HomeMy Public PortalAbout2012 Fall NewsletterVILLAGE VOICE – THE VILLAGE OF PLAINFIELD’S NEWSLETTER FALL 2012 UPCOMING EVENTS SEPTEMBER 10, 7 PM GREEN VILLAGE PROGRAM The Green Village Series continues with a screening of “A Sea Change: Imagine A World Without Fish.” To register, visit www.plainfieldpubliclibrary.org. SEPTEMBER 12 & OCTOBER 10 COFFEE WITH THE MAYOR Join Mayor Collins for coffee and conversation at 9 am at the Village Hall. SEPTEMBER 14-16 RIVER DAYS The 3rd Annual River Days will include a ticketed dinner from Wine & Cheese by TCC on Friday. Plus, fun for the whole family on Saturday and Sunday, including hot air balloon rides, a petting zoo, the duck race raffle, music, and more! For more info, visit plainfieldriverdays.com. SEPTEMBER 30 EDWARD HARVEST 5K RUN/WALK Join us for this fun family event in Downtown Plainfield which includes a 5K run and a kid’s mile race. For more info, visit www.plainfieldharvest5k.com. OCTOBER 6 HOMECOMING PARADE Head to Downtown Plainfield for the Plainfield School District’s 61st Annual Homecoming Parade! Visit psd202.org for more info. OCTOBER 31 HALLOWEEN Trick-or-Treat hours are 4-7 pm. Electric Aggregation The municipalities that are part of the Will Electric Aggregation Group selected FirstEnergy Solutions as their new electric supplier. The group negotiated a 24 month rate of 4.83 cents per kilowatt hour, when compared to the ComEd rate (8.32 cents per kWh), this represents a 42% savings or about $300 per year for the average household. Eligible residential and small business customers should have received a notice from the Village and FirstEnergy that stated the offer and provided instructions on how to opt-out. Customers that wish to participate do not need to take an y action to be included. The new service is expected to start in September. For more information, visit www.willelectricaggregation.org. Route 59 Visioning The Village and Civic Art Works are initiating a new community planning/visioning project for Route 59, from Main Street to Union Street. Community members will be invited to share their opinions, ideas, concepts, and vision for the Route 59 corridor. Civic Art Works, a Chicago design firm specializing in community outreach, has agreed to donate their time for this initiative and will be facilitating discussion with interested participants via “crowdsourcing.” Their efforts to collect feedback will include utilizing social medi a networks and the project web site, www.visiondivision.civicartworks.com. Staff will also host several workshops for community members and stakeholders to provide input. A number of noted “best practitioners” in cluding architects, planners, and urban designers will also be invited to contribute to the discussion. Transportation Plan Update The Village recently received a $120,000 grant from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning to update Plainfield’s Tr ansportation Plan. The project’s goals are to map out a plan to maintain and improve the quality of the existing Village transportation system, reduce auto trips, increase bicycle trips, improve the walkability of the community, and enhance/expand existing transit service in the Village. A key component of the update will be commu nity outreach and the Village will be holding public meetings to capture re sident input. For more information, visit www.plainfieldtransportation.com. Pedestrian Bridge Work has begun on the Lockport Street Pedestrian Bridge which will be built over the DuPage River, adjacent to the vehicular bridge. The bridge, built with a $1 million grant from the IL Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, will be ADA compli ant and connect the east and west sides of Downtown Plainfield. It should be substantially complete by the end of the year. VOLUME 16, ISSUE 3 FALL 2012 Representative Cross, Mayor Collins, Will County Board Member Goodson, and Trustees Bonuchi, Fay, Lamb, Racich, & Rippy cele brate the groundbreaking for the new Lockport Str eet Pedestrian Bridge.
VILLAGE VOICE – THE VILLAGE OF PLAINFIELD’S NEWSLETTER FALL 2012 VILLAGE OF PLAINFIELD 24401 W. Lockport Street Plainfield, IL 60544 Village Hall Hours Monday-Friday, 7:30 am - 5 pm Phone 815-436-7093 Fax 815-436-1950 Email info@goplainfield.com Web www.plainfield-il.org VILLAGE PRESIDENT Michael P. Collins mcollins@goplainfield.com VILLAGE TRUSTEES Margie Bonuchi mbonuchi@goplainfield.com Paul Fay pfay@goplainfield.com Bill Lamb blamb@goplainfield.com Garrett M. Peck gpeck@goplainfield.com James Racich jracich@goplainfield.com Dan Rippy drippy@goplainfield.com Would you like to receive Village News updates? Sign up for the Village’s e-mail newsletter online at www.plainfield-il.org. E-mail questions & comments on this issue to Amy De Boni at adeboni@goplainfield.com. Early Voting & Election Info In-Person Early Voting for the General Election (November 6, 2012) will be conducted at the Village Hall October 22-November 2. Voting hours are from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, and 9:00 a.m. - noon on Saturday, October 27. In order to vote at the Village Hall, you must live in the Village and in Will County. The Village will also conduct early voting for all of Plainfield Township. Petition Packets for the Consolidated Election (April 9, 2013) can be picked up at the Village Clerk’s Office beginning September 25. Open positions include the Village President and three (3) Trustees. All positions are for a four (4) year term. The first day to file petitions is Monday, December 17, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. For more election information, visit the County Clerk’s web site at www.thewillcountyclerk.com or call (815) 740-4632. Railroad Crossing Safety The Plainfield Police and CN Railroad are dedicated to preventing crashes at railroad grade crossings in the Village through education and enforcement. Please obey the rules of the road at crossings and ALWAYS be aware of your surroundings. Did you know? -Trains cannot stop quickly. Even if the engineer sees you, the average freight train takes up to a mile to stop. -It is not an illusion. The train that you see is closer and moving fa ster than you think. -The average locomotive weighs 110 tons. -The average automobile weighs less than two tons. -A motorist is 40 times more likely to die in a crash involving a train rather than in a collision involving another vehicle. -The majority of highway/railroad collisions occur when the train is traveling less than 30 MPH. -A motor vehicle’s failure to stop is the contributing factor in more than 70% of all crossing accidents. -More than 50% of collisions at crossings occur at locations with flashing lights and ringing bells. -Obeying crossing signals is the law and failing to obey the rules of the road at railroad crossings is illegal and deadly. (Source: Operation Lifesaver) Yard Waste Pickup To End The final yard waste pickup (including leaves) will be November 26 for residents with Monday pickup, November 28 for residents with Wednesday pickup, and November 29 for residents with Thursday pickup. Refuse Collection Refuse collection will be delayed by one day the rest of the week after: Thanksgiving, November 22; Christmas, December 25; and New Year's Day, January 1, 2013. Waste Management will collect Christmas Trees no taller or wider than four (4) feet anytime after Christmas. Office Closures The Village Offices will be closed November 12, November 22-23, December 24-25, 2012, and January 1, 2013. VOLUME 16, ISSUE 3 FALL 2012