GLENVIEW'S FIRE CHIEF ACCEPTS POST IN WILMETTE

Joe Robberson, who has served as Glenview's fire chief since 1984, announced Wednesday that he will leave to accept the top job at Wilmette's fire department in March. That department is considerably smaller than the operation in Glenview (with about half the personnel and one-fourth the square area), but Robberson may be eligible to retire from his post here with a pension providing about 65 percent of his current salary while collecting full pay from Wilmette. 

The news provoked outrage at Wilmette's central fire station where some members of the rank and file strongly favored an internal candidate for the job.  Acting Chief Jim Dominik has served there for 18 years and holds a Master's degree in management.  Dominik is said to be popular among Wilmette's 33 firefighters who cite Robberson's lack of hands-on experience battling blazes.  His resume lists just two years as a professional fireman with subsequent positions in management.

"The last thing we need is another politician," said one member of the Wilmette force. "Robberson will be walking into a real hornet's nest here!"

Employee morale aside, Robberson will face two tough issues as he starts work in Wilmette.  Firefighters are engaged in bitter union negotiations after three years without a contract, and on March 1 the village intends to begin charging residents for ambulance calls.

Here in Glenview, Deputy Chief Michael Sawicki will serve as acting chief until a search committee selects Robberson's replacement. Sawicki was acquitted late last year on charges of assaulting a fireman at Glenview's main fire station.

COMED TEAMS INSPECT GLENVIEW WIRES

Four electrical engineers have been assigned to study power lines along Waukegan Road from McDonald's to Dempster Street after a fourth outage hit Glenview and Morton Grove Saturday, cutting electricity for ten minutes.  Three earlier failures were blamed on a squirrel gnawing through a critical power line and damage that ensued. Using binoculars and thermal scanning devices that take infrared pictures of the lines, ComEd hopes to avoid any additional problems. 

Some Glenview residents have proposed burying electrical cables to prevent squirrel trouble, but utility spokesman Mike Radziewicz says that's a costly undertaking.  The Illinois Commerce Commission has said communities that want underground wires must pay for them, and individual homes now served by overhead power would have to be rewired at a cost of $800-$1,200 each. 

In the end, Radziewicz says, there is no guarantee that other problems would not arise since underground cable is vulnerable to water damage and transformers can be infested by burrowing animals in search of a warm spot for the winter.

SKOKIE SWIFT HEADED THIS WAY?                   

The Village of Skokie has hired a consultant to study the possibility of extending the Chicago Transit Authority service to Old Orchard with an additional station opening on Oakton Street.  Officials think the new rapid transit service would increase business for downtown merchants and the shopping center while providing extra sales tax revenue for Skokie.

The Chicago-based consultant will explore ownership of property along the proposed line, investigate track and platform needs, estimate engineering costs and determine whether projected ridership would justify the expense. Funding for a longer line would likely come from Washington and Springfield. 

Northbrook has, to date, rejected suggestions that the line extend to Northbrook Court, making it easier for city shoppers and employees to get there, but Glenview Trustee John Crawford thinks the option should be considered here since it could ease traffic congestion on the Edens Expressway and Willow Road.
DEERFIELD DODGES SIX-LANE BULLET

Seeking to avoid the disruption and additional traffic that a six-lane highway would bring, Deerfield officials have won a promise from Cook County that Lake-Cook Road between Waukegan Road and the tollway will not be widened to six lanes for the next twenty years.  Instead, lanes will be added at the intersection of Lake-Cook and Waukegan, and the community will explore alternatives suggested by a Northwestern University study.  In it, experts suggest better signal coordination and faster attention to stalled cars or accidents.  There are, on average, five such incidents each day along an 8-mile stretch of Lake-Cook, more than half during the rush hours.

In addition, transponders could be installed in the pavement to count cars and signal drivers when travel times are especially long.  They could then opt to use alternative routes.  Finally, the study proposes better coordination between police, fire and public works departments and suggests moving police traffic stops to side streets.

TRUSTEES PUT BRAKES ON AT THE GLEN

At their first meeting in February, Glenview's trustees voted to raise the speed limit on main streets in The Glen by five miles per hour, bringing it to 30 miles per hour.  Some village residents had complained that the community's newest neighborhood was a speed trap – that 25 seemed an unusually low limit given the nature of Patriot Boulevard, West Lake, Chestnut and Shermer, but at last Tuesday's board meeting, a man who plans to move to The Glen showed up to complain.

