Village Blog May 2010
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From the Census Director’s Robert M. Groves blog
Progress Report, Three Weeks Into Nonresponse Followup
May 26, 2010
The completion of interviews in this phase is proceeding roughly on schedule. As of Saturday, we completed over 50% of the entire workload. I continue to urge our field staff to treat all those you encounter with the utmost respect; you are the face of the Federal government to many of your respondents; we count on your professionalism to communicate the benefits of their participation in the 2010 census. Especially in those cases where the respondent reports that they have already returned a completed form, please explain that our efforts to followup are motivated by counting everyone once and only once. We appreciate their cooperation.
Some FAQs:
Why am I Being Contacted by The Census Bureau – I Returned my Form! Some questions are coming in from folks who completed and mailed back their census forms, but are being visited by census workers in person, or receiving a phone call from the US Census Bureau. It might be a good time to go over the different reasons this might be happening. (All of the reasons are variants of attempts to make sure we’ve counted people once and only once and in the right place, their April 1, 2010, usual residence.) We use two ways of contacting people -- face to face visits and telephone calls.
Here are some reasons why you might get a knock on the door:
1. We received your mailed-in form too late to scratch your unit off the list of addresses to visit. (Since some forms get lost in transit, we train our enumerators to ask the census questions at every door they’re assigned; please be patient with this request).
2. There was missing or conflicting information on the form we received. (We want to make sure the information we collect from your household is complete and correct.)
3. We can’t match the address you provided on a “Be Counted” form or over the phone to our master address list. (We send the enumerator to you to make sure all information in properly attached to the right housing unit).
If we are uncertain about any of the answers your household provided on the census, we may call to get a better understanding of the situation and ensure we get an accurate count.
Here are a few reasons why you may receive a telephone call from the US Census Bureau:
1. If the number given for how many people were living at the address on April 1 does not match the number of people for whom information was provided.
2. If the form indicates that additional people were staying at the address on April 1 but were not included in the household’s count.
3. If we suspect we have received duplicate information about a housing unit or individual, we will follow-up to make sure people are not counted twice.
You can confirm that the individual calling is really from the Census Bureau by running through this checklist :
Preparing for a Census Call
What to do when you receive a call from a Census Taker
Through mid-August, the Census Bureau will call households who have responded to the 2010 Census if we need to clarify any answers about the number of people living at the address. These calls are simply to clarify answers that have been given and to make sure we count everyone once, only once and in the right place. Not every household will receive a call. The Census Bureau estimates that we may need to call about 8 million households over the four-month period.
If you get a call:
•The caller will identify themselves as working for the U.S. Census Bureau and that the purpose of their call is to help the Census Bureau take the most accurate census and to ensure we have counted everyone at the right address.
•The caller ID will likely show “U.S. Census Bureau.” If this text is not supported (such as on a cell phone), then the inbound toll-free number should show up. The exact number depends on the language skill for which the call is made. If a household would like to confirm they have been contacted by the Census Bureau, they could call one of the possible numbers above and use the eight-digit case identification number they were provided to complete the interview. The interview will take approximately 10 minutes.
• 2010 Census takers will not ask you for your social security number, bank account number or credit card number. •2010 Census takers never solicit for donations and will never contact you by e-mail.
•2010 Census takers will not ask about your citizenship status. •The information collected over the phone, as well as provided on the census form or to a census worker in-person, is kept confidential by law, Title 13, U.S. Code - which is the same law that protects all information provided to census employees.
•If the interviewer calls and nobody answers the phone, he or she will leave a message requesting the household to return the call. In addition, a specific case identification number will be provided so the household can call back and complete the interview.
I’d like to thank all of the households who have responded to the census takers who have already visited them in person or received a call from the Census Bureau. If you haven’t yet received a call or visit – but do so in the next few weeks – please be kind to our census enumerators and answer their questions. This assures your household is part of the 2010 Census.
SEAVEY DITCH RESTORATION AT HAZELTIME DRIVE
The project is 99% complete leaving only minor punch list work to finish. The contractor, Earthwerks will provide plant maintenance for the project this summer and fall.
159 native trees and shrubs have been planted. On May 20th, 18 volunteers from Lifeline Vascular Access located here in Vernon Hills helped us plant 39 of those trees. Over 13,000 native wildflower and grass plugs have been planted. We can anticipate seeing some wildflowers this summer from the plant plugs; we should see many more flowers next year from the seed installed.
