Dec. 15 Board Meeting: ASC and Budgets

The agenda and packet for the Glen Ellyn Park District December 15, 2009 meeting are online. This is a regular meeting where the Board will discuss the Ackerman Sports Complex Cost Analysis, approve the 2010 budget and amend the 2009 budget.

A few things to note in the packet:

• I have finally received a list of expenditures for ASC. Page 27 of our packet shows the total for these expenditures. If we just look at expenditures and don't factor in outside revenue sources, the expected final cost of ASC is at least $11.19 million.
• At the last meeting Commissioner Kinzler and I requested that staff recommend budget areas where we could reduce spending without cutting services. Page 36 of the packet shows that staff makes no recommendations for budget cuts and instead requests a 2% raise for full-time staff.
• The Board will discuss the 2009 amended budget Tuesday night. It is necessary to submit a new budget ordinance to the county because our 2009 spending has exceed the 2009 budget by $2,266,991. The packet shows the new 2009 budget on page 93, the original 2009 budget is not in the packet, but it is available online here.
  

Glen Ellyn Park District board meetings are always open to the public and are held in the board room at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center at 7:00 p.m. Please join us!

Ackerman Change Orders Violate Board Resolution

At our Dec. 1 board meeting we received a request for board approval of two change orders for ASC. Both of these change orders were already approved by Director Atwell and the work was finished. These change orders were made in direct violation of a board resolution requiring board oversight. The change order documents also show that staff has not yet disclosed the full extent of the change orders, despite my request in prior meetings for a full accounting.

So why does the change order process matter? Before we enter into a contract, we use an open bidding process to set the cost of the work. Bidding gives us cost protection through competition. If a contractor knows there will be change orders before they bid, they can lower their initial bid to win the work, knowing they will make up the difference in overcharges on change orders. The board is responsible for ensuring that any change orders are necessary, putting them to bid if appropriate and holding emergency meetings in the event that change order approval might hold up work.

When I brought up these issues in our last meeting, board counsel described this as a communications issue. The incumbent board members expressed no concern and praised staff for their good work.

As I have stated in earlier blog posts here and here, the Board does not know how many change orders have been made at ASC, and at what cost. The monthly sworn contractor statements from our construction management company show all change order amounts, but the Board has not seen these statements since May. I have repeatedly asked for these documents and have not yet received them.

According to a specific board directive from October 28, 2008, the Board must approve all change orders over $20,000 and change orders under that amount are to be reported to the Board on a monthly basis.

After I started asking about the ASC change orders a few weeks ago, two change orders appeared on the agenda for our last meeting. These change orders were for $10,515 from August and $37,388 from November. Though staff was requesting Board approval and the memo, pg. 4, was written in future tense, the work for both change orders had already been completed.

The $37,388 Earthwerks change order in our last packet, page 6, shows the original bid amount, the previously authorized change orders and the new change order. The previously approved Earthwerks change orders total $105,094.28 on this Nov. 16 2009 document. On the last sworn contractor statement I have, dated May 26,2009, Earthwerk change orders total $71,612,32. This shows that sometime between May and November, staff approved an additional $33,481.96 and never informed the Board.


For a project that is at least $3 million over the amount approved by taxpayers in the referendum, I believe it is critical to get a full accounting of the spending on ASC. I have still not received the ASC expenditure list that I have repeatedly requested. We need to learn what has occurred and protect ourselves from additional risk on this project.

Setting the Record Straight on Ackerman Sports Complex

In a previous post, I stated that I have received contradictory reports on the costs for Ackerman Sports Complex, ranging from $10.5M to $12M.

At Tuesday's meeting, a resident asked about this discrepancy. In response, as reported in the Glen Ellyn News, President Minogue said “Well, I can say that some of the information that Commissioner Creech puts out is not correct, so that would be a beginning.”

I would like to address this comment.

In November 2006, voters approved a $11.4M referendum which included $7.4M for ASC. When I was elected to the Board I was surprised to learn that the total had grown to $10.4M. I asked Director Atwell to explain this change, and received this July 2009 memo breaking down the history of the project.

The memo shows that ASC was always going to cost a minimum of $8.4M, with $1M of site work costs intended to be paid out of additional non-referendum bonds. From there, the scope of the project changed considerably, adding space for batting cages, a climbing wall, a fitness room, and increasing the size of the turf field.

At the June 17, 2008 board meeting, Director Atwell expressed concerns about financing the growing project. This was not an agenda item and took place after executive session, when all members of the public, myself included, had left the meeting. The Board discussed eliminating features, but ultimately chose to borrow more money instead.

When the project was bid in Fall 2008, minutes show that it was then a $9.2M project without contingency funds. Director Atwell's memo describes other changes made during the Village permitting process, which brought the total to $10.5M, which includes a $500,000 contingency fund.

