Libertyville Prepares for Road Repairs

, the village is preparing to fix about 35 percent of Libertyville-maintained roads over the next five years, according to a village staff.

“Based on the preliminary list, we plan to fix about 31 miles of roads,” said Laura Nali, assistant to the public works director.

A tentative five-year road rehabilitation plan is posted on the village’s website. Village staff says work still needs to be done to determine the priority of roads to be fixed.

“We are setting up a game plan to map out the five years,” said Public Works Director John Heinz. “We still have to televise all the underground and that may shift the list a little bit.”

Depending on what cameras find in the sewers, some roads may need more repair or replacement, which could change the road priorities.

The village still needs to arrange for financing, determine the scope of the work, bid and award contracts before road rehabilitation can start in 2013.

The will be paid through an estimated 30 percent property tax rate increase, according to village documents.

For a homeowner with a property valued at $300,000, the property tax will go up by about $136 per year.

Staffers say while it is a significant increase, the new rate still would be the second lowest in comparison to what local Lake County communities are paying for all village-provided services.

For 2012, Libertyville plans to spend its annual road program budget to fix Lake Street, from Butterfield Road, east to Butler Lake Park and from West Street to Brainerd Avenue.

“It was selected because we were kind of in limbo with the referendum,” Heinz said.

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