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Name: Frank M. Beatty
Town: Hebron
Office Sought: Hebron Village President
1) What skills, qualities or experience do you possess that separate you from your opponents?
I have been involved in the Village of Hebron for more than 35 years. As owner and president of C.M.S. Container Maintenance Services , I made a decision to build a new building and relocate my company from Harvard to the Village of Hebron. Within a few years my wife and I decided to move our family into Hebron where we have resided for 27 years.
During my time in Hebron I spent; 12 Years as a police officer for the Village of Hebron, 2 years on the planning and zoning board, 4 years as Village Trustee, and 16 years as Village President. During my presidency I was actively involved with the McHenry County Council of Governments and elected to sit on the Executive Board.
2) What can the Village of Hebron do and what should it do to ease the property tax burden on homeowners?
The village needs to have a line item budget in place to determine a more accurate account of all expenditures. During my previous time as Village President I have obtained several hundred of thousands of dollars in grants from the state of Illinois and McHenry County for Village projects. By continuing to look for grants and promoting our village to commercial and industrial businesses, it will ease the property tax burden on our homeowners.
3) How would you describe the climate in Hebron government for businesses? What needs improvement? What's working?
The current Village President and Village Board talk about bringing in new businesses, but that's all it is is, talk. Fortunately, Dollar General approached the Village and decided to open a new store in our community. Sitting and waiting for businesses to contact the Village of Hebron is not working. What needs to be done is a more aggressive approach, by promoting our Village and actively communicating with businesses to relocate to the Village of Hebron.
4) What will be the biggest challenge that Hebron residents and their village government will face over the next four years and how will you meet it?
I believe the biggest challenge that faces our village government and residences will be fulfilling our payment obligation to the EPA without raising sewer rates to our residential customers. If elected within the first 90 days I will be meeting with the EPA to discuss the future of our sewer plant and our sewer rates. I believe I can get the sewer rates lowered for our residential customers.
It is time to start looking at our sewer plant as an asset to our Village. A special committee will be set up involving Village Trustees and local residences to discuss ways to start promoting our village and sewer plant facility to entice industrial, commercial and residential growth. Local communication is essential in order for us to meet our goals.
5) What can be done to reduce residents' water rate costs?
By promoting the Village of Hebron in a positive way, promoting our sewer plant and reaching out and communicating to industrial and commercial businesses to relocate to our village, would definitely help lower the sewer rates for all our residential customers.
6) Should Hebron be working to attract more residential development? Why or why not and how would you handle this?
The Village of Hebron should be working to attract more residential development. Residential, commercial, and industrial growth all work together. We need residential rooftops to make it easier to entice commercial and industrial growth.
In most communities there are two main issues for residential development to occur. #1 Can the schools handle the growth. #2 Water and Sewer capacity.
As of right now the Hebron schools would be able to handle some growth, but knowing that the Hebron School Board is already preparing for the future and land has been purchased to build a new High School is a step in the right direction.
New residential development will bring new families into our community and children into our schools. Passing a referendum to build a new school would be more apt to pass.
Water and sewer capacity is a major problem for most villages who want to stimulate residential growth, but not for the Village of Hebron. We have plenty of water and a sewer plant with enough capacity to handle 600 to 700 new homes.
If elected within 90 days I will be setting up a meeting with our local residential developers promoting our village and discussing residential development.