To pay for these increases, the Board was required to take out $4M in non-referendum bonds on May 5, 2009, 15 minutes before myself, Jay and Julia were sworn in. Though it was not publicly stated at the time, the board intended for $3M of these funds to be used for ASC. Because of limits on municipal borrowing, the GEPD cannot take out additional non-ref bonds until 2013. Property taxes will increase in 2010 by $180,000 to start paying for the new bonds.

During our budgeting process, I requested a financial statement that showed revenues and expenses by account number (we usually receive statements broken down by funds, which can have many accounts charging to them). This statement (dated 10-23-2009 and referred to by staff as the Commissioner Creech Report) included a line item for Ackerman Park. After subtracting $36,929 for other known 2008 expenses at the park, this showed that the estimated ASC cost was now $12,040,162.

Surprised by this number, I questioned staff about this and was told that the number was accurate, and that I would need to ask Director Atwell about the reason for the increase. Director Atwell said the project still cost $10.5M and that staff had estimated too high. After asking these questions, our 2009 and projected 2010 fund balances in several accounts changed by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I have since learned that $130,000 is being spent on furniture and equipment for ASC that was never budgeted, bid or approved by the board. Additionally, staff told me that hundreds of thousands of dollars in change orders have been made. After asking about this, two change orders have now been presented to the board for approval. However, the work has already been completed.

I still do not have a complete accounting of the extent of spending and change orders on ASC. It is now clear that it is significantly more than the $10.5M total reported to the Board.

Budget Vote Pushed Through to Curtail Discussion

The budget discussion that was planned for the Glen Ellyn Park District workshop meeting last night was again stalled. Prior to the meeting Commissioner Kinzler emailed Director Atwell and the Board about ways to cut expenses, with specific concerns about cell phone costs, private cars for staff, business meeting expenses, salary ranges, etc.

Rather than discuss these issues, President Minogue announced that the Board would instead vote to send the levy to the county and post the budget ordinance for the required 30-day public review. To my knowledge, the Board has never taken a vote during a workshop meeting before.

Even though President Minogue had assured the Board that we would have three meetings to discuss the budget, the Board was not allowed to discuss the budget last night for a third time. Commissioner Kinzler's concerns were not addressed before the vote on the budget. Later, in "Matters from Commissioners," Kinzler brought up his budget concerns. Please see my next post for specifics on these concerns.

Budget Waste Addressed at Dec. 1 Meeting

Commissioner Kinzler and I brought up concerns about unnecessary spending in the budget during the Matters from Commissioners portion of Tuesday's meeting. Some of the items that we addressed include:

• Four Glen Ellyn Park District employees have PD-owned cars that they are allowed to take home and use off-hours. Kinzler talked to 3 other local PDs to see how other PD handle private staff cars. The GEPD is the only PD of those that has more than one private car. It is customary for the Executive Director to have a car, but not other employees. Staff pointed to several north side suburbs who have multiple cars for employees.
  
• The 2010 budget has over $26,500 in conference expenses for staff and commissioners.
• The 2010 budget has over $19,500 in meeting dues and subscriptions for staff members.
• There is a $56,000 increase in employee health insurance costs for 2010.
  
• Business meeting expenses (lunches) are not identified as a line item in the budget but show up on our monthly voucher reports. In October we had $877 in business meeting expenses
• The 2010 budget has over $10,000 for staff uniforms. Voucher lists show bills paid to LL Bean Corporate.
  
• We spent $48,000 in telephone costs in 2009, and this will rise to $63,000 for 2010. Many employees have PD cell phones or Blackberries.

These are areas where the PD can eliminate waste and cut back on spending, especially important given the cost overruns on the Ackerman Sports Complex, the extent of which are still unknown.

In our earlier budget meetings, staff explained that significant cuts had been made in the Parks Department budget in order to save money. Staff explained that maintenance hours would be reduced. According to staff, this would result in the garbage being picked up less frequently in the parks, the grass mowed less often, fewer fields striped for sports and more reliance on parent volunteers for athletic field preparation.

I said at the meeting last night that I want the Parks budget restored so that there will not be cuts in services. This includes additional money for these line items to move back to 2009 levels:

• $10,375 in Part Time Maintenance
  
• $2,000 for Playground Maintenance
  
• $1,100 for Seed, Fertilizer & Sod
  
• $4,000 for Trees, Shrubs and Flowers
  

I also want to add several items that are not included in the current draft of the budget. Most of these items are on the Glen Ellyn Park District Comprehensive Plan and address safety, accessibility and park maintenance issues.

• Restore the 9-acre oak savanna at Maryknoll Park. The PD agreed to do this as part of an intergovernmental agreement with the Forest Preserve, but it was never done.
  
