The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

: i : | i i ut (853 WINNETKA TALK July 2, 1927 Village Manager' s Annual Report Editor's note: Following is the sixth installment of Village Manager H. L. 'Woolhiser"s annual report made to the Village council recently. The report is a comprehensive survey of every phase of municipal administration of the vil- lage during the past fiscal year and should be of vital interest to every tax- payer and voter in Winnetka. It affords an insight into the great responsibility which lies with our municipal servants, a responsibility far greater than the casual observer can ever comprehend. GENERAL ACTIVITIES It is believed that it will be of in- terest and assistance to the Council and of historical value to record in this re- port a statement of general activities of the Council and the administrative or- ganization during the past year. The following general ordinances were enacted: 1. An ordinance providing for closer regulation of dogs running at large in the village. 2. An ordinance providing for an offi- cial plan commission for the Village of Winnetka. 3. An ordinance revising the Code, _ 4. An ordinance providing for a Zon- ing Commission for the Village of Win- netka. _ 5. An ordinance providing for the tak- ing of a census of the population of the Village of Winnetka for 1927. During the year no new streets were dedicated or vacated. _ During the year the following changes in street names were made: Health 1. Linden street from Elm street to Oak street, to Center street. 2. Fig street from Center street to " Hibbard road, to Westmoor road. During the year the following subdi- vision plats were approved: 1. Alles' Sunset Subdivision of the Northeast quarter of the Southeast quar- ter of Section 20. Township 42 North, Range 13. 2. Griffin's Subdivision of Lots 30 and 31 in Remy Park Subdivision in Section 21, Township 42 North, Range 13. 3. Winnetka Villas, a Subdivision of Block 2 of Phillips Partition Subdivision in Fractional Southeast quarter of Sec- tion 21, Township 42, Range 13. 4, White's Resubdivision of Winnetka Villas, being a subdivision of Block 2 of Phillips Partition Subdivision in Frac- tional Southeast quarter of Section 21, Township 42 North, Range 13. 5. Boal's Subdivision, in the Northwest quarter of the Southeast quarter of Sec- tion 18, Township 42 North, Range 13. 6. Metzel's Consolidation of part of Lot 30, Orth's Subdivision and part of Lot 29 of Remy Park Subdivision, to- gether with a tract of land intervening and adjoining, in the Southeast quarter of the Southeast quarter of Section 21, Township 42 North, Range 13. 7. Daughaday Acres, being a Subdivi- sion of the North half of the Southeast quarter (except the east 100 feet there- of), and the Southwest quarter of the Southeast quarter of Section 20, Town- ship 42 North, Range 13. During the year the following special assessments were instituted: 1. Resurfacing of macadam pave- ments on various streets in the village. 2. Water main in Pine street, Glendale avenue, Willow road, Sunset road and Hill road. 3. Storm water sewer system in Hib- bard road, Fig street, Hamptondale ave- nue, Chatfield road, etc. 4. Sanitary sewer in the Daughaday Subdivision. 5. Sanitary sewer in the Alles' Sub- division. 6. Widening and paving Winnetka avenue, Wilson street and Tempel court. 7. Paving streets in the Manus Indian Hill Subdivision. 8. Supplemental assessments for pave- ments in the Winnetka Manor Subdi- vision. In the case of the storm water sewer system in the vicinity of Hibbard road and Hamptondale avenue proceedings have not been carried to confirmation, because of the adoption of the sugges- tion of property owners in this section that an effort be made to eliminate storm water from the sanitary sewers in that district by asking all property own- ers to disconnect downspouts and other storm connections. Most of the storm connections have accordingly been re- moved, and up te the present time, there has been no repetition of the serious backing up of the sanitary sewer in Hib- bard road, although this sewer still car- ries a very large amount of storm water after heavy rains. The construction of the through traffic highway from Winnetka avenue to Oak street was started last year, and was practically completed in December, pro- viding another important section of the plan for carrying through traffic on a direct route through the village, adja- cent to the railroad, instead of having it scattered over our residential streets. This improvement has already served to relieve many of our residential streets from the burden of heavy traffic. No definite progress was made during the year on the grade separation prob- lem, largely because of the change in management of the Chicago and North- western railroad, and the desirability of giving the new management further time to formulate its policies. It is believed by the council that the time is now ripe to vigorously press the matter of track depression, in cooperation with the other municipalities vitally