Category: Evanston RoundTable

Preservation board raises concerns about Noyes center renovation

$22 million cost estimate spurs discussion By Bob Seidenberg Some Evanston Preservation Commission members raised concerns at a recent meeting that a feasibility study recommending a $22 million renovation of the more than 130-year-old Noyes Cultural Arts Center is a…
Council wrestles with homelessness, including Howard St. encampment

By Bob Seidenberg Evanston City Council members have delayed until May consideration of a plan to aid the city’s unhoused population, including addressing an encampment at the Howard Street viaduct on the city’s far south side. After concerns from colleagues,…
Purchase of $2.3 million new fire truck receives Council backing

Reserve truck facing major repairs has ‘put us in a bad place,’ says fire chief By Bob Seidenberg Evanston Fire Department officials received City Council support Monday to move ahead with plans to purchase a $2.3 million new ladder truck,…
Council OKs $180,000 to buy electric leaf blowers for landscapers

By Bob Seidenberg Evanston City Council on Monday approved a plan to make a bulk purchase of electric leaf blowers, batteries, chargers and other equipment to help local landscapers who have had difficulty making the transition away from gas leaf…
Council rejects temporary halt to gas leaf blower ban

By Bob Seidenberg Evanston City Council members voted against suspending enforcement of a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers Monday, a pause some landscapers had sought to allow more time for the transition to electric devices. Council members were sympathetic to…
Council committee working to clear the way for video gambling

By Bob Seidenberg rseiden914@gmail.com A city committee began filling in the blank spaces in an ordinance that would permit video gambling in Evanston for the first time, opening the way for officials to tap into the fast-growing revenue source. A…
Committee backs tax deal to keep VW dealer in Evanston for 10 years

City’s economic development manager challenges Skokie assertion that it wasn’t trying to recruit the business By Bob Seidenberg rseiden914@gmail.com Members of the city’s Economic Development Committee Wednesday night backed a modified sales-tax sharing deal with the owner of a local car business –…