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Going door-to-door to keep Elmwood Park clean, beautiful
Elmwood Park Village Manager Paul Volpe and Public Works Director Dino Braglia travel around the village, looking at houses and businesses in an effort to keep properties clean, safe and beautiful. | Joe Cyganowski~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: September 3, 2012 12:48PM
ELMWOOD PARK—Village officials went into the streets last week to make sure neighborhoods were clean, safe and beautiful.
“Keeping Elmwood Park Clean, Safe and Beautiful” is part of a villagewide campaign to encourage residents, merchants and business owners to do their part in village beautification.
Elmwood Park Village Manager Paul Volpe, Public Works Director Dino Braglia and village employees went block by block checking out how people were keeping up their property.
“I think it’s a great program,” Volpe said. “We’re trying to keep the village clean, safe and beautiful.”
Properties that needed a little more attention received messages from the village left on doors.
Volpe said he observed more people doing right than wrong.
“For every one we found that needed cleaning there were 10 that didn’t,” he said.
Their chief concern was lawns not being maintained properly. High grass and weeds were taking over several properties.
Elmwood Park Mayor Peter Silvestri stress the importance of informing the public about what the village code requires in keeping up property.
He hopes the notes left on doors will remind those who might have forgotten.
Property owners who received a notice have 10 days to correct the problem. After that, village code employees will make an official visit and fines may be levied.
Silvestri said whoever owns property in the village will be held accountable for maintaining it.
“I think that if we have properties in distress or have frequent violations, then we will cite the owner or the bank,” he said. “We need to keep the property up or at least presentable. We do that now, but we need to do more of it.”
