[0:00] this room. We have more space upstairs
for additional people
[0:06] and
everyone will have the opportunity to be
[0:10] called down here if they wish to make a
comment before this committee.
[0:16] So, we have space upstairs for more
folks.
[0:23] The occupancy limit is set by the fire
marshall and we will comply with that
[0:27] occupancy limit. So, there's seating
upstairs
[0:31] and you can submit a card and we'll
we'll call your name when you're ready.
[9:30] Okay. Thank you everyone. I would like
to call the village board meeting for
[9:35] Tuesday, August 25th, 2026
to order, please. Uh, deputy clerk,
[9:42] please call the role. or
[9:45] » here. Whitaker
[9:47] » here.
>> Fowler,
[9:48] » here. Chelsea Gallen
>> here.
[9:50] » Chessy Edis
>> here.
[9:51] » Chessy Elfman
>> here.
[9:53] » President Mendrich
>> here.
[9:55] » Uh the first item on the agenda um is an
employee recognition. Um Chief Hutenski,
[10:02] I understand you have something you'd
like to share with us tonight.
[10:05] » Yes.
[10:10] » And while our two chiefs approach a
podium and let me just explain a little
[10:13] bit of what we have here. This is an
unusual capacity for this room. Uh we've
[10:17] taken a look at things to try to make
things as safe as possible for everyone
[10:21] in here. So just so you're aware of it,
there's an exit door here off to the
[10:24] side. There's an exit door over here
that takes you directly outside. For
[10:28] those of you who are watching upstairs,
there's an elevator and a staircase to
[10:32] get you the exit doors. We are keeping
an eye on things to make sure we don't
[10:36] get in a situation where it's an unsafe
situation for everybody, but right now
[10:40] everything's looking it's okay. And I
really appreciate everybody being here
[10:43] to recognize our public safety officers.
Chief, go ahead.
[10:50] » Thank you.
>> Thank you, President Menret. Uh, Chief
[10:53] Mix and I are honored to be here tonight
to recognize the incredible efforts of
[10:57] our co-workers. On the evening of July
3rd, Northfield officers were dispatched
[11:01] to a report of a subject attempting to
take their own life. Based on the nature
[11:05] of the call, the police watch commander
requested that the fire rescue
[11:08] department also respond to the scene and
staged nearby until officers were able
[11:12] to ensure that the scene was safe.
Officer Michael McGary was the first
[11:16] officer to arrive and he was able to
quickly get access to the building via
[11:20] an unlocked door. Once inside the
building, Officer McGary located the
[11:24] victim and took immediate action to
intervene and stop the attempt. At this
[11:28] time, the victim was not breathing and
had no pulse.
[11:34] Fire rescue personnel from Engine and
Nameless 29 which included myself, fire
[11:40] medic Luke Lapki, fire medic Jeff
Leelssa, fire EMT Frank Cambria,
[11:48] paramedic firefighter Kyle Tuttle, and
fire medic David Steel entered the
[11:52] scene. Once we received that the scene
was safe from the police department, we
[11:57] began immediate advanced life support
and critical care measures. After
[12:02] several minutes, the victim's pulse and
had been restored.
[12:07] He was quickly packaged and we began our
transport to the hospital. While on
[12:12] route to the hospital, he became
pulseless again and the fire rescue
[12:16] personnel were able to continue
life-saving measures and restore a pulse
[12:20] for the second time.
The emergency room met us on the uh
[12:25] approach ramp with their staff and they
were advised that we had a critical
[12:30] patient and they were prepared and
waiting as we pulled in. Through
[12:35] immediate advanced lifesaving care given
by the first responders and progressive
[12:40] hospital intervention, the patient was
reported to have been treated and
[12:44] released after their hospital stay. The
patient is now continuing their recovery
[12:48] journey. This incident is a prime
example of the way coordination between
[12:54] first responders and specialized medical
care can be critical for life-saving
[12:58] outcomes. The rapid actions, seamless
communications, and exceptional care
[13:02] provided at every stage were
instrumental in saving the victim's
[13:05] life.
[13:41] chiefs. Thank you very much.
[13:46] Uh the next order of business um I am
going to pass on the village president's
[13:51] report at this point. I have some
comments to make later in the evening.
[13:54] Um the next order of business is public
comment and I will tell you that this is
[13:59] the not the public comment related to
TIFF. That will happen when we open the
[14:05] public hearing. And I would encourage
you if you intend to speak on that topic
[14:11] that you fill out one of these forms
that Melissa has here at the end of the
[14:16] table and I think Brett has upstairs so
that we can get you in the queue. I will
[14:21] call these names when we get to this
segment uh three at a time so
[14:25] everybody's here in the room ready to
speak so we can move things along. Uh
[14:29] and anyone who's coming from upstairs if
you hear your name called you can make
[14:33] your way downstairs. Um, so if anyone
has anything they'd like to comment on
[14:39] outside of TIFF, you're welcome to um
approach the podium at this time.
[14:46] Otherwise, I'll move on.
>> Okay, great. Uh, the next item of
[14:53] business is the approval of bills and
dispersements from July of 2026.
[14:58] May I have a motion to approve the bills
and dispersements from July 1st, 2026
[15:04] through July 31st, 2026?
>> So moved.
[15:08] » Second.
>> Okay. Patrick, are there any items you
[15:12] wish to point out?
>> Thank you. Not this month.
[15:14] » Okay. Any comments or questions from the
board
[15:18] or comments or questions from the
public?
[15:22] Okay. Deputy Chief, please call the
role.
[15:25] » Trusty Ort.
>> Yes.
[15:26] » Trusty Whitaker. Yes.
>> Trusty Fowler.
[15:28] » Yes.
>> Trusty Gallen.
[15:30] » Yes.
>> Trusty Edis.
[15:31] » Yes.
>> Alman.
[15:33] » Yes.
>> Motion carries.
[15:35] » Okay. Thank you. The next item on the
agenda is the omnibus vote for the
[15:39] consent agenda items. Um
this is the section of our agenda where
[15:45] one vote can be called to approve a
number of items. Are there any items
[15:49] that any board member would like to have
removed from the consent agenda for
[15:53] discussion?
Okay. Hearing none. Uh, will the deputy
[15:58] clerk please read the consent agenda
items into the record?
[16:03] There are four items. The first is the
approval of the minutes from July 21st,
[16:06] 2026. The second is the ratification of
the purchase of fire turnout gear from
[16:11] Conway Shield in the amount of $26,114.
[16:16] The third is the authorization to
execute an agreement with Gualt Hamilton
[16:20] for construction management services for
the 2026 asphalt program. And the fourth
[16:26] is the adoption of an ordinance waving
the formal bidding process authorizing
[16:31] disposal and authorizing a contract with
Silverstar Technology of Rolling
[16:35] Meadows, Illinois for a security camera
system in the amount of $17,852.
[16:43] May I have a motion and a second?
>> Motion to approve the consent agenda.
[16:46] » Second.
>> Any comments or questions from the
[16:49] board?
>> Deputy Clerk, please call the role.
[16:54] » Trusty Orth. Yes. Whitaker.
[16:57] » Yes. Fowler.
[16:58] » Yes.
>> Gallon.
[17:00] » Yes.
>> Pussyas.
[17:01] » Yes.
>> Elfman.
[17:03] » Yes.
>> Motion carries.
[17:05] » Okay.
The next item of business is to conduct
[17:11] uh a public hearing for the proposed
village center tax incremental financing
[17:17] district. May I have a motion and a
second to open the public hearing?
[17:22] » So moved.
>> Second. All those in favor?
[17:26] » I
>> opposed.
[17:30] Okay. I am calling to order the public
hearing for the village center tiff at
[17:35] 7:13 p.m. on August 25th, 2026.
I will stop here again and remind you if
[17:43] that you would like to make comments,
you need to fill out a comment card so
[17:47] that we can call your name and you can
come to the podium and make your
[17:52] statements. Um you can also decide at
some point in the evening that you don't
[17:57] wish to make comments. Um if if you
don't come to the podium, we'll move on.
[18:02] And I would encourage you um we know
that this is an important issue and if
[18:08] you we are going to stay to the three
minute uh time frame because I already
[18:14] have this many comment cards. So I would
like to try to keep us to that uh
[18:19] number. But I have a couple of things
that I want to say before we get started
[18:23] tonight. As we open this public hearing,
I want to convey some thoughts about
[18:28] what will happen here tonight.
Northfield residents have always been
[18:33] able to come together and talk about
issues gracefully and with mutual
[18:37] respect for all opinions. I hope that
those who are here tonight can continue
[18:42] that tradition as we move through these
proceedings.
[18:46] I also want to be clear about something.
Our schools are important to this
[18:51] village and so is a vibrant downtown.
This isn't a choice between the two. We
[18:58] want Northfield to have both excellent
schools for our families can be proud of
[19:03] and a village center that's alive with
businesses, restaurants, and places for
[19:08] neighbors to gather. That's the
Northfield we're all working toward. And
[19:13] it is with that lens that we will be
approaching tonight's discussion.
[19:18] I want to reiterate what I said in an
email I sent to residents this
[19:22] afternoon. We are working with the three
affected school districts to negotiate
[19:27] an agreement that supports both our
students and our villages needs. There
[19:33] have been three meetings between the
superintendent and the village to date
[19:38] and this morning we received the first
draft of an intergovernmental agreement
[19:42] based on those conversations.
We have not yet had the chance to
[19:47] thoroughly review the draft, but we are
at the table with our partners at the
[19:52] schools working in good faith toward an
agreement that serves the interest of
[19:57] both the schools and the village.
I'll be honest, reaching that agreement
[20:03] will likely require some compromise on
both sides and it may be uncomfortable
[20:08] at times, but that's the work of good
governance and it's work we're committed
[20:14] to seeing through. With that, Greg,
would you please provide an overview of
[20:20] the process for this evening?
[20:27] » I'll borrow your microphone. Thank you,
Pre. President Mendrich. Um, yes. So,
[20:30] the the TIFF Act establishes a number of
steps the village must take when
[20:34] considering whether to uh create a TI
district. The village has taken many of
[20:38] these steps over the course of the past
few months, including evaluating the
[20:42] properties in the TIF district,
analyzing the eligibility of those
[20:45] properties under the TIFF Act, preparing
an eligibility report and redevelopment
[20:49] plan, creating an interested parties
registry, making the plan available to
[20:52] the public, setting a public hearing
date. This happened back in June. That's
[20:56] why everyone is here this evening. uh
and convening the joint review board
[20:59] which is comprised of representatives
from each of the taxing districts. Uh
[21:03] the JRB met twice, once in July and then
once earlier this month to review the
[21:07] proposed tiff district and related
documents. That brings us to tonight the
[21:11] public hearing. The hearing serves a
couple of purposes. First, it allows the
[21:16] village board to review the proposed
redevelopment plan and project, which is
[21:19] the TIFF proposal, and evaluate whether
or not the proposal is consistent with
[21:23] the TIFF Act standards and criteria. Uh
the village's tiff consultant Caitlyn
[21:28] Johnson with SB Freriedman will present
on that topic in a couple of minutes. Uh
[21:32] but the public hearing also provides the
public an opportunity uh to provide the
[21:36] board with feedback concerning the
proposed tip district. As well to be
[21:40] clear, the village board is not voting
on the tiff district proposal tonight.
[21:45] There are three ordinances that the
board ultimately must consider if there
[21:49] were if they were to approve a tiff
district and those are not on tonight's
[21:52] agenda. Instead, the public hearing
tonight is an opportunity for further
[21:56] dialogue concerning the proposed TIFF
district and all interested parties uh
[22:00] and there are many will have an
opportunity to address the board during
[22:03] the hearing. After public comment is
concluded, the board may consider
[22:07] closing the public hearing. Once the
hearing has been closed, the TIFF act
[22:12] provides a time frame during which the
ordinances necessary to establish the
[22:15] tiff district can be presented to the
board for consideration. That time frame
[22:19] is between 14 and and 90 days after the
hearing is closed. I'll now turn it over
[22:26] to Caitlyn Johnson with SB Freriedman uh
to discuss the eligibility findings and
[22:31] the redevelopment.
[22:38] Okay.
So, um
[22:43] we're we're not we're not quite ready.
Um, I think the first thing before we
[22:48] get into SB Freriedman's report, I'm
sure all of you have um heard us talk
[22:53] about this or me talk about this, but
the goals and vision for this um this
[22:58] area um we have concerns that um our
village um is not performing as we might
[23:07] have hoped. We have a 47,000 square foot
empty storefront in our buil in our
[23:13] village. Um, we are looking for a
vibrant, walkable, um, downtown that is
[23:21] a safe place for our families to gather
and students to gather and and for
[23:29] residents to really be able to come
together and enjoy our community. Um,
[23:34] the vision that I see in my head is a
vibrant uh former Mariano space um with
[23:42] the Skoi Valley Trail adjacent to it
with a brand new library um sitting
[23:49] where it currently sits with a brand new
post office and um having streetscapes
[23:56] and having a HAP road that has safe
crossings for residents. So when we talk
[24:03] about our vision, those are the things
that we're talking about. We have also
[24:08] um as as many of you know gone back and
reaffirmed the uh 2040 comprehensive
[24:15] plan that a group of residents put
together. Um it does talk about some of
[24:19] the things that I have already
discussed. Um but you when the HAP road
[24:24] committee got together and did their
work on what a new HAP road could look
[24:28] like um uh Francisco Gonzalez Pledo who
is a a resident and a renowned architect
[24:36] um put together some drawings because we
think that sometimes people need visuals
[24:41] and not just words. So, I wanted to just
share some of the visions that he came
[24:45] up with for Hap Road, but I think that
they uh piqued all of our interest in
[24:50] trying to create a downtown that that
has uh you know, again, dedicated
[24:56] walking paths, places that people can
cross the streets safely to get to and
[25:01] from our businesses.
Um, again, another view of what could be
[25:08] um our downtown. This is not to say that
this is what we will have, but just some
[25:13] visuals of what a new downtown for
Northfield could look like.
[25:20] Um, again, I mentioned the library. This
is the initial design for the library.
[25:25] Um, it is a gateway into our community
from Willow Road and HAP. Uh, that
[25:32] sidewalk that you see there coming off
the left of the screen goes all the way
[25:36] out to Willow Road. creates an entry
into our village there as well. The
[25:41] library is on the east side. The post
office sits on the west side and the
[25:47] connecting building on top is is more of
library space that they can use for
[25:53] other programming. Um some people have
asked me why we need a new library and
[25:58] frankly um the library came to us and
said we need more space. we can't do the
[26:03] programming we'd like to in Northfield
and we have committed to working with
[26:07] the library to to create that new space.
Um it's you or me. Um
[26:16] I want to talk a little bit about our
empty storefront. Um which is a concern
[26:22] I think for everyone. We've heard from
all um walks of life in Northfield that
[26:27] they'd like to have a grocery store. Uh
as we all know that the owner has had
[26:32] trouble finding a tenant for the full
building. Um they are now in a position
[26:38] where they are talking to tenants that
would be a ger in one half of the
[26:43] building, an adult beverage in the other
half of the building as well as an
[26:48] outlot um across from the the current
bank. So up against Willow Road.
[26:56] They have indicated to us that they
can't make the deal work without some
[27:00] help from the village. Um and that is
really where we are with them right now.
[27:07] There are expenses like dividing the
building site prep and improvements that
[27:12] um they are beginning well not beginning
that they have been looking at that are
[27:16] costly. Um, I don't think that anybody
uh in this room probably doesn't know
[27:22] that there have been environmental
issues on that site that that everybody
[27:26] has heard about by now, which are a
concern for uh any tenant that moves
[27:31] into that space. So you couple that with
the library again site conditions there
[27:38] um the the curse of of being a village
that's built along rail lines is that
[27:44] there are site conditions that you have
to deal with. Uh and then there is the
[27:49] HAP road redesign that we talked about
earlier this evening that includes um
[27:55] redesign of the space, construction
costs, things that have been put on hold
[28:00] um with federal funding and state
funding because we weren't prepared to
[28:04] move forward with the project of a few
years ago. As um you all know that was a
[28:10] an important conversation that we all
had together. Uh and then the other
[28:14] thing is water manes, sewers, sidewalks,
lighting, things like that. Water manes
[28:19] are not the most exciting topic in the
world, but uh the fact of the matter is
[28:23] that there are water manes in this area,
this tiff district, potential tiff tiff
[28:28] district that need to be repaired. Um
those can run anywhere from $1.5 million
[28:35] up to $2 million depending on the size
of the water man and how much pipe needs
[28:40] to be replaced. Um, so these are all
costs related to our downtown village
[28:48] center right now that we're aware of.
And as I said, these are just inside the
[28:54] proposed TIFF district.
Um, we talk about sources of revenue for
[29:00] the village. I want to put a I just want
to make sure that people understand
[29:05] where this board is on that
consideration. Um,
[29:10] I'll I'll Patrick, you can jump in on a
couple of things, but I want to just
[29:14] talk about property taxes because many
of you in this room were involved in in
[29:19] the um home rule initiative that this
village took on some years ago. Um, home
[29:24] rule, as you know, allows us to work
outside of some of the um the sweeping
[29:34] um legislation that Springfield passes.
And so they often pass legislation that
[29:41] does not require home rule communities
to participate. And when we did that, I
[29:47] was the co-chair of that committee.
Kathy Esesterbrook, who's sitting in the
[29:50] room, was very involved in it. uh we
asked the sitting board at the time to
[29:55] promise that they would never raise
property taxes above the CPI which no
[30:00] board has done previously and which this
board does not intend to do either. So,
[30:07] um, a few other things that are possible
ways to raise some money, taxes, fees,
[30:14] permits, um, water rates, but I'm going
to let Patrick give you some of the nuts
[30:19] and bolts of some of those topics as we
move along here. So, Patrick, please.
[30:23] » Thank you. That's a list of the typical
revenue sources that you'd see a village
[30:27] normally, the levers they would pull to
raise additional revenue. There are a
[30:31] couple of other special things that the
board has looked at and that are
[30:34] available to to villages that are home
rule communities. A special service
[30:38] area, you may heard of that. It's a way
to levy additional property taxes on a
[30:43] set area that puts an additional
property tax burden on for a period of
[30:48] time, but used to pay to fund a
particular project. You often hear of it
[30:52] in Northfield for many of the private
lanes. they will ask for a special
[30:57] service area to be applied so they can
repave a roadway or rebuild a roadway
[31:01] and then pay for that over a period of
time. In this example, it doesn't work
[31:05] well for the village because we're
looking at working on an area that's
[31:08] already not doing well financially. To
levy an additional property tax on the
[31:13] area would not be helpful for our goals.
So, we looked at property tax rebate.
[31:17] That is rebating directly to the
taxpayer amount of their property taxes.
[31:23] It's unlimited value to us because the
village portion of the total tax bill is
[31:28] only about 12%. So that isn't a a big
incentive for most people. Another
[31:33] option is something called a business
development district. It is the
[31:37] application of an additional tax like a
sales tax on top of retail sales or
[31:44] hotel uh uh room rentals. It is an
additional re revenue source, but it
[31:50] generally works well in areas that have
high retail capacity or activity. For
[31:55] example, an outdoor mall area. That's
something that would raise a significant
[31:59] number of funds for a village. Here, not
so effective. Very similarly, sales tax
[32:05] rebate is you can work deals to have
rebates going back to those that are
[32:10] collecting the sales tax as a way to
incentivize growth or location in the
[32:14] village.
Additional options were raised to us
[32:19] were Cook County 6B and 7B. You see the
information there. Uh 6B is primarily
[32:24] for industrial use. So that wouldn't
work. 7B may have limited application
[32:29] but again that lowers the overall EAV
for that property for a period of time.
