Mayors Transportation Committee Meeting

I attended a Metropolitan Mayors Caucus Transportation Committee last week and was able to listen to a couple proposals that the Metropolitan Planning Council is working on. One of them was the concept of congestion pricing on toll roads.

The concept being that if you pay a higher toll during peak hours, people are less likely to drive for frivolous things during those peak times. I have noticed that on days where some businesses have the day off, traffic is slightly less nasty, and the flow is smoother. Presidents day is one that comes to mind. However in some of the examples given people in LA could pay $9 for a trip down a toll road!

Rather then write endlessly about this here is a link to the Metropolitan Planning Council list of articles about congestion pricing. Later on this week I am going to write about some local road projects and some rail projects worth a long range look.

Green Innovation Initiative?

Congresswomen Melissa Bean just introduced a series of bills called the Green Innovation Initiative, to provide incentives to builders, businesses and homeowners to invest in green technology and green buildings.

To create the secure energy infrastructure needed to power the future, we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by developing alternative energy sources and better conserving the energy that we already have. If we want to build a healthy, sustainable environment for our children and grandchildren, we need to prioritize scaling back our current carbon emissions by making our homes and workplaces more energy efficient. Promoting development of these energy-efficient technologies revitalizes our workforce, expands job opportunities and strengthens our economy.

These bills are meant to promote the economic growth, energy preservation and environmental protection future generations are counting on.
Her Green Innovation Initiative consists of:

• H.R. 5597, The Next Generation Homes Act, which promotes the construction and purchase of energy-efficient homes. Provides home builders with tax incentives for construction of homes that are measurably more energy-efficient as defined by the Energy Star and HERS indexes, with the largest incentives reserved for builders of Zero Energy Homes.
  
• Encourages homebuyers to purchase an energy-efficient home when an equivalent, less-efficient home is more affordable, by making that difference tax deductible. So if you buy a home that is $10,000 more expensive because of energy-efficient improvements -- such as better insulation, energy-efficient heating systems or alternative energy sources -- then you can deduct that $10,000 from your taxable income.
  

H.R. 4574, The Commercial Conservation Act, which encourages investment in newer and more energy-efficient HVAC systems in commercial buildings.

• Changes the tax code to reduce the depreciation time for all commercial building heating and air conditioning units from 39 years to 25 years.
  
• Depreciation time reduced to 20 years for units that are at least 10 percent more efficient than existing standards for modern air conditioners.
  

H.R. 5372, Recycling Investment Saves Energy (RISE) Act, which would provide incentives for recycling companies to buy newer and better equipment.

• Changes the tax code to provide a 50 percent accelerated depreciation allowance for companies to purchase advanced recycling technology, which would increase the quality and quantity of recovered material.

Don't Forget Earth Hour is this Weekend!

ComEd has joined with the City of Chicago, World Wildlife Fund, and the Metropolitan Mayor's Caucus to Sponsor Earth Hour Chicago for one hour on March 29, 2008 from 8-9 p.m.

Residents, businesses and organizations are encouraged to join millions of people around the world in "turning off the lights". The goal is to demonstrate that by working together, each one of us can make a positive impact on global warming.

ComEd is working closely with City of Chicago officials and emergency agencies to ensure a safe and coordinated event. ComEd encourages municipalities to participate in this event by urging residents to turn out non-essential lighting in their homes.

Earth Hour is just one more way ComEd is demonstrating its commitment to environmental stewardship. Through CARE (www.COMEDCARE.com) ComEd is helping customers to reduce energy usage, manage their bills and protect the environment. It is their hope that Earth Hour will serve as an additional way to educate customers about becoming smarter energy consumers. For more information or to any questions, visit www.earthhour.org

Some Easter Facts a Few Days Late

Do you realize how early Easter was this year? As you may know, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).

This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar. Found out a couple of things you might be interested in! Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) than it is this year but that is pretty rare.

Here's the interesting info. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever before seen it this early (95 years old or above!). None of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier!

Here are the facts:

• The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).
• The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

From the Mayors Email Basket-- Salt (Part Two)

Here is the second part of yesterday's Snow and Salt extravaganza. I am also going to answer a few other questions as well.

