NT_010418

6 | January 4, 2018 | The Northbrook tower year in review 2017
northbrooktower.com
Roxy
Rob Sliverman, of Northbrook
Roxy is a little West
Highland Terrier who
celebrated her 18th
birthday on New Years
Eve. As a lifelong Northbrook
resident, she
was a charter member
of the Northbrook Dog Park and loved playing
with the big dogs. Her favorite activities are taking
walks, chasing squirrels and watching TV. She gets
excited and barks whenever she spots an animal —
real or animated on the screen. She is a great dog!
PLEASE HELP! The Tower needs Pet of the Week submissions!
To see your pet featured as Pet of the Week, send
photos and stories to Martin at martin@northbrooktower.
com or at 60 Revere Drive, Suite 888, Northbrook.
The North Shore’s
Rug Cleaning Experts
Any Size Area Rug
$1.50 per square foot
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The North Shore’s wood flooring experts.
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847-865-8283 KashianBros.com
Village utilized new technologies, completed projects
Sandy Frum
President
Village of Northbrook
On behalf of the Village
Board and staff, I’d like to
wish you and yours a very
Happy New Year. As I
look back at 2017, it is interesting
to note the diversity
of accomplishments
achieved by the various
departments that are part
of Village operations,
from Police and Fire to
Public Works to IT. The
Village Board recognized
and honored the service of
departing Trustees Mike
Scolaro and Todd Heller
and welcomed two new
Village Board members,
Trustees Muriel Collison
and Jason Han. The following
includes some of
the Village highlights of
2017.
IT and Communications
completed significant
upgrades, helped launch
new Village website
During 2017, the Geographic
Information Services
team continued
updating data and information
for Village staff to
use in the field utilizing
tablet computers to document
fire hydrants, trees,
and water/storm sewer.
Information Technology
Department staff continued
to upgrade technology
infrastructure, and
completed a significant
network and wireless upgrade
for Village buildings
and facilities. This
upgrade provides better
wireless connectivity for
staff and visitors. Additionally,
a secondary
internet connection was
implemented, providing
greater bandwidth and redundancy.
In July 2017, the Village
launched a redesigned
website at www.northbrook.il.us
The new site
includes a streamlined,
modern look and a variety
of new intuitive features,
which allow residents,
visitors and businesses to
quickly access the information
they need. Along
with the launch of the
newly designed website,
the Village implemented
a new service request system;
GONorthbrook.
The Village’s mass notification
system, Northbrook
Notify, uses phone,
email and/or text messages
to contact subscribers
with a variety of notifications.
Those that live
or work in Northbrook
are encouraged to sign
up for Northbrook Notify
at www.northbrook.
il.us/NorthbrookNotify.
In 2017, the Village added
a supplemental option for
those wishing to opt in for
emergency only texts by
simply texting 60062 to
888777.
Fire Department earned
high recognition,
appointed new fire chief
Last year proved to be
a very productive year for
the fire department, as the
department maintained all
emergency response service
standards and benchmarks
while responding
to 6,434 calls for service,
an increase of 6 percent
from 2016. Fire Chief
Jose Torres retired at the
end of the year and the
Village appointed Deputy
Chief Andrew Carlson
as Northbrook’s new fire
chief effective Jan. 1.
A highlight for the department
and Village was
the attainment of a Class 1
rating from the Insurance
Services Office. This rating
takes into account the
Village’s water distribution
and delivery system
and the fire department’s
training, fire prevention
activities, emergency response
and communication
capabilities to deliver
quality and effective fire
protection services to the
community. Only 1 percent
of fire departments in
the state and nation hold
this highest rating.
The department realized
some major technological
upgrades by switching to
a more advanced record
management system, implemented
a new scheduling
program for internal
staffing and payroll,
and integrated into a new
Computer Aided Dispatch
system as one of 14 agencies
served by the Regional
Emergency Dispatch
Center. The department
took delivery of a new
ambulance and pumper
squad, new defibrillators
for our ambulances and
automatic external defibrillators
for Village public
buildings.
During this past year,
the Fire Department continued
to focus on emergency
preparedness by
working with surrounding
public safety agencies to
prepare for natural and
man-made disasters. The
department also continued
to work with the Northbrook
Police Department
and the local school districts
in preparing for
threat situations.
The department partnered
with the Northbrook
Park District and
Glenbrook North High
School to help train lifeguards
and athletic trainers
on working with paramedics
during emergency
calls at the pools and athletic
fields with successful
outcomes.
There was an increase
in the department’s Public
Education outreach with
the addition of a Public
Education Officer.
Police Department
continued high regard
for Village safety,
preparedness
The Police Department
continued its tradition of
offering quality law enforcement
and community
services to the Village.
One significant change in
the department was the
retirement of Police Chief
Charles J. Wernick and
the appointment of Deputy
Chief Roger L. Adkins,
Jr. to succeed as chief of
police.
In late fall of 2017,
in response to an FCC
mandate, the Police Department
adopted the
StarCom21 radio system,
the operating network of
the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency.
This system allows statewide
interoperability
with other public safety
users. More than 43,000
subscribers from public
safety agencies, to municipalities
and counties, to
universities are members
of StarCom21.
The Police Department
monitors national, regional,
state and local security
measures to keep our
community prepared for
any situation. Periodically
during the year, meetings
and lockdown drills were
held with school administrators,
school staff and
students. Northbrook participates
in and supports
Please see Village, 8