Community members enjoyed festivities, explored the building and maintenance yard and viewed the department’s trucks, tractors, cranes and equipment at the Homewood Public Works Department open house on Saturday, May 16.
“We do anything you see going down the street – the streetlights, the roads, the sidewalks, the parkways, the trees, the sewers,” Public Works administrative assistant Lisa DiPaola said, explaining the department’s role. “When you turn on water, it’s because of us. When you flush the toilet, it’s because of us.”
Street maintenance workers Dan Spain and Bob Beuck operated a water main simulator in the maintenance yard and answered attendees’ questions about water mains and water service pipes.
“This is how your house gets water,” Spain said. “These are what feed fire hydrants, businesses, everything.”
“The pipes run down every street in town,” Beuck said.
Spain and Beuck said when a water main breaks, it can leak into the streets. To demonstrate this phenomenon, they opened a valve on the water main, spraying water directly outward.
Kids jumped, laughed and played in the steady stream of cool water. Flossmoor resident Akilah Tinor, whose son played in it, compared this part of the event to a “mini water park.”
Homewood Public Works street maintenance worker Dan Spain opens a valve to a water main for a curious youngster during the 2026 Public Works Open House. (Nick Ulanowski / H-F Chronicle)
Community members painted rocks at the Homewood Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) booth. Some took the rocks home while others donated them to the village for a future Public Works project.
Public Works officials placed orange-painted rocks throughout the maintenance yard. Kids who found one could bring it to the prize table inside and claim a toy truck or sticker sheet.
About a dozen kids played in a large mound of sand. The mound included toy trucks meant to represent Public Works trucks.
“It’s a clean sand pile that we had brought in. We use sand for other things, but we got this one for the event,” DiPaola said.
An attendee received a ticket at the front entrance. The ticket could be redeemed for a free hot dog and chips from a Joey’s Red Hots food truck. Attendees ate on picnic tables under white tents.
Village Manager Napoleon Haney served as the event’s DJ.
“This encapsulates what Homewood is – family, fun, great people, great vibes,” Assistant Village Manager Terence Acquah said, regarding the open house.
Public Works Director Joshua Burman staffed a booth near the front entrance sharing information about the Lead Service Line Replacement Program, a plan to remove and replace all lead pipes in Homewood’s water lines.
“It was a federal mandate, and we’re working with the IEPA,” Burman said, adding that lead removal will likely start in the Governors Park area this year. “Each year, we’re going to notify residents (in the project area) of what’s going to be taking place.”
More than 4,300 lead service lines have been identified in Homewood and replacing them will take between 10 and 17 years, according to the Homewood Public Works website.
“It was a great afternoon answering questions,” Burman said.
