Glenview Officials, Residents Talk Accountability, Solutions with ComEd

A solid effort by to bridge the gap between ComEd and citizen's issues with utility was evident at a meeting with company executives Wednesday night at the . 

More than 65 people primarily from the Park Manor neighborhood came to the meeting sponsored by state Rep. John Damico (D-Chicago) and state Sen. Ira Silverstein (D-Chicago) to ask questions and learn

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Unlike earlier meetings where legislators like and for its service in the aftermath of the June 21 and July 11 storms, this time five company representatives came with explanations and ideas. 

“We have been in constant contact with [ComEd],” Hileman said. “I told them to come with solutions instead of being defensive. They are trying and it shows.” 

Working to find solutions

One of the solutions to frequent non-storm-related outages in Park Manor—roughly bounded by Central Avenue on the north, Golf Road on the south, Harlem Avenue on the east and Shermer Road on the west—is the Hendrix.

The Hendrix is a reinforced device that will replace the wooden cross members on utility poles to better withstand interference with wires by branches and trees, according to ComEd engineer Ken Cicirule. 

“It won’t withstand 100-foot trees in an 80 mile per hour wind,” Cicirule said. “It will reduce outages 35 percent of the time with smaller trees and most branches.”

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Though the work is not yet scheduled, he expects it to be complete in the highly affected areas by mid December. 

Ellen Pietroski expressed the frustration of many. “Why is the other side of the street never out,” she said? Pietroski lives in an area that has had numerous outages in good weather and bad over the years. 

'Actions speak louder than words'

In past meetings, people like ComEd have offered to stay and meet with people afterward, get addresses and give problem pockets special attention. Cicirule said wiring would be changed in the near term to correct the problem. 

Guerra brought four colleagues who were prepared with a map of Park Manor which highlighted the areas scheduled for Hendrix treatment. “We are in constant contact with the villages,” he said. “We are isolating the problem pockets.” 

In past meetings replies were often vague, according to Hileman, but Wednesday's meeting brought more specifics and direct answers. When asked why the Park Manor outages were so frequent, External Affairs Manager Eric Duray had a simple explanation.

“Trees,” Duray said. “We have a tree trimming policy to trim every four years.” 

Damico has been arranging a number of meetings throughout his district with representatives of ComEd since storms this summer left more than 1.2 million homes and businesses without electricity for days at a time.

“I’m glad to see them step up with things like the Hendrix,” Damico said. “Now we can hold [ComEd] accountable. Actions speak louder than words. I hope to see some improvement.” 

Hileman will continue to work with Glenview citizens and ComEd to resolve the ongoing outages. ComEd representatives will be at a Village Board meeting next month.

Stay tuned to Glenview Patch for updates. 

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