Fight to save Glen Ellyn's trees builds

Glen Ellyn residents against plans to remove about 340 trees for a flood control project at Ackerman Park will be spending the weekend getting petitions signed and informing others about their cause.

The residents are planning to distribute 5,000 postcards door to door and at Taste of Glen Ellyn in downtown. They also will be calling homeowners to offer information about the project.

In November, the village and Glen Ellyn Park District entered into an intergovernmental agreement to create a storm water detention area.

While village officials will oversee construction of the dry-bottom detention pond, the park district is donating the land. In return, two new soccer fields will be constructed. One will double as the water detention area.

The project has been part of the village's comprehensive plan for about five years.

David Creech, one of the opponents of the project, said village officials are getting bid packages ready.

This week, village officials said there are no other options for the project unless the park district pulls out of the agreement.

"We feel like this is one of the last chances to change the decisions through the political process," Creech said.

Within the last week, more than 600 people have signed a petition stating they're against the project.

"We know the park district doesn't need the soccer fields," Creech said. "We've presented alternatives, and if both (the village and park district) are willing to talk to us, I think we could come up with a good solution that could meet everybody's needs here without cutting down the trees."

Dave Scarmardo, the park district's superintendent of parks, said the soccer fields are needed.

Aside from the park district's own programs needing the fields, the high schools, lacrosse teams, field hockey teams and other new startup groups also are looking for fields at the park district, Scarmardo said.

"We just can't accommodate everybody," he said. "It's a want, but it's also a need."

Scarmardo also clarified that a referendum that voters approved in November 2006 will fund the completion of the Ackerman Sports Complex at Ackerman Park.

However, he said, that work isn't related to the flood control project. No referendum dollars will be used to pay for the creation of the storm water detention area.