Why is there no salt on the road?
This year has been an exceptional snowy winter, about 8 weeks ago many municipalities who buy salt through the state of Illinois salt program reached 130% of the contracted amount they were allowed. We were all forced to scramble and buy salt from other sources. For one snowfall we had to only salt intersections and major thoroughfares.

This was a direct cause of this winter being very snowy. According to the National Weather Service the average snowfall in Chicagoland is 38" a year. This year we are well over 60" (depending on how much fell yesterday). The public works department was able to get salt from out of state for a price of $168 and $200 per ton as opposed to $41 a ton from the state of Illinois. We used 845 lbs of the Illinois contract. Thats 130% of our contracted amount!

Whats the fastest email you received about snow after the snow fell?
I got an email this year 2 hours after snow hit the ground, thats a record by many many hours.

The most ironic email?
Actually this is a tie, two people sent me emails from the same street late last year, one complaining about the plowing, the other complimenting our public works about the same snowfall.

From the Mayors Email Basket--Snow Plowing Part One

I would like to make some observations on snow plowing. Most of the following questions have been addressed to me over the last few years and over this winter as well, if you had a question that I fail to address email me it.

Where do my tax dollars go if not to plow snow from the front of my house instantly?
Well your tax dollars do go to public works, but to snow plow your street instantly we would need more staff and more equipment, so when your elected officials set up a budget they try to balance the fact that spending $85,000 to $95,000 on a new truck just to have it sit around all spring summer and fall would be a poor use of your tax money. Sometimes residents have to be patient.

Why are cul-de-sacs left to the very end?
When I was elected we had no snow plan, or training for drivers, when we st down and evaluated how we wanted to plow our streets it became apparent the way we could get to all through streets first, was to avoid cul-de-sacs and get them last, the old way was one where we did them as we came to them which caused the whole process to be 30% slower. There was also an education process on how to do cul-de-sacs, which we have lots of!

Your plow blocked my driveway in after I shoveled/snowblew/ignored my driveway!
Sadly thats the way it is, if its any consolidation it annoys me as well.

Why is my street the last to be plowed?
Because you annoy me! Ha ha actually all the emails I get generally accuse the village of doing that exact thing. I did a detailed geo-plotting of the locations we plow last (according to the emails I get) and discovered we plow every area of the village last!

You must have gotten 100's more complaints about snow removal this year, because this year is the worst ever!
I save all complaint emails and looked at them, and oddly enough I have less this year then last year. I am not sure what that means, but don't start sending me more just to make up numbers.

My street never gets plowed?
Well you may live in a development that has private streets, some town home developments have this right now, so that might be it.

I bet your street gets plowed first!
Actually it doesn't, my neighbors complain to me about that fact all the time, why do they want to live near the mayor if they can't get some better treatment!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone, and I hope they have a nice weekend! As for yesterday's post about all the snow...that must have been an April Fools joke, because when I got up this morning there was nothing not even a dusting!

From the Lake County Illinois EMA

The National Weather Service in Chicago has issued a Winter Storm Watch for Lake and Surrounding Counties beginning Thursday night. Forecast models continue to move together regarding winter weather expected for Lake County Thursday night into Friday. With significant moisture available, and below normal temperatures, precipitation from this weather system is expected to be all (or nearly all) snow. Precipitation will likely begin around midnight Thursday into Friday, and continue into the early morning hours of Saturday. Because of the moisture and temperature profile expected with this storm, snow-to-water ratios are projected to be fairly low, which means the snow will probably be wet and heavy. There is still a significant spread in snowfall amounts between the various models, ranging from 3-5” to more than 10”. As the system moves closer in time and space, accuracy of the forecast should improve.

The forecast models also now have shifted the system that was possible for Sunday out of our area, and it appears temperatures should moderate some early next week. Moderating temperatures after the probable heavy snow from Friday may lead to flood concerns along streams and rivers, particularly with the Des Plaines and Fox Rivers both already at or above flood stage. As a reminder, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) has closed the Des Plaines River throughout Lake County to boaters because of extremely hazardous conditions. Information will be provided once IDNR lifts the boating restriction.