• $5,000 for a path from the Spalding Park playground to the parking lot for ADA accessibility
• For Stacy Park, a fence along busy Geneva Road.
  
• $20,000 for Village Green backstops and fencing for seating areas. Staff identified this as a safety issue.
• Replacement park benches at the Danby Park playground
• All natural areas need garbage and invasive species removal. This includes Manor Park, Ackerman Woods, Perry Nature Preserve, Gault Sanctuary, Ellynwood Preserve, Danby Park, and Panfish Playground. I've previously suggested a volunteer program for work days at neighborhood parks as a low-cost approach to this problem.
  

December 1 Board Meeting

The agenda and packet for the Glen Ellyn Park District December 1, 2009 meeting are online. This is a workshop meeting where the Board will discuss the next ASC pay request, change orders for ASC and the 2010 budget.

Glen Ellyn Park District board meetings are always open to the public and are held in the board room at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center at 7:00 p.m. Please join us!

Nov. 17 Meeting Video

Video from the Glen Ellyn Park District November 17 meetings is online at Glen Ellyn Life.com. Special thanks to Erik Peterson for attending these meetings, taping them and posting them online.

November 17, Part One- Bulls/Sox Contract, Budget review



November 17, Part Two- Bulls/Sox Contract, Budget review

PD Staff Denies Request for Ackerman Financial Information

During the past several board meetings, I have been working to get a better understanding of the state of our finances, in particular as they relate to the construction of the Glen Ellyn Park District Ackerman Sports Complex (ASC).

My initial concern began when a financial report I requested showed the projected total cost for ASC at over $12 million. This contradicted a memo which I requested from Director Atwell stating that the total cost for the facility will be $10.45 million. Voters approved $7.4 million for ASC in 2006.

Our board packets also included a running total, compiled by staff, of the amount paid to contractors. When I added up the pay requests myself I found that this total was under-reported by $1 million on the memos to the Board.

Furthermore, we were previously receiving monthly affidavits in our board packets from the ASC construction management company, Professional Building Services, which summarized the contract amounts, change orders, and payments for each of the trades working on ASC. These affidavits have been missing from the board packets since May.

Due to these disturbing errors and omissions in accounting on this project, I requested two items from staff: a complete listing of expenditures on ASC to date, and the missing affidavits. Although I requested theses documents from staff in writing and at two board meetings, I have not received any of these documents to date.

There is no legal reason for keeping this documents from board members, or for that matter, the public. I plan to pursue this matter at our next Glen Ellyn Park District board meeting on Tuesday, December 1.

White Sox Rental Agreement Passes

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board voted 5 to 2 last night to pass the White Sox Rental Agreement. I voted against this agreement.

Early in the summer I expressed concerns about this contract in a blog post here. The original plan gave the Sox exclusive use of the space for $20,000 a year. My estimates showed that this rental amount would not even cover the annual costs for this space.

In response to my comments, the Glen Ellyn Park District did re-negotiate the Sox contract. The new version shows that the Glen Ellyn Park District may receive another $12,000 a year in revenue sharing, depending on the number of lessons the Sox sells. Because of the new negotiations, Glen Ellyn Park District residents will also receive a 5% discount on these programs and lessons.

The new contract also gives the Glen Ellyn Park District access to the batting cages four hours a week in exchange for the Sox receiving four hours of free access to half of the turf field. The version of the contract that were expected to vote on at our last meeting erroneously stated that the GEPD would pay the Sox for the four hours of batting cage access instead of exchanging cage/turf time. This would have resulted in the Glen Ellyn Park District paying the Sox more money for 4 hours of cage use per week than the Sox pays the Glen Ellyn Park District for the other 164 hours a week. I pointed out this problem at the last meeting and the new version of the contract has resolved this issue.

What hasn't been resolved is the fact that this is still a bad deal for the Park District. In order to recover our initial capital investment, the Glen Ellyn Park District would need to receive at least $75,000 in profit each year for 11 years. We are subsidizing a for-profit company and will never recover our initial capital investment. With the revised contract we will at least make a small profit over our operating costs. This is a small step in the right direction, but not enough. In the future we need to ensure that sufficient benefit to our community exists to justify capital projects before we undertake them.

Budget Discussion and Sox Contract for November 17 Meeting

The agenda and packet for the Glen Ellyn Park District November 17, 2009 meeting are online. This is a regular meeting and the Board is expected to vote on the Bulls/Sox rental agreement at ASC, and continue to discuss the 2010 budget.

Glen Ellyn Park District board meetings are always open to the public and are held in the board room at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center at 7:00 p.m. Please join us!

Board President cancels Budget Meeting

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board President has canceled the November 9, 2009 Special Meeting in anticipation that there will not be quorum at the meeting.

