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Gulf Coast Tree Effort

From April 24 to May 4 Paul D'Agostino, superintendent of the Evanston Parks/Forestry Division, joined seven colleagues from the Society of Municipal Arborists (SMA) to assess the risk or viability of survivor trees in the hurricanes' wake.

Mr. D'Agostino and his fellow volunteers spent nights in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailers and days pounding the pavement of towns hard hit by last fall's storms. The 6:05 a.m. roar of the day's first plane served as their alarm clock, rousing them from their "hotels" adjacent to the New Orleans airport in the town of Kenner.

Not most people's idea of a holiday, the trip, for which Mr. D'Agostino used his personal vacation days, was exactly what he says he had hoped for – a chance to "do more than send money" to communities devastated by the storms.

The group of arborists, he says, "pretty much covered the continent," hailing from small towns near Vancouver, Toronto and New Brunswick, Canada; White Plains, N.Y.; Falls Church, Va.; Los Angeles; and Little Rock, Ark.

The Louisiana communities in which they worked – Mandeville, Covington, Metairie and Lake Vista, and a future nature center near Slidell – were ready for and interested in the tree assessment, says Mr. D'Agostino.

Plenty of other places, still swamped with debris, did not qualify.

After an introduction to and overview of the program, the volunteers spent their first workday touring New Orleans' ninth ward and Lakeview district. Despite all the media coverage of flood and hurricane damage to these hard-hit neighborhoods, Mr. D'Agostino was taken aback. Television and newspapers pictures do not come close to describing the devastation, he says, adding, "In some areas no one is left."

The following day the volunteers headed north to Mandeville and their work: rapid tree assessment. With no time to linger, they concerned themselves with "looking at hazardous conditions affecting the public right-of-way" – dead or injured trees threatening people on the town's streets, sidewalks and parks - says Mr. D'Agostino.

Armed with red and white spray paints, the arborists fanned out in pairs. They operated with a code: two red dots for high-priority removal (take the whole tree out in a few days or weeks); one red dot for low-priority removal (tree needs to be cut down eventually); two white dots for high priority pruning; one white dot for low-priority pruning.

Though the thermometer registered in the 80s, Mr. D'Agostino admits the high humidity made it feel hotter. Plus, he says, "I walked a lot of miles." With many streets too narrow to accommodate a parked car, he estimates the arborists spent 80 percent of their time on foot. They located damaged trees, then plotted them on a map using donated hand-held global positioning systems. City workers or the Army Corps of Engineers will follow up, using the maps to formulate a plan of action.

Along the way the arborists observed the effects of wind, salt-water flooding and salt spray from Lake Ponchartrain. Some kinds of trees, says Mr. D'Agostino, died after sitting in salt water for even one day – among them the prized Southern magnolias, with their dinner-plate-sized blooms. Damage on one city block differed from the next, partly because tornadoes embedded in the hurricane wreaked uneven harm.

Proceeding to Covington, to the New Orleans suburb of Metairie and then to the planned community of Lake Vista on Lake Ponchartrain, the group found the local people mostly friendly and full of stories, says Mr. D'Agostino.

But he commented on their widespread "attitude" about the government in general and its inability to deal with the hurricane crisis in particular. Many folks, he says, are "just tired – of living in trailers, of taking twice as long to drive somewhere," of waiting for nonfunctioning traffic lights.

On Friday the volunteers piled into two cars and drove east to Mississippi, which bore the brunt of Katrina's winds as New Orleans did its water. The live oaks were the sole survivors in this desolate land of vacant streets and concrete slabs.

On the drive back the group came upon the crazy quilt that is New Orleans at night, its brightly lit and pitch-dark patches pieced in random fashion. The emptiness of some districts highlight what Mr. D'Agostino sees as the most pressing problem facing the Gulf Coast: creating housing so the people who left can return.

In New Orleans' lower ninth ward, he says, nothing is left at all of the houses floodwaters swept away. Elsewhere, he says, depopulated communities function erratically. Many restaurants and stores, for example, operate on a limited schedule, and some malls are closed for lack of workers.

