Westhaven Residents Make Their SSA Feelings Known

There wasn't the drama, the angst or the standing-room-only attendance of the Sept. 20 public hearing at City Hall, but Westhaven subdivision residents' feelings were made known at Monday night's City Council meeting.

Aldermen voted unanimously to establish a special services area to maintain a detention pond that over the years has become a drainage concern and a bit of an eyesore in the far-west Geneva subdivision.

A homeowners association originally was in place to maintain the retention area, but the association was dissolved, leaving residents with the task of maintaining it themselves for that past decade or so. At a Committee of the Whole meeting two weeks ago, residents generally were in agreement that the city should take control of the situation.

"We have to stop asking the residents to keep taking care of it," said Brenda Holmes, 309 South Peck Road, at the Sept. 20 meeting. "We're not getting any younger."

But where residents disagreed was the level of maintenance that should be done and how much they ought to be charged for the service. The tax levy could be as much as $77 per household per year.

To get a handle on Westhaven residents' opinions, the city posted a five-question survey on its Web site.

During the "new business" portion of the council meeting, Fourth Ward Alderman Ron Singer read the "winning" results of the survey into the public record. The top answers are as follows:

1.     What areas would you like maintained by the SSA?

• Stormwater facility and entrance only (Choice "c"; 47.72%)

2.     How would you like the stormwater facility maintained?

• Mowed monthly keeping it 8 inches high (Choice "c"; 43.18%)

3.     What would you like to see done to the entrance median?

• Replace bare areas with perennials (Choice "b"; 65.0%)

4.     What would you like done to the landscape islands?

•  Leave them as is, just mow areas. (Choice "a"; 95.45%)

5.     Do you want to include the Westhaven signs in the SSA?

• Yes (Choice "a"; 63.63%)

It's important to note that the City Council vote on Monday was simply to establish the special services area. It did not set the amount of the levy or the level of maintenance work the city would undertake.

City Administrator Mary McKittrick said that, although the survey is concluded, "we will continue to take comments, and obviously those will be considered in develoment of the levy ordinance."

The city's Public Works Department will be taking quotes from businesses that want to do the maintenance work, and will try to "match up" the level of services with the wishes of the residents, McKittrick said.

Most likely a final vote on the levy will take place in November or December.