Bensenville Gateway

FROM WHERE WE’VE BEEN TO WHERE WE’RE GOING OCTOBER 2022

LETTER FROM VILLAGE PRESIDENT

Going into this year, the Village Board and I challenged Village staff to get creative with programming, strengthen our finances, and to remain transparent. It was important that we hit the ground running as we continued to overcome the pandemic and I’m impressed with the strides we have already made.

This summer, special events returned in full strength with another great summer celebrating the 4th of July and packing downtown Bensenville for every Music in the Park. We also continued many of our smaller special events like Coffee with the President and even tried a new senior-focused barbeque which invited all Bensenville seniors to a free lunch in town center. We plan to continue those efforts into next year with the return of Senior Luncheons and the continued development of a senior-focused community center.

In addition, staff followed through on the promise to enhance our financial strength by reducing our total government debt by 22% from 2018 to 2021. As a result of those efforts, and a testament to our financial position, the Village received the highest credit rating it has ever obtained. We are proud of our recent accomplishments and strive to remain transparent with our financial position.

While we have accomplished a lot this year, we are excited to finish strong as we approach the new year. In 2023 we expect to build off our momentum with new initiatives like the Nighttime Runway Rotation Program at O’Hare and our continued efforts to mitigate the impact of the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern railroad merger.

PRESIDENT

Frank DeSimone

TRUSTEES

Rosa Carmona

Ann Franz

Marie T. Frey

McLane Mac Lomax

Nicholas Panicola Jr.

Armando Perez

VILLAGE CLERK

Nancy Quinn

VILLAGE MANAGER

Evan K. Summers

This community has proven that we are truly stronger together and I encourage us all to continue to look out for one another as we head into the new year. There is no question that when we work together, our community is truly “Bensenville Strong.”

Thank you for your continued support to this administration and most importantly, to our great community.

Sincerely,

FRANK DESIMONE | VILLAGE PRESIDENT

STRONGer Bensenville TOGETHER

We coined the term Bensenville Strong at the start of the pandemic and for good reason. Our community has shown resilience and proven that we are stronger when we support one another. Over the last couple of years, Bensenville taxing bodies came together to ensure all residents had the opportunity to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and we saw those efforts continue into this year. Because of the generosity of our community, the Village Toy Drive served over 400 children in 2021, doubling the amount since 2017. When our very own officer, Steven Kotlewski, was severely injured in the line of duty, our community didn’t hesitate to offer support to him and his family when they needed it most.

Staying Connected

We saw many events return to the Edge Ice Arena this year. This included the Illinois State Championships, the Stan Mikita Hockey School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the largest annual recreational ice skating competition in the US, and Honor Flight Chicago’s Law Enforcement Hockey Classic.

We also opened our new bocce ball courts at Redmond Recreational Complex and resumed many of our community events like Music in the Park, Libertyfest, and Coffee with the President. As fall arrives, we look forward to the additional events coming around the corner including the Wilkes Family Halloween Displays, a Trunk-or-Treat event, Holiday Magic, and our annual Toy Drive.

Continuing to Value our Seniors

Not only do we appreciate our seniors, we recognize the value they bring to our community. We continue to provide assistance to them through our ongoing grass cutting and snow removal services. We also made it a point to provide our senior residents with opportunities for socializing. We brought back our Senior Holiday Party in December and welcomed seniors to a free barbeque in downtown Bensenville this summer.

In an effort to learn more about Bensenville’s older adult community, we participated in the Aging in a Changing Region study. Participating in this program allowed us to hear directly from our senior community on Bensenville’s strengths and weaknesses. Following the completion of the program, the Village board reviewed and accepted the proposed plan in April of 2022. One key item identified by the plan was to establish a primary location for senior related activities and resources. To complete this goal, the Village is developing a community center located in the lower level of Village Hall. This will serve as a hub for senior-related activities and information.

There’s no question that maintaining a safe community is always our number one priority in Bensenville and we’ve worked hard to keep it that way. The Bensenville Police Department has managed to maintain a fully staffed department over the last seven years by hiring a total of 10 new police officers, a detective, and two community service officers. They also initiated programs like a special crimes tactical unit and all officers now wear body-worn cameras.

