AMBITIOUS ACKERMAN PLANS IN PRELIMINARY BUDGET

At the July 21st Board Meeting of the Glen Ellyn Park District, the Consent Agenda passed unanimously.

During Public Participation, members of the community were present to voice their concern over the Park District’s potential financial support for artificial turf at Memorial Field. John Huston asked Executive Director Cory Atwell if opponents of turf would have an opportunity to meet with staff since the Glenbard West Booster Club and Gaining Ground had met with staff. Director Atwell informed Mr. Huston that staff would meet with Mr. Huston and other concerned citizens. Commissioner Julia Nephew interjected that Mr. Huston was to email her if his calls to the Park District to schedule a meeting were not returned. Paul Leak and Don Pydo were also in attendance.

Regarding placing Documents on the Park District website: with the assistance of Steve Adams, District Counsel, a motion was made by Commissioner Melissa Creech and seconded by Commissioner Bill Dallman to direct staff to place documents on the website. The motion passed unanimously. Items to be included are Board Packets and the Monthly Voucher List. Items pertaining to legal or HIPA (Health Insurance Privacy Act of 1999) issues are to be excluded.

Under New Business Kathleen Esposito, Superintendent of Recreation and Dan Kroger, Recreation Supervisor provided a comprehensive overview of the Ackerman Sports Complex Preliminary Budget. Part of their method in determining a preliminary budget for this Complex included researching somewhat comparable facilities such as the Geneva Park District and the Orland Park Park District, and others.

Commissioner Ed Hess asked how they budgeted 500 Fitness Center members at $300. Director Atwell responded that they took a conservative percentage of Park Districts with a somewhat comparable facility to devise a fiscally conservative Preliminary Budget for the Ackerman Sports Complex. Recreation Supervisor Kroger commented that in making these comparisons they purposely budgeted lower for the Ackerman Preliminary Budget. Commissioner Hess remarked that this gives him a lot of confidence in the process.

Also discussed were general facility rentals, turf costs and chargebacks for new and existing programs. The staffing requirements will be conservative at first and driven by traffic. According to Superintendent Esposito, “There will always be someone there, someone in charge”.

This led to further discussions about offering a nominal $10 Fitness Center membership for resident Seniors to use the walking track. Commissioner Creech and Commissioner Jay Kinzler opposed the $10 a year fee and suggested that it be offered at no charge. The Geneva Park District has 2,000 senior walking members at the walking track at their Fitness Center who pay $10 annually.

Commissioner Kinzler asked what consideration there would be for Little League Teams to schedule use of the batting cage. He was informed that a schedule of open times would be available.

Commissioner Creech asked what the grand total cost was to which Director Atwell responded, $10.5 million. Superintendent Esposito stated that this does not include the Fitness Center equipment. This has not been chosen yet and the Board will vote to approve when ready.

Commissioner Creech proceeded to propose a Field Usage Study. She wants this as reference for the next referendum, to make sure the Park District is asking the right questions and that staff has the right answers. Commissioner Creech wants a field by field, space by space, room by room audit of how all Park District space is used, when and by how many participants.

Room by room breakdowns required by Commissioner Creech would be for example: general purpose, dance, fitness. She wants to know what the Park District has and how it is being used. She stated that this is a useful tool for the Board and better than anecdotal reference so that for the next referendum – they will have the documentation.

Commissioner Bill Dallman remarked that while conceptually it may be a good idea, they already have that information and the Board does not micromanage the day to day operations of the Park District.

Commissioner Hess suggested doing this on a limited basis, sample a few facilities and see what information is obtained and how useful it is before spending the time and money to see, for example, seasonality, time of day, summer/winter programs etc. Hess inquired, “How would we use this information? Perhaps evaluating this data Program by Program could be more usable?”

Commissioner Creech responded that in the history of the Park District decisions were made to build Sunset Pool, Ackerman Sports Complex and to renovate the Main Street Recreation Center. She wants these numbers and data to guide the process and to make sure that fields are available when needed.

President Sandra Minogue asked Recreation Supervisor Kroger if there were “any examples of a soccer game that wasn’t played due to lack of fields”. Kroger responded, “No”.

Director Atwell commented that due to the scope and nature of Commissioner Creech’s request it should be handled externally. There are organizations available to bid on the Field Usage Study and that he would submit a quote as soon as possible.

The Board unanimously approved a $948,317.87 pay request for the Ackerman Sports Complex and the final pay request of $3,019.05 for Village Green Park.

BELLS & WHISTLES AND BOATHOUSE BUILDINGS HUGE HIT AT FOURTH OF JULY FESTIVITIES

The Bells & Whistles Building and the Lake Ellyn Boathouse Replicas for Safety Village at Maryknoll Park marked their debut at the Fourth of July Parade and were a crowd pleasing hit.

Both buildings were sponsored by the Glen Ellyn Parks Foundation; the Kiwanis Club of Glen Ellyn and the Make a Memory Foundation. Tracey Kreiling also sponsored the Bells & Whistles Building. The construction of both buildings was done by T C D – Technology Center of DuPage. T C D is a Career and Technical Education campus (formerly known as DAVEA) in Addison that serves DuPage area high school juniors and seniors under the direction of the DuPage Area Occupational Education System. The Bells & Whistles brick work was completed by the Illinois Masonry Institute.

Safety Village has been a goal for the Site Plan at Maryknoll Park for 10 years. This is a project of the Glen Ellyn Parks Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization, the Kiwanis Club of Glen Ellyn and the Glen Ellyn Park District.

“After 10 years, it is exciting to see Safety Village come to fruition”, remarked Park District Commissioner Ed Hess. “It was a thrill to present these replicas of two of Glen Ellyn’s favorite landmarks to the community on this Fourth of July Holiday”, he further commented.

Safety Village will incorporate a replica of Glen Ellyn landmarks to teach children various safety techniques. The children will learn bicycle safety and how to properly navigate intersections and crosswalks. The Smoke House will be large enough to teach a child how to exit a burning building; train cars, tracks and signals will teach proper railway safety. There will be a pond to replicate Lake Ellyn. Water safety will be a part of the curriculum. A room at Safety Village will be dedicated for classroom activities associated with this program.

Glen Ellyn Park District President Sandra Minogue remarked “The Glen Ellyn Park District has always had an important role in educating the youth in the community with the existing program. We are looking to expand this program and reach out to more children with this extremely important educational opportunity.”

Park Board Commissioner Ron Aubrey added: “I've been following this project from my start on the Board in 2003 and simply attended a Safety Village meeting to encourage them to begin. Tracey Kreiling owner of Bells & Whistles Snackery agreed to sponsor the first miniature replica building and I agreed to fund the building of the Boathouse through my family's Make a Memory Foundation”.

The Bells & Whistles Building as well as the Lake Ellyn Boathouse are the first buildings to mark their debut to the community. Sponsorships are currently being sought for: the Civic Center, Fire Station (either north side or south side), train station, decorative fountain, benches, landscaping, etc.