When garbage haulers went back to work
after a nine-day work stoppage, collection schedules quickly returned
to normal thanks to the efforts of Village municipal
supervisors, administrators and clerks who exchanged their
computers and telephones for gloves and shovels to prevent Oak
Park from being buried under a mountain of garbage.
Supplementing Oak Park's three
municipal garbage trucks with dump trucks, pick-up trucks, a
semi and front-end loaders, Village crews scoured alleys from
dawn until dusk, including through a weekend, collecting some
300 tons of refuse and managing to keep the garbage from piling
up.
Village workers first focused on those
served under the municipal waste hauling contract, which
includes single-family residences and multifamily buildings
with five or fewer units. But as the work stoppage continued,
efforts expanded to the business community, targeting
restaurants whose perishable trash could pose potential health
hazards. Village crews also picked up garbage from the schools
whose private hauling companies were affected by the stoppage.
The Public Works yard on South Boulevard
was temporarily transformed into a makeshift transfer point
where garbage was placed in larger trucks, then taken to
regional transfer points for transport to landfills. A call for
truck drivers was quickly answered by several supervisors with
commercial drivers' licenses who were then enlisted to
drive the Village's larger trucks to the regional
transfer points.
Since the Village began contracting for
private hauling services in 1994, there has not been a need for
a large contingent of personnel or equipment dedicated to waste
hauling. Village trucks typically only pick up refuse from the
municipal garbage receptacles located around the community. The
Park District of Oak Park assisted the Village by emptying
these bins during the work stoppage.
The work stoppage affected all waste
hauling companies who are members of the Chicago Area Refuse
Haulers Association. The Village recently renewed its contract
with Waste Management, effective Jan. 1.
Fire Chief Gerald Beeson
lends a hand during the recent refuse
haulers' work stoppage. Beeson was among the many Village
employees who
voluntarily exchanged their computers and
telephones
for gloves and shovels
to prevent the community from being buried
under a mountain
of garbage.
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The Village Board will review the proposed
2004 municipal budget in a series of public study sessions at
Village Hall, 123 Madison St. Meetings are expected to begin at
7 p.m. The schedule and topics are as follows:
Nov. 6 - Capital
improvements, non-operating budgets and
solid waste fees
Nov. 10 - Board committee organization discussion
Nov. 13 - Barrie Park investment fiscal impact
Nov. 17 -
Formal public hearing
Nov. 20 - Wrap up discussion
Dec. 1 - Budget adoption
Dec. 1 - Budget adoption