The Case for Capital: LCP / LCTA Investors Forum April 28

Transportation and its need for capital in Illinois will be the topic of the morning on Monday, April 28 at Lake County Partners (LCP) / Lake County Transportation Alliance (LCTA) Investors Forum. Beginning with a breakfast networking reception, the forum will be held from 7:30 - 10:00 a.m. at the University Center of Lake County in Grayslake.

Alleviation of transportation congestion and enhancement of mass transit are clearly two high priority goals on Lake County's economic development agenda.

Key note speakers include:
State Representative Julie Hamos, Chair of the Illinois Mass Transit Committee, who will speak about "The Need for Transit Capital" and State Representative Sidney Mathias, Vice Chair of the Illinois Mass Transit Committee, who will address "The Need for Highway and Bridge Capital." Hamos was the chief sponsor of the recently enacted mass transit legislation (HB 656).

U. S. Representatives Melissa Bean and Mark Kirk are also invited (not yet confirmed) to provide transportation updates from the federal perspective - an important one since billions of federal dollars for transportation capital projects are at stake awaiting state match.

State Senator Terry Link and State Representative JoAnn Osmond will present updates at the state level on transportation legislative issues of interest. At the county level, Lake County Board's Vice Chair Mike Talbett will discuss Lake County's transportation-related legislative program.

In addition, local and regional updates will be presented on a range of topics:

• Bill Gentes, Mayor of Round Lake, on progress of the Route 120 Corridor Planning Council. Gentes is chair of the Route 120 CPC.
• Kent Street, Village Manager for Deerfield, on progress of U. S. Route 41 Corridor Planning Group. Street chairs the Route 41 CPG.
• Catherine Starostovic, Grant Township Supervisor, will discuss paratransit opportunities in Lake County, including current progress and future plans. Starostovic is Chair of the Lake County Coordinated Transportation Services Committee (LCCTSC).
• Diane O'Keefe and Marty Buehler will present updates on capital funding priority projects at the state and county levels. O'Keefe is the Illinois Department of Transportation District One Engineer, and Buehler is the Lake County Department of Transportation Engineer.

Illinois State Representative Kathy Ryg will close the forum with an update on her Task Force's efforts to align the DCEO Northeast Region's Economic Development vision and agenda with Lake County's 52 communities and LCP. Other sponsors for the event include Lake Cook TMA, Lake County Municipal League, and Lake County.

Earth Hour 2008 in Round Lake

On March 29, 2008, residents in the Chicago region will join millions of people around the world to voluntarily “turn off the lights” for an hour from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. to make a bold statement about climate change. Earth Hour will demonstrate that by working together, each one of us can make a positive impact on this global issue. Governments, business, communities, and individuals on six continents will participate in Earth Hour and agree to make changes that will curb their carbon dioxide emissions.

In the United States, Chicago has been selected as the flagship city for Earth Hour. Earth Hour Chicago and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus are asking the region’s Mayors to participate and make Chicago’s efforts regional. All we ask is that you encourage the businesses and residents in your community to turn off their lights from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on March 29.

• Sign up at www.earthhour.org. Not only will you really feel part of it, but you will also receive lots of useful tips and tools.
• Tell a friend about Earth Hour. Better yet, tell all your friends, your family and your co-workers. Just email them with a link to the above website.
• Advertise. If you own a business, don’t be afraid to advertise your support for Earth Hour. It’s great for business and the environment!
  

Earth Hour is an initiative of the World Wildlife Fund. WWF did a test run of the initiative last year in Sydney, Australia. It was so successful that they decided to invite other cities and regions across the world to participate in this year’s effort. In addition to the WWF, Earth Hour Chicago is supported by ComEd, Leo Burnett, the City of Chicago, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, Building Owners and Managers Association, Chicagoland Chamber, Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau, Labor Unions, Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, Chicago Public Schools, Greater North Michigan Avenue Association, and many others. Earth Hour is only one step in the region’s ongoing commitment to be the greenest in the nation.

