CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY TO GLENVIEW

The Glenview Park District will begin marketing its new recreation center at the Glen October 1, and Commissioner Judy Beck hopes everyone in Glenview will find a membership in their Christmas stocking.   Year-round access to the indoor water complex, "Splash Landings," will cost $140 plus $70 for each additional family member.  There's a splash pool for young kids, a giant slide and interactive water toys for older children.  Adults can dive into the six-lane, 25-yard lap pool, soak in a warm water therapy pool or whirlpool.

A membership in the fitness club includes use of Splash Landings plus weight machines, aerobic equipment, a track, two gyms for basketball, volleyball and indoor soccer, meeting rooms and – for an extra charge – a variety of classes, child care, and massage therapy provided by Evanston Northwestern Healthcare.   The price tag for Glenview residents is  $375 for one adult, $550 for two and $150 for each additional family member.  Kids under four are free. Non-residents will pay 25 percent more.

Early bird discounts are being offered through the end of January along with a reduced rate for folks who will use the facilities during the middle of the day and a three-month rate for college students who are home for a limited time.  The daily charge for Splash Landings is $5 per person.  The fitness club will charge $10 a day – $12 for non-residents. 

The new Park Center, which will open in early January, also boasts separate wings for early childhood programs, cultural arts and the senior center.  A special exhibit of what's to come is on display at the Rugen Center.

RUGEN REMAINS IN LIMBO

Meanwhile, the Park Board is debating what to do with Rugen  – a facility built in 1943 and expanded over the years.  Demolition is appealing because renovation could cost more than $3 million. But some board members argue that Glenview needs more gyms.  They're considering saving the core of Rugen – its gymnasium, senior game room, lobby and restrooms while demolishing the rest to make way for additional sports  fields.  Staff and consultants are doing research on that idea and looking for groups that might need the space and share the costs.   The Park Board is expected to decide Rugen's future this fall.

VILLAGE BOARD TO VOTE ON A TEARDOWN MORATORIUM

The Glenview Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals struggled for nearly three hours but could not agree on how best to regulate additions and homes built to replace teardowns.  The panel is moving toward consensus on a system similar to one used in Lake Forest.  It's called Maximum Building Size, and it sets limits on the square footage of a home relative to its lot,  based on outside measurements.  

Plan Commission Chairman Tim Doron said agreement might have been reached if some key members of the team had received faxes sent on Friday afternoon, outlining details of this approach and suggesting visits to about 25 different teardown or home addition sites in Glenview.  Commissioners Jack Bevington, Joseph DiMattina and Linda Witt said they got the materials late or not at all.  

After months of reviewing the problem on paper, some who received the faxes decided to accept the challenge and spent the weekend driving around Glenview, looking at large new homes and additions.  "I met some interesting people and had some interesting conversations," said Doron with a chuckle. "It really was an eye opener."

At the Village Board's next meeting, August 1, Trustee Rachel Cook is expected to follow through on her original motion by proposing a moratorium on teardowns.  Most of the board seems poised to fall in line – even President Nancy Firfer who has completed two "listening sessions" at neighborhood field houses this month.  In both cases, residents gave her an unhappy earful about teardowns.

Citizens' Action for Proportionality, a local group advocating the new teardown ordinance, hopes residents will come to the board's meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday to show support.  "We want to give the Plan Commission as much time as they need to put together a strong ordinance," said CAP member Biff Thiele, "but in the mean time, the character of our neighborhoods is being compromised by disproportionately large replacement homes and additions.  We need a temporary moratorium."

JOHNS DRIVE TO OPEN BETWEEN CHESTNUT AND OLD WILLOW

With Lehigh Road closed for construction, north and southbound traffic has been forced onto already congested Waukegan Road and other arteries.  The village board has voted to open another north/south connection that could speed the trips of drivers heading to and from Willow Road.   They'll be able to take Johns Road to Old Willow, past Carrot Top, to Willow and back.  The trustees voted to ban big trucks and will revisit their decision in six months to make sure everyone is happy.

BELMONT VILLAGE SEALS THE DEAL – 9 ACRES REMAIN OPEN FOR NOW

On July 26, Texas-based Belmont Village concluded its purchase of six acres formerly owned by NICOR at the corner of Shermer and Golf.   The firm intends to build an assisted living facility at the site.  Nine adjacent acres are still owned by the utility and are expected to go back on the market soon.  That property, which provides a substantial buffer between a residential neighborhood and busy Golf Road, is zoned for industrial use.  Without a change in the zoning, experts say NICOR will not get top dollar for the land.   Glenview's park district has expressed no interest in the property, and while neighbors made a strong protest against development last fall, no one has come forward with a viable proposal for preserving the open space.

