Campton Hills residents vote against bug control, sirens

Campton Hills voters don't want to spend tax dollars on mosquito spraying or emergency warning sirens, but they'd be happy to let developers pay for their parks.

That's the message they sent to village leaders, anyway, in Tuesday's election.

In three separate, non-binding referendums, voters were asked whether the village should take steps to control the mosquito population, spend $14,000 on emergency warning sirens and charge developer impact fees to fund parks projects. Only the latter elicited a "yes" from the majority of voters, with 57 percent support, according to unofficial results.

Nearly 60 percent said they do not want sirens, while opponents of mosquito abatement barely came out on top, with 50.4 percent of the vote to the other side's 49.7 percent, unofficial results show.

Because the questions were considered advisory, the outcomes do not guarantee village officials will act on voters' wishes.

Village President Patsy Smith said Wednesday that trustees probably will pass an impact-fee ordinance to fund parks in the coming months. It likely will be similar to the village's land/cash ordinance for school districts, she said.

"The research has already been done," she said, "so we'll try to do something about (park fees) sooner rather than later."

The sirens, for weather-related emergencies, are off the table, she added, though the village board might still consider taking steps other than chemical spraying to control mosquitoes.