Committee of the Whole Meeting 12/15/2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAp7qWMt28U
Automatic captions; not audio-verified.

[4:48] get started everybody.

[4:51] The last meeting of the year. Thanks everyone for showing up. Appreciate it.

[4:56] Um we'll call to order the committee of the whole for the city council of Highland Park, Illinois, December 15, 2025. Will the clerk please call the role?

[5:03] Council member center.

[5:04] Council member Brockman here. Council member Ross here. Council member Tapio. Council member Liller here. Council member Bloomberg here. Mayor

[5:13] here. We have a quorum. We have a motion to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of the committee of the whole which was held November 24th and the minutes of the closed session of the

[5:21] committee of the whole also held November 24th, 2025. Second. All in favor say I. I. Thanks. Those minutes are approved.

[5:29] We're so excited to welcome the Highland Park Community Foundation. You guys are just always joy personified. So, it's great to welcome you.

[5:40] [laughter]

[5:41] Um, so come on up, introduce yourselves, and uh tell us about the great work you've been up to this year.

[5:52] All right.

[5:53] Well, Eric Ephraim, board chair, John Levy, vice chair, Jerry Oolian, executive director. Um we're honored to present again tonight and I know that's

[6:02] part of our agreement and we're happy to do it. Um another great year for us and um really not too much different than prior years. Um appreciate the city's support. So thanks a lot.

[6:14] Yeah. So this slide just kind of shows the grant application process. You'll note it's uh not too different than what you are used to seeing or for those of

[6:23] you new to the council. Um it's essentially exactly the same as what we've always done. little bit tweaked timeline but um essentially the same. So

[6:32] we uh you know we we go out we get the we issue the uh applications they file the grants we follow up we have our

[6:39] cohort meetings we divide them into three different cohorts for the roughly 60 uh applicants 64 applicants

[6:48] four cohorts. Sorry I said three. Um and then we uh award the grants and then distribute in October.

[6:57] This year it was over a million dollars. You stole my thunder.

[7:00] Sorry. [laughter] So, yeah, 64 grants this year, just over a million dollars, which is an 11% increase over what we

[7:08] did last year. We funded about 80% of what was requested. And again, thank you to the city for the $300,000. Obviously,

[7:16] very important for what we do, but also worth noting that, you know, that was $700,000 of money that we've raised as well. So, you're supporting a strong

[7:24] organization that is well funded as well. Um, you read the news, you know they're increasing needs. Everything

[7:31] from child care, housing, food. Um, but we also love funding the things that are unique to Highland Park and strengthen

[7:38] the experience of living in Highland Park, the arts, military kids, uh, youth soccer for kids who are on free and

[7:45] reduced lunch, robotics in district 112 for kids who are on free and reduced lunch. So, it's an honor for us to fund all those and and hopefully improve the

[7:54] the lifestyle park. there if you want to go to the next slide. Yeah.

[8:00] So, this slide kind of breaks down uh really how we allocate and we kind of divide the into four different uh

[8:08] buckets or cohorts if you will. Uh so, um education uh received about uh

[8:15] $362,190 of funding from that's 17 different organizations.

[8:21] Um and of that um there was you know about 181 went to uh early childhood and

[8:30] another 181 went to another 13 organizations providing programs for K through2 students and general

[8:36] educational support. Um so that compares quite favorably to the year prior where the uh um early childhood received about

[8:45] 1625 and uh general education received 145350.

[8:52] Um, in the creative and cultural arts, that's eight different organizations, 130,750

[8:59] uh this year. And that compares again favorably to the same eight organizations, but 115,500

[9:06] year prior. Senior services, two different organizations, 42 grand, same two last year, 28 grand. And then uh

[9:16] individuals with disabilities, five separate organizations, um 65. Excuse me one moment.

[9:23] Council member Tapia is joining us from Miami. I'm not sure we should let him, but [laughter] we go down and join him.

[9:30] I like that.

[9:32] I don't I don't know what I was thinking, but here I Okay. Thank you. Before we can continue, we need to approve his participation

[9:39] electronically and confirm that he is who he says he is. I'll give him my usual question which is what's the best sport

[9:48] but he says it with a football

[9:51] [laughter]

[9:52] you okay no objections any objections to his participation no great thank you welcome council member Tapia we're hearing from the Highland

[9:59] Park Committee Foundation about the great work they've done this year All right so picking up on that uh individuals with disabilities

[10:08] uh six organizations 655 this year versus 54925

[10:14] last year. Um [laughter] so obviously uh human services then is our largest 28

[10:22] organizations and 411,800

[10:24] [cough and clears throat]

[10:27] to 28 different organizations versus 336,000 last year um and 29 organizations last

[10:36] year. And that's divided into counseling. It's received about a quarter 111,000 versus 98,000. Food insecurity

[10:46] 54,000 versus 43,000. Substance abuse and prevention

[10:52] uh 3,500. Uh general human services 18 grants 243,300.

[10:59] Um and that's again compared to 219300 same 18 organizations last year. So, you

[11:07] know, as Eric indicated, broad spectrum of needs and the goal is to provide as much support as we can and to frankly increase it as we as the needs increase.

[11:16] Wonderful. Great.

[11:18] So, a couple other things to update you on. Um, we [clears throat] are part of the Illinois Gives Tax Credit program, which means your donation can actually

[11:27] get an Illinois tax credit. Not a donation, but a credit. And Terry can explain that in much more detail than I can.

[11:35] Um [laughter] we um we've increased our uh champions, our corporate champions, our foundation champions. Again, Terry Olian has done a fantastic job in fundraising for that.

[11:46] It's really been a bedrock for our fundraising each year. So, that's been great to see. And then we do our our special awards, our annual awards. Uh

[11:54] Highland Park Community Foundation Golden Apple, which we rotate between 112 and 113 teachers each year. personal achievement which goes to a Highland

[12:02] Park High School senior and the Jack Blaine Community Service Award. I guess sort of self-explanatory for someone who's done outstanding work in the community.

[12:11] And so the last slide here is um like everything else, it's not it's not moving.

[12:22] [laughter]

[12:23] There we go. There we go.

[12:24] Um so it um like everything else, it's successful. It's a great team effort.

[12:30] Um, you know, we appreciate your support. You'll recognize a lot of names on there probably. Uh, neighbors, friends, etc. Maybe a council member on

[12:38] there, too. And, um, and just appreciate your support.

[12:42] Wonderful. With that, I guess we'll take any questions.

[12:46] Council member Brooklyn, I don't know if you have anything you'd like to add.

[12:49] Uh, yes. Well, I just want to say thank you um for all the hard work you do, and it really is incredible going to those meetings and how many people are

[12:56] involved and especially the associates board as well. how involved they [snorts] are and they're the next generation that are really learning the

[13:03] ropes. Um then also the October event where you give out all the the checks to these great reason.

[13:11] [laughter]

[13:11] Um so just thank you for all you're doing and I really always enjoy going to those meetings.

[13:16] Thank you. We love to have you and at the October uh where we gave out the grant awards. It's really nice because it's nice for all the organizations to get together and a lot

[13:24] of them have built great relationships and partnerships out of meeting at our events and doing things together that benefit the community. So, it's really

[13:32] sort of a nice uh synergy. You ask question. Sure.

[13:38] Thank you. Uh I just have a question because this is a huge jump. I mean, you've always done a great job. Um and

[13:46] this is an even bigger jump. Can I ask what's different this year? because it's really significant.

[13:51] Well, um one answer well one answer is frankly that uh the need is continues to grow

[14:00] and frankly um you know we wish we could do more. Um and you know couple with that the fact that you know our

[14:09] endowment is now in excess of $8 million and growing quite handily. So that allows us to do more. we continue to

[14:16] raise more the you know Eric on the court range corporate champions and the other donors. So you take those three things together um it allows us to you

[14:25] know meet as much of those needs as possible and frankly it was uh it was a big goal of ours to cross that seven figure mark this year. So we were happy to be able to do it.

[14:34] Great. Thank you.

[14:35] And obviously the city money helps a lot too. So thank you.

[14:38] We're happy and thank you to Ravenia Festival who makes that possible.

[14:42] Very much. Thank you. We're all trying to go a lot and make sure that Right. Exactly. Generate that income for them. Council member center,

[14:49] amazing job. Thanks for everything you guys do.

[14:52] Uh you're starting to go through this a little bit in the pie chart, but curious sort of categorically what kind of changes we're seeing

[15:00] um and what that means from a macro perspective, right? [clears throat] As we think about in the city, like where the true needs are going to be as

[15:08] we move forward. You know, I don't know if the percentages over the years have changed a lot. Um, I think they've been fairly consistent and frankly a lot of

[15:16] it comes down to what the organizations request and for what specific purpose.

[15:22] I'd say the growth probably comes more from more organizations who are doing things in Highland Park, something new

[15:29] that we haven't funded yet. So I don't know Terry anything else you can I would although I would also add from

[15:37] what we are hearing that there are significant there have been some changes coming down the pipeline that I think

[15:43] are worrisome that um I I think in the next 6 to 8 months will be pretty

[15:51] telling. Um, some of our grant recipients just in the past two months have really let us know that they are

[15:59] back to providing some essential needs that are above and beyond what their programs and services are all about. Um,

[16:08] there was a great concern about SNAP benefits. Um, it's a concern not only for children and adults and families,

[16:17] it's a concern for seniors. That would be one. housing um has really risen to

[16:24] the top in terms of a need. um anything requiring federal support is

[16:31] definitely something that we're being asked to fill some gaps or look at filling gaps and we know that there is a decrease in

[16:39] federal and state funding that is coming and our organizations um it's a conversation that we have

[16:47] often. We don't want them to become totally dependent on us. We need them to do their own fundraising. We need them

[16:55] to fund grants. We need them to look other places. [clears throat] Some of them though um maybe because of

[17:02] their size or because of history, they really do depend on us. And I don't

[17:08] think we want to give up that um strong place in their budget that we that we hold.

[17:18] So we want to [music] continue to meet their need. I I don't think any of us would say that we want to cut back just to teach them a lesson or something like

[17:27] that. That doesn't make any sense at all. Um and the other thing that really came to came to impact many

[17:36] organizations this year were the federal activity, the ice rates. Um and and I

[17:43] was in a meeting with Gita very recently. There's going to be more activity in the spring, right? So I think the next three to six

[17:51] months it's a very um concerning time for everybody. The other thing that I

[17:59] made a note of was um Medicaid is changing tremendously and that isn't that wasn't a threat. This is something

[18:07] that is coming to pass in terms of the work requirements in terms of changes to the affordable care act and other made

[18:15] other Medicaid funding shifts. These are going to impact our residents and they're going to impact our nonprofits.

[18:23] Our our board and our associate leadership. Also, one thing that I guess we could have mentioned for some of you that are newer, um we have a you know,

[18:32] we're all liaons with various different organizations. And so we meet with those organizations during the grant process, after the

[18:39] grant process, throughout the year. And we're constantly hearing um during those meetings that you know what is going on

[18:47] at the federal level is of grave concern because a significant portion of the state budget also comes from the federal government. Exactly.

[18:57] So if they slash that money, it's just going to trickle [clears throat] down and impact.

[19:00] The need the need is great and we're fortunate that we live in a community that that can support a foundation like ours. And frankly, we we know that we're

[19:10] we've become a bit of a a model cuz one of our neighbors just copied us, right? More than one. More than one.

[19:15] More [laughter] than one. And I think they do say that um [clears throat] copying is the best form of flattery. Right.

[19:23] Right. Right. Any other question? Yes. C just say also say thank you so much um for what you do. It's it it's such a you

[19:32] know shining example of you know good work in in in the community and and I've seen firsthand of a few of the

[19:39] organizations you know what the the impact and and how much you know they count on on you. Um, and I'm also

[19:47] thinking back some years uh when and I don't remember the history terribly

[19:54] well, but um some years ago when I I couldn't help thinking about it when I was leazison

[20:01] from 112 uh school board uh to the human relations um the commission at the time

[20:10] and they were overseeing some of the uh grant making grant making and it It was really a struggle and and then you took

[20:19] it over. Um and [clears throat] it just did are doing such a beautiful job with that, right?

[20:24] Um and are are able to be so much more impactful than the the small amount of money that they had to work with. So um or smaller money [clears throat]

[20:32] and yeah so thank you. One of the things that we've been able to do, I think, is really pull our organizations together.

[20:38] Not only at the October event, we have something in the May in May where the organizations are collaborating, which

[20:46] is beautiful in any circumstance to be happening. Um, and they now look to each

[20:53] other for support, which is only to our residents benefit.

[20:57] The synergies are really cool to see while people are just chatting away.

[21:02] It's like, hey, let's be in touch. So, it's great and they definitely do. Yeah. Any other questions? No.

[21:09] Great job. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you very much for everything.

[21:13] [applause and cheering]

[21:18] Thank you. Have a great night. Thank you.

[21:24] Um, our next item is a conversation about the place of remembrance, the update and the budget conversation.

[21:31] Great. Thank you, [clears throat] mayor.

[21:33] Um, I just want to introduce Emily Tob, one of our assistant city managers, and also Jasmine Alejandro is here as well.

[21:39] Um, a social service specialist in our resiliency division. Um, we, uh, have a staff report that's included in the

[21:47] packet. Um, this evening, we will provide an update on the progress for a permanent place of remembrance. Um,

[21:55] since the communication to the council, we have reached agreement on the terms and conditions of the agreement with

[22:02] SWA, the design consultant. Um, that we're planning to bring an agreement to the city council at our next meeting for

[22:09] formal consideration. Um, so special thanks to Emily for working with the contact at S SWA and our corporation council, Steve Alroad and Hart Passman,

[22:18] um, who've been working with us with SWA. So that matter um is addressed actually. Could you progress just one slide? Um but this evening what we are

[22:27] looking for your policy feedback is establishing a budget just to help guide the next steps as part of the process.

[22:34] And then um many months ago we brought forward a recommendation from the place of remembrance working group as it pertains to fundraising. And so we're

[22:42] just looking for confirmation from the council on our approach for fundraising um or the fact that we would not do fundraising. So looking for your feedback on those two policy questions.

[22:57] So just as we've discussed before and as I know the council is aware, we just wanted to refocus on the the three primary objectives for the place of

[23:05] remembrance. Um place of remembrance we know it's going to have a be a deep meaningful place for the victims, for

[23:12] families, and for the community. But these are the three primary objectives that were established for the place of remembrance.

[23:23] And just as an update as our overall progress to date, where we've been and where we're heading with this process,

[23:30] we first started with location selection and community engagement in that process with a very extensive community

[23:37] engagement process which culminated in a location recommendation from our consultant and from the working group that was then brought forward to the

[23:45] [clears throat] city council who supported the primary place of remembrance at the Rose garden with a subtle secondary marker at Port Clinton Plaza.

[23:54] And then at that point, we move forward to [clears throat] the design process with city issued a request for qualifications for designers.

[24:02] We uh received a number of very impressive responses to that request for qualifications that [clears throat] was

[24:09] narrowed down by the working group in which point interviews were conducted and a recommendation was made by the working group to move forward with SWA

[24:19] and um that's where we're at right now is working with SWA on that agreement process. We then plan to move forward

[24:27] with the design process, a formal design recommendation, final design and then construction.