We took steps towards a safer workplace with the completion of CPR, AED, and first aid training to staff often working in the community. This benefits not only our staff but also residents and businesses. In addition, the Bensenville Police Department provided active shooter training to staff and businesses in Bensenville to help them better understand workplace violence.

A FINANCIALLY STABLE VILLAGE

Over the past year, the Village took several major steps to further strengthen our finances. With meticulous attention to detail from our Finance Department, our total government debt was reduced by 22% between 2018 and 2021. In addition, our Public Works Department secured over $10.4 million in grant funding to improve our infrastructure. They also completed a

water main replacement project in the White Pines Subdivision. This project entailed replacing new water mains and ensuring long-term safe drinking water for the area at no additional costs to our residents

As a result of these continued efforts, the Village received a certificate of Achievement in Financial Reporting and a AA credit score rating. The AA rating is the highest rating the Village has ever received and is a testament to the Village’s strong financial position.

CONSTANT COMMUNICATION

As a public entity, transparency is essential. To aid in that process, our website serves as a key resource for residents to obtain information, make requests, and receive notifications.

VALUING OUR SUSTAINABILITY

We recognize the importance of environmental sustainability and the value it brings to our community. Within the last year, the Village was recognized for several initiatives that helped protect our planet.

The Village received a SolSmart Silver designation for our efforts to make it faster, easier, and more affordable to go solar. This was achieved by streamlining the permit and plan review processes as well as updating our Solar Energy Code.

We also received the Governor’s Hometown Award for our recent environmental initiatives and programming. Some of these initiatives included the implementation of green energy aggregation, a free mulch delivery program, cooking oil drop-off, holiday light recycling and the creation of the Redmond Park Arboretum.

MANAGING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE

Maintaining the Village’s roads, pipes, sidewalks, and other assets is a vital part of the Village’s daily operations. In the last year alone, our Public Works Department planted 131 trees, flushed 931 fire hydrants, filled 700 potholes, repaired 334 sidewalk squares, and pruned 1,017 trees.

NAVIGATING THE BENSENVILLE TAXING BODIES

Various taxing bodies make up your property tax bill each year. For the majority of Bensenville residents, your taxing bodies include Bensenville School District 2, Fenton High School, and College of DuPage. Combined they account for 68% of your tax bill. The other taxing bodies consist of the Bensenville Park District, the Community Public Library, Bensenville Fire Protection District 2, and the Village of Bensenville. It is important to note that only 10% of your entire tax bill goes to the Village. 68%

Bensenville Library 3%

Bensenville Fire District #2 10%

Bensenville Park District 5% VILLAGE OF BENSENVILLE 10%

Preserve District

BRINGING BUSINESS TO BENSENVILLE

Our Community and Economic Development Department kicked off 2021 by launching our new Think Bensenville campaign. This marketing strategy focuses on generating growth, with specific attention on growing existing Bensenville businesses, new businesses, and the workforce.

Because of Bensenville’s proximity to O’Hare, major expressways, and railways, commercial developments have taken off. Last year, we saw Bo Jackson’s Elite Sports complete their 114,000 square-foot air-supported dome and indoor training center. We have also welcomed a number of new developments like O’Reilly Auto Parts, GEM Car Wash, and Omega Pro Systems. So far this year, 91 new businesses have moved to Bensenville.

PROJECTS AROUND THE CORNER

We’re excited to see continued investments into the community with the Irving Park Road corridor continuing to attract new development. The Village is looking forward to the major progress set to take place in 2023 with work continuing on the Tollway’s western access to O’Hare and the Green Street redevelopment.

HOT TOPICS

With the Village of Bensenville continuing to advocate for residents, we’re excited to share that the O’Hare Noise Compatibility Commission passed a Nighttime Runway Rotation Plan earlier this year. This program is the first of its kind with no other airports in the world having a similar plan. While this rotation schedule doesn’t completely resolve the airplane noise issues in Bensenville, it will provide residents predictability and some relief at night. The plan needs to be reviewed by the Federal Aviation Administration and is expected to take about a year before it can be implemented at the airport.

Late last year, a merger was announced between Kansas City Southern and Canadian Pacific railroads. Village officials have been busy voicing their concerns regarding the merger, which is expected to heavily impact the Bensenville community. As part of these efforts, the Village joined a coalition of impacted communities to oppose the merger as proposed.

RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONIES

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