Kudos to Filip Czarnecki, Madison Polster, and Reagan Walsh for being the first three people to read the last edition of What's Happening!
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Welcome to What's Happening! |
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Our goal is to provide you with useful information so that you know what is going on the many departments throughout the City.
To make it easy to scan this email for key info, there are two sections - Need to Know and Nice to Know.
As always, if you have suggestions for ways to improve this email or content you'd like to see included, please let us know!
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If you only have a few minutes, scan this section for key takeaways. |
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Community Development
Bank Lane One Way Trial: The City Council recently approved a limited time “experiment” on Bank Lane between Deerpath and Illinois Road. Beginning about November 1, this block of Bank Lane will be re-striped and signed limiting vehicular traffic to one way south. Diagonal parking will be added along the west side of the street. This trial is intended to provide information on how this change affects overall traffic patterns in the area. For instance, will this change help or add to traffic congestion on Deerpath? This trial could help to envision what this block of Bank Lane could be as redevelopment occurs in the future on the former gas station site at the corner of Bank Lane and Illinois Road, or on the Old National Bank (formerly Midwest Bank) site. As part of any redevelopment should the City try to obtain additional right-of-way or require developers to provide some type of pedestrian amenities.
Thanks to the Streets Section for helping make this happen with re-striping and wheel stops. We will be observing activity on this block and tracking public input. We know that any change will result in complaints and to assure we get beyond the initial discomfort with the change itself, the Council directed that the one way trial continue for six months. Thanks for your support and input! We welcome your ideas and observations.
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Human Resources
Submitted By: Human Resources Generalist, Brina Diaz
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Save the NEW date - the 2023 Family Picnic and Rib Cook-Off is Saturday, October 7 at 12pm at Northcroft Park. Bring your family for an afternoon of good food and great fun! Interested in competing? Email Matt Goodman or Brina Diaz
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Office of the City Manager
One of the common themes at City Manager Conversations has been that staff feel stretched thin. In order to gather more data on City's services and staffing levels, the City's Manager's Office has entered in a contract with Baker Tilly to conduct an organization-wide workload analysis. With oversight from HR and OCM, Baker Tilly’s team will work with each department to learn about their respective teams and operations, and develop insights into potential workflow efficiencies, technology enhancements, and recommendations on staffing models, as appropriate. Our goal is to complete the project by the end of the calendar year, in time for the Fiscal Year 2025 budget process.
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There are 20 snow plows in the City's fleet - and none have a name!
At Meet the Fleet, we asked residents of all ages to submit names for a Snow Plow Naming Contest. Below is a list of a few of the top suggestions. Before opening it up to the community, we want to know what names City staff like best!
The top three names will be shared with the community to vote on their favorite.
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What should the City name a snow plow?
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These submissions are still important, but they’re not as critical if you’re scanning for the key information. |
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Office of the City Manager
- We just printed the Fall Dialogue and we're already thinking winter. The deadline to submit content for the Winter Dialogue Newsletter is Thursday, October 12.
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The City's new voluntary curbside compost collection service begins next week! In partnership with WasteNot Compost, be on the lookout for compost buckets outside residents homes.
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Stay tuned for more information on the Community-Wide Survey results coming within the next month.
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Don't forget to visit Lake Forest Love!
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CROYA
Things are ramping up at CROYA this fall and we are hosting multiple youth meetings per week. A few highlights include:
- Peer Training classes starting at LFHS
- A dinner meeting for Breast Cancer Awareness Week on September 20
- The Middle School Six Flags Fright Fest trip on October 9
- The Middle School Fall Dance on October 13
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Dickinson Hall
Submitted By: Administrative Assistant/Transportation Coordinator, Tara Purtell
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Our final Friday Night Live Series wrapped up on September 15 titled Croozin’ the Loop which includes appetizers, drinks, dinner, dancing and the rock n roll band Croozin The Loop!
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We will close out the summer on September 22 with a Bingo BBQ titled “One last bite of Summer!”
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Finance
Submitted By: Assistant Finance Director, Diane Hall
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September is a three-paycheck month! Just a reminder that the extra money in your check is for insurance and Aflac deductions that are only deducted twice a month.