[24:35] A little bit of an update on this project. As we were working through the design process, we worked with SWA and brought who brought forward a

[24:43] recommendation to split the design process into two phases. Phase one being project administration really listening

[24:50] discovery community engagement and schematic design which is really an initial design phase. So it's really bringing those concepts bringing them

[25:00] visualizing those concepts into an initial design and preliminary design um

[25:06] again visualization and documents. And then phase two would be the full design development process. Taking those

[25:15] initial concept designs and bringing those into formal designs, construction documentation and then phase two would also include construction

[25:23] administration. And the reason for breaking this up, the recommendation to break up this process is really the phase two is very very difficult to

[25:31] estimate without an initial design concept. It's really [clears throat] very difficult to have design development and documentation until we

[25:38] have some concept of the scope of the design and that would really that would affect the cost of phase two

[25:46] significantly if we're looking at a simple design a very complex design and in order and what that would look like

[25:53] as far as walking us through our some of our commission's process that would be involved such as the historic preservation commission again very

[26:01] difficult to estimate without some idea of what [clears throat] we're looking at a simple or complex design. So, we do recommend breaking that up, beginning

[26:09] with a phase one agreement for just those initial phases and then coming back with a phase 2 agreement once we

[26:17] have that initial design concept in place.

[26:22] As far as cost of what we're looking at, we worked with SWA on a cost proposal.

[26:28] Their proposal is $355,000 for those phase one which again primarily consists of those initial

[26:35] design and community engagement in the design process and those initial visualizations plus an additional up to

[26:43] 10% in reimburseable costs such as any necessary travel needed or any printing or things like that that would go along with it.

[26:53] Phase two, we asked for a very rough phase two estimate understanding that this again could encompass an extremely

[27:00] wide range of services depending upon the complexity [clears throat] of that design and that has a wide range

[27:06] of AC accuracy. Typically we see these um wide these phase 2 could be anywhere from a minus 70 or a minus 25% to plus

[27:16] 75% range of accuracy. So again, very very difficult to estimate to but um those final costs would be brought

[27:24] forward after a preliminary design is approved and we're looking at anywhere from consultants estimate was anywhere from 700,000 to 1.25 million for the phase 2 estimate.

[27:35] And again these estimates are for design document preparation moving us through our commission's process not for any building costs. So, we're looking at

[27:43] again just the design phase at these estimates.

[27:49] As city manager Newkerk noted, we were planning on providing you an update on where we were at with the professional services agreement, but we have since since this packet was put together and

[27:57] presentation was put together, corporation council was able to discuss with SWA and come to agreement on the

[28:05] language of the professional services agreement. So, we are in a position where we can move forward with formal consideration of this professional

[28:12] services agreement at the next city council meeting in January. Great.

[28:18] Well done, Steve. That's for you.

[28:21] They did an amazing job. Corporation council did an amazing job trying to find a mutually agreeable solution here.

[28:27] We wanted to provide you an update again, just a reminder of what we do currently have set aside. We currently have a $1 million grant with no

[28:36] restrictions except for updates for this project. The restriction being it is for the place of remembrance project. Um we

[28:43] have preliminarily put that into about half into the 2026 budget and half into the 2027 budget, but that's in the preliminary capital plan is where that

[28:52] is. And staff, we are recommending and requesting direction on a preliminary budget for construction. We do believe

[28:59] that um budget will help drive the scope of this project whether we're looking at a very small scope project or a larger

[29:06] scope project. Again, um ideas can be all over the board for this. So, we're really looking for that budget

[29:14] discussion to help guide what this project could look like and what the design could take place and could encompass. So to give you a little bit

[29:23] of more information on what's been done before, we did update um some research on some other memorials. Jasmine uh

[29:32] social services specialist Jasmine Alejandro took the lead on updating some of this information.

[29:38] Then we do want to note that as we provide updates on what other memorials look like that the scope really varies

[29:45] greatly between different memorials. So everything from simple sculpture to very involved designs. And there's really no

[29:53] way to quantify what that really what that looks like as far as just aside from just maybe some initial information

[30:02] on what the land size of that. But the scope varies so greatly and the costs were noted are really for building only and not design.

[30:11] So, we thought one of the other ways to really help you visualize what these different scopes of memorials look like with some pictures. So, we did provide a

[30:20] few different visualizations of what the different memorials look like.

[30:24] [clears throat] Again, keeping in mind that these events are anywhere back from 95 to 2012 to 2021.

[30:34] [clears throat]

[30:34] So the design and cost and building costs at the time would of course change significantly over the years. If they

[30:42] were to be built today, they would look significantly different than what the costs were at the time.

[30:50] Few more that we're looking at. Again, anything from simple sculpture in 2008 to Las Vegas is not yet built. um they

[30:58] are looking at you know a two acre site as opposed to decal simple simple sculpture. So again looking at varying

[31:07] greatly so again brief overview of we've updated this chart as information has come has been updated over the years of

[31:15] different communities affected by mass violence events what the similarities were and the time frame for building that

[31:23] memorial. Again, we're seeing everything from two years for a simple sculpture to over 10 years in Las Vegas to look at a design build for a memorial.

[31:32] [clears throat] So again, everything from $200,000 to potentially a $30

[31:40] million memorial depending upon that scope.

[31:47] And a little bit of additional information, the National Mass Violence Center did at our request reach out to other resiliency centers to try and get

[31:55] a little bit more information from them on their memorial process. We did ask for design costs that was very difficult

[32:02] to get. Um we looked at they s surveyed other southerners to find out whether they've done fundraising for their

[32:09] memorials which the majority of memorials have done a significant capital campaign for fundraising whether

[32:17] they engaged a professional phone fundraiser whether they used an outside consultant for that fundraising. So these were the centers the national mass

[32:25] center was able to get a little bit more detailed information from as [clears throat] a lot of that information is just um challenging to track down.

[32:35] [clears throat]

[32:38] So again, um I don't know if you want to pause here for a discussion about before we look at fundraising, but I can just finish up that again. Um we wanted to

[32:46] touch on the working group discussion on fundraising took place back in May 2024.

[32:53] At the time that was shared with [clears throat] the city council as well as updates from the working group meetings have been shared after every working group meeting. But the consensus

[33:02] at the time was to make fundraising opportunities available for those that wanted to contribute but to not conduct an aggressive capital fundraising

[33:09] campaign. But we can certainly revisit that at the discretion of the city council.

[33:16] So again, what we're looking for as far as requests for [clears throat] feedback and direction from the council is establishment of a preliminary budget

[33:23] for consideration and whether we want to um continue with our current philosophy and fundraising or change direction as we move forward.

[33:32] Thanks so much, Emily. And um it's hard to have this conversation and not think of our friends in Providence, Rhode Island. So our hearts are obviously with

[33:40] them and with Mayor Smiley. Um, and our deep appreciation of course to John and Mindy Gray for their contribution of a

[33:47] million dollars literally days after the shooting occurred. Um, so thank you for raising the issue of dollars and what

[33:56] the present value is. And obviously, you know, you look at this chart and it's all over the place and some of these numbers are 13 years old. And um I think

[34:04] I've shared with this group that I've spent significant time looking at places of remembrance, talking to these mayors,

[34:12] talking to these communities, um and getting a sense of what this process is like. And as uh unique and different as

[34:19] each of these communities are, it's uh horrible and it's also um across the spectrum in terms of what

[34:26] the outcome is, in terms of what the process is. Um, the mayor of Orlando is a particular friend. That's been going

[34:33] on for over 10 years. The price went through the roof. They had to reconfigure. I think kudos to this

[34:40] working group. Thank you for being part of that. Thank you, Gita, Jasmine, um, Emily for for being the leader of

[34:49] all of this. You know, it's um it's good that we've had our mission and we've stuck to our mission of coming to a

[34:57] place of respit and reflection and solace. Um working with Dutank I thought was super important and informative in

[35:05] terms of coming up with a primary and a secondary location. Um but I think we all can agree we need to we need to get

[35:14] this done. It's not helping anybody for it to linger and to continue to be something that needs to be talked about in terms of this process, but we need to

[35:22] provide this place for people to have their solace, to have their opportunity um to remember and to reflect. Um so, a

[35:32] couple of thoughts that I just want to share with you. I personally would like to see this done by July 4th, 2027.

[35:38] That'll be the five years. Um and I think that's doable. I don't know, Gita, if you agree with that. Um my sense is nobody's looking to build the Taj Mahal.

[35:48] So we don't need a budget that is for the Taj Mahal. Uh but we want to do it well. We want to do it thoughtfully. We want to do it in a way that's reflective of this community and this experience.

[36:00] Um, and I'll be honest, when I sat through the conversation about fundraising, and you all know I am

[36:08] fiscally responsible, my hair was standing on end hearing about approaches to how do we fundra from the very people

[36:16] who are still working through this kind of trauma. Um, we're very responsible stewards of tax dollars. And my feeling

[36:24] is we have a reserve. We can set a cap that's reasonable. And I keep looking at Yumi because I know this is your area

[36:32] building, designing, and so forth. Um, I think we can come up with a reasonable cap. I think we can get the funds out of those reserves. It's a one-time use.

[36:43] That's an appropriate use of reserves and move forward in terms of providing this for our community. Um, so I I'm not

[36:52] wanting to take over the entire conversation, but I did want to kind of share those thoughts with everybody having been immersed in this from the beginning.

[37:01] Um, any other thoughts? Council member center, what have we explored from a grant

[37:08] perspective to federal, state, local? I did see a couple on there that seem to source at least some portion of the cost from

[37:17] other government municipalities. is that so [laughter] and I like that.

[37:25] We're still waiting to get a penny back for the expenses that are part of what happened to this community. We have not

[37:31] gotten any of our expenses recouped from that horror.

[37:35] We have a half million dollar anticipated revenue in this year's fiscal year budget that we're likely not

[37:42] going to realize because we've only got two weeks left in the year. And they haven't sent anything.

[37:47] They haven't sent anything. And that's through unbelievably careful cost accounting to let them know all the costs. And we were told by the

[37:56] Department of Justice, you know, this is how you do it and this is and you've met Gita. She gets stuff done and so for us to receive zero related to the event.

[38:06] Sure.

[38:06] I would love and I understand grants can come from other places. Um we will of course as we have for so many other

[38:13] capital projects pursue grants. I'm not holding my breath.

[38:18] We'll pursue everything possible as we always do but it would help from this group to at least have a budget number because and

[38:28] um for those of us who were in the interviews with the design consultants what they said is you know that budget number really sets the framework for

[38:36] which they can work from. Right? So it just gives an idea of what are they designing to and then certainly um we

[38:44] will keep the council apprised. We're going to keep the public apprised and if we come up with a plan that's going to require an increased budget, we'll

[38:52] certainly come back to this group and look for that. But we just need kind of an idea of what kind of budget are we talking about. Council member Bloomberg.

[39:00] So first of all, this grid which you had also put up there was uh very informative in the sense that

[39:08] there is no norm, right? that that red.

[39:12] Um I I tried to look for similar similarities based on the size of the community, based on the size of the

[39:19] disaster just by the number of people affected, um the amount of time. There's there's

[39:26] no telling how different communities arrived at what they arrived at.

[39:32] What I want to say first of all as we try to arrive at a figure is this should

[39:39] not be taken as a comment on how anybody in this government either staff or

[39:46] elected officials feel about what happened or the people who were affected. Absolutely.

[39:52] This is just an economic decision that has to be made. Um I think we're looking to uh develop a place of remembrance

[40:00] where people can do that where they can remember at will uh when they need a place to go to think about what happened

[40:06] and for introspection and also to some degree to mark the event. Um I think the use of our reserve is appropriate.

[40:16] That's within the intended purpose of that reserve. I'm far more comfortable looking to that than trying to fund

[40:25] raise. And frankly, the Department of Justice today is not what the Department of Justice [clears throat] was uh when

[40:33] this occurred. And uh the [clears throat] federal government is not a source that I am particularly

[40:41] comfortable uh looking to for support in any of this. Um, with that in mind, sort

[40:48] of an intermediate range to me that I I would think in terms of construction cost ought to get us to where we want is

[40:56] something in the $2 million range. Um, that may be a little low. It may be higher than people are thinking, but I

[41:03] think that's a good starting point to talk about.

[41:06] Skip, you said construction or that construction and design? Construction. Just construction.

[41:11] Okay. So the 365 in addition to the costs of design and community outreach, right?

[41:18] Design and community outreach. We're looking at close to a million dollars in that.

[41:23] Right. So the total spent that would be spent for design for design for community engagement and I'm sorry Emily.

[41:32] No, I'm sorry. But yes, for design and community engagement and then to take us to the point of building. So potentially

[41:39] a total of $3 million, which is sort of where I landed as well, just in looking through these and talking to other mayors and hearing

[41:47] sort of where their communities um netted out.

[41:53] We'll go around the table. Um let's start with Council Member Ross.

[41:56] Well, I I haven't uh designed and built a you know, memorial, so I mean I I am

[42:03] not an expert. you're giving me too much credit there, but but as an architect, but but um [clears throat]

[42:09] yeah, I I um the the the range for the phase one and phase two before

[42:18] before construction is it seemed like it was a million to a million and a half, right? Okay.

[42:25] The range the phase 2 estimate was 700,000 to 1.25 million and but that didn't include the

[42:33] phase one phase one. So the whole of those two phases is a million to a million and a half, right? Correct. [clears throat] Plus construction.

[42:41] Plus construction. Right.

[42:42] And I I I I did feel but I mean I guess I can't really control that that the the

[42:49] two phases seemed pretty expensive to me. Um more expensive than it ought to be. But I, you know, I'm I'm not on the

[42:58] committee that, you know, uh, the rest of us are not on any committees that have overseen that or, um, so that would

[43:06] be my only comment there. But as far as, you know, construction, I think, you know, what you're talking about

[43:15] seems, you know, reason a reasonable amount. I just uh

[43:22] um you know 2 million um that that's I guess my only comment that the the phases that the first part seems the phases seem tied to me.

[43:31] Okay. Um and uh and then I'd you know really just um be very concerned to

[43:41] um to hue closely to whatever you know number that that we say is our our do

[43:50] not to exceed number. I mean, I I I I guess I wouldn't want to um have cost

[43:59] overruns and I guess Nobody does.

[44:01] Nobody does. But but um I Yeah. Anyway, so that's I I I'm more or less with you

[44:08] where what you've described with the caveats of I'm concerned about the front end of it. Um Yeah.

[44:17] Okay. Thank you, Council.

[44:19] Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, we're obviously trying to make a decision a little bit with incomplete information um and trying to do the best we can given the circumstances of what we know

[44:28] what we're all trying to accomplish. I I think Mayor Yu and Calberg kind of laid this out pretty well and and I'm supportive with the kind of overarching

[44:37] comment that you made and us preliminarily approving at that number. Thank you. Thank you.

[44:43] Um Council Member Tapia actually I think wants to be called on.

