 | Lower Membership Dues- due to the reduced costs of postage
for mailings it was decided to reduce the rates for membership to
encourage new members to join PPNA. Check out the new
rates on our Membership page. It was also decided to do more
polling via e-mail when issues come up in lieu of holding requests for
information to a general membership meeting, if you are not a member
you will not be notified of any important zoning or neighborhood
issues. |
| The Wicker Park Booster reported in the October 17th, 2007
newspaper that there is an upswing of prostitution occurring in our
area near North and Ashland Avenues. On October 8th, the police
ran a sting with policewomen as decoys and arrested eight customers
(ages19 to 47) along the 1700 block of West North Avenue.
Although this stretch of North Avenue from east of the Expressway into
Bucktown has been known as a center for prostitution for decades there
had been sign of decline after numerous residents staged early morning
marches along North Avenue in 2001 and 2002. For more
information regarding attend the next 1433 beat meeting at St.
Stanislaus School on November 8th. |
| Tot Spot - have a toddler and don't know where to go in the
morning to run off steam? Sign up for the TOT SPOT program on
Wednesday and Fridays from 11 am - 1 pm at Pulaski Park, cost is just
$10 and this fall the Park has changed to an earlier timeslot to
accommodate nap schedules in the afternoon. |
| Recycling (blue carts) in 1st Ward -
The 1st Ward is part of
the seven ward recycling pilot project, the Blue Cart Program, which
started a few months ago. Recyclables are picked up every other
week, black garbage carts are still picked up weekly. The Blue
Cart program is a sort separated recycling program modeled after a
successful pilot project in the Beverly neighborhood.
Recyclables should be cleaned and placed directly in to blue carts
that will be picked up every 2 weeks. Below are some of the
basics on the new Blue Cart recycling program |
|
* In order to participate in the Blue Cart program you must have city
garbage pick-up defined as a single family home or a building up |
|
to 4 units |
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* Residents can recycle containers and paper materials, including
paper, cardboard, plastics and aluminum in their blue cart. |
|
* all recyclables should be cleaned and placed directly in the blue
cart. Once the recyclables are collected, machines at the
recycling |
|
plant will sort and separate the products. It is best to not
place recyclables in bags, because this will stall some of the
processing. |
|
* Recyclables will be collected separately from your regular garbage
pick-up. Regular trash will still be picked up once a week. |
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Yard waste will be collected every 2 weeks with recyclables. |
| For more information contact the Alderman at;
ward01@cityofchicago.org. |
| Capstone Limited and Stillpoint Development
will make a second presentation to the Pulaski Park community on
February 19th at 6:30 pm at Pulaski Park Field house for
community input on a request to amend the SW parcel of the City approved Planned Development
# 987. This is one of 3 separate parcels
of land that was originally to be part of the Beitler development
approved 2 years ago. This SW parcel has been sold separately
from the other two parcels and the current owners will be presenting their proposal for a 7 story,
30 unit residential property on one of the 3 parcels originally
approved as a higher, less dense residential building with more
parking spaces. |
| 1st Ward community meeting regarding Residential Permit
Parking. In response to the increasing demand for
residential permit parking in the First Ward, Alderman Flores will be
conducted a community meeting to discuss the impending consolidation of
residential permit parking zones in the Wicker Park neighborhood.
You can complete a survey online or request a copy from the office.
They plan on consolidating all of the residential permit numbers in to
one #154 starting July 1, 2007. Did you know that this is the
number one requested service from the alderman's office? You can
get your permits directly from them at their Western Avenue location
and not have to go downtown to get daily permits. Having fewer
permit numbers will make their job easier and more cost effective.
