New Lenox mayor highlights 'appropriate' commercial development, Census 2020 in State of the Village

New Lenox residents don’t have to worry about a NorthPoint-like industrial park coming to their town, Mayor Tim Baldermann said at his annual State of the Village address Thursday morning at Silver Cross Hospital.

Steady residential and commercial growth and the need to continue to market the village to get more businesses to invest in New Lenox was the focus once again for Baldermann’s address.

He also emphasized that the leadership has a vision for the village, and it does not include sprawling industrial parks like the controversial one proposed by NorthPoint Development in Joliet.

“Our board unanimously feels that’s not appropriate, that it does not fit into the character of our community,” Baldermann said.

They agree that industrial development should be limited to the Cherry Hill Business Park – sandwiched between Interstate 80 and Gougar Road, from Haven Road to Laraway Road – to limit truck travel on its roads, said Baldermann.

Baldermann said that people have requested that he take an active role in opposing NorthPoint’s plans but he feels that each community must do what is right for them.

“We’ll say ‘no’ to it here and we’ll do what we can to protect our borders and our community, but each community has to do what they feel is best,” he said.

Baldermann highlighted the available properties around the Silver Cross Hospital campus, the village’s downtown district, and the Laraway Road Metra Station as areas where the village would like to see development that aligns with their vision for the community.

“The medical campus should be supported by hotels, restaurants, a 55-plus [residential] community,” he said.

The village last year approved a plan for a resort-style senior residential community near Silver Cross Hospital and has also been in talks with an as-yet-unnamed hotel chain.

Baldermann also emphasized the need for all residents to participate in the upcoming Census 2020 not only because the village receives $165 a head in federal and state funding based on an accurate count of its population, but also to market the village to the types of developers it wants to see invest in New Lenox.

The village has been active in marketing its community to bring in development, such as during Cubs game broadcasts on local cable channels and on the Hallmark Channel, Baldermann said.

In 2019, the village saw 142 housing starts and 34 new businesses open. The total construction value of permits pulled for residential, commercial, industrial and institutional development is almost $70 million, he said.

The long-awaited Pete’s Fresh Market will start construction this spring, he said.

On infrastructure, Baldermann said that the new building for the Metra Station on the Rock Island line is slated to be completed in November. The construction for the reconfiguration of the Maple Avenue exit off Interstate 80 will continue two more years but was needed because “that was a pretty dangerous on and off.”

The village continues to improve seven miles of road every year, he said.

Baldermann also noted that New Lenox had to increase water and sewer rates in recent years as it prepares for more than $100 million in construction costs for its planned regional wastewater treatment facility and a redundant Lake Michigan water line.

He also noted that the village will rebate 80% of its portion of property taxes to residents this year and aims to make that 100% in coming years.

“Our philosophy is that we take what need to provide services and we give back to you the excess.”