Board of Health — Skokie, IL
Date: 2019-12-12

Skokie Board of Health
 Thursday, December 12, 2019

 Village Hall – 2nd floor Conference Rooms D & E
 7:00 p.m.

 AGENDA
 U




 I. Call to Order



 II. Approval of Minutes



 III. John T. Lockerby, MPA
 Skokie Village Manager



 IV. Personal Statement – Habib Abbasi, RPT



 V. Chair’s Report




 VI. Director’s Monthly Report



 VII. Old/New Items of Business
 • New State of Illinois Public Health Laboratory



 VIII. Next Meeting:

 January 9, 2020, 7:00 p.m.
 Village Hall 2nd Floor Conference Rooms D & E


 Timothy Youkhana, PharmD, MBA
 Assyrian Family Health Alliance




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Skokie Board of Health
 Meeting Minutes
 December 12, 2019

Present Excused Absent
Mr. Abbasi Ms. Urbanus Dr. Dave Dr. Vernon
Dr. Drachler Mr. Usman Dr. Gaynes Dr. Prince
Ms. Nickisch Duggan Ms. Moy-Wooten Ms. Haido
Mr. Pandya Dr. Williams Ms. Jones
Dr. Shim Dr. Youkhana Dr. Prince
Dr. Sood Ms. Varma
 Dr. Topouzian
 Dr. Werner

Susan Reisberg, Dr. Catherine Counard, Staff
Guest, John T. Lockerby, MPA, Skokie Village Manager

A. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Dr. Drachler, Chairman.


B. Approval of Board of Health Meeting Minutes, Materials Distributed: The minutes of the
 November 8th meeting were presented and approved.


C. Presentation: Mr. John Lockerby, Skokie Village Manager, began by complimenting the Board on
 its hard work and thanked them for being instrumental in supporting the “Skokie Welcomes
 Everyone” program. Highlights of his presentation included work that the Village is currently
 involved in as well as recent accomplishments. A copy of the presentation is attached.

 Downtown Revitalization:
 • The signature downtown project is 8000 Lincoln. It will be anchored by Shakou, a sushi and steak
 restaurant. There will be 150 apartments, space for a convenience store, and other retail
 establishments.

 • Homewood Suites by Hilton will occupy the former site of Sanford Brown College at 4930
 Oakton. The hotel will have 142 guest rooms, 1st floor commercial establishments and 10,000
 square feet of conference room space. Its location will be an attractive site for business functions.
 Annie’s restaurant and Walgreen’s will not be affected, and the project will be mutually
 beneficial to guests and these businesses.

 • Ignite Gaming, 8125 Skokie Blvd opened approximately one year ago. This is a second location
 for the owners, having reached capacity at their Chicago location. The facility offers gaming for
 individuals and groups. A large space for tournaments and special events is available.

 • The Illinois Science and Technology Park currently has more than 20 tenants and is home to 1700
 jobs. There is capacity for an additional 450 employees to occupy a newly refurbished 140,000 sf
 building, and the owners are diligently looking for interested businesses.

 • 8017-8025 Skokie Blvd Apartments are under construction and will have forty-two 2-bedroom/
 2-bath apartments and 2600 sf of retail space.
 Other accomplishments:
 • The Village of Skokie implemented a “Neighborhood Integrity Ordinance” in 2014. Its purpose is
 to increase communication between the Village of Skokie and landlords, who must attend an
 educational session by the Police, Health and Human Services, and Property Standards
 Departments. This requirement was initially resisted by the landlords but they have come to
 appreciate the information and offer input into the collaboration.

 • Village Hall reconstruction resulted in the co-location of the Health Department and Human
 Services Division. This has made for efficient utilization of services between the two disciplines.

 • The Resident Survey conducted every 3 years shows a high level of satisfaction with Village
 services and living conditions.

 • Community engagement is important to the Village. This past November the second Community
 Forum was held and 85 citizens attended to provide their input to Village officials. Three
 spaghetti dinners were held at firehouses over the course of the past several years to engage
 residents and connect and engage them with each other and with the Village.

