Fox Point Board to Consider Footbridge Survey Tuesday

The Fox Point Footbridge saga continues Monday when the Village Board will chat about possibly including a survey in the fall, village-wide newsletter. 

The Bridge Lane Ravine Footbridge connects Bridge Lane and Barnett Lane, spanning a deep ravine, and that bridge  

Residents Larry Booth and Bob Cory have asked the board repeatedly to to gauge the level of support for taxpayer money funding the project. Both men are not in favor of building a new bridge, as Booth called it in one of his Letter's to the Editor. 

"We need this to be on an informational flier to all residents (like the crime report sent out) and then scheduled as a referendum item on the very next ballot opportunity!" Cory said in a comment on a Patch Letter to the Editor. "Lets stop the foolishness! Our village pockets are not lined with such discretionary funds!"

Interested in more news about the Bridge Lane Ravine Footbridge? Check out our topic page dedicated to our continuing coverage of the infamous bridge.

"One of the most puzzling things about this project is the fact the Village Board has never taken a formal vote on whether spending $1.1 million on a footbridge is a wise use of taxpayer money," Booth wrote. "At the Village Board’s February meeting, the Village President even denied a resident’s request to have the Board vote in public on the matter."

But other residents feel just as strongly that they want the bridge restored. Neighbors Cissy and Jack Bryson and Mary and James Connelly have also made speeches at numerous board meetings regarding the bridge. The four even spent $5,000 of their own money to hire an expert,

A Patch poll posted in April shows  followed by 17 percent in favor of restoring the bridge of a total 443 votes. 

Most recently, there was a special board meeting where That money will be used to hire a professional fundraiser to rhelp aise their $625,000 share for a new footbridge.

Also on Tuesday's agenda, the board plans to:

• Discuss and possibly act on a resolution that says of the budget. 
• Receive a forestry report from the village forester reviewing work on Emerald Ash Borer remediation, elm and ash tree removal and the forestry's interaction with the community. 
• Discuss and possibly act on borrowing $2.3 million from the State Trust Fund. 

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at