Central Street Neighbors Association

The Administration and Public Works (A&PW) Committee will begin at 5:30 PM.  The Planning and Development (P&D) Committee will convene 15 minutes after the A&PW adjourns. The City Council meeting will convene 15 minutes after the P&D meeting adjourns, but not earlier than 7:00 PM. 

Sat., Feb. 20, 2010 at 9 AM
A special meeting of the City Council has been scheduled at the Civic Center. Final decisions about the 2010-2011 budget will be made. A vote is likely.
 
Mon., Feb. 22, 2010 at 7 PM or later (see “New rules”)
This is the last scheduled Council meeting of the City’s fiscal year 2009-2010. The budget must be approved by Feb. 28, 2010. 

Over 2000 residents have signed the online petition at www.branchlove.org in support of keeping the libraries open and allowing supporters time to secure long term funding for the libraries.
The City Council has changed  its postiion 3 time in the past month, so if you are confused join the crowd. The original budget called for the closure of the branches.
On Jan 23 the council had a straw vote which supported keeping the libraries open for 1 year.
The next meeting the straw vote to Close the libraries.

As much as we all want to see a balanced City budget, you won't be happy with a fine or having to go down to North Shore Towing.  The City of Evanston has declared a Snow Route Parking Ban for tonight, Tuesday, February, 9. You need to look at the red, white and blue signs on your street to see if it's a snow route and which will be plowed. Emergency sirens will sound to remind you to move your cars at 8:15 p.m
 
Main thoroughfares in Evanston designated as Snow Routes will be cleared first, and parking is illegal on these streets between 11 p.m. tonight and 6 a.m. tomorrow, Feb. 10th.  The predictable main streets plus some others are included: Central, McDaniel, Central Park, Crawford, Gross Point, Ridge, Sheridan, but also part of Grey. A map of the Snow Routes is available here:

http://www.cityofevanston.org/maps/pdfs/SnowRoutes24000.pdf

The City has also declared a Snow Emergency for Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, February 10th vehicles must be parked on the odd number sides of the streets. On Thursday the 11th, vehicles must be parked on the even number side of the streets.

The info on this is a little confusing. The City's notice is at

http://www.cityofevanston.org/departments/parking/snow.shtml
 
Violating the Snow Route Ban carries a $50 fine plus towing and storage charges. Violating the Snow Emergency is a $35 ticket or a $100 tow charge. 

For updates on Evanston’s snow situation, tune into AM1650, turn on Cable Channel 16, visit the City’s web site, www.cityofevanston.org, visit the City’s Facebook/Twitter/City Blog from its home page, sign up for e-News alerts on City’s home page or call (847) 864-SNOW.

I need a open space to rent. I have a fitness bootcamp class and I need an open space facility to conduct it. I'm looking to use the space 2-3 times per week for a hour at a time. Anyone know of any places I can look into? a gymnasium type of facility would be perfect or smaller if it has to be.

Valerie Nelson and Beadazzled, 2002 Central St., continue to add to the texture of our neighborhood by hosting a series of intimate jazz performances within the friendly confines of the popular beading and jewelry store. On Monday, February 8, from 7-9 pm, the Rose Colella Trio will be serving up their smooth and sometimes sultry interpretations, while select jewelry is on sale. What better way to craft a homemade valentine bracelet than to the accompaniment of some live jazz? A donation of $8 is suggested, more than worth it.

Rose Colella, a Chicago-based jazz vocalist, is a graduate of Roosevelt University with a BM in Jazz Voice, and currently teaches Jazz Voice at the Chicago Academy for the Arts. The Rose Colella Trio released their first album entitled "Small Hours" in June 2009. Click below to hear their rendition of "On the Street Where You Live," with a couple of tasty soloes in the middle.

REMINDER

This evening the Evanston City Council in a historic vote voted to close both the North and South branch libraries.  The vote was 6-3 in favor of closing.  The North branch first opened in 1952.  The South branch was first opened in 1917.
 
The West branch library was closed earlier in 1981,  six years after it opened in 1975.
 
For the first time in 114 years, Evanston will have no branch libraries.

I am wondering when the Mayor's Budget Task Force will be inserted into the current budget process? If, as I suspect, they are focused on a longer-term outlook for the City of Evanston, I hope that there will be some assurance that our short-term decisions are in alignment with any forward looking recommendations.  
 
It would certainly be nice to have some communication regarding their progress and intentions.