PERSISTENCE PAYS FOR SWAINWOOD RESIDENTS

Some residents of Swainwood who failed to win village funding for a 10-foot fence to shield them from traffic on Lake Avenue and commercial development at the Glen decided to keep fighting Village Hall,  and their persistence finally paid off.   Their neighbors to the west were given a 10-foot fence at public expense, but they could only win support for a 6-foot fence.  Village bureaucrats contended they did not suffer as much as their western neighbors.  After organizing a tour of their yards for some Trustees, the east side crowd  returned to Village Hall on July 18  to demand their fair share of timber and were rewarded with the promise of a 10-foot fence at an extra cost to the Village of $11,000.

PRESERVING THE PAST – BUILDING OUR  FUTURE

Nearly two years after Trustees approved the idea of a Historic Preservation Board to study buildings of possible significance in our Village, President Firfer is expected to name her appointments to that board Tuesday.   The good news, we suppose, is that buildings not torn down since October, 1998  have gotten older and more historic while Firfer dragged her feet.

One week after the owner of Glen Oak Shopping Center, Jim Smirles, promised work would begin at the corner of Waukegan and Lake – future home for Trader Joe's –  there is still no sign of construction activity. 

NO CAR WASH FOR THE GREAT PARK

Despite an impressive sales pitch and the threat of legal action, would-be developer Mike Duncan left the board meeting with no prospect for building his beloved car wash near the corner of Lehigh and Chestnut.  Duncan showed impressive architectural drawings of a building in the federal style – looking much like the building Glenview State Bank plans next door.  He promised extensive soundproofing and landscaping to disguise the nature of the enterprise opposite Gallery Park at the Glen and argued he needed a business with high-cash volume to pay for improvements to the Chestnut Street property. 

Duncan contends more than $200,000 in landfill and water detention are necessary because the Village raised Chestnut Road and turned his land into a "bathtub."  He offered to eat the costs of repairing that damage for the right to build, but the board didn't bite.  Now, Duncan is considering a lawsuit to force Glenview to "fix" his property.

GOLFERS TO TALK ABOUT PARK DISTRICT PLANS

Park District officials predict their new nine-hole course at the Glen will be ready for play  by August 1, 2001. Meanwhile, officials are looking for a way to make up for lost revenues from the existing course off Shermer south of Glenview Road.  Glenview once averaged 64,000 rounds of golf per year but is down to 55,000.   Long-time users of the course worry that fees will be raised or season passes eliminated to raise revenues.  The Park District invites duffers to discuss various options at 7 p.m. August 30 in the Café of the Glenview Golf Club.

SPELLING BEE CHAMP BUZZING ABOUT FLOWERS

Glenbrook South's Hirsh Sandesara, best known for a series of spelling bee victories during his younger years, is back in the news – bringing flowers to his former elementary school in District 30.   As an Eagle Scout, Sandesara committed to a colorful project – elaborate landscaping of Willowbrook School.  He has designed and secured donations for seven flower beds that will be planted by fellow scouts on August 5 and 12.  Glenview's Park District has provided guidance and will donate equipment for the giant gardening effort.  Hirsch also persuaded four local pizzerias to provide lunch for his assistants.

Sandesara had hoped to install a prairie garden for educational purposes, but given the manicured look of a residential neighborhood around the school, he and his Park District advisor decided to go with more traditional, ornamental plants. "We thought homeowners might mistake the prairie plants for a garden of weeds," he explained, "so we moved the prairie to a spot behind the school."

READERS WRITE ABOUT JOHN PATTON'S PRESIDENTIAL PERFORMANCE       

Jon Leverenz: "I want to commend Trustee Patton for the extremely competent and fair manner in which he chaired the June 18, 2000 Village Board meeting.  His leadership skills are head and shoulders above the other trustees, which he clearly demonstrated that night.  I take strong issue with your statement that he prevented the public from speaking.  The public was only you, Ms. Hausman, and Trustee Patton was correct that public comment on an agenda item that was continued to the next Board meeting was premature.  It is clear you single him out for criticism on a whim.  If you expect to be a credible source of information, you should applaud Trustee Patton for the many good things he has done for our Village including his fostering of open space, and for his help in creating and preserving the prairie."

The Watch replies: We did commend Trustee Patton for his efficiency, however, we do not confuse efficiency with good government. The Watch is also surprised by your suggestion that Trustee Patton helped "create " the prairie.  Without wandering onto theological ground, we would say God created the prairie, and Patton has done little to preserve it.  Finally, for the record, at least three other people filled out cards asking to speak on this subject, and as President of the Glenview Prairie Preservation Project, Hausman speaks for more than 100 active members and contributors.  There is nothing premature about their wish to protest another delay of the protection promised by Glenview's Environmentally Significant Areas Ordinance.   

