Hey everyone,

This is a longer newsletter, so I’ll keep the intro short. It’s been a busy month, and I’m glad we’re finally getting some warmer days (even if they’re interspersed between days of rain and cold). I hope you’ve been able to enjoy a little bit of it too.

No need to say more, let’s jump in!

Thank you to everyone who came out to the ward meeting last week at Irving Elementary! We covered a lot, including the 34th Street Project, the Berwyn State Bank building, the composting and shared-cost sidewalk programs, the weeds and vegetation ordinance, and the recent vehicle sticker changes. I’ll go into more detail on those later in this newsletter, so I won’t repeat all of that here.

We also talked about the Ogden Avenue Water Main Project, which is continuing to move west along Ogden in the First Ward. It’s disruptive work, but it’s important for the long-term reliability of our water infrastructure. I reminded residents to keep an eye out for possible water main issues and to contact Public Works if they notice major changes in water pressure, water bubbling up in the street, or roadway flooding.

A good portion of the conversation focused on city programs that can help residents directly. We talked about the free parkway tree program, including how residents can request a tree, how the City determines placement and species, and whether Berwyn could eventually move toward a more proactive system to rebuild our tree canopy. We also discussed the flood mitigation and downspout disconnection programs, which can help reduce basement flooding and take pressure off the sewer system during heavy rain.

I gave an update on the Pool Feasibility and Design Exploration Ad Hoc Committee as well. The committee is now formed and has started meeting. We recently toured the existing pool facility and had a chance to ask follow-up questions about maintenance, repairs, and the challenges of keeping the current pool operating. A professional evaluation of the pool is also underway, and we are waiting for the results to help guide the next steps. There is still a lot of work ahead, including public engagement, design discussions, cost estimates, and funding options, but the committee is starting to build a clearer picture of what is realistic.

We also discussed the emergency alert system after the March 18 shelter-in-place alert. Some residents received the alert, some received only one message, and others received nothing at all even though they believed they were signed up. I plan to bring this to the Outreach & Communications Committee so we can review what happened and look at how the City can better use this tool for urgent situations like public safety incidents, extreme weather, unexpected road closures, missing persons, and evacuations.

Finally, I shared that I’m working on a First Ward traffic safety concern form so residents can report speeding, rolling stop signs, near misses, unsafe intersections, and other problem areas. During open discussion, residents also raised concerns about graffiti removal, parkway damage from utility and construction work, and a long-vacant commercial property near Ogden and Maple that I’ll be looking into.

As always, if you were not able to attend but have a question or issue you want to raise, you can reach out to me anytime!

I hear from residents pretty often about traffic safety issues around the ward. Sometimes it’s speeding on a side street, drivers rolling through stop signs, trouble crossing at a certain intersection, cut-through traffic, etc.

To help keep track of those concerns, I put together a new First Ward Traffic Safety Concern Form.

The idea is to collect this information in one place so I can look for patterns over time. If multiple people are reporting the same issue in the same area, that gives me something more concrete to bring to the Traffic Engineer, Police Department, Public Works, or other city staff when we talk about possible fixes. You can use the form for a one-time incident or an ongoing problem. You can also submit it more than once if something keeps happening or if you have concerns about more than one location.

To be clear, this form is not for emergencies or anything that needs an immediate response. It is for data collection purposes. For urgent issues, please call 911 or the appropriate city department.

You can fill out the form here:

This is important! The 34th Street Project construction will be starting next month! (most likely) If you’re not familiar with it, you can check out the project website here to see what’s being proposed.

The City should be having a kickoff meeting with the contractor any day now to finalize the construction schedule. Based on what I’ve been told, we can expect work to begin between late May or mid June, with most of it completed by December 2026. If everything stays on schedule, the project should fully wrap up in early 2027.

I know there are concerns about timing, especially with this overlapping with the Ogden Avenue Project. I’m told that the heavier work on Ogden is expected to wrap up around June, which should help reduce the overlap. I am expecting there will still be inconvenience during construction, but the City is thinking about how to minimize disruption and maintain access for residents and emergency services throughout construction.

There will also be a project website with updates once everything is up and running, and I’ll continue to share information as I get it.

I’m also really excited about the goals of this project. Unlike the Ogden project, the 34th Street Project includes improvements to the street itself, like sidewalks, crossings, and green infrastructure, so it should have a noticeable impact on how the corridor looks and feels when it’s done.

