A group founded to honor those who served at the former Glenview Naval Air Station appeared before the trustees Tuesday requesting a loan. They hoped to purchase three bronze statues of military men to stand in a small memorial park outside Hangar One at the heart of a new shopping center at The Glen.

Marine Colonel Ace Realie said the group planned to sell 1,000 engraved granite bricks to pave the park, but raising money would take time, and he asked the trustees for a loan so the statues could be purchased by October when the park is set to open.

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, will be directly proportional to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation," he said, quoting former General and President George Washington.

Trustee Jeff Lerner wondered what assurance the village had of repayment. Realie said interest in the $100 bricks was strong. He predicted easy sale of 1,000 to raise the $100,000 needed. (Later, without acknowledging his faulty math, Realie said the Hangar One Foundation would pay $8 for each block of granite plus $30 to have it engraved.)

Trustee Mary Beth Denefe said she would like to buy a brick for her father, a former serviceman, but thought $100 was too expensive. She also wondered how Hangar One would find customers. "We’re going to send out so many letters it’ll make your head spin," said Realie.

Trustee Jeff Lerner asked when the loan might be repaid. Realie said that would depend on when the bricks sold. "As the money comes in, you will get it," he said.

"Is this really a loan, or do you want us to pay for the statues?" asked Lerner.

"If we don’t pay you, you take the statues and you keep them," said Realie. "I don’t see a risk for the village," Realie replied.

"Is this a salesman or what?" said Carlson with a chuckle. Then, turning sober, he added, "We have a fiduciary responsibility, and while I think this is a great idea, and you can put me down for a couple, we need to make sure that if we’re going to loan this money out that it comes back."

"That’s only the fair way of doing it," said Realie.

"We could keep the keys to your car," joked Carlson.

"You can have my house," said Realie.

"I think this is a fine idea to commemorate the use of the Naval Air Station and the history that it’s provided, not only to us but to the United States," said Trustee Rachel Cook. "I think $100,000 is a really cheap date when you’re talking about what we have invested in the mixed use retail center alone and what we have invested in The Glen. I am more than willing to loan, to provide for eternity this kind of commemorative park and the statues that go with that."

"I’m assuming this is part of the TIF," said Lerner, referring to the tax fund establish to finance GNAS redevelopment.

"Yes," said Carlson.

Confirming that there would be no guarantee of repayment, and that the village would own the statues anyway, Lerner asked, "Why are we goofing around with this? Either we’re going to give them the money or we’re not."

Realie said the group did not come for charity but would not be offended by a gift.

"You could do that," he said, "and we would keep you in our prayers."

Trustee Donna Pappo reminded the board that it was already spending $250,000 for a fountain in the same area, "so $100,000 for three wonderful statues seems very reasonable and a most worthy cause."

"Given what this is representing to people who served our country, would anybody like to consider that we give the Hangar One Foundation a grant of $50,000 and a loan of $50,000 for this project?" asked Carlson.

"Would the village get a plaque?" Lerner wondered.

"If the village buys these statues, we’ll have a dedication plaque right in front saying these statues were provided for by the village of Glenview – a big plaque right out in front," Realie replied.

"How much for the plaque?" Pappo joked.

"If he’s going to throw in the plaque for $100,000, we don’t need to make it a loan," said Lerner.

Pappo then moved that a grant of $100,000 be given to the Hangar One Foundation – a motion that won unanimous approval from the board.

Editor’s note: We are alarmed by the way these tax dollars were given away when Hangar One was perfectly willing to fund the project with donations from all Americans. We do not feel it’s incumbent on the taxpayers of Glenview alone to fund a memorial when the entire nation owes a debt to the men and women who served here. There was no debate about other ways that money might have been used. There was no discussion of the possibility that developers like Oliver-McMillan, whose shopping center will benefit from the presence of a park, could be asked to chip in. As developers themselves, our trustees have lost all sense of proportion. One hundred thousand dollars may seem like chump change to them, but many worthy organizations know otherwise. This year Youth Services of Glenview/Northbrook lost about $160,000 in state and foundation money, putting critical programs for needy kids at risk and forcing families with pressing problems onto waiting lists. Trustee Lerner, who confirmed that the $100,000 grant would come from the TIF fund, may think this is "free money," but as a former District 225 school board member he should know better. Our high school urgently awaits the end to the TIF, believing they will not benefit from redevelopment of The Glen until that time. President Carlson made passing reference to "fiduciary responsibility," but he obviously has no idea what the term means.

