LEDs are impact-resistant, weather-resistant and ready for outdoor use. Hurry, quantities are limited!  Visit www.ComEd.com and click on the Online Store link at the lower right-hand portion of the page.

At Last night’s Village Board meeting your board approved the letting of a road repair contract for our Village roads. This work will take some time to complete due to weather and you may find some road lanes temporally limited as the work progresses.

You have probably seen the white markings on our roads. These are notations for the crew on where the repairs are to take place. It is important we make most of these repairs prior to winter and the annual spring freeze-thaw phenomenon that occurs which plays havoc with our roads.

Please drive carefully while these repairs take place and allow some extra time on your drive to/from your homes.

Our roads will be in much better condition after these repairs take place and you will have safer roads on which to drive.

Snow Removal

The Village is accepting proposals until October 14, 2009, for seasonal snow removal.  Click here to download the specifications. Also, download Exhibit A (the Village Street Map). Be sure no notify the Village Engineer at 847-295-3322 if you intend to submit a proposal so you can be notified of any addenda or clarification that may published.