What are all these do not mow signs? We’ve been seeing them on the parkways. Thank you.

Your question was forwarded to officials from the Village of Lombard, who provided the following response: “In order to make sure that the Lilac Parade route is in its best form, the village’s contractor mows the prior week along Main Street. Some residents prefer that we not do this so public works places ‘no mow’ signs at the residents’ request for the contractor to skip those sections.”—JAC

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Attention all taxpaying Lombardians. I’d like to inform you of where all your hard-earned tax money is going. If  you drive down the quiet street of North Glenview, heading south, you’ll notice a speed limit sign of 25 mph. This is absolutely ridiculous. I can’t wrap my head around why our money is going to erecting unnecessary speed limit signs on streets that don’t need them. North Glenview’s block-and-a-half length, a car can’t even reach 25 mph. As it is, none of the drivers who drive down North Glenview even approach 25 mph. I think that it’s far past time we elect leaders who will not only make America but also Lombard great again.

Your comments were forward to Village of Lombard officials, who provided the following response: “Lombard Police and Public Works departments received a complaint from a resident in the area mentioned, requesting a stop sign at Eugenia and a speed limit reduction on Glenview. The resident supported the complaint with petitions signed by other residents from that area requesting both changes. Traffic studies were conducted and it was determined that a stop sign was not warranted but a speed reduction was. The speed study showed that over half the vehicles were travelling 20-25 mph. The speed reduction was reviewed by the Public Safety and Transportation Committee, which is made up of Lombard citizens. They approved the reduction based upon the studies and petition. If you have further questions please contact Sgt. Joe Grage of the Traffic Safety Unit at 630-873-4667.—JAC

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Hello, Lombard calling. I noticed that there’s black netting on the fences of the Prairie Path bridge over 53 and I-355. I was just wondering what that black netting is that was put there. Just wondering. Thank you.

Don Puchalski, chairman  of the DuPage County Transportation Committee, responded: “The screening was added as a safety measure to reduce distractions on I-355. The DuPage Department of Transportation took the action in response to complaints received from motorists and residents.”—JAC

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I just want to comment about the Glenbard East graduation ceremony held at the College of DuPage. Although it was a great event put together by the Glenbard East staff and students, I was appalled by some of the activities demonstrated by some people who consistently yelled and cheered while their family members were announced. There were even times when you couldn’t hear the names of the following students because of the screaming and yelling. It was very, very deplorable, to say the least. Our older son had graduated four years ago and this type of activity wasn’t as demonstrative as it was this time. Thank you.

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My license plate expires this month. I went online to renew it and it says I need a vehicle emissions test. I took the car in for the test. They said they can’t do anything unless I present the post card to them, which I have not received. When am I going to get this stuff?

Henry Haupt, a spokesperson for the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, said the notices you refer to do not come from Sec. White’s office, but from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, or IEPA. While there was a temporary suspension of the emissions testing program on April 6, it has now been resumed, he added. Kim Biggs, from the IEPA Public Information Office, also explained: “The test notice does not need to be presented at our test stations as technicians are able to test vehicles without a presented notice. I am wondering if there may have been another reason for the station being unable to test the vehicle. There are several reasons a vehicle could be rejected. Without knowing the specifics on the vehicle, I am not able to identify the reason the vehicle was rejected.” She further stated: “Regarding the test notice, if the vehicle is due for testing, the motorists should have received a test notice; however, if the vehicle owner has moved recently, it may have been sent to a previous address. I would also suggest the vehicle owner contact our Vehicle Emissions Customer Service hotline at 800-635-2380 for further assistance.”—JAC

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Hi, this is Lombard calling. I was wondering if there were any noise codes for automobiles in Lombard. There is an individual on our street who has added something to his car after-factory that has made it extremely loud. This in itself isn’t an issue except that he leaves for work every morning at 6:15. He sits in his driveway and revs it and then races down the street, making sure that everybody on our block is up at 6:15 also. Just wondering if there are any restrictions or codes to prevent this. Thanks.

In order to report a noise complaint, please call 9-1-1 at the time of occurrence. For future issues that may arise, please call 9-1-1 and an officer will immediately be dispatched to the scene.

