contractors. The purpose of the meeting was to insure coordination of their work for a common purpose: to advance the interests of The Oaks. It was also important to emphasize that The Oaks is an established community where people’s lives must continue with minimal interruption. The contractors needed to know that while completion of the SWMP was the objective, they also had to acknowledge the reality of sustaining a normal lifestyle in an established, active community.
To the greatest extent possible, residents were given choices on how they could adjust their lifestyles to accommodate the SWMP. Accommodations were made for offsite parking and a few people with physical limitations. In practice, the sensitivity displayed by the contractors in making such adjustments to their work habits was exemplary.
After the first few weeks of the project, inconveniences intensified. At the peak of devastation, the postal service would not deliver to the Oaks! The lack of mail delivery, limited access to their property, and the occasional outages of internet/cable/phone service brought to a crescendo people’s frustrations from the project. With snow flurries and temperatures in the 20’s, paving of the new street soon followed, signaling the return of near normalcy to people’s lives.
While some aspects of the SWMP greatly disrupted people’s lives, there were many other parts that did not. Trees and
44 | COMMON INTEREST®
shrubs, unavoidably in the way of the construction, were being cleared to make way for field changes of the project. Work was ongoing by the landscapers building terraces, hand digging the downspout/sump connections, and stabilizing disturbed areas as excavations were being completed. The fence contractor installed the replacement fencing. The electrical contractor installed the underground wiring for the street and walkway lighting. The land surveyor was on call to provide control staking when needed. In addition, as a follow up to all disturbances not handled by other contractors, were the stabilization efforts needed to handle any loose ends involving site grading, and preparation for final winter seeding.
CONCLUSION:
The SWMP tested everyone’s ability to remain civil, and to see the bigger picture of what was being done to rejuvenate a tired community. In spite of the inconvenience over a 3+ month-long period, there were few complaints. As the “screws were being tightened”, day-by-day, residents took whatever was dealt to them in stride: a positive testament to the Survivors of the Oaks SWMP.
The Oaks SWMP Committee A Publication of CAI-Illinois Chapter
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