Glenview Watch has learned that the following businesses plan to locate at The Glen Town Center: Maggie Moo’s ice cream, Jamba Juice, Red Star Restaurant, Pot Belly’s sandwich shop, Noodles, Nextel, Flight wine bar and restaurant, El Jardin restaurant, E.B.World, Galyan’s sporting goods, Von Maur department store, Borders book store, Les Creuset, Egg Heaven, Carter’s, Keds, Claire’s, Ann Taylor Loft, Michael Anthony Salon and Day Spa, Starbucks, Right Start, Zany Brainy and a ten-screen movie theater.

Over the years, cut-through traffic from Glenview Road has been building on Dewes Avenue, and speeding poses a serious public hazard according to residents. Tuesday, a group of them appeared before the village board and asked that a stop sign be installed at the intersection of Dewes and Elm where children wait for school buses.

Village Manager Paul McCarthy promptly introduced a traffic consultant hired to study the intersection. He explained federal guidelines for the installation of stop signs: at least 300 cars passing through each day on one street and 200 on another, blocked sight lines or five accidents in one year.

Village attorney Jeff Randall had written a memo to the trustees explaining that because the intersection didn’t qualify for a stop sign under federal guidelines, the village could be sued for putting one in should an accident occur. That’s because experts claim stop signs create their own dangers. For one thing, they say people speed up between signs to try and make up time lost when they had to stop. They’re also more likely to roll through a sign in areas where there’s no real need for one, putting pedestrians at increased risk, and rear end collisions are more common at stop signs.

The residents were bewildered. They had been trying to get some help for a year and a half. One pointed out that the traffic count had been done on Presidents Day when many people were not commuting to work.

"We simply can’t install a stop sign," said Trustee Mary Beth Denefe. "Our hands are tied. If our traffic consultant is advising us against what you all would like to have, then we need to follow the traffic consultant’s recommendations. To do otherwise would subject the village to liability. I might add that there were a lot of people who did work on February 16, 17 and 18. There may have been some who were off, but the vast majority of residents were working that day."

"The residents are there 24/7," said Lindquist. "We see the traffic volumes every day. We see the speeders going up and down. What more reliable source of information could you find?"

"The traffic consultant, in my opinion, is a much more reliable source," said Denefe.

Admitting it might be a short-term solution, Trustee Jeff Lerner suggested the police department enforce the speed limit on Dewes.

Duane Lindquist, who lives at 2231 Dewes, said that had already been tried. It worked well when the squad car was around, but once the officer left, the speeders seemed to return. "I don’t know if the police want to sit out there every day of the week," said Lindquist.

He added that with the opening of a new skate park near the corner of Dewes and Shermer, traffic was bound to increase this summer. Seizing the opportunity, Village President Carlson proposed that another count of traffic be done once the park opens.

As a matter of equity, Trustee Mike Guinane recalled a similar situation in which residents of the Golf Acres subdivision requested and won a four-way stop sign at Long Valley and Country Lane, even though their intersection did not officially qualify. He moved to provide a stop sign for the intersection, but Carlson was not ready to bring the matter to a vote, noting that others from the neighborhood wanted to speak.

Paul Riordan, who lives at Dewes and Elm, pointed out that students heading for primary, intermediate and middle schools all stand at the corner waiting for school buses. Surely, he said, that should be considered when deciding whether to install a stop sign.

"The difficulty is, we would need a stop sign at every school bus stop in town," said Carlson.

"Not necessarily," replied Riordan. "Do we have the same traffic conditions that we have on Dewes? I have lived there 12 years, and I have definitely seen a huge increase in traffic – specifically over the last couple of years."

