Beautification and Improvement Commission

SKOKIE BEAUTIFICATION MEETING MINUTES March 2, 2023 Time: 6:30 p.m. Place: Skokie Village Hall Commissioners Present: Vernell Ellison-Smith, Chuck Levine, Frederick Lisiewicz, Edward Potash, Rachel Rosenberg, Mitchell Sandler, Ross Del Rosario, Robert Quane, Elizabeth Zimmerman, Lauren Grodnicki, Valerie Shuman, Dalya Horowitz. Commissioners Absent: Sherwin Ditlove, Ann Goldsha� (LOA), Bahram Khazni (LOA), Joseph Hasten, George Hubchak, Brooke Sprague. Staff Present: Cathy Stevens Staff Absent: James Johnson I. Approval of February 2, 2023, Minutes Mitchell Sandler said the mee�ng minutes should be briefer and more general. Chuck Levine made a mo�on to approve the mee�ng minutes for February 2, 2023. Mitch seconded the mo�on; The commission voted to approve the mee�ng minutes. II. April Events, Bob Quane Rachel Rosenberg said that the Na�ve Plants Program on April 1 could be promoted on the Beau�fica�on website. Bob Quane brought up the topic of the Beau�fica�on Awards Program. Bob men�oned that Ann Goldsha� had resigned from the commission. Cathy Stevens said the Skokie Village Board Mee�ng (started at 7:30 p.m. (before the awards program). Bob Quane went over the rough dra� of the Awards Night Program. Mitch said that awards would be given out in alphabe�cal order. Mitch asked Chuck if he would give out the cer�ficates and Chuck agreed. Cathy suggested white and green as colors on awards brochures; no one on the commission objected to the colors for the brochure. Mitch said that the commission needed to get a box of decaffeinated coffee as well as a box of regular coffee for the refreshments. Rachel requested that all paper goods be recyclable. Bob said he would put out a sign-up sheet to find out who will be there for the events such as the Beau�fica�on Awards Program and Arbor Day Observance. Rachel suggested a coupon be given out to awards winners for purchase of a plant. Cathy said there was a na�ve plant sale on April 23, 2023 [corrected to April 22, 2023]. III. Report: Beau�fica�on Educa�on Sub Commitee: Chair, Rachel Rosenberg Rachel said there should be a message for Skokie: Hold off on mowing but be flexible with the treatment of lawns. Rachel said there were no pollinators in a pes�cide-ridden lawn. Rachel said that Skokie residents should not be afraid to tell their landscapers that the landscapers do not need to visit their homes at certain �mes. Rachel said there should be more discussion of the grass being mowed. The topic should involve a much larger conversa�on. Rachel said the grass should be mowed very early in May. IV. Report: Beau�fica�on New Ini�a�ves Sub Commitee, Chair, Valerie Shuman V. No Mow May. Response to Public Works Messaging, Bob Quane Bob asked Elizabeth Zimmerman of Public Works to speak. Liz said that she was one hundred percent for anything that was good for pollinators. There was a lot of pressure to treat ash trees from the Emerald Ash Borer. She wanted the commission to think about the consequences of “no mowing in May”. Liz said she reached out to the University of Minnesota Extension to find out the longevity of “no mowing”. The study by the Extension had problems. The study said that grass should be mowed a�er May. Liz said that “no mow may” was a “catchy” slogan. Benefits of it were ge�ng residents to move to the next level. Vernell Ellison-Smith said that a team was needed to hand out flyers [explaining the program for improving lawns]. Liz said the Village Board would drag its feet on the project; they would not be ac�vely giving out cita�ons. The [Minnesota] Extension had sent Liz a video [on lawn care]. Liz said she would try to get the video for the commission members. CIAC would be a liaison to the Beau�fica�on Commission. VI. Report by Cathy Stevens, Staff Liaison Cathy said there were some very low ground plants for plan�ng on the parkway. People would need to walk all over the parkway to get to the u�li�es. Cathy said that only the top three winners [of the Beau�fica�on Awards] were ge�ng yard signs. Rachel proposed that people be given a free plant just for coming out. Mitchell said that milkweed was very difficult to grow from seeds. Bob men�oned that the Board discussion was shi�ing back to discussing na�ve plants. Cathy said she could help with spring plan�ng, but it was difficult. Bob said that when the board considers or adopts a new program or ini�a�ve, Board members should take ownership and not necessarily rely on our staff liaison for the planning and implementa�on. He would like to see people in the community join the board members for the fall plan�ng. Brooke suggested the board should make the fall plan�ng a bigger event so the spring plan�ng in 2024 would be really big. Cathy said a nice banner put on the Fourth of July Parade Float would be a nice thing. Rachel made a mo�on to forward the budget request wish list to the Village. Dalya Horowitz said the commission should make a mo�on to forward the budget request to the Village. The commission approved the request. VII. Report by James Johnson, Trustee Liaison VIII. Old Business Bob said they had talked about the possibility of customer safety vests for board members. It would easily iden�fy the board member as working for the Beau�fica�on Commission when they make rounds looking for beau�fica�on award candidates. They were $11 each. Bob said that everyone should go to the Beau�fica�on Website; there was a lot of content put out by a lot of people. Liz said the commission would need to make two amendments for parkways and weeds. The height on the parkways for na�ve plan�ngs should be 8 to 12 inches. Liz said they were strongly encouraging the most flexibility possible for parkways. IX. New Business X. Adjournment Dalya made a mo�on to adjourn. Mitch seconded the mo�on. The mo�on to adjourn was passed by the commission. The mee�ng adjourned at 8 p.m.