Publications & Sites 
New fines approved for late liquor license renewals
Among other action taken during a regular meeting of the Park Ridge City Council on March 18, aldermen:
• approved new penalties for businesses that fail to renew their annual liquor licenses by the established due date. The new fine will increase from $50 to $150.
• recognized Lincoln Middle School students for raising more than $75,000 for childhood cancer research during a St. Baldrick’s fundraiser on March 14. Approximately 160 students volunteered to have their heads shaved for the event, 12 of them girls, said math teacher James Tebo.
• approved an intergovernmental agreement with the city of Des Plaines and the North Maine Fire Protection District to provide mutual aid ambulance billing. This allows Park Ridge patients to pay the resident rate rather than a higher non-resident fee if they are transported by a neighboring fire department. Park Ridge accepts assistance from other departments if its ambulances are already busy responding to other emergency calls.
• learned that the North Shore Electrical Aggregation Consortium, of which Park Ridge is a member, has accepted an electrical rate of just under 5 cents per kilowatt hour from the company MC Squared. The new rate, which is passed on to all residents who haven’t specifically opted out of the program, will be effective from June 2013 through May 2014. The rate is a slight increase over the previous year, according to the city.
• rejected bids for a new pumper truck for the Fire Department. The bids were recommended for rejection because one was “excessively higher in cost than staff anticipated” and the other three sought a number of exceptions to what the city had specified. The expense for the new truck has been moved to the 2014-15 capital budget.
“Fleet services is doing an outstanding job of keeping our pumpers and our fleet in great condition,” Fire Chief Mike Zywanski said at a Committee of the Whole meeting. “I don’t think there’s an issue (in waiting).”