[44:48] Yes. Hi. Um, I just want to add my voice to it. I am in agreement that we would not pursue fundraising and I would agree

[44:57] with what has been said that the use of our reserves is an appropriate use of the reserves and I think it should come

[45:04] from the city of Holland Park and as a good steward of the taxpayer dollars here without leaning into the community

[45:11] any further. Um I on the cost um you know it it was fascinating to see the

[45:19] variety. It was all over the place hard to find any possible pattern. I think directionally I would be more of the

[45:26] persuasion to um keep it toward the lower end and I'm not coming up with an actual number but in other words not I I

[45:34] didn't add to it really not necessarily thinking that we need to do something grandiose or something really a huge

[45:41] statement. that my perception in our community is that yes, we want honor, we need respect, we need a place to go, but

[45:49] uh sort of the tendency tends to be sort of becoming more quiet uh and uh and

[45:56] reflective and u understated if you will but yet memorable and meaningful. So, y I would want that to be a guide if

[46:04] others agree, of course. Um, as we think about, you know, how much to spend on this so that it meets what they need without going over overboard.

[46:13] Much appreciated. Thank you, Council Member Lor.

[46:16] So, um, a lot more agreement on the sense that I I don't think we should be engaging in fundraising for this. It

[46:23] really puts a bad taste in my mouth. And um I will say I I wouldn't discourage if someone wanted to make a lovely gift

[46:31] like John Gray did. I I would say thank you so much as a community, right?

[46:36] But you know, unless that happens without solicitation or without effort, um I think that it's a wonderful use of

[46:44] our reserves. I think that's exactly what this is for. And so I'm very comfortable with that. Um so from that perspective, it's great. Um, I am very

[46:53] happy that some of the questions with S swa as far as insurance and whatnot were worked through and that's great. Um, or

[47:01] certain caveats that are in the agreement. So, I'm very comfortable with that. I also think it's somewhat

[47:09] expensive. I have much less uh experience than you do. But even with that, um, they [clears throat] have said

[47:16] here's a budget for design and here's a potential budget for construction. We have beautiful infrastructure. One of

[47:23] the things I love about the fact that the rose garden was chosen for the main area is it's a garden and it's beautiful

[47:30] and I have no creativity. So I don't know what they could put in there that would cost a million dollars but I can tell you that whatever we give them as a budget number they will rise to spend.

[47:41] I agree. and and and that really bothers me. And I I don't mean to be on the cheap in valuing it, but it makes me

[47:49] feel like if they're giving us a range of uh 3/4 of a million to one and a4 million for construction, I'd really

[47:58] like to stay at the million for construction. [clears throat] Um and and I the 355, you know, that's what it is.

[48:06] That's what it is. and the 10%. But I have to tell you, in reading through this about the community outreach, I love what's been done and I think we

[48:16] we wanted to let the community say what they needed to say to feel good. But um going back for all of these

[48:26] groups and the duration that it appears that it's going to take, I am really I I think that people are in a different

[48:34] place. Not everyone. And I will never judge someone else's feelings or how they want to react to it. But I I I think we need to really move on this.

[48:43] And that date of July 4th, 27 to me is the out the furthest out we could be. I

[48:52] would really like to see it done. and and we talked when we had a committee of a whole and a wonderful update from y'all about even maybe you know toward

[49:01] the end of this year and and 26 not 27 and and I don't mean to push and I'm not saying we should do something shily but

[49:10] again I think if the infrastructure is there and we've done the outreach I I hate to see us you know giving them a budget that would

[49:18] they'll that they'll grow that's the wrong reason to do it I think it's cap and I I think with the interaction of the working group, we can

[49:27] also direct them and say we don't need to go trot out and get another 900 responses to the same questions kind of a thing, right?

[49:35] We want to also be sensitive to if somebody I can't tell you how many comments and emails I've gotten, you know, there must be fire, there must be water. And I'm like, that's something

[49:43] that will let the designers know. Um, but to your point, I do think a lot of people are like, please don't keep

[49:50] asking me this question. So I think um that is one of the reasons why we picked SWA was they're familiar with this kind

[49:58] of design. They've been working with other communities who have gone through a mass violence event and I think um

[50:05] they understand when it's time to stop and when it's time to pass. So um can I hear from Council Member Brooklyn? Yeah.

[50:14] Uh just very quick, I'm in agreement with where everyone was at in terms of the amount and as well as using the

[50:20] reserve funds. Um and also as was just mentioned I was going to say the same thing. I you know to me the most uh

[50:27] important part is getting this you know close to done within the next two years. So that would be my priority as well. Great.

[50:35] So thank you. Did you have any more you want to add?

[50:37] Yeah. I I just want to not put too fine a point on it. The reason I arrived at this figure as as I look at the costs of

[50:44] some of these other um towns and municipalities, there are some that are enormously expensive, $29 million, $30 million.

[50:53] Some of them have museums attached, some have museums attached, and then some are profoundly inexpensive. Uh there's one that's $200,000.

[51:01] There's sort of a median area that's between about one and a half and $2.25 million. So two seemed sort of to get us

[51:11] in my mind in terms of construction costs to something that will serve the purpose and that will be permanent.

[51:20] One of the things I think is important is that we spend enough money that whatever we put there is going to last a long time.

[51:26] Absolutely. Absolutely. Please note as well none of these have two locations. Right. Right.

[51:33] But our second location is going to be subtle. very subtle. Yes, absolutely.

[51:38] I I did want to comment that I mean, you know, if if we wind up that it's, you know, three and a half million that

[51:46] we're spending, but stating the obvious, if we we spend it well or hopefully it's less than that, you know, uh then people

[51:55] will be, you know, saying that was good use of right of money and and and if we spend it

[52:00] poorly, uh the opposite. And I I um the my goal would be that whatever that

[52:09] they design enhances the usability of of the two spa of the two locations that that it's not something just to look at

[52:18] but it it it's enhanced how people use those two spaces. Um and that would be

[52:25] you know a win for for me. Um but yeah I am concerned about cost and at the same

[52:32] time getting something you know really well designed.

[52:35] Right. Right. So we will as we have continue to keep you certainly apprised as we move forward. Emily has this given

[52:43] you the answers. I know Gita you wanted to add something.

[52:46] [clears throat]

[52:47] Can I ask what those numbers are in terms of allin or max budget?

[52:53] Well I just wanted to provide two points of clarification. Um so the first is um so based on the feedback tonight, we're

[53:01] going to have the proposed agreement with S SWA on the next agenda which is January 12th for formal consideration.

[53:07] Um once we are in agreement with them, we will have a kickoff meeting and then we'll establish a timeline. Um so

[53:15] they're going to talk about what it takes them to do the design services, their significant public engagement. So we'll identify the steps that will be

[53:23] undertaken in an associate timeline and include that in the staff report. Um so that's one and and certainly we want to get this done as expeditiously as

[53:32] possible but certainly very thoughtful and the public engagement and the public communication was such a critical piece

[53:39] to everybody and so that's certainly going to be reflected in that timeline.

[53:44] Um the second thing is certainly as the council knows we have a balanced budget.

[53:49] um we have a 10-year budget that is also likewise balanced. And so part of that balanced budget includes drawdowns every

[54:00] year to get us to our minimum fund balance. And so when we say the funds will be taken out of reserve, I just want you to know that's not exactly that

[54:09] we're going to take this project and use these reserves. So we are going to continue to balance the budget. So that may mean that some capital projects will have to be shifted to different years.

[54:19] Um but the feedback that we're hearing from you is move forward with a $2 million construction budget and so we'll

[54:26] reflect that accordingly as we plan out the schedule.

[54:30] Okay. I just don't want you to think it's like exactly we're going to take it out of reserves because already we're using they're all appropriated. But that being said, we've also shifted certain

[54:38] projects depending on the schedule for a variety of reasons. And so a parking lot or whatever may end up being done a year

[54:46] later, but that will be those funds will be used then for this or whatever the case may be. Yeah.

[54:52] So and and I'd ask that they're going to be submitting their um you know bills to

[55:00] you on a monthly basis that there's good oversight that we're able to ask okay you spent this many hours on on on this you know.

[55:09] Absolutely. Okay. Right.

[55:10] Yes. And I think it's important for everyone to know the working group meetings are open. You may not be able to talk because of the open meetings

[55:19] act, but you are certainly welcome to come and sit and listen in on those conversations. And again, we'll be sure to keep you apprised of everything as we move forward.

[55:28] There there I for some reason I thought that there might be, you know, a subcommittee of when it came to design

[55:35] that um one could serve on. I want everybody around this table to be part of that conversation.

[55:42] Yeah. I mean, I know that we want I'm I'm good with that if if we have that opportunity. Yeah. Yeah.

[55:50] Okay. Great. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Any other questions? Okay.

[55:58] Okay. I guess we're moving this meeting into the next room for crowd purposes. So, we'll pack up and move next door.

[56:05] So, I need a 5m minute recess. Is there a motion? You don't need a You can declare it. I am declaring a fivem minute recess.

[56:11] [laughter]

[56:13] Thank you. [clears throat]

[1:03:46] Okay, we are reconvening the committee of the whole for the city council of Highland Park. The date is still December 15th, 2025. Will the clerk please call the role?

[1:03:56] Council member center, present.

[1:03:58] Council member Brookman here.

[1:03:59] Council member Ross here.

[1:04:00] Council member Tapia, present. Council member Little here.

[1:04:04] Council member Bloomberg here. Mayor Roing here. We have a quorum and council member Tapia is joining us electronically and we've already established that he is who he says he is

[1:04:12] and we've approved his participation electronically. Um we are going to move on to item C, discussion of proposed new land use.

[1:04:23] Champions Point. Joel, um I'm sorry, Director Fontaine, if you could give us a presentation be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[1:04:34] [clears throat]

[1:04:35] [snorts]

[1:04:35] So, this is a discussion of a proposed new land use um referred to as Champions Point. At this point, um

[1:04:45] the recommendation from staff is that we request policy feedback regarding a

[1:04:51] proposal for a new type of land use. Um Champions Point LLC is the owner of the

[1:04:58] property at 2700 Point Lane. They propose a new conditional land use um

[1:05:06] consisting of the use of a single family home as a tourist destination that offers public tours um of the property and is and its on-site amenities.

[1:05:18] Proposed land use is not allowed and therefore would require a zoning text amendment to be formally considered

[1:05:26] if included as a conditional use. Um any such use would require a special use permit um which consists of a public

[1:05:34] hearing at which detailed consideration of the use at a particular location including but not limited to access,

[1:05:42] use, hours of operation limitations and impact mitigation to determine whether the specific proposal at the particular

[1:05:50] location meets the standards for approval.

[1:05:53] So, that's what a conditional use would require should a new use be introduced in uh the use table or the city zoning

[1:06:03] code. The zoning text amendment is its own consideration that requires a public hearing as well to introduce that use.

[1:06:11] Um here's a map of the area. As you can see that the subject property 2700 um is

[1:06:18] is identified here um as is Heler Nature Center to the north.

[1:06:24] So policy questions and next steps. Um as a policy question, it's put to the council whether the proposed use should

[1:06:32] be formally considered through a zoning code text amendment to allow as a new use in section 15490.

[1:06:40] As we mentioned, the proposal is to allow it as a conditional use.

[1:06:45] Alternatives for tonight, the council can place this matter on city council agenda for further policy condition uh

[1:06:53] consideration and possible referral to the plan and design commission for formal consideration at an upcoming meeting. Um or the council could take no

[1:07:02] action which effectively ends the discussion um or further consideration on the matter.

[1:07:10] staff's request council's feedback regarding the proposal. And here this evening is Mr. John Cooper, the owner of the property. He has a presentation that

[1:07:18] he's provided and he's requested that he be allowed to present.

[1:07:23] Mayor, may I just one and that was excellent. And I just want to make sure that it's clear why we're here and why

[1:07:31] this is different um than other applications you've received because as you know in Highland Park, property

[1:07:38] owners and developers have the absolute right to request to go through a full process for all sorts of relief. In

[1:07:48] fact, on tonight's agenda, you'll see plan development proposals that have been requested by developers. Those

[1:07:55] don't come to you initially. Those go all the way through the process. This is different because this is a text amendment. And in Highland Park, we

[1:08:02] don't allow uh property owners or developers to even ask to amend the code. Oh, that that request and that

[1:08:10] initiation of the process has to start with the city council. And so that's why we're here tonight. If you do decide to

[1:08:18] let the process begin, then there will be ample opportunity for public hearing.

[1:08:24] um through the plan commission through our whole full-blown process with cross-examination and everything else that we allow at public hearings.

[1:08:32] Right. So, at this point, it's just a matter of do we even want to proceed with any conversation concerning do you want to initiate it or not?

[1:08:41] Okay. Thanks.

[1:08:42] And and even if you do decide to initiate it, that does that has absolutely no bearing on what your ultimate decision could be. You could

[1:08:50] initiate it and then ultimately vote against it. Right? There's a public process.

[1:08:54] There's a full public process that will inform you.

[1:08:57] Great. Thank you. Um, Mr. Cooper, I don't know. Oh, hello. [clears throat] Um, if you'd like to share your presentation, if you could come forward.

[1:09:06] [cough]

[1:09:07] [clears throat]

[1:09:11] Okay. Actually, leave it on this page. So, don't need to do much.

[1:09:22] Thank you, uh, Mayor Roering, council members, thank you for letting me speak today. First of all, happy Hanukkah and merry Christmas to everybody. Uh, one

[1:09:31] year ago, I purchased an iconic estate in Highland Park. During this past year, I've had the opportunity to see the immense joy that visiting the property

[1:09:39] brings to friends and family. I've also seen how the property can be used to raise money for local nonprofit organizations and how children can be

[1:09:47] positively affected by visiting the property and playing on the basketball court. I'm speaking with you today to share a dream of how this property can

[1:09:55] be used to positively impact our community and inspire our children.

[1:10:00] Champions Point has the potential to become a world-class museum, uniting people from all ages and backgrounds under a common purpose, to explore what it means to be great in life.

[1:10:12] Champions Point will work in partnership with a new nonprofit, Champions Legacy, to turn this greatness themed experience

[1:10:19] into a Champions curriculum. We will then offer this curriculum free of charge to local schools as well as

[1:10:26] partner with local organizations centered around enriching the lives of youth. The property will be made available for free for the benefit of

[1:10:34] Highland Park youth and the park district several days each month.

[1:10:39] For the better part of a year, I've been exploring how to make this dream a possibility with minimal impact to neighbors and in nature. My proposal

[1:10:47] involves utilizing off-site parking within 5 to 10 minutes from the Heler Nature Center with one shuttle bus running every 15 minutes.

[1:10:56] Patrons would walk on existing trails, one of which would be extended 120 ft to connect to Champions Point.

[1:11:03] [clears throat] Other measures will be taken to reduce vehicle traffic on Point Lane, create privacy buffers for neighbors, and limit evening activities

[1:11:12] to six events per year aimed at raising funds for nonprofits.

[1:11:16] It's difficult to say how much demand we would have, but we're hopeful to have on average 300 people daily visit our museum. We anticipate summer attendance

[1:11:25] will be higher and winter attendance may be lower. Ultimately, architects will determine the maximum occupancy of the museum and we will ensure a flow that provides for a worldclass experience.