[32:35] So it actually is harmful to many of the
districts because it lowers their
[32:38] capacity. And then as president
mentioned uh Mrick mentioned uh raising
[32:43] property taxes is an option. We are in
the ballpark of our neighbors, which is
[32:47] a competitive advantage because we're
not in a high uh property tax area that
[32:53] helps people relocate here. So, we're
we're in line. It's the last resort, but
[32:59] the next option looked at and it was
something mentioned in the comprehensive
[33:02] plan is a tax increment financing
district. I see a number of familiar
[33:07] faces in the room tonight, a number of
new faces, so I won't go into a lot of
[33:11] detail on this. You can read the slide
probably in the amount of time I've
[33:15] talked so far. This is something that
the board has looked at as a fiscally
[33:20] smart move to be able to minimize the
impact on everyone yet raise the
[33:24] greatest amount of potential benefit to
achieve the village's goals.
[33:29] The board has full oversight on the
expenditures of how those funds are used
[33:34] and they've looked at the estimated
impact and for a $500,000 home. If we in
[33:39] raise that increment that value about $5
million, it's a $38 impact on the home.
[33:44] That's one of the many questions we
received from residents about what is
[33:48] this potentially going to do to us.
Later in uh the presentations today,
[33:52] we'll address a number of the other
questions that have come in. However,
[33:57] with tiff districts, almost universally
when a village is looking at it, the
[34:01] school districts raise concerns and
they've got valid concerns about how's
[34:06] this tiff district going to impact them
because when they look at new growth,
[34:10] they want to figure out what's the
impact and to help present some of that
[34:15] information. I think Dr. Tyos, were you
planning on presenting tonight?
[34:20] » Please. Thank you.
>> And Melissa, if you'd ceue up their
[34:23] presentation, please.
>> Thanks, Melissa. Before
[34:28] we get further into the presentation, if
anyone is planning to speak tonight,
[34:33] we're going to swear everybody in all at
once so we don't have to do this 35 or
[34:37] 40 times. So, uh, if you could just
raise your right hand if you're planning
[34:39] to speak tonight. Repeat after or and
just affirm that this is correct. Do you
[34:44] hereby affirm the testimony you provide
tonight is the truth, the whole truth,
[34:47] and nothing but the truth?
>> Yes.
[34:51] » You're sworn in. Thank you. Thank you.
[34:56] Thank you so much.
Thank you. Please go ahead.
[35:00] » Thank you. Um I'm Peter Trigos. I'm
proud superintendent at Nutri and I'm
[35:03] also a proud Northfield resident for the
last 25 years as well. So um I will
[35:08] share a brief part of this and turn it
over to Chris Johnson who's the deputy
[35:11] superintendent at Nutrier. Um and then
uh I'll close out as as well here. So
[35:17] President Mendick, thank you for making
time for the school districts on your
[35:20] agenda. We appreciate it. It's uh not
only a packed house, but it's a packed
[35:23] agenda. So, we do appreciate uh making
time for us on the agenda. In this short
[35:27] presentation, we will summarize our
consultants um report, Joe Psky's
[35:32] report. It's a report that we've
submitted to village trustees and that
[35:35] we've shared and that we've also
submitted to the JRB as well. Um he was
[35:39] unable to attend due to a prior conf uh
commitment. So, Chris and I will share
[35:44] that today. we'd like to present a
highle summary of his findings and we'd
[35:48] also like to share um what the impact is
on the three school districts and ask
[35:52] you to all consider that in your
deliberations uh this evening and
[35:55] throughout the process. So um you know
first and foremost it's important to
[35:59] state and we've said this in every
meeting we've been in to to to agree on
[36:03] and share here. It's important to state
that we have a shared interest in a
[36:06] vibrant uh central business district in
Northfield and our other uh uh uh
[36:11] villages throughout the township as
well. and we appreciate the respect and
[36:14] civil service that you all provide to
the village and volunteering your time
[36:19] um in this. So, thank you and we
understand what those roles are and how
[36:22] important they are. I also want to echo
President Mendri's uh comments at the
[36:25] beginning of this um opening agenda
about the mutual interests. We do indeed
[36:29] have mutual interests. We may have
differences and we can talk about those
[36:32] differences and share those. But
honestly, we have some shared mutual
[36:35] interest that you'll see here a bit to
today. um really through through this is
[36:41] um we share those interests and you know
we're we're you're investing in your
[36:45] infrastructure and and modernizing your
central business district and we
[36:48] understand that we're investing in our
infrastructure too and modernizing for
[36:52] the same people in the village here and
also throughout the township. So so we
[36:56] get it um we agree on the problem and
also have said we agree on the problem
[37:01] however we disagree on the solution
right now. Um and that is we support
[37:05] development. It's good for all of us. We
do not support the TIFF as a mechanism
[37:09] for that redevelopment, especially as we
start to see resoning starting to turn
[37:12] that flywheel. Perhaps not as fast as
others think, but we think it's an um a
[37:17] viable opportunity to do so. So, again,
we're starting to see some of that here.
[37:21] We know that we may see that
differently, but want to recognize that
[37:24] it's starting to bring some development
here to our village. We'll um talk a bit
[37:29] about the summary report and recognizing
again that you see this. We believe in
[37:33] strong villages um as well uh or excuse
me in up these projections from the
[37:37] strong villages to what you've started
to project in the village this $175
[37:41] million set of needs for redevelopment.
We've seen that and we understand what
[37:45] those needs are and you've laid those
out as well. Those are needed
[37:48] redevelopment costs and we recognize
that the village is also you know as you
[37:52] start to look at this implementing a
funding mechanism though however that
[37:55] could generate up to three times what
the stated revenue is needed in that our
[37:59] consultant Joe Pvki you've seen the
report estimates that tiff could
[38:03] generate on the low side you see this in
the middle projected incremental um
[38:07] gains of $253 million on the low end and
on the medium end up to $459
[38:13] um million. These projections and the
formulas that yield these projections
[38:18] were also shared with SB Freriedman.
You're and we you know we were an open
[38:22] book in showing our work on this and we
appreciate the collaborations with that
[38:26] with and these estimates are without
objection from SB Freriedman. So these
[38:29] are the potential um uh revenues to to
be uh yielded through uh the TIFF
[38:35] district here. So, based on these
projections, a 23-year TIFF um not only
[38:39] exceeds the project cost of $175
million, but will likely exceed the
[38:43] village's annual general fund revenue
over that same time period as well. So,
[38:48] something for you all to consider in
that. Um from here, I would like to turn
[38:52] it over to Chris Johnson um at this
point and then um pick it up.
[38:57] » Thank you. A pleasure to be here tonight
to speak again on on the TIFF. So, the
[39:00] headline here is the significant
financial impact on school districts.
[39:04] One of the reasons school districts are
typically concerned about tiffs is that
[39:08] we're primarily funded through local
property tax dollars. In the case of our
[39:12] school districts, about 90% of our
revenue with a small amount of funding
[39:15] from the state, about 2% small amount of
funding from federal government, about
[39:19] 2% as well. So substantial money if a
tiff was created could be diverted from
[39:24] our school districts over the life of
the tiff. This is potential new property
[39:27] revenue in excess of our levy. These
estimates uh you see on the screen are
[39:31] based on assumptions compiled by our
consultant who Peter mentioned earlier
[39:35] or retained by the school districts that
uses assumptions included in the
[39:38] villages plan and tiff study. So you see
uh that low reassessment value
[39:43] potentially 150 million in new property
diverted from the three school districts
[39:46] at a medium uh reassessment failure of
4% about 169 million over the life of a
[39:51] 23-year tiff.
[39:56] We have relied on new property as school
as we call it uh to supplement our levy
[40:01] beyond inflation. Our annual increase
for that 90% of our revenue is capped at
[40:06] the consumer price index the inflation
number from the prior year. New
[40:10] construction really is the only increase
for us beyond that. And in the case of
[40:13] nutrier specifically has been vital to
avoid an operating rate referendum for
[40:17] 23 years. We last did an operating rate
referendum in 2003 and made a 5-year
[40:21] commitment not to have one. Now we're at
23 years in large part due to that new
[40:26] property revenue which just brought us a
little bit more each year than CPI.
[40:30] Another factor that is important
especially for a district like Nutrier
[40:33] is that the value of property increase
as the value of property increases in
[40:37] the tiff zone school districts continue
to levy the same amount. Meaning over
[40:41] that time residents outside the tiff
zone will pay more for school district
[40:45] taxes. So particularly for Nutrier who
serves Wat Gleno Wka all the other
[40:50] communities each of those uh residents
will pay a little bit more in their
[40:54] property tax bill as the EAV is frozen
properties in the tiff zone and that
[41:00] incremental revenue goes to the tiff
fund.
[41:05] As Patrick mentioned earlier there are
other mechanisms available that can
[41:09] generate funds for improvement such as
the special service area bond. We
[41:12] understand there are concerns about
using some of these mechanisms, but
[41:16] these mechanisms do exist and they could
generate some revenue, potentially not
[41:20] as much as the tiff. TIFF is one option,
but there are others as well.
[41:27] Schools have been responsible stewards
of our finances and maintain fund
[41:31] balances, which are essentially our
savings accounts. These allow us to
[41:34] continue to fund our operations as
revenue is distributed to us two times
[41:38] per year when tax bills are issued or
they say in Cook County lately if tax
[41:42] bills are issued. Uh funds have been
critical during delays and property tax
[41:46] payments. While we know the gross dollar
amounts have been presented previously,
[41:50] it's the context that matters. How many
months of expenditures they fund, which
[41:55] averages about seven or eight months for
our school district. So when you look at
[41:58] last year when property tax bills were
six months late, having these reserves
[42:02] was a vital lifeline for our school
districts to continue to pay our
[42:05] teachers, to continue to uh offer our
programs and operate our facilities
[42:09] without using highcost borrowing.
[42:15] The school districts believe that
development is already occurring. School
[42:19] districts respectfully disagree with the
eligibility finding. The tiff shifts
[42:23] costs to residents outside the tiff
zone. We believe the loss of new
[42:27] property growth is significant for
school districts and the scale may be
[42:31] larger than the vill's identified needs
of 175 million. Uh I'll turn it over to
[42:37] Peter, but I I I want to just share my
thanks to to the village board for their
[42:40] service and to Patrick who's been just a
wonderful partner in this and we
[42:44] appreciate the collaboration uh even
though we see uh things a bit
[42:48] differently. So uh thank you for your
service and Patrick thank you for all
[42:52] you're doing in this process and I'll
turn it over to Peter.
[42:58] I'll close here. Um almost where we
started with a tiff and
[43:02] intergovernmental agreement here. Um you
know our position on the tiff. I think
[43:06] we've made it clear here and in our in
our forums. Uh we advocate for a
[43:10] non-piff non-tiff path uh to a vibrant
downtown uh Northfield and central
[43:16] business district. However, school um
however, if the village moves forward
[43:19] with a tiff, uh we want to stay engaged
in these discussions between the village
[43:24] and the school districts to develop an
IGA um to meet both needs here. An IGA
[43:30] can lessen but it cannot completely
mitigate the impact on schools. You
[43:33] heard the impact right here. Uh the long
range impact on schools is significant.
[43:37] um and an IGA in the best of terms and
continue our collaborations um we can
[43:42] indeed lessen those and we we ask the
village uh not to approve it with with
[43:47] um without an IGA in place. So if that's
your going forward really you know the
[43:51] the ask here is if you're going to
continue to do that or this is the path
[43:54] you pursue we ask that that go hand
inand with an IGA and that would be our
[43:58] our ask and again we you see here in our
last statement a vibrant community and
[44:02] strong villages and strong schools.
Thank you very much.
[44:05] » Thank you.
[44:16] So, um, while our representative from SB
Freedom approaches the podium, I just
[44:21] wanted to point out the joint review
board that was chaired by Dr. Chris
[44:24] Johnson, uh, voted against recommending
the tiff district for the village. So
[44:29] you've re the village board has received
a copy of their minutes that indicate
[44:33] that that was their reasoning for saying
no and that articulated their reasons
[44:37] for forwarding a negative
recommendation. At this time some of you
[44:41] that have been here you may recommend or
may recognize that this does not look
[44:45] anything like Kait Caitlyn from SP
Freriedman. Uh Caitlyn had something
[44:49] happen that was totally outside of her
control that she's unable to attend this
[44:52] evening and uh we've been lucky enough
to have um Karen step up and take the
[44:58] lead for us.
>> Wonderful. Thank you.
[45:00] » So Melissa, if you bring up their
presentation, please
[45:04] » and you you'll advance the slides.
>> Can you please see?
[45:10] » Yes.
>> Pull it forward.
[45:17] All right. I'll go ahead and get
started. Thank you all for your time
[45:20] this evening.
As Patrick mentioned,
[45:25] my name is Karen K, which will be
evident on the slide in a moment.
[45:31] I'll go ahead and get the introduction
started. My name is Karen Kay. I'm a
[45:33] senior vice president with SB Friedman.
I am accompanied in the wings by Ryd
[45:37] Bose, a partner with SB Friedman. And um
we are standing in for Caitlyn Johnson,
[45:41] who unfortunately couldn't be here. As I
believe many are familiar, SB Freebin is
[45:45] a consulting firm based out of Chicago
that specializes in public private
[45:48] partnerships, special district
designations, underwriting, um, economic
[45:53] development and housing related matters.
Uh, and this evening we're going to
[45:57] focus on the statutory requirements for
TIFF districts. So, we'll walk through
[46:01] the eligibility factors and the required
findings and tests to demonstrate uh,
[46:06] the conditions within the proposed
redevelopment project area. I will start
[46:10] with an overview of the proposed project
area. The district includes 141 10-digit
[46:16] parcels. It accounts for 106 acres and
76 primary structures. The parcels are a
[46:23] combination of 25 improved parcels. Two
vacant parcels and 14 parcels that are
[46:28] right-of-way. Right-of-way parcels are
not included in eligibility analysis.
[46:32] And so we'll only be focused on the
improved and the vacant properties
[46:35] within the proposed district. Right now,
the district, as many folks know, is a
[46:40] mix of vacant, commercial, industrial,
mixed use, uh, public, open space,
[46:44] rightway, and utility related
properties.
[46:48] As I said, I'm going to focus on the
statutory eligibility and requirements
[46:53] for TIFF designations per the Illinois
TIFF Act. There are different
[46:57] requirements for improved parcels versus
vacant parcels. And I'll start with the
[47:01] improved parcels. Improved parcels must
have 50% of buildings which are at least
[47:07] 35 years old or older and at least three
eligibility factors of the myriad
[47:12] available uh present across the
district. We have to find district
[47:16] factors meaningfully present and
reasonably distributed across the entire
[47:19] boundary of a proposed district. Um, and
based on our both desktop and fieldwork
[47:25] research, we found that 89% of primary
buildings within the proposed RPA are at
[47:30] least 35 years old. And there are four
documented eligibility factors present
[47:34] in the district. Those are lack of
growth in EAV, which I'll talk through
[47:37] in a moment, the presence of structures
below minimum code standards, inadequate
[47:41] utilities, and deterioration of both
site and structures. for vacant
[47:46] properties within the district. As I
said, we have to find eligibility for at
[47:49] least two factors present within the
district. Those that were found include
[47:54] lack of growth in EAV, which is a
standalone criteria um from the improved
[47:58] factors, and then also deterioration of
structures or site improvements in
[48:02] neighboring areas adjacent to the vacant
land.
[48:07] So, I'll go into a little bit more
detail on the EAV standards per the act.
[48:11] Per the TIFF act, there are three
different mechanisms or pathways to
[48:15] demonstrate lack of growth in EAV and
BIFF eligible. The first is an overall
[48:20] decline in EAV in three of the last five
calendar years. The second is an
[48:25] increase in EAV at a rate less than the
balance of the village as a whole. And
[48:29] the third is an increase in the district
EAV at a rate lower than CPI for at
[48:35] least three of the last five
year-over-year periods. The proposed RPA
[48:39] meets the criteria for the the
comparison relative to the village as a
[48:43] whole for four of the last five
year-over-year periods. And it meets the
[48:48] criteria for growth slower than this
than CPI for three of the last five
[48:52] year-over-year periods.
[48:56] I'll now walk through just at a high
level a few of the other statutory
[49:00] findings that are required to designate
a TIFF district and then I'll go into
[49:03] greater detail on three of them. There
must be lack of growth from private
[49:08] investment in any tiff district that is
proposed. You must make the but for
[49:12] finding which is that development would
not happen but for a tiff district.
[49:16] Parcels must be must be contiguous. A
proposed district must be in conformance
[49:20] with plans of the village. That the
village must certify that there will not
[49:24] be resident displacement or conduct a
housing study and there must be an
[49:28] identified date of completion. The
village um has found that private
[49:33] investment has not produced sustained
areawide redevelopment as evidenced by a
[49:38] limited new construction activity and
lagging EAV growth in the proposed
[49:42] district. The redevelopment objectives
of the plan would not reasonably be
[49:46] achieved without public assistance as
discussed um by the village president
[49:50] due to extraordinary infrastructure
costs, the age of buildings and
[49:54] condition of buildings. The RPA consists
of contiguous parcels that will benefit
[49:59] substantially upon implementation of the
redevelopment plan. The redevelopment
[50:03] plan conforms to and promotes land uses
and objectives identified in the village
[50:07] of Northfield's vision 240 comprehensive
plan. The village has certified that no
[50:12] resident displacement will occur as a
result of activities pursuant to the
[50:16] redevelopment plan and the plan is
estimated to be completed no later than
[50:20] December 31st, 2050.
[50:25] As I said, I'll go into a couple of
these criteria a little bit more
[50:29] specifically as it relates to lack of
private investment. Uh that finding the
[50:33] TIFF Act requires that a municipality
finds the redevelopment project area on
[50:38] the whole has not been subject to growth
and development through investment by
[50:41] private enterprise and would not
reasonably be anticipated to be
[50:45] developed without the adoption of a
redevelopment plan. As has been
[50:49] mentioned, private investment has been
isolated and limited in scope across the
[50:53] proposed redevelopment project area and
um the district overall lags in EAV
[50:59] growth. When we look at the most recent
year's performance from 2019 to 2024,
[51:05] there was only 15% EAV growth over that
5-year period, which lagged cumulative
[51:10] inflation uh and only accounts for about
a 2.8% compound annual growth rate.
[51:16] Since 2021, there have only been major
improvements, uh, building permits
[51:21] exceeding 100,000 on nine of 141 parcels
across the district. And there have only
[51:27] been two proposed projects, one 12-unit
condominium project and one proposed 92
[51:32] unit multif family project.
Collectively, those two projects do not
[51:35] demonstrate sustained areawide private
investment. And therefore, SB Freeman
[51:40] found that the lack of private
investment finding was met.
[51:45] Switching gears to the second half of
that same statement within the tiff act
[51:49] that private investment would not
reasonably be anticipated to be
[51:52] developed uh with without the adoption
of the redevelopment plans. This is the
[51:58] but for case that we talked about
earlier that development and investment
[52:01] would not occur but for the
implementation of a tiff district.
[52:05] Again, the documented extraordinary
costs both in the TIFF plan and as
[52:09] spoken to this evening uh indicate that
the plan identified uh by the village
[52:14] and the comprehensive plan and again in
the redevelopment plan would not be
[52:17] developed in accordance um without
implementation of the tiff district and
[52:22] tiff assistance that is attributable to
deteriorated buildings uh outdated
[52:27] utilities and infrastructure
environmental remediation concerns and
[52:30] needs elevated construction and
financing costs that we're experiencing
[52:35] uh regionally and then project specific
expenses that create substantial fund f
[52:39] funding gaps on projects. Uh we also
know from proposed projects within the
[52:44] district and again one was spoken to or
about this evening and there's also the
[52:48] 92 unit proposed multif family
development that developers have
[52:51] indicated a need for public assistance
to advance projects within the proposed
[52:55] redevelopment project area. And although
we've talked about other potential
[52:59] pathways for providing public
assistance, there's no requirement that
[53:03] all alternative funding mechanisms be
exhausted before establing establishing
[53:07] a tiff district. And as um has been
mentioned, a number of those alternate
[53:11] pathways have repercussions or impacts
on project feasibility as well.
