The Evanston City Council voted Monday to allocate more than $700,000 for refurbishing the lakefront bike path just south of Northwestern.
The total cost of the project will be about $2,000,000, with the rest of the money coming from the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The aldermen disagreed as to how much money the city should contribute to refurbishing the lakeside strip between Lee and Clark streets, since the original plan called for the city paying just 20 percent of the total cost of the project. The added cost would cover additional features to the bike path, such as lights and proper drainage to keep the path usable year round.
Ald. Donald Wilson (4th) said he did not support approving the project at such a high cost.
“I’m going to feel a lot more comfortable if we can knock half a million dollars off of this,” Wilson said. “The 700,000 number is just too troubling for me right now.”
Paul D’Agostino, the city’s superintendent of parks and forestry, said paying more for additional resources now would save the city the future expense of tearing up the path in order to install them later.
Ald. Judy Fiske (1st) also said the cost was too high for the city’s current economic position and moved to table the item until the next meeting, when lakefront issues will be further discussed. She said she and her constituents were “concerned over too much money being spent at the lake.”
Both Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd) and Ald. Coleen Burrus (9th) spoke in favor of approving the project. Burrus moved to overrule Fiske’s motion to table the issue. The motion to overrule was upheld, with Fiske, Wilson and Ald. Lionel Jean-Baptiste (2nd) dissenting.The council then held a vote to approve the project, which passed despite Fiske’s and Wilson’s votes against it.
During the call of the wards, when the aldermen discuss issues concerning their constituents, Fiske brought up a zoning issue concerning NU’s new Great Room. Fiske said the residents will be filing a complaint with the city’s zoning board of appeals, as they find the late-night dining location to be in violation of the neighborhood’s zoning guidelines. After the meeting, Fiske said residents feel the space once used as part of a residence hall is now being used inappropriately.
“Adjacent-property owners disagree that that’s a permitted use,” Fiske said.
Earlier at the Planning and Development Committee meeting, council members discussed a 38-page Plan for Affordable Housing submitted by the Evanston Affordable Housing Task Force.
The report, drafted on Oct. 19, summarizes the best ways to increase affordable housing opportunities in Evanston. Members of the task force include Al Hunter, NU’s director of Urban Studies, and Andrew McGonigle of NU’s Facilities Management.
Susan Munro, chair of the task force, presented the report to the City Council on Monday night. Among the ideas discussed during the presentation, Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) suggested using Habitat for Humanity to aid in the rebuilding of foreclosed houses. Munro said she has already met with representatives from NU’s GreekBuild, a group that works with Habitat for Humanity in Waukegan, Ill.
“If we could get Habitat working with foreclosed houses back in Evanston … and get the Greekbuild students in there to be able to do it in a very affordable way, it would be a wonderful opportunity for the city,” Munro said.
To help stabilize Evanston neighborhoods affected by foreclosures, the city applied for a $40 million Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in July. Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl encouraged members of the task force to write to Illinois legislators on behalf of the city since the grant recipients will be announced in December.
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