[1:11:37] No changes or expansions for the structure are necessary except for relating to ADA compliance. potentially a freestanding structure near the

[1:11:46] entrance and the creation of public bathrooms to ensure people with disabilities have access to enjoy this spa uh experience.

[1:11:55] An ADA accessible vehicle will be provided to bring people with special needs directly through the gate onto the property. Similarly, our employees would

[1:12:04] require access to the property via two shuttles daily. A once weekly supply delivery would also be necessary.

[1:12:12] This project carries many benefits for the community, its schools, and the park district.

[1:12:18] Direct benefits to the city of Highland Park and its schools include creation and use of champions curriculum with you

[1:12:25] with local youth, youth access to team building and mentorship on site one day each month, increased patronage of local

[1:12:35] businesses contributing to a bustling Highland Park, and tax revenue generated by increased property taxes and

[1:12:42] additional local business. Direct benefits to the park district include once a month use of the property for

[1:12:49] park district programming, a dedicated revenue stream from a portion of ticket sales, shared vision of helping people

[1:12:57] enjoy healthy leisure pursuits, and all marginal maintenance and labor costs are going to be absorbed by Champions Point.

[1:13:04] [clears throat] With your support, we will create a world-class museum which will inspire young people to realize their potential and help transform

[1:13:12] Highland Park into a vibrant epicenter of growth. Thank you.

[1:13:17] Thank you. Um I know my council colleagues [snorts] have several questions for you, so thank you for bringing this and thank you for um

[1:13:25] bringing this vision. When you first bought it though, you were looking at having this be a time share and essentially

[1:13:33] a for-profit commercial enterprise, right? Am I right? Uh that's correct. Yes.

[1:13:38] Okay. And so just in looking at sort of what you've laid out here, um and correct me if I'm wrong, 24 days

[1:13:46] commercial ben uh would be community benefit 24 days out of the year. Is that in addition to the once a month that the

[1:13:55] park district would use or is that including the once a month that the park district would use?

[1:14:00] Yeah, so I'm looking at a total of 48 days per year that would be for community benefit. How I would see the breakdown would be one day a month for

[1:14:08] the park district, one day a month for we'll say the the school system of Highland Park, and then two days a month

[1:14:15] for the greater Chicagoland area to enrich the lives of youth.

[1:14:19] So that's 13% if you're open every day of the year. So the other 87% is basically a commercial enterprise. That's correct.

[1:14:27] Okay. So I kind of have a problem with that to some extent because when your neighbors

[1:14:36] bought their homes, this was a residential area, continues to be zoned residentially. Um and and to come with a

[1:14:42] presentation about community benefit when it's basically 13%. You know, the other 87% you're not

[1:14:50] really talking about. So, do you want to talk to us more about that other 87% of the time and what your proposed use is?

[1:14:56] And from my reading of um some of what we got, it sounded like tens of thousands of people are anticipated to be coming to and fro during that 87% of the time.

[1:15:09] Yeah, that's accurate. So, the theme of the tour is going to be greatness. And our goal is to kind of teach people what

[1:15:17] it means to be great in life. Um, I think being a great person is um someone

[1:15:23] that that gives to other people. Um it requires a lot of times mentorship,

[1:15:30] discipline, perseverance and uh the the whole museum is going to be dedicated to teaching people about

[1:15:38] these pillars of greatness. So um although it is a commercial enterprise, uh I believe there will be great benefit

[1:15:46] to the community and to anybody that gets to experience the museum. Um, I also plan on bringing in uh artwork or

[1:15:54] having artwork commissioned with the theme of greatness um from great artists from around the world. Um, so I think it

[1:16:01] can be enriching to the from an artistic standpoint also.

[1:16:06] Okay. But essentially this is a for-profit tourist destination.

[1:16:11] It it is. Yes. and and that profit is what's going to allow me to be able to create the uh champions curriculum that then will go out into the community for

[1:16:20] benefit of the community. So that that will cost money and I plan to be probably the primary donor to Champions Legacy.

[1:16:29] Um is it accurate to say though that prior to the charitable approach that you are presenting now, you offered your

[1:16:36] neighbors to be pro to to share in the profits?

[1:16:40] I did. You know, I believe that everybody can win together when you have something that can be great for the community. And so, at one point, I did

[1:16:47] approach my neighbors and offer them to share in the success of the of the venture. That offer is is still there.

[1:16:56] Um Okay. And and my understanding is you're kind of saying this is Michael Jordan's

[1:17:02] graceand basically that you're looking to You know, at one point that's what I thought.

[1:17:07] Okay. And as I got deeper into exploring what [clears throat] it could really do for humanity, um I think like my he he's

[1:17:15] a great person and obviously was a a major part of this community, right?

[1:17:19] Um but I think it can be so much larger than that. Um I think what the the house itself is is architecturally great. Um,

[1:17:28] but I think it I I've just really seen it inspire people when when they come into the house. And I think we can use it as a source of inspiration to to

[1:17:35] bring people together at a time where there seems to be a lot of divisiveness in society.

[1:17:41] How many um parties have you had since you bought it?

[1:17:45] I've probably had about 12 parties since I bought the house.

[1:17:48] Okay. How have those worked out? And again, I like I I know about one.

[1:17:53] Yeah. Um, but how have they worked out in terms of getting people there, the noise, the Um, I I think they've worked out pretty

[1:18:00] well. Um, you know, the the house probably has about 40 on-site parking spots. There's a lot of paved area

[1:18:07] there. Um, I've done two larger parties that required shuttle buses to come in.

[1:18:13] One was a broker's open for the point of trying to find somebody to lease the space while I'm working on the larger plan. Okay.

[1:18:20] Just because it is costly. Uh the other was a a charity fundraiser for a group called Crew, which used to be called

[1:18:27] Campus Crusade for Christ, and they work with Athletes in Action. And so I did a fundraiser uh for that organization. Um

[1:18:36] on those two occasions, we had shuttle buses come in and out of the property.

[1:18:40] Um I always make it clear there's absolutely no parking on the street there. And so the church across the

[1:18:46] street offered parking for one of the uh one of the events. And then uh my broker's company at properties offered

[1:18:54] parking for the other event. Um other parties I've done is around, you know, usually 40 or 50 people. These are friends and family. Um watch parties. I

[1:19:02] I had the Husker men's basketball team over. Uh I'm a I'm from Nebraska originally. Happy to offer it to Northwestern as well. Um [laughter] but uh that was just personally fulfilling.

[1:19:12] I used to go to basketball games with my dad and um it was meaningful to to be able to have the team over. Okay.

[1:19:20] Um curious to know what my other council members are wanting to know. Council member Brookman.

[1:19:25] Thank you. Um thank you u Mr. Cooper first off for your time and resources and your thoughtful presentation. I I

[1:19:32] really appreciate that. Um so my thoughts first. So this is not just about this one property. It raises

[1:19:39] questions about zoning presidents in my mind, impacts um impacts the neighbors, the nearby residents and environmental

[1:19:47] um effects on the Heler Nature Center, fiscal implications to the city and county, and whether it's responsible to spend staff and commission time if the

[1:19:55] proposal is unlikely to move forward. Um with that said, um I have a few questions. Um, so I know because access

[1:20:03] relies heavily on the Heler Nature Center. Do you have uh written confirmation from the park district that they have support uh for the shuttle

[1:20:10] drop off trail use and path extensions yet? Um, so we've had multiple meetings.

[1:20:17] [clears throat] They are ready to take the next steps forward of exploring it.

[1:20:21] Um, I don't I don't I don't want to put words in their mouth. I'm not sure if if any of them are here today, but um there's a there's a a good path there.

[1:20:30] They see the benefits and the crossover um that this can do toward their mission.

[1:20:36] Okay. Um and then the followup to that, so if the park district ultimately declines participation, do you have an

[1:20:42] alternate access path or plan in terms of traffic or impacts to residential streets?

[1:20:49] Sure. I mean, the original plan when I met with my neighbors about six months ago was bringing people directly onto the property with shuttle buses.

[1:20:57] Obviously, that's an easier path because the road's already there. Uh I also understand that's a greater burden on on my neighbors and neighborhood to have uh

[1:21:06] extra vehicles traveling in and out even if it's only four vehicles an hour. Um that was part of why I thought maybe we

[1:21:13] could share in the success together because I understand that it's um uh you know there there are

[1:21:20] considerations that they would be putting aside to to provide their support for this project. So that's one

[1:21:28] one other mean, but you know, it it seemed not likely to go through that way. And the feedback that I received

[1:21:34] was, you know, the best chance of having a more of a public use for the property would be to find alternative access to the property, which then I've worked

[1:21:43] over the last 6 months to to try to take that uh feedback and and use it.

[1:21:49] Okay. Thank you. Um, and then as just a background, I grew up actually on Maver Lane, so I was right there, so I'm very familiar with the neighborhood and

[1:21:56] traffic. Um, so another question I had, so you had mentioned in your presentation, um, you'd referenced phase growth. What specifically like growth

[1:22:05] are you referring to with that presentation, attendance, conferences, uh, length?

[1:22:11] Yeah, I'm I I guess I'm not sure where it might be able to go in the future.

[1:22:16] Obviously, if if this moves forward, there'll be a very uh specific set of rules that I'll agree to follow. Um

[1:22:24] I I've never done something exactly like this before. Um and so, you know, I've got an idea of what demand will be. I It

[1:22:32] could be more, it could be less than that. So, um you know, I just want to um

[1:22:40] allow it to move forward in a way that has minimal impact to to neighbors and to nature. Okay, great. Um, so what

[1:22:48] level of environmental analysis have you done um with in terms of Heler Nature Center with the habitat, lighting,

[1:22:55] erosion, wildlife? Um, have you done any research on that yet?

[1:23:00] So, since we're pretty early in this, I I don't have a lot of research yet. Um, I would like the opportunity to be able

[1:23:07] to present that uh information in in future meetings as I commission it. you know, I want to make sure that um since

[1:23:15] that is a significant time in financial investment to create the reports that there's some chance for it to move forward. Um but I will be ordering a

[1:23:24] traffic study, an economic impact study, and an environmental study to support, you know, the claims.

[1:23:32] Okay. Thank you. U those are all my my questions for right now. Thanks.

[1:23:36] Thank you. Um, did you offer to share some of the revenue with the park district if they move forward with you?

[1:23:42] What percentage would you be sharing with them?

[1:23:45] 5% is what we've discussed. Nothing is sort of finalized yet, but and would that be 5% of gross or would that be 5% of the community days?

[1:23:55] Uh, it'd be 5% of the gross ticket sales. Okay. Thanks, Council Member Bloomberg.

[1:24:01] Um, [clears throat] I'll I'll start by um asking a couple of

[1:24:08] uh background questions. You've you've talked about doing a lot of different kinds of programs. Um, what is your background and experience operating a museum?

[1:24:19] I don't have any background.

[1:24:20] Essentially, you're talking about turning this into a museum.

[1:24:23] Correct. Yeah. I would be relying on a team of other people that have a lot of experience with running museums to help me. Have you picked those people out?

[1:24:31] Are you aware of any of those companies?

[1:24:33] Yeah, I I have them picked out. Um and when the when the time is right or when we're able to go forward with it, if we

[1:24:41] are fortunate enough to get approval, um they would be they're ready to hit the ground running, they're excited about the project. Um in the next meeting, I

[1:24:50] can probably give the names of the companies and the names of individuals that we'll be helping.

[1:24:55] Okay. Um, you've also talked about using this as uh providing an educational function to uh younger people. Do you

[1:25:03] have a background in teaching and education?

[1:25:06] Um, I do not, but a gentleman that's helping me uh by the name of Daryl Roberts has put together uh two very

[1:25:14] powerful programs. Um, one of them was around 2007 around women's self-esteem.

[1:25:21] He's actually [clears throat] award award-winning documentarian and he created uh a documentary called America

[1:25:30] the Beautiful and then he went around um two colleges for about three years and

[1:25:37] and talked about the the documentary and how the American culture and advertising

[1:25:44] uh can hurt women's self self-image. And then um he followed that up um some years later working on a campaign with

[1:25:52] Abberrombi and Finch on anti-bullying which he got it into 20,000 high schools across the United States and it actually had a noticeable effect on lowering

[1:26:00] bullying like measurable effect. And so Daryl is going to be the the mastermind of putting together the curriculum.

[1:26:08] Um and to some degree you've also talked about um an inspirational program.

[1:26:15] Yeah. Um I I don't quite have a an idea of exactly what you're talking about. If you could sort of fill in the details of what what that entails and what your experience is with that as well.

[1:26:25] [clears throat]

[1:26:26] Um I've had the opportunity to see groups of children come into the house.

[1:26:30] In fact, I've got um a supporter here that runs Shy Cookook Officers in Motion. And so it's a charity that connects children with police officers

[1:26:39] and lets them know that officers are here to help us. and um she was able to bring up 30 children from a more

[1:26:46] impoverished part of uh Chicago for an experience to play on the basketball court and see the house. And um they

[1:26:54] interviewed the kids. I I I didn't know it, but she brought some uh news media with her and they were interviewing the kids and one of them said, "Just being

[1:27:01] here makes me want to try harder so that I can have the opportunity and have this type of a um I don't know

[1:27:08] experience or in my life." And so I was really moved moved by that um by that interview and I believe that that that's

[1:27:16] what it could do for for thousands of kids, the opportunity to see what hard work and perseverance uh can can get them.

[1:27:25] Okay. Um you've talked a little bit about the number of people you hope to attract to these different programs and

[1:27:34] uh your hopeful interdependence with the uh space at Heler to be able to uh park

[1:27:43] all these people and to transport them to the property. Uh but it all you're going to have a large number of people working there. Where are those people

[1:27:51] going to be housed and how are they going to get to the property? Yeah, I think the employees would would need to take a shuttle bus directly onto the

[1:27:58] property. Um, as a patron, I think it's reasonable to ask somebody to walk about a quarter of a mile for a one-time experience, but as employees that are

[1:28:06] coming and going daily, especially in the debt of winter, to ask them to to walk a quarter of a mile each way might be a rough ask to find employees. Um so

[1:28:16] I I would ask for um you know two shifts of vehicles to be able to come in and out at the end of their shifts. Um

[1:28:24] similarly with ADA needs, I realize that's a difficult ask to have somebody in a wheelchair or somebody that's

[1:28:30] elderly walk or um travel such a a great distance. So um there would be some accommodations for uh ADA accessibility.

[1:28:40] I I appreciate you're answering my questions. They are somewhat secondary.

[1:28:44] I share some of the same concerns that council member Buckman expressed um that

[1:28:52] if we change the zoning code, we're essentially opening this up even though it's a conditional use to other applications of people who may be more

[1:29:02] focused or less focused than you in different areas uh of town. Um and so I

[1:29:09] have some concerns about that. I have a lot of concerns even though the park district may ultim ultimately be

[1:29:16] amendable to it. Uh I still have to say I'm troubled with uh that the kind of impact the tens of thousands of people

[1:29:25] tramping in and out of the Heler Nature Center would have on that asset of Highland Park. Um, I I I am concerned

[1:29:33] about that and I I really that that has more to do with your particular proposal than the issue of whether we're going to

[1:29:42] uh allow us to consider a zoning code change, but I'm still concerned about that. Um, so that's what's on my mind.

