Residents of Bonnie Glen Lane are still getting over the shock. One week ago they woke to the lights and sounds of Glenview firemen battling an enormous blaze that destroyed one home and damaged two others. The fire began at 1313 Bonnie Glen – the home of David and Katie Karlson and their two children. The Karlsons were actually living in another part of town while the house was being enlarged. Carpenters had erected the frame for a substantial home addition.

Shortly after 2:00 a.m. neighbors living on the east side of the property were awakened by their barking dogs. They looked out the window and noticed a light in the new part of the Karlsons’ home – but knowing that electrical wiring had yet to be installed, they took a closer look and realized the place was on fire.

Firefighters responded quickly to their call and assured Paul and Katie Detlefs and their three kids that the flames would soon be extinguished. Unfortunately, a construction fence surrounded the house, and it took time for the firemen to cut through that chain link. The heat was so intense that they had a difficult time hooking their hose to the nearest hydrant, and the flames spread quickly through the open wood frame of the new addition.

The Detlefs were told to evacuate, and a short time later the fire spread to their house, moving quickly across the roof. Sparks flew through the neighborhood. Ash covered several cars and burned holes in lawn furniture. Vinyl siding on a house across the street melted, and a woman living just west of the Karlson’s house said much of her roof was damaged and several windows broke. Noting the neighbor’s misfortune with vinyl, she added that her house was a fine ad for aluminum siding which held up well.

The blaze was extinguished by about 5 a.m., and the clean-up began around 9. Glenview police are investigating the possibility that vandals may have set the fire. They found bottles of Gatorade at the scene and recalled a recent burglary on neighboring Hawthorne Street where thieves reportedly took a quantity of Gatorade.

The Karlsons, who had hoped to move back in July, say they will rebuild. Although they lost many possessions in the fire, they had taken priceless home movies, photographs and other items with them to their temporary digs. The Detlefs could not be reached for comment, but they had reportedly sold their house – anticipating a move to The Glen this summer. The closing on that property had not yet taken place, but neighbors say the buyer intends to go through with the purchase as soon as repairs can be made.

Glenview trustees tried again Tuesday to get a grip on the cost of consultants at The Glen. Faced with a bill for $36,000 from the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM), which is overseeing construction of Gallery Park, Trustee Rachel Cook said she understood the original logic of hiring consultants rather than staff to develop The Glen but was troubled by how the strategy was playing out.

"You pay as you go," she said, "but you pay, you pay, you pay, you pay without any limitation."

Cook questioned the amount of time architects had spent on paths, benches, bike racks and drinking fountains. "You’ve got almost three weeks involved in reviewing drawings and making sure that things are going in okay."

Village Manager Paul McCarthy said the trustees had approved these expenses during previous budget hearings. "The pie that was authorized is being taken out of the plate a slice at a time," he explained.

Trustee Jeff Lerner raised another concern. "When you look at these [charges], they have ‘partner, architect F, architect G, planning partner, associate partner, and planner D,’ so you have five, six or seven professionals for each little item, and I don’t know how essential that is. It may be that you have different people performing different functions, but if we’re paying for them to talk to each other, we ought to know that."

Ahner assured Lerner that each person on the team plays a different role, from general design and construction management to review of electrical and plumbing plans.

Trustee Donna Pappo wondered if village staffers from the Department of Public Works could oversee installation of park benches in a concrete base. "No," replied Manager McCarthy. "This is a special bench," said Ahner.

"We spend a lot of our time bickering with these guys to try to negotiate the best price and the biggest bang for the buck," said McCarthy. "If the board has a residual concern that there’s either too many people or too much time being invested in these things, I would invite them to bring SOM in and just negotiate the details yourself."

A word from The Watch: We don’t speak McCarthyese, but it sounded like our village manager told the board, "If you don’t like the way I’m overseeing contracts, do it yourself," leaving the real questions unanswered: Why are we paying top Chicago architects to supervise bench installation? Does the strategy devised five years ago – to hire top professional consultants – still make fiscal sense? How much do we spend for SOM’s people to drive from Chicago to Glenview and back?

We have finally stopped paying millions to our marketing consultant, Mesirow-Stein. Could we also kiss SOM goodbye by putting an architect and a civil engineer on staff? Would that save money and provide better accountability? These are fair questions that elected representatives should ask. Glenview’s manager, who’s supposed to be working for the trustees, could be far more valuable to them if he keeps open mind. Instead, McCarthy persists in defending his past practices and refusing to explore other options.