He also saw signs of vigor. Habitat for Humanity had completed many houses and was at work building more, the homes' future occupants living in FEMA trailers in their prospective front yards. Scrap collectors cruised the ruined streets, picking up discarded appliances they could sell for profit while relieving people of their trash.

The last day, says Mr. D'Agostino, the arborists found a symbol of survival in Metairie - a live oak 95 inches in diameter. Out of respect for its age – perhaps more than 200 years – city staff had allowed a spreading limb to extend over the street. Rather than prune it, they had posted a "Caution: 9-Foot Clearance" sign.

All eight volunteers climbed into the crotch of the tree for photos before heading back to their own urban forests. Mr. D'Agostino returned home "a little discouraged, a little hopeful" about the post-hurricane situation, he says, explaining, "they are making progress, but there's a long way to go."

But he is not ambivalent about what the chance to lend his expertise, to work with other professionals and to assist in a plan to rebuild coastal urban forests meant to him. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," he says.

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Farmer's Market

In the late 1800s, the first Tuesday and third Thursday of each month was market day in our neck of the woods. Truck farmers from Morton Grove, Tessville (Lincolnwood), Dutchman's Point (Niles), Niles Center (Skokie) and miles beyond gathered in Niles Center at the intersection of Lincoln and Oakton north to St. Peter's Catholic Church, bringing vegetables and livestock, pigs and poultry. Horses lamed on Chicago's cobbled pavements were sold to work the soft soil of the fields. Gypsies from caravans camped at the edge of town mingled with the crowd, offering to tell fortunes. City merchants brought their wares to the rural world. Skokie's September 1958 Villager recalled, "Farmer, merchant, beggerman, thief; the last two species being sufficiently numerous to require extra police protection."

Visiting Evanston's farmers market today and choosing from the colorful cornucopia of fruits, vegetables, flowers and other goodies, we city folk may sample a firm, ripe tomato and discuss the weather, proper storage and recipes with the friendly families who grow the variety of fresh-picked produce. When are freestone peaches in season? Which apples are best for pies? Can I gather blueberries and raspberries year-round from my freezer? No middle-man or plastic-wrapped, well-traveled carrots here. The sights, sounds and sweet aromas remind me of Baltimore's Lexington Street market, where, as a child, I tagged along with my mother as she shopped at her favorite stalls. Farmers markets suture our disconnection between country and city.

In 1974 Harriet Friedlander was looking around for a gig; not a solo one-night stand but a project of consequence. As a housewife, she had friends and time. With her avid taste for fresh produce and a deep appreciation for rural living, she found her fresh idea in an article about farmers markets in the October 1974 issue of "Organic Gardening." Her motto became "If you want to be a customer at a farmers market, start one." The mid-1970s were an auspicious time for new projects. Concern about insurance had not yet attained the smothering influence of today, and Evanston's 18-member City Council supported innovative community ideas.

Ms. Freidlander invited a "bunch of women friends and neighbors" to a meeting at her house, and Blair Grumman, Margot Ladwig, Susan Kiphart and Mildred Wentink joined her as the market's Founding Mothers. They realized, however, that they did not know a thing about how a farmers market worked, let alone any farmers. Undeterred, they set about a self-education process. Each took an area to investigate and share results.

They struck paydirt when the market master in Ann Arbor, a woman, shared that city's regulations and an ordinance that seemed to be an appropriate model for Evanston.

