THORNTON | The village-owned home of the Thornton Historical Society will become more modern, the Village Board has decided.
Trustees voted to install central air conditioning and a new furnace in the renovated former church building at 114 N. Hunter. Van Drunen Heating and Air Conditioning of South Holland received the bid for the work at a cost of $7,240. Money for the project will come from tax increment financing funds.
Historical Society members recently requested the work after problems were found with the building's two existing furnaces, Village Administrator Jason Wicha said. The bid from Van Drunen stated that one new furnace would reduce the building's heating costs by 40 percent to 50 percent.
Trustee Paul Tomasik questioned whether the village also should air condition the building.
"I see that we have to replace the furnace, but do we want to add central air? It's open two hours a week," Tomasik said.
The added expense was supported by Trustee Joseph Pisarzewski.
"If you're going to have a Historical Society, then you should preserve what's in it. You need to do something to take the humidity out, to protect the artifacts," Pisarzewski said.
Resident Bob Enright criticized Wicha for bringing the matter to the trustees for the first time on June 15, when the bid was dated April 8. Wicha said after the meeting the bid was obtained last spring by the Historical Society. Wicha said he found out about the issue within the last two weeks.
The proposal was adopted 5-1, with Trustee William Koch voting against.
In other business, the annual village treasurer's report showed Thornton finished fiscal 2008-09 with a surplus of more than $31,000 in its general fund.
The village spent roughly $330,000 less than appropriated from the general fund in the past fiscal year, Wicha said. At the same time, revenue was $145,000 more than projected for the fiscal year that ended on April 30.
Tomasik voted against accepting the report, saying it does not reflect the village's real financial health.
"I have a growing concern about using the water fund to pay for regular public works expenses," Tomasik said. "There's a lot of movement toward transparency in government. You can't tell where the money is going in our treasurer's report. That's not transparent."
