By Kathie Godfrey
Star Correspondent

LOWELL - The Town Council promised residents last week that children walking to Lowell Middle School, Oak Hill Elementary School, and St. Edward's School will have at least one new sidewalk on Idlewild Place in time for school this fall.
    Armed with $275,000 in Lake County gambling revenues and preliminary estimates provided by contract engineer Peter Kohut of Butler, Fairman and Seufert, the council finalized its short list of candidates for a complete "curb-to-curb" makeover that will include new sewer and water lines, concrete curbs and gutters and asphalt road paving.
    For the second time Mary Stinnett of 231 Idlewild Pl. asked council members if the planned renovation of Idlewild Place from Nichols Street to the Lowell Middle School would include sidewalks for students traveling to school.
    "There are three schools within one block of each other," she said.
    Councilman Ray Talarek, R-1st, said the Idlewild project should have top priority since "it involves the safety of school children."
Councilwoman Karen Brooker, R-2nd, and Council President Bob Hatch, R-3rd, agreed, and added that Harrison Drive from Prairie Street to Azalea Lane should also be completely renovated.
    Kohut said it would be easiest to place a sidewalk on the south side of Idlewild, but when Talarek and Hatch expressed their preference for a sidewalk on both sides of the street, he estimated that a second sidewalk would add approximately $7,000 to the project.
    But Councilman Larry Just, R-4th, disputed the need for a second sidewalk on Idlewild and said the many other pending paving projects in town should be done first.
    Stinnett said she thought two sidewalks would be better for children who will be crossing the street to reach the south sidewalk against Nichols Street traffic, but expressed relief at the council's assurance that at least one sidewalk would be installed on her street before fall classes begin.
    Director of Administration Rick Dal Corobbo said a final decision on the second sidewalk would be made after June 11 bids are returned.
    In other business, Brookwood developer Neal Wingate agreed to donate $304 to the town's animal shelter fund in lieu of payment for water and sewer charges in the same amount for a clean-up done by town employees, but said the "town needs to review its policy" on such matters.
    "The homeowner was not told he would be billed," he said.
    Wingate's son Andrew said he responded to a call to clear the earth blocking a resident's moving van from their new home's driveway with a shovel and broom during flooding last June.
    Just said he "didn't have a lot of sympathy" for Wingate's situation.
    "The town shouldn't have had to make a phone call," Just said. "It isn't the town's problem. The bill is justified."
    Asked why the veritable mudslide had blocked the driveway, Wingate said the straw residents had used to mulch new lawns had plugged the storm drains during the "100-year rain."
    In another matter, the council agreed to make its final payment to Bowen Engineering for the Phase I sewer rehabilitation project that has increased the wastewater treatment plant's daily capacity from 2.5 million gallons per day to 4 million gallons per day. The $555,755 payment on the $2.5 million project included a change order in the amount of $39,483 for 41 extra days of construction due to adverse weather conditions.

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By Andrew Steele
Star Managing Editor

By Andrew Steele
Star Managing Editor

CROWN POINT - Monday's City Council meeting turned out to be anticlimactic for residents who came to oppose construction of townhomes on approximately seven acres north of Timothy Ball Elementary School.
    Early this year, Hawk Development Corp. had submitted a plan to build the multi-family housing adjacent to its Whitehawk subdivision. That would have required rezoning the land from an R-1 to an R-3 classification.
    But opposition to the plan led Hawk to back away from it, leaving the City Council simply to reject the rezoning request.
    "If we don't take action within a certain time it's automatically approved," Mayor James Metros explained. "This is just kind of housekeeping."
    So the council voted unanimously to deny the petition. The action led to applause from the 10 nearby residents in attendance.
    City Planning Director Curt Graves said Hawk has already filed for building permits to put maintenance buildings to service the Whitehawk golf course on the property.
    That led Gary Scearce of 1131 Pratt St. to ask how Hawk will access the buildings. He said a road along Beaver Dam Ditch would act as a dam and cause drainage problems in his neighborhood, located southeast of the Hawk property.
    Graves said Hawk plans to use 104th Place, in the Willowdale subdivision to access the new buildings.

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