[53:17] And I'll finish with conformance to the
comprehensive plan. So this requirement
[53:22] states the municipality must find that
the de the redevelopment plan and
[53:25] project conform to the comprehensive
plan for the development of the
[53:28] municipality as a whole. Um the vision
2040 plan must be read as an integrated
[53:34] policy document and conformance must be
evaluated as the plan as a whole and not
[53:39] single components of that plan document.
The vision 2040 plan does call for
[53:43] avoiding adverse school impacts but it
does not prohibit the establishment of
[53:47] tiff. It does propose the creation of a
mixeduse land use framework consistent
[53:52] with the vision 2040 plan uh that
directly overlaps this uh proposed
[53:57] redevelopment project area.
So with that I will conclude um that the
[54:03] proposed RPA satisfies the eligibility
criteria of the act uh as a combination
[54:07] of both vacant blighted land and
improved conservation area land factors.
[54:11] As just articulated, the eligibility
factors are documented to a meaningful
[54:15] extent and reasonably distributed across
portions of the RPA to which they apply.
[54:20] The RPA is no less not less than 1.5
acres, is within the village, is
[54:24] contiguous and includes only property
expected to be substantially benefited
[54:27] by the plan itself. The RPA on the whole
has not experienced sufficient growth
[54:33] and development through private
investment and would not reasonably be
[54:36] anticipated to be developed in
accordance with the plan but for the
[54:40] implementation of the tiff. The plan
conforms to the vi vision plan 20 240
[54:45] and establishes the required pro program
and financial framework and contains
[54:49] material findings and information as
required by the act and the plan is
[54:53] reasonably expected to enhance the
long-term tax base of the overlapping
[54:57] tax districts by addressing conditions
that impair redevelopment
[55:01] encouraging private investment and
improving infrastructure and property
[55:04] conditions. So with that, I'll conclude
by saying the the proposed village
[55:09] center RPA is eligible for designation
and the plan as presented satisfies the
[55:13] applicable eligibility criteria, plan
requirements and objective of the TIFF
[55:17] act.
[55:32] Thank you, Karen. Melissa, if you bring
our slide deck back up, please.
[55:45] » So, I'm going to skip ahead a couple of
slides here because I think uh Karen did
[55:48] a nice job explaining uh where we find
an eligibility. So I had planned on
[55:54] going through a report from the school
district uh and talking about where what
[55:59] they had asserted we feel doesn't meet
or is in a criteria but um I'll instead
[56:04] focus on something that Dr. Trios had
said is that we're working together. Uh
[56:09] we recognize the board recognizes that
there are potentially impacts at school
[56:13] districts as this tiff proceeds. if this
test proceeds that those concerns
[56:20] primarily fall in a couple of areas you
see bulleted there and that is the
[56:24] delayed receipt of new property growth.
The potential for a growth of housing in
[56:29] the district that creates an additional
demand on the schools for staffing for
[56:35] school uh classroom space and if we uh
the village does that other villages may
[56:41] do the same thing. So, our discussions
have really focused on what can we do to
[56:46] help mitigate those first two concerns
as far as ensuring that the districts
[56:51] get um additional funding beyond what is
required in the TIFF Act for their needs
[56:56] if those needs do in fact come to
fruition. We're working on it. As uh
[57:01] President Metric Metric stated, we have
a draft intergovernmental agreement and
[57:05] we'll continue working through that
going forward.
[57:10] Um
so through this process we have received
[57:15] a a large number of emails from
residents. Many are asking questions and
[57:20] we've gone through all those emails
looked at what their questions are and
[57:24] really kind of tried to distill them
into some common um themes of what we're
[57:28] hearing. All of you here can read this
and luckily my text is big enough
[57:32] because Kathy told me to check it ahead
of time to make sure we could see it on
[57:36] the screen. So it is visible. Uh so I
won't read all of these uh to you
[57:41] because that would just not be fair. But
uh one of the common questions we're
[57:45] getting is is the village currently
negotiating with developers for this
[57:50] tiff if it happens to promise funds or
promise developments or promise some
[57:54] special thing to them in the future
going forward. The answer is no. We are
[57:59] talking to the owners of 1822 Willow the
former Mariano site as mentioned earlier
[58:04] in the slides. We need help. Go ahead.
Sure.
[58:10] » Thank you. So, we're talking to them.
They've made a funding request. They're
[58:15] not specifying how that funding comes,
but the size of the request um is beyond
[58:20] the vill's capabilities of funding
without outside assistance. And they're
[58:24] indicating if this deal can't be
brokered, can't happen, that they are
[58:29] out of options for that building. And
they uh don't know what the next step
[58:33] would be other than vacancy.
Uh we've been asked about other
[58:37] alternatives. You heard some of those
presentations tonight. We've looked at
[58:40] other alternatives. Uh and there's been
concern about is there something other
[58:45] than tiff that can be used? As we
mentioned that there's over 300 tiff
[58:49] districts in the Cook County suburbs of
Chicago is a tool used commonly to help
[58:55] spur and stimulate growth. And uh we're
getting questions about uh could an
[59:00] independent party come review what we've
done? The answer is, of course, the
[59:04] school district uh has hired their
independent consultant to take a look
[59:07] and offer their opinion as far as what
the villages consultant has presented.
[59:11] And you heard those findings this
evening.
[59:16] And uh while the display we had earlier
had an answer to all these questions,
[59:22] um I'm going to really do this one on
the fly. Um and I'm not sure how that's
[59:28] missing. Um
[59:33] But it definitely is. So, what will
residents receive if TIFF uh passes? Uh
[59:40] really the answer for that is we're
going to be moving forward closer to the
[59:45] vision that the community had started
five years ago or six years ago when
[59:49] they adopted the comprehensive plan and
it's a more vibrant uh vital downtown, a
[59:54] place that is a core for the village and
a place to gather. Will the tiff
[59:58] district change your property taxes?
probably yes. Uh you saw the the number
[1:00:03] earlier that about a $5 million worth of
growth within the tiff district we're
[1:00:08] calculating out to be about a $38 impact
of your home value to $500,000. If your
[1:00:13] home is a million dollar, you can double
that number and have a good idea of what
[1:00:16] that sense is. That number, that $38 is
less impact than if the village raised
[1:00:23] property taxes to try to achieve the
goal of all these uh items moving
[1:00:28] forward. And you may think why? Well,
the reason it's less is because uh what
[1:00:33] uh Dr. Johnson explained that the tiff
impact that fee is paid not just by
[1:00:40] those here in Northfield, it's everybody
in Cook County. So Cook County property
[1:00:46] taxes as EAVs grow and levies raise,
everybody in Cook County pays a little
[1:00:52] bit extra because this area designed by
the tiff district isn't contributing in
[1:00:57] that growth because those funds are
directed to the village to be reinvested
[1:01:02] within the tiff area. So if you hear
that tiff doesn't impact your property
[1:01:08] taxes, it does. The goal though is over
the long term when the TIFF is ended all
[1:01:14] that new EAV equalized assessed
valuation growth gets released so
[1:01:20] everybody pays less percentage of future
property taxes because of the work done
[1:01:25] by the village. And without going too
deep into it, let me give you a real
[1:01:29] world example. The Marianos property,
they're paying upper $600,000 a year in
[1:01:35] a tax bill for a building when it was
leased. They're going to appeal their
[1:01:40] taxes when the windows open to lower
that because it's currently a vacant
[1:01:43] building and they will most likely be
successful. I'm going to make up the
[1:01:47] number here. $400,000 gets knocked off
their tax bill. The next tax bill that
[1:01:54] comes around, every taxpayer in
Northfield is going to pay a little
[1:01:58] extra to make up for that $400,000 that
the Marianos property is not providing.
[1:02:04] They're not contributing to the overall
tax bill. That's the magic as we look at
[1:02:09] for trying to grow the tiff district EAV
because that higher value in that
[1:02:14] district means everybody pays a lower
percentage
[1:02:18] and that's our goal over time just to
help make that happen to make a
[1:02:21] healthier Northfield. Um what accountab
accountability controls be in place for
[1:02:26] expenditures? The board hasn't started
working on that yet. If the tiff looks
[1:02:31] like it's moving forward, we'll start
having discussions about accountability
[1:02:35] and rules and applications and forms to
get a process laid out so it's
[1:02:41] transparent. Everybody can see it on the
website and uh developers that are
[1:02:45] looking for assistance will be able to
see how to uh make a request for that.
[1:02:50] And then fin
>> Patrick, I'm sorry, but ultimately it
[1:02:52] would come before this board before any
TIFF funds were dispersed.
[1:02:56] » Yes. So the tiff fund would be managed
much like the village's annual budget
[1:03:01] where we would roughly budget what the
revenue would be and then expenditures
[1:03:05] and then if a developer is asking for
funding assistance there's a
[1:03:08] redevelopment agreement that must be
negotiated and passed by the board that
[1:03:12] is done at a public meeting. It's a
public process for adopting that
[1:03:16] document and it would be on our packet
in our website so you can see it. Even
[1:03:20] if the village board uh moves forward
and one of the other options is uh
[1:03:24] grants for facade improvement grants,
those expenditures are approved by the
[1:03:29] village board as those grants are
awarded.
[1:03:33] How will we know if the tiff is
succeeding? That's a it's a common
[1:03:36] question worded many different ways from
people, but this comes up especially
[1:03:39] when we start looking at the fact that
the board is going to I believe if this
[1:03:45] moves forward require a midterm
reevaluation of the tiff. Is it
[1:03:49] succeeding? Is it achieving goals that
success looks like an active vibrant
[1:03:54] healthy downtown? Right now the tiff
district area is lagging growth of the
[1:03:59] rest of the village by 19% over five
years. That's drag. That's actually
[1:04:04] raising everybody's property taxes.
Getting that closer to even if not
[1:04:08] exceeding the rest of the village would
be a good sign that this is moving well.
[1:04:14] And the version of this gets posted on
our website sometime tomorrow. We'll
[1:04:19] have the answers to the rest of the
questions. I'm sorry. I have no idea why
[1:04:22] that's blanked out.
[1:04:29] So, we're getting close with President
Mendri's permission for this to enter
[1:04:33] the public comment period. You see the
information here about the speaker
[1:04:36] cards. If anybody's come in late, please
see one of our staff members speaker
[1:04:41] card. When you fill out the card, if you
don't want to speak, you can just note
[1:04:44] your position on TIFF and any comments.
The board will get all of these. They
[1:04:48] will be retained, scanned in, and kept
in the file with this public hearing
[1:04:52] process. Just like those that have sent
in comments, especially in the last few
[1:04:56] days, saying, "I want this to be part of
the record for the village, those emails
[1:05:01] were received by the village board. They
are part of the record and we will
[1:05:04] retain them in our files."
Thank you.
[1:05:07] » Okay. Um, first of all, I'm going to say
it again, the comment cards, if you
[1:05:13] would like to make a comment or you're
not sure if you want to make a comment,
[1:05:17] please see Melissa or Holly at the end.
Brett is upstairs, I think, with those
[1:05:23] cards as well. Um,
what I will do next is in order to keep
[1:05:30] things moving along, I am going to call
three names and I would like you to head
[1:05:36] towards the podium. Um, make state your
name and address so that we have that
[1:05:41] for the record. make your comments in
the three minute time frame and I will
[1:05:46] keep calling additional names to join us
at the podium or anyone who's upstairs
[1:05:52] that needs to make their way down here
to give them an opportunity to do so.
[1:05:57] Okay, everybody here on the board square
with what's happening next? All right,
[1:06:01] super. Okay, so the first name on the
list is Simon Babs.
[1:06:07] The next one is Erica Foster. The next
one is Mary Lind Bland.
[1:06:15] If any of those people are in the room,
not necessarily in order. If we're
[1:06:19] waiting for people to arrive, we can
certainly do that. Simon Babs.
[1:06:26] Okay.
If you, Erica, are ready, please go
[1:06:32] ahead.
>> Uh, Erica Foster, 305 Sunset Drive. Good
[1:06:39] evening.
>> Patty Morell, 255 Sunset Drive.
[1:06:42] » We're gonna
>> Yeah. Patty Morell, 255 Sunset Drive.
[1:06:48] » We're gonna do this together for
efficiency purposes.
[1:06:50] » Yeah.
>> Um and if you have music like the Oscars
[1:06:53] at the three minute mark, I ask you to
mute it. I'm going to borrow a little
[1:06:56] bit of time from all the meetings I've
attended and not spoken because tonight
[1:06:59] I feel very compelled to speak. I would
like to personally thank all the
[1:07:03] trustees here for all the hard work
you've done on behalf of the village. I
[1:07:06] know it has not been an easy three
months for you all.
[1:07:10] I'm actually not up here to discuss the
merits of the tiff. Shocking, I know.
[1:07:15] Instead, on behalf of the many residents
I have spoken to over the last few
[1:07:18] months, I'm here to discuss restoring
civility, kindness, and neighborliness
[1:07:22] to this village. Over the last several
months, it has been incredibly sad to
[1:07:27] witness the village being needlessly
torn apart over this tiff decision. I
[1:07:31] sat on the village caucus for over a
decade prior to my recent resignation.
[1:07:35] I've been part of many complex village
decisions, but I have been so
[1:07:39] disappointed by the behaviors I've seen
in the last few months. I'm deeply
[1:07:43] troubled that we have a village board, a
school board, a park board, and even the
[1:07:47] library board that have been needlessly
pitted against each other by residents.
[1:07:51] I'm saddened to see neighbors and
friends at odds. And it does not need to
[1:07:56] be this way. This has escalated way
beyond what's reasonable.
[1:08:00] We celebrated our 100th anniversary this
year. It was a lovely celebration. Thank
[1:08:04] you to the trustees for that.
And it restored my hope that we can
[1:08:10] preserve our community. But we have to
do the work. We have to make changes and
[1:08:14] it has to happen tonight. At the
celebration in the history room, we all
[1:08:19] spent time reflecting on those who came
before us in Northfield. And I cannot
[1:08:24] imagine that those founders of this
village would be pleased with what's
[1:08:27] happening right now with how our
residents are treating other residents
[1:08:30] and treating this village board. I
cannot imagine they'd be pleased with
[1:08:34] our beautiful Northfield landscape
littered with signs every time a village
[1:08:39] board issue comes up. I cannot imagine
our village founders would have dreamed
[1:08:43] of residents lodging baseless
allegations against this village board
[1:08:46] claiming they have a nefarious purpose
invoking the names of their private
[1:08:50] employers or their family members. I
cannot imagine they would be comfortable
[1:08:55] with our school board members and
village board members being publicly at
[1:08:58] odds with one another.
I have repeatedly described this
[1:09:02] divisiveness as mutual assured
destruction. If we continue down this
[1:09:06] path of incivility, this does not end
well for our village. No one wins. Our
[1:09:10] brightest, most qualified residents
won't serve on village boards and school
[1:09:14] boards because they will fear for their
families, their reputation, and their
[1:09:17] livelihood. We will not explore
opportunities for our villages or our
[1:09:21] schools because board members and
residents will be fearful to even
[1:09:24] propose ideas that may result in
backlash. We will have longtime friends
[1:09:28] and neighbors not speaking. We have
residents afraid to come to this meeting
[1:09:32] to even speak about their views pro or
against. It is the natural consequence
[1:09:37] of our actions over the past several
months. And if we do not make changes
[1:09:42] right here, right now to stop the
incivility, it will continue. Civic
[1:09:46] engagement does not have to be divisive.
These trustees are fine upstanding
[1:09:50] citizens. to impugn their intelligence,
their integrity, or their
[1:09:54] trustworthiness is simply unacceptable
and baseless. They are doing this as
[1:09:58] unpaid volunteers for our community
because they love our community and they
[1:10:02] want to see it thrive. They don't have
some ulterior motive. They don't have
[1:10:06] anything to gain personally or
financially. To baselessly suggest
[1:10:10] otherwise is reckless.
And I think we need to ask ourselves,
[1:10:15] are we behaving as becoming of
Northfielders? Residents are supposedly
[1:10:19] so focused on schools, yet ironically,
they themselves are not modeling the
[1:10:23] very behavior we expect of our students.
In district 29, we have school and
[1:10:27] village board meetings where the tone of
the meeting is divisive. Harsh words,
[1:10:31] threats, whispers, clapping for a
particular position, grumbling about an
[1:10:34] opposing position. We would not accept
this from our district 29 students. We
[1:10:38] should not tolerate it from our
residents.
[1:10:42] It is not who we are. Our residents
don't like the division either. They are
[1:10:46] more uncomfortable with this division
than they are of a tiff. I've had
[1:10:49] countless residents say, "At this point,
I don't even care if it happens or not.
[1:10:52] I just want the drama to stop." I've
residents contact me and say they are
[1:10:56] disappointed in the behavior of other
residents. I've had families in the
[1:10:59] school district reach out and tell me
they are confused and nervous and upset.
[1:11:02] They want good schools and a great
downtown. Putting fear into young
[1:11:07] parents is not becoming of our village.
I have heard threats of lawsuits and I
[1:11:11] can tell you no one benefits from a
lawsuit here. and residents certainly
[1:11:16] don't want their tax dollars spent on a
lawsuit. We have residents asserting
[1:11:20] that there is lack of transparency from
the village. Every single one of these
[1:11:24] trustees will pick up the phone if you
call and have questions.
[1:11:29] Every single one of them will sit down
with you and hear your concerns and
[1:11:32] answer your questions one-on-one. If
you've taken to keyboard warrioring,
[1:11:36] posting on social media, making signs
without having tried these one-on-one
[1:11:39] communications.
All right, I'll wrap it up.
[1:11:48] » This is what we're talking about.
>> Yes. Call them directly and have a
[1:11:52] conversation. No solution is perfect.
None of these trustees are suggesting
[1:11:56] it's a perfect solution.
[1:12:00] » This is a tool that's been leveraged by
Kennallorth, Glen View, Highland Park,
[1:12:04] Deerfield, Northbrook, Evston, Highwood
to name just a few.
[1:12:11] to the residents in this room tonight.
Let's lead by example and assume good
[1:12:14] intent. Be gracious and civil. Thank
you. It's perfect example.
[1:12:18] » Thank you.
>> I agree.
[1:12:22] Okay. Mary Lindblad and I'm going to um
again Simon Babs. Next on the uh list is
[1:12:30] Tom O'Donn, John Reynolds, Kim Orth,
Betsy Cochar, Todd Berlinghoff. So, I
[1:12:37] would like to try to get those people in
the room um so we can move on. So,
[1:12:43] please go ahead.
>> Okay. Um
[1:12:47] ever since the
>> I'm sorry, ma'am. Can you
[1:12:49] » Oh, Mary Lindlad 21 North Half Road.
>> Thank you.
[1:12:52] » Um ever since the um joint review board
meeting, um I've thought that I I
[1:13:00] absolutely am convinced that this the
adoption of the TIFF ordinance is a done
[1:13:05] deal. and that uh the only choice that
those of us who oppose it would have if
[1:13:12] we chose to would be to challenge the
classification of the village as a
[1:13:16] blighted area with the state of
Illinois. Now that being said, I think
[1:13:21] the tiff has been a distraction from the
real issue that for me, which is the
[1:13:27] redevelopment plan down from between the
last four years we're or the years we're
[1:13:32] considering or 2019 to 2024,
COVID was in there. Nobody was doing
[1:13:40] very well in those years.
And um so I think that that using those
[1:13:45] statistics is is a little bad. And then
the
[1:13:50] survey of the village that was taken
that said they want walkability. Um
[1:13:58] all those different vibrant I still
don't know what vibrant means but uh it
[1:14:02] seems to me to be overcrowded and busy.