The agenda for this meeting was the 2010 budget. The next Glen Ellyn Park District Board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 17 at 7:00 p.m. at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center. The 2010 budget will be on the agenda for that meeting.

Special Meeting for Budget- Monday, Nov. 9

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board will have a special meeting on Monday, November 9, 2009 in order to discuss the 2010 proposed budget. Commissioner Nephew and I called this meeting because the budget discussion for the Oct. 27 meeting was canceled. The special meeting will be held in the board room at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center at 7 p.m.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the budget, please attend the meeting and participate. The public is always welcome at board meetings and your input is appreciated.

Video of October Meetings is Online

Video from the Glen Ellyn Park District October 6 and October 27 meetings is online at Glen Ellyn Life.com. Special thanks to Erik Peterson for attending these meetings, taping them and posting them online.

October 6- Turf at 87, Anima, Budget review





October 27- Anima, Sox Contract, Turf, Maryknoll Land Purchase from Forest Preserve, Platform Tennis expansion proposal

Budget Discussion Continues- next Meeting 10-27

The agenda and packet for the Glen Ellyn Park District October 27, 2009 meeting are online. This is a regular meeting and the Board is expected to vote on Anima Singers room rental, Bulls/Sox rental agreement at ASC, District 87 artificial turf proposal, and land purchase from the Dupage Forest Preserve at Maryknoll Park.

The Board will also continue to discuss the 2010 budget. This will clearly be a difficult year for the park district and the Board will need to make some hard decisions. Parts of the budget are available online in the packet from our last meeting. The full 2010 proposed budget is not available online.

GE Platform tennis will also give a presentation at the meeting.

Glen Ellyn Park District board meetings are always open to the public and are held in the board room at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center at 7:00 p.m. Please join us!

Turf and Budget for 10-6 Meeting

The agenda and packet for the Glen Ellyn Park District October 6, 2009 meeting are online. This is a workshop meeting and the Board will be discussing the 2010 budget, the District 87 artificial turf proposal and the Anima Singers room rental among other items.

Glen Ellyn Park District board meetings are always open to the public and are held in the board room at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center at 7:00 p.m. Please join us!

GEPD meeting video at GlenEllynLife.com!

Special thanks to Erik Peterson at GlenEllynLife.com for taping the Glen Ellyn Park District meeting Tuesday night and posting the video on his website. It is available for viewing here. Please take a look at it to find out more about how our Board meetings work and to learn more about our agenda topics.

The Board voted 4-3 earlier this summer to not video record our meetings, but these are public meetings and anyone can video record them.

September 15 Meeting Agenda and Survey Results Online

The next Glen Ellyn Park District meeting is Tuesday, September 15. It is a regular meeting and will be held in the board room at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center at 7 p.m.

The agenda for the meeting is online here. The board packet is online here.

The Board will discuss a proposal for the Glen Ellyn Park District to contribute money towards the Glenbard West artificial turf project at Memorial Field. Also on the agenda is the Spring Avenue Fitness Center Survey results and staffs' recommendation for $222,787 in fitness equipment for the Ackerman Fitness Center.

At our last meeting, the Board heard a presentation highlighting the results from the 2009 community survey. The entire survey results are online here at the Glen Ellyn Park District website.

If you have any comments or suggestions about these items, please attend the meeting and participate. The public is always welcome at board meetings and your input is appreciated.

Capital Expenditures Discussed at Board Retreat

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board held its annual Retreat on Saturday, August 29. The main issue for discussion was the plan for future capital expenditures. Staff explained that we will be working with a very limited budget for capitals in the next three years.

The Board only discussed expenditures listed in the 2010 column in the Proposed Future Expenditures document in the packet. The Board prioritized possible capital expenditures and staff indicated which expenditures were their highest priorities. Staff will compile this list and bring it back to the Board as part of our budget planning process, which will occur during the October and November board meetings. The Board will be faced with some very difficult decisions during these meetings as we determine how to deal with limited funding.

Agenda for September 1 meeting

The next Glen Ellyn Park District meeting is Tuesday, September 1. It is a workshop meeting and will be held in the board room at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center at 7 p.m.

The agenda for the meeting is online here. UPDATE: The board packet is online here.

There will be a presentation at this meeting about the 2009 community survey that was mailed out to homes this spring.

If you have any comments or suggestions about these items, please attend the meeting and participate. The public is always welcome at board meetings and your input is appreciated.

A Step Towards Data-Driven Decision Making

One of my primary concerns on the park district board is having appropriate information to drive our decision making process. Towards this goal, I am looking for staff to track monthly usage of our facilities, including the hours that each facility could be open, the hours that each facility was open, and the number of users of each facility.