 • The Village concentrates on sustainability, providing an excellent place to live and work, and
 unparalleled services, while being fiscally responsible to its residents and business owners.

 • The Village is working with neighboring municipalities to extend the portion of the Skokie
 Valley Trail. The ultimate goal is to have this multi-use path extend from Chicago to Wisconsin.

 • U.S. Census 2020! It is crucial to have maximum participation as funding and representation at
 State and Federal levels are dependent on an accurate population count.


 Discussion:
 • Dr. Youkhana queried the Village’s plans for improvement on Main and Oakton Streets to
 McCormick to improve business. Mr. Lockerby responded that streetscape improvements have
 been made to attract private businesses. The Village is exploring options that would attract
 businesses and Mr. Lockerby explained the balance among businesses, residential owners, school
 districts and the nature of various property parcels.

 • Ms. Wooten asked about the proliferation of vape shops and planned cannabis dispensaries. The
 Village cannot regulate the number of vape shops. The Village will be allowed to have two
 cannabis dispensaries. These will be stand-alone facilities with zero use allowed in the building.
 They will be located along major business corridors such as Old Orchard Rd and Touhy Ave. Tax
 revenue won’t be known until they are in operation and there will be safety infrastructure costs
 involved so the financial benefit to the Village is unknown at this point.

 • Dr. Drachler expressed concern about safety in cannabis facilities since they accept cash only.
 Mr. Lockerby replied that the companies who run these facilities must provide medical cannabis
 as well as recreational cannabis. These are large businesses that have the required knowledge to
 safely provide these services.

 • Dr. Drachler again asked Mr. Lockerby about recycling for businesses. The Village is pursuing
 this with careful consideration of business needs, costs, and space for containers, etc. Ms. Duggan
 talked about household recycling programs in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mr. Lockerby admitted

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 that areas on the East and West Coast are ahead of us in the recycling arena and said that we can
 do better. The Board chimed in with a lively discussion and shared multiple ideas with Mr.
 Lockerby who was very appreciative for the discussion and feedback.


 D. Personal Statement:
 • Mr. Abbasi, RPT gave a brief personal and professional statement. He lives by the maxim his
 father taught him “Any job is a privilege to serve the people. Don’t take it lightly.”

 • Dr. Drachler asked that Dr. Dave give a personal statement during the January 2020 meeting.


 E. Chair’s Report: Dr. Drachler thanked the Board of Health for their time and commitment. He
 reiterated that the Village of Skokie appreciates the efforts of the Board and extended Seasons
 Greetings and a Happy New Year to all.


 F. Director’s Monthly Report: (a copy is attached) Highlights included:
 • Erie Interfaith Open House
 Board of Health members Dr. Dave and Dr. Youkhana joined with a representative from
 MCC, Amal Mosun and Rabbi Avery Hart to speak about the health needs of our community
 during an interfaith open house at the Erie Evanston/Skokie Health Center.

 • SAHELI presentation: American Public Health Association Conference in Philadelphia
 SAHELI team members Fatima Saifi and Sue Reisberg gave a well-received presentation
 during the 2019 APHA conference. This was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the study.

 • Partnership with Advocate Health and American Cancer Society: HPV Vaccines
 The Health Department is honored to have been invited to join Advocate Health and the
 American Cancer Society to help decrease cancer rates from human papillomavirus (HPV).

 • Skokie Community Foundation Grant: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’S)
 The Skokie Community Foundation awarded $6000 to the Skokie Resilient Community
 Collaborative to be used for ACE interface training. Thirty individuals will be trained from
 Skokie organizations to provide education on ACE’s, trauma informed care and the science
 of resilience to members of the community.


 G. Old/New Items of Business
 • New State of Illinois Public Health Laboratory: Dr. Counard mentioned that $126 million
 has been allocated in the State budget to build a new public health laboratory. The Health
 Department worked with Economic Development and other Village staff to submit a proposal
 for a location in the Village. Having the State laboratory here would be a real asset to our
 community and Skokie is a great fit. More to come!


Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Next Board of Health Meeting:
Thursday, January 9, 2020, 7:00 p.m.
Village Hall – 2nd floor Conference Rooms D & E

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