TheHemingwayDistrictGeneralMembershipMeetings 3-11-2015

Transcription

The Hemingway District General Membership and Board Meetings
General Membership Meeting - Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Meeting called to order at 8:40 AM
Finance
Loretta Daly needs submissions for reimbursement ASAP.
Membership
36 business have paid renewals.
New members- D R Travis and we have received an application from Oak Park Brewing
Company (Hamburger Mary’s).
Decals are being delivered to members.
Election of board-Executive positions have been re-elected unanimously:
Jim August- President
Jim Solnes- Co Vice-President
Dan Haley- Co vice President
Sergio Nyland- Treasurer
Megan Greer- Secretary
New board members:
Veronica Fremont-Cicada Pi
Kelly Morrissy-Kelly Inc. Electrolysis
Paul Zimmerman- Altierra Kitchens and Home Furnishings
Annual Meeting
Held at Scoville Square in lobby and Mac Specialist space. Food was provided by Jim August,
Winberies and Eyrie. Deb Sload decorated and set up. Pat K. and Mary D. ran the membership
table. Alex J. created and ran the powerpoint. Successful event overall.
Marketing
Committees need to be formed for two events:
Hemingway Hustle: ?
Hemingway Block Party:
Megan Greer-Eyrie Restaurant
Jim August-The Irish Shop
Theresa McGuire-Garland
Hemingway Hustle
Keith Strom had attended the previous board meeting to discuss beginning the Hemingway
Hustle. Seed money needed is about $8,000-10,000. Would take place July 18th or 19th in the
early morning.
Jim August will touch base with Keith to see where he is in the planning process. We need to
begin discussing with the village asap, regardless of whether or not we proceed with the race.
There is a possibility of partnering with a charitable organization (Hepzibah?)
Possibly involving the community by sponsored contests with drawings of sponsoring
businesses?
Hemingway Block Party
Close streets for two days. Sidewalk sale, music, food, alcohol. More of an adult focus than May
Madness was. Jim August and Megan Greer will meet with restaurants to see how and if they
would like to get more involved and discuss food for the block party.
Village
Outdoor dining revisions are going to the board on March 2nd. Permitting process was a lot
more lax, now the village will be going through a more rigorous review process.
Working on the implementation of a new, streamlined operating system across four different
departments. The system will be operational by September.
Streetscape
Paul Zimmerman is on the village streetscape committee. They are currently vetting the first
committee’s plan. Will focus from Harlem to Euclid on Lake Street and cost about $10 -12
million.
Possibly brick road (permeable) and concrete sidewalk. Tiff is not there yet, though there is
federal money for the street. Tentative start date is 2016.
Will there be pressure to have Oak Park Ave the same? Will construction take longer with the
brick than with concrete or asphalt? Brick streets challenging on bikes, with Divvy now coming
into Oak Park?
OPEDC
John Lynch is the new Development Director of OPEDC and has formally been in Real Estate.
His focus is on large commercial and strategic placements of small business in the community.
Happenings in the district
Hamburger Mary’s has cleared out space. Will open in July.
Oak Park Market space---Elio’s Pizza on Fire-They have announced “opening in the summer”
on their website, but have yet to permit.
Pete’s Fresh Market has permits. Tentatively opening in May.
Thyme and Honey space has interest.
Bramble space- SHE clothing and accessories going in there.
Alleycat Decor going into old Peterson’s Pharmacy.
Kabloom space at Lake and Euclid has some interest.
Mac Specialist-two prospects. Jewelry store has a leased signed by a current DTOP retailer.
Tae Kwon Do space- Their lease is coming up-it is non-retail in the retail overlay district. There
have been issues with parents and parking. We cannot prevent them from re-signing their lease.
Police Report
One Main Financial-Someone lost their IDs and credit cards. She alerted credit card bureaus
and someone had tried to fill out a loan application in her name. Offender was arrested.
Parking meters broken. Customers are not supposed to park there, but attendants have been
reasonable about not ticketing.
Meeting called to end at 10:15 AM
Board Meeting- Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Meeting called to order at 8:37 AM by President Jim August
Welcome New Board Members
Kelly Morrissy-Kelly Inc. Electrolysis
Paul Zimmerman- Altierra Kitchens and Home Furnishings
Elections of Officers:
Jim August- President
Jim Solnes- Co Vice-President
Dan Haley- Co vice President
Sergio Nyland- Treasurer
Megan Greer- Secretary
Board voted to unanimously re-elect officers to positions.
Annual Meeting
Held at Scoville Square in lobby and Mac Specialist space. Food was provided by Jim August,
Winberies and Eyrie. Deb Sload decorated and set up. Pat K. and Mary D. ran the membershi p
table. Alex J. created and ran the powerpoint. Successful event overall.
Membership
D R Travis and Oak Park Brewing Company both joined at the annual meeting.
Decals were made and handed out at the annual meeting. The rest will be distributed by Kelly,
Pat and Mary.
60 members. Red Hen has paid sponsorship, but not membership. 36 members have paid so
far for 2015.
Finance
$3009.00 in our account.
Jim August is working on reimbursement for holiday events. Potential decorations return is
$1,700. He will need to write individual benefits for each event.
2015 Events Budget
We spent roughly $7,800 on events without underwriting or membership dues in 2014.
Events will still be pay as you go, needing approval from the board.
Marketing
Summer event- Jim A. will talk to Paul Zimmerman and School of Rock.
Can use our district’s liquor license. Need definite restaurant involvement. Close down Oak Park
Ave from North Blvd to Lake St. Will get a committee put together.
Keith Strom-Hemingway Run Presentation
Keith run an event management company, is a member of the Oak Park Runners Club, has
experience putting together a run and knows what resources are needed to make this happen.
He has offered to coordinate the run for us.
Details:
● Saturday or Sunday 6K or 8K run.
● Its good exposure for the Hemingway Foundation and our business district. Will need a
lot of volunteers to make it happen.
● Good for Life run has around 2000 participants. The Frank Lloyd Wright run has about
3200 participants.
● Goal is to start ours out with 400-500 runners to build capital for larger future runs.
● Hemingway weekend is July 18-19th and the kids “run with the bulls” will take place
Sunday, July 19th.
● Seed money for the first run will be about $8000-$10,000 from members and corporate
sponsorship.
● Possible not-for-profit benefactor, such as Hepzibah Home is discussed.
Motion to explore information for the run further is unanimous approved.
New Business
Meeting tonight (2/11) at the 19th Century Club. There will be 3 unopposed candidates
discussing economic development in Oak Park (Streetscaping, planters and lack of plants)
Board Meeting- Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Finance
Jim and Sergio had a meeting to determine how much we have spent in 2014. The total was
$7,800 without underwriting.
All receipts should go to Jim August and Sergio. They will then be rel ayed to Paul for village
reimbursement. Receipts and invoices can be emailed to Sergio.
Santa Saturdays will be submitted for reimbursement as separate events to maximize
reimbursement. Jim S. still needs to get some Sant invoices to Sergio.
Halloween parade permit was only $50, unlike previous years.
Jim S. suggested subsidiary accounts in quickbooks to match budget vs. expenses for each
event so event committees are responsible for a budget.
Marketing
Anne from Lively Running has offered to manage social media pages.
Need to examine if print ads are effective.
Logo Decals are $2.00/decal. Round typewriter graphic needs to be given to Patrick. Goal is to
have them done, or a prototype completed by annual meeting on January 29th. No year on it, so
there will be no need to re-print next year.
Membership
If new members join before October, their dues are for January-December of that year. If joining
October-December, they are also good for the next year.
Annual Meeting
Estimating about 50 people. The museum is unavailable and the Birth Home is too confining.
Meeting will be held at the Mac Specialist space at 805 Lake Street on January 29, from 5:307:00 pm.
Ginny Casend as the Keynote Speaker. Alex will do a powerpoint with pictures from 2014. Dan
will do the agenda and Jim A. will send out invite through constant contact.
Board nominations are: Paul Zimmerman, Veronica Freemont and Kelly Morrisey.
New Business
Mary will take pictures of each member in their place of business. Deb suggests that all board
members end bios to Mary with a photo by email by January 31st.
Goal for 2015: More membership involvement
Where’s Ernest? Would move from business to business and if a customer finds him, they can
enter a raffle.
Business from Downtown Oak Park is looking at the empty jewelry store at Scoville.
General Membership Meeting - Wednesday, December 18, 2014
Finance
Account balance at $2306.31
Still waiting on some Santa sponsorships that are due. Invoices for 2015 are being distributed.
Jim August and Sergio will sit down after Christmas and project a budget for 2015.
Halloween reimbursement still needs to be submitted to the village. If anyone has any receipts
or invoices, they should be given to Sergio.
A debit card exists for the Hemingway account. Paul Zimmerman suggested that it may be a
better process than money being spent out of pocket and then reimbursed.
The board needs to work on gathering committees for specific events to take on more
responsibilities and establish budgets and fund requests for projects.
Membership
8 new members for 2015.
Annual meeting on January 29th at the Hemingway Birth Home at 5:30 pm. We will elect new
board members. Dan will contact Allison for about food and options for space.
Board Nominations We will increase number to 15 people on the board. Losing 1-2 members
and need 3-4. Paul Zimmerman, Veronica Freemont and Kelly Morrissey are interested. Dan
will establish an agenda. Would like to do powerpoint highlighting accomplishments for the
annual meeting.
Marketing
Village would like a list of our 2015 events by January 23rd, 2015.
Halloween Annual Event Veronica Freemont (Cicada Pi) spearheaded a halloween networking
event on South Oak Park Ave. We should encourage all of them to take advantage of HBDA
membership and encourage to join.
Anne from Lively Running will be sponsoring the Hemingway Hustle in July 2015.
Last Santa Saturday is this week. Magic puppet show from 12-1 pm and Santa is 1-3 pm.
Mary suggested in February Board meeting that we lay out responsibilities and assign
committees and approve budget, streetscape discussion, banners.
Maya del Sol is building a storage unit behind their garden.
We received a letter from Jeff Weisglass of the OPRF parking Ad Hoc Committee. They had
received the same information that we had provided. They have several proposals on the table,
but it looks like using the Avenue Garage as their primary parking is not one of the options.
Paul Zimmerman will be representing HBDA on Lake Street streetscape committee.
No plants in village planters. Jim A. will email Loretta Daley.
Mary took photos of the district and Alex posted them on website.
Hamburger Mary’s solved finance issues. They are in the final process of their business plan.
Set to pull permits by beginning of first quarter.
Ladies clothing store is going into Bramble space.
Jack Sheehan has tenant for petersons (Alleycat Decor). Mostly retail and home decor with
classes.
Space at Euclid and Lake may have a deal soon.
Police Report
Scoville broken into at 4 am. Two offices in late November. Took a phone and a watch and
caused a lot of damage.
Caught a shoplifter at the Irish Shop.
Board Meeting- Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Holiday Wrap-up
- decorated light poles - look wonderful - agreed to do it again next year
- Santa arrival on Fri- overwhelming success
- Saturdays with Santa - busy in the morning, not many people in the afternoon
Sergio confirmed that invoices have been delivered for the Light Pole and Santa sponsorship.
Paul Zimmerman to assist Sergio with reimbursement from the Village for expenses.
Membership
Sergio - Invoices for general membership dues will go out soon.
General discussion regarding if membership dues should increase in the new year.
Jim A - major issue with events in District - “pay-as-you-go” vs underwriting events - depends on
the revenue generated from dues.
Dan - increased funds would allow for more marketing for the District.
Alex - Keep the fee the same, increase the number of members. Perhaps increase fees in 2016
ALL - it was agreed by all to keep the fee for membership the same for 2015
How to Increase Membership?
