I read the article regarding compost with some interest. It is good to know that residents can have an impact on how local concerns can be addressed. I would like to raise another concern as the village negotiates its contract with Republic Services. My wife and I are avid recyclers, and have composted for several years. Now that our children have moved out, it is just the two of us. In a typical week we will generate about one grocery bag of garbage. We do not need to have our garbage picked up every week. Why can’t Forest Park institute a program for on-demand garbage pick up? Our water bills have gone up, thanks to the city of Chicago and our property taxes are going up. It would be a pleasure to actually see some of the costs of living in Forest Park go down. The village could easily move to ‘stickers’ that would go on bags to be picked up when needed. Or (and perhaps this isn’t realistic), why can’t every garbage can assigned to a residence have a barcode (under the lid?) that the hauler could scan before dumping, which would make for easy billing. I find it a little aggravating (and unnecessarily expensive) to be paying for a service that I need only half as often.
Lee Maltby
Forest Park resident
