Water Damage Restoration in Hinsdale, IL

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale High School District 86 board member Asma Akhras' taking of notes from a closed session recording has come under scrutiny.

At the April 24 board meeting, she told her colleagues that she listened to the recording of a September 2023 closed meeting. She said she took five pages of notes.

She later emailed her statement to Patch.

After that, a public records request was filed for the "confidentiality acknowledgement" required to listen to a closed-session recording, as well as Akhras' notes.

This week, the district produced the acknowledgement for Akhras' listening of the recording. She was supervised by Deb Kedrowski, the administrative chief of staff. It lasted about an hour in the early evening of April 22.

Find out what's happening in Hinsdale-Clarendon Hillsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The acknowledgement states that board members are not allowed to bring any recording or note-taking devices into the room where they listen to recordings.

Patch emailed Akhras on Wednesday, asking about whether any violation may have occurred with the note-taking. She did not respond.

As for the notes, the district said it had no such records. That calls into question whether Akhras took notes.

Any documents produced by board members in the course of their public duties are considered government records. Still, if the notes existed, the district could have legally declined to release them, citing exceptions to the open records law such as preliminary drafts and attorney-client privilege, among others.

Akhras spoke up at last month's meeting after the attorney for former board member Debbie Levinthal accused her of intimidation during the closed meeting in question.

The person who filed the public records request for the acknowledgement and notes was Deborah Weiss, Levinthal's lawyer.

After the release of the acknowledgement, Burr Ridge resident Yvonne Mayer, a longtime critic of the board, emailed the board and suggested Akhras be disciplined through a censure if she were found to have violated the confidentiality acknowledgement.

"Wouldn't it be easier and less costly to the D86 taxpayers if now that community members have raised a red flag about Ms. Akrhas' possible serious breach of closed session security protocols, that she simply provides a comprehensible public explanation, and if she did violate the protocol, just admit it, apologize for it, and promise not to do it again?" Mayer said.

She also questioned the contradiction between Akhras' public statement on note-taking and the district's assertion no such records exist.

HINSDALE, IL – Citing market demand, a developer is reducing the number of units in a planned condo complex in Hinsdale.

"There's a ton of interest, and we're not surprised," Drew Mitchell, a partner at South Bend, Indiana-based Holladay Properties, said at Tuesday's Village Board meeting. "People want to live in Hinsdale, and we have a lot of desire for downsizing empty nesters to stay in town, so there's tremendous demand."

An unusual part of that demand, he said, was for larger units.

So Holladay wants to build seven units, instead of the original dozen. The board approved that request.

"That will result in less density in the neighborhood, which I view as a good thing," Trustee Luke Stifflear said.

Find out what's happening in Hinsdale-Clarendon Hillsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Under the plan, the developer is renovating the old Zion Lutheran Church school building at 125 S. Vine St.

In its previous approval, the Village Board required that 80 percent of the units have someone who is 55 or older.

Under the changes approved Tuesday, the complex will have three parking spaces per unit. That's up from two.

"The neighborhood seemed really supportive of the project, but for the parking," Mitchell said.

He noted the ongoing work.

"If you've been by the project as of late, it's a mess," Mitchell said. "You have to go down before you go up. Success is messy, but we are on our way."

The condos are expected to be ready in about a year, said Craig Ross, owner of Hinsdale-based Ross Builders.

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale has been required to submit an affordable housing plan to the state for more than a decade. But it has not.

On Tuesday, the Village Board approved such a plan, which Patch detailed in a story Monday.

For the most part, housing in Hinsdale, one of the state's wealthiest towns, is anything but affordable. The median-priced home is $1 million, according to the U.S. Census.

Under state law, towns where affordable housing makes up less than 10 percent of the stock must submit plans every five years. According to the state, just 3.7 percent of Hinsdale's homes are considered affordable.

At Tuesday's meeting, Village President Greg Hart, who took office last week, noted the village submitted a plan in 2005. The new document, he said, builds on the framework of the last one.

Find out what's happening in Hinsdale-Clarendon Hillsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

"To be very clear, this is not a new policy initiative by the village," Hart said. "This update is being undertaken solely to comply with Illinois law, which requires a submission of an updated plan by July 2025."

He said the two-decade-old law requiring the plans had been amended, requiring towns to turn in plans by June.

The village received the help of a consulting firm, Teska Associates, in updating the document.

