Algonquin man battles village over lost trees

Tom Gummow is one unhappy property owner.

Five years ago, the village of Algonquin installed a culvert under his property in the 900 block of Harper Drive to fix drainage issues. As a result, Gummow said, he has lost dozens of trees that the village cut down and never replaced.

Now, Gummow is dealing with a new issue — the culvert is faulty, he said, and has caused the deterioration of the creek that it leads into. The creek has narrowed, fish don’t spawn as they used to, and a gas line has become exposed.

Gummow said he worries that children play in the creek near the gas line. Nicor representatives told him workers would come to fix it, he said.

As for the culvert, Gummow and the village are at a standstill.

Village officials said they are willing to work on it, but Gummow said he won’t let them on his property unless the village replaces his lost trees, or gives him $4,000 to buy new trees.

“They can come on my property any time as long as they fix what they destroyed before,” said Gummow, who has contacted the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for help.

Village Manager Bill Ganek said the village is committed to replacing the loss of healthy trees as per its tree preservation ordinance, but it’s unclear which among Gummow’s trees were cut down by the village and which died of natural causes.

“We want to keep a dialogue open with Mr. Gummow,” Ganek said. “We’d be happy to live up to any agreement, but it seems like every time we think we have an understanding, he changes his mind.”

Gummow admitted he never signed a 2006 agreement with the village that would have given him $4,000 in tree replacement, but said it’s because the village added a last-minute clause giving him only a two-year warranty on the work done for the culvert under his driveway.

Gummow said he won’t budge, no matter the damage to the creek. “I’m not going to let them destroy anything else,” he said. “I’d be a nut to do it.”