As Wilmette and Winnetka residents ring in the New Year, officials say 2020 is expected to bring a slate of capital improvement projects, a surge in economic development in downtown business districts and new programs to support the emotional health needs of students at local schools.
‘Having a great downtown is part of the appeal for new residents’
Wilmette Village President Bob Bielinski said 2020 will likely find the village’s booming downtown business district continuing to be a magnet for young families relocating from Chicago to the suburbs.
Bielinski said he also anticipates that 2020 will bring new businesses to the village, bolstering what he sees as an already robust dining and shopping scene.
“Having a great downtown is part of the appeal for new residents,” Bielinski said.
Bielinski said that in the past, when a resident walked into their favorite restaurant in downtown Wilmette and were unable to get a table, they often ended up leaving the village and heading to a venue in a neighboring community.
Now, with the recent opening of restaurants like Pescadero Seafood & Oyster Bar at 1167 Wilmette Ave., residents have plenty of dining options, from casual fare to fine dining, Bielinski said.
“When you walk around downtown Wilmette, you can feel the energy and excitement,” Bielinski said.
Wilmette’s new Stormwater Utility Fee to pay for $68 million flood relief project
The start of 2020 will also mean Wilmette residents will find a new bill in the mailbox. Starting Jan. 1, they will begin paying a stormwater utility fee that officials say is needed to fund the village’s $68 million flood relief project.
As the single largest public works investment ever made by the village, the Neighborhood Storage Improvement project is expected to provide flood relief to thousands of Wilmette residents, officials said.
Village officials said the new stormwater utility fee, which will be charged to residents quarterly, is a reliable revenue stream that will fund debt repayments for the $68 million project, which is expected to be completed by 2023.
The fee amount that residents, commercial businesses and non-profits will be charged is based on their property’s impervious surface — the area that does not absorb or allow stormwater to soak into the ground, including buildings, driveways, patios, and decks, officials said.
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Winnetka stormwater management project moving ahead
Flood control projects are also moving ahead in Winnetka, where an intergovernmental agreement between the the village and Winnetka School District 36 is expected to be approved in early 2020. The forging of the new agreement will allow the village to start construction of an underground stormwater storage project on property near Crow Island School.
The project is among the village’s flood control efforts in western and southwestern Winnetka, which officials said will address, “serious and longstanding flooding concerns.”
“This agreement is another major step toward improving stormwater management for Winnetka, which remains a primary focus for the village council,” Village President Chris Rintz said in a statement.
“It is the result of positive and productive conversations with District 36, and we are grateful for their partnership as we move this project forward,” Rintz said.
The agreement will allow the village to use a portion of the Crow Island School property for underground stormwater storage, conveyance, and water quality improvements, officials said.
“After a number of creative problem-solving sessions, we were able to agree on a plan that met the community’s needs for stormwater management and also accounted for the long-term needs of Crow Island School,” Dawn Livingston, District 36 school board president, said.
Village officials, who expect that an agreement with the Winnetka Park District will also be inked in 2020, said they will continue to work with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County to finalize terms of a formal license agreement and develop engineering plans for the stormwater management project.
Electronic Vehicle Charging Station opens in West Elm Parking Lot
Winnetka officials are also kicking off the new year by welcoming the village’s first electronic vehicle charging station, which recently opened in the post office parking lot at Elm and Chestnut streets, in the West Elm shopping district.
The new charging station is on the ChargePoint network, and appears on ChargePoint’s mobile app, in a variety of in-car navigation systems, and on the ChargePoint website, officials said in a recent statement.
Electronic vehicles are typically fully charged in four to five hours at a charging station, officials said, adding: “The installation of the charging system reflects the Village’s commitment to responsible environmental stewardship and the efforts to modernize Winnetka’s business districts. The Village is proud to offer this service to residents and visitors.”
‘We need to have our students recognize their feelings and needs’
Educators at New Trier High School, Winnetka School District 36 and Wilmette School District 39 say they are united in their determination to support a growing sector of students in the community who are struggling with emotional and mental health issues.
New Trier will host a special parent night on Jan. 15 to address rising concerns in the community about student mental health issues, including anxiety, depression and suicide, New Trier Superintendent Paul Sally said in December.
Officials at New Trier estimate that around 30% of New Trier students are seeking help from a social worker or psychologist from the high school, an outside provider, or from both, Sally said.
The high school recently hired additional social workers to meet the demands of a growing number of students who “drop in” during the school day seeking support, Sally said, and officials are considering adding more mental health resources in the future.
Supporting students’ social-emotional health is central to the high school’s new strategic plan, New Trier 2030, which features a comprehensive approach that starts with identifying students at risk, and connecting them and their families to support services, Sally said.
“I don’t think anyone around the table thinks we’re done,” Sally said earlier this year, adding: “We want to see them and help them become the people they want to be.”
‘We know students can’t learn, grow and succeed if they don’t feel connected’
Educators at two of New Trier’s feeder elementary school districts, including Wilmette School District 39 and Winnetka School District 36, echoed Sally’s concerns about the importance of ensuring that all students feel safe, valued and connected to their school communities.
Kelly Tess, the assistant superintendent of professional learning and human resources for District 36. said that 2020 will bring an increased emphasis on social emotional learning for the entire school community, including students, teachers and parents.
“We’re going to have a shift in how we address social emotional learning in our schools in several ways, starting with having our students recognize their feelings and needs, and knowing it is healthy to have these feelings,” Tess said.
“It’s not just that students are stressed out, but we’re seeing an increase in students who are always agitated, and who can’t easily transition from one activity to another. And we’re seeing it starting at a younger age,” Tess said.
While the district plans to begin examining the impact of new technologies, and advocating limits on students’ screen time in the classroom, and at home, Tess said monitoring the time students spend on their electronic gadgets, “is only one part of the equation.”
“We’re finding that our students are highly, highly scheduled, and many start specializing in high performance sports teams and other activities at an early age,” Tess said.
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District 39 Superintendent Kari Cremascoli agreed that even elementary school-aged students in the community are often juggling increasingly busy schedules.
“In the community as a whole, there are some competitive pressures our students face every day, which is a common thread all of our wonderful school districts share,” Cremascoli said, adding: “But we all know that our students cannot learn, grow and succeed unless they feel connected, and with social emotional learning, it all comes down to caring and having a balance.”
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