PANEL BACKS PLAN FOR NEARLY 200 NEW TOWN AND ROW HOUSES

A committee representing the village, park district, library and school districts voted unanimously to recommend a plan that could bring 136 more row houses and 56 town homes to The Glen. The units are expected to sell for $750,000 or more, although consultants to the village said the trustees might opt for lower-priced condominiums if a developer could make the case.

The panel rejected five other designs for a parcel of about 44 acres adjacent to Navy housing, a cemetery, Shermer Road and a nine-hole golf course. Consultants said the option they chose could net the village $24 million – enough to cover the costs of the land, while leaving 21 acres for public use.

The committee agreed space should be set aside for a school, and District 34 is expected to ask for 7-8 acres. The park district also hopes for a piece of land, and dog owners are already lobbying for a pooch park at that central location, noting a larger dog park along Milwaukee Avenue will not be open until the fall of 2009. Park Board President Ted Pzybylo said public hearings would be held to determine how excess Navy property it gets from the village would be used.

One other group, Hangar One, is asking for a site for an air and space museum and Challenger Center where middle school students could come to experience a simulated trip into outer space.

The plan leaves four existing properties intact – Youth Services, the Navy’s Child Development Center, Thresholds (a residential center for mentally disabled adults) and an asphalt paving company owned by the Morin family.

Santana Morin, who founded the company in 1958, begged the committee not to make him move again. Six years ago, the business was forced to leave its facility on the Northern Triangle, north of Willow Road, so the Patriot Commons Shopping Center could be built.

“That nearly killed my dad,” said Darryl Morin, one of two sons who also spoke to the panel. “We needed legal representation every step of the way, and the warehouse the village gave us at the new location wasn’t large enough. My father had to dig into his own pocket to build an office. We almost went bankrupt.”

Haydee Morin, Santana’s wife and a partner in the business, said she was marking her 63rd birthday at the public hearing – hoping to prevent another catastrophe. She saw the committee’s vote as an excellent gift.

The village board must now decide whether to accept the vision created by a consultant and agreed to by the committee. The land would then be offered for sale to developers.

Editor’s note: While several public hearings were held on this matter, the public’s wishes were not always aligned with the agenda of those who got to vote – school districts, the library and park boards.  While the public was interested in affordable housing, limited traffic impact and preservation of open space, the schools, parks and library boards were thinking about retiring the TIF – a tax increment financing plan used to develop The Glen. A high sale price for this property should hasten the day when those jurisdictions get the full tax benefit of pricey homes and shops built at the former naval air station, and the biggest bucks come from builders of high-end town and row houses. The schools were also anxious to limit further impact, so single-family homes – often inhabited by couples with kids – were not even considered. 

THE TOP MAN AT MOSQUITO ABATEMENT SENDS A STINGING REBUKE

In response to last week’s story about the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District’s plan to “adulticide” Glenview, we received this note from the district’s superintendent Robert Berry:

“West Nile Virus is a serious public health issue, and we have determined there is an increased risk at this time for Glenview residents. It is imperative that you report my comments accurately.

“Your guessing and opinionating that use of the term 'adulticiding' is to ‘minimize public alarm’ is a totally inaccurate. It would appear you are the alarmist, cutting and pasting selective information from only one Internet site in New York when there is an abundance of mosquito pesticide information on the site of the Centers for Disease Control and the Illinois Department of Public Health.

“We always refer to this operation as ‘mosquito adulticiding’ to distinguish it from ‘mosquito larviciding’ - both terms are industry standard and have been in use for many years. I explained this to you and yet you ignored that explanation.

“Your characterization of our announcement as ‘vowing to spray’ is a serious distortion. I do not know what motivation you intended to imply about mosquito adulticiding. We made a determination, based on surveillance data, that this was an appropriate course of action. The Glenview Department of Public Health was immediately informed of the decision. Mosquito adulticiding is a nationally-accepted method of mosquito suppression when and where deemed appropriate.

