Resident urges caution on clearing street drains and raises concern about LGDF cuts

During public participation, resident Robert Council raised two items for the board’s attention: drainage behavior by residents and funding cuts to the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF).

On drainage, Council said he had raised concerns at the village open house and asked whether residents should be told not to clear street drains. He said he had been told that removing debris from drains can increase the speed of water discharge to Salt Creek and, during heavy storms, could overload the sewer system and send water into basements. He asked staff to provide guidance in ebriefs or a leaflet explaining the trade-offs between standing street water and basement flooding risk. Trustee Sheen and staff said they would follow up and that communications staff plan to prepare a short (three- to five-minute) informational video about the village sewer system for rollout this summer.

On LGDF, Council said he sent a letter to Illinois House members and planned to send the same to state senators. In his remarks he outlined the history and reductions of LGDF distributions and said the reductions have cost municipalities billions statewide and materially reduced La Grange Park’s available revenue. He urged legislators to restore LGDF levels and argued further reductions would unduly burden local residents who already face high property taxes.

The board acknowledged his remarks and asked staff to follow up on the drainage guidance; no formal board action on LGDF was recorded at the meeting.