We are happy to see that the newly installed stream bank stabilization practices structurally withheld the 3.5” rainfall we received May 13th. Wildlife is returning to the area, we have noticed small fish in the stream, a pair of mallard ducks, and a mother Kildeer nesting on the berm.
For questions or comments you may contact Tom Brettmann at (847) 918-3591 or at Tomb@vhills.org.
ComEd Residential Customer Survey 5/24/2010 Effective immediately, Opinion Dynamics, an independent evaluator, will randomly survey ComEd residential customers about the types of lighting they select for their homes. This Residential Lighting General Population survey will seek to determine what types of light bulbs and lighting fixtures customers select and why. The survey will be conducted from now through May 31, 2010. The targeted residential customers will receive calls Monday through Friday between the hours of 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., on Saturday from Noon to 5:00 p.m., and on Sunday from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. CST. Customers who participated in the survey last year will not be selected for participation this year.
VERNON HILLS POLICE DEPARTMENT TO HOST FREE WOMEN’S SELF-DEFENSE CLASS May 20, 2012
The Vernon Hills Police Department will once again be hosting a women’s self-defense class on Tuesday, May 25, 2010, from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm at the Vernon Hills Police Department. The police station is located at 754 Lakeview Parkway. This class is free and is open to women residents of Vernon Hills, age 8 and up (children under 14 must be accompanied by a parent).
The instructor for the class will be Harriet Johnson, Director of the Crystal Lake Hapkido School. Mrs. Johnson is a former police officer and is an expert in self-defense. She has over 35 years of teaching experience in all aspects of self-defense and use of weapons.
Some of the topics that will be covered in the class are: basic principles of survival and awareness; vulnerable areas of the body; psychology of fear and how to make it work for you; and the basic principles of self-defense.
Anyone who would like to register for the class or would like additional information should contact the Vernon Hills Police Department Crime Prevention Unit at (847) 247-4889 or via e-mail through the police web site – www.VHPD.com.
A PRE-MEMORIAL DAY VETERAN’S RECOGNITION CEREMONY
May 20. 2010
On Thursday, May 27, 2010, at 10:00 am, the Vernon Hills Police Department, Countryside Fire Protection District, Lincolnshire Riverwoods Fire Protection District and the American Legion Post #1247 will be hosting a pre-Memorial Day ceremony for Vernon Hills seniors who served in the US Armed Forces.
In addition, the above agencies have been raising funds to be able to send Vernon Hills veterans to Washington DC as part of Honor Flight Chicago.
“We were initially told there was one Vernon Hills veteran on the waiting list for Honor Flight, and we wanted to make a donation to cover the costs for this Vernon Hills veteran,” said Sgt. Todd Williams. “After further investigation, we realized that there were over 75 veterans residing in Vernon Hills who served in WWII.” The police and fire departments, along with other municipal employees and the American Legion were able to cover the costs of sending several veterans, but were well short of being able to raise enough money to send every Vernon Hills veteran. “So, in the spirit of leaving no one behind and taking care of our own, we decided to make our donation to Honor Flight, and hold our own recognition ceremony for all the Vernon Hills seniors who have served our country at our Veteran’s Memorial / Arbortheater,” said Williams.
“We first attempted to make contact with every Vernon Hills senior who had served in the armed forces through word of mouth, our public access channel, our website and through the many civic associations that exist.” When scheduling permitted, Vernon Hills Police officers then went to the retirement homes, visiting Hawthorn Lakes and The Park. “We were very well received. We found many of our officers served in the same units as our seniors did, 40 years earlier,” said Williams. “It did not take long for bonding, inter-service rivalries and some spirited humor to begin.”
Vernon Hills seniors who served were invited to attend a pre-Memorial Day ceremony so that their efforts could be honored by the community. “We then decided that we would escort our senior veterans to the Veteran’s Memorial in the same manner that we honor our present day combat veterans who return home from Iraq and Afghanistan, with a police and fire escort.” Each retirement home has a senior bus, and the Village has a senior bus, so all seniors will be escorted from either their retirement home or the Village Hall, and brought in with a hero’s reception.
