BY ANNIE MARTIN AND DANNY YADRON

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

For years, Trader Joe’s, the grocery chain with 15 locations in Illinois and hundreds more throughout the country, has looked at sites throughout Evanston to open one of its yuppie, specialty stores.

It finally might have found a place.

At Monday night’s Evanston City Council meeting, aldermen discussed a letter that some said they had received saying that the store was interested in the retail space on the first floor of a controversial development that the city approved after months of debate.

Some aldermen want the space in the 14-story building at 1890 Maple Ave., near Emerson Street, to be occupied by a grocery store, but others are concerned about the size of the space and the height of the building.

Ald. Cheryl Wollin (1st) said she thinks a grocery store would be especially beneficial to nearby residents.

“The design is attractive and workable,” Wollin said. “We want to attract a quality grocery store as the main occupant of the first floor.”

Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd), however, wasn’t sure that Trader Joe’s or any other grocery store would find the space appealing. Wynne, along with Ald. Anjana Hansen (9th) and Ald. Edmund Moran (6th), voted against the project. In the past, concerns from citizens and aldermen centered on the building’s height and its distance from the heart of the downtown area.

Wynne also said she was concerned whether the specialty grocery store would make the commitment to lease the space.

“I know we’ve been trying to get Trader Joe’s to Evanston, and they’ve made reasons over and over again not to come,” Wynne said.

“I don’t view this as an optimal space. I’m very skeptical about the viability of the space.”

The council also heard mixed messages on the city’s financial status at its meeting.

Only minutes after receiving a positive outlook on its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, aldermen were lambasted for the multi-million dollar hole in the city’s pension fund.

According to the report, the city has a lot to look forward to.

“From the viewpoint of an (financial) analyst, we see a very strong position,” said auditor Bob Horstman. “We see assets increasing. We see liabilities decreasing.”

Evanston’s net assets increased by more than $13 million during the last fiscal year. And although the city incurred more than $24 million in debts, more than half of that was used to pay off past debts at lower interest rates.

Even so, a report from the City Manager’s Office shows the city is only capable of funding about 40 percent of its police and fire pensions, which would leave an estimated $140 million shortfall over the next 26 years. Most municipalities are capable of funding 85 percent of their pensions.

The city hopes to make up part of this gap through a $1 increase per $1,000 in the city’s tax of property sales. Estimates show the increase would contribute an extra $800,000 per year to pensions. The council unanimously approved to place a referendum about the increase on February’s public ballot.

Timothy Schoolmaster, trustee of the city’s Police Pension Fund, said the added tax would be a start.

“The referendum, if successful, will certainly not solve the problem, but it will certainly give you some time until you get (the council’s) financial house in order,” he said. “The transfer tax proposal is the first concrete proposal (to solve the pension problem) I’ve seen get to the council level since the 1970s.”

The remainder of the money to cover the shortfall would have to come from the sale of Pension Obligation Bonds and increased property taxes.

Also, as expected, the city extended the Central Street building moratorium for an additional 120 days, originally set to expire on Oct. 12. Construction has been halted from Ashland Avenue to 2200 Central Street since Sept. 11, 2006, because of the development of a Central Street Master Plan. Although, the plan is completed, city staff are now developing new zoning regulations for the neighborhood.

“There has been a steady march of progress on this thing,” Ald. Elizabteh Tisdahl (7th). “I think we can say with confidence that (zoning changes) will be completed by January.”

Reach Annie Martin at [email protected].

Reach Danny Yadron at [email protected].