August 25, 2010
By Rhonda Reed-Slaughter
At the recent village board meeting, Mayor Claar announced several capital improvement projects in the works this year. According to the Mayor, the projects will be funded by the motor fuel tax collected by the Village. This news was immediately published in the Bolingbrook Sun.
When we heard the news, several questions came to mind.
1. The location and type of improvements?
2. Total cost ?
3. Which company will be awarded the contract?
One specific project piqued our interest, so we decided to delve into the detail a bit more.
Project: The Median Improvements on Route 53
FACTS
* median imprvmts between Remington Blvd and Royce Rd.
* Bolingbrook's portion of cost - $516,000
* funded by motor fuel tax revenue
* type of improvements
1. demolish & extend retaining walls
2. build new walls around the median
3. preserve existing plants
4. add new plants
We were surprised to learn, many of the improvements (listed above) can be done by our very own public works department. So why would the Village choose to have an independent company step in to complete the project? How are we saving money by paying an independent company a minimum $500k, when we have a staff of public work employees that are being paid a salary to do the same work?
Upon further investigation, we discovered one landscaping company in Bolingbrook that's made millions off the taxpayers for many years.
Basically performing some of the same duties as our public works department.
WALSH LANDSCAPING
Walsh Landscaping charged taxpayers (via the Village) millions of dollars to maintain various properties in Bolingbrook.
According to the Village Treasurer's Report -
2009 - $1,202,458
2008 - $1,617,671
2007 - $1,118,649
2006 - $1,166,717
THE TYPE OF SERVICE PROVIDED BY WALSH LANDSCAPING
Per receipt copies from the Village of Bolingbrook
Watering various areas
* Walsh charges taxpayers $92.00 per hour, per person
to water the lawn and medians.
* In fiscal year 09/10, taxpayers paid approximately $32,000
for watering service.
* According to a source, several medians have an
underground sprinkler system. Unfortunately, the
village never set the timers.
Preserving Existing Plants
* Walsh maint. contract cost taxpayers $117k in 09/10.
* Route 53/I-55 maint. contract is costing taxpayers
$3,131 per month.
Adding New Plants
* In June, 2008, Walsh charged taxpayers $79k for Island
Planters on Rte53/I55.
* In July, 2008, Walsh charged taxpayers $38.9k to replace
plants at Rte 53 / I55.
* In fiscal year 2010, Walsh charged us $135k to plant street
trees.
As you can see, many of the jobs performed by Walsh Landscaping can be done by our public works department at a fraction of the cost.
So why would the Village choose to pay "premium" for basic service?
WALSH'S CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS TO MAYOR CLAAR
According to records obtained by the Illinois Board of Elections, Walsh Landscaping contributed approximately $44,500 to Mayor Claar's campaign since 2002.
Is it just a coincidence? Walsh contributes $44k to Claar's campaign, then receive million dollar contracts every year.
What a lucrative investment.
FINAL COMMENT
The first step in the Village's plan is to "demolish" the existing walls. Have you seen the bricks used to build those retaining walls? Very attractive, and expensive.
According to a source, those bricks can cost $4.99 to $10.00 retail.
Here's an idea, why not have the public works department remove the bricks (instead of demolishing them), load them on a pallet, and sell them for $1.00 per brick to residents. At least we can recoup some of the cost.
Just an idea.
Source: Village of Bolingbrook Treasurers Report (2005-2009), copies of receits from Walsh Landscaping,Illinois Board of Elections, Bolingbrook Sun and Village of Bolingbrook.