Um but in any event, so the vision plan
[1:14:08] as I look at it has been lost in in the
all the tiff dust and I I really am
[1:14:16] worried about the vision plan. I mean I
hope that whoever buys the shell
[1:14:22] station, which I know is targeted,
realizes it's contaminated and they're
[1:14:27] going to have to spend money to clean it
up. Um, and for I can't I can't imagine
[1:14:35] the hotel on the corner. I that's not
something I would would particularly
[1:14:39] want, but I I just don't want the fact
of the tiff to take away from the
[1:14:44] changes that would be made in this
village. And look, it it covers the
[1:14:47] entire village center. And I'm thinking
of all my small businesses that I use
[1:14:53] and I enjoy. and I see the pictures of
the multi-story, multi-use buildings and
[1:14:59] I can't I can barely imagine them in
this small area and so I'm just saying
[1:15:05] that uh let's get past the tiff and
let's start worrying about the
[1:15:09] redevelopment. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:15:13] » Next, Madam Chair, can I just uh ask
that maybe the subsequent speakers give
[1:15:17] the speaker a little bit of space? I
know there's a lot of people here, but I
[1:15:21] think the speakers probably want a
little bit of space.
[1:15:24] Thank you. Okay.
>> Simon Babs, 385 Meadow Brook Drive. My
[1:15:29] wife and I moved to Northville from
England with our son. Sue and I have
[1:15:33] lived here for over 27 years. We are US
citizens. We all owe a debt of gratitude
[1:15:39] to those who as trustees or in lower
profile roles have served our community
[1:15:43] during that period. Northfield is not a
large community. The 2020 census counted
[1:15:49] just over 5,700 people. That number of
course includes children and also many
[1:15:55] adults who for one reason or another do
not give much attention to village
[1:16:00] matters.
How many adult residents I wonder are
[1:16:04] even aware of the petition at change.org
that requests that if the village board
[1:16:10] considers that the proposed tiff would
be good for Northfield then that
[1:16:14] proposal should be put to a referendum.
[1:16:22] I don't know, of course, but I'd be
surprised if even 2,000 residents were
[1:16:28] aware of the petition. Yet, of those
2,000, say, over 56% have signed the
[1:16:35] petition seeking a referendum.
In the last 27 years, I've seen many
[1:16:40] issues put to a referendum in our
village. Yet none that I recall involves
[1:16:45] as large a fraction of the land area of
our village, nor such a large amount of
[1:16:50] prospective tax revenues, nor such an
extended time period as the proposed
[1:16:56] tiff.
If you were a current trustee and made
[1:17:00] favoring a tiff part of your pitch to
voters when you last stood for election,
[1:17:04] would you please raise your hand?
>> I see no hands raised.
[1:17:10] » Hear your question, sir.
>> Oh, sorry. If you were a current trustee
[1:17:14] and made favoring a tiff part of your
pitch to voters when you last stood for
[1:17:20] election, would you please raise your
hand?
[1:17:26] I see no hands raised. The situation
then is this. The tiff is an unusually
[1:17:33] significant proposal.
The board has no explicit electoral
[1:17:37] mandate for it and what is in all
probability a majority of those aware of
[1:17:44] aware of a petition calling for a
referendum chose to sign it.
[1:17:49] Trustees,
if after further deliberation and
[1:17:53] despite the recent joint board joint
review board vote, you favor a tiff,
[1:17:59] please put it to a referendum.
If you enact a TIFF without a
[1:18:04] referendum, then you would, I fear, be
failing in your democratic duty to the
[1:18:09] residents of this village. We, the
people, expect better of you than that.
[1:18:19] Um, the next I'm the ne Well, you can go
ahead. John Reynolds is next, but Kim,
[1:18:26] you're after that, so please.
Kumor, 1655 Orchard Lane. Um, first I'd
[1:18:34] like to address something that was just
talked about with civility. I've never
[1:18:39] mentioned this before, but I'll go there
now. About a year and a half ago, when
[1:18:44] the election took place, there were
people going doortodoor saying that my
[1:18:48] husband had dropped out of the election
because he was severely ill and they had
[1:18:52] no choice but to vote for Tracy. So when
you want to talk about civility,
[1:18:59] both sides are guilty of that.
I want to mention that I hadn't really
[1:19:03] engaged before this board on this tiff
because I never imagined that anyone
[1:19:07] would ever be in favor of a tiff to
bring vitality to Northfield. We have
[1:19:12] vitality currently. Ask the business
owners. At the August 4th caucus
[1:19:16] meeting, President Mendrich, you were
asked if you had any evidence that the
[1:19:20] Mariano's property was in need of a of
remediation. You have spoken endlessly
[1:19:25] about that very need. Your answer was
no. Multiple nos. You have not seen any
[1:19:31] evidence that there is need for
remediation. Do you still stand by that
[1:19:35] statement or do you now have
documentation or some substantiation of
[1:19:40] your fact that Marianos needs
remediation and we need a tiff to assist
[1:19:45] in that process? Did Dominics need
remediation? Did Marianos need
[1:19:50] remediation? Do you still stand by your
word, without a tiff, we can't have a
[1:19:54] grocery store? My second statement is
one that refers to your comment just
[1:19:59] today in the village email that was sent
out. You said, and I quote, "This
[1:20:03] included a great conversation last
Thursday hosted by a Northfield family
[1:20:08] where school board members were in
attendance with community members asking
[1:20:12] sharp, thoughtful questions. This kind
of in-person dialogue is what Northfield
[1:20:17] does best. we talk through concerns and
vigorously protect those things that
[1:20:21] make Northfield special."
I would disagree with a portion of that
[1:20:26] statement regarding dialogue. I believe
that as a village president, in my
[1:20:30] opinion, there should only be one
platform for messaging where you
[1:20:34] disseminate information to the
residents, maybe an official village
[1:20:38] website. having numerous one-offs, wine
and tiffs, coffee or tea meetings at
[1:20:43] private residences or associations where
you present your personal views on the
[1:20:48] tiff without anyone in attendance to
fact check your statements isn't really
[1:20:52] best practice. How do these private
meetings benefit the village as a whole?
[1:20:57] If you are interested in having healthy
dialogue, why haven't you organized a
[1:21:01] meeting outside of this one with
residents who live directly outside the
[1:21:06] tiff area who would be the most impacted
by a tiff district? I see your practice
[1:21:11] as a measure attempting to merely
convince or sell people that your vision
[1:21:15] of this tiff is the only vision. Thank
you,
[1:21:25] John Reynolds. Yes,
>> that's me.
[1:21:28] » Donahghue, Betsy, Coachar,
>> Todd Merling, Hoff.
[1:21:33] » Okay, so I'm John Reynolds. I'm in
Dickens in Northfield. And
[1:21:38] my name is John Reynolds. I'm in uh I'm
in Northfield and I'm on Dickens Street.
[1:21:45] So, Madame President, um I'm holding up
your campaign mailer. I got
[1:21:50] » Sorry.
>> Sorry. I'm keeping the time, too. Excuse
[1:21:53] me.
[1:21:58] You have a little bit more time than
that. Honest.
[1:22:02] » This is my first meeting. I like city
government. That sounds great. Great.
[1:22:05] » All right. Okay. We're killing it,
aren't we? Hang on one second here.
[1:22:09] » Everybody have their phone on mute. Just
make sure.
[1:22:11] » All right. Got it.
>> We're all set. Fantastic. So, I'm
[1:22:14] holding up your your your campaign that
I'm assuming you wrote you're familiar
[1:22:18] with. Um it said you stand for common
sense leadership, transparency, and
[1:22:23] accountability. I have two questions. My
first question is granted to the the uh
[1:22:29] proposal that was done that was
mentioned today. I really appreciate the
[1:22:32] FAQs and that that speaks to the idea of
uh how is this accountable for the
[1:22:37] majority of Northfield residents who
oppose this tiff continuing to be pushed
[1:22:41] forward. The kind of people have spoken
uh their concerns deserve to be heard
[1:22:46] and not just kind of set aside. Uh and
transparency means more than saying the
[1:22:51] word. It means full disclosure. The
public serves to know who benefits, who
[1:22:56] takes the risks, and why should
taxpayers help finance private
[1:23:00] development. There's one more step I'd
like to council consider uh our sister
[1:23:06] community, Wana. I've spoken to many of
the elected officials there and they
[1:23:10] actually uh uh upon election they
receive they have to go through a course
[1:23:15] where they kind of sign agreements for
their uh as far as uh uh what their what
[1:23:20] disclosure are, ethics and whatnot.
Nadesh Northfield to consider adopting a
[1:23:23] civil requirement as part of the
governance. Uh it's kind of simple. It
[1:23:27] puts all your commitments or in common
writing and disclose them to the public.
[1:23:34] Uh it it kind of makes them easy to see
and it holds elected officials
[1:23:39] accountable to them. Um, if we ask
residents to trust us, you the committee
[1:23:45] with our tax dollars, then only the city
government must earn that trust with
[1:23:49] transparency, disclosure, and
accountability. This sounds like common
[1:23:53] sense to me. That's all I have.
>> Thank you.
[1:24:05] » Good evening. My name is Betsy
Coachfire, address 187 Zachary. Until
[1:24:10] today, I have not spoken regarding the
upcoming tiff vote. My husband and I
[1:24:15] moved here 32 years ago. We had not yet
started a family, but we were thinking
[1:24:19] about it, and the number one priority on
our list of places to live was the
[1:24:24] quality of the schools. We also wanted a
small town Mayberry feel. Northfield had
[1:24:29] both. Our children attended all of the
Northfield District schools and have
[1:24:34] fledged the nest successfully in part
thanks to the great school system. I'm
[1:24:39] concerned that the tiff I'm concerned
about the tiff purs proposal. I want
[1:24:44] Northfield to thrive and I am seeing
that happen. Many new families with
[1:24:49] small children have made their home in
Northfield. I think as more families
[1:24:54] move here, this will usher in a
transition to a vibrant downtown
[1:24:58] community without a tiff. Of course,
everyone would like a new, larger
[1:25:02] library and a replacement for Marianos
ASAP. Our surrounding towns all have new
[1:25:08] or rehab libraries and good grocery
stores. We have access to those
[1:25:12] amenities within 5 to 10 minute within a
5 to 10 minute drive. Here are some of
[1:25:17] my concerns about the tiff. Do residents
realize that their real estate taxes
[1:25:21] will increase to cover the school cost
if the tiff passes? Do they realize
[1:25:26] Northfield schools may struggle to
accommodate the potentially large influx
[1:25:30] of students if property taxes are
diverted to the tiff and not directly to
[1:25:35] the schools? Do they understand that the
tiff will likely be in place for 23
[1:25:39] years and the village board decides
where the tiff money goes? Do residents
[1:25:44] comprehend that our school district
maintain maintains a a bun sorry fund
[1:25:48] balance or rainy day fund to cover
funding gaps that arise from late
[1:25:54] property tax distributions and that the
fund may have to instead cover increased
[1:25:59] school expenses not covered by the tiff
among other items. The school fund
[1:26:04] balance assures that teachers and staff
will continue to be paid on time during
[1:26:10] the property tax distribution delays.
Would the district attra attract the
[1:26:14] caliber of students and teachers and
staff if they weren't guaranteed on time
[1:26:20] payments in order to cover their
personal expenses? How will the tiff
[1:26:25] affect the ability of residents,
especially older residents, to sell
[1:26:29] their houses? Will the tiff reduce the
marketability of the housing here? In
[1:26:34] conclusion, I truly believe that
Northfield's downtown will improve
[1:26:37] without a tiff. Why is there such a rush
on the proposal when this is a complex
[1:26:42] issue that will affect Northfield for
the next 23 years and beyond? I'm hoping
[1:26:47] that the board will consider a
referendum in November to allow the
[1:26:51] village residents to comprehend exactly
how a tiff will affect the future of
[1:26:56] Mayberry. Thank you for your time. Sure.
>> Thank you.
[1:27:03] Tom O'Donahue, Todd Berlinghoff, Sue
Kelly, Barnaby Dingis, Kathy
[1:27:09] Esesterbrook, Terry Dason.
Okay, that's enough. If all of those
[1:27:15] people can
be close by, Tom, please go ahead,
[1:27:19] introduce yourself. Sorry.
>> Good evening, everyone. My name is Tom
[1:27:23] O'Donnary
[1:27:26] in Northfield. I have been a resident of
Northfield since 2003. I have lived in
[1:27:32] four homes inside of Northfield. So,
I've experienced tax bills in various
[1:27:37] ways. My uh attempt tonight is this is
the third time I've spoken before some
[1:27:42] of you. Uh my concern is as a financial
consultant in the turnaround world is
[1:27:47] that the open-ended nature of the
ordinance as I have read it
[1:27:53] uh supported by something called the
vision 2040
[1:27:57] which at the time my son was one of the
members of that committee depended on a
[1:28:02] sales tax that was generated by a
growing food store called Marianos.
[1:28:07] So my suggestion to all of you, since
you're trying to pass a TIFF based on a
[1:28:13] plan that was based on a vibrant grocery
store and many other things going on in
[1:28:18] 2015, it's time to reassess the plan. At
this point in time, 2040 seems to be, as
[1:28:25] you read, the preamble in the TIFF
ordinance is the justification for the
[1:28:29] TIFF ordinance.
Is the underlying reason still the same
[1:28:33] today in 2026?
I don't think so. And I'm concerned in
[1:28:40] passing it, it's going to be one of
those cases where we're going to pass it
[1:28:44] and figure it out later.
I think that is probably poor planning
[1:28:49] in most homes, in most businesses, and
hopefully in the village of Northfield.
[1:28:56] Thank you all for listening to us this
evening. And one other piece of history,
[1:29:00] I loved going through that that poster
board in the lodge and the feistiness of
[1:29:06] the Northfield people when they got the
name Wobbon and said the heck with this.
[1:29:11] We're going back to Northfield. So you
still have the feistiness a 100 years
[1:29:16] later. Thank you.
[1:29:29] Good evening.
My name is Todd Berlinghoff. I live at
[1:29:33] one landmark in Northfield. Emily and I
and our three children have lived in
[1:29:37] Northfield since 1995
in three different houses, not four.
[1:29:42] Located in three different parts of
town. All our kids graduated from
[1:29:46] Middlefork, Sunset Ridge, and New Trier.
My wife was the president of the PTO.
[1:29:51] I've served 10 years on Northfield's
architecture commission and 12 years on
[1:29:55] the planning and zoning commission. We
love Northfield.
[1:29:59] With nearly four decades of real estate
development, I have built I've been
[1:30:02] fortunate to build over 4 million square
feet of retail space for prominent
[1:30:06] companies such as Jewel, Dominic's,
Marianos, Whole Foods, Aldi, Costco,
[1:30:11] Walmart, and Heinens.
Locally, Willow Festival in North Brook
[1:30:16] stands as one of these properties. My
experience also includes developing more
[1:30:20] than 1,000 multif family apartments as
well as class A office and medical
[1:30:24] office space throughout the Chicagoland
area. As I prepared these remarks for
[1:30:28] tonight, I considered addressing the
misinformation surrounding TIFF, but I
[1:30:32] believe the board is best positioned to
clarify these points. My hope is
[1:30:36] everyone here will be open to facts
rather than hyperbole.
[1:30:40] Yet, I do have one comment. Having
participated in numerous tiff deals over
[1:30:44] the years, I have observed that school
boards never support them as their
[1:30:48] primary responsibility is to maximize
revenue for their constituency. My focus
[1:30:53] tonight is on what matters most to me,
how Norfolk can attract investors like
[1:30:57] myself.
We often express a desire for a more
[1:31:00] walkable community with a variety of
restaurants, shops, and services.
[1:31:04] However, such progress requires more
than wishful thinking. Small businesses
[1:31:09] need affordable infrastructure and a
steady customer base. By implementing
[1:31:13] proper zoning and offering financial
support for downtown re residential
[1:31:17] development, Northfield can encourage
small businesses to flourish.
[1:31:21] Communities that welcome development and
provide incentives are the ones poised
[1:31:24] for growth and continue relevance.
One major challenge in Cook County is
[1:31:29] the exceptionally high property taxes,
making new construction nearly
[1:31:33] impossible without some form of village
tiff support. In fact, every apartment
[1:31:37] development we've completed in the past
5 years has relied on TIFF assistance
[1:31:41] from a village. Northfield must have
tiff as a tool to achieve its downtown
[1:31:45] redevelopment goals. Without it,
progress will stall. Redeveloping the
[1:31:50] Mariana's grocery store may be possible
without TIF. If medical institutions
[1:31:54] like Northwestern or the University of
Chicago Medicine are acceptable tenants,
[1:31:59] however, if the goal is to attract
retail or another grocery store, tiff
[1:32:03] support will be necessary. Otherwise,
the property could remain vacant for
[1:32:06] years, diminishing both its value and
tax base. The longer it takes to secure
[1:32:11] a tenant, the greater the risk that the
owner will demolish the building to
[1:32:15] lower their tax burden even more. A
scenario no one wants.
[1:32:20] Like many in this room, I enjoyed our
100th year celebration on Saturday.
[1:32:24] There was a sense of symmetry between
our current situation and the challenges
[1:32:29] faced a century ago. History shows that
Northfield's transformation from pagan
[1:32:33] and radish farming to modern suburbs was
marked by tough decisions and
[1:32:38] significant change. Today we celebrate
our centennial with aging
[1:32:42] infrastructure, water and sewer mains in
need of replacement and a downtown
[1:32:45] retail spaces that are becoming
obsolete.
[1:32:48] I want the board to know that I support
tiff and many residents who are not
[1:32:52] present tonight do as well.
Conversations with my neighbors during
[1:32:55] the celebration revealed substantial
support for the tiff. Similar to the
[1:33:00] debate over widening Willow Road, this
issue has stirred strong emotions.
[1:33:03] Change is difficult, especially when
there is vocal opposition. While it may
[1:33:08] be easy to reject TIFF, I urge the board
to make the decision that best serves
[1:33:12] our community by supporting TIFF, paving
the way for an exciting future for
[1:33:16] Northfield. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Sue. Kelly, uh, Barnaby
[1:33:21] Dinges, Kathy Esesterbrook, Terry Dason,
Jeff
[1:33:28] Keading, Jeff Kading, I think I got that
right. William gets Ariel Hoer. Please,
[1:33:35] Sue, go ahead.
>> Good evening. My name is Sue Kelly, 1642
[1:33:38] Orchard Lane. I am speaking tonight to
place a formal objection on the record
[1:33:43] regarding concerning compliance with
Illinois law regarding TIFF districts
[1:33:47] and the public hearing notice
requirements of 65 ILCS511-74.4-6A.
[1:33:57] The statute provides that notice of the
public hearing shall be given by mailing
[1:34:01] notice by certified mail to the person
or persons in whose name the general
[1:34:06] taxes for the preceding year were paid
on each lot, block, tract, or parcel of
[1:34:12] land within the proposed redevelopment
project area and that the notice must be
[1:34:17] mailed not less than 10 days prior to
the public hearing. I personally
[1:34:22] communicated with commercial property
owners whose properties are located
[1:34:25] inside the proposed tiff area. I have
been informed by such owners that to the
[1:34:30] best of their knowledge they did not
receive certified mail notice from the
[1:34:34] village concerning this public hearing.
These individual property owners may not
[1:34:38] wish to be identified publicly tonight.
I am therefore not asking the board to
[1:34:42] simply take my word for it. It is also
possible that mail can be lost or
[1:34:47] overlooked. But I am asking the village
to establish on the record whether it
[1:34:52] complied with the statutory mailing
requirement. First, I request proof of
[1:34:56] compliance. Will the village attorney or
appropriate village staff state on the
[1:35:01] record whether the village deposited the
required notices in the United States
[1:35:06] mail by certified mail to the persons
identified by the statute for every lot,
[1:35:12] block, tract, or parcel within the
proposed redevelopment project area at
[1:35:16] least 10 days before this public
hearing? And does the village possess
[1:35:22] the corresponding certified mail
receipts, mailing records, or USPS
[1:35:26] tracking documentation demonstrating
that those notices were deposited.
[1:35:32] Second, if the village cannot establish
compliance with the statutory mailing
[1:35:37] requirement, I request that this hearing
be continued rather than closed so that
[1:35:42] the village can determine whether any
required notices were omitted and if
[1:35:47] necessary provide the notice required by
state law. I'm making this comment for
[1:35:52] the purpose of assuring that the
statutory notice requirements are
[1:35:56] followed before this process proceeds
further. Thank you.
