What’s new? What a question! There is always something going on in our quiet little town
The RPC has been working in partnership with
the Village on two major projects, as explained in this
Announcement:
(1) examining the possibility of creating a nature recreation and
education area on the Village Hall site and public properties adjacent to
that site, and (2) identifying and rating natural communities within the
Village, with a view toward formulating appropriate programs for
management of such communities throughout the Village.
In addition, the
RPC, together with the Village of Riverwoods and the Riverwoods Residents
Association Plant Committee, received the Morton Arboretum's Partnership for Success Award in July 2015. You can see the RPC's announcement Here. Further details of the award are in the What has the RPC been doing? section of the About RPC page of this website.
The RPC completed the first rain garden, on Village property, in our pilot program of studying natural methods of handling water in our community. The RPC is now maintaining and monitoring the site.
The RPC also conducted several highly successful educational programs at the Village Hall, including a very popular presentation about snakes and a standing-room-only panel discussion about water in our community. The RPC also published articles in each issue of the Village Voice in 2013. The RPC continued to have a representative at each Village Board meeting, and to send out regular email summaries of the meetings in an effort to keep residents informed of Village activities relating to our Riverwoods environment. If you'd like to be on the RPC's email list, contact us.
During the month of April, the RPC successfully conducted its second annual Recycling Program, this year focused on eyeglasses and shoes. We collected 423 pairs of wearable shoes, 30 pairs of worn athletic shoes, and 153 pairs of eyeglasses. The new and "like new" shoes were sent to Share Your Soles, a local Illinois shoe charity that donates new and gently worn shoes to people in need around the world. The worn athletic shoes were turned into "Nike Grind" and will be used to manufacture a variety of other products, such as rug padding, athletic courts, running tracks and playgrounds. The eyeglasses were sent to the Lions Club Eyeglass Recycling Centers where they are cleaned and classified by prescription, and then sent on to optical missions in developing countries.
In May we conducted our annual Community Roadway Cleanup Day. Roadway Cleanup Day is a long-time Village activity, which for the last several years has been coordinated by the RPC. It is a great opportunity to clean up Village streets and get reacquiainted with your neighbors in Riverwoods. As always, the cleanup is followed by a barbecue generously sponsored by the Riverwoods Residents Association.
On June 1, RPC director Sheila Hollander conducted a program on native plants at Red's Garden Center in Northbrook. There was a sizeable and interested audience.
Our Summer water program held on June 5th - Water: Too Little? Too Much? - had record high attendance with standing room only. Without a doubt water is a significant element of the quality of life and of our property values in Riverwoods. Recognizing the impact of the 2012 drought and the heavy rains of the first half of 2013, the choice many residents continue to face is between private well and municipal water supply. The RPC put together a panel of noted experts to discuss water-related issues and to answer questions. Topics covered included water sources, uses and policies; infrastructure; system evolution in Riverwoods; and Lake County management of water resources. Copies of presentation materials is avaiable through our Speaker Notes page. Among the key conclusions: (a) keep stormwater ditches and culverts clear of debris (an individual homeowner responsibility); and (b) capture rainwater and use plants to filter impurities, to recharge the aquifer and improve local water quality.
Related to the topic of the preservation of water resources and water quality, the RPC is working on Rain Gardens in the Village. In October 2012, with a financial match from the Village and the assistance of a local business - the Mulch Center - the RPC completed one rain garden demonstration site next to the Police Station. A second site will be part of the Reforestation Area near the corner of Deerfield and Riverwoods Roads. Affordable and manageable by a homeowner, these sites will have education placards that show exactly what can be done. If you decide to install your own rain garden, the Village will help you with costs: 50% of your expenditure, up to a Village outlay of $2,000. Consult the Village Cost Sharing Program for more information.
And coming up this fall, we'll have a program for the whole family ... on snakes! The program will be conducted by our very own expert - long-time Riverwoods resident and herpetologist Don Wheeler.
As of September 2011, we had a new Fence Ordinance. The ordinance followed much discusison of deer and the observations of some residents that deer numbers were increasing and that deer browse was eliminating the understory of native vegetation, including oak saplings, ground covers and bushes. Other residents perceived no such problem.
Some residents erected deer fences or enclosures – more properly called woodland protection fences – in an attempt to preserve and restore the woodlands. Others objected to fences. Some residents requested culling to reduce the deer population. Others objected to culling. After much discussion and examination of the facts, the Village crafted an ordinance that seems to be working well.
To help re-establish native trees and shrubs in the Village, the Village Board, with the assistance of the Village Forester, the Plant Committee, the RPC and many others, revised the Village Cost-Share Program. Under that program the Village subsidizes part of the cost of certain trees and shrubs on residents' properties in the Village. The program is funded by fees obtained for tree removal under the Tree Preservation Ordinance. Don't fail to take advantage of that generous and worthwhile program!
Here are some items of interest:
- Map showing Riverwoods Zoning.
- Diagrams showing setbacks for various types of lots in Riverwoods.
- RPC's position on the woodlands and fence issues.
- Notes from a presentation the RPC sponsored about deer.
- An article the RPC published in the Village Voice.
- A Guest Essay published in the Deerfield Review by a long-time Riverwoods resident.
- An brief overview and update of deer counts in Riverwoods.
- RPC's 2011 Position Paper on deer.
- Village Fence Ordinance
- Village Cost-Share Program
For more information about woodlands in Riverwoods, see the Woodlands section of this site.
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(Photograph by Ho Min Lim) |
