Board Meeting: Peer Jury Grads Honored, Chickens May Become Permanent

The 2012 graduates of the Western Springs were honored at the Western Springs Board of Trustees meeting on Monday night; of 13 graduates, eight were in attendance and received certificates from Chief of Police Pam Church.

“Through the peer jury process, youthful offenders are given a second chance to right their wrong, give back to the community and learn valuable lessons along the way,” Church said. “This program is so successful because of the contributions and the commitment of the peer jurors as well as adult Peer Jury coordinators.”

The graduates in attendance were Stephanie King, Dan Holt and Paul Mniszewski (4 years,) Henry Byrne and Brian Hickey (3 years) and Nicholas Cozzi, Cara Haeske and Alyson Wallach (2 years.) Also graduating, but not in attendance, were Paige Whitlock and Sarah Hayes (4 years) and Kevin Carlson and Katie Ellis (2 years.)

Poultry ordinance likely in temporary-use form

Trustees are considering passing an ordinance to extend Village-wide the practice of issuing temporary-use permits to permit the keeping of hens in private residences, patterned after the at the Vichick home in Field Park.

Passing the ordinance in temporary-use form (similar to how liquor licenses are awarded) offers the Board several advantages, in particular that a resident would have to pass muster before taking on a chicken project, and that the license could be easily revoked for failure to comply with requisite standard of care. (The disadvantage would be the hassle of awarding individual temporary-use permits.)

“[Vichick’s] neighbors are all in favor of what she has done, and she has done it the right way, so we can model this after how she has handled it,” said Trustee Deborah Lyons.

Report from Openlands preserve tour

During Citizen Comments, resident Tom Druffel reported back from a tour that the organization Openlands had offered of their Highland Park lakeshore on Saturday as part of their campaign to win approval for Timber Trails Unit II .

Druffel spoke warmly of Openlands’ work in maintaining the land around Fort Sheridan, citing the natural bluffs, educational tools, hiking trails and abundance of songbirds, and expressed full support for their Timber Trails open-space proposal.

“It’s obvious how top-notch of an organization Openlands is,” Druffel said. “They’re very professional, organized, dedicated, they have a staff of very knowledgable people, they know what they’re doing… Thinking about what Openlands could do with the Timber Trails Phase II property, it’s certainly to me an exciting prospect.”

Trustees Suzanne Glowiak and James Horvath were also among those who went on the trip.

“The tour was fantastic, and an eye-opener for me as far as what Openlands has accomplished,” said Horvath. “Without taking a stand one way or another, [it was] quite a spectacular sight.”

Votes passed in a special omnibus

Only a single bid came back for the Village’s call for offers for the contract to treat some of the Village’s parkway trees : the Davey Tree Expert Company, who were awarded the contract on Monday night for a total amount not to exceed $33,000 for the 2012 calendar year.

Liquor licenses and temporary use permits were also granted for three summer events: St. John of the Cross Parish Alumni Reunion, the downtown Springfest and the Taste of the Arts festival.