Community Relations Commission

1 Minutes of a Meeting of the 2 Community Relations Commission 3 Northbrook, IL 4 Thursday, April 7, 7016 5 6 Present: Chairman Bruce Doughty, Commissioners Christine Beeftink, Elliot 7 Bruckman, Safa Hamed, Jason Han, Mary Hansen, & Dr. Rochelle Singer 8 9 Representatives: Ron Mantegna, John Martin, & Nancy Stoddard 10 11 Absent: Commissioners Chris Kosla, & Sharon Latek 12 13 Others: Penny Randel, Northbrook Park District, Village Staff Liaison Erik Jensen, 14 & Village Recording Secretary, Gale Cerabona 15 16 Welcome 17 Chairman Doughty called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. in the Civic Room at Northbrook 18 Public Library. He welcomed Penny Randel from Northbrook Park District. 19 20 Hear from the Audience 21 Ms. Randel advised the Executive Director at the Park District has accepted another position, 22 and the search process for a replacement has begun. 23 24 Commissioner Han arrived at 7:02 p.m. 25 26 Review & Approval of March 3, 2016, Regular Meeting Minutes 27 Revisions were noted as follows: 28  Line 75 add “/Islamic” after Arabic 29  Line 79 replace represent with representative 30  Line 86 remove the word serve and add provide enough food for 31  Line 103 remove the word “in” 32  Line 151 replace guest speaker with Doug Gerleman, President of Go Green 33 Northbrook 34  Line 155 after is, remove up for composting and add coming up. We may want to 35 look for a composting option. 36  Line 156 delete monies are going to desirable activities for patients 37  Line 158 at end of sentence, add at Rainbow Hospice 38 39 Commissioner Hansen moved, seconded by Commissioner Singer, to approve the regular 40 meeting minutes of March 3, 2016 as amended. The motion carried unanimously. 41 42 Village Update 43 Staff Liaison Jensen reminded that Earth Day is April 16th and is being celebrated from 9 a.m.- 44 12 noon at Village Green. He noted a lot of vendors are scheduled. Everyone is asked to attend. 45 It was noted paper shredding will also take place. 46 47 Community Presentation 48 Chairman Doughty introduced Tom Poupard who introduced himself as Director of Development 49 & Planning Services with the Village. Director Poupard advised:  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission April 7, 2016 50  On the East side, at Skokie Boulevard & Willow, the apartment building has 75 rental 51 occupants 52  Residents seem to like Mariano’s; after experiencing the new store in town, patrons have 53 returned to Sunset Foods 54  Garden Fresh closed on Skokie Boulevard; Caputo’s has also closed. On the West side, 55 a grocery store is needed 56  Further South on Skokie Boulevard near Barnaby’s, the glass office building will be 57 replaced by a self-storage facility 58  Even further South, the Board approved 300 apartments, a 90,000 sq. ft. Lifetime 59 Fitness facility, and a 40,000 sq. ft. Day Care Center 60  Improvements will take place at the traffic signal at Sunset Ridge and Skokie Boulevard; 61 $2 million is earmarked to improve the roads 62  Northbrook’s population could grow by 1,000 with the new residential developments 63  Parking is always a challenge; a parking regulation audit will occur this summer 64  On Shermer Road, 74 townhomes are proposed 65  Regarding the Comprehensive Plan, the land use is coming in as expected. On-street 66 parking may be increased on Shermer Road 67  Regarding Economic Development, opportunities are identified to brokers, realtors, etc. 68  The #1 complaint has been to do something in the downtown area. A new seafood 69 restaurant is slated. Residents want more dining options. There are now no vacancies. 70  Regarding the Annets property, the proposal goes to the Board next week; the number 71 of homes has been revised to 32 72 73 Director Poupard shared that the Comprehensive Plan will be reviewed this year. He noted the 74 Village President wishes to discuss Northbrook’s Affordable Housing policies. Unincorporated 75 areas were briefly discussed. 76 77 Chairman Doughty thanked Director Poupard for his informative presentation, and reminded he 78 is always welcome at CRC meetings. 79 80 Update on Activities 81 1. A Celebration of Cultures April 17 $4,130.00 82 83 Commissioner Singer advised there are 12 cultural groups and 8 performing groups. 