Over the past month, I’ve had the chance to meet with the developer who submitted the strongest RFP and is currently considered the “preferred” developer, although Council has not formally approved a contract yet.

In those conversations, I made it very clear that I would like to see the first floor of the Berwyn State Bank building used entirely for commercial space, not live/work units. The Mayor has also expressed the same preference, and based on those discussions, everyone is now aligned on keeping the first floor commercial.

That said, the developer did ask for some flexibility. Specifically, they’d like the option to build up to two live/work units on the west side of the building if they’re unable to fully lease that space within 18 months after completion. As someone who doesn’t want to see storefronts sit vacant, I think that’s a reasonable ask.

Once a contract is signed, it will take about a year and a half to complete the redevelopment. That gives us some time to identify commercial tenants, but ideally, we want businesses lined up and ready to go as the space becomes available.

So, I’m going to repeat the same ask from my last newsletter:

If you know of a business, or if you are a business owner yourself, who might be interested in this space, please reach out to me directly.

I’m really glad everyone is on the same page about the direction of the project. Now the real work is finding the right tenants. If you have ideas for the kinds of businesses that would do well here, send them my way. I’m keeping a running list of companies to reach out to.

The City just opened up this year’s shared-cost sidewalk program, so if you’ve got broken or uneven sidewalk in front of your house, this is probably the best time to deal with it. You can click here to learn more.

The way it works is pretty simple. The City covers a big portion of the cost, and residents pay $125 per 5x5 square that gets replaced. It only applies to the public sidewalk out front, not private walkways, and the City will come out to confirm which sections actually qualify. The application window is open now through May 8th. You can apply online or submit the mailer form if you received one.

After you apply, the city will do a site visit and let you know what’s approved before you pay anything. If you do apply, make sure you mark the squares you want replaced with a painted “X” and mark any sprinklers near the sidewaalk so they don’t get damaged.

If you have any questions about it, you can call the Engineering Department at 708-749-6434 or email [email protected]

If you’ve looked into composting before and thought it was too expensive, it’s worth taking another look. The City’s composting program with SBC just got a big price drop:

The service runs from April 1 through December 31, so it’s not year-round, but even with that, it’s still a really good deal compared to most composting programs. For context, I have the 35-gallon cart, and it’s more than enough for my family of three. We don’t even come close to filling it each week.

The program is simple. SBC provides the bin, you put your food scraps and other compostable materials in it, and they pick it up weekly. They accept a wide range of materials, including fruit and vegetable scraps, meat, dairy, coffee grounds, paper products, leaves, grass clippings, and more. That means less waste going into landfills and less sitting in your garbage. I’ve personally found we don’t need to take the trash out as often, because there aren’t food scraps stinking up the kitchen.

If you’ve been on the fence about composting, this might be a good time to give it a try. If you want to learn more, you can click here and scroll down to “Organics Collection” for details.

Berwyn’s Citywide Yard Sale is coming up, and it’s a good excuse to finally go through that pile of stuff you’ve been meaning to deal with. Whether you’ve got a few things or a whole garage worth, it’s an easy way to clear things out, give items a second life, and skip paying for a yard sale license.

The sale is June 6th and 7th from 9am to 4pm. If you want your home included on the official map, you’ll need to register by May 22. That map is what most people use to plan where they’re going, so it’s worth signing up. If you don’t have a yard, you can still take part in the Park District’s community garage sale on June 6.

This usually ends up being a really fun, neighborhood-wide event. Sign up at this link to get your house added to the map!

At the April 14 City Council meeting, I introduced an update to modernize the City’s rules around weeds and vegetation.

The ordinance hasn’t been updated in a long time, and I’ve heard from residents who have run into issues with the Blight Department, especially around native plantings and pollinator gardens. A lot of that comes down to outdated rules that don’t line up with modern landscaping.

The goal is to keep the neighborhood clean and well-maintained while giving people more flexibility to use native plants, pollinator gardens, rain gardens, and similar plantings.

One of the biggest changes is removing the City’s old list of specific “nuisance weeds,” which included plants that shouldn’t be on there, like milkweed. Instead, the code would point to state-maintained lists of invasive species.

It also moves away from the strict 8-inch height rule. That rule doesn’t work well for intentional plantings like native gardens. Under the rewrite, those types of plantings would be allowed as long as they’re actively maintained and not causing issues. This isn’t a free-for-all, though. There would still be clear rules around blocking sidewalks, visibility at intersections, and general upkeep.

