Community Relations Commission

1 APPROVED 2 Minutes of a Meeting of the 3 Community Relations Commission 4 Northbrook, IL 5 Thursday, October 2, 2014 6 7 Present: Chairman Ray Wehr, Commissioners Bruce Doughty, Linda Goldsher, Safa 8 Hamed, Chris Kosla, and Dr. Rochelle Singer 9 10 Representatives: Lou Gross, Mary Hansen, Alice Lonoff, Ron Mantegna, Nancy Stoddard, 11 and Susan Weil 12 13 Guests: Penny Randel, Derek Simmons and Hilary Steinhaus 14 15 Absent: Commissioners Elliot Bruckman, Dale Duda, and Sue Huang 16 17 Others: Recording Secretary Denise Kauffman and Staff Liaison Mike Strong 18 19 Call to Order & Welcome 20 Chairman Wehr called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Board Room at Village Hall. 21 Guests were welcomed and thanked for attending. Introductions of guests followed. 22 23 Approval of September 4, 2014, Meeting Minutes of the Community Relations Commission 24 Revisions were identified as follows: 25 26 - Line 15, add “Member” before Lou Gross name 27 - Line 24, change “Commission” to Commissioner 28 - Line 50, connect two sentences to make only one sentence of line 50 and 51 29 - Line 55, change will be to “was” 30 - Line 58, take out the first reference to “Point Drive” 31 - Line 61, add “will” after the work Village and before word “send” 32 - Line 93, add Commissioner Duda to Subcommittee list 33 - Line 113, change “Member” to Commissioner 34 - Line 118, change “Member” to Commissioner 35 - Line 153, change “tomatoes to the” to “tomatoes for the” 36 - Line 156, add “at Temple Beth El” after word hunger 37 - Line 162, change “loyalty games” to “loyalty day” 38 - Line 180, add “North Shore” before Senior Center 39 40 A motion was made by Commissioner Singer, seconded by Commissioner Doughty, to approve 41 the September 4, 2014 minutes as corrected. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 42 43 Hear From the Audience 44 There was no discussion from the audience.  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission October 2, 2014 45 46 Village Staff Report 47 Liaison Strong provided an update on village issues. He announced that invitations will be sent 48 out for the November 5 event to thank employees, volunteers, commissioners and trustees for 49 their service. 50 51 He announced that the Planning and Zoning Committee of the Board of Trustees met on 52 September 30 and made a motion to recommend that medical cannabis cultivation centers be 53 allowed by special permit in the I-1 and I-2 Industrial Districts, and dispensary organizations in 54 the O-4 Office District. He stated that staff will be presenting the final recommendation and 55 approval documents for Village Board consideration during their regular meeting on October 56 14. 57 58 Liaison Strong also announced that the Northwest Suburban Animal Control is offering a 59 discounted rate for setting traps for small animals like skunks, squirrels and chipmunks. The 60 rate is $95 for inspection and to set the trap and $45 for the pick-up fee. Their phone number is 61 847-934-1900. It is not clear if this service includes coyotes. 62 63 Liaison Strong also reported that the commuter lot has included parking spaces for motorcycles 64 for $1 daily rate. 65 66 Northbrook Cares Update 67 Chairman Wehr stated that he has a contact who he will reach out to for support of the 68 initiative. Commissioner Doughty asked if raising money is an option and stated there may be 69 fundraising opportunities to consider moving forward. 70 71 Sister Cities Update 72 Commissioner Doughty stated that a subcommittee meeting was held on Wednesday. He 73 stated that next week Commissioner Bruckman and he will be meeting with the Highland Park 74 representative to get feedback for the subcommittee. The next meeting will be at the end of 75 October on the 29th. There was further discussion on ways to identify candidates and criteria 76 used to evaluate them and there was discussion on the mission statement as a vehicle to 77 promote cultural understanding. Member Mantegna asked whether sister cities are always 78 international partnerships and it was then discussed that they can be domestic. 79 80 Commission Match Game 81 There was discussion of assignment of event chairs. Commissioner Goldsher will volunteer as 82 the NCRC Award Chair. 83 84 Clergy Lunch Planning 85 Discussion included that there will be a luncheon held again this year. Topics will come from the 86 clergy. Liaison Strong will procure food and reserve the Village Board room. Discussion included 87 checking President Frum’s calendar to ensure availability, look for speakers, invite trustees, 2  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission October 2, 2014 88 department heads, library personnel, park district personnel, YMCA staff, commissioners, police 89 and fire representatives. The date of the luncheon will be December 3, 2014. 90 91 Black History Month Planning 92 Commissioner Singer stated that they anticipate a great event this year and that they have 93 excellent committee members. The next planning meeting is October 21. During this meeting 94 they will determine a theme and then look for participants. There was discussion of how many 95 attended last year. 96 97 NCRC Awards 98 Commissioner Goldsher said there is no report at this time. Liaison Strong stated that he has all 99 the information and will provide to Commissioner Goldsher. 100 101 News from the Clergy Association 102 Commissioner Kosla provided a brief report regarding some upcoming events and news from 103 the Association, including: 104  On October 8, a discussion with the group formerly known as Links, now known as 105 Angles will be held. The Angles program is a very low key event. 106  It was announced that October is domestic violence abuse month and Dr. Susan 107 Weitzman will be speaking at an event at Our Lady of the Brook on October 23 at 7:00 108 p.m. Representative Lonoff volunteered as a backup to go to the monthly clergy lunch. 109  Wednesday, November 26, the Thanksgiving Interfaith Celebration will be held at Our 110 Lady of the Brook in Northbrook. 111  April is Fair Housing Month. 