[1:29:52] Thank you. Um, I have actually some more questions. Um, I have been in the House.

[1:29:57] How do you account for the ADA in that house? I mean, it's gazillions of levels. And yeah, um I'm assuming [clears throat]

[1:30:04] I'm going to need to make it ADA compliant. And so I would be adding ramps, adding chair lifts to get up to the second floor and into the basement,

[1:30:12] having ADA accessible bathrooms. Uh so I would be making uh the necessary changes

[1:30:19] to to facilitate the museum use. And given what I've heard sounds like a true dedication to inspiring kids, why

[1:30:29] wouldn't more of the time be spent on these charitable purposes? Like 13%'s tiny. Why wouldn't more than half of the

[1:30:37] time, half of the entrance? Like if you think about museums, most museums are not for-p profofit. This is certainly not a not for-profit museum given the

[1:30:46] current proposal that you're making. So, why would if this is truly what you're aiming for, why wouldn't you make it more of a charitable enterprise?

[1:30:55] Yeah. So, Champions Legacy is going to be a full-time charitable enterprise with its own employees. And so, part of

[1:31:03] the money um you know, from the for-profit is going to be donated to the nonprofit to have outreach above and beyond what the house can do. you know,

[1:31:12] that the the house is just the house and only so many people are going to be able to come into the house just logistically, but I've got a vision to be able to have the program go

[1:31:21] nationwide through hope I'm I'm hoping to work with possibly the Boys and Girls Club um and have had some early conversations

[1:31:29] with them. So, um, to create a curriculum and then to be able to educate other educators to get it out in

[1:31:39] front of 4 million children is a full-time commitment and it'll be costly and so somehow that money needs to come

[1:31:47] from somewhere and I'm looking at the for-profit business as a driver of the nonprofit.

[1:31:53] Thank you. Council member Tapia, uh, who's in our up in the ceiling would like to ask some questions.

[1:31:59] Yeah. Um, you know, the the events you've had so far, which I think if I heard right, there's about 12 and those

[1:32:08] were shuttled in there because obviously the access to the back would not be ready yet. But is there I I'd be

[1:32:15] interested in hearing from you and also from the neighbors whom I know are there who will speak later uh about what that

[1:32:24] experience was like in terms of impact and u and and I'm thinking about two things. one there's the axis which you're trying to resolve by going

[1:32:33] through the back basically through Helen nature but I'm I'm interested in what the impact was once everybody was inside

[1:32:41] um and what kind you know because that is a huge property as we all know and I'm just trying to imagine the level of

[1:32:49] disturbance or not uh once you know people inside the house and turn around is it secluded enough or there's enough

[1:32:57] space around it that you can't feel it or notice it or do you notice it?

[1:33:02] Because I I to me there's the access to the property issue, but there's also the number of people at the property while they're there. What did it feel like for the neighborhood?

[1:33:13] Sure. Well, I think early on, um, I had some growing pains never owning a a a

[1:33:21] house like this before. So, just getting people in, trying to show them where to park so they weren't boxing each other in. Um I think the first time that the

[1:33:30] basketball team came over um counter to my instructions, they let the team off and then didn't move their bus. I I told

[1:33:37] them they needed to get the bus out of the neighborhood and I don't think that happened and I found out about that later. So I apologize for that. Um as

[1:33:45] I've owned the property longer and kind of worked through some of these challenges, I think it's been um it's it's been better. you know, we had a a

[1:33:54] disagreement on how loud music could be played at one point and so the police came out and we agreed on a an appropriate volume level and then I kept

[1:34:02] it at that level ever since. Um, and although I did have a few large gatherings over the summer, I I haven't

[1:34:09] really done much of the house in the last four or five months. So, as we all know in Chicago, there's there's a time that you can actually enjoy being outside and then there's a time where

[1:34:18] just not a lot goes on. So, um, to answer your other question about being in the house, the house is 37,700

[1:34:25] ft², um, it can it can accommodate hundreds of people at one time and you you wouldn't even know the other people

[1:34:32] are there because there are so many different u parts of the house. Um, so it's it's also pretty well buffered from

[1:34:40] the neighbors. I mean, the intent when the property was built was privacy. So there there's a, you know, large line of

[1:34:48] pine trees all the way around the property. There's a pretty good distance between um the neighboring properties and the building itself cuz it sits on

[1:34:57] almost 7.4 acres. So um I I think many times when there are a lot of people there, nobody would know except for the

[1:35:06] fact, you know, people come in and out of the gate and now they'd be coming on this path from Heler.

[1:35:13] Correct. Yeah. And one thing I think I could actually decrease the traffic on Point Lane because currently there's somewhere of I don't know upwards of 50

[1:35:22] people a day that every day come onto that property just to get a picture in front of the gate. And so with this

[1:35:28] proposal I would be moving the uh the 23 gate in to the interior of the property.

[1:35:35] And uh even in an earlier proposal to my neighbors, I've offered to um turn turn our neighborhood into a gated uh a gated

[1:35:43] neighborhood to the extent that the city would allow it. Um and pay for personal security for the entire neighborhood uh at my expense. And so, you know, if

[1:35:52] safety is really a concern, if vehicles traveling on that road that are not residents of that neighborhood is really

[1:36:00] a concern, um I have a solution for that that you know that I'm happy to institute.

[1:36:07] How many people per year do you anticipate? Like if it's working the way you envision it, how many people would you envision coming each year? I mean,

[1:36:16] if I if I'm thinking an average of 300 people a day and I'm open 300 days a year, that's 90,000 something. Let's

[1:36:23] call it 100,000 people on the path from Heler basically on the path. Yep.

[1:36:29] So 300 people a day kind of marching past your neighbors backyards essentially.

[1:36:34] Um I think the the path goes several hundred feet away from my neighbors properties, but but yeah, that that's accurate.

[1:36:42] Okay. We did hear from somebody who said their pool's like right there. So, I think they'd be watching 300 people march by their pool every day. But just

[1:36:50] wanted to sure establish what we're talking about. Council member Lord. Thank you.

[1:36:55] Oh, I'm sorry. Council member Tapia has another question. Yeah, just so I can finish my term. Thank you.

[1:37:00] Um, how did you come up with an estimate of 300 a day? Like on what basis are you basing that?

[1:37:10] I guess it's hopeful. Um, you know,

[1:37:17] that's a great question. I I uh it could be more than that. It could be less.

[1:37:23] I don't I don't have a great answer there. Okay.

[1:37:27] Okay. And one more question, mayor, if you would. May uh I I do want to come back to uh council member Buckman's question about

[1:37:34] the Highland Park Park District. I know you can't speak to them, but I I would like to know a little bit more about the nature of the conversations. What what

[1:37:43] is it that uh they have seem to indicate that they're open to this um in that um we are looking at the

[1:37:53] Helen Nature Center. They have their own have to welcome their own visitors just to the Helen Nature Center. uh have what

[1:38:01] kind of red flags or yellow flags or concerns or issues to still be resolved.

[1:38:06] Do you are you aware of as they continue that deliberation?

[1:38:17] So, as I've talked with them, there's a lot of crossover and what their mission is and what my mission is. You know, they want people to have a healthy

[1:38:24] pursuit of nature and leisure. This property contains tennis court, basketball court, weight room, putting

[1:38:32] green. So these are all things that could be used for team building for let's say the camps that they run over the summer or as we bring in students

[1:38:40] from Highland Park schools um we can do team building exercises and leadership um talks from from mentors there. So I

[1:38:49] think part of what they like in the proposal is that there's an alignment on uh what we're trying to accomplish.

[1:38:56] Um, also with Helen Nature Center, you know, they want to get people out enjoying nature. I I was there this

[1:39:03] summer on a beautiful day right after church and there were two other cars there, you know, on on a nice summer

[1:39:09] day. So, here we have 97 acres and I'm there with six other people on a day where I I think a lot of people should

[1:39:16] be out there enjoying nature. And so I think one thing that they mentioned that they like is this is a great way to get people out exercising and seeing the

[1:39:25] beauty of nature and and what Highland Park has to offer. Um financially, you know, if you would take 5% of the ticket

[1:39:34] revenue, you know, that that could be half a million dollars or or more annually for them. So that's money that

[1:39:41] they would be able to put wherever they want to. I think we talked about part of it staying with the Heler Nature Center specifically to augment that property.

[1:39:50] And then um if we needed extra employees um to I guess let's let's say somebody

[1:39:58] threw some litter, I would want that picked up, right? So I would have my employee that I'm paying for walk the trail and uh keep the trail maintained.

[1:40:08] um would probably enhance the I I anticipate there'd be one kind of main trail that's the one that comes closest to the property. So that trail would be

[1:40:16] enhanced at my expense. I'd be helping with snow removal and bathroom maintenance and then of course I'd have my own bathrooms too. So uh I think

[1:40:24] there's definitely a lot of advantages to working together with the park district and and they see those advantages and you know we we are

[1:40:32] looking at taking the next steps. We don't have any official agreement signed and obviously it's got to work lock step [clears throat] with with the city here.

[1:40:41] Um, you know, but we've had good discussions so far. How many parking spaces are at Heler?

[1:40:48] I think Heler has maybe 50 spots. It's not a huge parking, which is why [clears throat] my proposal would have

[1:40:55] people park off site and then shuttle to the Heler Nature Center because I want to make sure that those parking spots need to stay open to people that are coming out there to enjoy the nature center.

[1:41:04] Okay. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Thanks, Council Member.

[1:41:08] All right. So, a couple questions. I'm going to assume for a few minutes that um the park district is looking at the sustainability, the leisure and um

[1:41:17] the protection of Heler uh just for a minute, you know, because at some point we'll overlap on that. But I'm and if I'm going to look at it that way from a

[1:41:25] council perspective, I'm most [snorts] interested in the neighborhoods and in the neighbors who reside right there. So I'm having a little bit of

[1:41:34] trouble understanding how and I mean in your proposal it says something about six events in the evening

[1:41:42] per year. So are those six educational events are you limiting I I don't

[1:41:49] understand where the forprofit 87% um takes the time away from the 13% of I

[1:41:56] what I would believe would be daytime events mostly for kids in the park [clears throat] district and whatnot. M um so could you speak to a little bit

[1:42:04] the way you see a breakdown of the time and the usage um at the house and in the neighborhood?

[1:42:10] Sure. So one of the trade-offs with um allowing the museum to exist is that the museum closes at the end of the day

[1:42:18] whether it's 5:00 in the winter or 7:00 in the summer. That would be the close of the business. People would leave and

[1:42:25] the neighbors would be left with a quiet neighborhood with nothing happening in the evening. Um, ideally I would like permission to be able to do six events

[1:42:34] uh in the evening over the course of an entire year and those would be um exclusively to benefit 501c3s.

[1:42:43] Uh I would like to be able to do some fundraisers for Champions Legacy uh to be able to bring in money to create the curriculum and to distribute it

[1:42:51] potentially among thousands of of different locations eventually. Um, I'm open it not being exclusively um,

[1:42:59] Champions Legacy, but I know there's other great um, charities here around Highland Park that could use additional

[1:43:06] exposure and additional funds. So, you know, to the extent that I can use the property in the evening to benefit other groups, I'd love to do that. I'm also

[1:43:15] sensitive to my neighbors and that part of the trade-off is they get guaranteed quiet evenings

[1:43:23] so that it's only those six evenings that you're looking at potentially. Correct.

[1:43:27] Okay. And then I want to understand a little bit more about the actual transportation through the neighborhood.

[1:43:35] So if you're saying that your employees are shuttled twice a day to get to work and to leave work um are they being

[1:43:42] shuttled through Heler or are they being shuttled through the front gate and then similarly are the shuttles you know for

[1:43:50] classrooms or individuals or or the private sector who wants to come because that is 87%.

[1:43:58] Um where do the shuttles go?

[1:44:00] Right. So all shuttles for customers and students would go to the Helen Nature Center. The only shuttles that would

[1:44:09] come onto the property would be two shuttles for employees.

[1:44:14] Um I proposed 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. for the summertime hours. So 11 hour shifts pretty long for for people. So probably not going to have them work 11 hours.

[1:44:22] So, I would anticipate some people arriving for their 8:00 shift and then a second shift coming in say uh 11 or noon

[1:44:31] and then so then the first uh bus would then leave with people 8 hours after the first shift and then you'd have one bus

[1:44:38] final. So that would be two two buses coming in with um employees and two buses going out. And then the only other

[1:44:46] bus that I'm anticipating would be for for ADA accessibility u to make sure that they have the same opportunity to enjoy the experience as anybody else would have.

[1:44:54] But again, do those buses go up the street because we talked about every 15 minutes, right?

[1:45:01] Are those going up the street or they coming through the back through Heler?

[1:45:04] So, you know, 95% of the buses are going to be going on Ridge. Now, I don't know yet if they're coming from the north or from the south. That'll depend on where

[1:45:13] the off-site parking would would be approved. Um, but those are going to come directly onto into Heler. They're

[1:45:20] going to drop off the patrons and then they walk over and then they walk over. Yeah.

[1:45:24] Okay. So for-profit or not for-p profofit, the vast majority of people you're saying would not be driving a car and would not be coming in on a bus

[1:45:32] [clears throat] that goes straight up the front.

[1:45:35] Correct. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I'm real sensitive to vehicle traffic, especially I know sometimes it gets a little bit hectic there on 22 as people are turning

[1:45:42] south onto Skoi Boulevard. So the the idea is the parking will be 5 to 10 minutes away. people will park there,

[1:45:50] come do their experience, bus back, and then hopefully spend a little bit of time enjoying um some of the other entertainment and uh and businesses that Highland Park has to offer.

[1:46:00] And the only thing other the only other question I have and I I want to follow up because the mayor brought up some stuff about over the summer and parties

[1:46:07] and whatnot. And um first of all, do you feel that at this point you're in a good place with noise restrictions that the neighborhood is comfortable with you?

[1:46:18] And how will this impact noise even during the day or Yeah, I I feel like we're we're in a

[1:46:26] good place. Um there shouldn't be noise during the day because it's it's primarily it's an indoor activity.

[1:46:31] People are coming to do the exhibits that are inside the house. um you know they'll they'll walk I guess on the path

[1:46:39] once they get onto the property they're going to need to walk to the house but from then on they'll be inside the house so there really shouldn't be much noise with that

[1:46:47] and is that like is that gated off for lack of a better way can people just walk off the path and just wander

[1:46:54] elsewhere or are you saying it would go straight from Heler to the property I mean so the Heler has miles and miles of paths on it but there would be one path

[1:47:03] specifically that is the closest that would come to my property. And on that path, um, we would extend the last

[1:47:11] roughly 120 feet to connect to the northwest corner of Champions Point. And so I would take out a portion of the

[1:47:19] fence there, probably have some sort of like a a freestanding ticket booth for lack of better words, or someplace where somebody could be out of the rain if

[1:47:27] it's raining, um, and monitor the people coming onto the property. And then when they finished their experience, they would leave the, you know, the same way

[1:47:36] and then walk on the existing path to get back to their shuttle bus. Okay.