Tim Dorner questioned the decision to allow faster traffic in what was supposed to be a pedestrian-friendly community, noting that a lower limit might be "an inconvenience for people whose destination is the Park Center," but suggesting it was an entitlement for people living in The Glen. "I hope you're not bending to people who are speeding through my neighborhood," he said.

Trustee Jeff Lerner said safety was considered when Glenview's staff recommended the increase.  "It's a recommendation that came from the traffic engineers," he told Dorner.

Staffer Amy Ahner suggested a compromise – to keep the limit along a residential section of Chestnut, from Patriot to Lehigh at 25 miles per hour.  Trustees Rachel Cook, John Crawford, Mike Guinane and Donna Pappo voted for that idea, defeating Lerner, Trustee Mary Beth Denefe and President Larry Carlson who wanted to study a 30 mile per hour limit for 6 months.  Carlson said all speed limits at The Glen would be reviewed half a year from now.

Editor's note: With all due respect to Mr. Dorner, The Glen cannot be considered his neighborhood alone.  With Park Center, the old Navy chapel, The Glen Club and two large parks in the area, it has become a center of activity for all of Glenview, and streets like Patriot and Chestnut are the main thoroughfares.  They are flat, straight, wide roads comparable to Pfingsten or Glenview  – residential roads with 35 mile per hour speed limits, and if people are "speeding" through the area, it could be because 25 miles per hour is not a reasonable or necessary limit.  In exchange for the convenience of  a growing number of community services in their midst, residents of The Glen should be prepared for more traffic, and residents of Glenview should not be penalized with speeding tickets because some Glen residents would prefer a more peaceful ambience.  We are not suggesting that hot rodding be allowed at The Glen, but we agree with Trustee Lerner and Glenview's traffic engineers – that 30 is a safe and reasonable speed limit for mainstem streets at The Glen and in other parts of the village.

COOK SEES THE LIGHT BUT DROPS THE BALL

Also on Tuesday's agenda, a request from Glen residents upset by the bright street lights in their neighborhood.  A spokesman claimed it looks like Wrigley Field or a maximum security prison at night.  "You could perform brain surgery out there on Patriot," said Bruce Rybarczyk

A staffer from The Glen's redevelopment office offered several changes that could correct the problem of glare including the purchase of  shields and softer bulbs.  Amy Ahner was less than two minutes into a discussion of that solution when Village Manager Paul McCarthy interrupted to say she could stop.  "I think it's sold," he told her.

"If nobody has any questions, I'd move to adopt the request," said Trustee Jeff Lerner."

"Boy are you good, Amy," joked Board President Larry Carlson.

But Trustee Rachel Cook was not amused, and she did have a question. "I have no problem with the solution being suggested tonight," she said, "but I have a problem with who's going to pay."  Cook conceded she had helped to  make the original decision about those lights but thought one of Glenview's expert consultants should have warned that the fixtures would be too bright. "I'm not an engineer.  I'm not a developer, and somebody somewhere down the line should have made us aware that we were going to have a glare problem," she said.

"We did address that with the board, but it was preferred to create something that matched the design guidelines," said Ahner.  Noting that the board did study one of the lights in a hangar before approving the purchase she added, "When there are now 500 out there, it's a different effect."

"One light versus 500 lights?" said Cook.

"It makes a difference apparently," said President Carlson.

"Would it be possible to turn off every other light until the trees grow in?" asked Trustee Donna Pappo?

"The way it's wired  -- no," said Ahner. 

Lerner again moved to buy and install shades and new light bulbs, and Cook apparently lost heart as she and the other trustees agreed to spend $78,000 to correct the problem.

MAKING TIME FOR POLICY

Trustee Cook also used Tuesday's meeting to protest the board's lack of attention to substantial matters of policy like storm water detention – topics that are frequently put off as the board deals with more mundane matters.  Cook charged that the trustees spend 99 percent of their time on operations issues while important matters of policy come back again and again.  She proposed to begin discussion of three key issues at regularly scheduled meetings:

– How the village notifies residents of  proposed changes in the community
– What can be done about parking problems in various neighborhoods
– Whether current boards and commissions meet the needs of a 21st century suburb, and what changes should be made to this voluntary system of local government.