Ellen McFadden said there are 26 kids in the 2100-block of Dewes and more are on the way.

Janet Rogers wondered how long a police officer could be kept on the street and whether cameras could be used to catch speeders." Another resident proposed installation of yellow signs informing drivers that there are children in the area.

"Those signs are illegal," said Lerner. "One of the things you have to understand is if we place a traffic device where it’s unwarranted, we lose our immunity as a village. We have an expert telling us that it could create liability if we put one there."

Editor’s note: We are not legal experts, but by this time our BS detector had blown a fuse. No evidence had been presented regarding yellow signs pertaining to children at play, and there are dozens if not hundreds of intersections in Glenview that do not qualify for stops signs but, nevertheless, have them. Indeed, in November this very board approved a four-way stop at Patriot and Independence in The Glen, despite the fact that the same traffic consulting firm said no stop sign was warranted. We also wonder how Mary Beth Denefe knows that "the vast majority of residents were working," on Presidents Day.

The air is thin up on the dais at Village Hall, and we suspect some of these trustees have lost touch with reality. Glenview has, during any given rush hour, no more than 12 squad cars available to cover more than 100 miles of streets here. Does it make any sense to station one of those permanently on Dewes? Without a permanent enforcer, what reason is there to believe the problem can be permanently solved? The traffic consultant suggested other means to slow drivers on Dewes, but not one trustee gave credence to any of those ideas. Indeed, Village President Carlson wrongly claimed that speed bumps are ineffective, then laughed when a resident said he would be willing to turn Dewes into a cul-de-sac.

"This group of homeowners has been trying for a year and a half to get some formal resolution to their problem," said Trustee John Crawford. "We have a partial resolution, but this is a good example of why we need a traffic and safety commission – some formalized way that homeowners can send in their request for speed restrictions, parking restrictions, stop signs. We get them almost every month up here."

President Carlson said Glenview did have a traffic committee, but that was not what Crawford meant. "We have a policeman, an assistant to the village manager and some other people who meet occasionally, but we do not have any formal traffic commission, and requests get lost in the maze."

"I can’t remember any request getting lost in the maze," said Carlson.

"Well here’s one right here," said Crawford. "It’s been kicking around for a year and a half."

Carlson wanted to move along, but Denefe smelled blood. "Mr. President, I just must comment that I think it’s very disingenius [SIC] on the part of Trustee Crawford to suggest that this ..."

Before she could finish, Trustee Donna Pappo called for a point of order. Roberts’ Rules do not allow members of the board to make personal attacks on one another, and Pappo felt Denefe was calling Crawford a liar.

When Denefe continued to speak Pappo stood up. "You may not name a fellow trustee in a derogatory manner! It’s against Roberts’ Rules!" she said.

"What derogatory manner?" said a befuddled Carlson.

"She called him disingenuous," said Pappo.

"I did not call him disingenious [SIC]," said Denefe, adding that she thought his ideas were bogus. Denefe defended the way the neighbors had been handled over the last 18 months and said Crawford’s effort to link their problems with the need for a traffic commission "takes a really large leap of faith. I’m not prepared to make that leap of faith right now, particularly when there’s going to be a new board sworn-in in about six weeks. It just doesn’t make any sense to me to talk about that now!"

"Okay – that’s it on this subject," said Carlson. "I think that concludes this matter."

"Mr. President," said Pappo. "Has there been a motion made to resolve this issue?"

"We just decided to have additional police enforcement and to do an additional traffic study once Swenson Park opens up this summer," said Carlson.

"Well I don’t concur with that," said Pappo.

"I believe that Trustee Guinane placed a motion on the floor to post a stop sign," said Trustee Rachel Cook.

"Oh, he did," said Carlson.

"I would second that," said Cook.

The roll was called. Guinane, Cook and Pappo voted to give the residents what they wanted. Lerner, Denefe and Crawford said no, and Carlson broke the tie, refusing to install a stop sign.