Compiling this data for each programmable space (such as rooms and fields) would help the board to make informed decisions when evaluating capital improvements and maintenance. For example, if one of several comparable athletic fields has much less use due to poor turf conditions, it would benefit the most from renovations. Without usage data we don't know where our limited funds are best spent.

In the August 18th meeting the board decided against compiling usage at the facility level and instead voted to compile usage data averaged at the program level. More data is always better, but we will need to go further to have the information we need for budget decisions.

Board Retreat, Saturday August 29

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board is meeting Saturday, August 29 at the Lisle Hilton to discuss capital projects for 2010. We will also see a preview of the results from the community-wide survey that was conducted this spring.

The agenda for the Board Retreat is online here. UPDATE: The packet is online here.

The Retreat is an open meeting and the public is welcome. Please see my previous post for a map and directions to the meeting site. The meeting begins at 8 am.

Board Approves Ackerman Sports Complex Budget

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board voted 5-2 to approve the ASC budget at the August 18 meeting. I voted no on the ASC budget because of my concerns about the $20,000 White Sox rental fees for the batting cage area. The questions and concerns that I raised at the August 4 meeting were not addressed by staff or legal counsel at our August 18 meeting. If we allow a for-profit company to rent space in a park district facility, I think we need to charge rent that will cover our operating expenses and capital investment.

At our last meeting Director Atwell said the Board could approve just the fees at the August 18 meeting, which would allow staff to meet a marketing deadlines for the ASC brochure. He indicated that the Board could continue to discuss budget items and there was no deadline for approving the budget. Since my questions on the White Sox rental fees were unanswered, I felt that the Board should remove the White Sox rental fee from the budget or continue discussion at the next meeting.

Also as part of the discussion of the ASC budget, I recommended including the $10.5 million construction costs in the annual budget as part of debt service reduction. When the Board constructed Holes & Knolls mini-golf the capital costs were included in the annual operating budget each year. After a brief discussion, the Board decided not to included capital costs in the ASC budget.

Offsite Meeting for Capital Decision Making

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board Retreat will be held in the Executive Boardroom at the Hilton Lisle/Naperville, 3003 Corporate West Drive, Lisle, IL (map) at 8 in the morning on Saturday, August 29.

Traditionally, the Board makes all of the capital project decisions for the upcoming year at this retreat. If you would like to see how the Board makes these decisions, please attend the meeting. Board retreats are open meetings, though the Board may be in closed session for part of the day. I do not have a copy of the agenda yet but will link to it when it becomes available.

Earlier in the summer Commissioner Kinzler suggested that the Board Retreat be held in Glen Ellyn. This could make it easier for residents to participate in the meeting and benefit our local businesses. Ideally, we could hold the retreat in on of the Glen Ellyn Park District facilities and save taxpayers money. I am hopeful that we can do this in the future.

Board Votes 4-3 Against Online Video of Meetings

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board voted 4-3 last night against posting video of board meetings online. Commissioners Dallman, Aubrey, Hess and Minogue all voted against the proposal. I voted for the proposal, along with Commissioners Nephew and Kinzler.

The proposal was for video recording of every board meeting with the video posted online within 48 hours of each meeting. The Glen Ellyn Park District was to spend no more than $1000 on the equipment, with one proposal showing an estimated cost under $500.

Increasing board transparency was an important part of our campaign, and Commissioners Nephew, Kinzler and myself brought up the idea of online video, asked staff to prepare recommendations and made the motions last night in order to make GEPD Board meetings more accessible to the public.

In voting no, Commissioners Dallman, Aubrey, Hess and Minogue stated that they didn't think anyone would watch the video and that it was not needed at this time.

All Glen Ellyn Park District Board meetings are open to the public. Under Illinois state law, anyone can videotape public meetings.

Agenda for August 18 meeting

The next Glen Ellyn Park District meeting is Tuesday, August 18. It is a regular meeting and will be held in the board room at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center at 7 p.m.

The agenda for the meeting is online here. The board packet is not yet online, but I will link to it when it is. UPDATE: The packet is online here.

The Board will discuss that facilities and fields usage study, and placing video of board meetings online. Discussion will also continue on the Ackerman Sports Complex budget, hours and fees.

If you have any comments or suggestions about these items, please attend the meeting and participate. The public is always welcome at Glen Ellyn Park District board meetings and your input is appreciated.

White Sox Rental Fee Discussion for ASC

During the planning stages for ASC, the Glen Ellyn Park District Board added several features to the building that have increased construction costs (see this memo for details). One of these was an additional $678,561 to increase the width of the building by 47' to accommodate batting cages to be run by the White Sox Training Academy.

