Community Relations Commission

1 DRAFT 2 Minutes of a Meeting of the 3 Community Relations Commission 4 Northbrook, IL 5 Thursday, June 2, 2016 6 7 Present: Chairman Bruce Doughty, Commissioners Christine Beeftink, Jason Han, 8 Mary Hansen, Sharon Latek, Grace Seo, & Dr. Rochelle Singer 9 10 Absent: Commissioner Elliot Bruckman 11 12 Representatives: Alice Lonoff, Ron Mantegna, John Martin, & Nancy Stoddard 13 14 Others: Village Public Works Director Kelly Hamill; Village Staff Liaison Erik 15 Jensen; & Village Recording Secretary, Gale Cerabona 16 17 Welcome 18 Chairman Doughty called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. in the Civic Room at Northbrook Public 19 Library. 20 21 Welcome New Commissioner 22 Chairman Doughty welcomed new Commissioner Grace Seo, who introduced herself to the 23 group. 24 25 Hear from the Audience 26 There was no audience. 27 28 Review & Approval of May 5, 2016, Regular Meeting Minutes 29 Revisions were noted as follows: 30  Line 91 replace no with not 31  Line 111 remove hyphen between two and hours 32  Line 132 replace overviewed with described 33 34 Commissioner Hansen moved, seconded by Commissioner Han, to approve the regular 35 meeting minutes of May 5, 2016 as amended. The motion carried unanimously. 36 37 Review & Approval of May 13, 2016, Joint Meeting of the Community Relations 38 Commission & Northbrook Cares Subcommittee Minutes 39 Revisions were noted as follows: 40  Line 29, 32 correct spelling of District 41  Line 32 Add Jenna Duffy, District 28 42  Line 39 replace overviewed with described 43  Line 49 add is between need and that 44  Line 61, 102 replace A representative from District 27 with Ms. Duffy from District 28 45  Line 89 replace important with importance 46  Line 93 Add with between forward and the 47  Line 95 Add to between be and reassure 48  Line 104 replace near with nearly 49  Line 142 replace not with noted 50  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission June 2, 2016 51 Commissioner Hansen moved, seconded by Representative Martin, to approve the joint 52 meeting minutes of May 13, 2016 as amended. The motion carried unanimously. 53 54 Review & Approval of January 20, 2016, Celebration of Culture Subcommittee Minutes 55 Revisions were noted as follows: 56  Line 9, 18 replace Jasime and Jasimine with Jasmine 57 58 Commissioner Singer moved, seconded by Commissioner Hansen, to approve the 59 Subcommittee minutes of January 20, 2016 as amended. The motion carried unanimously. 60 61 Review & Approval of February 17, 2016, Celebration of Culture Subcommittee Minutes 62 Revisions were noted as follows: 63  Line 9, 20 replace Jasimine with Jasmine 64  Line 71 replace their own table clothes with its own table cloths 65 66 Commissioner Singer moved, seconded by Commissioner Hansen, to approve the 67 Subcommittee minutes of February 17, 2016 as amended. The motion carried unanimously. 68 69 Village Update 70 Staff Liaison Jensen advised $7,000 has been approved for the CRC in fiscal year 2016/2017. 71 He stated the Village of Northbrook is not directly impacted by the State of Illinois budget crisis 72 at the time, but that future impacts are possible. 73 74 Community Presentation 75 Chairman Doughty welcomed Kelly Hamill, Village of Northbrook’s Public Works Director, who 76 advised he has been with the Village for 17 years; he offered his career background and stated 77 he had formerly been the liaison to the Commission. 78 79 Mr. Hamill commended Commissioner Singer for her long-term membership on the CRC. 80 81 Mr. Hamill advised there are 64 full-time employees in Public Works. He stated that the 82 Department is responsible for many of the construction projects in the community. Public Works 83 staff maintains 120 linear roads; trims 15,000 Village trees, performs maintenance for 1,300 84 street lights, snow and ice control (including 200 cul de sacs), fixes and replaces water meters, 85 etc. Mr. Hamill stated that the Public Works team oversees storm water management (including 86 the Westcott project), resident sewage lines, 170 miles of water main and water production 87 (from Lake Michigan). Mr. Hamill briefly discussed the history of the Village’s water production 88 and discussed the redundancies build into the system to secure the Village’s supply. Further, he 89 discussed that the Village’s Public Works Department maintains the Metra parking lots, 90 municipal, police and fire stations and fleet. 91 92 Mr. Hamill stated that the Public Works Department takes a proactive approach in working on 93 issues. 94 95 Representative Mantegna asked about upcoming projects and challenges. Mr. Hamill discussed 96 the Wescott Park project and other active construction projects including replacing roughly 1.5 97 miles of water main in the Village and street surfacing. He also reviewed the upcoming projects 98 planned for the Central Business District, including the replacement of the Shermer Road 99 bridge. Finally, Mr. Hamill discussed the upcoming IDOT projects that will impact Dundee Road, 100 including a culvert replacement near the intersection of Dundee and Lee Road which will require 2  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission June 2, 2016 101 the relocation of Village utility lines. He noted Public Works coordinates and communicates 102 information on these projects and advised these projects can be a challenge. 