Go Wildcats!

It's Homecoming Weekend for the LHS Wildcats!

- Friday Night's Varsity Football Game: 7:30pm - Vs. Lakes Community High School

- Saturday's Homecoming Parade: 9:30am - Along Milwaukee Avenue from the Metra Train Station to Route 176, then West to LHS.

- Brainerd Building Open House / All-Class Reunion: 10a - 12Noon - Stop buy to visit the old Brainerd Building, take a tour and enjoy some refreshments courtesy of Sunset Foods!

Before the parade - Stop by the VFW Post #8741's Annual Pancake Breakfast!

The VFW Post 8741's annual pancake breakfast is Saturday morning from 8am - 11am at the Civic Center at 135 W. Church Street. The breakfast is hosted by Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for - kids 8 and under / Senior 65+

MainStreet Street Dance -THIS WEEKEND!-

Hi Everyone!

This Saturday night is Libertyville Mainstreet's big Street Dance fundraising event - the music, food and silent auction run from 5:30 - 11:30 on Church Street between Milwaukee and Brainerd.

Ticket prices are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. (Tickets are available at the Libertyville MainStreet office on Cook Street)

Or - admission is free if you volunteer to help out. The shifts are only a couple of hours long, at the most -and are a fun way to see neighbors and meet new friends! If you're interested, please let me know.

Thanks for your help!

Jim Moran
jimmoran77@gmail.com

It's Officially Open!

The parking garage at Brainerd Avenue and Lake Street is officially open following a ribbon cutting ceremony last night. I had a chance to attend, and must say - there was a lot more in attendance than I had figured would show up for a ribbon cutting for a parking garage! Some of those who were there included; the entire current Libertyville Village Board, plus several members of the former Village Board (noticeably absent was former Mayor Jeff Harger - although he was thanked during the ceremony - it was his administration that got this project going), most Village Hall staff, many of the downtown business owners, members from Libertyville MainStreet and the GLMV Chamber, plus average Joe's such as myself. After the ribbon cutting, the developer supplied everyone with refreshments, cake and carmel apples from the Rockey Mountain Chocolate Factory. It was really a great event marking a major step forward for the downtown area.

Brainerd In: Lawlor Out

Libertyville's Brainerd Building Name to Top Endangered Historic Buildings List!

The Brainerd Building has been named to the Landmark Illinois Top Ten List of Endangered Historic Buildings in Chicagoland.

Read Landmarks Write-Up: www.Landmarks.org/2009_6.htm
Mick Zawislak's Daily Herald Story: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=321850


Also -

Former Cook Library Board President Aaron Lawlor says he's staying put on the Lake County Board.

After speculation that he'd run for the 59th District State Rep Seat, Lawlor says he's going to stay on board with the Lake County Board - Daily Herald Story: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=321651&src=63

BREAKING NEWS: Former Cook Library Board President Reported To Make A Run For State Rep.

It's being reported on the TeamAmerica 10th District Blog that former Cook Memorial Library Board President Aaron Lawlor is planning to run for State Representative in the 59th District. That's the seat formerly held by State Rep Kathy Ryg, who resigned her position last month to take a job with a local non-profit organization. Lawlor resigned his position from the Cook Library Board earlier this summer after being named to the Lake County Board.

Read the latest on the TeamAmerica 10th District Blog: http://www.teamamerica10th.blogspot.com/

Odds & Ends

New Consignment Shop opens on the North End of town!

I first heard of the ReNew Family Consignment shop from their entry in the Libertyville Days Parade, back in June - I was excited to see we were getting a new resale shop, after the closure of the Blue Smock a few years ago. Well, the shop has finally opened this week! The store is located up in the Adler Square strip mall - which is the area that also features Cafe Pyrenees and my favorite Sushi place around - Sushi Thai (check them out if you haven't yet!)

