Community Pulse: Resources and events to help Grundy residents prepare for spring

Happy Earth month Grundy County! The Land Use Department would like to share some ideas for this spring from our Building Office and the Environmental and Resource Conservation Office or ERCO.

Environmental and Resource Conservation Office (ERCO):

Ewaste Event ONLY:

Our Ewaste event will be held on April 19th from 8:00 AM to Noon sharp. We will be asking $25.00/each for TVs and $50.00 for projection TVs. You may pay cash or check payable to Grundy County Treasurer.

Trashformation sculptures:

Artists from kindergarten through 8th grade have provided many beautiful and creative sculptures made from recyclable materials. The first-place winners received their awards at the County Board meeting on April 8th, which consisted of a certificate and a $50.00 Walmart gift card. Please come by and see the sculptures on display until the end of April at the Grundy County Administration Building at 1320 Union, in Morris.

Recycling Gifts at Libraries for Earth Day:

Your local library will have promotional gifts that contain post-consumer materials that will be helpful to adults and children to teach about them about the 4Rs- recycling, reducing, reusing, and respecting the earth. Please visit your local Grundy County library to get some gifts the week of April 21st.

May Mother’s Day Perennial Seed packets:

We will have perennial seed packets for Mother’s Day. These seeds will grow native perennial flowers that will come back through the years and help our pollinators to have a food source. Visit your local Grundy County libraries during the week of May 5th to receive these seed packets.

Gently Used Children’s Book Drive June 9th through July 11th:

The Children’s Used Book Drive will run from June 9th through July 11th . Please bring all gently used books from preschool through 8th grade to the Land Use Office located in the Administration Building at 1320 Union Street, Morris. All books are then distributed to needy children through our partners at Bernie’s Book Bank.

Building and Zoning Office:

Licensing/Surety Bonding/Insurance Need for Building Permits- Why?

Having a contractor licensed with the municipality or with the County is important and protects you as homeowners. Surety bonds are funds that are available to the authority who is the holder such as that municipality/county to use if the contractor fails to perform the work permitted to code. Liability insurance that is provided as part of the

licensing covers damage that may occur and protects the officials from the municipality/county from harm while inspecting the work on the site.

Call JULIE 811 before digging:

Before starting a project regardless of the depth or size, call 811 which is JULIE or the Joint Utility Locate Information for Excavators for all public utilities to be flagged. JULIE should be called at least three days but not more than ten days prior to the beginning of the project.

It should be noted that all public utilities will mark all the public lines. It should be noted that privately owned lines that are underground will not be flagged. These lines include but are not limited to lawn irrigation systems, septics and wells, invisible fences, lpg lines, and private electric lines that service pole buildings or garages.

Check Exterior for Safety Issues:

Spring is a good time to assess the potential damage that the winter and intense spring storms may have caused to the exterior of your home, and decks.

Evaluate the exterior items such as your roof for any shingles that may have been damaged, downspouts that may be loosened, and gutters that may have pulled away from the house.

Check wood decks for any weather damage to flooring, guardrails, handrails and steps to ensure that the framing is safe and does not need replacement. To protect your investment, weathering that stripes the wood may need to be stained or painted to protect it from further damage.

Spring Gardening Information:

Diversification:

Gardening is truly an art form that requires a lot of study to determine the best plants, soil, lighting and diversity in plants for the birds and pollinators to enjoy. While perennial native species for our region (region 5) are best to ensure success and establishment for future years, also consider the birds and other creatures that enjoy your garden.

Bushes that provide berries give an accent and height to your garden while feeding wildlife. As you look at your garden it will provide you with more species of animals than you thought you may have had in the area.

A wildlife garden provides a diverse food source, shade, nesting materials, pollinator species and water according to the National Wildlife Federation. Refer to the National Wildlife Federation webpage for more ideas in supporting diverse gardening.

Tackle weeds early:

Although a green garden is nice to see, some of those greens are invasive that are competing for the best nutrients in your garden. Although you have other wanted

perennials such as bulb plants like tulips, and daffodils, carefully weeding out the invasive species will be beneficial to you in the future.

Hummingbirds to your home:

Hummingbirds are amazing birds who have abundant energy and provide another source of insect control to your outdoor areas. However, with that abundant energy is the need to consume a good number of calories.

Hummingbirds have typical flowers that they enjoy which you may want to grow such as butterfly bushes, bee balm, cardinal flowers, delphinium, sunflower, and columbine.

You may also make hummingbird nectar for your feeder by mixing one part sugar to four parts of water. During hot days, this feeder should be checked and cleaned to ensure that the nectar is in good condition.

Green Guide:

Please check our Green Guide which is online under the Grundy County Land Use Department webpage’s ERCO tab. It includes a lot of information on difficult to recycle materials. Please call us if there are any questions. Feel free to contact me, Heidi Miller, by phone or email, 815-941-3229 or hmiller@grundycountyil.gov.

Thank you, Grundy County, for being good stewards of the earth.