Biff Thiele comments:  I was impressed with how efficiently Trustee Patton ran the last board meeting (July 18), but some of his decisions appeared arbitrary. One agenda item was environmental protection for the Air Station Prairie, which is of considerable importance to many.   Before the Board meeting, a decision was apparently made to postpone the discussion.  The developer of land near the prairie, Catellus, was given a courtesy call and told not to come. That courtesy was not extended to folks from the Glenview Prairie Preservation Project and others who are eager to reduce future damage to that important piece of land.

While it may have appeared to the cable audience that Sandy Hausman was the only person there contesting the issue, she was simply the one that Mr. Patton singled out.  Half a dozen people got up and left in disgust when Mr. Patton announced he was removing the agenda item until Catellus could be there for the debate.  I think I can safely assume that if Catellus had been there and asked to move ahead, Mr. Patton would have done so, whether the opposition showed up or not.

There was also discussion of  teardowns at that meeting.  The Board had given the Plan Commission a deadline of July 18 to come up with a new ordinance.  If they failed, the Trustees agreed to consider a moratorium.  With total disregard for that June 6 promise, the Board's President and Village Manager McCarthy excluded the item from the July 18 agenda.   When residents asked why, they were told it was too late to make changes; the agenda was already done, and the issue would not come up. And yet, on the very day of the Board meeting, Patton had no problem removing the prairie discussion from the agenda.  Are there two sets of rules, or do items simply get added and deleted arbitrarily at the whim of Village officials?

ABOUT STORMWATER  IN THE ACRES

BM writes: "I have lived in Glen Oak Acres for 25 years and am very concerned about the tactics and money being used by the Village to force this storm sewer issue.   What the Village insists are serious flooding problems, in most cases are actually "ponding" problems--water that sits for a short period of time and then quickly dissipates. The consultants' plans will not necessarily preserve the country charm of Glen Oak Acres nor will they solve the so-called problems. Plans are to install ditches and swales, with the endangerment of many old trees and no guarantee that the water will be carried by these swales. In most places the slope is not great enough to move water."

"The premise that our roads have been degraded by water is ludicrous. In most cases the roads are 25 years old and older.  The last significant road paving was done in the mid-1970s.  Trucks from numerous construction projects,  seemingly ubiquitous garbage trucks,  school buses,  landscaping trucks parked on the roadway (in order to pass them traffic has to go off the road thereby breaking down the pavement at the edges) – all of these factors have led to road degradation."

"Historically, Glen Oak Acres has had a natural drainage system which runs from Sunset Ridge to Wagner. Over the years the Village has turned the other way as residents have filled in their properties and blocked the natural drainage. The Village has not been diligent about clearing culverts and keeping under-road culverts in operating condition. There is a zoning code in Glenview which prohibits homeowners from changing the grade of their property. This code has rarely been enforced. In fact if you look at most of the new construction in Glen Oak Acres, these homes have been built on "mounds" thereby throwing their water at the existing (now "below grade") homeowners."

"Rather than ruin our area with storm sewers and their attendant upheaval, a number of alternative  measures could attain the same or possibly better and certainly cheaper results. When the Village selected the engineering firm for this project,  they chose the most invasive and EXPENSIVE plan."

"The majority of residents in Glen Oak Acres have no drainage problem or are willing to live with the infrequent ‘ponding' problems.  Why should these people have to bear the cost of a special service area? The residents of Glen Oak Acres contribute significant tax dollars to the Village for which we get little in return."

TAKING A SWING AT THE PARK DISTRICT

JC was miffed when the Park District decided to close the Navy's golf course and upset by the prospect of higher fees to play at Glenview's main course off Shermer Rd.  He writes: "The Glenview Park District Commissioners are intent on substantially raising fees to turn the golf course into a larger cash cow than it already is.  The Commissioners assessed Glenview golfers a total of  $253,301  in 1999 for administrative overhead and yet the golf course gets no tax dollars from the Park District and pays its own way.  So when a golfer pays his real estate tax bill he pays for park district administration and when he pays his golf green fees he is again paying the park district's administrative charge.  Ask the Commissioners why, and they're likely to say:  "Let's not bring that up again.  It's the way we do it."

"The Park District has recently put out a questionnaire which they will use as a tool to validate their drive to raise the fees they charge Glenview golfers.  Many of the questions on the questionnaire are biased and the sample of respondents should be investigated."

A CABLE CRISIS

JR says: "Over the past several years, we have had reception problems, called TCI and now AT&T:  After coming out three times in a year, the third serviceman told us we needed a new line in the outdoor box because it was wet and squirrels had gnawed the cables.  We don't know if those cables were replaced, but the reception is still horrible at times!"