In response to general questions pertaining to the Village of Lombard’s Code of Ordinances or Code Violations, please call the village’s Code Enforcement phone line at 630-620-5757, and someone will return your call. You may also view the village’s Code of Ordinances at villageoflombard.org/ordinances or visit the Web site  villageoflombard.org/reportaconcern to submit your concern at any time of day.—JAC

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Lombard calling. Last week, in regard to the library tax referendum to be voted on next November, a caller told the Helen Plum Library to live within its budget as taxpayers have to. I’d like to ask this caller if he has gotten a pay raise since 1976 because that was the last time the library had an increase in its tax levy. This caller also thinks just replacing the original boiler is all the library needs, ignoring all the other needs that a 21st-century library requires. Right now we have a tired, crowded and limited 1978 library. Finally, he complains that $131 on a $200,000 house is too much to pay to contribute to Lombard’s vitality and our children’s future. $131 a year, too much for our children, for our future? I don’t think so.

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Reading SPEAK  OUT and listening to some people talk about issues, maybe our founding fathers were correct posing limiting voting to a selected few. We blame the politicians for this and that. Wait. Who voted for the person in office? It is our fault things are so messed up. Our state, our country are going in the wrong direction. In Illinois power brokers like Madigan are seemingly calling the shots. Voters are holding a bag of unpaid bills. We have to wake up.

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Hi, this is north Lombard calling, and I just want to thank state representative candidate Heidi Holan for her property tax forum. I went to one at the end of February in Villa Park and one at the beginning of this month, June, in Glendale Heights and they were just absolutely excellent in both cases. She had the local assessor there and also had an expert at each on state tax policy, which is so enlightening. I learned everything I need to know about my tax bill and even more importantly, I have learned what we need to do as a community as far as who we get on school boards and that sort of thing in order to drive costs down because our taxes are way too high. Even as property values go down, the property taxes are skyrocketing so I want to thank Ms. Holan so much for doing this. I think it was absolutely fantastic and I hope she does more. Thanks.

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Lombard calling. All you Barack Obama fans; the only thing Barack Obama is going to be noted for in history is probably being the worst president in the United States. Maybe Jimmy Carter was probably the worst. Just to let you know. Barack Obama is probably going to go down in history as the worst president the United States ever had. Thank you.

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In regard to Democratic Rep. Conroy’s recent article concerning her reasons for voting yes to Madigan’s state stopgap budget proposal, which is still $7 billion out of balance, Rep. Conroy basically indicated she voted yes because she considers the funds needed to properly support the state’s education needs. Why not offer a permanent fix to what has caused the drastic out-of-balance budgets the state’s legislature has approved over the past 20-some years, most often controlled by a Democratic majority? In addition, when viewing this proposal, in excess of $10 million of this has absolutely nothing to do with the education. Rather, this $10 million is for items to be considered luxuries such as state fair funding, funding for breeding animals, the department of agriculture, etc.

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I’m calling concerning all the laudatory articles about Deb Conroy in the Review and most especially the long article setting out her “position” on the budget. I sent Ms. Conroy an e-mail about two weeks ago asking her that if she could do it without lapsing into political rhetoric, would she please explain her reasons for voting for a budget that is $7 billion out of sync? I waited two weeks for an answer, and I got a response that was printed in your paper today. I then e-mailed her back and said she’s evidently got a good PR department but she apparently does not know how to respond to a constituent and you can believe that I will remember that when she comes up for reelection.

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This is Lombard calling in regard to the library tax referendum that will be on the November ballot. I am fully in favor of this initiative. Putting “Band Aid” solutions on a 40-year-old problem is just going to create an even bigger issue a few years down the road. It would be fiscally responsible to address all of the library’s and community’s needs all at once. The library is already in a one-in, one-out situation with resources and there are many people in our town who go to the surrounding area libraries in order to find what they need. Frankly, it is irresponsible to rely on the other towns’ taxpayers to supply our own residents with resources we can provide ourselves with a new library building. Putting in a new boiler and patching the roof doesn’t give the space and structure needed for the resources this community needs and deserves.