Lombard here. This is for the public works director. Can you explain to me why the public works trucks have an OPTICOM system on them? For those of you who don’t know, that’s the system that changes the traffic lights for emergency vehicles. I don’t think you plow trucks are emergency vehicles so I can’t understand why they would have that equipment on there to control intersections. That’s supposed to be just for fire and police. I would love to hear the answer to this one.

Carl Goldsmith, who heads up public works for the village, responded: “The state of Illinois does in fact classify snow removal equipment owned by a political subdivision of the state [municipality] as an emergency vehicle.” A list of vehicles, per state code (625 ILCS 5/12-601.1 [d]) under No. 8, shows that vehicles used for snow removal can use the OPTICOM system during a snow emergency when their amber lights are activated. “It is important to note that the village snow removal equipment, unlike police and fire equipment, operates on a Low Priority Setting,” Goldsmith explained, “which serves to only ‘hold’ a green light, but does not have the capacity to switch lights.” The director also stated that “This ensures that other emergency equipment [police and fire] can respond to all emergencies and calls for service quickly and safely.”—JAC

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This is Villa Park calling about about the people rebutting the lawn issue. I am ready to call the postmaster of Villa Park about mail carriers who cut across my lawn in the winter. They kick up the snow out of the lawn onto the bottom of my front walkway in front of my stairs after I shoveled the walkway. We keep the sidewalks clean by law for use for all, including mail carriers. Please use them.

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This is Lombard. I am absolutely appalled at the amount of litter on the streets and parkways of this village. My daughter and I bring bags along when we go walking, and return home with the bags overflowing with cans, plastic containers, bottles, paper, broken glass, etc.—and this is just what we pick up and can carry from a few blocks. It would be nice if everyone were to help by picking up litter and each homeowner cleaning their property and curb on a regular basis. Let’s help to make Lombard safe and clean.

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Villa Park calling. Please, let’s get the Christmas decorations down and also, all the election signs that have not been picked up. We still have a lot in this town.

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Lombard calling regarding the person who called to criticize the person who complained about mail carriers walking across the lawn. It is obvious you know nothing about grass if you don’t know that walking across the lawn, making a path 260 days a year is more harmful than mowing the lawn in a random pattern for seven months at once a week, which is 28 days. Even if you mow twice a week, that is still 56 days versus 260.

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Hi, Lombard. I’m calling to say how excited I am to see that the park district is going to be putting in a skate park for Lombard. The kids are going to be so excited and finally they’re putting a stake in the ground to make sure that we keep evolving as a top-notch village.

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I was watching the news recently; I’m a male in my late 40s and I cannot believe that the No. 1 story on every single channel is Tiger Woods’ apology. Give me a break. With everything that’s going wrong in the whole world, the No. 1 story is Tiger Woods. Aside from Obama, Tiger Woods walks on water. Give it a rest. This country has fallen so far behind it’s not even funny.

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I hope you feel like I do. This state of Illinois is deeply in debt. But you know who caused the problem? The politicians. They cause the problem all the time and they spend the money that is not theirs, but ours, and get us deeper in debt. So you know what I say? Take the money out of their pockets; take the money out of their perks; take the money away that they waste every time doing this, that and the next thing that they shouldn’t do, spending money that they shouldn’t, and let them pay for the mistakes they made. We should do this or remove them all from office. Don’t forget on election day. Don’t be loyal to untrustworthy politicians.

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Hello, Lombard. I’m a resident of North Martha Street and I would like to thank the residents both north of me and south of me for helping me take care of my driveway with the snow. Thank you very much. I’m a disabled veteran who appreciates the true Americans in this country.

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Lombard calling. I understand we’re going to be putting in a red light on Route 53. That ought to slow things up. I hope they put a left-turn lane in there.

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The loud popping noise that people hear on weekends west of Lombard is coming from the Glen Oak Country Club in Glen Ellyn. It’s skeet or trap shooting. Very annoying, isn’t it?

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We received a flier from District 87 and on the cover was a picture of a few teachers who are retiring from District 87 with a picture included. All the teachers in the photo appeared to be young for retirement, maybe in their 40s or 50s. I’d like to know how much we’re going to be paying for their insurance and benefits for the next 30-plus years. Teachers have the best retirement benefit of any profession I can think of; better than police officers or firefighters. I believe we really need to re-think teacher pensions and benefits. They should be in line with every other profession in our country. I feel like they have to receive what they want because they may threaten to hold our children hostage and strike if they don’t.

