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For most Americans, the Fourth of July is a day off. That's not the case for those on staff in the village of Hinsdale, who were out in full force last Thursday morning for the Independence Day parade. Which employees were working? "Like the whole village of Hinsdale," said Mike Hayes, superintendent of parks and recreation, listing off fire, police, public works, pool staff and administration. This year's parade is the second Hayes has directed since joining the village in...
The Hinsdale police department recently welcomed two new officers to its ranks. Officers Sergio Briones and Ian Simpson are the latest to wear the village badge after being sworn in by Village President Tom Cauley at the June 11 village board meeting. Briones was born and raised in the northwest suburbs and graduated from Aurora University with a bachelor's degree in criminal Justice and an MBA in sport management. He is bilingual with fluency in Spanish and is a recent...
We are nearing the one-year anniversary of Sean Richards tragic death. Sean was killed on July 17, 2023, while walking on a Hinsdale sidewalk. I would like to thank the Hinsdale Village Board for improving public safety by proactively installing jersey barriers around Fuller’s Car Wash. As a resident of Hinsdale, however, I am concerned by some comments made by Village President Tom Cauley that were reported in Ken Knutson’s June 13 Hinsdalean article. At the June 11 board meeting, Mr. Cauley inserted himself into the mid...
Fuller’s Car Wash may be willing to close down to settle a lawsuit over the tragic death of 14-year-old Sean Richards of Hinsdale last summer. But Sean’s family said there’s more at stake for both loved ones and the village at large than simply shuttering the business. The latest developments in the matter emerged at Tuesday night’s village board meeting after Sean’s father Brian rose to speak during public comment. After thanking the village for placing jersey barriers outside the car wash exit to prevent vehicles from ente...
Following residents’ comments at recent Hinsdale Village Board meetings regarding serious accidents at Fuller’s Car Wash, Village President Tom Cauley decided to do some research of his own. “There were a couple of residents who stood up and talked about previous accidents at the site, and it just didn’t ring a bell with me at all,” Cauley told The Hinsdalean Wednesday morning. “After that, I went back and had the police pull the reports and go through it. “It just didn’t jibe with what residents were saying had happened as...
Commercial-grade, crash-tested bollards will be installed at Fuller’s Car Wash, according to Hinsdale officials, replacing previously erected protective fixtures that critics argued were insufficient to prevent another collision like the one that claimed the life of 14-year-old Sean Richards last summer. At Tuesday’s village board meeting, Village President Tom Cauley reported that the manufactured bollards are the kind used at schools, hospitals and other institutions and designed to stop a 5,000-pound vehicle going 40 mil...
The effort to preserve a portion of Sixth Street as a vintage all-brick road continues, but questions remain over the path to success. Sixth Street between Garfield Avenue and County Line Road is scheduled to be resurfaced next year, and residents along that stretch were told in January that the village would pay only the cost of using asphalt on most of the road. To keep it brick, a special service area would need to be established through a vote of included homeowners to cover the significantly higher price tag. At the...
Hinsdale officials have not done enough to improve safety outside Fuller’s Car Wash following the tragic death of 14-year-old village resident Sean Richards last summer, according to his parents, Kristi and Brian Richards. During public comment at Tuesday night’s village board meeting, an emotional Kristi Richards criticized trustees’ approval of protective bollards at the site following the accident as an inadequate measure that gives pedestrians “the false sense that they are protected” when walking past the car wash exit...
Hinsdale will have a new Ad Hoc Historic District Design Review team in the next two weeks. Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to amend sections of the Hinsdale Village Code to create the new entity and make other changes to the historic preservation process. “The process is designed to encourage owners of historic homes to preserve their homes,” Village President Tom Cauley told The Hinsdalean Wednesday. “But if a historic home is to be demolished, we want to encourage homeowners to build a new home that is consistent with...
In response to calls for additional village action to discourage the demolition of historic homes, Hinsdale trustees are considering requiring design review meetings for those looking to tear down and build new. At Tuesday night’s village board meeting, Village President Tom Cauley introduced an ordinance to modify the current process overseen by the historic preservation commission, which must issue a nonbinding certificate of appropriateness for a new construction application before demolition can occur in the Robbins Park...
Nov. 12, 2023, is a day the Meltzer family of Hinsdale will long remember. The late autumn Sunday began with a drive to the bike shop for 10-year-old Jacob Meltzer and his dad, Bob, to get Jacob's wheel fixed. Returning home, Jacob hopped out in the driveway and Bob proceeded into the garage. But something was off. "When my dad pulled in, he started hitting the garbage can," recounted Jacob, who jokingly admonished his dad to watch where he was going. It quickly became...
The village's approach to managing insects, disease and weeds, which focuses on environmentally sensitive and economically sound practices, is working well. That was the message of John Finnell, forestry and parks superintendent, at the Feb. 20 Hinsdale Village Board meeting, in his annual integrated pest management report. "Every year we get this - just like we go to the dentist," Village President Tom Cauley joked before the presentation. "Hopefully it's not quite as painful...
Hinsdale trustees want to support the Hinsdale Historic Preservation Commission in its work. So next month they will discuss adding steps to the process for homeowners who want to tear down a historic district or landmarked home and build something new in its place. “I think there’s competing interests here for historic preservation on one hand and the right of the homeowner,” Village President Tom Cauley said at Tuesday’s village board meeting. “I do think we have to strike a balance between these two concerns. That said...