|
| 14th precinct Cdr.Avila has requested community support by
showing up to court hearings for graffiti and defacement on Milwaukee,
Ashland and Cleaver. Your presence makes an impact on the
judge and sends a statement that the community cares. For more
information you can contact the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of
Commerce. |
| SSA#33 commissioners, Dan Karuna and Claudia Skylar, discussed
the process that the new Wicker Park SSA#33 has taken in getting input
from the community at a recent EWPO meeting that PPNA members were
invited to attend.. One of the top concerns so far is to provide snow
and ice removal from sidewalks on all of the SSA streets (Ashland,
North, Division, Milwaukee and Western) as well a master plan for
transportation, landscape assessment |
| MB Financial Bank
made a formal power-point presentation about their proposed drive
through bank at Blackhawk and Ashland Avenue. A vote showed that
members were in support of their project ( see next blurb for details
of initial community meeting). Update: Alderman Flores has put
this project requesting an approved special use on hold at this time. |
| Drive Through Bank at 1401 N. Ashland Avenue proposed. A
community meeting to discuss input on a new development and variance to approve
a drive-through for MB Financial Bank at 1401 N. Ashland Avenue (Stevie
B's former location) was held on Wednesday, August 9th at the current
MB bank location. About 30 people were in attendance.
The bank is looking for a variance to create a drive through similar
to the one at North/Ashland for the New Century Bank only allowing
customers to go right (or north onto Ashland) out of the drive
through. The drive through would be open 24 hours/day. The
bank would have 5 employees, not all of whom would be at the bank at
any one time. The bank has not done or has plans to make a
traffic study of the impact of this drive through. The bank has
asked to sign a 20 year lease. If they do not get the approval
for a drive through they will not put a bank in that location.
The general consensus of community attendees was against the variance.
|
| Resurfacing of Milwaukee Avenue - The Wicker Park and
Bucktown Chamber of Commerce has informed the community that
resurfacing of Milwaukee Avenue will begin on or around Monday, August
28th and should be completed in 40 days. This project will begin
at the Kennedy Expressway ramp and proceed north on Milwaukee ending
at North Avenue. The work will include the following:
* Remove approximately 2 ½ “ of asphalt surface and pave approximately
1” of asphalt; adjust and replace manhole covers, drain frames and
lids as needed and finish with an additional 1 ½ “ of asphalt
* Severely deteriorated curb, gutter and sidewalks along North
Milwaukee will also be removed and replaced (amount will be limited to
areas presenting significant hazard to public or significant drainage
problems)
Businesses and residents should anticipate lane closures and parking
restrictions as work proceeds north during the 40 day period.
The Chamber will remain in communication with the Department of
Transportation and will
update businesses through the web-site on the progress of these
improvements to Milwaukee Avenue.
Questions can be directed to the Wicker Park and Bucktown Chamber of
Commerce office at 773-384-2672. |
| K9 KARNIVAL 3 - On Sunday, July 23rd PPNA sponsored
"K9 Karnival 3" at the Noble and Blackhawk St. dog park. Beginning at
3 o'clock and running till 7 pm the event was a howling success.
Agility equipment was up and a selection of grilled meats and other
tasty treat for both humans and 4-legged friends were provided.
Fred Holland played host and had the chance to speak with many new
residents of the area. Besides fun and good times, one of
the important reasons for the event was to make others aware of the
changes that are coming to the park.
The Chicago Park District has offered an opportunity and a
challenge to areas dog lovers. The park wants residents to move ahead
with the organization and fund raising efforts that will be needed to
bring the park into compliance with CPD standards. While some of these
changes will alter the dog park in numerous ways, a strong committee
of concerned citizens should be able to help chart those changes.
To this end, Fred Holland is asking for other individuals, who
share an interest in maintaining and assuring the future of the dog
park, to step forward and work with him in the effort that will be
needed.
Please contact Fred at
fholla@artic.edu . |
| The Bucktown/Wicker Park Library - Hours are
from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday - Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Friday and Saturday - closed on Sundays. For more info call:
312/744-6022. The new branch library located at the corner of
Milwaukee and Wabansia offers free internet computer access and wi-fi
access for those with laptops They also hve "Playaways", a
digital audio player that holds one audio book and are available for
check out. The new space has 2 stories and 15,500 square feet of
space and a small parking lot. The CPL has earmarked
$400,000 for new acquisitions of books and audio/visual materials to
the combined collection from the former storefront libraries in Wicker
Park and Bucktown that closed last year. A community meeting
room will be available that can accommodate up to 125 people.
