FEBRUARY FREEZE

Glenview Watch will be taking some time off in February. We plan to gather detailed information on candidates for school, library and park district boards and welcome your letters during our three weeks off. We’ll be back with our next edition on February 23. In the mean time:

– Supporters of John Crawford will launch his campaign from 2-5 p.m. Sunday, February 2 at Gusto Italiano in Carillon Square, 1470 Waukegan Road. The pubic is invited to come and meet the candidate. For more information, call Biff Thiele at 847-998-0312.

– At the same time on that same day, Glenbrook South will host an open house to show off $45 million in building improvements, including 31 new classrooms, eight science labs and larger facilities for physical education and band. Refreshments will be served in the expanded cafeteria.

– At 7:30 p.m. February 11, the plan commission will consider extending environmental protection to a 10-acre lot along the river near Heatherfield – a piece of property that experts say is valuable to wildlife. Glenview’s Environmental Review Commission, a group with limited scientific expertise, chose not to protect the property, but residents with environmental background plan to ask the plan commission to look again before sending the matter on to the trustees. Members of the public are invited to attend the meeting in the board room of Village Hall.

ANIMAL ABUSE CHARGES AIMED AT WAGNER FARM

A six-year-old cow was sold for slaughter last week after Wagner Farm’s veterinarian found a large mass adjacent to the animal’s bladder. Bubbles was in obvious discomfort according to Bob Quill, the parks’ director of leisure services. "She was kicking at her lower stomach and had not urinated in a while. She was probably retaining about eight gallons of urine," he said. "The vet tried to insert a catheter [to drain urine from the bladder] but could not get through."

The park district then contacted a large animal expert at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Without examining the beast, he could not say whether treatment was possible. Quill said an exam would have cost $700-$800 and surgery would have added to that bill, but even more disturbing – the University vet thought the cow would suffer a great deal and might not survive the trip from Glenview.

Following park district policy, administrators decided to dispose of Bubbles in the same way that Pete Wagner dealt with unwanted animals – selling her for $300. "She was too old for hamburger but could be used in animal feed," Quill explained. "Under the circumstances, the most humane thing to do was to rotate her off the farm."

Local animal rights advocates did not agree. Biff Thiele told The Watch, "It was clear the cow was suffering at the time the vet examined her. If the animal was standing around in a stockyard all weekend in pain, waiting for someone to fire a bullet into its skull, then shame on the park district. A little compassion was in order, even if the people in charge think these are stupid animals allowed to live only to serve the district's programming concerns."

Another resident, Debby Rubenstein, said she would have purchased the cow herself and paid for treatment or, if necessary, euthanasia but did not learn about Bubbles’ situation until it was too late.

David Cantor of the national group Farm Sanctuary also expressed concern. In a letter to the park district he wrote, "I was informed that in recent days a cow from Wagner Farm was killed just because she had a growth near her bladder. It is possible that veterinary care could have enabled the cow to enjoy many more years of life. Wagner Farm is not a real dairy, and the criteria for keeping cows at a real dairy should not be applied. Cows can live for many years in good health if cared for properly, not just the very few years they typically live at today's industrial dairies. Cows who fall ill or whose milk production diminishes are not damaged merchandise. They are the same beings deserving of the same compassion as before."

Editor’s note: Once again we return to the question of what Wagner Farm means to Glenview, and how its residents should be viewed. We feel that the farm is an educational and recreational amenity having little to do with commerce. The cows are not an economic resource but, rather, community pets. Under the circumstances, the park board should commit to providing a fair amount of veterinary care and should put sick animals to sleep if they cannot be saved. What’s more, a standing agreement between animal rights advocates and the board should be in place, allowing for purchase of cows by citizens who object to slaughter.

Glenview’s trustees and staff may have hit a new low last week with political posturing, meaningless debate and earnest study of Robert’s Rules of Order. The trouble began when Trustee John Crawford learned Village President Larry Carlson had decided to put off debate on a plan to tax homeowners in areas not served by detention ponds or oversized sewers. These areas flood easily, and the plan commission had recommended that a fund be established to provide stormwater detention by taxing people building new homes, teardowns or additions.

