Beautification and Improvement Commission — Skokie, IL
Date: 2023-02-02

Village of Skokie Beautification and Improvement Commission

 Meeting Agenda
 February 2, at 6:30 to approx. 8 pm (okay if you need to leave at 7:30)
 Village Hall, Conference Room D & E (Upstairs)

 I. Welcome new member, Ross Del Rosario, by Bob Quane

 II. Approval of January 12, 2023 Minutes

 III. Report: Beatification Education Sub Committee: Chair, Rachel Rosenberg

 IV. Report: Beautification New Initiatives Sub Committee, Valerie Shuman

 V. No Mow May, Bob Quane & Vernell Ellison-Smith

 VI. Awards Program Recognition Event -General Discussion

 VII. Approval of Commission Expenditures Request, Bob Quane

 VIII. Report by Cathy Stevens, Staff Liaison

 IX. Report by James Johnson, Trustee Liaison

 X. Old Business

 Skokie Weed Control Ordinance Recommendation (in progress)-Bob Q. and Fred L.
 Beautification & Improvement web site

 XI. New Business

 XII. Adjournment

If you have an agenda item that you would like to be considered for a future meeting, just send
me an email. Thanks.

Bob Quane, quane@siu.edu
847-271-3868

Village of Skokie Beautification and Improvement Commission

 Meeting Minutes
 February 2, 2023

Commissioners Present: Ross Del Rosario, Vernell Ellison-Smith, George Hubchak, Charles
Levine, Frederick Lisiewicz, Edward Potash, Bob Quane (Chair), Rachel Rosenberg, Mitchell
Sandler (Vice Chair), Valerie Shuman, Brooke Sprague, Anne VanOsdol

Commissioners Absent: Sherwin Ditlove, Ann Goldshaft, Joseph Hasten, Dalya Horowitz,
Bahram Khazni, Joshua Shpayer

Staff Present: Cathy Stevens, Staff Liaison; James Johnson, Trustee Liaison


I. Welcome New Member
Chair Quane called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM and welcomed new commission member
Ross Del Rosario, who introduced himself.

II. Old Business – Skokie Weed Ordinance
Chair Quane noted that the commission would move up some old business from the previous
meeting to the top of the agenda. He summarized information from the January meeting on
tweaking the Green Bay weed ordinance and shared that he and Commissioner Lisiewicz hadn’t
been able to make new updates to their work since the previous meeting. He explained that the
plan was for Chair Quane, Commissioner Lisiewicz, and the chairs of both subcommittees to
come to an agreement on the language for the new ordinance and pass it along to Liaison
Stevens in advance of the next commission meeting. He re-shared the key regulation points of
the ordinance. Commissioner Shuman raised a concern about requiring parkway permits as an
additional barrier to planting. Vice Chair Sandler suggested the idea of creating a sponsorship
program for corners and parkways to maintain plantings and keep them clean. Chair Quane
explained that he didn’t want to nitpick parts of the ordinance at this meeting, but rather to get
approval to tweak it and share it with the village. Liaison Stevens shared that village staff would
be meeting on the following Monday to begin work on the ordinance. Vice Chair Sandler said
that the chairs and Commissioner Lisiewicz could make final adjustments by email. The
commission agreed to proceed in this manner.

III. Old Business - Website Main Page Updates
Chair Quane shared updates to the website main page incorporating revisions from commission
members and explained that an education page would also be passed on to village
communications. Commissioner Rosenberg said that the goal was to get these changes
forwarded as soon as possible so that the pages were ready when the awards were announced.
Liaison Stevens said she would share everything and village staff would consider the best way
to design it, and that she couldn’t promise the awards page would be a separate page from the
main one. Commissioner Shuman suggested pruning text for mobile phone viewing, ensuring
that the most important information is easily accessible, suggesting that the web team should
be apprised of the commission’s priorities. Commissioner Rosenberg said that the priority was
to get the information to village communications, who would determine how to best present it,
and then follow-up meetings could be held with commission members and village
communications to clarify messaging if necessary.

IV. Approval of Minutes
Vice Chair Sandler motioned to approve January 12 meeting minutes, and Commissioner
Rosenberg seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.

V. Report, Beautification Education Subcommittee: Chair, Rachel
Rosenberg
Commissioner Rosenberg shared that the Education Subcommittee (ESC) had scheduled a
presentation at the Skokie Public Library on native planting on April 1 at 1pm, and that they
were in the process of scheduling another talk for September. Chair Quane said that he and
Liaison Stevens were still working on connecting with Lee Hansen at Emily Oaks Nature Center.
Liaison Stevens suggested setting up a table at the Skokie Farmer’s Market to hand out native
plants as another possibility. Commissioner Rosenberg said there was already another person
selling native flowers at the farmer’s market. It was decided to continue working to coordinate
with Emily Oaks.

