Lake Forest Mayor Plans Coronavirus Economic Relief For Business

LAKE FOREST, IL — Mayor George Pandaleon announced plans to provide economic relief to local small businesses and begin ramping up the city's operations in preparation for the eventual end of the public health emergency triggered by the new coronavirus.

The mayor said the city's first steps toward an end to its temporary building closures and service suspensions would consist of stepped-up maintenance activities, along with a partial reinstatement of some curbside collections, starting on Monday.

Speaking in his fourth video message (below) since the coronavirus crisis commenced, Pandaleon said the growth rate of new coronavirus cases in Lake Forest had stabilized.

"While the number of Lake Forest cases continues to grow at the rate of one to three new cases per day, that rate has remained fairly consistent over the past couple of weeks," he said. "We are not seeing the fast rate of growth increase that others are seeing in other locations, so don't relax, let's try to keep these numbers down."

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As of Thursday evening, there were 73 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lake Forest's 60045 zip code, and 31 cases in Lake Bluff's 60044 zip code, according to Illinois Department of Health data. It was not clear how many, if any, residents of either town had died. That's because the Lake County Health Department has not identified the locations or ages of those that have died — or yet responded to records requests for such information, which has been released by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office on a daily basis. Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper said his office has not been keeping records of those that die of COVID-19 in the county when the cause of of death is deemed to be natural.

Pandaleon said the city would begin expanding curbside yard waste collection next week. While the city's recycling center will remain shuttered, large refuse items that would normally be dropped off there can be picked up outside homes. Until the recycling center reopens, no special pickup charges or yard waste stickers will be needed, he said.

"We're now looking to incrementally increase some aspects of city operations," Pandaleon said. "To do this, strict procedures have been established so our employees stay safe. The staff is continuously sanitizing equipment and work spaces, using proper protective equipment, taking their temperature each morning and providing daily health reporting."

More city crews will begin performing maintenance work around Lake Forest, the mayor said.

"This work is necessary so that we can be better prepared for the eventual end of this crisis when we can then come to together as a community," he said.

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Pandaleon said the Lake Forest City Council would consider a measure at its meeting Monday to provide a sales tax rebate to some local businesses. No further information about the measure was immediately available. The details of the proposal are set to be included in the meeting agenda due to be released Friday.

Several other suburban local governments advanced their own local economic relief packages. Last month, Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson approved a municipal economic relief package worth $2.8 million through credits to water bills and businesses license renewal fees, as first reported by the Elk Grove Journal.

Using sales tax rebates, the Wilmette Village Board granted $375,000 to qualifying small businesses who generated up to $7.5 million in sales tax-eligible revenue last year and whose sales declined by at least 15 percent since the stay-at-home order. They can apply to receive half of the municipal sales tax the village collected from them last year. And last month, the Highland Park City Council approved $11,500 in economic relief to those that rent property from the city.

In his video message, Pandaleon commended residents, restaurants, organizations and businesses for tying the community together during the statewide stay-at-home order.

"The amount of grassroots innovation and creativity, as neighbors rely on each other for help and lift each other's spirits, often with a healthy sense of humor, is truly amazing."

Watch April 15 video message from Lake Forest Mayor George Pandaleon »