Board President Carlson thought it might be better to have special Saturday meetings, and Trustee Donna Pappo proposed that in those months where there are five Tuesdays, the board hold an extra meeting.  Right now, meetings are held only on the first and third Tuesdays of each month.

Trustee Jeff Lerner said the board might not have that many policy issues it wants to review and felt it was premature to set dates for special meetings.  Instead, he proposed that each board member submit a list of topics he or she wants to discuss.  Trustee Cook agreed to that approach, urging fellow board members to turn in their list in the next two weeks.

GUINANE LIGHTS A FIRE

Since their election in 1999, members of the minority party on Glenview's Village Board have been chafing over a failure to follow state law regarding the minutes of executive sessions.  Those closed door meetings are held by the trustees to discuss lawsuits, personnel matters and real estate deals.  Once the need for secrecy has passed, the board should release minutes, and they're supposed to conduct a review every six months, but no review has taken place, and it's a sore spot for the Glenview First politicians – Trustees Cook, Crawford and Pappo.  At Tuesday's board meeting, however, a member of the opposing party, Trustee Mike Guinane, ate their political lunch, calling Village Manager Paul McCarthy to task for the failure.

Guinane said he had been on the board for nine months and had taken part in many private meetings but  had yet to see any minutes from the executive sessions.  McCarthy promised minutes by the end of the first quarter so the trustees could  catch up.

ORIGINAL WAGNER FARM HOUSE TO BE DEMOLISHED

When the Wagner family first farmed in Glenview, their house sat at a location now described as the southeast corner of Wagner and Lake – the planned location for Glenview's new eastside fire station.  Then Lake Avenue was built, separating the house from the farm, and the Wagners built a new house on the north side of the street.  Now, Village Hall plans to tear down the original house, which is more than a hundred years old, bringing cries of protest from Glenview resident Margaret Tower.  She wants the house restored and moved to the farm, perhaps to provide office and classroom space now located in a red triple-wide trailer which Tower called an eyesore.
"This is outrageous to wreck a historic dwelling that belongs to the farm," she told the trustees.

Village Manager Paul McCarthy said the park district had been consulted and did not want the house.  President Larry Carlson said the inside was in pretty bad shape – that additions and remodeling had left little of the original building, and that the park district wanted as much land and as few buildings as possible at Wagner Farm.

When Tower persisted, Trustee John Crawford became annoyed.  "I went through there," he told her, "and the only thing I could see that was original were the field stones in the foundation. . .I don't think it has any historic significance."

"Even though it was there over 100 years ago and was the main house for the farm?" Tower asked.

"Do you have any idea how much it would cost to move that?" Crawford replied.

Tower said the decision would rest on the trustees' conscience – a warning that did not deter a single member of the board.  After Trustee Mike Guinane reminded the public that the new fire house would improve response time for eastside blazes (which had on one occasion stretched to eight minutes), they voted unanimously to proceed with demolition.

FIREFIGHTERS KNOW BEST

The new fire station should blend with its residential and rural neighbors according to architects hired by the village to plan that structure.  They showed the trustees designs from a number of communities including one with a barn-like appearance and said the new station should in some way reflect its proximity to Wagner Farm.

Some neighbors worried that the entrance of emergency vehicles to the intersection of Lake and Wagner would pose a hazard, but Village Manager Paul McCarthy said the intersection will be improved by the county next year with left turn lanes added and a traffic signal set to be tripped by the fire truck, ambulance or administrative vehicle stationed there.

The building will be about 9,000 square feet and just one story tall.  Manager McCarthy said he and Fire Chief Joe Robberson had preferred a two-story design, but firefighters felt the facility would be safer and more efficient if everything was at ground level. (No more sleepy slides down the pole!)  In fact, the architect said nine of ten new stations being built are one-story.

LIBRARY DISPUTES CRITIC CLAIM

A letter appearing in last week's issue of the Glenview Announcements suggests the library board plans a bigger facility than necessary and quotes statistics from the North Suburban Library Association showing a downturn in library patronage and circulation.  Executive Librarian John Blegen disputes those numbers, explaining that Glenview tracks on a calendar year while the association tracks from July to June.  As a result, the numbers listed for 2000-2001 actually reflect usage for the year 2000.  There was, Blegen says, a small decrease in patronage in 2001, but circulation rose 5 percent, and in January of this year it was up 6 percent from 2001 levels while patronage rose 7 percent.