[1:36:11] Good evening, Northfield. Uh, Barnaby
Dinges, 421 Chapel Hill Lane. Uh, I
[1:36:17] think we begin Northfield's next hundred
years tonight. And I hope we can capture
[1:36:22] some of that karma from the other night.
Uh, I come to you tonight as a former
[1:36:26] school teacher, started my career 40
years ago, Harvard St. George on the
[1:36:31] south side, Francis Parker on the north
side, Columbia College downtown Chicago,
[1:36:35] Depal University. And uh I took my role
as an educator seriously and I had two
[1:36:42] things in mind as a teacher.
Uh the big picture, always encourage my
[1:36:47] students to look at the big picture. You
can always narrow it later. And uh be a
[1:36:52] role model. Everything you say and do uh
can affect your students. And uh that
[1:36:57] gets me to talking about the role of our
school boards in this whole debate that
[1:37:02] we've been having. Um and I guess I'll
express my disappointment in how that's
[1:37:07] gone. I also pay my wife and I $1,200 a
month. I call it paying tuition to our
[1:37:14] schools. Uh $1,200. And I've never
questioned that. I've always felt good
[1:37:19] about that. I live right between the
schools in our community. Spent a lot of
[1:37:22] time with the schools.
um consider myself a big supporter of
[1:37:27] the schools, but I also support our
downtown. And when when the schools talk
[1:37:33] about uh the community, they say we
support a vibrant downtown, and then the
[1:37:38] discussion ends there. They never say
another word. And what was interesting
[1:37:42] to me is six months ago when you went to
the schools with this idea of a tiff,
[1:37:47] instead of inviting the parents in to
ask what they think or the community in
[1:37:51] or to refer to the just completed Hapro
report which included 900 responses from
[1:37:57] our residents, 85% whom said they wanted
an improved downtown and include
[1:38:02] hundreds of testimonials from our
residents, young parents who moved to
[1:38:07] town talking about what they wanted in
our downtown because the education of
[1:38:11] their children doesn't just end in the
classroom. It ends uh includes them
[1:38:15] going downtown and hanging out as they
do in some of the towns around us. So,
[1:38:20] we can have great schools and a great
downtown. Since I've been in this town
[1:38:25] for 13 years, we've had two referenda
for our schools. I voted for them. I
[1:38:29] supported them. So, this idea that
somehow we're going to stop supporting
[1:38:33] our schools and we're going to somehow
get distracted, I think is a a real red
[1:38:40] herring and a and a false argument and
and I'm personally offended by it. So,
[1:38:45] when the school board met to discuss the
TIFF proposal, six representatives very
[1:38:49] quickly said, "We oppose it." Now, this
board is grappling with this issue, and
[1:38:54] I guarantee you if I asked each one of
you, you would have a subtle distinct
[1:38:59] difference, and you could argue with
each other on it. But our school board
[1:39:02] didn't do that. And then when the joint
review board met, which was already
[1:39:07] stacked with schoolboard representatives
and had a chance to have a community
[1:39:11] member, Debbie Papus, who served as the
head of the school board,
[1:39:17] was one of their people. she was denied
the ability to serve on that committee.
[1:39:22] So, they added another person from the
school board. I don't think that served
[1:39:26] the community as well. And then when we
get sent something like this in the mail
[1:39:33] and it doesn't include the fact that
[1:39:38] negotiations already happening, I
consider that disingenuous. And I I have
[1:39:43] talked to dozens of people who are
afraid to come here and say what they
[1:39:47] think about TIF because they're
neighbors of schoolboard people and uh
[1:39:52] they have been threatened. I've heard
people come up here and threaten you
[1:39:56] with lawsuits and lose the next
election. And I don't think we want to
[1:40:00] live in a community where people are
afraid to come out and ask questions and
[1:40:05] share their thoughts. So I commend you
for the hard work you're doing. you're
[1:40:09] doing it without the support that you
should be getting from some parts of our
[1:40:13] community and I will support that
effort. Thank you.
[1:40:17] » Thank you,
>> Kathy Esesterbrook.
[1:40:20] Terry, then you're next. Jeff,
William, Ariel, then Lauren Ruger,
[1:40:29] um
Eileene Isac's.
[1:40:34] Go ahead.
>> I'm Kathy Esesterbrook, 1620 Mount
[1:40:36] Pleasant. I'm not necessarily against
the tiff. I'm against the size of the
[1:40:41] tiff district and the fact that it spans
23 years. The Mariano property is a
[1:40:48] major issue for sure. However, the owner
paid too much for the property, so is
[1:40:52] asking for relief. I don't feel our
resident should be penalized for his
[1:40:56] poor business decision.
I'm I'm concerned that SB Freeman's
[1:41:01] figures include the year 2020.
Obviously, it's going to skew those
[1:41:06] figures
significantly.
[1:41:10] Um, we reszone the North Corridor in
late 2025, so let's let the resoning
[1:41:15] take hold before we put another option
on top of it.
[1:41:20] I believe there are various ways to
increase our revenues, adding the 1%
[1:41:24] sales tax, increasing our vehicle
stickers, to name two. How much
[1:41:29] additional revenues are we receiving
from our car dealerships since sales
[1:41:35] have been have increased? That must
help. Our town is thriving and sweet.
[1:41:40] Please keep it that way.
[1:41:48] Oop.
Oh, I lost it. Um there was that um on
[1:41:52] the darn it on the um
back wall of the south the south wall in
[1:42:00] the lustic lodge there was a wonderful
quote saying how sweet our it was from
[1:42:05] 19 76 years ago saying how sweet our
village was and let's keep it that way
[1:42:11] we deserve it. Thank you,
Terry.
[1:42:22] Good evening, President Mendrich,
Manager Brennan, and the members of the
[1:42:27] board of trustees. Thank you for the
opportunity to speak this evening. I am
[1:42:31] Terry Dason, president of the Waneka
Northfield Gleno Chamber of Commerce.
[1:42:36] Before addressing the tiff, I would like
to congratulate the village and everyone
[1:42:41] involved in Northfield's 100th birthday
celebration. Clarkson Park was filled
[1:42:46] with residents, families, and friends of
all ages. The activities, music, local
[1:42:52] food, and wonderful fireworks showcased
Northfield at its very best. It was
[1:42:58] truly a celebration of community and a
job very well done. Tonight, I am
[1:43:03] speaking on behalf of the many
independent and locallyowned businesses
[1:43:08] that are important to our community. The
chamber understands the purpose of a tax
[1:43:14] increment financing. When used
thoughtfully, a tiff can encourage
[1:43:18] investment, improve
[1:43:23] infrastructure, and create opportunities
for economic development. We want
[1:43:29] Northfield to grow, remain competitive,
and continue to thrive. At the same
[1:43:35] time, I ask that you cons, as you
consider redevelopment, you also
[1:43:40] consider the people behind the
storefronts. Many of our local
[1:43:44] businesses have invested in Northfield
for years. They employ people, serve our
[1:43:49] residents, support our schools and
organizations, contribute to community
[1:43:54] events, and help create the character of
this village. If redevelopment
[1:43:59] ultimately affects some of these
businesses, I believe the time to begin
[1:44:03] planning for them is now, not when a
lease expires or a business suddenly
[1:44:08] learns it needs to relocate. Can we
identify potential spaces within
[1:44:14] Northfield before they are needed?
Can we develop a strategy to assist
[1:44:19] businesses that may be displaced? Can
the village, the chamber, and property
[1:44:25] owners and businesses work together to
identify relocation opportunities within
[1:44:30] Northfield? And most importantly, can
retaining our existing local businesses
[1:44:36] become one of the stated goals of
redevelopment?
[1:44:40] Once a small business is forced to leave
a community, there's no guarantee it
[1:44:44] will return. The chamber is not asking
Northfield to choose between
[1:44:48] redevelopment and its existing
businesses. We believe that Northfield
[1:44:53] can and should have both. We can welcome
new investment and new businesses while
[1:44:59] valuing the entrepreneurs have already
invested in the community. Economic
[1:45:04] development should not simply be about
what we build next. It should also be
[1:45:09] about preserving what we what is already
working and helping our existing
[1:45:14] businesses succeed through periods of
change. As Northfield begins its next
[1:45:19] hundred years, we have an opportunity to
approach redevelopment thoughtfully,
[1:45:24] creating new possibilities while
protecting the businesses and
[1:45:28] relationships that already make
Northfield a special place to live,
[1:45:32] workshop, and gather. Thank you.
[1:45:46] Jeff Keading is next on my list.
[1:45:55] Good evening. Jeff Keading, 54 Wagner
Road.
[1:46:00] My wife and I bought up in Northfield 30
years ago of raising our kids here
[1:46:04] because of the size of the community and
the village that it was. I'm opposed to
[1:46:08] any large tiff program, period. Uh I
think you're going to destroy our
[1:46:13] village with that. And I believe that uh
the way we first moved in here was
[1:46:18] because of the size of the village and
the community we came from. A lot of the
[1:46:23] people I spoke against the tiff, I agree
with a lot of the stuff that they said
[1:46:26] tonight and I'll make it short. Thank
you,
[1:46:35] » William Gats.
[1:46:43] I hope I pronounced that. Is that what
it is?
[1:46:46] » Sites.
>> Boy. Okay. Sorry. Good of you to know
[1:46:51] what I was saying.
>> Well, that's okay, Madam President.
[1:46:53] Thank you very much. Good evening. Um, I
was My name is William Sites. I'm an
[1:46:58] attorney. My office is in Northbrook.
Uh, attorney Jones knows me from
[1:47:04] Gleniew. Um so uh I originally um uh got
involved in this issue when I was asked
[1:47:13] how Glen View's tiff worked out for uh
district 34. It didn't and I explained
[1:47:19] how district 34 ended up getting short
and and how it got short. So I explained
[1:47:25] that uh but otherwise I wasn't planning
on speaking here tonight. I did ask um I
[1:47:31] did speak to two tenants and two
property owners in this district and
[1:47:36] none of them none of them felt
comfortable authorizing me to to express
[1:47:41] uh with their name but they they didn't
feel that um you know putting their name
[1:47:48] out there and explaining why they they
didn't feel the tiff was in their in
[1:47:53] their interest they didn't feel
comfortable so it didn't have their name
[1:47:56] but as it turns out Um, and I'm going to
give each one of you a copy since, uh,
[1:48:01] attorney Jones says you're not taking a
vote. Um, you know, I I've done this
[1:48:06] myself as an attorney. Um, some somebody
put out a website called Unlock
[1:48:10] Norfield, and I did when I represented a
coal uh, a company that had coal plants.
[1:48:15] I did this myself. Um, and you know, uh,
on these tiffs, you know, the I don't I
[1:48:21] don't think it's eligible. I don't think
it meets the qualifications. I don't
[1:48:24] think if you do a uh impact agreement,
the schools are going to be held uh
[1:48:29] whole, but um I think that you you need
to make sure that you're you're talking
[1:48:34] the same language, you're talking the
same facts and you make sure that the
[1:48:39] the the
uh information you're getting is
[1:48:43] accurate facts. and what what and what
you have here is you know something that
[1:48:49] some you know college kid put together
and you know I mean that's that doesn't
[1:48:55] serve you any in in making a decision
this is a very difficult decision um you
[1:49:00] know and one of the things that says it
doesn't raise taxes if if if you look at
[1:49:04] this uh Freriedman report you know on
the um back part of the report and you
[1:49:10] know any developer is going to love
tiffs because you know it's got a
[1:49:13] proposed budget for various expenses is,
you know, I I represent developers. So,
[1:49:17] you know, everybody's, you know,
everybody wants to do development deals,
[1:49:20] but there's other ways of doing it other
than the tiffs as well. So, you know,
[1:49:23] I'm I I'm going to leave you copies of
of these documents for you take a look
[1:49:27] at them if you'd like. But, you know, I
I think that it's very important that
[1:49:31] you have the right information to make a
to make a sound decision. And you know,
[1:49:38] other than that, you know, I think that,
you know, it's it's, you know, u I'm
[1:49:42] dealing with a lot of problems with with
Glen View that I would that I would say,
[1:49:46] you know, one of the problems I'm having
with Glen View that as attorney Jones
[1:49:49] perhaps knows is in Glen View um a lot
of money from from the from the former
[1:49:56] TIFF when they sold land sales um went
into its big fund called the permanent
[1:50:01] fund. And that permanent fund is now
being spent on restaurants to quote
[1:50:05] unquote revitalize downtown Glen View
that built a five-story uh uh apartment
[1:50:10] building in the center of downtown Glen
View that I spent six years uh suing on
[1:50:14] Glen View. Um and the problem with all
this money is it ends up going to LLC's
[1:50:21] where the people coming to public
meetings represent the LLC's, they're
[1:50:25] not the real people getting the money.
The real people getting the money are
[1:50:28] wealthy people. So you you need to make
certain if you're doing deals that the
[1:50:33] people who are actually getting the
money, you know who who's actually
[1:50:36] getting the money. So anyway, I
appreciate your time. I probably went
[1:50:40] over the three minutes. Your your uh
contemporary in Glen Gy would cut me off
[1:50:44] after two and a half minutes. So I
appreciate your time. Um but uh thank
[1:50:48] you very much.
>> Thank you.
[1:50:55] Um, Ariel Hoffer,
Lauren Ruger, Eileen Issacs,
[1:51:01] Barb Silva, Jordan Shackleford, Holt,
Ziggler.
[1:51:07] Just so everybody started waiting in the
weeks. Go ahead.
[1:51:10] » Ariel Hoer, resident at 1554 Willow and
business owner at 300 Hap Road. Many
[1:51:16] residents, business owners, taxing
bodies, and interesting parties have
[1:51:19] spoken over the last few months about
concerns relating to TIFF eligibility as
[1:51:23] well as the effect it will have on
schools. I'll leave it to the others to
[1:51:26] reiterate those important concerns
tonight. I want to start by saying how
[1:51:30] incredible our 100redyear celebration
was this past Saturday. It reminded me
[1:51:34] about what makes Northfield so special.
Mom and pop vendors served a park full
[1:51:38] of families, many of which had family
members actually founded this town. We
[1:51:43] did not have chain vendors and all main
food vendors that participated are
[1:51:47] located within the proposed TIFF
boundaries. I believe this is something
[1:51:50] of huge note. My concern is rooted in
overdevelopment at the cost of the
[1:51:55] vibrancy we currently display display.
To establish a tiff area in a place
[1:51:59] already populated by thriving
businesses, most of which don't own
[1:52:03] their space is to ask to change the
landscape that makes us so special.
[1:52:06] Should businesses face relocation to
make way for the rise of condo towers,
[1:52:11] they will fail. I have no doubt about
this. This tip proposal, as outlined,
[1:52:16] does not ensure a legacy of small
business. Rather, it will help usher in
[1:52:20] an era of big box chains with mom and
pops left by the wayside. In fact, I
[1:52:24] don't see any of the vendors from
Saturday surviving in this unlocked
[1:52:28] Northfield. As elected members of this
board, it is your responsibility to
[1:52:32] represent the interests of our of your
constituents. How can you hear the
[1:52:36] incredible amount of concerns from your
villagers and still choose to blatantly
[1:52:40] ignore them? If it is a matter of a
budget crisis, then tell us though.
[1:52:44] Thank you.
[1:52:52] » Hi, uh Lauren Reager, 248 Wagner. Um I
wanted to just stand up and say a few
[1:52:59] words in support um for the proposed
tiff. I um have lived in Northfield my
[1:53:05] entire life. I grew up here attending
Middlefork, Sunset Ridge, and New Trier.
[1:53:10] I was a teacher assistant at Middlefork
and now my two children attend
[1:53:13] Middlefork as well. Um growing up in
Northfield, there was a uh my favorite
[1:53:18] place to go was TCBY. I think I funded
it uh solely by myself. Um we would run
[1:53:25] around the fountain um with my friends
and enjoy the local establishments that
[1:53:29] were there. Um and
at TCB TCBY we would gather as families
[1:53:36] after um dance recital, spring sings,
winter sings, and families would gather
[1:53:41] in line uh commune um and share stories
that still uh stay with me today. We
[1:53:48] have a great local um downtown. We have
uh great resident uh great shops and uh
[1:53:55] restaurants, but we're lacking the
gathering place where families can go
[1:53:58] and kids can safely ride their bikes. Uh
currently I see a lot of them riding to
[1:54:03] Walgreens and Starbucks, and I'm very
concerned with their safety, especially
[1:54:07] at the Walgreens or the Starbucks uh
crossing zone. Um, I got involved or
[1:54:13] leaned in more to this conversation um,
over the last several months as I
[1:54:17] started to see, like many Northfield
residents, the yard signs um, popping up
[1:54:22] more and more and I started to try to
understand what the information was. And
[1:54:27] as I went searching, I only found one
side of the story. Um, and it's only
[1:54:32] gotten louder. I haven't heard as much
information up until recently with the
[1:54:37] uh, various meetings and information
that's been shared. Um and so I'm
[1:54:42] encouraged by the um both sides now
sharing information um together and in
[1:54:48] different various formats. Um recently I
had the um ability to join a
[1:54:53] conversation where both the school board
members and village board members were
[1:54:57] having a conversation that was the most
productive conversation I've heard in
[1:55:01] this entire experience that I've been
participating in which admittedly is
[1:55:05] fairly limited. Um, but I've heard
criticisms of these gatherings, which
[1:55:09] disappoints me. Um, because it's the
side of Northfield that I've known and
[1:55:14] loved growing up here is small, local,
uh, shared communication and
[1:55:19] conversation, even if they disagree, of
coming together, talking about things
[1:55:24] that they agree or disagree, in a
productive, calm, and rational way. Um,
[1:55:30] I won't stand up here spouting the
different data points of why I support
[1:55:34] our schools, our local businesses, and
the need for our downtown and Northfield
[1:55:39] to thrive generally. I think you've done
a nice job of sharing that information
[1:55:43] with us. However, I do think we could do
a better job of sharing with our
[1:55:46] residents uh some of the information
that I just learned here tonight. For
[1:55:50] example, that there is a need to invest
in Northfield and by doing nothing, we
[1:55:55] won't accomplish anything. So, I do
encourage residents to consider uh the
[1:56:00] reasons why this is being proposed to um
support Northfield's growth. Thank you,
[1:56:07] » Eileene Isacs.
[1:56:16] » Good evening and thank you for the
opportunity. I had not expected to
[1:56:20] speak, so I've been jotting notes as the
meeting has gone on. I've lived here for
[1:56:26] 41 years. Um I live in the old Calderini
house for you old people that know. Um
[1:56:33] the first reason, the first thing that I
would like to raise is since you knew
[1:56:37] that this was going to be such a white
hot issue, since you knew that on both
[1:56:41] sides there was going to be such a
agitated participation, why we aren't in
[1:56:46] a bigger space that could have
accommodated everybody. I don't
[1:56:49] understand. And I think that that casts
a Paul on the whole conversation.
[1:56:58] The second question I have is you are
all elected representatives elected to
[1:57:03] represent the interests of those who you
represent. There's a very strong notion
[1:57:08] out there that every one of you has
already made up your mind except one in
[1:57:12] favor of a tiff and that these are just
dur kinds of meetings that you're having
[1:57:17] and that none of you are in a position
to change your mind that you've all set
[1:57:22] your positions. This is very
disheartening and makes it feel like we
[1:57:26] are not involved in a democratic
situation.
[1:57:30] Um, my third concern is the legality of
the entire enterprise. TIFFs were
[1:57:37] designed to help blighted communities
who were unable to attract commercial
[1:57:42] development. This has never been the
case in Northfield. This is an
[1:57:46] embarrassment in of riches as the wealth
of our community and the value of our
[1:57:50] homes climb. It's an insult to those
communities that really need TIFFs that
[1:57:55] we should usurp that desperate mechanism
for our own development.