"The whole thing was a pleasure from the get go," says Harriet. Instead of raising barriers, City Council members, including their alderman Adele Neems, asked how they could help. In late March, the "Ad Hoc Committee for an Evanston Farmers' Market" presented detailed plans to the City Council's Administration and Public Works Committee. The committee unanimously endorsed the concept and instructed staff to examine market costs and feasibility. On May 2, staff recommended establishing a downtown Saturday market to run June 1 through October 30. Farmers' seasonal fees would be $75. The City Council quickly voted, "Yes."In early June, Mayor Edgar Vanneman appointed Friedlander, Grumman, Ladwig, Ruth Smalley of the Chamber of Commerce and Thomas Forman, a local architect to a Farmers' Market Commission. The City Manager's office was responsible for crafting the ordinance and regulations and appointing a market master. The ordinance required that items for sale be "raised or prepared by the grower or producer, members of his family or by persons in his employ. Sale of any type of meat, fish or poultry, refrigerated dairy product and baked goods" was prohibited. General Regulation A-4 prohibited a farmer from attracting "attention to his goods by hawking or crying out." The master's duties would be to review applications, issue permits, collect fees, assign spaces, establish a bookkeeping system, maintain cleanliness and enforce market rules.

The next challenge was to find farmers and generate publicity. Harriet mused, "How do suburban ladies find farmers?" The group sent news releases to rural areas in Illinois and adjoining states, the Chicago Tribune, the Cook County Truck Gardeners and Farmers Association, and rural radio stations. They contacted the Garden Council of Evanston and the University of Illinois Extension Service. Letters informed farmers that Evanston's market would serve the entire North Shore and north side of Chicago.

The market was set to open on July 12, 1975, barely a nine-month gestation period. Seven farmers applied for stalls, betting that the street would be more profitable than farm stands. The Chamber of Commerce was the clearinghouse for applications. The site was on Benson, between Clark and Emerson. Customer parking was, and remains, a primary consideration for location. Just before opening, they made and received great publicity, plastering posters all over town and appearing on the cover of the Evanston Review.

On opening day, it was sprinkling. Farmers parked their trucks and put tables out in front. Commission members painted a white sign to barricade the road. People came and bought the produce. Enthusiasm and sales escalated. One farmer who had arrived with a truck packed floor to ceiling sold out, returned to Des Plaines, refilled his truck, and sold out again. Quoting Harriet, "It was exciting, we were pleased with ourselves, the feeling on the street was good, we were happy, the customers were happy. As small as it was, everyone felt successful."

It didn't take very long before this little market grew bigger, with 24 farmers and national publicity by the end of the season.

Since 1975, regulations and locations have changed. Meat and baked goods are allowed. To the special delight of children, musicians show up, adding to the market's liveliness. Neighboring communities have established their own markets. Often, farmers sell at several markets throughout the week. Problems showed up when some "farmers" brought merchandise they purchased in Chicago. Some "customers" try to cheat farmers by claiming they have paid for goods. Last summer I witnessed a customer's distress when she discovered that her legitimately-bought raspberries had disappeared from her cart.

Nonetheless, the market fulfills another of Harriet's basic ideals: helping farmers preserve their rural way of life. Local farmers have a reliable outlet for their produce, selling directly on the street rather than to wholesalers who pay less. One year, farmers' feedback revealed that the market had actually saved their livelihoods. Steady market sales compensated for an early autumn frost that devastated late crops.

The market is a confluence of producers and consumers as well as a gathering place for the community. Buyers establish loyal relationships with farmers and often head to favorite stalls for particular items. Because the market has been in existence for over a quarter of a century, buyers have watched young children helpers grow up and become adults. Friends meet friends, and strangers become friends.

Would it be summer in Evanston without a farmers' market?

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Major Increase in Capital Spending Proposed

The biggest single increase would be for construction and repair of public buildings. That fund goes from $1.5 to $6.2 million, mainly to pay for replacing Fire Station #5 on Central Street in northwest Evanston.

The budget proposes spending $18.4 million on continuing improvements to the City's water and sewer system, up from $14.7 million this year.

The budget also creates a new $2.7 million category of Economic Development expenses for downtown streetscape improvements.

Spending on projects to update the City's parks would more than double, to $1.9 million. Other major increases include a $810,000 first-year installment on a 10-year plan to improve the emergency telephone system. The City would spend $10.6 million on street and alley projects and new City vehicles, up 6.5 percent from last year. Spending on new computers and other information technology needs would increase 8.9 percent, to $1.1 million.