112  April 19 or 26 will be the date for the Interfaith Sunday event and that they may be 113 getting scouts and school students involved. More information to come at a later date. 114  July 15 is the Justice Project and it was discussed that Martin Luther King was here 50 115 years ago and that they will be holding an event in recognition of this. 116 117 News from the Schools 118 Commissioner Doughty provided an update regarding District 225: 119  District 225 passed a balanced budget and the district is growing and this is good news. 120  Homecoming is next week with a week-long of events. 121  It was discussed that in September, the Northbrook Foundation held an event to 122 support additional means for GBN/GBS students to cover costs. They are trying to help 123 assist students in need and they held a family evening event with games and vendors 124 and it was attended by several hundred people. 125  The District will continue to hold events to help raise awareness of the Foundation’s 126 efforts. 127  The District is continually looking at enrollment numbers and as the District continues to 128 grow the numbers have been an issue and they need to make sure the high school can 129 continue to meet the demand of students. 130 3  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission October 2, 2014 131 Representative Gross provided an update regarding District 28: 132  District 28 has passed a budget. 133  They are in the process of doing an expansion of Westmoor which is being funded 134 through reserves. This budget year shows a deficit due to this project. But the District 135 remains in good financial position. 136  A Math Interventionist has attended several schools in the District to help identify 137 students with math needs. This will also help improve how teachers can understand and 138 teach the subject. 139  There was a discussion regarding the status of the Westmoor renovation project. 140 Member Gross stated that it is going along well and is on schedule for a possible 141 December completion -- everything except for asphalt – but the project itself should be 142 completed in December. 143 144 News from Park District 145 Park District Commissioner Penny Randel provided an update of various Park District activities. 146 There was a discussion of Autumnfest, which was attended by more than 1,600 residents. Also, 147 the Park District is continuing to conduct special boring for environmental issues at the 148 Anetsberger property. Once complete, the Park District will restore grading and clean up the 149 site. She stated that no specific future use of the site has been determined. 150 151 Old Business 152 Commissioner Singer stated that she submitted changes to the Community Resource Guide 153 which were not incorporated into the document. She stated she will send the changes again to 154 Liaison Strong who will resend a copy of the guide to all Commission members for review. 155 156 Representative Mantegna discussed that a couple of years ago the CRC partnered with the 157 Senior Services Commission to conduct a survey for the senior community. He asked for an 158 update on the action plan resulting from the project and if it had been executed. Liaison Strong 159 stated he will follow-up on that request by the next meeting. Chairman Wehr added that the 160 Commission owes the Village a follow up to tell them where we are with that project. 161 162 Commissioner Doughty spoke on behalf of Commissioner Duda who requested that the 163 Commission look at the possibility of separating events for the 2015 calendar so they are not so 164 clumped together. General discussion took place regarding the schedule; however, some 165 Commissioners felt that a synergistic benefit can exist for events that are held on the same day 166 or weekend. 167 168 New Business 169 Chairman Wehr discussed changing the date of the November CRC meeting since it was 170 scheduled for the night after the November 5 event for all staff and volunteers. It was 171 discussed and decided to hold the November 6th meeting as scheduled. 172 173 Eyes and Ears on the Street 4  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission October 2, 2014 174 Representative Mantegna announced that the Village Presbyterian Church has invited the 175 Purdue Glee Club to the October 12, 11:00 a.m. worship service. 176 177 Representative Weil announced that St. Norbert Parish will host a Pet Blessing for all furry 178 friends at 10:00 a.m. on October 4. 179 180 Representative Lonoff announced that Northbrook Methodist Church’s tomato project earned 181 about $1,500 for the Food Pantry and that there were a lot of children in attendance playing on 182 the grounds. 183 184 Representative Mantegna asked about recent sightings of markings on trees some of which 185 have been painted with “X’s”. Liaison Strong stated he would check with Public Works and 186 report back at a later date regarding the request. 187 188 Representative Lonoff announced that at Cherry and Western there will be pumpkins for sale to 189 benefit scholarships to GBN. Chairman Wehr stated that it is an award program traditionally 190 granted to two GBN Seniors and that there will be an announcement about the program in the 191 near term. 192 193 Representative Hansen announced that a Potluck dinner would be held on October 11 at 6:15 194 p.m. that will feature an environmental stewardship event. 195 196 Chairman Wehr offered congratulations to GBN Junior Spartan Football for their 2-2 record. He 197 specifically congratulated Owen Siebert for an exciting touchdown he scored during a recent 198 game. 199 200 Next Meeting 201 The next meeting will be held on November 6, 2014, at the Village Hall. Agenda items will 202 include, among others, a review of the upcoming Asian Heritage Festival and NCRC Awards 203 Program. Commissioners will come with supportive comments. 204 205 Adjournment 206 A motion was made by Representative Mantegna, seconded by Commissioner Doughty, to 207 adjourn the meeting at 7:57 pm. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 208 209 Respectfully submitted, 210 Denise Kauffman, Recording Secretary 5