Editor's note: Carpentersville Fire Chief John Schuldt will be writing a column on village issues and happenings. It will run every other Wednesday.

Greetings on behalf of the village of Carpentersville board of trustees and staff.

At a recent strategic planning session, the village board discussed ways to improve communications with our residents.

Currently, village board meetings are taped and shown on Comcast Friday nights to keep the community informed. The village Web site, vil.carpentersville.il.us, also provides information on a variety of topics relating to the village.

It was decided that another effective means of disseminating information would be through articles in the local newspaper. Our newspaper articles will appear every other Wednesday and will highlight special events, capital projects in progress and any activity that may impact the day to day lives of our residents.

We encourage residents to e-mail us topics they would like to see in future articles by writing to us at jaschuldt@vil.carpentersville.il.us.

We welcome residents to e-mail questions or inquiries about community issues to us as well. Your question or inquiry will be forwarded to the appropriate department for a response and will be included in a future article.

H1N1 update: The village is closely monitoring the H1N1 situation. Important links to current information regarding H1N1 can be found on our Web site.

Trash talk: Residents in our community should be aware that the final days for this year's yard waste pickup are fast approaching. Dates of final collection are:

Tuesday pickup: Nov. 24

Wednesday pickup: Nov. 25

Thursday pickup: Nov. 27

Friday pickup: Nov. 28

Monday pickup: Nov. 30

As a reminder, garbage pickups falling on or after the following holidays will be delayed by one day; Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Upcoming articles will include holiday safety tips provided by both the fire and police departments, capital projects that have been completed throughout the community, as well as projects scheduled for 2010.

• Send your questions and comments to jaschuldt@vil.carpentersville.il.us.