Cornell, Mayo and Wilson for the Glen Ellyn Park Board of Commissioners

Since election to the Glen Ellyn Park District board in 2009, I have advocated for moving the priorities of the park district to fiscal responsibility and good stewardship of our parks and natural areas. That is why I am pleased to endorse Kathy Cornell, Gary Mayo and Chris Wilson for the park district election on April 7, 2015.

Kathy, Gary and Chris share my goals for our park district. Chris is running for her first term. Gary and Kathy were elected to the board in 2011, and in that time we have made dramatic improvements to how the park district operates. 

The District's financial position is now strong. Program revenues have increased, headcount and expenses have been reduced, the operating budget is balanced and our bond rating has been raised.

Six years ago I struggled to get clear answers on the construction costs and contractual problems with the Ackerman center, and before that the plans for Ackerman Woods. Vowing to correct this, Kathy and Gary helped to make our District a leader in transparency. Last year we won the "Sunshine Award" from the Illinois Policy Institute, one of the first park districts to do so.

We want to continue on this record and our focus on maintaining and improving our parks and natural areas. Chris brings to the board her experience as a long-time Glen Ellyn resident and volunteer in many groups, including as a past president of Citizens for Glen Ellyn Preservation. 

You can learn more about Kathy, Gary and Chris at http://cornellmayowilson.com. I encourage you to join me in voting for them on April 7. Early voting starts Monday, March 23 at the Glen Ellyn Civic Center. Voting hours are Monday - Friday from 8:30 am - 7:30 pm  and Saturdays from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm.

This is a contested election, and we need your help! Please send me an email if you would like to take a yard sign or pass out literature.

Thank You,

Melissa Creech

Park District 2014 Refelctions

Glen Ellyn Park District President Gary Mayo shared his thoughts on some recent discussions at our last Board meeting. I agree with President Mayo and asked if I could share his speech on my blog. Below is his speech from "Matters from Commissioners" at the December 16,2014 Board Meeting:

With the end of another year approaching, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a few minutes to reflect on recent events at the Park District, and think about where we’re heading.

Based on the goals presented by staff and the capital projects planned, 2015 will be an ambitious and exciting year.  I truly believe that this Park District provides an incredible value to our residents, and contributes greatly to the overall quality of life within our community.  And of course when I say “we”, I am mostly referring to Dave and his fantastic staff who does the actual work, and all the volunteers who contribute their time and effort so freely to help make it all possible. We as Board members play a small yet integral part. I, for one, am proud of the role we all play in helping to make this the wonderful community that it is. 

Lately, the District seems to have generated a fair amount of controversy, at least among a vocal few, largely because of the referendum and issues related to that.  I have to say that I don’t really understand why giving our voters the opportunity to voice their opinion regarding an indoor aquatics center, which is really all the referendum did, was so controversial, but obviously it was for some people.  While it was clear that the overwhelming majority of the community did not support a $13.5 million aquatic center, and I fully accept that outcome, I am concerned that some seem to view the result as a mandate that the Park District must reduce our spending and cut taxes, without regard to all the good work we do and the mission the Park District is responsible for fulfilling.

I come away from this experience believing that there are some community members who seem to think that our top priority should be to reduce taxes.  Let me first say that I think reducing taxes is an admirable goal.  I don’t know anybody who enjoys paying their Glen Ellyn property tax bill.  However, before you can say the Park District’s tax levy should be reduced, you have to consider where the District is starting from.  Coming up 
on 4 years now on this Board, and most of that also as Board liaison to our Citizen’s Finance Committee, I know for a fact that this Park District is already extremely efficient.  

We’ve taken several steps recently to make it even more so, including reducing headcount and expenses over the last 3 years.  The budget we approved tonight reflects the fruits of those efforts.  We have one of the lowest tax levies among Park Districts in Dupage County, and it will be THE lowest, THE LOWEST, by far, when the Ackerman construction debt is paid off in a few years.  In spite of that, we have an outstanding Park District that is the envy of many other communities. Through good management, resourceful programming, and the efforts of our dedicated staff and volunteers, the District has balanced fiscal responsibility with meeting the high recreational standards expected by the Glen Ellyn community.   We certainly want to continue to be fiscally responsible and to spend our taxpayers’ dollars wisely, and reduce taxes when and if we can, but I believe we were elected to at least maintain the level of services and facilities that the community expects. And where it makes sense, we also need to continue to enhance what we offer.  Like everything else these days, if you are standing still while the rest of the world moves forward, you are really going backwards!  If we were to 
simply strive to cut taxes, without considering these other factors and the impact on the services we provide, we would NOT be leading in a way that is consistent with our mission, and NOT doing what I believe we were elected to do.Just consider for a moment if previous Board members who sat in these chairs had made 
the reduction of taxes their #1 priority –