Initially, Carlson, Trustees Mary Beth Denefe and Jeff Lerner supported the proposal, arguing that most Glenview neighborhoods (including their own) had stormwater detention paid for when residents bought their homes. They said it was only fair that people in areas without detention pay their share to help control flooding.

Development Director Mary Bak and Village Manager Paul McCarthy told the trustees and commissioners that the proposed ordinance would impact a relatively small part of the village – about 16 percent, but after months of discussion Trustee Donna Pappo asked for a more detailed analysis. When village staff took a closer look, they discovered that many more residents (perhaps half of Glenview) could, in fact, be taxed. The reason: stormwater pipes thought to provide detention during times of heavy rain were not large enough to provide detention.

Crawford, who is seeking re-election as the only independent member of the board, planned to denounce the new tax, and a sizable crowd of residents had come to speak against it. Carlson, who is backing a slate of three candidates from his political party, was not about to give Crawford the chance.

"If somebody is here to speak about this tonight, I’m sorry that it will not be heard. We tried to give maximum notice. We posted it on the door of the Village Hall. We put it on our website, and we put it on GVTV. There is more information – more discussion we need to have. I apologize. I wish we would be able to hear it, but because it is continued it will not be. Frankly, I hope the board will kill this ordinance. I don’t think it’s something that’s going to work out. I don’t think it’s fair to the individual homeowners, and I don’t think that it will accomplish the end that we need. This is very complex, and it’s becoming more and more complex as the days go by – a very complex project, far greater than I thought it was going to be, and I’m not sure the ordinance in this form is going to raise the money that we need to do this project, which is a very good project. It’s controlling stormwater. It’s keeping it out of people’s basements, but this has turned out to be something very, very major."

Crawford said he wanted to discuss the proposal, but Carlson insisted it was not on the agenda.

Waving a page in the air, Crawford said, "I am reading right here – ‘Second consideration of ordinance providing for the collection of impervious lot fees in lieu of detention for single-family lots. I’m reading that from the agenda."

"It is on the agenda, and right before that is the word ‘continued,’" said Carlson.

"You arbitrarily continued it, although at the last meeting the vote was to continue it to this meeting. I think we should offer a motion to kill this proposal. I see no reason for delaying it. There is so much anxiety on the part ..."

At that moment, the audience erupted in applause. "I think we ought to kill it tonight," said Crawford. "I’m going to offer a motion which will take the guts out of it, even if we have to come back at the next meeting to drive a stake through its heart."

"Let’s ask the village attorney," said Carlson. "If the board is in favor of it, is there a way we can legally do that tonight?"

"The board continued this matter," said Jeffrey Randall.

Carlson interrupted to say he had made the decision on his own.

"What Trustee Carlson, excuse me, President Carlson has done by unilaterally continuing this matter may not be technically correct," said Randall, "but if you take action tonight it would be my opinion that you would be violating the open meetings act. If you’re going to kill it anyway, why don’t you just wait until the next meeting?" he added.

Claiming "half the town is lying awake at night worrying about the specter of a big tax being imposed on them," Crawford said the matter should be settled as soon as possible. "Everybody has come around to agree with the points I have been making since September," he said. "I think we ought to take action tonight to let people sleep soundly, knowing that they won’t have any stupid fee like this for making an addition or improvement to their home."

Again there was applause from the audience as Trustee Mary Beth Denefe moved to defend Carlson’s call for delay. "Attorney Randall has already indicated that to vote on this matter tonight would be a violation of the open meetings act. Whether this matter is defeated tonight or in two weeks makes little difference."

"Two weeks ago when this came before the village board, I spoke out against this tax," said Trustee Mike Guinane. "I think it’s only common courtesy to let the people who showed up here tonight speak on this matter on the record so they don’t have to get babysitters and disrupt their family life to come back here in two weeks."