Looking closely at the SOM contract, Trustee John Crawford raised one last concern before joining the other trustees in approving the architects’ fees. "They talk about projected expenses for 2002 in Gallery Park including a boat house. This is the $2 million boat house which we knocked out of the budget for the year 2001. We’ve got to start thinking about money." Crawford said residents of Valley Lo, Glencoe and other boating communities rely on rack storage. "I thought that we had discouraged the idea of a boat house. It’s a Skidmore, Owings and Merrill idea, and I don’t even like to see it referred to."

While expressing unanimous concern about the density of a development planned for the corner of Willow and Waukegan Roads (274 apartments, town homes, row and coach houses), the Village Board agreed to send it to the Plan Commission for hearings. Only Trustee Donna Pappo voted "no." Several board members expressed doubts about the wisdom of preserving the convent itself – converting the interior to condominiums. Trustee Crawford thought the units would be too small, and Trustee Mike Guinane didn’t like the building.

"We have an opportunity to develop a project that stands at the entrance to Glenview. When you’re coming south on Waukegan Road, the first thing you’ll see is this development. I’d like to see a project that says, ‘Welcome to our community, to our village.’ That’s hard to do saving the existing structure."

Development Director Mary Bak also took a shot at the building, saying it was ‘old’ but not ‘historic.’ To be ‘historic,’ she said Glenview’s Historic Preservation Commission would have to designate it – and for that to happen, the developer, the board or a citizen would have to request that the property be considered by the commission.

It’s too soon to draw any conclusions about the quality of leadership Larry Carlson will provide as the new president of Glenview’s Village Board, but in his second night on the job, Carlson fulfilled an important campaign promise – allowing citizens and fellow trustees to speak their mind. Resident Al McAndrew took several opportunities to speak. Most memorable was his tirade about plans for a doggy day care center along the railroad tracks that parallel Waukegan Road south of Glenview Road. McAndrew was concerned that dogs kept in a fenced run along the tracks might be terrified by passing trains.

Carlson treated McAndrew with respect and listened patiently. He showed the same courtesy to his political opponent Trustee Rachel Cook, praising her suggestion that board members’ phone numbers and e-mail addresses be published in the village newsletter.

He allowed Trustee Mike Guinane to bring up his idea for a trustee service office without prior permission – an act that might not have been allowed by our previous president, and assured Trustee Cook that he would permit future spontaneous discussions and motions.

Editor’s note: There is some irony in the fact that two years ago Glenview First campaigned on a promise of better communications with the public. The party’s successor, G3, lost its battle in April’s election, but perhaps the forces of government reform will still win their war as all parties begin to see the merits of open, public debate and a free exchange of information.

One footnote to the matter of publishing trustee phone numbers: Jeff Lerner, who is unlisted, said he prefers that the village provide voicemail. Lerner already has that through District 225. We once called there and left a message – but never heard back.

During his years on the board, Kent Fuller sometimes sounded like a benign dictator, but his essay in this week’s Announcements is raising eyebrows around town. Now that Fuller has left office, he argues that a two-party system wastes "inordinate amounts of time and energy on partisan bickering."

Fuller claims that for 30 years Glenview had "political stability," and that its boards and commissions included a "diversity of viewpoints." Fuller contends that local governments can be run "very effectively on a collegial basis" with a single party in power. "Elections are essential for selecting leaders, but they don’t need to be divisive and expensive," he writes.

Editor’s note: Fuller may feel that local government was inclusive, but that’s because he was included. His fundamentally conservative views on private property and the rights of developers was quite acceptable to Glenview’s inner circle. Fuller might think there was diversity on the board since he and Former Trustee Bill Stickney sometimes butted heads. Fuller wanted to preserve 14 acres of prairie for example. Stickney was only willing to save seven, but the truth is both men considered a demand for 100 acres radical – a sign of how little diversity there really was on the board.

Only after the public raised holy hell, elected three trustees committed to preserving more open space, complained to the Army Corps of Engineers and took the village to court was any reasonable consideration given to preserving more land and providing protection for a natural treasure. That would not have happened without some discord. Powerful people do not yield unless they’re uncomfortable. They like things the way they are and will fight to keep them that way.

The suggestion that a one-party town should have an election to "select leaders," is pretty silly. Two years before Glenview First got into the act, only 1,700 people took time to cast a ballot – perhaps because there was no choice. Fuller sees virtue in 30 years of stability, but in 1999 and 2001, thousands of voters viewed things differently. Single-party rule had led to extraordinary arrogance in local government, and many talented, intelligent people were not invited or allowed to participate.

Now – with the prospect that they may be replaced in the next election – our trustees seem more open to public opinion and less arrogant. That alone makes the two-party system worthwhile. Add to it the fact that issues are raised and discussed, that people get interested in government and feel a sense of possibility, and you have the truth. Competition is a highly- productive process that works better than any other form of government. Sure, some talented people will opt not to get involved because they fear a political fight, but the best leaders understand that public debate is not personal, and when the dust settles, people can and do work together for the greater good.