In February’s village of Glenview newsletter, President Larry Carlson tells of being approached in a grocery store by a constituent who wondered why all the goodies were going to The Glen. Having heard similar complaints, Carlson decided to use the entire newsletter to respond with a rosy essay about all the benefits The Glen has brought to the entire community. Over and over, he tells of "free land" which Glenview got, failing to mention that it was publicly owned property at the outset, and under federal law local communities were given top priority in its redistribution. In other words, many communities have been deeded former military property without the pressures and costs that Glenview voluntarily assumed.

Carlson also fails to discuss costs, but there have been plenty. First, there were real dollars spent to build roads and install sewers. Then the community invested more than $70 million in a shopping center that may or may not prove a financial success. If it fails, Glenview schools – which will need property taxes from the retail center – could be unable to keep their doors open.

Glenview’s marketing consultant, Mesirow-Stein, has collected more than $12 million for its services, and we have paid far more than that to legal, engineering and environmental consultants. Unfortunately, they have not saved us from the costs of errors made by village officials who had no experience as developers.

In October, 2000 the village was ready to build a section of Patriot Boulevard but discovered, at the 11^th hour, that the soil was unsuitable – too soft and wet for quality road construction. Had we known sooner, Redevelopment Director Don Owen said, we might have been able to till, dry and compact the dirt, but now, with the rain falling and the clock ticking on construction season, drastic action was needed. Owen persuaded the village board to remove 4,500 cubic yards of unsuitable soil and truck in clay at a cost of $260,000.

The village also paid hefty fines after the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency charged it "allowed its contractors and developers to perform work on an essentially bare site with inadequate erosion control." As a result, in the spring of 2000 mud poured into the Chicago River, putting wildlife at risk.

The redevelopment has also proven costly for other branches of government. The Park District, which built a large new community center at The Glen, now finds it must raise taxes if it wants to replace two aging outdoor pools.

The library board says it needs a 26 percent increase in its levy to continue operations at current levels, and The Glen has created problems for our schools. The so-called make whole payments they get through a tax increment financing plan are far lower than what the schools would normally get in tax revenue. Glenview School District 34 is uncertain about future finances which depend heavily on the success of The Glen Town Center, and has been unable to win an increase from taxpayers who resent construction of a sparkling new middle school at The Glen.

Village officials have long assured the public that our schools would be well compensated through "make whole" payments from the TIF fund, but these are proving inadequate. Glenbrook High School District 225's finance director voiced public dismay when he examined this year’s paltry take from the TIF. "I don’t ever see us getting the money," Craig Shilling said. "I think that field of dreams is gone. I don’t personally expect anything of any significance for us until after the TIF ends."

Indeed, our schools have been robbed from the get go. Because Glenview was the master developer, anxious to sell land at top dollar, it decided not to impose impact fees on developers – fees that could have made our schools comfortable if not rich.

Then there are the on-going costs of The Glen which Carlson fails to calculate. Ten percent of all Glenview roads are located there along with 13% of its sidewalks. Glenview’s village board just purchased a new street sweeper after paying thousands of dollars each month to a contractor to keep the new neighborhood clean.

The Glen has 40 percent more street lights than the rest of Glenview combined. That means taxpayers living on dark streets in other parts of town are paying substantial electric bills and covering the costs of changing light bulbs at The Glen.

Quality of life is a big concern for any community, and Glenview residents could be in for some rude surprises. In 2000, the traffic consulting firm KLOA said the level of traffic on Willow Road already exceeded the volume predicted for the year 2007, and with all of the commercial and office development planned at The Glen, it made the following projection for the evening rush hour: "If additional/ improved capacity is not provided. . .the Willow Road corridor at every major intersection from the Edens Expressway west to the Tri-State Tollway will break down creating major vehicular queues which will force through traffic to use alternate routes such as Lake Avenue and Dundee Road."

Crime is up in Glenview. Retail thefts jumped 26 percent in the first nine months of 2002. A police source said that was likely the result of more stores opening in Glenview. The Glen has Dominick’s and Costco and will soon add Home Depot, Harley Davidson and an entire shopping center. Surely that kind of growth will mean an even greater need for police services – paid for by the taxpayers of Glenview.