I referred the changes to the Building & Zoning Committee so the Building Department can weigh in on enforcement. I expect this will be discussed in the next month or so before returning to City Council for a full vote. Overall, this should reduce confusion, cut down on unnecessary citations, and give people more room to do things that are good for their property and the environment.

At the April 14 City Council meeting, Council voted on changes to the vehicle sticker system. The new system moves away from the previous tiered structure, where the cost increased after the third vehicle, and instead sets a flat fee for each car, regardless of how many a household has. You can hear the full discussion on this item by clicking here.

I voted no. The vote ended in a 4–4 tie, and the Mayor cast the deciding vote to approve the changes.

Part of the reason given for the change was administrative. The tiered system regularly led residents to get upset with City Hall staff over higher fees, and it may have discouraged some people from purchasing stickers altogether.

I understand that frustration, but to me, this change solves the wrong problem. We should be focused on accountability and outcomes.

When a household has four or more cars, it can have a real impact on parking availability on the block. A flat fee sends the message that storing multiple vehicles on the street does not create problems, and I don’t think that reflects the reality many residents experience. I also don’t think the new system does enough to encourage people to use their garages, since the difference between an on-street and off-street sticker is only $20.

Street parking isn’t an issue in every part of the First Ward, there are definitely areas where parking is tight. The changes will go into effect this year, but I’ve been told there will be an opportunity to revisit and adjust the system next year, so I’d welcome ideas and suggestions on how we can make it work better in the future.

Also at the April 14 City Council meeting, there was a proposal from City Attorney Ochsner to remove the requirement for the City to publicly announce liquor license hearings by posting them on the bulletin board at City Hall and announcing them at the next City Council meeting. I can understand that posting to a bulletin board is quaint and there are situations where announcing it at City Council is not feasible, but what stood out to me was that there wasn’t any proposal to replace that requirement with another form of notification.

As written, that would have meant there was essentially no clear requirement to notify residents about these hearings, even though they are supposed to be public meetings. I raised concerns about how people would actually know when these hearings are happening. I think it’s important that residents have the opportunity to attend if they want to, or at the very least, know that the hearings are taking place.

During the Committee of the Whole, I proposed a simple fix, which we ended up passing unanimously, to make sure these hearings are posted on the City’s public calendar so they’re easier to find and track. It’s a small change, but an important one. This easily could have moved forward without anyone realizing the impact. Public meetings should actually be public.

At the March 24 City Council meeting, the Mayor put forward the appointment of Michael Fellows as the new Chief of Police. I voted no, and I want to explain why.

This was not an easy vote. It’s not about his experience or service. I appreciate the work he’s done for Berwyn, and on a personal level, he’s always been kind in our interactions. I also think he’ll bring new ideas and be an improvement over the last Chief.

My concern comes down to keeping a clear line between public service and political activity, especially in a role like Chief of Police. That position requires a high level of public trust, and residents should feel confident that decisions are being made independently, not because of political influence.

Right now, Chief Fellows serves as the Treasurer of the Mayor’s political action committee. That’s essentially second-in-command of the Mayor’s political organization. Even if everything is done with the best intentions, it creates a situation where people could reasonably question how independent that relationship actually is. For me, it’s not just about actual conflicts of interest, but also avoiding situations that could be perceived that way. I think it’s healthy and necessary for any organization to have some independence and fresh perspective.

This vote was a difficult moment in the room. Chief Fellows had family and colleagues there who clearly support him, and I don’t take that lightly. I’m not trying to diminish the significance of that moment for them. But I also felt it was important to be honest about my concerns, even if it was uncomfortable.

At the end of the day, I respect the decision that was made, and I’m ready to move forward and work with Chief Fellows in good faith. Where we align, I’m looking forward to building on that. Where we don’t, I’ll continue to be upfront and constructive. My goal is the same as always: making sure we’re building a police department that serves residents well and earns their trust.

There’s a lot more happening around Berwyn now that May is here, and I’m not going to be able to fit every event into one newsletter without turning this into a laundry list. I’ll still include a few things worth noting, but the best move is to check the calendars linked below and revisit them every so often. As the weather keeps warming up, more events, programs, meetings, and community activities will keep getting added!

Calendars:
Berwyn Community Calendar (city events)
WeLoveBerwyn.org (community events)

That’s it! Thanks for reading! If anything here made you think of a question, concern, or idea, just reply and let me know.

Best,
Micah