Kelly - Need to see value for businesses not on the main floor (2nd floor and up)
The membership sub-committee also discussed targeting other community members other than
retailers, such as churches and service oriented businesses.
Jim S - suggested doing a local business fair
Planning for 2015
What do we want to see in 2015?
- Banner replacement
- Summer event (in July)
- Marketing of “2nd floor” businesses
- Moveable Feast for restaurants (Alex)
- Restaurant Week for our district (Jim A)
- Try and negotiate more exposure for the District - Dan suggests having a committee who
is the liaison to the Park District
- Mary - strengthen bond with Hemingway Foundation - perhaps decorate X-mas tree next
year with a Hemingway theme
Annual General Meeting/ Member of the Board
- scheduled date: Jan 29, 2015 at the Hemingway Birth Home
- Dan to manage invitations, agenda etc
- Board Members - will have 2yr staggered terms
Mary - move to increase the number of Board members to be no more than 15
Alex - 2nd the motion
Jim A - Motion passed unanimously
New Items
- Bramble has been rented - retail
- Pizza Place - to start in the new year
- Thyme&Honey space - possible restaurant
- Paul Zimmerman - nominated to the Lake Street Streetscaping Committee
- Petersons Pharmacy space - signed lease for a childrens furniture shop
Final Note
- the Board thanked Alex for all of his hard work during his tenure on the Board.
General Membership Meeting - Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Membership
Up to 57 members. Will work on streamlining the process of collecting membership information.
Still waiting to hear confirmation from the Hemingway Foundation for hosting the fall
membership event the 2nd Thursday of every October. Fall Membership event was successful
and we gained 3 new members.
Marketing
We have 10 sponsors for the light poles and 6 sponsors for Santa. All sponsorships are $300
and the sponsorship gets you exposure. Still looking for one or two more Santa sponsors. The
theme will be “magical” unless something better is suggested.
Streetscape
No meeting in awhile. No movement. The Village Board may want someone from Hemingway to
sit on the committee for the overall streetscape project.
Free parking starts the day after Thanksgiving and will continue every Saturday through
Christmas on the street and in the Avenue parking garage.
OPRF may be thinking about tearing down parking structure on their campus that cont ains 300
parking spaces. Their consultant for their Ad HOC committee said that the Avenue Parking
Garage (535 spaces) was large enough to accommodate the displaced parkers. The board will
not support this action due to concerns of overflow parking from the school coming to the
Avenue Garage and impacting customers ability to park, shop and eat in our district. Jim A. has
drafted a letter to the committee in charge.
There is a concern about ticketing and officers not being very compassionate or lenient about
barely expired parking meters. App can show officers a countdown of the ones that are about to
expire and they may be targeting specific meters.
November 29th is Small Business Saturday.
Chamber of Commerce has moved to the first floor of the Wednesday Journal office space.
Village
Business license renewals are now going out. The fee structure is changing and the
environmental inspection bill will be included with the business license invoice. Renewal
expiration will be moved from December 31 to March 31, 2016 to avoid falling on year-end.
Village is working on eliminating excess licenses. They are set to lose around $45,000 in
revenue.
Police Report
Crime down in October by 50%
U.S. Bank was robbed again, and this time the robber was successful.
Pickpocketing in restaurants and counterfeit bills are going to be more abundant as we get into
the holidays.
Crime statistics for the Village of Oak Park can be viewed by anyone through this website:
http://www.oak-park.us/village-services/police-department
New Business
Need to nominate new board members. There will be 3-4 openings this January. Annual
meeting will take place late January, no date confirmed. Duties for board members include
participation and attending monthly board meetings.
Need to take pictures of businesses with their poles that the sponsored.
Have Alex report how many hits the website gets each month.
Lively Running is organizing a “Diversity 5K or Race” on August 16, 2015
Board Meeting- Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Membership
Alex has motioned for the October annual event to take place on the 2nd Thursday of the month
at the Hemingway birthplace (pending approval). Deb Sloan seconded. Cost for the event
estimated $300. Jim A. called for a vote. Unanimous approval by the board.
Annual meeting in January has been used for election of board members. Tentative date is
Thursday, January 29th 2015 from 5:30-7:30 at Hemingway Museum.
Board needs to think about nominations for the board over the next week to replace Sergio and
Alex.
Happenings in the District
OPRF HS has put together an AD HOC committee to discuss putting in an indoor swimming
pool. It has been discussed to tear down the parking facility that contains 300 parking spaces.
The board will not support this action due to concerns of overflow parking from the school
coming to the Avenue Garage and impacting customers ability to park, shop and eat in our
district. Jim A. will draft a formal letter stating our view to the village board members, high
school board and AD HOC committee.
Loretta Daly has requested that Jim A. attend a meeting on December 9, 2014 to address how
federal monies are spent.
Gary from Winberries has relocated to Cincinnati. Board will send a letter or card for gratitude.
Holidays
Halloween Parade had an estimated turnout of 1000 people.
Event proposals need to be approved by board. Proposal is found under “members only” site.
Goal for Santa/Lightpole sponsorships is 15 sponsors at $300 to cover estimated $4500 in
costs.
Jim A. will create invoiced. Will submit receipts to village to receive up to $2500 back. All
receipts will go to Jim A.
OPEDC
OPEDC will be conducting a complete inventory of tenants. Intern (Chris) has done all first floor
information and is now asking building owners for second floor tenant information.
Hamburger Mary’s is working on financing. Everything else is ready to go.
Pizza place, Elio’s, is still working on their other location before building in their space here.
Thyme and Honey space may have something for main retail space. Possible lead for Bramble
space. Mac Specialist- non-retail dance studio looking into space. Nothing for Peterson’s
Pharmacy space. Kabloom space is hard to lease for restaurants because of 10 seat limit/one
bathroom.
Chamber of commerce has relocated to first floor of Wednesday Journal building.
December BAH is being hosted at Scoville Square. Alex will post something about it on website.
General Membership Meeting - Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Finance
$1830.15 in account.
Received payment from Amour, Garland and Stage Rite. 52 Members.
All monies will probably be exhausted for holidays.
Membership
Event tomorrow (10/16) at the hemingway house. Second annual membership event from 5-7
pm. Invites went out to everyone on email list. Encouraging members to invite or bring non members to try and get them to sign up. Need to get value proposition in front of non-members.
Possible powerpoint. Expecting nice weather.
Hamburger Mary’s tentatively in April?
Pizza place at old OP Market has signed a lease, but has not began build out.
Sugar Beet Co-op opening early 2015 at Madison and Oak Park Ave. May belong to Madison
Street Business District.
Bramble still vacant. No word on Thyme and Honey.
A lot of restaurants are still inquiring about Mac Specialist space, but Winberie's has exclusive
rights for food and beverage at Scoville Square.
Sculpture at St. Edmonds still there. Artist may have a deal with church to leave it there until
June.
Turtle was purchased by village. May want to put it in front of the library. May want to ask village
to leave it where it is in front of Geppettos. Jim A. will write to David Sokal to lobby to have it
stay (if Geppetto’s will join HDBA?). Jim Solnes would like the turtle in front of Scoville Square.
We will not get the sculpture walk every year, but we could expect it again in the next few years.
If we would get a plaza on South BLVD, it would be ideal for public art.
Mini Murals-look into for bringing public art to our district.
Asked Dan H. (VP) to write a wrap-up to thank the PAC and Village for letting us host the
sculpture walk.
Terrazza in front of Scoville Square was damaged by sculpture. Jim A. will write an email to
David Sokal, Loretta Daly and Mike Fenwick from public works to have it fixed.
Brick alley is being laid on South Oak Park Ave.
2014 Holidays
Working on obtaining sponsorships. Have 10 sponsors for
light poles. Therese from Garland will be decorating all poles with garland and lights. There was
just too short of a timeframe to secure artists. Jim A. will check with Garland to get definite cost
of pole to determine cost of sponsorship. Paul Zimmerman would like to sponsor a pole.
We still need sponsors for Santa. Currently have 4 @ $300=$1200. Goal is $2100. Need 3 more
sponsors @ $300 or whatever they can.
Jim A.’s niece will be working Santa Saturdays. She is a Sophomore at OPRF.
Police Report
Overall crime down. Auto thefts up by a group of teenagers at Austin and Madison.
PADS shelter open Sunday-Thursday in Berwyn, Lake Street and Harlem. Expect more
homeless people.
North Blvd one-way still an issue.
A lot of kids riding bikes on sidewalks.
Graffiti on Ridgeland Commons cost $1300 to remove.
Minutes call to be approved by Kelly. Seconded by Liz.
Board Meeting- Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Membership
Compared Website to membership list.
Cicada Pi has joined.
Letter of membership went out to all members not listed on website.
Membership gathering on Thursday, October 16. Food Obsession bowed out for providing
appetizers. Making hard copy invites and hand delivering for current members. If members join
at meeting next week, it applies to 2015 membership.
Send out invoices in December for January 2015. If not renewed by March, members will come
off website. Will send a second invoice.
Alex will assist with the powerpoint for the membership meeting. Ask Viktor from OPEDC to
borrow projector.
Economy Shop is very interested in joining.
Marketing
We have 144 emails in our database, but only 52 members. Constant contact requires .jpeg
format--board would like instructional for how-to. Alex’s advice for using constant contactimages tend to go to junk mail, whereas text goes to the inbox. We will use Constant Contact to
disperse the minutes. Megan will assist.
Password to access members only page of website- members-only
This page is supposed to be used for events to be reviewed by the board to be posted on the
website. Need to post info about the board on the website.
Banners next year. Will last for 2-3 years and we can make some money off of that.
Need to get a marketing meeting together and elect a leader other than jim A. and begin
planning for summer events.
Fall sidewalk sale minimal.
Finance
$1738.90 in our account. The Great Frame Up needs to pay. Red Hen needs to pay.
Holidays
Halloween parade- Dan H. cannot find banner. Two old signs are being re-done with our new
logo.
Santa- Needed 7 sponsors at $300 to reach $2100 goal. So far, Jim S., Jack S, Dan H, and
Sergio N. have committed.
Light Poles- Garland will be decorating 10-12 poles as well as sponsored poles. 12 sponsors for
the light poles are lined up. Price for sponsorship may go down since artists will not be involved
this year.
General Membership Meeting - Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Meeting called to order at 8:35 AM by Vice President Dan Haley
Finance
$1717.53 in account.
Paul Zimmerman has volunteered to fill out village paperwork for the holiday event sponsorship
and decor grant.
Membership
They will be having a meeting after the current meeting. New member Espace Hair Design in
attendance. Almost up to 50 members.
Alteirra Kitchens is set to open in 3 weeks.
Last weekend for public sculptures, September 22nd.
Village president has asked each district to pick a business to present to the board. Hemingway
on January 19th tentatively.
Business Association Council has received complaints to village about businesses selling items
on a public way (restaurant patios, retailers). The village would like districts to “police”
themselves and handle situations peer to peer. Will ask the BAC to draft guidelines. Sandwich
board ordinance 5’ rule applies.
Hamburger Mary’s plans are in. Still expected Early 2015.
Facade work at Pete’s Fresh Market has begun.
Pizza place coming to old OP Market. They have signed a lease.
Membership event for fall. Traded banners for Frank Lloyd Wright home (outdoor)-maybe have
space pushed to spring. Jim will contact Allison to try and get Hemingway home.
2014 Holidays