 There would be no ASFC.  Now, were there mistakes made in building Ackerman?  Yes, to be sure, some big mistakes.  But the end result is the community now has a tremendous asset that has become a central gathering place providing healthy recreational opportunities, and it would be hard to find anyone today who thinks it shouldn’t have been built.  The center now contributes over $250,000 every year to our operations, providing funding for other District programs while also diminishing our reliance on property taxes.  When the bonds are paid off in 3 years, that money is pure profit for our taxpayers and will continue to be expended to support Ackerman and other components of the Park District.

 No Maryknoll – no mini-golf, no splash pad, no platform tennis.  Thousands of Glen Ellyn residents would be going to neighboring towns to enjoy those activities. That property would have been developed, and that valuable open space would have most likely been gone forever.

 Village Green would either be a golf learning center or some undeveloped baseball fields.   It certainly wouldn’t be the vibrant center for baseball and other recreational activities that we have today.

 Possibly no artificial turf at Memorial Field, if the Park District hadn’t agreed to contribute our fair share to benefit all the kids who use it.

 Churchill Park, Spring Avenue, Ackerman Park – there are lots of examples. 

 And if you think about it, we probably would not even have Lake Ellyn Park and the Boathouse, if somebody 100 years ago had said:  We can’t do that – it costs too much money. 

Our community has these resources today because previous Boards had VISION!  In each case, Board members at the time made a value judgment (sometimes with the help of a referendum, sometimes not; sometimes with a survey, sometimes not; and sometimes just with instinct and common sense) and they decided that these facilities and properties would enhance the community, and were worth investing community tax dollars.  If their goal had simply been to reduce taxes, those things would not be here today and those opportunities lost forever.

I believe that this Board has an obligation, as elected representatives of our community, to continue to maintain AND ENHANCE our parks for future generations.  You can bet that the communities around us are doing that, and I want Glen Ellyn to keep pace.  I truly believe the majority in our community want that too.

Just something for you all to ponder as we head into the New Year…

I hope we keep moving forward!

Glen Ellyn Park District Plans Lake Ellyn Park Improvements and Boathouse Restoration for 2015

The Glen Ellyn Park District Board of Commissioners voted to engage Conservation Design Forum (CDF) and Farr Associates (Architecture, Planning and Preservation) to begin implementing Phase 2 of the Lake Ellyn Master Plan on October 21, 2014. The $2.7 million improvements, planned for 2015-2016, will concentrate on restoration of the Lake Ellyn Boathouse as well as park areas and amenities. The funding resources were generated through non-referendum funds and operating surplus. Additionally, the Park District is in the process of seeking grants to help offset the cost of the improvements.

The Glen Ellyn Park District initiated development of a master plan for Lake Ellyn Park in July, 2012. This project went through a rigorous and thorough design and development review as the District conducted master planning meetings for the park. Numerous meetings with the neighbors and users of these parks and facilities were held with the Glen Ellyn Park District Board of Commissioners before the Board agreed on a final master plan for the site. After the extensive and inclusive planning process, a master plan was developed for Lake Ellyn Park that represents the communities input and recommendations. The plan was accepted and approved in January, 2013, by the Board. The final plan includes restoration of Lake Ellyn Boathouse.

Since its construction in 1937 as a WPA project, the Lake Ellyn Boathouse has been one of Glen Ellyn's community gems. Over that period of time, the Boathouse has had three additions/modifications including relocating the kitchen, expansion of the mechanical area and interior changes affecting many of the historic elements. The approved master plan recommended restoration and improvements to the existing Boathouse entirely within the footprint of the existing structure. No expansion of any sort is proposed and the capacity for various elements will remain essentially the same as it is today.

As described in the master plan, the Boathouse restoration and the renovation of the entire west side of the park will be done in a way that is compatible with both the historic, traditional setting of the park and with leading-edge, sustainable practices. Permeable pavement, water and energy conservation, ecological landscape enhancements, and other innovative elements will improve the water quality and habitat of the park in a visible way. These green enhancements will serve as a demonstration to the village and the region, and will allow the park to sustain for the next 100 years and beyond.