[1:47:41] Would that ticket booth be v visible from your neighbors homes?

[1:47:45] Um, I mean, in the winter, a lot of stuff is visible because the leaves are gone. Uh, in the summer, not so much.

[1:47:53] The ticket booth is not a must-have. So, if that is some kind of a deal breaker, they could stand out there in a in a

[1:47:59] rain jacket in the rain. um it it's probably not necessary.

[1:48:05] So the only reason I asked this and and then I'm done is you know we we are a residential neighborhood with certain

[1:48:11] areas where we have commercial or retail things going on. But we do have one area where, you know, the high school and

[1:48:19] Walters Field, the football field, um, is right next to a neighborhood and it has, you know, been something that we've had to regulate and monitor and work

[1:48:28] [clears throat] very hard with the school districts to make sure that the neighbors um are comfortable, but many

[1:48:35] many of the neighbors moved in after, so they knew there was a football field there. And it's it still has caused

[1:48:41] issues. But here, people moved in, never anticipating anything commercial. And that's why I'm asking about noise and

[1:48:50] intrusion into a beautiful residential neighborhood.

[1:48:54] Sure. Yeah, I understand. I know that property was for sale for for nearly 13 years, and so lots of people had the

[1:49:02] opportunity to purchase the property as a house, and it it just wasn't selling as a house. It's it's not a practical house. Um, I guess unless you're a

[1:49:10] billionaire. um to to live there is is unrealistic. I have I am not um I spend time there with my family, but I'm not

[1:49:18] sleeping there. I also have a resident's wife and uh four kids over in Lincolnshshire. Um, and so it's a second

[1:49:25] house for us, but um, I I believe what would have ultimately happened to the house is it probably would fall into

[1:49:32] disrepair or we maybe would lose an iconic part of of Highland Park if that were ever bulldozed and, you know,

[1:49:40] chopped up and made other houses. I feel like Highland Park has this amazing asset of um a person that lived here

[1:49:47] that was um you know influential or world changing and uh I think this

[1:49:54] should be an asset that the the city should enjoy, the the community should be able to enjoy and people in general should be able to to to really see.

[1:50:04] Thank you. Thank you, Council Roger.

[1:50:08] Um and uh thank you for your you know presentation

[1:50:15] um and obviously a lot of thought that you've put into this. I as as much as I

[1:50:23] appreciate that you've been struggling to make this financially viable for yourself. Um, and as much as I want to be fair to a property owner in Highland

[1:50:32] Par, I want to say from the say from this outset that I don't feel I I don't feel we have an obligation as a city to

[1:50:40] to make this profitable for you. I mean that that that's your you know that's your

[1:50:46] uh job I guess. Um, regarding the extension of the path um it is my understanding that lots of trees would

[1:50:53] have to uh come down for that path. Um, I I want to state that um I don't understand the museum concept at at all.

[1:51:02] I I understand that you as the owner don't have experience um in this area of creating a museum, but I don't even see

[1:51:10] a glimmer for me. It's just hard to see the glimmer of an idea beyond experiencing

[1:51:17] greatness because it's a very very big house that, you know, visitors can aspire to or want to be like Mike. Um uh

[1:51:25] and I was a big fan of his too, but still uh I I don't see how this is educational. I just don't see the

[1:51:32] formation of of a museum. It's a really really big undertaking to to create one.

[1:51:38] Uh the the uh and another part that I'm struggling with is I mean the public school day for students is jam-packed.

[1:51:47] It's hard enough to squeeze in basic curriculum. And I say this as a former 112 schoolboard member for a K8 school district. Um I'm having a tough time

[1:51:54] imagining bringing students once a month. Um I am concerned about the Heler Nature Center as well, the negative

[1:52:01] impact on it. Uh but at you know basically I think the park district um needs to decide you know whether whether

[1:52:10] they want you know to work with you or not. [clears throat] And uh yeah, so I'll go back to the the

[1:52:17] path that the um I I I assume you can confirm that. I mean there were a lot of trees. That's what I

[1:52:25] heard. A lot of trees would have to come down to create the extension of the path that you were talking about. Who did you hear that from? I'm sorry.

[1:52:33] Who who did you hear that from?

[1:52:35] Well, [laughter] uh from the city manager. I I sorry to put you in in that. Uh yeah. Um, I mean,

[1:52:43] so we're talking about probably like a 5-ft walking path, and we're concerned with heritage trees, trees that that have value. There's also trees that are

[1:52:51] kind of like weeds that choke out healthy trees. So, what I'm what I believe we can do is remove the unhealthy trees and keep the heritage

[1:53:00] trees and wind the path around uh larger trees so that it's as least disruptive as possible. And then of course there's

[1:53:09] uh other other things that we can do like plant new trees uh if there would have to be a tree removed which I I'm not sure. We haven't gotten to the point

[1:53:17] yet where we looked at exactly where the path would go or how it would connect but I know that there's other mitigating

[1:53:23] things that we can do to have a net gain uh for the forest preserve.

[1:53:29] Uh yeah I that that may be the case. I I think uh my I have bigger I I have

[1:53:35] equally big concerns again that there's no actual concept for the museum um and

[1:53:43] uh and as I said the impact on the the Heler Nature Center um and and the neighbors um and I I guess I'll wait

[1:53:53] leave it to you to I'm I'm I'm still interested in hearing uh the conversation around this. Thank you, Council Member Center.

[1:54:03] Mr. Cooper, thanks for being here. Uh, really appreciate it. I know Council Member Bloomberg, you know, got into a little bit around your background and

[1:54:12] sort of the fact that you're planning to and have already identified some operators and educators that could help carry out this vision. I'm just curious, what is your actual background?

[1:54:22] Oh, yep. Um, so I've been in real estate for the past 15 years. Uh my partners and I own primarily self- storage facilities and RV parks uh throughout the Midwest.

[1:54:32] Got it. Thank you. Um you know, from a big picture perspective, I think your vision is

[1:54:40] really interesting and I appreciate that. And you know, personally, I'm trying to just keep an open mind that

[1:54:48] considers that big picture and allows us as a council and a community to potentially co-develop a solution that

[1:54:57] works for all stakeholders. And and I and you know, certainly the potential impact to many of the

[1:55:05] residents in this room right now is of utmost concern to all of us, right? And to them, of course, more most personally. And so what I've heard so

[1:55:14] far is a um openness and a desire to try to reduce the potential impact to them as

[1:55:23] much as possible. And I think to the extent that this continues, you know, we as a council, and I don't want to speak

[1:55:31] on behalf of everybody, but you know, I think us as a council and the community at large would significantly demand creative

[1:55:39] solutions to continue to mitigate those concerns. you know, in terms of foliage security, etc. to ensure that the

[1:55:48] potential impact and risk to the neighboring properties is as reduced as possible. Um, and so for me to try to

[1:55:57] get there is a very high bar. Uh

[1:56:00] [clears throat]

[1:56:01] but all that said, you know, again, the vision that you're creating here, you know, the creating this experience, the

[1:56:08] potential positive impact to kids to help empower people to engage the community, you know, both here locally

[1:56:16] and uh out, you know, directly outside of of Highland Park, I think is super interesting. Um

[1:56:25] I'm just looking back at my notes to see if I have anything else to to add.

[1:56:34] Yeah. And I think those are my those are my overarching comments. Uh so I appreciate you being here and thanks for answering all these questions.

[1:56:43] Thank you.

[1:56:46] Any further conversation from the council? [clears throat] Council member Bloomberg. I I think I'll just add along the lines of

[1:56:54] some of the comments you you heard at this end. One of my concerns is that asking for a zoning amendment for this,

[1:57:02] this is a very sightspecific ask. Um, if we pass a zoning amendment,

[1:57:09] it means other people can ask to do this anywhere else that it would be a conditional use. And that's the biggest

[1:57:17] difficulty I have. Um, you've talked about a lot of interesting things that seem

[1:57:24] vague and that doesn't make me very comfortable in terms of asking me to change asking the council to consider

[1:57:33] changing Highland Park zoning for something that's very sight specific and completely inconsistent with everything that's around it. That's sort of where I am right now.

[1:57:43] Sure. Council member Brooklyn.

[1:57:44] Thank you. Um, thank you. Um, and I just go back to I know Michael Jordan used to speak back in the day about he moved to this neighborhood for the privacy and

[1:57:53] the quaint neighborhood that it gave him. And to me, this just doesn't seem like that that is it. This is it at all.

[1:58:00] U and I keep on going back to the neighbors and they unanimously have said that they do not want this um in their neighborhood. So for me, that's why I

[1:58:09] respect that and um I'm also at the same uh place as a council member of Bloomberg as well. But but I really appreciate you coming out and talking with us.

[1:58:19] I want to echo that and it's interesting because I've been to Graceand so I understand walking through the house and seeing the stuff and I've been to

[1:58:26] Michael Jordan's house and trying to like look at the comparison of the two but obviously one of the hugest differences is Graceand is basically you

[1:58:34] know surrounded by a highway. He's got his airplane. He's, you know, commercial district Holiday in all of that. It's you okay. Yeah.

[1:58:42] um you know neighbors are not going to be watching thousands of people go to Graceand

[1:58:49] from their pool in their backyard. So I just living near Ravenia, I understand traffic management and what the impact

[1:58:56] of a tourist destination can be on a neighborhood. Uh I think we've done a great job with that. But I moved into my

[1:59:04] house knowing that that was there. I think several of the people in this audience moved to their house without any intention of living next door to

[1:59:11] Graceline North basically. So I just I'm not comfortable to your point sort of opening that door so that in another

[1:59:19] neighborhood somebody can go well by the way we have this Franklid Wright house and now we're going to create a museum around this house or whatever the case

[1:59:27] may be. I just think I mean honestly to my city manager I kind of feel like we need to look at short-term rentals again. So I I'm kind of going in the

[1:59:34] other direction towards how do we protect neighbors and neighborhoods.

[1:59:38] These are people's generally biggest assets. They've invested a lot. It's their emotional safe space. It's quiet

[1:59:46] enjoyment. I don't know how you get quiet enjoyment with 300 people marching past your backyard every single day. And

[1:59:54] more to the point, um, I just sort of feel like there's been this emphasis on charitable approaches, but it's not

[2:00:02] truly the majority of the use of this place. The majority of the use of this place is basically to make a profit, and it's wonderful. It's capitalist economy,

[2:00:09] but I just sort of feel like it's not quite how it's being proposed. So, any further comments from Yeah.

[2:00:17] You want to go first? No, no, you go ahead.

[2:00:19] Sure. Yeah. Well, I all fair fair comments, mayor. I appreciate that. And council member Bloomberg, I guess, you

[2:00:26] know, precedent precedence is critically important. I get that this is a very unique asset. I'll just say sort of on the other side of the coin there.

[2:00:36] You know, we're we're dealing with um again something that doesn't exist anywhere else around in our community,

[2:00:43] let alone across the across the country, right? So we are we and we do have the ability to uh to say no in other in other situations.

[2:00:53] Let's just let's just put that out there.

[2:00:54] Um I [clears throat] again I'll just go back a little bit to sort of the the tenor of my comments

[2:01:02] which are high bar but is there a way that we can work together as a community including those that are

[2:01:10] most directly impacted to try to get to yes. Right. But I think we a lot of times say this seems hard. This is going

[2:01:17] to be impossible. There's no way we can accomplish this versus trying to think creatively and working together. And maybe we'll never get there. It's

[2:01:25] possible because this is a very tall order and a and a lot of moving parts.

[2:01:29] Um and I think Mr. Cooper's done a really nice job of trying to get ahead of some of those considerations and be thoughtful around that. there's a lot

[2:01:36] more to go and so it might never work for a variety of reasons that we're all talking about, but my [clears throat] inclination would be let's at least give

[2:01:44] it a let's let's let's give it some oxygen to give it a chance.

[2:01:48] So, Council Member Lor, thank you. Um, so I didn't realize we were going to go down the line and kind of give our opinions, but if that's the

[2:01:55] point we're at, um, no pun intended with Champions Point, I I think, um, we have a process and and it's an expensive

[2:02:04] process because you go before the plan and design commission, you go through a commissions, you there's a lot to go through to get something changed, but

[2:02:12] that's because we're really thoughtful about it. And to Council Member Cent's point, I I I think this is just a

[2:02:19] treasure and it's a unique thing and I would like to see it explored within the confines of protecting our community and

[2:02:26] our neighbors. But I'd also like to know if there's a way and I do think that's a tall order, which is why I caution you that it's an expensive venture to even

[2:02:35] get to the point of yes. But I personally would really like to see us study it because [clears throat] right

[2:02:44] now frankly, and what do I know? But I think your 300 projections are way off.

[2:02:49] I mean, I look at who goes to Heler because I go up there a lot of the time and there are not 300 people a day going to the Hela Nature Center and and maybe

[2:02:57] the attraction of this place will be very different. But there's so much that I would like to learn to see if there's

[2:03:05] a way of doing it or not. And maybe there isn't because the last thing I want to do is disrupt our neighborhood

[2:03:11] and our community. But I I do think that it's a treasure that I'd like to see balanced. And um we have a process and

[2:03:20] you know as council corporation council pointed out we could ask to go forward and have the PDC for example consider this and we could still come back and

[2:03:29] tell you no it doesn't work and that's why I say to you in a cautionary way are you sure you want to do that but frankly

[2:03:36] as an elected official I I would rather see us go through the process to really see if it's just a total no or if

[2:03:43] there's something that is really wonderful whether it's only 13% charitable and educational. You know, there's nothing wrong with making money

[2:03:51] either, but it's it's just a question of how it fits in our community. Housews.

[2:03:57] Yeah. And and I've got a just a ton of reservations about about this um you

[2:04:04] know, project. Um there are I so many reservations about how you

[2:04:11] would make this this work. um and and how we can you know safeguard the

[2:04:18] interests of of of neighbors. Um I think it to all of us that's really important

[2:04:24] that uh you know that that neighbors are are you know comfortable with what with

[2:04:31] what you're doing. Um, and having having said that, I I'm not ready to to just

[2:04:40] what the final option was on on the screen of of just not discussing this any any further. I I I think it's worth

[2:04:50] discussing. I I just see I'm not optimistic about this. Um but I

[2:04:58] I think in in some kind of fairness um that it that a a little more discussion

[2:05:04] about this would um be worthwhile. And uh you know if I if I had to honestly if

[2:05:13] I had to vote right now I'd say this is not a good idea. But I I'm I'm just saying I'm open to a little more discussion about this.

[2:05:22] Thank you. Council member Tapia.

