Glenview’s Economic Redevelopment Director Don Owen won approval for a new deal with Chicago-based Mesirow Stein to continue providing help at The Glen, despite concerns expressed by three trustees during another of Owen’s late night appeals to the village board. Stein offered financial advice, oversight on the new Lehigh Avenue and Gallery Park, maintenance of a master schedule for development and marketing services for the remaining 5 percent of land.

Two senior people on the project – finance expert Karen Butler and marketing man Dan Walsh – would get a total of $88,400 for spending 10 percent of their time helping Glenview. A senior engineer would receive $171,600 for devoting half of his time to The Glen. Trustee Donna Pappo complained that staff engineers at Village Hall make less than $100,000 for a full-time job. Her vow to vote against the deal prompted a return to the bargaining table and a better offer from Stein.

Under the new $241,000 proposal, Stein said it would stay with the hourly rates charged in 2001, and charge its "field rate" rather than its "downtown office rate" for the engineer, saving Glenview about $50,000.

Owen argued that Stein had provided great value in the past based on the hours we agreed to pay and the hours of service actually provided. "The first three years, we were almost getting double the amount of hours projected. . .and in the past years we’ve received probably 150%." He did not mention millions of dollars in incentive fees paid to Stein after Glen property was sold.

Trustee John Crawford was not satisfied, quizzing Owen as to "why we need all these engineers. . .We have a contract with Harza [Engineering] which provides that they monitor work of contractors. . .We have a building department with building inspectors."

Owen said Stein had served as an "extension of staff, helping us fast track and schedule and coordinate all the main stem work that Harza’s in charge of. . .Mesirow Stein is acting like a village employee for us. I don’t have enough people on my staff – village engineers and so forth – to be able to monitor all the contracts and make sure the schedules are on time."

Crawford peppered Owen with more questions, then asked: "Do we need Mesirow Stein to help us determine whether Harza’s on time with their performance? You wouldn’t need an engineer to do that, would you?"

"You need staff to do that," Owen replied. With the mixed use retail center about to be built, he said the job of oversight is even more critical. "Staff is required to make sure that as the $77 million incentive [provided by the village to the developer] starts getting spent, that the pencil draws with all the contractors happen – that we have a representative attend that, make sure the money’s being spent properly, that it’s not being put in someone’s pocket, and they’re buying islands off in the Caymans."

Crawford still could not see the need for engineers from both Harza and Stein. "We’re paying Harza all that money. . ." he began.

"If you don’t want our staff out there to do the management," Owen stammered, his voice rising in frustration, "then you can tell me that because I’ll be happy to not have Mesirow there and just let Harza do whatever they do, but I think you want us to monitor them. That’s the whole point."

Attempting a diplomatic end to the stand-off, Trustee Jeff Lerner asked Owen if he could say there was no duplication of services between Harza and Stein. Owen said that was correct. Lerner then moved for a vote, and Crawford joined the other trustees in approving Stein’s new contract.

Editor’s note: Once again, Trustee Crawford made some important points. Glenview will pay top dollar to a big Chicago company for work that could probably be done for far less money by a village staffer. He pointed out that Harza is a reputable company being paid well for a job and wondered if it was really necessary to have additional oversight. Owen insisted it was – raising the specter of theft and suggesting he had no idea what Harza actually does. A few minutes later, he was defending Harza and admitting that even with oversight, the company may have made mistakes. That, of course, raises more questions. If Owen is overseeing Harza and Mesirow Stein, who is overseeing Owen? How can Owen provide adequate oversight without construction or finance background, and is it any wonder he needs costly help from consultants?

When Owen returned for approval of Harza’s latest contract, he faced another round in the ring. The redevelopment director wanted more than $600,000 for design and oversight of wetlands and stormwater management, a sidewalk connecting the new Costco site on the north side of Willow Road at Patriot with the intersection of Willow and Shermer and modifications to Patriot Blvd.

Considering the job of stormwater control, Trustee Mike Guinane recalled that Harza was our consultant when the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency cited Glenview for allowing huge amounts of soil to run into the Chicago River and into Lake Glenview where nearly $1 million worth of dredging must now be done.

