By Adam DeRose
The Chicago Daily Herald
WAUCONDA, Ill. — Wauconda village officials hope a cash contribution will be enough incentive for local groups to jump on board with a program to paint fire hydrants.
Village officials have agreed to pay a $10-per-hydrant stipend as a way to breathe new life into a year-old program designed to beautify equipment that typically needs sprucing up every five to seven years.
The village rolled out both a local Adopt-a-Roadway program and an Adopt-a-Hydrant program last year. While community groups got behind the roadway program, the hydrant program had limited success.
“We really focused on the Adopt-a-Roadway program because we really wanted to get some community clean up,” Public Works Director David Geary said. “We find there’s more of a direct value to get these hydrants painted. They’re brown in some cases.”
A professional painting would cost $50 to $75 for each hydrant, Geary said. He added coordinating the painting of some 900 village fire hydrants would take away many staff hours. Geary said the goal is to paint 50 to 100 hydrants under the program this year. The village hasn’t painted hydrants since 2004 because of budget cuts.
Officials are touting the program as an excellent way to give back to the community while receiving a direct service.
“It allows the village to support local groups, neighborhoods and homeowners associations. If they want to help us, we can help them,” he said.
After initial apprehension about the professionalism of community groups painting the hydrants, Geary said the department now hopes the program will take off.
“It’s (a fire hydrant) exposed to the weather, people lean on them, dogs take advantage of them, and we should just let people paint their hydrants if they want them to look nice,” he said.
Community groups interested can find information on the village’s website.
Information on the program is slated to be included in residents’ water bill.
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