"We have had appointments the past two weeks:  They told us they had to come into our house to check the sets.  One day they said there was no one home, and the last time, they said they "fixed it," and when we asked how they could do this if they didn't come inside, they didn't know and made another appointment (which forced us to waste another day staying at home waiting for this phantom service  person).  Today we saw an AT&T man up on the pole, and by the time we got outside to invite him in to see our snowy pictures, he vanished.    We're becoming angry about this sloppy service, paying money and not being able to watch tv."

"Does the Village have any kind of hotline to address complaints regarding cable service problems?"

The Watch replies: Julie Soto is Glenview's point person for cable.  Call her at 724-1700.  She can file a formal protest on your behalf. 

DRESS FOR SUCCESS IN PUBLIC ADDRESS

Appalled by the attire of residents who speak to the Glenview Village Board, BH writes: "The men are particularly offensive, showing up looking like they just stepped out of their gardens – with crummy, too tight shirts stretched over their bellies, wrinkled, baggy shorts and sandals or scuffed up shoes with no socks.  What happened to personal pride?  Look like a slob, and you'll be treated like one."

LEAVING A LEGACY

AB wonders: "How Nancy Firfer and her cronies will be remembered when they leave office?  What kind of legacy will they leave?  I bet they won't live here in Glenview due to the terrible traffic their development will cause.  They will move in an attempt to flee the congestion.  When is the next election that they may run in?  I want to be sure to vote for their competition."

The Watch replies:   The next Village election will take place in April 2001, and already Firfer appears to be on the stump.  While members of her own party point out that no one has ever served more than two terms as president,  Firfer is holding neighborhood "listening sessions" to discuss the issues with the voters.  She'll be at Huber Park at 7:30 p.m. August 2.

TRIMMING YOUR TREES BEFORE CHRISTMAS

CS asks how often the Village trims parkway trees?   "Someone told me recently that it is done every seven years, but to me it has been longer than that. I have a silver maple in my front yard that is in sad need of trimming, but I'm not going to shell out hundreds of dollars to a landscaper if the village should be doing this for me. I guess the Village is too interested in the Glen to care about the rest of us. Sigh. . ."

The Watch replies: Chin-up, CS.  The Village loves you too.  With an election coming in less than a year,  you'll be getting lots more attention.  Just call public works (724-1700) and ask for an inspection.  Parkway trees are supposed to be trimmed every seven years.

WILDLIFE WATCHING

Alexis Reynolds, a local naturalist, responds to our story about wildlife in your backyard:  "Skunks and other pesky animals can be trapped in harmless "HAV-A-HART" traps. They come in a variety of sizes for different animals,  and skunks will not spray when they are confined. Animals can then be released in the Forest Preserve. Try to make sure that nesting season is over and check that females are not nursing young by observing their bellies for swollen mammary glands. Read all directions and use every precaution when dealing with wildlife."

The Watch replies: Thanks, Alexis.  We're sure you know your stuff, but when it comes to trapping and inspecting skunks, we'll call a professional.

TOWNHOUSE RESIDENT OPPOSES OVERDEVELOPMENT

GN responds to builder Bernie Schmidt's claim that "communistic" residents of townhomes don't mind high-density living: "I have lived in a townhouse for almost four years, and I agree that the density of a townhouse subdivision is higher than that of single family homes.  As an owner, I have made that choice, but those around the new townhouses do not have the opportunity to make a similar choice. They bought their home before the townhouses were built, and the density of the area changes around them without their input.  In addition, density can also lead to basement flooding for the townhouse owner and for the single family homeowner. Neither desires that outcome, and a push for more and more development with more and more pavement will only lead to more of that for all of us."

ENFORCING CONSTRUCTION RULES AT THE GLEN

A woman who lives near construction at the Glen says: "Village action to close construction sites due to standing water is a day late and a dollar short.  My neighbors and I called the Village a number of times to complain about the huge body of water directly behind our house.  It took weeks to get it drained.  A walk around the Glen would reveal many remaining bodies of standing water.  This is leading to a huge mosquito problem.  We cannot sit outside and enjoy our patio once twilight arrives.  It is really a disappointment.  Yes,  the building needs to continue, but if the current Glenview Manager can not force developers to cooperate and follow the rules to protect current citizens, then we need more responsive management."

THE RETURN OF AOPENER

These guys just won't quit.  Aopener responds to last week's note from Zcloser, who said he welcomes any builder who adheres to the zoning laws currently on the books:   "Is Zcloser aware that current Glenview zoning laws allow a two-story house of up to 12,000 square feet on a half acre lot?   Hello. . ."


YOUR TURN

What's on your mind? Drop us a line by e-mail at GlenviewWatch@aol.com or the old-fashioned way. We're at 3537 Maple Leaf Drive, Glenview, IL 60025. Thanks for reading. Dean Schott and Sandy Hausman, Co-Editors of The Watch.

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