Owen said Harza was only responsible for the roadways – about 74 acres of land, and much of the runoff had come from the rest of The Glen. "Since we received that violation," Owen said referring to the IEPA complaint, "we have tasked [Harza] to expand their responsibilities. . .We [Harza and the village] actually now are monitoring all our developers [at The Glen]."

"Why didn’t Harza spot this sooner?" Guinane demanded.

"Actually, this is a project that has, uh, has, has been a, uh, an evolving environment," said Owen. "We believed that, uh, we met, uh, we met the regulations of IEPA. . .They helped devise a whole series of different technologies – hay bales, stormwater detention basins, drainage pipes, barriers, bermed areas, and, uh, we believed, I believed as I reviewed their work. . .that, uh, that we had complied, so, uh . . ."

"They should have known a lot sooner – before the IEPA came in and started citing the village," said Guinane. "Will Harza share in the cost of cleaning out the sediment from Lake Glenview?"

"Uh, I have not, uh, uh, approached that subject with Harza," Owen replied. "Uh, but it’s something that I could, uh, discuss with them."

"I would ask President Carlson – maybe staff should look into Harza sharing some of the costs," said Guinane.

"Director Owen and I will discuss that," Carlson replied coldly.

Once again, all of the trustees agreed to the new contract with Harza.

Editor’s note: Don Owen was recently given a quiet promotion by Village Manager Paul McCarthy. He is no longer economic redevelopment director for The Glen but economic redevelopment director for the entire village. That means he may someday be in charge of downtown redevelopment and other critical changes to our community. Manager McCarthy is said to be fond of Owen, and perhaps he is grooming Owen to replace him, but Owen has yet to prove his value to the public. His explanations are sprinkled with military and construction jargon, and it’s often hard for the public to understand why he is asking for more money to pay consultants or why mistakes occurred.

We hope our elected representatives will demand real proof of his worth as a manager before any more promotions are made, and to the trustees we say – no more Mr. Nice Guy! You were elected on a promise of fiscal responsibility, and some of you have caught the scent of trouble. Have the courage to vote no until you’re satisfied that a costly service is actually needed.

The village board has officially set a speed limit of 25 miles per hour for Shermer Road from Willow into The Glen. Trustee Jeff Lerner called for a speedy vote on the matter, but Trustee Donna Pappo prompted some discussion, noting that many people are being ticketed for exceeding that limit on Patriot – a wide, flat thoroughfare running from Willow to Lake past Hangar One, the site of a proposed shopping center.

"We believe this is going to be a very heavily-oriented pedestrian activity in the center core of The Glen," said Redevelopment Director Owen. "Obviously it’s not fully functioning yet, because the mixed use retail center is not built. The sports fields over here in Gallery Park will be built next year. We think that a lot of people will be out there."

Pappo asked how the speed limit could be changed. Owen said the police department or Glenview’s traffic committee (which accepts petitions from residents) might propose an adjustment, and he noted that developer Oliver McMillan is already saying the limit might be too slow on Patriot.

Lerner again called for a vote, and the board agreed unanimously to impose the limit on Shermer.

Editor’s note: Given speed limits on similar streets in the area – Lehigh at 45 mph, Chestnut and West Lake at 35 – we can see no justification for setting the limit on Shermer and Patriot at 25. Maybe someday, when pedestrian traffic grows, a lower limit might make sense, and a change could be made.

Studies show that actual road conditions, not posted limits, prompt people to drive at a certain speed. Folks will go slower, for example, on narrower roadways and on streets where parking is allowed – especially if there are lots of other cars and pedestrians around. They drive faster on flat, wide, straight roads like Patriot and Shermer where there is no parking, and traffic is light. That’s why The Glen has become a terrific speed trap. If Glenview’s trustees were really concerned about making fair, reasonable rules, they should have debated the question more extensively rather than rushing to approve staff’s recommendation.