“It is important that the public knows what mosquito pesticides we use, and we make that information fully available. You did not expose some grand scheme as your article implies. In fact, this same information was given to you last year. The North Shore Mosquito Abatement District fulfills its obligation to reduce mosquitoes in public areas; however, it is important for the public to be aware that mosquitoes can breed in yards where there are containers holding stagnant water. Also, we urge residents to wear repellent during periods of high mosquito activity. This also was explained to you and yet you failed to mention it. We stress what the public can do to help themselves and your article did nothing to help the public in that way. You did your readers a disservice. A reprint of your August 1, 2006 comments would have been more helpful.

“There are several very good sources of information. I refer you to a report in Environment Health Perspectives, March 2006: ‘Results from our risk assessment and the current weight of scientific evidence indicate that human health risks from residential exposure to mosquito adulticides are very low and are not likely to exceed levels of concerns. By virtually any current human-health measure, the risks from infection by WNV exceed the risks from exposure to mosquito insecticides.’"

“I also refer you to a CDC report wherein residents of three states volunteered to give urine samples before and after mosquito adulticiding. The report said, in part, that there was no evidence of elevated pyrethoid metabolites from mosquito adulticiding; however there was, in Mississippi, "elevated pyrethoid metabolites from those applying pesticides to their dogs during spray periods."
http://origin.cdc.gov/nceh/hsb/pesticides/pdfs/mm5421p529.pdf

THE WATCH REPLIES

We used information from New York State’s website, because we consider this site as credible as any other agency of government. We thank Mr. Berry for sharing additional information and would refer him to our own extra credit reading, an article from the Illinois Mosquito and Vector Control Newsletter by Donald Baumgartner, a medical entomologist from the U.S. E.P.A. For the layman, that means he specializes in diseases transmitted by bugs.

He concludes, “Adulticiding, if practiced at all, should play only a minor role in the control program, when larval control becomes ineffective due to frequent and heavy rainfall. The value of adulticiding has always been a debatable topic. Are the chemicals safe to people and other non-target organisms? Is a large enough proportion of the adult mosquitoes killed to reduce the annoyance? These and many other questions remain uppermost in people's minds. Without a doubt, adulticides account for a significant mortality, but is this effort cost effective in light of the increased costs of chemicals, especially the more environmentally-safe chemicals, to warrant their return (percentage of mosquitoes killed)? Some abatement districts in Illinois and elsewhere have abolished adulticiding altogether in response to public pressure or because of their own doubts about its effectiveness or safety. The entire controversy has become more topical during the past few years as the public's fears of chemicals escalates, along with liability suits and insurance premiums.”

Later, Baumgartner writes that a limited number of studies show high mosquito mortality “when the tests were performed on caged mosquitoes in open habitats. In contrast, other investigations showed an ineffective kill (< 70%) using field assessments (landing, ovitrap, and light trap counts) in residential areas.”

“Many questions remain to be thoroughly addressed such as the long-term toxicity of insecticides on wildlife, and on beneficial and predatory insects.” (The full article is at http://www.ent.iastate.edu/mailinglist/mosquito-l/baumgartner.html)

We’re glad to know the Mosquito Abatement District isn’t trying to fool anyone with fancy words like "adulticide," but we'd suggest that this and other agencies use laymen’s language when communicating with laymen. “Spraying for mosquitoes,” and “spraying mosquito eggs,” would be clear, appropriate terms for future public announcements.

Now to the question of whether, from a public health standpoint, it’s really necessary to spray at all. While West Nile can be deadly, it is rare, and experts say 80 percent of infected people don’t even develop symptoms. Those who are concerned about the risk can use insect repellant, and local leaders should investigate whether it’s really worth spraying at all.

The North Shore Mosquito Abatement District would have us believe it’s essential. If so, how do we justify skipping The Grove? Why were neighborhoods west of Pfingsten Road neglected? And how do infection rates in areas that are sprayed compare to those in areas that are not?

Until the West Nile panic came along, many people had begun to question the need for the mosquito abatement district. Since the disease has appeared, however, the district has a new reason for being and is not shy about warning of this danger to public health.

PARK DISTRICT WARNS OF GYPSY MOTH INVASION

While many communities are obsessing over the very real threat the emerald ash borer poses to about 20 percent of Glenview’s trees, another pest is taking aim at almost every other species. Superintendent of Park Services Fred Gullen says gypsy moth egg masses have now been found at The Grove, at Lyons School and at many other locations around town.