84 Commissioner Han stated there are more than enough volunteers. Commissioner Singer 85 shared that CRC members have signed up to volunteer. 86 87 Commissioner Singer stated that Commissioner Han is the emcee. She asked that 88 everyone be at the event at 11 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. Commissioner Singer reminded that 89 bottled water will be available. She then distributed the budget/list which was briefly 90 reviewed. Chairman Doughty stated the detailed breakdown is available if anyone 91 wishes to see it. 92 93 Representative Mantegna shared that the library has depleted the flyers. He requested 94 50 more from Liaison Jensen. Commissioner Singer noted that flyers were sent in 95 backpacks to all the schools. 96 97 Commissioner Beeftink updated everyone on the Scavenger Hunt. She noted a globe 98 keychain in the giveaway. 2  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission April 7, 2016 99 Commissioner Singer moved, seconded by Commissioner Hansen, to approve the 100 budget of $4,130 as presented. The motion carried unanimously. 101 102 2. Flamingo Fridays/Welcome to Northbrook May 20 $225.00 103 104 Commissioner Hansen advised 50 flamingos have arrived! Commissioner Bruckman 105 stated a Subcommittee meeting will take place after tonight’s CRC meeting. 106 107 Chairman Doughty reminded the event is May 20th from 5:30 p.m.-7 p.m. Commissioner 108 Bruckman stated the Save the Date postcards will be distributed first then a letter. 109 110 3. Northbrook Cares 111 112 Chairman Doughty advised: 113  A luncheon is planned for May 13, and the purpose is to bring people together. 114 The next meeting is scheduled for April 27th. 115  A web site is forthcoming (in the Fall), and resources will be noted. Easy 116 navigation is the intent 117 118 Commissioner Bruckman stressed the need to serve Northbrook’s youth. 119 120 News from Schools 121 Commissioner Hamed spoke about Oakton Community College where donations were received 122 for the residents of Flint, Michigan. 123 124 Representative Martin advised that St. Norbert’s Block Party is June 11th. He noted, in the past, 125 $300,000 was raised. Everyone is invited to attend. 126 127 Chairman Doughty shared the following from District 225 & Glenbrook North: 128  7 students qualified for the National Speech Tournament 129  Debate Team won State Championship 130  Drama Team finished 3rd in Illinois 131  AIDA Musical is April 27-30; tickets are still available 132 133 News from Northbrook Clergy Association 134 Chairman Doughty shared Commissioner Kosla’s notes from the last Clergy meeting: 135  Celebration of Cultures’ flyers were distributed 136  Treasurer’s Report was discussed 137  Youth struggling with issues was discussed 138  CRC Resource Guide was discussed 139  ADA regulations were discussed 140 141 Old Business 142 There was nothing to report 143 144 New Business 145 Chairman Doughty advised that staff from the Domestic Violence Initiative inquired if the CRC 146 would like to be a partner in supporting this initiative. He asked that CRC members give this 147 some thought. 3  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission April 7, 2016 148 Commissioner Doughty stated that two CRC Commissioners, Safa Hamed and Chris Kosla are 149 departing from the CRC. Replacement candidates are being sought. Commissioner Hamed 150 advised tonight is her last meeting. She thanked everyone, stated she has enjoyed her time on 151 this commission, and wished everyone well. 152 153 Eyes & Ears on the Street 154 Representative Mantegna reminded of the money scam with seniors via telephone. He stressed 155 sharing this scam with seniors you may know. 156 157 Representative Stoddard advised St. Giles is instituting Community Breakfasts every second 158 Sunday of the month from 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. She distributed invitations. 159 160 Next Meeting 161 Chairman Doughty stated the next meeting is May 5th. He asked everyone to think about other 162 ways in which the CRC may benefit the Northbrook community. 163 164 Adjournment 165 A motion was made by Commissioner Singer, seconded by Commissioner Hansen, to adjourn 166 the meeting at 8:16 p.m. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 167 168 Respectfully submitted, 169 170 171 Gale Cerabona 172 Recording Secretary 4