But perhaps most disturbing is the fact that local government has been hijacked by this project – unable to adequately regulate because, as a developer, it is most concerned with the bottom line. How else can we explain the incredible density and scale allowed at The Glen? Despite protests from members of the zoning board, enormous town homes now flank The Glen Town Center, and some residents of the relatively low density James Company development at The Glen have taken to calling the Concord Section of the community "the ghetto."

Distracted by The Glen, President Carlson and the trustees have paid too little attention to the needs of Glenview’s traditional downtown. While Deerfield, Northbrook, Wilmette and Morton Grove have made substantial improvements to their business districts, Glenview has languished. The community desperately needs a new post office and a larger library with adequate parking, but these projects have sat on the back burner for a decade.

Of course The Glen brings some tremendous new amenities for Glenview – a new park, a prairie preserve, the Kohl Children’s Museum and Park Center, but all of these things could have been ours without the need to take-on a massive redevelopment project which should have been done without public subsidy by the private sector. Village officials claimed, from the outset, that they had to become developers in order to control development, but this community has always had the power to control through zoning, regulation and the actions of its commissions. Had we not taken the ill-advised step of becoming master developer for The Glen, Glenview could have had much lower density there, and local government could have been fully committed to all of the needs and all of the residents of this community.

If you should run into Larry in the grocery store, you might want ask a few more questions: Why is there still no affordable housing for senior citizens at The Glen? What will happen if The Glen Town Center does not prove a financial success. Given its interior location -- far from major highways -- and competition from a new shopping center going in at Willow and Waukegan in Northbrook, this is a very real concern. What will it cost to resurface all those new streets at The Glen? What is the monthly electric bill for public property at The Glen, and what will the village pay to remove snow from parking decks and lots at the new shopping center.

It's going to be an interesting decade in Glenview, and time will tell the real price of The Glen. Of one thing you can be sure. There is no free lunch and no free land.

Kudos to Trustee Guinane who looked closely at this month’s list of village bills and discovered marketing consultant Mesirow-Stein was asking for reimbursement on more than $14,000 in expenses dating back to August, 2000. "Don’t they put in a request for expenses every 30 days? Why are we going back two and a half years. I don’t even know what we’re reimbursing them for," he said.

Village Manager Paul McCarthy said he would be glad to provide Guinane with a written response but scolded him for asking the question publicly when he might have asked earlier in private. "It would be helpful if we got a running start on these issues before the board meeting," McCarthy said.

-- The public is invited to address the plan commission on the need to protect the Techny Basin, West Fork Preserve and the banks of the Chicago River  Tuesday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Village Hall board room and on cable channel 17.

– Glenview Watch extends condolences to former Village President Paul Thomas on the death of his wife Joan.

– The American Red Cross will host a four-hour disaster training session at Park Center Friday, March 14 to teach representatives from the four designated disaster relief centers what they need to know in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. Those emergency shelters include Park Center, Springman and Glenbrook South High School and St. Peter and Paul Greek Orthodox Church.

– The history of the Academy Awards will be the subject for gossip columnist Leon Michelson Tuesday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. To register, call 729-7500, ext. 112.

W. S. Dose, who’s lived here 46 years, thinks DDJ was off base when he criticized a group called Scenic Glenview for wanting to regulate neon signs: "Whoever accused Scenic Glenview of provincialism because that local image-advocacy group isn't foolish enough to equate Europe's neon fine art installations with commercial neon signage knows little about urban planning and retail marketing. Neon in store windows is a codified, stigmatized material that reads as "downscale" in the context of pedestrian village shopping (which is what Glenview is trying to improve). Neon as an art media is, in the abstract, as viable as scrap metal, toilet paper or graffiti, all of which can be used artistically but are also banned as signage by conscientious municipal legislators. For example, the consultants hired to advise on signage at The Glen with its upscale demographics were professional enough to strictly rule out neon. No surprise. Also no surprise is that neighboring villages such as Winnetka, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire and others flatly prohibited neon many years ago, and of course they boast the most attractive, viable shopping areas (rarely a "for rent" sign!) with retailers who have respect for the community and their customers and a village enforcing strict sign controls. If Wilmette's Plaza del Lago prohibits neon, why must Glenview tolerate it in Carillon Square? The village residents in these other communities, of course, demand controls because they are acutely aware that a charming downtown is the marketing package of the whole village, enhancing property values, and attracting more upscale shops and restaurants to meet growing local needs and sustain the highest quality village lifestyle possible. They're not provincial, just smart."

