A strange thing happened in Naperville over the weekend of October 12 thru the 15th. 7.8 inches of rain fell during that time period, one-half ml. or one thunderbolt short of eight inches. What’s really strange is that no residents appeared in front of the city council during public forum on October 17 to complain about flooding in their basements. Typically that happens like clock-work. You can count on a string of disgruntled residents voicing their frustrations to the council asking for a remedy.
The fact that no one appeared in front of the council can only mean a couple of possibilities:
- Naperville city officials have finally solved the problem of flooding.
- Residents have given up trying to get the council to listen and act on the problem.
- Everybody was too busy still trying to bail water out of their basements.
- Watching the Cub’s playoff game had priority.
The next council meeting isn’t until November 7, so it’s possible the council will dodge the issue and few if any residents will be there to complain about their tale of woe.
A number of streets in Naperville were closed due the flooding. One of the problems was the deluge of rained happened immediately before the first of three leaf pick-up cycles. Many streets were lined with neat piles of leaves at curbside. Add to that about 8 inches of rain and bingo sewer drains get clogged with no where for the water to go; hence flooded streets and basements.
It’s not the City’s fault that leaves, rain, and bad timing happened at the same time. It could happen at the beginning of the next leaf pick-up cycle, or the last leaf pick-up cycle. However it would appear that city officials might want to consider other remedies for disposing of leaves.
A friend from Tinley Park was driving through the maze of flooded or closed streets in Naperville that weekend and realized quickly that piles of leaves acting as dams in the streets didn’t make the situation any better. Apparently that problem doesn’t exist in Tinley Park. What do they know that we don’t know in Naperville.
What a waste of taxpayers dollars on this leaf pick-up program. Can’t the city staff or the Council realize that there is a “green” solution? Did you realize that after all the mess is finally removed from the streets then the city workers return on their equipment to wash the streets? It’s ridiculous. I wish Mother Nature had a voice.
The simple solution was achieved by many people with rakes who simply cleared the leaves from the drains. No big deal. We have to do this all the time, even when it is not leaf pick up time. The city leave program is great. Do not stop it.
Many residents like the leaf and shrub pickups the city does every year. In fact the main reason unincorporated Naperville residents did not what the city to get the contract for Naperville Township street maintenance was because the city does not do them as many times during the year as the Township. So it is an amenity the residents in this area value and want to continue.
If leaves are bagged, neat and orderly there is no drain clogging problem. The bag is made of paper and bio degradeable and easily spreadable. Otherwise why not go with another can…perhaps periwinkle in color that only holds leaves. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
Jim H. What makes you think leaves were the MAIN reason unincorporated residents don’t want anything to do with “regular” Naperville? People move to unincorporated areas for a plethora of reasons. To get away from a spend a buck city councils, ever increasing water, electric, and tax rates, the same groups of cronies being elected and appointed to boards, over reaching regulations, no direct representation or accountability, bigger more intrusive governmental bodies, streamlined services at better prices, etc. etc. etc. To think the “main” reason is leaves is ill informed at best and obtuse at worst. Some people just like LESS Government in their lives, and living unincorporated is the closest thing to that around here.
This was the reason the residents that spoke out gave when addressing city council on this issue. This applied only to road services and had nothing to do with city codes, water or electrical, etc. The point of the contract was to reduce the size of township government by utilizing city resource. This contract was let to the Lisle township road department.