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FY25 Budget information:
- Plan-IT is currently open for editing. Plan-It submissions and FY24 Capital estimates are due Thursday, October 12.
- Fee schedules will be distributed Friday, September 29 for review.
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Innovation and Technology
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Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Next month (October) is Cybersecurity Awareness Month! We will be partaking in a city-wide awareness campaign where we’ll be sharing tips and best practices to promote a strong and resilient security culture here at the City. We’re planning a spooky theme tied to this which will hopefully get everyone in the Halloween spirit! Be on the lookout for future communications from the IT Department as well as posters/fliers spread around the different City buildings.
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Hardware Rollout Success! We have successfully completed our largest hardware rollout ever here at the City. We replaced a whopping 97 computers, 73 monitors, 31 docking stations, and 1 copy machine. This year we tried out a shorter replacement cycle for our hardware (going from 5-year to 4-year) which meant that we were replacing machines slightly earlier than we previously had. Our superstar IT Intern Jake did an awesome job managing the project from start to finish along with the help of the entire IT team along the way. Now it’s time to dive head on into the next set of replacements!
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Parks & Recreation
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Have you seen the monument at Veterans Park yet? It’s amazing! The Ribbon Cutting and Dedication will be held on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 1 pm and all City staff are invited and welcome to attend. Parking is available in the Oakwood lot located west of City Hall.
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Our popular Haunted Trail Walk is on October 14, and we are looking for volunteers to dress in costume and haunt the unsuspecting! Volunteers must be 16+ and it's lots of fun for a team or group outing! Register to volunteer, and if you have questions, please contact John Eldridge at [email protected].
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Police
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10-4 – That’s affirmative! On Wednesday, October 4 members of the police department will join members of our community for coffee and conversation on National Coffee with a Cop Day. No speeches, no agenda, nothing off-limits. Just respectful dialogue. We’ll be at two locations:
- 6:30-9:30 am at Starbucks West – 840 S. Waukegan Road
- 7-10 am at Hometown Coffee & Juice – 231 E. Wisconsin Avenue
- We are also beginning our 2023 Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign.
- The first event will be on Coffee with a Cop Day. Our commemorative patches will be available for a $20 donation. All proceeds go to the Posy Krehbiel Breast Care Center at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital.
- Watch for additional events throughout October in partnership with our community.
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Deerpath Community Park Improvement Project
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As summer comes to a close, construction on the Deerpath Community Park Improvement Project continues! All field base construction and grading is complete and the field has “gone green.” Crews have finished installing the turf system on the east field. The west field turf system installation is continuing at a rapid pace and will be completed in the coming weeks. The north and south buildings are currently being constructed. Check out the site drone picture and learn more about the project on the project’s webpage.
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Engineering
Submitted By: Superintendent of Engineering, Byron Kutz
- The Resurfacing program, as well as repair of three ravines (Rockefeller, McCormick, and Loch) will be completed by the end of September.
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The Bluff Slope Stabilization Project along Forest Park beach started last week with work extending to the end of December. The project includes installing three retaining wall segments, wick slope drains for sub-surface drainage, surface drainage improvements, bio-swales, and restoration.
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Fleet
Submitted By: Fleet Maintenance Supervisor, Ron Gramer
- Preparing for fall equipment change over
- Continued snow equipment maintenance
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Forestry
- Watering
- Parkway Tree Nursery tagging and planting
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Parks
- Beach break down for end of season
- Veterans Park monument installed
- Rt. 60 medians plant replacement
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Sanitation
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SWALCO household chemical collection event for Lake Forest is this Saturday, September 23, 8:30 am - 2:30 pm at the Municipal services building. Visit swalco.org or call (847) 377-4950 to schedule a drop off time.
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Streets
- Asphalt patching and McKinley Rd. crosswalk improvements
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Water & Sewer
Submitted By: Water & Sewer Supervisor, Rich Volpe
- Catch Basin Repairs and Wach’s Valve Repair List
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Water Plant
- Replacing Fluoride injection valve
- Rebuilt Check Valve at Southwest Sewer Lift station
- Working with Integrator on Flow Meter SCADA performance
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