Evanston’s City Council tackled an extra-long agenda Monday evening, with many items carrying over from the last meeting April 8 that failed to reach an in-person quorum due to illness.
Leading the thousand-page packet was a discussion on the future of the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, which is in need of more than $20 million in repairs and renovations, according to the results of a recent feasibility study. Council members broadly voiced their support and appreciation for the historic building, but grappled with how to balance the building’s needs with already-expensive plans to replace the Civic Center and police/fire headquarters. The RoundTable reports on that full discussion here.
Before that, though, council members heard an economic development presentation on “Putting Assets to Work,” developed by consultants from the Common Ground Institute, Urban3 and the Government Finance Officers Association. The study identifies city-owned properties that are currently underutilized and recommends policies to “unlock the value from those assets,” said Common Ground Chief Executive Ben McAdams.
The study found that around one-third of Evanston’s land is tax exempt, but McAdams told council members that proportion is “pretty much in line” with other cities they’ve studied, give or take about 5%.
Some suggestions
Among the report’s suggestions: Replace some city-owned surface parking lots with affordable housing, explore alternative uses for the Civic Center property and offer revenue-generating amenities at the city’s lakefront.
The council accepted the playbook and placed it on file, with referrals expected in the near future for implementing specific recommendations.
Other notable votes from Monday’s meeting include:
- Approving a $380,000 contract with BrightView Landscapes to clean and maintain the city’s business districts, replacing an expired contract with the vendor StreetPlus. Council Members Clare Kelly (1st Ward) and Devon Reid (8th Ward) said they prefer this work be performed in-house by city staff in the future, and Economic Development Manager Paul Zalmezak said his division will plan to include that proposal in the city’s 2025 budget.
- Approving the purchase of a new aerial tower fire truck for $2.3 million. Fire Chief Paul Polep told the council in March that the department has an aging front-line truck and a reserve truck out of state for repairs, putting EFD “in a bad place.”
- Adding $55,900 to the city’s contract with AECOM for the Civic Center and Police/Fire Headquarters Relocation Feasibility Study. The new funding pays for the consultant to perform public engagement work on the different options under consideration, including a statistically significant survey of resident opinions over the next three to four months.
- Directing staff to craft an open policy allowing people to place rented beach chairs and umbrellas anywhere on the sand at Clark Street Beach. The city is contracting with Bike and Roll Chicago to provide a pilot rental service this summer.
- Approving a plan for implementing the “CARE Collective Program” to provide resources for Evanston students between third and 12th grades using funding approved through the city’s participatory budgeting pilot. The program will be administered by Northwestern’s Office of Community Education Partnerships, which developed a digital resource platform for District 65 that will be revamped for the CARE program.
- Authorizing hiring an environmental health technician to work 30 hours a week to aid the city’s rodent control program and leaf blower ban enforcement. The position is fully funded for two-and-a-half years by a state grant the city has already secured.
- Approving a second lease amendment with the owner of the restaurant Estación, which rents space at a city-owned building at 633 Howard St. The amendment makes final adjustments to help the owner pay off rent debt and continue operating; Zalmezak, the city’s economic development manager, promised there will be “no third amendment” proposed, unless City Council requests it.
- Approving an operating agreement with landlord and housing developer Cameel Halim for an “apartment hotel” at 1555 Oak Ave., formerly the King Home building. The agreement is required as part of the city’s Shared Housing Provider license, created in February 2023 ahead of City Council’s May 2023 approval of a permanent homeless shelter at the Margarita Inn, which is across from the new apartment hotel at 1566 Oak Ave.
- Allocating $1 million of federal aid to Connections for the Homeless to fund renovations to the Margarita Inn. The nonprofit’s capital campaign aims to secure $13.5 million to purchase and rehabilitate the building, $7 million of which was provided by Cook County through an interest-free loan in September 2023.