Milwaukee Avenue Corridor Committee

Milwaukee Avenue Streetscape Committee MEETING SUMMARY Tuesday, April 24, 2012 The following persons were present: Chair Chris Hanusiak, Chuck Ostman, Bob Pilat and Steve Vinezeano. Also in attendance were Akram Chaudhry and Christopher Bigall of HR Green and Katie Schneider of the Chamber of Commerce. Chair Hanusiak opened the meeting at 10:30 a.m. I. Approve Draft Meeting Summaries: a. The Committee approved the draft summary from Thursday, December 1, 2011. II. Old Business: a. Niles Chamber of Commerce and Industry Banner Program. Chuck Ostman had Public Services place sample banners along Waukegan Road on the light poles near Village Hall with the chamber “tails” attached. There were four banners with tails of 9”, 12”, 15” and 18”. The 15” banner tails were determined to be the best for this program. Katie provided a handout. The program objective is to provide local businesses and organizations an opportunity to market themselves. The program will be administered by the Niles Chamber and offered to members (Niles businesses) and non-members in Niles. Participants may purchase annual sponsorship (all four seasons) on a 15” by 28” tail for their business or organization name and logo. The price will range from $400 to $750 and cover all expenses of banners, grommets, installing, sales, marketing, and administrative costs. Chamber members receive a discount, but non- members would receive a significant cost break by just becoming members. Businesses will be asked for their two top placement preferences (not near their competitors). The Chamber would be responsible for establishing where the tails will go. The Chamber and Public Services would need to work together in an effort to properly label the banners for placement. Any changes requiring banner change-out during the program would be the responsibility of the Chamber. There was a brief discussion about how Public Services will hang or store the banners in a way that facilitate installation. It was mentioned banners could be marked to coincide with a particular pole. b. Reinforced Banner Design and Increased Cost.  i. Vinyl vs. Sunbrella. It was discussed that the Committee would go with the vinyl banners and no longer pursues Sunbrella. The Sunbrella banners that the Village has purchased are not to standard and are not holding up. The vinyl banners must meet set standards as established with HR Green with double stitching design. Katie stated that she favors vinyl banners over Sunbrella. Sunbrella is more expensive due to the need for silk screening. The vinyl banners will be 18 ounce ply. HR Green stated that the contractor will honor the price stated in the contract for the reinforced vinyl banners. The committee stated that the reinforced design is a must for the new banners. Sunbrella will not be used. The contractor will provide a sample. III. New Business: a. Sidewalk at Park District. i. Reduced Width Issue. Ostman and Vinezeano met with LoVerde at the Park District. It was agreed that option three provided by HR Green will be installed to bring the sidewalk width closer to the original 7 feet. The Park District had 7-feet sidewalks for the safety of families and the Milwaukee Avenue project established a consistent 5 feet sidewalk throughout the project. It was discussed that future sections of sidewalk that are larger will be flagged for discussion. The Park District sidewalk will now use the 5 foot sidewalk with two brick accent strips that bring the width to 6’-4”. There is one sidewalk section near the entrance that will not have the accent strip to the east side due to the curb design. b. Trees Identified for Removal. i. Property Owner Choice vs. Uniformity. Ostman walked with the Forestry Department to identify healthy trees marked for removal. It was discussed that several businesses also wanted to keep healthy trees that were marked for removal. The committee decided to keep all healthy trees. There is one large Ash tree that must be removed that is by the Park District. Ostman also marked areas for the new placement of trees not considered in the first plans. The trees not used due to some trees remaining will be placed in these areas. The tree species called for in the plan will remain the same. c. Curb at Schmeisser’s. HR Green stated that the contractor will fill cracks in curbs where new sidewalks were placed. Akram stated that the curbs were like retaining walls for the sidewalk.  d. Purpose for Apron Replacements. HR Green stated that the new aprons installed were due to fractures or the need to align the apron with the new sidewalk. IV. Open Discussion Items. a. ComEd Pole. The pole over at Oakton was relocated to the right place and the old poles will be removed. HR Green stated that August is the date the work will occur. Currently, the pole does block the sidewalk and is not ADA access. Vinezeano asked if a temporary access can be installed. The committee decided to keep it as is until it is properly done in August. b. Amici’s Decorative Lights. HR Green suggested we eliminate our two pedestrian lights because they clash with the existing lights on private property. HR Green stated that the work can be done to prepare for the lights and cap them off until such time the lights can be installed. It was pointed out that the pedestrian lights are not being used just south of this area and it would at least be consistent. c. Planters. Vinezeano asked if these planters will ever be planted. Pilat stated that they were never budgeted for plants, but he may be able to get something done. The reason the first planters were never filled is because the Beautification Committee plan for Village-wide plants was not complete and there was an interest to keep all plantings on Village property and right- of-way consistent. V. Adjournment at 11:38 a.m. Next meeting TBD.