Meeting Minutes August 15, 2019

The August 2019 meeting of Logan Square Preservation (LSP) was held at the Minnekirken and brought to order at 7:08 pm by president Andrew Schneider. Over 40 members were present including 10 directors and officers

Several new guests and members were welcomed including Gretchen from Hairpin Lofts.

The July 2019 minutes were approved with one correction.

Topics discussed

Election of officers and board of directors occurs at the October 17 meeting. Nominations are due by the September meeting.

Chicago Bears Block Party-will be Aug 31 and LSP receives a donation from the event

Presidents Report

Alderman LaSpata was asked to support extension of the Landmark District to North Avenue, he will be submitting Logan Square projects for us to review in the future. A door to door canvas to promote the landmark district is planned

Grace Furniture was briefly discussed

The Archive Committee has collected some photos and slides from Karl Klaus, a transit token, a tshirt and other historic photos of the Logan Square baseball team and the speedway, etc

Treasurers Report

New members were added, donation received from the Arts Fest and expenditures for the archive committee.

Committee Reports

Preservation & Restoration - (Kate Slattery) Presented a detailed handout of the current proposals under review. Copies available from Kate or may be online at LSP.org. Additionally, the Whale restaurant had not been approved for a sidewalk café and a meeting was set for 8/21 to hear the proposals. An additional restaurant featuring a Welcome Back Kotter theme is planned near the Whale.

Steve Niketopolous announced that an LSP sponsored plan for bike lanes would be forthcoming in response to the ATA plan which would reduce boulevard traffic lanes.

Alderman LaSpata will have a “first look” open house Aug 22 at 530

Beautification - (Shana Liberman) Shana said we are waiting for approval for a tree planting grant from Open Lands and if approved will seek volunteers for tree planting on Logan between Sacramento and Mozart. Betsy noted that the boulevard watering system is no longer functional so watering volunteers will be sought to help newly planted trees survive. Tree species include Catalpa, Kentucky Coffee, Hackberry and Oaks for the parkway. Betsy is a certified arborist and Shana has a masters degree in forestry, applause to both for their work on the trees.

Outreach - (Steve Isakson) Volunteers are needed to work on the online newsletter and a top secret project. Printed newsletters were distributed, thanks to Leslie Gray, Vicki Logan, Ian, Marcy Marzuki, Ed Bury, Elizabeth Blasius and Tom Vlodak. The September edition will be “exciting”. Marcy is working on member meetups and locations for election events. Our temporary exhibit space next to Lula Café will be ending.

Archival - (Matt Bergstrom) Work is continuing on the St John Berchmans space and categorizing items.

Old Business

Patrick Johnson of Range design was introduced and said the 2831 Diversey building that they own needs work and they need to do something with it. Casmir from Range said they have done other developments in the area and are frustrated with the P&R process of approving projects. A discussion of the merits/consequences of upzoning the project ensued.

Steve Hier said 3048 Palmer was a problem building that is falling apart and is working to get the city to declare a receivership

It was noted that the Logan Square monument area is “filthy” and trash strewn and the lights need work.

New Business

Jill briefly discussed the Chamber of Commerce SSA and an inaccuracy in an article about it.

Nick Katz is a Chamber board member and is working on the SSA proposal which is in the beginning stages and needs agreement from the taxpayers in the target area

Steve Nicketopolous gave kudos to Steve Hier for work on the trees of Palmer Square and also urged members to consider candidacy for board and officer positions and to be further involved in LSP

The meeting adjourned at 8:22 pm

Election Notice

 Dear LSP Member:

We are emailing to remind you that elections for officers (President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary) and up to eleven at-large members of the board of directors (fewer if there are less than eleven qualifying nominations) will be held at the Annual Meeting on Thursday, October 17, 2019 the location TBA

If you are interested in being considered for an officer and/or director position you must be nominated (including self-nominations) as outlined below. All officers also serve as directors. You may run for both an officer position and a director position (in the event you are not elected as an officer).

In order for a nomination to qualify it must:
be made by a member of the Preservation (including self-nominations by a member),
provide the name of the person who must have consented to nomination by you prior to being nominated,
provide a one-paragraph biography with qualifications,
be a member who lives within the boundaries of the Logan Square Neighborhood as defined in the bylaws,
be emailed to the Secretary at secretary@logansquarepreservation.org or be submitted at the Preservation meeting on September 19, 2019.
 
The Secretary of the Preservation will confirm that all nominations qualify. A list of the qualifying nominations, bios and a proxy voting form will be emailed to members prior to October 3, 2019.

A special meeting is planned for October 3, 2019 at the Minnekirken which will serve as a meet and greet the candidates forum. The details will be forthcoming.

In order to vote for officers and directors at the Annual Meeting you must be a member in good standing by September 16, 2019 which is 30 days prior to the election. You may vote in person at the Annual Meeting or by proxy. To vote by proxy you will need to complete the proxy form and provide it to a member who may vote on your behalf. However, each member may only vote one proxy.

Each member may vote for up to eleven at-large directors, with the top vote getters being elected. Each of the four elected officers will also be appointed as a director.

In the event that a member runs for both an officer position and a director position and wins both, the member would be elected to the officer position and the candidate with the next highest vote total would be elected to the board.

If you have any questions about the voting process, please contact the Secretary at secretary@logansquarepreservation.org