Beautification and Improvement Commission — Skokie, IL
Date: 2026-03-25

Village of Skokie Beautification and Improvement Commission
 Meeting Agenda
 March 25, 2026 from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
 Skokie Library Business & Community Center


 I. Approve March Minutes

 II. Task Tracker Review

 III. Task Group Updates & Discussion, including

 a. April Library Speaker
 b. Gardenwalk
 c. Awards Criteria
 d. Marketing

 IV. Report (optional) by Cathy Stevens, Assistant Director, Public Works

 V. Report (optional), Trustee Liaison

 VI. Old Business

 VII. New Business

 VIII. Public Comment

 IX. Adjournment


NOTE:

If you have an agenda item you would like to have considered for a future meeting, please let
me know!

Village of Skokie Beau�ﬁca�on and Improvement Commission

Mee�ng Minutes

March 25, 2026, 6:30 PM

Members present: Katy Darr, Ross Del Rosario, Vernell Ellison-Smith, Mike Madalinski, Brandon
Munden, Lucas Reczek, Rachel Rosenberg, Ron Schrag, Gary Schwarz, Tina Sevilla Velasco,
Valerie Shuman

There was a Quorum.

The mee�ng began at 6:34 PM

 I. Approval of the March 4, 2026 Minutes

Commissioner Darr made a mo�on to approve the March 4th Minutes, seconded by
Commissioner Rosenberg. Approved by voice vote.

 II. Task Tracker Review

The Commission reviewed upcoming events which needed decisions to be made at this
mee�ng.

Commissioner Darr suggested to postpone deciding on a date for the Spring Weeding event
un�l the May mee�ng, ci�ng previous experience of when weeding would be most eﬀec�ve. No
objec�ons were noted from the rest of the Commission.

 III. Task Group Updates & Discussion

The Commission received updates from each Task Lead and Par�cipants on upcoming events
and ini�a�ves:

April Library Speaker

 • Forester Stevens conﬁrmed the Village Marke�ng team will send a promo�onal email for
 the event to B&I subscribers this week.
 • Commissioner Rosenberg shared that the Library received 65 registra�ons so far, and
 asked Commissioners to share the promo�onal ﬂyer through their social media and with
 friends and family.
 • Commissioner Rosenberg will also coordinate with the Library to get a table at the event
 for check-in, ﬂyers, and email sign-ups
 • Commissioner Reczek will create a link to a JotForm for email sign-ups

Arbor Day
 • Forester Stevens conﬁrmed the tree plan�ngs at Elizabeth Meyer school on April 24th, at
 1:15pm
 • Commissioner Reczek will purchase books to donate to the school library.

Festival of Cultures

 • Commissioner Del Rosario will pick up supplies from Public Works prior to the event
 • Forester Stevens might have le�over trees for poten�al giveaways, in addi�on to plugs
 from Commissioner Seville-Velasco
 • A discussion followed about the poten�al of hos�ng a raﬄe instead of, or in addi�on to,
 plant giveaways. The task group will make a ﬁnal decision and present a plan at the next
 mee�ng.

Corporate Outreach

 • Chair Shuman shared that Commissioner Roy volunteered to help with reaching out to
 businesses and a Village summer intern will be tasked with surveying businesses

Garden Walk

 • Commissioner Darr announced that 3 “Best Of” winners have agreed to par�cipate. The
 task group will reach out to the next 5 Award Winners, and so on, un�l enough
 par�cipants are conﬁrmed.
 • Flyers, Pamphlets, and a Map will be created a�er the list of par�cipants is ﬁnalized
 o Commissioner Schrag volunteered to help with design
 o Save The Date ﬂyers will be made available at the April Library Speaker Event
 • The Commission will reach out to Go Green Skokie about collabora�ng with their group

Fourth of July Parade

 • Commissioner Schwarz provided an es�mated budget of $500-$750 for Parade supplies,
 to be ﬁnalized at a later date.
 • Chair Shuman shared a request from Mayor Tennes to each Village Commission to
 provide 2 volunteers to help with the parade logis�cs prior to and during the Parade.
 Any interested Commissioner should contact Chair Shuman.
 o Commissioner Madalinski volunteered

Marketing

 • Chair Shuman provided a summary of a Marke�ng plan created by Commissioner Reczek
 • Next step is to talk to the Village Marke�ng team to understand Marke�ng rules
Awards Judging

 • Commissioner Darr provided the latest proposed changes to the Judging Criteria based
 on feedback previously provided by other Commissioners:
 o Commissioner Schrag oﬀered some seman�c changes to the criteria
 o A clariﬁca�on was made that hardscaping, while now incorporated into the
 Design category of the judging criteria, is not a ﬁrm requirement for scoring
 o Commissioner Rosenberg made a mo�on to approve the changes to the criteria,
 seconded by Commissioner Munden. Approved by voice vote.
 • Proposed changes to the Entry Form were also presented by Commissioner Darr:
 o A discussion ensued about whether to limit the number of photos to be
 submited per entry, to avoid overwhelming judges. The Commission decided on
 limi�ng entries to 5 photos
 o Commissioner Rosenberg made a mo�on to approve the changes to the form.
 Commissioner Schwarz seconded. Approved by voice vote.

 IV. Report by Cathy Stevens, Assistant Director, Public Works

Forester Stevens reiterated the request from the Mayor for Commission volunteers to help with
Parade logis�cs

 V. Report from Trustee Liaison

The Trustee Liaison was not present

 VI. Old Business

None

 VII. New Business

None

 VIII. Public Comment

None

 IX. Adjournment

Commissioner Schrag made a mo�on to adjourn, seconded by Commissioner Darr. The mee�ng
ended at 7:45 PM.
Submited by: Commissioner Lucas Reczek