City looks at ways to protect trees, even on private property, with proposed changes By Bob Seidenberg If proposed changes to Evanston’s tree policy go through, residents would be required, in many cases, to apply for a special permit before removing trees from private property. If the property is slated for construction, and the tree…
By Bob Seidenberg Some prominent members of Evanston’s design community call for the city to establish a Community Design Commission has been pushed back — perhaps as much as two years. At the Council’s July 10 Planning & Development Committee meeting, several Council members argued the city shouldn’t tackle the issue until after a Comprehensive…
By Bob Seidenberg Members of the city’s Finance and Budget Committee on July 11 recommended adoption of a Public Safety Pension policy that would commit the city to make annual contributions to the police and firefighters retirement funds that would enable them to be fully funded by 2040. In developing the policy, committee members worked alongside representatives…
By Bob Seidenberg Proximity to transit, solid household demographics and a strong Northwestern University student and faculty base located nearby all played into a Birmingham, Alabama, firm’s purchase of a prime piece of downtown Evanston real estate. Chicago-based Quantum Real Estate announced in a July 5 release the sale of a portion of the Church…
Over the next two months the City will be contracting repairs at the Arrington Lakefront Lagoon located along the lakefront between Church Street and Davis Street. The project will begin in July and is anticipated to be completed in August. Project work includes the removal of an existing curb and section of permeable concrete sidewalk,…
By Bob Seidenberg Former City Council Member Ann Rainey was originally scheduled to go out to dinner to celebrate her birthday on June 29. Instead, she was rerouted to the Palmhouse, a banquet hall at 619 Howard St., in her beloved Eighth Ward, where waiting supporters serenaded her as she entered. Rainey served 34 years…
By Bob Seidenberg An Evanston resident who has worked to raise the visibility of the local Asian American community told the Evanston Library Board last week that the library should consider hiring a coordinator for outreach and engagement with that group. Melissa Raman Molitor addressed the board June 21 on behalf of the library’s Racial…
By Bob Seidenberg Evanston Public Library trustees approved a budget amendment on June 21 to change five part-time safety monitor positions to full-time positions, creating greater coverage to respond to safety-related issues. At the meeting, library trustees voted unanimously to approve Interim Executive Library Director Heather Norborg’s recommendation to increase the library’s safety monitor budget…
By Bob Seidenberg Evanston has turned to Christopher B. Burke Engineering Limited to oversee a number of major public works projects, but a City Council member wants to hear more about what went wrong with one of them as the city again engages the group. During the June 12 meeting of the Administration & Public…
By Bob Seidenberg As Evanston moves closer to rolling out a first-time civilian response program for lower-priority 911 calls, Rachel Williams has been serving as a roving ambassador for the new system, dropping in at different ward meetings to explain how it will work. On Thursday, June 15, Williams, the city’s reimagining public safety administrator,…
