Morton Grove board OKs Dempster Street TIF, authorizes CMAR work for new village hall and police station

The Village of Morton Grove Village Board unanimously approved a three-ordinance package on Feb. 24 to establish the Dempster Street Redevelopment Project Area and adopt tax increment allocation financing, and authorized construction-manager-at-risk work to advance a new village hall and police station.

At the start of the agenda, the village administrator summarized the redevelopment plan and eligibility work prepared by Johnson Research Group, saying the Dempster Street area — defined from Central Avenue to the Forest Preserve District and School Street from Dempster to South Park Avenue — met the TIF Act’s criteria for a conservation/redevelopment area and that private investment alone was unlikely to spur the proposed level of development. The board voted 6–0 to adopt ordinance 26-02 (approving the redevelopment plan), ordinance 26-03 (designating the project area) and ordinance 26-04 (adopting tax-increment allocation financing) after no substantive public questions.

Following ordinance passage, the board considered Resolution 26-10…