Geneva residents should mark their calendars for when the City's curbside leaf collection will be in their neighborhood in the coming weeks.

The City is divided into three geographical zones, with each zone collected three times using vacuum equipment. Every street will be targeted one time during each of the three separate leaf pickups.

Residents are required to rake their leaves to the parkway no later than 7 a.m. on the Monday of their scheduled pickup week. Leaves placed on the parkway after the crews have passed will not be collected until the next scheduled date.

Leaves should be located on the parkway parallel to the street and about 12 inches behind the curb or edge of the pavement. Placing leaves in the street or curb/gutter is prohibited. Leaves deposited in the street can clog storm sewers, which can later result in street flooding.

The City also has an additional leaf bag collection program that runs from Dec. 1 to Dec. 27. Refuse stickers are not required, but bags containing yard waste, mulch or grass clippings mixed with leaves will not be accepted.

• Best Place To Live

Looking for more photos of Geneva? People can now find them on our new Instagram account @CityofGenevaIL.

The City is expanding its social media presence to showcase our fantastic festivals and events, our beautiful community backdrop and the many things to do in Geneva throughout the year. Plus, this will be another avenue to share your photos with us!

• If you have a public profile, all you have to do is tag us in your photo or mention @CityofGenevaIL in a post or comment.
• If your account is set to private, send us your photo through the "Instagram Direct" feature (we won't be notified if you simply tag or mention us given Instagram's privacy restrictions).

Right now, we are accepting your fall photos. If you have a great picture having fun in the community, Halloween photos  or maybe some Geneva  fall colors, share them with us via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If you have questions, or just feel more comfortable sharing your pictures through email, contact Communications Coordinator Kevin Stahr.

Once we receive your photo, we'll share it with our followers and post it in our online gallery.  

Stay in touch with the latest news and information in Geneva by visiting the City's Communications page. 

Northbound Kautz Road access from Route 38 will be closed to traffic until the new roadway configuration is completed. A new detour route will direct Route 38 drivers north on Kirk Road, east on Averill Road and north on Kautz Road. From Averill, southbound Kautz will only allow access to Roquette University and Prairie Landing Golf Club. The detour route is expected to remain in place until early summer 2015.

The $28 million overpass project, which is being primarily funded with federal and state grants, will realign Route 38 just south of the existing roadway and feature a T-intersection with Kautz Road. Two wider through lanes in each direction will allow cars to travel over the train tracks. Other project scope details will include left turn lanes at various locations, curb and gutter work and new modernized traffic signals.

Geneva's proportionate cost share of the project is about $250,000, which will pay for intersection improvements at Route 38 and Kautz Road, electric work and water main relocations.

Route 38 has remained open during construction, which began in late 2012, but traffic has been reduced to one lane in each direction. Motorists are encouraged to use alternate routes (Kirk Road and Fabyan Parkway) to avoid the area.

Once completed, more than 21,000 vehicles will be able to bypass the railroad crossing on a daily basis, which averages 129 commuter and freight trains each day. The overpass also will reduce pollution with enhanced traffic flow and cars no longer idling waiting for trains to clear the crossing. The target completion date is summer or fall 2015.

Rich Babica will bring more than 22 years of experience to Geneva after being chosen to lead the City's Public Works Department.

Rich Babica, Director

Babica most recently spent the last decade as the Public Works Director of West Dundee. He will now lead Geneva's Public Works Department, which has 54 employees working in the Streets, Engineering, Electric and Water Divisions.

During his tenure at West Dundee, Babica oversaw the completion of the Randall Road Water Treatment Plant, which was identified as the 2005 American Public Works Association Project of the Year in the Environmental Category. His other notable accomplishments include implementing a village-wide GIS system that was able to correlate work orders, securing grant funding to install streetscape planters and pavers in downtown West Dundee, and managing the intersection reconstruction of Routes 72 and 31.

