PORTAGE PARK — People can learn more about the four organizations that want to oversee Six Corners services at a virtual meeting next week.
The Belmont-Central Chamber of Commerce, Portage Park Chamber of Commerce, Six Corners Association and the Edgebrook Sauganash Chamber of Commerce applied to permanently manage Special Service Area 28 after the previous service provider was ousted by the city for mismanagement last year.
As part of the process in picking a service provider for the area, the Department of Planning and Development, which oversees the program, is hosting a meeting so neighbors can hear proposals from the four groups, said department spokesperson Peter Strazzabosco.
The meeting is 10-11:30 a.m. Tuesday and will be streamed live on the planning department’s YouTube page.
Each organization will have 15 minutes to present why it is best-suited to manage the special service area for the remainder of this year, Strazzabosco said.
The department will select the provider within two weeks after the presentations. The finalist will be introduced to City Council and is expected to be approved tentatively by late April, officials said.
The appointment will be the third shift in oversight of the Northwest Side taxing body in less than three years. A City Council committee controversially appointed the Six Corners Chamber of Commerce to the role in late 2020, replacing the Six Corners Association, which had the role for 16 years.
Property owners in the Six Corners service territory — roughly from the Metra tracks to North Lavergne Avenue and between Byron Street and Warner Avenue — pay a special tax that’s used for beautification, snow removal, cleanup projects and other services.
City officials pulled funding for the previous provider, the Six Corners Chamber of Commerce, in a rare move last year. The planning department has only terminated two service provider contracts prematurely in the past 10 years.
The Belmont-Central group was appointed in December to temporarily manage the special service area until a new one is chosen.
The Belmont-Central and Edgebrook Sauganash chambers already manage special service areas in their respective business corridors, though it is not uncommon for one group to manage multiple special service areas, as indicated on the city website and as officials previously said. The Edgebrook Sauganash group is more than 3 miles from the busy Six Corners intersection.
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