Voter registration deadline fast approaching
With the November Presidential election right around the corner, it's time to remind those who have not registered to vote that the deadline for registration is Tuesday, Oct. 7.
Sign up and make your vote count. Carpentersville residents can register with the village clerk, Village Hall, Room 203. Village Hall is located at 1200 L.W. Besinger Drive. Registration is also available online at www.kanecountyelections.org and more information can be found at ww.countyofkane.org.
For those already registered, a list of early voting sites will be available around the county, including at Meadowdale Mall in Carpentersville. A votemobile will be set up from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28. Other sites can be found by visiting kanevotes.org.
Drip, drip, drip: Residents in Carpentersville pinching pennies in this tight economy should start paying attention to their water usage beginning Oct. 1. That's when the village's water department will start charging the village's recently increased water and sewer rates. The water rates will be 9 percent higher over last year's rates.
That means water will go up to $2.90 from $2.66 per 1,000 gallons and sewer will rise to $3.22 per 1,000 gallons from $2.95. A bill for 12,000 gallons of water and sewer combined would increase on average about $6.46 per quarter, or $25.81 annually.
About a third of the residents will see the new rates on water bills beginning in January. Residents can expect to see increases until at least 2011 as the village attempts to bring the water department's budget in line with the costs of running the facility.
Part of the revenue raised will also pay for a new water meter reading system that will replace the village's obsolete system. It is expected the new system will be far more efficient and require less manual work for the department.
A way to pay: If you want and easy and convenient way to pay those bills, the village of Carpentersville accepts pay-by-phone and online billing.
Residents can log on to vil.carpentersville.il.us and follow the links to online bill pay. The phone number for paying over the phone is also listed, (800) ILL-EPAY (355-3729). A convenience fee applies and a fee schedule is available via the village's Web site.
At this time, the e-pay service does not accept Visa.
Other bills can also be paid via the village's online form. For those who have not yet purchased their vehicle registration stickers, they are also available online for a fee. There's a late fee applied since stickers were supposed to be purchased and displayed before July 1.
A tip of the hat: I have to send a huge congratulations to Steve Janowiak, the Carpentersville resident who completed two Ironman races in one week to raise money for Aplastic Anemia.
Steve finished the second of his two Ironman races in Madison, Wisc. on Sept. 7. Not only did he finish this race a week after completing the Louisville Ironman, Steve says in his blog that he "crushed" his personal best time. He finished the race in 11 hours and 38 minutes, more than an hour faster than his previous best time. Amazing!
Steve raised more than $5,500 for the Aplastic Anemia Society.