| Your Neighborhood Improvements Committee |
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Please
don't think of us as The Neighboorhood
Improvements Committee so much as Even
though Old Town is among the most vibrant, well situated, and rewarding
of Chicago's neighborhoods, there is always room for
improvement. Your NIC is committed to
addressing the ongoing and changing needs of our community, as is
consistent with OTTA's
ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS.
Identifying and responding to those opportunities is the business of
your NIC. So if
you have a vision, a suggestion, or (heaven forbid) a
complaint, make it our business by attending one of our regular meetings on the
third
Monday of every month (except June, December, and January) at the Triangle Center, 1763 N. North Park
Avenue, at 7:00 p.m. NIC is chaired by an OTTA Board
Director. Can't
wait for the next meeting? Email us at: nic@oldtowntriangle.com
2006-2007 Accomplishments The Neighborhood Improvements Committee (NIC) initiated the Open Space Revitalization Program designed to revitalize the Triangle’s many Open Spaces, primarily our eight parks, in 2004. Between 2004 and 2007, NIC raised over $100,000 from neighbors and friends of the neighborhood for the Open Space Program. Included in this amount was a $30,000 grant from the State, thanks to the effort of Representative Sara Feigenholtz. The most visible result of this Program is the new children’s play lot equipment in North Ogden Park completed in September 2006. The NIC worked closely with Alderman Vi Daley’s office to have the City revitalize two pocket parks at Willow and Wells and Menomonee and Wells. The City’s Department of Transportation funded and executed both projects. The OTTA has undertaken the “soft scape” maintenance of both parks and DoT retains the “hard scape” maintenance responsibility. At the strong urging of the NIC, Alderman Daley sought and received approval for the re-zoning of three of our parks to “T”. This change ensures that the park properties will be dedicated to park uses under the City Department of Transportation and not be available for sale to developers. The Triangle Parkways Tree Program, designed to provide an extra financial incentive to all residents to maintain the trees in their parkways, experienced its first usage in 2006-2007. While the demand has been low, it is early in the program and will take time for neighbors to take advantage of it. It is open to all property owners in the Triangle and encourages them to add to the beauty and attractiveness of our neighborhood in a manner that also provides a safe environment. Last but not least, the NIC along with several contributing neighborhood establishments continues its program of providing and maintaining the 19 dark green trash cans located throughout the neighborhood. This continues without City support of any kind.
2008 GoalsPrograms Our primary goal is to actively manage our ongoing maintenance Programs for the neighborhood: Additionally, we plan to supplement funding from the City for several projects now underway: - Install sprinklers in Ogden South, Ogden North and Sedgwick/Wisconsin parks. - Repair park benches throughout our parks
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