Our member municipalities have already demonstrated their dedication to protecting the environment through the Greenest Region Compact, Clean Air Counts, building “green” police stations and public facilities, purchasing green power, and by incorporating many other healthy environmental practices into the everyday work of government.

Top o the Morning to you!

Colonists brought Saint Patrick's Day to what is now the United States of America. The first civic and public celebration of Saint Patrick's Day in the 13 colonies took place in Boston, Massachusetts in 1737. During this first celebration The Charitable Irish Society of Boston organized what was the first Saint Patrick's Day Parade in the colonies on 17 March 1737. The first celebration of Saint Patrick's Day in New York City was held at the Crown and Thistle Tavern in 1756, and New York's first Saint Patrick's Day Parade was held on 17 March 1762 by Irish soldiers in the British Army. In 1780, General George Washington, who commanded soldiers of Irish descent in the Continental Army, allowed his troops a holiday on 17 March. This event became known as The St. Patrick's Day Encampment of 1780. Today, Saint Patrick's Day is widely celebrated in America by Irish and non-Irish alike.

Americans celebrate the holiday by wearing green clothing. Many people, regardless of ethnic background, wear green-coloured clothing and items. Traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are pinched. Alcohol is the centre of many American celebrations.

Some cities paint the traffic stripe of their parade routes green. Chicago dyes its river green and has done so since 1961 when sewer workers used green dye to check for sewer discharges and got the idea to turn the river green for St. Patrick's Day. Indianapolis also dyes its main canal green. Savannah dyes its downtown city fountains green. University of Missouri Rolla - St Pat's Board Alumni paint 12 city blocks kelly green with mops before the annual parade.

Many parades are held to celebrate the holiday including the cities listed below:

The longest-running Saint Patrick's Day celebrations in the U.S. are:

• Boston, Massachusetts, since 1737
• New York City, since 1756
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1771
• Morristown, New Jersey, since 1780
• Buffalo, New York, since 1811
• Savannah, Georgia, since 1813
• Carbondale, Pennsylvania, since 1833
• Chicago, Illinois, since 1843
• New Haven, Connecticut, since 1845
• San Francisco, California, since 1852
• Scranton, Pennsylvania, since 1862
• Cleveland, Ohio, since 1867
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since 1869
• Kansas City, Missouri, since 1873
• Butte, Montana, since 1882
• Rolla, Missouri, since 1908

Gnome Fever?

A town in South America is living in fear after several sightings of a 'creepy gnome' that locals claim stalks the streets at night. The midget - which wears a pointy hat and has a distinctive sideways walk - was caught on video last week by a terrified group of youngsters.

Teenager Jose Alvarez - who filmed the gnome - yesterday told national newspaper El Tribuno that they caught the creature while larking about in their hometown of General Guemes, in the province of Salta, Argentina.

He said: “We were chatting about our last fishing trip. It was one in the morning. “I began to film a bit with my mobile phone while the others were chatting and joking. "Suddenly we heard something - a weird noise as if someone was throwing stones. "We looked to one side and saw that the grass was moving.

To begin with we thought it was a dog but when we saw this gnome-like figure begin to emerge we were really afraid." Jose added that other locals had come forward to say they had spotted the gnome. He said: “This is no joke. We are still afraid to go out - just like everyone else in the neighbourhood now. "One of my friends was so scared after seeing that thing that we had to take him to the hospital.”

Mayor's 5K-- Save the Date June 28

On Saturday morning June 28 on day 2 of the fest we will have the 2nd Annual Mayors 5K, not sure of the details of the race layout and other stuff, so watch this space for more information! I promise warmer weather for the race then the recent Frosty 5k as well!

Transit Innovations in Curitiba, Brazil

The city of Curitiba is home to almost 2 million people and is the cultural, political, and financial center in southern Brazil. It has faced many of the same dilemmas that plague transportation planners and policymakers in U.S. cities. In the 1960s, traffic congestion was ruining the livability of the city and harming the economy, but the city did not have enough money to build the kind of expensive, fixed-rail transit line that had become the norm in other large cities around the world. An innovative, low-cost solution was needed, or else Curitiba would stop growing and lose its status as the economic hub of the region.

