VILLAGE NEWS
Economic Development Tour of Bedford Park
The Village of Bedford Park hosted an economic development tour for local realtors, developers, property seekers and sellers. Mayor Brady and Village Attorney Larry Gryczewski talked about what tax incentives Bedford Park has to offer. The group met at the Holiday Inn Midway and boarded a bus to tour the available properties in Bedford Park. Anyone attending with an available property was able to say a few words about the property.
Highlighting the properties was well received by everyone and gave the property seekers specific information they may have been looking for. After the tour the group returned to the Holiday Inn for a light lunch. The Village felt this was a great way to promote all available properties for sale or lease within the village.
Mayor David Brady Receives the 2010 Excellence in Government Award
A leader and active Mayor with the Southwest Conference of Mayors who has demonstrated the foresight to create a healthy community through planning, economic development, leadership and evidence of the contributions made to his community, Mayor David Brady, Mayor of Bedford Park. Under his leadership the Village has added 2 new firehouses, water main and street upgrades, beautification projects to residential and industrial areas, in efforts to attract businesses. These efforts have resulted in two new hotels, created a TIF district on 65th St., a medical facility, and filled two major warehouses and continues to work on economic development efforts.
Mayor David Brady received the 2010 Excellence in Government Award at the Business Champion Awards Banquet hosted by Moraine Valley Community College. As he accepted his award he thanked others for their efforts to help him achieve his goals. The Bedford Park-Clearing Industrial Association would like to congratulate Mayor Brady for this achievement and thank him for his commitment to Bedford Park.
Bedford Park Fire Department Hosts Fire Officer Candidate from Poland
During the month of September the Bedford Park Fire Department was awarded the honor of hosting a Fire Officer Candidate from the Main School of the Fire Service in Warsaw, Poland. Bedford Park is one of 6 Fire Departments nationwide to be chosen for this exchange program. Fire Officer Candidate Sylvia Marcinkowska arrived on September 3rd. Fire Chief Sean Maloy and Operations Assistant Chief Jeff Clohessy have created an itinerary for her to give the most well rounded experience possible both culturally and Fire Service oriented.
In addition to living and working at Bedford Park Station #3 she has also spent time at Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection Dist. and the Chicago Fire Dept. Her experiences thus far have given her time observing dispatching at Oak Lawn Central Dispatch Center, the Safety City & Public Education programs at the Schererville (IN) Fire Department and spent a day at the Illinois Fire Service Institute learning about the facility and the training it provides as the State Training Academy. During the visit also observed a Building Collapse Rescue operations course.
Sylvia is one of 6 Officer Candidates to be chosen for this program. She is in her 3rd year of study at the Main School of the Fire Service and when she graduates she will hold a rank equivalent to a Fire Lieutenant. She will also have a degree in Fire Engineering. The Polish Fire Service has been in existence since 1991. It is a National Service under the direction of the Interior Ministry. Upon graduation Sylvia will spend about 2 years rotating thru various Rescue Units (Fire Stations) before getting her permanent assignment with a Fire/Rescue unit. When she graduates her shifts will be similar to ours - 24 hours on duty with 48 hours off. They respond to Emergency Medical calls only on the request of the hospital based ambulance service. They provide specialized training and Response Teams for Technical Rescue, Environmental Hazards (Haz-Mat), Urban Search & Rescue and Dive Rescue and Recovery.
One main difference is that Emergency Medical calls are handled by hospital based ambulance services. The rescue units only respond if called for. Their medical training is limited to first aid. The Polish Fire Service consists of 499 Rescue Units supported by 335 District, 16 Provincial Headquarters, 5 different Training Schools and 12 Hospitals. There are approximately 120,000 volunteers thru out the country operating 3678 Volunteer Rescue Units.
Sylvia grew up in the town of Sanok, Poland. Her father is a retired District Chief from the Polish National Fire Service.
Public Works Department
The Public Works Dept. has had a very busy summer, starting with the annual spring plantings around our Village Hall, fence area along Archer Avenue, hanging baskets and the extension of the walking path from the Park District along what we call "Railroad Alley". Additional plantings were also done along the wall area in conjunction with the Bedford Park District, and we thank them for all the work they did to help accomplish this task. As you may have heard, the Village has entered into a National Beautification contest, sponsored by America in Bloom. The judging for this contest was done in the third week of July, with two judges spending two days here looking at everything we have done, from the Village area on the west end of town to the Hotel area on the east end. Landscaping was not the only thing that the judges were looking for. Other categories we are being judged on include: Turf and Ground Cover Area, Environmental Effort, Floral Displays, Landscaped areas including homes and businesses, Urban Forestry, Tidiness, Community Involvement, and Heritage. Many people helped out with presentations for the judges that were here, and for such a small residential area with a large industrial base, they were quite impressed. I would like to thank Donna Smith of the Clearing Industrial Association, Kathy Taloff and her staff at the Park District, Judy Holloway and the staff of the Heritage Corridor Association, Bedford Park Library, the Beautification Committee run by Gail Rubel and made up of volunteers Marcia Janchenko, Kim Ponio and Adrienne Lucas. A special thanks goes out to John Mateja of Touch of Class Landscaping for his tremendous vision of what could be done here in Bedford Park. He has been a tremendous help in helping me put this all together. Last but not least, I would like to thank my Public Works staff, including summer employees, in keeping things looking great all over town!
The awards ceremonies were held in St. Louis September 30 thru October 2nd. Out of twenty eight communities from around the nation and Canada, Bedford Park was in the final three for the award for landscaping. The award went to Westfield, New Jersey. We were very pleased that we placed that high in this category with twenty seven other entrants. We did receive a plaque for our landscape efforts, and it is on display in our case in the lobby of the Village Hall. In the population category, there were three entrants for our population, the other two being Shipshewana, Indiana, and Echo Oregon. Echo Oregon took home the trophy. We thought we did an exceptional job for our town with this being the first time out in any sort of national contest. Again I'd like to offer my appreciation to everyone involved in this endeavor.
Our efforts to make our town look as great as we can has started to make its way over into our Industrial Area as well. The fabrication and installation of ten information signs along the 65th St. corridor has been completed. The Public Works Dept. has applied for and ITEP (Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program) Grant specifically designed in part to help towns with the beautification of their main thoroughfares. Grant and Power Landscaping have designed planter boxes that will be placed along fifteen locations along 65th Street in the median between the east and west bound lanes. Along with the planter boxes, we also included in the grant request money for an additional thirteen signs to place on the rest of 65th Street and also on every corner along the 73rd Street corridor. We should probably know by the end of the year if we are in the running for these funds. Please wish us luck! In addition to these improvements, we are also putting in some streets and water mains in the industrial area. The streets being done are 71st from Harlem to Sayre, Sayre from 71st to 73rd, Major Avenue and 66th Place, 66th Street west of Narragansett, and 66th Place east of Laramie. We will continue with our water main and street improvement program for a few more years, until we have all of our streets in top condition. The Village Streets will also be resurfaced in the not too distant future.
In other Public Work news, street sweeping will continue up until all the leaves have fallen, usually sometime around Thanksgiving. Remember, large sticks will not go up the tubes on the machines, so they have to be either broken up or placed in the alley with the regular yard waste. Snow removal will remain as always, with snow ordinances to be enforced to the fullest extent.
