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Resident questions ongoing bond payments and village payoff on Bennett sports complex and Benedictine access
Summary
A resident asked trustees to review whether the village is still paying bonds for the Bennett sports complex and whether the complex has delivered promised local benefits, including use by Benedictine University and District 202 teams.
Resident Dean Brecco used public comment at the Aug. 18 Village of Lisle meeting to question whether the village is still paying bonds for the Bennett sports complex and whether the complex has delivered the anticipated local benefits.
The question matters because the village continues to service bond debt for projects that were intended to spur sales and hotel-tax revenue and benefit local institutions, Brecco said.
Brecco said the sports complex was promoted years earlier as generating sales-tax and hotel-tax revenue and as being available to Benedictine University and Community Unit School District 202 for athletic use. “Right now we're paying a bond for something and at the time it was encouraged by one of the trustees ... and the mayor to have basically we're paying the bonds for that,” he said. Brecco added that the field has felt “anything but welcoming,” said “every game's an away game,” and asked why the village remains responsible for the bonds.
Brecco asked the board to investigate “what the village payback is on that support complex” and to report whether the facility is serving the village as intended. He asked trustees to give “good consideration” to that question and did not cite specific bond amounts or outstanding balances in his remarks.
The board did not announce an immediate review or a staff assignment in open session at the Aug. 18 meeting. Brecco’s request appeared during public comment and was recorded in the meeting minutes.
