The Evanston City Council found itself in a bit of a quandry Monday when it came to voting to renew the lease of a room in the Civic Center to the League of Women Voters.
Five aldermen are members of the league and decided they couldn’t vote. That left the remaining aldermen uncertain whether they could act on the measure until First Assistant Corporation Counsel Herb Hill told them that, as a resolution, the lease only required a majority of those voting to pass, not the majority of all council members that an ordinance would need.
With that, the four aldermen who could vote approved the lease unanimously.
The council also:
- Gave final approval to a planned development proposal to build 13 condominiums at 2607-2617 Prairie Ave. The approval came after city staff worked out an agreement with the developer to have the developer pay most of the cost of upgrading the water line on Prairie Avenue near the site.
- Gave preliminary approval for Barnes & Noble to operate a carry-out restaurant in its new bookstore in the Sherman Plaza development, across the street from its existing downtown store.
- Gave final approval to a redevelopment agreement and other measures for the planned 17-story Howard Station rental apartment development at 415 Howard St.
- Approved four alley paving projects including one for the alley north of Colfax Street and east of Pioneer Road where residents split 9-7 in favor of the project. The council rejected complaints from opponents of the paving project who claimed that an earlier 6-6 tie vote of residents should have killed the proposal.
- Approved a contract with Central Parking System of Chicago to run the Sherman Plaza, Maple Avenue and Church Street parking garages.