Despite a vote by the Village Board to back a large shopping center and cineplex at the heart of The Glen, the deal is not yet done. In fact, the Glen Redevelopment Committee (GRC) plans a series of public hearings on the subject before voting on whether to okay the necessary zoning. These hearings will provide an opportunity for residents to learn more about the Mixed Use Retail Center and to express their views.

Village management provides a short description of the development in this month’s village report but does not discuss details of the $70 million public investment – nearly $21 million for parking lots and garages, $13 million for site work and landscaping, $9.3 million for Hangar One rehabilitation, $11.2 million in general subsidies for the shopping center and $5 million to woo the Iowa-based department store Von Maur.

The first hearing is set for 7:30 p.m.Wednesday, May 23, at Village Hall. Others may follow on May 30, June 6 and June 20. There could also be a Saturday meeting, June 9, and all of the hearings are supposed to be cablecast. Watch the Watch for details.

– Hearings have begun on another retail center planned for The Glen – The Gateway Shoppes on Lehigh. GRC members expressed concerns about parking and the safety of pedestrians crossing from the new METRA station to the stores and restaurant. In addition to cars, taxis and trucks, Pace shuttle buses will be passing by the site.

– The GRC sent Kimball Hill away – refusing to let the developer put larger homes on 11 of its unsold lots. The developer wanted to cut 10-foot side yards to 7.2 feet.

– North Shore magazine suggests it’s a sign of the times. Residents of Chapel Crossing at The Glen will have all kinds of amenities including a shopping center, fitness club, lake and golf course, but they will not have a chapel. The building for which their development was named will be turned into a community center.

– The Village Board refused to waive zoning rules that forbid professional offices on the first floor of high-density residential buildings in the downtown area. Optima West on Dewes has sold all its condos above, but says it can’t find retail buyers for the store fronts. Officials had suggested the developer offer that property for rent, but Optima says it can’t afford to do that.

The trustees were unanimous in sending Optima away, perhaps because the developer got an incredible deal in the first place – the right to build and sell far more apartments than zoning in other parts of town permits. Planners allowed that because they wanted a business district downtown, and all those new residents were supposed to provide customers for shops and restaurants. Now that developers have their profit, the village expects its prize and will not let the likes of Optima off the hook.

– Saturn dealer Leo Stec is reportedly willing to tear down a dilapidated home he owns on Chestnut Street. Stec uses the property to store cars and has done nothing to maintain the old wood-frame house. It’s now got a broken window, and the entranceway looks like it could collapse. Neighbors say the property could be a dangerous magnet to kids, but Stec is now barred from bulldozing the place. He’s been cited for violations of local ordinance, creating what one village official called a "prosecutorial situation." In other words, Stec can’t destroy the evidence.

– After about five years of vacancy, a large retail space at the Glenbrook Market on the corner of Willow and Pfingsten is about to be occupied. The former site of the Discovery Zone will soon be occupied by Century 21 – a possible sign that the economic slowdown is not taking a toll on Glenview/Northbrook real estate.

– Peter appears to be robbing Paul as Alibi Books in Carillon Square prepares to move to its new home in the Optima Building at Waukegan and Glenview Roads.

– Despite heavy competition from television (the final episode of Survivor) Gabriel’s Trumpet hosted 300 people at its grand opening Wednesday. The store, which features fine furnishings and antiques, donated profits to Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. Owners Dave and Kathie Anderson offered some unique pieces, including five Royal Enfield reproduction motorcycles, a nine-foot tall porcelain stove and a giant portrait of a monk painted in 1920. Anderson thought it would be an excellent addition to any bar.

– The Glenview House was included in a Chicago Tribune roundup of places to find cheap eats, but the author was not impressed, awarding the local roadhouse only one "fork," and stating, "This rundown 1878 home is not a candidate for the National Register of Historic Places."

Friends and foes of the Glenview Good Government Party agreed on one thing during the 2001 campaign. The diaper-clad baby who appeared on a G3 postcard with the caption WE NEED A CHANGE was a cutie. Her mother requests anonymity, but Alyson – who turns 10 months today – is bound for glory. She recently won a crawling race called the Diaper Derby at Niles’ Family Fitness Fun Day, taking home a red ribbon and a free round of mini-golf for the parents, and now she is now being considered for the Land’s End catalog.

READERS WRITE:

Terry Wodder was back last month, visiting relatives – and our library. He’s a former resident of Glenview and Northbrook who studied the issues before Northbrook built its new library: "I dropped by Glenview’s library a couple of times while I was in town, and the notion that the library is busting at the seams is hogwash. On a Saturday afternoon there were approximately 70 people in the library and less than 30 were seated, which begs the question why they need over 460 patron seats – enough for a community of 93,000 by some estimates.

