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Regular Council Meeting <br />10-20-08 <br />Page 13 <br />Mr. Saponaro just wanted to be clear that in no way, shape or form did he mean to come <br />across as this is the first time he has heard about this or addressed it. He has known it has <br />been a strategic part of the Village's plan in the long run for. a long time. His concern is <br />that in today's economic condition and what we are looking at as a Village, we do not <br />know what the future holds. We have to look at our purchases. In Mr. Saponaro's <br />viewpoint, we have to make sure we are looking at purchases that really make the most <br />sense. Mr. Saponaro understands what Mayor Rinker is saying in terms of part of the plan <br />and the park system, but we also have to answer to the residents who say, why are you <br />spending $140,000.00 on a piece of property that really doesn't affect me at this point <br />when the sidewalk program, people don't understand where the monies come from in terms <br />of the budget. They do understand when my sidewalks can't be repaired, my streets can't <br />be repaired, we have this problem or that problem and then the Village says we don't have <br />the money to do that yet and we turn around and we buy a piece of property. Mr. Saponaro <br />holds nothing against the property and it is not about that, but what he thinks we need to do <br />is look at the bigger picture here and that's where he is coming from. Cer.tainly not feeling <br />that this was jammed down anyone's throat. Mr. Saponaro knows that we have been <br />negotiating for quite a while on it. <br />Council President Buckholtz asked if we have had an option on this property for quite some <br />time to buy it, is that correct? Mr. Diemert stated that is correct. Council President <br />Buckholtz mentioned for the people in the room to be clear, he does not think the sidewalk <br />program in any way was held up because we could not afford to do it. It is a complicated <br />problem. Property owners have to pay into that. Council President Buckholtz does not <br />want the perception here to be that we are trading off the sidewalks for a house. He does <br />not think that is what Mr. Saponaro meant. He is just saying, we are being fiscally <br />responsible. Mr. Saponaro said we know what it is, but the folks that are out there who <br />aren't attending the meetings who don't read our minutes but who do hear from their <br />neighbors and people about purchases that we're making, they are going to have those <br />questions. Mr. Saponaro understands that. Council President Buckholtz stated that we <br />have always had those questions about purchasing property like this property we are sitting <br />in. They don't always become clear at the time. <br />Dr. Parker stated that he sat in on the Finance Committee meeting. You can defer to the <br />Minutes, but he thinks in the overall scheme of things, what we planned out over a number <br />of years, Dr. Parker feels that this property does lend itself into the plan that we have laid <br />out. It is a corner property in a strategic location. While sure, we may not want to spend <br />money, the time to spend it for something appropriate does make sense when we look at <br />our overall plan. There is nothing to say that down the road we can't turn around and sell <br />the property if we find it no longer plays into our plan or if we lease the property to <br />someone. Dr. Parker did not have a problem with the amount or the timing of this <br />transaction.