Christmas season is 4 weekends instead of 5.
Looking for Santa Sponsors. 5-6 @ $250-300--$1500 total. Already have Jim Solnes, Jack
Sheehan and Dan Haley.
$350 lightpole sponsortships. Hope to get 15-20 businesses. Next PAC Meeting is October 1st.
Village money available at 50/50 match up to $3000.
Marketing
Fall Harvest sidewalk sale this weekend. Good weather in forecast.
Halloween Parade is October 25. Possible trick or treat privately at Scoville Square.
Streetscape
Lake street is being redone from Harlem to Euclid. The streetscape is to mirror Marion Street.
Oak Park Ave is supposed to have the same feel. Dan Healy feels that we should draft a letter
to the board to let them know we would like “modest but handsome” improvements.
There is no date for the resurfacing of Oak Park Ave. Could get pushed back another year.
There is a letter Dan wrote to request that Oak Park Ave is done before Marion and Lake so we
are not tied into their design.
There is no obvious source of money-have failed twice for federal monies.
New committee is not as interested in streetscape as David Polk was.
The board feels that the village should prioritize the two shopping districts and then focus on
lake street to connect the two.
South Blvd-”Archway” Loretta brought old plans of a “plaza” and making it a one way.
Eliminating diagonal parking on south side of street and taking out the median with lights.
Village of Oak Park
the village has been operating on separate systems that do not communicate. They are
currently bringing in companies to show how they can bring all the departments on the same
system to help streamline systems and information. Extensive demonstration process for
selection is in its final stages. Hope to implement by January.
Lake and Forest construction beginning in October. 21 stories, 580 parking spaces and 270
units.
Police Report
Another attempted bank robbery at US Bank. sergio kept an eye on him and then he left. Later
called police and said he was kidding. Police turned him over to FBI.
Garbage can disappeared by Kid’s Unlimited and Mary reports a couple of mornings where the
parking lot was littered with beer bottles.
Board Meeting- Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Finance
Nothing has changed.
Village president has asked each district to pick a business to present to the board. Hemingway
on January 19th tentatively. Possibly:Gary from Winberries, Sherry Filoni, or Freskos.
Public sidewalks-Complaints about businesses infringing on sidewalks. It adds activity to to the
street, but needs limits.
Process of handling complaints: Complaint to district-district to business. All districts will now
self-monitor.
Selling on sidewalks will require a special events permit. Sign boards are fine. Flower shops are
exempt.
Will poll retailers on opinion. Always invited south retailers to north side for sidewalk sales.
Possible gathering at Frank Lloyd Wright. Ask about spring.
Meeting at Hemingway Museum for annual meeting in January.
PAC is purchasing one sculpture to place on any village property.
Streetscape
Lake street is being redone from Harlem to Euclid. The streetscape is to mirror Marion Street.
Oak Park Ave is supposed to have the same feel. Dan Healy feels that we should draft a letter
to the board to let them know we would like “modest but handsome” improvements.
There is no date for the resurfacing of Oak Park Ave. Could get pushed back another year.
There is a letter Dan wrote to request that Oak Park Ave is done before Marion and Lake so we
are not tied into their design.
There is no obvious source of money-have failed twice for federal monies.
New committee is not as interested in streetscape as David Polk was.
The board feels that the village should prioritize the two shopping districts and then focus on
lake street to connect the two.
South Blvd-”Archway” Loretta brought old plans of a “plaza” and making it a one way.
Eliminating diagonal parking on south side of street and taking out the median with lights.
Membership
Freskos, maybe Olive and Well. Three new office tennents in Scoville. Cicada Pi on S. Oak
Park does art classes. Mary has invited them to join. Artemis wants to pay be credit card, but
they will need to write a check.
Marketing
Sidewalk sale is September 18-21. Espaso on South Blvd would like to be involved.
Sculptures come down Sept. 22nd.
Holidays
Looking for $2000 in sponsorships to underwrite santa and decorations.
Deb will be handling Friday night Santa event. Possibly hire a high school student @$10/hour to
work Santa Saturdays
Lightpoles- PAC likes the idea. No Money. Oak Park Arts Council might have funds.
$350 each-goal is 15 sponsors. Open to all members. $400 for all non members?
Reimbursable? Decor? Marketing? Businesses would pay us-we submit bills to village
Deadline October 1st for sponsors. Concern is finding Artists. Liz will put together artist brief.
General Membership Meeting - Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Finance
We have collected all but one check for new members.
Membership
49 total members. Fresko’s, Olive and Well and Edward Jones have joined.
Grand opening for Amour de la Terre is Friday, August 22.
Summer sidewalk sale was successful. The Irish Shop saw a 75% increase in sales up from last
year.
The next sidewalk sale will take place September 18-20. The planter signs for the last sidewalk
sale went missing the Friday of the event.
Halloween parade will be on Saturday, October 25.
Sculptures will be taken down on September 22.
No word on any vacant buildings in the district.
Problem with drivers going the wrong way down North Blvd.
Hamburger Mary’s is set to open end of the year or first quarter of 2015.
Pete’s Fresh Market submitted plans to village for old Dominick’s space.
Olive and Well grand re-opening is Saturday, September 13.
OPRFHS started yesterday and the middle schools will start next week.
Spiros’ Agora has not been open for two weeks
2014 Holidays
Jim August emailed David Sokal about light pole decorations. Jim will got to Public Arts Council
meeting on September 3rd to present light pole idea and logistics.
Holiday kick-off will happen the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Santa will be at Scoville every saturday between then and Christmas. We need $1500 to
underwrite Santa.
2015 Summer Street Fair/Outdoor Event
Planning will begin in the next. Need to find sponsors. Hemingway Hustle with Lively Athletics
will possible be sponsored by Baird and Warner.
Streetscape
Streetscape meeting was Thursday, August 14 with Craig Failor and Loretta Daly. Dan Healy is
putting together a letter to go to the village board to make the board aware of the infrastructure
issues of Oak Park Ave and desire to have it done as quickly as possible and efficiently (may be
pushed back behind Lake Street project and lack of funding).
Resurfacing in 2017-concerned that the board will tie into look of downtown Oak Park as they
carry the Lake Street project into our district.
Central gathering point in front of old Thyme and Honey space.
Possibly turning South Blvd between Euclid and Oak Park Ave into a one-way westbound.
South Blvd has a major water main that runs west to Harlem.
Infrastructure in our district is 90-100 years old.
Areas of cosmetic concern: Landscaping by garage, maintenance on crosswalk, broken lights
on overpass.
Broken clock attached to US Bank is scheduled to be fixed privately by the building.
Police Report
Sergio prevented a bank robbery yesterday. The suspect then went on to rob the Chase bank.
Homeless back in allies.
Caught all three suspects involved on Clinton Robbery.
Board Meeting- Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Finance
Sergio is still working on getting reimbursements for fall sidewalk sale and last year’s holiday
expenses.
Jim A. will talk to Sergio asap about last year’s spending for the holiday festivities and lay out a
budget for this year’s holiday events (Santa, tree, decorations).
Olive and Well is renovating. Refinished floors and new counters. New furniture and point of
sale system.
Amour de la Terre and Lively Running have opened.
Pizza place “Elio’s” is going into 133 S. Oak Park Ave-former Avenue Food Market.
Hamburger Mary’s is aiming to open late winter.
Two Big Belly trash compactors have replaced the three compartment recycling cans at North
and South Blvd. Probably need one or two more on Lake Street by either Red Hen or
Starbucks.
Moved sculpture from in front of Il Vilcola further south to avoid tripping hazard.
Chara’s may be turning into a steakhouse.
Agora was closed all of last week.
There was a showing at the Mac Specialist place. Hopeful of taking the whole space.
A couple of showings at Peterson’s Pharmacy--a wine bar and an espresso/waffle cafe.
Community Bank owns the space on South Blvd. May or may not actually build on property.
Streetscape
There is a streetscape meeting taking place tomorrow (8/14) at 3 pm. Items to be discussed are
the punchlist of working projects, the village underground infrastructure maps and plans, and
the plans and drawings for South Blvd. between Oak Park Ave and Euclid.
The Oak Park Ave viaduct is a tight fit for fire trucks.
There is no detailed signage for how to get to places like the Frank Lloyd Wright House or
informational maps. Directory map listing businesses would be too much upkeep and often
inaccurate.
Marketing
Website- Missing a large amount of business bios which each business needs to submit. Bio is
a part of the welcome letter distributed by membership committee.
The intern is back at school and no longer working for us.
The sidewalk sale improved business at The Irish Shop. Have not heard from other businesses
who participated.
The Halloween Parade will take place on Saturday, October 25, 2014.
Idea for a recyclable shopping bag for the Hemingway District to sponsor a local charity and
improve community ties and branding.
Holidays
Deb S. is still heading the plans for Halloween and Holiday Festivites (except lightpoles).
Need to work on underwriting Santa and try to underwrite anything else (tree, decorations)
Public Arts Light Pole Sponsorships vs. Garland- Businesses will sponsor artists to create art on
the light poles showcasing their business. Jim A. will contact David Sokal asap to have it run by
the Public Arts Commission for support and planning. Garland dies too quickly and looks bad
being left up on the light poles.
Another route is to just offer sponsorship of light poles and we do something with the business
name on it.
Either have decorations for light poles done 1-2 weeks before Santa or the night Santa comes
to town.
General Membership Meeting - Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Finance
Sergio is working on getting reimbursements from Village of Oak Park for Fall events and
Loretta brought the forms to the meeting. Village only reimburses for paid invoices.
Sidewalk sale starts tomorrow, 7/17 and runs through the weekend, 7/19.
Jim A put up banners.
Meters went in on Lake St. Waiting for one more that is on order.
Frank Lloyd Wright 40th Anniversary free tours start tomorrow, 7/17.
Concerts in Scoville Park this year have had about 200-225 concert-goers. Last year saw about
500-600 attendees. Rain has been an issue this year. The Taste of Chicago closed early over
the weekend. There was a lot of standing water and the city was worried about issues with
electric, etc. due to rain.
Eyrie Restaurant-Food baskets made available for the summer weekends and concerts not
selling very well. They did well on Father’s Day but not so well on other weekends. Eyrie tried
handing out flyers - sounded like a great idea but getting little traction.
Lively Running should be opening at the end of July.
Amour de la Terre is opening at the end of August.
Hamburger Mary’s is obtaining liquor license and will open in late Dec/early January. Started in
San Francisco and also has a location in Germany along with other locations. Plans still in the
works. There will be the Oak Park Brewing Co. with a brew pub feel on one side and food on
the other side. They will be branded differently. There will be a stage.
Carnivore opening in August. A butcher shop located at 1042 Pleasant at Marion St.
Oak Park Foods - application hasn’t made it into the Village yet - not sure if they will. Wanted
real estate office but OPEDC did not support. The HDBA did not support either. Jim A spoke
with the owner of the building. If a lease is not extended to the real estate office then cannot
submit an application to the Village.
Dave King has nothing happening with Thyme and Honey location.
The Bramble location is 1400 sq ft and asking $37.00/sq ft. The old Caribou used to have the
most expensive price per sq ft.
Mac Specialist closed. Hard space to lease. 6000 sq ft - front retail space 2000 sq ft. OPEDC
has put a little energy behind it but there are restrictions on what can go into the space. It’s a
nice space but is away from the corner so businesses struggle there. Jim S. says it will
probably be split with rear entry. “Nothing in Moderation” used to be there. Received
