Students to reshape DeKalb

By Lindsey Salvatelli

DeKALB — Community members selected by Mayor Jerry Smith to head the Anne Glidden North Plan Revitalization Task Force could be appointed during Monday’s City Council Meeting.

The list of the 31 potential appointments include individuals from the city and NIU campus community, such as Student Association President Rachel Jacob, attorney Christi Krupp and Tiara Huggins, president of the University Village Tenants’ Association.

“While I had to settle on a workable number, I would have easily chosen more who were willing to participate,” Smith said in a Sept. 21 press release.

City officials collaborated with Camiros, an urban planning firm and the city’s planning consultant, to base its task force selections on best practices, according to the press release.

If approved, the appointees will be at the helm of an $83,550 redevelopment plan to improve the neighborhoods for those living in the northwest corner of the city.

In 2013 and 2015, a profile of 24 neighborhoods was developed. The data collected in the 2013 Housing Information Project determined the northwest corner of DeKalb is the most populated section of the city and has a high concentration of off-campus students, according to an Aug. 9 project overview document.

The study also found service calls to police and fire departments in the northwest corner are the highest within the city, which comparatively lacks commercial services.

The city’s four-part project is in its first phase, which is focused on initiatives like receiving input from area stakeholders, fulfilling task force appointments and the hosting of a Sept. 27 community meeting regarding the project, according to the plan’s timeline.

The first revitalization plan community meeting is open to the public from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, 830 North Annie Glidden Road.