The "E" Is for Elburn

Arvid Hormuth designed the Elburn logo many years ago. Its likeness adorns Village Hall, our water towers, the badges of our police officers, and now, the new Metra station.

The "vertical rectangle" represents our commitment to the downtown, and our desire to keep the Route 47 central business district strong.

The "circle" represents the "circle of life." It reflects our desire to create a community for residents of all ages. We would like our residents to be able to live their entire lives in Elburn, selecting homes from a variety of housing styles and price points. We have always wanted to be community with multiple housing options.

The "square" represents our desire to build inside the natural wetland boundaries that surround our community. We want to build "inside the box" first, and not support development that sprawls off into the cornfields.

Finally, the "triangle" symbolizes our desire to stay on the "cutting edge" of principles consistent with both conservation and transit-oriented design.

I feel sad when some, not all, of our newer residents refer to themselves as residents of the "community" of Blackberry Creek. They imply that Blackberry Creek is separate from the Village of Elburn.

Without hundreds of hours of collaborative effort, without a willingness to welcome newcomers to Elburn, and without a reasonable developer willing to make compromises, there would be no Blackberry Creek.

It is easy in hindsight to second guess the decisions that were made. The planning process that determined the Blackberry Creek development was fair, open and honest. The maps defining the project have been publically available at Village Hall for anyone who wanted to see them.

Not only do we know what our agreement says, we know what we meant it to say. To ask us to change our minds, to something less than the agreement itself, is asking us to reinvent the past and violate a signed annexation agreement.

After the Storm

We had to set off the outdoor warning sirens tonight, but fortunately no tornado activity materialized near Elburn. We just received approximately 2.5 inches of rain in 90 minutes.

After the storm, comes the rainbow, maybe even two rainbows. Hey, the "pot of gold" looks like it's over near my house. I gotta go!

Work Continues at Well #5

Work continues at Well #5 installing Elburn's third trace radium removal system. The facilities at Wells #3 and #4 are both completed and online. Each of these facilities were constructed utilizing a single tall filtering vessel. Well #5 incorporates the tandem vessel configuration shown in the picture above.

Once completed the vessels are filled with Zeolite, a proprietary medium that absorbs the trace levels of radium found in our deep well aquifers like a giant sponge.

The Zeolite is incredibly efficient at removing trace levels of radium from the water. Even with the high volumes of water that flow through the vessels, the Zeolite only needs to be rotated and replenished on a yearly basis.

Many people have asked me what was the biggest challenge I faced being the mayor of Elburn. This is it! Getting the trace levels of radium out of our water supply was a huge, and largely overlooked and unheralded, challenge.

It's easy to nit-pick the Village Board, and presume to tell them what they are doing wrong. This was a project with tremendous long-term implications for our village. I think they handled this one right.

Ich bin Berliner

Here is my son David's photograph of the Leningrad Siege Memorial published on a kiosk in the Anne Frank Zentrum in Berlin, Germany. If you look at a close-up of this shot, you can even read his name printed in the credits.

When David returned from Russia in 2005, I posted some of his best photos on the same Flickr website I use to store pictures for the mayor's blog.

Last June, we were contacted by Julia Franz from Berlin, who asked to use David's picture in their exhibit.

The staff at the museum had searched the internet for a photo of the dramatic seige memorial. David's picture was one of the best pictures they found.

David immediately granted his permission by e-mail from the University of Chicago, and I sent Julia a high resolution copy of the photo.

All of the details were worked out in about 48 hours, and Julia told me they were ecstatic to accomplish both the photo selection and the permission so quickly.

From St. Petersburg to Elburn to Berlin, we are all connected. And, without the mayor's blog, this whole chain of events probably doesn't happen. Cool! Blog on!

Leningrad Siege Memorial

In 2004, my son David took this picture of the Leningrad Seige Memorial during his 6-month stay in St. Petersburg, Russia. During World War II, St. Petersburg, then called Leningrad, was surrounded by the German Army for 900 days. Over 600,000 residents of Leningrad died during the siege, but the city never surrendered.

David is back in St. Petersburg again this school year improving his Russian after being selected by a national fellowship program. Last spring, he graduated from the University of Chicago obtaining both his Bachelor and Master degrees in four years.

In my next post, I will explain how David's photo "flickred" around the world, and ended up in a museum in Berlin.

New Crown Gusher at Prairie Park

We have a new crown gusher at Prairie Park. They tell me the fountain has lights, but I've yet to see it lit up at night. We must be having some technical difficulties with a timer or sensor somewhere.

The bad news is the prairie flowers around the lake are sparse this year. The good news is the hardy grasses have finally come in strong.

Anyone who suggests that growing a native prairie is easy hasn't tried to grow one in Elburn.

I have to admit, after this much effort, a big old mower seems like the logical solution. Maybe we are just trying too hard.

Elburn Metra Station Taking Shape

It has been a long time coming, but the new Elburn Metra station is beginning to take shape. Last spring, Cathy picked the color scheme for our train station.

The folks from Metra dropped off a literal "ton" of brick, flashing, shingle, mortar and tile samples at our home. Although many of Cathy's first choices weren't available, she kept making choices until Metra finally said "Stop!"

It is comforting for me to look at our station, and know that Cathy picked the colors. Over the last 15 years, Cathy was an ardent supporter of the Metra extension to Elburn. She constantly reminded me of the added value Metra service would bring to our community.

She was right, and we are just now seeing the "tip of the iceberg" of the benefits of having Metra in Elburn. All aboard!