City of Park Ridge Community Health Commission met Feb. 22.
Here is the minutes provided by the Commission:
Members Present: J. Barnette, M. Cunningham, J. Franckowiak, M. Hulting, E. Manning, J. Nykoluk, S. Paschos, A. Plewa-Rusiecki, T. Milburn, T. Serio, T. Williams
City Council: Alderman M. Joyce
Others Present: Nick Jop, Amy Murrin, Sylvia Tolczyk
Staff Present: B. Peterson, Recording Secretary S. Tunzi
Absent: None
Meeting called to order at 7:02 p.m.
I. Roll Call
Roll was taken.
II. Approval of Minutes (January 25, 2018)
T. Milburn made a motion to approve the January 25, 2018 minutes. J. Barnett seconded the motion to approve the minutes. Unanimous approval.
III. Citizens Present Wishing to be Heard on a Non-Agenda Item
Maine South AP Government Class students, N. Jop and S. Tolczyk attended the meeting as part of their civic engagement project.
IV. Action Items
A. CHC Annual Health Fair
T. Williams reported that she met with T. Serio, Amy Murrin and Gayle Mountcastle to discuss some of the commission’s ideas. They decided that May 19th was too soon and the weather is not very good for an outdoor event. The idea was to push the Health Fair and also Get Fit Park Ridge back a month and it was suggested having it at Hodges Park because of its central location, more visibility and there being a built in stage with the City Hall stairs. She stated that there is availability on Saturday morning, June 23rd and it would kick off Get Fit Park Ridge in July. The Health Fair would not be following an event, but would still have more likelihood of drawing participants as the Farmer’s Market would already have started at this time. The commission would still be supportive of the Community Fund’s Harry O’Brien event and can still promote it as a healthy activity for Park Ridge residents to take part in.
J. Barnette would like to see an agenda and T. Serio responded that they are still working on this and developing it but for the first year, would like to keep it very simple, narrowed and focused and possibly limit the number of vendors and organizations presenting and showcasing their services and have the commission be a part of helping to select which vendors and organizations are going to be there.
T. Serio made a motion to change the date and location of the Health Fair to June 23rd from 9:00 am – 11:00 am at Hodges Park in conjunction with the Park District and J. Barnette seconded the motion. All were in favor. T. Milburn suggested having the event from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and it was agreed that 9:00 am to noon would be a better time. T. Serio will talk to Ben Peterson or Cheryl Peterson about closing off the street.
Discussion ensued about the Health Fair. There would be an opening letter to the businesses that there would be a selection process due to limitations of space. T. Serio and T. Williams have started drafting a letter in which the mission and goals are that the Health Fair is an opportunity for local businesses and organizations who promote health or healthy lifestyles to showcase their services in the community as well as an opportunity for residents to learn about the many local options available to them in Park Ridge. T. Serio added that the commission will ask individual organizations to bring their own tables and/or tents.
Also discussed was whether or not the commission is able to collect money. Alderman M. Joyce responded that the commission cannot collect money as it has to be in the budget and is very controlled but the Park District may be able to collect money and fees and provide a focus. T. Williams added that only the businesses would be paying a fee and the non-for profits and social service organizations would not.
T. Williams stated that a timeline should be created for the Health Fair with a list of business categories and who the commission would be inviting and a budget would need to be communicated with the city (income and expenditures). T. Serio will start a list of all the businesses that the commission is planning on sending the letter to. It was decided to try and showcase all of the six focus areas. T. Serio stated that the center stage would be in front of City Hall and from 9:00 am to noon there would be 10-20 minute slots of different vendors and organizations to showcase a fitness, dance or martial arts class and all of the tables would be laid out to get brochures and information in Hodges Park. T. Serio and M. Cunningham are overseeing the event. J. Franckowiak and S. Paschos will work on finding organizations and businesses, J. Barnette and M. Hulting will work on marketing.
T. Serio stated that the Park District asked if the commission would be willing to sign an agreement to make sure that everything is in writing.
A. Plewa-Rusiecki announced that she found a manual on-line of how to put together a Health Fair with a checklist and she will forward to the group.
B. Get Fit Park Ridge!
T. Williams stated that Get Fit Park Ridge will be pushed back a month to July and it will be marketed at the Health Fair where participants could sign up for a nominal fee, get a t-shirt with the sponsoring businesses and also get a passport. Individual results could be tracked over the month and the total results could be reported back to the Council.
C. CHC Survey
T. Williams stated that the survey is ready to go and she will write up something about it and submit it to The Spokesman by March 1st along with the Survey Monkey link. The Spokesman article will include the Health Fair, Get Fit Park Ridge in July and the survey. Discussion ensued about the t- shirts for Get Fit Park Ridge. S. Paschos and J. Franckowiak will get prices for the t-shirts and will report back to the commission. A. Plewa-Rusiecki volunteered to work on a passport. J. Barnette stated that he has a designer who can work on getting a design for Get Fit Park Ridge.
V. Discussion Items
A. Environmental Health and Sustainability Update
T. Williams reported that T. Milburn and M. Hulting have worked on a Sustainability Plan which is quite extensive and met with the mayor a couple of times. T. Williams stated that she had a conversation with the mayor about possibly splitting the Health Commission and having a separate Environmental Commission. This idea is on hold for the time being but may happen in the future. She asked the commission for their thoughts. T. Serio said that it makes sense in terms of efficiency and T. Milburn supports the idea of it. Alderman M. Joyce stated that he spoke to the mayor and there is a lot that the commission is undertaking and there isn’t the right amount of staff and members to get all of that work done and there was talk of splitting it up. The council is currently looking at the overall structure of all of the commissions. T. Milburn added that the mayor suggested that if another group will be formed, he thought that there should be a liaison going back and forth between the two commissions as there is a lot of overlap.
