Journal Editor

If you take a ride on the Northwest or Tri-State tollways in the Chicagoland area you'll notice a gold mine in the form of billboards touting everything from Mexican food to gentlemen's clubs.

And the closer those billboards are to O'Hare Airport, which also means property within the City of Des Plaines, the more valuable they become.

A check this week with a major outdoor sign company that owns and maintains billboards along Chicago area tollways including many near O'Hare, shows that advertising a product or service on one side of a two-sided lighted billboard can reap the company as much as $20,000 a month. That means a two-sided billboard can generate up to $40,000 a month or $480,000 a year. For a company like Premere Outdoor, Inc. that managed to persuade Des Plaines aldermen to grant it the right to build 10 billboards along the Northwest Tollway near O'Hare, the potential income over 20 years could exceed $90 million.

It's believed that not long after Premere secured from Des Plaines City Council the billboard rights, that they sold at least five of those rights to Lamar Advertising. Another five were or may be sold to media giant Viacom.

Not all billboards can fetch as much as $20,000 per month. Many in the immediate O'Hare area, said one outdoor advertising employee, cost around $10,000 to $12,500 per month depending on the size of the sign. The further away from O'Hare, the least costly the billboard becomes. For instance, billboards located along Interstate-55 southwest of Chicago generally run about $5,000 per month per side.

Last April when city officials were discussing the prospects of awarding Premere the right to erect 10 billboards, aldermen suggested that the company donate $25,000 a year for three years to fund the community's fireworks display. In addition, the city said it would charge Premere a $15,000 per sign impact fee as well as regular inspection fees. Premere representative Joseph Loss quickly agreed to the city's terms. Some residents in Des Plaines are now grumbling that the financial concessions the city obtained from Premere are too small now that they know the value of the 10 billboards.

At Monday night's City Council meeting, local resident Marty Moylan, a former manager of the city's Community Development Dept., questioned the agreement the city made with Premere.

"We were told that the billboards were going to be a great deal for the city generating much needed revenue," said Moylan. "How do we know that deal the city made was the best deal out there? If actions are a way to judge, I would have to disagree that this deal was the very best the city could get." He suggested that the city should have sought competitive bids from many billboards companies to land the best deal for the city.

Added Moylan, "Also, why is the name James Dvorak, a convicted felon, at the center of yet another controversial business deal here in Des Plaines?...Mr. Mayor, as chief executive officer of the city's administration, I must ask on behalf of the residents, 'What is going on down here at City Hall?' " Moylan asked that the city place a "moratorium on the issuing of all necessary permits required to erect these billboards until a thorough investigation is completed. If necessary, going outside city hall to an independent body such as the Cook County State's Attorney's office or the Illinois Attorney General's office."

City leaders did not respond to Moylan comments.