Development Services Director Emily Egan has been elected as the next American Planning Association Illinois Chapter President. APA-IL is Illinois’ source for networking and professional development in the field of urban planning and serves as a state chapter of the national American Planning Association. APA-IL focuses on things at the state level, including advancing the cause of planning, enhancing planning skills and tools, strengthening communications with affiliated organizations, and acting as a liaison between the national APA and local Chapter members. “I’m honored to have been selected by my Illinois colleagues to represent their interests and the interests of the entire State,” stated Egan, who will be President Elect in 2025 and President in 2026 and 2027.

The Public Works Department welcomed Chris Welch this week as the new Assistant Village Engineer. Chris previously worked at the Village of Lombard, the City of Evanston and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. He attended the University of Illinois at Chicago and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering.  

The Village’s second annual ¡Viva! Festival took place last Saturday. The celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month featured food trucks, live entertainment, vendors, pinatas, face painters, activities for kids and more. Click here to watch a recap video from the event. Oak Park Hispanic Heritage Month festivities continued this week as local customers, Chamber of Commerce members and Village officials attended the Hispanic Heritage Month Mercado hosted by The Coffee Shop Oak Park, 163 S. Oak Park Ave., in the Hemingway Business District. The event featured tasty treats as well as goods and services from the Hispanic business community.

During the past few months the Village Clerk’s Office partnered with 10 local organizations to participate in 15 events with the goal of registering voters and raising awareness about options available to voters for upcoming elections, starting with the 2024 Presidential Election. The outreach efforts resulted in 75 voters being registered and another 30 mail ballot applications being completed. Next up the Village Clerk’s Office will help facilitate early voting at Village Hall from Oct. 21 through Nov. 4.

The Village is collaborating with A House in Austin this month for its diaper drive to assist families in need. Residents are asked to consider donating unopened packs of diapers and baby wipes; size 6 diapers and Pull-Ups are most requested. A box accepting donations is available in the lobby of Village Hall and can be accessed through Oct. 31 during regular business hours Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is also an Amazon Wishlist available for those wishing to purchase items for the diaper drive.

Members of the Oak Park Police Department are showing support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October by wearing special pink patches and pins throughout the month in support of survivors and those currently facing the disease. The highly visible patches help bring attention to the importance of early detection, an issue the Oak Park Public Health Department is working to highlight throughout the month. More information is at www.oak-park.us/breastcancer.

The Village is hosting a Town Hall meeting to discuss the development of its five-year Consolidated Plan from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 10 in Room 101 at Village Hall, 123 Madison St. The meeting is part of the Village’s effort to gather citizen input that will help shape policies and strategies related to housing development and how federal funds are used to assist low- and moderate-income persons, including individuals experiencing homelessness. In addition to attending the meeting, residents and community stakeholders are also invited to share input by completing an online survey at www.engageoakpark.com/consolidated-plan. More information is at www.oak-park.us/consolidatedplan.

The Village is hosting a series of upcoming workshops to assist property owners and managers report their annual energy and water consumption. The workshops stem from the Village's Energy and Water Benchmarking Ordinance that requires buildings 10,000 square feet and larger to report their annual energy and water consumption using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. The first two workshops will be held virtually on Oct. 22 and Oct. 23 followed by two in-person benchmarking data jam workshops on Nov. 4 and Nov. 7 at the Oak Park Public Library, 834 Lake St. Find more information about the workshops and the benchmarking requirement at www.oak-park.us/building-benchmarking.