One of the cool things about his shop is they not only sell clothes and other typical resale items, but also feature bigger items such as swing sets and bedroom furniture. They also seem to be very interested in being involved in the community - they're already an Associate Member of Mainstreet Libertyville and seem to be planning fundraising events for community organizations.

You can find out more information on the store's web site: http://www.renewfamilyconsignment.com/

ReNew Family Consignment
1750 N. Milwaukee Avenue ~ Libertyville, Adler Square near Walgreen's ~ 847.573.1513

Mainstreet Libertyville Street Dance Tickets ON SALE NOW!!!

We're only a couple of weeks away from the annual Mainstreet Libertyville Street Dance! Tickets will be available the day of the event (Sept. 26th) for $15, but you can purchase some ahead of time and save $5 on each ticket! (Let me know if you're interested, I'll make sure to get you tickets ASAP) The Street Dance features several bands, great food and Mickey Finn's Beer! Also featured this year - a silent auction inside the Libertyville Civic Center - some of the items up for auction include autographed album covers from Eric Clapton and Jimmy Buffett!! (how cool is that?!)


If you'd like to save some money off the price of admission, volunteers are able to get in free! For more information - e-mail: promo@mainstreetlibertyville.org

Lake County Republican Picnic - Sunday Sept. 13th

The Annual Lake County Republican picnic is tomorrow (Sunday) September 13th from 12Noon - 4pm at the Holy Mother of God Serbian Monastery in Lake Villa - Route 45 between Washington and Route 132. For more information, visit http://www.lakecountyrepublicans.com/

Big Developments for the Brainerd Community Center

There is some outstanding news this week concerning the Brainerd Community Center project - the board of directors from the Brainerd Center has joined forces with the Libertyville Civic Center Foundation!

Read more with Mick Zawislak's story in today's Daily Herald.

The Brainerd movement has gained a tremendous amount of momentum over the past few months - these are just few of some of the highlights of the past year:

1. The Brainerd Building was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, with a plaque unveiled during Libertyville Days this past summer commemorating the designation. The ceremony of the unveiling of the plaque was well attended by many in the Libertyville community who came out to show their support for the project, including Mayor Weppler, several Village Trustees and U.S. Congressman Mark Kirk.


2. The Lake Shore Lynx semi-pro football team started to play home games at the Brainerd football field.
   
3. The Brainerd Board has been mounting a PR/awareness campaign, including the sales of Brainerd Building Christmas ornaments, tours of the Brainerd Building throughout the year, participation in the Mainstreet Libertyville Twilight 5k Run and the launching of a new http://www.savebrainerd.org/ web site.
   
   
4. The Brainerd Board, along with members of the Civic Center board had been working with the Village to look at ways the village can help out, without using taxpayer funds - such as the village working to secure grants, etc.


5. The Brainerd Building is currently under review for the Landmarks Illinois list of top endangered buildings in the State of Illinois.

Tax Increase - Media Coverage UPDATE

Update:

Well, wouldn't you know, I goofed. A reader to this blog has pointed out that I completely missed the Daily Herald write-up on Tuesday night's Village Board vote on the tax increase. (I'll blame this one on Google, regardless- I'm sure the folks at the Herald are sure I'm either blind or dumb... lol)

Today's Daily Herald write up

I'm not sure how I missed today's story, even after specifically looking for it - So my use of the term "lagging media coverage" may have been a bit unjustified. However, I still think the village should have televised board meetings.

It should also be pointed out, as I pointed out a few days ago, the Daily Herald's Mick Zawislak had a really good piece outlining the background to the current village financial predicament. This story offers a good background into a major part of the village's cash crunch and is a good read, especially for those looking for what has led to the need for a tax hike.


