HIGHWOOD CITY COUNCIL’S 1.21.25 MEETING IN A NUTSHELL
Appearance
The city has received inquiries from business owners about using digital display signs on their building facades to promote events. A City Council member also suggested consideration of digital display signs for the city to convey information to residents and visitors. However, this type of sign is currently prohibited by the city code. The City Council discussed potentially allowing digital display signs for business and/or municipal uses, directed city staff to obtain information on how other municipalities regulate such signs, and continued further discussion to a future meeting.
Finance
The City Council voted to approve the payment of various bills totaling $107k.
Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued new regulations, which require the city — and most other community water suppliers in the country — to identify and replace lead service lines and certain galvanized service lines by 2037 (service lines are the pipes that bring water from the city’s main supply directly into homes and businesses). The requirements of the new federal regulations supersede similar requirements from a 2021 state law. To fund these mandated improvements, along with other upgrades to its water system, the city will likely need to take out one or more loans. To qualify for these loans and afford the connected payments, the city will need to raise additional revenues. The City Council continued discussion of various options for raising additional revenues and directed city staff to prepare two actions for consideration at a future meeting: an increase of the local sales tax rate by 0.0025% and the addition of a $10 bimonthly fee to water bills.
Parks & Public Spaces
In 2022, the city purchased 340 Green Bay Rd. for the purpose of expanding Everts Park. The blighted building on the property was subsequently demolished and the site has since been used for temporary surface parking. The city recently completed design and engineering work for the park expansion (final renderings here and here) and opened a request for construction bids. Summarized below are the three bids received, all under the high end of the city’s original cost estimate:
A Jules Construction for $397k
Integral Construction $441k
Mariani Landscape $441k
The City Council previously directed city staff to obtain additional information from A Jules Construction re their bid specifications, reviewed their responses, and voted to accept the bid from A Jules Construction. The project, which involves not only expanding the park but also adding an irrigation system to the park’s existing footprint, is expected to begin this spring and to be completed in the summer.
Personnel
The city’s current fiscal year budget contemplated the creation and staffing of a new Clerk position. However, after further evaluation of functional needs, the City Manager recommended creating and staffing of a Communications Manager position instead. Additionally, the City Manager recommended increasing the headcount of Police Department Patrol Officers by one to allow for proactive hiring if a future vacancy is anticipated. The City Council voted to adopt a revised salary ordinance that includes both of the recommended changes.
Public Comment
A resident inquired about the status of a zoning relief request from the Midwest Young Artists Conservatory.
Public Safety
Residents have expressed concerns to the Police Department about outdoor (wood-burning) recreational fires on neighboring properties, specifically those that are:
left unattended,
located near structures,
occurring late at night or early in the morning, and/or
causing a nuisance (e.g., thick smoke entering neighboring properties).
The city’s outdoor burning ordinance - which was adopted more than 20 years ago - does not prohibit recreational fires with these attributes and consequently the Police Department does not have a sufficient legal basis to discourage them. The City Council discussed revisions to the ordinance that address the problem attributes and voted to adopt the revised ordinance. The revised ordinance stipulates that outdoor (wood-burning) recreational fires are:
continuously attended by a responsible adult until the fire is completely extinguished,
located at least ten feet from any structure and adequate provision is made to prevent the fire from spreading to any structure,
only burning between the hours of 8:00 am and 12:00 am., and
prohibitable by the City Manager (or the City Manager’s designee(s)) when atmospheric conditions or local circumstances makes such fires hazardous to the health and welfare of the public, or when the smoke from the fires becomes an apparent nuisance to neighboring properties.
Real Estate
The city owns a 5,700-square-foot landlocked parcel adjacent to 720 Sheridan Rd, which is currently used as a veterinary clinic. The owner of 720 Sheridan Rd. previously expressed interest in purchasing the city parcel to expand parking for the clinic, and the City Council directed city staff to negotiate a purchase agreement for future consideration. The City Council reviewed the draft purchase agreement and voted to authorize the sale of the parcel for $5k. The sale proceeds are earmarked for landscape improvements on another city-owned parcel in between the veterinary clinic and the water tower.
Recycling
The city is now providing a new optional curbside recycling service. The goal of the service is to divert hard-to-recycle plastics from landfills. Importantly, this new service supplements conventional recycling, it does not replace it. Click here to find a video that animates how the service works and here for additional informational (e.g., free starter kit, where to buy the bags, accepted items).
Other
The City Council voted to approve meeting minutes from January 7, 2025.
The Chamber of Commerce’s Business After Hours event will be held on January 30th from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm at American Place Casino (4011 Fountain Sq., Waukegan, IL 60085); additional information here.
The Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Dinner + Business Celebration event will be held on February 3rd from 5:15 pm to 8:00 pm at the Highwood Bocce Club (440 Bank Ln.); additional information here.
The Chamber of Commerce’s Bingo at Buffo's event will be held on February 23rd from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm at Buffo’s (431 Sheridan Rd.); additional information here.
Meeting Records