The Glen Ellyn Park District plans to rent space to the White Sox Training Academy for $20,000 a year for exclusive use of this space. The proposed budget for the ASC (on page 42) shows this anticipated revenue. The Glen Ellyn Park District will receive no other revenue from the Sox for this space. A final contract has not yet been approved.

The batting cages area is approximately 47' x 138', totaling about 6,486 sq. ft. The entire ASC is 88,248 sq.ft. Since the Sox area is such a large part of the building, I became concerned about the operating costs associated with such a large space.

Looking at the proposed budget for ASC I estimated costs for the Sox area by assuming costs are proportional to square footage. Cleaning will be handled by the Sox, but other building-wide costs (such as utilities, pest control, management, and repairs) total over $20,000 a year.

If the Glen Ellyn Park District goes through with this contract as proposed, the park district will end up subsidizing a for-profit company. We, the taxpayers, will never recover our initial capital expense of $678,561.

I would like to see a solution for this space that covers operating expenses and gives us a reasonable time frame for covering our capital investment.

Discussion on this topic will resume at the August 18 Board Meeting.

Ackerman Budget Discussion Continues

I was glad to see several people in the audience at the meeting Tuesday night. I'd like to thank those soccer board members who spoke during public participation. It is always good to hear from the community.

The Board continued discussion of the Ackerman Sports Complex (ASC) budget, fees and hours (page 32). There are still many questions about the budget details, so the Board will approve only the fees at the August meeting. Approving the fees is necessary because of marketing deadlines.

After the July 21 meeting, I sent several questions to staff and received detailed responses. These were included in the Director's Dispatch and were not placed online, so I have linked to them here. Director Atwell provided me with a detailed history of the ASC expansion from referendum to construction. I also received answers to my specific questions about the budget.

I still had questions about the anticipated revenue from soccer leagues- this accounts for 57% of the revenues. Staff explained that these numbers are not based on rental hours, but fees charged per team for participation in leagues. Detailed numbers on this will be provided to the board for further review.

Commissioner Kinzler asked questions about SARC fitness center. Since is is currently operating at a loss, he was concerned that a large number of its 100 users will move to the new ASC fitness center. A drop in users will negatively impact the revenue there, but costs, such as staffing, will remain constant. Director Atwell said that SARC fitness center users will be surveyed to see which fitness center they intend to use once ASC is open, as requested by the Board at the last meeting. With this information, the Board can have a better understanding of usage before we need to approve funding for new fitness equipment at ASC.

Since discussion about online video and the facilities usage report were not on the agenda this meeting as previously planned, I brought these up during my Matters from Commissioners time. In both cases, staff was preparing a report for the Board, but it was delayed. After a brief discussion, the Board decided to place both of these items on the agenda for our August 18 meeting.

Next Meeting- August 4

The next Glen Ellyn Park District meeting is Tuesday, August 4. It is a workshop meeting and will be held in the board room at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center at 7 p.m.

The agenda for the meeting is online here. The board packet is not yet online, but I will link to it when it is. UPDATE: The Board packet is available here.

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board will continue to discuss the Ackerman Sports Complex budget, hours and fees. If you have any comments or suggestions about these, please attend the meeting and participate. I look forward to seeing you there!

Facility and Fields Usage Study

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board had a lengthy discussion at the July 21 meeting on the need for a facility and fields usage study. This is a topic that I added to the agenda; information about it is available on page 50 in the board packet.

A facility and fields usage study would answer these types of questions for every programmable space in the park district (rooms, fields, courts, etc.):

1. What is the purpose of the space? (preschool room, multi-purpose room, full-sized foot ball field, etc.)
   
2. How many hours per week can it be used?
3. What is the average number of hours per week it is used?
4. What is the average number of participants in this space each week?
5. For fields, what is the average number of hours per week that the field is unplayable? (because of weather, field conditions, etc.)

With a study like this in place, the Board will be able to make future capital spending decisions based on data rather than anecdotal evidence. This study will identify spaces that are under- used or over-used.

Staff will look into this and the Board will continue discussing the need for a usage study at the August 4 workshop meeting.

Vouchers and Ackerman Sports Complex

Glen Ellyn Park District voucher lists will now be available on-line after the Board voted 6-0 at the July 21 meeting to add these to the website. Voucher lists show all of the payments that the park districts makes, month by month.

Staff also presented information about the Ackerman Sports Complex (ASC) at the July 21 meeting. The Board will need to approve hours, fees and budgets for this facility. Information about these items is available in the board packet beginning on page 32. The Board will discuss this again at the August 4 Workshop Meeting.

I suggested making access to the ASC walking track free for Glen Ellyn residents. All other parts of the facility will require a fee in order for residents to use them. Staff said this would be considered.

July 21 Board Meeting

The next GEPD Board Meeting is Tuesday, July 21 at 7:00 at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center.
The agenda is online here.