The budget outlines more tentative plans for spending an average of $23.5 million in each of the following four years and identifies $137 million in additional capital improvements on the City's wish list for further down the road. The staff proposal calls for issuing $10 million in general obligation bonds each year to fund part of the capital improvement budget, with the rest coming from a variety of other budget accounts as well as federal and state grants.

The Council heard last night from advocates of public arts programs who suggested devoting 1 percent of all capital fund spending to public art, and from Mark Metz of the Playground and Recreation Board, who said the City now upgrades its playground facilities on average only once every 18 years. He said upgraded parks are important to keeping neighborhoods vibrant and he suggested moving toward a 12-year interval for playground upgrades.

Alderman Melissa Wynne, 3rd Ward, said she would like the staff to review the proposed increase in arts funding and said she favored shortening the cycle for park renovations. Aldermen offered a variety of other suggestions for budget modifications and agreed to schedule a special meeting to review the budget proposal.

Rules Committee Considers RE Transfer Tax Referendum

By Bill Smith

The City Council Rules CommitteeMonday moved toward asking voters this fall to increase the real estate transfer tax to fund affordable housing in Evanston. The committee told the City's legal staff to draft a resolution that would ask voters to raise the tax by $1 – from $5 to $6 per $1,000 of a property's sale price.

The measure must have a public hearing and be approved by the full Council, perhaps as early as August, if it is to appear on the ballot in November.

Alderman Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, said, "This will be a referendum on the community's position on affordable housing. It speaks a lot to the community's desire for it, and in the long run will generate significant funds for it." Depending on the value of property sales in a given year, she said the increase could generate $500,000 or more a year.

Ald. Rainey, who first suggested the referendum, said proposals the Council is now considering, such as requiring developers to include affordable units in condominium conversion projects, "will put an absolute stop to any new development in my ward."

"I'm looking for a way to see if the community supports affordable housing," she said. "This makes a lot more sense than fining developers."

A survey of nearly 100 metro area communities by First American Title Insurance Company shows only six have transfer taxes higher than Evanston's current $5 level. The highest were $10 per $1,000 in Berwyn, Cicero and Harwood Heights, followed by an $8 rate in Calumet City and Oak Park.

Most Aldermen Should Be Physically Present to Vote, Most of the Time

By Bill Smith

Teleconferencing saves time and money in the corporate world, but Evanston aldermen do not think much of it in theirs.

The City Council last week voted to restrict the right of aldermen to call in votes at Council sessions when they are out of town on business or sick at home. The measure limits each alderman to one meeting appearance by teleconference per year and allows those only for serious illness, work-related absences and family emergencies. A quorum of aldermen must be physically present at each meeting at which a telephoned vote will be cast.

The Council previously had no rules addressing the issue, and aldermen have only appeared by teleconference at meetings a couple of times in the last several years.

At the Rules Committee meeting where the new rule was drafted, Alderman Melissa Wynne, 3rd Ward, said, "I don't think we should permit electronic attendance at meetings. It degrades the quality of the meetings, because you can't see someone's reactions to comments over the phone."

She said the Council can always hold over an issue to the next Council meeting two weeks later to give the absent alderman a chance to appear in person.

Council rules bar holding over an issue more than once, but Ald. Wynne said, "I can't think of a single instance where something has needed to be held more than once."

Alderman Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, said, "I could have gone on a lot more vacations if I could have phoned it in. I don't
see any defense for this unless a person were in a body cast
at one of our hospitals – mentally alert but physically unable
to get here."

But Alderman Edmund Moran, 6th Ward, said he feared he, as an attorney, might someday be tied up in a trial in a distant city and not be able to return for the meeting. "I would like for us to have the opportunity to cast a vote when we're compelled to be someplace else," he said.