HANGAR ONE HANGING IN

While the group has given up on plans for an air and space museum at The Glen, members of Hangar One still hope to preserve their historic building at the former Glenview Naval Air Station and are moving closer to a possible lawsuit. President John Witten says officials at the Illinois Historic Preservation Office are "tired of the village hemming and hawing. They’re prepared to take the matter to court."

Hangar One meets at 1 p.m. Sunday, January 13 in Hackney’s on Lake for an update from David Bahlman, president of the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois – a Chicago-based group that also hopes to see the hangar preserved. Von Maur, the anchor department store for a shopping center at the site, has requested that much of the building be demolished, and Glenview has hired a Washington-based lawyer who describes himself as a preservationist but has frequently helped developers who want to make significant changes to historic properties.

Sandy Stein, a lawyer appointed some years ago to serve on Glenview’s Environmental Review Committee, has sent the village a bill for eight hours of work – attending a meeting and reviewing some documents related to the Portage Run subdivision adjacent to The Grove. The grand total: $2,320. Stein was described in an American Bar Association Journal article as "a lawyer who represents industrial clients." His best known case involved defending a South Side Chicago steel plant sued by Citizens for a Better Environment. When the citizens lost their case, Stein asked the court to make the environmentalists pay his $300,000 bill.

Editor’s note: We’re not sure why Stein was chosen for the Glenview job, but we think it’s time to consider other attorneys for the post – preferably people who will not charge this community nearly $300 an hour to help us protect our environmentally significant areas.

Glenview’s well-meaning public works department violated a cardinal rule of home protection last week. While some families on Maple Leaf Drive in the Willows were away for the holidays, the village tagged their doors with bright red notices indicating water would be turned off as crews repaired a broken water main. The work was completed on December 23, but the notes remained on some door knobs. The police department routinely advises residents to stop newspaper deliveries when they’re away so homeowners don’t signal their absence. The public works tags did just that. Deputy Police Chief Brad Weigel said there is usually an increase in burglaries over the holidays, but he reported no incidents on Maple Leaf.

CIRCLES RESIDENTS TIRED OF SWIMMING

Residents of a small, affluent neighborhood just east of downtown Glenview are asking the village for help. Their homes sits by the river, but they are more often plagued by flood waters rushing down the main street in their subdivision – Raleigh Road.

The head of the homeowners association, Lawrence Pilliod, recalled four to five feet of water pooling at the end of the street after a heavy rain in October. He had reviewed records kept by the group and found a letter written in 1972 complaining of the same problem. He blamed inadequate storm sewers.

Katie Kiefer said she was "appalled" by local government’s apathy and neglect. She said a car had actually floated away during one flood, and showed pictures of a submerged fire hydrant in front of her house. Kiefer wondered if firemen could battle a blaze under those circumstances.

Village Manager McCarthy said that would depend on where another hydrant could be found. Kiefer said there was one six houses away. McCarthy said a fire could be controlled using that hydrant. Kiefer asked if her house might burn down in the time it would take to run a hose down the flooded road. "That’s a pretty speculative question that would require a pretty speculative answer, Katie," said McCarthy.

Pointing out that large rocks line the road, Kiefer wondered if emergency vehicles would be damaged by those submerged obstacles. This time village attorney Jeff Randall responded: "If the rocks are in the right of way – rocks really are not allowed in the right of way, so they shouldn’t be there. If you’re concerned, then the rocks should really be removed."

"I am concerned that in any rain event, if my husband were to have a heart attack, if my child was choking, what kind of emergency services would we be able to receive? What could we expect from the village?" Kiefer replied.

"In the flood of ‘97, I had a baby and a toddler," said neighbor Lisa Dickholtz. "My husband and I could not get our cars out of the driveway to get our kids out of the house. . .It’s a really scary situation, and we have over 100 children under the age of 10 who live in the Circles."

Manager McCarthy said the situation deserved a response. He promised staff would make some recommendations to the trustees. Addressing the Raleigh Road residents, he added, "If the Circles were a bathtub, this would be the drain." McCarthy warned that taxpayers in the area might have to pay 75 percent of the bill if new storm sewers are needed to fix the problem.

