Does Lombard have a residency law where so many people can live in a house of so many square feet? Some of these big houses being built have so-called patios in the front of the house but actually it’s a parking lot. Something should be done or Lombard will end up like Chicago with illegal apartments and overcrowded schools. Thank you.

According to the Village of Lombard’s response, “Yes, residency restrictions in Lombard are based off of International Property Maintenance Code (IPMC) and the Zoning Ordinance. Restrictions help to maintain safety standards and prevent overcrowding. Please call Community Development at 630-620-5757 to discuss your specific code concerns about designated locations.”—blm

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I urge all Villa Park citizens to really study the Villa Park Recreation Department brochure on the programs and activities they have available. I took the time to do it. I wonder why the library feels they need meeting rooms and community gatherings when our parks and recreation department is doing such a bang-up job. I’ve called before to urge a “no” vote on the library and I’m doing it again today. Please, please read the brochure. I am really amazed at how much is available.

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This is Villa Park calling. I’d just like to say I read all the stuff on the Villa Park Library and I feel that all the issues they have with the building are maintenance issues, which should have been taken care of with taxpayers’ money when they happened, not six months, a year or 10 years later. They’re building stuff up that has nothing to do with a bond issue and as far as the library goes, I agree it will be unnecessary in 10 to 15 years. They’re trying to make it into a sort of a parks and recreation thing, which we already have. We don’t need what they’re trying to give everybody and the parks and recreation department, when they have special activities, charges for it. That’s where the money comes from. They don’t need it out of the taxpayers’ pocket. Thank you, goodbye.

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Good evening. This is Lombard calling over by Glenbard East and I have a quick question for Lombard and the police department. On Wilson Avenue by Glenbard East baseball field there are many no-bus parking, stopping or standing signs that are valid 24 hours a day, seven days a week and constantly school buses and little buses are parked on the street, making it very hard for traffic to get through during sporting events. If those are going to be up, why are they not being enforced and then secondly, on Elizabeth going north of Wilson there’s parking allowed on both sides of the street after 3 p.m. and if you’re going to a sporting event or outdoor graduation and there’s parking on both sides, it is now a one-way street, so we need to possibly look at getting that as a no parking on one side of the street so you can have dual-way traffic. Thank you and everyone have a great day and enjoy Lilac Time.

The Village of Lombard provided the following response: “The Lombard Police Department has issued over 300 parking citations in the area in question over the past few years. That specific area is checked for parking violations regularly, especially during school hours and sporting events. Please call 9-1-1 to report any parking violations or dangerous conditions that you observe. The police department will be looking into your parking restriction suggestion on both Elizabeth Street and Lincoln Avenue. If you have more to add, please call Sgt. Joe Grage of the Lombard Traffic Safety Unit at 630-873-4667.”—blm

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Several comments on the callers to the May 11 SPEAK OUT column—To the Villa Parker about “anyone read their tax bill”? Duh. I believe we pay our taxes to DuPage County. Oh, your taxes went down? I’m sure you’d be whining if they went up, too. Don’t like Villa Park? Move. I’d say the caller was the joke. To the Lombardian caller about no grocery store in town—so what about the Jewel? Last time I heard, it’s a grocery store. Finally, to the “outside the box thinker” about building a joint library for Villa Park and Lombard—really? Can you stop and imagine this for a moment? Which town gets the library and how many people would be loudly complaining about the location and how inconvenient it was to have to travel from their respective far side of town? And which town had more tax burden or should have more tax burden and which governing body should run the library? Maybe you should try thinking some more—inside or outside the box.

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This is a shout out and a job well done to the Lombard Public Works Department. There was a water main break in the southwest quadrant of the village and these people were all over it. The repairs were initiated, notifications were made, barricades were online and within four hours, everything was back to normal. Once again, thank you very much for a job well done.

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Do you want a president who’s telling you what you want to hear, in other words politically correct, or someone who tells it like it is? In other words, the truth.

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Comments on two calls. As a north-sider, I agree we need a grocery store in town closer than Roosevelt Road, but a few callers make it sound like we have no grocery stores at all in Lombard. However, a new Mariano’s doesn’t solve the proximity problem for us on the north side. Also, regarding combining Lombard and Villa Park libraries, I don’t see how that could work, since Lombard’s library, like the park district, is its own taxing body, independent of the village, and with their own respective governing boards; whereas if I understand correctly, Villa Park’s library is part of village government, just like their park district is. Kind of apples and oranges to me.

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Hi. I want to know if I can still buy Lombard Ale Fest tickets at the Lombard Town Centre. I know they sold them there last year. Can anyone help?

According to a press release regarding the event, tickets can be purchased online at www.lombardalefest.com. Visit the Web site for more information about the event.—JAC

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Kudos to Gov. Rauner. You are the first governor in a long time who has done his job. You understand the importance of non-budgetary items becoming budget items in order to maintain the essentials. If only people will listen. Keep up the good work and God bless.

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I heard on the news that the government is finally going to regulate e-cigarettes and their juice because they contain nicotine. Hello, they have been around for the past 30 years. We are electing incompetent people and they appoint incompetent people to run the departments. It’s time to wake up, people.

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This is Lombard calling. I would like to congratulate the post office once again for their wonderful pick-up of food. I left two bags of food on Saturday morning. I left it out by our mailbox at 7 a.m. Lo and behold, I come home at 7 p.m. I do have mail delivery—I had multiple letters and bills in my mailbox, and I also had two bags of food sitting there. I guess you delivered food to me. Gee. Thanks, Lombard Post Office. Thanks for feeding the needy.

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The Lilac Parade was great as always. Bands, floats, our grand marshal Carol, the princesses and all that made it a success. Thank you. And an enthusiastic parade official, Velta, made it even more fun. She thanked the participants, marched or danced with the music, said hello to all the children nearby and it was a delight see her enjoy the parade. Good job, Velta. Looking forward to next year.

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This is Lombard. I wanted to comment on the taxes. I had the same problem. I got my tax bill and it went up over $1,000 this year. They said I was reassessed. I don’t know what happened. We didn’t go down at all; when the property value went down, now they’re saying it’s up high. We really have to have something done. We’re not going to be able to take this much longer. Thank you.

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Rep. Peter Breen sponsored legislation to eliminate pension spiking for IMRF employees. He cited an example from the Village of Lombard. It is no secret that was for the previous village manager. The ironic part is that at that time Trustee Peter Breen voted for the pension and severance package for the village manager.

Rep. Peter Breen provided the following answer: “The primary problem our village board faced was that, well before most of us had joined the board, the prior village manager had been guaranteed a generous six-month salary and benefits severance package, even if he left at the end of a regular contract term. When it was our board’s turn to negotiate a severance with our current village manager, Scott Niehaus, we rectified that situation. The real question is why it has taken so long to address this issue at the state level. While I’m proud to have drafted, negotiated and passed this anti-spiking bill in my first term, our village was only the latest in a decades-long line of towns to fall prey to this practice."—blm

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Hi. This is in response to the message this past Wednesday about Golden Corral and all these whiners about food stores. I mean, we have so many great food stores around. We have a Jewel in both Lombard and Villa Park. We have an Aldi, we have an Ultra. All of them have a wide variety of food. Then you can go on and see Pete’s Market down the way, or the food market across from Aldi on Addison Road, too. We do need restaurants that are $10 or less per meal around here because not everybody is rich. That’s where a Golden Corral might come in.