Local planners, led by future mayor Jamie Lerner, tapped available resources to provide the best possible product for their residents. Rather than spend $16-24 million/mile for a light rail system or $100–200 million/mile for an underground subway, the city invested $6 million/mile to construct an extensive rapid- bus system. Planners took the comfort, speed, and frequency of an expensive subway and applied them to an above-ground, subway-like system using buses. They built tube bus stations and installed turnstiles for rapid boarding and fare collection along designated bus lanes. A conventional bus, with an 80-passenger capacity on an average street, could transport 1,000 passengers per day. Boarding tubes and bus right-of-way lanes allow Curitiba's buses to carry 4,000 passengers per day.

Curitiba's bus system has been a huge success, as the city has been transformed into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly, environmentally conscious, and sustainable place. With buses arriving every 36 seconds to move passengers in and out of the city, Curitiba's 1,902 buses attract 2.3 million riders daily. Because there are so many transit users, fuel consumption in the city is 30 percent lower than in Brazil's other major metropolitan areas.

Lessons to Learn

Curitiba's convenience, cleanliness, and attractiveness of a public transportation system encourage people to leave their cars at home and take a bus. In Curitiba, for example, 85 percent of the population uses the system, as development around the stations also helps increase ridership. Transit users can easily access and enjoy nearby services and amenities including housing, restaurants, and stores. The city coordinated with land use and zoning departments to ensure that higher density residential units were allowed closer to the tube bus stations.

Chicago and other U.S. cities are considering new bus systems that borrow the best ideas from Curitiba. Mayor Richard Daley recently said, "All the money we're spending to remodel the El and the tunnel system… that is an enormous amount of money. You'll have to put it in [again] in another 20 years or 30 years. Some way, you have to look at some form of a bus system."

Curitiba and Chicago have similar population size, transit budget constraints, and roles as a cultural and economic hub. Whether it's re-striping current traffic lanes to accommodate a bus-only lane for rapid transit access or better interconnectivity between transportation modes, Chicago can learn from Curitiba's transit success.

More Information & Resources:

• The Road to Curitiba—New York Times
• Issues in Bus Rapid Transit: Curitiba—Public Transit
• The Curitiba Experience: Evolution of the Bus System—USDOT Federal transit Administration
• Curitiba's Urban Experiment—PBS Frontline World

Thanks to the Metropolitan Planning Council for the article.

Cub Scouts Visit the Village Hall

Yesterday I was visited at the Village Hall by a troop of Cub Scouts and parents. Unfortunately when I booked the meeting I had not written down in the schedule that we had a downtown development meeting so I was double booked! Being resourceful I was able to give the kids a tour of the village hall, my office and the map room, and then attend the meat of the meeting!

The kids seemed to have a great time, with us looking at aerial photography and picking out landmarks from the air!

Paving Cedar Lake Road Moved Forward

The Village has been able to get Lake County to resurface Cedar Lake Road from Hart to Park Road. The resurfacing was programed for 2012 but given the accelerated deterioration of the road this winter, we were able to get this $500,000 resurfacing project. There is also a $20 million dollar resurfacing project that will have bids opened this May as well on the horizon, so there will be some relief for some of the numbing trips over these roads!

Reading in Schools

Recently I have been reading in schools quit a bit, recently I have read in Village schools to 4th graders, earlier this week I spent 3 hours in another district school reading to 1st graders and some 3rd graders. I also read to a Sedol class as well.

Today I am reading in Ellis School. Why am I reading? Well because its the National Education Association Read Across America week! I must say that I enjoy every minute of the time I spend reading or talking to school kids, I have spoken to literally every grade in the last seven years!

The picture is from a talk I gave about the history of Round Lake recently to some 4th graders, more then likely I am pointing out the wise guy in the class! Why? Because I used to be one, of course I am not any more!

Photos from last Monday's Ceremony honoring Ed Amann

We had a nice turn-out for Ed Amann's retirement and here are some pictures of the festivities last Monday. We had about 20 or so current and ex planning commission members show up to honor Ed. In the picture former Planning commissioner Sue Nowicki talks about Ed and in the second picture I am about to present Ed with the key to Round Lake.

