Riverwoods approves easements for Deerfield Road work and awards $82,252 tree-removal contract ahead of March construction deadlines

The Village of Riverwoods Board of Trustees voted to approve an agreement granting easements to Lake County tied to Deerfield Road/Federal Life construction work and separately approved a contract of $82,252 to remove trees needed for Saunders Road, the Federal Life project and tree hazards at Village Hall.

The easements approval formalizes multiple conveyances and temporary construction easements the county requested as part of road-widening and stormwater work related to the Federal Life development; village counsel told trustees the parcels together represented “approximately, 55 or $60,000” in total compensation before the board negotiated to waive most payments. The tree-removal contract, awarded to Clean-cut Tree Service Inc., covers four bid packages tied to Saunders Road, sections of the Federal Life work, and 16 hazardous trees on the Village Hall campus.

Village of Riverwoods Director of Community Services Michael Witt told trustees the tree work is critical to schedule-driven road and grading work: “Tree removal of the Federal Life Project, is necessary in order to allow the mass grading work to occur to fulfill not only our obligation under the IGA with…