HIGHWOOD CITY COUNCIL’S 10.15.24 MEETING IN A NUTSHELL 

Appearance

  • The owner of Electric Collective Hair Lab, a hair salon located at 20 Highwood Ave., applied for approval of new business signage. The City Council voted to approve the request.

  • The owner of La Plancha Loca, a Mexican restaurant located at 552 Sheridan Rd., applied for approval for approval of new business signage. The City Council voted to approve the request.

  • The owner of the Training Yard, a sports and events rental facility located at 523 Bank Ln., applied for approval of new business signage. The City Council voted to approve the request.

Development

  • The city purchased 420, 424, and 430 Sheridan Rd. for the purpose of revitalizing the area through redevelopment. The blighted buildings on these properties were subsequently demolished, and the sites are now used for temporary surface parking. Earlier this year, the city requested redevelopment proposals and received two. The project area includes the three city-owned properties and two adjacent privately-owned properties (412 and 416 Sheridan Rd.) that are currently used for business parking. The zoning in the project area allows for development between one and six stories, with retail and/or service uses in the ground floor and residential and/or office uses in upper floors. City staff recommended contracting with Ryan, LLC to help evaluate the redevelopment proposals. The City Council voted to approve a consulting services agreement with Ryan, LLC at an hourly rate of $305 or an estimated total cost of $25k (included services summarized below).

    • review and test developers’ tax revenue projections by preparing alternative projections using comparable projects and internal data.

    • evaluate the developers’ Internal Rate of Return (IRR) analyses with and without city financial assistance, and provide alternative IRR estimates to assess the need for financial support.

    • create a summary memorandum with recommendations and negotiation strategies re potential financial assistance for the proposed project.

Finance

  • The City Council voted to approve the payment of various bills totaling $747k.

  • The City Council voted to accept the City Treasurer’s financial reports covering the period of May 1, 2024 through August 31, 2024.

  • The City Council continued discussion re the 2024 property tax levy and voted to approve an estimated amount of $1.8M (click here to see a chart comparing the actual 2023 tax levy with the estimated 2024 tax levy and here to see a chart comparing the last 5 years of actual tax levies). The final tax levy will be considered at a future meeting.

Licensing

  • The owner of La Plancha Loca (552 Sheridan Rd.) applied for a class B liquor license and passed the required background check. This license permits the sale of beer, wine, and spirits for consumption on premises as well as the retail sale of beer and wine. The City Council discussed the application and continued further discussion to a future meeting.

Parks & Public Spaces

  • The city has completed design work for an expansion of Everts Park onto city-owned property at 340 Green Bay Rd. (click here and here for renderings). Engineering work is substantially complete and the city plans to request construction bids before long and begin construction in the spring. As part of the bid process, the city plans to also consider adding an irrigation system and planting trees within the existing park footprint.

  • City staff presented holiday decoration options for the new park at 341 Waukegan Ave.. The City Council discussed the options and - considering the limited budget and time before the holidays - directed city staff to prioritize decorating the already planned areas, and to reevaluate remaining budget and time thereafter.

Proclamation

  • Mayor Pecaro read a proclamation that affirmed the city’s position that domestic violence is not tolerated in the community, declared October 2024 as “Domestic Violence Awareness Month”, and presented a representative of the Domestic Violence Law Practice at the North Suburban Legal Aid Clinic with a framed copy of the proclamation.

Public Comment

  • Multiple residents expressed concerns re the impact of special events on Everts Park and the surrounding residential neighborhood and also questioned the city’s relationship with Celebrate Highwood.

Public Safety

  • The city employs part-time police officers on an as-needed basis to supplement its full-time officers. City staff presented compensation data from neighboring communities and recommended the City Council consider increasing the hourly rate for part-time officers to improve recruitment and retention. The City Council discussed multiple options and continued further discussion to a future meeting.

Recycling

  • Earlier this month, the city launched a new optional curbside recycling program in partnership with Lakeshore Recycling Systems, Reynolds Consumer Products, and the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County. The program aims to collect hard-to-recycle plastics and divert them from landfills. Importantly, this new program supplements conventional recycling, it does not replace it. A summary of how the program works is described below.

    • Purchase Hefty ReNew orange bags at Jewel-Osco, Menards, Sunset Foods, or Ace Hardware (click here to request a free starter kit and see participating retailers).

    • Begin collecting accepted hard-to-recycle plastics in the orange bags. 

    • When the bag is full, tie it up tightly and place it directly in your recycling bin.

    • The recycling center then separates these bags from the conventional loose recyclable materials and sends them to facilities that convert the hard-to-recycle plastics into various products (e.g., construction materials, park benches, feedstocks).

Other

  • The City Council voted to approve meeting minutes from September 17, 2024.

  • Early voting for the November 5th general election will begin on October 21st at the Library & Community Center (102 Highwood Ave.); click here for additional information and here for a sample ballot.

  • The Library & Community Center’s October newsletter is here.

  • The Chamber of Commerce’s Trick or Treat Trek event will be held on October 25th from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm in downtown Highwood; additional information here.

  • Celebrate Highwood’s Elf Invasion Pub Crawl event will be held on December 7th from 2:00 pm to bar close in downtown Highwood; additional information here.

  • I had reprints made of the rare book, 28 Miles North: A Story of Highwood (Wittelle, 1953); if you would like a free copy, please reply to this email with your address and I will drop one off at your home before long.

Meeting Records

  • A video recording of the Regular Meeting is here.

  • Once approved, minutes from the Committee of the Whole Meeting and Regular Meeting will be linked here.  

    These write-ups are purposefully brief. Please do not hesitate to call or email me if you would like additional details or have questions.

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September 17, 2024