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This is from a taxpayer in Lombard. I went to the village’s open house on Feb. 15 on that Great Western Trail project that’s being planned. This incredible boondoggle will cost the taxpayers about $8 million to build three bridges over Grace, St. Charles and the railroad tracks, plus streetlights the length of the trail and landscaping. The village’s presentation made no mention of the cost and there were no handout sheets for us to take home to examine. This open house was set up to look like a done deal—too late for the taxpayers to voice their opinion. Well, it’s not too late. This thing is far too expensive, especially in this economy, and it’s completely unnecessary. The Prairie Path is just a few blocks south. We all need to contact President Mueller and the trustees—the sooner the better. This boondoggle needs to be squashed now.

Your question was forwarded to Lombard Village Manager Dave Hulseberg who responded with the following answer: “The Village of Lombard, DuPage County and various other stakeholders have been looking at this improvement for over 10 years. The village commissioned a feasibility study in 2001 through a grant from the state of Illinois. The following is the background given for the initial feasibility study done in 2001. The St. Charles Road/Grace Street intersection is a very significant obstacle to safe Great Western Trail (GWT) use. GWT users must traverse two arterial streets and a major railroad with commercial freight and METRA activity to reconnect with the trail. There are over 150 trains per day on this rail corridor. Several years ago, the GWT was bridged across the North-South Tollway (I-355) extending safe access into Lombard. Bridging the St. Charles/Grace Street corridor is essential to ensuring safe access through Lombard and Villa Park. GWT access to the downtown area is desired to assist in its revitalization. Bicycle access to the Lombard METRA station is desired to reduce congestion. Bicycle and pedestrian trips through the proposed St. Charles-Grace intersection add to the traffic signal cycle time and delay vehicles in this very busy intersection–12,000 ADT (average daily traffic). Access to Lombard Common park and municipal swimming complex, adjacent to this intersection and trail, should be improved. The funding for the Great Western Trail Bridge project is coming from different sources, but the public needs to know that the bulk of the funding is coming from other public sources. The village has received commitments for $3,825,000 from Federal Surface Transportation Program Fund, $1,200,000 from Illinois Commerce Commission Grade Crossing Protection Fund and $200,000 from DuPage County for engineering. The village will provide local funds from Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Districts of $1.255 million. These TIF dollars are primarily generated by the 40-unit condominium known as Oakview Estates, located at the southeast corner of East St. Charles Road and Grace Street. That building will generate the necessary dollars over the next 10 years for the bridge project. Tax Increment Financing funds are restricted to be spent in the geographic area where the increment was collected. The proposed bridge will wrap around that development. The current estimate for the project is $6.28 million ($5.63 million construction, $.6 million engineering and $.05 million material testing). The village is still seeking other grant dollars to reduce the village’s contribution.”—blm

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This is Lombard calling. I read about the village wanting to cancel the Taste of Lombard because of expenses. I thought that was a Jaycees event. The Jaycees put it on—don’t they reap all the benefits and make all the profit? Why would the village have to pay anything to run that event if it’s sponsored by the Jaycees? Please respond.

This item is on the Lombard Village Board’s agenda for Thursday, March 18. To hear the discussion on this item, you can show up at the village hall or tune in on cable Channel 6.—blm

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I’m calling to ask for help. On Jan. 29 at approximately 5:45 a.m., my brother was hit by a dark-colored car, with round headlights and no hubcaps, while crossing the street at St. Charles Road and Elizabeth. The driver reportedly stopped after hitting him and proceeded to back up and go around him, leaving him seriously injured. He is currently in a rehabilitation center and may not be able to regain the use of his leg for six months. He is unable to work and his medical bills are mounting. Someone, somewhere knows who did this. The person responsible needs to be found. We need your help. The driver of another vehicle, which was traveling north on Elizabeth stopped and called 9-1-1. That person may have seen the car that hit my brother. Two women also appeared and stayed with my brother, holding his hands and offering comfort. We offer them our sincerest gratitude for their kindness and compassion.

One week after the accident, Lombard police handed out fliers and spoke with early-morning commuters to alert them of the hit-and-run accident. However, no one stepped forward with information. Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Lombard police at 630-873-4400.—blm