Dodging Guinane’s request, Carlson said: "We haven’t heard from trustees Cook or Pappo yet."

Cook said she was willing to wait.

Trustee Guinane wondered how long that wait might be, noting that several board members planned to be absent from the next meeting and that village staff is still working on a map to show which neighborhoods would be subject to the stormwater fee.

Village Manager McCarthy said he did not want his engineers working under political pressure, then began a long explanation of why the mapping process is difficult. "There are issues that need to be resolved, and there are factors that need to be explained," he said. The south central part of Glenview, for example, relies on a storm sewer installed in the 50's. When engineers measured those pipes, they were not deemed sufficient to provide storm water detention. Next, McCarthy described the Swedenborgian area around The New Church near the intersection of Glenview and Shermer roads. "That was laid out in the 1880's, but guess what! We think it might have detention."

"With all due respect to the manager. . ." said Crawford, interrupting McCarthy.

"Trustee Crawford, please let the village manager finish." said Carlson.

"The village manager should not be a participant in this debate," said Crawford.

"He’s not participating in the debate," said Carlson.

"I don’t care what the map shows. [A tax for stormwater detention] is a bad idea. We ought to kill it, and let them finish the map later," said Crawford.

"Okay. Thank you Trustee Crawford," said Carlson. "I would like the village manager to finish the answer to Trustee Guinane’s question."

"We asked how long a map would take. We didn’t ask for a history of the village!" said Crawford.

Carlson pounded his gavel, bring a brief end to the bickering.

Trustee Donna Pappo wondered what would become of the current rule requiring people who build on half an acre or more to provide detention on their own lots. "Is that an ordinance? I don’t think it’s an ordinance," she said.

"It’s not?" said a surprised Carlson

"It’s merely a policy adopted by Development Director Mary Bak on June 6, 1998 with no board authorization," said Crawford.

"I believe it’s an engineering criteria that the plan commission has adopted and used since the memory of man," said Village Manager McCarthy.

"I disagree," said Crawford. "The one-half acre policy was adopted on June 6, 1998 according to the information Mary Bak gave me."

"Whatever the status of that, we need to change it tonight if we can," said Pappo.

"You can’t change it tonight, because it is not on the agenda," said attorney Randall.

"I’ve had a little experience with the open meetings act," said Crawford. "In 1995, I sued this village because, on a Friday morning, without it being on the agenda, without a word of public comment, without any member of the public being present, a preceding board passed a $60 million bond issue, and I went to court contending that was wrong because it was not on the agenda. The lower court judge said, ‘No, you’re wrong. Go run against these fellas if you don’t like what they’re doing.’"

He then cited an appeals court ruling that no final vote could be taken on a matter that does not appear on the agenda, but argued that discussion and the making of motions should be allowed.

Trustee Mary Beth Denefe said she was "troubled," by the idea that Crawford might make a motion relating to the stormwater fee. "How can that be done without violating the open meetings act?" she asked Randall.

"I don’t know that it can be, but I would like to move this along," said President Carlson. "If Trustee Crawford wants to make the motion in violation of the act, then let’s do it and move on."

"I disagree that it’s a possible violation ..." said Crawford.

"I didn’t ask Trustee Crawford for his opinion!" said an angry Denefe. "I asked our attorney."

"My opinion is that if the motion is made and seconded and action is taken on the motion, then it is a violation of the open meetings act," Randall replied.

"Even if it is tabled, correct?" asked Denefe.

"If it is tabled, no action would have been taken," said Randall.

"Okay. Let’s do that and move on," said Carlson.

"All right," said Crawford. "You have my memo of September, 2003, and I suggest in there that ..."

"Excuse me!" said Denefe. "September 5, 2003? We haven’t even come to September 5."

Crawford corrected himself, referring Denefe to the memo dated January 5. "Always watching the details," he muttered quietly.

