Now that we’re finally having temperatures in the double digits again I made it out to the Warrenville City Council meeting last night. It was a pretty quick meeting but not without some interesting moments!
I did learn that if you enjoy running red lights you might be ok if you’re going westbound on Butterfield at Winfield. Apparently no citations have been issued there and the company that provides services the cameras has been called to look into it.
Interestingly, only about 45% of the citations the city gets are approved since according to Warrenville Police Chief Ray Turano the city makes sure an actual violation, as opposed to someone that has stopped past the line for example.
I have mixed feelings about these stoplight cameras. Some people just can’t seem to wait while turning left and have to try to sneak and be that 3rdor 4th car through. And while city officials can swear up and down that they’re just there for safety, at $100 a pop they’re definitely a good revenue stream for the city. Theres a lot of controversy on whether or not they are actually effective in ,aking intersections safer. In fact, some studies have even shown that accidents have increased when redlight cameras are installed.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if they’re effective at reducing accidents (were there really THAT many accidents at these intersections to begin with?), but one thing is for sure… they aren’t going away anytime soon now that they’re up, and we’ll probably see a few more installed at other locations.
Anyway… If you want to be get involved Mayor Brummel is looking for volunteers for the Police Commission and the Environmental Advisory Commission. Also, there’s a meeting being held at the Warrenville Public Library on 2/3/09 (today!) by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) as part of their regional comprehensive plan called GO TO 2040. If you have concerns or opinions about the needs and wants of the area, and its preservation, you should attend this informational meeting or visit their website for more info.
Finally, for me the best part of the meeting was the lengthy discussion on the “evil, sinister killer mailboxes from hell”.
Ok, I might be exaggerating that just a bit, but Alderman Bill Weidner (Ward 2) made a valiant effort to protect us from the brick menace. Ultimately he was denied though, and the City Attorney will draft an ordinance to define the process for having these approved.
Since these are built on the city right-of-ways, I understand the question, but people should be allowed to build these if they want to. The issues brought up were time and costs to the city for processing the permits, but isn’t that was the permit fees are meant to cover? Why else would they be charged?
There was also a question about safety, if someone drove into one, but are we going to remove light poles as well then? There is a legitimate concern that there could be liability to the city if they were damaged by a plow or utility service, but any ordinance would address that and limit the city’s liability.
I did learn that if you enjoy running red lights you might be ok if you’re going westbound on Butterfield at Winfield. Apparently no citations have been issued there and the company that provides services the cameras has been called to look into it.
Interestingly, only about 45% of the citations the city gets are approved since according to Warrenville Police Chief Ray Turano the city makes sure an actual violation, as opposed to someone that has stopped past the line for example.
I have mixed feelings about these stoplight cameras. Some people just can’t seem to wait while turning left and have to try to sneak and be that 3rdor 4th car through. And while city officials can swear up and down that they’re just there for safety, at $100 a pop they’re definitely a good revenue stream for the city. Theres a lot of controversy on whether or not they are actually effective in ,aking intersections safer. In fact, some studies have even shown that accidents have increased when redlight cameras are installed.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see if they’re effective at reducing accidents (were there really THAT many accidents at these intersections to begin with?), but one thing is for sure… they aren’t going away anytime soon now that they’re up, and we’ll probably see a few more installed at other locations.
Anyway… If you want to be get involved Mayor Brummel is looking for volunteers for the Police Commission and the Environmental Advisory Commission. Also, there’s a meeting being held at the Warrenville Public Library on 2/3/09 (today!) by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) as part of their regional comprehensive plan called GO TO 2040. If you have concerns or opinions about the needs and wants of the area, and its preservation, you should attend this informational meeting or visit their website for more info.
Finally, for me the best part of the meeting was the lengthy discussion on the “evil, sinister killer mailboxes from hell”.
Ok, I might be exaggerating that just a bit, but Alderman Bill Weidner (Ward 2) made a valiant effort to protect us from the brick menace. Ultimately he was denied though, and the City Attorney will draft an ordinance to define the process for having these approved.
Since these are built on the city right-of-ways, I understand the question, but people should be allowed to build these if they want to. The issues brought up were time and costs to the city for processing the permits, but isn’t that was the permit fees are meant to cover? Why else would they be charged?
There was also a question about safety, if someone drove into one, but are we going to remove light poles as well then? There is a legitimate concern that there could be liability to the city if they were damaged by a plow or utility service, but any ordinance would address that and limit the city’s liability.
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