GS thinks Scenic Illinois should to do more: "Time for Scenic Illinois to forget fiddling and piddling with neon signs and start prioritizing their energies on Glenview's important appearance issues if they expect to remain relevant in Glenview. Here's a few for starters:

– Larry Carlson's planned teardown of the middle of downtown and replacement with cookie-cutter three-story canyons – a visual disaster and a developer's dream.

– More and more monster houses after teardown, double and triple the size of neighbor houses destroying neighborhoods’ visual character and charm. No residential appearance commission needed in Glenview says Unite Party.

– Vanishing rustic, old Wagner Farm charm replaced by the trailer park look complete with outhouse and lean-to style structures and stockyard fences. Park district heavy-handedness showing.

– Plans for a behemoth new library, as big as the Evanston library, even though Glenview population is only half of Evanston and on-line computer usage is rising while library attendance declines. Library board names on bronze plaque.

– Not very scenic empty storefronts downtown and along Waukegan Road (which neon sign restrictions would only make worse). D-1 zoning in action."

And JK thinks we were too hard on the neon fan who labeled its opponents busybodies: "That reader’s comments looked like plain old First Amendment speech to me – speech you had just championed in the previous sentence. Anyway, despite the obvious lack of legal effect, I do think I have the right to issue a decree that labels someone a busy body. I'd even put my mark on it to make it official. And what evidence confirms your suspicion that the writer misunderstands the mission? We all, I think, understand that Scenic Illinois does not want a ban. None of the printed critics suggested otherwise. And if someone thinks that restrictions based on taste (e.g., preserving the imagined neo-colonial look of the area) do not have a chilling effect that can be as harmful as an outright ban, I would refer him or her to the aforementioned First Amendment and some of its interpretations."

A local Mom writes "about the parking situation at GBS. I think this is an area that is long overdue for the public forum. We either need cheaper bus service, more frequent public transit or more parking at GBS. I simply don't see why kids can't park on nearby streets. Most people are at work during school hours anyway and would never be bothered by the kids. What is so sacrosanct about our streets? Are we trying to preserve them as shrines? In Chicago, Evanston, Wilmette and many other North Shore communities, people really do use their streets for parking and driving!

The Watch replies: Except on streets where residents can demonstrate a public safety hazard – where cars are parked on both sides of the street and emergency vehicles can’t get through – we agree. The "not in my backyard" attitude of many residents is understandable, but from a public policy standpoint it is often unacceptable. Unfortunately, our local politicians and our village manager lack the backbone to do what’s right when a group of residents appear with a petition. Your call for cheaper and more convenient mass transit is the ideal, but there again, Glenview has never been a leader. Glenview has a village board election coming up and a District 225 school board vote. We suggest you contact each of the candidates to find out how they feel about this issue. Try to exact some promises for after the election, then tell all your friends to cast ballots accordingly.

Nancy Chadwick is looking for a place where her mother will be comfortable and happy: "That time has come where I need to check out senior housing/assisted living in Glenview or neighboring communities for my aging mother. Where do I begin? Would you or your readers have any suggestions as to who would have a list (if there is such a thing) of affordable senior housing or assisted living facilities or where I might go to look in to her options? Any suggestions you or your readers may have will certainly be appreciated."

The Watch replies: At The Glen you’ll find Classic Residence by Hyatt and, in few months, Chestnut Square – a facility operated by Bethany Methodist. Belmont Village recently opened a development near the corner of Golf and Shermer, while The Seasons and Covenant Village offer senior housing in nearby Northbrook, and you can get help from the senior service department on the lower level of Village Hall. For more information, call Kim Hand at 847-204-4366.

