Romeoville OKs cleanup of Spartan Square

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Updated: March 22, 2012 8:03AM

ROMEOVILLE — Trustees approved a contract with V3 Engineering of Woodridge for environmental cleanup of the Spartan Square Plaza.

The move is aimed at future redevelopment of the corner at Route 53 and Phelps Avenue, which the village has owned since 2008. The corner site has only three remaining tenants.

The two-part agreement with V3, which also handled the phase 1 and 2 planning, is tied to a $200,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant for the cleanup of the site. V3 will conduct a soil contamination study, as well as develop a cleanup plan.

The first part of the new agreement is expected to cost $42,000, which will be paid for through TIF funding.

Part two of the agreement will involve the planning and logistics for cleanup work to be performed under the grant funding, which includes a 20 percent match from the village. Total cost for the project is expected to be around $240,000. The village’s portion of the project for part two is expected to come from TIF funds or work performed by the village.

Part of that work may or may not include the demolition of the strip mall at the site, something officials with the village have yet to determine.

Assistant Village Administrator Dawn Caldwell said cleanup efforts would be more costly if the buildings at the site were kept intact. The plan calls for the buildings to be razed, but the plan can be amended, Caldwell said.

“The concept as it’s written does talk about demolishing the building but that doesn’t mean we have to do that,” she said.

In other business, trustees approved the purchase of a fire rescue/patrol boat. The $164,789 boat will be paid for through a Federal Port Security Grant, Romeoville Fire Chief Kent Adams said.

The boat will be outfitted with sonar, radar and a rescue basket with a crane that will assist with water rescues.

It also will be used by the police department for patrols.

Adams said the new 20-foot craft will help fire personnel facilitate water rescues along the canal, which he said has been made more challenging since the construction of an electrified barrier designed to deter Asian carp.

The boat can be used to assist with barge fires by drawing water directly from the canal, Adams said.