"Find-It" computers will be available to search the CPL system-wide
catalogue with activities planned for: StoryTimes, Summer
Reading Program, Adult Book Discussions and the Museum Passport. |
| New Street Cleaning Signs- Keep track
of new signage that may be going up soon in our neighborhood that will
change the street cleaning days to the first Tuesday and Wednesday of
the month instead of Mondays and Tuesdays. There will be
no scheduled street cleanings on Mondays in the 1st ward due to the
number of holidays that fall on Mondays that disrupt the schedule.
There is an exception to the July schedule when the 4th falls on a
Tuesday - Street cleaning will occur on Monday and Wednesday that day.
Set your cell phone calendar or your palm pilot as a reminder so you
remember to move your car on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of the
month. |
| New Parkway Trees - Did you notice?
Many neighbors received their requested parkway trees this past
November. If you don't have a tree in front of your home
and would like one, please call 311 to request a tree. You will
receive a postcard from the Forestry Department asking you to call in
to confirm that you do want a tree on your parkway. Be sure to
respond to this postcard. Trees are planted in the late fall and
very early spring. |
| Did You Know? New Precinct re-mapping
may have changed your voting place location for the elections. The 1st ward has been re-mapped and voting
locations have changed. The Board of Elections now has our
neighborhood divided into 5 different Precincts. If you did not
vote in the March primaries please be aware that the 35th
Precinct now votes at Burr School. The 26th and 37th still vote
at Pulaski Park Fieldhouse. The 50th precinct votes at
Montessori Near North. If you have questions regarding your
polling locations and have not been notified by the Board of Elections
or received your new voter's registration card, please call
312/269-0027. If you are in the 32nd Ward 46th precinct you will
now vote at St. Stanislaus School, first floor. |
| Hilary's Urban Eatery Closes! After 10
years and 3 months at Division and Greenview, HUE closed at the
end of February. This casual diner has been serving up great
fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner since December, 1995. They
have plans to re-open a new restaurant across from the post office on
the other side of Ashland Avenue sometime this fall, but are not
set on the date at this time. The new owner of the HUE
building is planning on opening an upscale food store, August, in that location
by the end of November, offering the freshest of fish and meat items,
and will have a deli and best of all -- that lovely patio will still
be open for customers during the summer months. |
| New Garden at Pulaski Park - This
summer look for some vibrant colors to pop up from the courtyard
garden planted last September by PPNA and Pulaski Park Advisory
Council members. The Friends of the Parks donated money to
purchase plants and bulbs to re-plant the "stone soup" garden that
PPNA had planted with donated plants the year before. The
new garden was designed by landscape designer and master gardener,
Lois Grimm and some of the bulbs will be popping up shortly as spring
nears. Adequate mulch was also applied to keep the amount
of weeding to a minimum. Stop by this spring or summer and enjoy
the newly planted garden. |
| Beitler Development Update - Representatives from Friedland/Beitler
Company - Burt Friedland, Dan Coffey and Rolando Alonza - were
on hand at the March 20th meeting to present revised use plans for the
development at Greenview, North and Bosworth Avenues. A
drive-through Starbucks is now planned with a LaSalle Bank ATM
drive-through that allows easy on-off of the Kennedy for both.
About 100 parking spaces will be below grade and a walk-in entrance
will be through the lobby of the building accessible from North Avenue
for residents. The project is being reviewed by DOT and
groundbreaking will occur in early June 2006. Estimated time to
completion is 15-18 months. |
| Graffiti Blasters - If you see graffiti on a neighbor's
fence or garage, take the time to call 311 and report the incident
ASAP. They will ask for the address and the location (rear on
garage door, side of fence, etc.) ;type of surface ( wood, brick -
painted or unpainted); if the markings are over 6 feet high; if they
are hate or gang symbols; if they are close to a school or church -
take the time to call it in on your cell phone - the more the calls
come in the quicker it will come off. |
| 32nd Ward Aldermanic Liaison - We are still in need
of a volunteer from the 32nd ward section of our neighborhood to act
as the liaison between PPNA and 32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack's office.
Please call Kapra ( 773/354-1239) to volunteer or email PPNA at
mail@pulaskiparkneighbors.org. |
