Village takes over Lyons Library pavilion project

BY Jean Lotus Staff Reporter
An artist rendering of a proposed pavilion for the side yard of the Lyons Public Library.

An artist rendering of a proposed pavilion for the side yard of the Lyons Public Library.

What’s big and white and looms outside a library?

In Lyons, it’s the proposed Fedorow Pavilion, a 10-by-20-foot outdoor structure that will be built on the empty lot south of the library and used to host “outdoor classes and music events — the quieter ones,” according to Lyons Public Library Director Dan Hilker.

The pavilion is to be constructed with a $25,000 charitable gift from a trust honoring Lyons’ Fedorow family, who lived for decades on the 4100 block of Maple Avenue. The Village of Lyons will pitch in an additional 15 percent of the total cost.

But some residents are calling the project a white elephant, saying it will squat in the side lot specifically purchased for a future addition on the building. They are also criticizing a joint deal for a village-chosen contractor to work around legal requirements to put big-ticket projects out for bid.

Since the April, 2015 elections, some Lyons residents are leery of the spread of influence into other taxing bodies of Lyons Mayor Christopher Getty and neighboring Bridgeview Mayor (and State Senator) Steven Landek.

Getty spent $13,000 to help oust longtime incumbents on the Lyons Elementary District 103 School Board and replace them with candidates tied to the village. Since then, some residents have complained the school district is spending scarce education dollars hiring politically connected administrators.

Getty also supported successful candidates for the library board after of one board member died and another stepped down for health reasons.

In July, the new library board hired Hilker, who is also a Lyons village trustee. Although Hilker doesn’t have a Master of Library Science degree, the board changed the qualifications to accept Hilker’s Dominican University graduate work in education.

Since Hilker was hired, the board replaced the janitorial services with a company whose owner is a campaign donor to Getty and Landek. The library also hired an IT contractor who works as a technology director for the Village of Bridgeview. Under Hilker, the library has been deep-cleaned and new furniture has been ordered. The library has a budget of about $704,000 per year, according to audit documents.

But Hilker was acting in his role as village trustee April 19 when financial consultant Daniel Denys cited the wrong figures in a short presentation about an intergovernmental agreement to build the outdoor structure.

“Basically the library has a project for which they have a donation of $20,000 [instead of $25,000] to construct — we’ll just call this a pavilion — on the south side of the facility,” Denys told the trustees. “In addition the village is putting in $5,000.”

Denys said later he got the figure wrong.

“That was a mistake,” he said. “It’s $25,000.”

Hilker did not correct Denys’s figure when the board asked for discussion, but later confirmed the gift amount was $25,000. Hilker abstained from the trustee vote.

To the board, Denys explained how the village was not bound by the same constricting state rules as the library.

“Basically under state law the library would have to do a comprehensive bid process for doing this. We evaluated this project and have determined it would be better to hire a contractor and do a ‘build to suit.’” Denys said.

“Unfortunately the library does not have the ability to do that. The village does.

So what this agreement does, this allows us to build the pavilion in the most effective process and try to control costs. So the village would effectively act as an agent on behalf of the library to complete the project.”

The project has been in the works for years.

In 2013, documents show former Head Librarian Dan Powers wanted to use the gift to buy an LED electric sign, but got the kibosh from village zoning board because the library is in a residential zone. In 2014, Powers also proposed remodeling the employee lounge and buying new shelving.

The library and Ottowa bankers in charge of the Bradley T. Fedorow Trust finally came to an agreement on the pavilion.

The trust will donate the funds to the Illinois Library Association’s “Fund for Illinois Libraries,” which will pass through the donation to Lyons, according to the library documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Theodore and Olympia Fedorow were married for 62 years and raised two sons in Lyons. A son, Brian, died young. Olympia died in 2004, at age 80, according to local obituaries. Bradley Fedorow worked as a lawyer in Ottawa. Bradley died in 2006 at age 58. His father Theodore lived in Ottawa until 2008, when he passed away at age 90.

Terms of the Fedorow Trust gift include that the village must chip in $5,000 and the pavilion must be marked with a plaque or sign.

Perhaps because the donors were residents of Lyons, the money also comes with strings attached saying it can’t be used for political purposes.

“The Library will use the Trust’s donated funds solely on the project, and will in no way use the Trust’s donated funds for non-exempt purposes, such as political lobbying or otherwise influencing political elections,” the agreement said.

The pavilion will be built on a side yard about 25 feet wide between the library and a residence on Joliet Avenue. Hilker said because the house next door is so close, the pavilion will only be used for activities that are low volume.

Local resident, and former Lyons Elementary District 103 school board member, Toni Parker complained that the proposed structure would only be usable in nice weather.

“The pavilion, which can only be used part of the year, will be a white elephant,” Parker predicted. “Once the contractors have left and it’s put up, it deprives the library of needed space for future expansion and will not give value to the community in the long, or even the short run.”

“There are some goofy people in town raising questions about this,” Denys said in a phone interview. “For the village, this project is petty cash. A big project is over $100,000. This isn’t the World Trade Center. There’s not a line [of contractors] outside the door to do this [project.]”

“What we do is solicit proposals from qualified contractors,” Denys added. “We’re trying to get the best bang for our buck for the library.”

Denys said construction companies tend to overcharge in a bid process. He said the village was good at getting public structures built at low cost, citing a Little League concession stand where contractors submitted a bid “upwards of half a million dollars.”

He said the village cut that project’s expenses down to $315,000.

In September, 2015, the library did get a quote for $57,000 to construct an “Outdoor structure” from NAPCO Construction and leasing company of Melrose Park. NAPCO has donated $3,050 to Lyons Mayor Christopher Getty’s campaign and Getty’s United Citizen Party since 2012. That bid wasn’t considered.

Denys said the project was finally getting the green light and residents can expect to see the pavilion in 30-60 days.

“We want to fix [the library’s] side yard up and make it an asset for the community,” Denys said.

 

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