The Village and its Environment & Energy Commission are surveying the community to learn about current transportation options around Oak Park, and about whether an electric shuttle could help meet people's transportation needs. The survey is available at www.engageoakpark.com/electric-shuttle. Climate Ready Oak Park, the community’s climate, sustainability and resilience plan, includes a goal to “shift from personal vehicles to active transportation and transit.” One of the high-impact actions identified under this goal is to assess the feasibility of reintroducing the Oak Park shuttle with an all-electric fleet. High-impact actions are those that have a high emissions reduction potential, and they are essential for achieving the Climate Ready commitments of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030 and achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The Oak Park Public Health Department is helping spread the news that every household in the United States is now eligible to order four free at-home COVID-19 tests from the federal government at www.covidtests.gov. Public Health officials say COVID-19 testing will confirm if symptoms of sore throat, congestion, fatigue, fever or cough are COVID-19. Knowing your status will help in making decisions about how to stop the spread of the virus, including staying home or wearing a mask in public. The Public Health Department also has a limited supply of free rapid COVID-19 tests available for residents. Community members are welcome to come to Village Hall, 123 Madison St., during regular business hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays to pick up free tests. This offer will continue as long as supplies last, and is intended for people currently experiencing symptoms, not for long-term storage.

The Downtown Oak Park Business Alliance held its first free seminar for business owners this week as a part of the DTOP Business Academy. Staff from the Village’s Development Services Department attended to support the effort. Approximately 20 business owners participated in the seminar, which featured Triton College representatives facilitating a discussion about branding skills at the Oak Park Library. Pictured are the class members who attended this first seminar. Two additional seminars will be held. On Oct. 14 the focus will be website best practices and on Oct. 28 the seminar will focus on social media strategies. Both upcoming seminars will take place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Lake Theatre. Oak Park business owners or managers can register online. For non-DTOP members there is a $10 cost per seminar that can be paid online.

Oak Park Jewelers, one of the Village’s longest operating retail businesses, recently celebrated its 40th anniversary with a ribbon cutting at its 101 S. Marion St. store. Pictured here with Oak Park Jewelers owner Sam Ciccione is Village President Vicki Scaman, Village Economic Vitality staff and representatives from the Oak Park River Forest Chamber of Commerce. If you know of an Oak Park business on the verge of celebrating an important anniversary, contact Economic Vitality Administrator Cameron Davis at cdavis@oak-park.us so that business can be featured in future Pick Oak Park Economic Vitality Reports.

The Breakfast House restaurant chain will be joining the Oak Park business community with a new restaurant at 138 N. Marion St., the former Cozy Corner location. The Breakfast House offers pancakes, omelets, sandwiches, soups and Latin dishes. The Oak Park location will be the first outside Chicago for the growing Breakfast House chain, which currently has restaurants in several Chicago neighborhoods including Uptown, Belmont Cragin, Wrigleyville, Belmont Heights, Old Irving Park, Lake View and West Town.

Water & sewer improvements – The contractor installed new water main under the Forest Avenue viaduct and connected to the existing main on North Boulevard. All underground work associated with the South Boulevard portion project is complete. Removals on the north side of South Boulevard are in progress, and curb will be poured on the south side of the street this week. Sidewalk removal under the viaduct is also underway and will continue through next week. The first lift of asphalt for North Boulevard and South Boulevard is expected to be placed the week of Oct. 21.

Street resurfacing project – All streets included in this year’s street resurfacing project have received roadway patching and the first lift of asphalt. Over the next few weeks these streets will have parkways restored and structures located within the street adjusted to final grade. The final lift of asphalt is expected to be installed the week of Oct. 14. A detour was set up this week for the upcoming concrete work on Garfield Street. This detour should be removed by the end of next week to allow motorists to use the new finished concrete pavement. The entire project is anticipated to be complete by the end of October. Visit www.oak-park.us/construction to view a map of 2024 capital improvement projects, which shows locations scheduled for street resurfacing this year.

Madison Street improvements – The contractor finished pouring the remaining sidewalks on Madison Street and concrete bases for brick pavers. Installation of the brick pavers on Madison from Clarence Avenue to East Avenue started this week. The contractor also started milling Madison from Oak Park Avenue to East Avenue and adjusted existing structures in the roadway to final grade. The first lift of asphalt on Madison is scheduled for next week.

Lot 10 construction – The contractor installed new conduit into the ComEd structure located in Parking Lot 10 this week. A concrete pad will be poured around the structure’s frame. The final paver bricks will be placed next week to complete the parking lot construction. The temporary fence around the landscaped area will be removed by the end of this week.