"We are all looking forward to the opportunity to work with Rich and the expertise that he brings to our organization," City Administrator Mary McKittrick said. "His professional experience as a public works director in a neighboring municipality and his advanced educational background will benefit our citizens and our entire community. We are fortunate to have him join our team."

Babica replaces former director Dan Dinges, who resigned in May after 15 years with the City.

Hal Wright, Electric Supt.

Read more about Babica's background.

"I am looking forward to bringing my 22 years of public works experience to the residents of Geneva to enhance the quality of life in the community. I also look forward to adding fresh ideas and insights to the City's Public Works Department operations," Babica said. "This growth opportunity is very exciting to me both personally and professionally."

The City also has promoted Hal Wright from Geneva's Manager of Electric Operations to Electric Division Superintendent. A 27-year veteran of the City, Wright was originally hired as an Assistant to the Superintendent of Electric prior to serving as manager for the last two decades.   

Read more about Wright's background. 

You can catch plenty of Vikings sports as the City's Geneva Broadcast Network will air high school games during the 2014-15 school year.

You may have already seen some of our first few Geneva High School football, soccer and volleyball games this fall. If you have not tuned in, games are airing at 4 p.m. daily (and 4 a.m. for you early birds) on GBN, which is Ch. 10 on Comcast and Ch. 99 on AT&T U-Verse. You can also watch GBN streamed live on our website.

GBN is airing Geneva High School sports in an effort to expand its program lineup and to showcase the talented athletes we have in our community. We want to thank Geneva High School's Television Department (GTV) for their help in bringing the games to your living room.

So if you cannot make it to a game, or just want to relive the memories of a thrilling victory, tune in to GBN each week to catch the Geneva High School Vikings in action. We hope you enjoy the broadcasts, and go Vikings!  

New Plan Outlines Housing Strategies For Geneva

The City of Geneva continues to explore future housing needs as part of a long-range planning process and in particular, the concern that there is not enough affordable housing for seniors.

The City's housing goals are focused on defining and analyzing both existing and future housing needs, potential locations for affordable housing, and actions the City can take to enhance housing affordability.    

The City's Community Development Department received funding from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) to prepare a housing policy plan. During the past year, Geneva, Batavia, St. Charles and North Aurora have collaborated with several state, county and regional agencies to develop separate housing policy plans for each community, as well as, recommendations on how the municipalities can work together.        

The process used to develop the Geneva portion of the plan analyzed current housing, the capacity for creating new housing, the relationship between the City's workforce and housing, and housing needs by age and income group. A community workshop was held to gather ideas from residents on the future of housing in Geneva. 

The draft plan was formulated, and then reviewed by the Geneva Housing Task Force and the City Council. The recommended housing strategies for Geneva are as follows:

1. Establish a goal that 15 percent of all new housing units will be affordable housing
2. Amend the zoning ordinance to allow for compact residential development in key areas of Geneva
3. Create an incentive-based overlay zoning district that encourages the development of affordable housing
4. Commission a downtown parking study
5. Consider a foreclosure redevelopment program
6. Create and market materials to citizens that describe housing trends, data, and related goals
7. Register and inspect rental properties
8. Reaffirm the City's commitment to be an open community
9. Additional measure: consider creating an inclusionary zoning ordinance

The Housing Plan is available on the City's website. For more information, please contact Dick Untch, Geneva's Director of Community Development. 

City's Finance Drop Box Replaced with Building Drop Slot

If you pay your monthly utility bill by using the City of Geneva Finance Division Office drop box, you will notice the box has been removed in favor of a drop slot.

The new slot is located left of the front door of the Finance Office, 15 S. First St.

The City's Finance Division is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, but City of Geneva customers can drop off their utility bills after-hours using that slot. Other drop box locations in the City are located behind City Hall, 22 S. First St.; Fire Station No. 1, 200 East Side Drive; and Fire Station No. 2, 2530 Fargo Blvd.

Residents also can pay their bills online via the City's website.