“We need to develop policies and procedures for what we want to do,” he told the park board, adding that caterpillars will begin hatching this spring. Gullen said district crews have been creative in killing eggs, using microwave ovens and bleach, but a single mass contains about 300 eggs, and when caterpillars emerge, they can munch through every leaf on a tree, killing it.

Gullen said Glenview should consider using pesticides, bacterial or viral sprays to wipe out gypsy moths and their larvae, and he warned that the community is losing more trees than it’s planting.

Ironically, many ash trees were planted in years past, because that’s one of the few species the gypsy moths don’t like. The district has applied a special preventive chemical treatment to 288 of its nicest ash trees, hoping to protect them from ash borers which have been found in neighboring communities.

MORE PARK DISTRICT NEWS AND VIEWS

-- Wagner Farm Director Todd Price had a surprise visit last month. Two men dressed in white knocked on his office door. They said they were traveling with the head priest of India on a U.S. Tour, and the holy man had ordered them to stop the car when he saw cows in the farm field. Hindus view cows as sacred animals, and the priest – dressed in orange – wanted a closer look. Price obliged by heading into the pasture and catching a bovine. After inspecting the animal, the priest and his companions got back into their car and drove away, while Price fielded questions from other farm visitors who wondered what that was all about.

-- The Farmer’s Market has now moved to the parking lot across from Wagner Farm. It will be held there from 8 a.m.-noon each Saturday through the summer. Price urges more residents to consider buying their fruits and vegetables directly from growers.

-- The cicada exhibit continues at The Grove, but you won’t be able to glimpse the rare blue-eyed cicada that was found this year. Staffers were sorry to discover that after death, the eyes of the cicada turn a dull shade of brown.

-- Park Center Health and Fitness will close from August 27-31 for cleaning, and Splash Landings (the indoor pools at Park Center) will close from August 6-19.

-- The park district hopes to improve public service when it replaces several phone systems with a new $238,000 network. It should be installed in October or November and will allow transfer of calls and voicemails to the parks’ administration building, The Grove, skating rink, pools, Park Center, golf courses, the Tyner Center, Wagner Farm and tennis club.

-- The park board is mulling the idea of a district-wide environmental policy and procedures, with a view toward setting a good example and saving money through energy and water conservation.

-- The district will join the League of Women Voters in sponsoring Our Climate Matters, a four-day program of lectures, workshops, a film festival, poetry and jazz. The league has also invited Senator John Kerry to speak. No word yet on whether he’ll attend. Because of its central location and facilities (Park Center and the Tyner Nature Center), the League felt Glenview was an ideal location for the event, running from Thursday, October 18 through Sunday, October 21.

COMCAST COMPETITION COMING SOON

AT&T is gearing up to enter the market now dominated by cable companies like Comcast -- providing TV and cable programs along with high-speed Internet. The AT&T U-VerseSM service delivers more than 320 channels of programming – 26 of them High Definition, and the ability to record up to four programs at once using a special receiver. In Ohio, where the service was recently unveiled, customers pay $44 a month or more for one of eight packages. The company also offers an extensive video on demand library, allowing it to sell movies online.
The good news: Glenview consumers will have another alternative to Comcast. The bad news: AT&T must install controller boxes on public rights of way, and the village can’t stop them. “Aesthetics will not come into play,” said village attorney Eric Pat. “Having seen the size of some of these cabinets, I can imagine that there are going to be some residents who are unhappy.” Patt said the village would try to get the utility to plant bushes around the boxes, to screen them from view.

Trustee Debby Karton said residents should contact their state legislators if they’re unhappy about a controller box in the neighborhood. The village board did approve an ordinance requiring AT&T to meet with residents before installation – to explain plans and listen to concerns.

ANOTHER NEW FIRE HOUSE FOR GLENVIEW

The plan and appearance commissions reviewed the design for a fire house to replace the aging building at 3507 Glenview Road. The current one-story station is about 6,500 square feet. The new one will be two stories and about 9,000 square feet. The plan is to temporarily relocate the equipment during construction. The budget for construction and furnishings is $2.9 million.

