In Lombard, it’s the lilacs. In Naperville, it’s the Riverwalk. Most suburban communities earnestly preserve and promote the qualities that make them unique–but at the same time, they share many of the same problems and challenges.
Finding solutions to these problems and challenges often is done through cooperation across municipal–and sometimes county–boundaries.
“In DuPage County we have a long tradition of collaboration,” said Lynn Montei, executive director of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference. “These collaborations not only look at the issues our municipalities have in common, but build relationships neighbor-to-neighbor.”
“Our members have found they need to work together to accomplish things,” said Carol Thompson, executive director of the DuKane Valley Council in Geneva. “A lot of times it is economically beneficial for them.”
Issues municipalities are collaborating on include traffic, fire and police protection, ground water, boundaries and development.
The Oak Brook-based conference has launched several initiatives to ease vehicle congestion throughout the county. One is a pilot program that will connect traffic signals on two stretches of pavement that run through multiple jurisdictions.
“State roads such as Roosevelt Road and North Avenue are all under the jurisdiction of the State of Illinois,” Montei said. “Those signals have been interconnected.”
One prong of the project will coordinate traffic signals on St. Charles Road from Meyers Road to Interstate Highway 290, which crosses Lombard, Villa Park and Elmhurst as well as a portion under the jurisdiction of the Illinois Department of Transportation where it crosses Illinois Highway 83. The other prong, on 75th Street between Book and Wehrli Roads, will link existing systems owned by Naperville and DuPage County.
“We’re hoping to standardize certain things so that we can link our signal systems between jurisdictions,” said Michelle Dick, the conference’s transportation planning liaison. “Now we find that, depending upon who has jurisdiction, they select the communication system to use. When we link them, they are not the same.”
The project is expected to be completed in about 1 1/2 years.
A transportation management center, which would collect data on local traffic congestion and make it available on a Web site, also is on the conference’s agenda, as is a study to determine county transportation needs in the next 20 years.
About 1 1/2 years ago St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia joined forces to determine the amount of water that will be available for its residents in the coming decades. Historically the municipalities have drawn their water from wells dug 2,000-feet deep, but because of concerns about radium in recent years, the towns have tapped into an aquifer about 200 feet deep.
“We’ll use the report as a planning tool for our future growth,” said John Dillon, Batavia’s superintendent of streets and water. “It will tell the Tri-Cities just how much we can draw out of this aquifer and not deplete it as a water source. When you think about water supplies, you try to think 20 or 30 years ahead.”
The report is expected to be completed in about six months.
Another Kane County collaboration took place two years ago when Sugar Grove and Elburn, which are part of Kaneland Community Unit School District 302, set the same impact fees that developers must pay to build in those communities.
“Everyone knew that growth and development were headed this way,” said John Morris, Sugar Grove’s village administrator. “We did not want developers playing one community off of the other to get the best deal. By adopting the same impact fees we effectively sent the message that we cooperate with our neighbors.”
Fire and police departments are particularly notable for collaborative efforts. Most belong to mutual-aid and central-dispatch organizations, which enables them to share expertise, manpower and equipment.
Seven west suburban fire departments belong to the DuPage County Auto Aid System, which was formed several years ago. In the group, predetermined equipment and personnel from adjoining communities are immediately sent when particular calls are received.
“Depending upon the location (of a fire) in our town, we could get an engine from Warrenville on the south end or from Carol Stream on the north end,” said Chief Phil DiMenza of the Winfield Fire Protection District. “They help us with pieces of equipment and manpower and they help us.”
The other departments in the group are in Wheaton, West Chicago and Hanover Park, plus the Glenside Fire Protection District.
Because the Winfield district covers a geographic area not entirely served by hydrants, it has developed a strength in tankers–trucks that transport water.
In November, the district held a training session in tanker use for firefighters in several municipalities, including Bartlett, Elburn and South Elgin.
“We do training exercises between different towns so they can get used to each other and know what to expect,” DiMenza said. “Sometimes the various departments don’t do things exactly the same. By training together, we’re all better prepared.”
In Naperville, the two German shepherds that make up the Canine Unit frequently are called by other municipalities or other agencies. The dogs’ primary tasks are conducting building searches and drug sniffing.
“It runs in spurts,” Steve Baker said. “We might go out two or three times a week or two or three times a night. Our first obligation is to the residents of Naperville, but we’re usually not gone very long.
“We don’t get called out as often as we used to because other agencies have seen the value of having the dogs and have gotten their own.”
Naperville has had a Canine Unit for about 20 years; it was one of the first in the region. The dogs are Taz, who is Baker’s dog, and Hamr, who is Dave Cribaro’s dog. (The handler must go with the dog because the dog is trained to work with one handler.) The dog units work 7 p.m. to 3 a.m.
Sometimes municipalities have decided to share equipment, as in the exchange between Sugar Grove’s bucket truck and Yorkville’s sewer jetter (rodder).
“We don’t need a sewer jetter on our own,” Morris said. “Yorkville doesn’t need a bucket truck every day. Both communities have avoided going out and spending extra money for a piece of equipment we don’t need 365 days a year.”
While some collaborations consist of formalized programs, reams of documents and years of fundraising, others are more akin to gentleman’s agreements.
When the Glen Ellyn Fire Department held its recent recognition dinner, firefighters from Winfield and York Center staffed that village’s fire stations.
“And not too long ago we were in York Center when they had their recognition dinner,” said Stuart Stone, Glen Ellyn’s fire chief.