Lake Ellyn Park Improvement Plan highlights include:

• Restoration of the Lake Ellyn Boathouse
• Replacement of all trails on west side of park with permeable materials and creation of nature trails in woodland area
• Playground replacement
• Landscape enhancements including tree protection/replacement and naturalized planting
• Shore stabilization
• Installation of permeable paved sidewalk on west side of park parallel with Lenox Road

Upgrading Lake Ellyn Park and the Boathouse was identified as a top priority for the Park District in the 2012 Community and Attitude Interest Survey and prioritized by the Park Board of Commissioners. Since the master plan was approved, the Park District has identified funding and pursued implementing the restoration of the Boathouse. At a recent Board Meeting, Farr and Associates and CDF presented preliminary proposals to design and coordinate the restoration of the Lake Ellyn Park and Boathouse with the goal of beginning construction in mid-July, 2015 and completion by May, 2016.

View the Lake Ellyn Park Master Plan: http://gepark.org/assets/PDFs/Lake%20Ellyn%20Park/2013-01-14_Lake%20Ellyn%20Master%20Plan%20Final.pdf

Learn more about Conservation Design Forum: http://www.cdfinc.com/

Learn more about Farr and Associates: http://www.farrside.com/

Glen Ellyn Park District Receives Transparency Award

Pictured from Left to Right: Commissioner Pierce, Commissioner Dunn, Commissioner Mayo , Brian Costin (Director of Government Reform, Illinois Policy Institute), President Kinzler, Commissioner Creech, Commissioner Nephew.

From the Glen Ellyn Park District press release: 

GLEN ELLYN, IL – The Glen Ellyn Park District recently received a “Sunshine Award” from the Illinois Policy Institute, a nonpartisan and nonprofit research organization, for their achievements in government transparency. The Glen Ellyn Park District is one of the first park district in Illinois to receive the award.

Several years ago, the current Park Board of Commissioners identified and established improving government transparency for the Glen Ellyn Park District as a priority. Over the past year, the Glen Ellyn Park District has worked collaboratively with Brian Costin, Director of Government Reform for the Illinois Policy Institute, to improve their online transparency and satisfy a 10-Point Transparency checklist. The Glen Ellyn Park District was successful in achieving an above passing grade, satisfying the institute’s “Local Transparency Project.”

“Online transparency is very important so citizens can partake in local government in an educated manner and to protect against corruption. To get in our Sunshine Award category, you have to get 80% or better. Out of the 350 or so government agencies we’ve evaluated, only around 45 have achieved that. I want to thank the Board for their hard work on becoming more transparent for their citizens,” said Costin.

The 10-Point Transparency Checklist measures how much public data is readily available on a government website and includes: financial audits, contact information for elected officials, information on public meetings, taxes and fees, and guidelines for citizens to access public information through the Freedom of Information Act.

“I am very ­proud of the park district for receiving this award. Our commitment to transparency is about more than just our website, but also reaching out to residents for input on important topics, broadcasting and archiving all of our meetings, and informing residents about park district news through various sources. I hope that more government agencies make the effort to operate transparently,” said Melissa Creech, Glen Ellyn Park District Board of Commissioners.

For more information on the Glen Ellyn Park District, please visit www.gepark.org or view the Park District’s transparency information at http://gepark.org/boa_transparency.html.

For additional information regarding the Illinois Policy Institute and their transparency audit, visitwww.illinoispolicy.org.

Ackerman Woods Work Day: This Saturday

There is an Ackerman Woods work day this Saturday, March 16 from 9:00-11:00 am.

Join your neighbors to help clean-up and restore the woods at Ackerman Park. Work will focus on removing invasive plant species and picking up garbage. Tools and leather gloves will be available for use. Work is geared for ages 10 and up. Scouts and volunteer organizations are welcome too!

Please send me an email if you need more information.

See you there!

Lenox Road Reconstruction

As part of their on-going street reconstruction program, the Village of Glen Ellyn will rebuild Lenox Road between Hawthorne and Oak this summer. This is a Village project, but the Glen Ellyn Park District has made recommendations to the Village since we are the largest landowner in the project area.  Our recommendation includes constructing the first green street in Glen Ellyn. We believe that Lake Ellyn Park and the surrounding streets could serve as an example of best practices for water management and environmental quality.  

Our first priority is to protect the trees along Lenox Road. The Park District strongly encourages the Village to employ leading edge, high performance strategies and techniques regarding tree protection and sustainable storm water management. Our proposal calls for permeable unit pavement systems for the street and sidewalk and bioswales along the east edge of the street. 

After residents approached the Park District with concerns about safety and speeding on Lenox Road we focused on calming traffic. Most importantly, our plan calls for narrowing the driving lanes on Lenox Road and providing parallel and diagonal parking mixed with greenspace along the east side of the road. A narrowed road will slow traffic down and move pavement further from our mature trees. Further safety measures include speed tables, differentiated pavement surfaces, marked crosswalks and a sidewalk along the east side. This plan will make Lenox Road a safer, more beautiful street while benefiting the environment.

