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Politics & Government

Village Approves New Driveway, Makes Commission Appointments

Patch has a round-up of what happened at Tuesday night's Wilmette Village Board meeting.

The Wilmette Village Hall was closed due to the power outage at the start of Tuesday, but by afternoon, power was restored and the board of trustees held their semimonthly meeting as regularly scheduled.

Village Manager Timothy Frenzer said 1,585 households were still without power as of 7 p.m., Tuesday, after the fierce winds of Monday morning's storm.

Meanwhile the board approved three residents to volunteer commissions and heard from lakeside residents concerned about unfettered beach access, but the most contentious item was the approval of a driveway just two blocks west of Village Hall, at 1339 Washington Ave.

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The board approved a 9-foot driveway for the property after nearly an hour of debate with cross-street neighbor John Klise, who had previous qualms with the property owner. The original 100-year-old platting of the property gave access to the area from a private alley off Prairie Avenue.

The property owners were asked to preserve the health of two trees in the construction of the driveway, which will provide access to a new detached garage. The driveway agreement was needed to amend a lawsuit settlement that stemmed from that previous disagreement regarding a large new house that was approved for the property but never built. 

Find out what's happening in Wilmette-Kenilworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Additional highlights from the meeting include:

• Michigan Avenue residents Susan Noyes and Pam Sheridan asked the village board to put up a fence in front of a public right-of-way on the 1000 block of Michigan Ave., , to keep people from using an unguarded, free beach.

• Maria Choca-Urban was named to the Planning Commission. Choca-Urban is a long-time Chicago area urban planner and Wilmette resident who has worked with Chicago Department of Transportation and the Center for Neighborhood Technology.

• was named to the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. Terman is a former village trustee and the mother of a police officer in Kansas City, Mo.

• Lynn Norman, an attorney, was named to the Zoning Board of Appeals.

• Frenzer announced the resignation of Michael Braiman, an assistant to the village manager. Braiman is leaving Wilmette to take a similar position in the west Chicago suburb, River Forest.

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