Crawford took about two minutes to outline his motion. Pappo seconded it, then asked to table it. Crawford objected.

"John, we just discussed the fact that we have to table it in order to not be in violation of the open meetings act!" said an exasperated Pappo.

"It has to be seconded in order to table it," said Crawford.

"I did second it," said Pappo.

"All right, fine," said Crawford.

"I seconded the motion, and now I’m making a motion to table ..."

"Oh, pardon me," said Crawford.

"You can’t do that until we vote on the first motion," said Carlson.

"We can’t vote on it," said Pappo.

"That’s right, we can’t vote on it," said Crawford.

"That’s why I’m making a motion to table it," said Pappo.

"That was my entire problem with this procedure," said Denefe.

"I’m tabling the motion that has been seconded," said Pappo.

"You’re moving to table it?" said Crawford.

"Yes," said Pappo.

"Fine," said Crawford. "I’ll second the motion to table."

"What I’d like to do is have the board pass over this for a minute and let me go get Robert’s Rules of Order," said attorney Randall.

Carlson groaned.

"I’m sorry, but let’s do this the right way," said Randall. "Let me take a look and see if what is happening is absolutely proper. I’m in a cloud now."

A short time later, Randall returned to assure Crawford and Pappo that they could, in fact, move, second, propose to table and vote on tabling.

The roll was called. Trustees Guinane and Denefe pressed to be sure they were not violating the open meetings act. On assurance that there would be no violation, all five of the trustees present agreed to table the motion.

"Motion to table passes," said President Carlson. "We now come back to Trustee Crawford’s main motion."

"No," said Crawford. "It’s tabled."

"Oh, that’s right," said Carlson sighing with relief. "That is done. We will be discussing this at the first meeting in February.

Developer John Heimbaugh, who wants to build condos and stores on the eastern boundary of Gallery Park, appeared before the village board with two possible designs. One featured a three-story building 30 feet from the park. It had unanimous approval from the plan commission and the neighboring Glenview State Bank. The second, a four-story building, would sit 50 feet from the park. The plan commission unanimously rejected that design, but it met a village board request for more setback.

Trustees Crawford and Denefe were willing to go along with the plan commission in endorsing the three-story version at 30 feet, but Cook, Guinane and Pappo felt Heimbaugh’s development was too dense.

A bewildered Heimbaugh wondered what to do next. Carlson told him to come up with another design that was not so tall. "You might have better luck going that way," he said. Cook advised him to move the parking lot to the west side of the building. Heimbaugh said doing so would create a great deal more pavement, replacing landscape with parking lot and putting parking behind the retail building where prospective customers couldn’t see it. "We are not interested in marketing a property like that. We don’t think it’s good planning. We don’t think it’s good development," Heimbaugh said.

The owner of the property, who’s been hoping to develop it for years, expressed frustration. "Let’s think about this," he said. "With the industrial zoning that I currently have, I qualify to build something like Metro Self Storage, but I don’t want to do that. It’s horrible."

Mike Duncan then threatened to sue the village, noting that changes in grading of Chestnut Road and The Glen had created flooding on his property, making it unusable. "You give me no choice," he said.

As the meeting came to a close, village attorney Jeff Randall announced that an executive session was needed to discuss possible litigation against the village.

Midwest Bank will have to wait at least two weeks before beginning an addition at the Glen Oak Shopping Center. Trustees Donna Pappo and Rachel Cook insisted on a delay, saying they had seen no traffic study on the site and did not have copies of the plan commission minutes.

Trustee Mike Guinane, a building contractor, made a passionate case for the bank which plans to eliminate two drive-through lanes to expand. "The petitioner is ready to construct his business. What we’re trying to do here is attract new businesses into this community, and at the end of the day, after conducting traffic studies and looking at all these reports, we’re gonna’ come to the same conclusion. This is a win-win situation for the community, and it would behoove this board to move forward tonight," said Guinane. "I understand your concerns, Donna and Rachel, but what we’re getting is a better facility and a better end product. This is an unsightly building right now. The new one will compliment the center that’s there now."

