Evanston has been awarded a $100,000 grant by the Chi-Cal Rivers Fund to create and enhance migratory bird habitat along the North Shore Channel in the Ladd Arboretum and four nearby Evanston parks.

Oak Park

Village tabs Charley as Dept. of Public Health Director

Michael T. Charley has been named Director of the Oak Park Department of Public Health. Charley, who had served as interim director since October 2015, will oversee an operation that is one of only four municipal health departments in suburban Cook County certified by the state to provide public health programming. Prior to becoming interim director, Charley served as the Oak Park Health Department’s Environmental Health Supervisor, a role he assumed in December 2003. Before joining the village staff, Charley as an environmental consultant for a number of local state-certified health departments, including DuPage County and the City of Evanston. Charley, who earned a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Health from Illinois State University and a master’s degree in Environmental Management from the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Stuart School of Business, also serves as an Illinois Licensed Environmental Health Practitioner and as an Illinois Licensed Lead Assessor. For more information, call (708) 383-6400, send an email to village@oak-park.us or visit www.oak-park.us/health.

Buffalo Grove

Moody’s confirms village’s AAA long-term bond rating

The village reported that Moody’s Investor Service recently confirmed Buffalo Grove’s AAA long-term bond rating, citing its, “favorable location and its affluent demographic profile,” in addition to strong reserves and a willingness to balance operations by adjusting revenues and expenditures. Other factors given for the favorable rating included budgetary flexibility and strong liquidity with available cash balances compared to total government fund expenditures, and low debt burden measured at a modest 2 percent of operating revenues. In addition, financial management was rated strong, as well as the village’s financial policies and use of long-range planning documents. Buffalo Grove is one of only 14 communities throughout Illinois to hold the highest rating available for Moody’s, representing 1 percent of 1,299 municipalities statewide. For more information, call (847) 459-2500 or visit www.vbg.org.

Evanston

City nets grant to fund Ladd Arboretum project

Evanston has been awarded a $100,000 grant by the Chi-Cal Rivers Fund to create and enhance migratory bird habitat along the North Shore Channel in the Ladd Arboretum and four nearby Evanston parks. The grant, administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), will fund improvements to 3.75 acres of bird habitat along a 1,100-foot section of the North Shore Channel in the Ladd Arboretum, as well as bird-friendly plantings of native shrubs, understory trees, and forbs in Twiggs Park, Harbert Park, Ingraham Park and a fourth park to be determined. The project will run through December 2018, and will be matched by $104,516 in city contributions and private funding. Project areas will not only be enhanced to support the tens of thousands of migratory birds that annually pass through the region, but also to increase the accessibility of public spaces to the surrounding community. Enhancements will focus on improvement and rehabilitation of physical amenities along the channel, including upgrades to the Ladd Arboretum’s dock area and trail, refurbishment of wildlife observation decks in Twiggs and Harbert parks, the addition of an informational kiosk at the beginning of the refurbished trail, and creation of an Evanston Habitat Network stewardship group and Birding Trail website. The Chi-Cal Rivers Foundation is a public/private partnership dedicated to restoring the health, vitality and accessibility of the waterways in the Chicago and Calumet region. For more information about the project, call or text (847) 448-4311 or visit www.cityofevanston.org.

Tinley Park

Village Board announces no increase in property tax levy

The Tinley Park Village Board recently adopted a property tax levy request for Tax Year 2016 in the amount of $25.54 million, which is unchanged from the previous year and represents a zero percent increase in total dollars. It also marks the fourth consecutive year that the village held the tax levy unchanged. The Village Board also approved tax levy abatements for the coming tax year, a practice that saves residents hundreds of dollars on an average property tax bill. Over the past 10 years, the annual average residential tax savings generated by abatements on homes with a market value between $150,000 and $350,000 is between $161 and $378. During the same period, homeowners have received and benefited from cumulative savings of between $1,608 and $3,782 on the village portion of their tax bill because of the abatements, which have totaled more than $47 million for the past 10 years. For more information, call (708) 444-5000 or visit www.tinleypark.org.

Bellwood

Village to host 13th Annual Senior Valentine Ball

Bellwood’s 13th Annual Senior Valentine Ball will be held from 5:30-10 p.m. Feb. 4 at Villa Brunetti Banquets, 9755 W. Grand Ave., Franklin Park. The event includes dinner (served promptly at 6 p.m.), a cash bar, a DJ and live entertainment by Lady Sax. Tickets are $35, and must be purchased by Jan. 27. Tickets will not be sold at the door. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and there will be no reserved seating. To purchase tickets, and for more information, call (708) 547-3500, Ext. 1103 — or visit www.vil.bellwood.il.us.

Hinsdale

Pair of officers earn Police Dept.’s Lifesaving Award

The village announced that two Hinsdale police officers who were credited with saving a person’s life in October 2016 — Sergeant Mark Wodka and Officer Carter Sward — recently received the Hinsdale Police Department’s Lifesaving Award. After hearing that the Hinsdale Fire Department had been dispatched to the Hinsdale Oasis regarding a male subject in full cardiac arrest, Wodka and Sward arrived on the scene first to discover an unconscious man on the floor. Sward immediately began chest compressions, and Wodka then administered two doses of Narcan, which is used by public safety responders to counteract the effects of a known or suspected opioid overdose. The subject eventually was transported to the hospital by the Hinsdale Fire Department. Based on feedback received from the fire department, the man would not have survived without the actions of Wodka and Sward.

–Cook County News Briefs–