Original Post:

A day and a half after the last Libertyville Village Board meeting, a newspaper article has finally appeared online, covering the recent utility tax increase -

Today's News Sun article from Ed Collins



Other related stories:

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=319305&src=63
Libertyville Sports Complex key to village d
deficit

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/libertyville/news/1744744,libertyville-finances-090309-s1.article#Comments_Container
Finance Committee Suggests Higher Taxes

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/mundelein/news/forum/1744854,mundelein-letters-090309-s1.article#Comments_Container
Libertyville faces financial crisis

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1737561,5_1_WA27_LIBMONEY_S1-090827.article
Libertyville sales tax receipts down 22%Libertyville seeks new revenue sources

Tax Increase Update

Earlier this year, the neighborhood along Maple Avenue between Brainerd and Milwaukee Avenues, came together and prevented the tear-down of an old, historic Victorian home in their neighborhood. The First Presbyterian Church had planned to tear down the home and turn it into a parking lot. The neighborhood came together quickly and effectively, raised awareness across the village for their causes and successfully fought the demolition of the home. The Village Board meeting where the demolition permit was to be issued was packed (standing room only) with residents from all across the community to express their concern and outrage over the planned tear-down of the home.

Fast forward to last night - the mostly new Village Board has found themselves in a situation where sales tax revenue in the village has been on a decline since 2001, and village expenses have been steadily increasing. Mixed into the financial mess is the Libertyville Sports Complex, which has drained the Village's resources, and with 25 years of debt payments and a horrible real estate market - this has no chance of going away anytime soon. All of the financial problems the board is now facing has been years in the making - most of the Village Board has only been on the job for four months. On the verge of a major financial crisis, the Village Board, under the advisement of the Village's Finance Committee, has approved a tax hike on resident's cable, gas and electric bills. Typically, I find any sort of municipal tax hike unacceptable - however, I'm not sure what other choice the Village Board has in this situation. One bright spot of the tax increase - after hearing an earful from the handful of Village residents who came to last night's meeting to express their concern - the Village Board adopted an amendment to their original plan, which will call for an annual review of the tax hike - theoretically, the tax can go away as soon as next fall, if tax revenues increase. I think this is a better plan than one Village resident's idea to cut back the personnel and equipment who respond to fire and ambulance calls.

Finally - what was my point on including the first part of this blog entry about the Saving Maple organization? Despite the fact that I feel last night's tax increase is a necessary result of a series of unfortunate events (Including the construction of the Sports Complex), I am still amazed that so few residents attended last night's meeting compared to the meeting earlier this year. The Maple Avenue tear-down brought in around 140 residents to the Village Board meeting - last night might have had 30-40 residents. I felt both issues were very important to the Village - but I would suspect the tax issues has a bigger, more immediate impact to more Village residents. Is it that this is such a small tax not too many people are that concerned? Did people not know about the meeting? I'm curious - feel free to post your comments/feelings about the tax increase and/or the current financial situation the Village is in.

Village Board Meeting - New Taxes on Tonight's Agenda

The Libertyville Village Board is set to vote tonight on proposed tax increases on gas and electric bills - the tax increase is to cover the shortfall that has been created by the Sports Complex mess. Over the weekend, Mick Zawislak had a good write-up in the Daily Herald. Basically, bad planning and unreasonable expectations about what the Libertyville Sports Complex would do for the village has put the current village government in a situation where they have run out of money. Other alternatives to the roughly 5% increase in gas and electric bills, include talk of furlough days and layoffs - I personally don't think the village has enough higher paid employees to make it worthwhile to make village employees take unpaid days off. The amount of money that the Sports Complex sucks out of the village budget each month will require substantial cuts and/or revenue generation. Hopefully, the Village will be able to sell the land and sports complex facility and get out of the sports complex business.

The Libertyville Village Board Meeting is tonight (Tuesday September 8th) @ 8pm at Libertyville Village Hall.

Here is a link to the agenda

Parking Garage OPEN!!

As the headaches of the Milwaukee Avenue road construction seem to escalate - how about some good construction news? The parking garage at Lake Street and Brainerd Avenue is finally OPEN! According to the Daily Herald, a formal opening dedication ceremony is planned for September 22nd.