[2:05:26] Yes. I I um do believe that you know we follow standards and precedent but I

[2:05:34] also understand when there is a outlier situation because of the uniqueness of it and the Michael Jordan property is

[2:05:41] definitely qualifies as a way outlier a unique um legacy in the city of Holland Park and I am intrigued by the

[2:05:51] possibilities of really being able to do something with what has been a a

[2:05:57] legendary thing uh a place that um is part of Highland Park's history. And I'm intrigued by the ideas that have been

[2:06:05] presented about, sure, it's a money-making business, but there's also a nonprofit element to it. There's the, you know, revenue that could go to the

[2:06:12] park district. There is the attraction of visitors into the city of Highland Park, which benefited the the city in

[2:06:19] broader ways. and um and in even the messaging that uh the property owners are wanting to achieve through the

[2:06:27] purpose of the museum. Now whether it's viable or not that's a business decision not I don't feel one for us to determine whether it's viable or not. I think our

[2:06:36] primary responsibility is you know the impact on the neighborhood as also what could be beneficial for the city or highland parks continued attractiveness.

[2:06:46] So I'm I I I worry very much about the impact on the neighbors. I think there's been a lot of effort to address many of

[2:06:54] the concerns whether they have been uh and and some of them might be you can say yeah they address this and that and the other but there's still other

[2:07:02] open-ended issues that I think warrant more exploration. So, I'm in the camp of uh uh intrigued um thinking that if

[2:07:12] something could be worked out that could be a win-win all around, this could be a you know, a real breakthrough or you

[2:07:19] know, standout um you know, uh attraction of the city park like Revenant Festival is. uh but you know we

[2:07:29] have to be mindful of the impact on the neighbors and so I think further study is warranted to sort of see if those issues can be addressed or not.

[2:07:38] Um so I know several neighbors have come out and and want to share their thoughts. We generally don't do comments from the public during committee the

[2:07:46] whole because it's an opportunity for the council to just talk about policy, but we certainly understand the desire to share your opinions and we've read

[2:07:56] all the emails that have been sent to us. So, with that, we have 25 minutes um that we can use towards public comment.

[2:08:04] Um it looks like you have your attorney standing next to you ready to say something, but um do you want to let the public speak or do you want to share what's on your mind? I I would like the

[2:08:12] public to speak, but I just wanted to [clears throat] Excuse me.

[2:08:15] And if you could state your name for the record, that'd be great.

[2:08:17] Of course. Uh Carl Kimmeluchi from the Taft Law Firm on behalf of Champions Point. Thank you. Very briefly. I just

[2:08:23] wanted to um you know underscore something that all of you already know which is that um right now all Champions

[2:08:31] Point is requesting is that the council allow an application for a text amendment to be filed not to make a final decision about the project and and

[2:08:39] and its merits. And you know, the reasons for that have been illustrated by the discussion u that that we've had

[2:08:47] tonight, which is that there's a lot of really important questions that the council has raised and that neighbors have raised about uh exactly how um this

[2:08:55] will operate, the types of impacts it might have, the types of benefits it might have. And in many cases, those

[2:09:02] issues require some further study uh that the applicant is prepared to commission and provide in the context of a public hearing, which of course would

[2:09:10] be held uh with respect to both the text amendment and if the text amendment were to require, for example, that this be a special use uh during the public hearing

[2:09:18] for the special use as well. And so the p the applicant would have the opportunity to provide you with um a

[2:09:25] more substantive response with um uh you know reports from experts to help address some of the questions uh in more

[2:09:34] detail than the applicant is in a position to do tonight. And of course at those hearings the neighbors would also have the opportunity to express their

[2:09:42] concerns and I think that would facilitate the kind of dialogue that some of you have described. I will say that on the applicant's part uh through

[2:09:50] a process like that uh we'd be committed to working with the city and with its attorney um to try to find uh a middle

[2:09:57] ground that everybody can um uh say yes to and in that event would obviously be prepared to document whatever is

[2:10:05] approved uh in great detail so that the city would have uh a great degree of control over the use uh at that location

[2:10:12] compared to um you know the somewhat um um less defined situation that that

[2:10:20] currently exists. So, I just wanted to underscore that um even if you were to say yes tonight, there'd be a whole process yet to unfold uh pursuant to

[2:10:29] which we would answer your questions in more detail and hopefully be able to work with you and the neighbors to come come to a decision. Thank you.

[2:10:36] Thank you. And and as you know, this is the committee the whole so there's no final anything tonight. It's more just do we want to continue to talk about

[2:10:43] this? Um, Council Member Bloomberg, and then we'll certainly let the public speak until 7:30.

[2:10:48] Thank you. Uh, just to clarify, uh, with Corporation Council, the application for a text amendment would actually be an

[2:10:55] application by the city council. The city council would submit this to the plan commission.

[2:11:00] That's right. And it would be um I presume that if you were to even consider applying having a tax

[2:11:08] amendment, you would um contemplate this be a special use as opposed to a permitted use. At least that would be my recommendation to you. And we would

[2:11:16] allow the applicant or the property owner to concurrently petition for that special use so that um the hearings and the process could be consolidated.

[2:11:27] Right. I I just wanted to make that clear.

[2:11:29] Yeah. and and your application for the tax amendment could have the rest as many restrictions as you want in there,

[2:11:36] including um limiting it so that it can't be practically used elsewhere,

[2:11:43] such as a tax amendment that only can only apply on properties that are 7 and 12 acres or have access in a different

[2:11:51] location as opposed to a public street or something, some sort of threshold that you would put in as a governor. um

[2:11:59] to the text amendment itself. Those are all things that you can consider. Just want to put that I appreciate that and the reason I asked

[2:12:06] is that I I [clears throat] with all due respect I don't feel compelled by what you've proposed that I would want to

[2:12:13] vote in favor of asking our plan commission to consider a zoning text amendment for us.

[2:12:20] um not because I don't like the general idea, but because it's so indefinite and and that's why I don't personally feel

[2:12:29] compelled. So, I I just wanted to put that out there.

[2:12:33] Um thank you. With that, if neighbors do want to share your comments, we have 20 minutes. You'll be limited to three

[2:12:40] minutes a piece. And I ask that there be no applause or any other response other than stating your name, stating your opinion, and having a seat. Thank you.

[2:12:52] Uh, yes. Hi. Um, uh, yeah, my name is Alex Leon. I live

[2:13:01] at 2670 Point Lane, which is right next to Mr. Cooper's uh, gate. Um,

[2:13:09] dear mayor and members of the city council, um, this public comment is co-authored by the residents most directly impacted, those living on Point

[2:13:16] Lane and Museum Drive, collectively known as Architecture Point, to address Mr. Cooper's proposal, to convert Michael Jordan's former property into a

[2:13:24] commercial tour business within our neighborhood. It is important to provide some background to ensure everyone has a full understanding of the events

[2:13:32] following Mr. Cooper's purchase of the property, the repeated efforts to commercialize it, and by he's only now seeking public support, context that is essential to evaluating this proposal.

[2:13:42] We fully agree with the staff report that Mr. Cooper is seeking to create a tourism tourism tourism business in the middle of a beautiful, quiet residential

[2:13:50] enclave currently zoned under R2 zoning ordinance. Throughout this year, Mr.

[2:13:55] Cooper has pressured architecture point residents into accepting his commercialization plans. Only after multiple failed efforts did he pivot to

[2:14:03] a new strategy, one designed to appear community oriented in order to get garner public support to try to dilute

[2:14:10] the position of the immediately impacted neighbors. The following outlines what has transpired in the last year. In Q4,

[2:14:17] uh Mr. Cooper purchased the property for 9.5 million and incurs over a million dollar annually in operating expenses.

[2:14:24] From the outset, he viewed the property as a business v venture, estimated its commercial value at over three billion uh 1 billion, and never intended to

[2:14:32] occupy it as a as a residence. His primary home remains in Lincolnshshire. Unlike prior prospective buyers, Mr.

[2:14:38] Cooper sought no neighborhood or community input before purchasing and proceeding unilaterally. In Q1, uh Mr.

[2:14:45] Cooper first introduced his first planned um commercial plan um to uh to introduce 52 fractional owners at $1

[2:14:53] million per share up to 25 additional guests per owner who would be allowed to host events. The city temporarily blocked the plan pending review of time

[2:15:01] shares zoning implications and community impact. Mr. Cooper then introduced a second commercial proposal privately to his neighbors, a sports team museum in

[2:15:10] the middle of R2 residential neighborhood, projecting 5 to 800,000 paid visitors per year, comparing it to Elvis Presley's Grace Graceand and

[2:15:18] claiming it would generate 80 million in revenue. He invited the neighbors with the city representatives to present this proposal at his property um in which he

[2:15:26] pitched the idea of shuttling 30 visitors a day, 30 visitors every 15 minutes, 9 hours a day, 365 a year. The

[2:15:34] neighborhood responded with a unanimous and unequivocal unequivocal opposition to any commercialization citing traffic, noise, litter, security, and significant

[2:15:42] property value concerns. Mr. Cooper then altered his plans and began offering commercial incentives to neighbors, proposing co-ownership in this venture

[2:15:50] with 1% share of profits and even suggesting various schemes in which he would purchase neighboring properties at multiples of their market value, but

[2:15:58] only if he was first allowed to reszone his property.

[2:16:04] Uh my name is Michael Friedus, Fruss. I live at 1555 Museum Drive uh just

[2:16:11] adjacent to 2700 uh Point Lane. In the uh in the second and third quarter of 2025, after receiving negative impact on

[2:16:21] the museum plan and being unable to advance the time share plan, Mr. Cooper began pressuring neighbors through a series of documented threats. These

[2:16:29] emails are on record with city management. In May of 2025, he emailed the entire block stating that unless the neighborhood accepted his Graceland

[2:16:36] proposal, he would aggressively pursue the time share model, which would be more disruptive. Quote, in this letter,

[2:16:44] Mr. Cooper presented neighbors with two alternative paths forward. He stated, quote, the status quo was no longer an option with this property and encouraged

[2:16:52] residents to consider, quote, which one of my proposals gives you some benefits and adds value to your property versus the one that might give you daily

[2:16:59] heartburn. He further stated that if we required to redirect resources towards legal action, it would be quote unclear

[2:17:07] how my currently planned use may affect future home values in the neighborhood which scared us. Neighbors reiterated

[2:17:14] their position, no commercialization of any kind, and disengaged with Mr. Cooper because of the confrontational ultimatives presented in his proposal.

[2:17:23] Mr. Cooper then escalated and stated he would quote do whatever is necessary to recoup his investment and prepare for a years'sl long battle with anyone

[2:17:30] opposing him. In a subsequent letter, Mr. Cooper adopted an even more confrontational tone with the neighbors and outlined specific actions he would

[2:17:39] take if the neighbors did not support his plans. He said that if dialogue did not continue, he would pursue zoning relief, adding that chips will

[2:17:47] eventually just fall where they may. He asserted that opposition from immediate neighbors should not outweigh what he described as benefits to the larger

[2:17:55] community, characterizing residents as a small group of residents. He further explained that while these mandates could take years to play out, he would

[2:18:04] be interim use for the property, a variety of short-term rentals, 30-day plus rentals, parties, and charity events, noting that such events would

[2:18:11] occur weekly, involve hundreds of people, and perhaps up to 50 vehicles parking on site. And over the summer, Mr. Cooper followed up on his threats,

[2:18:20] hosting large weekly scale large-scale events weekly, 50 to 30 attendees per event, loud music, heavy traffic, buses,

[2:18:29] and hundreds of strangers entering a quiet residential enclave.

[2:18:33] One event with shuttle buses every 15 minutes lasted 6 hours with some guests departing at 2:00 a.m. More than a dozen such events occurred and repeatedly required police intervention.

[2:18:44] Ultimately, the city informed Mr.

[2:18:46] Cooper, he must cease these events and apply for appropriate zoning relief if he wish to operate a private event venue.

[2:18:57] Good evening. My name is Dr. Cameron Hari. I live at 1530 Museum Drive in Highland Park in the Architecture Point neighborhood with my wife Roxanna, my

[2:19:04] two sons, uh, Ryan and Kyle, ages nine and seven. In communication with both neighbors and the city, Mr. C Cooper has

[2:19:12] framed his current proposal primarily as a charitable community-based development initiative. The major logistical change in relocating the property's access

[2:19:21] point through the Heler Nature Center ostensibly to alleviate traffic and security concerns as previously raised.

[2:19:28] However, this characterization is really uh quite misleading. Over 90% of the proposed use remains commercial as an

[2:19:35] essential core of what we're talking about with the Highland Park Residential Code. Identical in structure to the prior PR plans as the council already knows about and have been discussed

[2:19:44] again by my neighbors. Uh these are paid tours, hundreds of thousands of annual visitors if um if the plan accordingly

[2:19:52] goes to Mr. Cooper's wishes. um and in in speculation continuous shuttle operations 30 visitors every 15 minutes

[2:20:01] year round only a small fraction less than 10% or so approximately relates to the nonprofit or community programming

[2:20:08] of which we still don't know anything uh about. Additionally, routing all patrons through a public forest preserve uh

[2:20:16] raises new and serious concerns including safety, security, environmental impact, and significant disruption to the users of the nature

[2:20:24] center. The same fundamental issues remain to our neighbors, noise and safety, to our children, safety,

[2:20:31] security, and visi visibility into private residences that are immediately adjacent that share the gate and the fence with the uh with the property in

[2:20:40] question. incompatibility with the character and zoning intent of Architecture Point, Maver Lane, Ridge Road, and all properties bordering the

[2:20:48] Forest Preserve. There's been a public campaign. Mr. Cooper has now begun soliciting public support by posting his proposal on social media groups,

[2:20:57] including that known as Deerfield Dads, where most participants are not Highland Park residents. He has engaged in a year-long campaign that is at its core a

[2:21:06] large-scale commercial utilization for the business. Situated in the center of a residential neighborhood that was created and designed in the spirit of

[2:21:15] Highland Park to be a quiet enclave, a residential neighborhood as was thoughtfully brought up by one of the council uh persons here. The reason the

[2:21:24] purchase the the property was originally intended by its original owner was because of the non-commercialized use of the property and the quiet residential

[2:21:32] uh uh value of Highland of the neighborhood in Highland Park. Mr.

[2:21:36] Cooper's fourth proposal, but the first he has publicly presented for comment.

[2:21:40] He has now crafted an approach that may appear to outsiders as a genuinely charitable initiative, but in reality it is seeking to reszone a residential

[2:21:50] district and establish a commercial enterprise for his own financial and personal benefit whether or not there is alternative benefit to the community of

[2:21:58] Highland Park. And I know my time is done. Thank you for your consideration for this matter respectfully. Alexander

[2:22:04] and and Lana Ulionov. Uh myself, Cameron Hari and my wife Roxanna, Michael and Betsy Frightis, Dena and Kareem Nassra.

[2:22:12] Uh Ronald and Sandra Nissan, Paula and Howard Serland, and Tracy Marshbank, all neighbors here. Thank you for all of

[2:22:20] your very thoughtful comments. I'm sure you recognize uh where we stand on this as a neighborhood. And I do not feel

[2:22:26] that it is our obligation that we purchase the homes before the property of Mr. Cooper uh Mr. Cooper's property

[2:22:34] was purchased to be the to be the ones to try to create [clears throat] find a creative solution. That is not our property. That is not our responsibility.

[2:22:42] Thank you. Thank you.

[2:22:44] [clears throat and cough]

[2:22:49] Thank you. Uh thank you for the opportunity to speak to you. Excuse me. [clears throat] My name is Mark Walton.