possession from the courts for Mac Specialist on July 14.
Must submit a plan to the Village for outdoor seating and have better adherence to the setbacks
so pedestrians can still navigate the sidewalks. A fine or permanent revocation of a permit
should be implemented.
Chain link fence under the viaduct. This is a Hemingway Foundation fundraiser - buy a lock and
sign it and hang on fence. They (?) will set-up a table to sell locks.
HDBA Intern
Reed Barron is out and about getting profiles of businesses and owners for the website. He is
working on the website and Facebook page.
2015 Summer Street Fair/Outdoor Event
Jim A spoke with Paul Z and Amy with School of Rock about the future street fair. All are very
enthusiastic.
Prefer a Sat/Sun 2-day event with a 5K tying in with Hemingway Foundation annual celebration.
Paul Z suggested doing it on Friday/Sat if selling alcohol for Friday night sales. Make $$ for
association.
Loretta said can coordinate it all with her and she can help get the paperwork through. The
board joked that Loretta is the Kevin Bacon of Oak Park except she has about a 2 degree of
separation.
Streetscape
Craig Failor & Loretta with the Village will be part of meeting in August - 2nd week.
Taking the long view of Oak Park Ave. 2017 paving including underground.
Shari Filoni would like to have a few more benches installed. Maybe add to broad streetscape
plan. However, Shari would like to see them installed in the short-term. Many concurred and
added it would be nice to have an additional 4-5 benches.
“Big Belly” solar powered compactor for waste is being tested. Kelly Morrisey is concerned that
the compactor will be too dirty without someone cleaning it.
Police Report
There have been fights between several patrons at the library.
On Sat evening at 200 Clinton someone was robbed while out bbq-ing. The victim was held at
gunpoint while the other suspects went to the ATMs at 7-11 and Tasty Dog. There was a video
from 7-11.
New Business
Freska’s - one of their tables is too close to a tree. Loretta just took over the outdoor dining
responsibility so looking at reorganizing.
Decorating light poles for the holidays
● Jim A needs to talk to David Sokol of PAAC who is out of town for the next couple of
weeks
○ PAAC meets the first Wed every month
● Would like to see artists decorate the poles for the holidays
● PAAC to set parameters for call-to-artists
● Maybe have stores sponsor pole in front to reflect their business
● 2 tracks to follow from operational perspective
○ what kind of art - temporary in nature
○ how will art be applied and then removed
● Great concept
Constant Contact is set up but not used yet.
Dan Haley called to accept minutes from previous meeting. Paul Zimmerman seconded.
Board Meeting - Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Meeting called to order at 8:34 by President Jim August
Dan Haley motioned to approve minutes. Liz H seconded.
Membership
The tae kwon do martial arts business on N. Oak Park Ave. joined HDBA.
Happenings Around Town
Avenue market space - variance for real estate office. Requesting a zoning ordinance change.
Jim A disagrees with this. There are several restaurant prospects that Viktor with OPEDC has.
Jim A is going to let Loretta know the HDBA board is unanimous that a real estate office is not
preferred. Would like it to stay retail. Jim A to write a letter and have the board review and
approve.
Mac Specialist is closing. This is a large space that can possibly be used for grocery. But
Winberie’s has right of refusal for food competition.
Dan H would like to see Viktor to attend so he can talk about the Mac Specialist space. The
other store in Villa Park closed too. The owner has testicular cancer so his focus is not on the
stores. He is in bankruptcy.
Brambles is closing.
Peterson’s Pharmacy is also closing at the end of July.
The Frank Lloyd Wright 40th Anniversary Open House is posted on the Hemingway District
website.
The intern, Reed Barron is working on updating the website with pictures. He wrote the first bio
on Jim A’s business first.
Lake Street meters have been changed.
Jim A suggested the Village revoke Spiro’s outdoor seating permit. He will not follow the 5’
setback rule after repeated complaints and discussions with him.
The vegan shoe store has put in flooring.
The Lake & Forest garage is being demolished in Sept. and closing Aug. 4th. 20-story
residential and multi-use building going in.
Lot 26 - HDBA is getting response from Loretta & Jill V at the Village where no one else seems
to get a response.
Marketing
Need to put together a committee for a street fair/outdoor event for 2015. The initial suggested
committee members are Jim A, Dan Haley, Dave w/Winberies, Loretta and Paul Zimmerman.
Need to set up first meeting for this August.
List of items to address:
● staging/music/sound
○ Paul Zimmerman knows people from Wire (they’re Oak Park people). Also
School of Rock (Amy Renzulli) - the two work closely together.
● sponsorships
●
●
●
●
restaurant participants
maybe close off streets - Oak Park & Lake and set up as an “L” shape
possibly set-up boutique beer vendors (locations?)
○ no alcohol allowed in park
○ need cost of entertainment covered so would like to control alcohol sales
Need to ask Amy about possible 5K run w/Baird & Warner as a sponsor
Business is quiet. The dog days of summer are here.
The Community Bank sponsored the July 4th fireworks at the high school. The Wednesday
Journal sponsored the finale.
$1500 to sponsor and underwrite Santa, elf and candy for the holidays. Need a committee
started in September for the holidays.
Jim A suggested having a promotional decorating of the light poles for the holidays. Maybe
bring in PAAC to help find artists. Make it a contest and/or a public arts event. Package the
event as a holiday event and get $ from the Village (Loretta) for marketing, etc.
Deb can decorate the inside of Scoville Square.
Streetscape
Would like to put together a streetscape committee in July.
Dan H asked what the red dots on the sidewalk are for? May be something w/Village
maintenance.
Power washing was completed.
Meeting motioned to close at 9:20 AM.
General Membership Meeting - Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Meeting called to order at 8:40 by President Jim August.
Treasurer’s Report
Dan Haley asked if HDBA submitted receipts to the Village for 2013 decorations.
Insurance has not been paid. Sergio is working with Patrick.
There are 47 paid members.
5 santas @ $250 each = $1500. Need sponsorship from other businesses.
Marketing
Jim A. commented that we need to have a marketing meeting. Everyone concurred.
Jim A. said the calendar has been updated.
Concerts in the park on Sundays from 5:30-7:30 PM.
Paul Zimmerman asked about email. Jim A. is setting up Constant Contact. Needs CC to
activate. May only need to pay half because HDBA is a non-profit.
July 17-20 sidewalk sale. Loretta suggested we apply for a grant for marketing for the sidewalk
sale.
Group marketing in Pleasant District. $25 per ad.
Loretta thanked the HDBA for the “sneak peak” party. She said it added an aire of
sophistication.
St. Edmond’s sculpture has been interactive - kids climbing on it.
Baird & Warner and the new shoe store Lively Running want to sponsor 5K for Hemingway
birthday in 2015. Be cognizant of day, route, etc. May need extra security.
Membership
Patrick says letters are finished. Need to get addresses to hand deliver welcome packets.
Loretta can get addresses from business licenses. Viktor has a ground floor business list but
not as up-to-date.
Patrick needs the membership list with addresses and email addresses from HDBA sign-in
sheet.
The HDBA email address is [email protected] The HDBA us a 501-c-6
organization.
Intern
Dan H. asked about the intern. Would like for him to work on the database of names,
addresses and emails.
Jim A. is having Reed to to a list of members and work on bios.
Area Happenings
2 shoe stores -Vegan - Alisha - internal issues slowing progress
The other shoe store opens in July - Lively Running
Pizza people are back looking at Gus’s place.
Hamburger Mary’s having liquor license transferred over to new site on Oak Park Ave. Starting
construction this summer. Using funding from local banks. Project is out to bid. Plans should
be submitted to Village soon. Loretta to push through quickly.
Bramble is closing. The owner may be going between CA and New Orleans.
Olive and Well transferring ownership. Kay Kohlman is taking over. Wants to be involved in
HDBA. She used to be in the foreign services training businesses to function in other countries.
Chicago & Maple approved. Breaking ground soon. Next to Doggie Day Care.
The Village of Oak Park
Mike Lennox asked who is keeping the sculptures clean. Is PAAC? It has not been an issue.
Contact Loretta if notice an issue.
The sidewalk of HDBA & DTOP will be powerwashed this week at night. Loretta will look into
schedule so restaurants can clean up sidewalk (tables & chairs) ahead of time.
Sidewalk sweepers in morning by Village? Not sure of set schedule.
Public Works has been trimmed back to skeleton crew. Many things have been outsourced
such as garbage pick-up.
Tree planting is typically done in the Fall.
Silver cells - allows for greater expansion underground so tree roots can spread out and survive.
Three recycling bins with solar compactor on South Blvd. -- paper/plastic/glass. A test case.
Permit parking at Lot 26 at North Blvd. Loretta checking with Jill V.
Match waste containers and street lights to Marion Street’s.
Marion St. has a self-imposed tax -- SSA -- so have larger plantings, etc.
Looking at South Blvd.
2017 Oak Park Ave. infrastructure and paving.
Mike Fenwick - superintendent of streets. Located at Public Works building on South Blvd.
Jim A. asked if we should invite the new interim engineer, Mike McKenna to a meeting?
Worked with him before on North Blvd.
There are issues with outdoor seating. Loretta is working with the restaurants. The Village has
received numerous complaints from people not able to walk around including handicapped
individuals. Should be resolved by end of the week. The plans submitted don’t show
impediments such as trees, light poles, etc. Will be implementing a new set of criteria. Will be
doing on-site inspections. There are a couple of businesses that are difficult to work with.
Jim Bushouse not happy about parking change on Lake Street -- thought he couldn’t have valet
parking but Jim A. explained to him that he can.
Parking meters and signage passed but not changed yet.
Loretta passed out a list of items for clean-up and light maintenance including finished items.
Most items will be completed by end of summer.
Hemingway District Walk
May 30, 2014
Updated June 13, 2014
Attendees: Andy, Jim A., Loretta D., Craig F., Rob S., Mike F., John W.
1. Remove all wires from trees and light poles. these were used for Holiday lights and are not used
anymore. Streetlighting/Forestry will remove as trees are trimmed Streetlights reapired. Some
have been removed already.
2. Tree/Stump removal. Replace with above ground VOP planters. Forestry, by end of July:
a. 187 S. Oak Park, stump
b. 165 S. Oak Park, stump
c. 144 S. Oak Park, stump
d. Two stumps, west of Oak Park, north side of North Blvd.
e. 707 Lake, tree/stump
3. Tree trimming - Forestry, will spend one day a week on this task.
4. 144 S. Oak Park, 3 pipes sticking out of sidewalk. - Streetlighting, checking with business to see
if they still use them.
5. Sidewalk brick replacement: Streets, by end of July
a. 144 S. Oak Park
b. SE Lake & Oak Park
c. Other various location
6. Weed tree pits. Forestry will put in an order with our landscape contractor.
7. SE corner Oak Park & South Blvd., replace recycling containers with Big Belly solar
trash/recycling compactor. Streets, end of July.
8. South Side Viaduct lighting. This was hit by a truck and damaged. Streetlighting is currently
getting quotes for repairs.
9. SE corner & North Blvd., move planter to west side of sculpture. Forestry
10. Clean up debris around newspaper boxes @ SE corner of Oak Park & South Blvd. Also NE
corner Oak Park & North Blvd. Done.
11. 132 N. Oak Park, light pole outlet, trip hazard. Streetlighting
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
137 N. Oak Park, water valve sidewalk trip hazard. Water & Sewer
142 N. Oak Park sidewalk trip hazard. Streets, Done.
Clean up debris in front of Nora’s shoes. Streets, Done.
715 Lake, trash can lid missing. Streets, Done.
Streetlighting missing access panel on light pole.
a. 100 N. Oak Park. Streetlighting, Done.
b. In front of U.S. Bank building. Streetlighting, Done.
17. Avenue Parking Garage landscaped areas between sidewalk & street. Forestry, will contact
landscaping contractor.
18. NW corner Lake & Euclid. Replace grass/dirt area next to fire hydrant with concrete. Streets,
will complete by mid-July.
Police Report
Jerramiah’s back.
Kids are out of school. Summer school started last Monday.
Pick-pockets in DTOP and over to River Forest. Two black males in their 40s/50s have a
distraction scheme. Charge thousands on stolen CC.
