Listen to the Chi-Lites...

Decorum being what it is, a Village Board meeting is no place to sing.

Decorum being what it is, I have seen far worse at Village Board meetings.

But I'll pass on singing. Let's put it this way, I swear every time I sing the national anthem, Homeland Security gets nervous.

However, the Aug. 8 Village Board meeting almost gave me a chance to break decorum.  As I listened to the incessant rant by the rep from Commonwealth Edison, two melodies went through my head.

The first, for those of you in the AARP generation, was "electricity cost less today you know, than it did 25 years ago – tweet, tweet Little Bill." Yes, that was an ad for Com Ed.

That was not, however, the message Com Ed was trying to deliver at the Aug. 8 Board Meeting.  It was more or less, have pity on us...it was a bad storm; we need a newer grid…

And this highly skilled Com Ed spokesman made it very clear that “…power outages are very frustrating…”

I hope this guy doesn’t sign on as Carlos Zambrano’s PR guy.

To no surprise, the Board did not want to hear excuses.

Board President Jeff Braiman made it clear that he understood the magnitude of the problem, but the issue was the response time, or lack of, by Com Ed.  Statistically, they tried to plead their case – 600 poles were damages and it required 1,000 employees, many from outside their jurisdiction, to handle the situation.

Yes, the numbers were staggering, but so were their excuses.  Try as they may, however, there was not going to be any sympathy from the Board, especially Jeff Berman who came armed with a just a few words for Com ed.

Berman made it clear that the “Need for self-serving rhetoric is past…the community wants and needs answers to specific questions.”

Who can argue?

While Com Ed bemoaned what it needed, Berman made it clear that they to focus on what they have.  “Your infrastructure is not well constructed or well maintained…(and you’re) now incapable of (having an effective) delivery system.

Berman said the current system is “Repaired with duct tape” and that “Com Ed responds to crisis in its own way.”

Berman was not going to hear any excuses, either.  “I cannot accept Com Ed’s comment that smart grid is the answer…(it) would not have prevented 90 percent of the interruptions.”

So what’s Com Ed’s answer – lobby the legislators.  State Rep. Sid Mathias and Carol Sente attended the Village Board meeting and voiced the obligatory concern.  Their sentiments were apparently echoed by politicos attending a meeting in Highland Park on Tuesday about the outages and lack of response.  This one, however, grabbed the TV cameras.

The rhetoric appeared to be the same – complaints about long delays and poor communication about when service would be restored.

So where does that put us?  No where really.  Com Ed seems oblivious to the fact that besides homeowner inconveniences, their lackluster response impacted businesses and, as Board Member Beverly Sussman noted, persons with medical issues -- what was their recourse?

Braiman said what’s needed is to “challenge the lawmakers... it’s not a GOP or democrat issue – it’s a citizen issue.. which needs a solution.”

But from where? Com Ed? 

Comcast was there, but the reality is this – if they are able to repair their system, but there’s no power, what good is it?

The Chi-Lites

AT&T also had a rep there – why is beyond me – but they claimed they get their service back in 24 hours.  But again, no power, what good does it do?

Which brought up the second song going through my heard. It was by the Chi-Lites who once sang “For Gods sake, you got to give more power to the people.”

How can you argue with that?

But the bottom line is this -- the ball remains solely in Com Ed’s court.

If nothing else, they should go back to their old slogan… “Tweet, tweet little Bill.”

After all, their service is for the birds.

Nondescript? Hardly

From the looks of things, agenda item No. 9 was just another presentation to the Village Board. All it said was "Presentation of American Flag to Buffalo Grove Fire Department".

Ho-hum, how nondescript can you get.  Presentations to the Village Board are a dime a dozen.  But when Fire Chief Terry Vavra and other officers are in their dress uniforms and there's a U.S. Marine present, you get the sense that it's anything but nondescript.

Moved to the top agenda, Vavra introduced a color guard that brought the flag, carried by Sgt. Adam Chapman, of Hanover Park, to the front of the council chambers.

 
And that's when the story unfolded.  The flag carried by Chapman flew above Base Defense Operation Center, 3^rd Battalion 25^th Marines Forward, Camp Leatherneck, in the Helman Province of Afghanistan and was flown in tribute to Chapman's uncles, Jim and Kevin Hauber both of whom are Buffalo Grove Firefighter Paramedics

The intent was simple; Chapman wanted to honor a fire fighter and thought his uncles would be perfect honorees.