interested. As a result of the delay in further develop- ments on grade separation, the renewal of the franchise of the Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee railroad has been held pending, by periodic extensions of the existing franchise ordinance, inas- much as the reframing of this franchise is closely associated with the problem of grade separation for both railroads. During the year, the council consid- ered the problem of the extension of Lincoln avenue from Elm to Oak streets, east of the railroad, and endeavored to secure the cooperation of property own- ers in this block in adopting a plan which would substantially meet the recommendations of the Winnetka Plan Commission, but it has been found im- possible to work out a solution satisfac- tory to all concerned, and the project is therefore still pending. The establishment of an official plan commission by ordinance, as provided by the state statutes, should serve to as- sist the council in regulating neéw sub- division developments, not only within the village limits, but also within one and one-half miles thereof, insuring that all property development, including the arrangement of public streets and parks, shall harmonize with a carefully worked out general plan. The question of the renewal of the franchise of the Illinois Bell Telephone company, which expired in 1924, has been under careful consideration by the coun- cil, and a number of technical and legal questions have been settled. It is ex- pected that a final draft of the ordin- ance may be agreed upon and submitted to the village for ratification, within the next few months. The question of the dangerous situa- tion on Hubbard street, east of the Hubbard Woods station, which street is occupied by the tracks of the North Shore Line, has been studied by the council and a plan involving a street rearrangement at this location has been submitted to the railroad authorities for consideration. 5 During the year special attentign was paid to the enforcement of the signboard ordinance, in carrying out the policy of the village that large advertising dis- plays, particularly in residential sections, are entirely out of harmony with the attractive character of this community. Signboards in the business districts in general conform to the ordinance, and credit should be given to the numerous business establishments which have voluntarily cooperated with the village in removing signs brought to their at- tention. There remain a few large sign- boards, particularly on the roofs of buildings, which are out of harmony with the character of the community, and it is to be hoped that some means for securing the cooperation of the own- ers of the property where these signs exist, may be found. During the year, the council held a number of conferences with the Board of Education and the Park Board on the question of the 1927 quadrennial re- valuation of property for taxation, and as a result, Mr. H. H. Brown of Murray and Terry is making a study of property values, the results of which are to be submitted to the township assessor for consideration. The policy has been adopted of avoiding any general increase in real estate values, making changes only where unusual conditions have ma- terially advanced values, such as in the case of acreage property, recently subdi- vided. The village continued to cooperate with the Winnetka Park District, in the maintenance of the park system, ex- clusive of Skokie Playfield, the Village Manager acting as park superintendent, under whose direction the purchasing of park supplies and equipment was also handled. The village kept in touch during the year with other municipalities of the state of Illinois, through its membership in the Illinois Municipal League, the Village attorney taking an active part in the consideration of important ques- tions of legislation, such as the mat- ter of home rule of public utilities. The Village Manager attended the annual meeting of the Illinois Municipal League at Springfield and also the Convention of City Managers' Association at Colo- rado Springs in September. The activities of the year may be summarized in general by the statement that the aim has constantly been kept in mind of rendering to the residents of the village as courteous, prompt and effi- cient public service as is possible under the limitations imposed by available funds and facilities. With the provision of the quarters in the new Village Hall, the task of adequately serving the com- munity has been materially lightened, and an inspiration has been afforded in the fine architecture of the building for a greater effort on the part of the vil- lage organization in the future. For Good where receive attention. The WINNETKA Tax FOR ReEesuLts Results QUICK! ADVERTISE Winnetka Reads A ready-made audience keyed up to buying pitch which you can reach only through one channel, and at a cost surprisingly low. Your message in our classified columns is sure to WINNETKA 2000-2001 FOR AD- Before 5:30 P. M. on Thursdays Want-Ad all of TAKERS