City Council Targets Potholes, Dangerous Trees

Potholes and dead wood are among some of the local safety hazards addressed head-on during the Aug. 6 meeting. 

"We gave the approval to go to bid," Fourth Ward Ald. Joshua Deabel said in a phone interview with Patch.

This comes as good news to many residents, including those at the meeting who complained about the city's "deferred maintenance" of these issues.

"That's a natural feeling," Deabel said in response to the complaints. "When you do have a problem on the street, a pothole or a tree down, that's a citywide concern."

The city plans to first target potholes in the Serena Hills and Normandy Villa Road neighborhoods, according to Deabel.

As for the trees, Deabel says the city is committed to tackling the most dangerous trees throughout Chicago Heights, particularly those on walking paths and near schools.

"Every alderman has the same issue," Deabel said. "They need to find the problem trees in each ward. We have a variety of trees: oaks, maples, ash. Oak is definately on the older, south end of town, maple and ash to middle to north end. It's a variety throughout the entire city."

For those of you still holding your breath for the city to remove a hazardous tree or repair a pothole, Deabel has this to say:

"We're working on it."