Unfortunately, the presentation was more somber than expected because of the deaths of 30 U.S. troops on Saturday.

The flag will be on display at the village’s main fire station on Deerfield Parkway.  Also, as a tribute to American troops, Buffalo Grove fire fighters will be wearing red shirts this Friday.

It’s the flag, however, that’s important to Vavra.

“To look at and hold this flag will send chills down your spine. I don’t know why…it just does,” he said.

Maybe it’s not the flag, but what it stands for.

A whole ..... of dimes?

I’m beginning to think the Village Board does not always see an opportunity to boost the village’s bank account.

            The proposed reconstruction and enhancement of Wieland Road, which has all the sex appeal of the Mathon Expressway in Waukegan or the Henry Maier Bridge to nowhere in Milwaukee, has potential for the village. 

Governor William J. Lepetomane

            While the road needs enhancements and improvements, with its proposed multilane configuration and proposed extension, the village could come take a page from Governor William J. Lepetomane and have its very own tollway.  Yes, a tollway.

            There are several unique opportunities associated with this potential project.  Take for example:

·        Funding – Just call the Illinois Tollway Authority – it would love to have yet another project on the books.  Just tell ‘em it would provide access to an extended Rt. 53, another useless project, and would generate more revenue, which would help it pay for the Mecca the authority call a headquarters.  With the recent revelation that the tollway authority wants to raise tolls – another source of revenue would just add more change to its accounts.

·        Naming rights – Rather than Weiland Road, let’s jazz it up and name it after a village luminary – look at the past Board members and community personalities who would be thrilled to have a road named after them.  Maybe the village could get a corporate sponsor to generate revenue -- the possibilities are endless.

·        It could generate jobs – the village could have its own toll collectors.

·        It would save energy – Instead of street lighting, the village could give the OK to a boost in power of the recently approved sign at the Twin Rinks ice skating facility.

Of course, a tollway could pose problems for residents and students attending Aptakisic Junior High School.  But no doubt the impact of a multilane road on both groups has already been addressed.

            It has, hasn’t it?

See spot, see spot's zone...

            I’m not sure why I decided to look at the details of the agenda before the June 20 Village Board meeting. A cursory glance revealed a lot of what appeared to routine matters with nothing earth shaking.  I have learned, however, never to take anything per granted.

            So when I saw an item under new business regarding a proposed apartment complex at Busch and Deerfield parkways, I figured, what the heck, I’d take a look after it.

            Aside from having an urge to disagree or correct a Village Board member on some goofy error, I really have not had a desire to speak at a Village Board meeting. 

            Any thoughts I had about speaking at a Board meeting changed after looking over the proposal by “Realtelligence LLC” that calls for 208 units distributed in two 3-story buildings of 36 units and an 8-story building with 136 units.  I thought briefly – that’s an awfully small parcel for such a large complex.  The parcel, by the way, is on the curve just east of the Metra tracks on Deerfield Parkway – the intersection the backs up during both the morning and afternoon rush hours.

            The other factor that came to play for my curiosity is the “need” for an eight-story building.  It’s similar to a residential building at Riverwalk Place.  At first I thought it was no big deal because they’re both eight stories.  But what amazed me request for a variance to have an approved height of nearly double that current limit of 45 feet.  So why does Riverwalk get to have higher buildings?  According to village sources, it is because the development was approved in the B-3 Planned Business Center District. There is no height limit to the buildings within the district.  However, the site plan for the Realtelligence plan requires planned unit development (best known as a PUD) approval so a number of factors are reviewed including but not limited to building height, set-back, traffic, etc.  In essence, what they want is spot zoning. 

            I was not sure what the developers would say at the meeting, or how the Village Board would respond.  I was, however, ready to respond to this seemingly effort at spot zoning.

            The presentation by Realtelligence was one for the books.  In addition to a request for a height variance, they also wanted a reduction in the number of parking spaces because, and as Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up, they envision this develop as being one where people would walk to places and would need a car.  That simply stunned me because given the location of the property, residents could enjoy a leisurely walk to two strip centers and the Metra station?  News flash, Buffalo Grove is not Oak Park or Evanston which are places with a traditional downtown district within walking distance of a variety of multi- and single-family housing.