North Blvd. parking -- cars broken into.
Obits
Dr. Charlie Schwartz passed away at 91. Was a member of HDBA. A very happy guy.
Bob Leland - an old curmudgeon. Owned the jewelry and gift store on Oak Park Ave.
Meeting called to close at 9:46 AM.
Board Meeting - Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Meeting called to order at 8:40 M by President Jim August.
Alex Jacobs moved to approve the minutes. Unanimously approved by the Board.
Area Happenings
Bramble is closing after selling her stock of inventory. She also lives in CA. She move around
a lot. There are ADA issues due to stairs. The back of her space is rented. Dana may pay a
year’s rent to get out of her lease.
Olive and Well is selling. Sandra is the current owner. She directs people how to run their
companies in other countries. Supposed to be announced August first. Kay Kuhlem
([email protected]) is purchasing.
GLA Mgmt. Laverne Collins (owns building Bramble occupies).
Chatka/Tony Ruggerio - owns Hemingway Foundation Museum bldg.
Membership
Patrick passed out the Welcome packet for HDBA for review. Includes letter, website input
worksheet and calendar of events for 2014.
Lindamood Bell. Meagan is contact and the director. 137 N. Oak Park Ave., Ste. 2.
Tae Kwon Do would like to join.
Jim A dropped off information to Fresko (corner of Oak Park & Lake).
Marketing
Reed Barron & Jim’s daughter have been working on Facebook & Instagram. Photos drive
“likes.” Reed to take photos of inside and outside of businesses. Will put on HDBA website and
Facebook.
Concordia and Dominican have intern programs. PR students could possibly intern for us per
Alex.
Pictures of Sculpture Walk rotating on website.
Constant Contact will be set up by Jim A.
The “sneak peak” of the Sculpture Walk was underwritten by Jim A; food by Eyrie.
Marketing committee has admin. capability to website.
Deb recommended the HDBA do a group shot with bios on side bar of website. Warmly
received by members.
Signage for Marion St. has calendar of events posted near Creative Kitchens. Jim A checking
with Loretta to see if our district can do this too.
Newsletter every month? Proposed by Patrick.
Need someone to handle newsletter and editorial page. Need a template. There is a posting
area on website.
Deb sent a thank you letter to all that RSVP’d for the “sneak peak” and promised to keep them
informed. Also of “accountables” for next 30 days.
Newsletter topics:
● Future events
●
●
current issues
gripe session
Please join to be part of the community. A newsletter keeps all updated. No hearsay or gossip.
Deb really wants to get our HDBA more active and progressive. Do an event in September similar to “Mad Women” on Madison St. in Forest Park. Make this as a goal to build on. Will
need underwriting for each event, ie, printing costs.
May start an afternoon meeting for the General Membership meeting.
Perhaps offer “lunch and learn.”
Village of Oak Park
SSA = Special Service Area - extra tax paid in their area.
TIF = Tax Increment Financing
If more than 2 people from the Village of OP attend a function, then must be a public hearing.
Ricky Tanksley - Village of Oak Park Chief of Police
Loretta Daly did check the setbacks of the outdoor seating areas.
Nick Gambino of Cucina - brought up Lot 26 to park after 6:00 PM to 10 or 11:00 PM. Jim A
emailed Loretta and Jill Vellan to request if can be changed. There are only 1-5 cars in the lot
that late but it is permit only parking lot.
Deb moved to adjourn at 10:06 AM.
Board Meeting - Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Meeting called to order at 8:38 AM by President Jim August.
Membership
44 members have paid.
$2800 for sponsorship of concert series paid to Village (or Park District?).
Alex asked for concert series information so he can post to his Oak Park website.
Picazzo may join.
Patrick and the membership committee are working on the welcome letter as a follow-up to
joining the HDBA. It will include a sign-up form to set up on website. Alex will be the contact
person for sign-up form for website.
There are companies on the website that have not paid. Need to set a deadline for payment or
remove from the website. June 30th deadline agreed by board.
Standard lease clause in commercial leases at Scoville Square. This includes Mac Specialists.
Business after hours - Sculpture installation is May 21st & 22nd. Officially begins June 1st.
Maybe do an after hours on the 29th. Maybe at Hunter Court to have wine and cheese, preview
the sculptures and then come back and mingle. Invite Loretta. Jim A to see if he can get wine
donated. Membership committee to take care of event. 5:00-7:00 PM. Also ask Colleen of
PAAC to come and invite Anan and John Hedges. Remember to invite the general members at
next week’s meeting. Do an email blast. Press release? Literature? Alex would like to have it
up on the website. Include a calendar of events on the website. Take a group shot of everyone
to put on the website. Also Deb’s birthday!
Alison Sansone is back from maternity leave.
Marketing
Calendar of events:
● June 1 - Day in Our Village -- need volunteers for 1 hour intervals. It is also graduation
day in Oak Park. Provide a sign-up sheet at the next meeting. Alex has a clean pop-up
tent. HDBA had one in the basement of Winberies. Have tables of PAAC, HBDA,
Hemingway Foundation next to each other. Need propaganda to drive people to
website. Need flyer at DIOV to hand out.
○ membership forms
○ concert series calendar
○ calendar of events
● Summer concert series starts June 15.
● July 17-21 sidewalk sale event. Coordinates with DTOP event. Saturday program at
Scoville Square - Perisian theme.
● September 11-14 Fall sidewalk sale - early this year - Thursday-Sunday
● Halloween parade
● Santa Saturdays Nov. 29, Dec. 6 . . . Dec 20th. Friday November 28th Santa arrives.
Very well attended. Possibly get outdoor music instead of indoor in short 45 min. sets.
Streetscape
Short-term and long-term needs.
Committee to have 1st meeting May 15 at Wednesday Journal. Members to attend are: Jim
August, Dan Haley, Jim Solnes, Alex Jacobs, and Paul Zimmerman.
Jim A thinks we’re closer with the Village than we were before. Need continuity with DTOP.
New tenants, ie., Hamburger Mary’s at 155 S. Oak Park Ave., may balk at sewer and
underground work etc. (Hamburger Mary’s is a done deal. US Bank doing financing)
New Business
Deb is moving closer to her family in FL.
Reed Baron will volunteer time this summer for marketing. Will work out of the OPEDC office.
Viktor was instrumental. Jim A will supervise him. Board to go through Jim A. Reed will do
website, etc. Maybe allow him to shadow members. Reed graduated OPRF and will be
attending Iowa State in the Fall. Liz of Heritage Tile suggested we introduce him on the website
with a picture.
Activewear and sportswear shoes for women between Eric’s and the martial arts space on Oak
Park Ave.
Meters go before the Village on Monday, May 19. Jim A may attend to make sure it goes
through.
Resale shop is vacant. Old Thyme & Honey has been vacated. Viktor is also sending possible
tenants their way. DK has signs out.
Bushouse is putting concrete on the sidewalk in front of Charra’s - but on plywood. Seating
must be 6 feet adjacent to building.
Wright Plus is this weekend. Jim Solnes is going to be a volunteer speaker on the trolley. It’s
his first year volunteering.
Would like to add the Hemingway Hustle next year to the Hemingway birthday weekend
celebration. Baird and Warner may sponsor event.
La Mahada is closing and is for sale. The small La Mahada in River Forest is still open.
Alex motioned to adjourn at 9:39 AM.
General Membership Meeting - Wednesday May 21, 2014
Introductions made by attendees.
Membership
Patrick talked about welcome letter to include:
●
●
●
●
advocacy paragraph - very important
tentative schedule of events
link to Visit Oak Park
May 29th Business After Dark
Sculpture installations starting today, 5/21/14. Colleen works closely with Park District and
Village. Business owners to receive maps/brochures of sculptures.
JIm A handed out a rough draft of the events calendar.
Joanna Skubish (sp?) - concerts in the park.
Wright Plus
42 states and 8 countries attended event. Canada, England & Australia the top three countries
to attend.
Very well attended, perfect weather, great camaraderie amongst the volunteers. Very pleasant,
upbeat day. Jim Solnes commented that the after party was great with a lot of positive energy.
Jim A mentioned we need volunteers for Day in our Village on June 1st.
Paul Zimmerman announced the grand opening for Altierra will be in late June.
Streetscape
Oak Park & Lake streetscape
● sewers under Oak Park Ave.
○ DTOP continuity
○ get sewers, water main, streetscape & paving done at same time.
○ Oak Park Ave. is primary artery so no stone or brick paving
○ possible remaking of South Blvd. - earliest, next year
● A group put together by Jim A & Loretta D to indicate immediate fixes - do a walk around
● What and how hasn’t been established. Loretta may bring out plans.
● Lake Street infrastructure was done about 15 years ago.
● Deb thinks planters should be removed - not well place or maintained. Maybe hang
plants from light poles? Silk plants so no watering?
● Maybe install raised granite planters.
● No money has been allotted yet
● TIF fund is gone.
● Paul Zimmerman has gone through this on Roosevelt
● Key to success between businesses and Village to have continuous open lines of
communication
● There were a lot fatalities (mistakes) during and after Marion Street redevelopment. A
lot of delays.
No shouting matches with Village. Nothing was getting done. May be gone after old Village
president left. Now more civil.
Police
● Jaramiah - criminal trespass of multiple businesses. He has been banned from
Ridgeland to Harlem on Lake St.
● Alfonso Mack - wanted for stealing
● Always call 911 when dealing with trouble
● Panhandling is considered free speech
● Last day of high school for seniors is this Friday; all others the following Friday
● OPRF graduation is June 1st.
● Jon is on vacation Saturday, June 12 for a week
● Condos at 140 N. Euclid - 3 robberies/break-ins
Mary motioned to approve the minutes and Paul Z. seconded.
Parking issue at meters in front of dentist office . Jill is the new parking director - invite her to
meeting and discuss issues - no attacks.
Developments in the the district and around town
Ann is opening a women’s shop in July - Lively Running. She will also offer clinics.
Paul Z is opening Altierra at 139 S. Oak Park Ave.
● retail, kitchen cabs, home furnishings, with vignettes and resource center
● partner with JCS Construction.
Hamburger Mary’s
● moved to 159 S. Oak Park Ave.
● this is an expansion into Oak Park
● brewery and restaurant
● Village created new ordinances
● started in San Francisco - LGBT friendly
● December opening or first of year
Tina Brown
● Village approved
● needs to go to legal
● signs still need to be made and back on schedule
Jan Feloni of Feloni’s said that outdoor dining is taking over sidewalks.
● There is a 5 foot setback from back-of-curb
● Village needs to enforce
● Pay a permit fee for outdoor seating
● $1,000/summer?
●
●
must be remediated at end of season
as an organization (HDBA), go to Village - Jim A will email Loretta today and ask her to
look into
OPEDC
● Old Thyme & Honey is vacated
● Reed Barron is interning with HDBA this summer. May mentor at local businesses
● Fresko is nearly built out
● South & Harlem - preferred developer assigned
● Colt Building - a parking lot - development of lot
● South & Home - foundation being uncovered. Bank failed situation. Another bank came
in - First Merit Bank. JCS did work but not paid by bank.
● Chicago & Maple
○ 5-story - 10 unit
○ luxury condos
○ single floor living
○ 2 parking spots per unit
○ no retail component on first floor due to all parking on first floor
○ in front of planning commission
○ art glass on front facade
○ eco walls on east elevation
○ green roof
○ most energy efficient in area
○ ~ $895,000 for 3,000 sq ft
Tom Gull spoke about:
Celebration of Frank Lloyd Wright Trust on June 17
● 103 involved in setting up the Trust
● 76 still living
● 25 attending
July 17 - free tours for local Oak Park & River Forest population.
Deb motioned to adjourn at 9:44 AM and Mary seconded.
General Membership Meeting - Wednesday April 16, 2014
Meeting called to order at 8:38 AM by President Jim August.
Visitors:
Paul Zimmerman of Altierra Kitchens, 139 S. Oak Park Ave.
He was involved in the Roosevelt Rd. Advisory Committee and Berwyn Development
Corp. Also president of the Business Association Council of Oak Park - about to finish.
Tom Gull of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust.
John Hedges of OPEDC - head of Park District and Village Trustee
Membership
co-chair, Mary D
Do follow-up with calendar. Need information from marketing committee.
Pat is working on a welcome letter.
● Bullets of advantages
● Worksheet of inclusion into website
● No calendar of events on website -- needed
● No one working on website - tech and content issues.
