Deal With IL On Tinley Park Mental Health Center Stalls: Mayor

TINLEY PARK, IL — After a potential deal with the state stalled Monday, village officials are looking for another member of Congress to introduce a bill which would transfer ownership of the former Tinley Park Mental Health Center site to the village.

A possible agreement between Illinois Central Management Services could end in the village finally owning the property through a CMS bill which was supposed to be introduced in the Illinois Senate. However, Mayor Mike Glotz said a state senator who was key in introducing the amendment failed to do so last week.

"[The bill] appears to be bricked and on the brink of failure with the political ping-pong that we feared," Glotz told Patch in an email.

State Sen. Michael Hastings was supposed to introduce the bill on Friday or Monday, which would add an amendment to the state's management budget to allow the village to own the site that has caused environmental and financial burdens on the south suburbs as it stays open to the elements and occasional trespassers.

For now, Glotz said the village will have to find another representative to introduce the bill in the Illinois Senate. While not ideal, Glotz said at a village board meeting last week, the site is also mentioned in House Bill 4950, which would allocate $15 million from the Build Illinois Bond Fund to renovate the former mental health center.

Illinois State Rep. Tim Ozinga also introduced House Bill 4951 which, if approved, could allow CMS to transfer responsibilities for the site to the village. Even if Hastings doesn't introduce the bill later in the spring session, Village Manager Pat Carr said Tinley Park officials are still optimistic about the progress.

"We are very happy that it has gotten to this point where we have something in writing," Carr said. "We are pretty confident that this will go through."