Lincolnwood Village Board of Trustees March 7th meeting
by SEAN KEENEHAN
Village manager Timothy Wiberg announced at the March 7 meeting of the Lincolnwood Village Board of Trustees that the Lincolnwood Police Department consolidated with the Skokie Police Department for emergency dispatch services on March 1.
A state law went into effect last year with the goal of reducing by 50 percent the number of dispatch centers in the state by July 1 of this year by consolidating them and converting them to a "Next Generation" enhanced 911 system.
Lincolnwood maintained a 24-hour 911 dispatch center staffed by seven full-time dispatchers and one part-time dispatcher for more than 30 years. The dispatchers also performed prisoner checks, answered phone calls after hours, entered citations into the records management system and handled interactions with Police Department walk-ins.
In 2002 the village outsourced fire and paramedic calls to the Regional Emergency Dispatch Center, which dispatched the emergency calls to the Lincolnwood Fire Department. After consolidating dispatch with Skokie, the village has withdrawn from the RED Center and will eliminate its full-time and part-time dispatcher positions.
The village board approved an agreement for the Village of Skokie to provide emergency dispatch services for $6,529,504 on Nov. 1. Skokie will answer phone calls received from Lincolnwood 24 hours a day, and the Lincolnwood Police Department will answer administrative and non-emergency phone calls during business hours.
Lincolnwood has proposed hiring one full-time clerk and one part-time clerk to answer administrative phone calls weekdays.
Also at the meeting, the trustees voted to eliminate a Class A liquor license for the former site of Whistler’s restaurant location, 3420 W. Devon Ave., which closed in May of 2016. The vote reduces the number of Class A liquor licenses in the village from nine to eight.
The board also approved a $77,970.15 contract with Norvilla Construction for parking lot improvements at the Lowe’s Home Improvement store, 3601 W. Touhy Ave. The Economic Development Commission authorized $65,000 in Touhy-Lawndale Tax Increment Financing District funds to be used for the improvements, and the difference of $12,970.15 will be paid for by funds that were saved from other village projects.
Norvilla will regrade the south driveway that faces Central Park Avenue and remove the right-in, right-out island on Lawndale Avenue. Construction is expected to begin in April.
The trustees also approved a contract for $858,441 with Nettle Creek Nursery for improvements to street medians on Lincoln Avenue and waived competitive bidding and approved a $35,000 contract with Burke Engineering for construction and engineering services.
Nettle Creek Nursery submitted the lowest bid for the project, which is $27,975 lower than the village engineer’s estimate and $113,941 more than the project budget. The project includes the installation of raised beds with perennial landscaping, irrigation and brick edging.
Due to the potential development of the property at the northwest corner of Lincoln and Touhy avenues, village staff decided to remove the street medians north of Kostner from the project.
The board also approved a pledge of $75,000 in local funds in an application for a $250,000 grant from the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highway’s "Invest in Cook" program for improvements to the intersection of Touhy and Cicero avenues. The village engineer recommended that the village contribute a 30 percent local match for the project, and village staff will work with the Illinois Department of Transportation to assure that a portion of the local match is covered by state funds.
The village board paid its respects to 48-year resident Paul Gordon, who died on March 1 from health complications at the age of 88. Mayor Gerald Turry was absent from the meeting, but he joined the meeting by telephone and discussed Gordon’s contributions to the village.
Gordon was a World War II veteran who served as platoon sergeant in the 88th Infantry Division who participated on numerous village boards and committees. Turry said that Gordon "understood the issues of Lincolnwood’s underground combined sewers" and often "offered tips about the impacts of flooding and how to resolve it."