The new, Frank Lloyd Wright-style structure will include living space, a gym and a brick patio in the back with a trellis. Glenview has no female fire fighters, but some hopeful planners included a separate women's locker room.

Editor’s note: On Monday afternoon, Village Hall notified The Watch that it planned to rebuild the fire station at 3507 Glenview Road and indicated there would be a joint meeting of the plan and appearance commissions to discuss the new facility on Wednesday. The Watch wonders why so little public notice was given. E-mails like this certainly give the impression that public participation is an afterthought. We also wonder why the commissions met jointly. Village spokesperson Janet Spector Bishop explains that, “We tried this with the library planning process, and it seemed to work well and be efficient to have a joint meeting at the early stage of design, in order to get commissioner feedback.”

Efficient? Maybe, but we submit that these joint sessions lead to group think -- limiting opposition and creative thinking. We believe it would be better if each committee reviewed its own issues with the project separately.

KEEPING UP WITH THE GLENVIEWS

Some village residents are still complaining about the size of the community’s new police station on Lake Street, but the building must have its fans. Skokie is now working with
the architect that designed our cop shop, Sente Rubel Bosman Lee, as it plans a $30 million building of its own on a 6.2 acre lot at 7330 Niles Center Rd. Like our station, Skokie will have its very own firing range so target practice will be convenient for officers. It’s a feature that cost Glenview about $1 million.

Meanwhile, Glenview’s downtown consultant Steve Friedman is offering counsel to Skokie – sharing some of the very same advice he offered here. Friedman substituted “Skokie” for “Glenview” and adjusted the numbers, but the language is otherwise identical: “Increase and Renew the Housing Stock. Appendix D - Multifamily Housing Study in the Comprehensive Plan identified serious obstacles to new housing investment in older multifamily residential areas, including major discrepancies in actual and permitted densities per acre, parking, and stormwater control. Without addressing these concerns housing stock will continue to age without the continued investment needed to maintain quality housing. Downtown 2020 reported that Downtown Skokie could absorb 800 to 1,600 additional housing units by 2020. [Glenview’s unmet demand was for 700 more units in the downtown area.] Adding more residential units Downtown will support transit usage, decrease auto dependence, improve the retail base, and add to the excitement and liveliness of Downtown.

“Create a Healthy Retail Environment. Creating an environment that promotes retail uses benefits the entire community by providing jobs, goods, services, social interaction, and sales tax revenue. Downtown 2020 reported that Downtown Skokie could absorb 250,000 to 300,000 sq. ft. of new or redeveloped retail space, [In Glenview the consultant called for 166,000 square feet of additional retail space], 75% of which will replace older, outdated space. This new retail would be supported in part by new employment and new housing throughout Sector A. Downtown 2020 also studied the current retail mix and recommended uses that should be encouraged, like promoting our ethnic diversity with ethnic groceries and restaurants, co-locating uses to strengthen Downtown activity generators, such as coffee shops, entertainment and other specialty food uses, and targeting other underrepresented uses. Commercial ground floor uses on “retail streets” must be reserved for retail and other service uses open to customers. Ground floor offices, automotive uses, and drive-throughs that cause activity gaps in pedestrian areas should be limited and, in some areas, prohibited. Upper story uses can be other commercial uses, like office or retail uses, or residences. The maroon dashed lines on street frontages show areas designated as ‘retail streets.’”

SMOKING CONTROVERSY DOUSED

Glenview’s politicians won’t have to take the heat for changes to laws governing smoking in public places. Lawmakers in Springfield have approved new rules that will take effect on January 1. Smoking will no longer be allowed in bars and restaurants, places of employment, on train platforms or within 15 feet of entrances, exits, air vents and windows that open.
Smoking will still be allowed in homes, tobacco shops and designated smoking rooms in hotels and nursing homes.

KIDS’ MUSEUM PRICES GOING UP

The Kohl Children’s Museum has announced an increase in all general admission prices, effective October 1. The price increase of $1 pushes admission for adults and children to $7.50, and the admission for grandparents and seniors (55 and older) to $6.50.

