Sunday, March 18, 2012
Residents in Boulder Hill dealing with rusty water could see relief by the end of the week, according to Public Works Director Mike Pubentz.
Boulder Hill residents should start seeing an improvement in their water quality by the end of this week. On Friday, Public Works Director Mike Pubentz confirmed that the main water treatment plant on Knell Road, out of commission since early February, is now back online and pumping water. Pubentz said the plant was switched back on at 4 p.m. It may still take a few days for the water from the treatment plant to make its way to all the homes in Boulder Hill, Pubentz said. Boulder Hill residents have been dealing with rusty water issues since November, when one of the village’s wells – Well 14, on the west side – malfunctioned. That well was repaired in January, but shortly after that, the main treatment plant was taken offline when …
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Trustees on Wednesday agreed to an expedited repair schedule for a broken well, hoping that bringing it back online will fix a pervasive rusty water issue in Boulder Hill. Village staff said residents should see relief about a week after the well returns
A broken well on the village’s west side should be operational by next Friday. And once that happens, Montgomery village officials hope, the rusty water problems plaguing Boulder Hill should be solved. Well 14 has been out of commission since its motor failed on Nov. 19, and village public works staff have been compensating by pumping water from other wells. However, the change in water flow direction has shaken loose rust deposits that have built up in the cast iron mains below Boulder Hill, according to Public Works Director Mike Pubentz. And that’s been a big problem for some Boulder Hill residents, who have been complaining of brown, foul-smelling water that leaves stains in showers and toilets, and has turned hair orange. On Monday, …
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
With one west side well out of service, the village is pumping water from others further east. But that change in direction has disturbed rust deposits in the water mains, which could stain your clothes in the washing machine.
If you notice some issues with water quality over the next few months, village officials want you to know they’re working on it. On Nov. 19, one of the village’s wells—number 14, on the west side—experienced a “thermal overload failure,” according to Public Works Director Mike Pubentz. While workers from Layne Christensen Company repair the well (at a cost of $27,965), the village is pumping water west from wells in other parts of town. However, the change in water direction has disturbed some rust deposits in the water main, officials said. And this may result in water that tastes and smells funny. It could also lead to stained clothes in your washing machine, and rusty deposits in your sinks, toilets and showers. While it’s not a health …
Monday, June 27, 2011
Between 125-150 trees discovered to be infested with beetle that kills by burrowing into soft flesh under the bark.
Three months ago, the village of Montgomery received a $10,000 grant from the Metropolitan Mayors Conference to help deal with its emerald ash borer problem. Village public works staff had found 97 trees infested with the beetle, all of them clustered on the west side, and the grant was like manna from heaven. However, Public WorksDirector Mike Pubentz said this week that the grant will only allow the village to replace 33 of those infested trees, and his staff keeps finding more. The current total, he said, is somewhere between 125 and 150 trees, and the village likely will not have enough money to deal with the spread of the infestation. “It’s long since passed being about keeping them out,” Pubentz said. “It’s been about managing [the …
Monday, May 23, 2011
The annual event brought Montgomery residents face to face with their village leaders, and gave them a behind-the-scenes look at the police station.
The weather was not ideal, but Montgomery residents showed up for the village’s annual open house on Saturday morning in force anyway. The event, which was held at the police station on Civic Center Drive, allowed residents to meet their village officials, get the latest on projects (both planned and in progress), support the Special Olympics by purchasing t-shirts and travel mugs, and take a tour of the relatively new station, which opened in 2005. That last attraction proved popular, as families lined up to head back through the sprawling building. Police Department employees showed off the jail cells, the evidence rooms and the firing range. Kids delighted at the police cars, fire trucks and public works vehicles on display. …
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Waldschmidt and Associates will maintain 63 sites around the village, including portions of eight special service areas.
Montgomery trustees awarded a $52,365 contract for lawn mowing and shrub maintenance Monday night to the only bidder. The contract covers maintenance through the end of 2011 on 63 sites around the village, in eight different special service areas, as well as 11 village-owned sites and one owned by the Kaneland School District. The lone bidder for the job was Waldschmidt and Associates, based in West Chicago. Waldschmidt's bid was more than $7,000 higher than the engineer's estimate for the work. Trustees were concerned that only one company bid on the job, despite roughly eight of them requesting bid specifications, according to Public Works Director Mike Pubentz. So last month, the board asked Pubentz to look into why the other companies …
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Public works director says the Fox River should not rise to worrisome levels.
Those May flowers had better be worth it. According to the National Weather Service, the Montgomery area has seen an accumulated eight inches of rain over the past 60 days. That, naturally, has caused the Fox River to rise, and flood warnings to appear on a fairly regular basis. The latest of these, issued Wednesday morning, cautioned that the river is expected to rise to “flood stage” by Wednesday afternoon. The warning also included various communities along the Kankakee, Des Plaines and Iroquois rivers, and Sugar Creek in Iroquois County. “Flood stage,” according to the National Weather Service, is 13 feet through Montgomery. But Mike Pubentz, director of public works, said he does not anticipate water rising to worrisome levels. The …
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The village's free service starts next week, and now there are fewer restrictions on the size of your branches and brush piles.
The village’s free brush pickup service begins again in April, but there have been a few changes to the program, designed to streamline it and make it safer. The village’s public works department will pick up brush during the first full week of each month, from April to October. That means the service starts up again next week, and will be provided during the weeks of May 2, June 6, July 4, August 1, September 5 and October 3. Your brush must be stacked up in the parkway by the Sunday night of that week to get picked up. It should be neatly piled, all in one direction, and unbundled. Branches shouldn’t be less than 1 inch in diameter, and not more than four inches in diameter. Brush collection will begin on Monday, weather permitting, and …
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
A grant from the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus will help Montgomery remove and replace 97 infested trees.
The village of Montgomery will get help from the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus to deal with its emerald ash borer problem. Public Works Director Mike Pubentz announced at Monday’s Village Board meeting that Montgomery has received a $10,000 grant from the caucus, which will be used to remove and replace 97 trees infested with the ash borer. Those trees, Pubentz said, are clustered on the west side, in the Fairfield Way, Foxmoor and Blackberry Crossing subdivisions. The grant is an 80-20 match, meaning the caucus will pay 80 percent of the costs, with the village ponying up the remaining 20 percent. Pubentz said the village’s contribution will come from in-kind services his staff will provide—namely, cutting down and replacing the trees. …
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Pizzo and Associates will likely get another year, and four more basins to maintain as part of village's naturalized landscape plan.
Village of Montgomery leaders are poised to extend a contract with Pizzo and Associates to maintain naturalized landscapes in 12 basins. That means residents in some of the village's nine special service area subdivisions may end up paying more in local taxes, but the tradeoff will be basins free of weeds and full of natural grass and native plants, according to Public Works Director Mike Pubentz. In 2007, the Leland-based Pizzo and Associates was hired to re-plant and maintain eight of those 12 basins. Five of them are in private subdivisions: Arbor Ridge, Blackberry Crossing, Fairfield Way, Fieldstone Place, and Montgomery Crossing. The remaining three are all village-owned, on Cornell Street, Civic Center Drive and Orchard Road. In a …
Greg Nelson
8:49 am on Monday, June 27, 2011
Maybe we should ask the public to donate a little extra $ to plant trees in the right a way with new trees. I would be up for a donation maybe, because ever tree helps and keeps the Village looking like it cares. more ›