"The library staff and board are going over the consultant's building assessment study line-by-line. Instead, they should toss it in the circular file. He made the same ridiculous recommendation for patron seating for Northbrook, ever though their projected population was even lower.

"The Weakest Link (I hate that show) is the fact that the library has never conducted a daily census or head count. Northbrook didn't either. Like Glenview they, just trotted out gross annual figures for the number of visitors and made it seem like the busiest place in the world.

"Glenview Watch readers should become census takers. Any time they’re at the library, they should count heads and note the total number of people seated. In each issue, you could publish the results. The library's claim that they need to double in size would go up in smoke."

BB says those rumors about District 34 cutting football at Springman are really far out: "There has never been a school sponsored football team at Springman. The Junior Titan Football Team is a club and completely private. They don't practice or play at Springman, and they don't use District 34 funds."

Jennifer Sheridan hears the cry of the wild in Glenview: "Is it spring fever or is it a protest? Every night I hear coyotes vocalize. (If you've ever heard a wolf, you can't call coyote noises howls.) They raise their voices for about a minute, usually around 10 p.m., and then they are silent for the rest of the night. Now I'm thinking they are really getting squeezed over here by the Grove between the ABT store and warehouse and the new soccer fields. I see huge light stands going up too, and I hope that the park district will turn those lights off at night after the soccer fields are closed. Bright lights at night are bad for birds, coyotes and star gazers.

"It's always a thrill when I see a coyote. My first viewing here in Glenview was when one ran across Milwaukee Avenue. Another time I watched one stalking mice or voles in an empty lot on Milwaukee. The morning rush hour was in full swing. I hope some of my fellow humans whizzing by looked up too and caught that wild early morning nature show. It was a beauty!"

"P.S. My neighbor wonders if her small dog is safe in their yard."

The Park District says field lights at the new West Park will be turned off shortly after 10 p.m. each night, and Executive Director Tom Richards says he’ll talk with staff naturalists about other wildlife concerns in the area. We talked with our wildlife expert, science teacher and Prairie Project Vice President Rob Blomquist, who tells us a bit about the coyotes in our midst: "It shouldn't really surprise us that the coyote is thriving in suburbia. They are a highly adaptable and intelligent wild species of dog, much smaller than a retriever usually about 23-25 inches at the shoulder and weighing 20-30 pounds.

"They find an easy source of food – garbage that we leave around. They are not picky eaters. They'll consume everything from mice to melons, rabbits to road-kill. In fact, coyotes in suburbia can be larger than those in more rural areas because of the plentiful food supplies. We have also removed their main natural competitor -- the wolf.

"Coyotes can kill small pets, but if you have a fenced yard and you don't leave the pet out overnight, chances are coyotes won't bother them. Coyotes in the wild actually eat a lot of insects in summer and rarely attack something larger than a racoon unless it is an injured or sick animal. I have heard concerns about coyotes attacking young children but have never read a documented case of such an incident. In any event, small children should not be left alone outside, and an adult human will usually scare coyotes away.

"As for the howl, I can only say that coyotes are highly social animals living in packs. They make a beautiful, even mystical sound. Since they find plenty of food, they are probably not protesting, but like other wild animals, they need their space and should be left alone."

Janet "Tuddie" Selzer comments on plans to hike Park Center rates this fall: "I have to agree with Mr. Nassos. How can Park Center already know they have to put through a 5 percent rate hike? Maybe if they lowered their rates, making membership affordable for more people, they would have more than what they need. Ooops – common sense again!"

FL notes the arrival of several new restaurants in Glenview and wonders, "Is the village sanitarian qualified to inspect all these premises and make certain no rodents are out back, in the cellar or the pantry? How about the health of the cooks and food handlers? Our eateries should be inspected and a rating of conformity posted."

He also wants a monument to former village presidents Firfer and Smirles: "Before Jim and Nancy fade into oblivion, why doesn’t Larry Carlson propose that village land at the Northwest corner of Lake and Waukegan be developed with a drinking fountain and public toilets, a few benches, a couple of trees and some flowers? Residents could sit in Firfer-Smirles Park and reflect on the passing traffic. We might even erect a plastic statue of Bart the Bull."

YOUR TURN: Share your views on local issues and news. E-mail to glenviewwatch@aol.com or snail mail to 3537 Maple Leaf Dr., Glenview, IL 60025. Your comments are an important part of the Watch, and we look forward to hearing from you. We are Sandy Hausman and Dean Schott, co-editors of Glenview Watch.

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