"I’m not asking for anything more than we’ve asked of every single business that tries to come into this community, and that’s that we have all the information before us before we make a decision," said Pappo. I do not have the plan commission’s recommendation. It wasn’t unanimous. I would like to know why there was one dissent, and I don’t know why they didn’t receive the traffic study that they requested."

Guinane wrongly claimed the dissenting vote was a matter of one commissioner’s absence. In fact, Gary Wendt was not satisfied with the traffic plan and was unhappy with the proposed landscaping.

"I’m only asking for the information that’s required to receive final site plan approval," said Pappo. She wondered why this case was being treated differently than other proposed construction in the village but made no reference to the players in this case.

Prominent Glenview resident and construction company executive Angelo DiPaolo sits on the bank’s holding company board, and former Village President Jim Smirles is part owner and manager of the shopping center.

Guinane asked the project engineer if he had a traffic study with him. He did not but claimed a circulation plan for the site had been submitted to village planners.

Guinane tried again. "Does staff have the traffic engineer’s report?"

"It’s the petitioner’s obligation to prepare a traffic report," said Village Manager McCarthy. "We’re not putting together a traffic report for this petitioner. You can take that to the bank."

Development Director Mary Bak said the plan commission did not feel a traffic report was necessary.

Trustee John Crawford had recused himself from the discussion since he owns stock in the bank’s holding company. Site plan approval requires four trustee votes. With Cook and Pappo holding firm for a delay, Crawford out of the room and Jeff Lerner absent – tending a broken leg – it was clear the bank was not going to win approval. Guinane reluctantly proposed, and the board approved a continuation until the next meeting.

A long-neglected neighborhood west of the Glenview Car Wash is in line for improvements this year after the village board voted last week to fund reconstruction of Monroe Street. Work had been delayed when village planners argued that construction of new homes in the area seemed likely, and construction equipment would probably damage a new road. Residents had complained that current conditions are unsafe, and Trustee John Crawford argued developers doing work in the area could be made to pay for any damage by construction crews.

A giant gourmet grocery store called Market Foods is headed this way from Arkansas with a little help from the taxpayers of Glenview. That’s what Northbrook developer George Olson thinks after Market Foods opted not to lease space at North Shore Village, a shopping center planned for the northwest corner of Willow and Waukegan in Northbrook.

Olson said Market wanted help with the costs of setting up a new store, something his investors were unwilling to provide. At The Glen, however, $76 million in public assistance to developer Oliver-McMillan makes lower rents and other deals possible. "We have private investors, and they assume they’re going to get their money back," Olson told the Northbrook Star. "The taxpayers of Glenview can’t say the same thing."

Don Owen, Glenview’s director of economic development, told the Star that deals made by Oliver-McMillan are secret, but tax increment financing "provides many benefits at The Glen Town Center."

Glenview’s new shopping center is set to open this fall while North Shore Village will open in the summer of 2004. The 15,000-square-foot Market Foods will join a Von Maur department store, Border’s Books, Galyan’s and a 10-screen movie theater in Glenview.

The owners of a new wine bar asked the trustees for a liquor license Tuesday. Partners in the local enterprise include a former bartender and a former policeman. Trustee Mike Guinane said he did not want to issue a license allowing serving of liquor until 3 a.m., but co-owner Jeff Burklin said movies at The Glen would be letting out after midnight, and he’d like patrons to come by the wine bar for a nightcap. "So they come in at midnight, drink for a couple of hours and drive home?" asked Guinane.

The owner said he hoped to create a lounge atmosphere complete with fireplaces and small jazz ensembles, rather than a spot where people would "come to get intoxicated."

Guinane reminded the board that there would be 180 apartments above stores and 165 townhomes surrounding The Glen Town Center, "and here we have a petitioner with no previous experience in running a liquor establishment."

