Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Policy Change on Storm water

We had our first meeting of the Rain Barrel committee last week and it was refreshing to see so many great ideas on how to achieve best practices on dealing with stormwater. Great minds from our environmental and lakefront commisions participated along with Councilman Levenfeld and myself.

Why do we want to just flush the water down the river or into the lake directly when we can hold it back and use it for gardens, lawns, and simply nourish the local ecosystems that serve as our neighborhoods?

I will keep you in touch on our discussions of Rain Gardens, proposed ordinance changes, rain barrels, etc as they occur......

How about a Rain Garden in between City Hall and our Library.

STAY TUNED

Sidewalk for Safety

While I think having sidewalks on neighborhood streets promote better safety for our residents and especially our young children, I did not side with the rest of my City Council members during a recent discussion on placing a sidewalk on Marion Ave. Now, you might be suprised since I have led many efforts on greenway/sidewalks/trails throughout the city but there was a big difference in this case.

Every member on the City Council besides myself has stated that they want to move forward with installation of a sidewalk on Marion Ave. even though we had surveyed the residents and a great majority are against its installation.

Now, the neighbors are outraged that the Council would move in this direction considering that they were surveyed three times and at all times they were not in favor of a sidewalk.

While I agree with my fellow members on the Council on a need for a sidewalk on Marion, I think we must show RESPECT to our citizens on their judgement. As long as a majority of owners in this neighborhood agree I see no need to go against their position on this issue.

I will not vote to force a sidewalk on Marion against the will of the people.