City of Evanston Blog
Articles Posted in: October 2010
Newsy Items on Monday City Council Agenda
All links Adobe Acrobat unless otherwise indicated. 1. Special order of business for discussion of the City's FY 2009/10 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (aka Audit). 2. Consideration of ordinance adopting $2.00/ton solid waste transfer fee applied to private operators of solid waste transfer stations in Evanston. 3. Consideration of ordinance to change religious institutions from a permitted use to a special use in business districts. 4. Report to Planning and Development Committee on compliance of Marathon Gas, 555 Howard, with…
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3-1-1 Website
We have launched the beginning of a website on 3-1-1. It contains a list of frequently asked questions, links to on-line sites of other communities that will be using the same systems we will and links to additional information on 3-1-1 services around the county. …
World Polio Day
Rotary International Marks World Polio Day from Rotary International on Vimeo. Today is World Polio Day. Evanston-based Rotary International is the leader in the fight against polio. The video above gives an update on Rotary's efforts. …
Day of Caring and Wheel Barrels
Saturday was the North Shore United Way's "Day of Caring.". I was assigned to work at the Evanston Infant Welfare Society's Child Care Center. When I arrived I was assigned to help move wood chips from the front of the building to the rear. There was unfortunately no good way to do this, so I volunteered to go to Home Depot to get a wheel barrel. I purchased the wheel barrel and took it to my car. I soon realized…
Appearance on "Evanston Issues"
This week I taped a segment of the public access cable tv program "Evanston Issues" hosted by former Alderman Art Newman. The hour long program is a good overview of current issues facing Evanston.…
NU Professor and Evanston Resident Wins Nobel Prize
NU Economics Professor Dale Mortensen today was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics. I checked our utility records and Professor Mortensen appears to be an Evanston resident. (Thanks for keeping your water and sewer payments up to date). Interesting question....How many other Nobel Laureates are Evanston residents?…
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Condos and Changing Water Rates
A blog commenter recently asked about how the changes to water rates impact residents of condominiums. I asked Kevin Lookis from our Utilities Department for an explanation. Here is his note back: "Condos and businesses are billed on the basis of the water entering the building for all types of uses. This includes not only water that is used for drinking, cooking, bathing, etc. but also for use in the HVAC system (boiler and cooling system make-up water, etc.), hot…
Evanston Rated A Top Walkable Suburb
A great article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal by Richard Florida discusses smart "edge cities" like us. In the article, a survey of top walkable suburbs in America is listed. Evanston is rated #4 in the country. Richard Florida thinks and writes about issues facing cities. His latest book, The Great Reset, outlines qualities that cities will need to succeed in the future. Many of the great qualities Evanston has (lots of smart people, walkable, diverse, near successful big city,…
Newsy Items on Monday City Council Agenda
All links are PDF unless otherwise noted: 1. Report of Mayor's Budget Task Force. 2. Update on Lake Michigan Wind Turbine Project. Staff Report. The City received two submittals it is proposing to review further from Off Grid Technologies and Mercury Wind Energy. 3. Consideration of ordinance creating new category of liquor licenses for craft distilleries. Agenda Full Packet…
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FY 2011 Proposed Budget Released
The proposed budget is now posted on the City website (PDF). I recommend reading the budget transmittal letter and budget reduction worksheet that begin on page one of the document for details of the budget. The budget contains a $3,093,288 General Fund deficit, with proposed revenue enhancements and spending reductions to balance. No proposed property tax increase for general fund operating budget. I have proposed eliminating 21.65 FTE positions, 10 currently vacant. Twelve employees would be impacted. There is also…
Evanston Named Best Sports City in USA
Last year, I reported on the blog that Evanston was named the 4th best sports city in USA. Of course we were grouped in with another area city .......Chicago. Well, the same Sporting News poll has come out for 2010 and we are now the best sports city in the USA (with Chicago). It was the purple water in Fountain Square that made the difference. That or the Stanley Cup, but I bet it was the purple fountain.…
City Budget Weekend
The City is replaying two recent public meetings this weekend on the budget and a special recap of a third public meeting to inform the public on our FY 2011 budget process through 6 PM Sunday on Channel 16. Turn in to learn more about the budget process and then go to the City's budget website: www.cityofevanston.org/budget for more info and to share your opinions on the budget. A document giving more information on proposed program cuts/revenue enhancements can be found…