Village Center Commission (No longer holds meetings)

APPROVED Village Center Commission Meeting Minutes January 6, 2016 A meeting of the Village Center Commission was held on Wednesday, January 6, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. at the Village Hall Community Conference Room, Deerfield, Illinois. Chairperson Jannes Zobus called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Present were: Joan Reed Janice Shaw Vicki Street Jannes Zobus, Chairperson Absent was: Garo Emerzian Also present: Dan Nakahara, Associate Planner Public Comment: There was no public comment on non-agenda items. Document Approval: Ms. Reed moved to approve the minutes from the September 2, 2015 VCC meeting. Ms. Shaw seconded the motion. The minutes were approved unanimously on a voice vote. Ms. Street suggested revising the follow-up letter sent to businesses after the annual Village Center walk to make it more positive. Ch. Zobus suggested following up in a few months on the revised letter. Business: 1. Discussion on the draft brochure promoting the Village of Deerfield to prospective businesses Mr. Nakahara explained that creating a brochure to prospective businesses originated from a review of “how to start a business” brochures collected from other communities. Further discussion determined a lot of the “how to” information was available on the Village’s website. The Commission concluded that a brochure used as a promotional tool for prospective business would better serve the Village since such a tool was missing from the Village. Mr. Nakahara presented a draft of the brochure to the Village Center Commission January 6, 2016 Page 2 of 4 Commission. The Commissioners went through the headings, content, font, and color of each page and discussed the entire brochure. Overall, the Commission was pleased with the draft. Ms. Reed suggested changing the colors to make them more complimentary. She believes the tonality is important and the deep, dark forest green is very striking while the blue and turquoise colors are jarring. Other green colors should have a similar hue. The commissioners suggested engaging a graphic designer to look at the entire brochure after changes are made to brochure. The Commission discussed the overall content of the pages. On some pages the Commissioners felt there was too much information while on other pages they felt that even though there was a lot of information, it was presented in a condensed form. Ms. Street suggested adding a section about business retention, because the Village has a high business retention rate. She believes it is important for businesses to know. Ms. Reed suggested adding a bullet for business retention under the business profile. Other recommended changes were to make the font more readable and adding contact information the Chamber of Commerce and their website address. Ms. Reed believes the use of company logos stands out. She expressed concern about using certain color combinations as they detract from the emphasis on the companies. She believes the color should be more subtle. The commissioners suggested enlarging and revising the location map. The commissioners believe the colors should be changed throughout. Ms. Reed liked the gradients, but agreed the colors should be more uniform. The commissioners believe the information should be checked for accuracy and consistency. The commissioners believe Mr. Nakahara did an excellent job for the first draft. Mr. Nakahara believes each page should include contact information, just in case the pages get separated. Ms. Reed asked if this is brochure is different from what the Chamber distributes. Ms. Street would like to use some of the information in her correspondence and use the brochure for businesses thinking about locating in Deerfield. 2. Village Center Update Mr. Nakahara provided his Village Center Update.  Approximately 20 letters were sent to business following the Village Center walk.  The Village has engaged an arborist to inventory the trees in the Village Center and determine their condition. The trees that are dead or dying will be replaced was appropriate depending on the weather. A tree plan is in place to suggest types of trees to be planted. Mr. Nakahara noted trees were not wrapped with holiday lights due to the majority of the trees being in bad condition hence the light poles being wrapped with lights.  Shoppers Court has a new owner and the Commission would like to invite the new owner to the next meeting to discuss their plans for the development. Village Center Commission January 6, 2016 Page 3 of 4  The Northwest Quadrant Unified Task Force public hearing is scheduled for January 28, 2016. Mr. Nakahara explained the public hearing is an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan for a master plan for the northwest quadrant. If the plan moves forward, the Commission will have the opportunity to send their comments to the Board.  The Commissioners discussed the holiday decorations. Ms. Reed liked the lights around the street poles, the burgundy ribbons and the greens. She believes it was very elegant. Ms. Reed expressed concern about the color of the lights. The LED lights appear blue and are colder. She noted the planters do not look good now, and the foliage needs to be removed. Ms. Shaw noted if the foliage is frozen, they cannot be removed. Ms. Reed noted the greens were removed from the poles, and believes the foliage should be removed at the same time. Ch. Zobus received some calls complaining about the burgundy ribbons.  Mr. Nakahara discussed Earth Day, which is April 22, 2016. The Commission was considering a cleanup day with the Sustainability Commission last year and wanted to revisit that type of event for 2016. Mr. Nakahara suggested promoting recycling in downtown Deerfield for Earth Day. The Village has purchased recycling containers for downtown Deerfield and this would be a good opportunity to work with the Sustainability Commission and possibly incorporate a shredding event at the same time. Ch. Zobus asked if there could also be an electronics recycling event as well. Mr. Nakahara suggested not having a cleanup day; rather, hold the recycling and shredding events in place of a cleanup day. He explained cleanup is getting done by Public Works. Ch. Zobus believes the VCC walk has made a difference as well through the annual walks.  Ms. Reed suggested the cleanup day is a way to get the community together. She does not believe April is the correct time for a cleanup day, because of the weather. Mr. Nakahara noted there is a liability aspect with cleanup day. Ch. Zobus suggested writing an article in D-Tales to encourage families and youth to participate in their own cleanup day. Ms. Reed believes after the snow melts, a lot of garbage finds its way onto private property. She suggested getting residents involved in cleaning the downtown, where there is no liability. Mr. Nakahara will look into it. Ms. Shaw suggested an incentive for residents to take it upon themselves to cleanup on their own. If a resident brings a bag of garbage and cleans up litter, they would get a t-shirt. It would be an incentive for helping. Ms. Shaw suggested doing something around Memorial Day. The Commission suggested Mr. Nakahara reach out to the schools to help with a possible cleanup day.  Ms. Shaw expressed concern about the snowplows throwing snow on the sidewalks and the speed of the snow plows. 3. Adjournment There being no further business or discussion, Ms. Reed moved to adjourn the meeting. Ms. Shaw seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously on a voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 pm. Village Center Commission January 6, 2016 Page 4 of 4 Respectfully submitted, Jeri Cotton Secretary