[1:58:01] Our village manager oversaw
Kennallworth's tiffs and it's my
[1:58:06] understanding that very little
development occurred as a result in
[1:58:09] Deerfield. They have a tiff and last
week they had to pass a bond issue to
[1:58:15] support the schools because the schools
were short the funding that they needed.
[1:58:19] At the terrific centennial celebration
this weekend and it was terrific and
[1:58:24] congratulations to you all on the
amazing job you did. I learned that in
[1:58:29] 1984
there were only 350 students enrolled in
[1:58:34] our schools and that there was some
consideration being given to closing the
[1:58:39] schools and sending the children perhaps
to a VOCA or something else. Of course,
[1:58:43] enrolling my children there in 1985. Dr.
Bullink didn't mention that to me, but
[1:58:49] um it was of great concern. But the
constituents then rose up, stood firm,
[1:58:55] and look how the student body and our
academic institutions have thrived.
[1:59:01] I was proud to be a member of the 2040
committee. We were definitive and clear
[1:59:06] that the schools could not be impacted
in any way. Any way, not little bit, not
[1:59:12] a lot, anyway. So why is this now any
kind of an issue? The school board has
[1:59:19] spoken that this would be a bad gesture.
What is the rush? I yield to the other
[1:59:24] person who spoke earlier tonight. This
is an issue of such concern, it deserves
[1:59:29] a referendum. Thank you,
[1:59:40] Barb Silva,
[1:59:45] Jordan Shackleford.
[1:59:51] Um, hi, I'm Jordan Shackleford. I'm um a
business owner of two businesses at 300
[1:59:58] South Hap Road. one being Shred415,
which I've owned for 13 years, and the
[2:00:04] other being Sweat Shack, which I opened
last June. Um, I my husband's here, too,
[2:00:10] in case I split up, but I was going to
say, um, my issue is that, you know, I
[2:00:16] employ somewhere around 40 to 60
individuals at my studios, be it
[2:00:22] trainers, front desk, kid care, cleaning
staff, as well as 60,000
[2:00:29] um unique visitors a year at both of my
um studios. So I drive a lot of traffic
[2:00:37] to the Northfield for shopping, for um
engagement, for um just, you know,
[2:00:44] lively and vibrant area. So I am just
saying that I find, you know, with um
[2:00:51] other business owners that I'm friends
with and also are in my um building, we,
[2:00:56] you know, we've done a really good job.
300 South HAB is fully I think fully v
[2:01:01] or fully
>> what?
[2:01:03] » No, but fully.
>> Yeah,
[2:01:05] » sorry. It's not it's not blighted. Um in
our opinion and we welcome you guys to
[2:01:09] come visit and have an open house to to
to assess what that it's not blighted.
[2:01:15] Um I would also say that I just feel um
I don't envy your guys' position. We
[2:01:21] love Northfield. We've been here, as
Jordan said, since 2013. reinvested in
[2:01:25] Northfield last year, last summer, um,
and and went through all the process.
[2:01:30] Um, and I feel like the business owners
in this community are part of this blast
[2:01:35] area and and re with the redevelopment.
I understand it. I don't believe that
[2:01:40] 300 and 310 South Hap Road was part of
the the 20 uh 2040 plan. It's now part
[2:01:47] of this redevelopment uh redistricing
process. And I just feel like, you know,
[2:01:52] consideration should be given um for,
you know, that this is not a blighted
[2:01:57] building and it's not a blighted
community for sure. Um as well um I
[2:02:03] recognize that some of the things that
were in there. I I I find it hard to
[2:02:07] believe that in that report um were a
lot of instances for a lot of
[2:02:12] infrastructure and a lot of things with
buildings. And we were just here two
[2:02:15] months ago whether you guys authorized a
brand new business in at 300 South Hap
[2:02:20] Road where somebody was in investing in
the community and there was no
[2:02:24] consideration given or even a heads up
that hey you got you might be going into
[2:02:28] a building that we deem being deemed to
be blighted. I think that's a little
[2:02:32] disingenuous.
>> Thank you.
[2:02:36] » Thank you very much.
[2:02:44] Holt. Holt, are you still here? There
you are. Okay. Uh, the next on the list
[2:02:49] is,
uh, Yarn Sharon, it looks like to me.
[2:02:54] I'm having trouble reading some of these
names. Uh, Chris and Marky
[2:03:00] from Children's Gift Outlet, Carol
Richtol,
[2:03:04] Anna
Ladden perhaps. Okay. So anyway, Holt,
[2:03:10] take it away. Thank you.
>> Hello. Hello. My name is Holt Zidler.
[2:03:14] I'm at 265 Somerfield Road in the evil
Northbrook.
[2:03:19] Uh, as some of you know, I'm on the
school board of D29 and I'm currently
[2:03:24] serving as president. So, I'm actually
usually on the other side of this table
[2:03:28] until I can appreciate uh your position.
First of all, thank you for your
[2:03:32] service. I think there is no greater
impact to a whole community than locally
[2:03:37] elected public service. There's nothing
that beats it. Uh I want to make a few
[2:03:42] quick points in a simple ask that's
consistent with my peers in um nutrier.
[2:03:47] First, I'd like to reiterate Peter Tos
and Chris Johnson comments. There is
[2:03:52] impact to schools. There is.
We stand by our estimates and our
[2:03:58] communications. In fact, we believe it
is our duty to inform our community of
[2:04:01] our concerns. I will say I'm encouraged
by some of the dialogue um tonight
[2:04:06] already. there may be a shift in
messaging from there's no impact to the
[2:04:09] math to we could work something out
let's talk and hash out a deal that may
[2:04:14] be possible second a key philosophy of
mine is to always seek what is fair if
[2:04:19] any fans of John RWS in the audience
fairness principle in my board meetings
[2:04:23] I've talked about timing and messaging
concerns I think it's fair to insist on
[2:04:27] truthful messaging and I think it's fair
to insist on timing to not feel rushed
[2:04:32] for a magnitude of this size uh and so
that's the Third point and the ask. So
[2:04:37] I'd ask this village board uh just like
my colleagues to consider delaying the
[2:04:42] vote on a tiff maybe for a long time or
permanently but at least until an IGA is
[2:04:47] in place that makes schools whole. I
believe it's possible and fair. Thank
[2:04:51] you.
>> Thank you.
[2:04:59] » Hello uh dear toes of the village. Uh my
name is Yav Shaon. I live in Glen View
[2:05:05] in the Avoka 37 school district.
[2:05:11] I am also a school board member but I'm
speaking here as an affected taxpayer
[2:05:16] and more importantly a neighbor.
First I want to congratulate you for
[2:05:21] your 100th uh anniversary of the
village.
[2:05:26] I understand the challenge posed by the
vacant building specifically where
[2:05:30] Mariana once stood. uh it is your duty
and responsibility as the trustees to
[2:05:36] find a solution that restores and
revitalize that property and I share
[2:05:40] that call.
But I urge you not to proceed with the
[2:05:44] tax increment financing district.
You argue that a TIFF is the only
[2:05:49] solution that avoids raising taxes. Yet
a TIF does not create new money. that
[2:05:57] $175 million would need to come from
somewhere.
[2:06:02] Uh as property values outside the TIF
rises because of inflation, those
[2:06:09] property owner will bear a larger share
of the tax burden. School and other
[2:06:14] taxing district may also face pressure
to increase rates to fund additional
[2:06:20] students and services generated by
development inside the TIFF. And when
[2:06:26] taxes rise, the residents will connect
these increases to the decision you'll
[2:06:31] be making next month.
Worse, many of the people who will bear
[2:06:36] those higher taxes have no vote on this
board. They live outside the village
[2:06:42] like me, but share the same school
district and other taxing bodies.
[2:06:49] The reason the TIF has a lesser impact
on residents of the village versus other
[2:06:56] options that you uh investigated is
because you are forcing people outside
[2:07:01] the village like myself to chip in. Uh
that is not how good neighbors should
[2:07:07] treat one another.
Uh a commercial developer and that is
[2:07:14] your goal. Uh the first thing they will
be looking for is customers and likely
[2:07:19] beyond just within the village. Al
alienating neighbor neighboring
[2:07:24] residents by shifting taxes into them is
a poor way to build a lo loyal customer
[2:07:32] base.
Uh and finally a personal plea. Our
[2:07:36] political system is under strained. Too
often people feel that elected officials
[2:07:43] make decisions without broad public
support.
[2:07:48] Um and it's clearly here that I don't
know how what's the percentage but there
[2:07:52] is a strong opposition to this tiff and
the result of that is growing
[2:07:58] frustration and declining trust in
government. So I implore you uh do not
[2:08:04] contribute to that trend. Please seek B
public support before making a decision
[2:08:10] this consequential. Thank you very much.
[2:08:26] I'm going to talk a little slower and a
little louder because I've noticed
[2:08:29] that's been a problem and mind listening
to some of the fine comments. I'm Marky
[2:08:34] Geekas. I own the children's gift shop
at 310 Hap Road, unit 128 in the
[2:08:39] Northfield Village Center. I oppose the
tax extremate financing proposal the
[2:08:44] board is considering. I oppose the
proposal because it not only will
[2:08:48] completely destroy my business, it will
also deprive Northfield and surrounding
[2:08:52] communities of the valuable service that
my store provides. To understand my
[2:08:58] opposition, you must understand what the
Children's Gift Shop is all about. I've
[2:09:03] been in Northfield for 35 years. 10
years on Northfield Road and 25 in the
[2:09:08] Northfield Village Center, my present
location. We have been we have been
[2:09:13] voted the best toy store on the
Northshore multiple times in this
[2:09:16] period. My mission for the past 35 years
has been to ignite the imagination and a
[2:09:23] sense of wonder in our children so they
can discover themselves, their passion,
[2:09:28] and their purpose.
In fact, it is the power of play that
[2:09:32] captivates all of us and allows us to be
our truest selves. So, in this world of
[2:09:38] speedy digital connections, how does an
independent Northshore brickandmortar
[2:09:43] business, in this case, children's gift
shops, stay relevant? The first brick
[2:09:48] brick, excuse me, the first brick in any
brickandmortar store is, of course, the
[2:09:52] selection it offers. On buying trips,
whenever a manufacturer tells to me,
[2:09:56] "Oh, this sells everywhere." I just roll
my eyes. I cherrypick like crazy to
[2:10:02] offer a curated collection from only
trusted vendors with the highest
[2:10:06] standards. After 35 years, I am well
tuned into the tastes and needs of our
[2:10:11] community. The choices I make are the
learning tools that we offer to enrich
[2:10:16] children's lives based on their needs
and their parents' goals. The expertise
[2:10:21] is irreplaceable. Unlike the big box
stores, in addition to knowing our
[2:10:25] customers, we don't have to commit to
products a year in advance. We can
[2:10:29] quickly adapt as markets change and new
trends appear. Another brick is the
[2:10:34] Northshore experience you all have
learned to expect and enjoy. In our
[2:10:40] case, this means expert product
knowledge and our enthusiasm to match
[2:10:44] the child's age and abilities to the
perfect gift. Our economy depends on a
[2:10:49] small locallyowned businesses that
create jobs and play a central role in
[2:10:54] keeping consumer dollars and our own
communities. When you support us, it
[2:10:59] allows me to employ eight plus local
souls. Hire a local insurance agent, an
[2:11:04] accountant, a printer, an IT guy,
security customer security company, and
[2:11:08] even a window washer. More bricks. It's
a big risk to open any independent
[2:11:13] business. It takes an enormous labor of
love, courage, and that Midwest work
[2:11:18] ethic. Again, more bricks. If you have
been in our Bright Happy store, you have
[2:11:23] my met my amazing staff who support
sustain the children's gift shop and me
[2:11:28] beyond measure. Their product knowledge
and amazing stamina, oh boy, is the
[2:11:32] mortar between the bricks and makes
everything possible.
[2:11:36] Finally, this is really important to me.
It became painfully obvious during CO
[2:11:41] that available spaces like our
neighborhood stores, restaurants, parks,
[2:11:45] groceries, libraries offer us personal
community interactions to help us
[2:11:50] reclaim balance outside of the digital
world, enhancing the quality of life for
[2:11:56] our families and the entire community.
It is inconceivable that you would
[2:12:00] destroy this valuable gift to the
community with this ill-considered,
[2:12:04] hastily assembled TIFF proposal. Thank
you.
[2:12:09] Can I sit down or stay up here with you?
Can I sit?
[2:12:15] » Hi, my name is Chris Geekus,
excuse me. And I'm the chief disposal
[2:12:22] officer at the uh
>> children's gift shop, which means I take
[2:12:26] out the trash every day.
Um, I'm also a lawyer and I sent to I
[2:12:33] think you and to your your council what
is a legal memorandum in my presentation
[2:12:39] is going to be substantially drier than
what you heard earlier and from my wife.
[2:12:46] Um,
the first stop on this journey for you
[2:12:51] is to determine whether or not the
neighborhood that you're trying to
[2:12:56] designate as a tiff area satisfies the
eligibility requirements of the tax
[2:13:04] incentive redevelopment act. And
you're not going to be able to rely on
[2:13:11] the report of your expert. And I have
tried to outline in my memorandum to you
[2:13:17] uh why that is uh to summarize it
briefly. Generalized conclusions about
[2:13:23] the area that you're dealing with and
the properties that are there um are not
[2:13:30] sufficient to support a determination of
blight or conservation area which is a
[2:13:37] little bit less. I think that of the
four factors that Freriedman has
[2:13:42] identified, two of them are not
satisfied, one of them has to do with
[2:13:47] deterioration and the other has to do
with non-compliance with the current
[2:13:51] code. I think you all remember probably
that the village adopted the 2021
[2:13:58] building and fire codes and if I
understand the logic of the Freriedman
[2:14:02] report because all these buildings are
substantially older than that they don't
[2:14:08] uh satisfy the current code which I
think is wrong as a matter of law
[2:14:13] because the codes specifically provide
that uh buildings that were compliant
[2:14:20] with previous codes are grandfather
bothered in they may be non-conforming
[2:14:24] uses but they are permitted non and
lawful non-conforming uses. So it is
[2:14:30] wrong we think is a matter of law to
conclude that they're non-compliant with
[2:14:35] the existing code. And on the other
factor that we think is not shown
[2:14:40] deterioration.
The case law that I have cited to you
[2:14:45] that I've looked at and I hope that I'm
right. This is not an area I practice
[2:14:49] in. The case law is that routine wear
and te and wear and tear of property
[2:14:55] does not add up to deterioration.
Perhaps there are vacancies, but the
[2:15:00] market, the free market that we all
adore, is essentially designed to solve
[2:15:06] those problems. And even if it's going
to take some time to do that, that does
[2:15:11] not mean that the properties involved
are deteriorated within the meaning of
[2:15:18] the tax incentive act. So, I just have a
couple of more thoughts and ding-dong.
[2:15:25] Um,
I think you sit here patiently and you
[2:15:28] listen to everybody and I know you're
taking every what they say quite
[2:15:33] seriously. Um, and I know you're not
going to respond to me to the points
[2:15:38] that I've made or any of the other folks
have made. But that's not going to work
[2:15:42] in the court. The policy question, there
are two prongs to this. One are the
[2:15:47] policy questions. Is this a good idea?
Is it a good idea to short the schools?
[2:15:53] Are you shorting the schools? Is the
plan uh being developed enough so that
[2:15:59] they will be sufficiently protected? The
policy question presented here by Mark
[2:16:04] is are you going to destroy existing
businesses? And you are. There's no
[2:16:09] question about it. And is that a
relevant consideration?
[2:16:13] And that's all essentially within your
discretion. What's not in your
[2:16:17] discretion are the eligibility
requirements. And you've got a learned
[2:16:21] lawyer here on the on the board. You've
got one of the preeminent municipal
[2:16:27] council in the in the um in the state
and they will be able to advise you. The
[2:16:34] question that you have to ask yourself
is this going to be defensible in court
[2:16:40] and the generalized
conclusions that are in the report that
[2:16:45] I've seen of Freriedman are not
sufficient to do it. Now, my last
[2:16:50] thought is this. I sent you a
preservation demand, and I hope you
[2:16:55] didn't weren't too offended by it. The
second to the last paragraph of it says
[2:17:01] that I'm doing it because of the
likelihood that this is going to end up
[2:17:05] in litigation. That is sufficient of a
justification for you to do an a uh
[2:17:13] executive session non-public where you
can talk to each other and hear from
[2:17:19] your council which would be protected by
the attorney client privilege anyway. So
[2:17:25] be you'd be able to uh keep it
confidential. And I don't mean secret, I
[2:17:31] mean confidential.
And the point of it is that it was allow
[2:17:35] you to have the interchange amongst
yourselves as to whether or not you can
[2:17:40] defend it because that's where you're
headed down to the daily center in the
[2:17:46] city of Chicago.
Thank you.
[2:18:01] » Carol Ritchell. Yes, please. Anna
Ladden,
[2:18:06] Tanya Walt,
>> sorry,
[2:18:08] » Brad Rosett.
Okay.
[2:18:13] Uh, Carol Richel, 81 Hap, you are a
tough act to follow. My god. Thank you.
[2:18:20] Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Um,
>> oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I always do
[2:18:25] this. Okay. Um, Simon was one of the
people who brought up a petition that
[2:18:33] was raised to ask you to slow down and
ask for a referendum. As of this moment,
[2:18:39] I believe there are 1,126
signatures on that petition.
[2:18:46] Truth is, you weren't slowing down. You
haven't slowed down. a second petition
[2:18:51] actually was started which specifically
just let's see uh it's asking you
[2:18:57] basically to stop stop this um so as of
a few hours ago I can't read my own
[2:19:02] writing there were um oh god 200
>> 54
[2:19:07] » thank you 254 signatures on that one
okay I'm rambling here okay so I'm
[2:19:13] piggybacking on what Sam Simon brought
up what I believe Terry brought up as
[2:19:18] far we have asked you for a referendum
and actually at one of the meetings when
[2:19:24] Tracy you were specifically asked would
you consider it what you said was no
[2:19:30] essentially because it would slow down
the process which kind of speaks to
[2:19:34] we've made up our minds don't confuse us
with the facts I'm sorry to be offensive
[2:19:40] if I am offensive and the other thing
you know
[2:19:46] I think it's up to the elected Ed, you
elected representatives, it's your
[2:19:53] responsibility,
sorry I'm flumbling here, to um to res
[2:19:58] to represent your constituent
constituents.
[2:20:03] It is our responsibility to hold our
elected officials accountable and that's
[2:20:09] what a whole lot of people are trying to
do. Thank you. Thank you for your time.
[2:20:19] Good evening. Analic 276 Bristol. I live
in Northfield for 25 years.
[2:20:26] » Yes, absolutely. So, two things that
I've noticed tonight. Several of you and
[2:20:31] we do appreciate everything you do. Had
to correct yourself and you said when
[2:20:37] Tiff is going to pass and then you
quickly corrected yourself and you said
[2:20:41] if TIF is going to pass. And I'm not the
first one who noticed that tonight. It
[2:20:46] is a bit concerning.
Second comment, when the lovely old
[2:20:51] resident, I believe Mary, right, was
sitting here and she used the word
[2:20:56] vibrant. I don't know if you've noticed,
we all clapped. When any of you used the
[2:21:01] word vibrant, there was a dead silence.
So, I think there's got to be some
[2:21:06] difference here.
That's two things that I've noticed
[2:21:09] tonight. I am also been working in
Vanetkcoa public schools for 28 years. I
[2:21:16] have my colleagues here. I have the
friends of my children here who on the
[2:21:20] board.
And what you don't know and what you
[2:21:24] don't see when the families move into
the village and the district because of
[2:21:31] the services
and there is no adequate pay. And I see
[2:21:37] it every day and I'm sure Dr. Tragas see
it every day too. That's what creates a
[2:21:43] difference for the teachers and you
really really really I am asking you to
[2:21:50] listen to the board. They did not come
up with those ideas because they just
[2:21:55] look at the numbers. They came up with
those ideas because they feel it on
[2:22:00] every day on their back. Please give us
an opportunity to have a referendum.
[2:22:06] Thank you.
