Hinsdale trustees approve contracts for resurfacing, landscaping and water interconnect; hold first reading of 2025 appropriation ordinance

Hinsdale 'The Board of Trustees on March 4 held a public hearing and first reading of the village's 2025 appropriation ordinance, approved several contracts for streets, landscaping and tree work and authorized construction of a water main interconnect with Burr Ridge to provide a full-time backup water supply.

The village opened a public hearing on the proposed appropriation ordinance and heard no public comment before adjourning the hearing. Village President Tom Cawley said the proposed ordinance sets the village's legal spending limits for calendar year 2025; the draft mirrors the budget adopted in December and adds a legal cushion of up to 25% on each line item "to account for historic fluctuations," with department-level contingencies of 5% in the general fund and 10% in other funds. Cawley said the total legal spending authority for the village and library under the ordinance is $88,001,635. The ordinance requires a second reading before final adoption.

Why it matters: Illinois law requires municipalities to adopt a legal spending limit by the end of March; the appropriation ordinance establishes the maximum the village is authorized to spend by line item. The board's first reading gives staff legal authority to return with a second reading and final vote later this month.

On the consent agenda the board approved contract awards for several public-works and maintenance services:

- Awarded the 2025 street resurfacing construction contract to A Lamp Contractors for $1,415,000, under the budgeted amount of $1,700,000. The list of streets to be resurfaced was provided to trustees during the meeting.

- Rejected all bids for landscape maintenance, waived formal competitive-bidding concerns and awarded the landscape maintenance contract to Barry Landscaping for $192,000. Staff and legal advised rejecting the low bid because of concerns about the low bidder's capacity; the selected firm previously provided village landscape and rain-garden restoration services.

- Approved a three-year tree-pruning contract with Yellowstone Landscape of Plainfield, Ill., totaling $269,000; the village plans to spend about $100,000 on that contract in 2025, using a unit-price model based on tree trunk diameter.

The board also approved a $406,000 construction contract with H. Linden & Sons to build a water main interconnect with the Village of Burr Ridge, creating a permanent backup supply in case Hinsdale's DuPage supply goes down. Under an intergovernmental agreement described at the meeting, Hinsdale will pay 66% of the cost and Burr Ridge 33%; the village budgeted $500,000 for the project and will bill Burr Ridge for its share after payment. The board additionally authorized construction-observation engineering services for the interconnect to Crawford, Murray and Tilly not to exceed $49,000; that cost will be split with Burr Ridge under the same cost-sharing arrangement.

The board received the village's annual Integrated Pest Management (IPM) report from John Fennell, superintendent of parks and forestry and the village pest-management coordinator. The report summarized 2024 work and 2025 plans: staff maintain roughly 114 acres of turf in village parks plus about 23 additional acres of green space, applied more than 3,500 pounds of grass seed last year, aerated over 16 acres, performed prescribed prairie burns at two natural areas and continued treatments to protect public trees from Dutch elm disease and emerald ash borer. Fennell reported the village treated roughly 346 American elm trees and removed 16 public American elms last year; 255 ash trees were treated for emerald ash borer and 14 infested ash trees were removed. The village planted 249 public trees, removed 212 and pruned over 1,500.

Citizen business: Kevin Parks, representing the Hinsdale Platform Tenants Association (HPTA), asked the trustees to waive permit fees for a planned project at KLM (adding two courts). Village staff told trustees they intend to waive in-house permit fees and other village-collected soft costs but expect the association to pay third-party or out-of-pocket costs.

Votes at a glance (formal actions taken March 4):

- Approval of minutes for the Feb. 18, 2025 regular meeting: motion/second; roll-call vote recorded as all present "Aye." Outcome: approved.

- Adjournment of the public hearing on the appropriation ordinance: motion/second; roll-call vote recorded as all present "Aye." Outcome: approved (hearing adjourned; ordinance requires a second reading).

- Consent agenda (including 2025 resurfacing contract to A Lamp Contractors, landscape maintenance to Barry Landscaping, tree pruning to Yellowstone Landscape, second reading amendment approving the HPTA agreement amendment and other consent items): motion/second; roll-call vote recorded as all present "Aye." Outcome: approved.

- Accounts payable for the period Feb. 20'March 4, 2025 in the aggregate amount of $781,951.01: motion/second; roll-call vote recorded as all present "Aye." Outcome: approved.

- Motion to adjourn into closed session under 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(2) (collective-bargaining/negotiation matters): motion/second; roll-call vote recorded as all present "Aye." Outcome: motion approved; board moved to closed session and did not plan to reconvene in open session.

What trustees said: Village President Tom Cawley framed the appropriation ordinance as a legal spending limit and described the contingency percentages that provide "breathing room" in cases of emergencies or unforeseen expenditures. Matt (village staff member) reminded trustees that "Illinois state law requires us to adopt a legal spending limit by the end of this month." John Fennell, superintendent of parks and forestry, summarized the IPM report and noted the village has been a Tree City USA community for 30 consecutive years.

Context and next steps: The appropriation ordinance requires a second reading before the board can adopt it; staff will return with the ordinance for final action later in March. Construction on the water interconnect will proceed after contracts are executed and Burr Ridge reimburses its share under the negotiated intergovernmental agreement. Several maintenance and public-works contracts authorized March 4 will be implemented this construction and service season.