ILAPA News BURST! Illinois State Section Report

Illinois State Section Report by Rob Kowalski, AICP

	Greetings from the Illinois State Section of the ILAPA. The Illinois State Section includes all ILAPA members outside the Chicago Metro area. If you are a member of APA and outside the metro area, you’re an ISS Member! We invite you to participate in the different activities being sponsored by the Section. The Section will be wrapping up the year with several exciting events. First, the Section is sponsoring two separate “Citizen Planner” training workshops in Collinsville and Bloomington, IL. The session in Collinsville will be held on September 27, 2006 and will be an evening of presentations on topics oriented towards commissioners, elected officials and interested citizens. Topics will include the basics of planning and zoning principles as well as an update on legal issues facing the profession. The session in Bloomington will be held on October 13, 2006. This will be a day long workshop with presentations on a variety of topics including the benefits of stream buffering, the advantages of building “green”, and the impacts of development on rural areas. The workshop will also feature lunch at the Corn Palace and a walking tour of downtown Bloomington including a visit to the new US Cellular Coliseum. These workshops are very affordable (around $20) and designed to get a broad range of participation. Everyone is welcome so please consider attending. For more details, including the agendas and registration information, on this two events please see http://www.ilapa.org/ISS.html. With the summer coming to a close, its time for the APA-ISS Fall Conference. Sometimes referred to as the “Section Meeting”, this one-and-a-half day conference will be held in Decatur on October 26-27, 2006 and will be called “Mix Things Up; Creating Unique Partnerships in Your Community”. The conference will begin on Thursday, October 26 with lunch and afternoon presentations focused on downtown revitalization. A catered reception and pub crawl will be held in downtown Decatur in the evening. On Friday the conference picks back up with presentations on corridor plans, creating public-private partnerships and finally a bus tour of Decatur’s new developments. Like the Citizen Planner workshops, this conference is priced around $25 and a $25 dollar reimbursement is available for any Section member that travels more than 100 miles and spends the night. Information on this conference, including program and registration, is also available at http://www.ilapa.org/ISS.html Finally, the ISS is offering $100 registration “scholarships” for members registering for the Upper Midwest Four State Conference on October 4-6, 2006 in St. Charles, IL. A limited amount of money has been budgeted for this program. The purpose of this program is to encourage APA-ISS members to attend and help offset some of the costs. Those interested need to complete a short application form and submit it back to the Section. The form is available at http://www.ilapa.org/ISS.html and include instructions of how to apply. A special thanks to those you volunteer their time to serve on the APA-ISS Board. If you have suggestions on what the Section can do to better address your needs and desires, please don’t hesitate to contact any one of us. A list of Executive Committee members is available at http://www.ilapa.org/ISS.html.
	Rob Kowalski, AICP Assistant Planning Director 102 N. Neil St. Champaign, IL 61820 Phone: 217.403.8800 Rob.Kowalski@ci.champaign.il.us