A special thank you

I am one of the owners of Lilac Ledge Apartments on Washington Street in downtown Waukegan. On Friday, Oct. 19, we experienced a water main break which stopped water service to our 12-story, 203-unit building, which is inhabited entirely by seniors. Due to having no water and subsequently no fire sprinklers, we were forced to evacuate the entire building. A herculean effort immediately ensued to ensure all 220+ tenants were able to exit the building and have somewhere to go until we were able to get the building habitable. This effort required many people acting quickly and efficiently on very short notice. This was an unprecedented situation for us, and I would like to publicly thank the following individuals and organizations for going above and beyond:

Mayor Sam Cunningham; Mike Purtell, Building Commissioner; Steve Wyman, Plumbing Inspector; Curt Day, Water Department; Andy Peterson, Ernie Peterson Plumbing; Campanella & Sons; The Red Cross; Howe Security; Todd Zupec, Deputy Fire Marshall; Matthew Burleson, Fire Captain; David Motley, Public Relations; our tenants and their family and friends. Last but certainly not least the fantastic staff at Lilac Ledge: Lene Gillespie, Gillian Stark, Jim Olesak, Ricky Ruiz, Edgar Cullum and Donna Yoder. They were there until 2:30 a.m. on a Friday night and back again early the next day and pretty much nonstop for the next five days until the building was reopened.

Words cannot express my appreciation for the effort and competence everybody put forth in turning a chaotic situation into a very successful outcome. Without all of you it could have been so much worse. Thank you, all.

Andy DeBruler

Libertyville