Infrastructure needs village attention now

Village trustees, please consider the following as you work to balance the budget:

Roads, sewers, and water mains all cost more to fix than to maintain. Don't be short sighted and cut infrastructure funding. The need for this year's emergency paving program should serve as a wake-up call.

It is pitiful to spend millions on fountains, castles and entry signs that lead to bare, treeless stretches along deteriorated streets.

Our budget for trees is already dismal compared to those of similar communities. My neighborhood's trees have not been trimmed in 12 years, a pathetic interval, and new plantings in town are not keeping up with removals. We need to plant trees to fill existing gaps, and we need a plan for filling gaps after the ash borer destroys 30 percent of the trees in the village.

We have been underfunding our infrastructure for years. Please don't compound the problem.

Mary Anne O'Toole

Arlington Heights