Ask ForOrchard Place Neighbors New Fence

As of Tuesday (Dec. 18), more than 20 residents near Orchard Place Elementary School in Des Plaines signed a petition calling for an improved fence between the school and nearby homes.

Since May of this year, Max Dease, whose Morse Street home backs up to the Des Plaines Elementary School Dist. 62 property, has asked for a new fence. His petition calls the fence “rusty and falling apart,” bad for safety “30 years in the making,” and an insurance liability.

“It’s an eyesore,” Dease told members of the Dist. 62 Board of Education Monday (Dec. 17). “It’s bad for the children. It’s rusty.”

Others who have signed the petition state “leaning into my yard,” as well as “broken and rusty,” as why they want the fence replaced.

Dease said his issue with the fence dates back to the reconstruction of Orchard Place around eight years ago, when he thought the fence would be replaced. When he first began researching the fence last year, Dease said he appealed to members of the Des Plaines City Council to remove it. They said they could not help as the fence was not on city property.

According to Dease, the fence is on the Dist. 62 side of a 10 ft.-wide easement and should be the district’s responsibility to replace. Shortly after he spoke with Dist. 62 administrators this May, some parts of the fence wire repaired, he said. However, he still thinks it’s is an aesthetic problem and a potential safety hazard that keeps him from feeling comfortable when his grandchildren try to play in his backyard.

Dease said people can easily climb over the shorter portions of the fence and even throw garbage over the part near his home and into his yard.

“We will take the information,” said Board of Education President Stephanie Duckmann when Dease voiced his concerns during the meeting. “We will look into this.”

For Dease, a new and uniform 10-ft. fence installed by the district would be ideal, though he knows this could be a bit of a challenge, as he estimated the current fence spans around 6,000 to 8,000 ft. in length.

“I’m not going to give up until it’s done,” he told the Journal & Topics.