Once at the Veteran’s Memorial / Arbortheater, the veterans will be seated, followed by opening remarks, a moment of silence to honor those that paid the ultimate sacrifice, followed by Mayor Roger Byrne conducting Roll Call in which the name, rank and branch of service of each veteran will be announced. Police and fire staff will be handing out proclamations for each veteran’s efforts.
In the event of inclement weather, The Park, located at 145 N. Milwaukee, Vernon Hills, will be hosting the ceremony inside.
May 18, 2010 Recently, we received an email from a long time resident asking about efforts the Village has undertaken to attract an upscale grocery store like a Whole Foods, Trader Joes or Sunset Foods to Vernon Hills. Here is an update:
We have talked to both Trader Joes and Whole Foods over the years. The latest on Trader Joes several months ago was that after they open an Evanston store they are taking a break from developing more stores in the Chicagoland area. On the Whole Foods front, we received basically the same comment since they have opened a Schaumburg store recently.
The May 18 article in the Daily Herald introduced a new food store concept to the Chicago area, Mariano’s Fresh Market. They want to locate north of the Lowe’s in the Shoppes of Gregg’s Landing development. The article provided a good description of their concept which sounds like a combination of the attributes found in a number of better grocery stores. The newest Mariano’s store will be opening in Arlington Heights in mid-June at Northwest Highway and Kensington Road. The concept plans for the proposed store were presented to the Village Board on May 19. The site plan and preliminary building elevations are posted on the Village’s website, www.vernonhills.org.
The Mayor, Board members and Village Staff continue to pursue retail users with the goal of attracting and retaining quality retail development. We meet directly with retailers and developers to encourage quality uses to locate in the Village. This work is extremely important for the Village as many residents have expressed over the years. Mayor Byrne, Village Manager Mike Allison and Assistant Manager John Kalmar attend meetings of the Shopping Center Council in Chicago to discuss our retail opportunities with specific retailers and developers. Mayor Byrne has met with a number of retailers and developers this year on various sites in the Village.
In our efforts to attract new development or uses, the Village Board provided a partial sales tax rebate. A recent example of this was the rebate that was offered to attract Dick's Sporting Goods to Hawthorn Hills Fashion Square. We created a TIF district in the Town Center area (45 and 21) that provides economic incentives for development including retail uses. The Board is considering a request for a sales tax rebate from Bradford Real Estate to assist in the Mariano’s development.
For the past seven years, we have offered economic incentives to Westfield Hawthorn in an effort to encourage improvements to the tenant mix and aesthetics of the mall. Westfield is working on a theater deal with Kerasotas Theaters, which will soon be AMC Theater which hopefully will provide the impetus for several new restaurants and other improvements at the Mall. We must wait for the AMC’s acquisition of Kerasotas to be completed before continuing our discussion with Westfield.
The Board has also provided several variances for signs in an effort to maintain controls, while allowing more prominent signs to attract customers to local businesses. New signs will be installed for Hawthorn Hills Fashion Square and Townline Commons shopping centers which will display the names of businesses within each center.
Finally, some of actions are a result of a retail study the Village had conducted last year by a consultant reviewing what uses we have in the Village and what we desire to add. Several of our residents who work in the retail development business were members of a committee appointed by Mayor Byrne who reviewed the work of the consultant.
If you have questions or suggestions, please email Assistant Manager John Kalmar at johnk@vhills.org
ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION NAMES VERNON HILLS TREE CITY USE COMMUNITY TRASH/RECYCLING/YARDWASTE SERVICEMay 17,2010 On April 20, the Village Board approved an extension of our trash/recycling/yardwaste service for residential customers. Veolia is preparing a brochure to send each resident of single family detached houses and single family attached houses. This revised contract goes into effect on August 1, 2010.
For service changes, please call Veolia at (847)623-3870. For contract questions, call Michael S. Allison, Village Manager at (847)918-3540 or mikea@vhills.org New Businesses in April Hawthorn Center - Ketchup - Trackless Train - Relax Magic - Taste of N'awlins by Maxie Vernon Plaza - Beauty and the Bead.. VILLAGE BLOG - April 2010 - New Business - trash & Recyling Franchise Agreements - Road Project Updates - Annual Budget Approval - Recycling Meeting VILLAGE BLOG - March 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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