[2:22:14] Tanya. Oh, Tanya or Brad. One or the
other. Whoever's ready. Good to go.
[2:22:21] » Good evening, President Mendrich and
trustees, two of whom are my neighbors.
[2:22:26] Um, I'm Tanya Wallik, a 21 year
Northfield resident, two houses at
[2:22:31] Sunset Ridge parent, and I've spent the
last five years in development finance.
[2:22:35] These views are my own, not the views of
my employer. Um, I have some prepared
[2:22:39] remarks, but I wanted to start with a
comment that Erica made, and just you
[2:22:44] guys are really impressive. Like, I'm
walking out of here, every one of you,
[2:22:49] so immensely proud of this community on
either side. Just wonderful. And and I
[2:22:54] was thinking about what Erica said and
one of the things for me, maybe not for
[2:22:58] others, is that this has felt like a
public relations campaign. It has not
[2:23:02] felt like a genuine exchange. And so
I've and and as an example, at 12:57
[2:23:09] today, there was an email sent out and I
took a meeting off because I wanted to
[2:23:13] read it. And it's there are facts in it,
but it is misleading in order. It is
[2:23:19] misleading. Is there's things in there
that are distractions. They're not
[2:23:22] proof. They're apples to oranges.
They're not guaranteed and they're
[2:23:25] unclear. And I've listed those in here.
But I would encourage all of you to have
[2:23:30] more direct engagement with all of our
citizens versus trying to
[2:23:36] sell this to us. Um, now to the prepared
remarks. Uh, more philosophical. Years
[2:23:42] ago, uh, Dominic's before Marianos
closed for a few months over a roof
[2:23:46] leak. And my husband and I always joke
about this because we got a flyer in the
[2:23:50] mail that said, "We're sorry for this
tragedy."
[2:23:53] Begs the question, "What is a tragedy?"
It's not a grocery store closing, we
[2:23:58] survived that. It's a child hit on
Willow, Wagner, or Waneka roads because
[2:24:01] traffic keeps increasing. It's schools
so overwhelmed with new students that
[2:24:06] classrooms balloon and services dwindle.
It's a downtown that looks like the
[2:24:11] Glenn and lacks the quirky character and
characters that we all moved here for.
[2:24:15] These are the unintended consequences of
good people making short-sighted
[2:24:20] decisions. I know those consequences
firsthand. I lived down the street from
[2:24:25] Trustee Judas and Trustee Galen and I
was backing out on Avon out of my
[2:24:30] driveway and I looked both ways and a
car was speeding around the bend near my
[2:24:33] house and it almost hit me. Traffic
pushed on my street after Willow Road
[2:24:38] was widened is an unintended
consequence. And I know what those
[2:24:43] services mean. My son, who couldn't
speak at three, with the help of this
[2:24:47] district's services last spring in
seventh grade, was named most
[2:24:51] outstanding student. This year, he's in
his second year at Nutrier in math.
[2:24:56] Unbelievable.
That's what it's at at stake when we
[2:25:00] talk about school funding. And it's not
an abstraction for me. We've been here
[2:25:04] before. As I understand it, in 1955, a
developer eyed undeveloped land here.
[2:25:09] Residents didn't wait for incentives.
They formed a park district and bought
[2:25:12] the land themselves. The paper mocked it
as invalid. Voters backed it anyway
[2:25:17] twice. Today, that land is Willow Park
and Middlefork School. This town already
[2:25:22] works on its own terms. Northfield's
charm is its schools, its parks, and its
[2:25:26] trails. We all want a vibrant downtown,
but not at the expense of a 23-year
[2:25:31] mortgage. We earn a fixerupper. Please
don't take out that mortgage on a house
[2:25:35] that's already selling itself. Thanks.
[2:25:47] Hi, Brad Ross at 1040 Arbor Lane over in
Meadow Lakes. I don't doubt anyone's
[2:25:54] passion here uh for or against the TIFF.
Everyone on this board, everyone who has
[2:26:00] spoken, it's all about what is best for
Northfield.
[2:26:05] And what people are asking for, it's not
no, it's not yet. uh they want more
[2:26:11] information, they want more time, they
want real numbers before this $175
[2:26:18] million tiff, yes or no. The message has
been pretty clear. There's been a
[2:26:23] thousand people on a petition and that's
roughly one in five registered voters in
[2:26:29] this uh village. For comparison, only
1,542
[2:26:34] people turned out to vote in the last
year's municipal election. That's a 32%
[2:26:39] turnout. This petition represents nearly
twothirds of that. Many voices on one
[2:26:45] issue outside the election cycle.
What residents are asking for is more
[2:26:52] time, not a rejection. TIFF money is
public money, diverted public uh
[2:26:57] property tax revenue, and the public
deserves a real framework on how it's
[2:27:02] spent, not just a headline figure. Right
now, we have a $175 million number. A
[2:27:10] few lines for construction, maintenance,
and administration. No one, three,
[2:27:15] five-year cash flow projections. No
sensitivity analysis.
[2:27:20] Private development is already happening
in this corridor. Well, without any tiff
[2:27:26] help, which should make the board
seriously question where is it but for
[2:27:32] test is even met. When asked for a plan,
residents have been pointed to a vision
[2:27:38] 2040 uh plan, a general vision document,
not a financial model. And then there's
[2:27:44] the bigger question. A tiff hand
significant leverage to whoever
[2:27:50] developers show up with a proposal. Once
that money is committed, this board and
[2:27:55] this community are reacting to
developers plans instead of setting the
[2:28:00] terms on our owns. Before we commit $175
million or so, I uh residents uh deserve
[2:28:10] a clear villageled vision, not a
developer on one. What what are the
[2:28:17] mixes? Residential, commercial,
industrial. Uh what do we want in the
[2:28:22] corridor? What does this mix look like
5, 10, 20 years now? Not just at uh
[2:28:29] project completion. What tax flow pro
projections do we have right now?
[2:28:36] H um how the future uh decisions get
made once this money is committed. Does
[2:28:42] the board retain real control or does
the approval uh hand the control over to
[2:28:49] the developers? My ask tonight is
specific. release all of the
[2:28:55] documentation, SB Freriedman and others,
the deliverables, not the excerpts, but
[2:29:00] not a summary presentation, all of the
background information so every resident
[2:29:06] can take a look at it and an analysize
it themselves. Um,
[2:29:13] so that's it. I'm just looking slow
down, define the vision before the
[2:29:18] developers do it themselves. Thank you.
[2:29:26] The last uh three slips are Tana, I
think, Hitch, Rick Zalinski,
[2:29:35] and boy, this last one, it looks like C
H E T Han.
[2:29:43] I got it. Okay, great. Tana,
>> hi. Good evening. I have heard a lot
[2:29:50] tonight and a lot of emotion and a lot
of dedication. I wanted to clarify
[2:29:55] something that was important to me when
I was thinking about this. If a a
[2:30:00] village has a tiff, they cannot
structurally keep a school out of the
[2:30:06] tax instrument increment financing. If
the village decides to move forward with
[2:30:12] the tiff, what that means because their
overlapping tax bodies that all the
[2:30:17] incremental tax revenue is diverted into
the villages tiff fund rather than going
[2:30:23] to the schools. But as you were saying
earlier, while a village can't exempt a
[2:30:29] school district from the TIFF baseline
mechanics, they can enter enter into a
[2:30:34] legally binding IGA, intergovernmental
agreement. Through an IGA, the village
[2:30:41] can agree to carve out a specific
portion of the TIFF revenue and pass it
[2:30:46] back directly to the school district to
offset any financial strain or handle
[2:30:53] new student enrollment.
In many states, including Illinois,
[2:30:59] statutory protections require the
village to reimburse school districts
[2:31:04] out of the tiff fund if the new
development directly causes school
[2:31:09] enrollment to increase or brings in more
children. And I didn't understand that
[2:31:15] before and I just wanted to clarify it
for everybody. Thank you.
[2:31:18] » Thank you,
[2:31:23] » Rick Sinski.
[2:31:30] Just in case there's someone upstairs,
we'll give them a minute.
[2:31:35] And last but not least,
is it
[2:31:39] » Shaathan?
>> Jathan.
[2:31:42] » Okay.
[2:31:47] » Good evening and thank you for the time.
Uh I am Chathan Sharma live in 2251
[2:31:52] Bracken Lane. uh very actively involved
in everything that goes on in the
[2:31:56] village. Patrick knows the email
exchanges we've had uh going going on
[2:32:02] for a while now. Right? So I think you
know first of all I kind of want to
[2:32:06] reflect what uh some of the people here
said. I do not believe the village board
[2:32:11] is out to destroy this village. Right?
Many of you live here. Many of you lived
[2:32:14] here longer than I have. And I I don't
believe that you're here to destroy the
[2:32:19] village, ruin our schools and turn this
into an unlivable place. Right. I I
[2:32:24] don't I do not really believe that. But
at the same time, when I go through
[2:32:29] everything that you put out there, I've
read every single document, every single
[2:32:32] communication that you have sent out,
including the email that came out this
[2:32:35] afternoon, which kind of seemed a bit,
you know, last minute.
[2:32:40] The one thing that kind of strikes me is
I moved to Northfield about 11 years ago
[2:32:46] because I liked sleepy old town that
Northfield is at the moment, right? When
[2:32:52] you talk about vibrancy,
I go to happen. I had dinner at Blue
[2:32:57] Blue Fish or Blue forget the name of the
restaurant. Bluefish, I think. Uh, I go
[2:33:01] to Stormies and you know I really do not
want any more vibrancy than what we all
[2:33:10] about you but you know
[2:33:15] I really
[2:33:19] I step out on a Friday night and you
know other than casinos and you know uh
[2:33:25] betting stands and things like that
there's enough in this village to kind
[2:33:28] of you know keep me happy Okay, I do
agree that the Marianos is a blight. I
[2:33:34] understand all the problems that you're
trying to deal with and we should do
[2:33:37] something about it, right? But I don't
know if that requires $175 million over
[2:33:41] 23 years. That's the part I do not
understand.
[2:33:45] So for me, the appeal is look, this is
not one against the other. We're not
[2:33:51] here to fight with each other. It's
really to understand what does that
[2:33:55] mean, right? What do you mean by a
vibrant downtown?
[2:33:58] is does it involve big box stores? Does
it involve you in a cannabis
[2:34:02] dispensaries? What exactly is vibrant?
That definition may be different
[2:34:07] compared to like you know what the board
has versus what the residents think but
[2:34:11] I think as someone I think it was the
last speaker who said give us more
[2:34:14] details right tell us what the plan is
2040 yes I've read that plan it's a bit
[2:34:19] vague it's a bit far off right so what
we need is something that's real
[2:34:25] something that makes sense to all of the
people and I don't think you know I
[2:34:30] would say no to tiff just just like that
without understanding that once Once we
[2:34:35] understand that, once we know where
we're going,
[2:34:38] a referendum would be great. If we can
have that, it's a democracy after all,
[2:34:42] right? That'd be a fantastic move on
your part to do that. But all I'm
[2:34:46] asking, just like a lot of people here
have asked for, is look, you're not our
[2:34:49] enemies. We're not your enemies either.
So, let's kind of work together. Give us
[2:34:54] more details, slow down a little bit,
and I'm sure we'll get to a place where
[2:34:58] now we can do the right thing for the
village. Thank you.
[2:35:01] » Thank you.
[2:35:08] Okay. Is there anyone else who didn't
submit a slip or who I may have missed
[2:35:14] who'd like to speak at this point?
>> Does it have to be on? Can I make an
[2:35:19] announcement?
>> Is that I should have done it at the
[2:35:23] beginning.
>> Come on up. It'll be a nice distraction.
[2:35:29] No, just um just that if you go to our
caucus website, tell us who you are.
[2:35:34] » Oh, Beverly Smith, 772 Heap Road,
Northfield, um chair of the Northfield
[2:35:40] Caucus. If you go to our caucus website
right now, you'll see that we have a
[2:35:44] call for future trustees that we will be
interviewing at the end of September and
[2:35:50] the application deadline is September
7th. So, tonight you see people here
[2:35:55] that are interested in village issues.
just wanted to make that announcement.
[2:36:00] Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[2:36:05] » Okay.
Um so now uh board members, we have a
[2:36:12] chance to um discuss this amongst
ourselves. Um
[2:36:18] first of all, I want to thank all the
residents for for taking the time and
[2:36:22] and sticking with us for this long
period of time to share your concerns.
[2:36:26] Um, board members, anybody want to have
a go at any thoughts they have after all
[2:36:31] of this?
>> I I I'm going to start. Um, I appreciate
[2:36:36] everybody sharing their thoughts, their
concerns. Um,
[2:36:40] I've really struggled. I reached out to
some of my fellow board members having
[2:36:44] been a resident in Northfield for
way too many years.
[2:36:52] The div the division,
the divisiveness,
[2:36:58] the threats,
the mistreatment of human beings,
[2:37:05] whether it's schoolboard members,
whether it's village board members who
[2:37:09] are trying
to look out for the best interest of
[2:37:14] ourselves.
And I I think that we really need to
[2:37:21] look what's going on in this country and
and some of these other countries and
[2:37:25] say to ourselves, do we really want to
be looked at like that
[2:37:30] by the people that we represent? And I I
think that um
[2:37:36] there's not one board member sitting up
here at the dis tonight who would do
[2:37:42] anything
intentionally
[2:37:46] to hurt our schools who give our our
students
[2:37:53] the best education in the area. And I
look at Dr. Treyos right now and I told
[2:37:58] him, "You want a free advertisement?
What Nutrier did for my boys is amazing.
[2:38:04] And my wife and I never thought we would
have two kids in Big 10 schools. I mean,
[2:38:08] it's it's awesome. Go Hawks. But in in
in in reality, I I think that
[2:38:15] the strongest message that people need
to hear is the fact that we're trying to
[2:38:21] work together with the schools to reach
a common goal, and that is to make
[2:38:28] everybody happy. And is that achievable?
I sure as hell hope so. And I'll do
[2:38:34] everything I can in my power as an
individual board member to make that
[2:38:39] happen as well. But I I I just end with
what I'm saying is is
[2:38:45] this is really tough for the people who
love this town, who live in this town to
[2:38:50] see the division of what's going on with
our community. and and I I see a couple
[2:38:56] of our business our business people here
tonight. I will tell you
[2:39:02] I will do anything I can to support you
guys if something happens. And I know
[2:39:08] it's if or when or however anybody wants
to say it, but as a village board, we
[2:39:13] support our small businesses. We
patronize them and we want them to
[2:39:17] exceed just as well. So, you know, I I I
know we can get through this and I I
[2:39:23] think it's just everybody's got
different opinions, but we can't let
[2:39:26] those opinions get in the way of
friendship and civility. Thank you.
[2:39:33] » Anyone else?
>> Uh big comment I'll make at the end of
[2:39:37] the end of all of this. Um one, we're
listening. We've been listening all
[2:39:41] along. Um, just because we don't go on
various platforms and
[2:39:47] um, engage in debate there doesn't mean
we're not listening and paying attention
[2:39:50] to what everybody's talking about and
what's out there. Um, I will reiterate
[2:39:54] from my side of the world, I've got
students in the school system. I want to
[2:39:59] see them go to good schools. I'm not
going to wreck my kids school. I mean,
[2:40:03] like, come on. Like, uh, but at the end
of the day, where I think that leads to
[2:40:07] is our next steps.
IGA was mentioned a few times tonight in
[2:40:11] different ways. I think there's ways we
can put that together. I think we're not
[2:40:16] any I think it's be tough um because
there's multiple factors to how an IGA
[2:40:21] can work, whether it's the amount of
students that move into the district,
[2:40:24] whether it's the um CPI increases that
happen, how to reconcile that, whether
[2:40:29] it's the new growth side. I mean,
there's multiple If you love charts,
[2:40:33] check out school finance. It's the best
way to look at multiple charts on growth
[2:40:37] and what it looks like over time. So I
tell I say that in the sense that we are
[2:40:41] paying attention to it. We're trying to
figure out how to make that all work to
[2:40:46] what Trusty Whitaker was saying. Um the
unfortunate thing about negotiations is
[2:40:52] you said everybody's going to be happy.
A lot of negotiations I've been in not
[2:40:55] everybody ends up happy at the end of
the day. Um, but I think there's a path
[2:40:59] for us to go down that can ensure that
our schools are still in a good place.
[2:41:04] Well, making our downtown do the things
we've been asking, people have been
[2:41:08] asking for with their downtown for
years. I'll refer back to the Hap Road
[2:41:11] survey, 900 residents, 85% said they
wanted a better downtown. The caucus
[2:41:17] survey that came out, I think it was
2023
[2:41:20] or four, right in that range,
two top two things were a better
[2:41:25] downtown. So, at some point we have to
listen to our residents that are saying
[2:41:28] we want our downtown to be improved
well balancing making sure that our
[2:41:33] schools are in a good place. And the
last comment I'll make, not to speak for
[2:41:36] my other trustees, but we've had lots of
us have had one-off conversations. This
[2:41:41] is not being taken lightly in any way,
shape, or form. And in fact, in some
[2:41:45] ways, I'm sick of talking about I'd
rather talk about some other things like
[2:41:49] how the Gophers are going to beat Iowa
this year um for Tom's benefit. Um,
[2:41:55] but when we we look at at at all this
I think we're all in very different
[2:42:02] places. Please do not discredit and just
say we're all same thought process. We
[2:42:06] are in very different places trying to
make sure that we're coming to a
[2:42:08] conclusion that makes the most sense for
the village as a whole. There are 5751
[2:42:15] people here according to our sign, but
it's probably more than that according
[2:42:19] to the world population deal. we have to
represent all those vi all the folks in
[2:42:24] the village across the board and we're
trying to do our best to make sure we
[2:42:26] can do that. So please give us some
grace on trying to figure this out um
[2:42:31] and make sure that we have the right
conclusion. I think this board will come
[2:42:34] to that right conclusion at the end of
the day. But I appreciate the work
[2:42:37] that's been put in by everybody. I
appreciate the comments from everybody
[2:42:41] and thank you for packing the room. I
didn't know village board meetings would
[2:42:44] be so exciting. So thank you everybody.
[2:42:50] Um, I I know I'm the quiet trustee. Um,
I try to do a lot of listening and right
[2:42:56] now I'm processing a lot. There's a lot
of good conversation tonight. Uh, a lot
[2:43:01] of thoughtful comments,
compassionate comments, respectful
[2:43:05] comments, and I would urge the the
public hearing, you know, will be
[2:43:11] complete tonight. Um, but I would urge
that those that sentiment continue. I'd
[2:43:17] like to hear from more people in the
community with with that same idea.
[2:43:21] People that understand that this is a
complex problem that's has a lot of
[2:43:27] nuance to it. It it doesn't it's not
reducible to a sound bite. And I'd like
[2:43:31] more people to have thoughtful
conversations like we had tonight. I
[2:43:35] that that's immensely helpful to me and
I think it's immensely helpful to
[2:43:38] everybody else up here.
>> Charlie, go ahead.
[2:43:43] » Um I just kind of kind of got a question
and some comments. Um Patrick, when you
[2:43:47] say we're not doing well, by what
standards are you talking about?
[2:43:51] Excluding the Mariano site, because what
I've seen is full parking lots and busy
[2:43:55] businesses on a daily basis year round.
The whole downtown area has been doing
[2:44:00] were very well. I talked to Hoffers and
I talked to all the people that we have
[2:44:04] in those businesses. They're doing
exceptionally well. I talked to people
[2:44:08] in certain other businesses. They're
complaining that their parking lots are
[2:44:11] being filled by other people that are
walking across the street to go to those
[2:44:14] businesses. So, um, the other thing is
that doesn't get talked about much is
[2:44:19] 790 frontage, which the new three-story
medical office building is going into,
[2:44:23] which is going to clean up that section
if people want to talk about blight or
[2:44:28] they're not happy with what was there.
So, I think that's a that's a huge plus.
