The troubled history of town-gown relations in Evanston may be entering “a new chapter,” city officials have said.
If so, the first page in this chapter was written Thursday night when Ricardo Dumont, a consultant working with Northwestern, gave a lengthy presentation about the school’s new 50-year campus framework plan at an NU-City Committee meeting.
Evanston lawmakers said they were pleased with the plans and with NU’s desire to communicate with residents.
“I see this as a reason to hope for a new chapter, and we need one,” Ald. Edmund Moran (6th) said. “A lot of what we saw (in the meeting) is pretty consistent with what the city has expressed.”
For Ald. Cheryl Wollin (1st), not having to guess at NU’s intentions was enough to mark an improvement.
“I like that they have a plan,” said Wollin, whose ward includes part of NU.
The 50-year plan, a tentative guideline to map the school’s future development, includes the reshaping of the lagoon, the demolition of certain buildings on campus and the construction of several new ones.
If Thursday’s meeting was the first page in a new chapter, the school’s controversial purchase of 1945 Orrington Ave. in spring 2006 was the last page in the previous one.
The deal was criticized because the school planned the purchase in secrecy, only informing Evanston officials of its intent as the deal was finalized.
Although a city attorney analyzed the transaction and found it to be legal, several aldermen called for improved communication between the two parties.
Given this history, many Evanston officials and residents shared a sigh of relief when they learned NU does not plan to buy land in Evanston in the foreseeable future.
As a nonprofit institution, the school is exempt from paying property taxes. Any land the school buys is no longer a source of revenue for the city, which desperately needs money to pay its $140 million deficit in police and fire pension funds.
Despite the progress made at Thursday’s meeting, the relationship still has sore spots.
Many city officials, for instance, said the school should pay the city for its use of emergency fire services, which are funded by the property tax.
“The City Council set up a committee to look at the situation and explore a service-fee orientation,” Moran said. “It’s a very logical thing to examine.”
Because Evanston cannot legally bind NU to pay for emergency assistance, past attempts to implement a fee have failed.
“We’ve gone to Northwestern a number of times to calculate a formula that uses the number of (emergency) calls made for students and set up a service fee,” Wollin said. “They’ve graciously turned us down.”
Still, Evanston lawmakers say they look forward to a day when NU will not need a legal reason to contribute to the city.
“I would hope Northwestern would acknowledge that they have terrific fire services,” Ald. Elizabeth Tisdahl (7th) said.
The City Council recently asked Evanston’s representatives in the Illinois General Assembly to track the progress of a measure being considered by the Massachusetts House of Representatives that would “tax as income the proportion of the endowment over $1 billion,” Tisdahl said.
Every year, NU publishes a pamphlet outlining its contributions to the city, an action seen by many as an attempt to justify its non-compliance with past requests from Evanston officials. Tisdahl, who also represents part of Northwestern, refers to it as the “‘let them eat cake’ brochure.”
“Yes, (NU) made payments in lieu of taxes for three years after they bought 1800 Orrington,” Tisdahl said, referring to a recent property purchase in downtown Evanston. “But many other schools give increasing payments to their communities every year.”
