East Dundee trustees direct staff to pursue removal and regrading of retaining wall at 2–4 N. Van Buren

East Dundee trustees discussed and gave staff direction to pursue removal and regrading of a retaining wall behind two recently demolished houses at 2 and 4 North Van Buren.

Village staff said the fluted concrete wall currently limits sight lines on Route 72 and narrows the sidewalk; removing the wall and regrading the parcels would improve the safety of left and right turns at the intersection and allow for future sidewalk widening. Staff explained existing soil from the site could be used to backfill and create a slope from the public sidewalk up to the parcels, and that the village owns property to the restaurant’s drive aisle under an easement that staff will preserve.

Trustees weighed three options — remove now while demolition equipment is on site, apply a veneer or cosmetic treatment, or defer the work as part of a larger project. Trustee discussion repeatedly cited pedestrian safety and sight-line improvement as the primary reasons to act sooner rather than later. One trustee asked whether the grading could be done now to accommodate a wider sidewalk in the future; staff agreed it could be planned with that future vision in mind.

Staff noted a vendor doing the demolition offered to remove the wall while equipment was available. Because the cost to add the work would exceed administrative thresholds, staff said any authorization would be processed as a change order and returned on the next meeting agenda for formal approval. The board discussed using $10,000 from contingency to add the work now and generally signaled support for proceeding with authorization to bring the contract amendment back for approval.

Next steps: staff will prepare a formal change order and present it for approval at a future meeting, and will continue coordination with IDOT and adjacent property owners about sight-line and right‑of‑way implications.