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Resident asks Flossmoor for help in clearing invasive buckthorn

Holding up a branch, Erica Wildrick approached the dais at the Flossmoor village board meeting on Sept. 17. Wildrick was there to ask for the village’s help in removing invasive buckthorn from the community.
 
“Naturalists have recommended the removal of buckthorn because it is so invasive,” Wildrick said. “It was planted generations ago and now we’re trying to get rid of it.”

Holding up a branch, Erica Wildrick approached the dais at the Flossmoor village board meeting on Sept. 17. Wildrick was there to ask for the village’s help in removing invasive buckthorn from the community.
 
  Erica Wildrick holds a branch
  of buckthorn, an invasive
  plant she is working to
  remove from her Flossmoor
  property. Because of its thick
  branches and thorns, Wildrick
  asked for the village’s help
  to chip and remove the plant.

  (Photos by Carole Sharwarko/
  H-F Chronicle)
 

“Naturalists have recommended the removal of buckthorn because it is so invasive,” Wildrick said. “It was planted generations ago and now we’re trying to get rid of it.”

 
Under the Illinois Exotic Weed Act, it is illegal to sell buckthorn in Illinois. The plant is easily spotted in fall for its dark berries and green leaves when other plants have turned brown.
 
Wildrick said she has been cutting the buckthorn from her property, but its thick branches and thorns make it difficult to dispose of. Also, there’s a great deal of it, she said. She asked the board if it was possible to send a village wood chipper to help with removal.
 
Mayor Paul Braun said the village would investigate the possibility of having a chipper come around twice per year to pick up excess removed invasive plants. 
 
  Sioban Lombardi
 

In other business at the meeting, artist and new Flossmoor resident Sioban Lombardi joined the Public Art Commission. Lombardi, who said she has been a professional painter for 30 years, moved from Winnetka to Flossmoor one year ago.

 
“I’m a huge advocate for the cultural economy and the value art brings to any community,” Lombardi said.
 
Trustees unanimously approved Lombardi’s appointment to the Public Art Commission, which meets at village hall at 7 p.m. the second Monday of each month.
 
 

  James Cheung
 

The village board also unanimously approved James Cheung, a six-year Flossmoor resident, was unanimously approved by the board as the new chairman of the Community Relations Commission
 

Cheung, who grew up in South Holland, moved to Flossmoor relocating from the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago. He and his wife have three children. He is an executive at 21st Century Oncology. 
 
“If you want to see change, you have to be part of the change,” Cheung said. “What makes a great community is active and engaged community members.”
 
The Community Relations Commission meets at village hall at 7 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of every month.
 

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