A retirement sendoff was held for Fire Chief Ron Kobyleski on Friday at the Main Fire Station as he wrapped up his 40-year career with the Village. Since beginning his career in 1985, Chief Kobyleski held every rank within the Fire Department, including the past three years as Fire Chief. Click here to read more about his accomplishments. Upon Chief Kobyleski’s retirement, Village Manager Kevin Jackson has selected current Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Fadden to serve as Interim Fire Chief while ongoing recruitment for a new Chief continues.

Two Public Health Department employees are listed as contributing authors in a report published in a recent U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity, Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Epidemiologist Emma Betancourt and former Public Health Nurse Kitty Monty contributed to a study on how medetomidine, a nonopioid sedative not approved for use in humans, was detected in illegally manufactured opioids. The study is an example of the Public Health Department’s collaboration with other public health organizations and in this case marks an important contribution to opioid research in the United States. Click here to read the report.

The Village Board ushered in a new term as Village President Vicki Scaman, Trustees Chibuike Enyia, Jenna Leving Jacobson and James J. Taglia and Village Clerk Christina M. Waters were sworn in Tuesday at Village Hall after being elected to four-year terms last month. Departing Trustees Ravi Parakkat and Lucia Robinson were also recognized during the ceremony for their service to the community. All Village Board meetings, including this week’s swearing-in ceremony, are live streamed and archived for on-demand viewing at www.oak-park.us/boardtv. The webpage also includes a list of upcoming meetings as well as detailed agendas and minutes. For more information about Village of Oak Park elected officials, visit www.oak-park.us/villageboard.

Approximately 100 graduate students from UIC’s College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs filled Council Chambers on Tuesday afternoon to present ideas on how to enhance economic vitality in various Oak Park business districts. Leaders from five studio groups presented their work to Village Manager Kevin Jackson, Assistant Village Manager Kira Tchang, Assistant Village Manager Jonathan Burch, Village Planner Mike Bruce, Chief Sustainability Officer Lindsey Roland Nieratka and Chief Communications Officer Dan Yopchick. Click here to view a recording of the presentations.

Leaders from many Village departments including the Village Manager’s Office, Development Services and Law and elected officials spent Thursday afternoon in downtown Chicago at a biennial seminar for local government officials hosted by Village Attorney Greg Smith and his colleagues from the law firm Elrod Friedman LLP. Topics of discussion during the event included development and land use, local governments and the First Amendment, social media protocols and pitfalls, cutting-edge municipal initiatives and more.

Several Village employees joined Oak Park, Cook County and state elected officials as participants during the Village’s first-ever Civic Engagement Festival on Sunday at Village Hall. The inaugural event was coordinated by the Village Clerk’s Office and featured a resource fair, mock board meetings with kids, entertainment, food trucks and community discussions on various topics. The festival served as a kickoff to Public Service Recognition Week and the 56th Annual Professional Municipal Clerks Week.

Village President Vicki Scaman, Trustee Jim Taglia and Village Manager Kevin Jackson joined other Village staff and local leaders at Visit Oak Park's Annual Meeting at Cheney Mansion on Tuesday when the organization unveiled an exciting rebrand complete with a new name and broader vision. Explore Oak Park and Beyond reflects an expanded focus on promoting not just Oak Park but also 19 vibrant neighboring communities in Chicago’s near west suburbs. Click here to learn more about Explore Oak Park and Beyond.

The Village’s Public Works Department recently assisted the Oak Park Arts District with updating three wayfinding informational signs on Harrison Street. The signs were initially installed several years ago and were beginning to show their age, so Arts District officials worked with Public Works staff to update the signs ahead of the annual What’s Blooming on Harrison street festival on May 31. Pictured here are Mimi Comerford, Vice President of the Oak Park Arts District Business Association, and Streets Division Equipment Operator Taras Horalewskyj alongside one of the recently refurbished signs.

The Village’s Forestry Division is overseeing spring parkway tree planting at locations throughout the Village. A total of 208 new trees consisting of 34 different species and 25 different genera are being planted through the next week as the Village continues to focus on diversifying its parkway tree population to protect against future insect and disease problems. Presently there are trees in 98% of identified parkway planting locations. For more information about how the Village maintains Oak Park’s urban forest, visit www.oak-park.us/trees.

Oak Park water customers will receive with their upcoming water bill a request to complete a survey as part of the Village's Cross Connection Control Program. There is no cost and it takes only a few moments to complete. Surveys should be completed within 30 days of receipt of the survey notice. The survey allows the Village to satisfy an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency requirement that water providers survey all residential water customers every two years to identify and eliminate connections that could allow contaminants to accidentally flow back into the drinking water from sources such as fire protection sprinkler systems, boilers, lawn sprinklers and swimming pools. More information is at www.oak-park.us/crossconnectionsurvey.

The Village is celebrating International Compost Awareness Week by highlighting the role composting can play in addressing climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions at landfills and the promotion of healthy plant growth. The Village offers a food scrap composting collection program for residential households of up to five units. More details and an online registration form are available at www.oak-park.us/compost. The page also includes information about composting options for apartment dwellers, which include five compost drop-off locations throughout the community.

In recognition of Drinking Water Week, the Village is highlighting the essential role of safe water in our lives, the expertise of the Village’s Water & Sewer staff in the Public Works Department and the work that goes into pumping 5.4 million gallons of high-quality tap water on average every day in Oak Park. Find information about the Village's water & sewer service at www.oak-park.us/water.

The Village is working with a committee of community volunteers in planning Oak Park’s annual Juneteenth Celebration, which kicks off with a flag-raising ceremony on Wednesday, June 11 and continues with a community cookout on Saturday, June 14. Both events will take place at Village Hall. The Juneteenth Cookout will once again feature a Black Business & Community Resource Fair. Businesses and organizations interested in participating can find more information and register on the Oak Park River Forest Chamber website.

Join Downtown Oak Park this spring for four sessions of its successful Business Academy classes this spring. Several Development Services staff members will be attending various Business Academy sessions.  All four sessions will be held at The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association, 178 Forest Ave. The classes will cover the following topics: Building Relationships (May 20), The Art of Persuasion (May 27), Managing Interpersonal Conflict (June 3) and Leadership (June 10). Classes are free for DTOP members and $10 for non-members. Click here for more information and to register.

Pavement preservation project – The annual pavement preservation project is beginning next week at various locations throughout the Village. The work will start with pavement patching, then crack fill, micro surfacing, rejuvenator application and pavement markings. Each block within the 2025 project limits will receive one or more of these treatments depending on the age and condition of the pavement. A map showing the proposed improvements can be found here on the capital improvement project map. All work is expected to be completed by mid-July.

ComEd distribution conduit installation – Work continued on the ComEd conduit installation project for the USPS facility in Forest Park this week with crews installing new sidewalk ramps at the intersection of Randolph Street and Euclid Avenue. The focus will move to East Avenue from Jackson Boulevard to Harrison Street beginning next week.

Alley improvements – Pavement removal will begin this week in the alley between the 1000 blocks of Lyman Ave. and S Humphrey Ave. Sewer improvements are complete for most of the project locations, except for the alleys adjacent to schools. Remaining underground work will resume once students are out for summer break. The first three alleys completed are reopened and had garage accesses restored. By the end of next week, three more alleys will be reopened. All affected residents have been notified and received parking passes.