T. Williams announced that there are a couple of education opportunities if anyone is interested. There are two lectures on “Engineered Foods, Glyphosate Toxicity and your Health – The Latest” on Tuesday, April 10th from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at Evanston Township High School and another on Thursday, April 12th from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at Trinity High School in River Forest. She also stated that there are two films in Park Ridge. The first film is called “Jane” at the Pickwick Theatre on Saturday, March 3rd at 10:00 am. The other is “Food for Thought, Food for Life and Straws” on March 10th at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church where there will be a Resource Fair at 6:00 pm, the film at 7:00 pm and a Discussion Panel at 8:00 pm. T. Milburn is one of the presenters at the discussion.
T. Serio felt that one of the commission’s goals is to communicate and relay these types of events to the residents as an educational opportunity. She stated that there needs to be a place to inform the residents. T. Williams stated that she will post all of these events on the Get Fit Park Ridge Facebook page.
T. Milburn announced that the Sierra Club will be doing a Town Hall with Senator Murphy in Elk Grove Village on March 26th on the Future Energy Jobs Act which will talk about energy efficiency which you can do in your home, solar power and community solar. He will be the MC. He added that they will be doing a series of these and another will be in Palatine with Tom Skilling.
T. Williams stated that at one of the City Council Meetings there was discussion about cars and hybrid and electric vehicles. Alderman M. Joyce added that there is one hybrid car which was bought as an experiment and that car will need to be replaced. He thought that it would be a good idea for the commission to look at and gather data as to what is the most effective vehicle.
B. Air Quality Alert Flags
J. Barnette had nothing new to report. He had called the School District and talked to a couple of principals but they need direction from the superintendents. He would love to get on the agenda of a school board meeting. He is also thinking about St. Paul of the Cross as they may be interested in a demo project.
C. Caught Doing Good/Caught Green-Handed
A. Plewa-Rusiecki stated that the thought was that the commission would catch community members doing something good and post a picture as a promo on the commission’s website and/or the Get Fit Park Ridge Facebook page with a little caption that starts out with the heading of a focus area with a quick snapshot in order for community members to get to know who the commission is. She went out and got some pictures from around town that were consistent with the commission’s six focus areas and passed around the examples. She attached a photo release and asked if it is all inclusive. Discussion ensued. Alderman M. Joyce will find out about the photo release.
D. Tobacco 21 Initiative
T. Williams stated that the Senate Public Committee passed legislation to increase the age to 21 in the State. It still needs to go through the House and Senate. She hasn’t heard anything about the City having it on their agenda. Alderman M. Joyce believes that it would be well received.
E. Opioid Prevention and Education
T. Williams reported that she met a couple of times with Geri Silic, the police social worker and also met with Officer John Dorner. He is going to work on a couple of videos about what Opioids are. These videos (one 30 second video and one 90 second video) can be shown at the Pickwick and also at presentations as an educational tool. The Health Commission would be co-sponsors of the video. T. Williams added that 40% of people that are dying from opioid overdoses, are from prescriptions. People do not know that prescription drugs are opioids. Education can include who to call for help, how to dispose of drugs at the police station and through environmentally safe packets. She added that there is an Opioid Advisory Group that is going to meet on March 7th at 4:00 pm at the Police Station. S. Paschos and J. Nykoluk were interested in attending the meeting.
T. Williams announced that she did a presentation at the Police Senior Breakfast.
F. Communications and Speaker Series Update
T. Serio stated that she is keeping a running list of speaker ideas. S. Paschos expressed interest in doing something at the library in the future and stated that he has a pre-made presentation on Geriatric Depression.
E. Manning reported that there is one opening, prior to the Health Fair, to have a table at the Farmer’s Market in order to promote the Health Fair. This opening is Memorial Day weekend on Saturday, May 26th. Another date the commission secured was Saturday, September 8th.
VI. Administration Report
A. City Staff None
B. School Administrators
None
C. Other Community Entities
None
VII. New Business.
J. Barnette stated that sustainability is one of the commission’s missions and that Shibley Oaks is a piece of property that has never been developed. It has one two hundred year old oak and at least fifteen one hundred year old oaks. The property along with a small building next door had been purchased and the owner would like to sell the property to a developer. J. Barnette stated that as part of Go Green and the Health Commission, he is trying to see what can be done to save the property. The estimated value of the property is about one million dollars. He added that they are working with a couple of commissioners from the Park District to see what can be done to buy this property. One of the ways is a not for profit group called Open Land and they have very low interest loans up to $750,000. He is trying to get 500 signatures on a petition to go to the Park Board and see if the Park Board would take on this loan of $750,000 to purchase the property. He passed around a petition if anyone was interested in signing it. He added that the property is low and retains a lot of water and is a great natural retention pond. These oaks are valuable and he believes that they not only are an ecological addition to the community but also a part of the historical heritage and he would like to get the Historic Preservation Commission involved as well as it is a historic property and a natural preserve and part of the Oaks Savannah. He stated that these old trees will never be replaced. He believes it is an uphill challenge and has to do with the quality of life in the community and part of the community’s heritage.
S. Paschos asked if anyone knew if District 64 had talked about the mental health impact regarding the recent high school shooting. He believes this is a public health issue and he is concerned that the kids are getting de-synthesized and believes a conversation needs to be had. T. Williams believes that it is an issue to think about and decide what the commission’s part will be.
VIII. Adjournment
E. Manning made a motion to adjourn. A. Plewa-Rusiecki seconded. All were in favor. Meeting adjourned at 8:49 p.m.
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