HIGHWOOD CITY COUNCIL’S 7.18.23 MEETING IN A NUTSHELL
Finance
The City Council voted to approve the payment of various bills totaling $322k.
Each fiscal year the City is required to adopt an appropriation ordinance which – among other things – establishes the City’s legal spending limit for the fiscal year; this limit is purposefully set higher than the amount the City actually intends to spend in case of unanticipated and significant emergencies. The City also adopts an annual operating budget which specifies the maximum amount the City actually intends to spend. The City Council voted to adopt the appropriation ordinance for the current fiscal year.
Each fiscal year the City is required to adopt a salary ordinance which specifies the compensation ranges for funded positions. The City Council voted to adopt the salary ordinance for the current fiscal year.
Infrastructure
The sanitary sewer system along Sheridan Rd. is inadequate for long term use. The system is approximately 100 years old, nearly 30 feet underground in certain locations and a section runs underneath a private property. Representatives from consulting engineer Christopher B. Burke Engineering presented findings and recommendations from a previously commissioned study of alternative system concepts. The engineers and City staff recommended proceeding with an alternative system that includes a lift station and a force main (estimated cost of sanitary system improvement = $1.7M). Because the alternative system would run underneath Bank Ln. (to divert sanitary waste underneath the train tracks and ultimately to the connection point with the sanitary district’s system), City staff also recommended reconstructing the Bank Ln. roadway – which has severe surface distress – at the same time (estimated cost of Bank Ln. roadway improvement = $1.3M). The City Council voted to accept a proposal from Christopher B. Burke Engineering to provide design engineering services for both improvements at a cost $150k. The plan is to request bids for the improvement project in December 2023 and begin construction by April 2024. The improvement project is intended to be paid for with funds from City’s Downtown Redevelopment Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District Fund.
Since 2016 the City has provided snow and ice removal services via a contractor. The City's most recent contract with Sciaretta Enterprises expired earlier this year. City staff presented service proposals for the upcoming winter season from Sciaretta Enterprises and M&J. The City Council discussed the proposals and continued further discussion to a future meeting.
Licensing
The owners of La Plancha Loca (548 Sheridan Rd.) applied for a class B liquor license (i.e., sale of beer, wine and spirits for on premise consumption as well as the sale of packaged beer and wine) and passed the required background check. The owners presently have a class D liquor license (i.e., sale of beer and wine for on premise consumption as well as the sale of packaged beer and wine). The City Council voted to approve issuing the upgraded license.
Parks and Public Spaces
In 2022 the City purchased 3 contiguous properties at 341 Waukegan Ave. (vacant lot), 11 Walker Ave. (occupied multi-unit apartment building) and 7 Walker Ave. (vacant single-family building). The properties were purchased with a plan to tear down the 2 buildings and to – at least temporarily – use those properties to expand the preexisting public surface parking on Walker Ave. The plan also includes the development of the vacant lot property into a pocket park for which the related design work is underway. The vacant single-family building has already been torn down and the property converted into public surface parking. The sole remaining tenant in the multi-unit apartment building recently moved to another property in the City. The City Council voted to accept a proposal from Chicago Concrete & Excavations Services to tear down the vacant multi-unit apartment building at a cost of $69k.
Effective for the 2023-24 school year, District 112 is relocating its Early Childhood Center from a building on Green Bay Rd. in Highland Park to Oak Terrace Elementary School. This change necessitates a reconfiguration of student drop-off and pick-up procedures (in light of the age of children in the early childhood program) as well as additional parking capacity (in light of increased staffing levels needed to support the early childhood program). Construction is underway to convert the north side of the school into the main entrance, which will ultimately be used for student drop-offs and pick-ups. Also, the parking along the south side of the school on Prairie Ave. has been targeted to accommodate the additional parking requirements. The City Council voted to direct City staff to work with District 112 to fine-tune a plan to accommodate the additional parking requirements.
Personnel
The Mayor and City Council recently completed the City Manager’s annual performance review. The City Council voted to amend the City Manager’s employment agreement to increase the annual base salary from $180k to $200k.
Public Comment
Highwood Bocce Club President Tom Holleman provided a summary of the Club’s recent hosting of the 2023 United States Bocce Federation National Championships.
Other
The City Council voted to approve meeting minutes from June 20, 2023.
Two new gazebos and picnic tables were recently installed in the southwest corner of Memorial Park (i.e., the Western Ave. “ballpark”).
Highwood Library’s July newsletter is here.
Last weekend Mayor Pecaro and I attended a ceremony to mark the opening of Highland Park’s new Ravinia Fire Station (its predecessor station was built in 1929); the new facility is one of three fire stations used to provide Highwood and Highland Park residents with fire and emergency medical services.
Celebrate Highwood's Highwood Days with Taco Fest event will be held from Thursday July 20th through Sunday July 23rd; information re this event as well as other Celebrate Highwood events can be found here.
The Lake County Forest Preserves created this webpage to provide information pertaining to their acquisition and future reopening of the Openlands Lakeshore Preserve; the County is presently working to finalize the acquisition of the Preserve and ultimately to reopen the same by Labor Day.
Meeting Records