Brookfield’s trustees have voted to allow its beautification commission to fall into dormancy.
The village board voted unanimously to approve an ordinance on Aug. 10 reducing the group’s meeting frequency to none until further notice. The item was part of the consent agenda, meaning it was not discussed or considered individually, although members of the board were broadly supportive of the measure in a discussion on July 27.
The commission is still set to have one final meeting on Sept. 1, following its previous regular schedule, for the members to wrap up its business and have a group celebration, said Trustee Katie Kaluzny, who has been the board’s liaison to the beautification commission since she was elected as a trustee in 2019.
In that July 27 discussion, Management Analyst Noah Rife summarized the takeaways from the beautification commission’s own meeting on July 7, where commissioners first talked about having the group go dormant.
“Previously, work that was done by commissioners has now been able to be taken on by staff. Things that were solely done by the commission have expanded to include public engagement,” Rife said.
Kaluzny elaborated on the commission’s impact and how improved efficiencies within the village have allowed the group’s duties to be taken on in large part by the public works department.
“It’s been a commission that’s been around for a long time, doing some projects that have lasted more than 30 years, like Project NICE, and some newer initiatives that they’ve come up with even in the time that I’ve been the liaison,” she said. “A lot of the cool things that they’ve done have actually received full grant funding and different ways to be improved by the village, which has led to less projects that they’ve been taking on.”
Kaluzny said the group would be unable to reach a quorum and formally meet come September due to three of its five members reaching the end of their terms without plans to renew for another three years.
That state of affairs prompted the question of the beautification commission’s future, with its commissioners agreeing on dormancy as the best path forward, leaving room to revive the group if Brookfield has a future need for it. Kaluzny said the group agreed to raise the issue this summer so the village doesn’t have to budget funds toward it in 2027.
“I want to make it clear: This was not an easy decision,” Elaine Jans, chair of the commission, said before the board on July 27. “Personally, I was not renewing my term because I know I’m the oldest person in this room, and I’ve reached a point where I’m going to do other things. I’ve loved the six years I’ve been on the beautification commission, but things have evolved.”
Jans joked that she “partially blamed” the public works department for the group’s disbandment due to the “amazing job” its staff have done at keeping Brookfield clean and looking nice in recent years. She said she was personally “hard-pressed” to find things to beautify during Project NICE, which the commission no longer manages.
Village President Michael Garvey gave the beautification commission flowers for the work it’s done to get Brookfield to a point where it is no longer needed in the village.
“I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments that public works is tremendous and has stepped up, but I also want to give a lot of credit to the commission and the commission members,” Garvey said. “You’ve raised awareness and thoughtfulness about beautification in general. Maybe, just maybe, because of your work, people are more careful about what they do with village property.”
Correction, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 5:20 p.m.: A previous version of this story misstated the date of the beautification commission’s final meeting. It will be held Tuesday, Sept. 1. The Landmark regrets the error.