MC responds to a letter about Larry Carlson’s case for The Glen: "I was disgusted to read DDJ's letter criticizing Larry Carlson. He wrote, ‘In the village newsletter, Larry tells us how grateful we all should be for the monetary benefits from The Glen but fails to mention our deteriorating quality of life.’ Deteriorating quality of life? DDJ, have you ever left the North Shore? Because if you had, you would know that even if you have to sit in your SUV in traffic an extra two minutes or watch as houses are built on smaller lots, your quality of life in Glenview will still be incredibly high compared to the majority of the country. You should be grateful for the monetary benefits from The Glen. Many towns that actually need the type of money that The Glen will generate for Glenview will never see it. You most likely live in a warm, safe house and can easily put food on the table. You have a clean water supply and sanitary living conditions. These things that are so commonplace in Glenview are luxuries in many places in the world. Be grateful! If you want to criticize Larry Carlson, you are entitled to your opinions, but the idea that the quality of life in Glenview is seriously deteriorating is ridiculous. Break out of the North Shore bubble for a while and then see what you think about your quality of life."

The Watch replies: It’s all relative. Some people prefer to look at Winnetka rather than Chicago’s south side when commenting on our quality of life. While it’s true that we enjoy a very high standard of living in many respects, that should not stop us as a community from advocating for preservation of more open space, creation of appealing public places and better overall planning of the construction we undertake. The Glen might have been developed in many different ways. Some people like the path that the developer (the village of Glenview) chose. Others find it unimaginative, overly dense and generally disappointing. DDJ may also have been comparing Glenview’s quality of life today with what it was ten years ago. There is little doubt that new development has brought greater congestion on our roads and increased demand for public services.

SS has another idea for increasing membership at Park Center: "The Park Center should offer pro-rated memberships for people who want to join for part of the year. For example teens who will be leaving for colleges or summer jobs and want to join now would have to pay for a full year. If they need to raise money, make incentives for temporary memberships. They do it for summer, but not mid-year. It does not surprise me that their electric bills are so high. Many times in the brightest of days ALL lights are turned on in the lobby and stairwells. The amount of fixtures inside and outside are ridiculous! Maybe they should turn many of them off? Also whoever designed the P.C. was not thinking. The aerobic room does not have it's own thermostat and anyone who has taken classes in there knows the air pumps on so high during classes that it's unbearable. I don't think they need to spend more money for a consultant when their own staff can tell them what's wrong and suggest how to resolve it."

ALF was surprised to find the village board giving "the Hanger One Foundation a grant of $100,000 for the purchase of commemorative statues to be placed in the new Hanger One park at The Glen Town Center. That seems like a very large sum of money to be handing out without a public hearing on the matter. I am unfamiliar with local village legislative procedures concerning appropriations, but it seemed overly hasty by the board. It also seemed unclear as to what will happen to the funds received by the sale of the bricks. Any thoughts on this matter?"

The Watch replies: Appropriations of this kind are supposed to be discussed well in advance as part of the annual budgeting process, but Glenview’s trustees can be pretty fuzzy where friends are involved.

GPN wonders why there is no right turn lane from westbound Lake to Waukegan – an obvious back-up point each evening. The Watch replies: Cook County, which owns this road, admits the intersection badly needs improvement and that a right turn lane is a terrific idea, but when Glenview asked to move quickly on reconstruction in order to get those water lines in for The Glen, Cook County decided not to bother. Getting the right-of-way from neighboring commercial property and cooperation from the state, which owns Waukegan, could be time-consuming. In any event, planners say the really important aspects of that intersection – through and left-turn lanes – are being rebuilt.

And PK writes with kudos for Carlos: "In response to Mr. Finerman, my wife and I went to Carols to celebrate her pregnancy with our first child. We had a great time and the service was excellent. It is a memory we will treasure. We had the petite filet and it was the best steak we have ever had. If Mr. Finerman has the taste buds of a 16-year-old then there are plenty of McDonalds on the North Shore and you don't need a reservation."

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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