The city of DeKalb is making an effort to meet the needs of residents in the northwest part of town.

Residents of the Greek Row area met with city officials Wednesday evening at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, 830 N. Annie Glidden Road, to discuss their gripes about the area. Greek Row is considered to be bounded by north Annie Glidden Road, Normal Road, Ridge Drive and Greenbrier Road. The meeting, which drew about 40 residents, is the first in the city’s plan to organize a Greek Row Revitalization Task Force, one that would work separately from NIU’s Greek Row Task Force, which is spearheaded by the Student Association.

By looking at the results of Greek Row neighborhood surveys and by listening to residents’ complaints, the task force will be able to see what problems need to be addressed.

The most common problems residents commented on were the lack of lighting, the area’s seclusion and crime.

“It’s important for the residents to voice their concerns,” First Ward Ald. Andy Small said.

The meeting wasn’t held to discuss solutions or costs, but rather to form a task force intended to tackle everyone’s concerns, said Sue Guio, community service planner for DeKalb.

“The task force would be the ears and voices of the residents,” Guio said.

The task force will be able to influence the government’s decisions, rather than the government making decisions for them, Guio added.

The task force will do work similar to that of the Pleasant Street Task Force, which began last year. The Pleasant Street Task Force met once a week, Guio said, and in that time they got the whole community involved in an attempt to improve the neighborhood. They’ve improved the lighting and sidewalks on Pleasant Street, Guio said. The Greek Row Task Force should be able to have similar results, she added.

Members of NIU’s Greek community absent from the meeting, and those who did attend were more concerned with the future of the old DU house. Guio said their interest in the task force should be generated as the task force moves along.

“As the process moves along, they will understand what’s going on and want to get involved,” Guio added.

Additional meetings will be scheduled to move the task force along.