The owners of a prospective hospice care facility are asking the Village of Flossmoor for a voluntary annex of two pieces of property along Governors Highway.
Former Flossmoor Mayor Paul Braun, serving as an attorney representing Oasis House of Refuge LLC, on Monday, March, 7, presented preliminary plans for the facility, which he called “a very exciting project.” It would be located on 2.24 acres on the southwest corner of 198th Street and Governors Highway that currently rest in unincorporated Cook County. The building would be a single story of approximately 12,500 square feet, with a proposed zoning of R7 for planned multi-family.
“This is something we don’t have in the community,” Braun said. “I think it would be very beneficial to have an inpatient hospice here in the village.”
Braun noted the spaces at 19810 and 19812 Governors Highway were an old chicken farm surrounded by Flossmoor properties. The spaces would be converted to accommodate a 14-bed facility.
“We’re not asking for any action this evening,” Braun said. “We want to give the board just a sneak peek of what we’re trying to do here and gauge the temperature of everybody.”
Braun noted the owners, Hakeem and Sade Bello of Homewood, would also be seeking a Class 8 property tax incentive, as well as other incentives that may be available to them, if the plan moves forward. But Braun said the owners are also proposing a “make-whole” agreement for the village share of the taxes otherwise abated through Class 8.
Sade Bello told the board of her history in hospice operations in the Chicago-area, starting with another company in 2005. She founded Oasis in 2014. And the Flossmoor facility, she said, would be “like a mini ICU,” with services paid for by Medicare, Medicaid and insurance, giving people a place “to die with dignity and care.”
Bello added that Oasis typically works with private ambulance companies for transportation, which should relieve any potential added burden on the Flossmoor Fire Department for service calls.
“I think it’s a needed thing in our community, especially if we’ve had others that have moved out,” Trustee Gary Daggett said.
The proposal would next go to the Plan Commission. If it gets through the process quickly, the plan is to break ground by late summer and be open by spring or summer of next year. Flossmoor Village Attorney Kathleen Orr noted several actions will be required for approval between the annexation and rezoning of the property.
Other business
- The village board voted 5-0 to approve its consent agenda. It included a contract to pay Baxter & Woodman Consulting Engineers $176,500 for construction observation services required for the Berry Lane Drainage Improvements Project. Trustee James Mitros was absent.
- The consent agenda also included a contract to pay Baxter & Woodman Consulting Engineers $89,950 for construction engineering services for the Phase 4 Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project in the Flossmoor Hills and Highlands subdivisions.
- The consent agenda also included ratification of a collective bargaining agreement with the Flossmoor Police Officers Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council, effective May 1, 2020, through April 30, 2023. Among the terms of the agreement are wage increases of 2% effective May 1, 2020 (the contract includes some retroactive pay), 2.75% May 1, 2021, and 3.25% May 1, 2022.
