A Monee resident told the village board last week she is tired of looking at the “dump area” behind the public works salt shed.

Joan Marek Hollywood said during the Public Comments segment of the September 22 board meeting that the village public works department has been using the area to dispose of tires, pieces of metal, old equipment, fire hydrants, and truck loads of dirt.

Hollywood’s Gulf Vista Estates property backs up to the fenced-in salt shed site on Court Street.

She said she is tired of looking at it.

“That is a dump,” she said. “It was cleaned up a few years ago – Mayor, if you remember, you had all the junk removed out of there – and now…they just keep putting more stuff there.

“Mr. (Ed) Johnson (village public works director) did have some fire hydrants removed that were scattered all over and some tires. 

“He promised me the area would be cleaned up by July. July has come and gone. August has come and gone. September is almost gone.

“He said, ‘We have nowhere else to put that.’ And I said, ‘What about your house?’ He said, ‘Well you know, it can’t be in a residential area.’

“Well, the other side of that area is a residential area. It’s my residential area, and I don’t like that when I go out on my deck, what I’m seeing is a dumping area.”

Village officials said once the new public works facility opens, it will be feasible to “pick up everything…that’s leftover and scattered there and clean that up.”

Hollywood was not mollified.

“Everything in the village is looking beautiful,” she said, “except what I look at.”

Johnson responded that public works crews would be “addressing” the issue within the next few weeks.

“We have our open house (for the new facility) on the 11th,” he said, “and we’re going to be transitioning our operations to that new location, at which time we can focus on restoring some of that damage back there.”

“Well, I appreciate that,” Hollywood retorted, “but I’ve had promises from you before, and I just don’t know if I want to believe another until I actually see it happen.”

Trustee Doug Horne noted in his report the open house for the new facility will take place on October 11, from 9 a.m. to noon, at 5755 W. Industrial Drive in Monee.

Horne declined, when The Vedette requested, to provide additional information about the new facility.

In other business during the September 24 meeting, meanwhile, Trustee Chuck Rakis said village staff currently are reviewing applications for the property tax rebate program. “(They are) calling residents who have submitted incomplete applications and contacting those who did not qualify this year,” he said. Rebate checks will be available beginning October 13 – October 31 as follows:

  • Mondays and Wednesdays, from 5 – 7 p.m.
  • Tuesdays and Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
  • Saturdays, 9 a.m. – noon.

Rakis emphasized a current ID will be required  to pick up property tax rebate checks.