The installation of new noise walls as part of the widening of the Central Tri-State won’t happen until after the old ones are removed, contrary to a deal Hinsdale and Illinois Tollway officials worked out several years ago to minimize the impact on residents. Instead, as explained by a Tollway representative at the Feb. 1 village board meeting, a temporary 8-foot wooden fence will be erected along the western side of the highway after the existing noise wall is torn down. “Once the temporary fencing is installed, we ant...
The village of Hinsdale has received more than $70,000 in donations from residents and businesses toward Memorial Building restoration and improvement work. Assistant village manager Andrianna Peterson this week reported the total contributions to date for the Memorial Building Historic Plaza and Roof Railing Campaign to restore the building’s original Chippendale roof railing, which was removed due to deterioration a number of years ago, and renew the patio area on the south side of the building as a venue for events and c...
The Hinsdale Village Board Tuesday agreed to ask the plan commission to look at new regulations for short-term rentals in the village. The proposed ordinance change would set a six-month minimum for rental homes, including those booked through services such as Airbnb or VRBO. As part of its process, the plan commission will hold a public hearing, but a handful of residents spoke out Tuesday night. Michelle Crowe, who lives at 200 S. Bodin St., said some 20 groups rented the house next door through Airbnb between Thanksgiving...
Work on Sixth Street planned for this summer will be postponed until 2025 so residents have more time to determine their options to save their brick street. "We budgeted $4.5 million for the work on Sixth Street," Village President Tom Cauley said at Tuesday night's Hinsdale Village Board meeting. "If we do an all-brick Sixth Street, that would be a $6.5-million project for four blocks. That is a lot of money for the village." Cauley spoke in response to a plea from Sixth...
Community Consolidated Elementary Dist. 181 Board Among other business Monday, board members: • heard a report on the packaging of bids for the estimated $20.7 million in construction projects related to the district’s implementation of full-day kindergarten in the 2025-26 school year. Facilities director Mike Duggan said Oak School was bid separately due to the $5.8 million in work required, while Elm School and The Lane were bid together as smaller projects with a $3.5 million combined cost estimate, as were Madison and...
Following the arrival of 11 busloads of migrants in 11 days in downtown Hinsdale, the village has joined the growing number of suburban communities enacting restrictions on bus companies to prevent the unannounced drop-offs. At a special village board meeting Tuesday, trustees passed an ordinance requiring bus companies to file an application with Hinsdale Police Chief Brian King at least five days before a proposed disembarking date. Failure to do so carries a fine of $750 per passenger and the possible impounding of the...
The village will have a reserve balance of $6.7 million at the end of 2023. That balance will exceed 25 percent of the village's annual operating expenses, which is the percentage of reserve balance rating agencies require for municipalities to obtain a AAA bond rating. Hinsdale has maintained a AAA bond rating for many years. Only about 15 percent of Illinois municipalities carry a AAA bond rating. Hinsdale takes crime prevention and the apprehension of individuals who...
The time to make a special contribution in support of Hinsdale’s enduring story is quickly running out. In commemoration of the village’s 150th anniversary, officials launched the Memorial Building Historic Plaza & Railing Campaign. Funds collected will go toward restoring the original Chippendale roof railing on the nearly 100-year-old village landmark as well as renewing the outdoor gathering space adorning Hinsdale’s “front lawn” on the south side of the structure. The iconic and treasured symbol of Hinsdale owes its exist...
Several Sixth Street residents said if the village truly is committed to historic preservation, plans to repave their brick street with asphalt should be abandoned. “These plans as presented are a huge disappointment and frankly unacceptable to most of us on the blocks,” said former village trustee and 144 E. Sixth St. resident Bill Haarlow at Tuesday’s Hinsdale Village Board meeting. Haarlow detailed village efforts to encourage homeowners to preserve historic homes in the v...
The Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce's 57th annual Christmas Walk was held Friday night, and in spite of the unfrozen snow, crowds gathered to greet Santa and stroll around the central business district visiting shops and exhibits. Village President Tom Cauley greeted Santa after he arrived on the Hinsdale Fire Department's ladder truck. Hinsdale firefighter/paramedic Chris Swon, Santa and Cauley then lit Hinsdale's new Christmas tree in front of the Memorial Building. Sara...
Hinsdale Village Board Among other business at their Nov. 21 meeting, trustees: • held a public hearing on the 2023 proposed total property tax levy of $15,577,075, including the library levy and village taxes to repay six bond issues. That almost $3.2 million in debt repayment money will be abated when the board approves the levy at its Tuesday, Dec. 12, meeting. The village’s portion on the tax bill of a $1 million home will be about $1,400, Trustee Matt Posthuma said. No one spoke at the hearing. • voted 4-0 to appro...
Higher than anticipated revenues in 2023 and rising revenues in 2024 will allow the village to invest more in master infrastructure plan and capital projects. Permit revenue and interest income have outperformed budget projections this year, village manager Kathleen Gargano wrote in a memo to trustees for their Nov. 21 meeting. That, combined with lower employee salary costs due to long-term vacancies not being filled and decreased overtime costs, will leave the 2023 budget with a projected operating fund balance, after...
