News from WANT's September General Meeting

WANT's September 26th General Meeting was full of engaged discussion of a number of neighborhood issues. A new board was elected and two resolutions were passed. A majority of the WANT members present voted to provide a letter of support to the West Ridge Nature Preserve Park Advisory Council, which is working with the Chicago Park District to ensure that the design of the new nature preserve at Peterson and Western is appropriate. Patrice Ceisel, WANT member and vice president of the Park Advisory Council, described the current design of the preserve and gave an explanation of the issues the Advisory Council has with the current CPD plan. Member questions about the details of the plan were answered by Patrice and Terry Prorok. A motion was made and carried that WANT provide the letter requested by the Park Advisory Council.

A second resolution was also made; the Edgewater Historical Society requested WANT's support in its attempt to gain historic landmark status for the Trumbull School building. LeRoy Blommaert of EHS spoke about what historic status would mean in practical terms, as well as the basis on which the status is being sought. After lively debate, the majority of members present voted in favor of the motion to support EHS's request for historic landmark status for Trumbull.

A vote on the proposed new bylaws for WANT was tabled to the December General Meeting, as questions were raised as to how the transition of board members would work. Members were invited to take a closer look at the proposed amendments and send in any changes they suggest, so that a vote can be taken at the December General Meeting.

Reports were also given on the status of a number of ongoing issues, including traffic caused by both the Rogers Park Montessori School and the Passages Charter School, the Metra construction on Ravenswood, and the status of the Trumbull building. These topics will continue to be discussed and updates will be given at the December General Meeting.

The nominees for the 2014 board were introduced and voted in, and they are:

President - Michael Fick Vice President - Maia Rigas Secretary - Josh Bucher Treasurer - Cameron Krieger Members-at-Large: Debby Pope, Amanda Dykema-Engblade, and Elizabeth Dowling

The December General Meeting has not yet been scheduled, but we will let you know as soon as it is!