It's a lousy place for a lift station

The positioning of the lift station for the Menard's sewer line in my neighbor's back yard is an example of the arrogance of the village leaders.

The Menard's site has been four years in the making, and three of those years occurring within the tenure of our current mayor.

In that time, village leadership could not find another location for the sewage lift station, other than in my neighbor's back yard. And the site selection was decided on with no input from residents, contrary to claims that "we were being listened to."

No input was sought while sites were being explored, and it was apparent at village meetings that we given "lip service" to our input after the fact, but that was about it.

Besides not wanting it in anyone's backyard, I still have concerns regarding safety of the current proposed site. My wife came real close to losing her life last month exiting the nearby bike path. At one of the village meetings the Village Manager stated that if it was a safety issue, that would be the end of story. We were told that traffic engineers said that 200 feet was ample stopping distance for a vehicle going 30 mph.

But we all know that most vehicles travel in excess of 30 mph on Checker. Plus, with all of the bike traffic crossing Checker and bike traffic traversing that stretch of road; how many times will that stopping distance be tested?

I further find his remarks disingenuous because there is a pedestrian crossing warning sign for westbound traffic, but no warning sign for eastbound traffic. Within the last week the village placed a pedestrian stop sign at the bike path exit; that should stop those pesky bike riders from darting out in to traffic, that weren't warned about the pedestrian crossing coming from the west.

When the next mayoral election takes place, just remember a mayor by the name of Maria was responsible for building a shrine to diarrhea in my neighbor's backyard, and it can happen to you as well.

Steve McCoy

Long Grove