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ForestParkReview.com
Vol. 103, No. 4
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F O R E S T PA R K
REVIEW JANUARY 22, 2020
Forest Park welcomes new firefighter PAGE 4
Spelling champs progress to local competition PAGE 18
@FP_Review @ForestParkReview
Pipe dreams Forest Park needs $100 million for sewer separation By MARIA MAXHAM Staff Reporter
Forest Park residents currently pay nothing to use the sewers in town, but this may soon change. Paying nothing to use the sewers is unusual; out of 11 nearby suburbs, including River Forest, Oak Park, Westchester and Riverside, Forest Park and Elmwood Park are the only two where residents don’t pay a dime for sewer usage. Of nearby suburbs, Lyons has the highest rate, at $7 per 1,000 gallons. River Forest charges $5.87. River Grove has one of the lowest rates: 75 cents. A recently published water and sewer rate study, commissioned by the village and conducted by Chris Burke Engineering, provides reasons that adding a sewer tax makes sense. At the Jan. 13 village council meeting, Jim Amelio of Chris Burke Engineering, the firm contracted by the village for infrastructure work, presented results of the study, which was authorized by the village in May 2018. The last time a similar study was conducted was 2005. Purposes of the study included assessing the financial condition of the village utility fund, determining upcoming expenses needed to maintain the water and sewer systems, and suggest equitable rates that would generate the revenue needed to cover these expenses. And the price is high. Estimated capital project costs for water in Forest Park are See SEWERS on page 9
Photos by Alexis Ellers
NO PROHIBITION HERE: O’Sullivan’s manager Anthony Crawford mixes drinks for Jason Maxham (left) and Ned Wagner at the Historical Society’s Volstead Act fundraiser on Jan. 17.
Where the liquor still flows
Historical Society hosts Prohibition party By JILL WAGNER Contributing Reporter
Partygoers, dressed in 1920s attire, en-
joyed live period music and craft cocktails at the Historical Society of Forest Park’s prohibition fundraiser. Held in the side room of O’Sullivan’s, 7244 Madison St., the evening’s entertainment “celebrated” the Jan. 20, 1920 Volstead Act while learning about the impacts on Forest Park through a slideshow featuring some of the early saloons in town — and had a swinging time
doing so. According to the Historical Society’s presentation, Forest Park had 42 saloons when the 18th Amendment was passed to prohibit “intoxicating liquors” in the United States. The National Prohibition Act prohibited the See REENACTMENT on page 18
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