Community Relations Commission

1 Minutes of a Meeting of the 2 Community Relations Commission 3 Northbrook, IL 4 Thursday, March 3, 2016 5 6 Present: Chairman Bruce Doughty, Commissioners Christine Beeftink, Safa 7 Hamed, Mary Hansen, Chris Kosla, & Dr. Rochelle Singer 8 9 Representatives: Alice Lonoff, Ron Mantegna, John Martin, & Nancy Stoddard 10 11 Absent: Commissioners Elliot Bruckman, Jason Han, & Sharon Latek 12 13 Others: Northbrook Public Library Executive Director Kate Hall, Village Staff 14 Liaison Erik Jensen (via Skype), & Village Recording Secretary, Gale 15 Cerabona 16 17 Welcome 18 Chairman Doughty called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Civic Room at Northbrook 19 Public Library. He welcomed new Commissioner Christine Beeftink who gave a brief history of 20 her background. Village Staff Liaison Erik Jensen joined the meeting via Skype. 21 22 Hear from the Audience 23 There was no audience. 24 25 Approval of December 3, 2015, Regular Meeting Minutes 26 Revisions were noted as follows: 27  Line 123 correctly note YMCA 28  Line 143 correctly spell houses 29  Line 158 alter the word mention to Member 30 31 Commissioner Hansen moved, seconded by Representative Martin, to approve the regular 32 meeting minutes of February 11, 2016 as amended. The motion carried unanimously. 33 34 Village Update 35 Staff Liaison Jensen advised the budget process is coming to an end. The CRC’s budget is 36 $7,000. 37 38 He noted Earth Day is April 16th and is being celebrated from 9 a.m.-12 noon at Village Hall (the 39 day before the A Celebration of Cultures event). 40 41 Community Presentation 42 Chairman Doughty introduced Kate Hall, Executive Director, of the Northbrook Public Library. 43 Ms. Hall distributed information packets and her business cards for all members. She advised of 44 things that are new to the library: 45  New meeting rooms (including an Auditorium and its film and concert series in- 46 conjunction with the Old Town School of Folk Music, etc). 47  Listening & Viewing Club (until May 31) 48  Technology Assistance from Digital Services Staff 49 50 Representative Mantegna advised he appreciated the Windows 10 class.  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission March 3, 2016 51 52 Ms. Hall advised there are study rooms that may be reserved along with computer classes. 53 Craft programs are also available. On-line resources/training classes (lynda.com; training 54 videos) are available as well. She stated there are web sites that are accessible through the 55 library web site. 56 57 Ms. Hall noted a Geneology Librarian has recently been hired. She advised 2,000 people daily 58 attend the library. 59 60 It was asked how late the meeting rooms can stay open. Ms. Hall advised until 8:45 p.m. just 61 before they close. She noted the current policy allows 12 meetings/year per group. 62 63 Ms. Hall stated she is available for feedback, input, etc. 64 65 Chairman Doughty thanked Ms. Hall for her enlightening presentation. 66 67 Update on Activities 68 1. A Celebration of Cultures April 17 $4,000.00 69 70 Commissioner Singer advised the Chicago Sun Times highlighted a similar Chicago 71 event, Neighbors of the World. 72 73 Commissioner Singer stated Commissioner Hamed is on the committee representing 74 Arabic/Islamic culture. Commissioner Beeftink advised children will have a passport 75 activity and visit each country (and its ethnic highlight). 76 77 Commissioner Singer noted there are 13 participating groups. She described each 78 station: African carvings, native costumes, videos, Islamic paintings, Greek artifacts and 79 crafts, Korean drummers, Latino themes and tango dancing, Persian slide show, Eastern 80 European artwork). Entertainment acts were shared. Food items were noted. Each 81 group will provide enough food for 200 people. 82 83 Commissioner Singer illustrated the budget: 84  $400 banners 85  $ 60 scavenger hunt 86  $200 food per group 87  $400 entertainment per group 88 89 She noted the grand total is $4,000.00. Reference was made to Black History Month in 90 that it varied by going over and under that budget. Bottled water, etc. will be thrown in for 91 the volunteers. Amounts for the Asian Heritage event were discussed. 92 93 It was stated all budgets will be approved in April. It was noted the CRC does have the 94 funds remaining in the budget. Everyone concurred with the proposed budget. 95 96 Large posters were distributed. If anyone would like large posters, please contact Village 97 Staff Liaison Jensen. Small flyers were distributed. 98 2  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission March 3, 2016 99 Regarding marketing, Representative Mantegna advised that flyers are needed for the 100 voting population at Village Hall; the Northbrook Public Library also needs flyers. The 101 YMCA has posted the event on its web site. Banners will be hung on March 17th. 102 103 Commissioner Hamed advised she is posting information on social media. 104 105 Village Staff Liaison Jensen will forward the flyer to the CRC. 106 107 Commissioner Singer advised and the CRC concurred that a raffle will not take place. 108 109 Commissioner Singer distributed the sign-up sheet. Everyone is asked to participate. 110 She noted the next meeting is March 17th at the YMCA (which has been an outstanding 111 partner). 112 113 2. Flamingo Fridays/Welcome to Northbrook May 20 $225.00 114 115 Commissioner Hansen noted everything is moving along; flamingos have been ordered. 116 117 3. Northbrook Cares 118 119 Chairman Doughty stated there was a productive committee meeting. He advised the 120 next meeting is March 22d. A luncheon is planned for April/May. A web site is 121 forthcoming (potentially in the Fall). 122 123 News from Schools 124 Commissioner Latek reported the following from District 30: 125  Construction has begun at Westcott Park. Residents are not happy about tree removal; 126 students wrote letters to President Frum. She noted, through donations, new trees will 127 be planted. 128 129 Representative Martin advised that St. Norbert’s is doing well. 130 131 Commissioner Hamed advised movies are being shown at Oakton Community College 132 beginning March 28th. 133 134 Chairman Doughty shared the following from District 225 & Glenbrook North: 135  AIDA Musical is April 27-30 136  Dance Group is March 17-19 137  Booster Bash is at Pinstripes on March 5th 138  Glenbrook Symphony Concert is March 23d at GBN 139 140 News from Northbrook Clergy Association 141 Commissioner Kosla advised they met at Rainbow Hospice and had Doug Gerlemann, 142 President of Go Green Northbrook, present. Topics were: 143  Bike path 144  Unhealthy yards are hurting our environment; awareness is key 145  Village contract for refuse collection is coming up. We may want to look for a composting 146 options. 147  There is shrinkage in the non-profit hospice companies; monies are going to desirable 148 activities for patients at Rainbow Hospice. 3  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission March 3, 2016 149  State cuts have had effects but no lay-offs 150 151 Old Business 152 There was nothing to report 153 154 New Business 155 There was nothing to report. 156 157 Eyes & Ears on the Street 158 Representative Mantegna advised that the Village Pancake Festival is March 5th from 7:30 a.m.- 159 2 p.m. 160 161 Representative Stoddard relayed that Linda Goldscher said hello to CRC members. 162 163 Next Meeting 164 Chairman Doughty stated the next meeting is April 7th. 165 166 Adjournment 167 A motion was made by Commissioner Singer, seconded by Commissioner Hansen, to adjourn 168 the meeting at 8:20 p.m. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 169 170 Respectfully submitted, 171 172 173 Gale Cerabona 174 Recording Secretary 4