By Clay LePard
clepard@cbs4qc.com
With one week until Election Day, voters are making up their mind on several hot-button issues.
One of those is a proposed burn ban for residents in Silvis.
Silvis City Council has spent years debating whether or not to put a burn ban on the city.
Now, they are putting the choice in the voters' hands.
4th Ward Alderwomen Caryn Unsicker says it's about time to clean up the air.
"It gets pretty bad," she says. "I've had people tell me coming from Rock Island and Moline that they get out to East Moline and Silvis and there's this big smoky haze that they don't see in their cities."
If the vote passes, city leaders will then decide an alternative to burning.
One alternative could be having a vacuum truck pick up the leaves. Another could be having the leaves picked up along with your garbage.
"One thing the citizens have to realize is that whatever the alternative is that the citizens will end up paying for it," says Jim Nelson, Silvis City Clerk It's going to be either through their taxes or through their garbage bill."
While some city leaders are on board with the ban, others aren't so keen on the idea.
"From a fire chief point of view, it would probably make our job much easier but as a citizen I'm not exactly for it," says Dave Leibovitz, Silvis Fire Chief. "I'm not sure the financial implications of it."
Depending on if the ban passes and which alternative to burning city leaders choose, the ban could cost taxpayers more than $100,000.
Unsicker explains that instead of burning, residents could just mulch the leaves with their lawnmower.
