By Heather McDonald

The Park Ridge Village Board will look to its residents for guidance on the future of the village’s fire department.

Board members unanimously voted Monday, Aug. 21, to hold a referendum in February to ask the public which direction the village should move in retaining fire protection, but the board did not present options or cost figures. When a board member attempted to discuss potential options, Board President Trish Baker stopped him, saying the agenda was specific to whether or not to hold a referendum.

Baker said she wanted a self-imposed deadline because the board has been putting the issue off for several years. Last spring, despite having cost figures for three options – including costs from an architectural firm for basic construction of a new bay building – the board created a long range/comprehensive planning committee to review the village’s big cost maintenance items such as road repairs and sewers, and kicked the Fire Department issue to that committee as well.

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