[2:44:32] Also, there is a phase two that's been
discussed for the Joselyn Center
[2:44:35] property that the developer has said
that they are working on. They're buying
[2:44:39] up other property. So, there's other
development there's that's going on
[2:44:43] there as well. And yes, this I agree
this is a complex issue. Uh this is
[2:44:50] getting very difficult. But I also think
that you know as trustees that are
[2:44:54] elected by the residents and when you
look at and I took the the list here as
[2:44:58] I was kind of for who's kind of against
it, who's kind of neutral. Um, you know,
[2:45:02] there's an overwhelming response. An
overwhelming response. And I also before
[2:45:06] I came here tonight started going
through the from August 16th till today,
[2:45:11] we had 71 people that are opposed to the
TIFF and 10 basically that said they're
[2:45:16] for it. So, and I didn't get a chance to
go back because there are so many
[2:45:20] responses we're getting. And that's what
I've pushed for and I think people need
[2:45:24] to is to constantly email the Vgroup.
Reach out to our fellow trustees. Reach
[2:45:29] out to Tracy. Reach out to the village
manager. I think the Vgroup is a great
[2:45:33] way to to share your opinions because
the way it's set up is that the village
[2:45:38] manager is the only one that's supposed
to respond so that we get to see his
[2:45:42] response and we get to see your input.
Um, again, you know, not to beat a beat
[2:45:47] a dead horse, but I've lived here 67
years and if you look at where we've
[2:45:52] been and where we're going and the
development that we've had and the
[2:45:55] changes, it's incredible. I feel after
this centennial that I've lived here for
[2:46:00] a hundred years because all the work
that I've done and we've done in
[2:46:04] researching this uh history and there's
a lot of tremendous history and I agree
[2:46:10] and Erica, what you said was spot on. I
agree. There's been things that have
[2:46:14] happened that people that were friends
aren't talking to each other now.
[2:46:18] There's things that have happened and I
think we have to we have to uh put out
[2:46:22] the olive branch, so to speak, and
really look at what needs to be done. Um
[2:46:27] I would hope that I've never gotten the
answer to this yet, and I don't know if
[2:46:31] Tracy can answer it or Patrick, but I I
agree. What is the rush? I feel like
[2:46:36] there's this big push. We have getting
development. I I look at all the people
[2:46:40] that come to these meetings. I look at
all the people that have emailed uh
[2:46:43] people that we talk to each other on the
street whether it's at the centennial
[2:46:46] which I tried to avoid any tiff talk at
the centennial because that was our day
[2:46:52] to shine and celebrate. So I wore the no
tiff talk at that night for a reason
[2:46:59] because I think we needed a couple days
to heal. We needed a couple days to
[2:47:03] focus on what we have back here against
the wall and what the work that the
[2:47:08] committee especially mayor roads myself
um you know all of us have done Tracy.
[2:47:14] So I think um you know I would like to
see a slowdown and I I've been opposed
[2:47:20] to the tiff from the very beginning
because my primary concern is our small
[2:47:24] businesses, our local businesses. Uh
Trusty Whitaker and I worked on a
[2:47:29] committee that we came up with during
COVID and I came up with the slogan shop
[2:47:34] eat explore find it northfield that we
had on our vehicle stickers until the
[2:47:38] centennial sticker came up this year.
Trusty Whitaker and I and Melissa DeFao
[2:47:43] worked on making sure that we advertised
and advocated for our small businesses.
[2:47:48] So, and that's what I'm trying to do now
because if the business owner doesn't
[2:47:52] own the property, that person is at risk
of losing everything. And you have
[2:47:57] people here that own their business that
live in town that I feel we have to
[2:48:02] protect. And no matter what you say, pro
or against tiff, my biggest concern is
[2:48:07] that yes, we can cont try to control
zoning and all the other things we do,
[2:48:11] but if some developer wants to come in
and he fits the zoning, uh, we're going
[2:48:16] to get sued if we try to stop him from
doing something. And I worry that a
[2:48:20] place like Hoffers or UD dog has got
millions of dollars invested in their
[2:48:24] business, in their equipment. And
what'll happen is somebody comes in and
[2:48:28] says, "Oh, I want to put an apartment
complex here, but I don't want to put
[2:48:32] retail on the first floor." Or if they
do want to put retail on the first
[2:48:35] floor, what they want to do is you'll be
out of business for a couple years.
[2:48:39] We'll lose that tax revenue. And once a
business is gone for a couple years,
[2:48:42] it's very difficult for people to come
back and establish that. And then in the
[2:48:46] meantime, where are they going to go?
And if they do get a spot back in that
[2:48:50] location, what's the rent going to be?
So that's why I'll be honest. From the
[2:48:55] very beginning, I've been against TIFF.
30some years ago, because I've lived
[2:48:59] here forever, they tried to do a TIFF
from where Pam's building is, where
[2:49:04] Metamorphosis, all the way down that row
to where Suels was, which is now
[2:49:08] Stormy's. And a big part of the tax
increment financing that they wanted to
[2:49:12] do was the imminent domain section of
that where they wanted to use imminent
[2:49:16] domain to knock all that down, build a
hotel, do all these different things.
[2:49:21] And it was strongly defeated by the
residents of this community at that
[2:49:25] time. And I wasn't involved politically
at that time. I was raising kids. I was
[2:49:30] busy doing my jobs. But when I look back
on that now, I feel like we're in that
[2:49:34] same position right now that we have to
protect the integrity of our small
[2:49:39] businesses and the integrity of
Northfield. If you go back to the
[2:49:42] history lesson, especially when you look
at the walls and you look at the stuff
[2:49:46] at the park, it really shows you where
we've come and where we're going. and
[2:49:51] that it it's worked out. Yes, there are
things that we could do better, but you
[2:49:56] know, I think when you listen to the
people, which is what our responsibility
[2:49:59] is as trustees, overwhelmingly they're
against this tiff. So, that's why I'm
[2:50:04] against it and that's why I don't think
that, you know, we have to protect our
[2:50:07] small businesses and and protect our
community. So, thank you for your time.
[2:50:18] » All right. Um, I just want to say thank
you very much to everybody who's taken
[2:50:21] the time to come to the meeting, to
write the village board, to talk to us
[2:50:25] personally, to have conversations. I
think the strength is in conversations
[2:50:28] and people getting together and asking
questions and having a dialogue, you
[2:50:33] know. Um, I also appreciate all of the
people up here who have who have worked
[2:50:39] together to try to promote and sell and
make Northfield a better place. Um, I I
[2:50:44] do want to encourage a m uh meeting with
the business owners to have a discussion
[2:50:48] and maybe come to terms or at least a
discussion about what's wanted from
[2:50:52] them, what's best for them because I
know that there's some mix. I've spoken
[2:50:55] to some people who want an SSA and are
fine with their property tax going up
[2:50:59] 4%. I've talked to some people who
thinks that that would put them out of
[2:51:02] business. So, I think it's worthwhile
maybe having a business meeting um with
[2:51:06] them. Um, and I also think a as a
teacher who teaches at Nutrier, whose
[2:51:12] children go to Sunset Ridge, whose wife
works at Nutrier, I'm heavily invested
[2:51:16] at not just this community, but those
schools and Middle Fork and AOKA where I
[2:51:22] did the eighth grade meetings for 16
years. Um, I encourage everyone as an
[2:51:27] educator to get their information from
the facts. Go to the school's website,
[2:51:32] read their Palooi report, go to the
villages website, do your research.
[2:51:37] Please, please do not rely on social
media. As an educator, I beg you not to.
[2:51:43] It is not a valid source. Go to the
facts. Do your own research, please. Um,
[2:51:48] and I encourage the continued dialogue.
I encourage people to ask questions, to
[2:51:52] reach out, to write the village group. I
I think as we celebrated and spent time
[2:51:56] um at the Clarkson Lodge and spoke to
different people who came back, there's
[2:52:00] love for this community as a whole. And
I think that involves the businesses,
[2:52:04] that involves the schools, that also
involves the people who live here. And
[2:52:08] I'd like to use this opportunity for us
to work together as a whole community to
[2:52:12] improve this and not divide and fraction
this because this is a beautiful
[2:52:16] community with incredibly strong
schools, wonderful businesses that have
[2:52:21] been here for years and years, many of
whom, you know, we frequent you. My kids
[2:52:25] were at Udogu yesterday. I was just
getting a slice of pizza at Northshore
[2:52:29] before this meeting because we didn't
have food today. Um, but I, you know,
[2:52:34] this is a community that we all love and
I want that established. I also want
[2:52:37] people to know that you're being heard.
You know, we're reading every single
[2:52:41] email we receive. You know, we're having
conversations. You know, please, if you
[2:52:46] have my email, reach out. I'm happy to
have a conversation with you.
[2:52:53] » Thanks, Andrew. It's been a long night,
but I think a very productive night. And
[2:52:58] to your point, I think we are listening
and hearing what people have to say. and
[2:53:03] I appreciate the general tone of uh the
dialogue tonight. Um so I I I took a lot
[2:53:10] away from that and I think if we
continue that I think we can make
[2:53:13] progress and come to a good solution one
way or another. So um very encouraged
[2:53:21] about tonight.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[2:53:24] All right. Then with nothing further for
the public hearing, may I have a motion
[2:53:28] and a second to close the hearing?
Motion to close the public hearing at
[2:53:32] this time.
>> Second.
[2:53:34] » All those in favor?
>> I
[2:53:36] » I
>> opposed.
[2:53:39] » I declare the public hearing closed at
9:49 p.m.
[2:53:44] » But don't leave. There's more board
meeting.
[2:53:47] » The next item on the agenda is the
trustee liaison reports.
[2:53:53] » Oh, you guys aren't you guys aren't
going to want to miss this.
[2:53:59] Trusty Yetus, would you like to start?
>> I would be happy to.
[2:54:06] » Um,
>> can I just ask for quiet as you exit the
[2:54:10] room, please? Thank you.
>> Uh, well, this is probably the most
[2:54:15] exciting month for me to give a report
on the schools. The schools are back in
[2:54:18] session. Students are back at school.
Parents are relieved. teachers are
[2:54:22] excited to welcome the new students
across the board both at Sunset Ridge,
[2:54:26] Middlefork, Avoka, and at Nutrier. Um
because the timing of the meeting, I
[2:54:32] don't have a great deal to update on uh
Sunset Ridge, but I will say at uh
[2:54:36] Nutrier, uh you've probably noticed the
construction that's going on at the
[2:54:40] Northfield campus. Uh they modernized
those outdoor facilities for athletic,
[2:54:44] kinetic, wellness, and community use uh
because of an 11 million donation as
[2:54:49] well as some additional district funds.
Um that will provide a lot of things,
[2:54:53] some some things I've learned while it's
gone on, but the bleacher replacements,
[2:54:57] the new stadium scoreboard, additional
accessibility, and a fitness path, which
[2:55:02] I thought was kind of exciting. So, uh
at the WKA campus, there's new science
[2:55:07] labs. Um and five more are under
construction. They've moved post high
[2:55:11] school counseling to be most or more
accessible and uh they've changed some
[2:55:15] of the security to make it uh more more
efficient.
[2:55:20] There's a lot more if you want to read
their briefs.
[2:55:23] If anyone wants I have a copy here.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[2:55:27] » Nothing on planning and zoning this
month.
[2:55:29] » Okay.
>> Uh park district, I have nothing. Uh,
[2:55:33] Red Center, we're in the pro process of
starting our budget and hoping to have a
[2:55:38] proposed budget by the end of next week
and then we will have budget
[2:55:45] subcommittee meetings in October and
ready to go for approval. So,
[2:55:49] » okay,
>> there we go.
[2:55:51] dressy or
>> uh VOCA school update. We met they met
[2:55:54] on August 20th and um they gave us a
really nice shout out for the centennial
[2:55:59] and promoting that and helping us to
promote that with uh uh at their
[2:56:03] meeting. So, thank you very much to the
VOCA school board for the shout out for
[2:56:06] the centennial. Uh they're if you want
to go make it brief, go to their
[2:56:11] website. There isn't really anything
special that's going on as far as
[2:56:14] bizarre that we really have to cover.
Um, their next meeting is September 17th
[2:56:19] at Marie Murphy at 6 o'clock.
Architectural did not meet in August.
[2:56:24] Their next meeting is Monday, September
14th. Correct, Steve?
[2:56:28] » Okay. And then the Centennial, I think
we talked about that plenty. Again,
[2:56:33] thank you very much to everyone that
came. Thank you to all the businesses
[2:56:36] and all the individual donors. It was a
huge success. We are planning the next
[2:56:39] one coming up. So, um, be prepared for
that. Um, I had people say, "Why can't
[2:56:45] we do this every year?" here. I said,
"Well, that's an awful lot to do the
[2:56:48] 101st, 102nd." But, uh, I think
hopefully Ribfest will take the next
[2:56:52] level to that. Uh, also, uh, please join
us on Friday, September 11th at 8:30 at
[2:57:00] the fire station to commemorate the 25th
unfortunate anniversary of 911. I know
[2:57:06] the police and fire department and Tracy
and the village manager are working with
[2:57:10] the fire chief to plan that. Uh, so that
was um, awesome. And then there's some
[2:57:15] neat news with the police pension. I was
told the other day that they're
[2:57:19] basically almost at 70% funding, which
is up from about 62 to 63% at their last
[2:57:25] pension meeting. So the investments that
we've made, the extra money that we put
[2:57:29] is helping that investment do much
better. So I think that that's a really
[2:57:33] uh cool thing. And then also shout out
to the police department for hosting the
[2:57:38] PD uh community rollouts. I think there
were five of them. I think I attended uh
[2:57:43] four of them. They were awesome. Uh I
think you know some weren't as well
[2:57:47] attended, but I think it's a great
program and I hopefully you can do that
[2:57:50] again next summer. But there were some
really cool moments and it was great to
[2:57:53] interact with the police department. So
thank you very much for that.
[2:57:59] » Uh since our last meeting, the library
board has had two meetings. They had a
[2:58:03] special meeting in early August to
discuss the JRB. I was not present
[2:58:07] there. Patrick was there. I think you
guys know the result of that. If you
[2:58:11] have any specific questions, Patrick can
probably answer it. And then last week
[2:58:14] they had a regular meeting and of
relevance is their their understanding
[2:58:18] or their hope is that um by October the
post office should have a response about
[2:58:25] the what they want to do with respect to
the the library renovation and if you
[2:58:30] know at that point they can continue
hopefully the their planning. So Patrick
[2:58:36] maybe have more on that um in your
report but that's it. Northwest
[2:58:39] Municipal Conference should have a
meeting in September. They're off the
[2:58:42] summer and there should be a report for
that. Then
[2:58:46] » no ZBA meeting in August, but we're
going to have a big time on September
[2:58:50] 2nd because there's four things on the
agenda. So, we've got some stuff coming
[2:58:53] up for ZBA. Um, stop on by at 7 p.m.
>> Okay.
[2:58:58] » Thank you. Um, the departmental reports
were provided in our packets. Do
[2:59:04] trustees have any questions related to
those reports?
[2:59:10] I I don't but I just want to say
something in in conjunction with the
[2:59:14] centennial. The public works, police,
and fire were Johnny on the spot for
[2:59:21] everything. And I I think we we take for
granted our essential services, but what
[2:59:27] we have in Northfield is an amazing
group on all the from admin down to
[2:59:34] police, fire, and public works. We're
we're very lucky. So, thank you guys.
[2:59:38] Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[2:59:40] » Okay, Greg, anything from the village
attorney perspective?
[2:59:43] » No report tonight. Thank you.
>> Patrick, anything you'd like to report
[2:59:46] on?
>> Just one thing. Uh, as some of you may
[2:59:49] have heard, we had a high school student
struck at the uh cross near the crossing
[2:59:53] on Waneka Road near the uh trail east of
Lagoon. Um, Dr. Dr. Tyos and I spoke on
[2:59:59] Friday about uh that crossing and the
fact that it's a route to schools and
[3:00:04] there are a lot of people cross there
and we had a discussion about the
[3:00:08] potential for a rapid flashing beacon at
that intersection. I know we've got one
[3:00:13] just west of there, but I wanted to
check to see with a group what your
[3:00:16] thoughts are on us entertaining initial
discussions with the county about what
[3:00:20] we could do for that crossing and
possibly the forest service district.
[3:00:24] » Absolutely.
>> Yes. Okay. So, we'll get working on that
[3:00:28] and uh despite a late afternoon Friday
outreach, he promised me that it
[3:00:32] wouldn't be a bad news and it was not.
So, thank you.
[3:00:36] » That is it.
>> All right.
[3:00:37] » Quick quick question for for Patrick.
Um, as promised, I just wanted to for
[3:00:42] you to give us an update on the sidewalk
potential sidewalk issue across from
[3:00:47] Middlefork.
>> Sure. So, um, we recently received, uh,
[3:00:52] preliminary plans on what their site
layout could be for the new school. Uh,
[3:00:56] it looks like, and I'm looking for Steve
to give me a nod if I'm wrong, but a
[3:01:00] significant change in the way that they
cue vehicles for school. Uh, which will
[3:01:05] give us some different opportunities for
a midblock crossing, we believe, at that
[3:01:09] intersection. It's still preliminary uh
but it's uh data that we're going to be
[3:01:13] continuing to work with the schools on
and meet and talk about the possibility
[3:01:17] for getting a midblock crossing in that
may not need to wait until the school
[3:01:21] construction starts. Right.
>> So we may be able to work something out
[3:01:24] sooner and I'm still chasing uh
Schroeder concrete on answers about um
[3:01:29] their work in that proposed for that
area.
[3:01:32] » And then is do you have an update from
the village standpoint on the post
[3:01:35] office? Um, we finally have a contact at
the post office to help shepherd through
[3:01:43] our request for consideration of a
temporary location for them and a
[3:01:47] permanent location. Uh, the person has
the requested information that they had
[3:01:53] asked me to send them and they just
haven't gotten me a response yet. Uh,
[3:01:57] the last update I had from him was on
Thursday or Friday of last week and he
[3:02:02] said I just hadn't had a chance to look
at it yet. So, I have a reminder on my
[3:02:06] calendar every Monday to send him a
paying reminder. What's our status?
[3:02:10] » I'll let you know as soon as I hear
more, but I'm keeping the executive
[3:02:12] director of the library apprised when I
do have outreach.
[3:02:16] » Do I I know he's not standing here
anymore, but you you have a new the
[3:02:21] village has a new employee.
>> He's sitting right there.
[3:02:24] » He's sitting right there.
>> Oh, there he is. See the
[3:02:26] » Did you just walk in when I turned my
head?
[3:02:28] » No.
>> Okay, great. Thank you.
[3:02:31] I'd like to introduce Brett Stewart
who's uh just joined us on Monday uh
[3:02:36] joins us from Colorado where he was an
assistant to the village manager there.
[3:02:40] He'll be at the same title with us but
working on a much bigger scale as far as
[3:02:44] assisting with special projects,
communication, economic development,
[3:02:48] public works, you name it, he's going to
be the kind of jack of all trades for
[3:02:52] helping us work through issues that come
in. And uh I'd like to thank you for
[3:02:55] authorizing that position during the
budget last year. I think we've got a uh
[3:02:59] a great find and he's already adding
great value.
[3:03:03] » Thank you.
>> And Patrick, I want to clarify, people
[3:03:08] were asking about that, but they forget
that we used to have an assistant
[3:03:11] village manager years ago and during
monies that got tied or whatever wasn't
[3:03:16] replaced. So, this isn't something new
to Northville. We've had an assistant
[3:03:19] village manager, an assistant to the
village manager, which is, you know,
[3:03:22] well overdue. We talked about this when
you were get hired. So, I'm glad to see
[3:03:25] that we're moving forward and helping
you get additional staffing. That's
[3:03:29] » much needed. Thank you.
>> Great.
[3:03:32] Okay.
>> Anything else? Um, this concludes our
[3:03:37] business for the evening. May I have a
motion and a
[3:03:40] » So moved.
>> Second.
[3:03:42] » All those in favor?
>> I opposed. Thank you everyone.