Viktor said that Peter with the school of business at OPRF is interested in becoming more
involved in the HDBA.
Marketing
Received a bid of $375 per month to maintain website and twitter acct. Too high. Maybe a high
school student? Paul Zimmerman may know of someone.
Paul Zimmerman ran two street fairs on Roosevelt Rd. in the past and thinks the Hemingway
Birthday event is a great idea for July.
Running with the Bulls maybe use to start off event - a good hook. Jim A will talk with the
runner’s club for help.
Lots of red tape once restaurants are involved. Al fresco options.
Deb suggested utilizing Hunter Court for al fresco or entertainment venue. Get local sponsors.
Viktor said May Lanzooli (sp?) of House of Rock has good quality musicians.
Village grant? They will match marketing up to $1000. Only 2 per district unless money is left
over and people aren’t utilizing. Bundle together marketing money with Hemingway Foundation,
the Village and HDBA.
Jim A said we should do an after party at the Hemingway museum as a feel good event for the
July weekend.
Beer and wine sales to generate revenue. Used to get 10,000+ people.
Christmas Santa to start November 28.
●
●
●
●
Deb has it templated
10 am - 4 pm
need volunteers
Deb already has Santa from last year committed - would like to have a contract - he has
the looks and the personality.
OPEDC
Working on marketing program. Marketing Village overall but haven’t determined who target is
yet.
● Need people in Oak Park to endorse their own community.
● Brokers and developers
● Need a more positive approach.
● Retention - help get tenants
● Bank owned lot on South Blvd. - bought for a branch but haven’t started (Forest Park
National)
● Public Works - weaknesses in system
Paul Zimmerman asked John Hedges if there is going to be money for facade improvements?
Jim A interrupted and the question was not answered.
Dan Haley and Viktor meeting with landlords with vacant properties at George’s. Brian Collins
owns building across from street of Anan’s building. Offer support to help with vacancies.
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Grand opening in June - Altierra moving into new space (Paul Zimmerman)
Fresco at Lake & Oak Park
Vegan shoe store is behind schedule with their April 1 deadline but inventory has been
ordered.
Fashions Anew left (across the street from St. Edmonds). There are two store fronts
and DK is marketing.
Greater than $20/sq ft - taxes are an issue (which property?)
Old Avenue market - $40,000 to bring up to white box. Need to meet with Nick.
Old vet office across from Maya’s
○ offer fell through
○ still good interest
○ owner occupied
○ environmental studies have been done
What is the future of the AT&T building? There are only 12 people and it is automated. It
seems to be a spot for supplies - major storage.
Old Marshall Field’s building at Harlem and Lake.
● Proposed boxing gym - UFC gym, a national franchise.
○ gyms in Lincoln Park, Wrigleyville, etc.
● It will occupy rear 5,000 sq ft - no Lake St. frontage
●
●
●
●
Entry on Harlem near bus stop
Caters to women
○ boxing, Tae Kwon Do, etc.
Need special variance and retail overlay dist.
There are still 12,000 sq ft available in the basement and 5,000 sq ft in the front half of
the building
Sculpture Walk June 1 - Sept 21
Business after hours for members of HDBA to go on Sculpture walk. Jim A will talk with David
Sokol and Colleen.
Day in Our Village is an interactive attraction for HDBA
PAAC/HDBA/HF tables nearby to each other to hand out literature, etc.
Banners - there are 39 banners in our district.
Streetscape
● 2017 repair date for Oak Park Ave.
● Serious sewer work needed on N. Oak Park Ave, also South Blvd.
● Lake Street was rebuilt 15 years ago.
● Major streetscape project 40 years old
○ No brick - do not want to mimic Marion St. but do want to see materials used
● Loretta said need to carry out an element from Downtown to provide continuity
● Dan Haley calling for streetscape committee volunteers:
○ Dan Haley
○ Loretta Daly
○ Vito Viccolo
○ Jim Solnes
○ Jim August
○ Paul Zimmerman
● Mary asked if we could hang plants from the lighting bars on the street lights
● There is a schedule of districts - get from Loretta
Police
3 teens ripped down punch-in time clock box at Aria Group Architecture
2 homeless guys are back. Drinking and peeing next to Cucina.
Wednesday and Thursday homeless centers open on Lake St., at Grace and 1st United. The
last day is May 14.
Parking Meters
Tina Brown, rep for parking will go before Village Board. Dan Haley is trying to get into next
meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 10:00 AM
Board Meeting - Wednesday April 9, 2014
Meeting was called to order at 8:40 AM by President Jim August.
Switching to Constant Contact from Mail Chimp. Took a vote; everyone in favor. Jim A
motioned and Dan Haley seconded.
Park District hasn’t asked for $ so will pay when they ask.
Membership Report
Discussion of potential members:
Hemingway Bistro
George’s (joined by Johnnie)
Theresa w/G???
Wise & Brundage - dentists
Paul Zimmerman w/Altria
Bramble
Oberweiss is not a member
Would like to have a coffee meeting with owners of empty buildings/store fronts and include
Viktor of OPEDC to discuss. Dan Haley will call Viktor to get his feedback.
Building south of Wednesday Journal being sold.
Marketing Report
July - Hemingway Birthday celebration :
● Saturday evening & Sunday.
● Parisian Night at Scoville Square with a speaker starting at 5:00 PM.
● Street fair and block party.
● We are currently 90 days out from Village so need to communicate for permits.
● Need food from 5-6 restaurants (there are 17 in our district).
● Tents are approximately $45-100.
● Alcohol served generates $$.
● Need to generate money for association. Should HDBA or the restaurants handle the
alcohol sales?
● Make this a signature event and get sponsors from banks, etc.
● Winberies has had very positive experiences sponsoring
● Eyrie is very receptive
● St. Edmonds is interested and Mary D. is the liaison for them.
● Event not under the Village of Oak Park
● Need a separate license for this event.
●
●
●
●
●
Public Works (Kathy) has to close street. (request 90 days out which is April 19)
Fiesta de Hemingway had about 20,000 people attend.
Downtown Oak Park may be holding a sidewalk sale, maybe tie in with them.
Possibly start the Hemingway Hustle family 5K in 2015 - Jim A has a friend that is part of
the Oak Park Runner’s Club and will help.
Do a Moveable Feast theme in the restaurants?
Discussed the event calendar:
2014 Event Calendar
April
Easter -- April 20
May
Mother's Day Gift Basket Raffle - Drawing May
10
Notes
Not enough participants to fill
gift basket so canceled
Wright Plus -- May 17
June
Day in Our Village -- June 1
Table & presence 11 AM - 4
PM
Sculpture Walk -- June 1 - September 21
Summer Concert Series -- June 15 - August 10
Every Sunday in Scoville Park
Father's Day -- May 15
BBQ contest & car show?
Hemingway Birthday - A Moveable Feast-- July
18-20
Parisian in Scoville Square Sat @ 5:00 w/speaker
Sidewalk Sale in conjunction with Hemingway Bday
Street fair, block party
September
Fall Sidewalk sale?
Need to finalize date
October
Oaktober Fest
possible dates: Sept 26-28 or
Oct 2-4
July
August
Halloween Parade
November
December
Santa Saturdays
Banners - 2-sided graphics last about 4-5 years. Cost to install and take down is $100 but
charge others $250.
Maybe do a Fall Harvest to coincide with OPRF Homecoming? Use local produce. Megan w
Eyrie to look into.
Possible picnic baskets to be sold for the summer concert series. Family friendly. Megan with
Eyrie and Dawn to look into.
Patrick asked if Oak Park does a Taste of Oak Park.
Agoros has a financial partner, Bill Sullivan and they’d like to sponsor.
Sculpture Walk
Jim A. met with Colleen & David (PAAC) and Mike with Public Works. There will be 12 art
pieces mounted on 4’ x 4’ or 4’ x 5’ metal plates. Three sculptures will be south of the el tracks
and a few will be on Lake St. and Hunter Ct. Placement won’t go any further than 151 N. Oak
Park Ave. May put one on the North side of St. Edmonds. Mary to talk to Father John.
PAAC/Public Works will re-sod if there is any damage.
Publicize through Visit Oak Park and personal business websites.
2014 Sculpture Walk Sites:
A: St. Edmund’s - Loretta to find out where sculpture could go
B: Front of law office of Angela Kuehn or George’s Restaurant
C: Corner of South Blvd. and OP Ave. where newsstands are
D: Weichert Realtors (either North Blvd or OP Ave.)
E: Hunter Court West
F: Scoville Plaza (Either left by Picazzo, right by Magic Tree, or centrally placed depending on size)
G: Scoville Park Lake Street side
H: Scoville Park OP Ave. side
I: Scoville Residences 156 N. OP Ave.
J: Gepetto’s toy box
K: In front of Fresk (new yogurt shop)
L: Hunter Court East (Vicola Trattoria in place of south planter)
Day in Our Village
June 1st. Put poster in all business windows with list of sculptures.
Jim Butler is retiring at the end of May.
Streetscape and Infrastructure
2017 - repaving of Oak Park Ave. Infrastructure? Based on 100 year projections.
There are no plans for Oak Park Ave. which is totally different from what was said a few years
ago. Funding is set for 2017 and if infrastructure is not addressed before or in conjunction with
the 2017 repaving, sewer and other necessary infrastructure costs will fall to the Village and will
lose money from the government.
Anan will not allow any borrowed money.
What are our thoughts of streetscaping. Need to have board come to a consensus about
streetscaping. The Hemingway District is looking old and tired. It needs to have a face-lift.
● rip out bricks and sidewalks
● add new sidewalks
Start a committee of businesses affected by this. Need to consider short-term repairs and the
long term.
Dan H. said this is a long-term project that we are driving, not imposed upon.
Do research of other communities. Where the bricks were missing in front of Lake Theater were
filled in with asphalt and looks terrible.
Trustees are at-large - not by district.
Parking Meters on Lake Street
Jim A. spoke to Tina Brown. There will be 5 fifteen minute meters and the rest will be normal
meters.
Take down the valet sign.
Jim A wrote a letter that will be brought up at the Village Board in May and our Village Manager
will bring it up. This issue should be taken care of in the next couple of months.
There is a new person at Public Works, Daryl. He is very effective in getting things done. He
took care of a pile of rocks on North Blvd. across from the Irish Shop. Daryl had the pile
removed by the next day.
Anan is shifting the culture at the Village.
Kids Unlimited finished their front windows and they look great.
Bring up Wright Plus date at next meeting.
Deb wants to do an Easter Bunny event in Scoville Park. Needs bunny costume.
Meeting called to end at 9:42 am
Wednesday March 19, 2014 - General Membership Meeting
Meeting was called to order at 8:40 AM by President Jim August.
Mary D. called to approve minutes of 2/19/14 meeting. Jack seconded. Mike Lennox
commented minutes were good.
Emails don’t seem to be working to garner responses.
Membership
Mary Darnall visited 10 businesses for membership. St. Edmonds officially joined. HDBA hit a
milestone of 50 paid members.
Need marketing committee to put together a calendar of events for membership committee to
use for promotion.
Need to qualify events once they’re done to see if they’re successful, need any tweaking or not
worth another go around.
Mary D. to try to get Chris Alla (?) as a member.
Following-up with new members is key to successful integration.
Hemingway Birthday Event - July
Scope to be brought up at marketing committee meeting. Will be a grand, annual event.
Mary Jane Newman will be the new representative for the Hemingway Foundation. Allison
Sansone’s new baby girl is Liah (Liathan?).
Jim A. would like to have next HDBA event at the FLW Home & Studio - business after hours.
Tom Gull said it should work - no dates yet.
Parking
Jim A called Jill Vellarn at the Village about parking. He gave request to Loretta about chnaging
to regular 2-hour meters on South side of Lake St. from 15 mins. Keeping five 15 min meters,
handicap & loading zone. He received a majority of local businesses approval. Jim’s not sure
how the process works to get approved and changed in village.
People still don’t like to park in the garage, especially older people. Many asked if we could put
up parking signs directing people to the garage, not sure who or how to get thru village.
Hole on Oak Park Ave. When fixing hole on Oak Park Ave. form burst pipe due to frost, the
Village broke phone lines and had to go back in then broke another pipe.
Sculpture Walk
Sculpture Walk runs from June 1st thru September 21st.
OPEDC
Viktor did not attend meeting so no official update.
Refined Home is leaving Oak Park for Forest Park. Combining their 2 locations across from Mc
Donalds. Cabinet and accessory going in. Opening 4/1/14.
Couldn’t come to terms with Gus - old Avenue Market.
North Blvd. & Marion - E-Cigarette business going in.
