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Date: 1/4/2023
SPRINGFIELD – City Councilor Victor Dávila has formed an Advisory Litter Committee as a result of residents’ increasing concerns regarding litter throughout Forest Park.
“This has been an ongoing issue for a couple of years now,” Dávila said. “I had received a growing number of calls expressing concern on litter in our neighborhood. We have decided to tackle this issue with community input and community participation.”
Dávila told Reminder Publishing the biggest areas include lower Belmont Avenue, Dickinson Street, the X, Forest Park Avemue, Longhill Street, White Street and the surrounding areas of the park itself. The committee is made up of residents from the Forest Park neighborhood: Erica Swallow, Pat Triggs, Amy Zoe Gustman, Wayne Nelson, Beate Bolen, Juanita Batchelor and Russ Seeling. Dávila’s vision for the committee is to identify problem areas in the neighborhood, create solutions and make recommendations to the City Council and the mayor on how to address this problem.
Right now, the committee has a schedule they are looking to finalize on a time they can meet. Within those meetings they will have a community round table where the committee can invite people to come in, express their concerns and possible solutions. The committee will have a series of meetings starting Jan. 14 and are looking to issue its final report by the end of March.
“Community feedback is extremely vital,” Dávila said. “My hope is that this Committee is a blueprint to further address litter throughout the City. I want to reach out to community members, churches and nonprofits to help us come up with a solution.”