MADISON COUNTY, Ill. – Taxpayers in Madison County, Illinois, are spending tens of thousands of dollars to deal with trash along the highways.
FOX 2’s You Paid For It team has reported on this nasty situation in the past and the government’s response. We have a report card on the progress of this tax-funded operation.
The job isn’t finished, according to Madison County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler, but they’re making progress. However, it’s not cheap.
“This spring, we spent about $16,000 to hire a company to go out onto I-255 and pick up. They did a very good job,” he said. “We’re planning to hire that same company or maybe another company, if we can get another bid.”
But Prenzler says that $16,000 is just part of the cost.
“Well, we may spend up to $40,000 to 50,000 this year,” he said.
The board chairman says it’s worth the money.
“We have a cleaner look, and we also have monies that are specifically designated that we can only spend for environmental cleanup, so this is a good way to spend that money,” Prenzler said.
That designated money comes via tipping fees from landfills, where people come and dump their trash. But the problem is the large number of trucks coming to and from the landfill, with garbage flying off the vehicles and into highway medians.
Prenzler says the Illinois Department of Transportation has been a huge part of the progress on I-270 and I-255.