Route 120 Corridor Land Use Visioning Workshop

I would like to invite you to the Rt. 120 Corridor Land Use Visioning Workshop, which is scheduled for 6:00 P.M. – Wednesday, March 12th, at the Prairie View Elementary School, at 103 Belvidere Road in Hainesville. The workshop will provide you an opportunity to review and comment on the project consultant’s initial land use concept plans for your community’s roadway segment. Participation by elected officials and staff is critical to the success of the workshop. Participation by additional community leaders, residents, and property owners is also encouraged.

Advocate Hearing Today

One of the intermediate steps in the process for bringing a hospital to Round Lake begins today with a hearing in front of the Illinois Hospital Planning Board for Advocate's freestanding immediate care and emergency room.

Advocate recognizes the process is slow for the eventual approval of the hospital and wants to start serving the region and has filed for an intermediate step towards service in the area with an acute and free standing emergency center. What follows here is the text of my testimony in front of the board today at 10 am in the Round Lake Beach Civic Center off of Hook drive.

My name is Bill Gentes and I am the Mayor of Round Lake. I am here today to support Advocate’s application for an Advanced Immediate Care Center, as well as their plans to convert the facility into a Free Standing Emergency Center.

Since becoming Mayor, I have made my mission loud and clear—to increase access to health care in Northwest Lake County and Eastern McHenry County. I started this process by appointing a citizen-driven Hospital Task Force in 2006, which identified the health needs of our surrounding communities.

What they found is no surprise; there is a great need for better access to health care, and in particular, there is an urgent need for nearby access to care in an emergency. Building an Advanced Immediate Care Center and converting it into a Free Standing Emergency Facility is a first step to providing a critical level of service for our community in less than two years time.

A Free Standing Emergency Facility will provide more advanced services to the community, particularly because the facility will be staffed by board certified emergency medicine physicians twenty-four hours a day. As a father of a teenage daughter, I take personal concern for her safety behind the wheel. To know that, if she or a friend happened to have an accident and emergency doctors were close by, it might help me sleep a little better at night.

In all seriousness, this is a great concern to most parents and families I know—realizing that our children might not get the care they need soon enough because an ambulance is stuck in traffic on a long drive to a hospital too many miles away—that’s one worry that should not keep us up at night.

Another major concern that this project will address is that Emergency Departments are overcrowded and wait times to see doctors are increasing. This is not just a Lake County problem---this is a national problem. A recent study evaluated the change in wait times to see an ED physician from 1997 to 2004. During this time period, ED visits increased from 93.4 million to 110.2 million annually, while the number of ED’s fell by as much as 12.4 percent.

In this same time period, the wait time to see an ED physician increased from a median of twenty-two minutes in 1997 to thirty minutes by 2004. Further, patients triaged as “emergent” had median wait times that increased from ten minutes in 1997 to fourteen minutes in 2004.

I applaud the State of Illinois for recognizing this growing epidemic by creating legislation to allow the construction of Free-Standing Emergency Facilities. This allows health care organizations such as Advocate another opportunity to meet the health needs of underserved communities, and the opportunity to help do something about growing wait times in emergency departments.

It’s also easy to see that a medical campus will provide jobs and health security to our neighbors, but an Advocate presence means a commitment to the community, and a commitment to the highest quality of care.

Every citizen in Northwest Lake County and Eastern McHenry county deserves excellent medical care, long-term commitment to the community, and a mission to serve those most in need. I am confident that Advocate can provide this.

I respectfully urge the Planning Board to approve Advocate’s proposal for an Advanced Immediate Care Center, and hope you will also consider approving its conversion to a Free Standing Emergency Center at a later date.

Ed Amann Retires after 53 years on the Planning Commission

Tonight at the Village Board Meeting we are honoring Ed Amann who is stepping down after 53 years of service Ed was first appointed to the Planning Commission in 1955! We have invited Ed to receive a resolution from the Village, and we are inviting as many former Planning Commissioners as we possibly can to return to honor him as well.

If you can join me tonight after our passage of the resolution honoring Ed we are going to have a small reception for him.