My ideas for the new resident welcome packet

During tonight's Village of Niles board meeting, Mayor Przybylo proclaimed this July as Good Neighbor Month and encouraged all Niles’ residents to act neighborly to each other and reminded us to treat others as we want to be treated. Along with the proclamation, Mayor Przybylo announced that the Village, along with the Niles Chamber of Commerce, would be resurrecting the new resident welcome packet. This packet will be provided to new Niles residents and will include Village, Park District and Library information along with coupons and other promotional material for businesses in our community. 

I applaud the proclamation regarding Good Neighbor Month. In a stressful world, our homes should provide a respite to that stress and our neighbors should fuel that respite, as should we for them.

I also applaud the welcome packet for new residents. I believe that officially welcoming a new resident will show that the Village cares about them, and the Village is there to help with their needs. It also can provide information on how the resident can participate in community activities.

I humbly submit a few suggestions for items that can be included in the packet:

The Niles Parade: With the parade coming up, I am reminded of a neighbor of ours who lives on the parade route, but who did not know that people would be setting lawn chairs out on his parkway early in the morning in order to view the parade. I think it would be beneficial to inform new residents that there is a parade on the 4th of July, provide a small map of the route and inform them that if they own a home along the route some of  their neighbors might be watching the parade from their parkway.

Village Events: A question regarding Village/Park District cosponsoring summer concerts was brought up during the board meeting and I started to think about our Village events. I think a little discussion and a list of common events such as the afore-mentioned parade along with the summer concerts, Taste of Niles, Memorial Day observance, etc. would also be a nice addition to the welcome packet.

Snow Removal, Leaf Pickup and Branch Pickup: It would be great to let new residents know that these services are provided by the Village. A brief description of where to place leaves for pickup and how to bundle branches to facilitate their removal would help the new resident to partake of these services.

Driving Etiquette: This may be just my observation, but it seems to me we have a lot of drivers rolling through our stop signs, and there often seems to be confusion as to what to do and who has the right of way at a four-way stop. Given that many of our new residents may have learned to drive in countries with rules different than those of this country, a brief overview of basic rules-of-the-road might be warranted.

These are just some of my thoughts off the top of my head; does anyone else have any suggestions?