Both Greek restaurants are open -- Agora (means market) and Chara (means happiness).
Invite landlords of both buildings (?) to next meeting. Neither property desirable; dumpy.
Megan of Eyrie said that a pop-up gallery through Robert Morris was trying to rent for a month
but couldn’t get approval.
HDBA Website
Not getting a lot of information on our website.
Need info on how many hits on our website. Hosted by Mail Press.
Still need someone to take care of social media. Dawn with Wednesday Journal knows
someone that may be able to do it but she will need to be paid. Mary said maybe a high school
student could do it?
New Business
Mike Lennox and Jim A. to walk around and make note of repairs that need to be done to the
streetscape. Repairs need to be done before June 1st for Day in Our Village.
Dan Haley has been talking about streetscapes but just a face lift, not a major renovation.
Terrazzo in front of Scoville building has been popping up in a lot of areas.
Jim A. requested meters be fixed due to Village snow removal vehicles hitting them.
Need signage for pedestrian crosswalks.
Marion Street sidewalks still look great but the bricks on the street are breaking up. Probably
due to poor installation.
Mary Jane asked if we have an events meeting, which is our marketing committee meeting.
John Barry many attend from HF.
Who’s in charge of the Park District? HDBA needs to talk with them about events in Scoville
Park.
Hemingway Foundation to sponsor a Scoville Park summer concert.
A few hundred people attend the weekly concerts.
Police Report
Warming up so kids will start acting up and being end of school year.
Jeremiah the panhandler is back. 6’-2”, 170 pound black male. He has been arrested twice.
Mentally unstable but not violent.
Attempted cell phone theft in from of Mac Specialists. Two juveniles arrested.
A blue police note left at Scoville Square - it’s a property note to let people know OPPD on the
the beat.
❏ A. Everything okay
❏ B. Issues such as a door is unlocked
Motion to adjourn at 9:32 AM by Mike, seconded by Mary.
Wednesday March 12, 2014 - Board Meeting
Meeting was called to order at 8:42 AM by President Jim August on March 12, 2014. Member
present: Jim August (Irish Shop), Jack Sheehan (Medical Arts Bldg), Mary Darnall (Kids
Unlimited), Patrick Kosloski (CDC Insurance), Megan Greer (Eyrie), David Roberts (Winberies),
Jill Conley (Heritage Tile), and Sergio Neylan (US Bank). Arriving ½ hour into meeting was Jim
Solnes (Scoville Square).
Previous meeting minutes approved by Jim August, seconded by Mary Darnell.
Account balance as of 3/11/14 $2,139.38. Y-T-D expenses $355.93. 34 members have paid
their dues for 2014. 15 members are still unpaid. The Hemingway Foundation membership
fees waived due to the reciprocal agreement with the HBD.
Must be a paid member in order to sponsor a concert in the park so Geppettos has been denied
unless they become a paid member.
Membership and Past Issues
Mary Darnell spoke about membership and the work the HBD does. There have been negative
comments made about the HBD and how nothing has changed. This opinion denigrates the
board. Great strides have taken place in the recent past and Jim A. spoke about how there was
a period of time in HBD’s history where nothing happened and there were no members. There
were no invoices and no dues paid -- almost a defunct association. No meetings for 1 ½ years.
Things are different now and the HBD is in full stride.
Jim A had petition signed for parking and took to Village on Eric of Gepetto’s behalf. On Lake
St.: loading zone & handicap parking staying, 2 - 15 min on East side and 1 - 15 min on West
side of street.
Streetscape issue in past was divisive.
Frost is at 48”-55” deep this winter. Water mains are breaking and leaking. Only 42” to water
main.
The collective group of HBD decides what will be accomplished, not a single member.
Board members need to be thick-skinned about comments from business owners.
Mark Davis, owner of Best Vacuum said HBD is doing a great job.
Jim S. has put in his leases at Scoville Square that the businesses are required to be part of
and members of HBD.
Not sure who the current contact is at Hemingway Foundation. Did Allison Sansone have baby
yet?
Businesses in the Ridgeland area may start their own business district. It was suggested we
ask the businesses join HBD while they are setting up their new business district so we can help
while also beefing up our membership. It will take time to gain power as a business district.
There seems to be activity at Oak Park and South Blvd. but restaurant pulled out so not sure
what the activity is.
Sculpture Walk 2014
● The Village sponsors the program
○ Frank Lloyd area along Forest Ave. promoted program the first year
○ Downtown Oak Park District - 2nd year
○ Pleasant Dist & Harrison Dist also interested in promoting in 2014
○ Budget for 12 art piece installations
○ Starts during Day in Our Village through Labor Day
○ Jim A to contact David Sokol, Chair of the OP Arts Advisory Commission (PAAC)
to express interest and show serious commitment
● On March 6th Jim A. was informed that the PAAC voted to hold the art walk in the
Hemingway Business District this summer. It will run approx. from Day in Our Village
through mid -September.
○ We (PAAC) are soliciting both ready to go works and some installation pieces.
We will keep you informed of the process, as it progresses, with Colleen Berg as
our coordinator and contact person.
○ David Sokol will let HBD know of sculpture placement.
Next Marketing Meeting scheduled for Monday, March 24 at 8:30 AM in the Scoville Square 3rd
Floor conference room.
HBD Logo to sticker to put in members’ windows. Add QR code, put date of membership on
sticker? Ask Chamber (Kathy) cost & who to buy from.
Talk about promotions at mktg mtg - doesn’t have to be retail based.
New Business
Mary D. asked businesses to hang fliers for her husband’s chorale group.
Alex moved to switch from Mail Chimp to Constant Contact. He will email all Board members
the actual cost to switch and then allow members to vote at next board meeting. CC is very
user friendly, more professional. Mail Chimp is not very user friendly. Currently 13 board
members and 115 additional email addresses.
FLW Preservation Trust wants to put up banners at Ontario St. near Scoville Park. 4-5 banners
to hang May - October. They call Jim A. once per week. Suggested we need to charge X
dollars and see what their response is. Bannerville - $30/banner? Patrick commented that
cross marketing is beneficial. Hang FLW banner on one side and HBD on other? Maybe
charge membership to FLW and then will hang for free if they provide banners.
Possibly combine membership meeting with free FLW tours offered to local residents. Maybe
an after hours event. Jim to ask about tickets for free tour as promo.
Union Pacific won’t maintain concrete walls that are crumbling along North and South Blvds.
Committees
Jim S. requested that a list of all committees and their members be sent out to everyone. Dan
Haley to put together an email. Jim A. is sending to everyone.
Alex Jacobs asked for adjournment at 9:55 AM. Mary seconded.
Wednesday February 19, 2014 - General Membership Meeting
Meeting was called to order at 8:40 AM by President Jim August on February 19, 2014.
Members present: Jim August (Irish Shop), Jack Sheehan (Medical Arts Bldg), Mary Darnall
(Kids Unlimited), Loretta Daly (Village of Oak Park), Patrick Kosloski (CDC Insurance), Megan
Greer (Eyrie), Mike Lennox ((Morten Realty), David Roberts (Winberies), Jennifer Czajka
(Public Library), Jill Conley (Heritage Tile), Paul Abuzaleb (Maya Del Sol), Tim Daly (My Frame
House) and Jon Larson (OP Police).
Sergio did not attend so no report.
Committee Meetings
Marketing(Jim August, Dan Haley, Dorothy, Jill Conley), Membership (Jim Solnes & Patrick
Kosloski), Advocacy (Dan Haley & Jim Solnes), Finance (Sergio Neylan) & Outreach
Committees. 5 Committees with 5 Chairs.
Do not have to be on the board to be on committees
Concert Series in the Park Summer 2014
One more concert sponsorship open. Heritage Tile to sponsor.
Note, sponsor cannot sell anything in the park.
Foodie Fest -- Feb18-March 4
3-course pre-themed fixed price meals @ $10, 20 & 30
Berwyn, Forest Park & Oak Park
Oak Park participants:
● Eric’s Deli
● Cucina Paradiso
● Hemmingway Bistro
●
●
●
Chara’s
Eyre ($30)
Winberie ($20-30)
Loretta Daly with the Village of Oak Park attended:
North Blvd. - Probably not happening this year. (?)
Within Village Hall
● OPDC (name change to OPDEC)
○ new structure and relationship
○ finance still the same
○ reduced size of board
○ old board president resigned
○ village manager & village pres & Bill Barber
○ John Hedges interim executive director
○ Development projects heading over to OPDEC (bricks & mortar)
Loretta has taken over all licensing
Village wants to centralize everything (trying to tame the beast)
● all businesses funnel through business manager
● all departments working together rather than separately
○ there are potentially 10 bills a new business will receive - trying to
streamline - Loretta heading up the effort
● new permitting system
○ RFP for new system by June and implemented by end of year
● Currently there are multiple databases rather than one
○ FD & PD not receiving infor from the Village
Oak Park Development Corp (now Oak Park Economic Development Corp - OPEDC)
Viktor not present so no report
However, Vegan shoe store approved for loan. They have a good business plan and Loretta’s
enthusiastic.
Tim Daly w/The Frame Shop has moved to 163 S. Oak Park Ave. near George’s restaurant.
Paul Zimmerman - South Blvd & Home townhomes
● Showroom of cabinetry
● Interested in old Avenue Food Market
● Hoping they have a retail presence
● Board wants to support
● Moving from 700 sq ft to 1400 sq ft
● Zoning is different on the North side of the tracks than is on the South side of the
tracks
Library is hosting “Community Conversation”
● Oak Park Public Library Executive Director David Seleb as the library launches a
new initiative aimed at inspiring the Oak Park community to share, to listen, to
learn, and to create energy around directing change.
●
Through open dialogue, guided by specific questions, the library wants to learn
about your needs and aspirations, and gain all the public knowledge we can to
take action. While each conversation may not directly lead to a new library policy
or service, we promise to share what we learn with everyone, especially with
those who participate.
●
Upcoming conversations are planned for:
○
Tuesday, Feb. 25
○
Dole Branch Library
■
7-8:30 pm
○
Saturday, March 8
○
Maze Branch Library
■
○
10-11:30 am
- See more at: http://oppl.org/about/library-news/join-us-communityconversation#sthash.wLq4lf6K.dpuf
Streetscape
● TIF funding source
Marketing Committees:
●
●
●
●
●
●
Marketing Committee
○ Jim August, Deb Sloan, etc
Membership
○ Jim Solnes, Mary Darnall co-chair
Advocacy
○ Dan Haley
Finance
○ Sergio Neylan
Outreach
○ Jim August, Pat Kosloski
Technology
○ Alex Jacobs
Police Report
Reported by officer Jon Larson
● Relatively quiet due to the weather
● Kids in Oberweiss arguing with manager and caused problems
● Lake St. parking issue -- Geppettos complaining about Spiro double parking
Parking
● Jim August sending email to Loretta about valet signs. she will contact the restaurants
about whether or not they’re using the parking as such
● Jim A. to get a petition signed for parking on Lake Street
Snow Removal
● CTA does one corner but the other 3 corners are not managed by anyone
● Village resources limited for shoveling
○ Jim A. sending another email to Loretta
New Business
2014 Oak Park Sculpture Walk - Jill Conley of Heritage Tile brought up possible promotion by
being the site of this event by the Hemingway Business District
● The Village sponsors the program
○ Frank Lloyd area along Forest Ave. promoted program the first year
○ Downtown Oak Park District - 2nd year
○ Pleasant Dist & Harrison Dist also interested in promoting in 2014
○ Budget for 12 art piece installations
○ Starts during Day in Our Village through Labor Day
○ Jim A to contact David Sokol, Chair of the OP Arts Advisory Commission (PAAC)
to express interest and show serious commitment
● On March 6th Jim A. was informed that the PAAC voted to hold the art walk in the
Hemingway Business District this summer. It will run from approx. from Day in Our
Village through mid -September.
○ We (PAAC) are soliciting both ready to go works and some installation pieces.
We will keep you informed of the process, as it progresses, with Colleen Berg as
our coordinator and contact person.
Motion to adjourn by Pat Kosloski and seconded by Mary Darnall at 9:35 AM.
Wednesday February 12, 2014 - Board Meeting
Heritage Tile didn’t pay dues. (Bring check to 2/19 meeting)
Sponsor or co-sponsor summer concert? Ask Best vacuum if would like to co-sponsor.
Ridgeland Tennis Club wants to join HBD.
Jill volunteered and nominated to be Secretary for 2014.
3-Planets is the web-master
Vision of 2014 - Mission Statement