Aldermen sought clarification of the issue after Alderman Cheryl Wollin, 1st Ward, voted by teleconference on the Mather LifeWays development project earlier this year because she was representing Evanston at a conference for City officials in Washington, D.C.

NU-City Committee  in a Tizzy

By Bill Smith

City Council members last week found themselves again unable to agree on what to do about the Northwestern University/City Committee.

They ended their May 8 meeting by going into executive session to try to come up with a solution.

For more than a month the Council has had on its agenda a proposal to set term limits for the two community residents of the committee and replace one of the current members. But some aldermen appear to favor more dramatic action.

At the April 24 council meeting Alderman Steve Bernstein, 4th Ward, called the committee a "sham" and said "I don't know whether I want to continue with this committee."

Members of the community group Northwestern Neighbors have been upset about the University's decision to buy a private home at 1945 Orrington Ave., claiming the purchase violates terms of the federal court consent degree that established the committee because it was not disclosed to the committee in advance.

At last week's meeting, Jackie McGuire of 2241 Sherman Ave., a board member of the neighbors' group, said despite the concerns about the University's actions, the neighbors feel the committee should continue to function in order to "shine light on the University's behavior."

NU Gets an I-Go Car

First Ward Alderman Cheryl Wollin, Northwestern University Vice-President Eugene Sunshine and I-Go Car Sharing Founder Sharon Feigon cut the ribbon for the organization's fourth car in Evanston, a hybrid Honda Civic. I-Go hopes to have only hybrid vehicles in its fleet of 63 by the end of the summer.

The little hybrid car in the Northwestern University parking lot just off Sheridan Road south of Garrett Theological Seminary is going places. The 2006 Honda Civic is the fourth car in Evanston that will run multiple errands with many different drivers for a few hours at a time and then return to its parking space for the night. The rental cost is $6 per hour plus 50¢ per mile for members of the I-Go car-sharing program. The cost to join is a one-time $125 membership fee, according to the website.

In a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 8 (a spring day so gorgeous no one should have even considered driving) Ms. Feigon said, "It costs about $7,000 to own and operate a car and about $2,300 per year to be a member of I-Go. Each I-Go car takes about 10 cars off the road," she said, adding, "Most of our I-Go members either sell their cars within six months of joining or at least put off by several months the decision to buy a car. So take your $7,000 and don't spend it on a depreciating asset. Put it into education and join I-Go." She added, "When I sent out the e-mail announcement to the University, about 30 people signed up immediately."

Northwestern University Vice-President Eugene Sunshine said the I-Go program "fits into our overall plan of providing services to faculty, staff and students. This will help graduate students – and older undergraduates – do errands without bringing a car to campus. It's an opportunity to get more people to use our services."

First Ward Alderman Cheryl Wollin said, "Sustainability is a major part of the City's strategic plan. This takes us one step closer toward making us sustainable – fewer cars, less parking congestion, less pollution. It's a wonderful way to make Evanston a cleaner place."

The other I-Go cars are located in City parking facilities: two at the Maple Avenue garage and one at the City lot south of Main Street along Hinman Avenue. Richard Mosbacher of I-Go said all the cars are being used, with about 30 members per car. He said usage and membership increase with the additional cars, because "multiples make people feel more comfortable that one will be available."

New I-Go member Ellen Drebbin attended the ribbon-cutting. She said she and her husband, Professor Allan Drebbin, have "just reduced to one car." She said, "Now I don't have to worry if I have an appointment or I have to take my 93-year-old mother somewhere."

Downtown Borders Still Shifting

By Bill Smith

Plan Commission members are trying todefine where high-rise buildings should not be located downtown, and what should be permitted in those places instead.

The planners tried to sort out the historical merits of buildings downtown that don't already have landmark status when they met May 2with the help of Anne Earle, an associate member of the Preservation Commission, and Preservation Planner Carlos Ruiz.

The two-story building at 708 Church St. that spans the block between Orrington and Sherman drew special attention. Ms. Earle said it was built in 1923 and designed by architect John Knight, who also designed the adjoining three-story Hahn building to the south, built in 1927, which already has landmark status.