LET'S MAKE A DEAL

Rumors persist that the village is attempting to broker a deal with the village of Wilmette.  In exchange for emergency dispatch services from our new center, Wilmette would agree to lower the water rates now being charged to supply Glenview through its water processing plant.

BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A BASKET

With hard economic times hitting a growing number of families, the Northfield Township Food Pantry is asking those who can afford it to donate meal baskets for Easter or Passover.  You can get a sample list of foods that might be included from Sharon Mackey at the township office – 724-8300.  Baskets will go to families in Glenview, Northbrook and Northfield.

MUSICAL NEWS AND BLUES

At 7 p.m. Thursday, February 28, WBEZ's Steve Cushing will speak about this country's great blues musicians.
Call 729-7500, extension 112 to register.   

Auditions will be held for the new Glenview Symphony Orchestra from 6 - 10 p.m. Wednesday, March 23.  Rehearsals will be held on subsequent Wednesdays, and the first performance is set for May 4.  To try out, call 475-4819.

The Symphony Society will host another free performance in its chamber music series at 3 p.m. March 3 in the New Church, One Park Drive, Glenview.  The Phoenix Camerata will perform a variety of sacred and secular music from the 12th - 18th centuries on period instruments.  Organizers promise haunting songs of the troubadours, the medieval magnificence of Machaut and the passionate works of Purcell and Mozart.  For details, call 475-4819.
SKOKIE TO REPLACE WORLD TRADE TOWERS

Skokie's Park District will spend nearly $13,000 to replace a replica of the World Trade Center at its mini golf course with a 10-foot fiberglass model of the statue of liberty.  The change was not prompted by history but by weather.  Sources say the twin towers were made from wood, and over a period of more than three years the elements took their toll. 

When Commissioner Mike Bender challenged the cost, Park District Director Steve Hartman explained that statues for mini-golf are not made by many vendors, and an alternate bid for a replica of Mount Rushmore was twice as expensive.

READERS WRITE

JAS responds to Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg who offered to dispatch Bart the bull with his hand drill hammer: "I would hate to be your wife, your children or your pets, and I would truly like to tell you where I would like to see your four pound drilling hammer.  The sun doesn't shine there!"

Nancy Chadwick's having a cow over the Park District's latest news: "They've got to be kidding!  The Park District is creating a 14-person committee to develop an animal management policy for Wagner farm?  Fourteen people are needed to come up with a policy to manage the cows and chickens on an 18-acre farm ? First I laughed, and then I shook my head in disbelief.  Didn't the Park District hire a farm director? I guess I forgot that he did try to do his job once when making a decision about Bart and was overruled by the masses. It's too bad, really, that Glenview's bright spot has turned into such a political, bureaucratic mess."

CM thinks Glenview is worried about the wrong critters: "Instead of all the griping about the bull at Wagner Farm, let's talk about the opossums, skunks and raccoons! We are saturated with these animals.  I have been told nothing can be done about them.  Poor Bart is hurting nobody, and these other animals are spraying our pets and getting into our homes."

BJM (Bullwinkle J. Moose) writes about four outages in Glenview this month – and about allegations that a squirrel was to blame for one of them: "I strongly object to dropping the dime on Rocket J. Squirrel, Esq.  I want to see the dental records of the miscreant rodent who allegedly chewed through the 4,000 volt lines, allegedly causing the transformer station on Waukegan Road to explode.  Ranger Joe Wade tells us that this time of year, wild Glenview squirrels  must sharpen their teeth, but I say, ‘where's the evidence?'  I  must also say it's nice to see our Commonwealth Edison officials have their priorities in order.  Ranger Wade reported that the ComEd rep could not attend a meeting of our village board because he had a family obligation.  Well, that's admirable.  I wonder how many family obligations were disrupted by the three power outages in half of the Village of Glenview.  It seems to me that ComEd's OCEB (Officer In Charge of Explaining Blackouts) should have made a personal apology or at least expressed concern."

JL is frantic over all these outages: "For crying out loud! How many more times will my appliances be fried and my computer take a hit from power outages?  This is the fourth time in less than two weeks that we have lost power.  Why can't the Village see fit to suggest or demand that our utilities be placed underground where they are safe from squirrels, wind and lousy drivers?"