We have seen evidence of the success of these strategies elsewhere, and are eager for Glen Ellyn to capitalize upon them.  Attached are a set of priorities and concepts related to the Lenox Road reconstruction that we believe are essential to the long-term improvement of the park and the neighborhood. They include better accessibility, safety, tree preservation, environmental quality and beauty along the Park’s western, more active edge. Additional information is available at our website http://gepark.org/boa_LE-Park-Plan.html.

The Park District is grateful and appreciative to have the chance to provide input to the design process. We have encouraged the Village to recognize the unique opportunity this presents and to give strong consideration to the ideas and concepts presented.  The Village’s Capital Improvement Committee will discuss Lenox Road at their next meeting on February 12, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. at Room 301 at the Civic Center. At this meeting they intend to finalize their recommendations on Lenox Road for the Village Board of Trustees. This meeting is open to the public. 

Park District Candidates for Next Election

from a recent Glen Ellyn Park District press release:

As the terms expire for four current Glen Ellyn Park District Board Members, three are running to retain their seats.

Four Glen Ellyn residents are running to fill the at large seats on the board, according to the Glen Ellyn Park District. The election will be held April 9.

In April, terms expire for board commissioners Ron Aubrey, Melissa Creech, Gordon J. Kinzler and Julia Nephew. Aubrey is the only board member not seeking re-election. Glen Ellyn resident Vanessa Pierce is the fourth candidate running for a seat on the board, according to the Glen Ellyn Park District.

The board is comprised of seven unpaid volunteers. The board members represent the district’s 35,000 residents in Glen Ellyn, parts of unincorporated Glen Ellyn, Carol Stream, Glendale Heights, Lombard and Wheaton, according to the Glen Ellyn Park District. The terms for the three other board members — Kathy Cornell, Richard Dunn, and Gary Mayo — continue through April 2015.

 The candidates as they will appear on the April 9 ballot:

• Vanessa Pierce
• Gordon J. Kinzler
• Melissa Creech
• Julia Nephew

Ackerman Woods Trail Complete!

Happy New Year Everyone!

The new trail through Ackerman Woods is complete and open to the public. The trail is a quarter-mile loop through the woods. Access the trail from either of the two clearings on the west side, off Riford Road or at two access points on the east side just past the clearing off Lenox Road. Thanks to the Glen Ellyn Park District staff for all of their hard work clearing the path and laying wood chips. It's a really nice trail!

The boardwalk at Churchill Park is also complete. The east side of the loop trail there has been submerged or too muddy to walk through for much of the past few years. A new boardwalk system gives us year-round access to this park.

Stop by these parks for a nice walk in the woods!

Lake Ellyn Master Plan Meeting

After several public meetings, community feedback, stakeholder recommendations and Park Board input, the Lake Ellyn master plan will be presented on Wednesday, December 12 at 7:00 p.m. It will be held at the Boathouse. Representatives from Conservation Design Forum and Farr Associates will unveil the master plan, identifying improvements along with related estimated expenses.

The master plan will provide a template as the Glen Ellyn Park District moves forward to preserving and improving the “Jewel of Glen Ellyn.” The outcome, after an inclusive and participatory process, reflects the wants and needs of the Glen Ellyn community. It is a balance of many interests with the final outcome being “polishing the gem.”

Please attend and let your neighbors and friends know, as well. 

For additional information on the Lake Ellyn Master Plan process, visit gepark.org/boa_LE-Park-Plan.html.

See you there!

Update: Lake Ellyn Park Master Plan

Next Public Meeting:
The next public meeting for the Lake Ellyn Park Master Plan is Monday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m. at the Boathouse. Representatives from Conservation Design Forum and Farr Associates will be there to present preliminary sketches and plans for the park and boathouse. There will be an opportunity for public feedback. We need your thoughts and ideas on Lake Ellyn Park, so please attend! Please feel free to forward this on to your Glen Ellyn neighbors.

For more information about the Master Plan process, check out our goals and objectives here. 

Friends of Lake Ellyn Park:
I'm looking for people who love Lake Ellyn and are interested in joining me to create a Friends of Lake Ellyn Park group. This non-profit group will support the conservation and enhancement of Lake Ellyn Park and advocate for Lake Ellyn Park within the community. This group will operate independently from the Glen Ellyn Park District.

Please send me an email if you are interested in helping in any of the following ways:

• By serving on the board for Friends of Lake Ellyn park
• By being a member of Friends of Lake Ellyn park
• By providing legal help in setting up a 501(3)c for the group

Thank you for your help!
Melissa Creech