VI. Report: Beautification New Initiatives Subcommittee: Valerie
Shuman
Commissioner Shuman shared that at the next meeting of the New Initiatives Subcommittee
(NISC), they would go through the Environmental Sustainability Plan items pertaining to the
Beautification Commission. Commissioner Shuman suggested looking at the tree canopy plan.
Chair Quane re-capped the previous meeting’s discussion on the tree canopy plan. He added
that the commission needed to start thinking about Arbor Day, and that perhaps the NISC could
give thought to that. Liaison Stevens said she would appreciate that if the group discussed
Arbor Day to make sure there was communication with her before barreling ahead and doing
stuff. She reminded everyone that the event would be held on Friday, April, the 28th at 10am at
Elizabeth Meyer School, and added that she had connected with the principal there. The
commission members would just need to come and support it. Commissioner Shuman asked if
there was a program in mind to help the tree planting goal happen. Liaison Stevens said that
she would share information on that during her report. Chair Quane said that it would be nice
to make the event a larger deal this year than in years past, and the commission or NISC would
continue to work on that.

VII. No Mow May Initiative, Bob Quane & Vernell Ellison-Smith
Chair Quane shared the history of No Mow May. Chair Ellison-Smith presented benefits and
potential concerns related to the event. She explained the primary benefit was to help
pollinators and lawns thrive during the early spring. She said that Glenview had started a similar
program the previous year with a March 1 sign-up. Participating residents would pick up signs
explaining their participation in the event. Chair Quane asked if there was a motion to move
forward a recommendation for Skokie implementing some version of a No Mow May program,
with dates and level of participation as well as lawn length to be determined. Commissioner
Levine motioned to move a recommendation forward, and Vice Chair Sandler seconded the
motion. The motion was approved.

VIII. Awards Program Recognition Event, General Discussion
Chair Quane shared an invitation that would be sent to the Beautification Awards winners with
an RSVP deadline. He asked whether invitations were typically followed up with calls or emails
to those who did not respond and Liaison Stevens no. She explained that most invitees
responded, and some who didn’t would still show up. Chair Quane expressed the hope that a
more formal invitation would encourage a higher response rate. Commissioner Shuman asked if
any time at the ceremony would be devoted to sharing information about the updates to the
awards. Chair Quane thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do that. It was
determined that a 2-minute update would be provided by Commissioner Shuman. Vice Chair
Sandler said that the village board likely would not add it to the meeting minutes but that it
could be done, and suggested that a bullet point handout should be given to the winners
regarding the updates. Liaison Stevens suggested going through all of the names rather than
just those present since there were fewer winners this year and that would ensure no one was
left out.

Vice Chair Sandler said that he would have name badges, so upon arrival commission members
should pick theirs up from him. It was requested that everyone be there at least 15 minutes
before the start, and anyone helping to set up the reception should arrive by 7:30 PM at the
latest. Chair Quane suggested getting a nice backdrop for photos behind the podium. Liaison
Stevens expressed skepticism at the amount of room within chambers for a backdrop. Chair
Quane said he thought it should fit. Chair Quane said there should also be a poster featuring
the awards logo for when attendees entered the multi-purpose room. Liaison Stevens asked for
help delivering framed certificates to non-attendees and several commissioners volunteered to
help.
IX. Report by Cathy Stevens, Staff Liaison
Liaison Stevens reported on what the village is doing for sustainability and what the
commission’s role is in it. She explained that she just wanted to make sure that no one was
duplicating effort. She said that under tree planting and increased canopy, her goal was to plant
no less than 200 trees in the spring. She shared that she was working on a new species list and
planting plan, and would be checking in with the commission for support. Chair Quane asked
how different 200 was from past efforts. Liaison Stevens said that in the last several years, she
had planted only 100 or 150 trees in spring. She explained that these were all public trees.
Commissioner Shuman asked if that meant the village had to convince 200 people to water
trees. Liaison Stevens responded yes, and that there was already stuff in place for that. She said
she has a letter she gives to people with reasons why the trees are beneficial and how to care
for them, etc. The eight-year plan would be to have the commission members as a core
volunteer group helping out with small tree care, hanging door hangers, etc.

Liaison Stevens said that the Beautification and Improvement Committee was specifically
mentioned in Skokie’s Environmental Sustainability Plan in an item on updating the awards to
incorporate native plants, which the commission has already done. The other action item in
which the commission is specifically named is on educating and incentivizing property owners
to plant native.

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Chair Quane and seconded by Commissioner
Shuman.

The meeting adjourned at 8:06 PM.

Meeting minutes submitted by Brooke Sprague.