SR0074 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0074 LRB101 09306 ALS 54400 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Tinley Park Mental Health Center was constructed in 1958; it occupies 213 acres and is adjacent to the 62 acres of property vacated by the Howe Development Center; and

WHEREAS, The facility was decertified by the federal government in 2009; and

WHEREAS, The 61-year-old facility stopped admission on June 16, 2012, and patients were discharged into local hospitals and treatment providers; to this day, the south suburbs suffer from an emergency mental health epidemic; and

WHEREAS, The Tinley Park Mental Health Center property has remained unoccupied for the past seven years and poses safety and environmental risks to local residents of Tinley Park; and

WHEREAS, The Village of Tinley Park has conducted their own private studies, at the expense of taxpayers, to investigate environmental risks associated with the Tinley Park Mental Health Center; and

WHEREAS, The Village of Tinley Park has taken requested proposals from qualified developers across the nation in order to properly develop the Tinley Park Mental Health Center, and the residents of Tinley Park should not be responsible for the costs associated with the environmental clean up of an outdated state property; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois should bear the responsibility of properly conducting an environmental study on the property to properly identify possible hazards and courses of action for remediation; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Governor JB Pritzker and the Director of the Department of Central Management Services to conduct an environmental study at the cost of the State and properly identify any and all environmental issues related to the Tinley Park Mental Health Center Property; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be presented to Governor JB Pritzker and the Director of the Department of Central Management Services.