103 104 Chairman Doughty commended the Public Works staff for all they do. 105 106 Commissioner Latek asked about a pine tree blight that had been discovered in the community. 107 108 Mr. Hamill discussed the blight and the emerald ash borer abatement program. 109 110 Everyone thanked Mr. Hamill. 111 112 Update on Activities 113 1. Flamingo Fridays/Welcome to Northbrook May 20 $225.00 114 115 Commissioner Hansen thanked everyone who attended. She advised 46 flamingos were 116 given away and stated that she had been pleased with the number and diversity of 117 attendees. 118 119 Commissioner Hansen stated that she felt that holding the event on a Friday was a 120 challenge and that it made it difficult for those who celebrate Friday or part of Friday as 121 the Sabbath to participate. 122 123 Representative Mantegna stated that altering the day of the week for the kick-off event 124 as well as Flamingo Fridays could be a risk. 125 126 Commissioner Singer suggested Flamingo Weekends as an alternative. 127 128 Commissioner Hansen thanked Representative Stoddard and Commissioner Bruckman 129 for their planning and assistance with the event. 130 131 2. Northbrook Cares May 13 132 133 Chairman Doughty advised the luncheon was very successful (engaged conversations, 134 diverse attendee groups). He further stated that agencies want to promote each other’s 135 events and increase the amount of communication between agencies, schools and 136 houses of worship. 137 138 Chairman Doughty stated education is needed on social, mental, and emotional issues. 139 At the luncheon, the group determined there was an on-going stigma with mental illness, 140 which is one of the challenges with encouraging individuals to seek treatment. He 141 reviewed the plans for the website and stated the luncheon would likely be an on-going 142 annual event. 143 144 145 Chairman Doughty advised there was a Subcommittee meeting on Wednesday, May 27 146 and that a subsequent meeting would be held on Tuesday, June 16 for the 147 subcommittee to meet with youth representatives. 148 149 Representative Stoddard stated it’s important to go beyond students and include other 150 age groups (middle schools kids, etc.). 3  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission June 2, 2016 151 152 3. Celebration of Cultures or Other Event 153 154 Chairman Doughty shared initial discussion should occur regarding a film component for 155 next year. He advised Village Staff Liaison Jensen will coordinate a date for a future 156 subcommittee meeting. 157 158 Commissioner Singer suggested an independent Chair be selected for the film 159 component as this may not be in-conjunction with the Celebration of Cultures event. 160 161 News from Schools 162 Commissioner Latek advised the following from Wescott School: 163  Her classroom had worked with Operation Homefront, an organization that provides 164 assistance to military families, recently and that students had enjoyed the experience. 165  The seniors from the Glenbrook North graduating class of 2016 who attended Wescott 166 came to visit and were received by current students. 167 168 Representative Martin shared events at St. Norbert’s: 169  The St. Norbert’s Block Party would be held on Saturday, June 11. He discussed the 170 mission of the block party and previous fundraising results, and invited all to attend. 171 172 Chairman Doughty shared the following from District 225: 173  With the school year coming to a close, many end-of-the-year events, including prom 174 and the awards assembly, had occurred. He stated that graduation would be held on 175 Sunday at Glenbrook North. 176 177 News from Northbrook Clergy Association 178 Commissioner Hansen advised the next meeting is September. Chairman Doughty shared that 179 Commissioner Hansen will be our new clergy liaison. 180 181 Old Business 182 There was nothing to report. 183 184 New Business 185 186 1. Other Projects for CRC Consideration 187 188 Chairman Doughty discussed new ways to expand the CRC’s programing and outreach 189 (including Northbrook Cares and the upcoming Domestic Violence Awareness Program 190 to be held in October). He asked that the group send their ideas for other projects and 191 programs to either Staff Liaison Jensen, himself or both. 192 193 Eyes & Ears on the Street 194  Representative Martin shared there will be a Baggo/Cornhole game at the Block Party 195  Commissioner Singer shared there seems to be increased police presence recently. 196 Liaison Jensen explained that police presence often increases during holiday periods. 197  Representative Lonoff noted United Methodist Church conducted an alternative prom. 198  Representative Stoddard discussed her recent trip to California and stated she 199 appreciated the emphasis Northbrook had on community and community events. 200 Commissioner Seo concurred. 4  Minutes of a Meeting of the Community Relations Commission June 2, 2016 201 202 Next Meeting 203 Commissioner Singer moved, seconded by Commissioner Han, to cancel the July 7 meeting 204 and reschedule the August meeting from August 4 to August 11 to avoid a conflict with 205 Northbrook Days. The motion carried unanimously. 206 207 Adjournment 208 A motion was made by Commissioner Singer, seconded by Commissioner Latek, to adjourn the 209 meeting at 8:16 p.m. On a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. 210 211 Respectfully submitted, 212 213 Gale Cerabona 214 Recording Secretary 5