The plan indicates that 128 acres in Hinsdale are zoned for multifamily housing, which the village identified as most suitable for affordable homes.

Those acres make up 4.3 percent of Hinsdale's total area.

To incentivize affordable housing, the village said it could reduce water bills and fees for building permits or zoning applications for such units. These suggestions were also in the 2005 plan.

Officials did not give much of an indication that such ideas would be carried out.

"The state requirements do not mandate Hinsdale alter its zoning code in order to provide this plan, and we have not altered our zoning code," Trustee Luke Stifflear said.

Here are the percentages of affordable housing in selected towns over the last decade:

Here are the numbers of affordable housing units out of the total units in selected towns over the last decade:

n.a.: not available

Source: Illinois Housing Development Authority

HINSDALE, IL – The board for Hinsdale High School District 86 is prepared to meet less often.

On Thursday, board members generally agreed to hold meetings once a month for most of the year. When there is more business in the fall and spring, the board may meet twice.

Also, the seven-member board wants to do away with July meetings.

Board President Catherine Greenspon proposed the changes just days after the board welcomed four new members.

She asked Superintendent Michael Lach, who started in July, for his thoughts.

He was supportive.

"I love seeing you all the time, but meetings are a lot of work for us to put together," Lach said. "There may be months around the program of studies and around staffing where we need more time, but I think generally we can get by with one meeting a month."

New member Bobby Fischer agreed. He said the district has more stability now.

"We have a leadership team that is running the show in a more rigorous way," Fischer said. "It makes sense to me to cut back, but I just hope as issues arise, we all have a willingness to do those special meetings, so we don't fall behind in meeting student needs."

Board member Liz Mitha suggested the board get its meeting materials more than two days ahead of time under the new arrangement.

The board plans to formally vote on the meeting schedule later this month.

A few years ago, the Elmhurst School District 205 board ended its practice of meeting twice a month. It makes exceptions.

In Illinois, school board members are unpaid.

Also at Thursday's meeting, Greenspon announced committee assignments for board members. She gave committee chairmanships regardless of whether members voted for her as president.

HINSDALE, IL – Hinsdale's proposed affordable housing plan indicates the village has little hope for low-cost housing, given the rise in property values over the years.

On Tuesday, the Village Board is set to vote on a five-year affordable housing plan. Such a document is required for non-home rule towns where such housing makes up less than 10 percent of the stock. The deadline is June 14.

Hinsdale has not produced such a plan since 2005, despite the state's requirement that it do so every five years.

In its proposed plan, the village says it has not done so because it considered itself an "exempt town," meaning it did not have to submit one. Exempt towns are those where more than 10 percent of housing is considered affordable.

According to state reports, Hinsdale has less affordable housing than it did a decade ago. The reports state that 3.7 percent of Hinsdale's housing stock is deemed affordable, down from 4.2 percent in 2013. Its neighbors have seen slight increases in that time.

Find out what's happening in Hinsdale-Clarendon Hillsfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Of more than 1,300 towns in Illinois, Hinsdale ranks as having the 24th lowest rate of affordable housing, reports indicate.

The median-valued house in Hinsdale is valued at $1 million, according to the U.S. Census.

The plan states that a diversity of housing opportunities enhances Hinsdale's sense of community.

"However, maintaining diversity has become increasingly difficult as market forces have driven housing and land values upward in Hinsdale and throughout the region," the plan said. "Additionally, available land for new development in Hinsdale is virtually nonexistent and limits possible areas to construct new affordable housing units."

Now, only limited areas of Hinsdale have multifamily housing development, which are mainly south of 55th Street and downtown, according to the village.

From 2018 to 2024, the village approved 277 permits for the building of single-family homes, most of them replacing older ones. Under the village's definition, that category includes duplexes and townhomes.

During the same time, Hinsdale issued no permits for multifamily housing.

To incentivize affordable housing, the village said it could reduce water bills and fees for building permits or zoning applications for such units. It said it could also help businesses with employer-assisted housing. These suggestions were also in the 2005 plan.

In a 2015 interview with Pioneer Press, Hinsdale Village President Tom Cauley said the town was in the process of updating its 2005 affordable housing plan, but blamed turnover in the village manager's position for preventing Hinsdale from meeting the state deadline.

However, turnover has not been an issue since September 2013, when the current manager, Kathleen Gargano, took the helm. Gargano has not returned messages for comment on the issue over the last few years.