The price of an annual membership with unlimited admission will remain at $90 per family, and the Kids Club Plus, which includes reciprocal admission to 100 other children’s museums, will still be $110. The museum recently added a third level of membership exclusively for grandparents. The Kids Club Grand, at $80, covers free admission for grandparents and all their grandkids.

Kohl Children’s Museum is located at 2100 Patriot Boulevard in Glenview, Ill. The Museum is open Monday-Saturday 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., and on Sundays from 12-5 p.m. If you have any questions, please visit www.kohlchildrensmuseum.org.

GLENVIEW WATCH – STILL FREE AND IN GOOD COMPANY

It seems The Watch is not alone. The Los Angeles Times reports on the “growing influence of citizen journalists roiling communities across Southern California, many of which rarely are covered by newspapers or other traditional media outlets. These muckraking bloggers say they have stepped in to fill the government watchdog vacuum. . . and to local politicians, most are a royal pain in the tuchis.

“It may only be a matter of time before bloggers start to have a major influence in local politics and policymaking. "It's inexpensive, and my guess is there are a lot of people who find it fun," said Matthew Spitzer, former USC Law School dean.T here have always been citizens who love to go to city council meetings and see what's going on. Putting it on a blog makes it a lot easier and it increases accessibility to 24/7."

”For all the furor the blogs create, city officials could take a cue from Fontana Mayor Mark Nuaimi. Nuaimi routinely posts on a blog in his city and said he welcomed it as a way to communicate with citizens,” the LA Times reports.

Meanwhile, the latest edition of Media Life reports, “Free papers are already big in Europe, and more are launching in the U.S. in cities like Washington, New York and Chicago. But the trend is hardly confined to major markets. Free dailies are popping up in towns you'd have to pull out a map to find, like Bluffton, S.C., and Eureka, Oregon.

”There are now some 39 free daily newspapers in the U.S., and 12 of those have been launched in the past seven years, since 2000. Most have been launched in small towns.

”Typically, the big-city free dailies target the elusive non-reader segment, 18-35-year-olds, with light, entertainment-related stories. Not so the small-town freebies. They target the same broad audience of the paid dailies they're often competing with, and their editorial focus is hyperlocal news.

“The key advantage to launching a free daily is the ability to attract an immediate readership, making the paper attractive to advertisers, versus the long, slow process of building paid circulation, which is expensive and can take years.”

Editor’s note: Of course these dailies sell ads … which we do not. But then we have generous readers who donate to the cause. If you have not yet made a contribution, please consider sending a check for whatever you think appropriate -- payable to Glenview Watch at 3537 Maple Leaf Drive, Glenview, IL 60026. Thanks for being part of the next big thing.

READERS WRITE

JT writes: “Two days in a row my friend saw adult women picking wildflowers on the lake shore at The Glen. One woman was even using a knife to cut herself a bunch. Is this against the law as it is in the forest preserves? Flower Patrol, take action please.”

Fritz recalls former Village President Nancy Firfer’s promise: “Base redevelopment will not increase taxes for those outside the TIF area." It was heifer dust then, and now we see what will be the first phase of increases from run amuck development not only at the airbase, but all over town. Local government’s motto is growth for growth’s sake, or bigger is always better, even if it makes no sense. Just like over 350 seats in a library that never has seen more than 50 in need of a chair. We need new blood at Village Hall.”

Greg Thompson sends fan mail from neighboring Northfield: "I appreciate your efforts to keep the residents of Glenview aware of the issues that impact not only their community, but the surrounding communities as well. I would be thrilled to have an informative source about our village’s issues at my disposal. The residents of Glenview should (and probably do) applaud your efforts to provide accurate and pertinent reporting. Thank you for demonstrating that grass roots efforts such as yours really do make a difference."

Our favourite British reader, Barry G, writes: “If the population of Glenview is in excess of 45,000, why do you call it a village? And how do your trustees get away with spending so much money: millions for a new post office, police station, fire station and library! Are they accountable to anyone? Maybe I don’t understand the electoral system in America, but as a local councilor in the U.K. for 21 years, I could never have gotten away with what your trustees do.”

YOUR TURN:  Write to glenviewwatch@aol.com or 3537 Maple Leaf Drive, Glenview, IL 60026. 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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