For the first time, the Board Packet is also online. It is available here.

The Board will discuss fees, budgets and hours for the new Ackerman Sports Complex for the first time. Documentation and memos relating to this are available in the board packet.

The Board will also discuss the need for a facility and fields usage study.

The public is always welcome to attend board meetings.

Transparency Efforts Move Ahead

The Board voted unanimously last night to place Board Packets online 48 hours before all meetings and to place the Glen Ellyn Park District governing ordinances online.

Staff has also put the 2005 survey results and additional budget information online since the last board meeting.

The Board also discussed putting monthly voucher lists online. Legal council will review this.

Staff was not able to prepare recommendations for putting audio/video recordings of all board meetings online. This report will be available for the August workshop meeting.

Board Votes to Apply for Churchill Park Grant

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board voted 4-3 to proceed with the grant authorization for the Churchill Park project. Aubrey, Dallman, Hess and Minogue voted yes, Creech, Kinzler, and Nephew voted no.

Below is the statement I made at the meeting. In my statement I refer to a letter from the community tree advocate at the Morton Arboretum. That letter is available on line here.


I strongly support this project’s primary goals of restoring Churchill Park and providing outdoor education programs. In assessing this project, I am looking at several criteria: whether the community had input into and supports the plan, whether the project is fiscally responsible, and whether the project is environmentally responsible. This point is particularly important for our nature center.

In regards to community support, we have not yet received the results of the new community survey to gauge public support for this project and this project was not even included as a project in the 2005 survey. We should pursue the projects that the residents make a priority.

At the public meeting there were many concerns expressed and questions asked about this project that went unanswered. It looked to me that the purpose of the meeting was to tell the community what we have decided to do rather than to seek input on the project. The write-up of the meeting focuses on the presentations and not the questions and responses. I think that there is potential here for people to be excited about this project and involved in it. Real community input would make this a stronger project.

Regarding the project budget, over half of the money in this grant is for concrete and buildings. I think the focus for our nature park should be on the programming, restoration and education. I am concerned about wasting a resource we already have- the existing house at Churchill park. In our previous meeting staff said that this was not feasible because the bids were $800,000 to $900,000. However, the bid documents show that this was for a renovated building with a large room, storage, and bathrooms - like the proposed prefab building - but also with a kitchen, sun room, office and finished basement. It was a beautiful plan with cathedral ceilings, exposed beams and eight skylights. We need to look at a low-cost plan for the house that is comparable to the prefab building in scale. It is irresponsible to move forward on this project without determining whether it would be more affordable to renovate the existing house.

And lastly, regarding the environmental aspect, I think that the presentation that Jill and Renee gave at the special meeting last Wednesday was wonderful. I agreed with everything they said and look forward to supporting our outdoor education programs and our natural areas at Churchill Park and throughout the park district.

In the two presentations that Mr. Vann has given he has recommended that black cherry, black walnut, apple, white ash, green ash, box elder, silver maple and cottonwood be removed from the park. He has talked extensively about removing the tree overstory, and removing the garbage trees from the park.

I was concerned about these statements, so I contacted the Morton Arboretum and was able to walk Churchill Park with one of their arborists. She thought the park was wonderful and was especially impressed with 150-year-old Hills Oak in front of the house. Her observations are included in our board packet. She agreed that the buckthorn problem was severe and a few Siberian elms and Tree-of-Heaven trees should be removed. However, she strongly disagreed with Mr. Vann’s assessment. The trees present are representative of a native bottomland forest, and can withstand the periodic flooding that we have seen this spring. They are healthy, native and entirely appropriate for our nature center. Sure, you might not plant a cottonwood tree next to your house, but here it serves its purpose.


The purpose of this park is for outdoor education. By leaving the apple trees we can teach our children that early settlers of this area commonly planted orchards in order to harvest the fruit. As the decades have passed the woods have grown up around the apple trees but they continue to provide food and habitat for animals in the woods. By leaving the cottonwood, elm, ash and box elder trees we can teach our children about native bottomland forests and the tough, quick-growing trees that thrive there.

I cannot vote for a project that calls for the unjustified tree removal that Mr. Vann recommends. We need an experienced restoration ecologist to evaluate these woods and make recommendations on how to best protect and restore them. Additionally, it is our duty as board members to ensure that our community truly supports this project and that it is a good use of taxpayer dollars. This project has good intentions but is flawed in implementation. I will be voting no on the motion to approve authorization for this grant.

Regular Board Meeting June 16, 2009

The agenda for the Glen Ellyn Park District Board Meeting is online.

The Board will vote on item VII.A, Resolution 09-04, Resolution of Authorization IDNR/OSLAD Grant Application at the meeting on Tuesday. Please see my post from May 31 about the Churchill Park grant for more details. There is also a plan and letter about the project posted on the GEPD web site.