            In addition to a height variance, they also want a zoning change from industrial to planned unit development because Realtelligence’s consultant does not think the site works well for industrial or mixed use for commercial and residential as a village plan indicates is feasible.  Both recommendations don’t surprise me; developers often take stand that they know more than village planners.

            The folks from Realtelligence, who did not display much “telligence”, also did not seem to take into consideration that a height variance could be impacted by the Chicago Executive Airport (formerly known as Palwaukee Airport).  I was, in fact still am, amazed, that a developer proposing a complex of this nature would be clueless to the proximity of the state’s busiest general aviation airport to their project.

            And then there’s the issue of the impact on local schools, particularly District 102.  No problem, the Realtelligence guys said – they only anticipate 12, count ‘em 12, kids to live the complex.  I’m still wondering how they plan to enforce that – maybe they’ll offer a discount with every sterilization.

            The bottom line in my mind is this – this proposal is little more than an effort to railroad an ill thought project through the village, which seemed to be the consensus of the Board, which saved me from addressing the Board.

            It has not, however, stopped me from promoting truth in advertising.  Based on what I saw and read Realtelligence needs to change its name.

How about Realcon?

Joe Friday, eat your heart out...

It’s not the stuff Dragnet was made of -- somehow Chief Steve Balinski doesn’t strike as Officer Joe Friday. 

But the police reports yield some problems in the land of the big animals.  For example, a resident reported “...that she had an argument with her live in boyfriend and he left and has not returned…”  It’s not the stuff that Stabler and Benson deal with on a regular basis, if at all.

The village does, to my surprise, have its own special unit.  It’s not SVU or SUV, CI, CSI, or NCIS.

It’s the truck enforcement unit.  Really.

I happened to pull up behind the truck enforcement vehicle recently and was amazed – absolute amazed – that the village had such a unit.

Undaunted, I contacted Chief Balinski (who I think resembles Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein) about the unit.

It’s a big deal.  We’re talking crackdown on overweight trucks, coordination of “between developers, trucking companies and the village.”  Huh?  According to Commander Steve Husak of the BGPD, the purpose here is to make sure there is coordinated “truck routing in and out of commercial job sites.”

Truckers beware... 

Husak also informed me that “This unit issues permits for overweight and oversize vehicles using Village maintained highways. These officers respond to complaints from residents about truck specific problems and they check trucks for safety and driver’s license classification violations”

The unit, Husak noted, also checks for overweight trucks.  How?  The village does not have truck weight checkpoints (like the ones on state road that never seem to be open).  Rest assured Buffalo Grovians; the TEU is equipped with portable scales and will, noted Husak, weigh suspected overweight trucks on site.

So how do you suspect an overweight truck?  It’s probably difficult unless it’s wearing Spandex, which reveals everything (there ought to be a law banning Spandex when someone’s weight exceeds AMA, FDA, CIA standards…but that’s a topic for another day).  Husak noted that the state has specific guidelines for trucks.  In a nutshell, maximum weight for large trucks is 80,000 pounds, which is a combined weight for truck and load.  So if you see a truck that needs an axle tuck, or one that’s avoiding whipped cream with its latte, it may be an indication that it’s fighting the battle of the bulge.

Of course, some trucks can skirt the issue.  Ever see a garbage truck?  Husak agrees.  “garbage trucks in general need to comply with the weight restrictions, which can be difficult for the drivers to manage as they collect refuse along their routes. Wet garbage weighs more than dry.”

So, as Mr. Portokalos: would say, there you go.

What’s needed know is a village wide S.O.S – Save Our Streets.  Residents can do this by drying their garbage.  This can be an easy task by eating only dry food.  Cereal will work fine; I’m not so sure about pasta.  It’s a small thing, but it will help the police department by making life easier for the TEU.

Who knows, before long we may see the CPU on the street, a move that could net the village thousands of dollars.

CPU?  That could be the next version of Law and Order.  “In the war on crime, telephone crimes are considered especially annoying.  In Buffalo Grove, the dedicated professionals who investigate these crimes are member of an elite squad know as the Cell Phone Unit – these are there stories.”