While Glenview Watch reported on significant problems with the launch of a new Glenview/Wheeling emergency dispatch center, including confusion over the location of a fire in Wheeling and the inability to page off-duty Wheeling firemen, the Glenview Announcements was content to repeat what local officials said. "Our telecommunicators and our new dispatch center performed flawlessly," Fire Chief Joe Robberson told the paper.

The Announcements’ story also claimed Glenview was left with no senior dispatchers (only one has more than a year of experience) because RED Center offered higher salaries. In fact, the pay scales and benefits are comparable, although the head of Glenview/Wheeling makes considerably more than the director of Red Center.

On a related note, Deerfield/Bannockburn will join RED Center after January 1.

Come January 5, residents in the 847 area code will have to dial 1-847 to call other numbers in the North and Northwest suburbs. That’s because local phone companies say they are running out of numbers and will begin assigning a 224 area code to new customers in what has, until now, been 847 country.

Consumer advocates have been fighting the change without success. They note that people in the 312, 773, 630 and 708 area codes will not have to dial 11 digits to make local calls and say the situation nationwide is confusing. In some communities, you can still dial seven digits while others require 10 or 11.

The Illinois Commerce Commission or the Federal Communications Commission could take action to standardize the number of digits needed for local calls, but observers say it’s not a priority for those regulatory bodies. Meanwhile, Ameritech says the switchover will take about two weeks. During that time, some customers may get through by dialing only seven digits, but by mid-January, everyone will have to dial one plus the area code and number they’re calling.

Wagner Farm Director Todd Price sent holiday greetings to neighbors on Christmas Eve, providing residents around the property at Lake and Wagner with an update on developments there. Price said new fencing was installed to allow restoration of half the pasture while animals graze on the other half, and he said fields had been prepared for spring planting of corn and oats with one of Pete Wagner’s original plows.

He explained that Bart the Bull would be sold because, among other things, he was "breeding with many of his own offspring." The news may have scandalized some readers because two days later Price wrote again. "It has come to my attention that I was misinformed. Bart actually has not bred with any of his own offspring. While this would become an issue in the future, he has not serviced any bovine in his lineage."

Price concluded that a new bull would still be needed at Wagner Farm and Bart would still be taken to a spring cattle sale.

NEWS AND NOTES

– Citizens Organized for Wagner’s (COWS) will holds its first board meeting of the new year at 7:30 p.m. Monday, January 7 in the new red triple-wide at the farm on the corner of Lake and Wagner. The public is invited to sit in on planning for the farm and COWS’ spring membership drive.

– The Park District marks a first birthday for Park Center on January 5 with special activities and giveaways from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

– If you don’t yet have a way to keep track of your dates in 2002, Glenview photographer Carol

Freeman offers two new nature calendars on her website: www.carolfreemanphotography.com.

– Crate and Barrel has moved into its new headquarters at the corner of Techny and Waukegan roads. The building features a gourmet cafeteria and fitness center offering two aerobics classes daily and instruction in yoga. Crate and Barrel employs more than 300 people in Northbrook. The firm had been located in Northbrook’s Sky Harbor Industrial Park.

Steve Glenn has a beef with those who hope to save Bart the Bull: "The Wagner Farm project was proposed as an educational asset, teaching local school kids about farming, an opportunity that in my youth was available just a block or two away in any direction, but is now remote. The purpose of farms is to provide society with food and fiber, not a Disneyesque view of the natural world. I propose the following: Since Glenview's mascot is a bear, why not board one at the farm? Then, the bear could cull the cows, eliminating the need for those nasty old packing houses."

And Rick Nasello writes: "For those people at the Park District who have to deal with the public on these issues you have my condolences. Those of us on the reality side of the fence totally understand why Bart must go to hamburger heaven. Most animal lovers hate to see any animal killed for any reason, but we all like a big juicy steak from time to time.

"The Park District could find a home for Bart, but when animals age they have health problems like us humans, and they can't always be treated successfully. Give Bart to some farmer or other organization and, because of his age, the first time this animal gets sick and the cost is too great, he will be in cow heaven faster than Dracula on his way to the blood bank.

