Got this the other day.
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Subject: Next meeting of the Hickory Creek Watershed Planning Group, October 3rd at 9:30 am
Our next meeting of the Hickory Creek Watershed Planning Group is scheduled for Friday, October 3rd. The meeting will be held at the Homer Glen Village Hall in the Chambers Room. Village Hall is located in a strip mall at 14933 South Founders Crossing. The entrance to the Chambers Room is on the east end, facing Bell Road. Please note that the meeting will be held from 9:30 am to 11:00 am.
Immediately following the meeting, the Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church will be hosting a field trip of their grounds to showcase their vision, master plan and techniques for natural and sustainable design and practices.
For a sneak peek and background on their efforts, please visit http://www.byzantinecatholic.com/nature.htm. The church is located at 14610 Will Cook Road in Homer Glen.
Agenda: After approving the minutes from the August 15th mtg and allowing a short period for announcements, we will get right into the completion of the goal and objectives settings exercise we began at the last meeting. The focus of this exercise is setting the goals, with objectives to follow. Potential actions will be determined by the subcommittee(s) that will be assigned to each goal at a later time.
Item of note:
The Hickory Creek Watershed Planning Group was written up in the New Lenox Patriot newspaper. Please see the article posted below.
Thanks!
Traci Barkley
Water Resources Scientist
Prairie Rivers Network
1902 Fox Drive, Suite G.
Champaign, Illinois 61820
Phone 217.344.2371
Fax 217.344.2381
tbarkley@prairierivers.org
http://www.prairierivers.org
Helping out old Hickory
Municipalities join forces to preserve and improve creek
by Michael Gilbert
September 10, 2008
It has been called one of the gems of Will County, but new development around Hickory Creek has started to cause the stream to lose a bit of its beauty.
Sedimentation from recent construction projects and fertilizer runoff from new, nearby homes have slowly begun to harm the 13,000-year-old creek and its inhabitants.
To combat the issue, seven municipalities, including New Lenox, have joined forces to form the Hickory Creek Watershed Planning Group in an effort to help preserve, protect and improve the creek that passes through New Lenox and stretches from Monee to Joliet.
The planning group — which is comprised of village staff and officials from New Lenox, Frankfort, Mokena, Joliet, Homer Glen, Tinley Park and Orland Park — was created last year and meets every two months.
"Our goal is to improve the creek and also come up with ways we can be more environmentally sensitive," said Ron Sly, the chairman of the Hickory Creek Watershed Planning Group. "The creek is really a gem in Will County and we want to make sure it remains visible."
Sly, the New Lenox public works superintendent, said one of the group's main goals will be to come up with ideas to control runoff water from entering the creek. He noted as more homes are built near the creek it increases the amount of runoff road salt and lawn fertilizer that enter the water.
"People see clear water running into the creek and they don't realize that it could be polluted," Sly said. "We're trying to come up with goals and objectives that we can work off of that will control runoff water."
To limit the amount of runoff water on one's property, Sly encouraged residents to use a rain barrel to collect and store rainwater. The barrel can later be emptied to water gardens or wash cars.
The planning group is also researching the benefits of rain gardens, which are designed to absorb rainwater runoff from roofs, driveways, walkways and compacted lawn areas. This reduces rain runoff by allowing stormwater to soak into the ground instead of flowing into storm drains and surface waters which can cause erosion, water pollution, flooding and diminished groundwater.
Sedimentation from nearby construction sites has wrecked havoc on the number of mussels in the creek, according to Bill Eyring, of the Chicago-based Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT). The sedimentation has settled at the bottom of the creek, suffocating many of the mussels, he said. The CNT works as an advisor for the Hickory Creek Watershed Planning Group.
"We know that growth is inevitable, but we want municipalities to do a better job of monitoring construction activity," Eyring said. "We also want to provide residents with more material on drainage and rain gardens. The problems [facing the creek] are never-ending as long as there continues to be growth, so we need to come up with ways to control the problems."
The planning group is scheduled to meet Friday, Oct. 3, in Homer Glen. An exact location and time have not yet been set. Any citizens interested in attending the meeting can contact Ron Sly at (815) 462-6400 for more information.
"I'm really excited about this group and what they can do," Eyring said. "It's a group of good, enthusiastic people who are very much interested in Hickory Creek."
Hickory Creek flows southwestward for approximately 25 miles and feeds into the Des Plaines River in Joliet. Thousands of people use the 22 miles of walking trail around the creek each year.