Vacant Police Station - Update

Earlier this year, it was reported that there is a $4.8 million dollar deficit.

On December 3rd, the Village announced it is moving ahead to spend over $518,000 in 2009 to give the Vacant Police Station a new roof and do some structural repairs in order to get it ready for a potential re-design that "...eventually could..." accommodate more village offices. (SouthtownStar A5)

Further, it has been reported that in a presentation given in the Recreation Committee meeting held October 27, it was estimated the redesign of the Vacant Police Station could cost $2.19 million dollars. Is there a paying tenant envisioned to help re-coup this expenditure?

On December 4th, the Village announced a public meeting to APPROVE a proposed property TAX levy INCREASE. (Orland Park Prairie A2)

Why is the Village in such a hurry to spend more than $500,000 on a vacant building, and potentially much more, when at the same time it has been reported that the Village is facing a budget shortfall, has capped the amount of our tax rebate, has left the sales tax increase in place, and this in conjunction with the recently proposed Property Tax Increases?

Who really benefits from this construction and development?
Why is it OK to ask you to pay more, while they continue to spend with abandon? Is this scenario starting to sound familiar?
Is Orland Park being drawn into a manufactured bailout?

You can participate in our pole to the right of this blog.

Vacant Police Station @ 147th and Ravinia

The Village of Orland Park is going ahead with a plan to spend $18,500.00 to have a "high tech" 3-D design study to demonstrate how a few properties, including the relatively modern and currently vacant Police Station, can be re-designed as commercial / retail space.

The Village has also proposed spending @ $2.5 million to complete the redesign of the Vacant Police Station.

Currently, the Village of Orland Park has numerous vacant commercial and retail spaces. By some counts, there are several hundred vacant properties. Why is the Village attempting to spend more money on creating more commercial or retail space, instead of spending this money on attracting businesses into the existing vacancies?
Has the Village considered contacting various other Police or Government agencies to see if they would have a use for the vacant Police Station in it's current configuration, such as a State Police sub-station, the INS or Justice department facility, a Police Academy extension of local colleges etc...?
Gerald Maher has written and submitted a letter to the Orland Park Prairie paper. The letter will be published in the Dec. 4th issue. You can download an advance copy of this letter from our website http://www.ccop.us/, under Downloads, titled:
11-24-08 Response to "No Vacancy"
What are your thoughts on this issue?