Basic expectations for Oak Park government services

52°

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 10:00 PM

By Editorial

A taxpayer has reason to expect decent police services in a crisis, a capable fire-fighting force in an emergency, that the garbage will be collected, that the streets, while not all perfectly smooth, will be, at least, passable.

To that list we'd add the expectation that, even in a heavy storm, there is a sewer system capable of carrying torrents of water away from one's house and not park it temporarily in our basements.

This area has been plagued by enormous rains the past two summers. Most hard hit has been the northeast corner of Oak Park where backed-up sewers have caused damage and despair. Now the village board is considering a plan to gradually subsidize mechanical fixes for homeowners who ante up half of the roughly $10,000 cost of the repairs.

If the village can't or won't invest in the infrastructure to repair the problem fully, we're content as taxpayers to see this subsidy move ahead.

Reader Comments

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Francis from Oak Park

Posted: Thursday, February 16th, 2012 10:24 AM

As an Oak Park resident that pays very high taxes, I have high expectations of our services. I believe our fire department should not just be a fire department, but a general "emergency" department and assist with all emergencies. They should provide more services such as water removal during floods and provide door to door checks on people to make sure they are ok during power outages.

Russ

Posted: Thursday, February 16th, 2012 9:14 AM

Basements that flood every year could serious hurt the home values in NE Oak Park as it makes 1/3rd of the useable space of a home pretty much worthless. Homeowners expect that we will have functioning sewers. If the village does not want to invest in the infrastructure, then they need to work with homeowners to get this problem corrected. I'd rather my tax dollars go towards fixing this real issue versus all the other "social issues" our village likes ot stick its nose in.

Parent

Posted: Thursday, February 16th, 2012 8:49 AM

We must treat all of our children equally.

Peter Ryan from Oak Park

Posted: Thursday, February 16th, 2012 8:14 AM

As a household that incurred consecutive summers of water in a finished basement, and recently paid near $10,000 for overhead sewer to never see it again, I encourage the village to support homeowners in this regard. No, I don't expect the village to subsidize our personal well being. On the other hand, knowing that neighboring communities have supported their residents with these projects should motivate OP as well. One could also argue this support helps maintain property values overall.

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