Trustee Rachel Cook said that was the trade-off when introducing urban-style development – that a night-life would be part of the mix. "That is the natural unfolding and progression of the way this village has chosen to go," she said, adding that 13 bars in Glenview already have licenses that allow service until the wee hours. "I think this is low key. This is not a road house, and I don’t have a problem extending a license – and certainly to someone who has experience in law enforcement."

Trustee Mary Beth Denefe was willing to grant the license as requested, but the rest of the board voted to stop liquor sales at 2 a.m. Sunday – 1 a.m. the rest of the week.

Guinane, who had raised the question earlier, demanded to know how many liquor licenses would be issued at The Glen. President Carlson told him that would depend on how many restaurants open there.

– Northbrook’s village president said the community is likely to impose stiff fines against three licensees if they’re convicted of selling alcohol to a 20-year-old undercover cop. Tonelli’s Restaurant, the North Shore Hilton’s bar and the Knightsbridge Wine Shop all face charges.

– Police say three coolers left outside Sunset Foods in Northbrook were apparently stolen. The value of those appliances – $15,000.

– The Jewish Center on Revere Drive in Northbrook was evacuated for about an hour last week after a bomb scare. Someone phoned the facility to say a bomb had been planted, but four officers who searched the building found none.

– Concentration camp survivors, their families and friends cheered as the Skokie Village Board gave unanimous approval to plans for a Holocaust museum near the Old Orchard Shopping Center. The $15 million facility was designed by Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman. It will consist of more than 43,000 square feet on three levels with a 293-seat auditorium, a library, bookstore and shop, eating area and offices. Planners say the pace of development will depend on their success with fundraising. They say the new museum may not open for five years.

– Kids at New Trier High School packed soap, toothpaste and other personal hygiene items into 150 kits for use by Iraqi children in the event of war. A spokesman for the American Friends Service Committee said the effort helped students gain insight into the plight of civilians, "those who will suffer most if the United States proceeds with plans to attack Iraq."

AI says Monroe Street is getting short shrift while The Glen gets fast action: "I continue to wonder when, not if, we will have a major fatality at the corner of Chestnut and Monroe. Daily there are near misses. Monroe Street is a mess. An already narrow street, it becomes much narrower during the winter months due to the mud and snow on the side of the street. Safety is further impacted by the residents who park their cars on the west side of the street. Not only is this unsafe, but it is particularly irritating since those residents have very long driveways that can accommodate six or more cars. While I realize that it is their right to park there, you would think they might take into consideration the safety of others. That together with the increased cut through traffic that is the result of drivers wishing to avoid the Chestnut and Waukegan intersection makes traveling Monroe Street extremely dangerous. Obviously this problem continues to fall on deaf ears since we live on the ‘wrong side of the tracks.’ If Mr. Carlson, Mr. Silver or Mr. McCarthy lived over here, or if we were part of The Glen, this problem would have been resolved long ago. Is this situation more dangerous than what Glen residents observed at Patriot and Independence – a situation that prompted speedy erection of a stop sign? I think it is! We just don't have the political clout (spelled M-O-N-E-Y) that those on the ‘right side of the tracks’ possess."

In response to our story on public hearings the park district will hold to learn what the public wants in two new outdoor swimming pools, Fritz wrote: "What two new outdoor pools ?"

The Watch replies: The ones they’ll build if and when money is found for that purpose.

Bill Dose called for citizens to contact him by e-mail with thoughts about banning neon signs in Glenview: "Though we only requested a simple ‘yes’ to indicate support on the issue, a huge number followed their affirmation with many, many exclamation points, not to mention diatribes on the increasingly downscale look of our village as a result of the epidemic of neon. With the armies of talented sign craftsmen and designers doing wonderful, charming work all over the North Shore, it's amazing anyone would opt for the sleazy neon alternative."

YOUR TURN: Write to glenviewwatch@aol.com or 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. Dean Schott and Sandy Hausman, Co-Editors.

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