SPECIAL COMMUNITY MEETING - 7th Ward, POSTPONED UNTIL NOV.3

 

Due to the Cubs success in reaching the World Series, Alderman Eleanor Revelle will postpone her special 7th Ward community meeting, originally scheduled for Oct. 25 UNTIL THURS. NOV. 3. The meeting will run from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Morton Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave., in the Parasol Meeting Room on the 4th Floor. 

Ald. Revelle has called for this meeeting so that the community may learn about a request for a roadway easement across Metropolitan Water Reclamation District land to the north of Isabella Street and between the CTA tracks and the golf course. This property is under lease to the City of Evanston, and Evanston is being asked to consent to the easement.  

The easement is being sought by the Keefe Family Trust, which owns a piece of landlocked property just to the north, in Wilmette. The proposed easement area is a wooded parcel, very wet, with many mature, moisture-loving shade trees. The roadway would remove a number of these trees, and others are likely to be damaged by the construction of the road. The Keefe family has engaged an ecological consulting firm to develop a restoration plan to improve the ecological integrity of the site and create a “nature park” to benefit the broader community.  

The consultants’ report and concept renderings of a suggested nature park are available here.

Mr. Keefe will attend the meeting to present his proposal, and City staff will be there to discuss the City’s perspective and answer questions.

Mr. Keefe will also be available to walk the site of the proposed easement with interested residents on Sunday, October 23, at 1 p.m. (Meet at the golf course on the north side of Isabella, east of the CTA tracks.)  

Chris Carey, chair of the Grounds Committee for Canal Shores, will provide an update about the Golf Course - the work now underway to develop an Ecological Plan for the property and the status of discussions about a redesign of the golf course.  

 

See Ald Revelle's Oct. 10 newsletter at this link.