Politics & Government

Village President: Walmart Interested in Northbrook

During the annual State of the Village address, board president Sandy Frum talked about Northbrook's strong economic position, recent successes in village infrastructure development and Walmart's upcoming bid for the lot near Skokie Blvd. and

Village president Sandy Frum gave a brief preview of next week's regular board meeting, saying village trustees would hear a proposal from Walmart about developing a store at 1000 Skokie Blvd. 

"I'm not cutting them off," Frum said at Pinstripes on Monday, during the annual State of the Village presentation. "I want them to make their case, I want the community to make its case."

New business development was one of many topics covered during the presentation. Infrastructure development such as water main upgrades and road improvements, the fatal July train derailment and the village's current economic status were also on Frum's agenda. 

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Northbrook's Tragic Summer

Frum mentioned last summer's train derailment and board's decision to install a wider than previous bridge at the derailment site on Shermer Rd. as the best long-term idea for community safety. 

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"We had two choices, build the old bridge with 100-year-old standards or a new bridge with new standards," she said. 

The new structure, which will take Union Pacific 18 to 24 months to complete, will allow for a wider Shermer Rd. and won't have a support beam in the middle of the street.

"We're aware of the impact on our businesses," she said, referring to the stores and companies located near the derailment site who've been most affected by the traffic obstruction. "We're advertising them."   

Frum also said the village had to remove more than 230 ash trees because of the emerald ash borer. 

"We expect to lose all of [the ash trees]," she said, though it would won't happen for almost 10 years.  

Economy and Infrastructure

"We're not going off the financial cliff," Frum said at the start of the presentation. "We have a triple-A bond rating." 

The president told a banquet hall full of local business and community leaders that Northbrook's perfect grade with Moody's and Standard & Poor's would save the village $2 million over the next nine years. 

"Moody's and S&P both commented on our financial strength and management style," she said. 

Frum said there were 200 water main breaks in Northbrook in 2012, but ongoing water main improvements will help prevent those in the future. She cited the Techny Road improvement, which was completed a year ahead of schedule thanks to ideal weather during construction periods, installed pipes that could hold one million gallons of storm water. 

She also said a water main below Dundee Rd. would need upgrading soon, and the village has been in talks with the Cook County Forest Preserve to install new Dundee water mains below parts of forest pererve property.

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