Good morning friends and neighbors in our Chatham community.
This first update this morning contains updates on our work today and additional resources becoming available.
CHATHAM LIBRARY OPEN FOR COOLING, CHARGING, AND RELAXING
The Chatham Area Library will be open today from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm. The library has outlets to charge devices, as well as computer access and wi-fi. They welcome all and their children with space to socialize, play, and read for all ages.
CENTRAL ILLINOIS FOODBANK
There will be a drive-up food distribution today at the Foodbank, 1937 East Cook Street in Springfield. The Foodbank requests that you enter on Edwards Street via Martin Luther King Drive and have your trunk clear before arriving.
AMERICAN RED CROSS OF ILLINOIS
Red Cross has opened a shelter at the Springfield NAACP office at 801 S. 11th Street in Springfield for anyone impacted by the storms. Meals, water, and Red Cross volunteers are available. The Red Cross reminds you to bring medical supplies, including prescriptions, personal hygiene items, and other necessities for your family members.
SPOILED FOOD DISPOSAL
The Village has a small dumpster located in Community Park near the parking lot by diamond #3 (near the Dewberry Trail entrance to the park). If you are without power and have spoiled food that needs to be disposed of, and do not anticipate your normal garbage disposal to arrive for Monday service, this dumpster is available for you.
This dumpster is ONLY FOR FOOD WASTE from impacted areas. Please do not dispose of anything other than food items in this extremely limited resource.
VERIZON DEVICE CHARGING STATIONS
This afternoon, at approximately 1:00 pm, Verizon will be positioning mobile charging stations in the parking lot of Goodwill off Plummer Boulevard. Once in place, these units will be available for any device charging needs around the clock for those without power.
WHERE OUR CREWS ARE
Debris removal crews will be heavily focused on the southwest portion of the village today. They are clearing access to roads, alleyways, and yards for linemen. Use extra caution around all of the large, heavy equipment working in this area and throughout the Village.
Electrical crews are focused on primary transmission lines and pole removal and replacement throughout the village. Large, heavy, equipment is operating throughout the Village. Use caution when traveling near the equipment as they will be operating in narrow roadways and alleyways blocking areas of travel and creating line-of-sight restrictions.
WHO IS HERE
Our electric department is being supported by additional linemen and equipment from Waterloo, Naperville, Riverton, and a large contract crew from Asplundh that have arrived from Connecticut. These crews are all identified with municipal or company names on their trucks and equipment and wear high visibility clothing. Additional equipment and assistance in our streets from the villages of Auburn and Riverton and Brown Storm Services.
WHAT YOU’LL SEE FROM OUR CREWS TODAY
Heavy focus on debris removal in the southwest portion of the town, electrical line work throughout the village centered on the significant transmission lines, damaged pole removal and replacement to rebuild the electric distribution system.
CREWS WILL BEGIN TO ENTER ALLEYS, EASEMENTS, AND BACKYARDS
Take notice that linemen and public works crews are now starting to enter backyards, alleyways, and easements. There is a substantial amount of equipment that will have to be moved through yards and rear easement areas to clear trees and restore power. In doing so, crews may be required to remove undamaged property such as standing fences. When our crews are removing undamaged property, they are photographing and documenting what they have to remove for future replacement.
POWER RESTORATION ESTIMATES
Access to damaged areas has allowed our Electric Department to issue estimates on service restoration to larger neighborhoods and areas. Maps of these areas can be found at https://chathamil.gov/press-release/2023-07-01-storm-power-outage-maps. While these maps do not cover all areas that are without power, they include areas that our Electric Department has been able to access and assess damage in. These maps represent the current best estimates for the power restoration to the general area. The legend at the bottom of each map provides the estimated restoration time.
It is fully anticipated that individual houses may still be without power as each neighborhood is energized. These specific issues are expected to occur, and at this time we do not need these isolated outages to be reported. Additional alerts will be sent asking for those reports a the appropriate time.
TREE, LIMB, AND BRANCH SITES
The Village has established three locations for dropping any branches removed from yards. These areas are ONLY for tree debris. The locations are:
1. The southwest parking lot in Community Park near Main Street.
2. The rocked, empty lot on the west side of Veterans’ Memorial Square
3. The empty lot on the corner of Plummer Boulevard and White Birch Drive. Access to the lot is off White Birch Drive. Please do not dump limbs in the school property on the north side of Plummer.
Use extreme caution in these areas and around the heavy equipment that is present throughout the Village.
THE BIKEPATH FROM WALNUT TO PLUMMER REMAINS CLOSED
Powerlines and limbs are down in this section and should be avoided. Be alert for downed limbs on all other portions of the trail.
Stay safe today, and thank you all.