Not that I agree with the tax, but there should be an offset for the summer months. A substantial amount of water may be used to water gardens and shrubs which need extra water during the dry periods of summer. This water would not go through the sewer system but improve the beauty and environment of the area.

i don't disagree with downspout disconnects - i think they are a great idea and need to be implemented asap, but that's an opinion that doesn't seem to be getting much traction in city hall. and while our system is outdated and imperfect, the cost to completely replace is prohibitive...and that's being conservative. while containment in an of itself is a great idea, there are limitations, much of which has to do with practicality and cost, but also, when you get into the "gradual release of contained water into the system"...the epa does and will get involved...this is something that is regulated and can't be changed. you asked a question regarding the epa...and i provided the answer. i'm not by any means trying to quell your "creativity"...but understanding some of the legal ramifications of what you propose really may help you to provide more practical solutions. you may think that your solutions are "simple", but actually jim...they aren't...and sometimes while i believe you to be intelligent enough to think "out of the box", try to keep within a box that at least approaches realistic so as to provide real insight as opposed to just "tossing something out there" will go a lot farther. and btw...while you may think that i am trying to "win friends and influence people"...really?...if i was, jim, then i'd be telling you that all of your ideas were great, let's do them now...and why hasn't city hall done anything about your wonderful ideas.

The economy is still in the tank, and now even Elmhurst is now desperate for additional revenue. What a sad state of affairs. We all need to get to the polls in November and show the clueless Obama administration the door. The country can't any more of his foolishness.

I topped myself! "The Courtship of Elmhurst's Fodder."

it suggests that a relatively inexpensive, easy solution to a problem we experienced 2 years ago has yet to be implemented. it was suggested 2 years ago immediately following the catastrophic flooding of 2010, and at several opportunities over the last 2 years. it has yet to be implemented. so...you ask..."shouldn't this be addressed immediately?"...what do you propose we do immediately that we haven't tried already? maybe if you contacted the city council and the mayor, they might listent to you, 'cuz they haven't listened to anyone else yet.

jim, why don't you ask mayor dicianni and the rest of the aldermen directly why this wasn't done and then you will have your answer... . how about coming to a city council meeting or a committee meeting (public works) and asking this question? you mention an "apathetic general public who accepts what is and is passive and detached." don't you think sitting at home on your computer asking the question you did "give me one good reason why the gutter disconnection didn't take place immediately after the severe flooding... ." is doing exactly what you state? i can't think of anything more "passive and detatched..." than asking a question to which the source of the answer isn't here...but certainly in city hall...to which...in order to get that answer...one might have to do something other than sit at their computer and comment here. this is the kind of thing peggy is talking about, and not to bust your enthusiasm, but she's right.

you can submit to the city clerk, patty spencer, prior to a city council meeting, any correspondence to which you would like read into the public record, as long as it takes less than 3 minutes to read...also...you can e-mail directly any and all public officials with your comments and questions...you can also call any one of them directly in order to get an answer to your question - and the last place any of them are going to comment on your question is here - so in the time it takes you to write your comments here on the patch, you could have contacted any one of a number of city council members or city staff members who could perhaps provide an answer to the question that you asked, which i still suggest that you do directly. believe it or not jim, i don't have a lot of time for city council, as a matter of fact, in the 2012 calendar year, i have been to exactly 2 city council meetings and 1 committee meeting - so just because my address is behind city hall doesn't mean i live there.

As amusing as I find this, you two do realize you had the exact same back and forth almost 13 months ago? In that time, Jim has been not only be too active to sit through any official meeting(where he could get answers to his almost painfully rhetorical question) but he has also posted nearly 800 comments on this website alone.

In light of all this, I need to know....Is Mr. Court real or a put on? Has anybody met him in person?

Mr. Court, I see you have referenced one of my comments on another article today. Depending on the order of your comments my count is at 804(remember that is just for the past year). I'm not sure why you feel the need to make reference to it on a completely different article. The only reason I brought it up was because you said you didn't have time to seek answers from elected officials at their meetings but had time to write out and sometimes re-write over 800 comments...it simply did not make sense to me, nothing more.

I may be much younger and inexperienced than many of you, but even I know that sarcastic responses to my comments on different articles(which in real life would be talking behind my back) is not going to bring us to the bigger sense of community that you would like to see.

So since you always challenge people to find the results or lack of- out of your nearly 1200 total comments, most of which you say are ideas to improve the city, which have been implemented?

I would love to meet and discuss/debate/brainstorm/argue/highfive with anybody on this forum, but i fear that might fudge up the fun some others are having while not using their real names.

I like playing the game too!!!!!

Did anyone notice the article? The utility 'sewer fund' is underfunded. Not really a shocker but we as residents should start taking notice of this stuff. This is the second time council voted on a bond specifically named to help fund the Saylor Force Main.

you are the one that called yourself a fool... . as for relationships, what do you know about my personal life, jim? do you really know for a fact, one way or the other, who i may or may not be involved with at the present time, and where in the relationship i am with someone, for a fact? do you know for a fact where this person may or may not live so that you can indeed tell the world who he is or is not and what he does for a living, what he may or may not look like? do you really think i dislike men when i've been surrounded by them my entire life? and fyi...i don't hate the mayor. i dislike him. not because he's a man but because he doesn't tell the truth and he's a hypocrite. there is an enormous difference when you dislike someone vs. hate them. you state that you don't name call yet you call me a man-hater, you don't name call yet you call me self righteous, and you don't name call yet you state i have a chip on my shoulder, amongst other insults. i'm not doing this again - i've got better things to do with my life.