Arlington Heights Mayor Candidates Talk Flooding, Metropolis, Police Station and More

The three candidates for Arlington Heights mayor dug into issues affecting the Village of Arlington Heights Saturday at a candidate forum presented by the League of Women Voters of Arlington Heights-Mount Prospect-Buffalo Grove. 

The forum, at Arlington Heights Village Hall, was held before a packed audience of roughly 200 hundred people. answered questions ranging from how to handle flooding issues in the village, to the proposed new police station and business, to the future of Metropolis Performing Arts Center.

Each issue, and the candidate responses are below. 

Flooding in the Village

Hellner stated that Arlington Heights has been slow to address the flooding issue, and the villlage needs to work to find a solution. 

Drake proposed two solutions, which included:

• The village could purchase a foreclosed home, raze it and use it as a water retention area.
• Build 14-foot high vaults that are buried underground, tie them to each other the length of a football field and run pipes into them to handle excessive water runoff. An added feature would be to install artificial turf above the area to serve as an added recreation opportunity. 

Hayes stated recent problems with flooding are due to a rare amount of rainfall. A study is currently underway, he said, and a “a quick band-aid fix is not the solution.”

Business, Taxes and Proposed New Police Station

Hellner proposed an arts district, including a building with a gallery where local musicians and artists could perform and ultimately attract new tax dollars. He also suggested streamlining business licensing for new business. Hellner does not approve of the estimated 40 million dollar plan to build a new police station, he instead suggesting renovating.

Drake said bringing in business is important, and will take the tax pressure off of residents. He said he supports the police station fully, but intends to work with the architect so as to not have surprise, extra costs during the building process.

Hayes said he believes in creating a partnership with the Arlington Heights Chamber of Commerce. He said each line item for the new police station will be scrutinized to ensure cost efficiency and the station will be no bigger than necessary. Hayes also referenced 113 new businesses in the village in 2012 and the resulting job creation. 

Struggling Metropolis

Hellner stated that Metropolis brought in $3 million last year that directly benefits the village, by way of bringing in outside consumers who patronize local restaurants.

Drake said if the Metropolis is not viable, the village should look at absorbing the $250,000 mortgage payment, and lease out the space for a small, nominal fee to a management company, therefore reducing village risk, operating and management costs. He added he is not opposed to the arts, but is opposed to spending infinite amount of village money on keeping Metropolis afloat. 

Hayes said he believes in continuing the support of Metropolis, if it is at reasonable levels-he agreed that it is a tax dollar draw for the village. 

To view the candidate forum in its entirety, you can see the rebroadcast starting the week of March 18 on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 12 p.m. on WoW Channel 6, and Comcast Channel 16.

Candidates for Arlington Heights trustee and Arlington Heights Memorial Library Board also attended the forum and answered questions. Arlington Heights Patch will bring you their responses later this week.