Mow 'em down?

Ever go to the village's web site?

It proclaims that "Everyone here is family...everyone here is welcome!"

Admit it, there may have been times when you wanted to put yourself up for adoption or wanted to run away from the family.

Yep, stuff happens.

I'm not sure how I came across this link on the web site, but it's one of those tidbits of information that there can be some community in community service.

If you look under the “residents” tab, there’s a link to the “Shovel and Lawn Care Referral” program.

The what?

According to the village:

“..this program is for residents who need assistance with shoveling and/or lawn care and those individuals in the community who are willing to offer an extra hand. Volunteers for this program can sign up by filling out the form designated for them below. The information on the form will be used to notify residents of the availability of volunteers and their contact information. Residents who are interested in this program must fill out a form as well and return it to the Office of the Village Manager. The information residents provide will be used as a contact reference to interested volunteers looking for work…”

I’m thinking – how cool is that?  My guess is it’s for persons with disabilities or the elderly – not for someone whose kid doesn’t want to tear himself away from the plasma TV.

The village is not only for people who need assistance, but volunteers – have a bored student at home this summer?  This could be a perfect opportunity for him or her to do some community service as well as get some exercise.

I’m also thinking, a dangerous thing I know, that maybe the Village Board could get involved.  Who knows, given some of the Board meetings I’ve attended they’d be great at dealing with crab grass.

There is one problem, however.  In the event we hit a dry spell, don’t pray for rain.  You’d only rile up Rob Sherman.

For details on this program, call 847-459-2525.

A bounce on the wild side?

At first glance, I thought it would be routine.  

I mean, really, how much discussion could there be about a place with a lot of trampolines?

Answer?  A lot.

Remember, folks, this is Buffalo Grove where nothing is left unturned.  I recall covering a village board meeting a number of years ago when the Board drilled representatives from Baker’s Square about their sign.  In the long run, they got their sign – it just didn’t help their food at all.

So imagine the concern the Village Board had when it was revealed that an operation specializing in trampolines wants to open in the village.  We’re not talking a trampoline or two; we’re talking about a facility with more than 121,000 square feet of space.  That’s a lot of bounce.  In fact, according to Xtreme trampoline’s web site, it offers “Xtreme Trampolines is large warehouse filled with commercial grade trampolines.   There are 5 separate trampoline courts, including a dodgeball court and a giant foam pit.  Customers pay by the hour to have a ton of fun!” 

I’m not sure the board is worried about Dodgeball (yes, it’s upper case and a trademark) or the highly popular “giant foam pit”, the Board’s main concern appears to be the way Xtreme Trampoline administers its specialty – jumping and flipping by generally untrained participants.  To no surprise, the village, as it generally does, had the public service agencies check on police and fire activity at Xtreme Trampolines’ current Carol Stream location.

Rest assured, it does not seem to be attracting undesirables as there does not seem to be much, if any, police activity.  The Fire Department found, however, that Xtreme Trampolines averages 3.4 ambulance calls a month, of which 75 percent (2.5) require advanced life support.  Fire Department representatives expressed concern about excessive time being used responding to emergency medical calls at Xtreme Trampolines.  Each call, it as noted, takes an average of two hours.  The Fire Department’s report also noted that the 3.4 ambulance calls in Carol Stream are by that village’s fire department.  There are additional medical calls handled by private ambulance companies based on the need by Xtreme Trampoline staff.

The ever-popular foam pit

At issue here is the nature of the injuries, which can range from sprained ankles to head injuries.  Granted, Xtreme Trampolines requires participants to sign a waiver (legal papers that absolve the business from anything when someone acts like a duck head), but that does not reduce the possibility of someone untrained in trampoline use trying some that they should not be trying.

Unreasonable?  A colleague of mine, who happens to be a gymnastics coach, says the danger of people injuring themselves on trampolines is very real – especially when they try to do flips.

So once again, the village is faced with scrutinizing a business that wants to enter the village.  To no surprise, there were a lot of questions at the June 6 Board meeting.  That is the nature of the village of Buffalo Grove, which has for years, not let any business in for the sake of generating tax dollars.

Which, if you think about it, may be a good thing because imagine what would happen if the Board approved Xtreme Trampolines and its owners put in a hockey rink?

Bounced checks