Individual help for prospective first-time homebuyers to learn about and understand loan programs available in Oak Park will be available by appointment from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, during the month of December in Village Hall, 123 Madison St. Financial assistance programs will be explained and participants will receive a free packet of helpful information. Call 358.5408 for more information or to schedule an appointment. Information also is available via email to comsvcs@oak-park.us.

Wisconsin-based Vandewalle & Associates has been selected to conduct a community driven plan for the future redevelopment of the Madison Street Corridor from Austin Boulevard to Harlem Avenue. The project, which is expected to take about six months, will include extensive public involvement. A steering committee will be selected to work closely with the consultant throughout the process. Committee members will include citizen representatives from several Village commissions, including the Historic Preservation Commission, Plan Commission, Community Design Commission, Environmental & Energy Advisory commission, Universal Access Commission and Transportation Commission, as well as Madison Street businesses and property owners and neighborhood residents. A series of public meetings will be planned, and the community kept up to date through a special project website. For more information call 358.5425 or email comsvcs@oak-park.us. Information, including a link to the new project website when it goes online, will be posted at www.oak-park.us.

A tree spade capable of creating a nearly five-foot-deep hole with a single stroke is making planting new trees on the parkways along Barrie Park move quickly and efficiently. More importantly, foresters say, the spade can scoop up a tree from out of the ground at the nursery with a 90-inch root ball, which is much larger than could be done by hand. The larger root ball means less root loss from transplanting and better survival odds for the tree when replanted. Some 58 trees are being planted on Barrie Park parkways — 34 in the fall, and another 24 in the spring — as part of the recent remediation of the former manufactured gas plant site. Sixteen varieties of trees with trunks ranging from 4.5 inches to 6.5 inches in diameter are being planted at the expense of the utility companies responsible for the clean-up project. Among the tree varieties are Marmo Maple, State Street Maple, Norwegian Sunset Maple, Fort McNair Horsechestnut, Skyline H.L., Kentucky Coffee Tree, Chanticleer Pear, Bur Oak, Chinkapin Oak, Northern Pin Oak, Red Oak, Swamp White Oak, Ivory Silk Jap Tree Lilac, Redmond Linden, Triumph Elm and Accolade Elm. For more information on the tree planting call 358.5700 or email publicworks@oak-park.us.