Oak Parkers are invited to safely dispose of sensitive documents and foam products with the No. 6 symbol at a free paper shredding and foam recycling event scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday, April 20 at the Public Works Center, 201 South Blvd. Residents will again be able to drop off foam products with the No. 6 symbol, which are not accepted as part of the Village's single-stream recycling program. Please collect foam products in a clear, translucent bag. For paper shredding, each household can bring two bags or small boxes of paper items with personal information such as canceled checks and documents containing credit card numbers, social security numbers and medical information. More information is available at www.oak-park.us/shred24.

The Public Health Department this week hosted a volunteer event for local youth to assist with the Village’s Opioid Overdose Prevention Project. Along with Department staff, young people helped assemble 250 opioid overdose prevention kits. These will be used throughout the spring and summer to stock the seven boxes throughout the community where people can access Narcan and addiction recovery resources for free every day of the week. The Opioid Overdose Prevention Project is about to enter its second year. Thus far, more than 720 kits have been picked up from the boxes, and the Public Health Department has distributed more than 300 additional kits through trainings, community events and walk-ins to Village Hall. The Public Health Department also recently teamed up with Media Production Manager Joe Kreml to produce a video encouraging community members to keep an opioid overdose prevention kit in their bag in case of an emergency – click here to view. The video is being shared across the Village’s communications channels. To learn more about the project, visit www.oak-park.us/naloxone, or reach out to the Public Health Department at 708.358.5480 or health@oak-park.us.

For the first three months of 2024, 195,401 parkers utilized either the Lake and Forest, Holley Court or The Avenue public parking garages. During the past three years, utilization of the Village’s public parking garages has been on a slow recovery from the dramatic reduction in daily use that occurred during the COVID-19 emergency. However, during the first quarter of the year, the combined number of daily parkers in the three parking garages actually decreased by 7,132, as compared to the first three months of 2023. Overall, the largest decrease in overall daily parkers occurred in the Holley Court garage, where use was down by 9%. The Lake and Forest garage saw a significant uptick with a 13% increase in daily parking utilization, as compared to 2023 totals.

In terms of revenue generation, across all three garages the Village’s 2023 parking rate adjustments have resulted in an increase in daily parking revenue of $47,357 this year, compared to the first three months of 2023. Even with the 2023 rate adjustments, the Village’s 2024 daily parking revenue, across all three public garages for the first three months of the year remains slightly lower by $2,641 than 2019 totals, when daily utilization at the garages were at an all-time high. Click here to view spreadsheets comparing daily parking utilization totals over the past six years.

The Police Department welcomed the arrival of new of a new Police Officer this week as Quentin Ronsick was sworn in during a ceremony at Village Hall. He will begin training at the police academy later this spring. Quentin graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Columbia College Chicago in 2017. Dallas Moreland is the newest employee in the Public Works Department after joining the organization as a Water & Sewer Worker this week. In other employee news, Property Maintenance/Community Development Inspector Jeremy Tucker from the Neighborhood Services Department recently earned his International Code Council Certification. Upon earning the certification, he was officially sworn in as a Property Maintenance and Housing Inspector on April 15 at Village Hall.

Several dozen community members joined Village elected officials and staff for a Spring Neighborhood Cleanup event on April 13 in celebration of Earth Month and National Volunteer Month. The groups used litter pickers, brooms, shovels and other supplies provided by the Village to pick up refuse along sections of Madison Street, Austin Boulevard, Lake Street and Ridgeland Avenue. Residents who were unable to participate in the event, but are otherwise interested in the effort to Keep Oak Park Beautiful, can learn more about the Village’s Neighborhood Clean-up Program at www.oak-park.us/neighborhoodcleanup.

Beautiful spring weather served as an ideal backdrop as several hundred community members gathered for Oak Park’s Holi Celebration last Sunday on the south lawn at Village Hall. Attendees enjoyed Indian food, Bollywood music and throwing colored powder during the event marking the Hindu Festival of Colors. Click here to view photos from the event and click here for a recap video posted on the Village’s Instagram page.   

