After two restorations in other parts of the village, the Friends of the Green Bay Trail is now proposing a third upgrade to the popular walking and biking pathway. However, village officials wants to talk with residents who live close to the property before the project begins.
Friends of the Green Bay Trail representatives appeared at the village’s April 20 Committee of the Whole meeting previewing their plans to restore a small section of the Trail, north of Maple Hill Road near the relocated Booth Cottage adjacent to Glencoe Park District property.
Their goal is to remove buckthorn and other invasive plant species, dead trees along with any other types of debris or impediments sometime in 2023.
Once that work is complete, next year native plant materials would go into the ground with the hope of developing a healthier landscape, according to the FGBT.
This would be a similar effort to the previous endeavors inside Glencoe. A section of the trail from Harbor to Scott Streets was renovated from 2012-2017 followed by a second one south of South Avenue from 2017-2019.
This would be much smaller project as Harbor to Scott encompassed 5.2 acres and the section south of South Avenue was 1.7 acres with the segment near the Booth Cottage is less than a half-acre.
Village officials are pleased with the results of the previous Friends of the Green Bay Trail efforts.
“It is pretty impressive that all those shrubs and trees are surviving,” Village Manager Phil Kiraly said.
While village trustees supported the project, there was a corresponding acknowledgment that in the time between the invasive species are removed and the new materials develop, there may be some apprehension from anyone who lives close by regarding the buckthorn removal next to Ravine Bluffs Park.
More Top Picks Photophobia In Children When To See A Doctor
“When something gets removed you are used to seeing, it can be jarring,” Kiraly said. “We do know there are going to be some backyards impacted by this now and in the future.”
As the work proceeded in the previous projects, some neighbors expressed concern about the impact to their neighborhood including appearing at village board meetings.
Kiraly said the proposed work area doesn’t immediately abut residential properties, but the village would reach out soon to the general neighborhood before the work started.
“We can’t make everybody 100% happy all the time,” Village President Howard Roin added. “But we are going to do our best to accomplish that.”
It is not certain how long it would take for the new plants to bloom, but Friends of the Green Bay Trail President Ann Reilly said the section south of South Avenue looks far better today than after the 2019 completion.
“In the essence of the world, that is a short time to go from horrible to beautiful,” Reilly said.
Reilly said some large trees such as evergreens could be planted to provide some immediate screening.
The groups efforts originated in 2011 when some residents informed the village they were interested in removing buckthorn and other invasive species on the section of the Trail, which is on village property.
In 2016, the village board formally approved a nonexclusive license agreement with the Friends of the Green Bay Trail permitting routine maintenance and the planting of permitted trees and natural plant materials.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.