"It's not as strong as the Hahn building," she said, "It's a lot plainer. But I think it's worthy of landmark designation and will recommend it to the Preservation Commission at its next meeting." She also suggested that some buildings at Sherman Avenue and Grove Street have potential merit as landmarks.

Planner Dennis Marino said, "We have to be careful about older, smaller buildings that need major improvement or changes and what additional economic burden we place on the owners." In some areas, he added, it may be more the style or scale of buildings that should be preserved, rather than the existing structures themselves.

Plan Commissioner Larry Widmayer said the City may want to explore creating conservation districts that would offer developers property tax reductions in return for restoring or upgrading existing buildings.

Ms. Earle said the Preservation Commission had in the past decided not to landmark the North Shore Hotel at 1611 Chicago Ave., because of changes to its facade, including replacement windows and the addition of air conditioners to the window openings.

But since that decision was made, preservation standards have changed to recognize that change is part of the life of a building, so perhaps it would qualify now, she said. After proposing in March to shrink the size of the area officially considered downtown, members of the Downtown Plan Committee have identified several transitional and traditional areas they believe need special attention.

The transitional areas are on the outer edges of downtown. They include:
• The blocks between Oak Avenue and Ridge Avenue on the west,
• The blocks between Grove Street and Lake Street on the south,
• The west side of Hinman Avenue from Grove Street to Church Street on the east, and
• Some frontage along Clark Street, Elgin Road and Emerson Street on the north.
The committee agreed that height and density in those areas should "reflect their purpose as a transition from the downtown core to surrounding lower density residnetial neighborhoods" but has not yet attached any numbers to that general definition.
The three traditional areas are:
• Sherman Avenue from Clark Street south to the alley north of Church Street,
• Davis Street from the Maple Avenue to the alley west of Oak Avenue, and
• An irregularily shaped parcel centered on the intersection of Sherman Avenue and Grove Street that includes the frontage on the south side of Davis from Chicago Avenue to Sherman, then runs south on the east side of Sherman to Grove then jumps to the west side of Sherman to include frontage south to Lake Street.

Under the Canopy at Cherry Preschool

"Rainforest Cafe" Opens Locally

By Claire Bryant

Adam Grossman dishes out "rain water" at Cherry Preschool's "Rainforest Cafe."

Below the palm trees, with monkeys swinging above their heads, the forest rangers at Cherry Preschool guided their parents and siblings through the finale of the student- created project, "The Rainforest Café."

The blue room of the preschool was transformed from an everyday classroom into a bustling rainforest, complete with handmade trees, animals and waterfalls.

The conversion of the room was the third and final phase of the Project Approach to learning, which Cherry uses, in which the children participate in an in-depth study of a topic choosen by the class. Three months ago the students began the first phase of their project, which introduced the rainforest by reading stories and factual books. During this phase, teacher Kim Newman says that, as teachers present the information to the students, "the kids can take it on any level. The younger kids take it as more of a fantasy, while the older kids respond to it more scientifically."

During phase two the students participated in activities that incorporated several aspects of learning. Groups of students constructed all the animals, including an anaconda made from stuffed nylons and a fish-filled plastic wrap waterfall. They wrote a story by allowing each child to contribute a sentence about the rainforest and made up a song about spider monkeys to be performed on the final day.

Phase three concluded the project when "The Rainforest Café" opened its doors for the students and families to observe what they had accomplished.The students put badges and acted as rangers as they searched high and low for bugs, sloths, toucans, piranhas and other items on their Rainforest Treasure Hunt list. "They took their jobs very seriously," said Ms. Newman as the students pointed out features of the rainforest to their guests.

The students passed around food tickets for samples of chocolate-covered "bugs" and edible rain sticks. "The Rainforest Café was their idea, and they did all the cooking," said Ms. Newman.

The student's knowledge of the rainforest was evident as they excitedly discussed with their parents everything they had learned throughout the project.