Now is the time to plan for spring and summer remodeling projects, both business and residential. Anyone considering opening a business, designing an addition, finishing a residential basement, building a new garage or remodeling a home kitchen or bath is encouraged to schedule a preliminary construction meeting before finalizing the plans. Village staff will explain what is needed for the permit process and can direct you to resources that can provide additional guidance if needed. To schedule a personal appointment, call 708.358.5434 or email permits@oak-park.us.

Environmental Services Manager Erica Helms and Civil Engineer Abby Zielinski, who formerly served in the Village’s Office of Sustainability, will be on hand sharing information about local sustainability efforts at the One Earth Film Festival screenings of A Good Neighbor and Earthbound on Friday at Unity Temple. The film festival runs until April 23 across the greater Chicago area. Visit www.oneearthfilmfest.org/films-by-date for trailers, tickets and the most updated information.

The Oak Park - River Forest Chamber of Commerce is hosting its eighth annual Community Health and Wellness Fair from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Sunday, April 21 at the Park District of Oak Park Community Recreation Center, 229 Madison St. Representatives from the Oak Park Public Health Department are participating in the event, which features local health and wellness professionals providing a wide range of services such as comprehensive cardiac risk assessment, bone density scans, lung screening, blood pressure checks, blood glucose testing and more. Admission is free. 

Climate change is an issue facing all generations from young to old. The Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society is welcoming guest speaker Pamela Tate to discuss the topic from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thurs., April 25 at the Infant Welfare Society’s office at 28 Madison St. The free presentation is titled How to Save the Planet & Save Your Money Too: Your Role in Solving the Climate Crisis. Tate is member of the Oak Park Climate Action Network (OPCAN) and is also a Certified Climate Reality Leader trained by former Vice President Al Gore. Her discussion will focus on kitchen table decisions everyone can make to help the environment as well as ways to get involved at the community, state and federal level in fighting climate change. Light refreshments and dessert will be served. Anyone interested in attending can RSVP at www.oprfiws.org/save-the-planet-rsvp.

Madison Street improvements – The contractor finished pressure testing and chlorinating the new water main along Madison Street this week. Sewer installation continued and water main was installed at the intersection of Madison and East Avenue. Next week the contractor will start installation of the new copper water services and pour concrete patches over the existing trenches.

Austin Boulevard sewer improvements – Crews started removing sidewalks, curbs and existing storm structures along Austin Boulevard north of Roosevelt Road. No parking signs are posted on the east and west side of Austin within the construction zone for traffic control purposes. Construction will continue on the west side of Austin moving north toward Garfield Street for the next few weeks.

Euclid Avenue water improvements – The contractor installed new valves at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and South Boulevard, and traffic control barricades at that intersection will be removed once patching work is complete. Work is shifting north of the railroad line as crews have started installing new water main on Euclid closer to Lake Street.

Alley improvement project – Utility work is complete in the first four alleys scheduled for repairs this year. Earth excavation for the alley between the 600 blocks of Elmwood Ave. and Fair Oaks Ave. will begin this week. All affected residents have received parking passes. For the second alley contract, sewer work will begin in the alley between the 1000 blocks of Humphrey Ave. and Austin Blvd. this week. The alley where work began last week between the 200 blocks of Taylor Ave. and Humphrey Ave. will be fully restored by the end of this month.

Sidewalk repairs set to begin – The annual sidewalk project is expected to begin construction on April 24. The project will be split into two contracts this year. This first will focus on east-west streets on the south half of the Village, south of South Boulevard. Sidewalks have been marked for removal and the sites are being prepped for construction. The second sidewalk project is still out for bid, with construction expected to begin in May. The second project will focus mainly on north-south streets on the southwestern section of the Village.

Forest & Ontario update – Lighting removals are ongoing and brick crosswalk work is scheduled to begin next week near the intersection of Forest Avenue and Ontario Street. The detour from last year will be reinstalled and traffic will not be allowed to pass through the site during construction.

Marion resurfacing – Removals started this week of the curbs and sidewalks on Marion Street and Pleasant Place. Sewer repair will take place this week on Marion followed by milling of the existing roadway along Marion from Randolph Street to Pleasant Place. There will be no parking allowed during the working hours within the construction zone on Marion and Pleasant Place.