Chicago Ridge Residents Have Had It With Repeated Dumping At End Of One Dead-End Street

CHICAGO RIDGE, Ill. (CBS) -- A dead-end block in southwest suburban Chicago Ridge has become a dumping ground – and neighbors are saying enough is enough.

As CBS 2's Meredith Barack reported, the mayor of Chicago Ridge said he has a plan to deal with it.

Along Marshall Avenue in Chicago Ridge, there are signs that say, "No dumping," with warrants that violators will be prosecuted and will face a minimum fine of $500.

It is what multiple signs along Marshall Avenue in Chicago Ridge say, but people clearly aren't abiding by them.

"I've been here 17 years. At the property back here – it's dumped on a weekly basis," Said Sal Zermeno. "Once a week, maybe twice."

Zermeno said junk that people don't want anymore seems to end up on the property right down the street from his house.

Earlier this week, mattresses were piled into a pyramid. The village did come pick them up, but neighbors said the forsaken furniture shouldn't have been there in the first place.

They also don't appreciate the produce and other food that has been left behind. The area along the railroad tracks turning into a restaurant for rats.

"It's unwelcome, but it's a fact of life," Zermeno said. "It keeps happening, and it doesn't seem that there's any end to it."

People in the neighborhood made up of apartments, condos, and single-family homes say they want the village to hold whoever is leaving furniture and other items behind accountable.

"They do it in the middle of the night, so they get away with it - and nobody says anything to them anyway," Zermeno said.

Chicago Ridge Mayor Charles Tokar said the village's Department of Public Works has visited the site and other problem spots almost every day to see if there has been anything illegally dumped.

Tokar said there is a solution in the works – the village is planning on installing cameras so they can get the license plates of the people who are doing the dumping – and then hit them with some significant fines.

The mayor said he hopes to have the cameras up and running within the next few weeks.