The Watch replies: See our lead story for some thoughts on the price and reliability of underground power lines.  Then see ComEd about damages.  As we reported last week, consumers who have damage to appliances that may be linked to recent outages can download a claim form from the utility's website: www.exeloncorp.com or call 1-800-334-7661.

TS sees danger on the tracks: "Several times I have been heading west on Chestnut during the rush hour, and as soon as a train goes through and the gates go up, drivers rush across the tracks, then stop to make a left turn onto Lehigh.  Cars behind them end up parked on the railroad tracks.  Now there's a fatality waiting to happen!  The set-up was the same in Fox River Grove a couple of years ago when a school bus was hit and children killed.  Are we going to wait for a repeat of that tragedy?"

The Watch replies: You raise an important point and should not stop on our tracks.  Please send a letter expressing your concern to Glenview's Traffic Committee in care of the Village Manager and forward a copy to your favorite trustee.  The committee is supposed to consider resident complaints and suggestions for making village roads safer.

Mickey Safstrom shouts "fore" over news of a golf tournament in Glenview: "I was horrified to learn that the village is going to host a major golf tournament. Has anyone stopped to think what this will mean to our community? According to Steve Skinner of Kemper Sports Management, some tournaments at Kemper Lakes draw 15,000 spectators a day.  Other tournaments draw as many as 45,000 daily, and the event in Glenview is supposed to last 4 - 5 days!  Can you picture that many people and their cars descending on our community?  No matter where they park, in The Glen or in school parking lots with shuttle buses, it is going to be a traffic problem of mammoth proportions.  The Buy.com Tour that is moving from Kemper Lakes to The Glen Club in 2003 and 2004 is not something the citizens of Glenview want, but we may get it if our trustees approve it.  We need to let our voices be heard!"

BR says less light at The Glen would be good for us all: "I read your recent coverage of our neighborhood initiative to dim the lighting at The Glen.  At least you did not make any comments about those supposedly privileged folks in The Glen, as we hear so often in editorials in Glenview.  (Those comments always remind me of the old adage that the definition of "shallow" is anyone who earns more money or lives in a bigger house than we do.) The one thing you did forget to highlight is that the effort is partly based on reducing light pollution that impacts wildlife, insects and star-gazing. This seems especially important given the number of natural areas in and around Glenview. I've been told that from an airplane. The Glen looks like the brightest place on the North Shore."

HB corrects our story on aerial trucks in the village: "I just read your report on Glenview wanting another bucket truck to put up banners and signs.  You said they have one already.  In fact, there are two – one assigned to the forestry department and another for signs and banners."

Joseph Downey wonders when his small neighborhood adjacent to The Glen will have easy access to Glenview's newest neighborhood: "Those of us that live north of Lake Ave. on Prairie Lawn and Peachgate take their life into the speeding traffic of Lake Ave., both east and west, during rush hours. We were promised that the north entrance to The Glen would be opened and the south entrance at Lake Ave would be closed with a gate.  When?  During the early rush hour, particularly with the morning sun, even school buses are endangered as they try to exit. Is this just another promise by the board not kept?"

The Watch replies: We have placed three calls to the office of Glen Redevelopment but have yet to receive a response.  Neighborhood sources say the breakthrough will not come until the James Company has completed construction of new homes on the old Navy golf course.

BA asks about village owned vehicles: "I have been following local stories about cars being furnished to village employees. Can you tell us if the personal use of the cars is reported as taxable income? I understand a village car is needed in some cases to make compensation attractive.  When a village employee's salary is computed, how does the value of the car show up?  How about putting the village seal on the doors of village owned cars, so we the taxpayers, will be aware of where village property is and who is using it."

The Watch replies: Glenview officials who drive publicly owned cars are supposed to keep track of their personal use so the village can assign a cash value to that compensation and report it on the annual W-2 form.  While vehicles used by the public works, fire and police departments are marked with the village seal, others are not.

YOUR TURN: What’s on your mind? Drop us a line by e-mail – glenviewwatch@aol.com -- or snail mail: 3537 Maple Leaf Drive, Glenview, IL 60025. If you haven’t already done so, please consider making a contribution to support The Watch. Non-deductible checks should be payable to Glenview Watch. Thanks for your support and for reading.

– Sandy Hausman and Dean Schott, Co-Editors of The Watch.

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