John Vann, landscape architect for the plan, presented information about the project at the June 2 board meeting and at the June 10 special meeting. He said that 75% of the trees are no good and many of the trees in the park are garbage trees. That project will remove any invasive or non-native plants.

The area has a very serious buckthorn problem and removing the buckthorn is a priority. Staff is already working on this problem. Invasives such as honeysuckle, mulitflora rose, garlic mustard weed and burdock will also be removed. The project includes funds for invasive removal and replanting natives.

Some of the tree species that Mr. Vann recommended for removal include: black cherry, black walnut, cotton wood, apple, white ash, green ash, silver maple, and box elder. The plans will create new wetlands to address the excessive water problem at the park. In some areas the tree overstory will be removed to make way for wetlands. Mr. Vann will consult the tree survey of the park to confirm if there are any trees worth saving in the woods.

Over half of the $600,000 project is dedicated to building a new nature center. This will be used for programming, public washrooms and storage. The existing building would be demolished.

Public Meeting on Churchill Park

There will be a public meeting on the proposed Churchill Park project on Wednesday, June 10 at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held in the board room at Spring Avenue Recreation Center.

This meeting is your opportunity to learn more about the proposed project and give your feedback. Your input will be taken into account when we decide whether to proceed with the project and if any changes are needed.

I plan on attending- hope to see you there!

Churchill Park Nature Center Authorization

Item IV on the June 2, 2009 Agenda is Resolution 09-04, Resolution of Authorization IDNR/OSLAD Grant Application. The Board is preparing to authorize a $900,000 project at Churchill Park to construct a nature center, low ropes course, fire pit, and several boardwalks; remove invasive species; plant seeds and plant material; and install new signs and exhibits. The house that is currently on the property will be torn down.

The Glen Ellyn Park District is preparing to submit a grant application in July 2009 requesting $300,000 in state funds and committing the GEPD to $600,000 in matching funds for this project at Churchill Park. If the board authorizes approval for this project, staff will apply for a grant and the Board will not act on this issue again until it authorizes budget money to the project after the grant is received or denied.

Staff recommends that this is placed on the consent agenda for June 16, 2009.


*** UPDATE June 3, 2009***
The Board packet that we received for the June 2, 2009 meeting contained one itemized budget for the Churchill Park project. This budget was dated May 18, 2000 and totaled $857,779.94. Staff explained at the meeting that this budget was included for "historical" purposes and that no current itemized budget is available. The intended project total will be $600,000 not $900,000.

Increasing Transparency

Item IX on the June 2, 2009 Agenda, Documents on the Park District Website, is discussion topic I requested. Specifically, we will discuss expanding the Glen Ellyn Park District website to include public documents such as board packets, policy manuals, comprehensive plans, detailed budget documents and other documents that give insight into the state of the Park District.

Other items to consider:

• Publishing Board Highlights on website within 48 hours of each board meeting
• Investigating ways to broadcast our meetings to the public, including low-cost options such as podcasts or web video
• Making board packets and relevant documents available to those in attendance at board meetings
• Using an opaque projector to show plans and documents during board discussions
  

Workshop Agenda June 2, 2009

The next Glen Ellyn Park District meeting is this Tuesday, June 2 at 7 pm at the Spring Avenue Recreation Center.

The agenda is posted online here: http://www.gepark.org/assets/PDFs/Board%20Agendas/060209wm.pdf

I'll be posting more about the agenda topics later!

My Bio

I've lived in Glen Ellyn with my husband, David, since 2000. We have two daughters, Anna (4) and Molly (3). We enjoy participating in many Glen Ellyn Park District programs, such as music, art, ballet, gymnastics, pre-school, toddler classes, swimming, yoga, and fun family activities like the Polar Express.

I was elected to the Glen Ellyn Park District Board of Commissioners in April 2009. I became interested in GEPD activities as one of the leaders of the Save Ackerman Woods project that protected 340 mature trees from destruction in 2008. I am also a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church. I am currently taking time away from my career to be a stay at home mom.

I am a certified high school teacher and administrator with a focus on technology. I have held various teaching and leadership positions at Lake Park High School District 108 in Roselle, IL, including Director of Technology. In this role, I managed and budgeted for $500,000 in technology-related expenses and directly supervised 19 employees. I worked with architects and engineers to plan for the district's technology needs in a $60 million school expansion project. I initiated on-line student registration, redesigned the district website and chaired the district Technology Committee.

In the classroom, I taught English and Journalism and advised the school newspaper. I also provided staff development opportunities to assist teachers with integrating technology into their classrooms. I received my undergraduate degree and two graduate degrees from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.