- revitalize Avenue Business District now known as Hemingway Business District
- advocate our business group w/Village, i.e., zoning, parking, etc.
- sense of pride and place, social community
- events & promotions
- open working with other business districts
Marketing(Jim August, Dan Haley, Dorothy, Jill Conley), Membership (Jim Solnes & Patrick
Kosloski), Advocacy (Dan Haley & Jim Solnes), Finance (Sergio Neylan) & Outreach
Committees. 5 Committees with 5 Chairs.
Secretary to bring up committees and on the website.
Marketing committee - advance promotion, communications.
- will need sub-committee for each event
- website is part of mktg.
Social events 2-3 per year. Venues are important. Mktg & Membership
St. Edmonds is the anchor on the South side of business district.
Social media for HBD - need someone - maybe Jim August’s daughter
B4 - downtown zoning
B1 - HBD zoning
Paul Zimmerman - Homescape business - moving from South Blvd or Marion to S. Oak Park
Ave. Business is becoming more retail oriented. Had the Homescape set -up for townhouse
development.
Business Plan for zoning.
March is National Poetry month - maybe hang poetry in business windows
Library called to hang banner in Scoville Park. Must contact HBD for permission (big applause).
FLW Foundation - called to ask if can hang banners for Wright Plus.
Probably looking to move to Constant Contact from Mail Chimp
The Juice Shop, Vegan Shoe Store, The Frame Shop (moving to Madison to HBD’s on S. Oak
Park Ave.
Spiro’s to open til 1 AM and 2 AM on weekends - small plate Greek.
15 min. meter - need a petition.
Viaducts are not shoveled - railroads owns - CNM
List for coffee responsibility for Board meetings. David with Winberries said he will bring coffee.
Need attendance sheet with names and email addresses for each person to initial or make
changes. Need to get list from Jim August. (Jill)
Jim spoke with Loretta at the Village to express interest in being the sponsor for the 2014 Oak
Park Sculpture Walk. Jill gave him the contact person at the Oak Park Art and Advisory
Commission (PAAC). The chair is David Sokol ([email protected]) and he is the contact for this
event.
Wednesday, December 18, 2014 - General Membership Meeting
Invoicing for membership dues.
Cucino & Winberies is joining.
Have about 99% of addresses for business district.
Applications to marketing committee
HBD is the point of contact between businesses and the Village.
We have a letter with all of the board’s benefits.
Constant Contact - based on # of contacts not # of emails sent.
Downtown Oak Park’s Holiday Gazette ⅙-page ad.
2 year board nominations - 3 slots available. One is designated to the Hemingway District
Annual membership meeting Jan 15, 5:30 pm at Hemingway Museum. Include invoice with
invitation.
OPDC:
James Anthony moving onto Marion Street from River Forest.
Another eye store coming.
Hamburger Mary’s coming to Oak Park. It includes a brew pub. A chain.
South Blvd. & Harlem is being developed. Bids are going out.
Bushhouse - close to opening. Spiro still working.
Marian’s has bought 11 Dominick’s stores in the area but not the one on Lake St.
Police report:
120 N. Oak Park - someone shot an air rifle. 2 felonies.
137 N. Oak Park - criminal trespass. 3 arrests.
Scoville Square: Deb’s purse was stolen out of her room.
Car caught fire in garage and burned completely noon on Tuesday 12/17. Two other cars were
very damaged. Jack Sheehan’s was one of them. Happened on 5th level. A lot of smoke
damage.
July event tied to Hemingway birthday.
Park District concert series. Starts June 15, 2014. 9 conc erts - $350/concert. Looking for
sponsors. Sunday afternoons. Tent is set up so can market as the sponsor.
Create a script for those introducing the bands.
Membership sticker to display in windows of member businesses.
Photos for events. Send to Alex and he’ll put in a slideshow.
Self-promote on website.
Shop Oak Park.com - has an events calendar. 5:00 Tuesday deadline, publish on Wed.
Puppet show was very popular - line out the door.
Ridgeland Commons is opening this spring/summer - is there a grand opening?
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Presentation by Visit Oak Park’s Tim Lynch
Since 2009 Oak Park has seen 30% increase in tourism. Illinois has seen a 21% increase.
Oak Park Visitor’s Bureau: Co-op radio. April thru June e-blast - event oriented. Annually
2,000 email addresses. Click rate 4-5 x’s More pictures, less words. Bernadette Dashevski.
Village pool of $15,000. Downtown spends about $20,000 and get reimbursed approximately
$3500.
Matching grant for marketing events, max $1,000/event.
Black Friday until Christmas, free parking on street and in garage - downtown districts and south
side of town.
Passport parking - app for smartphone. Does it work at garage? Need to look up on Village
site.
Goal is to have Lake Street parking handled in January.
Hemingway pictures - younger showing his age when he grew up here.
Replacing banners.
Graffiti hotline - call to get graffiti removed.
Lake and Forest development. Feb 29 deadline to prove have financing otherwise no more
extensions.
Fake bills floating around in 10s and 20s. Also pick pockets.
2014 events:
promote restaurants - get a buzz going on. 50% of businesses are restaurants.
Block party
Need to come up with good ideas for events
- scavenger hunt
Drawings for Santa Saturdays - need gifts donated
Election of board members for 2014 -- 13 slots - sign on as 1 or 2 year board member time
frames
Summer Sunday concerts -- $300 sponsorship for each concert.
Chamber membership fee: $235
Hemingway Bus Dist fee: $75 -- very good value
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Signage for the new Hemingway Business District was approved by the Village along with
$3500 allowance. The Village will take signage/banners up and down. Awaiting final wording
and art by the HD Marketing Committee and the signage to be produced by Visual Media
Impact, an Oak Park firm.
A QR code was recommended by a member to be added to the signage so anyone with a smart
phone can scan and have a map with all business district members listed with addresses. This
particularly helps the second floor tenants that have a hard time getting their name out – sort of
the “red-headed step-child” feeling of these tenants.
Halloween Parade / Haunted House -- Oct. 26 – Saturday before Halloween. Oak Park Ave
will be closed from 10 am until noon. A huge draw for children. About a thousand bags of
candy handed out to the kids. Orange and purple balloons will be given to businesses to put out
front so kids will know where candy is being handed out. Some stores let kids in and others
hand candy out front. The event is being advertised this week and next. Il Vicolo providing
coffee for adults and “Ghoul-aid” for the kids. It is recommended to have at least 4 large bags of
candy for the day. Looking for donations from businesses for expense of closing off street for
parade. The parade route is from Pleasant up to Lake Street on Oak Park Ave. Jim with The
Irish Shop will provide signs to display in windows. Deb Sloan of Stage Rite heads this function.
Jill of HT volunteered to help.
Santa Saturdays / Santa at Scoville Square / Holidays – November 29 thru December 24.
Need to have decorations completed by Thanksgiving. Friday, November 29 is the tree lighting.
Santa arrives at 6 pm on a fire truck. Our new Village President, Anan, will lead the parade.
The ceremony is about one hour. One side of Oak Park Ave will be closed off for the festivities.
Must go through the Clerk’s office for approval and put up signs. Again, another large draw for
the kids. Santa will be available for pictures every Saturday from noon until 4 at Scoville
Square. There will be “safe snow” falling over Santa (safe for hair!). Deb Sloan heads this
function. Jill of HT volunteered to help. Deb said that raffles during this event are successful.
Maybe HT could raffle off a gift certificate or Rookwood ornament. An outline is being created
for this event. During this period, will be bagging meters on Saturdays for shoppers. Anan very
pro-business and is looking to find funding in budget to help local businesses per Jim August.
Parking and related fines are revenue generators for Oak Park. $2.75 million per year.
Village is kicking around the idea of an app for Passport to pay-by-phone parking. Some
businesses do not like because some may abuse pkg such as employees which will slow the
turnover rate of shoppers. Still up in the air.
HD is going to change from Mail Chimp to Constant Contact. Much easier to use according to
several members.
The after-hours event at the Hemingway House for the Hemingway District and its members
was extremely successful. Many asked that this be an annual event. The board agreed. Great
networking and the pres and vp of HD gave a presentation of the value of being a member of
HD. There are at least two new members due to the event.
The police report included the report of a robbery in the Professional Building over the weekend.
A possible brick-oven pizza rest was denied by the building owner. Pints (beer bar) lost interest
in property but talks may continue in the future. Nothing new happening with commercial
contracts per Oak Park Development Corp.
Treasurer’s report. Total revenue collected $6,015. Ending balance as of 9/30/13 $4,625.33
Discussions of new events and scheduling for 2014 is open for discussion at the next meeting in
November.
Members (abbreviated)
Jim August, The Irish Shop – President
Dan Haley, The Wednesday Journal – Co VP
Jim Solnes, Scoville Square – Commercial Property – Co VP, Membership
Deb Sloan, Stage Rite by Deb – Secretary
Sergio Neylan, Treasurer
Jack Sheehan
Allison Sansone, Hemingway Foundation
Mike Lenox, Morten Realty
Alex Jacobs, 3 Planets
Mary Darnall, Kids Unlimited Therapy Services
Kelly Morrison
Jon Larson, police officer
Viktor Schrader, Oak Park Development Corp.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Sidewalk sale October 3rd.
Membership party October 10th. There will be a power point presentation about membership.
Open to trustees. Invite leaders of other districts.
Glen Brewer with the Village said review board friendly to business parking. There will be free
parking certain times and holidays. Free parking garage at certain times. Anan attended
meeting and seemed positive. Loretta seemed negative. There will be major event exemption
for parking. Possible validated parking options – businesses buy bundled parking for patrons
but must underwrite the parking validation.
Putting a letter together from the three districts about parking – actually 11 groups.
Village putting in a new power grid in 6-8 weeks.
Signage – change Avenue to Hemingway District – the Village is in control. Send info about
number of signs to Loretta Daley (she wants to inventory whole village) so may take too long.
Need to get done before holidays. Members to go out and take a count.
Need to get restaurants involved and become members. Nick Gambino is becoming a member.
Kicking around the idea of having a 3-day Hemingway event / block party in July.
·
·
·
·
·
Music – Scoville Park has a stage (but have to bring in the Park District)
Theme – “A Moveable Feast”
Close of Oak Park Ave
No alcohol allowed in park
Wrist band for alcohol
Having a Hemingway benefit at Amelios Tapas in Hillside
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Discussed sidewalk sale for Oct. 3-6.
Halloween parade. Saturday before Halloween. Deb Sloan organizing.
Jim Soleness – putting together a Hemingway social and membership drive in Oct.
HD has 25 members.
Loretta Daley, Business services manager for the Village
· $35,000 budget 50/50 match with cap up to $5,000, $1,000 per event.
· She has $ for inventory of banners
Incentive programs
· Retail grant program
· Small commercial loans
· Large commercial loans for property purchase and rehab
Streetscape for our district
7 Generations Ahead sponsored the brew fest. 4,000 people attended. Excellent turn out and
no substantial issues. The crowd was very well behaved.
Uncork Illinois is in June.
Vacancies
·
·
·
·
on Oak Park Ave. Other new businesses coming on line or looking or not:
Pints – a microbrewery, not happening. Had environmental challenges.
Charras – Bushhouse’s restaurant
Papa Spiros – Argos new name?
Euclid and Lake
o $50,000/yr for 1200 sq ft
o Has been empty for 2 years
o Part of larger building
HD is putting together an internal list of businesses
Affordable Care Act insurance will be priced based on age and zip code. There may be riders
for smokers.

TheHemingwayDistrictGeneralMembershipMeetings 3-11-2015

Transcription

Similar documents

Nobuhiro Tajima Sets a New Record at Pikes Peak Nobuhiro Tajima

LABORUM Torrontés de Otoño 2015 Varietal Composition Aging

COINS: (2) 1981 South African Krugerrands ~ 1997 $50 Walking

VM - Village Market

OAK HALL LANE - Merritt Properties

ITEM MOT 00-05141 Ammunition Purchase from Kiesler Police

Newsletter - Mar 13 - SCROLL vr

June 2014

Hello Hill Herald Readers, Most students returned to school this year

TRISTAR Productions