[2:22:55] I'm a resident in Maverane. And uh I I I'm going to speak with as many facts as I can. As you can see, I don't have prepared notes. I'm going to speak with

[2:23:03] some emotion as well because I feel very strongly about this and very very concerned about this especially latest proposal. I've concerned about it from

[2:23:11] the beginning frankly and talked to our friends over on point and and the other adjacent street about the various

[2:23:18] proposals. We've already been burdened by the noise and the nuisance that has gone on since Mr. Cooper acquired the

[2:23:25] property. Uh, but we're a constituent on Mayaver Lane, a constituency that hasn't been considered evidently by Mr. Cooper.

[2:23:33] Um, I've never met him. I've never spoken to him. He's never reached out to me to the best of my knowledge. Now, I need to you to understand the context of

[2:23:42] the situation of physically geography of Maver Lane. So where his house is, it borders nature the Heler Nature Center

[2:23:51] path and the other side of that path is my backyard and that's Maver Lane essentially. So I'm as close to Mr.

[2:24:00] Cooper's house as most of the people on point and the adjacent street. So we hear the noise and we're burdened by

[2:24:06] this as well. The very very large concern I have is that this well I've had a lot of concerns. In addition to

[2:24:14] those concerns, this latest proposal suggests that this walking path, which goes directly by my backyard,

[2:24:23] um is going to create a nuisance of hundreds and thousands of people within

[2:24:30] feet of my backyard. There's roughly 25 ft that separate the usable part of my backyard from the nature Heler the Heler

[2:24:38] Nature Center path. Like 25 ft. There's about 50 yards to Mr. Cooper's backyard and there's about 100 to 150 yards to

[2:24:46] his house. So, it's very very close. In the backyard, I have a pool. I have a

[2:24:54] playground, both of which are less than 100 ft from the Heler Nature Center path. I have three kids and three

[2:25:02] grandkids, two of two years and and under, who play in the backyard. Our kids and friends swim in the pool.

[2:25:11] They're there in swimming trunks and bathing suits. The last thing that I want them to be is to be burdened by

[2:25:19] gawkers, thousands of them running down a street and seeing and potentially infiltrating our yard because there's no

[2:25:27] security. And even if there's a proposal to put up security, what are you going to do? you know, build a 20 foot fence that then restricts a lot of the other

[2:25:36] environmental impact issues that we've been talking about on Maver Lane itself.

[2:25:40] People are going to go down Maver Lane to try to seek parking because they're just going to try to do it. They'll see parking, no parking zones, but what's going to prohibit them from going down

[2:25:49] that street? Probably nothing. Our kids play on that street. Our neighbors kids play on that street. Thank you for your consideration.

[2:25:58] Thank you.

[2:26:04] Good evening. Um, my name is Robert Simon. We do not live on I'm sorry. Can you hear me? Hi, I'm Robert Simon.

[2:26:13] We do not live on on um in Architecture Point. We do not live on Mayor. I'm going to be brief because

[2:26:23] you um I sat and listened to the discussion, the presentation, Mr.

[2:26:27] Cooper's presentation. You've got you you're proposing to have 4050 buses trapesing up and down Halfday Road and

[2:26:34] Ridge Road, which is not the traffic pattern right now. I listened to each of your comments and questions and it

[2:26:42] appeared pretty clearly to me that all of you were find a lot of reasons why this is a terrible idea, which it is a

[2:26:51] terrible idea. And as the uh meeting wind down after listening to this for about an hour, it sounds like certain members on the on the council are

[2:26:59] looking for ways to try and put lipstick on this proposal. And I would only submit that if you continue to pursue

[2:27:08] what looks to be a ridiculous idea and a bad proposal for the city and the community and preferably for Mr. Cooper

[2:27:17] who's trying to bail out his investment that you're just going to end up spending a lot of time and expense yourselves, your staff, and all the

[2:27:24] stakeholders where you initially said at the beginning of this segment there three or the or the city manager said that there are three things that you can

[2:27:32] do. You can pursue it, you can develop it, you can approve it, I suppose, or you could just let it die a quiet death.

[2:27:39] And I'd submit that you'll save a lot of people a lot and yourselves a lot of trouble and expense to just let this one die a quiet death because I'll be surprised if it goes anywhere. Thanks.

[2:27:50] Thank you. Any other members of the public that wish to be heard? Please come up.

[2:27:57] Thank you. [clears throat] Good evening everyone. Um, honorable

[2:28:07] members of the uh, city council, my name is Claudia Martin. Um, I had the opportunity to uh, bring some youth out

[2:28:16] uh, to uh, the property. Um, and uh, it was an experience for them

[2:28:24] that was just lifechanging, you know, for them. So, I'm here uh today to express my enthusiastic uh support for

[2:28:34] John Cooper's vision uh to transform this estate uh located at 2700 Point

[2:28:41] Lane into a worldclass museum. Um this project not only celebrates the legacy

[2:28:48] of a Chicago icon, but also brings uh economic growth and opportunity uh to

[2:28:56] the Highland Park community. Uh John has demonstrated uh a commitment to giving

[2:29:02] back uh to the youth and uh this project aligns with the uh mission by sharing um

[2:29:12] a path of to greatness. Uh we'll inspire uh future generations and

[2:29:21] create a unique experience uh for visitors. So, I I come today to just

[2:29:27] urge you to approve the zoning um request and support a project that

[2:29:34] honors uh Chicago's rich history and contributes to uh the city's vibrant

[2:29:41] culture. So, let's work together to make this this vision a reality. Thank you.

[2:29:47] Thank you so much.

[2:29:52] [clears throat]

[2:29:56] Hi, good evening. Uh, my name is Joe Seymour. Um, I used to live in Highland Park right on Tennyson Lane. Um, for 13

[2:30:04] years. I had the opportunity to buy my childhood home in Deerfield. So, I did that to move back home. [laughter] Um, but I still have many ties in

[2:30:12] Highland Park and care deeply about the community and my friends who still live here. Um, I'm here tonight as both a former Highland Park resident and a

[2:30:20] parent. My daughter is in eighth grade at St. Norbert's in Northbrook and she's currently taking a class called High School 101. The students have been

[2:30:28] studying the challenges that Michael Jordan faced when he was when he entered high school and how those experiences shaped his growth. Their assignment is

[2:30:36] to write a paper reflecting on those lessons as they prepare for their transition to high school next year.

[2:30:43] [clears throat]

[2:30:43] When I heard about Champion's legacy initiative at uh the former Jordan estate, it struck me that there's a rare

[2:30:50] and meaningful educational opportunity here. This isn't about tourism. It's about connecting students to a real place tied to a story of perseverance,

[2:31:00] discipline, and character. Mr. Cooper has generously offered to allow my daughter's eighth grade class to visit the estate at no charge as part of their

[2:31:08] coursework. This would be a structured supervised visit strictly for educational purposes. The goal is simply to give these kids a deeper, more

[2:31:16] memorable understanding of the lessons they're already studying in the classroom.

[2:31:21] [clears throat] As someone who raised children in Highland Park, I believe opportunities like this reflect the the very best of what the community stands

[2:31:28] for. Supporting young people, encouraging learning, and opening doors that help kids see what they what they can become. I'm here to respectfully ask

[2:31:37] the city to support Mr. Cooper's proposal, which I know now is just to submit that, you know, zoning. Um, and

[2:31:46] allow this iconic property to inspire the next generation. Thank you for your time.

[2:31:50] Thank you. Anybody else from the public who has come on forward, please? Thank you.

[2:31:57] And we are going to wrap this up at 7:30. Thank you.

[2:32:00] Hi, my name is Dana Nasser. I live on Museum Drive. Actually, my residence um is my backyard. I have two young kids.

[2:32:08] My backyard butts up right against u Mr.

[2:32:10] Cooper's place. Actually, one of the main entrance doors where a lot of those um tourists would come and pass through.

[2:32:18] I don't really have a speech prepared, but I I feel very strongly against this.

[2:32:23] It's really like it's it's very scary to think that this this small, quiet area and neighborhood where I know all of my neighbors, we have such a close-knit

[2:32:32] community will now be turned into frankly a zoo.

[2:32:37] Um, my family was burglarized a couple years back and that experience left us very vulnerable. The thought of of a

[2:32:44] large number of strangers coming in and out right next to our door brings us a lot of fear.

[2:32:51] Um, I'm not opposed to growth or development, but it needs to be in a place where it makes sense, where the infrastructure is designed for it and

[2:32:58] where it doesn't compromise the well-being of the families who already live there. Please, please, I urge you to really consider at the neighbors. We

[2:33:07] purchased this home to be a safe residential area. We didn't purchase the home to be uh next to a commercial uh

[2:33:16] museum that will be a detriment honestly to not only our safety and security but our also our property values you know

[2:33:24] our home values. That's a big thing for us to consider this. These are investments for us too. You know our investments matter as well. Thank you so much.

[2:33:33] Thank you speaker.

[2:33:37] [clears throat]

[2:33:40] Hi, my name is Rich Levy. I'm a Highland Park resident most of my life. I grew up around the corner from this property and

[2:33:49] I'm speaking in support of Mr. Cooper's position.

[2:33:54] Everywhere I've been in the world, when I tell people I'm from Highland Park, I get to tell them this is where Michael

[2:34:00] Jordan lives. This is a special place. A hundred something years ago, the residents of this town decided to turn a field into a festival called Ravena.

[2:34:12] It is the envy of every town in Chicago that we get to have Ravena. We can do that here. And

[2:34:19] yes, there'll be noise. There's noise around Ravenia. There's safety issues.

[2:34:24] There's traffic issues. But the people that live, the property values around Ravena, those are sacred. Can't touch

[2:34:32] that. We got a glimmer of brilliance of an athlete, a once in a lifetime, a once a universal athlete lived in this town.

[2:34:42] And Mr. Cooper has the vision to build something remarkable.

[2:34:48] And if we're going to shut it down just because we're afraid of a few neighbors, we don't have the mental capacity as a community to say we can solve this.

[2:34:57] It's a doable. It's we put a man on the moon in this country. We can we can make a Michael Jordan or a Champions Point

[2:35:05] facility that allows kids not only in our community but from far and wide to come here. And I'll tell you something else. There's not a Highland Park

[2:35:13] resident that I know that when they have guests that come in from out of town, they say, "You know what? I I'll take you to Michael Jordan's house. You get

[2:35:21] that that picture of the 23 and they show it and it's special and we have that we have that uniqueness here." So

[2:35:30] yeah, there's all kinds of challenges and you're the council. This is my first time ever attending a meeting. Lived here. I'm 51. I didn't even know where

[2:35:37] this building was. I had to ask [laughter] John for for permission to come. But I'm [clears throat] grateful to speak and I'm grateful to support

[2:35:44] this idea. And um I live on a little culde-sac just like um uh Architecture

[2:35:51] Point. And um you know I get it folks but let's make this

[2:35:59] happen. This is a great idea. It's worth pursuing. It's worth putting our heads together on and I salute you sir.

[2:36:06] Thank you so much. Um so as I mentioned at the outset this isn't a final we're done with public comment. I'm so sorry because we were going to hard stop at

[2:36:14] 7:30 and we're past 7:30. Um, so the question that needs to be asked is, do you want this to move forward in terms of having a city council conversation?

[2:36:24] And and ma'am, you'll be welcome to speak then because it'll be a public hearing as well. Um, and possibly move

[2:36:32] forward with proposing that the PDC take a look at it or do you not want to move forward with that conversation?

[2:36:39] Mayor, the the city council meeting will be a public meeting, not a public hearing. Absolutely. Then later will be a public hearing if first a public meeting then a public

[2:36:47] hearing and then more public meetings will include public hearings and then be more public meetings. But you will have plenty of opportunity as a public to

[2:36:55] talk about this issue if we do move forward and so I am straw polling. Uh council member center do you want to move forward with having more conversation or not?

[2:37:04] I do for the reasons I mentioned before.

[2:37:06] I fully hear all the comments and again I think the bar is very high and I appreciate all the feedback provided

[2:37:13] from all of you. This is not uh I'm in full support of the project. This is a let's learn more and let's figure out if there's a way. Appreciate again all of

[2:37:22] you guys coming out and appreciate the presentation. So yes, thanks Council Member Brockman.

[2:37:26] Um I would say no. I'm not in favor of moving forward at all based on everything I said earlier.

[2:37:31] Thank you. Council member Ross. Uh I I I did want to say that I'm disturbed by the communication. I heard through the public comment regarding what the

[2:37:39] neighbors described. Um in terms of the communication um and I want to say I was as big a fan of Michael Jordan as

[2:37:47] anyone, but this is just one man, not not Ravenia, not a you know storied musical, you know, f festival. Um, and

[2:37:56] um, I think I think I I have just so

[2:38:02] many reservations about this project um that that I am not foreseeing being able

[2:38:11] to eventually support this. At at the same time, I I feel like um there it

[2:38:18] sounded talking to the city manager like there's an opportunity to discuss this um more for city council. I feel like I need a little more time with this.

[2:38:28] So, that's where I'm at. Yes, you would like to discuss it more.

[2:38:30] I would like to discuss it more, but I I just [clears throat] being very open here about how I feel about it right now. Thank you, Council Member Tapia.

[2:38:39] Yeah, I stand by what I said earlier and I like the neighbors to know that uh their presentation was very helpful and very heartfelt and very well argued. Uh

[2:38:48] and it's in that spirit that uh I think just there's you know there's a big decision in front here and the stakes are high and I think uh I'd like to just

[2:38:58] spend a little bit more time as a city just looking at all the the options fully aware of what is at stake here. Okay. Council member liter.

[2:39:06] Yes. I'd like to go through our processes and research it and find out. Council member Bloomberg. No.

[2:39:12] Okay. Thank you. Uh I too am a know but the majority rules. So it looks like we will have more public meetings and potentially a public hearing on this

[2:39:21] conversation. And I just want to thank all the neighbors. Um your emails were appreciated, the supporters as well.

[2:39:28] Your emails were appreciated. It's a it's an interesting dilemma that we have in front of us. Um, I for one would like to see more charitable than for-profit.

[2:39:38] Not that I have a problem with making money, but I also think if you're going to purport to be about charity, it needs to be more than 13%. But all of that

[2:39:46] notwithstanding, the security, welfare, and public safety of the community is our highest priority. So, with that, I leave you with an inconclusive outcome

[2:39:54] of this conversation. Um, and with that, I am calling if I could just add one thing. Um, if you sent us an email, we have your email and we'll let you know

[2:40:03] when this is added to another city council to a city council agenda. If we do not have your email, if you can provide it to us, if you'd like to be

[2:40:10] kept apprised of this initiative and we'll definitely notify you when it's on the next public agenda. Um, m mayor. Yep.

[2:40:17] I I would like to, you know, I I would like to hear something from the park district. I'd like to hear when it's referred

[2:40:27] when we have that conversation then we can certainly hear what their input is [clears throat] as well. I would expect them to participate in that

[2:40:35] conversation. No question. Um and with that I'm seeking a motion to adjourn committee the whole. So moved. Second. All in favor say I.

[2:40:43] I. Thanks everybody for coming out this evening.