Citizens' Community Enhancement Commission

MINUTES CITY OF DEKALB CITIZENS’ COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT COMMISSION November 15, 2021 The Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission (CCEC) held a regular meeting on November 15, 2021 in the Second Floor Training Room of the DeKalb Police Department, 700 West Lincoln Highway, DeKalb, Illinois. Chair Brad Hoey called the meeting to order at 4:04 p.m. A. ROLL CALL Roll call was recorded by Management Analyst Scott Zak and the following members of the CCEC were present: Chair Brad Hoey, Melissa Beck, Jeanine Holcomb, Aaron Robertson, Helen Umbdenstock and Ellingsworth Webb. Absent were: Kenneth Brown. Also present were Mayor Cohen Barnes and City Engineer Zac Gill. B. APPROVAL OF AGENDA – ADDITIONS/DELETIONS MOTION Ms. Holcomb motioned to approve the agenda, seconded by Ms. Beck. VOTE The agenda was approved by unanimous voice vote. C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – SEPTEMBER 20, 2021 MOTION Ms. Beck motioned to approve the minutes, seconded by Mr. Webb. VOTE The minutes were approved by unanimous voice vote. D. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION No public comments were received. E. NEW BUSINESS 1. LINCOLN HIGHWAY RECONFIGURATION Engineer Gill attended the meeting to continue the discussions on possible ideas to incorporate in next year’s Lincoln Highway reconfiguration program. Mr. Gill shared that narrowing Lincoln Highway from four lanes to three, including a turn lane, will create a five-foot hardscape terrace along the road. He said there will be substantial CITIZENS’ COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT COMMISSION NOVEMBER 15, 2021 PAGE 2 OF 4 improvements to the sidewalks as they are made ADA compliant, the existing pavers will be put back into place at the project’s end and ashlar tile is planned for the crosswalks. Mayor Barnes suggested using Huskie red in the design. Mr. Gill then suggested that an NIU logo or City of DeKalb logo could be placed in the middle of the intersections. Mayor Barnes said that would build on DeKalb’s image as a college town, and Chair Hoey said the idea has been discussed before and he would love seeing it downtown. Mayor Barnes suggested coloring the new hardscape areas Huskie red instead of matching the paver colors. Chair Hoey said red is hard to reproduce and fades, and Mr. Gill said it might not match the pavers. Mr. Gill suggested black instead. Ms. Holcomb noted black would be a good backdrop for public arts projects. Ms. Umbdenstock raised the problem of drivers not stopping at crosswalks. Mr. Gill said the narrowing should help with that, and Mayor Barnes suggested pedestrian signs could be placed in the intersections daily. Mr. Gill said glow-in-the-dark elements, which were discussed at the previous meeting, could be included as an alternate in the bid. He noted any ideas that would delay the project could always be done later. Ms. Beck suggested adding in black blocks to the existing pavers at random intervals. Mr. Gill said that could be added as an alternate bid or Public Works could replace some over the summer. The Commission agreed that the new hardscape terrace area should be colored black. Ms. Holcomb suggested the Proudly DeKalb logo could be used in an intersection. Mr. Gill said he would check state guidelines before deciding on the intersections. 2. BRIAN OSTER PROJECT IDEAS Mr. Oster asked about securing permission for temporary art work in the City, such as spraypainted snow piles. Chair Hoey said the City’s mural policy is meant to be all encompassing, and the application form should be submitted to the Commission. Mr. Oster suggested working with students in the NIU 40tude group, which are already creating an online map of the Huskies on Parade statues. He said other art, like the wood carvings in the parks, could be added, and Mayor Barnes suggested putting a QR code on the Paint-A-Plug hydrants that directs to a map to find other Paint-A-Plug projects. Mr. Oster suggested a temporary hanging art installation in the pedestrian passthrough between Lincoln Highway and Van Buer Plaza and showed an CITIZENS’ COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT COMMISSION NOVEMBER 15, 2021 PAGE 3 OF 4 example of sunflowers hanging over a passthrough. He also said he has always wanted to see something done in the greenspace on the northwest corner of Lincoln Highway and Fourth Street. Chair Hoey said he liked the pedestrian passthrough idea as a first step and noted hanging the sunflowers would require a wire grid. Ms. Beck noted the passthrough between Cornerstone DeKalb and the former bridal shop building could also be used, and Chair Hoey said Palmer Court was another option. Mayor Barnes said the City may be interested in putting lattice in the passthrough for temporary art. Chair Hoey said the next step for the passthrough project would be for Mr. Oster to submit a proposal to the Commission. 3. PAINT-A-PLUG REQUEST Mr. Zak shared that Chris Perkovich, who submitted three Paint-A-Plug applications that were approved by the Commission, would be unable to complete them this year and had asked if they could be carried over until next year. The Commission agreed that the projects could be done next year, and Mr. Oster agreed that the $50 incentive offered by OC Creative could still be collected next year. 4. PAINT-A-PLUG MAP UPDATE Mr. Zak reported he had created a master list of the Paint-A-Plug projects by compiling the past applications, visiting the sites to see if they were completed, taking a photo of those that had not been photographed and finding their hydrant ID number. Mr. Oster suggested working with NIU 40tude on the map. Making it part of a larger public arts map was discussed with it being noted that the DeKalb Area Arts Council has a public arts map. The Commission agreed to work with NIU 40tude. 5. NEXT STEPS FOR LET’S MOVE TO THE MUSIC Ms. Umbdenstock said the program partners at NIU, College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean Paul Kassel and School of Music Director Andrew Glendening, were ready to start moving on the project. One response was received to the follow-up e-mail that was sent after the program was presented at the Downtown Merchants’ meeting in September and support had been pledge by City Manager Bill Nicklas, Ms. Umbdenstock and Chair Hoey. Mr. Zak was directed to provide Ms. Umbdenstock with the contact information collected at the Merchants’ meeting so she could contact the business owners. Chair Hoey suggested the program could be promoted with interviews on WLBK and WDKB. 6. DOWNTOWN PLANTERS COMMITTEE CITIZENS’ COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT COMMISSION NOVEMBER 15, 2021 PAGE 4 OF 4 It was shared that a committee made up of Ms. Beck, Jana Nowak of Blue Door Décor and Streets and Facilities Director Andy Raih would meet over the winter to discuss possibly improving the downtown flower planters. 7. MURAL PROGRAM UPDATE Mr. Zak shared an outline for an application for a $50,000 T-Mobile Hometown Grant to fund public art. The grant would fund six pieces of public art over three years. The Commission agreed to allow Mr. Zak to write and submit the grant application. F. OLD BUSINESS No old business was discussed. G. ADJOURNMENT MOTION Ms. Holcomb motioned to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Ms. Umbdenstock. VOTE The motion was approved by unanimous voice vote, and the meeting was adjourned at 5:41 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Scott Zak Management Analyst Minutes approved by the Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission on March, 21 2022.