"Maybe the Park District should give Bart to the animal rights activists to keep in their back yards. After a few days they would not be able to walk around their yards unless they were in a level 5 decontamination suit. If it sounds like I am making light of this subject it is because I am a realist. The Park District will have a better chance of finding Jimmy Hoffa than finding a solution to the Bart the Bull problem that will make all parties concerned happy."

GHK III says Save the Bull : "I was very happy when Wagner Farm was saved. Bart is a part of that farm and should stay too. They should cull park district administrators Tom Richardson and Todd Price instead. They say the Wagner's farm is a working farm just like all the other farms out there, but it's not. This farm is something special -- the last farm in the northwest suburbs, and Bart's not just a bull. He's a part of Glenview -- sort of a large pet. If they are going to make Bart into hamburger, I don't think I can eat beef ever again."

And GHG says Wagner Farm should remain a farm: "Cow pies in schoolyards? Bart the Bull to the slaughterhouse? Is this what we have to look forward to from the Park District's takeover of Wagner Farm? What's next, cow-tipping contests for middle school kids? We residents approved a property tax increase to keep Wagner Farm as Wagner Farm, a glorious, proud, serene and living pastoral scene in the middle of suburbia. Apparently, our Park District has difficulty making the distinction between a farm and a park."

MWK writes from Evanston to correct our reference to the "Democratic" process: "I believe you will agree that it should be ‘democratic process.’ In Cook County, the Democratic process generally is power politics not democratic. The Democratic party's usurpation of the word ‘democratic’ is one of life's major ironies fueled by fools whose only goal is to stay in office. Carlson's blatant attempt to pack advisory boards with cronies is a most disgusting example. I often wish we could have someone like the Watch here in Evanston. The clowns we have here are too stupid to do anything really bad. They're like the Three Stooges while your group of politicos reminds me of a muscle headed bunch of bullies."

KK is enjoying Glenview’s holiday look and thinking about next year: "I drive west on Glenview Road coming home from work everyday and look forward to seeing it all lit up in its winter glow. I have one suggestion for a change next year. Use the same white tree lights but green lights for the wreaths. A little contrast would look good."

SS says redrawing of state House and Senate districts seems to be having a positive impact on the campaign trail: "In the new 57th Illinois House District, there is a Republican candidate: Mary Childers. Mary is a former Des Plaines council woman who lost for mayor and has spent the past several years as owner of Brown's Chicken & Pasta in Schiller Park. Also, Chris Cohen is really pounding the pavement in the state Senate race against Kathy Parker. Kathy's friends from the Republican right wing are gathering for a tough fight. So where do I stand? Happy to see that our districts will have some competition, and hopefully we can elect some moderates who are not connected to the big clout brokers."

Marnie responds to our query about the cartoon bear who graces our front page on line each week: "In my opinion, the grumpy bear gives the immediate impression to the reader that whatever they are going to read is going to be presented in a negative, criticizing and most likely one-sided manner (be it true or not). I think you would do well to omit him in future issues."

The Watch replies: We agree, and we will.

Fritz comments on roof troubles in Northbrook and the $900,000 bill for work that wasn’t guaranteed: "Well, taxpayers take in on the chin again. The architect should be liable on this one. They approve samples of all materials used and would also be responsible for signing off on installation. Northbrook should go after him."

The Watch replies: Your point is well taken, and the folks at Northbrook Village Hall did think of the architect. Alas, state law limits liability for such claims to 10 years, and the roof is 11 years old.

YOUR TURN: Letters might be the best part of our publication, so keep those e-mails coming to glenviewwatch@aol.com or send snail mail to 3537 Maple Leaf Drive, Glenview, IL 60025. Your financial support is also welcome although we are not a charity and gifts are not deductible. Checks can be made payable to Glenview Watch. Best wishes for a wonderful new year. Thanks for giving, thanks for reading!  Dean Schott and Sandy Hausman, Co-Editors of The Watch.

To read past issues of Glenview Watch, Click Here